Don Covay - Jimi Hendrix "Mercy, Mercy" mono/stereo differences?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Chris M, May 25, 2008.

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  1. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

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    mill valley CA USA
    You’re a delicate soul.
     
  2. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    My parole officer has told me that too.... ;)
     
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  3. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Some of the songs on there scare me. In a good way, but still..
     
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  4. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

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    mill valley CA USA
    Sookie Sookie, See Saw, Mercy.. fear not.
     
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  5. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    He stole that song from Steppenwolf, darn him!
     
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  6. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

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    mill valley CA USA
    Those poor guys. Elmore James and Chuck Berry ripped them off too.
     
  7. alchemy

    alchemy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sterling, VA
    Interesting the Rolling Stones connection. It is well know fact that Brian Jones was friends withJimi Hendrix. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when those two discussed Mercy Mercy.
     
  8. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

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    mill valley CA USA
    do The Fat Man!
     
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  9. NapalmBrain

    NapalmBrain Forum Resident

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    Kansas City, MO
    I assume the edsel "mercy!" is stereo? that's all I've heard
     
  10. marka

    marka Forum Resident

    My copy of Steppenwolf s/t credits Sookie, Sookie (always loved that song) to Covay.

    Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I had never heard of Covay until 15 minutes ago.
     
  11. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Covay was great. Mick Jagger took everything from him, vocal style, etc. Like two peas in a pod.
     
  12. Malina

    Malina Forum Resident

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    NYC
    Here's a good one.

     
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  13. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    I played this whole album this afternoon for the first time in about 2o years thanks to this thread. One of the things I love most about this place - resurrecting the stuff I haven’t played in ages.
    Every track on this album is cool. Even the most filler like tunes have a vibe that’s irresistible. Dug it.
     
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  14. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

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    Unfortunately the characteristic opening lead guitar riff wasn't played by Jimi! He only did fill-ins on the track.
    The lead run was played by Ronnie Miller.

    Source:
    "MR. MUSIC"
     
  15. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

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    Europe
    Yeah. It's doubtful what, if, Jimi plays on there. You certainly can't hear him, unlike his other contemporary sideman sessions. Can't hear any fills that sound like Jimi either,
     
  16. phillyal1

    phillyal1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    philadelphia, pa.
    Listen to "I was Checkin out, She was Checkin in" by Don Covay. Jagger circa Goat's Head Soup- Black and Blue" - his whole vocal delivery is stolen from Covay. Not a bad thing.
    There are worse people you could steal from :)
     
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  17. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne


    Flamingo Club, 14 February 1967
    (unreleased officially, so no copyright infringement here)
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
  18. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne


    Lund - 10 September 1967
    Another live version here (at 25:30) with slightly better sound but it cuts out mid-song dammit!
     
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  19. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    So, since this thread dates back to 2008:

    Is the Razor & Tie Don Covay CD still the one to get for the best overview?
     
  20. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    To add yet another twist to this, it looks like "A-1 Sound Studios Inc." was not actually Atlantic's studio, but rather a studio opened by former Atlantic exec Herb Abramson in the old Atlantic space at 234 West 56th Street (originally, later moved to 242 West 76th Street). But apparently Atlantic utilized them for some things. Talk about confusing.
     
  21. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Yes, Herb had a deal with Atlantic. His story is complicated, sad and quite interesting. His "studio" really just barely paid the bills. Several musicians who played on MERCY, MERCY recall it being done at A-1 but that Talentmasters advertisement really throws a wrench into this. The answer lies in ROSEMART, the story of the label, etc., I'm sure. But everyone is dead now and I have no idea who to ask.

    BTW, Mercy, Mercy has a guitar intro and playing throughout that is NOTHING like the guitar in the rest of the Rosemart era songs. Only Mercy has this unique guitar, intro included. It's our boy, has to be.
     
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  22. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Jim Reeves was engineer at A-1 Sound at the time and is still around. I'll see if he has any recollection.
     
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  23. Cokelike-

    Cokelike- Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Oh
    Whoa! Just listened to the intro's for the tunes on both clips and... was that Jimi talking on the second one?? Haha, definitely, some speed problems there. On the Lund 9/10/67 he sounds like Dave Chappelle doing his 'white guy voice', hahaha. I'd say the first clip is too slow and the second clip is too fast. Anyways, sure sounds like he knew that song inside out. Either he played on the session as main guitarist or he was there at the session and learned the entire song from Ronnie Miller. I want to believe that's him on the single, but have often in my own mind questioned if I am really hearing the ''feel'' of Jimi's playing when I hear the original track, or if I am just hearing something similar played by another guitarist. Jimi had a rather particular sort of urgency to the way he played certain things. And while the playing on the original is totally his style, the playing itself (the speed of the movement of the hands across the fretboard throughout the song) has always made me wonder if that's really him. Not to say he couldnt play this. Just that the way it's played doesnt (for me) seem to *completely* sound like him. But, it was early in his career after all, so that might account for something I am hearing.

    Also, is that Noel singing with Jimi on the Lund version?
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
  24. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Must be Noel!

    Yeah, the Covay single intro lacks Jimi's characteristic snap and tightness which is one of his trademarks, from his wrist movement probably? It's there in the live versions, also the live version Jimi cut with Curtis Knight in December 1965.

    It's also there in the rhythm work on Testify which he cut with The Isley Brothers in spring 1964, so it's not a case of immaturity.
    My guess is Jimi was rolling joints or something similar at the session, a gofer.
    Or he came up with the riff but Ronnie played it. Who knows...
     
  25. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    That snap and tightness (fonk!) is also absent from that Jayne Mansfield "Suey" thing (it doen't sound like Jimi at all).

    However it does soundlike Jimi on the Johnny Halliday outtake of "Hey Joe" (Johhny and Mickey Jones have said that Jimi was there but the memory of him playing or not has got - in a 2017 interview Johnny said that Jimi didn't play on it*)

    *Thanks to Yazid for highlighting that on the French Forum today!

    Featured on the 2017 Dagger release "CURTIS KNIGHT / JIMI HENDRIX - Live At George's Club 20, 1965 & 1966".

    The Don Covay version was in the West Coast Seattle Boy box of course.
     
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