| "Patches" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Clarence Carter | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | July 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 1970 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:10 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ron Dunbar, General Johnson | |||
| Producer(s) | Rick Hall | |||
| Clarence Carter singles chronology | ||||
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"Patches" (sometimes known as "Patches (I'm Depending On You)") [2] is a country soul song written by General Johnson and Ron Dunbar and best known as the 1970 hit version by Clarence Carter. It won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song.
The song was written by General Johnson, the lead singer of Chairmen of the Board, with Ron Dunbar, who worked in A&R and record production at the Invictus record label, owned and overseen by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, formerly of Motown. Dunbar was often credited with co-writing hit songs at Invictus with "Edyth Wayne", a pseudonym used by Holland-Dozier-Holland during the time when they were in legal dispute with Motown and its music publishing arm Jobete to which they had been contracted. [3]
The song tells a story about how a boy born and raised in poverty in Alabama "on a farm way back up in the woods," took over responsibility for his family from his dying father. After his father dies, he has to endure extra labor as the oldest son of the family, by farming and going to school. However, a rainstorm washes the crops away and he has to work extra hard in the fields. Years later, his mother dies and the other members of his family move away, leaving him as the man of the farm. This story, which featured spoken recitations, ends unresolved. "Patches" was included on Chairmen of the Board's first album, The Chairmen of the Board (later reissued as Give Me Just a Little More Time), and was the B-side of the group's July 1970 single, "Everything's Tuesday", their third chart hit. [4] [5]
The blind blues singer Clarence Carter heard the song, later saying: "I heard it on the Chairmen of the Board LP and liked it, but I had my own ideas about how it should be sung. It was my idea to make the song sound real natural..." [6] Initially he thought "that it would be degrading for a black man to sing a song so redolent of subjugation," but was persuaded to do so by record producer Rick Hall. [7]
Carter recorded the song at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with Hall as producer and musicians including Junior Lowe (guitar), Jesse Boyce (bass), and Freeman Brown (drums). [6] Carter's recording was released in July 1970 and was described by a Billboard reviewer as a "powerful blues item" featuring a "blockbuster vocal work-out." [8] The record rose to No. 4 on the Hot 100, [9] No. 2 on the R&B chart, [10] and No. 2 on the UK singles chart. [11]
Following Carter's success, the song won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song for its writers, Johnson and Dunbar. [12]
Weekly charts
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A reggae version was recorded late in 1970 by The Rudies, later known as Greyhound. Another version by Canadian country singer Ray Griff reached #26 on the US country music chart the same year. The song was also recorded by Alabama some time before 1980, Jerry Reed in 1982, and by George Jones and B.B. King on the album Rhythm, Country and Blues in 1994. [22]
A parody version of the song performed by Joe Cumia, brother of Anthony Cumia of Opie and Anthony fame, titled "Black Earl" was often played on the Ron and Fez show.
| "Marvin (Patches)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Titãs | ||||
| from the album Go Back | ||||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | WEA | |||
| Producer(s) | Liminha | |||
| Titãs singles chronology | ||||
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In 1984, the song was rewritten and rearranged in Portuguese as "Marvin (Patches)" by the Brazilian band Titãs and released on their self-titled debut album. [22] The idea to adapt the song came from band member Nando Reis, who found out about the song from the cover released by reggae band King Sounds & The Israelites. The new namesake was chosen as a tribute to a recently deceased Marvin Gaye. The new lyrics tell the story of Marvin, a young farmer whose father dies, leaving him responsible for making ends meet for his family. A live version taken off their 1988 live album Go Back was released as their eighth single and a second live version, acoustic and retitled simply as "Marvin", was released on their MTV Unplugged album Acústico MTV , becoming a hit in Brazil.
Charles Edwin Hatcher , known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War".
Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. During their tenure at Motown Records from 1962 to 1967, Dozier and Brian Holland were the composers and producers for each song, and Eddie Holland wrote the lyrics and arranged the vocals. Their most celebrated productions were singles for the Four Tops and the Supremes, including 10 of the Supremes' 12 US No. 1 singles, including "Baby Love", "Stop! In the Name of Love", and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".
Clarence George Carter is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His most successful songs include "Slip Away", "Back Door Santa", "Patches" (1970) and "Strokin" (1986).
"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.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
"Your Precious Love" is a popular song that was a 1967 hit for Motown singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The song was written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol. The doo-wop styled recording features background vocals by Fuqua, Gaye, Terrell and Bristol, and instrumentals by The Funk Brothers with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The song peaked at #5 on Billboard Pop Singles chart, #2 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, and the top 40 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey. The song was later sampled by Gerald Levert on the song, "Your Smile", on his 2002 album, The G Spot.
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a 1968 single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's United LP. The first release off the duo's second album: You're All I Need, the song - written and produced by regular Gaye/Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson - became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, the first of the duo's two number 1 R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34.
"Can I Get a Witness" is a song composed by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier as a non-album single for American recording vocalist Marvin Gaye, who issued the record on Motown's Tamla imprint in September 1963.
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is a Motown song written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Janie Bradford. The song was first recorded by The Temptations as a track on their 1966 album Gettin' Ready. Eddie Kendricks sings lead on the recording, which was produced by Whitfield. Jimmy Ruffin also recorded a version with The Temptations providing background vocals in 1966. It remained unreleased until 1997.
"Stubborn Kind of Fellow" is a 1962 song recorded by Marvin Gaye for the Tamla label. Co-written by Gaye and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" became Gaye's first hit single, reaching the top 10 of the R&B chart and the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1962.
Chairmen of the Board is an American-Canadian, Detroit, Michigan-based soul music group, who saw their greatest commercial success in the 1970s.
"Give Me Just a Little More Time" is the debut single by Chairmen of the Board, released in 1970 through Capitol Records on Holland–Dozier–Holland's Invictus Records label.
"Band of Gold" is a song written and composed by former Motown producers Holland–Dozier–Holland and Ron Dunbar. It was a major hit when first recorded by Freda Payne in 1970 for the Invictus label, owned by H-D-H. The song has been recorded by numerous artists, notably competing 1986 versions by contrasting pop singers Belinda Carlisle and Bonnie Tyler, and a 2007 version by Kimberley Locke.
"California Soul" is a funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson, issued originally as the B-side of the Messengers' single "Window Shopping" in 1967 under the Motown group of labels.
"(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" is a 1970 soul music song by the Chairmen of the Board. The single reached No. 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 19 on the US Billboard R&B chart, and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Ronald Dunbar and Edythe Wayne.
Donald Charles Baldwin is an American musician, arranger, and composer. He achieved significant commercial success with recordings he wrote, arranged, and performed for Motown Records and Invictus/Hot Wax Records from 1970 to 1980. His Notable works include his recordings with many widely known musical acts including: Temptations, Commodores, and Bonnie Pointer, as well as record producers Holland-Dozier-Holland and Jeffrey Bowen.
General Norman Johnson was an American R&B singer, frontman of the Chairmen of the Board, songwriter, and record producer.
"Everything's Tuesday" is a song, written by Holland-Dozier-Holland with Daphne Dumas and Ron Dunbar. When released as a single, performed by American group Chairmen of the Board and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, it was a hit.
Ronald Dunbar was an American songwriter, A&R director and record producer who worked closely with Holland–Dozier–Holland, and with George Clinton. His co-writing credits include the hit songs "Give Me Just a Little More Time", "Band of Gold", and "Patches", for which he won a Grammy. His Grammy award was sold for $2,350 to the owners of TV show Pawn Stars. It was later returned to the Dunbar family, after it was discovered that the buying and selling of Grammy trophies is not allowed.
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" is a song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye from his fifth studio album of the same name (1965). It was written in 1964 by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. The song title was inspired by one of the actor and comedian Jackie Gleason's signature phrases, "How Sweet It Is!"
