This song has a convoluted history even by the standards of 1960s R&B, and seems to have come close to being discarded. Lucky thing that Lieber and Stoller showed interest in it, or who knows if we'd have heard it?
The article lists several interpretations that have been put forward about the song. They don't really get at its appeal, though. What really makes it is the eerie vocal arrangement. It's like an old nursery rhyme coming back to you, just hitting you again. Years ago I heard it while playing cards and thought, "Am I actually hearing this?" I'm not the only one who was affected by it either.
2 comments:
When I played your youtube version this morning all I could hear was the music and no vocals at all. The left speaker on my computer has been broken again these past few days and this original song was recorded in very early stereo - the band stays on the right and the vocalists must stay on the left. That was weird. Then I got Jer to play it on his machine. Okay, that's more like the song as I remember it.
You're right that it's the eerie vocal arrangement that makes this version so memorable. When other people recorded the song it's certainly less weird than the Jaynetts rendition. Considering the fact the recording was made over and over on some very funky equipment with the Jaynetts repeating 'Sally go round the roses' it's no wonder the sound is bizarre and memorable too.
If you feel like reading even more about the song and who else recorded it there's a very long article on Pop Matters.
Just in case: https://www.popmatters.com/sally-go-round-roses-jaynetts
Now I have to take my computer to be repaired again.
It's certainly annoying when computers conk out and you're relying on them to perform. I hope/trust that this was a fixable problem. It's problems with the screen that can really end a machine's usability.
The song seems to have born from some rather odd circumstances, in terms of the original recording if nothing else. If you don't let obstacles like that defeat you then you can come up with something very special, which is what happened here. That's why so many people have covered it, including a large number in different languages.
That certainly is a thorough article by David Pike. When I read about the song on Wikipedia I wondered if Abner Spector, who commissioned the song, was any relation to Phil. Pike cleared that one up. He also talks about the Del-Byzanteens, an interesting band I've heard on WFMU.
Hopefully back tomorrow with a new post.
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