This post is a continuation of the “My Jams” Series. If you haven’t already, please check out “My Jams” posts for 1966-1971
There’s a whole lot of ruckus going on today. Mama is gathering things and Daddy is going back and forth between the house and the carport.
The TV is on and Trooper Terry, the weatherman/kid’s TV show host, is talking about how hot it’s going to be today. To prove his point, he asks his animated friend, Freddie, to elaborate. Suddenly, as if by magic, a very sweaty Freddie appears at the bottom of the screen and immediately begins to melt into a puddle of liquid.
Need I say more?
I hear Daddy say, “Bay, did you get everything?”
Mama says, “Yeah, I put all the clothes in the suitcases—you can go ‘head and put ‘em in the trunk.”
Shortly thereafter, Mom leads me to the car. Although I am a bit bleary-eyed, I ask, “Where we goin?”
Daddy says, “We going to see Grandma and Granddaddy.”
I ask, “Are we gone see RonnieEricLeshiaandLenel? Sorry folks, I tended to singsong my big cousins’ names. Mama smiles and shakes her head to express the affirmative.
Now that I know that, I’m good!
Needless to say, just before we leave, mama pops her 1971 “various artists” 8-track into the tape player. Then she gives daddy a moon pie and a cold drink. Remember, it behooved us to pack our own snacks in order to keep from having to make too many stops in rural Georgia towns. I’ll let you ponder our reasons for keeping those stops to a minimum.
Anyway, after taking a big bite of moon pie, Daddy looked at me and said, “Bay, go to sleep.” We’ll be in Eufaula ‘bout dinnertime.”
Mama asks, “Georgia time or Alabama time?” He says, “Alabama time.”
Side note: In cities that border Georgia and Alabama, there is no such thing as Eastern or Central time; it is either Georgia or Alabama time 🙂
Phenix City, Alabama is a different story altogether. I’ll tell you about that some other time.
At any rate, as I start the process of getting settled, I hear Al Green croon, “I’m so tired of being alone…” I look over at mama, and for the first time, I notice that her stomach is getting bigger 😉
And with that, we rode out! Right into the summer of 1972!
Yes sir, you know what time it is! Greetings and welcome to 1972! Are you good? I hope so! Please believe that as long as I got my Mama and Daddy everything is copasthetic!
Anyway, let’s do this!
My Jams ‘72
“Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green
You might as well know upfront that you will see Mr. Green’s name on this list again!
Y’all, I love me some President Obama, but he needs to leave this song alone and stay in his political lane!
“I’m so in love with you, whatever you want to do is alright with me.”
Baby I wish I had some extra keys on my keyboard so I could accurately demonstrate the way in which Al styles this verse.
Good Gawd!
“Superstition” by Stevie Wonder
I’m not gonna lie; this song scared the wits out of me when I was little. Even as a young’un, I knew that there was something spooky going on here- hell I didn’t even need to know what the word “superstition” meant to know that it wasn’t good.
No matter, I still love it!
“You Ought To Be With Me” by Al Green
What did I tell you! I told you that you would see this name again! HA!
Goose bumps, goose bumps, goose bumps! The horns, the organ, the guitar, THE VOICE!
Aw sh!t now!
“I don’t want to waste my time/ if you want to be a friend of mine/I want to hold you tight, love you right/Put good feelin’s in your night”
What Al does to the word “night” at the end of that lyric… I JUST CAN’T!!!!!!!!!!!
“I’m Still In Love With You” by Al Green
Yeah, I can see right now that you don’t believe fat meat is greasy! There are no words!
“I Wanna Be Where You Are” by Michael Jackson
“Could it be I stayed away too long!”
I can barely contain myself! At this point, I don’t know if I can finish this damn thang!
“Ask Me What You Want” by Millie Jackson
If you don’t know who Millie Jackson is then somebody needs to freeze your assets and take your freaking soul sista/brotha card!
Mama’nem (Translation: Mama and them) use to bump the hell out of this 45!
Yessuh…Millie can blow! She is something of a home girl for me; straight outta Thomson, GA.
I think I read somewhere that Millie might not have liked this song that much. To me it doesn’t matter if she liked it or not; hell we couldn’t tell.
A great singer can belt out the dictionary!
“…and I’ll try my best to get it, get it, get it, get it!”
“Harry Hippie” by Bobby Womack
This is a beautiful, but sobering, song.
I heard that “Harry Hippie” was really meant to be more of a folk or country type tune. Clearly, Bobby must have said, “To hell with that!”
Mama used to play this one when she was getting ready to run everybody’s behind out of the house party.
Time to clean up! As they say, “You ain’t gotta go home but you gotta get the hell out of here!”
“Work to Do” by The Isley Brothers
After you finish reading this blog, I want you to go listen closely to that damn piano on this jam!
What??? Bananas!!!!
NO! I simply CANNOT!!!!!
“…I gotta make it for you, I gotta make it for me!” Ron! Ron! Ron! Ohhhh Ron!
If you dig that piano, you might want to go check out their song “Brown-eyed Girl.” No worries, it is not a remake of the pop song. It is something altogether else baby! If you do, let me know what you think.
Well it looks like my work here is just about done! Farewell 1972!
But before I go, I have to list these:
“Woman’s Gotta Have It” by Bobby Womack
“Victim of a Foolish Heart” by Bettye Swann
“You’re Still a Young Man” by Tower of Power
“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by The Jackson 5
“Trying To Live My Life Without You” by Otis Clay
“Doggin Me Around” by Johnnie Taylor
Your move!!!!
Next Thursday: My Jams ’73
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I love your “My Jams” posts. They take me back to and through some great times and memories drapped in some of the best music ever created.
You revisit the “heavy hitters” of R&B and raw soul that wrote and sang music that had messages of meaning. Otis Redding, Millie Jackson (watch that one round yo man), Johnny Taylor (Last Two Dollars is my favorite), The Isley Brothers – girl you about to get me started up in your comment section.
Keep post like these coming – they’re an oasis in an ocean of modern day musical discombobulation of auto-tuned, voices, lip-synced concerts, and beatbox noise.
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Aww!! Thank you so much! I am so happy to hear that you are enjoying my selections.
I learned most of these songs through my mom who has since passed away.
I am so glad that I landed in her arms.
This series is my way of remembering her.
Thanks again for taking time to read and respond.
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Thanks so much for the nomination T. Wayne. I hope to do you proud 🙂
This means a lot to me as a new blogger. I hope I get it right 😉
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I have no such doubts. You’ll do just fine. 🙂
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Working feverishly now 🙂
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Feverishly? LOL…just activate those Wonder Twin powers…
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ROTFLMAO! Shape of…..Form of….
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Fabulous! Well you already know how I feel about Al. ’72 was a good year for him and US! I’m still in Eufaula when I hear those hits. So many hits by Al. Michael’s, “I Wanna Be Where You Are” is another great song by Michael. Michael did something with that song that I have trouble describing. It wasn’t a typical sounding RnB. Unique.
I really like the “Harry Hippie”, I love Bobby “the Preacher” Womack, but I must admit, I had no idea what that song was talking about until much later in life. Bobby Womack could sing the times tables though! I heard the song has something to do with the Bobby’s brother, Harry Womack. Of course, I didn’t know that then. I was 11 y.o.
I’m ashamed to admit that, I thought Vanessa Williams was the first to do “Work to do”. Somebody said that Average White Band also did a cover. I tell you what though, that I.B. version is awesome; the best; and the lyrics, “I got to do”, no literally, I GOT WORK TO DO. I can relate. Oh, and I checked out that “Brown Eyed Girl.” I love the Isleys but I’d never heard this one. Love it.
My list would include most of yours plus; “Me and Ms. Jones”, that was just so cold blooded Billy Paul. It takes a man with two first names to pull off that caper! “We BOTH know that it’s wrong, but it’s much too strong, to let it go now”, Peoples gets KILLED like that Billy!
“I’ll Take You There” by the Staples just shows how those guys could balance spiritual messages with funky RnB! The Spinners doubled up with two great songs on the same single. I loved hearing “Phillipe” even though I discovered later that he wasn’t the primary lead singer but man he could sure “bring it home”. That man could ad-lib like nobody else. He HAD to be church grown. They had, “How Did I Let You Get Away?” They also had, “I’ll Be Around”.
“I gotcha, uh-huh, huh
You thought I didn’t see ya now, didn’t ya, uh-huh, huh
You tried to sneak by me now, didn’t ya, uh-huh, huh
Now gimme what you promised me, give it here, come on”
Joe Tex.
The Stylistics had a nice run. I could have put their record on and listened all day, to the likes of:
“Betcha by Golly Wow”, “I’m Stone in Love With You”, and ““People Make the World Go Round”. Them boys said;
“Trashmen didn’t get my trash today. Oh, why? Because they want more pay.
Buses on strike want a raise in fare, so they can help pollute the air.
But that’s what makes the world go ’round. The up and down, the carousel.
Changing people, they’ll go around, go underground. Young man, people make the world go ’round.
Wall Street losin’ dough on ev’ry share. They’re blaming it on longer hair.
Big men smokin’ in their easy chairs; on a fat cigar without a care
But that’s what makes the world go ’round. The up and down, the carousel. Changing people, they’ll go around; go underground. Young man, people make the world go ’round.
Then, they just let one of the most beautiful, asymmetrically jazzy instrumentals flow, uninterruptedly, so you could just sit back and meditate on what they’d just got done saying. Loved it!
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Thanks Cous! You always got my back!
I am glad that you liked “Brown Eyed Girl.” I have been listening to that one for about 20 years now. I never heard it when it first came out. I always like to imagine that Ron Isley is singing that one to me 😉 “Brown eyed girl…brown-eye giiiiirl…brown eyes I love you..love you girl.”
As for “Work to Do” I actually think that AWB might have done that one first but I have not done the research so don’t hold me to that. Now I love the hell outta some AWB but The Isley’s slay on this one.
I was hoping that someone would remember “I’ll be around” by The Spinners!
Yes dog, Phillipe was the boss when it came to ad libbing: “I walk around with my heart in my hand…” I think that was from “Could it be I’m Falling in Love.”
You really did bring the funk brah!
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Correction:
Looks like “Work to Do” was an original written and produced for the Isley Brothers first! Yay!!! Not that wikipedia is the best source, but it reports that The Main Ingredient also did a cover of this song. Now I know I gotta find that one.
It also says that AWB did the cover in 1974 so Ron’s source was correct:-)
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Where do I even begin with this? I don’t have a list like I had for 1971. That’s because I don’t NEED one. Though there may be some songs I would like to add (okay, War’s “Slippin’ Into Darkness”), this list is fire.
And then you go and tell me to check out “Brown Eyed Girl” by the Isley Brothers? Whaaa? I been digging that song for years. And their cover of “Hello It’s Me” from that same album too. Yeah, it ain’t 1972. Still good music.
Thanks; this list is what’s up today.
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LOL! I love it! Thanks!
I have come to believe that you and I might just be the wonder twins of soul music! Especially after the whole “You can’t deny it” Lisa Stansfield comment on your blog.
Don’t you just love how the Isleys can take someone else’s stuff and kill it! Just like Todd Rundgren’s “Hello” that you mentioned (I think he did that first but you can correct me if I am wrong.) Or even “Summerbreeze?”
Uh oh! I think I’m getting ahead of myself! 🙂
Thanks again for checking me out! and supporting!
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Re: Todd Rundgren, you got it! You are very welcome! I look forward to seeing the jams of the week!
And I’m laughing out loud at the Wonder Twins reference! 😊
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🙂
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