Jimmy Charles was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1942. When he was sixteen, his uncle took him to New York City to compete in amateur talent shows.
There, Jimmy attracted the attention of Promo Records and after he had recorded a demonstration of “A Million To One”, was contracted to record the record. The Revellettes, a trio which was from Jimmy’s home town, provided the backing vocals.
Written by Phil Medley, “A Million To One”, had originally been recorded, in 1957, by The Five Satins, albeit with somewhat different lyrics.
Jimmy Charles and The Revellettes’ version reached its zenith at No.5 on Billboard’s Hot 100, in September of 1960. I particularly like the line about forgetting each other’s lies.
http://youtu.be/d-HLDSfySfE
While this same combination achieved minor success with the release of “The Age Of Love”, at the end of that year, Jimmy’s career as that of a recording artist was to be of short duration.
“A Million To One” can be found in the list of my favourite recordings, which is located in the suggested playlists.