Elvis Presley is not a performer from my generation. Sure, I was alive during some of his hits, but I have always considered him to be of my parents’ generation. As such, most of his recordings don’t really capture my attention.
Suspicious Minds is the exception.
How can you not love Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) by Sly & The Family Stone? Funk riffs, plenty of horns delicately placed in the background, and that fantastic slap of the bass.
Somewhere in my basement are a few old 45s that I have had since the 1960s. Two of them are recordings of the Lemon Pipers, including “Green Tambourine”. The term “psychedelic pop” was invented for bands like the Lemon Pipers.
Dizzy is at the top of bubblegum pop created at the time, by Tommy Roe.
They should play this song before sports events.
And we could all wear gabardine suits. I don’t even know what gabardine is. Sounds uncomfortable.
One time in Muncie, I bought a 50 pack of 45 records in a box for like a dollar or something, and ran home to play them on my relatively new record player. There was one good record, the rest were terrible. This was it.
What really makes this song so powerful are those background vocals, though. Sets the mood perfectly for the lyrics.
Somewhere in the basement I still have a few of the 45s I listened to when I was a kid, but I lost that Nillson record a long time ago.
It’s Your Thing by the Isley Brothers is just funk fun.
If you were around in the 1960s and heard radio, you probably remember the song “Pictures of Matchstick Men.” But do you remember who recorded it?