Jimmy Lewis - Wait Until Spring (pt1) Four-J Records 503b '63

Jimmy Lewis – Wait Until Spring

Jimmy Lewis was born in the tiny delta town of Itta Bena near Greenwood, Mississippi but Los Angeles has been his home now for over 40 years. For someone whose sound is so steeped in the gospel tradition, it comes as quite a surprise that his introduction to music came not through the church, but through a friend who ran a car club in LA! Somewhere along the line he hooked-up with his first writing partner, Clifford Chambers. They worked together right through the 60s and together with James Carmichael (later to find fame as producer of the Commodores, the Jackson 5 and Lionel Richie) they produced a small string of 45s, the first being ‘Goodbye Sorrow’on Cyclone Records in 1962. A year later there were three releases for J J Jones’ Four “J” record label. One track ‘Wait Until Spring’ was picked-up for wider distribution, over a year later, by Era Records and did quite well. It was obvious from these fine, but generally derivative recordings that Little Richard, Ray Charles and long-time hero Sam Cooke were the influences on Lewis’ music. It was also apparent that here was a lyricist who held great promise. A second Era release, the rated mover, ‘What Can I Do Now’ further cemented his progress and his voice caught the ear of Bill Pinkney, one of the original Drifters, (who at that time also included, Gerhart Thrasher, Bobby Hollis and Bobby Hendricks), and Lewis joined the group replacing Hendricks as lead singer from 1963-65. He was also to appear with one of the many Drifters conglomerates in the mid 70s. Taken from: acerecords.co.uk