Jimmy Soul

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Twistin 'Matilda
  US 22nd March 31, 1962 (14 weeks)
If you wanna be happy
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 03/30/1963 (14 weeks)
  UK 39 07/11/1963 (2 weeks)
If You Wanna Be Happy (Re-release)
  UK 68 06/15/1991 (3 weeks)

Jimmy Soul (born August 24, 1942 in Weldon , North Carolina , † June 25, 1988 in New York ; real name James McCleese ) was an American pop singer.

resume

McCleese was a child preacher and gospel musician from a young age. He was a member of the church choir and various gospel groups, including touring the southern states with the Nightingales , where he was nicknamed The Wonder Boy .

Then in 1962 the music producer Frank Guida noticed him. Guida had while he was stationed in Trinidad , the Calypso discovered -Music and with his main act Gary US Bonds added plates twist a few. He was looking for a singer for a twist version of Matilda , a calypso classic that became famous in the version by Harry Belafonte . James McCleese recorded Twistin 'Matilda under the stage name Jimmy Soul and reached number 22 on the US charts.

Further recordings were unsuccessful at first, but in 1963 he recorded a modified version of the song Ugly Woman by the Trinidad musician Roaring Lion . The unusual lyrics ("If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, then never marry a pretty woman") and the catchy, happy melody made the song If You Wanna Be Happy a huge success. It sold over a million copies and became number 1 on the pop charts. The song also became a Top 40 hit in the UK.

The following album was unsuccessful, so Jimmy McCleese first went to the military. In the years that followed, he continued to work as a singer and entertainer, but did not make it to the charts. In 1988 he died after a heart attack at the age of 45.

If you wanna be happy

The song has been covered several times, including Kid Creole & the Coconuts , Rocky Sharpe and the Replays and Joe Dolce . There was no other chart hit among them.

In 1990, the original version of Jimmy Soul was better used in the soundtrack to the film Mermaids Kiss and subsequently reached the lower chart ranks in Great Britain.

Discography

  • Twistin 'Matilda (And the Channel)
  • If you wanna be happy
  • Treat 'Em Tough
  • A Woman Is Smarter in Every Kinda Way

swell

  1. ↑ US Charts: Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7 / UK Charts: British Hit Singles & Albums , 18th Edition, Guinness World Records Limited 2005, ISBN 9781904994008
  2. ^ Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992, p. 129

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Soul, Jimmy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McCleese, James (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pop singer
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Weldon , North Carolina USA
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1988
Place of death New York , NY , USA