File this under "should've been a huge hit." I mean, it's got everything: rough rhythm guitar, a big, bold and brassy horn arrangement by Gene Page, loud, pounding drums and a vocal performance from Tina that's the proverbial icing on the cake. It begins with the brass kicking in at full volume, accentuated by raw guitar chording and loud drums and followed up with Tina's vocals telling you that she don't care no more about nothin' you do, cause she's goin' shoppin', finger finger poppin' on through. The song blasts in your ears like an explosion and if it doesn't get you groovin', then rigor mortis has definitely set in.
"Finger Poppin'" was one of three 45s Ike and Tina recorded for Warner Brothers in 1964. (At least that's what it says in my copy of Goldmine's Price Guide to 45 R.P.M. Records.) They recorded for a lot of labels up through the seventies (Sue, Tangerine, Cenco, Pompeii, Loma, Blue Thumb, Modern, Liberty, United Artists and many others). During this time, they released a lot of quality records, but were only hitting the lower ebbs of the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, until late 1970 when they hit #34 with their take on Sly and the Family Stone's I Want To Take You Higher" and 1971 when their "easy and rough" version of "Proud Mary" hit #4. This record was definitely one of them. Who knows? Maybe a few radio stations did play it, but like I said, it should've been mucho big. Ah well, that just leaves us with one more killer record to discover. (P.S. "Finger Poppin'" was recently featured on "Little Steven's Underground Garage," so maybe you could hear it there.)
2 comments:
I've not seen too much about this song on the internet, but your right to single it out for praise. It's a pretty edgy song, especially for the time it was released, although I think this is much rougher than proud mary. Its a glaringly simple song and arrangement, but its the delivery that makes it so good. Top song.
You are absolutely right. It is a top song, definitely one of my favorites. Glad you think so, too.
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