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#5 R&B, #28 Pop
Earlier this summer Philadephia celebrated the 50th anniversary of the sixties dance craze “The Twist.” The Twist was a worldwide phenomenon that was danced by young, old and in between!
With that in mind there is a new month on the calendar and a new musical post theme here at OSML … “Dance To The Music” with the operative word being DANCE!
There were so many dances in the sixties and very early seventies other than the Twist, and I am not sure which came first, the dances or the songs (LOL). But we shall take a look at some of these awesome hit tunes honoring the dances of the boomer era during the month of September here at OSML.
I shall begin with another Stax artist that was beloved by one and all — Mr. Rufus Thomas.
Thomas began creating his own dances and songs in 1963 with “Walking The Dog.” He also made up dances and songs for: “The Breakdown”, “The Push & Pull”, “The Funky Penguin” and my favorite to watch performed “The Funky Chicken”.
I bet Mr. Thomas was quite a hoot in person and that his daughter Carla has super fond memories of this composer , musician, and performer that she was lucky enough to call Dad.
Prior to being the Crown Prince of Rock & Soul, Thomas was a successful Memphis DJ at one of the few black-owned stations of the era.
Here is a partial video of Thomas performing “Do The Funky Chicken” on a TV program. It is followed by a complete live performance of the song. Enjoy dancing to the music.
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#1 R&B, #2 Pop
Almost every wedding reception I have ever been to plays three songs that get the entire crowd up to dance. Those songs would of course be Marcia Griffin’s “Electric Slide,” Betty Wright’s ” Clean-Up Woman” and of course Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff.”
“Mr. Big Stuff” was one of the largest selling singles to ever come out of the Stax label and yet it was rejected by the Stax “suits” before it was finally accepted for release. Once management came to their senses and released the song, it sat at the top of the R&B charts for 5 weeks! It also stayed on the Pop charts at #2 for two weeks.
“Mr. Big Stuff” was composed by Joseph Broussard, Carrol Washington, Carol Washington and Ralph Williams. It was to be Knight’s only top ten hit.
In October 2007 Knight, born Jean Calista, was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. This video is of her performance at the induction ceremony.
Check out these additional live performances of “Mr Big Stuff” at OSML’s sister site EOINA.
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#8 R&B USA, #27 Pop USA, #22 UK
Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, singer-songwriter Frederick Knight was with a few other record labels before he came to Stax.
“I’ve Been Lonely For So Long” was his first of two hit singles while with the Stax label. Composed by Knight and Weaver, the song also appeared on Knight’s Stax Album of the same name. Released in 1973, the LP charted #58 in 1974.
TRIVIA: Frederick Knight’s “I’ve Been Lonely For So Long” LP contained a cover of “Someday We’ll Be Together,” the one and the same Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers and Harvey Fuqua penned song, that was the last Supremes 1969 hit recorded by Diana Ross.
After a second hit, Stax folded and Knight started his own record label Juana Records, where singer Anita Bell had a 1979 #1 Pop and R&B hit with the Knight penned song “Ring My Bell” here in the USA and across the pond in the UK.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] #106 Pop You may remember Carla for her 1967 chart topping duet (#2 R&B, #26 Pop) with Otis Redding, “Tramp,” but she was also William Bell’s third duet partner. “I Can’t Stop,” composed by Carla and William Bell, is another track from the 1968 William Bell “Duets” LP. [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] William Bell, like Motown’s Marvin Gaye, had more than one duet partner while at Stax: Judy Clay was his first. But after she went back to Atlantic Records there were other partners. The LP pictured above, “William Bell Duets,” was released in 1968 and included “Strung Out” along [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] #17 R&B USA, #75 Pop USA, #8 UK This is one of the classic oldies that I had completely forgotten about until I heard it playing on Sirius Satellite Radio “Soul Town” a few years ago. As soon as I heard it I was taken back to another [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] #10 R&B, #45 Pop, #31 UK Composed by singer songwriter William Bell and musician Booker T. Jones, this classic soul ballad had been covered and sampled over and over again by artists from many different genres: reggae, pop, hip hop and back to soul. But of course the [...]
