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Don Covay is an American soul singer and songwriter.
In 1970 Don Covay left Atlantic Records, who he had been with for the last five years, and signed with Janus. His first album of the new decade was 1971's Different Strokes For Different Folks, which like his last LP (1969's The House Of Blue Lights) was credited to Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band, and featured a rather odd choice of album cover. Whilst the previous album had been a exploration of more rootsy blues styles, Different Strokes went the other way and updated his sound somewhat, with more of a slick, funky modern soul feel. Unfortunately it didn't generate any hits.
The House Of Blue Lights (1969) <|> Super Dude (1973)
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Don Covay is an American soul singer and songwriter.
Don Covay's recording career began way back in 1957, but for most of his life he has found more success as a songwriter than a singer. He only ever released three albums in the 60s (Mercy!, See-Saw and The House Of Blue Lights), but there were also many singles in this era released on a variety of labels, most of which sank without a trace. Dug up and collected together, they make for a wealth of brilliant songs which could well have been compiled into at least one more album at the time. Coming from a span of over ten years, their style varies quite considerably. His earliest singles were in a straight rock & roll format, coming from when he was performing as part of the Little Richard Revue. Over the next several years he moved through doo-wop, soul and funky R&B styles.
His first song to become a big hit through another artist was "Pony Time", which was covered by Chubby Checker and in 1961 and got to #1. He went on to write songs for others including Solomon Burke, Jerry Butler, Gladys Knight, Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin (who had a huge hit with "Chain Of Fools" in 1967). The two songs which did give him Top 10 R&B hits of his own were "Mercy Mercy" and "See-Saw", but as they were featured on albums of the same names they are not included on this compilation (and neither are a few more singles from those albums). In fact this compilation goes no where near collecting all of the singles, some of which still remain very obscure and elusive (most notably his own version of "Chain Of Fools" isn't here). Instead it should be considered a selection of songs to showcase the scale of his talent, both A-sides and B-sides taken from thirteen years of his career .
It includes one cover - Allen Toussaint's "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", from 1970.
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Don Covay is an American soul singer and songwriter.
After his mid-60s sucesses with "Mercy Mercy" and "See-Saw", Don Covay had several years without any significantly charting singles, and no LPs. However his songs continued to be recorded by other artists on both sides of the Atlantic, including Wilson Pickett, The Spencer Davis Group, The Small Faces, and others. The most notable was "Chain Of Fools", which gave Aretha Franklin a #1 R&B hit in 1967 (it also got to #2 on the pop chart the following year, and earned her a Grammy). He also helped form a short-lived soul supergroup, called The Soul Clan, with Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Joe Tex, and Arthur Conley. However they only ever released one single together.
In 1969 he recorded his third album, The House Of Blue Lights, which was credited to 'Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band' (which also featured white blues musician John Hammond Jr). It saw him switch gears into a swampy blues mode, with very pleasing results, with plenty of guitar, organ and harmonica. It wasn't quite traditional blues however, as some of the songs featured flute and sitar. And there was one song which stood out from the the rest, the six-minute soul epic "Homemade Love", which featured numerous rhythm changes, some support from two uncredited vocalists, and a brief detour into Ray Charles' "Drown In My Own Tears". It was more akin to the sound of Sly & The Family Stone than the blues of the rest of the record.
The album didn't generate any hit singles, but it turned out to be one of his most interesting releases, fitting in well with the blues/soul/rock fusions that were prevalent at the time.
See-Saw (1966) <|> Different Strokes For Different Folks (1971)
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Don Covay is an American soul singer and songwriter.
The 1965 song "Mercy Mercy" had given Don Covay's recording career a good kick start, after years of failing to light up the charts (finding more success as a songwriter). In 1965 he was re-signed to Atlantic Records, and through them he got access to the Stax studios in Memphis (where many of Atlantic's soul artists went to record). His next big hit was "See-Saw", co-written with guitarist Steve Cropper.
His second album came out in 1966, and was a compilation of singles and other tracks recorded at Stax (with "Mercy Mercy" appearing again). These Memphis recording sessions saw his music take on a grittier soul edge, particularly notable on the funky "Fat Man", "Sookie Sookie" and "Iron Out The Rough Spots". The result was another underrated classic album of 60s soul.
Mercy! (1965) <|> The House Of Blue Lights (1969)
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Don Covay is an American soul singer and songwriter.
Like many soul singers who emerged in the 50s and 60s, Don Covay (born in South Carolina in 1938) began his career singing gospel music, in his family quartet the Cherry Keys. He made the move into secular music with The Rainbows, and went solo in 1957 as part of the Little Richard Revue. Many singles followed, released on various different labels, and sometimes credited to 'Don Covay & The Goodtimers'. However he had more success at first as a songwriter rather than a recording artist, and penned "Pony Time" (a #1 hit for Chubby Checker), "I'm Hanging Up My Heart For You" (recorded by Solomon Burke) and "Letter Full Of Tears" (a top 20 hit for Gladys Knight & The Pips).
His first big success as an artist in his own right didn't come until 1964 - "Mercy, Mercy" was a #1 R&B hit, and also got to #35 on the pop charts. Apparently the song's guitar part is played by a young Jimi Hendrix. The album Mercy! quickly followed in the wake of the single's success. It's some great 60s soul/R&B, showcasing Covay's excellent songwriting. Many of the songs here were soon being covered by various British Invasion bands.
|> See-Saw (1966)
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