"Candy Girl" - R&B Record, Hand Clap Rhyme, & Foot Stomping Cheer (with an excerpt from Kyra D. Gaunt's Book "The Games Black Girls Play")

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the R&B record "Candy Girl". This post also presents an excerpt from Kyra D. Gaunt's 2006 book The Games Black Girl's Play: Learning The Ropes From Double-Dutch To Hip-Hop that discusses discusses the concept of "bridge" hand clap rhymes and focuses on a 1990s hand clap version of New Edition's 1983 R&B song "Candy Girl" as an example of Black girls cultural expression.

Text (word only) examples of three "Candy Girls" foot stomping cheers are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, recreational, cultural, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composers and performers of the R&B song "Candy Girl". Thanks also to Kyra D. Gaunt for her research and writing about Black girls musical expressions and thanks to all the contributors of rhyme examples and all those who are quoted in this post.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "CANDY GIRL" & SONG LYRICS
�Candy Girl� was the first single New Edition released in 1983 from their debut album of the same name. The song was recorded in 1982 after the group was given studio time by producer Maurice Starr following a second-place finish in a Boston talent show. The members of New Edition were between the ages of 13-15 when this song was recorded. The single was released on February 24, 1983, and while it only peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100, it hit #1 on both the R&B Singles chart and the UK Singles chart.

Lyrically, New Edition describes their girls as being �sweet as candy� and this song�s style was inspired by the 1970 hit �ABC� by The Jackson 5.

[LYRICS- CANDY GIRL]

[Ralph Tresvant rapping]
My girl's like candy, a candy treat
She knocks me high up off my feet
She's so fine, as can be
I know this girl is meant for me

[Ralph singing]
Candy girl...
You are my world
When you're with me
You brighten up my day

All I know
When I'm with you
You make me feel so good, through and through
The way you walk, and the way you talk
You always look so good, you make forget my thoughts

[Ricky Bell]
Do you really love me?
Don't you really care?
Do you really need me
And will you always be there?

[Ralph]
Every night and every day
I'm always thinking of you in every way
All I know
When I'm with you
You make me feel so good
Through and through

Candy girl, you are my world
[RB] You're everything, everything, everything to me

[RT] Candy girl, all I want to say
[Bobby Brown] I need your love, each and everyday!

[Ralph talking]
Hey fellas! (What?)
Check out Mike and Bobby's little lady!
(ooooh-weeeee!)

[Michael Bivins]
Well, check out Ricky and Ralph's!
(oooooh-weeee!)

[Bobby]
What about Ronnie's!

[Ronnie DeVoe]
She's bad, I know she's bad!

[Michael]
She walks so fast, she looks so sweet
She makes my heart just skip a beat

[Bobby]
My girl's the best and that's no lie
She tells me that I'm her only guy!

[Ricky]
That might be true, but my girl's a joy
She don't play around, she's right to the point!

[Ralph rapping]
My girl's like candy, a candy treat
She knocks me high up off my feet

[Ralph singing]
Oh, candy
You look so sweet

Oh, candy!
You're a special treat

[Break]

[RT] Candy girl, you are my world
[B] I need your love, each and everyday

[RT] Candy girl, all I want to say
[RB] You're everything, everything, everything to me

[RT] Candy girl, you are my world
[B] I need your love, each and everyday

[RT] Candy girl, all I want to say
[RB] You're everything, everything, everything to me

[RT] Candy girl...
[B] I need it, need it, need it, need it, need it everyday!

[RT] Candy girl..."


Source: https://genius.com/New-edition-candy-girl-lyrics
-snip-
"Candy Girl" was written by Maurice Starr. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_Girl_(New_Edition_song)

****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Candy Girl official video New Edition 1983



dakwa4life, Published on Mar 19, 2009

Official Video (1983)

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BOOK EXCERPT
From The Games Black Girl's Play: Learning The Ropes From Double-Dutch To Hip-Hop by Kyra D. Gaunt (New York University Press), 2006; chapter: "Mary Mack Dressed In Black: The Earliest Formation Of A Popular Music", sub-title "Hand Clap Games"

[page 68]
"The lyrics of the musical games black girls play circulate between the dominant three types of play found in girls' games. For example, the lyric and melody of "Mary Mack" occur as a handclapping game-song and as a jump rope chant.
Additionally, these same lyrics and melodies operate within a wider musical system that includes the blues and other types of popular music typically associated with adults.

The partner style of handclapping, with only two girls, gradually expands o a type of handclapping game known as "bridges". The most popularly known handclapping bridge is "Tweedle deedle dee", based on the melody and lyrics of "Rockin Robin," Michael Jackson's first single as a solo artists, and his first departure in 1971, from the Jackson Five on Motown Records.

[...]


[page 72]
The author describes African American girls performing rhymes that they knew for a new television program in Boston, Mass. (October 18, 1999)
..."Lights, camera, action!" The girls began chanting the lyrics and melody of the opening lines of "Candy Girl". I recognized the song immediately and was titillated at discovering a game-song that showed a relationship between recent popular music culture and the ongoing tradition of creating girls games from it as a resource.

The girls patted hand with the girl to either side of them, creating an alternating current of contact around the circle. I was witnessing one of the latest bridges based on the early 1980s "bubblegum soul" of the

[page 73]
group New Edition. The game would have preceded these eight-and nine-year-old girls by ten years: they were born in 1991 and 1992. ("Candy Girl" was New Edition's first single hit, and it became the title of their first album releasd in 1983.)

[...]

The girls' handclapping, bridge version of "Candy Girl" highlighted the borrowing of popular dances from the recent past: i featured the Jamaican Pepperseed, marked by the alternating movements of the torso from left to right on one two three and (hold) four / one two three and (hold) four. With arms spread out to the side, the movements of the torso on one two three and (hold) four transferred wavy currents of motion from one arm to the other, causing the arms to look and feel like they were treading water. Th game featured the late 1980s dance the Running Man, popularized by bad boy Bobby Brown of New Edition. This dance involved the funky locomotion of lunging forward on alternate feet while thrusting your chest out and pulling your fists back by your sides. The dance was all about subdivided timing of strides marking the offbeats between one and two and three and four, while your feet executed a sliding action and a slight scuffling sound after each forward lunge, emulating a running man (or woman).

I recognized one other dance within the formula of "Candy Girl": the "Fight" from the early 1980s, which accompanied a chant about Mike Tyson. It involved mimicking a flurry of jabs, hooks, and punches times to the downbeats of the music, and I often deployed it when I was on the dance floor at a club or party with a guy who was getting toofriendly-too close for comfort. (These were the guys that wanted to turn even a fast song into an intimate slow dance or grind.)

[page 74]

The girls had fit these three dances, and others, into the kinetic orality accompanying the lyrics. They repeated the game-song for the cameras.

Can-dy Girl/You are my world
Look-so sweet/ Spe-cial treat

Following this was a section of show-and-tell, an embodied call-and-response of a sort, where the conjunction between word and the body, between individuals and the collective, became apparent. As they sand of doing the Janet Jackson, they danced the Pepperseed. As they sang of doing the Mike Tyson, the did the Fight. As they sang of doing the Bobby Brown, they did the Running Man.

This is the way you do - the Janet // Jackson ["Pepperseed"]
This is the way you do - the Mike // Tyson ["the Fight"]
This is the way you do - the Bobby // Brown ["the Running Man"]

Calling out the names of prominent African American stars that they would have been familiar with as popular icons in the media, the girls dramatized a salient feature of these figures' personas, or image, through kinetic orality. One could assert that the girls were performing the communal discourse, as well as a musical grapevine of blackness, through the body and their in-body formulas.

Traditional African American children's games revolve around dance, and its influence can be seen in almost all physical activities. Song and dance are an integral part of storytelling, for example. Cheerleading becomes dance, double-dutch jumping becomes dance, and so do the agile exertions of athletes from the end-zone to the hoop. Play serves as the training for performance. Through interaction, we learn fair play. That is, we learn the ethics of a culture and we learn to identify good play, which is similar to learning how to recognize good performance, The determining factors have to do with personal creativity, styling, and aesthetics. Thus, play becomes performance (Malone 1996 in Caponi 1999, 226"."

****
THREE FOOT STOMPING CHEER EXAMPLES OF "CANDY GIRL"
CANDY GIRL
All: Candy Girl.
All my world.
Look so sweet.
Special treat.
Soloist #1: This is the way we do the Bounce.
Candy Girl.
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
Soloist #1: All my world.
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
Soloist #1: Look so sweet.
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
Soloist #1: Special treat
Group: Do the Bounce. Do the Bounce.
All: Candy Girl.
All my world.
Look so sweet.
Special treat.
Soloist #2: This is the way we do the Snake.
Candy Girl.
Group: Do the bounce do the Snake.
Soloist #2: All my world.
Group: Do the Snake. Do the Snake.
Soloist #2: Look so sweet.
Group: Do the Snake. Do the Snake.
--T.M.P.(African American female; memories of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s; audio recording 1992; In 2000 I observed members of Braddock, Pennsylvania's chapter of Alafia Children�s Ensemble perform this cheer with the exact same beat, and tune, and the same words except for then popular R&B/Hip Hop dances)

****
CANDY GIRL (Version #2)
does anybody know candy girl? little girls i know still play it!

candy girl, oh my world
look so sweet, special treat
this is the way you do the "wop"(or the "snake", or whatever dance is cute that u know the name of)
candy girl, say wop,wop
oh my world, say wop, wop
look so sweet, say wop,wop
special treat, say wop,wop(and then move on to the next dance)
- bitsy196 (African American female); http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=4; �remember when?�; 6-25-2003 [no location given]

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CANDY GIRL (Version #3)
Candy girl,
all my world,
looks so sweet,
candy treat
This is the way
we do the (insert a dance)
Candy girl
Do the (dance) the (dance)
All my world
Do the (dance) the (dance)
Looks so sweet
Do the (dance) the (dance)
Candy treat
Do the (dance) the (dance)
(Repeat)
Directions:
This one involves the whole participation of the group at once. You repeat it for as many dances as you have until you can�t think of anymore.
-Jennifer (Korean), undergraduate female college student University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; remembrances of rhymes she performed when she was 8-12 years ; (she indicates that she learned this from African American girls); collected in 2005 via email to Azizi Powell in 2005
-snip-
Notice that the lyrics for these "Candy Girl" foot stomping cheers are very similar to the lyrics for the hand clapping/imitative motions example that was given in Kyra D. Gaunt's book The Games Black Girls Play.

****
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Categories: African American children's rhymes and cheers African American Rhythm & Blues foot stomping cheers old school dances The Games Black Girls Play book

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"Age Of Aquarius", "Blue Moon", & Two Other R&B, Or Hip Hop Songs That Mention The Sun Or The Moon

Edited by Azizi Powell

In honor of the August 21, 2017 eclipse of the sun, this pancocojams post provides excerpts from an astronomical article and an astrological article about that eclipse.

This post also showcases four YouTube examples pf African American R&B, or Hip Hop songs that mention the word "sun" or "moon". The lyrics for these songs are also included in this post.

None of these songs are actually about the sun or the moon astronomical bodies. However, this post provides opportunities for those who know these songs to enjoy them again, and opportunities to introduce these songs to those who don't know them.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all of the featured singers for their musical legacies. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUGUST 21, 2017 ECLIPSE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017
"On Monday, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States, passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. In other countries it will only be visible as a partial eclipse.[1][2]

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon's apparent diameter is larger than the sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometers wide.

The last time a total solar eclipse was visible across the entire contiguous United States was during the June 8, 1918, eclipse, and not since the February 1979 eclipse has a total eclipse been visible from anywhere in the mainland United States.[3] The path of totality will touch 14 states, although a partial eclipse will be visible in all fifty states."...
-snip-
Here's an excerpt from one of many astrological articles about the possible meanings of this solar eclipse:
From https://www.buzzfeed.com/terripous/heres-what-astrologers-have-to-say-about-the-eclipse?utm_term=.ltaNXOOEe#.hbaN4DDlO Here's What Three Astrologers Think The Eclipse Means For Horoscopes
�When there are eclipses in Leo, astrologers historically have linked them to the coming of a ruler or the downfall of one.�

Posted on August 19, 2017, at 9:16 a.m., by Terri Pous
..."First things first: Eclipses, particularly this eclipse, mean something different for everyone, depending on your chart. Astrologer Susan Miller writes that anyone whose birthday falls within five days of the eclipse (or whose birthday is Feb. 21) should guard their health, and should know that the year that follows that particular birthday will be a critical one for them. Leos may also feel solar eclipses strongly, because the sun is their ruler.

In general, solar eclipses have a lot of symbolism when it comes to light. The sun provides all of the light for our planet, astrologer Chani Nicholas told BuzzFeed, and it�s a force of life. When the sun�s light gets obscured, things get a little temperamental down here on Earth. Light�s absence is associated with death, destruction, and an overturning of power.

Astrologer Wade Caves told BuzzFeed he sees a lot of connections between this eclipse and health. �Eclipses tend to mark endings, and the closing down of things,� he said. �The sun has implications of health and vitality in people who lead and take charge. When moon eclipses the sun, it�s almost like the source of health, vitality, lumination, and truth are momentarily taken away from us.�

And what about this eclipse? Even though it�s no longer thought to be bad luck to be in the direct path of the eclipse like it was in the ancient days, Nicholas said, �it�s still a shadow falling on the US. It feels very symbolically resonant somehow.

Not only that, but Nicholas says a theme for this eclipse is breakthroughs � which, as she reminded me, often come after breakdowns. Some people might have important personal breakthroughs in how they express themselves and feel in the world. Or we might see important breakthroughs for the country as a whole.

�For America, this is a time to deal with our national self-image,� Nicholas said. �We�re coming to grips with how we see ourselves.�

Remember for a moment that countries have birth charts too, and the last time the path of totality was limited to the US was in 1776. In that year, we had war, sure, but we also overthrew a king and established lasting independence.

�Eclipses reveal shadows,� Nicolas said, �but they also create a feeling of breaking through to something, especially for certain people.�...

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are presented in chronological order with the video with the oldest publishing date given first.

Example #1: Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine



fnordius, Published on Jul 22, 2007

Bill Withers in 1971, playing "Ain't No Sunshine"
-snip-
LYRICS: AIN'T NO SUNSHINE
(words & music by Bill Withers)

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
It's not warm when she's away
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And she's always gone too long
Anytime she goes away

Wonder this time where she's gone
Wonder if she's gone to stay
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home
Anytime she goes away

And I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know
Hey, I oughtta leave young thing alone
But ain't no sunshine when she's gone

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Only darkness every day
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away


Lyrics from https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/billwithers/aintnosunshine.html
-snip-
Italics added for the first time that the word "sunshine" is found in this song.

****
Example #2: The 5th Dimension Age of Aquarius 1969



ViniBassMan, Published on Mar 21, 2009
-snip-
LYRICS: AGE OF AQUARIUS
[James Rado & Gerome Ragni (lyrics), and Galt MacDermot (music)]

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
The Age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the minds true liberation

Aquarius, Aquarius

When the moon is in the seventh house
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius, Aquarius, Aquarius
Aquarius, Aquarius

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in
Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in, The sun shine
in


Lyrics from eLyrics.net
-snip-
*Italics were added to highlight these lyrics that mention "moon" and "sun" for the first time in this song.

****
Example #3: Mos Def -1998 -Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Astronomy (8th Light)



Ubatubos GTR, Published on Dec 2, 2010

Mos Def -1998 -Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Astronomy (8th Light)
-snip-
LYRICS: ASTRONOMY (8TH LIGHT)
(Mos Def & Talib Kweli)

Against the canvas of the night
Appears a curious celestial phenomena
Called Black Star, but what is it?

Black people unite and let's all get down
We got to have what? We got to have that love

What is the Black Star?
Is it the cat with the black shades, the black car?
Is it shining from very far, to where you are?
It is commonplace and different
Intimate and distant
Fresher than an infant

Black, my family thick, like they're striped molasses
Star, on the rise, in the eyes of the masses
Black is the color of my true love's hair
Star's are bright, shining, hot balls of air

Black like my baby girl's stare
Black like the veil that the muslimina wear
Black like the planet that they fear, why they scared?
Black like the slave ship that later brought us here
Black like the cheeks that are roadways for tears
That leave black faces well traveled with years
Black like assassin cross hairs
Blacker than my granddaddy armchair
He never really got no time to chill there
Cause this life is warfare, warfare

Deep on the front lines, and blacks is all there
Black like the perception of who, on welfare
Black like faces at the bottom of the well
I've been there before
To bring the light and heat it up like "la cocina"
Make without imagine happen but maybe I'm just a dreamer
I love rockin tracks like John Coltrane love Naema

Like the student love the teacher
Like the prophet love Khadeja
Like I love my baby features
Like the creator love all creatures

Who acknowledge truth and peace seekers
We on point like heat seekers
Targeting the black marketing strategists
Run up on em with the heaters
Everybody following with no leaders
Feeling like we killing ourselves
Because I know they can't defeat us
It don't stop til we complete this, keep this fly
There's so much to life when you just stay Black and God

Blacker than the nighttime sky of Bed-Stuy in July
Blacker than the seed in the blackberry pie
Blacker than the middle of my eye
Black like feh-lah man cry
Some man wan ask "Who am I?"
I simply reply, "The U.N.I., V.E.R.S.A.L. Magnetic"
Work to respect the angelic, climb the mountaintop
And tell it til the valley's enveloped
You're full of big chat but you nah know me
I'm dark like the side of the moon you don't see
When the moon shine newly

You know who else is a Black Star? (Who?) Me
You know who else is a Black Star? (Who?) Me
You know who else is a Black Star, who we? (And we)
Be shining and shining, when we rhyming and rhyming
We be shining and shining, when we rhyming and rhyming

Now everybody hop on the one, the sounds of the two
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
The 8th Light, is gonna shine bright tonight
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension

You know the light
Go from the dark
The other way is ass-backwards
It's absurd
Make you want to crow like a blackbird
That's right
You living from your first day to your last night
Sometimes you show your ass like
Lint on your clothes
When you froze in
The black light
Dead that
Before you get your head wrapped
Like Badu
We see through your voodoo
Just like Eve's Bayou, you dealing with that black magic
Try to civilize you
Not walk on by you
Like civil-(lies do get you black listed) it'll
Be unlucky for you like a black cat
A panther
Revolution is the answer
That's what we need
Greed plague my people like the cancer
True indeed

Now black people unite, and let's all get down
Now everybody hop on the one, the sounds of the two
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
The 8th Light, is gonna shine bright tonight
Everybody hop on the one, the sounds of the two
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
The 8th Light, is gonna shine bright tonight
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
Equaling up to eight, light shine bright

Written by D Dewgarde, Dante Smith, E Dewgarde, Talib Kweli


Lyrics from https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tbfq6lkhubskdigvg633p2xiu7i?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics&u=0#
-snip-
*Italics were added to highlight these lyrics that mention "moon".

****
Example #4: The Marcels - Blue Moon



John1948NineA, Published on Apr 25, 2011

The Marcels was one of several doo-wop-influenced American vocal groups to achieve success in the early 60s, despite the passing of the genre's golden age. Cornelius 'Nini' Harp (lead singer), Ronald 'Bingo' Mundy (tenor), Fred Johnson (bass), Gene Bricker (tenor) and Richard Knauss (baritone), all native to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, achieved fame for their distinctive version of Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart's classic 'Blue Moon', previously a UK Top 10 hit for Elvis Presley in 1956, which topped both the US and UK charts in 1961. Johnson's distinctive bass introduction to the song has remained one of the most enduring vocal phrases of the time. The quartet scored a further US Top 10 hit that year with 'Heartaches', but its personnel was unstable, with Allen Johnson (d. 28 September 1995) replacing Knauss, and Walt Maddox replacing Bricker. Mundy walked out on the group during this same period, which did little to prepare them for the ever-changing trends prevalent during the early 60s, and eventually undermined the Marcels' long-term aspirations.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.

"Blue Moon" is a classic popular song. It was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, and has become a standard ballad.

The lyrics presumably refer to an English idiomatic expression: "once in a blue moon" means very rarely. The narrator of the song is relating a stroke of luck so unlikely that it must have taken place under a blue moon. The title relies on a play on words, since Blue is also the color of melancholy, and indeed the narrator is sad and lonely until he or she finds love."...
-snip-
LYRICS: BLUE MOON
(words by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers)

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue Moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for
And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will ever hold
I heard somebody whisper, 'Please adore me'
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold
Blue Moon, now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own


Lyrics from http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_marcels/blue_moon.html
-snip-
*Italics were added to highlight these lyrics that mention "moon" for the first time in this song.

****
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Categories: African American Hip Hop African American Pop songs African American Rhythm & Blues Historical events

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The Similarity Between The Pattern Sung In The 1956 R&B Song "Ain't Got No Home" & The Pattern Sung In The 1957 Gospel Song "I Love To Call His Name"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post documents how a brief portion of the African American Gospel Quartet "The Harmonizing Four"'s 1957 song "I Love To Call His Name" uses the same note for note phrasing as R&B singer Clarence "Frogman" Henry sung in his 1956 song "Ain't Got No Home".

The Addendum to this post provides information about Clarence "Frogman" Henry and information about The Harmonizing Four.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

My thanks to the featured singers and the composers of these songs. Special thanks to David Whiteis for pointing this song pattern out to me via three emails (July 6th-9th, 2017).

Here are excerpts from David Whiteis' emails to me:

July 6, 2017
David Whiteis:
..."I've thought of another spiritual/gospel lyric image that has filtered into the blues vernacular -- I'm sure you've heard the many blues songs/routines in which the singer signifies at various people in the audience --"See that man all dressed in red, woman gonna go upside his head" . . . "See that woman dressed in green, biggest booty I ever seen," etc. (The late Chick Willis used that idiom in his well-known ""Stoop Down Baby," and he elaborated on it quite a bit in live performance.) That, of course, derives from the old "Who's that yonder, dressed in red / Looks like the children Moses led . . . Who's that yonder, dressed in black / looks like the mourner just got back . . . Who's that yonder, dressed in blue / Looks like His children just came through . . ." song cycle.*

There's also a song by the Harmonizing Four -- and now I can't remember which one it is, but if you'd like I can try to find it -- in which at one point they sing a wordless phrase that Clarence "Frogman" Henry reprised note-for-note in his trademark "Ain't Got No Home" in 1956. Coincidence? Maybe -- but if you hear the two songs side-by-side it's difficult to imagine that Henry wasn't aware of where that riff came from."...

-snip-
July 7, 2017
David Whiteis:
..."Here's the Harmonizing Four song -- listen to the pattern that the lead singer (not their famous bass vocalist Jimmy Jones, but a later member) sings at about 0:33 seconds into the song . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ee-lD5HULM**
[I Love To Call His Name]

. . . and then compare it to what the Frogman does at 0:45, and then again at 1:18 (in falsetto!) and at 2:09.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBsHyMwpIjo [Ain't Got No Home]**

Coincidence? Probably . . . but I think about it every time I hear either one of these songs.

HOWVER: I just realized something. "Ain't Got No Home" was recorded in 1956; the Harmonizing Four didn't sign on with Vee-Jay (the label on which this song was recorded) until 1957. So if anything, this time maybe the gospel singers borrowed the riff from the R&B singer!


David W."
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor's Notes
*The lyrics "Who's that yonder, dressed in red / Looks like the children Moses led" are found in versions of the African American Spirituals "Go Tell It On The Mountain" & "Wade In The Water" and probably other Spirituals.

**The links given in the July 7, 2017 email led to YouTube home page. These links were corrected in David Whiteis' July 9, 2017 email to me.

****
SHOWCASE YOUTUBE SOUND FILES

Pancocojams Editor's Note:
Since the showcased Rhythm & Blues song was recorded before the showcased Gospel Quartet song, I've presented its sound file first.

Example #1: Clarence Henry - Ain't got no home - 1956 (Frogman)



MicMacDeJay, Published on Mar 26, 2010

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Example #2: I Love To Call His Name - The Harmonizing Four And God Will Take Care Of You



Pannellctp Traditional Gospel Music, Published on Jul 31, 2012

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ADDENDUM
Information about Clarence "Frogman" Henry
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_%22Frogman%22_Henry
"Clarence Henry II (born March 19, 1937), known as Clarence "Frogman" Henry, is an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist, best known for his hits "Ain't Got No Home" (1956) and "But I Do"" (1961).[1]

Career
Clarence Henry was born in New Orleans in 1937, moving to the Algiers neighborhood in 1948. He started learning piano as a child, with Fats Domino and Professor Longhair being his main influences. When Henry played in talent shows, he dressed like Longhair and wore a wig with braids on both sides. He joined Bobby Mitchell & the Toppers in 1952, playing piano and trombone, before leaving when he graduated in 1955 to join saxophonist Eddie Smith's band.[1][2]

He used his trademark croak to improvise the song "Ain't Got No Home" one night in 1955. Chess Records' A&R man Paul Gayten heard the song, and had Henry record it in Cosimo Matassa's studio in September 1956. Initially promoted by local DJ Poppa Stoppa, the song eventually rose to number 3 on the national R&B chart and number 20 on the US pop chart.[3] The gimmick earned Henry his nickname of 'Frogman' and jump-started a career that endures to this day.[1]

He toured nationally with a six-piece band until 1958, and continued to record.[2] A cover of Bobby Charles' hit "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do", and "You Always Hurt the One You Love", both from 1961, were his other big hits.[4]

Henry opened eighteen concerts for the Beatles across the US and Canada in 1964, but his main source of income came from the Bourbon Street strip in New Orleans, where he played for nineteen years.[1] His name could still draw hordes of tourists long after his hit-making days had ended. He still plays at various conventions, including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival."...

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Information about The Harmonizing Four
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Harmonizing_Four
"The Harmonizing Four was an American black gospel quartet organized in 1927 and reaching peak popularity during the decades immediately following World War II.[1]

Sources disagree as to the original membership when the group was established in 1927 to sing for school functions at Richmond, Virginia's Dunbar Elementary School. Some sources include Thomas Johnson and Levi Hansly as founding members,[1][2] with others indicating they joined the group in the early 1930s after the departure of original first tenor Joe Curby and original bass Willie Peyton;[3] likewise, eventual leader Joseph Williams is identified as a founding member in some sources,[2] and others claiming he joined as much as six years later.[1][3] In 1937 the group added Lonnie Smith, who later became father to keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith.

The group recorded for Decca Records in 1943 and toured in the postwar years, performing at such high-profile events as the 1944 National Baptist Convention, to an audience of 40,000;[3] the funeral ceremony for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945;[3] and the wedding ceremony of gospel star Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Russell Morrison, an event recorded for a live album to which the group contributed four songs.[3] During this period the group recorded for different labels, including Chicago company Religious Recording, Coleman, and MGM. As of the early 1950s, they signed with Philadelphia's Gotham Records, where they recorded some 40 songs before moving on in 1957 to Chicago's Vee-Jay Records, where they experienced their greatest popularity.[3] Smith retired in 1962, and following a period in the late 1960s of recording for various labels in various membership configurations, the group was essentially semi-retired for the ensuing decades.[3]

Radio
The Harmonizing Four began singing on WRNL, in Richmond, in 1943, soon after recording eight songs for Decca in New York City.[4] Described as "the area's top quartet," the group "would have Sunday breakfast with Richmond for nearly two decades, sponsored by People's Furniture."[5]"

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Categories: African American Gospel Songs African American Rhythm & Blues Clarence "Frogman" Henry The Harmonizing Four

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Marvin Gaye- "Mercy Mercy Me", "What's Going On" (And Three Other Songs From His 1971 "What's Going On" Album)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post features information about and videos/sound file examples of Marvin Gaye's now classic 1971 song cycle album "What's Going On".

This post is presented for its historical, sociological, and aesthetic values.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

My thanks to Marvin Gaye for focusing attention on social & political subjects that were important then and even more important now. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these YouTube examples.
-snip-
Additional videos have been added to this post which was originally published in 2012.

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BACKGROUND FOR THE "WHAT'S GOING ON" ALBUM
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye
"Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 � April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye (he added the 'e' as a young man), was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range...

In 1971, Marvin issued his landmark album, What's Going On. The album and its tracks were responsible in the changing landscape of rhythm and blues music as the album presented a full view of social ills in America, including war, police brutality, racism, drug addiction, environmentalism, and urban decay. Beforehand, recordings of social unrest had been recorded by the likes of (Curtis Mayfield &) The Impressions, The Temptations, Sam Cooke, Sly and the Family Stone and James Brown, but this was the first album fully devoted to those issues. The album was produced under what is called a song cycle and because of its theme of "what's going on" was considered one of the first concept albums to be released in soul music...

After helping to collaborate what became "What's Going On", [Marvin Gaye] returned to Hitsville on June 1, 1970 to record the song, which was inspired by Gaye's brother's accounts of his experience at the Vietnam War and co-writer Renaldo "Obie" Benson of the Four Tops' disgust of police brutality after seeing anti-war protesters attacked in San Francisco...

Released on May 21, 1971, the What's Going On album instantly became a million-seller crossing him over to young white rock audiences while also maintaining his strong R&B fan base. Because of its lyrical content and its mixture of funk, jazz, classical and Latin soul arrangements which departed from the then renowned "Motown Sound", it became one of Motown's first autonomous works, without help of Motown's staff producers. Based upon its themes and a segue flow into each of the songs sans the title track, the concept album became the new template for soul music.

Other hit singles that came out of the album included "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", making Gaye the first male solo artist to have three top ten singles off one album on the Billboard Hot 100. All three singles sold over a million copies and were all number-one on the R&B chart. International recognition of the album was slow to come at first though eventually the album would be revered overseas as a "landmark pop record". It has been called "the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices"."

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FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me



DeTudo, Uploaded on Sep 6, 2007

lyrics
[written by Marvin Gaye]

Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue sky go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north, east, south, and sea
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Radiation in the ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land?
How much more abuse from man can you stand?
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
-snip-
Here's a note about this song that was written by Jonez, 2013 and posted on https://genius.com/Marvin-gaye-mercy-mercy-me-the-ecology-lyrics
"This song mourns the destruction of the environment in a modernized society. Oil catastrophies, radioactive waste, and overpopulation� we even Almost Lost Detroit.

It was recorded in 1971, when the public�s awareness of environmentalism was at an all-time high. Imagine how mortified Gaye would have been if he had seen what was going to happen to the environment during the next 40 years".

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Example #2: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On + Save the Children LIVE

.

rareformulamusic, Uploaded on Sep 28, 2009

Not owned by me, I just wanted to share Marvin's greatness with everybody.

From his Live in Amsterdam in '76 concert.
-snip-
Lyrics for "What's Going On"
(Marvin Gaye, Renaldo Benson & Al Cleveland)

[Intro]
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today - Ya

[Verse 1]
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today

[Chorus]
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Ah, what's going on

[Bridge]
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on
Right on

[Verse 2]
Mother, Mother everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh

[Chorus]
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on - Uh
Right on baby
Right on baby

Source: https://genius.com/Marvin-gaye-whats-going-on-lyrics

**
Lyrics for "Save The Children"
(Renaldo Benton, Marvin Gaye & Al Cleveland)

"Save The Children"

I just want to ask a question
Who really cares?
To save a world in despair
There'll come a time, when the world won't be singin'
Flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringin'
Who really cares?
Who's willing to try to save a world
That's destined to die
When I look at the world it fills me with sorrow
Little children today are really gonna suffer tomorrow
Oh what a shame, such a bad way to live
All who is to blame, we can't stop livin'
Live, live for life
But let live everybody
Live life for the children
Oh, for the children
You see, let's save the children
Let's save all the children
Save the babies, save the babies
If you wanna love, you got to save the babies
All of the children
But who really cares
Who's willing to try
Yes, to save a world
Yea, save our sweet world
Save a world that is destined to die
Oh, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
Oh, oh dig it everybody

Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/marvingaye/savethechildren.html

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Example #3: Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)

MarvinGayeVEVO, Published on Jul 5, 2011

Music video by Marvin Gaye performing Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler). (C) 1971 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
-snip-
Lyrics for "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"
(Written by Marvin Gaye & James Nyx)

[Verse 1]
Rockets, moon shots
Spend it on the have-not's
Money, we make it
Before we see it, you take it

[Chorus]
Oh, make you want to holler
The way they do my life
Make me want to holler
The way they do my life
This ain't living, this ain't living
No, no baby, this ain't living
No, no, no


[Chorus]
Make me want to holler
The way they do my life
Make me want to holler
The way they do my life

[Verse 3]
Hang ups, let downs
Bad breaks, set backs
Natural fact is
I can't pay my taxes

[Chorus]
Make me want to holler
And throw up both my hands
Yeah, it makes me want to holler
And throw up both my hands

[Verse 4]
Crime is increasing
Trigger happy policing
Panic is spreading
God knows where we're heading

[Outro]
Mother, mother
Everybody thinks we're wrong
Who are they to judge us
Simply because we wear our hair long

Source: https://genius.com/Marvin-gaye-inner-city-blues-make-me-wanna-holler-lyrics
-snip-
Here's a note from that website about this song:
-posted by Damian v B, 2013
" "Inner City Blues� is a chart-topping single from the landmark album What�s Going On. The song depicts the ghettos of inner-city America as it discusses how the bleak economic situation would have lead to someone wanting to holler and throw ones hands up."

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Example #4: Marvin Gaye "What's Going On - What's Happening Brother"



Abdul Jalil, Published on May 10, 2012
-snip-
Lyrics for "What's Happening Brother"
(Marvin Gaye & James Nyx Jr.)

[Verse 1]
Hey baby, what you know good
I'm just getting back, but you knew I would
War is hell, when will it end?
When will people start getting together again?
Are things really getting better, like the newspaper said
What else is new my friend, besides what I read

[Verse 2]
Can't find no work, can't find no job, my friend
Money is tighter than, it's ever been
Say man, I just don't understand
What's going on across this land
Ah, what's happening brother?
Yeah, what's happening? What's happening my man?

[Verse 3]
Are they still getting down
Where we used to go and dance
Will our ball club win the pennant
Do you think, they have a chance?
And tell me friend, how in the world have you been?
Tell me, what's out and I want to know what's in

[Verse 4]
What's the deal man
What's happening? Tell me brother
What's happening brother?
Ah, what's happening brother?
What's happening my man?
Whoo, ah, ah, what's happening brother?
Say man, whoo, what's happening brother?

[Outro]
What's been shaking up and down the line?
I want to know because, I'm slightly behind the times

Source: https://genius.com/Marvin-gaye-whats-happening-brother-lyrics
-snip-
Here's a note about this song from that website:
(posted by morza, 2013
"The second song off of Marvin Gaye�s What�s Going On tells a story of a soldier coming back to the United States after a tour in Vietnam and the adjustments to culture that he has to make. The track was inspired by Gaye�s brother Frankie who spent 3 years serving in Vietnam."

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Categories: African American Rhythm & Blues Marvin Gaye social and political issues

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Stevie Wonder- "Superstition" (information, video, lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams showcases a video of Stevie Wonder's 1973 R&B song "Superstition".

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Stevie Wonder for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE STEVIE WONDER'S SONG "SUPERSTITION"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition_(song)
"Superstition" is a popular song composed, produced, arranged, and performed by Stevie Wonder for Motown Records in 1972. It was the lead single for Wonder's album Talking Book,[1] and released in many countries. It reached number one in the U.S.,[2] and number one on the soul singles chart.[3] The song was Wonder's first number-one single since "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" and topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.[4] Overseas, it peaked at number eleven in the UK during February 1973. In November 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at No. 74 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song's lyrics are chiefly concerned with superstitions,[2] mentioning several popular superstitious fables throughout the song, and deal with the negative effects superstitious beliefs can bring."...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Stevie Wonder ? Superstition



Antony Sharmman, Uploaded on May 14, 2010

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LYRICS: SUPERSTITION
(Stevie Wonder)

Very superstitious, writings on the wall,
Very superstitious, ladders bout' to fall,
Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin' glass
Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past

When you believe in things that you don't understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition ain't the way

Very superstitious, wash your face and hands,
Rid me of the problem, do all that you can,
Keep me in a daydream, keep me goin' strong,
You don't wanna save me, sad is my song

When you believe in things that you don't understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition ain't the way, yeh, yeh

Very superstitious, nothin' more to say,
Very superstitious, the devil's on his way,
Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin' glass,
Seven years of bad luck, good things in your past

When you believe in things that you don't understand,
Then you suffer, Superstition ain't the way, no, no, no

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/steviewonder/superstition.html

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Categories: African American Rhythm & Blues African American singers and musicians who are blind Stevie Wonder

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