Jimmy Mack
Encyclopedia
"Jimmy Mack" is a 1967 pop
/soul
single recorded by Martha and the Vandellas
for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 hit for the Vandellas in the United States
, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100
in 1967 and at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart
..
, is narrated by a woman who longs for her boyfriend, named "Jimmy Mack", to return to her. The narrator is being courted by another suitor, whom she notes "talks just as sweet as" her long-gone Jimmy, and hopes for him to return before her resistance is worn down.
The inspiration for this song came from a 1964 music industry awards dinner, which Lamont Dozier
attended. At the ceremony the mother of the songwriter Ronnie Mack accepted an award for her son, who had recently died, for his composition He's So Fine
. Under pressure to come up with a hit for Reeves and the Vandellas, Dozier and the team penned this song in part a tribute to Mack the writer.
"Jimmy Mack" was originally recorded in 1964 when Annette Beard
was still a part of the group. The song was shelved because the Motown Quality Control team felt the recording was not suitable for release with the Vietnam War
going on. Like Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' later hit, "The Tears of a Clown
", "Jimmy Mack" was pulled from the vault two years later and released as a single in early 1967. By that time, the Vietnam War
had become a highly debated issue among the American public. Thus, Reeves' sentiment that her "Jimmy Mack" return took on a different meaning for many listeners, particularly those stationed overseas.
"Jimmy Mack" was a success, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the second and final Vandellas single to top the Billboard R&B chart. The song had been included on the Vandellas' LP Watchout!
, issued a month before the single release. For nearly forty years, "Jimmy Mack" was presented in either monaural
sound or in a mix culled from an alternate take. A true stereo mix of the original single master was not done until 2006, for the compilation Martha & the Vandellas: Gold.
's remake of "Jimmy Mack" was issued as the second single from her 1985 Do You
album to peak at #65. The song has also been remade by Laura Nyro
(on the 1971 Gonna Take a Miracle
album featuring Labelle
), Charity Brown
, Bonnie Pointer
and Phil Collins
(on the 2010 Going Back
album). Karen Carpenter
recorded "Jimmy Mack" version of this song for her solo album but it was never released.
used the song in their television programme
in a sketch which parodied British girl group Bananarama
. Lananeeneenoonoo (the name of the fictitious group in the sketch which featured Kathy Burke
as the third member) were shown recording a cover version of and making a video for "Jimmy Mack" in the style of Bananarama, who had previously covered the Motown songs "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'
" and "Nathan Jones
".
The name is used in a song by one of Eddie Argos' various bands named 'Everybody was in the French Resistance...Now'. The song is called 'Hey It's Jimmy Mack' and is a response from the Jimmy Mack in the original song, giving his side of the story.
The song is heard playing on the radio while two soldiers discuss Martha & The Vandellas in a season two episode of the Vietnam War
television drama Tour of Duty
.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
/soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
single recorded by Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 hit for the Vandellas in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1967 and at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
..
History
The song, with lead vocal by Vandellas' lead singer Martha ReevesMartha Reeves
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
, is narrated by a woman who longs for her boyfriend, named "Jimmy Mack", to return to her. The narrator is being courted by another suitor, whom she notes "talks just as sweet as" her long-gone Jimmy, and hopes for him to return before her resistance is worn down.
The inspiration for this song came from a 1964 music industry awards dinner, which Lamont Dozier
Lamont Dozier
Lamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
attended. At the ceremony the mother of the songwriter Ronnie Mack accepted an award for her son, who had recently died, for his composition He's So Fine
He's So Fine
"He's So Fine" is a recording by The Chiffons which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in the spring of 1963. One of the most instantly recognizable Golden Oldies with its doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang background vocal, "He's So Fine" is also renowned as the plaintiff song in the now-infamous...
. Under pressure to come up with a hit for Reeves and the Vandellas, Dozier and the team penned this song in part a tribute to Mack the writer.
"Jimmy Mack" was originally recorded in 1964 when Annette Beard
Annette Beard
Annette Beard Sterling Helton is an American R&B and soul singer, most notable for being one of the original members of popular Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas.-Early years:...
was still a part of the group. The song was shelved because the Motown Quality Control team felt the recording was not suitable for release with the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
going on. Like Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' later hit, "The Tears of a Clown
The Tears of a Clown
"The Tears of a Clown" is a song by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Tamla label, originally released on the 1967 album Make It Happen. It was re-released in the United Kingdom as a single in September 1970, where it became a #1 hit on the UK singles chart...
", "Jimmy Mack" was pulled from the vault two years later and released as a single in early 1967. By that time, the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
had become a highly debated issue among the American public. Thus, Reeves' sentiment that her "Jimmy Mack" return took on a different meaning for many listeners, particularly those stationed overseas.
"Jimmy Mack" was a success, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the second and final Vandellas single to top the Billboard R&B chart. The song had been included on the Vandellas' LP Watchout!
Watchout!
"Watchout!" was the fourth studio album and fifth album overall by Martha and the Vandellas, released on the Gordy label in 1966. The album featured the hit singles, "I'm Ready for Love" and "Jimmy Mack" and the ballad single, "What Am I Gonna Do Without Your Love?" This was one of the last...
, issued a month before the single release. For nearly forty years, "Jimmy Mack" was presented in either monaural
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
sound or in a mix culled from an alternate take. A true stereo mix of the original single master was not done until 2006, for the compilation Martha & the Vandellas: Gold.
Personnel
- Lead vocals by Martha ReevesMartha ReevesMartha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
- Background vocals by Rosalind AshfordRosalind AshfordRosalind "Roz" Ashford-Holmes is an American soprano R&B and soul singer, famed for her work as member of the popular Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas.-Early years:...
and Annette BeardAnnette BeardAnnette Beard Sterling Helton is an American R&B and soul singer, most notable for being one of the original members of popular Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas.-Early years:... - Additional (harmony) background vocals by The AndantesThe AndantesThe Andantes were a prolific female sessions group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, The Temptations, Stevie...
: Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and Louvain Demps - Instrumentation by The Funk BrothersThe Funk BrothersThe Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
Other versions
Sheena EastonSheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
's remake of "Jimmy Mack" was issued as the second single from her 1985 Do You
Do You (album)
Do You is the seventh studio album from Sheena Easton. It was originally released in 1985 by EMI, reissued by One Way Records in '2000' remastered with B-sides. The album was produced by Nile Rodgers....
album to peak at #65. The song has also been remade by Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
(on the 1971 Gonna Take a Miracle
Gonna Take a Miracle
Gonna Take a Miracle is the fifth music album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. Nyro was backed up on the album by the vocal trio Labelle....
album featuring Labelle
Labelle
Labelle is an American all female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelphia/Trenton areas, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, later changing...
), Charity Brown
Charity Brown
Charity Brown is a Canadian film actress, singer, and voice artist for television animation shorts. She is one of Eastwood Collegiate Institute's notable alumni.-Biography:...
, Bonnie Pointer
Bonnie Pointer
Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer is an American R&B and disco singer, most notable for being the next-to-youngest member of the 1970s and 1980s family music group, The Pointer Sisters. She scored several moderate solo hits after leaving the Pointers in 1977, including a disco cover of The Elgins'...
and Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
(on the 2010 Going Back
Going Back (Phil Collins album)
Going Back is Phil Collins's eighth studio album. It was released on 13 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and 28 September 2010 in the United States. and features covers of 60s Motown & Soul standards...
album). Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
recorded "Jimmy Mack" version of this song for her solo album but it was never released.
Trivia
British comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer SaundersJennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
used the song in their television programme
French and Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
in a sketch which parodied British girl group Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
. Lananeeneenoonoo (the name of the fictitious group in the sketch which featured Kathy Burke
Kathy Burke
Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke is an English actress, comedienne, playwright and theatre director. She is best known for her portrayals of Perry in the Harry Enfield film Kevin and Perry Go Large, and of Linda La Hughes in the British sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme...
as the third member) were shown recording a cover version of and making a video for "Jimmy Mack" in the style of Bananarama, who had previously covered the Motown songs "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'
He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'
"He Was Really Sayin' Somethin is a soul song written by Motown Records songwriters Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Edward Holland, Jr. in 1964...
" and "Nathan Jones
Nathan Jones (song)
"Nathan Jones" is a hit single recorded by The Supremes, released in spring 1971 on the Motown label. Produced by Frank Wilson and written by Leonard Caston - aka Leonard Caston, Jr...
".
The name is used in a song by one of Eddie Argos' various bands named 'Everybody was in the French Resistance...Now'. The song is called 'Hey It's Jimmy Mack' and is a response from the Jimmy Mack in the original song, giving his side of the story.
The song is heard playing on the radio while two soldiers discuss Martha & The Vandellas in a season two episode of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
television drama Tour of Duty
Tour of Duty (TV series)
Tour of Duty is an American drama television series on CBS. It ran for three seasons from September 1987 to April 1990 as 58 one–hour episodes. The show was created by Steve Duncan and L. Travis Clark, and produced by Zev Braun....
.