J.J. Jackson is known primarily for one terrific song that he recorded and which went into the top forty in late 1966.
He was born Jerome Louis Jackson in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. He worked as a songwriter and arranger for Brother Jack McDuff, which led to his working with artists such as Jimmy Witherspoon and the Shangri-Las. He wrote It's Easier to Cry for the Shangri-Las and it was released as the B-side of their first hit, in 1964, (Remember) Walkin' in the Sand, and he wrote a hit for the Pretty Things the same year, Come See Me.
In 1966 J.J. Jackson, as he was known, branched out to singing. (This is not the J.J. Jackson was one of the original Veejays for the MTV Network.) He was a belter, and recorded a song for which the music was written by Pierre Tubbs and the the lyrics by Jackson himself. Sung in his belting style, But It's Alright became a solid #22 hit on the pop chart, and one of the best dance hits of the Sixties. He recorded the song in the United Kingdom and was backed by some of the best jazz musicians the UK had to offer, including Dick Morrissey on tenor sax, guitarist Terry Smith and drummer John Marshall.
Jackson continued working with other musicians in the UK, and eventually moved to England in 1969. He subsequently recorded two more albums with some of the same musicians backing him. J.J. Jackson is primarily remembered for his monster hit from 1966, But It's Alright.
But It's Alright
written by Pierre Tubbs and J.J. Jackson
You don't know how I feel
You'll never know how I feel
When I needed you to come around
You always try to bring me down
Oh, but I know, girl, believe me when I say that
You are surely, surely gonna pay, girl
But it's all right all right girl
You can hurt me but it's all right
Hey now, one day ah, you will see
You'll never find a guy like me
Who'll love you right both day and night
You'll never have to worry 'cause it's all uptight
Oh, but I'm tellin' you girl and I know that it's true
That I was made to love only you girl
But it's all right, all right girl
You can hurt me, but it's all right
Go on, yeah
[Brief instrumental break w/glockenspiel solo]
Oh yeah
Oh, oh, yeah
My my my baby, wow, yeah!
I said it's all right all right girl
Hey, say it's all right all right girl
Now there's one thing I want to say, hey, yeah
You'll meet a guy who'll make you pay
He'll treat you bad and make you sad
And you will lose it the love you had
Oh, but I hate to say I told you so, but
Baby, you gotta gotta reap what you sow girl
But it's all right all right girl
You are payin' now, but it's all right
So goodbye, now, goodbye, girl
You're payin' now, say bye-bye
You hurt me once, you hurt me twice
Oooh, but-a baby, that don't cut no ice
Hey, goodbye, baby
[fade]
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