Soulzanger Holiday’s claim to fame is Put A Little Love In Your Heart wat we kennen van Jackie DeShannon, maar hij nam ook zelf een indrukwekkende rij singles op voor het legendarische Minit label uit New Orleans. Singer/Songwriter soul van de bovenste plank, zoals Otis Redding het pionierde. Toentertijd bepaald geen commercieel succes, en helaas zal de vroeg gestorven Holiday deze terechte heruitgave ook niet meer meemaken.
Jimmy Holiday is probably best known as the co-writer of ‘Put A Little Love In Your Heart’, ‘All I Ever Need Is You’ and a handful of other hit songs, including several for his friend and mentor, Ray Charles. But to connoisseurs of 60s soul, he is regarded as a singer of no small talent, with an individual style that made the release of each new single an important event.
This Kent compilation shines the spotlight on the recordings Jimmy made for Minit in the second half of the 1960s, a period in which he was at his peak as a vocalist and songwriter, working with some of the best musicians and producers of the era, and enjoying a hit or two along the way. Those sides mark him as a man who should have been a big star. He might well have become one, but for a busy schedule writing for others and health problems that led to his death at the age of just 54.
The collection features everything issued during Jimmy’s time with Minit, including two titles first released on his lone album, “The Turning Point”. These are the recordings on which his reputation rests. Classy and timeless, they sound as inspired now as they did almost 50 years ago. Our 2015 schedule could not have got off to a better start.
