Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXXXII--Sam Cooke: Having a Party

 My introduction to this week's tune was actually a cover version of it by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (they were featured in Jukebox Vol. CCCLXIV), and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that it took me a while to warm to the original version.  Eventually it registered that the original was the gold standard and Southside Johnny's version was a loving cover....

I wrote about Sam Cooke a thousand years ago in Jukebox Vol. XXXVII (for those not good at Roman Numerals or arithmetic, that was 395 posts ago), and since Mr. Cooke has sadly been dead for almost sixty years, there really isn't much I can add to his bio, though I did see a great documentary on Netflix called Remastered:  The Two Killings of Sam Cooke which called into question the police's designation of his murder as a justifiable homicide.  Highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of one of the greatest soul singers this planet has ever known.

"Having a Party" was released as a single in 1962, and later that year was part of his ingeniously entitled compilation The Best of Sam Cooke.  The single reached #17 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fun Fact:  My introduction to Lou Rawls, who sang backing vocals on "Having a Party" and would go on to quite a successful music career himself, was a bit different--when I was a kid growing up in the Bay Area Rawls sang the National Anthem at my beloved 49ers home games. 

Every now and again, we ("we" meaning me) here at Friday Night Jukebox do a post on a song that's just plain fun.  Cooke's silky-smooth vocals capture all the joy of being young, in love, and having a good time dancing with your baby. It also has one of those special moments that make a song larger than life, and that's when towards the end Cooke sings "...tell 'em one more time."  After its recording "Having a Party" would aptly be the final song of Cooke's concerts, and it dawned on me while doing my weekly half-assed research that the tune would be a hell of a song to play at one's funeral--a nice and fine way to celebrate the party that is someone's life...and to tell the great DJ in the sky to keep those records playing....

Lyric Sheet: "Having a party (Man)/"Everybody's swinging (Yeah)/We're dancing to the music (Yeah)/On the radio (Tell 'em one more time)..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXXXIX--Herb Alpert: This Guy's in Love with You

Fun fact #1:  Herb Alpert is the only artist in the history of The Billboard Hot 100 to have a number one hit as a vocalist (this weeks featured tune) and a number one hit as an instrumentalist ("Rise"--not worth the effort of actually listening to).

Fun fact #2:  Alpert co-wrote "(What a) Wonderful World" which was a, uh, wonderful hit for Sam Cooke in 1960 (and one of my all-time favorite songs).

You would think, with all the commercial and Grammy success he has had that Herb Alpert would be a household name, but truth is, unless you're of a certain age (that is, old) you probably have no idea who he is.  But back in the day (the 60's for the most part), Alpert and his band, The Tijuana Brass, were about as big as you could get.  Over the course of his career, Alpert has sold 72 million records, has fourteen platinum albums, fifteen gold albums, and has won nine Grammy Awards.  In 1966, Alpert sold more records than the Beatles, and at one point had five albums in the top twenty (four of which were in the top ten) of the Billboard 200, a feat that has never been done since.  Alpert has been performing and recording for seven decades, and released his latest album just last year.

Written by famed songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, "This Guy's in Love with You" was originally performed on a TV special featuring Alpert and his Tijuana Brass as a surprise for Alpert's first wife.  After the show, so many people had called in to find where they could buy the song that Alpert decided to release it as a single (it was later put on his The Beat of the Brass LP).  The song would go on to reach #1 (with a bullet!) and spend four weeks at the top of the charts.

A couple of quick notes about the song:  1) The first is the sheer simplicity of the song--quiet and catchy melody, honest and loving lyrics, just a guy in love with a girl. It's also mostly just the piano, with a nice trumpet interlude in the middle.  2)  Alpert's vocals--Alpert is a trumpet player, not a vocalist, but as with so many great songs, sometimes lightning is caught in a bottle.  Alpert nails them--heartfelt and genuine, and to coin a phrase, just a guy in love with a girl.  3)  It has a false ending--I don't know why I enjoy them (probably the jack-in-the-box nature of "Aw, the song's over..." to "Hey, it's not!"), but I do (Rod Stewarts "Handbags and Gladrags" also comes to mind).

Side Note:  Regular readers (all three of you) may note this week's edition of Friday Night Jukebox is a little late...because today marks fourteen years that the Beautiful Girl and I have been together (we've never married, so we celebrate the anniversary of our second date--long story).  And though the Beautiful Girl isn't all that familiar with "This Guy's in Love with You" and though she thoroughly disdains politics, I wanted her to know that fourteen years down the road, "This Guy's (Still) in Love with You..."

Lyric Sheet:  "Tell me now, is it so/Don't let me be the last to know..."

Enjoy:

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XXXVII--Sam Cooke: You Send Me

The Beautiful Girl and I will celebrate 13 years together tomorrow, and while I'm not sure if she's familiar with Sam Cooke or "You Send Me," I'm going to presume it's the thought behind the song that counts....

I was introduced to the music of Sam Cooke by my father (and I would later introduce my daughter to the joy of listening to him) when I was still a young man, and now that I'm a not so young man I can honestly say that even the worst of days can be made a little bit better by listening to the man many consider the King of Soul.  Cooke started out as a gospel singer, but by the late fifties he would branch out into R & B and Pop.  Between 1957 and 1965, Cooke had 33 Top 40 hits (most of which he wrote himself) and still found time to found his own record label, publishing company, and  be active in the Civil Rights Movement.  He would later become a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and be ranked 16th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Sadly, Cooke was shot to death in late 1964 after a dispute at a hotel in Los Angeles (many have questioned the circumstances of his death) at the all too young age of 33.

As for "You Send Me," it is considered Cooke's signature song.  Released in 1957, it would appear the next year on his Songs by Sam Cooke LP.  The song spent three weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100, and eventually was named one of the 500 most important recording of all time by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as ranking #115 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500  Greatest Songs of All Time.

I could tell you about Cooke's silky smooth vocal delivery, or the pure unadulterated joy that infuses the song, or its timeless brilliance, or that absolutely no one on the planet before or since can sing "Whoa" like Cooke did, but all you need to know is this:  if there is a heaven, I can guarantee you that Jesus Christ himself has covered "You Send Me," and that all twelve of his Apostles and Mary Magdalene begged to be on backing vocals.

As for you, Beautiful Girl, know that after thirteen years you still "...send me, honest you do, honest you do, honest you do, whoa...."

Enjoy:

Peace,

emaycee