Thursday, July 26, 2012

What would have been Bobby Hebb's 74th Birthday

Rest in Peace Bobby Hebb    1938-2010


Thursday, July 26, 2012 would have been Bobby's 74th Birthday

______________________________________________________________

TONIGHT
In Honor of
Bobby Hebb's Birthday

His friend
Gerry Beaudoin
 

Is on

Visual Radio Live

8 PM  EDT


Tune in

Friday, July 20, 2012

2 new versions of "Sunny" - Steve Davis, Sophie Debattista


Steve Davis "Sunny" on the album 

"Getting It Done" 
(Link below)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSv9vJ-6gZ8


Published on Jul 6, 2012 by
from the album "Getting' It Done" (2012)  by Posi-Tone Records.


Sophie Debattista "Sunny" her new U.K. single before her tour.


http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Final-Say-Sophie-Debattista/story-16411818-detail/story.html

NEW SINGLE of "SUNNY" in release by

Sophie Debattista

Trusted article source icon

Sophie's second single will be released in late summer and her debut album in Autumn 2012.
www.totallysophie.com
18-year-old Maltese pop singer Sophie Debattista records SUNNY!


I've been working on that for two years with Elton Zarb and other producers Giles Squire and Bill Young. They're all my own lyrics. I'm really proud of it.

Sophie will be appearing at the Ashfield Festival in Sutton-in-Ashfield on Saturday, July 7.
For more about her go to www.totallysophie.com, follow her on Twitter @totallysophie, find her on facebook.com/totallysophiemusic and listen to her latest single at soundcloud.com/totallysophiemusic




Half Notes, Jazz — July 7, 2012 7:35 am

Half Notes: Steve Davis – Gettin’ It Done (2012)



http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/07/07/half-notes-steve-davis-gettin-it-done-2012/
Posted by S. Victor Aaron
 
A very sharp set of performances, Davis and his crew produce enjoyable coves of John Coltrane’s “Village Blues” and Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny” (YouTube above), both recognizable but also fresh renditions. The rest of the fare are Davis’ own tunes, a great mixture of toe-tappin shuffles (“Steppin’ Easy”), hot blues (“Gettin’ It Done) and smooth, melancholy ballads (“Alike”). Like Images, Gettin’ It Done is another flawless exhibition of triple horn, 60′s style jazz.

A doggy named "Sunny" is saved! And goes to Broadway



Sunny, an adorable beige shelter mutt, will play Sandy in the fall revival of “Annie,” beginning previews at the Palace Theatre on Oct. 3.

Mutt who had 'only 48 hours to live' plucked from Houston kill shelter for stardom in Broadway revival

Sunny the dog introduced on 'Today' show was a stray scheduled to be put to sleep in an animal shelter in Houston when 'Annie' crew stepped in





Every dog has his day. And while Sunny’s story is unique, it has something in common with every other pooch who played Sandy on Broadway. All were shelter pups.

To support animal adoption and to help hounds have a less hard-knock life, Pedigree, the dog-food company, has teamed with “Annie.”

For each ticket to the show sold through the end of next year, Pedigree will donate $2, up to $1 million for a fund dedicated to helping dogs find homes.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/houston-shelter-mutt-broadway-bow-wow-sandy-annie-article-1.1117276#ixzz218naX8OJ





SUNNY IN THE NEWS
http://portalegiovani.comune.fi.it/pogio/jsp/portalegiovani_urw_webzine.jsp?ID_REC=10851


 Venerdì 6 luglio 2012 allo spazio "Fiorino sull'Arno" (Lungarno Pecori Giraldi - Firenze) si terrà il concerto del trio "Kajalzone" composto da Khaled Amud, voce e chitarra acustica, Sandra Ciulli, voce e cori ed Emanuele Coli alle percussioni. Il programma della band prevede covers di artisti come Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai, Incognito, Bill Withers, Bobby Hebb, Jestofunk e tanti altri. Il tutto all'insegna della voglia di muoversi e del divertimento, in una parola Groove.








Ben Tucker
http://articles.herald-mail.com/2012-06-27/lifestyle/32461618_1_lou-donaldson-jazz-ben-tucker



On Saturday, both Tucker and Donaldson will perform at the Don Redman Heritage Award and Concert at the Mather Training Center in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. They will also each receive the Don Redman Heritage Award for their contributions “in jazz education and music as well as the individual musicianship, humanity and dignity that illuminate the spirit of Don Redman.”








Sophie becoming a familiar face at British Festivals

added: 12 Jul 2012 // by: Music-News.com Newsdesk 
Sophie has recently finished recording her first (self penned) studio album at Freetime studios on Malta. Her new single 'Sunny', a total remake of the 'Bobby Hebb' classic, will be released by Thru The Mill at the end of this Summer.


http://www.music-news.com/shownews.asp?H=Sophie-becoming-a-familiar-face-at-British-Festivals&nItemID=54098







DEAN MARTIN BOXED SET!


FIRST EVER CAREER-DEFINING BOX SET FOR THE LEGENDARY DEAN MARTIN COMING THIS JUNE!  Same label as Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" CD - Hip0 Select!



http://www.deanmartin.com/features/default.aspx?nid=247



Everybody Loves Somebody


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxVdjw0Gm8I&feature=related



Thursday, July 12, 2012

Rare Bobby Hebb Song Discovered! "I WISH"

Before Stevie Wonder wrote a song called "I Wish" the author of "Sunny", Robert Hebb, wrote a song for his good friend Jimmy Church entitled
"I Wish."




It is now rediscovered and available!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxQF-YiTLn8 

Author: Bobby Hebb
Producer: Mickey Baker
Vocalist: Jimmy Church 
 Drums - Sticks Evans
Guitar - Kenny Burrell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Burrell 

Okeh Records
(same label as Little Joe Cook)
Time: 2:20


I Wish
By Bobby Hebb


I Wish
That I could win your heart
I'd love you forever/until death to be apart
for your kind of love/is the love for me
Undying, Everlasting, and tenderly





I admire ....
which is soft, but yet so bold
Your cheeks have a smoothness

of a petal from the rose
so don't you see, I want you to be
the girl for me


Night has given away to darkness
And in darkness we are asleep
mmmm...but there is no sleep for me
for my thoughts of you are too deep


The touch of your lips, are....so nice
yes they send me way up to Paradise
but there is just one thing I want you to believe
that you are the one, and only girl for me
So don't you see, I want you to be
The Girl for Me


Here's what the person who posted it to YouTube wrote:
Uploaded by on Jun 17, 2011
 
Sweet, Sweet, SWEET initially unissued Doo Wop/Soul transitional recording by the Nashville based Mr. Church & his vocal group of unknowns (unknown to me, that is). 

Recorded 'round about 1963 for Okeh, it seems this gem languished in the monolithic vaults of Columbia Records for quite a while. Another wonderful recording mishandled by some A&R fools at the big record company? I'm shocked.



SunnyTheSong Responds on YouTube:


This song was written by Bobby Hebb, author of "Sunny" for his friend Jimmy Church. It was produced by Mickey Baker of Mickey & Sylvia fame. Bobby Hebb replaced Mickey Baker and the duo Mickey & Sylvia became Bobby & Sylvia and they signed to Battle Records.  There are some great session people on this recording. Jimmy Church did an interview on Visual Radio with Joe Viglione on July 5, 2012 and talked about this song. That interview is up on You Tube.

Jimmy Church on Visual Radio July 5, 2012

 ___________________________________
Mickey Baker is hot again with his song 
 "Love Is Strange" (with Sylvia Robinson) in the movie MEN IN BLACK III.
____________________________________
Pit Bull has a version of "Love Is Strange" also in the movie Men In Black III

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBrfwJGzUSM

Pitbull - Back in Time vs. Mickey & Sylvia - Love is Strange 

_______________________________________

Listen to Bobby Hebb's guitar in the #10 hit from 1962 "Rinky Dink"...Bobby plays the "Love Is Strange" riff on the Dave "Baby" Cortez hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BMKwei453o

2:28-2:32 more Bobby Hebb guitar

______________________________

Chess Records

Rinky Dink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cQKcI1Tkqg&feature=related

 ___________________________________

Mickey Baker playing the riff on

LOVE IS STRANGE

by 

Mickey & Sylvia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpEA5QGYJFQ





Also on Chess Records with a 17 year old Bobby Hebb playing the spoons is "She's Fine, She's Mine,"  Bo Diddley's flip of "Diddley Daddy" on Chess Records.



You can distinctly hear Bobby Hebb performing on Spoons
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhEL45dJjrY


(E.McDaniels) ARC Matrix: 45-7837 37 4243



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUUfOYggDJw


Early Bo Diddley on Checker catalog #819 released 1955 playing on the Sylvania CR-2740

 _____________________________________
Diddley Daddy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZWsCrlVPKg





From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diddley_Daddy

Writing and recording

The song was recorded on May 15, 1955 in Chicago. Originally called "Diddy Diddy Dum Dum,"[5] it started out as a Billy Boy Arnold composition, which Leonard Chess, owner of Chess Records (Checkers was a subsidiary label of Chess), had heard Arnold play and wanted Diddley to record. However, Arnold had just signed a contract with Vee-Jay Records, and had recorded the song the day before at Universal Studios. When Chess wanted Arnold to sing the song, the latter realized he had a contract, responding, "I can't do it...I just recorded it for Vee-Jay." Chess responded, "Goddam! Ain't this a bitch!" A solution, however, was found on the spot: Diddley and Harvey Fuqua, who happened to be around, rewrote the lyrics.[6]
As it happened, the harmonica player Little Walter was in the studio, and he asked Billy Boy Arnold for his harp; Walter plays the long solo after the first verse (Arnold plays harmonica on the B-side, "She's Fine, She's Mine"). Also decided at "the spur of the moment" was to have Chicago doo-wop group The Moonglows sing background vocals.




Another YouTube of "She's Fine, She's Mine"


Much clearer - the Rolling Stones probably got "Sweet Black Angel" on Exile on Main Street from this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENdozG_Me6w



Earlier song

In 1955, Bo Diddley recorded "She's Fine She's Mine" for the B-side to his second single, "Diddley Daddy" (Checker 819). Accompanying Diddley (vocal and guitar) were Billy Boy Arnold (harmonica), Clifton James (drums), and Jerome Green on maracas. The song features a repeated figure on Diddley's tremolo-laden guitar. The first verses are sung without lyrics:
Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah (2x)
Well you don't love me baby, you don't love me I know
"While this is a traditional blues in form, the unusual, almost exotic, arrangement with its hypnotic beat combined with Bo Diddley's anguished vocal takes this far out of the range of the ordinary".[4] Diddley recorded an unrelated song, "You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)" with completely different music and lyrics two months prior on March 2, 1955, which was released on his Go Bo Diddley album.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She%27s_Fine,_She%27s_Mine



The Hi Fi's with Bobby Hebb on Guitar

"I'm So Lonely" 
Written by James Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9VyNEi73xk

Montel Records    SJM 1005








Bobby Hebb toured with The Seniors but 


he is not on their recordings. 


THE SENIORS   Bobby 
13)Sloo Foot Sue
14)Why did you leave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQEEjWdGAZ4EXCELLO 45-2130
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Is7EneeDI





When Jimmy Church and The Seniors 


became the Hi Fi's, Bobby played guitar 

on this single   "My Dear"  b/w

"I'm So Lonely" 


15)HI Fis  my dear  


16)Hi Fis i'm so lonely (James Church) SJM 1005 Montel 

Recording Co, Baton Rouge LACal Music Co, BMI   


Time   2:25

EXCELLO RECORDS LIST



2130 - Seniors : Why Did You Leave Me / Sloo Foot Soo ( Dec 1957)



The Seniors with Jimmy Church


Artist Biography


Nashville-born Jimmy Church entered music professionally while he was still in high school as a singer in the R&B vocal group the Seniors, whose ranks also included guitarist Bobby Hebb. They were good enough to be signed by Excello, and he later moved on to the Hi-Fi's, who got a contract with Baton Rouge-based Montel Records. He passed through Johnny Otis' band in Los Angeles but preferred the music opportunities in the South, returning to his native Nashville, where he began his solo recording career on the Hickory label. He later moved to OKeh during the latter's final active years, and to Sound Stage 7 and Peach Tree. He also passed through the lineup of the King Casuals -- whose ranks also included a young Jimi Hendrix -- before forming his own group, the Jimmy Church Revue.





ack Listing
1. Rollin' Stone - The Marigolds
2. It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day) - Earl Gaines/Louis Brooks
3. Now Listen Baby - Good Rockin' Sam Beasley/Kid King's Combo
4. Pork and Beans - The Solotones
5. Lightnin's Blues - Lightnin' Slim
6. Courtin' in a Cadillac - Jerry "Boogie" McCain
7. My Mumblin' Baby - Rudy Green
8. Pleadin' for Love - Larry Birdsong/Louis Brooks & His Hi-Toppers
9. Congo Mambo - Guitar Gable/King Karl/Guitar Gable & The Musical Kings
10. Irene - Guitar Gable/King Karl
11. Kiss-A-Me Quick - Jack Toombs
12. Havin' a Whole Lot of Fun - Johnny Jano
13. Hey! Baby - Al Ferrier
14. No Jive - Little Al
15. Little Lean Woman - Little Al
16. Chicken Hearted Woman - Clarence Samuels
17. My Home Is a Prison - Lonesome Sundown
18. Mean Ol' Lonesome Train - Lightnin' Slim
19. They Call Me Lazy - Lazy Lester
20. I'm a King Bee - Slim Harpo


Excello Story Vol 2  1955-1957   features The Marigolds; Bobby's brother, Hal Hebb, was in the Marigolds.
I'm not sure if he's on this particular recording.  Working on getting that information. 







So let's have some fun.   In 2012 Mickey Baker, Bo Diddley & Sylvia Robinson have their hit in MEN IN BLACK III.  Pitbull does a rap version of "Love is Strange" while Moes Def does a rap version with Bobby Hebb's "Flower" from Love Games sampled.   We have a track or two where Bobby worked with Bo Diddley.  See all the connections?

We also find a song, "I Wish" where Bobby worked with both Mickey Baker and Jimmy Church(thanks to Jimmy Church on Visual Radio July 5, 2012)


Stevie Wonder had a different song "I Wish." 

Stevie Wonder covered "Sunny" on a live album, STEVIE WONDER LIVE and also a STUDIO rendition.

Stevie Wonder  performing Bobby Hebb's "Sunny"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMvdh6AKRts




Stevie Wonder performing the Stevie Wonder song "I Wish"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH1BPQ7FLbc 







Moes Def singing "Priority" 
from Bobby Hebb's "Flower"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM-VLp1IPto

Live version of Moe's Def 
"Flower" is 2:20 in on this live rendition


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ-Y8kYufTM









Saw Moes Def in a film the other night.  
He's made quite a few movies.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_Def

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Mieko "Mico" Hirota performs "SUNNY"

Here's a very rare "Sunny" from Japan, purportedly recorded before Bobby's own American version
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HsRXOTRaCY

Bobby told me that Ben Tucker brought the sheet music and a cassette to Japan.  That would make Mieko's rendition and David Pike's 1965 vibraphone rendition on Atlantic Records in America the first two released versions of "Sunny" on the marketplace.

Recording: Sunny

Performed by
First release
On audio album Hit Kit Miko, Vol. 2 (October 20, 1965)
Comments
Title in Japanese: サニー. 
 
 


I was listening to Bobby's version today at 4:08 P.M. Eastern time while on the rotary in Medford to South Border Road, Winchester, and a van pulled up to the yield sign with "SONNY'S" painted across it!

A definite sign!


Mieko Hirota

Song
Written by
First release
Sunny by Mieko Hirota on audio album Hit Kit Miko, Vol. 2 (October 20, 1965)
Language
English
 
 
MICO, NOT NICO!

Here's a fascinating website:
 
The most interesting thing I discovered is that Hirota apparently recorded the first version of ‘Sunny’ in 1966, one of about a half dozen versions (including one by vibist Dave Pike) that preceded the huge hit by the song’s composer Bobby Hebb. Hebb had recorded a demo version of the song, which made an impression on a number of artists, including Mieko Hirota who recorded and released her version (a hit in Japan) prior to Hebb’s version being released on Philips in the US.
Hirota’s version of ‘Unwind Yourself’ – for some reason retitled ‘On a Sorrowful Day’ rolls along at a brisk pace with a nice horn chart (with just a hint of the baritone sax figure from Marva Whitney’s OG) and some cool guitar. As I said before, it can’t really compare to the power of the original, but it is an interesting window into the international reach of the James Brown sound.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.
 
WIKIPEDIA

Mico was considered the "Connie Francis of Japan."  She covered "Vacation" which is the first 45 RPM that I ever purchased...the Connie Francis version in America, of course.


 
DAVE PIKE'S VERSION of SUNNY
 
Atlantic 45-5073

Ben Tucker discovered Bobby Hebb and the song


 
 
 
 

Thursday, July 05, 2012