What do The Buckinghams, Gilberto Gil & The Temptations Have In Common?

Some time ago--I mean like years ago--I discovered a piece of background noise that was used in at least 3 different songs. I call it background noise because that's what it is. Not music. Rather it's the sound of children's voices having fun.

You might ask how I can tell that such a soundbite is the very same one on 3 very different songs. After all, it's a pretty obscure clip and just used for effect in the songs. And most regular listeners wouldn't even play attention to the clip, much less realize that it's the same one. But the key for me to having recognized the recordings as being one and the same is in the voice of what seems to be an adult shouting something like, "Harry!" It could be Larry or Gary or Barry. I'm going with Harry. But whatever the actual name is it's the same one. Also there's a little bit of children's voices before and after the "Harry!" that serves to prove it's the same soundbite.

I know you're all dying to know just what this recording is and where it appears. So here we go. The first recording is the longest and clearest of the three. It is found on "Have You Noticed You're Alive (reprise)" by The Buckinghams from 1967. The "Harry!" yell is heard right around the 11 second mark:





The next this clip is found on is a totally different song. Totally different country, too. It's at the beginning of a song by Brazilian singer/songwriter Gilberto Gil called "Domingo No Parque" from 1968. The title translates to "Sunday at the Park." The "Harry!" shriek can be heard right around the 8 second mark. The beginning part of the clip is less audible and clear. But from the Harry part on you can tell it's the same as the one on The Buckinghams tune.





Finally, on a third and still very different song you can hear this background noise once again. This time it's on The Temptations song "Ain't No Justice" from 1973. On this song you can hear much of the beginning of the clip up to the point of the Harry. And then the music gets louder and the clip less audible. Oh, and the clip seems to be only on the right channel/speaker. You can hear "Harry!" right around the 3:16 mark:




There you have it! Were you able to hear it on all three songs? Are you convinced it's the same clip? Do you wonder where this soundbite was recorded and when? I sure do. And how did it ever circulate around to 3 different record labels (Columbia, Phillips, Motown, respectively)? Also I can't help but wonder if this same clip was used in any other songs.

I've been meaning to write this post for soooo long. I always had a hard time remembering which Buckinghams' tune had the clip. But there it all is.

Songs for the Christmas Season 28

First up today is another great one from Smokey Robinson & The Miracles called "It's Christmas Time" from 1970.

We'll follow that one up with a very old recording. It's called "On a Christmas Day" by Lead Belly from 1942.

Songs for the Christmas Season 26

Kenny Burrell is one of my favorite all-time guitarists and it's hard to just pick one of his Christmas recordings. The tune that first introduced me to him was "My Favorite Things" from 1966 and there was no looking back afterwards.






Next is a groovy, R&B number by Jimmy Jones and His Valiants called "Christmas is a Drag (Without You). This is a definitely a forgotten holiday favorite.

Songs for the Christmas Season 15

Some soulful tunes for this blog post. First up is my favorite version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Ray Charles. There is just no funkier version of this song that I know of!






And next is Ella Fitzgerald with "Good Morning Blues" from her 1960 Christmas album.

Songs for the Christmas Season 5

Yesterday, I went with mellow. Today I'm going with some uptempo, happy songs. First up is a great song by Detroit Jr. called "Christmas Day." Not only is it a great, driving R&B number but it's also an original holiday tune!





Today's second selection is another driving song, this time Louisiana-style. It's "Louisiana Christmas Day" by Aaron Neville from 1993.

Songs for the Thanksgiving Season 1

So as soon as the Halloween season has passed us, it's time to start thinking about the Thanksgiving season. Let's start that today for we should be thankful more than just one day out of the year. I'll post some 'thanksgiving' songs that aren't necessarily about the holiday but rather just being grateful for one reason or another.

We'll start off with this great classic from Sam & Dave called "I Thank You." Their studio recording is great in itself but I found this live performance which is equally great and fun to watch. I'll thank you for watching it.

Blue-Eyed Soul of Steve Colt

I uploaded this really cool song by Steve Colt from 1970 titled, "Please Please Please (Tell My Mind to Stop Teasing My Heart)." For those of you who aren't familiar with Steve Colt, he had some mid-to late-60's songs where he sounded like the white version of James Brown. In particular he had a song called "Dynamite" which just brings the house down. Check the song out on YouTube if you don't already know it. There are several uploads of the song there along with others. I decided to upload the lead-off track from his Paradox album because no one else has done so on YouTube and because it is my favourite song on the album.




The sound here is a little different from the 60's singles. A little less soul/R&B sounding and more along the lines of blues rock. But the voice is undeniably blue-eyed soul. Absolutely a great vocal performance and solid instrumentation. My only criticism is the horribly weak-sounding snare drum. I realize this was from 1970 but there had been better sounding recorded snare drums up to that point.

Steve Colt died at the age of 62 at a nursing home in 2005. An amazing musician indeed.