Mickey Murray had his biggest hit in 1967 with a cover of Otis Redding's "Shout Bamalama." His version rose up to #54 on the pop charts and just barely missed the R&B Top 10. That was all I could really find out about him, but his records on SST International and Federal pop up from time to time. This one I picked up out of curiosity (plus for the fact that Todd's got a copy, too) and it's an intense soul groover that brings up a bit of James Brown comparison.
The song starts off fast and mighty and stays that way throughout with the band doing a super-fast boogaloo beat and Murray singin' and yellin' about how Flat Foot Sam's always in a jam. How so? Well, one time he married a gal that weighed 603 after going on a spree. She took all his money and sold all his land and is now goin' 'round with another man. That ends the record, but it ain't the end of his troubles as his woes continue with finance companies, judges and robbers among other things.
Throughout this thing, Murray wails and shouts while his back-up band goes 190 m.p.h. with blastin' horns, a chunky bass line and super-speed drums. This may have been a cover of an old rhythm and blues standard but I'm not sure. What I know is that it cooks from start to finish and that's why it's featured in this blog.
From what I understand, Murray's got other chestnuts worth hearin' (there's a "Best of" CD available from Amazon.com, I believe) and I, for one, look forward to hearin' 'em. That is, if I ever find 'em.
1 comment:
I've owned a few copies of this one. Decent and overlooked IMO. Now as whip-crack cool as Tommy Blake and Oscar Wills takes in the 50s, but probably the best 60s version. Maybe the only?
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