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Because we haven't had one in so long! And because I get to choose which night the Fish Fry happens, versus the Prayer Meeting. So here:I haven't played anything "horny" for Gurlitzer for a spell, so here's one she will remember fondly from the days of "Boom-Chuck-Chuck." (No, assholes, that's not at all what you might think it means. Thank you for your attention in this matter.)
To my teenage earbones, this studio single version of "The Letter" by Joe Cocker was much more exciting than the later recording captured on the Mad Dogs And Englishmen live album. It's fresher, not yet played to death on the road, and the horn solos are more lively. I was not originally a fan of this song as recorded in 1967 by the Box Tops. Today I would call that one "overproduced," and Alex Chilton delivers the melody line straight up-and-down, rhythmwise, which doesn't interest me.
But the arrangement heard here---by Leon Russell, I presume---struck me as rhythmically off-kilter in a novel way. It begins with some hammering on the piano, sounding like a hungover warmup exercise, then joined by drums reminiscent of (but not exactly like) the stereotypical "Indian" tom-tom figure BOOM boom boom boom BOOM boom boom boom, which itself is very straight up-and-down. But I was and still am fascinated how Cocker joins this ape ensemble with his lummox vocals, threading his melody through that piledriving rhythm environment like a drunk driver who thinks he's going to escape the police cruisers by madly weaving through the bollards lining Wall Street. And he does! (This time.) You can somehow tell it's the same song the Box Tops recorded, but not very.
The Letter, Joe Cocker and the Shelter People (1970, monaural 45 rpm single A&M 1174), via YouTube, embedded for noncommercial critical discussion and educational purposes.
Editor's note: I hadn't heard the studio single for years because my highly unique local corporate oldies channel plays only the live version. But I just received it in the mail yesterday as a bonus track on the "deluxe" CD. Haven't even heard it in hi-fi yet, but will before the night is over.
Excellent. I played the Box Tops version ('68?) on my parent old stereo. Up until then it had only had to contend with Bert Kaempfert or Popular Classics so "The Letter" gave it a hard time.
ReplyDeletePoor thing it was then subjected to the "White Album" which I now wish I'd kept!
Bert Kaempfert---I'll bet Big Otis can hum his entire back catalog! The Box Tops version hit the US charts in fall 1967, but may have charted a little later in the UK. Heck, during the 1964 "British Invasion," a lot of the Beatles tunes we were discovering had already become "oldies" on your side of the ocean.
ReplyDeleteyeah, check out Kaempfert's bass guitar player's unique "knackbass" technique. Also note that the Beatles were hired and maybe first recorded as backup on one of his albums. I think.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the difference between this Letter and the Boxtops sort of similar to the difference between I Heard it through the Grapevine-- Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight? People got into fights over that and they were both really good.
Yeah, "knackbass." We can ask Rock Head about the particulars of that revolutionary concept. Anyhow, I take your point, and I liked both versions of Grapevine (but preferred Gladys Knight's). But the Box Tops version of the Letter is, to my ear, overproduced with saccharine strings and pointless jet plane sound effects that tastelessly distract from the core performance. And the beat is just too 1-2-3-4 for my highly refined tastes.
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