A straight, almost note-for-note cover of a bluesy R&B song taken to the Top Ten in a version by Motown alumnus Marv Johnson on United Artists in 1959, this is pretty much an exercise in pointlessness; if you listen to that one, you’ve listened to this one. (3)
It seems to be intended as a gentle bit of comedy, but Strong delivers it deadpan and without flair so that it falls flat on its arse, preachy and unfunny. Unusual for all that songwriting talent to miss the mark so comprehensively; a case of too many cooks, perhaps. (3)
Hardly a million miles away from Who’s Lovin’ You, it’s a sweet, slow-paced ballad that doesn’t really go anywhere, but it’s pretty all the same, well sung by Smokey at the very top of his register.
The Miracles’ singles had been getting progressively less good with each single since Way Over There, to the point where this sounds like a B-side cut by some forgettable act, not a follow-up to a smash hit single by Motown’s flagship group. (4)
Really rather lovely; a slowie, but a break from the barely-modified standard doo-wop structures that had been used on almost every Motown slowie to date – this is an early Sixties pop record all the way.
The Miracles themselves provide the backing vocals on this, essentially a note-for-note remake of Shop Around with new lyrics. (6)
A sparse bit of third-rate pedestrian doo-wop filler which would have been rejected by Motown’s Quality Control meetings had it been recorded even a year later. It doesn’t sound tense, raw, intimate, minimal, low-key, or any of the other adjectives usually applied to pared-down recordings; it just sounds awful. Avoid.
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 Jimmy on the books, despite an initial lack of chart success. (6)
Neither this song nor the A-side went on to do anything at all in the charts, but Lumpkin was so clearly One To Watch that like other excellent male vocalists who started their Motown careers with early-Sixties commercial flops – a club which would also include Marvin Gaye and Jimmy Ruffin – he didn’t find himself summarily dropped, instead being given further chances and going on to record two more singles with Motown. None of them, though, are quite this good. (8)
You could easily picture this having made the pop Top 30 in 1961; instead, sadly, it sank without trace, and its performer joined the ever-growing ranks of Motown chart flop acts. Lumpkin, at least, would be given a further chance to prove himself. (7)
Every bit as good as the A-side, boosted by a jangling guitar backing and the fun the two singers are evidently having (meaning that this time, there are shades of Marvin and Tammi to be enjoyed). (6)
Motown Junkies 