Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis - History

History

Jimmy Jam is the son of Cornbread Harris, a Minneapolis blues and jazz musician. Jimmy Jam met Lewis while in high school in Minneapolis. They did not meet in class, however, but while attending a TRIO Upward Bound program on the University of Minnesota campus. They formed a band called Flyte Tyme, which evolved into the Time. In 1981, they were joined by Morris Day and toured with Prince as his opening act. As members of The Time, they recorded three of the group's four albums (The Time, What Time Is It? and Pandemonium). The first two albums are said to have shaped early 1980s R&B music (featuring "Cool," "Get It Up," "The Walk," "777-9311," and "Gigolos Get Lonely Too").

In 1982, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were introduced to the music executive Dina R. Andrews, who was then an employee of Dick Griffey's Solar Records (The Whispers, Shalamar, Lakeside, Klymaxx, The Deele, Babyface). The pair asked Andrews to manage them, and through her relationships Andrews first introduced Jam and Lewis to Music Executive Clarance Avant. They produced their first masters for Avant for the SOS Band. Andrews set-up Jam and Lewis's company Flyte Tyme Productions as a business entity, and continued shopping them to her other record executive colleagues. The producers went on to produce several other masters for Avant under Dina Andrews Management for the SOS Band, Cherrelle, Alexander O'Neal and Change. Additionally, Andrews shopped the duo to many of the executives and artists who used their services, such as Klymaxx, Cheryl Lynn (Encore), and executives such as John McClain (Janet Jackson), Clive Davis, Sylvia Rhone, and Warner Chappelle (Rachele Fields).

The pair was fired by Prince from a tour because a blizzard left them unable to rejoin after a short break to produce music for The SOS Band. However, one of the tracks they were producing, "Just Be Good To Me", became a hit and sealed the duo’s reputation, as well as that of the SOS Band. The duo would rejoin The Time for two albums: 1990's Pandemonium and the 2011 album Condensate under the name the Original 7ven.

The duo was noted for early use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine in English-language popular music, which was used in most of its productions. After working with other artists such as Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal, Jam and Lewis were introduced to Janet Jackson and produced her breakthrough album Control in 1986, for which the duo won a Grammy Award. Their collaboration on her next album, 1989's Rhythm Nation 1814, proved even more successful as the album became one of the top-selling albums in history with five No. 1 hits.

Since that time, they founded a record label, Perspective Records (an A&M/PolyGram Records-distributed label that has since shut its doors), and worked with artists including TLC, Sounds of Blackness, Yolanda Adams, Jordan Knight, Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Prince, Spice Girls, Vanessa Williams, George Michael, Melanie B, Rod Stewart, Kelly Price, Gwen Stefani, New Edition, Eric Benet, Pia Zadora, Solo, and The Human League. In 1999, they produced the hit "Open My Heart" by Yolanda Adams which helped her popularity. In 2000, the two were guest performers for J-pop singer and songwriter Hikaru Utada's 'Bohemian Summer' concert tour in Japan.

Terry Lewis married R&B singer Karyn White, with whom he had a daughter, Ashley Nicole Lewis. The pair has since divorced. He later married Indira Singh and had two children, Talin and Tierra. Jimmy Jam served as Chairman of the Board of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is currently listed as Chairman Emeritus.

In 2005 Jam and Lewis opened their new recording studios in Santa Monica California naming it Flyte Tyme West. In 2006, they won a Grammy for Yolanda Adams' song "Be Blessed", from her 2005 album Day By Day. In 2007, Jam and Lewis produced the two-time Grammy Award winning CD Funk This for Chaka Khan, which included the Award winning R&B duet "Disrespectful", with Mary J. Blige.

The production duo recently reunited with The Time at The 50th Grammy Awards on February 10, 2008 in a medley that included the artist Rihanna, and featuring "Jungle Love". In June and July 2008, all of the original members of The Time (Morris Day, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Jesse Johnson, Jerome Benton, Jellybean Johnson, and Monte Moir) reunited once again for a series of shows at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Jam and Lewis worked on Ruben Studdard's album, Love Is.

To date, Jam and Lewis have produced 21 Hot 100 #1 singles:

• New Edition's "If It Isn't Love", "Can You Stand the Rain"
• Johnny Gill's "Rub You the Right Way", "Wrap My Body Tight"
• Ralph Tresvant's "Sensitivity"
• Boyz II Men's "On Bended Knee" & "4 Seasons of Loneliness",
• Mariah Carey's "Thank God I Found You" featuring Joe & 98 Degrees,
• The Human League's "Human",
• Janet Jackson's "When I Think of You", "Miss You Much", "Escapade", "Love Will Never Do (Without You)", "That's the Way Love Goes", "Again", "Together Again", "Doesn't Really Matter" & "All for You",
• George Michael's "Monkey",
• Usher's "U Remind Me"
• Karyn White's "Romantic".

A documentary film called Flyte Tyme was made recently, which focused on their label and the duo.

Jam and Lewis reunited again with the original members of The Time in late 2011 and recorded an album entitled "Condensate". Even though all the original band members participated in this project, due to legal issues with Prince over the use and ownership of the name "The Time", the group renamed themselves "The Original 7ven".