Tag: Candy Man

Just found this band. What a band, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal in the same band. It doesn’t get much better than that. Some songs sound like they were born on the back porch, passed around from player to player, gathering different fingerprints and stories along the way. This is one of those songs. This is a traditional song arranged by the Rising Sons. 

The band formed around 1964 in Los Angeles, built on the partnership between two then unknown but soon to be legendary musicians, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. Taj had moved west from Massachusetts after studying agriculture and getting into the folk revival. Cooder was a teenage slide guitar prodigy growing up in Santa Monica who already had a reputation as the kid who could play anything with strings. They met in the LA clubs, places like the Ash Grove and Troubadour.

They quickly became a standout act on the LA scene. They were signed to Columbia Records in 1965, which tells you how much buzz they had, but the label didn’t really understand what to do with a group that wasn’t rock, wasn’t folk, and wasn’t blues, but somehow all three. Their album was shelved for decades. This is the same problem the Goose Creek Symphony had; the label didn’t know what box to put them in. 

The real joy of their Candy Man is how it captures a moment in time right before American roots music exploded. This was before the Byrds went country, and The Band were still the Hawks backing up Bob Dylan. This short-lived 1965 band was a great one, featuring a young Taj Mahal, an even younger Ry Cooder, and future Byrds drummer Kevin Kelley (later on), who replaced Ed Cassidy, Jesse Lee Kincaid on vocals and guitar, and Gary Marker on bass. The Rising Sons didn’t last long, but recordings like this show just how special that little window was.

They recorded an album, and it was produced by Terry Melcher. The album wasn’t released, but this single was. The album was finally released in 1992. It’s blues meeting folk with a bit of country rock in there. I was reminded in the comments that this version was based on the Reverend Gary Davis version. Thank you, halffastcyclingclub and purplegoatee2684b071ed. 

I wanted to include these slang words and definitions that were given.

Salty Dog – In blues songs, a “salty dog” is a slang term for a man, often an experienced sailor, who seeks a casual, non-committal sexual relationship. The phrase can also refer to a libidinous man more generally, or someone who is “salty” in the sense of being experienced, spicy, or unpredictable. 

Candy Man – In blues songs, a “Candy Man” is a term for a gigolo, ladies’ man, or dealer of drugs, often with a sexually suggestive connotation. While the literal interpretation is a seller of candy, the more common meaning in traditional blues songs refers to a charismatic and enticing man who sells a different kind of “sweet” product, like sexual favors or drugs. 

Gary Marker: “We were the problem; we had difficulties distilling our multiple musical agendas down to a product that would sell. We had no actual leader, no clear musical vision…. I think [Melcher] went out of his way to make us happy – within the scope of his knowledge. He tried just about everything he could, including the live, acoustic session that produced ‘2:10 Train.'”

Candy Man

Candy man, Candy man
Been and gone been and gone
Candy man, Candy man
Been and gone been and gone
Candy man, Candy man
Been and gone been and gone

Well, I wish I was down in New Orleans
Sitting on the candy stand
Candy gal through the candy stand
Oh yea, got stuck on the candy man
Candy gal through the candy stand
Oh yea, got stuck on the candy man
Candy gal through the candy stand
Oh yea, got stuck on the candy man

I love my candy gal
God knows I do
Little red light, little red light
Little green light, little green light
Little red light, little red light
Little green light, blue green light
Little red light, little red light
Little green light, little green light
The light’s stuck on red but when it goes to green don’t you mess with Mr. Inbetween

Went on down to the candy stand
Found my gal with the candy man
I went on down to the candy stand
Found my gal with the candy man
Took her hand from the candy man
I said I’d be her candy man now

I love my candy gal
God knows I do

Candy man Candy man
Salty dog, Salty dog
Candy man Candy man
Salty dog, Salty dog
Candy man Candy man
Salty dog, Salty dog

Well, I wish I was down in New Orleans
Sitting on the candy stand

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