{{Short description|American harmonica player}} {{Infobox musical artist |name = Jim Fitting |birth_place = San Francisco, California |genre = Rock |origin = Boston, Massachusetts |years_active = 1981 – present |module = {{Infobox person |embed=yes |alma_mater = Yale University }} }}
'''Jim Fitting''' is an American harmonica player based in Boston, Massachusetts. He is known for his work with Treat Her Right, The The, and Session Americana. His credits include guest performances on various other artists' albums and live gigs.
== Background == Fitting was born in California and grew up in San Francisco. He began playing harmonica at an early age with his brother Tom on guitar.<ref name="Keating">{{cite news |url=https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20020918/LIFE/309189941?template=ampart |author=Keating, Michael P. |title=Check out these old 'Coots' on Saturday |work=Sea Coast Online |date=September 18, 2002}}</ref> In the 1970s, he went to Yale University.
== Sex Execs and Fort Apache == After graduating, he joined two of his friends from Yale—Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie—in the band Sex Execs, in which Fitting played baritone saxophone.
The trio also helped found Fort Apache Studios in the mid-1980s, along with Joe Harvard.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://consequence.net/2016/07/how-bostons-fort-apache-studio-captured-the-sound-of-an-era/ |author=Bray, Ryan |title=How Boston's Fort Apache Studios Captured the Sound of an Era |work=Consequence of Sound |date=July 11, 2016}}</ref>
== Treat Her Right == Fitting's playing was prominent in the sound of 1980s/early 1990s Boston quartet Treat Her Right, which featured Mark Sandman. The group's drummer, Billy Conway, was another friend and bandmate from Yale.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/99821981/ |author=Graff, Gary |title=Treat Her Right shows you can be a Yale grad and still sing the blues |work=Detroit Free Press |date=May 9, 1988}}</ref>
In 1988, ''People'' magazine called Fitting's harmonica "the pulse of the band."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-treat-her-right-vol-30-no-1/ |title=Picks and Pans: Treat Her Right |work=People |date=July 4, 1988}}</ref> ''Trouser Press'' noted that the songs were "all given added juice by Jim Fitting's wailing harp work."<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=treat_her_right |title=Trouser Press: Treat Her Right}}</ref>
== The The == Fitting played with The The in the early to mid-1990s after Treat Her Right broke up. A 1993 account of a show on the ''Lonely Planet'' tour called him "a valuable new addition to the band."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.deseret.com/1993/7/28/19058355/few-show-up-to-see-the-the-shine |author=Chen, Irene M. |title=Few Show Up to See The The Shine |work=Deseret News |date=July 28, 1993}}</ref>
A book about this band and its leader, Matt Johnson, observed that Fitting helped draw audience approval with enthusiastic performances.<ref>{{cite book | title=Long Shadows, High Hopes: The Life and Times of Matt Johnson & The The | publisher=Omnibus Press | author=Fraser, Neil | year=2018 | isbn=9781787590854}}</ref>
== Bonnie Raitt == He has also accompanied an old friend, Bonnie Raitt, on stage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2006/07/04/raitt_gives_the_blues_a_personal_touch/ |author=Laban, Linda| title=Raitt gives the blues a personal touch |work=Boston Globe |date=July 4, 2006}}</ref> The ''Boston Globe'' noted in 1991 that Fitting was a "special favorite" of Raitt's.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/439491302/ |title=Sound Choices |work=Boston Globe |date=January 18, 1991}}</ref>
== Coots == In 1999, Fitting helped form Coots, which released an album in 2001 called ''Message from the Seventh Dimension'' and another called ''Pray for Rain'' in 2004. In addition to his harmonica, Fitting was lead vocalist for this band (he had occasionally sung for Treat Her Right).
The lineup, which was notable for the absence of electric guitar, also included drummer Jerome Deupree.<ref name="Keating" />
== Session Americana == A few years later, he became part of Session Americana, which remains active today. In 2018, a Vermont newspaper, the ''Times-Argus'', described the musical collective and Fitting, "an astoundingly good harmonica player."
He also contributes vocals and songwriting.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesargus.com/central_vermont_reader/session-americana-brings-its-own-party/article_40697c46-5c5c-53a9-bf3a-cdc1ac95fb1b.html |author=Edelstein, Art |title=Session Americana brings its own party |work=Times-Argus (Barre-Montpelier, Vermont) |date=October 24, 2018}}</ref> His songs often link to history.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://artsfuse.org/155414/music-interview-session-americana-and-that-little-round-table/ |author=Bader, Ken |title=Music Interview: Session Americana and That Little Round Table |work=ArtsFuse |date=February 17, 2017}}</ref>
== Billy, Jimmy, & Dave == In 2019, Fitting, Conway, and David Champagne got together and recorded an album. A live date was announced for January 19, 2020 at Club Passim in Cambridge—which was to be their first appearance together on stage since all were members of Treat Her Right. Unfortunately, it was announced that week that Conway would not be able to perform at the event because of health issues.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.passim.org/live-music/events/billy-jimmy-dave/ |title=Club Passim website |access-date=2019-12-06 |archive-date=2019-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206221743/https://www.passim.org/live-music/events/billy-jimmy-dave/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> At the event Fitting told the audience Conway had restarted cancer treatment.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[https://cambridgehistory.org/music/Fitting/Jim_Fittingtext.html Jim Fitting interview (2012) at Cambridge Historical Society website] *[https://meandthee.org/interviews/jim-fitting/ Jim Fitting interview (2014) at Me&Thee.org]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitting, Jim}} Category:American harmonica players Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Yale University alumni