Under The Covers: Do Wah Diddy Diddy by Manfred Mann and The Exciters

Manfred Mann

Here today we have one of the most recognizable songs known to man. The impossibly infections, ridiculously timeless, Do Wah Diddy Diddy as performed by Manfred Mann. The band was Paul Jones on vocals, Mike Hugg, Manfred Mann, Tom McGuness and Mike Vickers. The Manfred's recorded the number on June 11, 1964. The HMV Records single hit the number 1 spot on the UK charts in August and held on for 2 weeks as the top seller. In the US, the single was released on Ascot in late August and slowly climbed its way to the number 1 spot on the US charts in early October. Is stayed atop the charts for 2 straight weeks. Not bad. But, it is not a Manfred Mann original. It was a cover of...

The Exciters

...a song by US soul group, The Exciters. The Exciters were Brenda Reid, Herb Rooney, Carolyn Johnson and Lilian Walker. They had already hit gold with their hit Tell Him when they recorded the Tin Pan Alley composition, Do Wah Diddy Diddy and released it on United Artists in November of 1963. The Exciters version fell pretty flat in the US.

Song of the Week: The Spencer Davis Group -- On The Green Light

The Spencer Davis Group is perhaps best known for being the launching pad for the very talented, multi-instrumentalist, teen prodigy, Stevie Winwood. Fair enough. The kid could play everything and had a voice that stood out from the crowd. Today's SoTW doesn't feature his voice, however. It's a Booker T. and The MG's styled instrumental written by Stevie Winwood. In the US, it was the Flip-Side of their second release of Somebody Help Me as it appeared on the United Artists label in June of 1967 (Somebody was also released on Atco a year prior with the flip-side Stevie's Blues, another instrumental). The song also appears on the band's US LP, I'm A Man.

Stevie is on that big sounding Hammond and Spencer Davis lays down one of the tastiest sounding guitar leads you will have the opportunity to hear. Muff Winwood on the Harmony H22 bass, and Pete York on drums.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Post inspired by and photo pinched from the blog, Magic Mac. Check it out. 

Song of the Week: The Who and Garnet Mimms -- Anytime You Want Me

The Who perform Anytime You Want Me

 Garnet Mimms performs, Anytime You Want Me

On our first post in this week-long look at songs which The Who covered or were inspired by, we looked at the Flip-Side of The Who's third European single (Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere) which was their upbeat cover of Otis Blackwell's Daddy Rolling Stone. Today we look at one that is even more rare. The song is the Flip-Side of the American only release of their Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. It wasn't released in any other country and preceded the release of their first album. The song is Anytime You Want Me by Philadelphia based soul stirrer, Garnet Mimms.

Garnett Mimms' original composition was released on the United Artist label in February of 1964. The Who's version of the song was released in the US on Decca on June 5, 1965, less than three months after they recorded the number. It's a pretty straight forward cover and gives real insight into The Who's early interests and skills. Interesting note, this single was delayed in it's release in the US as Decca returned the master tape to the UK claiming the tape was damaged and the music was warbled and muddied. It turns out they were talking about Pete's feedback frenzy in the middle of Anyway, Anyhow, Anywere. Ahhh, the joys of dealing with a predominantly C&W label!

I've included an A Cappella version of The Who's take on Anytime You Want Me just to show you how much I love you.

Until tomorrow, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

P.S. If you dig this Garnet Mimms tune, check out this even better one right here.