One of the two men behind the hits of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (not to mention The Honeycombs and The Herd,) Alan Blaikley, died in July but I only found out when his obituary was published in today’s Guardian.
The two were apparently the first British composers to write a song for Elvis Presley.
An (incomplete) list of the songs the duo wrote is here. It’s not a bad CV.
This is the one featuring the “man with the whip” as the Queen Mother is supposed to have said to Dave Dee. In reality I believe the sound was made by scraping a bottle across the strings of a guitar.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Legend of Xanadu
Alan Tudor Blaikley: 23/3/1940 – 4/6/2022. So it goes.
There hasn’t been an Elvis Presley record in any of my music posts – until now: mainly because I was never a particular fan of his.
This song, however, is worth a listen.
Elvis Presley: Suspicious Minds
For comparison purposes here is the original version of the song by its writer (F Zambon if you can make out the record label) singing as Mark James. I assume that Zambon had to give up most of the rights to this for Elvis to record it. His manager, Colonel Parker, was notoriously sharkish in that regard.
I was sad to read of the passing of singer-songwriter Tony Joe White, who died last week. His was an idiosyncratic voice.
I have already noted his sole UK hit Groupy Girl. His greatest success was perhaps as a writer of songs made famous by others. Elvis Presley recorded Polk Salad Annie (I featured White’s version here.) Tina Turner had a big hit with Steamy Windows in 1989. White’s version is a bit less strident.
Tony Joe White: Steamy Windows
White’s breakthrough as a songwriter came with Rainy Night in Georgia which has been covered multiple times. His original is still quite soulful, though.
Tony Joe White: Rainy Night in Georgia
Tony Joe White: 23/7/1943 –24/10/2018. So it goes.
Joe South whose Games People Play was no. 65 in my Friday on my Mind posts has died.
Joe was multi-talented. He played all the instruments on Games People Play as well as singing and writing the song. He contributed to Bob Dylan’s LP Blonde on Blonde as a bass player and to Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools.
After Games People Play won a Grammy Award Joe felt under pressure to come up with great songs every time. Many other artists have covered his songs including Elvis Presley with Walk a Mile in my Shoes. Joe’s version of that song is below. He also had a Grammy nomination with (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden with which Lyn Anderson had a big hit.
Joe South: Walk a Mile in my Shoes
Joe South (Joseph Souter) 28/2/1940 – 5/9/2012. So it goes.
And not by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Who’d have thought that two different acts would have mined such an unlikely seam of inspiration?
It was only while looking this one up that I realised Tony Joe White had also written Steamy Windows, made famous by Tina Turner. Rainy Night In Georgia was one of his too. I was going to post his Groupy Girl in this slot till I discovered that was actually from 1970.
Polk Salad Annie is perhaps better known because Elvis (Presley) recorded it a while later. It contains an immortal two lines:-
“Polk Salad Annie,
The gator’s got your granny.”
Brilliant!
But this wasn’t a hit in the UK (or if it was, it was a small one.)
