Georgie Fame's "The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde" was one of the very first records I remember owning. This was a novelty record that appealed to me when I was a wee lad, but has not aged well at all. (We have something in common.) An earlier Georgie Fame hit, "Yeh Yeh" was another one that for years, made me run for the hills. The campy sound of his organ and his Mose Allison hipster vocal tone and delivery was made for someone else. But as I am wont to do, I never gave up, taking in "Jo-Jee Femm," as Van Morrison would say, one LP at a time, thanks to some friends who were fans and who pointed me in the right direction.
Fame's 1969 release "The Seventh Son" was on heavy rotation this weekend. This is a record that could not have been recorded in any other year but 1969. It is indeed campy and dated, but in the very best ways. Fame never hung around with bad musicians, and its these guys, and the aforementioned vocal delivery of Fame, that now, all these years later, found my wheelhouse. The hook in "Am I Wasting My Time" is pure genius. And is there anything cooler than counting off a song with "Guess What It's True" instead of "1-2-3-4," as he does on "Somebody Stole My Thunder?"
Another song that has been blowing me away since the first time I heard it is Fame's four on the floor groove behind his version of James Brown's "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." Man, this arrangement is BIG! Check out that bass note at 9 seconds and 33 seconds. Badass.
I put together a playlist with 5 songs that took up a good portion of my weekend. The JB cover, three from "The Seventh Son," and "Time I Moved On" from the LP Fame recorded with Alan Price.
Let me know if what you hear makes you want to hear more, or if you ran for the hills.
13 comments:
I ran for the hills....
To my ears it's ALMOST good, it has the signifiers of many things I like, but...
Bruce H
I kinda prefer the Climax Blues Band version of "Seventh Son", which is from about the same time and clearly one influenced the other. Hardly matters which way as they both rock.
I'm liking these. my favorite fame collections are the mod classics 64-66 (has Papa on it...), which is filled iwth great r&b. I also like the pye anthology, "Funny How time Slips Away." Both great stuff.
Well, I didn't run, but I scurried for the hills. Am I Wasting My Time was kinda good though.
LOVED the James Brown cover and "Somebody Stole My Thunder."
great stuff...been a fame fans since I Said Yeah!
You really don't wanna hear what I have to say....
just saw yesterday's post today (that would make today tuesday) and it's funny I was listening to Mr. Fame myself this weekend and couldn't agree more about his take on Mr. Brown.
It's hard to cover such an icon song and make it somewhat your own but George gave it a sold groove and all the vibe of Carnaby Street. Great post.
Never heard him (or of him) but it felt like I'd been listening to him all my life. Thanks for this!
I've always liked Georgie Fame, but his stuff does find people making excuses not to come along.
Alan Price's solo stuff can do the same to people.
I am not afraid of Georgie Fame at all - having been trained to dig him by Van Morrison's band in the 90s and such. He's actually a pretty good foil for Van, like when they do Summertime in England.
And, the cut you posted here is actually pretty awesome. Who would have thunk?
Having seen & heard him many a time playing with Van the Man, I've always liked Georgie Fame's stuff anyway & these fine tunes had me putting on the black turtleneck, drainpipe jeans & sunglasses like the 60's mod hipster I always wanted to be. Excellent stuff!
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