Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXCVII--The Chi-Lites: Have You Seen Her

 Shitski, really late once again....

I have absolutely no recognition of when I began hearing this week's tune, so I'll just chalk it up to being someone who came of age musically in the seventies.  And, oh, what an era that was...and, oh, what a song our featured song this week is....

The Chi-Lites formed in Chicago (hence the "chi" in their name) in 1959, which was the same year I was born--coincidence?  Most certainly.  They started out as a six-member band, but by their heyday in the seventies they were a four-piece outfit.  The Chi-Lites have had so many iterations that I could have used this entire bio just to name half the people that at one time or another were in the band.  They have been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the R & B Music Hall of Fame.  For their career, they released eighteen studio albums (with one top five LP), and sixty-four singles (with two top three singles).  Sadly, only one of the original Chi-Lites is still alive, but to end on a positive note, Marshall Thompson is keeping their music going some sixty-five years down the road.

Fun Fact:  I've spent years pronouncing the band's name with a hard "ch" (as in chair), only to find out as I was doing my half-assed research that the "Chi" is actually pronounced as in the word "shy."  You learn something new every day, friends.

"Have You Seen Her" was the fourth single released from their rather omnipotently (and stunningly cool, as well) entitled album (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People.  The single reached number three (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album would peak at #12.

There has never been a decade like the 1970's for what was once called soul music--just off the top of my head (in addition to this week's band), I can think of Marvin Gaye, Al Green, the Spinners, the O'Jays, War, and Stevie Wonder (and I'm certainly missing countless more), all of whom created a legacy that will last generations.  "Have You Seen Her" is an incredible addition to that legacy--from its spoken opening (Eugene Record's intro is truly an Oscar worthy performance) to the band's heavenly harmonies to Record's falsetto solo mixed in the chorus.  It's also an excellent addition to the pantheon of songs dealing with a broken heart, though with the added bonus of being from a viewpoint of a guy who thought he "had her in the palm of [his] hand."  One of the surest ways I know to how much I love a song is how much I smile while I'm playing it during my weekly half-assed research and this week my smile was absolutely plastered to my face.  A joy, a triumph--one of those songs that make all the time you devoted in your life to music well worth it.

Lyric Sheet:  "Well, I know I can't hide from a memory/Though day after day I've tried/I keep sayin' she'll be back/But today again I lied..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXXXIII--The Association: Windy

While musically the sixties will rightfully be remembered for its many groundbreaking acts and albums (The Beatles or their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Who or Tommy, The Beach Boys or Pet Sounds, virtually every album by Bob Dylan or the Velvet Underground, among a plethora of others), it was also a time for some really great pop records.  From Phil Spector's Wall of Sound to Motown, from the British Invasion to folk rock, the sixties were loaded with great pop tunes...much like this week's featured song.

The Association formed in Los Angeles in 1965, broke up briefly in 1978, and has been performing together since they reunited a year later.  To be frank, there have been so many incarnations, with original members quitting and rejoining and numerous new members joining, that it would take a lot more than a paragraph to summarize their history.  For their career, the Association released seven studio albums (the last in 1972), have been elected to both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Pop Music Hall of Fame (no lie, never knew either existed until this week's half-assed research), and had three million selling singles.  The band still tours regularly as part of many sixties' nostalgia tours.

"Windy" was the first single released from their deliciously entitled 1967 album, Insight Out.  The single would reach #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album would hit #8 on the Billboard 200.

Fun Fact:  Ruthann Friedman, who wrote "Windy," had released her debut album in 1970 and was touring in support of it when a family tragedy called her home, and she stopped playing music. She got a degree from UCLA, married and raised a family, and started her own business.  In 2006 a record company re-released her only album and due to its popularity, Friedman began practicing the guitar again and by 2008, at the age of sixty-four, was performing around Los Angeles.  She's released three albums since and is still playing music clubs in the L.A. area.  Proof positive you are never too old....

"Windy" opens with a bitchin' bass line before the drums kick in and the band begins harmonies that are just this side of heaven.  As noted above, the song has a plush sixties feel to it (Wikipedia called it sunshine pop, which, truth be told, I'd never heard of either), and the Association's six members all harmonize like the twelve apostles would have had they been a pop band instead of the saviors of the world.  Friedman said that originally, she thought the song was about the type of man she'd like to be involved with, but eventually realized it was about the type of person she'd like to be.  And that's not a half bad end note....

Lyric Sheet:  "Who's peeking out from under a stairway/Callin' a name that's lighter than air?/Who's bending down to give me a rainbow?/Everyone knows it's Windy..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee