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"Kentucky Woman"

Deep Purple

Written by Neil Diamond.

Recorded originally by Neil Diamond in October 1967 before leaving Bang Records.

Deep Purple released their version in December 1968 with "Wring That Neck" as the B-side.

They also included the song in their album "The Book of Taliesyna", reaching #38 on Billboard Hot 100 and #21 in Canada. The Australian single had "Hush" too, both being A-sides.

They never play this song in their concerts anymore since 1969.

...vastly different instrumental feel, if not vocal line... At the time, it was considered one of the first heavy metal songs to emerge on the radio scene.

The single version is an edit of the album version, and is four minutes and four seconds in length. A remastered version appears on the 30th anniversary album "The very best of Deep Purple" EMI records and runs for four minutes and forty five seconds.

The oft-times awkward transitions that kept the early Deep Purple lurching between overbearing pomp and quaintly affected circumstance found few more spellbinding outlets than when they tackled â€Kentucky Womanâ€, a Neil Diamond composition from the days before his own reputation was stretched out on the altar of MOR sogginess. Recorded early on in the sessions for Deep Purple’s second album, 1968’s Book Of Taliesyn, â€Kentucky Woman†was clearly conceived with a mind to emulating the success of their first single earlier in the year, â€Hushâ€. Tambourines and handclaps serve up a delightful party atmosphere, while the near-chorale backing vocals supply a backdrop that transforms vocalist Rod Evans into a veritable big-balladeer. One looks in vain for clues as to Deep Purple’s future. Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar solo is tastefulness itself, while Jon Lord’s organ break appears to be there simply because the group had nothing else to do; certainly, Deep Purple’s then-vibrant dream of outfudging Vanilla Fudge can be heard foundering the longer the song goes on, but excise those shenanigans and â€Kentucky Woman†packs all the period charm of late 60s oldies radio, and it really does seem surprising that it did not climb higher up the US chart than its eventual #38.

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Thank you for the facts again ladies

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The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #221

This week there are five songs needing facts.

Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) - Parliament (1976)

Dirty Love - Frank Zappa (1973)

Express Yourself - Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (1970)

Anna (Go To Him) - Arthur Alexander (1962)

Maybe - The Chantels (1957)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you. 88.gif

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"Anna (Go To Him)"

Arthur Alexander

Written by Arthur Alexander. Released as a single in September 17, 1962 by Dot Records. It made #68 in the Pop charts and #10 in the R&B charts.

The Beatles recorded it in their LP, "Please, Please Me" in 1963.

"Anna" was one of the great early soul ballads, even if its loping groove was closer to a midtempo than a slow ballad. Like several of Arthur Alexande's songs, it would come to be more famous in its cover version than through its original release. And it was actually a small hit when it first came out in 1962, getting to #68 in the pop charts and #10 in the R&B listings. There's an almost Latin lilt to the verses of "Anna," particularly in the playful yet sad ripples of the piano. The lyrical stance of "Anna" is very much in keeping with Alexander's demeanor as a shy, vulnerable singer. He's lost Anna, and she's leaving him for another. But instead of being bitter, he urges her to give back her ring and go with the other fella, if that's what's going to make her happiest. That's not sung in a vengeful fashion, but in a sincere one, as if he has her well-being at the center of his own interest. And truthfully, how many among of us actually do act so gallantly and unselfishly when faced with similar situations? More of the hurt, perhaps, comes out in the soaring bridge, where Alexander reflects on how he's yearned all his life for a girl like Anna, and now she's falling out of his grasp. When he sings "what am I supposed to do?," it's as if he's asking not only the listeners, but the Lord above. A gently cooing female backup chorus adds soothing responses to his misery in the verses. The song has a grand melody the equal of the best of the early-'60s Brill Building tunes, and an unusual, effective jerky, rolling stop-start drum rhythm. The classic was seized upon by the Beatles, who recorded it on their first album in 1963, with John Lennon on lead vocals. In some respects it stayed close to the original version, Ringo Starr faithfully replicating the unusual drum rhythm and high-hat crunches. Lennon's vocal, however, added a tortured pain not present in Alexander's model, particularly when he wailed in his upper register at the conclusion of the bridges. The Beatles' backup harmony vocals, in addition, were superb, and more effective and haunting counterpoints than the backing vocals used by Alexander on his original single. Too, the strings on Alexander's version are absent from the one by the Beatles, who stick to a spare guitar-bass-drums arrangement. And where Alexander's version gracefully fades, the Beatles come to a gloomy cold close, Lennon devising an urgent phrase ("you can go to him, girl!") not heard in Alexander's. Both versions are excellent, and it's a close call, but the one by the Beatles is ultimately a little more memorable. And it's certainly better known, having been included on albums that have sold millions of copies. Echoes of the kind of melodic, emotional songwriting in "Anna" could be strongly heard, too, in early Lennon- McCartney songs in which Lennon was the dominant composer, particularly "All I've Got to Do."

wikipedia: Despite the title, throughout the song the lyric is "go with him" rather than "go to him".

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"Maybe"

The Chantels

Credited to Richard Barrett, producer,writer, arranger and lead singer of The Valentines, one of the most famous doo-woop bands of the fifties.

Some say that it was Arlene Smith and George Goldner, members of The Chantels.

The song was recorded by The Chantels in 1957 but it was released in January 1958 in a less doo-woop style. The single had also "Every Night (I Pray)" and "I Love You So" and it reached #15 in the charts in 1958 and #2 in the R&B list.

"Maybe" sold one million records.

The Chantels were a girl group formed in 1952 and its members were Arlene Smith (vocals), Sonia Goring, Rene Minus, Jackie Landry Jackson and Lois Harris.

Probably the most well-known version is Janis Joplin's cover. The Shangri-Las also recorded it in 1965.

..."Maybe" was, arguably, the first true glimmering of the girl group sound, a piping lament that rose above its clunky piano accompaniment and the ponderous bass and drums that lurch behind it... escapes even a distinct resemblance to "Unchained Melody"... to focus all of one's attention of Arlene Smith's soaring, soul-soaked lead vocal. With its entire lyric focussed around Smith’s ability to draw the title alone out to virtual verse-length, the song itself is built firmly in the tradition of the doo wop street singers then taking the charts by storm. But Smith's passion is palpable and, though there have been better recorded versions of the song ( Jill Read's Dave Edmunds produced mid-70s take paramount among them), none carries the emotional impact of this, the original.
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"Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)"

Parliament

Written by Jerome Brailey, George Clinton and Bootsy Collins.

It was recorded in 1975 and released in April the next year as a single called "Tear the Roof off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)". The B-side was "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)".

The single sold one million copies -the first single selling that much for Parliament- and was certified Gold in the same year it was released.

It's also a track of their 1976 LP, "Mothership Connection" and the second single of the album.

The single charted high on Billboard Soul charts, reaching #5 and also #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.

The song is constructed using a jazz-influenced form. Three themes are stated at the beginning of the track:

A - "You've got a real type of thing" (usually using a syncopated bass line)

B - "We want the funk" (a chorus of sorts; the bass is usually a near-double of the vocals)

C - "La la la" (bass as in B-Theme)

The three themes are stated briefly twice (8 bars each section), followed by a short (4-bar) break ("D"). With this exposition complete, Parliament explores each theme with greater interpretive freedom (beginning at 2:18). The A-Theme elaboration takes only 16 bars, after which the B-Theme is elaborated upon for 56 bars. During this elaboration, two new ideas are combined with the B-Theme (subthemes D and E):

D - "We're gonna turn this mother out"

E - "Let us in we'll turn this mother out"

Note that the three main themes are rarely layered on top of each other. The C-Theme elaboration lasts only 8 bars, and in fact is interpolated with the A-Theme (for 2 bars). With this development section complete, the three main themes are recapitulated (beginning at 5:18). A fadeout during this recapitulation ends the song with the B-Theme; the C-Theme may theoretically follow.

Aside from the song's form, another jazz-like element is the degree of interactivity among the musicians. The bass frequently responds to vocal gestures, and the bass and synthesizer frequently interact. Likewise, the drums interact with the pitched lines.

Two main contrasting vocal timbres are heard in this song. The "norm" (used in themes A, B and D) is a throaty, loud timbre with casual enunciation and somewhat microtonal/bent pitches. An "alternative" timbre (found in themes C and E) uses a mannered exaggerated enunciation, with very clear pitches.

As with many of Parliament's songs, a full ensemble sound is obtained using few players; the song relies mainly on bass guitar, one synthesizer, and a drum kit. (Guitar, synthesizer pad, and brass are heard subtlely.) Many different vocal ensembles are found, most occurring in groups.

"Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the ucker)," arguably the peak of the ultimate no-holds-barred monster funk band of the '70s, expressed in music Parliament's unflinching desire to not only turn the place inside out but practically destroy it. For the production, producer and Parliament- Funkadelic ringleader George Clinton stuffed many more elements into his production than were thought possible, building on the song's rangy bass line and upfront rhythm with a gospel ensemble, a devastating singalong chorus, and brass fills. The best-performing single from Parliament's most successful LP ( Mothership Connection), &"Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the ucker)" made it to the Top 20 in 1976, yet another testament to George Clinton and company's continuing blueprint to expand the gospel of funk in every direction possible.
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"Dirty Love"

Frank Zappa

Written by Frank Zappa in 1972.

A track of his 1973 LP "Over-Nite sensation". The recording took place between March and June 1973 in three different studios: Bolic Sound (Inglewood), Whitney (Glendale) and Paramount (L.A.)and was also released in quadraphonic system.

This rather simple (in Frank Zappa terms) rock song (...) starts as an imprecation to surrender to some atavistic lovemaking: "Give me/Your dirty love/Like you might surrender/To some dragon in your dreams." But then, the "dirty" gets dirtier: "Give me/Your dirty love/Just like your mama/Make her fuzzy poodle do," accompanied by the closing lines "The Poodle bites/The poodle chews it," stirs the song into bestiality.

Deviant sexual practices have often been the subject of Zappa's songs (see "Bobby Brown Goes Down" and "The Illinois Enema Bandit" for other non-exhaustive examples). Furthermore, this song introduces the poodle as a recurring reference in the man's work. As illustrated in "The Poodle Lectures" ( You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6), Zappa believed this dog to be God's third mistake (after man and woman). The song also yielded the line "Not a speck of cereal," a reference to dog food commercials and a favorite quote among fans, which was also used for the promotion campaign surrounding the release of the compilation album Strictly Commercial.

"Dirty Love," still musically quirky even though it is more straightforward, was performed live a lot in 1975-1976 and remained in Zappa's set list up to 1979. A live recording from this last year is available on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 -- the band rips through it at the speed of light.

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"Express Yourself"

Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

Written by Charles Wright.

A track from their third album "Express Yourself", from 1970. It was also a single with “Living On Borrowed Time" as the B-side.

It reached #3 in the rhythm&blues charts and #12 in the Billboard Pop list.

He recorded a new version of "Express Yourself" in 2007 for his album "Finally Got It Wright".

"Express Yourself" was remixed by L.A. rap group N.W.A. in 1988 and has been used for many soundtracks of movies, including Remember The Titans, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and Mr & Mrs Smith, plus numerous television commercials. "Do Your Thing" was featured on the soundtrack to Boogie Nights.

According allmusic, "an unlikely hit that benefited from timing relative to societal realities of ever-expanding freedom for African-Americans to express their dreams and go after goals (...) the lyrics hardly go into detail about how to express yourself -- they just urge you to do so. It was one of three big hits for the excellent L.A. funk band: "Do Your Thing" and "Loveland" are the others (...) Wright's lead sounds like a bad scratch vocal, any neighborhood wino could have done as well, and the only thing "king" about the track was the bubbling bass line that danced around in your head like a well-smacked pinball."

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The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #222

This week there are four songs needing facts.

Too High - Stevie Wonder (1973)

Better Things - The Kinks (1981)

Don't Take Me Alive - Steely Dan (1976)

Where You Lead - Carol King (1971)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you. getsmileyphp-1.gif

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"Too High"

Stevie Wonder

A song written by Stevie Wonder and Paul Bollenback for his 1973 album, "Innervisions"

It wasn't released as a single. It's a song about

drug abuse.

"Too High" is just as stunning, a cautionary tale about drugs driven by a dizzying chorus of scat vocals and a springing bassline.

And that's all I could find... :P

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"Better Things"

The Kinks

Written by Ray Davies.

Relased in June 9th 1981 as a track of their LP "Give The People What They Want" (it was released first in he US, then in the UK in January 1982)

Also a single that reached #46 in the UK charts, #92 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #12 in the US Mianstream lists.

The single was released in June 1981 in the UK with "Massive Reductions" as the B-side; and in November of the same year in the US with "Yo-yo" as the B-side. The version is a bit longer than the one on the album.

Initial copies came with a bonus 7" containing live versions of "Lola" and "David Watts" recorded on American tours in 1979 and 1980... it was their first charting single since 1972, with "Supersonic Rocket Ship"
.

...masterpiece of the album is "Better Things," a sweet piece of charming sentimentalism that is the only time Davies lets his guard down during the entire album.

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"Where You Lead"

Carole King

Music by Carole King and lyrics by Toni Stern. A track of her 1971 album "Tapestry".

It wasn't released as a single so it didn't chart, but Barbra Streissand recorded it in 1971 and her cover reached #40 in the US charts and one year later, her live version made it to #36.

"The Book of Ruth" inspired the lyrics with its line "where thou lead, thou shalt follow".

Carole King and her daughter, Louise Goffin, re-recorded the song for the TV serie "Gilmore Girls" and it became its theme song. Later, in 2005, Carole King and Louise Goffin recorded the song again for King's album "Love Makes The World- Deluxe Edition"

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"Don't Take Me Alive"

Steely Dan

Written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.

A track of their fifth album, released in 1976 "The Royal Scam", with Larry Carlton on guitar.

The song wasn't released as a single.

The stark, unusually direct lyrics are delivered by Donald Fagen without his usual sarcasm, in the first-person account of a man in the middle of a standoff with the LAPD, alternately threatening and pleading with the officers. Neither Fagen nor Walter Becker plays an instrument on the song, which features a dirty, overdriven opening guitar solo by Larry Carlton that's a far cry from the jazz player's usual tasty chops. When people talk about what a dark and mean-spirited album The Royal Scam is, this is usually the song they mean.

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Thanks for the facts again edna me dear. Your faster at posting the facts then I am about getting them to Carl. Let us hope your PC never dies. smiley-happy089.gif

The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #223

This week there are four songs needing facts.

Get It While You Can - Janis Joplin (1971)

In the City - Eagles (1979)

Jefferson Jericho Blues - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (2010)

Cry Me A River - Joe Cocker (1970)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you. smiley-music001-1.gif

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"Get It While You Can"

Janis Joplin

Written by Mort Schumann and Jerry Ragovoy.

It was a track of her posthumous album "Pearl", released in february 1971. Janis Joplin had died in October 1970.

The band is the Full Tilt Boogie Band and it was the first time they played with her. The song wasn't released as a single.

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"Cry Me A River"

Joe Cocker

A song written by Arthur hamilton in 1953. Originally written for Ella Fitzgerald, who finally declined to record it until 1961.

Julie London recorded it in 1955 and it was a hit. She sings it in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It.

Joe Cocker sang it for his 1970 live album, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen". His version is harsh and full of energy, with the whole band backing him.

Very different from the original soft and bluesy song.

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Jefferson Jericho Blues - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

This song was recorded live in the studio without overdubbing. According to Petty, this song, as well as many others off the Mojo album, are blues-based and can be compared to the atmosphere sound of the Allman Brothers.

[smaller]writing put into my own words, other than artist's direct quote[/smaller]

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"In the City"

Eagles

Written by Joe Walsh and Barry De Vorzon.

It was originally written and recorded by Joe Walsh for the "The Warriors" soundtrack album, in April 1979. The Eagles heard it and liked the song, so they recorded another version for their LP "The Long Run" released in September 1979.

A video was made for the track featuring a staged recording session of the track with Joe Walsh playing a Gibson double neck guitar using the 12-string neck for the rhythm parts and the 6-string neck for the slide guitar parts plus Schmit played a Fender bass, Felder used a Fender Stratocaster, Henley used an 8-piece Ludwig drum kit with Paiste cymbals, Frey on piano and Joe Vitale on congas.

Although not released as a single, the track became an album-oriented rock radio favorite in the U.S. and a Walsh concert staple and was featured on the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over album and video in 1994.

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Thank you for providing the facts for last week Edna and Kenne :bow: :bow: :bow:

The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #224

This week there are five songs needing facts.

Feelin' Alright - Traffic (1968)

(The facts for this song are listed under Joe Cocker.)

Fool For The City - Foghat (1975)

Another Saturday Night - Cat Stevens (1974)

Matchbox - Carl Perkins

Big City Nights - Scorpions (1984)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you. singing_sy.gif

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Matchbox" is a rock and roll and rockabilly song written by Carl Perkins and first recorded by him at Sun Records in December 1956 and released on February 11, 1957 as a 45 single on Sun Records. It has become one of Perkins' best-known recordings

The Beatles were fans of Perkins and began performing the song circa 1961. Their then-drummer, Pete Best, performed the lead vocals, but no studio recording featuring Best singing the song is known to exist although a live recording with Best on vocals does exist. In 1962, John Lennon sang the song during a performance at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; a recording of this exists and was included on Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962.

The next year, The Beatles performed "Matchbox" with Ringo Starr on lead vocals for their BBC radio show, and this version would be included on the Live at the BBC album. Starr also got to sing lead vocals on it when it was recorded in 1964. There are suggestions that Perkins may have been present in the studio at that time. As was usually the case, all instruments on the song are played by The Beatles themselves, with the exception of the piano, which was played by producer George Martin. George Harrison plays 12-string rhythm guitar, while Lennon plays the lead guitar riffs and solo. (Starr even says on the Live at the BBC version, "All right, John!") "Matchbox" appeared on the Long Tall Sally EP in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it appeared on the Something New album, and was released as a single on August 24, 1964, which reached number seventeen on the Billboard pop singles chart. "Matchbox" reached number six on the Canadian CHUM Hit Parade charts in 1964. It was also included on the Past Masters compilation.

Rockabilly Roots

Carl Perkins

Sharecroppers' sons Carl Perkins and his brothers Jay Perkins and Clayton Perkins, along with drummer W. S. Holland, had been playing their music roughly ninety miles from Memphis. The Perkins Brothers Band, featuring both Carl and Jay on lead vocals, quickly established themselves as the hottest band on the cutthroat, "get-hot-or-go-home" Jackson, TN honky tonk circuit. Most of the requests for songs were for hillbilly songs that were delivered as jived up versions - classic Hank Williams standards infused with a faster rhythm.[20] It was here that Carl started composing his first songs with an eye toward the future. Watching the dance floor at all times for a reaction, working out a more rhythmically driving style of music that was neither country nor blues, but had elements of both, Perkins kept reshaping these loosely structured songs until he had a completed composition, which would then be finally put to paper. Carl was already sending demos to New York record companies, who kept rejecting him, sometimes explaining that this strange new style of country with a pronounced rhythm fit no current commercial trend. That would change in 1954.

Wiki

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Another Saturday Night" is the title of a 1963 hit single by Sam Cooke from the album Ain't That Good News. It reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and was number one on the R&B chart for a single week.[1] In the UK, the song peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1974, Cat Stevens recorded a version of the song which peaked at number six on the Hot 100.

Wiki

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"Feelin' Alright"

Traffic

Written by Dave Mason.

A track of their 1968 album "Traffic".

Dave Mason’s contributions to Traffic are one of the crucial elements that led to the band’s thoroughly modern and wholly unique sound. While the catchy melody and slightly vaudevillian execution adds to its’ infectious kitsch, just beneath that veneer is a splendid little groovy rocker. The mostly acoustic opening masques the driving rhythms that quickly emerge around the “Feelin’ alright?/Not feelin’ too good myself†chorus. Winwood’s spry jazzy piano inflections add a contrast from ason’s dejected lead vocals. The track evolves into a steadily chugging rhythm centring on the ultimately sing-a-long-able refrain. The instrumental break is highlighted by Chris Wood’s tasty sax solo and the break allows the band to let loose for a couple of bars before resolving back into the final verse. Jim Capaldi’s syncopated skins unify the entire affair in a style akin to jazz time keeper Art Blakey, who mastered the delicate craft of not getting in the way when attempting to provide a soloist with rhythmic support. Although debuted by Traffic, “Feelin’ Alright?†was covered to greater success by Joe Cocker and Grand Funk Railroad as well as lesser-known versions by Isaac Hayes, the Jackson Five, Three Dog Night, Paul Weller and Freddie King.

"Traffic" was released in October 1968 and soon after the band started an American tour. While touring, Dave Mason was fired from the band by the rest of his bandmates. The band broke up in 1969.

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