I got some Sam & Dave for Christmas and have been on a kick ever since. This take of Sam Cooke's "Soothe Me" was released on 'The Stax/Volt Revue, Volume 2: Live In Paris.' The album also featured Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd and Otis Redding and comes highly recommended. The whole shebang was recorded in March 1967 and released on Oct. 7 of that year. A slightly edited version of "Soothe Me" from the show was released as a walk-up single on May 31, 1967. That's the one we will listen to today. It peaked at No. 56 on the pop and No. 16 on the R&B charts.
Soothe Me
While we're here, let's move on to Otis Redding from the same tour. 'Live in London and Paris' captures two nearly identical shows except the Paris show goes longer because they didn't have an 11PM curfew like in the UK. That's Booker T and the MGs backing Redding, and they never sounded better. I was tempted to go the Cooke route again with "Shake," but there is just no denying "Try a Little Tenderness" is the showstopper at both locales. This one is from the London performance... all 7:02 of it. Good luck sitting still during this one.
Try a Little Tenderness
James Brown recorded two must-have 'Live at the Apollo' performances in the 1960s, and they are a contrast in styles. Brown in 1962 is a rising star but not quite the Mr. Dynamite that he would become. Everything at that midnight performance on Oct. 24 feels smaller, but I find him more endearing and it a better all-around show. The 1967 performance is fabulous but an awful lot of pomp. Brown's backing band the Flames are there again but joined by strings, dancers and a female singer. They go through the hits like their pants are on fire. "I Got You (I Feel Good)" is not even 30 seconds long. My favorite moment from the '67 show is Brown's humble speech when he thanks the crowd for coming and says awkwardly, "and when you leave I hope you're glad you did." Let's listen to the opening of the '62 show. The Flames are nothing if not tight.
Opening Fanfare
I'll Go Crazy
This is another one of my stabs at convincing our pal in Portugal that the albums of Ray Charles belong in his music room. "Tell the Truth" appears on the live album 'In Person,' recorded May 28, 1959, on a rainy night in Atlanta at Morris Brown College's Herndon Stadium. This was right at the end of Charles' excellent run at Atlantic Records, and the R&B sound heard here is about to take a back seat as he signs a huge contract with ABC-Paramount and becomes a hit-maker in a number of different styles. That's Marjorie Hendricks from backing vocal group the Raelets sharing the microphone.
Tell the Truth
3 comments:
The Otis track is tremendous. I have listened to the Ray Charles track too.
Post of the month Brian. How much class can you include in one piece.
Soothe Me has always been my favourite Sam & Dave track not least as I first discovered in that scene in the Blues Brothers and finding out who and what it was from my mate's dad who owned the film on Betamax when we were about 13. It was a video we matched every other week for a couple of years. Soothe Me always reminds me of being that age and finding the glories of Soul music via Belushi, Aykroyd and Landis, god bless 'em
Thanks for taking the time, George. Otis in the studio is fine, but he was born to perform on stage.
Drew, That's where I first heard Soothe Me too. I made a note of that 8-track Landis showed for one second in the movie... Best of Sam & Dave. Thanks for the kind words.
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