Thursday, August 25, 2011

Searchin' for something you've got....



As luck would have it, Larry Grogan has done a far better job than I ever could of presenting both records I'd planned to post in honor of Jerry Leiber. No problem, Larry's the one who turned me onto the Coasters version of "Down Home Girl" in the first place. Credit where credit is due.

So, in case you haven't been over to Funky 16 Corners in the last 24 hours or so, you should check out what Larry has to say, here. In fact, you should probably head on over there before going any further.

Obviously my post was blown after I saw Larry's piece, so in trying to think of some other tune to feature it occurred to me that Alvin Robinson cut yet another Leiber and Stoller song, in fact one which was originally recorded by the Coasters. I'd like to think of it as 'tit for tat'.

This is a cheap and easily found 45 that occasionally draws confused/confusing reactions. Ya see, it's been my experience that some folks think they know this record when in fact they don't, and are surprised when they actually hear it. Could be confusion over who first recorded/wrote "Something You Got" [Chris Kenner] is to blame....or for that matter even a certain kind of blindness to cheap records. But those are just guesses, I wouldn't know for sure about either.

What I do know is that this is a great two-sider more or less hiding in plain sight.

Tiger was one of Leiber and Stoller's labels. All of the sides Robinson cut for the duo, including those on sister labels Red Bird and Blue Cat, were recorded in New Orleans. Joe Jones gets credit for "Something You Got".



5 comments:

  1. Somethin you got is one of my all-time favourites.

    I discovered it, circuitously, via the film "stonewall".. i was searching for more music like the soundtrack.. I got the redbird anthology CD.. and there this amazing track was.. wonderful..

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  2. Great stuff. Alvin's funky voice makes me wonder what would have happened if Leiber and Stoller had worked with Ray Charles.

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  3. I love your blog! Nobody else is sharing what you do and it is appreciated. Please continue on!

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  4. EVERYTHING by Alvin Robinson is worth hearing. He recorded for other labels, but we have Leiber and Stoller to thank for his best stuff.

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  5. so great
    1000thx
    RV

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