Jimmy James And The Vagabonds - Ray Of Hope

"Ray Of Hope" is a wonderful uplifting soul song that Jimmy and I co-wrote. It sounds like a classic Blackpool Mecca record from 1975. Jimmy is just fabulous, an iconic legend, the nicest person you could meet, such a warm hearted person, and it makes me proud to have artists of this calibre on Centre City Records. Jimmy was so proud to record again with me, that he wouldn't even accept petrol money expenses off me, what a true gentleman. I have known Jimmy James for thirty six years, since I DJ's at The Torch in Stoke on Trent. In 1974 I actually booked him to appear at Blackpool Mecca. During the mid- to late 60's, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds towered among the most popular soul acts on the British club and college circuit. After cutting "Shoo-Be-Doo You're Mine", a 1965 one-off for Columbia, James & the Vagabonds signed to the Pye imprint's Piccadilly subsidiary, in early 1966 issuing their label debut, "I Feel Alright", an exuberant stomper in the mould of their electric live appearances. For the follow-up, the group covered the Dells' "Hi-Diddly Dee Dum Dum". Their third Piccadilly single, "This Heart of Mine" also featured on James & the Vagabonds' first full-length effort, The New Religion. After a fourth Piccadilly 7inch, "Ain't Love Good, Ain't Love Proud", Pye shuttered the label and the group moved to the parent company in time for 1967's "I Can't Get Back Home to My Baby". With the release of the 1968 LP Open Up Your Soul, James & the Vagabonds finally scored a U.K. chart hit with their cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine", at the time one of the singer/songwriter's more middling hits. James' cover spent two months on the British charts, peaking at number 36. In 1972 James teamed with producer Biddu to notch the minor hit, "A Man Like Me" before signing to Trojan for a series of little-heard singles that culminated in the 1971 cult classic "Help Yourself". In 1976 James re-signed with Pye, immediately scoring a pair of disco-inspired pop hits with "Now Is the Time" and "I'll Go Where the Music Takes Me". 1984's "Love Fire", which I mixed, was hotly tipped as a comeback contender but went sadly overlooked in 1984. We also recorded "Looks Like Love Is Here To Stay", "What More Can A Man Do", a duet with Earnestine Pearce called "Stars In The Sky" as well as "On The Other Foot".