It was the  spring of 1929 in the city of Plainfield, New Jersey- a peaceful Sunday the 14th of April. At 8:30 that morning a cry was heard throughout that declared: 'Hello world, I'm new!'. James W. Byrd claims he uttered those words the moment he arrived and if you listen to him talk for a bit, you start to believe it.  He didn't reside in New Jersey very long in the beginning but he always considered it home. Byrd’s mother moved the family to Richmond, VA in 1933, a casualty of separation from his father. Most of his youth through teen years were spent between there and Manual Training Boarding School located in Bordentown, New Jersey  he began attending when he was 15 . He eventually ended up in North Carolina and began his path as a man.

Young Jimmy Byrd knew early on he wanted to do something that would get him attention. He dreamed of name recognition and popularity; to fully absorb the experience of celebrity. He recognized that he had God given talents  and that  somehow, he  needed to combine that with a medium that would entertain a large audience.

Byrd chose his profession to be an OAP (On Air Personality) at a time when a  radio career was an extremely challenging path for  a 'Negro' to pursue.  Remember, this was a time in America when there were two sets  of rules. Radio was no different.  The first step to be an OAP  was  taking the radio engineering test-- administered by the FCC. It was considered by many to be a major hurdle.  Byrd cleared,  and was given the license required to work in a station. Once inside the door, it was all about his determination.  To forge a unique personality that would make him a king of his celeb-dom. He wanted the power.

Now to get his foot in the door...

The first door to open for Byrd was in 1950 at WGNY in Newberg, New York.  That door was easy--- because he opened it himself by finding a station that would sell him air time. It meant paying to be heard; a dollar a minute when a dollar an hour was a good wage. All he could afford to start was a half hour of air time a week. It was all he needed. Return on your investment was good if you could  sell spots on your show. At first, IF you made a profit, it was usually just enough to eat. If you obtained a sponsor things were a little better. Hard path? Yes, but it was part of Byrd's plan to gain the exposure while honing his on-air skills.

Once he started getting heard, the next step was running ads to promote himself in Broadcast  Magazine. This move gained him a position the following year in North Carolina at WFAI in Fayetteville.  Byrd was excited about the move because he wanted to be in a market more densely populated with Blacks. The trade-off was the tight mandatory restrictions that were applied in radio-- especially in the South.

In 1953 Byrd moved to WSRC in Durham, where he was anointed with the moniker 'Dr. Jive'. The station gave him the nickname, and owned it. In those days in the South, Blacks had to talk 'jive' to hold an on-air position. Not just anyone had the talent because 'it meant you had to say everything in rhyme from script or off the top of your head,' Byrd recalls. 'Rappers of their day, with the same beats playing in the background, only at lot less vulgar,' he concluded. Fast paced and quick witted, Byrd was one of the best. He was one of only three Black OAP’s on the staff. The most famous was Norfley Whitted, the first Black in radio, whom Byrd felt very fortunate to mentor under. The other was Dennis “Honeyboy” Ford, a dark skinned brother with a heavy Patwah  accent, from the Geechie country town of Dillon, South Carolina.

Starting at WSCR, Byrd became the Number One ON AIR PERSONALITY at every station he worked at. That list is long and impressive as was the mark Jimmy Byrd made in Boston the next decade.

1960 was regarded as the first year of 'the decade of change.' Byrd made a move to Boston and station WILD . This began the Black radio market in the New England area. Boston had it's own brand of oppressive politics towards people of color; the rules as tight, or worse than those in the South.  'Dr. Jive' became the 'EARLY' Byrd. The nickname was unique; his own personal moniker. No station owned it; and when the mold was broken, Byrd wielded the hammer. 'Early' was special because it was bestowed upon him by the kids in his daily audience that awoke each morning to his rapid fire rap and soulful tunes. His style made them feel good about starting the day. Early Byrd was now his own character; his alter-ego was complete. Soon, he had his own Early Byrd Fan Club and later his famed Early Byrd Dancers. The combination spiced up the many public events he sponsored or hosted. The list of musical big names of the time reads like a Who's Who of now superstars. Even  Ike & Tina Turner recorded a tribute to the morning master called 'Doing the Early Byrd'.  The dance was as unique and fast paced as the man still is. His tenth anniversary as the Early Byrd was celebrated in the Boston Arena and over 4000 fans attended to help him celebrate.

Jimmy Byrd had achieved his dream of celebrity status. It was still growing. In 1964 he became the first Black to MC the Newport Jazz Festival. That gig continued for five more years. The more his popularity increased, the more deeply rooted his position in the Black community became. He was soon tested on the power he now possessed.  Life was not all the superficial glitz and glamour of stars, artists, fans and concerts. This was turbulent times and bad things occurred often and without warning. The date was April 5th. 1968. It was also 9 days before Byrd's 39th birthday and he was excited to MC a packed house at the Boston Arena for a performance by the Godfather of Soul--James Brown. However, the day before, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. America's cities were on fire and it seemed people were rioting everywhere. Boston was afraid of the same fate. Hours before the scheduled start, debate was hot on what to do. Police and business owners had legitimate concerns posed by a large  number of  Blacks congregated at one place in Downtown Boston.  On the other hand, to cancel the concert would also have resulted in violence. The situation appeared without a painless solution. Then came Early. Late.

He quickly took control. First, he anointed himself peace ambassador and then negotiated a very successful resolution to the dilemma. He talked Mayor Kevin White, the promoters; in reality, the whole city, into staying calm while he proceeded  to make history. The plan was simple. Just let it all happen as planned with one exception- simulcast of the concert on TV through the local PBS station, WGBH. Nervous folks concerned about going out could stay home and see it and the few adventurous ones could still come down. PBS balked at the idea and James Brown's people knew small attendance meant no pay. When  Byrd was done talking, TV cameras were on there way to the arena and the  mayor agreed to  guarantee the gate. Trapped by the explosive conditions and  blackmailed by fate, White consented only under the condition that details of the incident be classified top secret. The alternative to that was fear of a riot of similar magnitude by the whites for tax money spent on  'jigaboo' music.  Even though James Brown was given much of the credit for averting a riot in Boston, he recognized the real broker of the deal was Byrd and the friendship grew into a relationship.

It eventually became a business association when the Godfather hired him to be the General Manager and OAP of one of his three radio stations located in Baltimore. From 1977 to 1980, The Early Byrd was crowing mornings at WEBB, named after Chuck Webb, famed Jazz drummer who also discovered Ella Fitzgerald.

Music is always changing and R and B was now morphing into different styles. 'Black Rock' was new on the scene, and Byrd wanting to be a part of it all. He accepted a position at WNJR in Newark from 1972-1975. The station was known as the 'Black Rock of the Great East Coast'. Music from Jimi Hendrix, Funkadelics, Sly Stone, Chambers Brothers  and Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Band were a few of the popular hot ones of the time.

Byrd loved being home in New Jersey and working for WUSS in Atlantic City. In fact he returned three times during periods spanning from 1975-77, 1980-83 and 1988-90. He also worked at other stations in the New Jersey area like WIBG and Starshine Satellite Network which was his last position held on the East Coast.

After over fifty years in the business he has done many things including a teaching stint  at Boston College and working as a Professional Ring Announcer (ESPN). The Early Byrd is now semi-retired (heavy on the 'semi') and flew west to be close to one of his beautiful daughters, Adrian. He resides just south of Seattle, WA. in the suburb of Renton.

Byrd was never just a rhythm and blues man and is much more at home with Gospel. It was his roots. He knew it well because it was not all 'jive' in the South. The tradition has always been to set the heathenish behaviors of Friday and Saturday nights  aside come Sunday mornings. It gave you time to get your mind right to be back at the grind come Monday. Byrd filled that bill too and was there to praise with the Gospel and the music.  He is now an ordained minister of the Lord,  and gives lectures on the history of traditional Black Gospel music still today. His last radio stint was carried internationally through the internet when he was OAP of the Sunday morning Gospel show at KEXP, Seattle. He travels the globe as MC for old friends and  great Gospel artists such as The Blind Boys of Alabama and Solomon Burke.

Don't let the cane fool you.

Look for a new feature coming that will bring you a weekly column written by the 'Early' Byrd. This man is a walking talking history book and there are many stories, anecdotes and thoughts  he still has  to share.

So sign up FREE as a member and be sent all of his new articles and also notified of other interesting new features as they are added to his site. God willing, you will soon see not only written words but, audio recordings and internet broadcasting from him as well.  His biography will also be coming soon. When you browse the photo gallery and begin to take in all the people he knew well in music and political history, you can only imagine the interesting stories to come...

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