Off Topic Bands reforming

I heard Steve Cropper, who was involved on every record I liked in the 1960s, talking about making this song. Dave Porter and Isaac Hayes, who were writing it had got as far as
Don't you ever be sad
Lean on me when times are bad
When the day comes and you are down
In a river of trouble and about to drown

and were stuck for the next line. One of them, can't remember which one, Sam or Dave,had gone for a slash. Someone shouted to him to hurry up and he shouted back " Hold on, I'm Coming!". Dave Porter said that's it! And a classic was born.

 

A germ of an idea in the Beatles number, recorded a few years earlier ?

maybe a little more polished version:

 

A classic tale of a classic song

 

Interesting bloke to listen to Steve Cropper. He was the best one of the guests on Ronnie Wood's programme. The number of songs he cowrote or did the guitar on is amazing. He said to Ronnie Wood he had written an intro which anyone would recognise from just the opening two notes and Ronnie would be able to join in straight away. So he played the two opening notes from Soul Man and Ronnie duly recognised if and joined in. Also settled the argument about people saying dusty road. It isn't, it is coming to you down a dust road. Other interesting things were he wrote Midnight Hour on the same floor of the hotel where Martin Luther King was later assassinated. It was the only hotel where whites and blacks could mix and all the Stax acts went there. Later he was stuck for an intro for an Eddie Floyd song. So he just reversed the notes of Midnight Hour and hey, presto!, the intro to Knock On Wood was sorted.
Most of my musical idols are long gone but would love the chance to meet Steve Cropper and hear some of his reminiscences.

 

Hook’s overrated, especially by himself. New Order are just fine without him.

 

Orange Juice.

 

Fine without Hooks Bass? Each to their own.

 

Steve Cropper is a fantastic guitarist....I loved the riffs on booker t and the mg's' time is tight'!!! Beautiful song.I don't know if you've ever heard it or not but the Clash covered it on the album 'Black Market Clash'? They did a beautiful job of it too.

 

Steve Cropper always says he wasn't a lead guitarist but a rhythm guitarist there to move the song along. But as this shows he can play a mean lead. Amazing to think this album, probably my favourite, which it was taken off was recorded in 24 hours except for one song.

 

Nice song!!!I was tempted to plug a guitar in and give it some rhythm...Recorded in 24 hrs? Amazing what real musicians could do back in the day,I've got a Muddy Waters album called 'Folk Singer',it's basically an acoustic 'unplugged' studio album and is one of the best blues albums I've ever heard.....These guys just sat and played and very seldom did 're-takes or dub overs.It was raw but you get the feeling that you're sat in the studio playing on it!!

 

Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa. Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, John Coltrane too many bands and artists to list.

 

It started off as this in 1951.

Muddy Waters altered it, and the title, 4 or 5 years later.

BBKing had his first top 40 hit with his version in 1964. The
Otis Blue album was recorded in 1965 so it is probable that his was the version that inspired Otis to do his cover.

 

miles Davies & John Coltrane are 2 of my faves. I love the raw freedom of expression

 

Ray Charles (not a band as such....but...)

 

Garry Moore did some good stuff on the same guitar after Peter Green gave it to him

 

Brilliant stuff!!! I drifted into you tube and got lost for a while,submerged in bluesEnded up with Chuck Berry,Eric Clapton & Keef jamming!!!

 

Surprised no one is mentioning any 70s supergroups: Slik, Our Kid, Rich Kids etc.

 

Always listen to Jimmy Reed and think how many bands copied his riffs (especially the Pretty Things).

The Stones were big fans of Jimmy Reed. He died skint due to his lifestyle and Mick and Keef paid for his funeral. Their cover of this was one of their most authentic sounding blues covers.

 

I was playing Miles Davis 'On The Corner' recently. I got it on vinyl about 15 years ago and forgot about it, so gave it a spin. Played it about 20 times over the next month. Wonderful!

It's amazing how an old recording can be so refreshing. There's so much going on on there you can just get lost in it.

 

Also Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk among many others.