Alice Russell has been drawing comparisons to Amy Winehouse (seems like every English girl with a retro sound is the new Amy Winehouse, doesn't it?). I hope she's soberer.
I don't hear it, myself. And she's been cranking out albums for five years or so, so maybe Winehouse sounds like Russell? You can be the judge. She's soulful, and I defy you not to bob your head. Or dance. Or sign up for dance lessons so you can dance.
It's Labor Day, and it's very late at night (or very early in the morning, I suppose). I have little girl with either one whale of a cold, or some very bad allergies on my hands. Had to drive up to her grandmother's and back to retrieve her, and we just returned home. She seems to be resting comfortably, and hopefully will sleep through the night.
Me? I'm thinking about going to bed, but I'm giving myself a little something to soothe and ready me for bed.
Today's post is stream of consciousness, but it's not just vaguely connected. Just so you have some sense of where this started (as opposed to what you will get), I was thinking about the Rolling Stones' album "9x5", which was filled with covers - only two songs were written by Jagger and/or Richards, and they used pseudonms for one of them - and it made me think of Garnet Mimms because both did versions of "Time Is On My Side," and both are really good. There are a million covers of Rolling Stones' songs, and they did a number of covers themselves. That's where I thought this post was going, and maybe I'll get into that soon. Today, though it spun out a little differently than I expected. The Stones are here, and so is Garnet Mimms, but it turned into a Jerry Ragovoy/Janis Joplin fest! See what you think...
Jerry Ragovoy was a song writer from Philadelphia, who wrote a lot of hits in the 60s, and into the 70s. Notably, he wrote "Piece of My Heart," with Bert Berns, which was made famous by Janis Joplin. Ragovoy was part of the east coast soul movement (there is a complicated way of categorizing soul, based on where it was made. East coast soul includes some northern soul, some blue-eyed soul, and some other soul. Don't ask: I don't understand how it all fits together, or how an artist gets classified as one or the other). The contributions of Ragovoy and Mimms opened the door for more famous artists like Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding, who received a lot of airplay on mainstream radio later in the 60s.
First up, "Piece of my Heart," which was done first by Erma Franklin - Aretha's sister - and then by Janis Joplin. The failure of Franklin's record companies to find "sutable" material for her was a tragedy. She left the industry early, except for engagements backing her sister. Joplin doesn't bring much new to the song, except her amazing vocals (hahah kind of like saying Bill Gates doesn't bring much but his money). I mean, Joplin's arrangement is much like the original. Interesting, because Joplin was much more about blues (though you gotta have soul to play the blues). I won't say more about Joplin. Both her her style and her talent speak for themselves.
Erma Franklin - "Piece of My Heart" - Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns
(Janis Joplin and) Big Brother and the Holding Company - "Piece of My Heart" - Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns
Ragovoy wrote "Time is On My Side" for Kai Winding, a Dutch jazz trombonist. Winding, who was trying to find a crossover audience, was backed by the Enchanters, a band led by Garnet Mimms. I wish I could find a copy of the original for you, but it doesn't seem to be available in a format I can share, and I don't have my own copy. You'll have to make do with the second version, by Irma Thomas, the Emmy Aard winning Soul Queen of New Orleans, and the Stones' version from 1964.
Irma Thomas - "Time Is On My Side" - Jerry Rogovoy
The Rolling Stones - "Time Is On My Side" - Jerry Ragovoy
Mimms and Ragovoy started working together in '63, and the most famous of their songs was 1964's "Cry Baby." Mimms' background was in gospel music, and you can really hear the influence here - this is the first true use of gospel in a mainstream soul hit, but not the last. Bands like the Staple Singers owe Mimms a debt of gratitude! Later, Joplin recorded her own take on it.
Garnet Mimms - "Cry Baby" - Jerry Ragovoy
Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band - "Cry Baby" - Jerry Ragovoy
Ragovoy also wrote "Get It While You Can," another hit for Ms. Joplin, first performed by Howard Tate. Tate was in a band with Garnet Mimms, prior to the Encanters (The Gainors), but as far as I can tell, the fact that they both ended up with Ragovoy is coincidence. As with Mimms, you can feel Tate's gospel roots.
Howard Tate - "Get It While You Can" - Jerry Ragovoy
Janis Joplin - "Get It While You Can" - Jerry Ragovoy
I guess, reflecting on what came out of this post, the point is that it's pretty amazing how such disparate people are brought together by good music. A black man with soul from the streets of Philadelphia, a black man with gospel roots from the hills of West Virgina, and a white woman from the coast of Texas (not to mention those lads who invaded from Britain). I'd call it a lattice of coincidence, but I don't believe that is is coincidence that people with heart and soul end up in the same place, even with divergent pasts, styles and tastes. Whatever force brought this group of people together around this group of songs, we are certainly the richer for it.
WIDGETIZE