EVERY Billboard #1 rhythm & blues hit discussion thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by tomstockman, Mar 4, 2016.

  1. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Initial pressings of "I Gotcha" had the intro a bit longer than we know it. There were two sections ( :04 and :03.75 in length) that were chopped off as the single's release was underway. The full version is below:

    The sequence is thus, with the hacked segments in parentheses: :02.5 / ( :04) / :07.75 / ( :03.75) / to rest of song

    And yes, ladies and gentlemen, my 45 - a CBS Pitman - does have those extra things at the open that were cut out by the point of what @Grant put up. (The first few lacquers were cut with this long version - for those looking for it, check in the deadwax for markings such as 49156-1, 49156-2 and 49156-3 - all cut by Phil Austin at what was still Mercury Sound Studios at that point. By the time we get to higher dash numbers such as -11 and -12 is when we get it truncated.) Also, first-pressings mention the LP from which the B side, "A Mother's Prayer" (Songs That Tell The Truth), had originated; later runs eliminated that reference. All 45's fade much sooner than we hear on the clip, suggesting the fadeout was done "live" by the cutting engineer as the lacquers were being cut.
    [​IMG]
    It should be noted that some controversy was wrapped around the song since the line "I'll teach you to play with my affection" was sung in such a way, or at least the mix was made in a way, to suggest that another word was used in the end ("erection").
     
  2. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    I never heard this on Australian radio but the song's well known thanks to an 80s cover by Aussie pub rock legend Jimmy Barnes

     
  3. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Or, to quote the late legendary cartoon director Chuck Jones about Yosemite Sam: "He didn't have a short fuse, he was a short fuse."
     
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  4. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    This thread must know I'm not a James Brown fan since I'm almost never alerted when his songs come up. :waiting:

    I Gotcha is another song I don't particularly care for. That "I gotcha! Uh huh huh" refrain grates as much as a later hit's "I believe in miracles!"
     
  5. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    Love it, prime '72 J.B.'s.

    Bobby Byrd's "sayyyyin' nothin"s just slay me, and Bootsy's bass line is baaaaad.
     
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  6. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The album contains the edited hit version. I wonder if there were LPO pressings with the uncut version, too.

    Huh?:confused: The mix clearly has Tex enunciating the word "affection".
     
  7. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    You mean "You Sexy Thing" by the British band Hot Chocolate. Well, we'll get to that...
     
  8. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    I know. That's why I didn't mention the title. It's coming.....:eek:
     
  9. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    You know it, and I know it. But you know how some people are . . . we know from the whole manufactured controversy over The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie," don't we?
     
  10. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    I'd say the uncut version is, to borrow a phrase, "scarcer than hen's teeth." One wonders why those two segments were edited out. Even uncut, the whole song was under 3 minutes . . .
     
  11. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    "I Gotcha" is a real humdinger. I always thought Joe was closer in style to Wilson Pickett than to JB, but this definitely has some of the latter's fingerprints - the drum breaks, the horns to a certain extent.
     
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  12. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
  13. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    What's funny is, while the "f" word is in "Louie Louie", the feds didn't find anything wrong in the lyrics.

    I have never heard about any controversy of "I Gotcha" until this thread.
     
  14. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    I had an almanac put out by Rolling Stone which touched on that "controversy."

    But the other amazing thing about this is that it was recorded in the country music mecca of Nashville. Where some funky soul numbers originated over time (not just Mr. Tex', but someone I think we'll be hearing from soon - Joe Simon).

    The funny thing is that whilst "I Gotcha" was the side reviewed in the Dec. 18, 1971 ish of Billboard, when it first entered the soul charts on Jan. 22, 1972 it was presented as a double-sided entry with "A Mother's Prayer" the leader. The next week, the sides were flipped, and by the fourth week "Prayer" was no longer being listed. But on the Hot 100 - he was kept from the top spot by a certain Roberta Flack. Even so, it was certified Gold, which was how I first became aware of it (in a 1980 music almanac I have that had a section on all the gold records awarded to that time).
     
  15. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    "A Mother's Prayer" was a track on a previous Joe Tex album. It was a somewhat popular flipside, but I had no idea it was intended to be a hit. Very interesting. I liked it.

    A lot of soul sides were done in Nashville. Another southern soul singer, Freddie North, also had a hit "She's All I Got", which was a cover of a country hit.
     
  16. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    It wasn't. "A Mother's Prayer" actually appeared on his next album, the hitless Joe Tex Spills The Beans.
     
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  17. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Wasn't it supposed to have been on his Songs That Tell The Truth album? That was the "previous" LP @Grant referred to. That'd probably mean it was on two albums . . .
     
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  18. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    I don't believe Songs That Tell The Truth ever came out. Not listed in any discographies, and I've never seen it in any stores. Additionally, the previous album before I Gotcha was on Atlantic. That album, entitled Joe Tex Sings With Strings & Things, didn't include "Mother's Prayer" either.

    As far as the longer version of "I Gotcha," it was common practice in the 70s for an album to have the long version just because, even if it was only fifteen seconds. I'm assuming that it came from the LP. I don't think it's any kind of first-pressing mystery.
     
  19. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    My pressing of "I Gotcha" album has the edited version.
     
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  20. danasgoodstuff

    danasgoodstuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Love the horns on this - the way they play off the rhythm.
     
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  21. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    I'm thinking the Staple Singers would've done a dynamite job covering "A Mother's Prayer".
     
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  22. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    I.I.N.M., most albums - whether that or various compilations - have that edited version. As I see it, a shame.
     
  23. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Longer isn't always better, though. I can hear why they decided to edit the intro.
     
  24. CliffL

    CliffL Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento CA USA
    Although I remember Joe's "I Gotcha" being a huge hit, it wasn't until years later that I heard more of his material and realized what a brilliant soul singer he was-raw and down home with an element of country in his style similar to Joe Simon and Dobie Gray. Also an excellent writer as well-he wrote "Baby You're Right" for James Brown. And his band was one of the best in the business. Of my own singles, this one is my favorite by Mr. Tex, "Baby Be Good"

     
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  25. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Wonder if that explains why later pressings of "I Gotcha" struck that LP reference from the "A Mother's Prayer" side . . .
     

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