Did Jimmy get chart justice?
QUESTION What became of singer Jimmy Justice? I had one of his records, Spanish Harlem.
Born James Little in 1939 in Carshalton, Surrey, Jimmy Justice befriended members of Emile Ford & The Checkmates (What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?) and occasionally sang with the band before being offered a contract with Pye records in 1960.
His first recording was a cover of I Understand (Just How You Feel), but that lost out to the hit version by The G Clefs. An excellent cover of A Little Bit of Soap by The Jarmels met the same fate.
He struck lucky with another cover version, The Drifters’ When My Little Girl Is Smiling, which reached no. 9 in the UK chart in 1962, outselling the original by The Drifters which peaked at no. 31.
Jimmy also found success in Sweden with a version of The Jarmels’ Little Lonely one. now produced by Tony Hatch, he had further success with Ain’t That Funny, which reached no. 8, and Spanish Harlem (no. 20) originally covered by Ben E. King, a member of The Drifters. In fact, Jimmy’s voice was likened to King’s deep, mature, soulful voice, and he was billed for a while as Britain’s Ben E. King.
He was part of a package tour put together by impresario Larry Parnes, with Billy Fury, Joe Brown and Marty Wilde, and recorded throughout the Sixties. He also cut tracks for Decca and RCA records without any further chart success. Another album on the B&C label was well received but didn’t make the charts.
His albums I Wake Up Crying and Justice For All contain his best work, and a two- CD set with 50 tracks, Jimmy Justice/ Ain’t That Funny The Pye Anthology, is also available. Jimmy now lives quietly with his family and grandchildren in South-East England.
Michael Brooks, Kendal, Cumbria.
QUESTION The Criterion in London is one of the ten oldest restaurants in the world (Mail). What are the other nine?
BOTIN restaurant, in Madrid, is listed by the Guinness World records as the world’s oldest restaurant. Established in 1725, Botin threads its way up four floors and specialises in roast meats turned out from an original 18th- century Castilian- style cast-iron wood-burning oven. Famous guests have ranged from Ernest Hemingway to the painter Goya.
Botin has good documentary evidence of its origins, but several other restaurants claim to be older. The oldest of these is Stiftskeller St Peter, a restaurant within the monastery walls of St Peter’s Archabbey, in Salzburg, Austria. Its claim rests on a documentary mention of it by the scholar Alcuin in AD 803.
Wierzynek restaurant, in Poland, is supposed to date back to 1364 when wealthy Krakow merchant Wierzynek provided a feast for a European royal party. It was famous as the only up-market restaurant in Krakow during the grey days of Soviet occupation.
Zum Franziskaner, in Stockholm, claims to have been serving hearty sausages and bottled beers since being established by monks in 1421.
La Tour d’Argent in Paris says it was founded in 1582 and frequented by Henri IV, but this is suspect — Le Quai de Tournelle, where the restaurant stands, wasn’t paved until 1650.
Die Letzte Instanz is a popular tavern in Berlin that says it opened its doors in 1621, and A La Petite Chaise in Paris claims to have been serving food since 1680.
Simpson’s Tavern, opened in 1757, claims to be London’s first chophouse, and the oldest restaurant in the U. S., the Griswold Inn, was established in Connecticut in 1776.
Tavares rico, in Lisbon, opened its doors in 1784. It was designed to be the most opulent restaurant in Portugal and is celebrated for its all-gold 18thcentury chandeliers.
The oldest restaurant proper in Britain is rules. Since it opened in Covent Garden in 1798, it has specialised in serving game. Its reputation was strengthened during World War II when it served up non-rationed food such as rabbits, pheasants and grouse. Customers over the years have included Charles Dickens and Charlie Chaplin.
The Union oyster House in Boston, Massachussets, opened its doors in 1826 and claims to be the longest continuously open restaurant in the U.S.
new Zealand’s oldest operating restaurant, The Gables, in russell, was built in 1847 and originally served whalers and traders. Today, the restaurant is famous for seafood and lamb as well as its waterfront location.
Simpsons-in-the-Strand opened in 1828 as a smoking room and coffee house before becoming well-known around 20 years later as a spot to enjoy some of the finest traditional English food.
So clearly there are more than ten eateries around the world older than the Criterion, which opened in 1873 — the problems are in defining when an establishment is no longer a tavern and has become a restaurant, and just how accurate their claimed histories actually are.
J. B. Riches, Stafford.
QUESTION What was the first Lego kit
ever produced? FURTHER to the earlier answer, does anyone remember Brickplayer? It was a kit manufactured in about 1950 that consisted of plans to enable the construction of reduced scaled buildings out of real miniature clay bricks together with quoins and bats — specially shaped and angled bricks.
A miniature trowel was provided and each brick was laid individually in a variety of bonds using a powder mortar mixed with water, just like the real thing.
In addition, metal doors and windows were provided and printed cardboard sheets were used to cut out and provide a realistic tiled roof.
If the bricks were to be re-used, they had to be soaked in water and painstakingly cleaned or dressed before relaying. I quickly learned that flour and water substituted for the adhesive supplied.
The whole process gave an enjoyable sense of achievement, although it was time-consuming and laborious. I doubt if the children of today, oriented towards the instant gratification of computer games, would have the patience to complete the project.
nevertheless my Brickplayer, which I still proudly possess, gave me hours of fun and contributed towards my eventual 52 years in building management and administration.
Doug Allen, Stourbridge, West Mids.
IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT. You can also fax them to 01952 780111 or you can email them to charles. legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.