The Zombies - Gotta Get A Hold On Myself

Following on yesterday's post about Dee Dee Warwick's 1965 number, Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself, we return with The Zombies' very different take on it from September 1966. The single was released in the UK on Decca but failed to get a US release. 

The Zombies change the opening and closing riffs, remove the lead guitar, speed the whole number up, reorganize some of the lyrics and bassist Chris White really steps up the bass work to propel the song to a new plateau. I'm particularly fond of his descending run following the line "late at night I hear footsteps sound down the hall" at 1:18. It's a nice musical play with the lyrics. As usual, Colin Blunstone's vocal performance is stellar. In addition, Rod Argent and Chris White really do a wonderful job with the harmonies. Play the two back to back. It's a nice comparison of how a song can be approached differently and come out perfect no matter which is on the turntable.

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

Dee Dee Warwick - Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself

From October of 1965, we have Dee Dee Warwick doing Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself on the Blue Rock label, a subsidiary of Mercury Records. Dee Dee, the younger sister to Dionne and the cousin of Whitney Houston, never attained the fame of her relatives, but, as this recording shows, the young lady from New Jersey could belt it out with the best of them. We flipsters really dig that recurring guitar riff that creeps into the brain like a musical worm. 

Until next time, we'll see you 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: The Zombies - Walking In The Sun

For our second foray into the world of The Zombies, we focus on a song that didn't see the light of day when The Zombies actually existed as a real band. The song is Walking In The Sun and it was apparently written in '64, recorded in '65 and then never released. After the Zombies had disbanded in frustration over the lack of interest in their high quality product, they found themselves in an unusual position. That being, The Zombies had a posthumous hit in Time Of The Season. Suddenly the record company wanted another album. The thought was to throw some songs together which Rod Argent was working on and mix and match with whatever else was in the vaults. It was to be called Zombies R.I.P. That album never happened, but thankfully, some of those songs, of which Walking In The Sun is one, made their way onto poorly packaged compilations. Enjoy here the high quality stereo mix with overdubs as it appeared on the must-have box set, Zombie Heaven. 

Song of The Week: "Just Out of Reach", The Zombies

Listen - The Zombies perform Just Out of Reach

It's real hard to beat The Zombies. Song for song, they may have been the highest quality band to come out of The British Invasion. But sometimes quality isn't recognized. In a world where people gobble up Budweiser and McDonalds, the Zombies were too often selling fine wine and steaks.

In between their two excellent albums, Begin Here and Odyssey and Oracle, The five lads from St. Albans, England, ran off a streak of singles that are of the highest quality. Unfortunately, each one did as poorly as the next on the charts. Particularly in the UK where the band was, well, just ignored. Amazingly they only charted one song, their debut, She's Not There, in the UK Top 40. What the heck!? In the US they had a bit more success and influenced American acts like the Enfields, The Left Banke, and Phil and the Frantics. But in a world where Paul was the "cute one" and Mick was the "bad boy" and Eric was the "gutiar god", the nerdy looking, minor key loving Zombies, bespectacled and wearing suits, were quickly out of date and tagged as the kind of band only girls liked. But pick up any Zombies single -- any of them -- and you will pick a class-A gem. Organ and piano player, Rod Argent, gets most of the accolades for the songwriting. Well deserved too. Chris White, the bassist, was no slouch either and really grew quickly as a songwriter in their brief career. But today we look at a rare Colin Blunstone penned song.

Just Out of Reach was written by Colin for the Otto Preminger film, Bunny Lake Is Missing. It's one of three songs the Zombies contributed to the soundtrack. The song was then released in the UK as the Flip-Side to Chris White's excellent composition, Remember You. Months later, the US pressing (on Parrot Records) would promote Just Out of Reach to the A-side. In our opinion, it is the right decision.

Just Out of Reach is not only a rare Colin Blunstone composition, but it is a rare (albeit less rare) rocker. Blunstone's voice is as good as it has ever been. He has a nice rasp to it that sounds as if he was fighting a phlegmy cold. Then there is the great organ break with Rod at the fore. That last half of that lead is just magnificent. Chris White and Rod Argent lend their superlative harmonies as a call and response and as a nice ooh-ooh-ooh here and there.

Enjoy.

Video Diary: The Zombies "This Old Heart of Mine"

The Zombies on French TV, live. Dig that Schlitz sweatshirt Colin Blunstone is sporting. It says "Breakfast of Champions". My goodness, that man has a hell of a fine voice. Two vids here, both live. This Old Heart of Mine and Gotta Get Ahold of Myself

Video Diary: The Zombies, "This Old Heart Of Mine"

Song of the Week: "Summertime", The Zombies

Today we start a week long salute to one of the greatest songs ever written. The song is Summertime and was penned by George Gershwin in 1935 for the musical, Porgy and Bess. Some songs are brilliant because of the performance, but not necessarily the intrinsic nature of the composition. See MC5's Kick Out the Jams video diary entry directly preceding this post as an example. Other songs are so perfectly composed that it is nearly impossible for anyone to do a bad version of it. Summertime, I would argue, falls into this latter category. In celebration of Summertime (and Summer), we will post a new version of the song each day this week. Upbeat, sorrowful, latin, soul, jazz, rock and country. We may just explore them all.

Today we start things off with the criminally underrated British Invasion band, The Zombies. Their version is pretty straightforward. Slow and brooding, the moody nature of the song is first tipped by the bass work of Chris White who gives us the first melodic hint as to what song we are enjoying. Then the beautiful, breathy voice of Colin Blunstone comes in. Blunstone, perhaps best known for voicing the band's hit, Time of the Season, sings Summertime with a sultry heat that would fit well into any Tennessee Williams play. Rod Argent's electric piano punctuates our song and the three front men harmonize with a gentle ghostly feel to it. Click here to hear the Zombies version of Summertime.

We'll see you tomorrow with another version of the song.