Julie Do You Love Me - Bobby Sherman
- Album: With Love, Bobby
- Information: Probably one of the most notable hits from this early 70s teen idol, this Tom Bahler-written tune reached #5 in the pop countdowns, while not the biggest hit of his career (that would be 1969's "Little Woman", released while still on "Here Comes the Brides" and reaching #3 in the US), it is possibly one of his most famous.
- Personal Thoughts: It's sort of strange but I did admit to "sort of" have Bobby Sherman on my mind recently: I finally saw "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and actually thought that "Here Comes the Brides" was a spinoff from that movie...actually, it's based on a similar scenario regarding the settling of the Pacific Northwest and the shipping of women to help out with the overpopulation of men in one area, but that's mostly just a silly aside. Admittedly, Sherman in this song actually sounds more "mature" than a lot of typical teen idols of around this era...maybe it's just his voice or presentation...or the fact that this feels more like some big Elvis number than something with such a bubblegum theme. (I mean the horns, the chorus in the background...it just reminds me more of "The Wonder of You" than...well, some of the teen idol nightmares to come) I guess the production kick what would be a typically cheesy song up a notch and actually make it funny...maybe even hummable...well at least I still hear it on my local radio station.
Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
- Album: The Feel of Neil Diamond
- Information: Written and released as Diamond's very first solo single in 1966, it originally made little headway in the charts in 1966, only reaching #55 as released by Bang Records. (compared to "Cherry, Cherry" from the same album which reached top 10) However with Diamond's own career skyrocketing with his 1970 successes, the song that would become his trademark was re-released this year where it performed much better, reaching #21 ultimately.
- Personal Thoughts: In this modern time of music where everything has to be an instantaneous success or else, it is strange to hear tales in the 60s and 70s when many songs would take a long time to establish themselves and sometimes a song wouldn't be rediscovered until years later where it would be big. With that said, I sort of feel surprised on "Solitary Man" technically being a mid-60s song from the period he was writing for the Monkees released during this hectic period. The song does has good production values (I love the horns in this song) and Diamond...well at least he's not as gonzo as he becomes later. His simple delivery and his direct delivery are rather straightforward and probably his strength in this period, compared to how his music becomes...well, more overblown and weirder later.
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross
- Album: Diana Ross
- Information: After the dissapointing top 20 results off of her first solo song, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", Ross chose to cover and rework a song that had previously been a major hit for fellow Motown artists Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrel, not merely being a cover like when with the Supremes but using elements of gospel and orchestration and even spoken word. The gamble paid off, giving her a solo #1, her first.
- Personal Thoughts: Once again, I chose to use the long version (6+ minutes) instead of the single version, which probably guarantees I'm nuts just like listening to the long version of Rare Earth. I tried to go into this song without bias considering that's how the blog is supposed to be...but I have to admit this: I never liked this version. Marvin and Tammy's version was just so soulful and so pure even with the whole factor of Terrel's tragic passing and everything Marvin went through afterwards. This version...sure it has night orchestration and it tries to be ambitious, but I think it just tries too hard to try to create something different...especially the way Diana Ross ends up doing all that bizarre spoken word. Sure it isn't bad when she's doing the lyrics of the song at the start, but then she just seems to go in another direction that directs it away from what's supposed to be a simple love song! And don't get me started on the chorus singing the "AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH!" part towards the end. Sure there are many great covers and reinterpretations in music history, but this just has to be one of the most overblown to me, taking something that should have stayed simple and catchy and making it epic to the point of nausiating.
Hi-De-Ho - Blood Sweat &Tears
- Album: Blood Sweat & Tears 3
- Information: A cover of a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carol King, the band released it on an album mostly meant to cash in on the newfound success received after their 1969 album "Blood Sweat & Tears 2", but ended up mostly being an album of covers.
- Personal Thoughts: From the question/answer of horns and organs at the start, the song takes a slow, smooth movement as presented further by lead singer David Clayton-Thomas, just slow and easy. While it is a cover, I really do like this interpretation of the song and just how it is done...even if the title gives me vibes of "South Park"...or was it Cab Calloway? I also really love how the horns are lead by a good old harmonica in the middle as if something so broad was going to be lead by something so simple...and the chorus near the end was a nice touch for the song.
Looking Out My Back Door - Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Album: Cosmo's Factory
- Information: Written by lead singer John Fogerty with some of the strangest imagery put to song(which had nothing to do with drugs...at least that's what they say), some of it was inspired by the early Dr. Seuss book "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street", which was the inspiration for the parade in the midst of all that was going on. (Note: Though stated as "released as a double-sided single" with "Long As I Can See the Light", I didn't get any info regarding the latter being considered as "charting" so we're not reviewing it)
- Personal Thoughts: This song is surreal...it's so simple, yet it's the lyrics that make it so surreal. All this guy wants to do is relax and he's seeing "dinosaur patroller listening to Buck Owens" and all those tamborines and elephants playing in a band for all those weird happy creatures. You'd probably expect a song like this to sound more psychadelic or bizarre, but it's the southern charm, combining the slide guitar and the memorable guitarwork that gives it the fun that it deserves to have without sounding like some insane freak-out like many other songs of the era. You'd almost think that it was written for a kids record but the fact that it was a serious song by a major band like CCR and written by Fogerty really does show the variety of work he tried to work into the band's repetoire....and that's what made it so memorable.
No comments:
Post a Comment