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Song of The Day by Eric Berman – “She’s My Baby” by Wings
Wings At The Speed Of Sound, the 1976 album where this song is from is one of Paul McCartney’s slighter efforts recorded quickly to have a some product on the shelves in time for the Wings Over America tour of 1976. That said, it does have its charms…”Beware My Love,” “Time To Hide” and this breezy favorite.
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Slow Down, Love” by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
I got dap dipped several years ago. What’s that? You say you don’t know what it is to be dap dipped? Well, I’ll tell you…
The moment you first lay your lucky ears onto the retro-soul sound of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings is when you’ve been dap dipped. It’s kind of a “daptism” of sorts.
Jones and her band have been releasing records over the last fifteen years that sound like they were recorded in the late 1960s…and that’s not just a good thing, it’s a great thing! So convincing is their sound and presentation, that many people think Sharon Jones has been in the public eye for many more years than she really has.
Jones was a soul singer since she was a child in Georgia, singing in church and local talent shows while also backing local soul bands in the 1970s and taking on any kind of recording session work she could get. Without a recording contract of her own, she became a corrections officer at Riker’s Island and an armored car guard for Wells Fargo before receiving her big break in 1996 while singing background vocals for soul legend Lee Fields.
That session was organized by owners of Pure Records, a French record label owned by Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann) and Philip Lehman. Jones was the only one of three background vocalists booked to show up for the session, so she recorded all of the backing vocals herself which impressed Roth and Lehman. At the end of the session, they recorded her first single “Switchblade” (b/w “The Landlord”) backed by members of the Brooklyn, New York bands Antibalas and The Mighty Imperials who later became her backing band The Dap-Kings. The song was released on the compilation album The Soul Providers in 1996.
Lehman and Roth formed the new Desco record label out of Brooklyn specializing in retro soul and funk releases that many fans believed to be original recordings from the late 60s and early 70s. Jones recorded three more singles for the label. After releasing records by Lee Fields, The Sugarman 3 and The Daktaris, Lehman and Roth parted ways in 2000 over creative differences paving the way for Roth to start a new label with Neal Sugarman (of Sugarman 3) called Daptone Records. The label has been Sharon Jones’ musical home ever since and all of her recordings have been under the direction and production of Bosco Mann.
Each record Jones & the Dap-Kings released for the label has garnered more fans than the one before. There was Dap Dippin’ With Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (2002), Naturally (2005), 100 days, 100 Nights (2007), I Learned The Hard Way (2010), the Soul Time compilation (2011) and her most recent album where today’s Song Of The Day comes from Give The People What They Want.
While Jones’ rise to dominance in the retro soul world may seem somewhat effortless once she met Roth, it hasn’t been without its trials and tribulations beginning during the summer of 2013. With a tour to promote a new album set to release during the summer of 2013, it was announced that Jones had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer which was later changed to stage two pancreatic cancer. As a result, Jones underwent surgery and chemotherapy cancelling the release of her fifth album and the tour.
On the mend, Jones returned to the stage in November 2013 and her Give The People What They Want album was released to positive reviews in January 2014. She will bring her tour to Chicago tomorrow night. One of the songs on the album is called “People Don’t Get What They Deserve” and in light of Jones’ health issues, the song should probably take on a whole new meaning tomorrow night.
Today’s Song Of The Day was the first single released from her latest album which was given away with pre-orders for the album when Jones’ announced her illness last summer. The track has an “end of the party” kind of groove that is chock full of ennui. Unfortunately, the song is not available on its own on Youtube; however I’ve uploaded a link to the whole album. While brief at only 33 minutes, the album comes chock full of great tunes that will surely be exciting to see her bring to the concert stage tomorrow night. It’s certainly worth a spin while you’re online reading this piece.
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Waters Of March” by Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel certainly missed his calling during his post Simon & Garfunkel solo career. If ever an artist was better suited to cut a Bossa Nova album, it was Art Garfunkel who possesses a gentle, smooth voice and impressive octave range to match. Proof positive is his recording of the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic “Waters Of March” from his second solo record, 1975’s Breakaway.
“Waters Of March” was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim in both English and Portuguese (“Águas de Março”) and appeared on his 1973 album called Jobim. Although, the Bossa Nova craze was in the early 1960s, the song has since become a standard part of the repertoire, covered numerous times by the likes of Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’77, David Byrne and Marisa Monte, Al Jarreau, John Pizzarelli, Rosemary Clooney, and dozens more.
Breakaway was a high water mark for Garfunkel that generated three top 40 singles: “I Only Have Eyes For You” (US #18, UK #1), “Breakaway” (US #39) and the Simon And Garfunkel reunion duet, “My Little Town,” which peaked at #9. Further driving the popularity of the record was the Simon And Garfunkel reunion that took place on TV’s Saturday Night Live, which at the time was the hip epicenter of the media world.
The Richard Perry produced album was an all-star affair featuring a who’s who of backing talent including appearances by David Crosby, Graham Nash, Andrew Gold, Nicky Hopkins, Jim Keltner, Jim Gordon, Barry Beckett, Larry Knechtel, Russ Kunkel, Joe Osborne, Bill Payne, Klaus Voorman, Toni Tennille, Stephen Bishop and Leland Sklar.
Not only were the hits great, but there were quite a few non-singles that have become central to Garfunkel’s repertoire, including the Bruce Johnston penned “Disney Girls,” “99 Miles From L.A.” with lyrics by Hal David and a terrific cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever).”
Word is that Garfunkel’s voice isn’t what it used to be, so I guess a Bossa Nova album coming from him today would be too much to ask…however, with him at least on the road and back in front of audiences, I’ll bet he could still pull it off…
They were a super group before anyone ever knew it. 10cc consisted of two sets of songwriters. Graham Gouldman wrote the classic hits “For Your Love,” “Heart Full Of Soul,” and “Evil Hearted You” for The Yardbirds, “Bus Stop” and “Look Through Any Window” for the Hollies and “No Milk Today” for Herman’s Hermits. His partner, Eric Stewart, was a member of Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders scoring hits with “Groovy Kind Of Love” and “The Game Of Love.” Kevin Godley and Lol Creme (with Eric Stewart) were members of the group Hotlegs scoring the hit “Neanderthal Man.” After 10cc, they went on to record hits under the name Godley and Crème (“Cry”) and produce music videos for the likes of U2, Paul McCartney, Sting, The Beatles (“Real Love”), Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and others. This song was originally from the band’s second (and best) album “Sheet Music” from 1974. Today, most of us remember them from their indelible hits “I’m Not In Love,” “The Things We Do For Love,” “Dreadlock Holiday,” “The Wall Street Shuffle,” “Donna” and “Art For Art’s Sake.” Graham Gouldman currently tours around the world with a version of 10cc today.
Tom Jones just released his 40th album this week called Spirit In The Room. It was released last May in England and has finally gained a release stateside. It is also the second “mortality” album he’s released in a row.
The “mortality album” occurs when a rapidly aging heritage artist is matched with a hip (younger) producer, who in this case is Ethan Johns. (Johns was also at the helm for his last “mortality album” Praise And Blame.) The producer acts as a mentor to the artist and curates the record by choosing the songs that not only will give the artist credibility with the young in-tune hipsters, but will also connect with the original fan base who are also getting older and can totally relate to, you guessed it, a “mortality” album.
Johnny Cash practically invented the genre with the series of late career American Recordings records he made with producer/Svengali Rick Rubin. With each release, his voice became weaker and weaker, while he just became cooler and cooler. Glen Campbell has released several “mortality” records also under the tutelage of producers Julian Raymond and Howard Willing. Both records have given him the kind of credibility he can happily retire on. In the case of Tom Jones, he still has all of his faculties, and still has one of the most thrilling and powerful voices ever.
Crucially, a “mortality” album must have a list of songs by “hipster approved” songwriters like Leonard Cohen, whose “Tower Of Song” kicks off this album, Tom Waits who provides the title track from his latest album “Bad As Me,” Bob Dylan’s Modern Times track “When The Deal Goes Down” (which is arranged here like a Tom Waits recording), the Richard and Linda Thompson classic “Dimming Of The Day,” Paul McCartney’s “(I Want To) Come Home” which he wrote for the 2009 film Everybody’s Fine and Today’s Song Of The Day “Just Dropped In.”
“Just Dropped In” is also known as “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In).” It was written by the late, great Mickey Newbury and it put Kenny Rogers on the map by providing his band The First Edition with their biggest hit in the late 1960s. It is also, by far the standout track on this album. Jones makes this classic his own, in spite of Ethan Johns doing his best Mark Ribot imitation on the guitar on an arrangement that sounds like it’s fallen off of a Tom Waits album.
I don’t think the whole “mortality” route is the way to go for Tom Jones. It’s too austere, and he’s much too vital to be giving us an end of career/end of life album. I also don’t think it’s going to get him the late career renaissance he’s probably looking for either. But if you are a fan of Tom Jones, there are several highlights to be found on Spirit In The Room, like today’s Song Of The Day “Just Dropped In,” the Blind Willie Johnson classic “Soul Of A Man” and the self-penned Traveling Shoes, with only a few real clinkers in the bunch. And, most importantly, they are all sung with passion and soul to burn.
Song of the Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #36 – The Friends Of Distinction: “Grazing In The Grass” b/w “Going In Circles” – Collectables 45 RPM Single COL 04769 (M4/NL4)
Some of the world’s best-loved and biggest hits have their origin in afterthought…
“Grazing In The Grass” was originally an instrumental hit recorded by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela that topped the charts in 1968. Masekela came to record the song after purchasing a cowbell-infused novelty record in Zambia called “Mr. Bull #5.” After turning in his debut album to UNI Records which was contractually short by three minutes, the label suggested he cover the single. While in the studio, actor and singer Philemon Hou came up with a new melody which became “Grazing In The Grass.”
Masekela thought little of the song, but included it on the album anyway to fulfill his contract. When UNI executive Russ Regan decided to release it as a single, Hugh Masekela became the first South African recording act to reach number one on the pop charts. (Fun fact: The guitarist on Masekela’s version of the song was Bruce Langhorne, who was the subject of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.”) (songfacts.com)
The Friends of Distinction was a soul group from southern California that formed in 1968 around Harry Elston, Floyd Butler, Jessica Cleaves and Barbara Jean Love. Elston and Butler were members of The Hif-Fi’s, who warmed up for Ray Charles on tour, along with Marilyn McCoo and Lamont McLemore who went on to form The 5th Dimension. The group secured a recording contract with RCA Records after joining forces with ex-Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown who took on management of the group.
When Elston heard Masekela’s hit version of the song, he wrote lyrics to it for Friends Of Distinction to record. Their version hit #3 on the pop charts and #5 R&B.
The song has been covered by Stevie Wonder, Chet Atkins, Boney James and Meco, and has been featured in many films including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Jackie Brown, I Shot Andy Warhol and I’m Gonna Get You Sucka.
The flip of today’s single is The Friends’ follow-up single “Going In Circles” which was also a million seller that climbed to #3 on the R&B charts and #15 pop in 1970. The slow jam heartbreak/coming-of-age song was written by Jerry Peters and Anita Poree and has been covered by The Gap Band, Isaac Hayes (on his Black Moses album) and Luther Vandross.
The story goes that after six albums and five years of hits including “Love or Let Me Be Lonely,” “Time Waits for No One,” and “I Need You,” The Friends Of Distinction broke up somewhat acrimoniously with Elston and Butler going separate ways to work outside of the music industry. By 1990 the legacy and influence of The Friends’ recordings had grown substantially. After not speaking to each other for many years, Elston and Butler agreed to work together again, however the reunion was short lived as Butler suffered from a heart attack and died in Elston’s arms. Elston reformed the group in 1996 with new members including Geno Henderson, Wendy Brune and Berlando Drake. They continue to tour and perform the music of The Friends of Distinction around the world today.
“The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over 14 years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within.
Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – “The Alley Cat” by Bent Fabric
Dance crazes come and go, but they are never forgotten.
Most recently there was Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” wreaking havoc across dance floors all over the world while the youth of America (and Myley Cyrus) began to twerk. In the 1990s, there was “The Macarena.” In the 1980s, country line dancing and “The Lambada” had their day in the sun, and the ‘70s gave us “The Electric Slide.” But in the early 1960s, there was only one communal synchronized dance that kids and adults alike shared in, making it a staple at weddings, proms and Bar Mitzvahs.
That dance was “The Alley Cat.”
In actuality, “The Alley Cat” began life as a 1961 hit for Bent Fabricius-Bjerre in Denmark under the title “Omkring et Flygel” (“Under The Table”). The song was picked up for U.S. distribution by Neshui and Ahmet Ehrtegun and released on their Atco label in 1962, where it became a million-selling top-ten hit. The song also went on to win a Grammy Award for, get this, Best Rock and Roll Record of 1962!
Fabric released six albums on Atco between 1962 and 1968, with titles like The Happy Puppy, The Drunken Penguin and Operation Love Birds, with animal-centric album covers to match. He was also paired up with Atco’s other big instrumentalist, Acker Bilk, for a series of recordings. But no matter how many albums were released, in America he is still only associated with one thing, “The Alley Cat.”
Fabric got his start playing Jazz piano in Denmark before moving into the realm of film scores, where he wrote music for 27 different Danish films. He also founded Metronome Records in 1950, which went on to become one of the most successful Danish record companies. One of his signings was Jorge Ingmann who scored a #2 hit in America with his classic instrumental “Apache.”
While Fabric has seemingly faded from view in America, he’s continued to release recordings in Denmark over the years, most recently scoring two top-ten hits in 2006 from his album called Jukebox. That album’s title track also got airplay in dance clubs across America, where a remix of “Alley Cat” was also re-released.
Surprisingly, in Mexico, ice cream trucks co-opted “The Alley Cat” as their calling card, so when children hear it blaring through the streets, it means the ice cream man is in the neighborhood.
Song of the Day by Eric Berman – “Footprints” by Miles Davis Quintet
They were known as Miles Davis’ second great quintet featuring Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Wayne Shorter on sax and Tony Williams on drums, but to some, they were his most important lineup. It was here that Miles was surrounded by a talented group of musicians who were much younger than he was.
The first great quintet featured John Coltrane on sax, Philly Joe Jones on drums, Red Garland on piano and Paul Chambers on bass and were responsible for creating a new modal language of cool Jazz on quintessential classic albums like Kind Of Blue, Round About Midnight and Milestones.
The ’60s quintet’s approach to improvisation was far more free-wheeling and the group’s musical language was far more advanced…they were all on the same plane, and that plane was otherworldly.
This quintet were responsible for classic albums like E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles In The Sky and Filles de Kilimanjaro which were recorded between the years 1965 and 1968, and can be heard live from the concert stage on the 5 CD Complete Live At The Plugged Nickel recorded in 1965 and on the 3 CD Live In Europe 1967 where today’s Song of the Day by Eric Berman was culled.
This version of Shorter’s “Footprints,” originally from the Miles Smiles album, but is heard and seen here from the DVD that came with the Live In Europe 1967 set which was the first volume of the ongoing The Bootleg Series. So far, there have been three volumes in the series…let’s hope Columbia will keep them coming.
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Toledo” by Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach
THE SUMMIT…that’s the term Fran Sinatra coined to sum up the grouping of Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and himself many years ago. To me, THE SUMMIT equals two of my very favorite artists collaborating together for an album and a tour…and one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen!
Elvis Costello was always a fan of Burt Bacharach. He covered his song “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself” right from the beginning of his career. The Bacharach-Costello collaboration began with the song “God Give Me Strength” which was written for the exceptional 1996 Allison Anders film Grace of My Heart” which was loosely based on the story of 1960s Brill Building pop songsmiths.
After the film, the two worked together by email and telephone and found they had a knack for writing great songs. They continued their long distance collaboration writing a batch of songs that became their sole album from 1998, Painted From Memory which today’s Song of the Day by Eric Berman was culled.
Here fans got the best of both worlds…Bacharach’s singular and angular way with a melody matched with Costello’s knack for the turn of a phrase. The ensuing 1998 tour was, for my money, a meeting of two of the greatest songwriters of all time…right up there with Lennon and McCartney!
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Crossword Puzzle” by Sly Stone
Today’s Song of the Day by Eric Berman comes from Sly Stone’s oft-neglected 1975 album High On You. Yes, it was the beginning of the end for Sly’s relevance, but this album still offers plenty of good listening.
Hip-Hop aficionados will recognize the indelible horn riffs from De La Soul’s “Say No Go” featured on their classic 3 Feet High And Rising album.
Starting the week of March 23rd, we are going retro – no voice tracks, no safety net – and will be live in the Acid Flashback studios from 10 AM until 2 PM Central Time (11ET, 8 PT). So for folks who have to stay at home during the Covid-19 crisis, you can turn the […]
