Jimmy Mack
| "Jimmy Mack" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Martha and the Vandellas | ||||||||||
| from the album Watchout! | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Third Finger, Left Hand" | |||||||||
| Released | February 3, 1967 | |||||||||
| Format | 7" single | |||||||||
| Recorded | Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); March 2, 1964 | |||||||||
| Genre | Soul/pop | |||||||||
| Length | 2:53 | |||||||||
| Label |
Gordy G 7058 |
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| Writer(s) | Holland–Dozier–Holland | |||||||||
| Producer(s) |
Brian Holland Lamont Dozier |
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| Martha and the Vandellas singles chronology | ||||||||||
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| "Jimmy Mack" | |
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| Single by Sheena Easton | |
| from the album Do You | |
| Released | 1985 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 4:12 |
| Writer(s) | Holland–Dozier–Holland |
| Producer(s) | Nile Rodgers |
"Jimmy Mack" is a pop/soul song that in 1967 became a hit single by Martha and the Vandellas for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 hit for the Vandellas in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967 and at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.
The song, with a lead vocal by the Vandellas' lead singer Martha Reeves in the 1967 version, is sung from the point of view of a woman who longs for the return of boyfriend "Jimmy Mack". The woman is being courted by another suitor, who she says "talks just as sweet as" her long-gone Jimmy, and she hopes for Jimmy to return before she falls for the other man.
The inspiration for the song came from a 1964 music industry awards dinner, which Lamont Dozier attended. At the ceremony the mother of songwriter Ronnie Mack accepted an award for her son, who had recently died, for his composition "He's So Fine". Under pressure to come up with a hit for Reeves and the Vandellas, Dozier and the team penned this song in part as a tribute to Mack the writer.
"Jimmy Mack" was originally recorded in 1964 when Annette Beard was still a part of the group. The song was shelved because the Motown Quality Control team felt the recording was not suitable for release with the Vietnam War going on. Like Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' later hit, "The Tears of a Clown", "Jimmy Mack" was pulled from the vault two years later and released as a single in early 1967. By that time, the Vietnam War had become a highly debated issue among the American public. Thus, Reeves' sentiment that her "Jimmy Mack" return took on a different meaning for many listeners, particularly those stationed overseas.
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