Post by Rob Durkee on Aug 4, 2012 19:41:24 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
ABERDEEN, North Carolina -- Jimmy Jones, who was most famous for singing the original version of "Handy Man," died at what's believed to have been his residence here on Thursday, August 2, 2012. No cause of death was released by the Aberdeen Times web site. He was 82.
Word of Jones' first surfaced Friday on voy.com. However, there were virtually no other on-line articles detailing Jones' death. That's why this writer held off on releasing this obituary. Special thanks to musicologist Ronnie Allen, who uncovered official Jones' obituary information at Aberdeentimes.com.
Over the years, it was believed that Jimmy Jones was born on June 2, 1937. However, according to the Aberdeen Times, he was actually born on June 2, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama.
According to Wikipedia, Jimmy Jones first got into tap dancing before moving to New York City to get into the music business. Jones sang for a number of doo-wop type groups from roughly 1954 to 1959, including the Berliners, the Sparks of Rhythm and the Savoys. He co-wrote "Handy Man" in 1955 and the song was recorded by the Sparks of Rhythm the next year, 1956. By that time, though, Jones had already left the group to form the Savoys.
In 1959, Jones went solo and connected with songwriter Otis Blackwell and the MGM affiliate label, Cub Records. "Handy Man" was reworked with an important feature. When the flute player didn't show up for the session, Blackwell provided the whistling that helped made the song a hit.
"Handy Man" by Jones was a victim of timing. The song climbed to #2 on the Cash Box pop charts of February 27, 1960 and March 5, 1960. Those, however, were the first two weeks of eight weeks at #1 for "Theme From 'A Summer Place' " by Percy Faith and His Orchestra. Faith's record became the #1 single of 1960 while "Handy Man" was #13. Jones' followup, "Good Timin'," reached #3 and would be ranked #23 for 1960.
"Handy Man" would become a Top 40 remake hit for Del Shannon in 1964 and James Taylor in 1977.
Jimmy Jones couldn't equal the success of "Handy Man" and "Good Timin'." The two-sided hit "That's When I Cried" and "I Just Go For You" both charted separately, at #44 and #88 respectively. "I Told You So" reached #81 in 1961 as Jones' final pop chart single. Jones recorded for at least five labels after leaving Cub Records in 1962 but none of them could produce a chart hit.
Jones resurfaced in the 1990's with the CD "Grandms's Rock And Roll Party" that included rerecordings of "Handy Man" and "Good Timin'." In 2002, an anthology CD was released entitled, "Good Timin'" The Anthology."
ABERDEEN, North Carolina -- Jimmy Jones, who was most famous for singing the original version of "Handy Man," died at what's believed to have been his residence here on Thursday, August 2, 2012. No cause of death was released by the Aberdeen Times web site. He was 82.
Word of Jones' first surfaced Friday on voy.com. However, there were virtually no other on-line articles detailing Jones' death. That's why this writer held off on releasing this obituary. Special thanks to musicologist Ronnie Allen, who uncovered official Jones' obituary information at Aberdeentimes.com.
Over the years, it was believed that Jimmy Jones was born on June 2, 1937. However, according to the Aberdeen Times, he was actually born on June 2, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama.
According to Wikipedia, Jimmy Jones first got into tap dancing before moving to New York City to get into the music business. Jones sang for a number of doo-wop type groups from roughly 1954 to 1959, including the Berliners, the Sparks of Rhythm and the Savoys. He co-wrote "Handy Man" in 1955 and the song was recorded by the Sparks of Rhythm the next year, 1956. By that time, though, Jones had already left the group to form the Savoys.
In 1959, Jones went solo and connected with songwriter Otis Blackwell and the MGM affiliate label, Cub Records. "Handy Man" was reworked with an important feature. When the flute player didn't show up for the session, Blackwell provided the whistling that helped made the song a hit.
"Handy Man" by Jones was a victim of timing. The song climbed to #2 on the Cash Box pop charts of February 27, 1960 and March 5, 1960. Those, however, were the first two weeks of eight weeks at #1 for "Theme From 'A Summer Place' " by Percy Faith and His Orchestra. Faith's record became the #1 single of 1960 while "Handy Man" was #13. Jones' followup, "Good Timin'," reached #3 and would be ranked #23 for 1960.
"Handy Man" would become a Top 40 remake hit for Del Shannon in 1964 and James Taylor in 1977.
Jimmy Jones couldn't equal the success of "Handy Man" and "Good Timin'." The two-sided hit "That's When I Cried" and "I Just Go For You" both charted separately, at #44 and #88 respectively. "I Told You So" reached #81 in 1961 as Jones' final pop chart single. Jones recorded for at least five labels after leaving Cub Records in 1962 but none of them could produce a chart hit.
Jones resurfaced in the 1990's with the CD "Grandms's Rock And Roll Party" that included rerecordings of "Handy Man" and "Good Timin'." In 2002, an anthology CD was released entitled, "Good Timin'" The Anthology."
