Search - Jimmy Justice :: Ain't That Funny

What might have been

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 04/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pop history is filled with singers who might have been, but Jimmy has a stronger claim than most to be unlucky. This British singer happened to have a Swedish girlfriend at one time and was very successful on a visit to Sweden, before he achieved any success in his own country. When he started to have hits, he was generally unable to promote them properly in Britain.

One of his British hits was a cover of When my little girl is smiling. For chart success, it had to compete with another British cover by Craig Douglas as well as the original American version by the Drifters. All three charted, but Jimmy's was generally regarded as the most successful, reaching as high as 3 in one of four different charts used at the time. However, the chart now regarded as the standard shows his version peaking at 9, equal to Craig. Jimmy's version was sufficiently good that it almost became an American hit when eventually released there a couple of years later.



His next hit, the original song Ain't that funny, also reached the British top ten. Jimmy was often compared to Ben E King, so it was no particular surprise when his third British hit was a cover of Spanish Harlem. It made the top twenty, but marked the end of his UK hit-making career. Jimmy's record company made several wrong decisions that effectively killed his career, although he retained his popularity in Sweden and continued to perform there regularly for several years.



On this compilation you can find everything he recorded for Pye during his six years there, including all his hits, some interesting original songs and many excellent covers including What'd I say, Hallelujah I love her so, I can't stop loving you (all Ray Charles), A little bit of soap, Little lonely one (both Jarmels), Dawning (Jay and the Americans), Misty (Johnny Mathis), Don't let the stars get in your eyes (Perry Como), The night has a thousand eyes (Bobby Vee), Save the last dance for me, Up on the roof (both Drifters).



Had Jimmy not been distracted by his career in Sweden and elsewhere, his three British hits might have been even bigger and things might have been very different. Even so, this is a magnificent collection of Jimmy's music."