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| The fields I till.... |
Another week, another grab-bag of musical artists, another playlist: welcome to the second MAME May 2019 newsletter/playlist. Virtually nothing connects this week’s bands/artists beyond the fact they’re most of what I listened to over the past week (or so). I hope to start with themes one of these days – e.g., finding my favorite song by Journey – but I’ll work on finding a rhythm on posting.
Now, moving on to this week’s featured artists, and going by loose chronological order.
One Hit No More: Doris Troy, A Helluva Lot More than “Just One Look”
“When I recorded that song in a little basement studio in New York, I asked God to keep that song alive forever. And you know, he answers prayers.”
Doris Elaine Higginsen, later Doris Troy, wasn’t the first young woman raised in gospel to stealthily slip into the “wicked world” of R&B. Somehow she convinced her parents to let her work as an “usherette” at the Apollo Theater, where James Brown (! yes, the funkiest, most-sampled man alive) discovered her. She started writing songs for other artists as Doris Payne (Dee Clark’s “How About That” was her first - $100!), but she co-wrote “Just One Look,” the song that made her famous, with Gregory Carroll. But she made her career one step removed from the spotlight.
Her one hit was her last turn in the spotlight. As noted in the obituary ran by The Guardian after her death in 2004 (which makes sense; you’ll see), Troy figured out early on that she could earn steadier pay as a back-up singer/arranger for “more established artists” – a term that, in reality, translates to enormously fucking famous. The woman who would transform into “Mama Soul” left her fingerprints on some of the most famous music of the late 60s/early 70s: The Rolling Stones (“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”), Pink Floyd (all of Dark Side of the Moon, apparently), Dusty Springfield, Carly Simon (“You’re So Vain”). Her connection to The Beatles’ George Harrison would give her a final shot at fame.
Now, moving on to this week’s featured artists, and going by loose chronological order.
One Hit No More: Doris Troy, A Helluva Lot More than “Just One Look”
“When I recorded that song in a little basement studio in New York, I asked God to keep that song alive forever. And you know, he answers prayers.”
Doris Elaine Higginsen, later Doris Troy, wasn’t the first young woman raised in gospel to stealthily slip into the “wicked world” of R&B. Somehow she convinced her parents to let her work as an “usherette” at the Apollo Theater, where James Brown (! yes, the funkiest, most-sampled man alive) discovered her. She started writing songs for other artists as Doris Payne (Dee Clark’s “How About That” was her first - $100!), but she co-wrote “Just One Look,” the song that made her famous, with Gregory Carroll. But she made her career one step removed from the spotlight.
Her one hit was her last turn in the spotlight. As noted in the obituary ran by The Guardian after her death in 2004 (which makes sense; you’ll see), Troy figured out early on that she could earn steadier pay as a back-up singer/arranger for “more established artists” – a term that, in reality, translates to enormously fucking famous. The woman who would transform into “Mama Soul” left her fingerprints on some of the most famous music of the late 60s/early 70s: The Rolling Stones (“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”), Pink Floyd (all of Dark Side of the Moon, apparently), Dusty Springfield, Carly Simon (“You’re So Vain”). Her connection to The Beatles’ George Harrison would give her a final shot at fame.
