THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,003) Garnet Mimms — “As Long as I Have You”
I am happy, oh so happy, as long as I can listen to this stunning “exceptionally good” song, “uptempo, driving, rhythmic soul, with ringing, appealing guitar, powerful drumming, horn fills and female backing vocals, [and] a soulful, energetic vocal proclaiming that there’s nothing in the world [Mimms] can’t get as long as he has the love of his woman.” (bayard, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/garnet-mimms/as-long-as-i-have-you-a-little-bit-of-soap/) As long as he keeps elongating those words like he never wants to let them go either.
“Imho ‘THE’ best ever mimms track”. (doghot23, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKUvrAZ1acw) Could be! And it “could’ve easily been an American single, no question. Why it was an album title cut and never issued on its own, I guess I’ll never know.” (Mr. Lobbers, https://www.45cat.com/record/up1186) Well, it was released as a single in France two years later and as a single in the UK three years later (a stellar live version).
Steve Huey writes of Garnet Mimms:
Best known for his original rendition of “Cry Baby,” later a major item in Janis Joplin’s repertoire, Garnet Mimms’ pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers. His legacy remains criminally underappreciated, since for some reason he never scored another hit on the level of “Cry Baby,” but his output from the early to mid-’60s — a blend of uptown sophistication and earthy, impassioned vocals — has earned comparisons to Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson from hardcore soul aficionados. Mimms was actually born Garrett Mimms in Ashland, WV . . . . He was mostly raised in Philadelphia, and began singing in church as a boy; during his teen years, he performed with several area gospel groups, including the Evening Stars, the Harmonizing Four, and the Norfolk Four, with whom he cut his first record in 1953. Mimms subsequently served several years in the military, and upon his release, he returned to Philadelphia in 1958 and formed a doo wop quintet called the Gainors, whose ranks included Sam Bell and onetime Evening Star Howard Tate [see #259, 261, 652, 1,229] . . . . The Gainors recorded singles for several labels over the next three years, including Red Top (later picked up by Cameo), Mercury (from 1959-1960), and Tally Ho (1961). Failing to produce a hit, Mimms left the group along with Bell and put together Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters . . . . Mimms took his group to New York in 1963 in search of a more receptive scene. There they met songwriter/producer Bert Berns, who signed them to United Artists and teamed them with another songwriter/producer, Jerry Ragovoy. Mimms quickly struck gold with the proto-soul performance of “Cry Baby,” a smash hit that reached the pop Top Five and topped the R&B charts in 1963. The follow-up, a cover of Jerry Butler [see #347, 1,921] & the Impressions’ [see #118, 285, 1,347, 1,544, 1,848, 1939] “For Your Precious Love,” hit the pop Top 40 later that year, as did the flip side, “Baby Don’t You Weep.” Mimms and the Enchanters parted ways in 1964; the group to record separately with a new lead vocalist, while Mimms cut solo sides for UA steadily over the next few years. Ragovoy’s productions became increasingly polished, mirroring the shift in R&B spearheaded by Motown, yet Mimms’ vocals retained all the fire of his gospel training, making for a combination that was fairly unique for the time. Minor hits like “It Was Easier to Hurt Her” and “I’ll Take Good Care of You” (the latter Mimms’ last Top 40 hit in 1966) didn’t perform nearly as well commercially as their quality seemed to indicate. In 1967, United Artists moved him to their Veep subsidiary, where “My Baby” was another inexplicable flop (it, too, was later covered by Janis Joplin on Pearl). Mimms subsequently followed Ragovoy to Verve, where he recorded four singles to little response; ditto for his brief stint at MGM. . . . Mimms retired from the music business permanently after becoming a born-again Christian.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/garnet-mimms-mn0000965206#biography
Here is the live version released in the UK:
Here are the UK’s Junco Partners:
Here are the UK’s Boston Crabs:
Here are the Motions from the Netherlands:
Here are De Maskers from the Netherlands:
Here is Lee Grant from New Zealand:
Teaser: Oh, a band called Led Zeppelin used to play the song live when it was first starting out. I’ll feature that version in short order.
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