DIDDY WAH DIVERSION #46: MERRY CLAYTON

Geez, last night I was all over the place, thank you Diddy Wah very much for that. If you don't know Diddy Wah, he's a DJ, real name Adam something or other, based in London, utilizing only 45s. He spins "'50s and '60s blues, surf, rockabilly, R & B, gospel, garage, soul and rock'n'roll", in others word, a tempting smorgasbord. Still, even with that, things could go haywire. But his blog posts and mixes are an indication, he is a man of taste. I've mentioned him quite a bit over the years for good reason. His shit don't stink. Take it from me, or don't and go moping off.

His once simple blog has gone fancy. Not a bad thing, because there's so much to get lost in. Gone are the mp3s in his new posts, he's switched to streaming, but the silver lining is that nearly all of his posts from 2014 have been updated with functioning mp3 links. The music used to be available for a couple weeks, but now you can revisit a bunch of last years links and pick up what you may have missed.  Or just settle in your cubicle at work and blast one of his mixes. Come to think of it, with all the technological doodads available these days, you can probably play them on your regular stereo via wireless router or some other thing that I'm late in adopting.

Dread at the control.

So, last night while dicking around over at his site, I ran into an old Raelets post, one that featured Merry Clayton on lead vocal, That's her at the top, not Diddy Wah. As far as I know he's never worn his hair like that. Clayton is best know for her vocal on the Stones "Gimme Shelter", the wail heard 'round the world. So, yeah, a Merry Clayton tear it was, in the midst of which I wound up back at an old post at Plain or Pan, where the host dutifully notes a point in "Gimme Shelter" at which her wail is so intense, her voice cracks. Accidental, and so effective it was left in. You can hear it in the isolated vocal only track linked below. Along the way, I ran into "It's In His Kiss", her original version of the song Betty Everett made a hit. Then there was a another, "Tell All the People", where her voice doesn't exactly crack, it's more of a squeal, but to much the same effect. Again, leaving it in was a smart move. She should have made a career out of those. Then there's a Dylan cover, a Neil Young cover and a song from the soundtrack of Performance, that one with Ry Cooder on guitar and produced by Jack Nitzsche. Yeah baby. You see where I'm going with this. It's all Diddy Wah's fault.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Raelets - One Room Paradise mp3 at Diddy Wah
Merry Clayton -  It's In His Kiss (streaming) at YouTube
Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (isolated vocal track) (streaming) at YouTube Voice crack at 3:00
Merry Clayton - Tell All the People mp3 at Art Decade Squeal at 2:30
Merry Clayton - Rainy Day Woman #13 & 35 mp3 at Cover Me
Merry Clayton - Southern Man mp3 at Stop Smiling
Merry Clayton - Poor White Hound Dog mp3 at The Rising Storm
Visit:
Diddy Wah - Home page
Diddy Wah blog - Single song posts