In the early days of a songwriting legend, Dad gave him $40 + this caution: "This songwriting thing is going to break your💖." Instead, the talent of Jimmy Webb broke records, & created musical magic.
Brad, I Loved the Jimmy Web piece. He is one of the great songwriters in our lifetime and your writing shines a light on that fact wonderfully. Never heard Peggy Lee’s live version of “ Phoenix” . She’s fantastic and can sing any song style. Proof here.
Also, Thank you for the “shout out “ for my upcoming concert here in Los Angeles. As of this writing we are nearly sold out. Discussing adding a second show the next night . ♥️ SMS
Great piece, Brad. But a couple of questions: Sounds like the original break-up was in fact Suzie leaving, not him...so was this wishful turnabout? More important, what happened to Suzie herself? Did she know as it was happening that she was the Helen who launched a thousand covers?
A great article, Brad, as ever, and thanks for the shout-out (twice, no less!). I liked the Johnny Rivers version and, I was surprised to discover, I thought the Four Tops version worked well. I was rather disappointed with the Peggy Lee version, despite the fact that I love most of her stuff. I will have to check out the soul versions. I'm hoping there's a disco version in there somewhere! Thanks again, Brad, great stuff
Excellent essay as usual. A couple things come to mind. Glen Campbell was great. I miss Glen...
Here's an article idea for someone to write: The Wrecking Crew, The Funk Brothers were Motown's "house band", MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios)., and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (R & B, Soul and Country). Are there any current studio colabs like these guys, and who were the most popular musicians from each?
I know you probably have stories about a couple of them?
A fantastic song - my favourite version being by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on their album of covers, Kicking Against the Pricks (1986). Worth a listen!
Brad, I Loved the Jimmy Web piece. He is one of the great songwriters in our lifetime and your writing shines a light on that fact wonderfully. Never heard Peggy Lee’s live version of “ Phoenix” . She’s fantastic and can sing any song style. Proof here.
Also, Thank you for the “shout out “ for my upcoming concert here in Los Angeles. As of this writing we are nearly sold out. Discussing adding a second show the next night . ♥️ SMS
For some strange reason this post reminds me of the following song:
https://open.spotify.com/track/7G59EUBvMPfIy1FTuobrqj?si=9ab02d30100444ef
Great piece, Brad. But a couple of questions: Sounds like the original break-up was in fact Suzie leaving, not him...so was this wishful turnabout? More important, what happened to Suzie herself? Did she know as it was happening that she was the Helen who launched a thousand covers?
A great article, Brad, as ever, and thanks for the shout-out (twice, no less!). I liked the Johnny Rivers version and, I was surprised to discover, I thought the Four Tops version worked well. I was rather disappointed with the Peggy Lee version, despite the fact that I love most of her stuff. I will have to check out the soul versions. I'm hoping there's a disco version in there somewhere! Thanks again, Brad, great stuff
Excellent essay as usual. A couple things come to mind. Glen Campbell was great. I miss Glen...
Here's an article idea for someone to write: The Wrecking Crew, The Funk Brothers were Motown's "house band", MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios)., and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (R & B, Soul and Country). Are there any current studio colabs like these guys, and who were the most popular musicians from each?
I know you probably have stories about a couple of them?
A fantastic song - my favourite version being by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds on their album of covers, Kicking Against the Pricks (1986). Worth a listen!