The jesse james sims project

Jesse James Sims was a Philly songwriter in the mid-to-late 1950's and early 1960's. 

He achieved a notable level of success, selling songs to Dick Clark's labels, and to labels such a Merrimac Music, then located in the Brill Building in NY.

His songs can be still found, and his story is one of struggle, success and, ultimately theft of his work and loss. 

Jesse was the father of Sandbox artist Tim Sims, and Tim had possession of many of the original acetate pressings as well as typed and handwritten chord and lyric sheets and many publishing contracts. Payments ranged from $10 to $100 dollars, which was considered a pretty good rate during those days. Also included were many lyric sheets that, as best we can tell, never were put to music, or if they were, were not recorded. The songs were of incredible quality, and we decided to published and re-issue the songs in a new compilation.

Coming in 2020 is a new anthology that will include the remastered original records, new recordings of the songs from Tim Sims, and contributions from other Sandbox artists and Philly bands who will set Jesse's lyrics to new music. 

We will also be bringing this amazing story to the stage, and are thrilled to have Philadelphia's own, playwright John O'Hara, to tell the story. 

Jesse represented the thriving rock & roll scene in Philadelphia during the early days of rock and roll. His music is indicative of the originality and style that defined Philly music.