Handy Man - JIMMY JONES
26/3/60
Before hearing this, I'd only ever heard Jones' later hit Good Timin'. I was totally unaware that Handy Man was his original - I'd heard Del Shannon and James Taylor give it a whirl, but I wasn't aware of this version.
The song was co-written by Jones and Otis Blackwell, who wrote a bucketload of well known songs - All Shook Up and Don't Be Cruel for Elvis, Great Balls Of Fire for Jerry Lee Lewis, and Peggy Lee's Fever (although this was written under the "whiter" sounding pseudonym of John Davenport).
Although this is more of a "genuine article" than Taylor's version, I can't really get into it. It's probably Jones' constant desire to jump up into his yelping falsetto that gives me the irrits. And considering the fact that the main hook of the song is in that falsetto, I'm not really drawn in at all. That's not to say it's bad, it's just not my cup of tea.
The song was co-written by Jones and Otis Blackwell, who wrote a bucketload of well known songs - All Shook Up and Don't Be Cruel for Elvis, Great Balls Of Fire for Jerry Lee Lewis, and Peggy Lee's Fever (although this was written under the "whiter" sounding pseudonym of John Davenport).
Although this is more of a "genuine article" than Taylor's version, I can't really get into it. It's probably Jones' constant desire to jump up into his yelping falsetto that gives me the irrits. And considering the fact that the main hook of the song is in that falsetto, I'm not really drawn in at all. That's not to say it's bad, it's just not my cup of tea.
