Jon Landau, in his thoughtful analysis of the contemporary pop scene – “Rock 1970” – for the December 10, 1970 edition of Rolling Stone, made the following statement about Billy Preston‘s former writing partner:
While it may be sacrilegious to say it, the most influential black artist of recent years, with the possible exception of Jimi Hendrix, has undoubtedly been Sly and the Family Stone. In the early R&B days it was not uncommon for songs to have one chord. Sly has revitalized that concept and recharged it with contemporary rhythms and a group singing approach that is a pure delight. His versatility and capacity to synthesize seems almost endless.
Both the singing and the rhythm have been completely absorbed by Motown, with The Temptations making greater use of the former and The Jackson 5 modeling themselves on the latter. Without ‘Dance to the Music‘ there never would have been ‘I Want You Back.’ His influence has been vast. Even Lulu has cut her Sly imitation of ‘Hum A [Little] Song From My Heart.’
Produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd & Arif Mardin
(written by Richard Ross)
“Hum A Song (From Your Heart)”
Lulu with The Dixie Flyers (1970)
Recorded at Miami’s Criteria Studios
Lulu – Vocals
The Dixie Flyers – Vocals
Carol Kirkpatrick, Chuck Kirkpatrick, David Brigati, Eddie Brigati & The Sweet Inspirations – Vocals
Felix Cavaliere – Percussion
Sammy Creason – Drums
Tommy McClure – Bass
Charlie Freeman & Jim Dickinson – Guitar
Mike Utley – Organ
Jim Dickinson – Piano
The Memphis Horns
Floyd Newman – Baritone sax
Andrew Love & Ed Logan – Tenor sax
Wayne Jackson – Trumpet
Jack Dale – Trombone
Chuck Kirkpatrick & Ronnie Albert – Engineering
*
Lulu, you might recall, was part of a late 60s/early 70s trend of prominent female vocalists, who tried to tap into the commercial heat coming from the US South by recording albums in such places as Memphis and Muscle Shoals, inspired no doubt by the critical success of Dusty Springfield‘s classic Dusty in Memphis album and its Top 10 hit, “Son of a Preacher Man.”
EP
“Hum a Song” – included on 1970 LP Melody Fair – would be the A-side of an Atlantic single that almost hit the Top 40 in the US and Canada. “Hum a Song” would also enjoy release on a 4-song Mexican EP that, curiously, surrounds this track with three songs from New Routes – her previous LP that featured torrid guitar work by Duane Allman. Check out Duane’s soulful opening lines on the track “Sweep Around Your Own Back Door“:
“Sweep Around Your Own Back Door“
Lulu (1970)
Just occurred to me that “Sweep Around Your Back Door” is the third song from a critical 12-month period straddling the years 1969-1970 with “cleaning up” one’s own “back yard” being the prevailing theme — the other two being Elvis Presley‘s “Clean Up Your Own Back Yard” and Dion DiMucci‘s “Your Own Back Yard.” Spooky.
