“Don’t You Just Know it” b/w “Dynamite” Jimmy Jones (1966)
Welcome to the inaugural Uptown Saturday Night Crucial Soul 45! Every week (or mostly every week), I’ll be picking a 45rpm single from the most recent Uptown set to hip you to a classic track on wax that you need to know about. This week, it’s “Don’t You Just Know it” b/w “Dynamite” by Jimmy Jones from 1966.
I spun Jone’s version of “Don’t You Just Know It” on Saturday as a part of my annual celebration of New Orleans ahead of Fat Tuesday this week. While Jimmy Jones himself wasn’t from New Orleans, this song is a classic written by one of the Big Easy’s first rock ‘n’ roll stars: Huey “Piano” Smith.
Jones’s version ups the tempo and adds a surfy guitar intro and a Motown-inspired backbeat that hits like a hammer as the song barrels forward. This is definitely one for a sweaty stomp on the dance floor.
“Dynamite,” on the flip, takes a much more languid, groovy approach with James Brown-style horn stabs and a funkier beat.
I hope you dig these tracks, and I’ll have another gem from my collection for you next week.
