LITTLE JIMMY BROWN, "I DIDN'T KNOW" C/W "TELL IT LIKE IT IS," BRENT 7022 (REL. 7/1960)

The Brent Records label is home to some great rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll items. It also released a lot of pop drek. You never know what you’re getting with Brent, but it’s always worth a flyer. I found today’s record via a proven way to find good ones: go through large chunks of unpopular artists that no one collects. If I encounter a mass of Pat Boone 45s, I know someone, somewhere, hid a good record amidst these losers and forgot to come back for it. (I’ve been there and done this; sometimes life prevents you from that return visit and I can think about records, books and comics that must have remained hidden for decades until someone dumb-lucked upon them, or the store ceased business.)

Little Jimmy Brown. This must, I thought, be a conscious reference to the 1959 country/pop hit “The Three Bells,” recorded by sibling trio The Browns for RCA-Victor. That record sold in the millions and became a pop standard. Thus, a Black artist with the name of the main character in “The Three Bells…” sure! Why not? You gotta get a gimmick to succeed, many aspiring performers were told by their managers/relatives/any kibitzer on the scene. Thus, the name of a character in an Anglicized version of a French chanson made famous by Nashville performers became the stage name of whomever this performer was. This was his only record, and it came and went quick.

Nothing exists on this person. Aside from a Cash Box review and surviving copies of the 45-rpm disc, Little Jimmy Brown has no presence in history. He is a solid, passionate vocalist who was given a pair of good songs by Manhattan-based composers that are well-recorded with sympathetic arrangements and superb sound quality…all this to be just another flop single that was forgotten a week after its release.

“I Didn’t Know,” co-penned by soul veteran J. J. Jackson and Herbert Richardson (his only published work) is a hearty, atmospheric mid-tempo mover with shades of Dee Clark and Sam Cooke. A male soul chorus shoo-wops behind Brown; the studio band features a synchronized solo bit with guitar and sax (I think the guitarist is Billy Mure, another stalwart of NYC sessions) as Brown assays this wonderstruck account of a guy whom love has snuck up on and tagged “you’re it!”

It’s a mucho appealing song and performance that couldn’t complete with so many records of the same vibe that crowded the marketplace in fierce competition. In other words: the same ol’ story all over again!

>>>Hear it HERE!!!<<<

Four minutes and 20 seconds: one musical career over and out.

“Tell it Like it Is” comes from the pens of Leroy Kirkland and Pearl Woods. They also wrote “Something Got a Hold of Me,” which Etta James made into an all-time soul classic via her 1962 Argo Records version. This is the obvious A-side; it has that slight edge, arrangement-wise. Brown’s vocal stand is compelling on this memorable song with an ideal example of the big, moody sound of New York proto-soul r&b.

It’s all the better for no overt vocal chorus. Other voices are there but rendered near-subliminal in the mix. The suggestion of a chorus works better than in-yo’-face singers who often overwhelm the lead vocal. This is how this-type record is done. It’s a pity no one ever heard it when it was new.

>>>Hear it HERE!!!<<<

And this was it for Little Jimmy Brown. He might still be with us, but time and a stage name have hidden him away from history.

This is a good time for me to plug my ignored, overlooked new music book One-Record Wonders: One Shot was All They Got (Redwing Blackbird Books, 2025)--especially since I revised the book and swapped out four entries for newer, more compelling entries. 

The book has sold fewer than 10 copies so far. I guarantee you that if you enjoy these posts, you'll be delighted with the book, which includes an online playlist so you can hear every recording discussed within its 340 pages. I know this is a niche market--that's true for everything I do. But this book gives you a shadow history of all the great music, done with so much hope and good faith, that never got heard due to industry politics, media indifference or from being released on a week when 10 classics all hit the stores at once. 

Your musical library is incomplete without this book. Lotsa info, lotsa pix and lotsa music! You can buy a copy HERE or drop me a message and I can get you a copy. 

Tomorrow: exciting teen rock ‘n’ roll from Arizona, via Barry Lane and his band, via a 1960 single on the regional Ra-Q label. Rare and raucous!