Posted on 03/22/2021 6:05:06 PM PDT by simpson96
Smith was an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1969. They had a blues-based sound and scored a Top 5 hit in the United States in 1969 with a cover of the Burt Bacharach song "Baby It's You", featuring Gayle McCormick on lead vocals. It sold over one million copies between July and October, 1969.
A Group Called Smith - "Baby, It's You" (1969)
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Have their album and enjoyed their music when it first came out
Every time she reached for a high note she was yelling.
And jumped out of key because she could not hit it.
She would also monotone some phrases with half tone steps.
It’s a tough song for a singer.
But there are singers that can pull it off beautifully.
John Lennon probably being the best example.
Reading Lewisohn’s terrific Beatles biography - and he has a special interest in the business side - sez in 1963 that getting a recording contract was mainly to enhance ticket sales at live shows. Doubt it was much different in US as Capitol owned EMI.
Doing the math, the Beatles got about 1 cent per song (from each record sale). A bit before my time, but by late ‘60s (with 2% annual inflation) singles were about a buck (often discounted).
The money was in songwriting - a little over 4 cents per song (per record sale). So, say, Paul, was getting 1/4 cent for each single sold when the Beatles recorded a cover - and 2 cents when somebody covered a Lennon-McCartney creation.
"The Weight", as originally recorded by The Band for their 1968 debut album 'Music From Big Pink,' was used in the "Easy Rider" film but could not be licensed for the soundtrack. To deal with this, ABC-Dunhill commissioned Smith, who recorded for the label at the time, to record a cover version of the song for the soundtrack album.I knew about The Band's recording of "The Weight" in 1968, but did not know about the different bands used for version in the film and the soundtrack.
The Smiths version sounds quite close to The Bands version.
So what? Yelling or not is a matter of subjective judgement. Smith did it best.
Just a hair split but “American Top 40’s” host was Casey Kasem.
I knew that. Typo. But I didn’t see it til you said something.
She had a solo Top 50 song that was pretty good. It’s Cryin’ Shame. I bought the single on the Dunhill/ABC label.
Ah, the good old days of unplugged instruments being played on TV. Haha!
Gayle McCormick “It’s A Crying Shame”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocB_oSt7-c0&ab_channel=LarryHinze
One of the best groups! I used to dance and house clean to their music.
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