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Miracle MIR 01 (A), January 1961
b/w Heart
(Written by Jimmy Ruffin)
The Miracle label, which was launched with this engaging R&B pop single, was the third label to be founded in Berry Gordy’s Motown empire following Tamla Records and Motown Records. The new label never hit the heights of its more famous stablemates and lasted a little under a year. Originally under the artistic direction of Gordy’s second wife Raynoma Liles Gordy (“Miss Ray”), a talented songwriter who also sang with the Rayber Voices and played keyboards on a number of early Motown records, Miracle Records is best remembered today for… Well, you can read all this stuff on the Miracle Records page. I want to talk about Jimmy Ruffin.
This is the first Motown appearance for either of the Ruffin brothers; both Jimmy and little brother David would go on to play important roles in the company as the Sixties went on. Both had childhood experience of singing live with the Ruffin family gospel group back home in Mississippi; since then, David had already recorded a couple of solo singles and then signed with Anna Records (the label owned by Berry Gordy’s sister Gwen) to record a follow-up.
Knowing his big brother’s potential, David encouraged Jimmy to follow him to Detroit; Jimmy took the advice, getting a day job at Ford and finding steady work as a session singer. He was also a budding songwriter, and wrote a number of songs during his early days in Detroit, including both sides of his début single. When David signed with Anna and got to know the setup at Motown, he implored Jimmy to audition with Berry Gordy’s company.
Initially hesitant, it was eventually the encouragement of singer/songwriters and Motown alumni Marv Johnson and Mary Wells, both of whom had been afforded the freedom to bring their own material to the table for their début releases Come To Me and Bye Bye Baby respectively, that made the difference. Jimmy auditioned and was signed on the spot.
Ruffin ( J ) admitted later that both sides of this self-penned single were heavily influenced by Jackie Wilson; in particular, they appear to be influenced by the songs written for Wilson by Berry Gordy, which must have gone down well. In fairness, it’s only Ruffin’s vocal which is particularly reminiscent of Wilson’s approach here; this A-side borrows just as much, in terms of structure and style, of past Motown releases by Barrett Strong and the aforementioned Marv Johnson, as well as external groups like the Isley Brothers.
So: somewhat derivative, already slightly dated even on release, and destined for no commercial glory whatsoever… all of this makes it sound like it’s one to skip. In fact, it’s plenty of fun, a breezy R&B romp which opens with a great drum roll and a rollicking burst of sax. Even if he wouldn’t use this particular vocal style again, Ruffin’s strong, emotional voice is already present and correct on this early release, and even if the song is a bit run-of-the-mill, it’s done with enough conviction to make it enjoyable.
It’s an admirable effort, all told, one which showed enough character and potential – as with Henry Lumpkin before him and Marvin Gaye later down the line – to persuade Motown to keep him on the books, despite an initial lack of chart success. It would be more than three years before Ruffin got another Motown release (Since I’ve Lost You, eventually released – to similar commercial effect – in 1964), and more than five before he finally hit paydirt with What Becomes of the Brokenhearted in June 1966, but however long it took for his record sales to repay Motown’s faith and patience, he got there.
A footnote: this single and its flip, both produced by Miss Ray, were the first Motown releases to be credited to a producer other than Berry Gordy.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
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| Henry Lumpkin “We Really Love Each Other” |
Jimmy Ruffin “Heart” |
Motown Junkies 
Sorry, Jimmy. Sounds like a “B” side to me. Berry Gordy is quoted as saying during a Quality Control decision meeting something like…If a kid has a dollar, will he buy a sandwich, or this record? I’d pass on it.
Tan ’61 is about the time David Ruffin was singing for Anna Records. I always assumed Jimmy joined much later.
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He did then seem to hibernate for almost 4 years, so it’s a perfectly reasonable assumption!
I made a lot more comments about the Quality Control meetings on the first Velvelettes piece, which you should get to in mid-April if you’re reading every post in order 😉
I really appreciate all the comments, Steve – thank you.
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Jimmy didn’t hibernate. He served in The U.S. Army.
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Jimmy was in the army before he followed David to Detroit, but that was before he signed with Motown; at least, that’s the story he himself always comes out with. According to the liner notes to his Anthology and to his own comments on TV here in Britain, he spent the time between this and his next single in 1964 working full-time at Ford, keeping his hand in by doing piecemeal touring work and gigs whenever he could fit them in. He seems to have recorded precisely one song during this spell, “Half Of Your Love” in February 1962 (with Mickey Stevenson producing), which turns up on the aforementioned Anthology.
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That’s very interesting to learn. So many so-called “authorities” wrote that he left Motown to serve in the US Army for two years, and started recording again in 1964, upon his return. One learns something new every day (even if it might be inacurate-or downright untrue!)
David Ruffin was signed by Anna Records in late 1958. They leased his 2 cuts to George Goldner (whose End/Gone/Mark-X Records out of New York had leased Gordy’s Five Stars productions, as well as The Miracles first 2 records, and were distributing the first Anna Records. Goldner put David’s record out on his Vega Records label, calling him “Little David Bush”. David had first lived in Detroit with a family named Bush, (the father had become his mentor and agent). By 1961 when Jimmy Joined Motown, David had left the recently folded Anna Records to join Billy Davis at his (and Chess Records’ ) new Check-Mate Records. He was not to return to the Motown fold until joining The Temptations in 1964.
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“Little David Bush” (lol). Interesting info. Thanx for sharing Mr. Robb!
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I have since learned that David Ruffin must have “returned” to Motown in mid-1962, just after being released from Chess when Check-Mate Records closed, and Billy Davis moved to Chicago (full-time) to become Chess’ main A&R man. I was told that David had a single artist contract with Motown before joining The Temptations, and that they totally ignored him, not giving him any studio time, nor assigning him a producer. I also don’t remember seeing his name as a writer of any Jobete Music songs published during the period mid 1962-end of 1963.
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I have since found that David wrote or co-wrote 5 Jobete Music songs in 1962 and 1963, before joining The Temptations.
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Interesting footnote! Mr. Nixon I will forever adore this blog. If not for you, I would not have know that this fairly decent track was consider out-dated during the time of it’s release. There’s not really much for me to say about this song. Jimmy gave a good performance, even if it is a Jackie Wilson mimic (lol). I think I will go listen to “Lonely Teardrops” now = )
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I didn’t think the sound of this song was dated in early 1861, when I bought it new. I’ve always liked this very much.
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Robb, is there a typo here? 1861 or 1961 lol…..hey all you Junkies I have subscribed to this great subscription box, called The Only Retro Box, that features cool retro items like t-shirts, comics, LPs and more. I think you all will enjoy it like I do. Check it out…http://www.theonlyretrobox.com/
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Yes. It should read 1961. Unfortunately we can’t go back into apost to edit typos once we save it.
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Jimmy Ruffin first single certainly is very energetic. Even though it does he is emulating Jackie Wilson, he does alright hes kind of loud but in this case its alright lol Verdict earned!
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There are two different mixes of this release, identifiable by slightly different matrix numbers.
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Yes, I read somewhere else (45 cat) that it was reissued with a slightly different mix, early in 1962. There’s only one mix in TCMS, so I wonder which one they used?
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Repeated play does wonders for this song. It does have too much chrome on it (sounds dated) but after a few spins you’ll be singing along.
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RIP JImmy Ruffin
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AMEN ! and prayers for his family, loved ones & fans!
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And thanks for all the wonderful music…
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RIP Jimmy. I’m sorry I was too slow blogging to get to Brokenhearted.
We’re really behind on the radio uploads and so my radio show tribute from yesterday will go up in a month or two.
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First heard this one at “Northern Soul” events in the early 80s where it was played until the title *You go your way” I think. Believe me, it sounded great and was very popular when played loud in a big dance hall.
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