"I've Passed This Way Before" 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 November 1966 from his album ''Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten''. It peaked at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 29 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

"I've Passed This Way Before" was recorded in September and October 1966 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. It was released in the US on November 15, 1966, and in the UK on February 3, 1967, on the back of the top-ten hit "

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted "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 h ...

". It was not as successful as Ruffin's previous single, but was a top-twenty hit in the US and top-thirty in the UK. The single was re-released in the UK on 4 July 1969 as an edited version, removing the spoken intro. This led Ruffin to have a revival in popularity in the UK, and went on to have three top-ten singles in 1970, "

Farewell Is a Lonely Sound "Farewell Is a Lonely Sound" is a song by American soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, released as a single in October 1969 from his album ''Ruff'n Ready''. It peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. Release and reception "Farewell Is a Lonely Sound ...

", "

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 "

It's Wonderful (To Be Loved by You) "It's Wonderful (To Be Loved by You)" is a song by American soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, released as a single in October 1970, taken from his 1969 album ''Ruff'n Ready''. Release "It's Wonderful (To Be Loved by You)" was recorded in January 1968 at ...

". When the single was re-released, Ruffin went on a three-week British tour.

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

was having a revival in the UK and Ruffin hadn't had much success in the previous few years. In an interview in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', he said that in the US the label "keep putting me in the R&B thing and the public don't like it. The material is good, it's just that the public don't dig me doing it. R&B isn't the hot thing anymore, there's been such a lot of it in the past two years".

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote that "Ruffin has even more potential in this rocking blues belter" than "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted". Reviewed in ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'', it was described as a "dynamite effort" and that "the throbbing, infectious soul grabbing sound backs Ruffin’s lovely chanting". However, 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 ...

'', Peter Jones wrote that it "wasn't as good as "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", but it builds into a sturdy Tamla typified number".

Charts

References

{{David Ruffin 1966 songs 1966 singles Songs written by James Dean (songwriter)