Before
hip-hop beefs, there were response records, also known as
answer songs, usually replies to well-known songs. There are a few key eras: blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s, including a number of responses to "
Work With Me, Annie" (1954), recorded by
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, with answers including "
Annie had a Baby," and "
The Wallflower" by Etta James; and Big Mama Thornton's "
Hound Dog" (1953), with a quick response by
Louis Innis and Charlie Gore, made a mere week after the original was released, and
Rufus Thomas' "
Bear Cat" (1953),
Sun Records' first hit. Country, rock & roll, doo-wop and pop music picked up where the blues left off, with most activity in the 1950s to 60s. Two examples from this era are
"Are You Lonesome To-night" and "Who Put The Bomp," and responses to both. The most well known from the next decade was Lynyrd Skynyrd's "
Sweet Home Alabama" (1974), a response to Neil Young's "
Southern Man" (1970) and "
Alabama" (1972). Until the 2000s, no answer songs had charted as high as the original hits. That changed with
Frankee's "
F.U.R.B. (Fuck You Right Back)" (2004), a response to
Eamon's "
Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)" (2003), which was the first answer song to reach number 1 in the UK. Six years later and across the pond, Katy Perry's "
California Gurls" was a response to "
Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z. It was the first answer song to reach No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100. More Responses inside.
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posted by filthy light thief
on Mar 31, 2012 -
53 comments
New Year's Eve is fast approaching, and for lots of folks that means... drinking. Plenty of drinking. And since there's no shortage of singers and songwriters who've had a little something to say about that particular topic, maybe some of the following tunes can serve as an appropriate soundtrack to your own joyous (or not?) imbibing of spirits. For example, there's... Jimmy Liggins with his succinct rendition of
Drunk, and there's...
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 30, 2011 -
67 comments
On March 14th,
the 26th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will add 5 new performers to the growing list of well-known musicians. As
previously discussed, the 2011 inductees are Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Tom Waits and
Darlene Love. Though the last name may not be as famous as the four fellows, the chances are you know her voice, from
Monster Mash,
Rockin' Robbin, or
Da Doo Ron Ron. Except
her name wasn't credited first on any of those recordings, if it was mentioned at all.
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posted by filthy light thief
on Feb 18, 2011 -
23 comments
Bobby Charles 1938-2010. Songwriter, musician's musician and cultural treasure, he died on last Thursday in Abbeville,Lousiana. In the 1950s, he wrote Fats Domino's
Walking to New Orleans, Bill Haley and the Comet's
See You Later, Alligator and recorded for Chess records. His
eponymous Bearsville album recorded in Woodstock in 1972 has been described as the best Band album released under another name.(Check out
Small Town Talk there.) He appeared as well in the Band's farewell concert filmed as The
Last Waltz. He made an enormous contribution to American popular music.
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posted by y2karl
on Jan 19, 2010 -
25 comments
Timi Yuro, an Italian-American singer born in Chicago (where, the story goes, her nanny snuck her into clubs to watch singers like Dinah Washington and Mildred Bailey), was arguable the greatest
blue-eyed soul artist of the '60s.
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posted by The Card Cheat
on Aug 22, 2009 -
8 comments
Ahmet Ertegun was profiled by George W. S. Trow in The New Yorker in a classic piece back in 1978. Ertegun was the son of the Turkish ambassador to the US and he remained behind in D.C. studying medieval philosophy at Georgetown. Instead of devoting himself to his studies he founded Atlantic Records with his friend Herb Abramson. Trow charted how Ertegun moved from tramping through muddy, Louisiana fields in search of hot new sounds to the whirl of Studio 54. Below the cut are links to the songs mentioned in the article, as best as I could find, in the order in which they appear.
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posted by Kattullus
on Aug 17, 2009 -
25 comments
Legendary record man and music producer
Jerry Wexler died on August 15, at the age of 91. His keen insight, and his deep love and appreciation for the artists he worked with resulted in an extraordinary enriching of American music.
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 17, 2008 -
16 comments
The best-known version of that joyful ode to getting smashed,
Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee, would surely be the
Jerry Lee Lewis rendition, and Memphis rockabilly singer
Johnny Burnette recorded a
hopping little version of the tune as well. But the song was written and
originally recorded by
Stick (aka "Sticks") McGhee, who adapted it from a chant he learned during his stint in the Army. And yes, "spo-dee-o-dee" was a substitute for
another word, which, though fine for the Army, wasn't exactly radio friendly. Stick wrote a few other tunes in celebration of the alcoholic beverage, including
"Six To Eight" and "Jungle Juice". And as has been pointed out
previously, the song title was likely the inspiration for the alcoholic concoction known as the "
spodi". Drink up!
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Apr 13, 2008 -
8 comments
Proceeding
Otis by two years and 364 days,
Sam Cooke was shot and killed on this day in 1964. Much
controversy still surrounds his
death, but his legacy is untouchable and
influence sweeping. From
gospel to
pop, he did it all.
You Send Me,
Ain't That Good News,
Cupid,
Chain Gang, and
Bring it on Home to Me were some of his biggest hits and (along with Ray's work) the early foundations of soul; but it was
one song, inspired by a
white boy's passion, that gave a posthumous voice to a broken nation. Today and forever,
Sam Cooke is yours, he'll never grow old.
posted by Roman Graves
on Dec 11, 2007 -
31 comments
The King of the Jukebox who disturbed the status quo They called rock music
jump blues during the World War II era, and this
amazingly talented clown was its master, with over fifty Top 10 R&B hits --
eighteen reached #1 -- between 1942 and 1951. Chuck Berry identified with him
"more than any other artist." James Brown said,
"He was everything" and considered him one of the earliest rappers. A pioneer of
music video, the first black artist to
cross over from the "race" market to a white audience and a
central link between big bands and rock, he was a primary influence on
Bill Haley,
Ray Charles and B.B. King, who once said,
"I wanted to be like him." Rest in peace, Louis Jordan. [Dozens of one-minute song clips
here]
posted by mediareport
on Jul 10, 2002 -
11 comments
