Tag: James Jamerson

Jackie Wilson – (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher

There are so many versions of this song out there, and I like many of them… It’s that good a song. But, Jackie Wilson had a way of taking a song and turning it into pure energy, something bigger than rhythm and melody. When he recorded this song in 1967, he gave soul music one of its best anthems of pure joy. I can’t dislike this song. 

Jackie Wilson almost didn’t get this one. The song was originally cut by The Dells, but Brunswick producer Carl Davis didn’t think their version worked. The track sat on the shelf until Davis and arranger Sonny Sanders decided to hand it to Jackie. At the time, Wilson’s career was in a bit of a stall; this song was intended as a shot in the arm. Wilson thought it was a bit light at first, but when he started to sing it, they knew they had something great here. It was written by Raynard Miner, Gary Jackson, and Carl Smith.

Billy Davis secretly recruited members of Motown’s Funk Brothers, James Jamerson on bass, Richard “Pistol” Allen on drums, Robert White on guitar, guys who were technically under contract at Hitsville but were moonlighting for extra cash. Their tight groove gave this song that perfect sound. 

It was released as a single in August 1967, and it immediately reignited Wilson’s career. Critics hailed it as a perfect marriage of “gospel fire and pop.” And you know how some songs wear out with too many plays? This one doesn’t. Whether it’s on a movie soundtrack or my car radio, it still hits home and makes me smile.

The song peaked at #6 on the Billboard 100 in 1967.

(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher

Your love, lifting me higher
Than I’ve ever been lifted before
So keep it it up
Quench my desire
And I’ll be at your side, forever more

You know your love (your love keeps lifting me)
Keep on lifting (love keeps lifting me)
Higher (lifting me)
Higher and higher (higher)
I said your love (your love keeps lifting me)
Keep on (love keeps lifting me)
Lifting me (lifting me)
Higher and higher (higher)
Now listen

Now once, I was down-hearted
Disappointment, was my closest friend
But then you, came and it soon departed
And you know he never
Showed his face again

That’s why your love (your love keeps lifting me)
Keep on lifting (love keeps lifting me)
Higher (lifting me)
Higher and higher (higher)
I said your love (your love keeps lifting me)
Keep on (love keeps lifting me)
Lifting me (lifting me)
Higher and higher (higher)

I’m so glad, I’ve finally found you
Yes that one, in a million girls
And I whip, my loving arms around you
I can stand up, and face the world

Let me tell ya, your love (your love keeps lifting me)
Keep on lifting (love keeps lifting me)
Higher (lifting me)
Higher and higher (higher)
I said your love (your love keeps lifting me)
Keep on (love keeps lifting me)
Lifting me (lifting me)
Higher and higher (higher)

Now sock it to me
Hold me, the other woman
Keep my love going
Higher and higher
I said keep on lifting
Lift me up mama
Keep on lifting me
Higher and higher

Temptations – My Girl

I was driving my 1966 Mustang back in 1983 and I had a cassette tape player with a tape I made. This song and Cloud 9 was on it and it went with me everywhere. Later on, while going through breakups with girlfriends…the Temptation songs were with me all the way.

It was written and produced by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White (both members of The Miracles), and the song became a breakthrough for The Temptations and Motown Records. Smoky supposedly wrote the song for his wife Claudette. It was written for David Ruffin’s voice and it worked perfectly. They had some hits before this one but none were #1 in the Billboard 100 and R&B charts. 

The recording featured the one and only Funk Brothers, Motown’s house band, who laid down the smooth, soulful track like always. The song’s most memorable musical features are James Jamerson’s bassline and Robert White’s guitar riff…I would throw in David Ruffin as well. It’s a simple riff but sometimes simple is the best…it sticks with you. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts, #6 in Canada, and #43 in the UK in 1964-65.

The song has been used in countless films, TV shows, and commercials. It’s one of the most well-known songs of the 20th century. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or artistically significant.”

My Girl

I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy dayWhen it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May (ooh)I guess you’d sayWhat can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl, my girlTalkin’ ’bout my girl, my girl

I’ve got so much honey, the bees envy meI’ve got a sweeter song, than the birds in the treesWell, I guess you’d sayWhat can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl, my girlTalkin’ ’bout my girl, my girl

Ooh, oohHey-hey-hey, hey-hey-heyOoh, ooh, yeah

I don’t need no money (ooh), fortune, or fameI’ve got all the riches, baby (ooh) one man can claimWell, I guess you’d sayWhat can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl, my girlTalkin’ ’bout my girl, my girl(Talkin’ ’bout my girl)

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day (whoa, whoa) with my girlI’ve even got the month of May, with my girl (talkin’ ’bout my girl)Talkin’ ’bout, talkin’ ’bout, talkin’ ’bout my girl (ooh)Ooh, my girl (talkin’ ’bout my girl)That’s all I can talk about is my girl (ooh)Why don’t you believe she’s all my girl? (Talkin’ ’bout my girl)

…

Stevie Wonder – I Was Made To Love Her

Of all Stevie Wonder songs…this one is at the top of the list for me.

Anything Stevie does I like. Sometimes when I hear a song it takes a few times for me to like it but this one…hooked me the first time. This song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, and #5 in the UK Charts in 1967. The song was written by Wonder, Lula Mae Hardaway, Henry Cosby, and Sylvia Moy. Lula Mae Haraway was Stevie Wonder’s mother.

The producer was Henry Cosby. He said to get the right vocal out of Wonder he took him to a Baptist church in Detroit. He had Stevie imitate the preacher. To do that Stevie wanted people in the studio with him when he was singing it. He said he had to feel the presence of people. Cosby then went outside the studio and pulled in people from the street who were passing by.

There is some dispute on who played bass on this song…Carol Kaye or James Jamerson? Allan Slutsky who wrote Standing In The Shadows of Motown disagrees with Carol Kaye on this song. He says that James Jamerson played bass in this session. The people he contacted from Motown swear it was James Jamerson. The Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team said it was Jamerson, and Hank Crosby, who co-wrote it and did production on this song, signed an affidavit saying that the bass line was performed by Jamerson.

Either way…you can’t go wrong with either of those bass players.

Carol Kaye: “The first four bars were written, so that thing was pretty straight. The first bar was written to give me an indication of what they wanted the rest of the tune. And then another part I can remember was written – that triad lick was written. And I screwed that one up. (laughing) I mean, you always remember when you make a mistake on the hits. And I made plenty of mistakes, but the feel of the record was good. And that’s the main thing. So the rest, I was on my own. No problem, a lot of chromatics and just aiming for the triads and stuff.”

Stevie Wonder: “Kind of speaks of my first love to a girl named Angie, who was a very beautiful woman. Actually, she was my third girlfriend but my first love. I used to call Angie up and, like, we would talk and say, ‘I love you, I love you,’ and we’d talk and we’d both go to sleep on the phone. And this was like from Detroit to California, right? You know, mother said, ‘Boy, what you doing – get off the phone!’ Boy, I tell you, it was ridiculous.”

I Was Made To Love Her

I was born in Little Rock
Had a childhood sweetheart
We were always hand in hand
I wore hightop shoes and shirt tails
Suzy was in pig tails
I know I loved her even then

You know my papa disapproved it
My mama boo-hooed it
But I told them time and time again
“Don’t you know, I was made to love her
Built my world all around her”
Yeah, hey, hey, hey

She’s been my inspiration
Showed appreciation
For the love I gave her through the years
Like a sweet magnolia tree
My love blossomed tenderly
My life grew sweeter through the years

I know that my baby love me
My baby needs me
That’s why we made it through the years
I was made to love her
Worship and adore her
Hey, hey, hey

All through thick and thin
Our love just won’t end
‘Cause I love my baby, love my baby, ah
My baby love me
My baby needs me
And I know I ain’t going nowhere

I was knee-high to a chicken
When that love bug bit me
I had the fever with each passing year
Oh, even if the mountain tumbles
If this whole world crumbles
By her side, I’ll still be standing there

‘Cause I was made to love her
I was made to live for her, yeah, hey, hey, hey
Ah, I was made to love her
Built my world all around her
Hey, hey, hey

Ooh, baby, I was made to please her
You know Stevie ain’t gonna leave her, no
Hey, hey, hey, ooh-wee, baby