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Soul S 35016 (A), October 1965
b/w How Can I Say I’m Sorry
(Written by Smokey Robinson)
It’s a jarring thing to realise that Jimmy Ruffin – unspectacular, honest trier Jimmy Ruffin – was, by the winter of 1965, one of Motown’s longest-serving signings. In his four and a half years under contract at Hitsville, Jimmy, very much the forgotten Ruffin brother following David’s rise to stardom with the Temptations, had racked up a grand total of two single releases to show for his time – the long-forgotten (and possibly prophetically-titled) Don’t Feel Sorry For Me way back in 1961, and 1964’s I Want Her Love, a pretty good single but hardly the sort of stuff to take Jimmy to the next level. Now, almost exactly two hundred reviews later, we catch up with Jimmy once again on Motown Junkies, a year and a half after his last Motown 45; he’s like Hitsville’s very own Gordy’s Comet, returning at regular intervals for another bite at the cherry of stardom.
He’s getting closer, that’s for sure. The intervening time (not as long as first appears, as this was left on the shelf for another six months before finally being cleared for take-off) has been kind to Jimmy’s voice, still thin and wavering in places but with some of his warm personality now showing through, his Philly high harmonies hitting more often than they miss. Smokey Robinson, who writes and produces here, had by now developed a knack of bringing the best out of underpowered singers, and this is a fine effort; if it’s not exactly top-drawer Smokey (or indeed top-drawer Jimmy, though listeners at the time had no idea what that might sound like), it’s Ruffin Senior’s best single to date, both whistleable and likeable.
As presented on The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 5, this is a wonky, shonky sort of recording, the band track warped and distorted in places (the instrumental break around 1:20 is already a bad idea, failing to hide a particularly clunky key change, but the way it’s recorded it sounds like a duff tape copy of itself, a jarring, gurgling series of ropey orchestra hits that highlight the song’s worst moment in highly conspicuous fashion). It’s a fairly rudimentary song even behind all of the recording errors (and, actually, in terms of both its atmosphere and its failure to gracefully integrate the string parts, it now strikes me as being very similar to the Supremes’ Who Could Ever Doubt My Love which immediately precedes it on the CD).
But as we approach the chorus, and the strings swell to aid Jimmy on the climb to a huge buildup – don’t you know? – we get the sense that he really can make it, that this is going to be worth it. And, what do you know? He can, and it is. The chorus itself, creamy and sunny and feeling like a double helping of proto-Philly both in its simplicity and enveloping sweetness, the Andantes doing much of the heavy lifting, is almost criminally catchy.
It’s more than good enough to compensate for the dodgy recording, and perhaps gaining in confidence, Jimmy grows into his role as the song goes on. Few Motown singers audibly develop like this (and perhaps Jimmy has an unfair advantage when we’re only looking at the singles catalogue, given that we only get to meet him at very lengthy intervals, thus making his development seem more prodigious than it really is?); Eddie Kendricks managed it, Marv Johnson never did, but we can physically hear Jimmy Ruffin becoming a fine, fine singer. At 1:44, there’s a splendid echo of the future when Ruffin sings “Don’t doubt me ’cause you doubt him”, tears and pleading in his voice; somewhere in the distance, a light switches on in his mind; still brighter lights begin to beckon. “As I walk this land of broken dreams…”
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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| The Supremes “Who Could Ever Doubt My Love” |
Jimmy Ruffin “How Can I Say I’m Sorry” |
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In the last weeks of 1965, I distinctly remembering hearing both this and Tammi’s “I Can’t Believe You Love Me” on the radio, the first time I heard either singer. Each record did not have long runs at all, but we were at least alerted that some newbie Motown lights were on the horizon. A likeable record, then and still.
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I like this a lot. I might even give it an 7 when it strikes my fancy, Great backing track.
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Has the backing track always sounded as distorted as it does on TCMS 5? (It’s obviously a tape problem, but I don’t know whereabouts in the process it happened – is it on all the actual 45s as well?)
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My copy of TCMS 5 sounds fine, just like I remember the track on the “New Faces from Hitsville” EP.
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My original 45 sounds fine, as does every other one I’ve heard.
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Hi Robb. Sure hope you are doing well my friend. When you have a moment, I posted something in “What Good Am I Without You” by Weston & Gaye. Thought you might be interested. Thanks.
Re. the Jimmy Ruffin song. He has a pleasant voice but he doesn’t totally knock me out. Of course, his big song is coming up. I have heard some critics say that he had some pitch problems. With J Ruffin, I’ve always felt like he sounded best when he was sad. Poor guy! By the way, I still think J Ruffin had one of the coolest Motown album titles of all time “The Groove Governor”!
Re the pitch problems, I’ve done some singing myself here & there. Friends/family tell me I have a pretty good voice, but I have listened to recordings of myself singing & hear every bum note! Motown songs are fun to sing. I used to have a Motown piano book & I would sit for hours singing/playing Motown songs in my parents’ basement. I also dabbled in songwriting in college & wanted my songs to sound Motownish. In retrospect, a lot them sounded like elevator music. LOL!
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Looking ahead I’m afraid of what you’re going to say about Jimmy’s crowning moment. It’s perhaps a 10 in my book. But knowing your aversion to the tune due to extenuating circumstances…..
As for this, it is a small but confident step toward the big one. I never heard it when it was out though. I can’t remember when I did first hear it (maybe early 70s?) but I’ve always been favorably disposed to this record
BTW, what’s happened to the “recent comments” option? It seems to have been disabled for the past few days. And it’s a good way to pick up the stray comment about an older record.
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It’s been highly erratic as to when it works these past few weeks (as have I, in fairness, so I suppose it balances out!) but I think it’s working again now.
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Just listened to this one. Not a bad record by a long shot. But not a great one either. Mr. Ruffin sounds like he is giving it his best shot & he does fine, but I have never been completely knocked out by his voice. Motown on an average day is much better than most record companies on their very best day!
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I have always liked this song however, where I grew up here in Northwest Oregon, I never heard this song on the radio! The first time I listened to “L-O-V-E Love” was when I purchased a copy of Volume 6 of the 16 Motown Hits! Other songs on it were “Ain’t That Peculiar” Marvin Gaye..”Helpless” by Kim Weston and so on..This song was pleasing to the ear and like Landini said, “on an average day, Motown is much better than most record companies on their very best day”! Then, coming up in 1966, Jimmy’s shining moment which was originally slated for the Spinners, is yet to come! Hmm, wonder what it could be..
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Great news that someone actually heard this song get played on the radio in its day. Fantastic. I cannot remember if I heard “What Becomes” in its day or not. Of course, that one’s a Motown great, included everywhere!
Jimmy Ruffin, in the meantime, has become one of my favorite Motown artists. His singing has an “accent” to it, if you will. Very natural and unaffected and he hums and I’m hooked. . . Some of my laterlife 10s are sung by Jimmy Ruffin.
I don’t hear the 1:44 “glitch” when listening to TCMS 26.16— but.. whoah it sure IS clunky! Chunky Monkey Clunky!! I love the opening bar. The single note. Wonder if it was punched with the index finger of the left hand or right? Whatever . . . . I could stand to hear it for another measure before we add on top of it! This song is a songwriting lesson. What’s going on here? Is it 6/8 to 4/4? How DO you count it? I love the simple modulation. Not fancy at all. Just right for the staccato one note that it is. Smokey knows the good sh**.
But maybe…where all the light are bright…just maybe, the goods are on the flip?? Can’t wait for that good
Tee -–EYE– Emm—Eee, where I can dial SOUL S 35016B(ee).
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The record is perhaps a 6 but the song done up to the standards of West grand Blvd. might have done better. There was a song done by Billy Eckstine that I had on a sampler lp from the mid -sixties that was titled “The Answer Is Love”, that I believe was not on his UK Anthology of Motown circa 2004 -ish, that this song reminds me of. Another great song of the thousands written by Mr. Robinson. Alluding to the songwriting lesson that Mr. Robinson delivers in this song from a previous post, what would have his compositions have sounded like if he knew the rules, so to speak.
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I always knew this record had a draggy, warped out of space kind of feel to it. Much like some of those early Stang/All Platinum records of the late 60’s/early 70s. I put it down to equipment or tape trouble and since its not too distracting i can block it out. But if you have a stereo copy of the 1968 Lp its included you can hear it plainly. All my other Ruffin Lps, as well as the single, are in mono.
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My first exposure to this song was listening to the “16 Big Hits Volume 6” (U.S) package that was in my Mother’s LP collection. Out of those songs i’d put it 15th or 16th but the memorable part was when he started with “I’m gonna keep on tryin’ ” and for several bars the song took on a new kind of energy. When I acquired “Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten” some years later i heard the version where they went back to that hook to end the song where on my single and the compilation it ended differently. A “6” for me although it evokes fond memories.
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I grew up in Detroit in it’s heyday and this song was a HIT for us. It is on my iPhone 5s and I am listening it right now. I only Googled to find out who wrote the song. I should have already known: SMOKEY!!
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