"Farewell Is a Lonely Sound" is a song by American soul singer

Jimmy Ruffin Jimmy Lee RuffinRibowsky, Mark (2010), ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations'', Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, p. 89. . (May 7, 1936 – November 17, 2014) was an American soul singer, and ...

, released as a single in October 1969 from his album ''Ruff'n Ready''. It peaked at number 8 on 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 ...

Release and reception

"Farewell Is a Lonely Sound" was recorded in March 1967 at Motown's

Hitsville U.S.A. "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purch ...

studio, but was only first released in March 1969 on the album ''Ruff'n Ready''. Having released two singles from the album in 1968, "

I'll Say Forever My Love "I'll Say Forever My Love" is a song by American soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, released as a single in February 1968 and included on his 1969 album ''Ruff'n Ready''. Release "I'll Say Forever My Love" was recorded in October 1967 at Motown's Hit ...

" and "Don't Let Him Take Your Love from Me", both of which had failed to make much of an impact on the charts, the record label chose to release "Farewell Is a Lonely Sound" as a single in a last attempt to get a hit song from the album. It was released in the US in October 1969 and in the UK in February 1970. The single was re-released in October 1974 after a re-release of "

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is a hit single recorded by Jimmy Ruffin and released on Motown Records' Soul label in the summer of 1966. It is a ballad, with lead singer Jimmy Ruffin recalling the pain that befalls the broken-hearted who ...

" became a top-ten hit in the UK for the second time. Reviewing for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', James Hamilton described the song as "very much in the mould of his past hits, it's a semi-slow sentimental swayer, to the well-tried formula".

Track listings

7": Soul / S-35060 (1969) # "Farewell Is a Lonely Sound" – 2:56 # "If You Will Let Me, I Know I Can" – 2:59 7": Tamla Motown / TMG 922 (1974) # "Farewell Is a Lonely Sound" – 2:56 # "I Will Never Let You Get Away" – 2:55

Charts

References

{{David Ruffin 1969 songs 1969 singles Songs written by James Dean (songwriter)