"Funny How Time Slips Away" - The Series (#3)

Reuben Howell - Funny How Time Slips Away


Dorothy Moore - Funny How Time Slips Away

Today's installment of the "Funny" series features two '70s Southern soul takes on the song, albeit that one of them was a Motown record. Blue-eyed soul man Reuben Howell was featured on this blog before, although erroneously (Howell was erroneously credited with Johnny Adams' "Bad Habit Baby" on Soul Resurrection, which I had featured). Howell cut two albums and a few singles for Motown (some of which were released on VIP), none of which were successful. His first LP, Reuben Howell, was produced by former Fame Gang musician Clayton Ivey and Terry Woodford and featured quite a few of the Muscle Shoals and Memphis soul scene regulars as instrumentalists and background singers. Ivey and Woodford chose to take strip the tune of its country flavor, choosing instead to have Howell sing the song over a stripped-down rhythm with nice piano and string accents. Howell brought the goods with his performance, alternating between a conversational style and fuller belting. It's a shame that Howell's Motown stuff got lost in the shuffle, because it was quite good.

Dorothy Moore had a smash hit - and kept the then-struggling Malaco concern from going out of business - in 1976 with the deep soul ballad "Misty Blue," the song for which she is best known. In that same year, however, she also raced up the pop and R&B charts with her version of "Funny." The arrangement on this version has more of a Southern soul feel than the Howell record, featuring a fine piano (both electric and acoustic) and guitar-based groove (dig the accompaniment in the last verse) and strong vocals by Moore.

"Funny How Time Slips Away" - The Series (#2)

Joe Tex - Funny How Time Slips Away


Danny Woods - Funny How Time Slips Away

Joe Tex needs no introduction to the readers of this blog, so the second installment of the "Funny" series will feature his great reading of the song from the Soul Country album. It's no surprise that Joe was very comfortable with country music, and it didn't hurt things that he worked with Nashville music impresario Buddy Killen. Joe's warm reading of the song fit nicely with the relaxed, stop-time groove the rhythm section put down, and the heavy horns provide a nice shading to the track.

Danny Woods is a member of the Chairmen of the Board, the Detroit soul act put together by Holland-Dozier-Holland after they left Motown to start their Invictus/Hot Wax concern. (I say "is" rather than "was" because in the '90s Woods and General Johnson re-formed the group, and they are quite popular in the Carolina shag music scene.) Although General Johnson's lead vocals are given most of the praise (in part because of his brilliant job on the smash hit "Give Me Just a Little More time"), Woods' gospel-rich voice fronted quite a few hits by the group, including "Pay to the Piper," "Tricked and Trapped" and others. In 1972, H-D-H decided to record each member of the group on a solo project alongside the group's Bittersweet LP. Unfortunately, all four projects were not big successes, but they all included some great music. Danny's album, Aries, included this great version of "Funny." Woods set up the song with a nice monologue (which includes the line "I walked into this barbecue joint - I mean steak house," which never ceases to make me smile) and then did a fine job with the song.

"Funny How Time Slips Away" - The Series (#1)

Al Green - Funny How Time Slips Away


Al Green & Lyle Lovett - Funny How Time Slips Away

There are certain songs in the classic soul songbook that were so good that multiple versions were recorded by quite an array of artists. Some of them, like "The Dark End of the Street," started out as soul songs, but quite a few pop and country songs made their way onto R&B records, with the Lennon-McCartney songs leading the way. For a bulk of this week, however, I will turn to the "Red Headed Stranger," country music legend Willie Nelson, and the oft-recorded "Funny How Time Slips Away." When Nelson wrote "Funny," he was in full bloom in the first half of his music career. At the time, Nelson was relatively unknown as a recording artist but had notched up some hits as a songwriter with songs like the Patsy Cline classic "Crazy" and "Hello Walls" by Faron Young. (Nelson, of course, would go on to achieve superstardom as a recording artist in the '70s and '80s as one of the founding members of the "outlaw country" movement.) Billy Walker would go on to have a hit with the song, and a steady stream of country, pop and R&B acts would add the song to their catalogue over the next four decades.

Today's post and the following three posts will feature nine R&B-related versions of the classic Willie Nelson song. (I've actually heard more than nine, but made an editorial choice to cut out Brook Benton, Diana Ross & The Supremes and Stevie Wonder, whose versions of the song, although not bad, weren't favorites of mine.) I considered doing a mini-podcast, but I realized that unlike the "Mr. Big Stuff" set I did some time ago (in which answer records and the like broke up the monotony), to subject one to nine versions of the same song would be a bit too much to bear. Four days' worth of tracks, taken two or three at a time, will be better.



Today's two selections both involve Al Green, who clearly needs no introduction on this blog. As a master interpreter of songs, Green had no problems recording country material on his classic Hi albums - his version of Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" became a signature tune for him - and his first recorded version of "Funny" was part of the Call Me album. The slower arrangement (with the lush sounds of the Hi Rhythm proving to be as ethereal as always) allowed Green to stretch out his vocals, which included a little of his preaching style of ad-libs and lots of great multitracked call-and-response to go along with Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes' backup vocals.

A little over twenty years later, Al Green would join Sam Moore, B.B. King, Patti LaBelle, the Staple Singers, Little Richard and others R&B acts on the Don Was-produced Rhythm, Country & Blues, a concept album built on the (correct) premise that R&B and country music contained more similarities than many would think. In keeping with that idea, a country and R&B act was paired to perform either a country or an R&B song. The end result was decidedly mixed, with some pairings almost having an "oil and water" chemistry or performances that just seemed forced, but there were a few highlights: Sam Moore and Conway Twitty's take on "Rainy Night in Georgia" ended up getting a lot of attention in country circles, in part because it proved to be one of Twitty's very last recordings; B.B. King and George Jones' duet on "Patches," albeit somewhat mawkish, is pretty good; the Staple Singers and Marty Stuart lay down a nice version of "The Weight" (which the Staples had also done over two decades prior); and the Rev. Al hooked up with the eccentric country singer Lyle Lovett on "Funny," an effort that earned the two a Grammy. The arrangement on this version was pretty ambitious, mixing a funky groove with the Hi sound (Teenie Hodges and the Memphis Horns participated) and some nice country steel guitar work. Al discarded the subtleties of his earlier version for this go-round, going instead with gusto, and Lovett's cool yet soulful vocals provide a nice counterpoint.

Thank You, Mr. B!

Billy Eckstine - Thank You Love



Singer/bandleader Billy Eckstine has been featured in a prior post, although in that post I forgot to mention one other cultural contribution of "Mr. B," as he was known: on a sartorial tip, Eckstein developed a style of wearing a high roll collar over a Windsor-knotted tie, a look referred to as the "Mr. B collar" and copied by bop musicians among others. Having cleared that up, I return to Eckstine's tenure at Motown to feature a 1968 single. Although the strutting groove of "Thank You Love" and Eckstine's mannered vocal style make for quite a juxtaposition, the ascending arrangement of the Hank Cosby-Sylvia Moy-Stevie Wonder tune, with its great vamp tying the verses together, provides a hip foundation for Eckstine to work his brand of cool.

Larry's Problem

Larry Banks - We Got a Problem

The Kent CD Larry Banks' Soul Family Album and the comp's central subject were discussed in a prior post, and today I go back to the disc for another fine Larry Banks tune (the swinging blues "Let's Roll Up Our Sleeves" appeared on Episode #25 of the podcast).

"We Got a Problem" was a Spring single, and its dramatic arrangement and Banks' strong reading of the lyrics really nails down the the guilt but also the excitement generated by the illicit relationship described in the song. "It was wrong, and we knew it was wrong, but what else could we do, girl?" Banks urgently pleads at the song's start. "You needed me just as much as I needed you, girl." It's certainly a powerful tune.

Gotta Keep Smilin'!

Johnnie Morisette - Gotta Keep Smilin' (So Trouble Won't Come)

"Two Voice" Johnnie Morisette has been featured on this blog before, so on this hectic day I'll simply say that today's selection is just what the doctor ordered for my tired soul. The optimistic lyrics of "Gotta Keep Smilin'," a 1964 SAR single, are buoyed by a New Orleans-sounding beat, and Johnnie's vocals are nice and warm most the way, although he manages to get some squalls in there on a chorus or two and at the end. I just love the firm "Amen!" that closes the song out; amen, brother!

Woo Wee! An Al Green News Flash!

Make sure you get on over to Soul Sides as quickly as you can: O-Dub's posted a preview from Al Green's forthcoming Blue Note album Lay It Down, which is scheduled for a May 27 release. I'd heard about this one for awhile: I'd read an interview with the Rev. Al where he mentioned that he had hooked up with The Roots' ?uestlove on a new album that was, if I recall Green's phrase, "as fresh as milk straight out the cow's titty." Well, if the previewed track, "You Got the Love I Need Babe," a collaboration with neo-soul star Anthony Hamilton, is an accurate indicator of what this album (which also includes collaborations with John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae) is going to be like, I'm more than excited to hear it!

A Soul Jazz Moment!

Luther Randolph & Johnny Stiles - Cross Roads (Pt. 1)

I don't feature soul jazz on this blog often, although I enjoy it, so I decided to take a little break to do a post about "Cross Roads" by Luther Randolph and Johnny Stiles. Randolph and Stiles made up two-thirds of the "Harthon trio" (Weldon McDougal III was the third), whose productions on Barbara Mason, Herb Ward and others have made them an integral part in the history of Philly soul. The trio was featured in the fourth issue of There's That Beat!" last year, and although I would like to invite you to go to the website and order that issue to read their fascinating story, I've learned that it is sold out. Fortunately, over at the Hitsville Soul Club site there's a great page featuring the Club's 2007 All-Nighter, which includes a Q&A session with the three men, who were honored guests at the event. Make sure to check it out.

Randolph and Stiles started working together before the "Harthon trio" took shape, and the two-parter "Cross Roads" garnered local release (the label name escapes me, and I don't have my copy of There's That Beat! handy; I think, however, it was a joint venture between the two men) before it was picked up by the then-dominant Philly concern Cameo-Parkway for release as a Cameo single. The tune is a bluesy, swinging affair in a classic soul-jazz trio setting (organ, guitar and drums), and Randolph's organ work is fantastic, especially as he builds up intensity as the record goes along.

The Simone Revolution!

Nina Simone - Revolution



Today I was informed by the kind folks at The Orchard that a new compilation of unreleased live performances and video interviews by Nina Simone, Protest Anthology, will be coming out on Tuesday, April 8. Although I've featured the eclectic Simone on the blog in the past, I'll let The Orchard's blurb do the talking here:

Nina Simone is widely regarded as one of the most important jazz and blues revolutionaries of all time. Not only was she a Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, and arranger, but she was also a staunch civil rights activist and voice for black America. On April 8th, a new collection of never before seen video and live tracks dubbed Protest Anthology will offer fans a look at the “High Priestess of Soul” as she really was both on and off stage.

Protest Anthology collects eight previously unreleased video interviews and 11 unheard live tracks of hit songs “Mississippi Goddamn,” “Backlash Blues,” “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black,” and more in one package. These very rare interviews and recordings are finally being unearthed, under exclusive license from her ex-husband Andy Stroud. The first volume of a five-release series, these tracks contain some of Nina Simone’s most political statements ever captured, and truly sum up her strong viewpoints on being black in America during the 1960s, viewpoints that surely would have been controversial in her time.

In her lifetime, Nina Simone recorded over 40 live and studio albums, spanning the genres of jazz, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop music, and setting the stage for future generations of artists including Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, and many more.

Today's selection is one of the tracks from the anthology. "Revolution" finds Simone and backing singers making it clear that it's time for a change over a swinging groove featuring some stinging guitar work that dissolves into chaotic dissonance at the end. "Talking about a revolution, because I'm talking about a change," Nina exhorts. "It's more than just air pollution ... you got to clean your brain." Amen, sister!

In addition to the audio file above, you can preview more of Protest Anthology by clicking the album image above to go to one of the featured heretofore-unreleased video interviews.

You Gotta Have Cash!

Alvin Cash - Funky Washing Machine

I've discussed the Chicago dance record king Alvin Cash in a prior post, and his tunes have regularly graced the Get on Down ... podcast, so I'll forego any storytelling and jump right into today's selection. "Funky Washing Machine" was a 1973 single on Sound Stage Seven, and it finds Cash doing his usual chanting with support from a femme background group and a nice '70s funk groove. It seems that I'm not the only one digging this tune these days - go to Fufu Stew (see links at right) and hear it as part of the "Right Side of Funky" guest mix over there. "The funky washing machine won't make you clean," Cash says, which puts this one on the "right side of funky" for sure!

Dippin' on a Soul-Blues Thursday!

Big Al Carson - Dip My Dipper



I know that this type of post is usually appropriate for "Soul-Blues Saturday," but I'm feeling this one today, and why wait when you got a goodie, right? I've just recently heard of New Orleans singer/brass band musician/actor Big Al Carson (check out his official website), but his version of the Cicero Blake classic salacious blues "Dip My Dipper," from his awesomely-titled 2002 album Take Your Drunken Ass Home, is really good and it's getting a lot of action in my personal playlist lately. (Blake's original was discussed in a prior "Soul-Blues Saturday" feature.) Carson's warm vocals capture the song's humor perfectly, and the song is a bit more "down-home" than the original, thanks to some very good harmonica work.

Knight Time Is The Right Time!

Frederick Knight - Someday We'll Be Together

Today's post revisits the Birmingham soul man Frederick Knight, who was featured in a post from a year or so ago. I'll defer to the earlier post for info about Knight, whose version of "Some Day We'll Be Together" came from his Stax LP I've Been Lonely For So Long. The arrangement on this is fantastic, both in the sense that it successfully steered clear of the groove and feel of the Supremes' hit of a few years earlier, and in its own right as a nice example of sophisticated Southern soul. Knight's opening monologue is accompanied by an attractive guitar line, and when the tune proper begins, a relaxed groove and fine string work allows Knight to stretch out. I particularly like the ending, which features some nice turnarounds by the strings and horns.