"The Baby Huey Story - The Living Legend"

James Thomas Ramey, better known by his stage name “Baby Huey” (taken from the Paramount Pictures animated giant cartoon duckling), was born in Richmond, Indiana but had move to Chicago in the early 1960s to front his band The Babysitters with co-founders Melvin Deacon Jones on organ/trumpet and Johnny Ross on guitar. By the time recording took place for The Living Legend, only Huey and Jones remained from the original line up. Deacon Jones would go on to play with Freddie King and John Lee Hooker. Because of a glandular disorder, Huey weighed close to 400 lbs. At times which contributed to his larger than life stage presence as well as a host of health problems. During the later 1960s the Babysitters followed the lead of Sly and the Family Stone and became a psychedelic soul act, with Huey dressing up in elaborate robes and adding rhymes to their stage act. According to band members at the time, Huey’s rhymes were very similar in style to those later popularized by rappers in Hip Hop.