Its pretty hard to disagree that we are living in some pretty CRAZY times! And right now, they seem crazier than EVER! With the November elections less than three weeks away, the politicians and political parties are scrambling. A myriad of threats, crisis and and questions plague our collective psyche on a daily basis. EBOLA, ISIS, IMMIGRATION, TERROR and CLIMATE CHANGE are just some of the heavy issues that bombard our brains every day.....from every direction! Its enough to drive any rational human being to the brink.....or, to DRINK! So my pick for this weeks POLITICAL NOTES is a song that, quite directly, drives the point home! It was written early in 1970 by MOTOWN impresarios, writer/arranger/producer NORMAN WHITFIELD and lyricist BARRETT STRONG. The same pair wrote one of pop/soul musics most acclaimed protest songs, WAR (WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR) War was originally recorded by the red-hot Motown group THE TEMPTATIONS. But Motown chief BERRY GORDY thought the powerful anti-war anthem was too strong to release as a single, so Strong, and Whitfield, wrote another, less charged, but still political, song for the group. Definitely more ambiguous in its message than the song that would become a #1 smash for Motowns EDWIN STARR, the less militant song for the Temptations spring 1970 single release became a classic hit itself, true to the the style of the groups other late 60s smash hits PSYCHEDELIC SHACK, CLOUD NINE and CANT GET NEXT TO YOU. The song is lyrically all over the place, but that was just the point! But, just as the case with other political and protest songs of the 60s and early 70s, most of the lyrics still ring true today! Some of the songs most potent words..... AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH VOTE FOR ME AND ILL SET YOU FREE....... SEGREGATION, DETERMINATION, DEMONSTRATION, INTEGRATION, OBLIGATION TO OUR NATION..... EVOLUTION, REVOLUTION, GUN CONTROL, SOUND OF SOUL..... EVE OF DESTRUCTION, TAX DEDUCTION, CITY INSPECTORS, BILL COLLECTORS..... FEAR IN THE AIR, TENSION EVERYWHERE..... Sounds pretty much what you hear every time you switch on the FOX NEWS CHANNEL (or any other cable news network), does it not? A friend of mine for FOUR DECADES, Motown Sound Man RUSS TERRANA. recorded and mixed the record in Detroit in April of 1970. Making it even more timely for me, the groups current name sake will be appearing here in Laughlin, NV next weekend! DENNIS EDWARDS. who performed many of the fast talking lines on the record, (and is the sole core member of the 60s group to still be with the touring show) will be on stage, belting out this one for sure! So......If all this text is just a too much to digest, its understandable. Just a BALL OF CONFUSION.....But, the, thats what the world is today! And the band played on...... youtube/watch?v=JWtIvoub6XU
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:23:52 +0000
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