Un-Covered Melody

So I did pull off the masterstroke, the (bloodless) coup that I promised last post. And it's pretty grand. Pretty epic, like the better-known version of this song:



-- Please download this fresh-from-vinyl version, of Belafonte's version of "Unchained Melody" --
( I also have, all ripped from vinyl, Charlie Rich, Al Green, Ricky Nelson, and Sonny & Cher covers. I can post those, of you'd please. )

Of course, the better-/best-known version of this song is by the very righteous Righteous Brothers. And I post Harry Belafonte's version, not because their version lacks anything-
No, quite the contrary-
but just to show what changes Belafonte has wrought.

Margeaux and I were talking at her house (that's the coup, FYI), and she posited her general rule about covers:
Don't cover a song that you cannot improve.
I like this rule; it makes sense. If you just want to play the damn song, sure: play it. But to record it and send it out there, why?, unless you have done it one better.

Now, we could, with all good reason, say that nobody can improve on the Righteous Brothers' version.
However, in Belafonte's slowed-down version, there is a delicacy that is not present in the Righteous Brothers' version.

Oh And Also, I failed to mention this little historical tidbit:
Belafonte covered this song in 1956, on the album pictured above.

The Righteous Brothers covered it on this album, in 1965:


So Belafonte did not violate Margeaux's good rule about covers.

The original? It's from a movie about prison!, which is where the 'Unchained'-name comes from.
Oh, and somehow, Belafonte was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song for this, even though he did not write it, and it had already been covered a few times by then.

Anyhow, his is not the original, but it is less a cover or less un- an original (if that makes sense), than the Righteous Brothers version.

"Brevity: soul of wit": here we go.
Trying to give a little taste of some recent musical acquisitions. Haven't even told you yet what I got in Portland, let alone given you a taste!
For Shame.



Okay, so Teddy Pendergrass again, a solo joint this time.
(Not HMBftTP)

Got this after Portland, in Philly, mais oui, at Molly's Outlet in South Philly- 1117. E. Passyunk Ave. You can still check out their special outlet sale this weekend. All records a buck, and a much sharper selection than a thrift store.



Haven't copied It's Time For Love yet to hard drive, because 1) très cray busy and 2) got a new laptop to replace my worn-out "CRAPtop" and haven't loaded the requisite software yet.
Busy for the normal reasons,....
plus...
I am plotting something big right now. I'm about to pull off a real coup, wait and see. A masterstroke, to cap all things good.

Bad Luck

I found $5 on the sidewalk the other day: good luck.
Other than that, I've had only Bad Luck these days (not to be self-indulgent). I mean, even the $5 had been sitting out in the rain. Got all wet.


{jump to 3:00 if you don't want to see Richard Pryor chat with them}

This Bad Luck started months ago. Of course, I know someone else who had the very same run of bad luck. Very sad and very true.
But I won't go on about it here- blogs aren't the place for showing your face.



"Blue Notes" indeed.

Anyhow: this is a good dance song about bad luck.
[as Teddy states: "Ain't it a groove!"]
Bad Luck as a danceable theme may seem strange- but then, think of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Stevie's song came out in 1972, and the above song (with Teddy Pendergrass and the rest of Harold Melvin's Blue Notes) came out in 1975.
Was Bad Luck in the air, in the æther, those days,
as it seems to be today?

Na Woo Woo, Nuh Ow Ow: Pro Baseball, Pro Edition

Did you know that currently, only 4 Major League baseball teams lack a mascot? (MGX indicated this to me.) The Cubs, of Chicago, Illinois, are one of these four teams. However, they do have a sort of unofficial mascot. Well, really, he's a superfan: one Ronnie "Woo-Woo". So called because he's prone to shouting "woo".



Download Wilson Pickett's "Land of 1,000 Dances"

So, this Wilson Pickett song may have a "woo or two" in it. It definitely has some "huh", "ow", "uh" action. And it has the famous
"na, na na na, na nuh na na nuh na nana"
starting about :35. You know, what they play at baseball games all the time.

(Do they play music at pro football games? Could you even hear it outside? If not, how do the players get pumped up- other than steroids?)

Ronnie "Woo Woo"'s been attending games from about 1959, which is before my mother was born (hey Ma!).
While his demeanor and devotion to attendance have gained him fame in the Greater ChicagoLands area, his life has not been all sun and roses: no, far from it. He's been homeless (but still attended games, thanks to generous other parties), and later, a fundraiser was held for him so he could get a new pair of dentures.

Poor guy was born prematurely, which shows you: he's a fighter, he's always been a fighter.

He was even struck by a car outside the game once, and had to go to a Masonic hospital, which would frighten me.
What if they make you join up?
Or, worse, what if you ask to join, but they become cryptic all of the sudden, and then your pain meds start getting reduced, and you know, it gets pretty painful. All this, simply because you wanted a sweet ring like these:







Or, mayhaps, this is the ring you always wanted :

Allergic to People? Then "Be Your Own Pet"

I was just wondering, can cats be allergic to people? Why not, right?


"Wildcat!" by Be Your Own Pet

Think about it:
when my allergies are really bad, I rub my face a lot. Putting pressure on my nasal passages feels good.
(Ironically, putting pressure on them relieves pressure.)

Now think about THIS: cats rub their faces on things all the time. Margeaux's cat, which is now our cat (because we moved in together, which is great), not only demands that I rub her face, but if I am remiss in my face-rubbing-duty, she will rub her own face on anything: a table leg, say.

That darn cat seems to have a lot of pressure to relieve. Either she is highly stressed (...hiiighly doooubtful...) or allergic to humans.
These are the only two options.

Speaking of two options, here is another video of the same song.

(another Be Your Own Pet clip)

Now, this one is more fun, but distinctly more odd. As video background, it has what I'm guessing is Eraserhead (ne'er seen it). This plays for 30 seconds before the music starts, and then, hey wow, more clips!
Crazy clips! from the movie Freaks, more from Eraserhead, something with Brigitte Bardot in it (she's racist), and something which has to be a Russ Meyer film.

Fire Dance With Me- Ohio Players

Well, as of noon, I am done with the semester.
In full. In toto. In-joying myself.

Margeaux will be done tonight too. Which requires that I present another helping of the mix I am preparing: Hello Jello!, the The Cosby Show-inspired mix I mentioned last time.


on YouTube - Ohio Players: Together, from their album FIRE.

Ayo! Si muy caliente, y fuego mas fina!
Please note the almost NSFW cover art. Scandalous.


I am not sure if I will put this very song on the mix yet, but certainly some Ohio Players song will go on there. The YouTube clip doesn't have to be the exact song yet, since I am just trying to let you know what type of sounds to expect.

The clips are just a taste,


just a teaser,


of what greatness and grandness is to come.

Maybe "Fire" will go on the mix, that is a big one; maybe "Ecstasy" would be better for this mix than "Together." "Ecstasy" got a li'l more bounce to it; but then, "Together" has those horns. Brass instruments will be big on this mix,
because it is going to be deeply funky.

High On Jello

For a mix I'm putting together, inspired by The Cosby Show, called Hello Jello!



My lady friend Margeaux loves The Cosby Show, so I am making this mix for her. Still crafting it though: I will post songs that have the right sound here first, until I shove the full, fully finished mix on you.

And what is that "Right Sound?" It will be dentist-office funk: smooth (or even shmoove) jazzy things. Describable as slinky maybe. "Easy, not Cheesy." (that should be trademarked, yeah?)
The songs are having fun, without being outright silly. Loose-limbed, they will make a nice background as we shift into early summer.
Sade could go on there, although maybe she won't. Why?: because I want it to sound Cosby-era, so 70's and 80's gems.

( Although technically Sade's 1st US single came out at the end of 1984*, to me, Sade feels like 90's music. And although technically Cosby show started just a few months before that**, since I don't remember watching it much [although I did watch it plenty- when I watch it now, I can recall the plots as they are unfolding], it feels 70's-80's to me. )

* had to look it up
** also had to look that up, believe it


Enough about the mix; how about the song and band?

The Commodores do "Brick House": you know that song. It would totally play at a wonderful summer wedding reception:





The Commodores also had Lionel Richie in their band for a minute. Weirdly, after he left, they got more mellow. Once he was gone, they started to sound, well, like Lionel Richie. Before that, they were this hard-driving 'fonk' machine.

De La Soul sampled this song, on the Stakes Is High album. That is a feloniously undervalued record, like all of their records (except for 3 Feet High... And Rising: that gets about the right amount of praise).

( First De La album I ever bought- a little late to these fellows... 2000? also, I have it on vinyl, AND, after the above Commodores song, De La Soul came next on my iTunes random. F'serious! )

What I was initially leaning toward putting on Margeaux's mix was the Commodores song, "Girl, I Think the World About You" (obv), which I will:

1) maybe still put on the mix
and
2) maybe put up on to Youtube, where it cannot yet be found. Can it really be all that tough to post to YouTube?

De La also sampled"Girl, I...", for "Hey Buddy;" so you can see where their heads are at, right?
Tricky sampled The Commodores too!: info for the samples got drawn from this detailed site, Sample Spotters. 19 songs- nineteen- are listed for sampling (just the drums) from a single Commodores track.
Wow.

Together Soon: Teddy & Sharon ( & Harold ?! )

This one's a duet.
From the random selection on my IPhone which I brought to Portland- and will shortly bring to Houston.



Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes: Hope That We Can Be Together Soon
AKA "Teddy Pendergrass Feat. Sharon Paige: "Hope That...."
Teddy and Harold had a little spat, see- Harold founded the group, but by the time they were successful, well see, Teddy was doing all the lead singing.
(And How!)
Teddy wanted his name added to the existing group-name, which would have produced the titular monstrosity of
"Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Featuring Teddy Pendergrass".

"No dice", says Harold; Teddy says "I quit".
But not before recording this song with Sharon Paige (and the rest of the Blue Notes); she too was a Blue Note at the time, so this track really only needs the title "HM & BN: 'HWCBTS'",
not "TP FT SP (AKA HM & BN FT TP & FT SP): 'HTWCBTS'".

Clarifying, I'm sure.
I think we all learned a lot today.

Purify Your Puppet

James and Bobby Purify: "I'm Your Puppet"
on YouTube

G'wan, download it, if you please. A nice old version from my record collection.

Another YouTube version from a TV show, circa 1966
(more fun to watch, but, sadly, I cannot embed it directly)

I love this song. In all honesty, I never knew I could love like this.
(I don't care if they are brothers)- I am going to marry it, I love it so much.