Jimmy Sturr Biography
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c. 1941, Florida, New York, USA. An underrated but prolific Nashville recording artist, Jimmy Sturr is one of the leading lights in the renaissance of polka music in the late 20th century. By the mid-80s he was at last seeing some reward for several decades of live work and recording, with his 1986 recording I Remember Warsaw winning the first of the artist’s several Grammy awards. Despite the higher profile this brought him, Sturr insisted it was the music itself and its traditions he was promoting: ‘Polka has the stigma that it’s only for older people or only for ethnic people, sung in a native language. But we’ve Americanized the polka (so) all the singing is done in English.’ Part of the new audience opening up for polka came in the shape of traditional country music fans, who lapped up performances by Sturr’s band at the Grand Ole Opry. Sturr followed up the breakthrough success of I Remember Warsaw with a string of six consecutive wins during the late 80s and early 90s. He switched to the Rounder Records label during this period and enjoyed a mainstream breakthrough with 1996’s Polka! All Night Long, which featured long-time fan Willie Nelson. Sturr built on this success with 1997’s Living On Polka Time, which this time saw him collaborate with Bill Anderson (‘Loving Arms’) and Flaco Jiménez (‘Hey Baby’). The follow-up Dance With Me (Sturr’s 100th album!) featured special guests the Oak Ridge Boys, and further award-winning releases included star appearances by Mel Tillis, Brenda Lee, Arlo Guthrie, Rhonda Vincent, Charlie Daniels, and Bela Fleck. By 2004, Sturr was able to proudly boast of winning 14 Grammy awards over the years, with the artist and his orchestra effectively claiming ownership of the best polka album category.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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