I'm not much of a fan of the MSR label, as I've mentioned perhaps too many times. But an exception is their early releases, where the bands were often cooking, and the vocalists - lead and backing - often sound very involved in the lyrics and performances in general.
Here's an example. The lyrics to "Can't You Say No" are fairly tortured - something about the lyricists complain that the object of the singer's attention has had the audacity to say "no" to the singer, while the singer thinks that his beloved should be saying "no" to everyone else but him.
In a rarity, I really dig Dick Kent's vocal here. He really sells the lyric and the song. But even better is the backing band , who are playing a track which deserves a better song. and the backing vocalists, who are offering up some wonderful three part harmonies, particularly during the line "say yes to me" which finishes each verse. Good stuff!
Download: Dick Kent: Can't You Say No?
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I cannot work up the same enthusiasm for the flip side, Dick Kent's performance of "Come Join Us", a story of promoting Christianity to everyone within earshot.
Download: Dick Kent: Come Join Us
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2 comments:
Come on, Bob....come and join us!
I wonder how many of these people prayed for their records to become hits!!! Another prayer answered.....and the answer is NO!!!!!
Ironically enough, one of Jamie Meltzer's original phone interviews was with a song-poem arranger/musician, and though she had little good to say about the genre we love so much, she said that she was often moved by the religious lyrics so many people often sent in! Go figure!
(actually, some of my favorite song-poems are Bible-thumpers and I feel absolutely confident I could put together a program of religious-themed song-poems to tour churches. Let's do it, Bob, we could make a killing!!! "Like The Lord Said"! "Standing On The Promises Of God"! "I Have To Pray"! "Let Jesus Lead (He Satisfies)"!)
2/5/16:
I have been hearing "Can't You Say No?" quite a bit lately!
Hearing that song, I get the idea that at this time, song-poems were going through a transition period between the earlier Sammy Marshall era and the disco stuff MSR would do later on. If you notice, even though the music has this 70's sound, the background singing is just like on Sammy Marshall songs!
The Sammy Marshall song "Dancin' Date with Sue" comes to my mind. There, I thought the background singing sounded like the Sons of the Pioneers backing a "groovy" 60's song. Here, the proverbial "Sons of the Pioneers" stay around in the "funky" early-70's (Except, of course, when they sing "you say yes, to" or "home to guide you, baby". THEN they sound like the MSR singers we're used to).
If you could reupload songs by request, I'd like it if you could bring back the songs on the Sammy Marshall "Dancin' Date with Sue" / "On My Bended Knees" 45 you featured here:
http://bobpurse.blogspot.com/2011/03/sammy-dances-again.html
Thanks!
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