Mama Lion and Smith shook us up and knocked us down. (The reverse would be unthinkable).
When DAZZ was a mere innocent in the 1960's, he (I'm speaking in the third person for some reason -- perhaps too much Geritol) heard this song on the radio (performed by the unknown group Smith and sung with smoky, seductive subtlety by "Mama Lion") and he thought that it was mysterious, sneaky, haunting and every so slightly funkacious. The Beatles earlier version of the song never caught much traction. The Shirelles' original version of the song was was a bit better than the Beatles' version, but just fading into the archives while a good many of their other works are 1960's classics [my favorite being "Foolish Little Girl"].
Then, when I saw Smith perform on television, with Mama Lion looking very seductively 60's and with a psychedelic Peggy Lipton from Mod Squad kind of sexy 'lectricity, I was smitten. There was an intense psychedelic power rock sound to the group -- but the magic was that it was suppressed and bottled up, building up tension in every devout listener (I was one of those) until the refrain, when the band let it jump out of the cage.
Listen for the abrupt stops (tacets) after each full, explosive refrain. Amaxing dynamics, and iconic for the psychedelic sixties. They were, like far out, Man.
Pump up the volume, click on the link or video player below, sit back, and feel the jolt. As for Mama and Smith, I'm a loyalist, trying to wake up my sector of cyberspace to some fabulous music. Truly: Rock and roll never forgets. - RadioDAZZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6atUODsWGs&feature=related
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