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| TONY JACKSON with THE VIBRATIONS-You Beat Me To The Punch/This Little Girl Of Mine U.S. Kapp K-639 1965 |
Ex-Searchers bassist/vocalist Tony Jackson had just two of his eight British singles released here. Today's item in question was the first American release of his. It was his second British single originally released as Pye 7N 15745 in December 1964 and was issued here the following month.
"You Beat Me To The Punch" was originally cut by Mary Wells in 1962 on Motown. Curiously Tony's previous and debut British single "Bye Bye Baby" (U.K. Pye 7N 15685) was also a Mary Well tune (her debut single in fact)! Tony's version curiously sounds like what you would expect a Searchers cover of it to sound like with it's distinctly "Needles and Pins" style 12 string (acoustic) guitar intro and the decidedly Merseybeat style call and response harmonies. That said it's a pretty amazing reading of the track and it was unfortunate that the number did not gain any traction on either side of the Atlantic! (There is footage of them miming it on "Ready! Steady! Go!" viewable here).
The flip side is a reading of a Ray Charles composition called "This Little Girl Of Mine" and is a mixed bag for me. Musically it starts out really rockin' and raw but the production is absolutely dreadful, and the vocals are extremely bland and antiseptic. They're so high in the mix that they actually overpower the incredible gritty guitar work and combo organ (the song's strongest points in my estimation).
Both sides have been collected in a number of places: two different Tony Jackson retrospective CD's "Just Like Me" (Bam Caruso) and "Watch Your Step" (Castle) as well as appearing on a few different Searchers compilations and both tracks are available via streaming.
Hear "You Beat Me To The Punch":
Hear "This Little Of Mine":
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