Re: Requests

[Aeskow@xxxxxxx]

Johnny T. wrote:
>Mitch, I got another request: any Otis Redding ballad esp. "The Glory Of
Love"....

Hey Johnny, I don't remember those tunes you mentioned but how about "Try A
Little Tenderness"?

- --Hey Mitch:

     Don't cross me, kid.  I made ya, and I can break ya.  You're takin' a 
dive in the sixth round against the champ--or else!
     But here's the thing, Mitch: by strange coincidence (not so strange, I 
guess, considering I brought up Otis in the first place) I've been fooling 
around with Tenderness myself--in my personal life as well as my musical one--and 
while it's a great tune (even on the lowly diatonic Hering 1923), it lacks 
what we in the Harp Cover Tune Business call "the shock of the new."  To me, one 
of the things that made your version of "Moanin'" so great, aside from the 
incredible chops and sensitivity, was the very thing that made Otis' versions of 
"Tenderness" and "The Glory of Love"--which I believe has been around since at 
least the '40s?--so powerful: nobody'd been thinking very much about those 
songs until he brought them roaring back to life.  (OK, the Platters charted 
with "Glory" in the '50s, but still...)
     Maybe it's my fixation on Otis--the massive strength combined with such 
delicate nuance--but I really do urge you to comb through some of the 
lesser-known tunes.
     Having said that, of course, I'd be thrilled to hear your version of 
"Tenderness" too.
     And we can discuss my managerial fees later--but I warn you, they 
sometimes range all the way up to the two-beer range...

Keep playin
Johnny T