Happy Birthday to the late soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, born May 7, 1939.
Known to many as the older brother of former Temptations lead David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin had a relatively period of chart success that resulted in three of Motown‘s greatest tunes of the late 60s.
Born in Collinsville, Mississippi in 1939, Ruffin moved to Detroit in the early 60s and was signed the Motown’s Miracle label for a series of unsuccessful recordings. A half decade later, however, he experienced his first chart success, as his plaintive reading of “What Becomes of a Brokenhearted” leaped into the Pop and Soul top 10 and became one of the most revered songs of the Motown catalog. Ruffin followed “Brokenhearted” with two major 1967 hits, “I’ve Passed This Way Before” and “Gonna Give Her All the Love I Got” (ironically, both of which were also covered by David and the Temptations).
