Jimmy Ruffin occupied an odd place at Motown during his near twenty year stint at the label, clearly a gifted singer with a commercial sound, he had just enough success with hits like ''What becomes of the broken hearted'' and ''I'll say forever my love'' to be considered a star for a brief period, but was always in the shadow of Marvin or Smokie or little Stevie. In the mid-60's his brother David Ruffin was also on the label but he was considered one of the biggest and most recognisable artists at Motown, the bespectacled leader of The Temptations when they shifting millions of albums and singles.
The first time I ever saw Jimmy Ruffin was during an interview for a Soul music documentary Channel 4 put out many years ago, the interviewer had asked a question about the rumored physical and mental abuse his brother had inflicted on then girlfriend and label-mate Tammi Terrell during their relationship decades previously, Ruffing took offense at the suggestion that following an incident in which his brother David had struck Terrell with a hammer, it may have contributed to her early death from a brain tumor a few years later at the age of twenty four. His reaction shocked me slightly, he was less concerned with the accusation that his late brother's temper may have led to woman's early demise than with the connection the interviewer was making between the attack and the onset of the subsequent brain tumor, ''A person don't get hit in the head and then turn around years later and die, that's just stupid'', this outburst seemed in bad taste and I wrote him off as something of a Motown also-ran. Fast forward about eleven years and Motown's mismanaged and mishandled back catalogue changed hands yet again, Hip-O Records had decided to re-issue box sets collecting all of the label's singles & B-side releases year by year starting with 1961, the box sets had a clearer, fuller sound having had real time and care taken when remastering the source material. I got my hands on the set from '67 and proceeded to play it at high volume recognizing many of the tracks and checking the liner notes for others, when several songs in I hear that bass/hi-hat intro start, a glockenspiel twinkles and then Jimmy Ruffin's voice framed by a strummed guitar, his vocal is spot on, a nice blend of clarity and emotion ..'' There's a train leaving here tomorrow, yeah and I'll be a free man once again, yes I will now - I'm so glad I served my time, I'm gonna meet that girl that I left behind'' then the chorus comes in and the whole thing is lifted completely, backing vocals with huge drums and dizzying strings, at this point I was already looking forward to listening to it again as soon as it was over. The chorus subsides somewhat , then this incredible string solo replete with gospel choir eases into another chorus and an outro where Jimmy Ruffin's vocal, the stings, drums and everything else are jostling for position.
The fact Jimmy Ruffin recorded such a joyous and affecting piece of music was a pleasant surprise, it forced me to reassess what I thought of him having totally dismissed him based on one TV interview. As an aside The Temptations had first dibs on the track but their version lacks the urgency and energy of Ruffin's, he didn't score a huge hit with the song but he made something great and it remains my favorite Motown release.
