Anniversary

Otis Redding would have been 70 today. He was born in born in Dawson, in Terrell County, and moved to Macon, Ga., when still a child. Check out the Otis Redding timeline at Macon.com.

Of today's artists, [Jerry] Wexler felt that Otis Redding has the potential to become the next Ray Charles. (Billboard, Oct. 15, 1966, p. RC-6)

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O t i s   R e d d i n g   i n   m e m o r i a m

»Holding a Yule message on the brand new car he gave his dad, the Rev. Otis Redding Sr. (r), rhythm and blues singer Otis Redding Jr. (l) and son, Otis III, greet the minister, the singer's mother and sister, Linda,
4, in Macon, Ga.« (JET Jan. 21, 1965, p. 61)

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T R I B U T E    S O N G

»These Arms Of Mine« (1962) was Otis's first recording for Stax / Volt and the first single of his that charted. It's one of his many signature songs and has been covered many times. Here is Bettye Swann's version, from 1969:

Bettye Swann: »These Arms Of Mine« from the Capitol LP »The Soul View Now!« (1969):

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Swann Song

Some days ago I posted the 1967 NATRA award winners list. One name on the list was that of Bettye Swann. Hers is not a household name today and, alas, not many remember her. In 1967, at any rate, she was judged »Most Promising Female Vocalist«. What really happened was that in 1967 her career had already peaked. We can see this easily when looking back; it was not obvious at the time. In Feb- ruary 1965, her first single (Money # 108) entered the charts when her self-penned »Don't Wait Too Long« made it into the r&b Top 30. Roughly two years later, she contributed one of the summer hits of '67 with the song »Make Me Yours«, recorded in February 1967 and released on Money in May. The single reached r&b # 1 (pop # 21) and was later listed as the 4th top r&b single of 1967, only topped by »Respect«, »Soul Man« and »I Never Loved A Man«. Calling »Make Me Yours« a »minor hit« is thus definitely a crude understate- ment. What is true, though, is that the tune has a Motowny sound, and indeed Motown wooed her in 1968 before she opted for Capitol.

The Louisiana-born singer (real name Betty Jean Champion) had recorded for Money Records since 1964 (see also here). Her Money sides are, to this day, the best-loved recordings of Bettye Swann (buy them here) and those most appreciated by later critics; in fact, it's only her Money recordings that receive substantial treatment in the AMG to Soul or in Pruter's Blackwell Guide to Soul Recordings. However, in 1968 she got a contract with Capitol, thus switching from a small label to one of the giants of the music industry. As for her career, it did her no good, and she never charted again in the top 10 of either r&b or pop charts. But Capitol did try to develop her career; Bettye had two albums and 11 singles out on Capitol. What is more, she was teamed up with experienced producer Wayne Shuler who was to be the true mastermind behind Bettye's first LP for Capitol, »The Soul View Now!« (LP # ST 190), recorded in October '68 and released in early '69.

The first song on this LP, »Don't Touch Me«, was Bettye's greatest success for Capitol; the song was also released on Capitol # 2382 (Jan. 1969) and reached r&b 14 in March. And this tune is not the only country song on the LP, albeit arranged, by Tank Jernigan, in a somewhat soulful mood. Wayne Shuler, likewise from Louisiana, »says he was the only one at Capitol who understood R&B. ... He longed to have Swann sing tunes like Stand By Your Man ... Shuler wanted to make Swann a crossover artist, bridging the gap between country and soul« (read more here). It is noteworthy that Bettye, as a black female singer, broke some ground here, though she is reported to have been reluctant at first to tackle material with country flavor (see here). But she did (after all, she had already recorded tunes such as »I Can't Stop Loving You« while at Moneys Records!), and others would follow her: Carla Thomas, in her later albums, would include many country songs, and so did Maxine Weldon, Denise LaSalle or Ann Peebles. (And not to mention Esther Phillips in this context who always had country tunes in her repertoire!) Thus this LP is an impor- tant step in the delevopment of Southern Soul inasmuch this style is, among other things, characterized by its great affinity to Country harmonies.

Apart from »Don't Touch Me«, the second song of this LP which is still cherished by many today is »I'm Lonely For You«, one of Bettye's original compositions. Both these tunes are familiar, I guess. So I thought you might like to hear two other songs from the album. The first of these, another of Betty's originals, is the self-penned »No Faith, No Love«, also released as B-side on Capitol # 2515 in May 1969. It's a mid-tempo ballad with a strong horn section and beautiful background vocals (don't know who the singers were, unfortunately). The second song, J. Loudermilk's »Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye«, is on the country-ish side. It is, to my mind, the highlight of the album, with Bettye giving a lushous performance of soft and tender, yet also furtively determined vocal longing. It's probably the tune where you can hear best what the beauty of Bettye Swann's art is all about. What a song, what a singer!

She didn't have the success she deserved. Her name loomed large in 1967, but it lost currency afterwards. Her 1969 LP reached # 48 on the r&b album charts, but in some sense it went nowhere. »Bettye Swann is one of the great underrated talents of our time. Her contribution to country-soul should be duly noted greatly and appreciated not only by underground soul fans only but by music fans in general.« (Mike Boone)

Bettye Swann: »No Faith, No Love« / »Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye« from the Capitol LP # ST 190 (1969):

In 2005, Bettye Swann (by then living in Las Vegas) granted an interview to Jarret Keene; you can read it here.
     Here are some passages from this remarkable interview:

Growing Up in Shreveport, La. »I remember being with my mother at times as a young person singing at church ... I remember the work that we did - the sharecropping, working for the landowners in the cotton field - I remember singing anything by Sam Cooke, Booker T. and the MG's. And I remember my sisters listening to Little Richard and Chuck Berry. I remember going to see my first movie in Arcadia. My brothers dropped me off at the movie theater so that I could watch Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender. I went up to the bal- cony; you couldn't go downstairs if you were black. It didn't bother me; I was just a little kid. I sat there all day long. I saw that movie over and over and over again.«

Her Stage Name. She chose the stage name Bettye Swann, because she always thought swans were »lovely.« Later on, it would cause tension among her family. »I had a fight with someone in the family over the name Swann. 'What are you trying to do, disown the family?' they said. 'Well,' I said, 'I never thought about it until you said something. Does it bother you?'«

Music Business. »So why did you quit the music industry anyway?« Swann sighs, then looks out the window. »I love music and I love people,« she says, finally. »But I hate show and I hate business. I couldn't feel it, the show or the business.«

Hmm ... what exactly of Booker T. & the MG's might she have been singing ... ?

Billie Joe ... Goes Gospel

»The Bad Apple« (1968)

One of the most famous and memorable songs of 1967 was »Ode To Billie Joe« by Bobbie Gentry. Almost over night the song not only reached the top of the pop charts but was covered by countless other singers.
Indeed, up to the present day it is hard, if not impossible, to not be overwhelmed by the melodramatic charme of the song and the voice, rough and smooth at the same time, of Bobbie Gentry:

Bobbie Gentry: »Ode To Billie Joe« from the Capitol LP »Ode To Billie Joe« (1967)

The impact of Bobbie's »Ode« went far beyond the pop field and quickly made itself felt in the realms of classic C&W, Soul and Gospel. In many cases the song was not only adapted in order to fit a certain mould. Rather, there were soon a number of songs which were more or less »inspired« by the tune without being a re-recording or a cover version. One of the best examples for this comes from the Checker LP # LPS-10044, »The Bad Apple« by The Meditation Singers, released in 1968.

Checker LPS-10044 (1968)

The Meditation Singers were founded at some point between 1947 and 1950 by E[a]rnestine Rundless (1914-2007)* and her husband in Detroit. However, the accounts differ and later also Della Reese claimed to be the founder, at least the co-founder, of the group. They made their first recordings in 1953 and were heading off for a career that was to span several decades. The personnel, apart from Ernestine Rundless herself, changed over the years more than once, and at times the Meditation Singers counted Della Reese, Cassietta George and Ernestine's daughter, Laura Lee Rundless among their members. As is well-known, Laura Lee went solo in the second half of the 1960s and became a successful soul singer. It is pretty unclear up to which point in the 1960s she was still performing with the Meditation Singers. From around 1965 onwards she is not any longer credited as an active member of the group on either the LPs or the preserved recording files. However, she herself maintained, against the available evidence, that she still was part of the group when they recorded their albums for the Checker label, including »Bad Apple«.

Home of the Meditation Singers was Detroit, and their activities started at Detroit's New Liberty Baptist Church. I will return to their early history in another post. In the second half of the 1950s they reached a certain notoriety with the public yet never became truly famous. On their 1964 LP »I'm Holding On« (Gospel LP # MG-3038) we read: »Under the direction and leadership of Earnestine Rundless, The Meditation Singers have fast become America's favourite group of Gospel Singers.« This is grossly exaggerated and at no point, in 1964 or before and after, corresponded to the truth. And still, they occupy a special place in the history of gospel music because they are said to have been the first religious group in Detroit to perform with a fully fledged band, that is, with drums, electric guitar and bass.

In the early 1960s, they crossed over, while remaining a gospel group, into the secular field, causing much mayhem by this move. In 1962 they were one of the first gospel outfits to perform in Las Vegas when they accompanied their former member Della Reese during her show in the Flamingo Casino. In the July 1962 issue of EBONY there is an article (and an interview with Della Reese) dealing with that bold move and entitled »Gospel to Pop to Gospel: Della Reese Defends Night Club Act«. There is also a photo that shows Della Reese and The Meditation Singers in concert at another secular venue, viz. New York's »Copacabana« night club.

From EBONY, July 1962 issue, p. 107

As the 1960s went on the Meditation Singers more and more relied on contemporary r&b as their basic musical style until they became known as »one of the hardest singing female gospel groups« and a »powerhouse gospel group«. They certainly merited this fame as you can hear in the following. From the perspective of gospel music they firmly stood in the tradition of »sanctified shouting« which together with the r&b backing of their respective bands made for an explosive mixture. In fact, the Checker recordings of the Meditation Singers during the second half of the 1960s came often close to contemporary Soul or even early Funk. Their sound was generally, and with good reason, qualified as »cross-over music« or, as many said at the time, »gospop«. About the producer of the Checker LP »The Bad Apple«, Ralph Bass, we can read on the back cover:

»In the Meditation Singers, five soul-shocked-and-shouting-girl singers from Detroit, and in arranger-composer Gene Barge, producer Bass found the combination he sought for this "cross-over" effort, merging the two worlds of pop and gospel, this telling-the-truth-like-it-is-today.«

It doesn't come as a surprise, then, that the Meditation Singers were open to inspiration by contemporary pop songs, e.g. Bobbie Gentry's »Ode To Billie Joe«. This is documented by the first song on their LP »The Bad Apple«. Quite obviously, this introductory song of the same title is profoundly inspired by Bobbie's »Ode« as can be heard from the very first notes. On the back cover this indebtness of the song to Bobbie Gentry's hit is openly acknowledged:

»A fat, compelling Cajun bass line opens The Bad Apple as Donna Hammon [!] warms up the "temptation" story with the other girls forming a tight, neat "halo" chorus behind her. There is a strong Ode To Billy Joe flavor in this gospel blues which is the album's title number.«

The song, and the entire album, were recorded in February 1968 at the Ter Mar Studios in Chicago. E[a]rnestine Rundless and Donna Hammonds variously sing lead on this album, and the other members of the group were Verlene Rogers, Marie Waters (Della Reese's sister) and Victoria Beasley on organ/piano. The possible participation of Laura Lee (Rundless) remains an open question.

The Meditation Singers: »The Bad Apple« from the Checker LP »The Bad Apple« (1968)

*Note:
The name of E[a]rnestine Rundless is sometimes rendered »Earnestine«, sometimes »Ernestine«. On the Checker LPs we normally find »Earnestine«, on other LPs of the period before, in most of the contemporary press and in the available research literature we have »Ernestine«.