Note to my future exes – when it comes time for you to break up with me, blast some old school Philly soul-disco from Gamble and Huff as you start by telling me “I don’t love you anymore – it’s just that simple.” I want horns and strings playing off each other when you say “We can’t work it out, no, not this time.” Give me plenty of percussion when you tell me “We can’t be together, we can only be friends.” Use your baritone growl to make it clear you “tried doing everything that I can but we can’t make it.” Bring in backup singers to emphasize it’s not like before. If I must go through the end of another relationship I want to enjoy it. It’s just that simple.
Joni Mitchell is nuts! At least that’s what her analyst thinks in Joni’s cover of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross’ “Twisted,” itself a cover of a Wardell Grey instrumental. Sure, at age three she got drunk on vodka and passed out, but so what? She enjoyed her crazy hallucinations! She already knew she was a genius, and neither I nor Prince would dispute that. Her analyst thinks she needs treatment, as do Cheech & Chong, who in their backup vocals describe Joni as “flip city” and “boop shoobee.” Yes, Cheech & Chong do backup on a Joni Mitchell record. She IS a mad genius! Boop shoobee! A swinging jazzy arrangement and beautiful joyous vocals make the case that her shrink should leave her be. Crazy rarely sounds so good!
I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing James Brown
Label: Polydor
Released: 1969
An obvious choice for Black History Month is James Brown’s 1968 hit “Say It Loud– I’m Black and I’m Proud,” but we don’t go for the obvious at DFD. From 1969 comes “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I’ll Get It Myself).” While Brown brings the funk here, the lyrics are equally strong. He lays out the basics of the African-American civil rights struggle with a call for equal opportunities. He demands schools teach a more racially-inclusive history. He encourages youth to stay in school, as they are the future. He empowers listeners to strive for self-reliance and aim high, deep words from a man who was born poor and earned his riches by being the hardest-working man in show business. James Brown: teacher, visionary, innovator, game-changer, genius, activist, leader, inspiration, icon, legend, timeless.
Having already displayed her vocal chops with soul, funk, ballads and disco, Chaka Khan experiments with jazz on “And the Melody Still Lingers On,” her interpretation of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia.” Featuring Herbie Hancock and Gillespie himself, as well as a Charlie Parker sample, Chaka and producer Arif Mardin add lyrics that pay tribute to the classic original composition. When it arrived in 1942 “it was new and very strange” but subsequently “paved the way for generations from Coltrane to Stevie.” “The past you can’t ignore, the torch is lit, we’ll keep the flame,” vows Chaka, at once saluting the past while being very much in the present. The performance also foretold her future – one of Khan’s 22 Grammy nominations would be for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1983. Sixty-eight years after the debut of “Night in Tunisia” and twenty-nine years after Chaka’s version, its melody still lingers on.
Last year I made a mix CD for a friend that included Lorraine Ellison’s 1966 gem “Stay With Me.”His reaction:“That song made me hurl myself out my apartment window.”Luckily he lives on the ground floor.He felt Ellison’s pain.She was always there for this other person, taking care of them, and now this schmo is leaving her.She manages to keep herself together while singing the beginning of each verse, but as they progress she gets more anxious.By the time we arrive at the chorus, she’s practically hysterical, begging her soon to be ex to not leave.When she sings the chorus for the third time, she sounds like she’s having a breakdown.You may recognize this song from Bette Midler’s performance of it in The Rose, but check out Ellison’s original.Just be sure you don’t do so near any open windows.
