Been listening to Al Green's 1970 release, "Al Green Gets Next to You." I picked up the album at the library, primarily because I’d heard an Arkansas Public Radio piece on Roosevelt Sykes, an Arkansan who wrote “Driving Wheel,” cut #6 on the album.
This album is pre-Rev. Green, pre-“Let’s Stay Together,” but it has some really good R&B stuff on it. It has a little more edge on it than his most familiar stuff. “Tired of Being Alone” scores the "most likely to get repurposed as a contemporary TV spot soundtrack" award.
My favorite cut is the aforementioned “Driving Wheel,” which was also covered by Junior Parker. I'm going to bet Keith Richards picked up the hook lick from "Last Time," from this song. This version kicks the song in the butt. I took it to the band, and got a lot of “I’ve never heard that song before…people won’t know that one…” responses (someday Gio—since it’s mostly you and I on here anyway—we need to start us up a real honest-to-god R&B band that forges its way into people’s hearts on the strength of its grooves). Also notable are the title cut, and the blues standard, “I’m a Ram.” There’s a pretty surreal version of “Light my Fire,” in which he talks the verses. Kind of like William Shatner, only Al pulls it off. This is some good listening, which I’d never heard before.
I’ve also come late to listening to the Beatles’ “Love,” a masterful piece of remixing, proving again that we may never see the likes of anyone else who can play the studio like George Martin. It might be kind of interesting to see if he and Paul could come up with anything new and remarkable today.
I have a couple of more things in the queue, and will try to get back to posting more regularly.
This album is pre-Rev. Green, pre-“Let’s Stay Together,” but it has some really good R&B stuff on it. It has a little more edge on it than his most familiar stuff. “Tired of Being Alone” scores the "most likely to get repurposed as a contemporary TV spot soundtrack" award.
My favorite cut is the aforementioned “Driving Wheel,” which was also covered by Junior Parker. I'm going to bet Keith Richards picked up the hook lick from "Last Time," from this song. This version kicks the song in the butt. I took it to the band, and got a lot of “I’ve never heard that song before…people won’t know that one…” responses (someday Gio—since it’s mostly you and I on here anyway—we need to start us up a real honest-to-god R&B band that forges its way into people’s hearts on the strength of its grooves). Also notable are the title cut, and the blues standard, “I’m a Ram.” There’s a pretty surreal version of “Light my Fire,” in which he talks the verses. Kind of like William Shatner, only Al pulls it off. This is some good listening, which I’d never heard before.
I’ve also come late to listening to the Beatles’ “Love,” a masterful piece of remixing, proving again that we may never see the likes of anyone else who can play the studio like George Martin. It might be kind of interesting to see if he and Paul could come up with anything new and remarkable today.
I have a couple of more things in the queue, and will try to get back to posting more regularly.
2 comments:
As the Swingin' Franks and the GUs are my major forms of presentation these days, I am actually beginning to work with brother Jay as a duo to do those "nobody's heard of it" songs I've always wanted to do (not a lot of R&B, but I do an acoustic version of "Midnight Train to Georgia"). Don't know if there's an audince, but we're having fun planning and practicing (just started last week). You have me curious of what product or service "Tired of Being Alone" would sell. Maybe Match.com. Hmmm ...
Match or E-Harmony would be fits, but it doesn't really seem to matter if it fits these days. I think it's probably creative diretors saying, "I loved that song back in the day; let's use it on a spot."
I might just do a post on commmerical songs. I have a few opinions about them.
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