quote:Otis Redding's Hard To Handle, as played by The Black Crowes.
With all due respect (+) when I read that I sprayed coffee on my monitor and made a sound like a water buffalo coughing up a hairball.
That's like doing Michael Bolton's version of When a Man Does A Woma ... well, Michael Bolton doing anything, and I think you know what I'm sayin' here.
It's an Otis Redding song, pops. Time for a refresher:
https://youtu.be/1ZxN9iQM7OY Hear how Otis relaxes into the groove, especially when he sings that line at the top of the chorus; Pretty little thing, let me light your candle 'cause mama I'm sure hard to handle, now, gets around, with a gentle lag - he takes the time - not rushed or stuttered.
That's mastery. The whole pocket is back on the beat, rockin' (Like James Brown's Night Train, the Live At The Apollo version where if the bass and drums lagged any more, the whole thing would derail in flames. That's what gives it that chugging uphill feel.)
Otis had a message, oh yeah. It's no secret what the song is about, and it wasn't to watch drunk teenagers spasming frantically on a dance floor. I like to think that Otis sang it to one particular person. That's the secret of that song. Listen to again. Think it worked?
Also, in 1967 Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were all the rage (did you know that was
the Wrecking Crew with Carol Kaye on bass?), Johnny Cash had a mariachi horn section on Ring of Fire and Chet was in Nashville as head of RCA, slathering strings and horns on everything from Elvis to Jim Reeves and Johnny Horton.
So Otis can be forgiven the horns, I think, but I prefer the Black Crowes' intro and vamp back to the head (know what I mean?) their version of that line is pretty iconic, so now's your chance. Best of both worlds.
Nothing against the Black Crowes, really. It's me, I admit it. But their version is a stalwart of the wedding set list from Hell, along with Wonderful Tonight, Old Time Rock 'n Roll, anything by anyone even named Michael, Bolton Petty or Thorogood and of course; You Are So Beautiful (w/real tears + rose=$50) etc. ad nauseum matrimonii ... I've just been witness to its torture too many times, and in this case there's one of the greatest, coolest appeals to pure rut ever performed to resurrect.
Teach them the truth, brother. Show them the way. Do it for Otis.
