Today’s classic song of the day is a long-forgotten single from R&B singer Joe Simon, “I See Your Face.” This one was released sometime in 1961 and it went absolutely nowhere. Chances are, unless you’re a trader of rare vinyl or a follower of the Northern Soul revival circuit, you’ve never heard it. That’s a shame.
“I See Your Face” was written by blues musician Johnny Heartsman and recorded by Mr. Simon backed by the Johnny Heartsman Band. It’s a beautiful song with a nice beat and a luscious flute-heavy arrangement and Mr. Simon sings the heck out of it. It deserved wider recognition, but being released on a small label no doubt doomed its chances of being a bigger hit.
In the U.S., the single was released on the Hush Records label. Hush Records, based in Sunnyvale, California, was founded by music publisher Garrie Thompson. The label released a dozen or so singles from 1958-1962, from artists like Ben Joe Zeppa, the Golden Tones, and Mr. Simon, then switched to the British Invasion sound later in the decade. Hush’s sole big hit was “Little Girl” by Syndicate of Sound in 1966.
Joe Simon stayed on the Hush label for three years then, in 1964, signed with Vee-Jay, where he had a couple of minor hits. In 1966 he moved to the Sound Stage 7 label and had a number of R&B hits there, including “(You Keep Me) Hanging On” and “The Chokin’ Kind,” which won him a Grammy for Best Male R&B Performance. He moved again to the Spring Records label in 1970, hooked up with Philly Soul legends Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and had even more hits, including “Drowning in the Sea of Love” and “Power of Love.”
In the early ’80s, Mr. Simon pretty much left the music world and became an evangelical preacher. He recorded one more album of secular tunes in 1985 and a gospel album in 1998, but that was about it. Joe Simon passed away in 2021, 85 years old.
