Posted on 01/16/2020 5:02:45 AM PST by simpson96
"Hello Stranger" was written by Barbara Lewis herself, who was originally inspired to write a song with that title while working gigs in Detroit with her musician father: “I would make the circuit with my dad and people would yell out: ‘Hey stranger, hello stranger, it’s been a long time’". The song is notable because its title comprises the first two words of the lyrics but is never at any point repeated throughout the rest of the song.
Lewis recorded "Hello Stranger" at Chess Studios in Chicago in January 1963. The track's producer Ollie McLaughlin recruited the Dells to provide the background vocals. The arrangement by Riley Hampton - then working with Etta James - featured a signature organ riff provided by keyboardist John Young. The track was completed after thirteen takes. Lewis would recall that, on hearing the playback of the finished track, Dells member Chuck Barksdale "kept jumping up and down and saying, ‘It’s a hit, it’s a hit.’...I didn’t really know. It was all new to me.”
"Hello Stranger" spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in Billboard, crossing over to #3 Pop.
Barbara Lewis -- Hello Stranger
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
*music ping*
A beautiful song. One of my all-time favorites.
Carter Family’s Hello Stranger Late 30s.
Hello, stranger, put your loving hand in mine
Hello, stranger, put your loving hand in mine
You are a stranger and you’re a pal of mine
Get up, rounder, let a working man lay down
Get up, rounder, let a working man lay down
You are a rounder, but you’re all out and down
Every time I ride the 6th and 4th streetcar
Every time I ride the 6th and 4th streetcar
I can see my baby peeping through the bars
She bowed her head, she waved both hands at me
She bowed her head, she waved both hands at me
I’m prison bound, I’m longing to be free
Oh, I’ll see you when your troubles are like mine
Oh, I’ll see you when your troubles are like mine
Oh, I’ll see you when you haven’t got a dime
Weeping like a willow, mourning like a dove
Weeping like a willow, mourning like a dove
There’s a girl up the country that I really love
btt
In 1987 Bernie Sanders recorded a folk music album. He “sings”, kinda sorta.... Fun and Funny to listen to. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS864US865&sxsrf=ACYBGNQeefGROcn9znROdKJqAVkOX8DoDg:1579179458735&q=bernie+sanders+we+shall+overcome+songs&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLVT9c3NEwqz04zNC5LUkLlaolmJ1vp55YWZybrJ-YkleZaFefnpRcvYlVLSi3Ky0xVKE7MS0ktKlYoBzIzEnNyFPLLUouS83OBXJDCHayMAKN4YLJjAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizorL1lYjnAhVaYs0KHQ6QAFsQMTAeegQIDBAK&biw=1366&bih=657
Great song! Never tired of hearing it; an all time favorite back in those years. Another fav by the same artist:
“Make Me Your Baby”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp_iysq1VYo
Love it...really well produced, tight vocals...just a masterpiece.
That’s a great one, too! Thanks for the link.
“The song is notable because its title comprises the first two words of the lyrics but is never at any point repeated throughout the rest of the song.”
Unless words in post 4 are wrong, the sentence above is wrong. Hello Stranger is repeated right below first line of song.
And most of the rest are from the 50s.
That’s a completely different song with the same title.
Time Makes You Change--The Dells (1957)
BFL
Is Barbara still around ?
She's still around (b.1943) but apparently in poor health.
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