2-free-4

Gimme Shelter

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:09:00 +0000

Merry Clayton sang with Mick Jagger on the original of this song on Let It Bleed, which was reportedly so intense it actually did cause her to bleed and miscarry.

PLAY: Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
PLAY: Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton

Scam Warning: Richard Buckman

A Change Is Gonna Come

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:47:00 +0000

A request from a reader. And perfectly timed, too, because I'm moving and this is my change. I hate to cheapen this deeply meaningful and significant song with comparisons to moving to a new and better house, but in the end it's just a song, you know.

Oh, and by the way, Ike Turner beat his wife in case you didn't know.

Wiki P:"A Change Is Gonna Come" is a 1965 single by R&B singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, written and first recorded in 1963 and released under the RCA Victor label shortly after his death in late 1964. Though only a modest hit for Cooke in comparison with his previous singles, the song came to exemplify the sixties Civil Rights Movement. The song has gained in popularity and critical acclaim in the decades since its release.

PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Otis Redding
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Neville Brothers
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Aretha Franklin
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Tina Turner
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Campbell Brothers
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Soul Survivors
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Cold War Kids
PLAY: A Change Is Gonna Come - Leela James

Little Stevie Wonder Covers Ray Charles

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:37:00 +0000

And by Little, it means when he was 12 years old. I mean, look at him.

Tribute to Uncle Ray is the second album released by Stevie Wonder during his Little Stevie Wonder phase in 1962. The album was a tribute to Wonder's mentor, fellow blind musician Ray Charles. The album was followed by other tribute albums to Nat "King" Cole and Sam Cooke by Marvin Gaye and The Supremes respectively. Like his debut, this album failed to generate hit singles as Motown struggled to find a sound to fit Wonder, who was only 12 when this album was released.

Take a listen; it's especially amusing to hear Little Stevie Wonder sing about getting it on.

PLAY: Hallelujah, I Love Her So - Ray Charles
PLAY: Hallelujah, I Love Her So - Stevie Wonder

PLAY: Mary Ann - Ray Charles
PLAY: Mary Ann - Stevie Wonder

PLAY: Drown In My Own Tears - Ray Charles
PLAY: Drown In My Own Tears - Stevie Wonder
PLAY: Drown In My Own Tears - Marie "Queenie" Lyons
PLAY: Drown In My Own Tears - Etta James

RIP Ike Turner

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:42:00 +0000

Extremely busy with work, but couldn't let Ike's passing pass me by.
Oh, and yes, this is the same Ike who slapped the same Tina.

How many other people are known for hitting their wives?

So to everyone that feels the need to mention that particular fact in the second sentence (after "Ike Turner died." Who? "You know, that guy who hit Tina "We Don't Need Another Hero" Turner?" Oh. Yeah. That asshole.), there are sovereign countries and respected religions that sanction and even encourage wife beating and punishing rape victims. They can't play blues for shit, and yet they get away with both.

Saudi author and cleric “Dr.” Muhammad Al-’Arifi, the "Dr." Phil of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, recently reached out to all those young, recently married kids who may not yet have gotten the hang of the whole "wife thing", or better yet, the whole "woman thing." “Admonish them – once, twice, three times, four times, ten times. If this doesn’t help, refuse to share their beds. And if that doesn’t work? Beat them.”

Ok? Ike had already tried admonishment. And I think at some point he also probably refused to share his bed with Tina. What else was left???

(Seriously, I love all this moral relativism that Ike somehow brings up every time he's mentioned. When it's a whole people that beat their wives we say, "well, that's their culture," as if it were some complex, yet beautiful, mosaic of ancient traditions and aromatic spices. Ike, though, should have been hung by his balls. OK!)

A New Breed, Ike.

PLAY: Whole Lotta Love - Ike & Tina Turner
PLAY: Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin

PLAY: Keep On Pushing - The Impressions
PLAY: Keep On Pushing - Ike & Tina Turner

Pain In My Heart

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 03:42:00 +0000

Forty years ago today, on Dec. 10, 1967, the small plane carrying 26-year-old Otis Redding and four of six members of his road band, the Bar-Kays, crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin, ending the life of one of the best rhythm and blues artists ever.

A fitting song to commemorate The Big O...

PLAY: Pain In My Heart - Otis Redding (1963)
PLAY: Pain In My Heart - The Rolling Stones (1964)
PLAY: Pain In MY Heart - The Grateful Dead (1966)
PLAY: Pain In My Heart - Helene Smith (1967)
PLAY: Pain In My Heart - Toots And The Maytals

Note: Original writing credit was "Redding" (the Stones version says Redding/Walden, Walden was Redding's manager). Otis and Stax were sued by Allen Toussaint who, as "Naomi Neville", had written Ruler Of My Heart (of which Pain was adapted) for Irma Thomas. As an out of court settlement, the credit was changed to "Naomi Neville".

Mercy, Mercy

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 20:26:00 +0000

Today brings a strong cold front into the south and I'm a bit hungover. The two decidedly unsettling feelings are taking a joint fray into today's confusing posting, replete with overlapping musicians, song titles, album releases, and career saving/establishing songs

There are several songs with titles very similar to today's Mercy, Mercy - most notably Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (which will be covered extensively in the next entry). There's also Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye. But so we're all clear, neither one of those songs has anything to do with today's song, the original by Don Covay, who was actually (and un-relatedly) in a band with Marvin Gaye and Billy Stewart called The Rainbows (nice, y'all - great name!) in the early 50's.

Don Covay really didn't have a great career until he recorded this song with The Goodtimers (and featuring a young Jimi Hendrix) in 1964. He had a bunch of other great songs and became quite successful as a result.

And then in 1965, there were three other great recordings of this tune. The Stones recorded one on Out of Our Heads. From Wiki:

Initially issued in July 1965 in America (featuring an alternate shot from the same photo session that graced the cover of 12 X 5 and The Rolling Stones No. 2), Out of Our Heads was a mish-mash of studio recordings over a six month period, including hit single "The Last Time" and worldwide smash "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as well as a sampling from the UK-only live EP got LIVE if you want it!. Riding the wave of "Satisfaction"'s success, Out of Our Heads became The Rolling Stones' first US #1 album, eventually going platinum.

Also in 1965, The Remains (who sound eerily similar to the early Stones, but were never really successful) recorded this, as did the great Wilson Pickett - a really nice, full-sound recording, too.

Enjoy.

PLAY: Mercy, Mercy - Don Covay
PLAY: Mercy, Mercy - Rolling Stones
PLAY: Mercy, Mercy - The Remains
PLAY: Mercy, Mercy - Wilson Pickett

People Get Ready

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:24:00 +0000

My weakness for gospel is once again on display. This being the season to celebrate a little Special Someone's birthday, I suppose that weakness is actually very contemporary.

"It was warrior music," said civil-rights activist Gordon Sellers. "It was music you listened to while you were preparing to go into battle." Mayfield wrote the gospel-driven R&B ballad, he said, "in a deep mood, a spiritual state of mind," just before Martin Luther King's march on the group's hometown of Chicago. Shortly after "People Get Ready" was released, Chicago churches began including their own version of it in songbooks. Mayfield had ended the song with "You don't need no ticket/You just thank the Lord," but the church version, ironically, made it less Christian and more universal: "Everybody wants freedom/This I know." -RS

And god damn, Curtis Mayfield is the SHIT. You can hear him solo on the original, or the greatest version ever that features his band, The Impressions, with some incredible backup and harmonies.

Praise Curtis!

PLAY: People Get Ready - Curtis Mayfield
PLAY: People Get Ready - Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
PLAY: People Get Ready - Aretha Franklin
PLAY: People Get Ready - Dionne Warwick
PLAY: People Get Ready - Al Green
PLAY: People Get Ready - Spencer Bohren

Thirty Days

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:55:00 +0000

This one comes straight from the heart of Austin via St. Louis. Chuck Berry, one of the great pioneers of rock (who also wrote the #1 My Ding-a-Ling ditty), wrote Thirty Days.

The lovely Elizabeth McQueen (also of Asleep At The Wheel) covers this one beautifully. Her voice is one of the clearest and brightest I've ever heard.

PLAY: Thirty Days - Chuck Berry
PLAY: Thirty Days - Elizabeth McQueen & The Firebrands

Expressway (To Your Heart)

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:43:00 +0000

A brilliant song from 1967 by The Soul Survivors, a one- or two-hit wonder band that didn't make it very far. They were a pretty crappy band, but this song really stands out, not just amongst their other songs, but alongside other great late 60's songs.

[I found a great history/confession/rant from a former band member who played the year after this song made it big.]

The original Expressway is the best, but Margo Thunder is a very close second.

PLAY: Expressway (To Your Heart) - The Soul Survivors
PLAY: Expressway (To Your Heart) - Margo Thunder
PLAY: Expressway (To Your Heart) - Amen Corner

You've Really Got A Hold On Me

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:09:00 +0000

The Beatles made it famous in 63, but once again, it's Smokey Robinson who wrote this song in 1962 (the Beatles actually changed the title to "You Really" and not "You've Really," but I don't know if that was intentional or just British).

All of these versions are great. I'm particularly fond of Jackie DeShannon's (or Sharon Myers if you meet her in synagogue) singing and early rock sound, but we'll definitely have more on her in a later posting.

PLAY: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
PLAY: The Zombies
PLAY: The Beatles
PLAY: Jackie DeShannon

In The Pines

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:12:00 +0000

No, Kurt Cobain did NOT write this song, though his Unplugged version is, in my opinion, the only song of his that makes any sense. His band also does a good job of playing the despair and anger that this song is about, with all of his screaming and what-not.

"In The Pines" was written sometime in the 1870's and Leadbelly made it famous when he recorded it in 1944 (and several other versions overs the next four years). Bill Monroe did the same thing for country music in 1952, though he conveniently left out all details of the "drivin' wheel" decapitation, and that whole issue of the missing body that makes the traditional version so powerful. The song is referred to by several different names - "In The Pines", "Black Girl", and "Were Did You Sleep Last Night"

PLAY: In The Pines - Leadbelly ('44)
PLAY: In The Pines - Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys ('52)
PLAY: In The Pines - The Grateful Dead ('65)
PLAY: In The Pines - The Seldom Scene ('92)
PLAY: Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana ('93)

Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:06:00 +0000

[A little more info about the album cover on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, and the James Dean photo , pictured above]

I had no idea how covered this song was until I actually started looking. I have about 25 to go, and I'm pretty impressed. I did just listen to dozens of other shit-ass, pretentious piano versions of this great song... but you don't want to hear them.

That's what I do for you. I am your musical Jesus. I listened to these songs so you wouldn't have to.

Take a listen to this Dylan classic. Twice, and then one more time from The Gaslight in NYC ('62).

And then these really nice tributes to Bob:

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (best arrangement... hands down)
The Small Stars (esp. lead guitar)
Johnny Cash
The Derek Trucks Band (w Susan Tedeschi)
Elvis Presley
Odetta
Ivy League ('65, folksie)
Duane Eddy ('65, country-folk instrumental)

A lot of people make it sort of a love song - slow and easygoing. But it isn't a love song. It's a statement that maybe you can say something to make yourself feel better. It's as if you were talking to yourself. - bob dylan

Sing a Simple Song

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:53:00 +0000

Quick post today, but a good song nonetheless.
Sing it, Sly.

PLAY: Sing a Simple Song - Sly & The Family Stone
PLAY: Sing a Simple Song - Charles Earland
PLAY: Sing a Simple Song - The Budos Band
PLAY: Sing a Simple Song - Booker T. and The M.G.s

Mary, Don't You Weep

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 03:15:00 +0000

I don't know why I like spirituals so much. I shouldn't. But the old Negro spirituals almost always sound great, and this is no exception.

Written even before the Civil War, Mary in this song isn't Jesus' girlfriend; it's Mary of Bethany who begged and begged for Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. Most of the song, though, is about the Exodus from Egypt ("Pharaoh's army got drownded...") with the obvious freedom references that made it popular during slavery and the civil rights movement as one of the many "freedom songs."

The Swan Silvertones' version is the earliest one I could find (the song was first recorded in 1915 by the Fisk Jubilee Singers), but it is by far the most popular. The band was started in 1938 by a West Virginian coal miner, but this song was recorded in 1962.

The Springsteen version is from his recent Seeger Sessions which I think is a great piece of work. I have no idea who Mike Farris is, but for a white guy, he's pretty soulful.

Enjoy.

PLAY: Mary Don't You Weep - The Swan Silvertones
PLAY: Mary Don't You Weep - Bruce Springsteen
PLAY: Mary Don't You Weep - Mike Farris

Mean Old World

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 03:36:00 +0000

Marion Walter Jacobs, or Little Walter to you, wrote this anti-Thanksgiving song. Well, it wasn't really directed at Thanksgiving per se, but while fighting traffic in the supermarket today, hating everyone and everyone hating me, I couldn't help but think of this song.

Mean Old World is dedicated today to all the people at the loose spices section this afternoon in Central Market. They're just spices, people! Your turkey will be still be ok if we share the last bit of ground ginger, ok?

PLAY: Mean Old World - Little Walter
PLAY: Mean Old World - Ike & Tina Turner
PLAY: Mean Old World - Duane Allman/Eric Clapton

Hava Nagillah, Y'all

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:46:00 +0000

Bob Dylan's version, titled Talkin' Hava Negillah Blues, could very well be the most creative version of this song since it was written in 1918.

Dick Dale does a typical surf version which is also excellent.

There's also a great version played on a Hammond by Trio Hans Jansen, of which I can find no information, except that they might be Dutch.

Harry Belafonte's version is a classic, unlike the early 60's Swedish band, The Spotnicks, who pose and play on stage in space suits while covering American country songs (they sound really good).

Oh, man... I almost forgot the one with Elvis. This must be the fat, pill-poppin', dying on the shitter Elvis, and his equally drunk and high band.

I'll let you decide which one is the... best?

PLAY: Talkin' Hava Nagilah Blues - Bob Dylan
PLAY: Hava Nagilah - Dick Dale and His Deltones
PLAY: Hava Nagilah - Trio Hans Jansen
PLAY: Hava Nagilah - Harry Belafonte
PLAY: Hava Nagilah - The Spotnicks
PLAY: Hava Nagilah - (Fat) Elvis Presley
PLAY: Hava Nagilah - Ben Folds (live)

The Tracks of My Tears

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 02:10:00 +0000

This is a pretty great Sunday evening kind of song. For listening, not writing about.

Wiki says:

"The Tracks of My Tears" is a 1965 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label. It is considered among their best recordings, and is listed on the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. An all- time classic, this million- selling song is also a 2007 Grammy Hall Of Fame Inductee.

This song was #50 on the list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[1]. In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program "Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs", "The Tracks of My Tears" was voted 16th. In early 2007, THE MIRACLES' original version of the song was inducted into the GRAMMY HALL OF FAME .

One thing I need to address before we move on with the music - I'm not a big fan of Linda Ronstadt, and this song is really no exception, but I included it because:

Odds are that one of the handful of people that read this blog is a closet Linda Ronstadt fan. You know who you are, we don't need to start a witch hunt.
One of you may even be open about your sick Linda Ronstadt fetish.
This recording was big for her in her career, so I'm just trying to make sure you get the history you paid for.

OK, we're all fully disclosed now.

The original Smokey Robinson is pretty great. His band is great, the backup singers nail it , he's about flawless himself - really close to perfect.

Aretha's version is about the same tempo - slow in the beginning, buoyant towards the end, with the horns to back it all up.

Rosetta Hightower picks it up from the beginning. I need to find more of her stuff - it's actually been re-released on CD. I like this version the best.

PLAY: The Tracks of My Tears - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
PLAY: The Tracks of My Tears - Aretha Franklin
PLAY: The Tracks of My Tears - Rosetta Hightower

Don't Fence Me In

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:43:00 +0000

"If I have to pretend-write one more song..."
Cole P. exhaled strongly through his nostrils; his exasperation was obvious.
"Now you know why I'm a closet homosexual and love lavish pool parties!"
___________________________________________

I don't know where I first heard this song, but it definitely wasn't the original. I can't find the original (because I honestly just don't care enough to track down the first recording of this song), but I'm guessing it sounded as white and as theatrical and as gay as the one below by Joe Loss.

This song has a pretty rich history:

"Don't Fence Me In" was written by Cole Porter and Robert Fletcher in 1934. It was Porter's least favorite song and does not have his usual signature.

Originally written for an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, Adios Argentina, in 1934, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by an engineer who was also a poet, Robert (Bob) Fletcher. Cole bought the poem from Bob Fletcher for $250 and adapted it. When the song was first published, Porter was credited with sole authorship, but he had essentially re-worked the poem written earlier by Fletcher. (Fletcher, who worked with the Department of Highways in Helena, Montana, also wrote the "roadside history" plaques that were displayed along Montana's highways until the 1980s.)

There are some great adaptations of this song, but all of them still sound really awkward and hard to sing, despite its addictive and catchy nature. Are there any singers out there that could comment on this? Even sweet, soft Willie has his moments where it sounds like he's singing this for the first time.

This song is like a geeky, gawky adolescent - the exact opposite of the untamed cowboy the song is supposed to be about. Then again, there's something eerily Brokeback about the this whole song anyway:

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hovels and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in, no
Pop, oh don't you fence me in

So? You like the song?

PLAY: Don't Fence Me In - Joe Loss
PLAY: Don't Fence Me In - Hein und Oss
PLAY: Don't Fence Me In - David Byrne
PLAY: Don't Fence Me In - Willie Nelson

Feelin' Alright

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:50:00 +0000

Dave Mason of Traffic wrote this one, and Joe Cocker totally ruined it for almost forever. But let's try to forget about him for a few minutes.

The best version by far comes from Lulu, and she kills this song from beginning to end. She sounds crazy, but the good kind of crazy. The Politicians' version is pretty good, too - it's funky and loose - but Lulu can yell.

PLAY: Feelin' Alright - Traffic
PLAY: Feelin' Alright - Lulu
PLAY: Feelin' Alright - The Politicians
PLAY: Feelin' Alright - West Coast Revival

Hang 'Em High

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:12:00 +0000

Originally written for the movie with the same name, starring a young(er) Clint Eastwood, Hang 'Em High was composed by Dominic Frontiere. Several other covers were recorded, including one by Hugo Montenegro that made it into the Top 40, as well as others in almost every genre - the reggae and ska crowd really liked this song in particular, and it even spawned a new genre of Western Reggae. The Jamaican dancehall king, Jackie Mittoo, did a great version that's also a big breakdancing song for some reason.

With all the covers that were recorded, it still was Booker T. and the M.G.s that made this instrumental the classic that it is today (but don't miss the Memphis Black version below).

PLAY: Hang 'Em High - Dominic Frontiere |buy album|
PLAY: Hang 'Em High - Hugo Montenegro |buy album|
PLAY: Hang 'Em High - Booker T. and the M.G.s |buy album|
PLAY: Hang 'Em High - Memphis Black |buy album|
PLAY: Hang 'Em High - The Meters |buy album|
PLAY: Hang 'Em High - Jackie Mittoo
PLAY: Hang 'Em High - Richard Ace |buy album|
PLAY: Hang 'Em High - Reggae Cowboys |buy album|

Cowgirl In The Sand

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:15:00 +0000

Written by Neil Young in 1969 for his second solo album, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (the first album with his backup band Crazy Horse). He wrote Cowgirl, Cinnamon Girl, and Down By The River in a single day while he was sick with a 103 degree fever. Everyone thinks they know what the song is actually about, but can't actually agree on the meaning of the lyrics.

It's hard to imagine any covers of this song rivaling Young's exquisitely chaotic guitar in the long intro, or his pained voice as he addresses his cowgirl. But these are all pretty good versions. The recent release by Marissa Nadler (hipster alert!) is sung beautifully. The version by The Byrds has an arrangement that makes it feel less like a cover and more like a different song.

There's also an excellent Cowgirl in this show Live from Fillmore East (1970)

PLAY: Neil Young - Cowgirl In The Sand |buy album|
PLAY: Marissa Nadler - Cowgirl In The Sand
PLAY: The Byrds - Cowgirl In The Sand |buy album|

Well... Alright

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:57:00 +0000

I had no idea this was an original Buddy Holly song. The Blind Faith version with Eric Clapton seems to be the de facto standard, and it is one of the best. But a recent addition from Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes) makes a catchy, pop version of the song.

PLAY: Buddy Holly - Well...Alright
PLAY: Blind Faith - Well...Alright
PLAY: Albert Hammond, Jr. - Well...Alright

The Dark End of the Street

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:12:00 +0000

James Carr is to soul what... Otis Redding is to... soul.

James Carr was on all sorts of drugs and drinking very heavily while he was on tour in the late 60's, which went really well with his being bipolar and all. It took hitting rock bottom, and that rock was found in the middle of a concert in Japan in 1970. As his body began to succumb to an overdose of anti-depressants, he just stopped singing mid-song; he pretty much finished his career right then and there. Next stop, mental hospital. Next, next stop - lung cancer, to really stick it to him.

The Dark End of the Street was written by Chips Moman and Dan Penn, and originally sung by James Carr in Memphis, 1966. If you like this song, the rest of his stuff is even better.

Clarence Carter, who was a dirty, dirty blind soul singer, did the best version of this song I've ever heard, and there are a LOT of covers out there - from Aretha to My Morning Jacket to Dolly Parton. Everyone seems to sing and play it exactly the way James Carr did it (even Frank Black). Clarence did his own intro to the song and changed it forever.

PLAY: The Dark End of the Street - James Carr
PLAY: (Making Love at) The Dark End of The Street - Clarence Carter

On A Monday...

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:39:00 +0000

I think the Johnny Cash version, called I Got Stripes, is the most well known version of this song, but Leadbelly (aka Huddie Ledbetter, aka King of the 12-String Guitar) was the original outlaw and an even bigger bad-ass, and wrote the original words and music to On A Monday.

A little background from the Leadbelly Foundation:
In 1918, [Leadbelly] fought and killed a man in Dallas and was sentenced to thirty years to be served in the state prison in Huntsville, Texas. In 1925, he wrote a song asking Governor Pat Neff for a pardon. Neff, who had promised at his election never to pardon a prisoner, broke his promise and set Huddie Ledbetter free. In 1930, after a fight at a party, he was sentenced to another prison term in the infamous Angola Farm prison plantation in Louisiana. In a way, this was a stroke of luck, because he was discovered by folklorists John and Alan Lomax, who were recording prison songs for the Library of Congress.

PLAY: Leadbelly - On A Monday
PLAY: Johnny Cash - I Got Stripes

(Take a Little) Piece of My Heart

noreply@blogger.com (yehaskel) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:51:00 +0000

Poor Erma.

She's the 60's Nicky Hilton. She played some with Aretha, but never really got anywhere.

Even her big hit is better known as Janis Joplin's.

PLAY: Erma Thomas - Take a Little Piece of My Heart
PLAY: Janis Joplin - Take a Little Piece of My Heart