The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia A few random thoughts... I always thought it was implied in the lyric that "little sister" killed her cheating sister in law and hid the body "that'll never be found" to make it appear she was Andy's killer and had skipped town. Her brother finding Andy's body and firing his gun to attract help was the mistake in the plan. I've always wondered if it bothers Reba McEntire that despite racking up 26 number ones and 58 top ten hits - almost all of them original compositions - her career records to most casual fans outside of "I'm A Survivor," the theme from her self titled sitcom are two covers - Bobbie Gentry's "Fancy" and of course Vicki's tune. The latter missing the top ten but both had such iconic videos that they became her signature tunes. Also, out of all of Vicki's attempts to land a second hit, I have a soft spot for this tune, which apparantly was never commercially released stateside despite prime positioning on the Burnett show. Only promo copies have turned up...
Wow. What a powerful, upbeat & rockin' song. Sounds like my kind of song. A mystery why it only got to No. 62.
But then again... many of Lighthouse's singles scored relatively poorly. One of my fav's of theirs.... Unfortunately, the great group's song only hit No. 53 on the national charts (the same year we're discussing here, 1973). In Canada, it hit No. 9. 1971 "One Fine Morning" (24/ 2 CAN) (US AC #30) "Take It Slow (Out In The Country)" (64/ 12 CAN) 1972 "I Just Wanna Be Your Friend" (93/ 54 CAN) "Sunny Days" (34/ 4 CAN) 1973 "Pretty Lady" (53/ 9 CAN) (US AC #38) One Fine Morning was one rockin' horn song, similar to Chicago, BS&T or Chase. Sunny Days & Pretty Lady should've done much better on the U.S. charts.
Here's a question for any gear head present: I noted on the R&B thread that I'm not fond of the "sproingy" guitar sound that was so popular in this era - as on "Neither One of Us" and the most excessive example: "If" by Bread. How does a guitar player produce that sound? A Leslie speaker? Wah-Wah pedal?
Ya beat me to it. Pretty Lady is a great Chicago Style, horn-driven Pop tune. I don't care for the edited single version , though.
I had that one on my list upthread, then stupidly left it off! Anyways, I think HVM was talking about #1s up to the year under discussion - 1973. Hence the line "I can't recall any, at least as of 1973". He was honoring the no jumping ahead thing.
A good record - I think the lead singer is a real weak link here, someone stronger might have gotten the song a lot further.
That's a phase shifter with the rate turned way up to make it "warble." A leslie would be similar, in that it would give you the warbling, but the initial "sproingy" attack wouldn't be there.
I saw a funny bit with Annie Lennox pertaining to the use of "Georgia" in a song. She'd covered "Georgia On My Mind" for her album Nostalgia a few years back, and asked the same question, why Georgia? She then humorously tried other states in place of Georgia in the song - Ohio or Connecticut or whatever - but none of them really worked. Georgia though? Perfect. Some words just have it, and some don't.
Kansas City is a good one I forgot! I think Mitch doesn't count because, at least as far a this thread goes, we started a few years after that song. I also remembered a few more since I posted: Indiana Wants Me, which weirdly, like Lights Went Out, is a state song about a murder. And Kentucky Rain by Elvis is another good one. Did Mississippi Queen get released as a single? Arizona (take off your Indian braids). Massachusetts by the Bee Gees. Of course, none of those songs went to #1...
This seems more in sync with the nature of the song than Orlando's take... at least, until the rollicking ending, which laughably misses the point.
Awesome. Thanks, Tim! I don't know what it is that irks me about that effect - maybe because it feels kinda cartoonish to be using in a ballad.
Now, here is how this should sound, with the horns added on for the 45's, given this is about the #1 singles. Many places have the LP version without the horns. Me, I prefer this one. The two other vocalists heard here are Jim Gilstrap in the opening, followed by Lani Groves, before Mr. Wonder makes his grand entrance. It also is retro, in a way - the kind of songs Mr. Wonder did when under the thumb of the Motown production structure, dressed up with his "new" sound and ethos.
There was recently a poll (now closed) up on the board that asked "horns or no horns". (Horns won 62 - 48). I didn't vote cause I couldn't pick "both". Love the horns, but it's also a pleasant surprise when they don't come in and I realize it's the album version. Speaking of horns, the B-side is "Tuesday Heartbreak", featuring the inimitable sax sound of David Sanborn, who at that time had just come out of Paul Butterfield's horn section.
I adore "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." A sentiment that could be cheesy in other hands, and with Stevie it is just joyful and life-affirming. The fact that it opens with two singers who are not Stevie seems like a brave choice for a major single. Prince did the same on "1999." Love this song.
A great record, of course. I much prefer it on the album tho, where the lite-soul muzak quality is undercut by being followed with the angular, paranoid Maybe Your Baby. I know it had happened before with Beatles, Supremes, 5th Dimension etc. but I think of this as one of the first occurrences of the modern multi-#1 single off an LP. Is someone gonna post Sinatra's version of this one?? If so, choose The Main Event. See ya next year, Stevie!
As far as covers go, the one I remember earliest is by Bobbi Humphrey from her c.1974-75 album Satin Doll. I seem to recall their playing her version frequently on 107.5 WBLS.
That would be their drummer, Skip Prokop. The song was meant to feature the band's lead singer , Bob McBride (the guy on "One Fine Morning") but he didn't turn up for the session. He subsequently quit the band.