Customer Reviews

Ain't That Funny

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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.

In the summer of 1956, the Elvis revolution happened in the USA, soon to spread worldwide. Lots of tame white male vocalists fell by the commercial wayside as record labels looked for their own Elvis clones, largely without success, of course. No one singer proved as consistently interesting, or as versatile, or as likeable as The King. Elvis obliterated the hit possibilities for Bing Crosby, Vic Damone, Eddie Fisher, etc.---basically anyone not as skilled as Sinatra or Tony Bennett. By 1964, Elvis himself had become "tamed" and crossed from dangerous rock to pop, Gospel, country, etc. Then came, from Britain, the Beatles, and everything changed again. The Beatles did not just wipe out less talented male vocal groups, but sucked the oxygen out of the sky for lots of solo male singers as well, Jimmy Justice included. He was an appealing guy with a decent voice who had a few hits in Britain and Sweden, but he fell into obscurity in terms of charting records. Americans such as Bobby Darin endured for awhile, but John Gary, Jack Jones, Roy Hamilton, Adam Wade, Pat Boone faded quickly. And Justice's fellow Brit Matt Monroe was also left behind. This 50-song double CD demonstrates that Mr. Justice had some talent. He does many cover songs, some interesting but none the equal of the original artists' versions. He is heard on a bunch of originals as well, and many of these I liked. He is always pleasant, and I like this compliation as much as I like my "Best of Bobby Vee" and "Best of the Fleetwoods" discs...pretty much from the same era, and done in similar styles. My favorites on here include "I Understand" and "Once in a Lifetime" and "Like You" and "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" and "Early in the Morning" on Disc One. On the second CD, which I think stronger overall, I enjoyed "Little Cracked Bell" and "The Guitar Player" and "Save the Last Dance for Me" and "Green Leaves of Summer" and a bit of a weird one, "The Folk Singer." The package has good, honest liner notes, quoting the singer as now recognizing how naive he was when he had his chance at fame, and the errors he made, and the hard lessons learned about publishers, producers, promotion and record companies. If you like the second-rank or even third-rank male singers of the late '50's and early '60's, Jimmy fits right in...better than some, not as compelling as some others.