“Sweet Soul Music”

I‘m lovin’ the song ‘Sweet Soul Music’. It was written in 1967 by Arthur Conley and Otis Redding. The opening riff is from The Magnificent Seven score. Conley had a smokin’ hot hit with it in 1967.

And here I thought it was a Sam & Dave song – it’s very similar in style.

Listen on YOuTube here

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Do ya like good music?
Sweet soul music
Just as long as it’s swingin’
Oh yeah
Oh-oh-oh yeah

We’re here out on the floor, ya’ll
Going to a go-go
Dancin’ with the music
Oh yeah
Oh-oh yeah

Spotlight on Lou Rawls, y’all
Don’t he look boss, y’all
Singin, ‘Love’s a Hurtin Thing’, ya’ll
Oh yeah
Oh-oh yeah

Spotlight on Sam and Dave, ya’ll
Oh, don’t they look great y’all?
Singin, ‘Hold On I’m Coming’
Oh yeah
Oh-oh yeah

Spotlight on Wilson Pickett, y’all
That wicked Wilson Pickett
Singin, ‘Mustang Sally’
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

Spotlight on Otis Redding, now
Singin ‘Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa’ fa-fa-fa
Singin’ ‘Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa’fa-fa-fa

Spotlight on James Brown, ya’ll
He’s the king of them all, ya’ll
He’s the king of ’em all, ya’ll
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

Do ya like good music
That sweet soul music?
Just ‘long as it’s swingin’

(Yeah yeah)
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

Got to get the feelin’

(sweet soul music)

I got to get the feelin’

(sweet soul music)

I got to get the feelin’

(sweet soul music)
Do ya like good music?
(sweet soul music)

I got to get the feeling

(sweet soul music)

That sweet soul music

(sweet soul music)

Do you like good music?

(sweet soul music)

I got to get the feeling!

fades

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“Wrap It Up” by Sam and Dave

I thought I’d look today at two versions of the soul classic, “Wrap It Up”. It was interesting to be reminded that the The Fabulous Thunderbird’s song was originally a hit for Sam & Dave.

Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler “loaned out” Sam & Dave to Stax Records in Memphis so he could get their “Southern roots, gospel style” down on wax. Isaac Hayes and David Porter, then new at the game, wrote and produced their biggest hits. They also influenced the duo’s singing style, and their recording style had a more live, energetic gospel call-and-response feel with a “beat driven soul style”. Sam & Dave were so busy touring that the tapes were flown to Europe for them to record the vocals. [From Wikipedia, “Sam & Dave”]

Okay. Here we go. “Wrap It Up” was the B side of the “I Thank You” single in 1968, their final one on Stax. The Blues Brothers released their “Soul Man” single in 1978 (one of Sam & Dave’s biggest hits.) ZZ Top jumped on the bandwagon in 1979 with “I Thank You”. It was a nice version but was over saturated on the FM. The Thunderbirds’ “Wrap It Up” was released in – 1986? I could’ve sworn it was at least by 1985…

Now to compare the Thunderbirds’ version with Sam & Dave’s.

You’ve got to give it up for Sam & Dave. Funky; front and center. The Stax house band is incredible, and those tight ensemble horns. Put it all together – sheer excitement.

The Thunderbirds’ version is nice. Jimmy Vaughan and Kim Wilson kick it.

I have to say though, I don’t care for the Thunderbirds’ video.  (You’ll have to look that one up for yourself – or not.) The cars are nice – I guess. The T & A makes it hard to take them seriously. What’s up with that?

 

Listen to the Sam & Dave original here.

Listen to the Thunderbirds version here.

 

A lost masterpiece: “Knock Out!” by Toots and the Maytals

I bought this on cassette in the early 80’s. This da one made me a Toots fan forever! It’s an all time feel-good favorite album and goes a long way towards explaining why I’m such a fan of classic reggae.

I’m not familiar with all of Toot’s work, but this album brilliantly illustrates for me how Soul Music and the Memphis sound were influences on Toots. It’s not my original thought; it’s been said elsewhere. What he comes out with is far from derivative – it’s like a brilliant echo. Check out my other postings on Sam and Dave – compare for yourself. And then just think about the influence of reggae on American and world popular music…     Toots, is an originator, yo!

This album seamlessly and slyly incorporates pedal steel guitar on some of the tunes – one of the slickest and most effective uses of the pedal steel I’ve ever heard. It speaks volumes to Toots’ musicianship and his openness to other influences. The production values on this album are a remarkable achievement. There’s lots of well integrated organ playing throughout – very bubbly.

There’s a beautiful cycle of songs about relationships. “Beautiful Woman” is a hilarious tongue in cheek cautionary tale about the perils of beautiful women. In “Spend The Weekend”, he’s fed up and asks his partner to go “spend the weekend with your mother”. “Two Time” is a classic been-done-wrong song, an eloquent mix of smoky anger, paranoia and plaintive vulnerability, using echo to heighten the tension. In “Missing You” Toots gets the heart ache. It’s a beautiful song about heartbreak, as only Toots could sing it. “I Know We Can Make It” is a percolating request for his partner to stick by him… it would be hard to resist!

“Careless Ethiopians”, “Revival Time” and “Never Get Weary” are nice statements about his faith and beliefs. “Never Get Weary” exemplifies the indomitable Jamaican spirit in the face of poverty and racism, a powerful indictment against colonialism’s slavery past.

“Will You Be Kind” is an eloquent plea to remember the less fortunate that is sure to get under your skin. It would make a good anthem for today, as relevant as it ever was in 1981, as more and more people get left behind economically:

“You left me so far behind when you know I didn’t have a dime / ‘So sorry, sonny’ / You left me so far behind – tell me, why you so unkind? / Will you be kind, will you be kind… while eating your belly full?!”

All of these songs can be purchased as MP3s at Amazon and found on YouTube or MySpace. The CD is sadly out of print and it can only be hoped that the powers that be are persuaded to re-release this lost masterpiece – with decent mixes. It hangs together seamlessly as a whole and the sum effect is greater than the parts. They sure named this album right, though – this album is a Knock Out!

“Never Get Weary”

I was down in the valley for a very long time and I never get weary yet

I was born and raised in a little earth shack with my poor family

I was from before     Christopher Columbus

And I was from before     the Arawak Indians

Trodding creation      before this nation

I’ll always remember    I can’t forget

I was walking on the shore when they put me on the ship

and they threw me overboard

And I swum right out of the belly of the whale

and I never get weary yet

They put me in jail and I did not do no wrong

and I never get weary yet