A Message From The "Other Jimmy"

Jimmy Lewis - Goodbye Sorrow

If you've read this blog for any significant amount of time you've probably realized that I have particular admiration for three Jimmys who made strong contributions to soul music (and other genres) as artists, but more notably as songwriters: Jimmy Lewis, Jimmy Holiday and Jimmy McCracklin. Recently I featured Jimmy Holiday's "I Found a New Love," a powerful piece of optimistic soul. My favorite Jimmy of the three, Mr. Lewis, provides a nice companion piece in today's post.

"Goodbye Sorrow," a 1962 Cyclone single, was Lewis' vinyl debut, and it finds Lewis emulating Sam Cooke over a nice pop-slanted beat that could also have worked nicely for the Drifters. I suppose Drifters leader Bill Pinkney considered the same to be true, as Jimmy was recruited to join the group in the following year! (Jimmy would sing lead for the group from 1963-65, which leads me to believe he probably sang lead on the James Brown-produced Drifters sides.)