Michael (the Lover)

Last updated
"Michael"
Single by The C.O.D.'s
B-side "Cry No More"
Released1965
Genre Soul
Length2:35
Label Kellmac/One Derful
1003
Songwriter(s) Larry Brownlee
Producer(s) Leon Singleton

"Michael (the Lover)" [nb 1] is a soul song originally performed by American Chicago soul group the C.O.D.'s.

Contents

The song was written by the group's lead singer Larry Brownlee [nb 2] who was murdered in 1978.[ citation needed ] It was released as a single on Kellmac Records in the United States and Stateside in the United Kingdom and made it to number 5 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in 1965. The song was produced by Leon Singleton and arranged by Pete Matthews. [1]

The song was later remade by the Mad Lads, appearing on their 1966 album The Mad Lads In Action (Volt 414), and by the Northern soul Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band (Piccadilly 7N 35359). Washington's version reached #39 on the UK charts. The 1980 song "Geno", a tribute to Washington and his band, notes "You were Michael the lover, the fighter that won".

Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band version

"Michael"
Song by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band
A-side "Michael"
B-side "(I Gotta) Hold On To My Love"
Released1966
Label Piccadilly 7N.35359
Composer(s) Larry Brownlee
Producer(s) John Schroeder
Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band singles chronology
"Que Sera, Sera"
(1966)		"Michael"
(1966)		"Always"
(1967)

The version of Michael by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band became a chart hit for them but it also became a crowd favorite.

Background

It appeared on the Marble Arch compilation album, Stars of 67 which also featured "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw and "Universal Soldier" by Donovan. [2]

Chart

Their version got to #39 in February 1967. [3] It also made its debut at on the Radio City City Sixty chart at no. 30 on the period of Sunday 29 January - Sunday 5 February 1967. [4] It got to no. 15 the following week, [5] but due to station owner, Dorothy Calvert being found guilty of operating a radio station inside UK territorial waters on February 8, 1967 and the station being closed that night, the single's course, as with other singles there would be unknown. [6]

Other recordings

Other versions by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band includes a live version that appears on Hand Clappin, Foot Stompin, Funky-Butt ... Live! album. [7] An unreleased version recorded by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band in 1968 appears on the Holdin' On With Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band EP which was released on the Acid Jazz label in 2013. [8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Sometimes written "Michael the Lover" or simply "Michael" (on the original C.O.D.'s single release).
  2. ↑ But credited to Brownlee, Lewis, and Washington on an Emase Records single.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth, Wind & Fire</span> American musical group

Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin, and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.

Geoffrey Keith Pullum is a British and American linguist specialising in the study of English. Pullum has published over 300 articles and books on various topics in linguistics, including phonology, morphology, semantics, pragmatics, computational linguistics, and philosophy of language. He is Professor Emeritus of General Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geno Washington</span> American R&B singer (born 1943)

Geno Washington is an American R&B singer who released five albums with the Ram Jam Band between 1966 and 1969, and eight solo albums beginning in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Heard It Through the Grapevine</span> 1966 song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.

<i>Funky Divas</i> 1992 studio album by En Vogue

Funky Divas is the second studio album by American recording group En Vogue, released by Atlantic Records division East West on March 24, 1992, in the United States. Conceived after the success of their Grammy Award–nominated debut album Born to Sing (1990), En Vogue reteamed with their founders Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy to work on the entire album. As with Born to Sing, the pair borrowed from contemporary R&B, new jack swing, and hip hop, while also incorporating classic soul, blues and doo-wop elements, particularly on its on two Sparkle cover versions, as well as, in the case of "Free Your Mind," heavy metal sounds. The album became the quartet's second album to earn a Grammy Award nomination in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category, while winning the American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and the Sammy Davis Jr. Award for Entertainer of the Year at the 1993 Soul Train Music Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Betty</span> 20th-century African-American work song

Not to be confused with Black Betty, the barmaid at Tom King's Coffee House, or other uses of this term related to coffee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fell in Love with a Girl</span> 2002 single by The White Stripes

"Fell in Love with a Girl" is a song by the American rock band the White Stripes, written and produced by Jack White for the band's third studio album, White Blood Cells (2001). Released as the album's second single in February 2002, it peaked at number 21 on both the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and the UK Singles Chart. It was also the band's first single to reach the U.S. Alternative Songs chart, peaking at number 12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baby Now That I've Found You</span> 1967 single by The Foundations

"Baby, Now That I've Found You" is a song written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod, and performed by the Foundations. Part of the song was written in the same bar of a Soho tavern where Karl Marx is supposed to have written Das Kapital. The lyrics are a plea that an unnamed subject not break up with the singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geno (song)</span> 1980 single by Dexys Midnight Runners

"Geno" is a 1980 single by Dexys Midnight Runners. Written by Kevin Archer and Kevin Rowland, it was the band's second single and their first UK number one, staying at the top of the Singles Chart for two weeks. The song charted at number two in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Onions</span> 1962 instrumental composition by Booker T. & the M.G.s

"Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Described as "one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs ever" and as one of "the most popular R&B instrumentals of its era", the tune is a twelve-bar blues with a rippling Hammond M3 organ line by Booker T. Jones that he wrote when he was 17, although the actual recording was largely improvised in the studio.

Michael "Jimmy" James is a British-Jamaican soul singer, known for songs like "Come to Me Softly", "Now Is the Time" and "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me". Based in Britain, he has performed as the lead singer of Jimmy James and the Vagabonds since the mid-1960s.

Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band are an England-based soul band.

British soul, Brit soul, or the British soul invasion, is soul music performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some youth subcultures, such as mods, skinheads, and the Northern soul movement. In the 1970s, soul gained more mainstream popularity in the UK during the disco era.

Peter Gage is an English rock guitarist, pianist, composer and record producer, best known for his work with Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band and Vinegar Joe.

"She Shot a Hole in My Soul" was a minor hit for R&B artist Clifford Curry reaching no. 45 on the US R&B charts.

Zoot Money's Big Roll Band is a British rhythm and blues and soul group, also influenced by jazz, formed in England by Zoot Money, in the early autumn of 1961. The band has had a number of personnel changes over the years and was still performing in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Your Puppet</span> 1966 single by James & Bobby Purify

"I'm Your Puppet" is a song written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham; the best known version is the one recorded by James & Bobby Purify which reached #5 on the US R&B chart and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. The single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1967. The song was featured on their 1967 album, James & Bobby Purify.

"Water" was the second single released by Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, but the first single that was credited to them as Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band. It made the UK top 40 in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hi Hi Hazel</span> 1966 single by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band

"Hi Hi Hazel" is a song first released by soul band Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band as a single in July 1966. A version by rock band the Troggs was released as a single in July 1967, and both were minor hits in the UK.

<i>Hand Clappin, Foot Stompin, Funky-Butt ... Live!</i> 1966 live album by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band

Hand Clappin, Foot Stompin, Funky-Butt ... Live! is a live album by Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band, released around December 1966.

References


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.