24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Best of Jimmy Clanton, January 22, 2003
This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)
Jimmy Clanton was born 9/2/40 in Baton Rogue,Louisiana. Starred in the 1958 movie "Go Johnny Go." Charted his first hit single on 7/21/58 with his back up group the Rockets. "Just A Dream" topped out at #4 on the Billboard charts for 15 weeks,and conquered the R&B charts at #1 for a week. Earning instant respect with his first hit, Clanton released "A Letter to An Angel" which hit #25 on the top 40 chart just 4 months after his first hit. The flip side of his Ace label also charted, rising to a #38 position. Thought it was only on the charts for 2 weeks, "A Part of Me" again showed the talent of his buttery voice and began to escalate him into a teenage idol. In August, 1959 he struck gold again with a beautiful ballad, "My Own True Love", which by the way just happened to be the melody in "Tara's Theme" from Gone With the Wind. The fore-mentioned stuck around for 6 weeks on the Billboard Top 40 Chart. At Christmas time in 1959 Jimmy delighted us with another top 10 effort called "Go, Jimmy, Go." It was a up-beat dance tune that got everyone on the dance floor. Enter one Neil Sedaka, who immediately recognized Jimmy Clanton, not only for his singing talent, but also as a contemporary who knew and understoood the music he sang. Sedaka wrote Clanton's last two musical efforts including: "Another Sleepless Night" and "Venus In Blue Jeans" the latter being without a doubt Clanton's most famous and well-known song. Then just like that he was gone. Yet today Jimmy remains as a phenomenon known as part of the teen idol music pop scene between 1957 & 1962. He was made to order for the white middle class of America in the happy daze of the Eisenhower 50's. Clanton seemed to span the years between 12 & 20. His music spoke knowingly and sympathetically of that mystical state of being a teenager. Like the other idols of his day Jimmy Clanton was widely accepted and viewed as an icon and a foundation of the music that was yet to follow.
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