Album: Jimmy Scott
Falling In Love Is Wonderful, Paraphernalia
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Your support makes all the difference.It's an ill wind: thanks to his affliction with Kallman's syndrome, the hereditary hormonal deficiency that stunted his growth, Cleveland balladeer Jimmy Scott was compensated with boyish good looks and a voice to match, one so pure and clear and measured that many, on first encountering it, are convinced they're listening to a female singer. To fellow performers, Scott was a unique talent: his tone and timbre were a big influence on Frankie Valli, while Marvin Gaye "longed to sing ballads with the depth of Jimmy Scott", and considered this long-lost LP "calming, haunting, and just plain beautiful". Recorded for Ray Charles's Tangerine label in 1962, with Charles serving as pianist and producer, Falling In Love Is Wonderful was quickly withdrawn from shops due to a contractual dispute with Scott's former label Savoy. Regarded by all, including Scott himself, as the pinnacle of his career, the album became a prized rarity in the intervening four decades and only appears now following the death of Savoy boss Herman Lubinsky. It's as gorgeous as legend claims: Scott's relaxed but dramatic phrasing lags daringly just behind the beat, effectively slowing the ballads down even further, and the string arrangements are masterpieces of inventive restraint which leave plenty of room for the voice to enter into musical dialogue with Charles's piano. The result is as soft, smooth, and blue as Julie London crying a river of tears.
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