Mid-Atlantic Spotlight: The Mad Hatters - I'll Come Running

Day nine of the Mid-Atlantic Battle of the Bands takes us to Annapolis, Maryland where we spin the second, and last, record from The Mad Hatters.

The Mad Hatters were Dave Vittek, Tom Curley, Alan Fowler and Richard Kumer. The band released their first single, a great original, on Ascot Records. They promptly were dropped and then picked up by Fontana Records. Their second single, released in April of 1967, is this blistering cover of Lulu's I'll Come Running, written by Bert Berns. (You can hear and read about that here). The lads from Maryland's quaint state capitol gave the number quite a rewrite, however. Changing the tune to a blistering fast 4/4 beat with a cool lead guitar riff throughout, a farfisa organ and a whimsical musical punctuation mark.

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

Song of the Week: Baby Washington - There He Is and That's How Heartaches Are Made

There He Is

That's How Heartaches Are Made

Baby Washington not only had a cool name, she also had one hell of a voice. Baby grew up in Harlem and bounced around many labels before she hit her groove for Sue Records. She scored only one hit, That's How Heartaches Are Made in 1963. (We already spun a blue-eyed soul cover of that with Welsh singer, Tawny Reed. Click here to hear that version).

Today we spin Baby Washinton's 1965 double sided gem on Sue Records, There He Is and the heavily orchestrated That's How Heartaches Are Made. In this flipster's opinion, There He Is, the A-Side, is the superior number, but both are great. There He Is was produced by Bert Berns, the cat who wrote Here Comes The Night (click here to hear Lulu's version) and Piece Of My Heart for Erma Franklin (click here to hear that original). 

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

Parrot Records Spotlight: Lulu and the Luvers - I'll Come Running and Here Comes The Night

I'll Come Running

Here Comes The Night

We're letting our Parrot Records freak flag fly for the third day. The first day found us in Newcastle, England. Then we went to Belfast, Ireland. Today we listen to Lulu and the Luvers who hailed from Scotland. 

Lulu scored a hit right out of the gate with her cover of the Isley Brothers' Shout in 1964. That got the diminutive Lulu attention from both sides of the pond. For her second UK single, Lulu recorded a song by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. That single got skipped by Parrot Records here in the US. But the next thing you know, legendary songwriter and producer, Bert Berns, (whom we have written about here extensively), came a-knockin on Lulu's door. He composed the A-Side and produced both sides of her third UK single (second in the US). We present today the unique US version which features a Bert Berns composition/production on both sides. As we tend to do, we're going to start by flipping the damn record over.

The Flip-Side of the November 1964 US single is the far superior song, in our flippy opinion. The song didn't make it onto any UK single, just the US. The song is the Bert Berns composition (under the pen name Bert Russell), I'll Come Running. The song has that trademark four-chord down beat that Berns made famous with songs like his oft-covered Everybody Needs Somebody To Love. But what makes this nasal voiced rocker a little different is the guitar work by session guitarist, Jimmy Page and his brand new wah-wah pedal. That's some pretty characteristically solid work from Page at 1:46. Lulu lets it all fly as she and Jimmy spar as the song fades out.

Here Comes The Night is the A-Side and it is damn solid and well worth being the chosen side. Garage fans will likely more closely associate the song with yesterday's act, Them. This version of the song is the first recording of the Bert Berns composition, predating Van Morrison and Co.'s take on the song by four months. While I will go on record as saying Them's version is the far superior, let's not blow this one off too fast. Lulu's voice is spectacular and Bert Berns' production is lush and fabulous. The guitar riff made famous in the Them version is still there, albeit a bit hidden. 

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

Under The Covers: Piece of My Heart by Big Brother And The Holding Company and Erma Franklin

Erma Franklin

Aretha Franklin's big sister, Erma Franklin, never got the accolades her little sis received. But, like her sister, she could belt it out. Years of gospel singing in her father's church honed her skills to perfection. Erma released her 9th single, the Jerry Ragavoy and Bert Berns composed Piece Of My Heart, in October of 1967.

Big Brother And The Holding Company

In August of 1968, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin's first band, released Piece Of My Heart as their 6th single, and the first for major label, Columbia Records. The harder edge version of the song made it to #12 on the pop charts. 

Enjoy. We'll see you next time On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: Solomon Burke -- Keep Looking

Burke never attained the ubiquitous success of his label mates, Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin nor the chart success of people like Ben E. King. Burke was, however, hugely influential on fellow musicians who were attracted to his powerful and personal vocals and his ability to span country, gospel and soul effortlessly and convincingly. The Rolling Stones made it an early habit to cover Burke songs (Cry To Me, It's All Right, If You Need Me). The Pretty Things also did a wonderful version of Cry To Me. The Blues Brothers covered Everybody Needs Somebody to Love and The Zombies did a great version of Burke's Can't Nobody Love You. And a little known band with connections to the Rolling Stones, The Artwoods (can anybody make that connection?), did a killer cover of today's SOTW, Keep Looking. My 1966 Atlantic Records 45rpm of this song is a bit fuzzy and crackly, but I think Burke still sounds damn good. Enjoy the late, great Solomon Burke performing Keep Looking.

Oh yeah...we have written articles on, and posted audio from The Rolling Stones, The Zombies, The Pretty Things, and, Burke's fellow Philadelphian and Bert Berns protege, Garnett Mimms. Search in the upper left corner for articles on all these acts.

Song of the Week: "I'm Gonna Dress In Black", Them

Listen - Them perform I'm Gonna Dress In Black.

Ahhh, it's Them. I must say, it has been a while since I had Them on the turntable. Too long. So how sweet it was when, just the other week, I pulled out some of my US label Parrot Records-stamped Them 45's, a few O'Dell's IPA beers, and had a grand old time playing records at ear splitting volumes.

Understandably, Them is often recognized for only two things: 1) being the first band of the 5'4" musical giant that is Van Morrison, and; 2) being the originators of the garage band standard, Gloria, a Van Morrison penned flip-side to the stellar cover of Baby Please Don't Go. But Them were much more than that. The Belfast boys put out two excellent records and a healthy amount of solid 45's. Them albums sounded different than most of their "British Invasion" brethren. Certainly part of it is their Irish homeland influence, but most of it can be traced to the multi-instrumental ability of their frontman and predominant song composer, Van Morrison. He brought Irish folk, American folk, American Jazz, American blues and rock-n-roll influences, and mixed them all together in a wonderful little stew. Only Manfred Mann albums had as much diversity as did the two albums by Them.

Today's SoTW comes from Them's first album, the excellent 1965 release, The Angry Young Them. The song seems to be neither a cover nor an original, but rather a song brought to the group. Perhaps by sometime Them producer and songwriter, Bert Berns. (See an old post on a bitching Garnett Mimms song he produced, As Long As I Have You). The song for the week is I'm Gonna Dress In Black. Thematically and musically, it has a certain feel similar to The House of the Rising Son as performed by The Animals. The organ dominant song features some of the most unexpected chord progressions, mixing up minor and major chords nicely, you're likely to hear out of song from this era. Van Morrison is, as always, exceptional on the song. You can really feel the Ray Charles influence in his performance. But it is really the organist who shines on this. Who that organist is, we just can't say. You see, Them was really a revolving cast of musicians with only bassist Alan Henderson and Van Morrison remaining constant. Additionally, it is very evident that studio musicians were employed generously on Them recordings. Question me on that? Just watch a live performance of Them and you'll hear a great difference in ability from stage to record. Whomever the musicians were, the song is killer.

Enjoy, today's SoTW, I'm Gonna Dress In Black. And enjoy the two vids below. The first is a live performance of the Bert Berns produced/composed Here Comes the Night, the latter a lip-synch version of Van Morrison's composition, Gloria.

Song of the Week: Garnet Mimms -- As Long As I Have You

If I throw out the name Garnet Mimms I bet you'll say, "who?" I'll also bet you know his work even if you don't know his name. Garnet Mimms, if he is known at all, is probably best known for being the cat whom originally recorded Cry Baby ('63), the song with which Janis Joplin would become inextricably associated.

But Mimms was much more than a forgotten one hit wonder. The Soul and Gospel singer from Philadelphia cut a series of records in the early part of the 60's that would be picked up by eager British artists who often turned Mimms' work into London standards. To point, I, for one, was introduced to Mimms by The Who who aptly covered Anytime You Want Me for the flip-side of their second US single in 1965. The Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things both covered Cry To Me in 1964 and Van Morrison's first band, Them, covered It Won't Hurt Half As Much in 1965.

Mimms had pipes that naturally bring about comparisons to Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke and Jackie Wilson. But for a bevy of ill-defined reasons he never attained notoriety like those luminaries. Regardless, he recorded first-rate material (often written by his producers Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy) with production values and musicianship that are head turning.

Our Song of the Week is my favorite Mimms song, which is really saying something. As Long As I Have You was recorded for United Artists in 1964 and was written by Jerry Ragovoy under the pseudonym of Norman Meade. That's the same name he would use to pen Time Is On My Side (for Irma Thomas) and Piece of My Heart (for Erma Franklin), which, in cover form, would become monster hits for the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin respectively. But As Long as I Have You never attained that kind of second life. In fact, the song was never released as a single. Instead it was relegated to album filler. 

Opening with three guitars riffs -- one with vibrato -- building on top of each other, the song is filled out with horns, haunting back-up vocals expertly mixed (dig that reverby "oh-oh-oh" at 1:51) and, of course, Mimms' monster voice. I have no idea who the studio musicians are but they give the song a wonderful, unexpected quality to it. To point, linger on that odd descending baritone riff that is first introduced at the eleven second mark.

In the end, this song is much more than the artist's name on it. The songwriter/producers deserve a huge load of credit as do the nameless studio musicians. If you dig this song (and how can you not?) I strongly suggest you check out other Garnet Mimms records as the quality of song is consistently stellar.

Enjoy, and have a flip-sidey week.