Artist:Jimmy SoulSong:If You Wanna Be Happy
Album:The Golden Age Of American Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 9
The 1963 chart topper If You Wanna Be Happy was the only big hit for Jimmy Soul. One other song charted so it's not technically a one hit wonder. The song is a standard at weddings so I'm sure fans know the song but nothing about the singer. Jimmy Soul was a labelmate of Gary US Bonds under producer Frank Guida. He was born James McCleese Aug. 24, 1942 in Weldon, NC. He became a preacher at age 7 and sang gospel music as a a teen. He was known locally as The Wonder Boy. He was spotted by producer Frank Guida Jimmy Soul recorded on Guida's SPQR label. He had different labels with different distributors. Guida was born in Italy and grew up in New York City. While stationed in Trinidad in WWII, he became enamored with Calypso music. He opened a record store in Norfolk, VA in 1953 and then started his own record company. The calypso influence is obvious if you listen to something like Quarter To Three by Gary US Bonds. It seems that Bonds turned down If You Wanna Be Happy so Guida gave it to Soul. Guida wrote the song with partner Joseph Royster. But it's based on the song Ugly Woman by calypso pioneer Roaring Lion. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. As I said, If You Wanna Be Happy is a popular wedding song. And it even turned up in the 1997 film My Best Friend's Wedding. You also heard it in the final scene of the 1990 film Mermaids. Ace Records has released a lot of Frank Guida's recordings on CD. I recommend this various artists comp which has 30 songs. Jimmy Soul soon quit the music business and joined the US Army. He died June 25, 1988 at age 45. Frank Guida continued to release records into the 90s and died in 2007. Here's If You Wanna Be Happy by Jimmy Soul as it appeared in the 1990 film Mermaids.
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