A long overdue reissue of a rare 1963 recording by legendary vocalist Jimmy Scott is reason to celebrate as it brings more of this outstanding artist’s hard to find early recordings to new audiences.
Falling In Love Is Wonderful was initially issued on Ray Charles’ Tangerine Records label. Featuring ultra-lush production, the album is a very good listen. Leaning toward easy listening territory ala ’60s Tony Bennett, Sinatra, and Streisand, the album is a fine, introspective song cycle perfect for late night cocktail listening.
The why of how Falling In Love Is Wonderful became such as rarity is of course frustrating (and frankly, a bit anger-inducing). As I understand the story, like many inexperienced but eager artists, Mr. Scott signed problematic contracts early on which effectively haunted his career. Tangerine Records — a boutique brand of ABC Records — pulled Scott’s record from store shelves upon learning of the prior contract and possible legal implications. Amazingly enough, in 1970, Atlantic Records did the same thing to Scott’s well regarded The Source (which is also now a sought after rarity).
While Falling In Love Is Wonderful hasn’t been available in brick and mortar stores in some 60 years, there was a very good 180-gram black vinyl reissue in 2024 from the now sadly defunct Vinyl Me Please (VMP) mail order subscription company. That version (which I own) featured lacquers cut by Ryan Smith of Sterling Sound and I suspect it was made from a digital source (especially as no specific analog remastering info is offered on the album).
This new 2026 remaster was handled by Paul Blakemore and the label has confirmed that significant restoration work went into this reissue’s creation. The 192 kHz, 24-bit flat transfers taken from original analog reels reportedly had loud hum and other noise issues.
As a side note, given that the VMP edition has no noise or hum issues, it may have been sourced from the same restored and remastered album files.
The lacquer cut for the new edition was completed by Jeff Powell of Take Out Vinyl. The new orange (ok, tangerine) discs were manufactured at Independent Record Pressing (IRP).
Which version do I prefer? Well, this is a splitting hairs situation but I prefer the VMP pressing as it sounds just a smidge warmer and the black vinyl is quieter. That said, for the most part, the new edition sounds just fine all things considered.
Curiously, this new edition of Falling In Love Is Wonderful features original stereo cover art work, making the release more period accurate than VMP’s version which used the mono cover art. But, here is the rub: the mono cover presents a more complete view of the sensual original cover image, so completists will probably want both versions… just because!
Despite career ups and downs, Jimmy Scott left behind a quite remarkable catalog for the ages. His many comeback CDs from the 1990s and beyond are generally excellent. I was introduced to Scott’s music when Lou Reed championed him on the Magic & Loss tour. His several albums on Sire/Warner Brothers include Heaven, the title taken from his striking cover of the Talking Heads classic. And despite the nefarious contracts, do look for Scott’s equally hard to find early original Savoy Records releases which offer more stark production, often with super dramatic deep echo/reverb on his vocals.
Where to buy: $28.99 at Amazon
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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Jonathan Takiff
May 4, 2026 at 9:58 pm
Wow, I’m looking forward to hearing this long lost album by “Little Jimmy Scott.” That’s how I remember he was originally billed by his label and jazz DJs due to Jimmy’s diminutive size and prepubescent voice.