James Ray could and should have been a flagship artist for the newly-emerging soul music, as it transitioned from 50s R&B into a new and exciting sound for the 60s. His early singles 'If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody' and 'Itty Bitty Pieces' gave him US chart success and a high level of credibility in the UK, where both were covered successfully in the Beat Group era. His original recording of 'I've Got My Mind Set On You' brought one of his biggest fans, ex-Beatle George Harrison, back to the top of the US and US charts in the late 1980s, almost 25 years after George bought James's lone LP on a personal trip to the US before Beatlemania arrived there.
Sadly James was not equipped to handle stardom himself, and not able to free himself from the clutches of long term drug abuse. He died of an overdose in 1965, leaving a pitifully small discography behind him and virtually no information about himself, or his life outside the recording studio.
James made almost all of his recordings between 1959 and the end of 1962, and this new Jasmine collection brings together everything that he cut during that time. All six singles, including the three mentioned above and his exceedingly rare debut 45 as 'Little Jimmy Ray' are featured here in their original mono, along with his lone album in its rarer stereo format. As you will hear, James could sing all kinds of material beautifully. It's such a shame that his personal demons prevented him from recording more of it.
Far and away the most comprehensive collection of James' recordings that has been assembled in the digital era, it's something that no connoisseur of 60s black American music should be without. James's star might not have shone for long, but it shone like a supernova in the few years that he recorded and the proof of his immense talent pours out of every performance in this stellar Jasmine anthology.
