James Baxter Long Sr. (December 25, 1903 – February 25, 1975) was an American store manager, owner, and record company talent scout, responsible in the 1930s for discovering Fulton Allen ("Blind Boy Fuller") and Gary Davis, among other notable blues musicians.
By 1933, Long was working in Kinston, North Carolina, as the manager of the regional chain, the United Dollar Store.
[3] Long began recording African American groups after holding a local talent contest for black musicians at the nearby Old Central Warehouse in June 1934.
Several times a year he traveled with various musicians and bands that he had "discovered" to New York City or Chicago to make recordings of their songs.
Perhaps his most famous talent discovery was Fulton Allen, Long bestowing on him the pseudonym "Blind Boy Fuller."
In 1938, Blind Boy Fuller's friend and bandmate, washboard player George Washington (aka Bull City Red), introduced Brownie McGhee to Long.
Because Fuller was unable to make the recording session, Long persuaded Columbia to give McGhee an audition.
He saw some talent, he saw some quality involved and he used his ingenuity to get me on record, so automatically I owe him a vote of thanks for gettin' Brownie McGhee alive.
[6]On the other hand, Sonny Terry, the longtime performing partner of Brownie McGhee, had a different impression of Long, stating: “I’ll tell you something about J.
And what you noticed most was it was you out on the streets scufflin’, trying to get by, not him.”[7] In June 1939, Long was elected mayor of the city of Elon College, North Carolina.