Biography
Jimmy Holiday earned far greater renown as a composer of soul material than as a performer who released his own records, most prominently through his collaboration with Jackie DeShannon and Randy Myers on the 1969 composition “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” By that point he had already spent more than ten years navigating the soul circuit, an extended stretch that produced a 1963 hit with “How Can I Forget” and led to a 1966 contract with the New Orleans R&B imprint Minit. Although his output for the label was well regarded, Holiday never achieved major stardom and gradually receded from view during the 1970s.
Born July 24, 1934, in Durant, Mississippi, Holiday grew up in Iowa. After a brief interest in boxing he turned to music, beginning on alto saxophone in jazz groups before shifting his focus to singing and writing R&B. His debut single, “Voice of the Drums,” appeared on the Los Angeles label Four Star in 1958 but failed to register. Several years passed before Everest Records issued “How Can I Forget” in 1963; the track climbed to number eight on Billboard’s R&B chart and number 57 on the Hot 100. Subsequent Everest releases stalled, prompting moves to smaller outlets such as KIT, Tip Records, and Diplomacy until Minit signed him in 1966.
At Minit, Holiday produced the majority of his recorded legacy. His initial single for the company, “Baby I Love You,” reached number 21 in 1966 and remained his strongest showing there, though collectors continue to prize the rest of his work for the label. The full-length album The Turning Point arrived the same year and peaked at number 25 on the R&B album chart. “Everybody Needs Help” climbed to number 36 in 1967, while the funk-driven “Spread Your Love” improved to number 35 the following year. Health problems soon intervened: after collapsing onstage in June 1968, Holiday underwent open-heart surgery and spent much of the next twelve months writing rather than touring. He resumed recording in 1969 with “I’m Gonna Use What I Got,” still collaborating with DeShannon and Myers, yet his final Minit single, “A Man Ain’t Nothin’ Without a Woman,” issued in 1970, failed to chart and ended his association with the label.
Holiday next appeared on Dial with “Save Me” in 1971. When that release also went unnoticed, a period of inactivity followed until he resurfaced in the mid-1970s on Ray Charles’ Crossover imprint with “When I’m Loving You.” Its lack of success prompted him to concentrate exclusively on songwriting. He eventually returned to Iowa, where he died of heart failure on February 15, 1987. Although Minit tracks had surfaced on various budget compilations, Ace Records’ 2015 anthology Spread Your Love: The Complete Minit Singles 1965-1970 gathered the entire series and included the first biographical essay on Holiday, written by Tony Rounce for the liner notes.
Born July 24, 1934, in Durant, Mississippi, Holiday grew up in Iowa. After a brief interest in boxing he turned to music, beginning on alto saxophone in jazz groups before shifting his focus to singing and writing R&B. His debut single, “Voice of the Drums,” appeared on the Los Angeles label Four Star in 1958 but failed to register. Several years passed before Everest Records issued “How Can I Forget” in 1963; the track climbed to number eight on Billboard’s R&B chart and number 57 on the Hot 100. Subsequent Everest releases stalled, prompting moves to smaller outlets such as KIT, Tip Records, and Diplomacy until Minit signed him in 1966.
At Minit, Holiday produced the majority of his recorded legacy. His initial single for the company, “Baby I Love You,” reached number 21 in 1966 and remained his strongest showing there, though collectors continue to prize the rest of his work for the label. The full-length album The Turning Point arrived the same year and peaked at number 25 on the R&B album chart. “Everybody Needs Help” climbed to number 36 in 1967, while the funk-driven “Spread Your Love” improved to number 35 the following year. Health problems soon intervened: after collapsing onstage in June 1968, Holiday underwent open-heart surgery and spent much of the next twelve months writing rather than touring. He resumed recording in 1969 with “I’m Gonna Use What I Got,” still collaborating with DeShannon and Myers, yet his final Minit single, “A Man Ain’t Nothin’ Without a Woman,” issued in 1970, failed to chart and ended his association with the label.
Holiday next appeared on Dial with “Save Me” in 1971. When that release also went unnoticed, a period of inactivity followed until he resurfaced in the mid-1970s on Ray Charles’ Crossover imprint with “When I’m Loving You.” Its lack of success prompted him to concentrate exclusively on songwriting. He eventually returned to Iowa, where he died of heart failure on February 15, 1987. Although Minit tracks had surfaced on various budget compilations, Ace Records’ 2015 anthology Spread Your Love: The Complete Minit Singles 1965-1970 gathered the entire series and included the first biographical essay on Holiday, written by Tony Rounce for the liner notes.
Albums
