Search - Jimmy Soul :: If You Wanna Be Happy: The Very Best of Jimmy Soul

One Modest And One Huge Hit For The Wonder Boy

08/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jimmy Soul, born James McCleese in New York City in 1942, was raised in North Carolina and Virginia. At a very young age he became a preacher and then, when a teenager, performed with a local gospel group known as The Nightingales, billed as The Wonder Boy.



After coming to the attention of Frank Guida of Legrand Records, who had earlier discovered Gary (U.S.) Bonds, Jimmy was given a song that Bonds had rejected, a twist version of the calypso tune Matilda, generally associated with Harry Belafonte. Released on the S.P.Q.R. subsidiary, Twistin' Matilda (And The Channel) was a fairly successful debut hit, reaching # 20 R&B and # 22 on the Billboard Pop Hot 100 in the spring of 1962 b/w I Can't Hold Out Any Longer.



But nothing after that made any impact whatsoever until almost exactly one year later when another Bonds' reject of an upbeat Caribbean-flavoured tune became what can only be described as a monster hit. Based upon the Jamaican tune Ugly Woman, If You Wanna Be Happy shot to # 1 on both the R&B and Hot 100 charts in May 1963 b/w Don't Release Me [the flipside is omitted here].



Figuring he had latched onto a formula for success, Jimmy churned out several more of those fast-paced West Indian melodies, such as Treat 'Em Tough and When Matilda Comes Back, but none could get him back on the charts. He eventually abandoned the music scene and did a stint in the military. On June 25, 1988 he died of a heart attack at age 45.



As usual with releases by Ace Records of London the sound quality is excellent, the liner notes informative, and all four sides to his two lone hit singles are included."

IF YOU WANNA BE HAPPY !!

J. Hoffman | dover, pa. United States | 08/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the most memorable hit that Jimmy Soul will be most remembered for. So sorry to hear of his passing in 1988 !!"