Ronald James William Crawford Lindsay (born 18 November 1937), known professionally as Jimmy Crawford, is an English pop music singer. He is best known for his

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "

I Love How You Love Me "I Love How You Love Me" is a song written by Barry Mann and Larry Kolber. It was a 1961 Top Five hit for the pop girl group The Paris Sisters, which inaugurated a string of elaborately produced classic hits by Phil Spector. Bobby Vinton had a Top ...

" (1961).

Life and career

Crawford was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, Yorkshire, England. He was educated at the Central Technical School in Sheffield, and later worked as a draughtsman at Davy United. Crawford was a competition swimmer, after learning to overcome his fear of the water during his spell of

National service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. Crawford was a contemporary of fellow Sheffield-born singer, Dave Berry. He formed his first band, Ron Lindsay and the Coasters, and played in local

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, but found chart success as a solo artist. Signed to a recording contract with Columbia, he released "Love or Money" in June 1961. It spent one week at No. 49 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. His second release garnered his biggest hit. Crawford's

of the American hit, "

", had originally been recorded by

The Paris Sisters The Paris Sisters were a 1960s American girl group from San Francisco, California, United States, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. Career The group consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris (January 4, 1941 – March 5, 20 ...

. Crawford's effort peaked at No. 18 in November the same year, spending a total of ten weeks in the UK listings. His third single, "I Shoulda Listened to Mama" was released in May 1962, but failed to reach the chart. In 1962, Crawford sang "Take It Easy" and appeared in the film, '' Play It Cool'', also starring

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

and Shane Fenton. He formed Jimmy Crawford and the Ravens, quickly followed by Jimmy Crawford and the Messengers in early 1963. He later joined forces with Jim Ryder to perform as Jimmy Crawford with the Chantelles. Over the years his backing band was variously known as The Jimmy Crawford Four and The Jimmy Crawford Blend. Crawford toured Australia for six months in 1977, with Jim Ryder (guitar), Gary Lawson (keyboards) and Barry Page (drums). He and his wife Maureen were involved in a serious traffic collision in March 2005, although both eventually recovered from the ordeal.

Other versions and appearances

Crawford's recording of "Love or Money", which was produced by Frank Barber (who also produced Ricky Valance's "

Tell Laura I Love Her "Tell Laura I Love Her" is a teenage tragedy song written by Jeff Barry and Ben Raleigh. It was a US top ten popular music hit for singer Ray Peterson in 1960 on RCA Victor Records, reaching No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Later th ...

"), appeared on the ''1961 British Hit Parade, Pt. 2: April–September'' compilation album, along with another version by The Blackwells. "I Love How You Love Me" was also a UK chart hit for

Maureen Evans Maureen Evans (born 23 March 1940, Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh pop singer who achieved fame in the 1950s and 1960s. Career Evans career began as a singer with Waldini's Gypsy Band in the mid-1950s, mainly doing summer seasons at UK holiday re ...

in 1964 reaching No. 34, and for

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and Barry Ryan in 1966 at No. 21. However, Crawford's own version has appeared on many compilation albums in the ensuing years, and numerous on-line marital and romance firms have used his version.

Confusion

He is not to be confused with the American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

drummer, Jimmy Crawford.

Discography

Chart singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Jimmy 1937 births Living people English male singers English pop singers Musicians from Sheffield