Scorching Cover By The Brothers Ruffin
- Listen to this song on youtube: Stand By Me
- Listen to these 45s in a Spotify playlist here with other 45s from the blog (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here.
- Download the songs by clicking the titles above
Today’s track is by no measure obscure or hard to find but it’s a 45 I have always really loved and have been appreciating recently amidst all the (endless) turmoil.
We all know David Ruffin as the singer of The Temptations and his brother Jimmy Ruffin who had some wonderful solo recordings on Motown subsidiaries among others. Though he never reached the heights of success of David in The Temptations – a spot he may have had were it not for time spent abroad fighting in the Vietnam War- Jimmy had his share of chart action and their combined efforts from the “I Am My Brother’s Keeper” as seen through today’s track shows there’s plenty of talent to go around.
Stand By Me is a well known track originally done by Ben E. King, written by the Brill Building masters Carole King and Lieber and Stoller (here billed as Elmo Glick). The Ruffin Brothers version was produced by the legendary Frank Wilson who gives the track a “live” feeling with audience sounds (”I like that!” in the back ground) and clapping while simultaneously mixing strings and xylophone over the muted staccato guitar makes the track one more example of his expert craftsmanship.
This was one of two singles released off the brother’s album. David, after having been kicked out of The Temptations and unable to leave Motown fulfilled his contract with this album and and a few more throughout the 70′s. Unfortunately this is the only record the two made together before Jimmy made a life for himself across the pond in the UK where the charts were more favorable toward his output.
I hope you enjoy today’s track and remember to stand by each other.
-Snack Attack / George
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