In the 1970s, Cotton recorded several albums for Buddah Records. He played harmonica on Waters's Grammy Award–winning 1977 album "Hard Again", produced by Johnny Winter. In the 1980s he recorded for Alligator Records in Chicago; he rejoined the Alligator roster in 2010. The James Cotton Blues Band received a Grammy nomination in 1984 for "Live from Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself!", on Alligator, and a second for his 1987 album "Take Me Back", on Blind Pig Records. He was awarded a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for "Deep in the Blues" in 1996. Cotton appeared on the cover of the July–August 1987 issue of "Living Blues" magazine (number 76). He was featured in the same publication's 40th anniversary issue of August–September 2010.