Definitely "I'll Take You There's" lesser, similarly reggae-tinged successor, I still like it, but the formula was clearly wearing a bit thin (although not thin enough to keep this single from reaching the pop top-10). The Staples would keep having big hits though for another couple of years, including another dual chartopper.
There may've been one or two more Staples' singles before this one that were CBS-distributed (that deal, I.I.N.M., commenced around October 1972 - the period that Columbia's plants began pressing Stax and sublabel singles with regularity for the first time since March-April 1971). My own copy of this single, of course, is Pitman: Notice, again, the [ S ] inside a square - indicative of CBS pressings of Stax product, not used on other labels. From my research, that [ S ] symbol was an Intertype character. And wouldn't this have been Stax' last Top 10 hit on the "pops"? If so, what a way to go . . .
These Staples songs are just so slinky and groovy. They put me in a different state of mind when I hear them. Their next single is the one I've always liked. The opening shimmer and flutes are so damned pretty.
Nope. In fact they'll appear one more time in this thread, with a song I never much cared for and which for whatever reason seems to have been all but forgotten.
If You're Ready is my favorite...and I love all the Staples hits. Talk about a feel good song. Never get tired of hearing this one.
Every Sunday morning our oldies station plays a classic American Top 40 broadcast. This morning happened to be 4/8/72, and the first song on the countdown was James Brown's "King Heroin". I had to chuckle imagining someone who'd never heard it stumbling across it on the dial at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Maybe hungover, maybe still groggy or half-asleep ... you're looking for Taylor Swift or Adele and here's James laying down his rap about that deadly drug that go in your vein.
"Love is the only transportation To where there's total communication ..." Right on! Yeah, "If You're Ready" is essentially a more refined and softer "I'll Take You There", but I look at it as more of a continuation - the Family Staples reminding us of their invitation. I'm guessing that's an electric piano making that twinkling sound in the background.
I'll never forget hearing Johnny Cash's "Sunday Morning Coming Down" on the radio on a Sunday morning! I always heard it as going to heaven. Remember that at their core, they were a gospel group.
That's the beauty of it. They surely had heaven in mind, but left it open so that "there" was whatever better place the listener had in mind ... heaven, nirvana, or just a better tomorrow.
Sad news - Yvonne Staples has passed. She was 80. That leaves only Mavis and Pervis. RIP. Yet again someone we're currently discussing or have recently discussed - last time it was Dennis Edwards.
I saw Mavis Staples open up for Tom Petty once. Hardly anyone was even in their seats to watch Mavis perform. Hated it for her, but I sure was a happy fan.
Time for a new #1. Put your hands together for... Living For the City - Stevie Wonder I love this song! I bought the 45 and played it like crazy.
Living For The City was the impetus for me buying Innervisions. Money for recreational purposes was in short supply for this working college kid so singles were the rule and albums a luxury. When I heard the full version, there was no doubt in my mind that Wonder's latest LP would be joining my collection. I love the narrative, the way the beat drives harder as the story unfolds and of course, Stevie's superb vocals. Having been a hit making machine for 10 years, it's easy to forget the man was still only in his early 20s. Genius indeed.
Probably the hardest funking song on Innervisions, although perhaps not the most-representative of the album as a whole. Cut from the same social-protest cloth as "Big Brother" from the previous Talking Book, although I've always thought "Big Brother" was perhaps more effective - or at least more subtle - as social commentary than "Living For The City", which always struck me as being somewhat too on the nose. Still love it, though I think at least half a dozen cuts on Innervisions best it. Wonder was absolutely on fire during this period.
The B side was the preceding track on the LP - "Visions." Another of his soft ballads that hit the heart. "Living For The City" was the first Stevie Wonder single since 1970's "Heaven Help Us All" (T 54200) whereby pressings from the CBS Pitman plant used Pitman's label fonts. ("Higher Ground" and "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" both had Santa Maria label typesetting on Pitman pressings.) Their type is the variant in my collection: (Later pressings with these typefaces darkened the brown type of the label copy a bit, and excised the 'SIDE 1' and 'SIDE 2' atop the music publishing info on the respective sides.) For my purposes, this single version is the way to go. And as @sunspot42 noted, Mr. Wonder was definitely on fire, running on all cylinders.
Which is exactly where it needed to be in 1973. That's what I like about 70s soul music: they didn't pull punches. The only thing that got more to the point and in yo' face was rap music nine years later.
And, of course, I had a different styrene variation with much smaller reddish font, probably from Monarch.
Might that be it (label type by Alco Research) . . . ? CBS Terre Haute pressings used label fonts from Santa Maria: Me, I'd rate Pitman's the better laid out . . .
Electric piano is my favorite instrument in the world and the one that drives LFTC is legendary. Another grandmaster of the instrument would have a minor hit with it a couple years down the line. Here's Brother Ray and Stevie throwing it down together. It's such a delight that I can't hardly stand it.
"Living For the City" is one of those songs I heard a lot in the '70s, then didn't hear at all for a long time, and then I reconnected with it circa 1992 when I bought a Stevie Wonder compilation. There were several other songs in the '70s that I had that experience with --- some disco and some non-disco -- however, as the only examples I can think of offhand are still in our future (meaning after 1973), I won't mention them here.
