“It was a funky record – it’s one of my favorite Beatle tracks, or, one of my favourite Lennon tracks, let’s say that. It’s funky, it’s bluesy, and I’m singing it pretty well. I like the sound of the record. You can dance to it. I’d buy it!”
~John Lennon (Playboy interview, 1980)
–
The Beatles recorded “Come Together” July 21, 1969.
We have to start with the original version (off course):
One comment over at our FB page suggested that Lennon’s live version from MSG, NYC in 1972 was even better than the original.. I tend to disagree, but it is a great version.
Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” is an R&B hit love ballad of the ’60s that has lost none of its soulful power with the passing decades. Redding’s success with the single was second only to that of his ever-popular classic “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.”
~Joslyn Lane (allmusic.com)
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” became Redding’s first Top 40 single, in June 1965. And when Redding performed a scorching drawn-out version at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 — in front of the audience he called “the love crowd” — the single made the transition from hit to legend.
~rollingstone.com
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (Monterey ’67):
Wikipedia:
Released
April 19, 1965
Format
7″ single
Recorded
Miami: 1965
Genre
Soul
Length
2:49 (mono version, April 1965)
3:09 (stereo version, July 1965)
Label
Volt/Atco
V-126
Producer
Otis Redding
Jerry Butler
“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (sometimes issued as “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)”) is a song written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. It appeared as the A-side of a 1965 hit single by Otis Redding – and subsequently appeared on his thirdalbum, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul. Although Redding had been appearing in the U.S. Billboard Pop and R&B charts as early as 1962, this was his first big hit, reaching #21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was his first Top 5 Billboard R&B chart, peaking at #2. The B-side of the single “Just One More Day,” was also a minor hit, reaching #15 on the R&B and #85 on the Pop chart. The song is ranked #110 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Album version:
Lyrics:
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) by Otis Redding
I’ve been loving you too long to stop now
There were time and you want to be free
My love is growing stronger, as you become a habit to me
Oh I’ve been loving you a little too long
I dont wanna stop now, oh
With you my life,
Has been so wonderful
I can’t stop now
There were times and your love is growing cold
My love is growing stronger as our affair [affair] grows old
I’ve been loving you a little too long, long,
I don’t want to stop now
oh, oh, oh
I’ve been loving you a little bit too long
I don’t wanna stop now
No, no, no
Don’t make me stop now
No baby
I’m down on my knees Please, don’t make me stop now
I love you, I love you,
I love you with all of my heart
And I can’t stop now
Don’t make me stop now
Please, please don’t make me stop now
Good god almighty I love you
I love you, I love you, I love you
I love you, I love you
I love you in so many different ways…
I love you in so many different ways….
Live 1967 – London:
Notable cover versions:
The first cover of the song was a recording by The Rolling Stones in 1965 — shortly after Redding’s original version became a hit.
The most widely known cover version of the song was by Ike & Tina Turner in 1968. It was the lead track from their 1968 Blue Thumb album entitled Outta Season. Live at Altamont Festival 1969:
Aretha Franklin recorded a cover for her album Young, Gifted and Black (1972).
I am dysfunctional by choice, and I love my attitude problem.
~Phil Spector
If the average man is made in God’s image, then Mozart was plainly superior to God.
~Phil Spector
Strictly speaking, Phil Spector wasn’t even a performer — he’s a musician, but he very rarely released records under his name. However, as a producer — and, to a significant extent, songwriter, label owner, and session player — he has influenced the course of rock & roll for more than all but a handful of performers.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
The Ronettes – Be My Baby – Stereo:
From Wikipedia:
Birth name
Harvey Phillip Spector
Born
December 26, 1939 (age 73)
Origin
The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
Genres
Pop, rock
Occupations
Record producer, songwriter, session musician
Instruments
Guitar, piano
Years active
1958–2009
Labels
Philles Records, A&M Records, Apple Records, Warner Spector, Phil Spector International, Pavillion Records, ABKCO Records, Sony Legacy
Associated acts
The Ronettes
The Crystals
Darlene Love
The Righteous Brothers
John Lennon
The Teddy Bears
Ike and Tina Turner
George Harrison
Dion DiMucci
The Ramones
The Beatles (Let It Be)
Leonard Cohen
Ben E. King
Gene Pitney
Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
The Wrecking Crew
Starsailor, Ronnie Spector, Sonny Charles and the Checkmates Ltd., Cher, Cher & Harry Nilsson, Jerri Bo Keno.
Phillip Harvey “Phil” Spector (born Harvey Phillip Spector on December 26, 1939) is an American record producer and songwriter.
The originator of the “Wall of Sound” production technique, Spector was a pioneer of the 1960s girl-group sound and produced over 25 Top 40 hits in 1960–1965. Some of his famous girl groups are The Ronettes and The Crystals. After this initial success, Spector later worked with artists including Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon, George Harrison, and the Ramones with similar acclaim. He produced The Beatles’ album Let It Be, and the Grammy Award–winning Concert for Bangladesh by former Beatle George Harrison. In 1989, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. The 1965 song “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”, produced and co-written by Spector for The Righteous Brothers, is listed by BMI as the song with the most U.S. airplay in the 20th century.
In 2009, Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, California home. He is serving a prison sentence of 19 years to life.
Righteous Brothers – You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’:
The Wall of Sound:
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s. Working with such audio engineers as Larry Levine and the session musicians who became known as The Wrecking Crew, Spector created a dense, layered, reverberant sound that came across well on AM radio and jukeboxes popular in the era. He created this sound by having a number of electric and acoustic guitarists perform the same parts in unison, adding musical arrangements for large groups of musicians up to the size of orchestras, then recording the sound using an echo chamber.
Album of the day:
Back to Mono (1958–1969) – Released November 12, 1991
At the time Back to Mono was released in 1991, Phil Spector’s reputation as one of pop’s great visionaries was intact, but there was no way to hear his genius. It wasn’t just that there were no collections spotlighting his productions, there weren’t collections of artists he produced. It wasn’t until Back to Mono that there was a thorough overview of Spector’s greatest work, and while it’s not without flaws, it still stands as one of the great box sets.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)
Back to Mono is not available on spotify… So we’ll have to do with another collection:
