End of Month Update ...

... meaning simply that I added two instrum- entals from King Curtis & His Kingpins' album King Size Soul (Atco LP 33-231, rel Nov. 1967) to previous posts, viz. the one featuring »C.C. Rider« and another feat. Booker T & the MGs's instrumental version of »Ode To Billie Joe«. Look up those songs here (C.C. Rider) and here (Ode To Billie Joe).

Little Miss Super Soul

I somehow had the feeling that some unpolished r&b, possibly in the southern vein, best graces today's post. So I went with the LP of a (relative) newcomer of '68 ... Betty Wright.

Image courtesy of SoulMusic.com

Born in December (or according to some in September) 1953 in Miami, Betty (legally Bessie Regina Norris) was only 14 when she recorded several sides for the newly-founded Alston label in spring 1968. But it was not her first record stint, because her first 45s were out in 1967, viz. Solid Soul # 3030 and Deep City # 2378 (for a copy see here). Both labels were Miami-based and produced by Willie Clarke and, eventually, Clarence Reid. (You will remember that the Criteria Studios in Miami were essentially Deep City's studio ... Aretha Franklin, James Brown and others recorded here.) Now, both Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid not only produced Betty Wright's first two 45s, they also had discovered her. As the legend goes, sometime in 1965 or 1966 Reid & Clarke overheard her in a Miami record store and first let her sing background on their Deep City productions. She also had won a local singing contest on a radio show (with a version of »What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted«). In Betty's own words (from a 1972 interview):

I had won a singing competition on the local radio station and the prize was a record. Well, I went down to the record store to select it and whilst I was in there, I was just singing along with the record that was playing — not loud, you know, but just to myself really. Anyway, this guy came up behind me and touched me on the shoulder — actually, he frightened me at the time because I didn't expect it. So he said to me that I had a good voice and that I should do something about it. ... Anyway, the next record that was played in the store was Billy Stewart's Summertime and Willie's friend — who is Clarence Reid — said he'd bet I couldn't sing along with that one. Well, I did! So, we went into a local studio and I put my voice down on a few numbers and Willie got excited about it and went round to see my mother, to ask if he could record me. My mother quite naturally didn't want her 13-year-old daughter involved in it all and she refused at first. After a while, though, she changed her mind and she signed over her agreement and I made my first recordings.

Altough still of tender age, Betty was already a pro singer if it is true (which I guess it is) that she started singing at age 2 ... being the youngest of seven children of gospel singer Rosa Akins Braddy-Wright, Betty was, together with her siblings, taught close harmony singing by her mother (who also played guitar on occasion). So, in 1956 prodigy Betty's voice appeared on an album by The Echoes of Joy, their siblings' gospel group (I have never heard this LP nor have seen a trace of it, unfortunately, but for more details see here and here). She then performed as member of this group until the mid-60s, reportedly also appearing together with the Staple Singers. In the Sept. 07, 1959, issue of Billboard there is a short review of Avant # 075 by the »Echoes of Joy« (Didn't It Rain w/ Way Back To God). Betty was later to say, »we used to sing in local churches and halls... and we used to make demo discs of some of the religious songs and we'd sell them when ever we appeared at a local hall. I was actually only three when my mother first got me to sing a little and I stayed within the Echoes until I was about ten, I guess. Then, the group started to split up as people made their own way in life« (from an 1972 interview, read it here). However, the history of the Echoes of Joy is far from clear or well- documented; the group broke up in 1965.

Be it as it may, Betty Wright's early career, from family gospel group to casually-discovered soul singer (preluded by a successful radio singing contest) is very much the epitome, perhaps the truly classical way of how careers got started in the inde- pendent music business during the '60s. If anything, Betty was considerably younger (actually not yet a high school student!) than many of her singing peers who made a similar career. And she was one of the few who succeeded in prolonging their career into our own days ...

Further reading on Betty's early career (up to 1968):

• Betty Wright, Queen of Miami Soul (Chancellor of Soul's Chronicle)
• Interview with Betty Wright, March 1972 (SoulMusic.com)
• Interview with Betty Wright, March 1975 (SoulMusic.com)

(Click here for a Japanese cover version!)

In August 1968, Betty's first Alston 45 (#4569 »Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do« w/ »Sweet Lovin' Daddy«) charted for the first time; the single eventually went to #15 r&b (and #33 pop). Both songs are, of course, included on Betty's first album, Atco LP # SD 33-260 (My First Time Around) (September 1968). The entire LP was an Alston production manufact- ured and distributed by Atlantic-Atco (that is why it says »Alston Records Series« in the upper left corner of the cover). This album also contains the tunes released on subsequent Alston 45s, viz. # 4571 (»He's Bad, Bad, Bad« / »Watch Out Love«) and 4573 (»The Best Girls Don't Always Win« / »Circle of Heartbreak«), out in 1968 and 1969, respectively. These 45s didn't make it, saleswise.

Label of my copy

It is noteworthy that all the songs on Betty's Alston 45s are originals written by Clarence Reid and/or Willie Clarke, with »Circle Of Heartbreak« credited to Betty herself. But if you listen to the Alston-Atco album as a whole you'll realize that the songs released as singles are the ones more in the pop or pop-soul mould. The remaining six songs on the LP are mostly covers of older or more recent material, mainly ballads (»Just You«, »I'm Thankful«, »I Can't Stop My Heart«), and two of them are fast-paced r&b tunes much reminiscent of what Memphis and Muscle Shoals was putting out at the time and prefigure the later successes of Betty Wright ... you can listen to them below (Clarence Reid's »Funny How Love Grows Old«, first released by The Box Tops in '68, and Penn-Oldham's »Cry Like A Baby«). In any case, this LP is really a »soul gem« (quoted from here) and you may read another very good review of the album by Sam Sweet here.

Finally, some curiosities: Clarence Reid himself is playing piano on the album, albeit not in all songs; Steve Alaimo and Brad Shapiro (both closely connected to Henry Stone, the boss of Alston) arranged the songs. Truly bizarre is this notice on the back cover: »All checks signed by: Henry Stone«. This is good to know ...! Slightly disturbing, if not out of place, also parts of the liner notes, written by Miami DJ Milton Smith (aka Butterball) of WAME radio: »Aside from being a devoted singer, songwriter and musician, Betty is tops in school at Notre Dame Academy for girls. She maintains an A average with an I.Q. of 167, and she loves math« (emphasis mine)! (I invite the readers to tell me of another LP back cover that mentions the IQ of the artist!!) But let's conclude here with Butterball's praise of Betty which seems more to the point: »Some well-known disc jockeys refer to her as "Little Miss Super Soul" and the greatest female vocalist since Aretha Franklin.« Well, so be it!

Betty Wright: »Funny How Love Grows Old« / »Cry Like A Baby« from the Atco LP # 33-260 (1968):

Soldier Theory

C.C.Rider. Everyone from Leadbelly to the Grateful Dead has performed "C.C. Rider," but the question remains: Who was C.C. Rider?

    The song is listed as "traditional," meaning no one knows who wrote it. During the Civil War, C.C. stood for Cavalry Corporal. Riding is probably the most common metaphor for sexual intercourse in the blues. The rider is a sexual partner, a steady lover. Was a woman singing to her soldier lover in "C.C. Rider"?
    On the other hand, both male and female blues singers have sung "C.C. Rider." This makes sense, given that in African American usage, "rider" may be used to mean a lover of either sex - and it makes the soldier theory rather interesting.

(Debra DeSalvo: The Language of the Blues from Alcorub to Zuzu, New York 2006, p. 34 f.)

C.C. Rider broke a pattern for Chuck. Until that time he had only recorded songs of his own. C.C. Rider is a traditional folk song whose authorship is obscure. It has been a favorite of many great blues singers, including Ma Rainey, Lil Green and Bea Booze, all of whom recorded it. Chuck's adaptation is his own and is striking in the originality of its styling.

(From the notes on the back cover of Atlantic LP 8018 by Guy Remark)

"C.C. Rider" became a triumph of production technique for Jerry Wexler. ... This was one of the best records of its time, not really rock 'n' roll or rhythm and blues but an inspired mood that drew from both styles and also from conventional popular music.

(Charlie Gillett: The Sound of the City. The Rise of Rock and Roll, new ed. New York 1996, p. 71)

Baker reached way back to the repertoire of the "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey, for the classic "See See Rider." Many young listeners must have as- sumed - as I did at the time - that it was a new song.

(Chip Deffaa: Blue Rhythms. Six Lives in Rhythm And Blues, New York 2000, p. 193)

For the record:

   Chuck Willis: »C.C. Rider«. Recorded Jan. 31, 1957, in New York. First rel. on Atlantic # 1130 in March '57, the tune first charted in April, eventually reaching #1 r&b (BB) and #12 pop. Released on Atlantic LP # 8018 (Chuck Willis: King Of The Stroll) in late March 1958. Personnel included Gene Barge (tenorsax), Phil Kraus (marimbas) and Jesse Stone (arr/cond). In July, the album had passed the half- million sales mark; Chuck Willis died only two weeks after its release. BB Review Spotlight: Watch this one. Willis exhibits his usual sock show- manship and drive on "C.C. Rider," a great old blues with a haunting arrangement.

Atlantic LP # 8071 (cover)

   LaVern Baker: »See See Rider«. Recorded Sept. 26, 1962, in New York. First rel. on Atlantic # 2167 in Nov. 1962, the tune charted first in Dec., eventually reaching #9 r&b and #34 pop. It was to be the last of LaVern Baker's songs in the r&b Top Ten ever. Released on Atlantic LP # 8071 (See See Rider) in late Dec. '62 or early '63 (copyright on the back cover says 1962). BB 4-star-review: The old blues-standard is handed a wild, swinging, middle tempo rea- ding. The tune is handled in a modern groove with smart backing ...

*** BONUS SONG added March 31, 2012 ***

A smooth, jazzy-mellow reading of »C.C. Rider« from King Curtis' Atco LP King Size Soul (1967), recorded in Memphis, July 4, 1967 (yeah, they were working that day...). I don't know whether this album version is the same as the one released on Atco # 6711 in 1969.

King Curtis & The Kingpins: »C.C. Rider« from the Atco LP # SD 33-231 (1967):

Marlboro Soul

Today's song needs no introduction. It's one of the very hymns of Soul music and a staple standard of contemporary Soul Revival Shows. But there is more to the song than meets the ear, starting with the fact that most people nowadays won't be able to name the original singer ...

Atco LP # 33-215 (April 1967)

It was Atlanta-born Arthur Conley ... not a household name today except among those who are living in the R&B-universe anyway. His name didn't acquire eternal fame as did his song »Sweet Soul Music«. In January 1967, when the tune was recorded, Arthur had just turned 21. Judging from the pictures of the time he was a pretty guy and certainly nice to look at twice. However, he didn't make it on the cover of his own first LP. Instead, on the cover we see a dark skinned beauty posing on a plushy sofa. We behold her as if looking through a keyhole, a visual effect which was certainly meant to enhance the overall seductive feel. Sex sells. And not only in this case: There are myriads of LPs from the '60s and early '70s, above all in the instrumental and jazz realms, graced with unknown beauties or cuddling couples who had no relation whatsoever to the musicians or the songs. Like to see some examples? Google for the 1963 LP »Got That Feeling« by the Johnny Lytle Trio (Riverside), Dave Pike's 1964 LP »Manhattan Latin« (Decca) or Brother Jack McDuff's 1968 LP »The Natural Thing« (Cadet)!

Arthur Conley

Arthur Conley was made by Otis Redding: Otis discov- ered him 1965 in Baltimore and then took him under his wings. Arthur's first recordings were released in the same year on the Jotis label which was financed and produced by Otis Redding. It is unknown, or often underestimated, of how astute a businessman Otis was. And Arthur was a valuable asset in Otis's business plans because apart from being a singer Otis pleased to see himself as a producer and songwriter. For this he obviously needed a gifted singer who sounded like Big O but wasn't Big O. In fact, Otis discovered, it could be Arthur. In the authoritative words of producer Tom Dowd, therefore, »Arthur Conley was the invention of Otis Redding« (quoted in Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music. Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Free- dom, New York 1999, page 318).
     But clever Otis wasn't satisfied for long with having Arthur on the insignificant Jotis label. Aiming higher, Otis got Arthur onto the Atlantic roster for his first LP, Atco LP 33-215 (»Sweet Soul Music«). This LP not only features five songs by Otis but he also wrote the notes on the back cover and presented himself as »producer« and »A&R man«. And the song »Sweet Soul Music« was penned by Otis as well. Rumor has it that Otis wished to record that song himself, for his house label Stax, but Jim Stewart (of Stax) found the tune not inspiring enough and vetoed to have it recorded. Otis was little amused and gave the song to his protégé Conley.

Indeed, the song is anything but original: Parts of the melody are taken from an obscure Sam Cooke-song, »Yeah Man«, and the intro comes right out of the Marlboro ad song »The Magnificent Seven«. The popular Marlboro tune was composed in 1960 for the known Western of the same title and only from 1963 used to sell cigarettes. It was then used by Otis to sell »Sweet Soul Music«: »He [=Otis Redding] believed in that song and Stax refused to put it out (...). Listen to that song. The introduction and the harmony in the middle come from a classical song. But nobody relates to the fact they heard it every single day on the radio and TV, a thousand times a day. It was the Marlboro theme song.« (Wayne Cochran as quoted in Scott Freeman: Otis! The Otis Redding Story, New York 2001, page 190).

If you listen to the lyrics of »Sweet Soul Music«, which are familiar enough, you will realize that the song puts Otis on a pedestal and makes him into sort of a Soul Monument, accompanied by Lou Rawls, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. It's a little embarrassing, really. The unsympathetic interpretation of this fact would be that this did flatter Otis's well-developed self esteem. A kinder legend has it that it was actually Arthur's idea to mention Otis in the song, earning him a co-writer's credit. Whatever. In any case, Arthur honors his mentor again at the end of the song and calls him up with the fading words »Otis Redding got the feelin' ...«

But there is more: By 1967, Otis's relations with Stax had become strained. Although he was contracted to Stax for another three years (having prolonged his contract for another five years in 1965), many suspected that Otis was double-crossing Jim Stewart by putting out feelers to the rival Atlantic Records and their A&R man Jerry Wexler. When Otis brought Arthur Conley to record in Rick Hall's Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the rumors grew louder: The Fame Studios were in 1967 mainly used by Wexler's Atlantic stars to reproduce the famed »Memphis Sound« of Stax. And it certainly didn't quiet the rumors when Arthur's first LP was then released on a subsidiary of Atlantic, Atco Records ... On the contrary, it put the cherry on the pie for those who thought that Otis was having his cake and ate it, too.

BILLBOARD April 29, 1967

Thus, »Sweet Soul Music« is a song with an interesting story behind it. It was recorded on January 20, 1967, in Muscle Shoals and rushed out in March. It immediately shot up in the charts, reaching # 02 r&b and # 02 pop in spring '67. And it had to compete with Aretha Franklin's »I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)« and »Jimmy Mack« by Martha & The Vandellas, among others! You can listen here to the mono album version:

Arthur Conley: »Sweet Soul Music« from the Atco LP # 33-215 (mono, 1967):

Do you like good music, ha, that sweet soul music

Just long as it's swingin', oh yeah, oh-oh yeah

We are here on the floor y'all, are goin' to a go go

Dancin' with the music, oh yeah, oh yeah

Spotlight on Lou Rawls y'all, ah don't he look tall y'all

Singin' »Love's A Hurtin' Thing« y'all, oh yeah, oh-oh yeah

Spotlight on Sam and Dave y'all, ah don't they look great y'all

Singin' »Hold On I'm Comin'«, oh yeah, oh-oh yeah

Spotlight on Wilson Pickett now, that wicked picket Pickett

Singin' »Mustang Sally«, oh yeah, oh-oh yeah

Spotlight on Otis Redding now, singing »Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa«

Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa, oh yeah, oh-oh yeah

Get in on this! (??)

Spotlight on James Brown y'all, he's the king of them all y'all

He's the king of them all y'all, oh yeah, oh-oh yeah

Do you like good music, that sweet soul music

Just 'long with it swingin', oh yeah, oh-oh yeah

I got to get the feelin', I got to get the feelin'

Do you like good music, that sweet soul music

Help me get the feelin', I want to get the feelin'

Otis Redding got the feelin', James Brown, he got the feelin'
 Oh I love good music ...

From BILLBOARD, April 29, 1967, page 1

Billie Joe ... Goes Instrumental

In the last post you could hear Bobbie Gentry's »Ode To Billie Joe«, and we pondered the great influence this song had on many other styles of music. Today, I would like to present another example for this fact. It is taken from the album »Doin' Our Thing« (Stax LP 724) by Booker T & The MGs, released in January 1968.

Booker T & The MGs are, of course, well-known. They were one of the most famous formations recording for the Memphis Stax-label during the 1960s and among the most popular instrumental groups in general. The group included organist/pianist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald »Duck« Dunn (from 1964) and drummer Al Jackson. On their LP »Doin' Our Thing« we find a noteworthy adaption of Bobbie Gentry's »Ode To Billie Joe«. A very calm piece which actually only evokes, rather than adapts, the original song. In fact, it more resembles a impressionistic sound study, quite original by and in itself ... there is a certain Debussy-like quality to the tune, being a collage of melodical moods losely based on the original:

Booker T & The MGs: »Ode To Billie Joe« from the Stax LP 724 (1968):

* * *

POSTSCRIPT June 2011:
I recently came across a notice speaking about the success of Bobbie Gentry's »Ode To Billie Joe« and the subsequent flood of cover versions, both instrumental and vocal. It is from the September 23, 1967, issue of Billboard, page 4:

*** BONUS SONG added March 31, 2012 ***

The Billboard article quotes, among several cover version, the instrumental by the Kingpins (i.e. King Curtis and his band) on Atco # 6516. This version was recorded in Memphis (Aug. 24, '67) at the American Sound Studios (supervised by Chips Moman; incidentally, there was also a recording session of the Sweet Inspirations that very same day!).

The tune did great on the r&b charts and eventually entered the Top Ten, peaking at # 6. It was then included in King Curtis's Atco LP King Size Soul (out in Nov. '67). A Billboard review described this version as »mellow jazz, which is loaded with soul« (Nov. 25, 1967, issue p. 84) and this is about right, I guess. In difference to Booker T's impressionistic rendering of the Ode we have here a smooth, albeit conventional version, actually rather close to the original. And of course the tenor sax makes this version very different from Booker's organ-based fantasie de Billie Joe ...

King Curtis & The Kingpins: »Ode To Billie Joe« from the Atco LP # SD 33-231 (1967):

The Fragile Dream

The events that unfolded during the last weeks in the Middle East have changed history: Two Arabic countries abolished their repressive political systems by a people's revolution and now are on their difficult path to democracy. We must hope that they succeed. The recent development of Tunisia seems promising, the newly acquired liberty of Egypt stands on knife's edge. The peoples of both countries are living a fragile dream.

In other Arabic countries, Yemen and Bahrain in particular, turmoil has set in as well, with no predictable outcome as yet. And the situation in Libya is meanwhile completely out of control. What started as an unrest on the streets of major Libyan cities has changed into civil war.

We are witnessing stormy times. Bad times for a blog, though.

Charles Ganimian & His Oriental Music: »Come With Me to the Casbah«, from the Atco LP 33-107 (Come With Me to the Casbah), recorded November 28, 1958, and released in 1959: