The Message In My Mailbox

The Sims Twins - You've Got To Do The Best You Can (With What You've Got)



It's funny how sometimes in life you need to hear an encouraging message. Yesterday was a bad day, with some unpleasant surprises that left me scrambling to make sure "ends met." Fortunately, I was able to get things back under control, but the day's events left me feeling pretty down. When I got home I saw that a Sims Twins record I had bought via eBay - I bought it on a whim, having never heard it - had arrived. So after talking to my wife awhile, I went down to the den and played the record, and then played it again and again.

I featured the Sims Twins on the blog quite recently, so I'll forego any discussion about their career. "You've Got To Do The Best You Can (With What You've Got)" was the first of two 45s the brothers recorded for A&M's short-lived Omen subsidiary (other notable Omen releases include The Wooden Nickels' "Nobody But You" and James Brown Revue member James Crawford's "Honest I Do"). This is a nice gospel-bent number that takes the "rapping" approach of Joe Tex but uses it to discuss overcoming trials and tribulations instead of the affairs of the heart that Tex usually preached about. No production credits appear on the label, but the flip, "Thankful," is credited to J.W. Alexander, so I figure he produced "Do the Best You Can" also. It's a pretty straightforward song, but its message really moved me yesterday evening.