ANTHEM,
Book 3 of the Sixties Trilogy, publishes on October 1. Each of the
book's 47 chapters begins with
a song from the Sixties to set the tone,
mood, and scene. Every day between now and October 1, come have a listen
and read a snippet from each chapter. On October 1, these posts will be
archived with a link at ANTHEM's webpage for #teachingAnthem1969
This is Chapter 20 (day 28):
IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
Written by Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper
Performed by Wilson Pickett
Recorded at Stax Records, Memphis, Tennessee 1966
Drummer: Al Jackson, Jr.
Our second supper together, thought Molly. She had found a can of beef stew in the box and they'd added it to their feast, splitting it three ways after warming it on a grate over the fire.
"Bus didn't sound too good over those hills last night," said Ray.
"I know," said Norman. "It struggles with hills."
"Are we all right?" Molly asked.
Norman shrugged. "We've got to be."
The sun painted the sky with its oranges, yellows, pinks, and reds.
Another Wilson Pickett, this one, "In the Midnight Hour," recorded at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee. So maybe you can figure out where our small band of travelers is heading.
"In the Midnight Hour" gives me a chance to highlight how those late night conversations -- like the one Molly, Norman, and Ray are about to have -- can reveal truths we couldn't contemplate in the heat of the day.
So. A significant turning point here for Molly, in her thinking about her place in the world, as compared to others'. And a new direction for Molly and Norman to explore, both internally and externally.
The plot turns.
Chapter 20.
deborah wiles: field notes
ANTHEM is coming, chapter 19
ANTHEM,
Book 3 of the Sixties Trilogy, publishes on October 1. Each of the
book's 47 chapters begins with
a song from the Sixties to set the tone,
mood, and scene. Every day between now and October 1, come have a listen
and read a snippet from each chapter. On October 1, these posts will be
archived with a link at ANTHEM's webpage for #teachingAnthem1969
This is Chapter 19 (day 29):
THE ROAD OF LOVE
Written by Clarence Carter
Performed by Clarence Carter with Duane "Skydog" Allman
Recorded at FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama 1969
Drummer: Roger Hawkins
"Hey! Come in! Come in! All of you, come in!" said Rick Hall as Norman, Molly, and Ray stepped into the lobby. "We got collards and sweet potatoes, sliced tomatoes, fried chicken. You hungry?" They were.
Introductions were made all around. "These gentlemen are my house band, the Swampers," said Rick. "Roger Hawkins on drums, Jimmy Johnson on gee-tar, Barry Becket on keyboards and David Hood on bass. Say hey, boys! And Spooner! Get in here, Spooner!"
FAME! The mythology that surrounds FAME Studios and the Muscle Shoals sound is romantically linked with some of the most southern of southern rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and of course Rick Hall himself.
When I discovered that Duane Allman had recorded at FAME with Clarence Carter (that's Duane, above), I knew I had a vital connection for Norman and Molly, to help propel them across the country; now I just had to make the narrative make sense, to get them there.
It was so much fun to research FAME and Rick Hall and the Swampers (here's Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," where the Swampers are named -- the song was recorded at the rival Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, when the band split from Rick Hall and opened their own studio), and to get into Roger Hawkins' drumming style, for Norman, as the two of them play along with Wilson Pickett's "Land of 1000 Dances," which was recorded at FAME:
"Cymbals!" shouted Roger. Norman jumped in his chair but hit the crash cymbal. "Now straight-ahead," hollered Roger as he played along with himself on the recording and with Norman in the studio. "It don't get much simpler than this! Fours on the snare, a little help from the cymbals, don't forget the kick drum."
A red light glowed in the control booth and colored dials on the sound board twinkled.
"Recording!" Rick announced. "Take one. Rolling."
"What?" Norman panicked.
"Keep playing," said Roger. "You're doing fine."
Chapter 19.
This is Chapter 19 (day 29):
THE ROAD OF LOVE
Written by Clarence Carter
Performed by Clarence Carter with Duane "Skydog" Allman
Recorded at FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama 1969
Drummer: Roger Hawkins
"Hey! Come in! Come in! All of you, come in!" said Rick Hall as Norman, Molly, and Ray stepped into the lobby. "We got collards and sweet potatoes, sliced tomatoes, fried chicken. You hungry?" They were.
Introductions were made all around. "These gentlemen are my house band, the Swampers," said Rick. "Roger Hawkins on drums, Jimmy Johnson on gee-tar, Barry Becket on keyboards and David Hood on bass. Say hey, boys! And Spooner! Get in here, Spooner!"
FAME! The mythology that surrounds FAME Studios and the Muscle Shoals sound is romantically linked with some of the most southern of southern rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and of course Rick Hall himself.
When I discovered that Duane Allman had recorded at FAME with Clarence Carter (that's Duane, above), I knew I had a vital connection for Norman and Molly, to help propel them across the country; now I just had to make the narrative make sense, to get them there.
It was so much fun to research FAME and Rick Hall and the Swampers (here's Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," where the Swampers are named -- the song was recorded at the rival Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, when the band split from Rick Hall and opened their own studio), and to get into Roger Hawkins' drumming style, for Norman, as the two of them play along with Wilson Pickett's "Land of 1000 Dances," which was recorded at FAME:
"Cymbals!" shouted Roger. Norman jumped in his chair but hit the crash cymbal. "Now straight-ahead," hollered Roger as he played along with himself on the recording and with Norman in the studio. "It don't get much simpler than this! Fours on the snare, a little help from the cymbals, don't forget the kick drum."
A red light glowed in the control booth and colored dials on the sound board twinkled.
"Recording!" Rick announced. "Take one. Rolling."
"What?" Norman panicked.
"Keep playing," said Roger. "You're doing fine."
Chapter 19.
ANTHEM is coming, chapter 18
ANTHEM,
Book 3 of the Sixties Trilogy, publishes on October 1. Each of the
book's 47 chapters begins with
a song from the Sixties to set the tone,
mood, and scene. Every day between now and October 1, come have a listen
and read a snippet from each chapter. On October 1, these posts will be
archived with a link at ANTHEM's webpage for #teachingAnthem1969
This is Chapter 18 (day 30):
AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH
Written by Nikolas Ashford and Valerie SImpson
Performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell
Recorded at Motown Studios, Detroit, MI 1967
Drummers: Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin and Uriel Jones
Performed by Diana Ross and the Supremes
Recorded at Motown Studios, Detroit, MI 1969
Drummers: Uriel Jones and Richard "Pistol" Allen of the Funk Brothers
"Norman!" Molly shrieked from the back of the bus as she struggled to get up. They must have had an accident. She had to wake up. Had to get to her cousin. "Normaaaaan!"
"Stay there!" screamed Norman as he tried to stop the bus from swinging wildly back and forth and skidding off the road into a ditch. He was horrified to realize they could smash into a telephone pole and burst into a fiery furnace with a full tank of gas.
"Go!" the stranger urged once again. "Get away before he can come after you!"
Norman yelled at the stranger. "Who are you?"
"Norman!" Molly wailed. She had grabbed onto a bus seat and was finding her footing. "Turn on the lights!"
A two-fer of the same song this time, above by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell, and below by The Supremes. Listen to how different they are, recorded in the same studio, two years apart, percussion by the Funk Brothers both times, but two very different acts, with very different approaches, different purposes, and in part, different audiences.
Welcome to ANTHEM, Motown.
I love both versions. I'm partial to Marvin Gaye's, but the ending of the Supremes version is awfully inspiring, eh?
In researching these songs, I was most pulled to the story of Tammy Terrell, and her battle with cancer, and how, when she lost that battle, in 1970, Marvin Gaye was lost as well. He would come out of that time with the album "What's Going On?" which is a testament to a new way of approaching the power of music for Marvin Gaye, as an activist against the war in Vietnam and against racial profiling and much more.
I use "What's Going On?" in KENT STATE, my book that publishes next spring. ANTHEM serves as a springboard into the '70s as well as a hard look at the mountain we climbed in order to get ourselves out of Vietnam and bring our troops home.
Plus, as Molly says in ANTHEM: "A night drive through the North Alabama mountains is inadvisable."
Chapter 18.
This is Chapter 18 (day 30):
AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH
Written by Nikolas Ashford and Valerie SImpson
Performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell
Recorded at Motown Studios, Detroit, MI 1967
Drummers: Benny "Papa Zita" Benjamin and Uriel Jones
Performed by Diana Ross and the Supremes
Recorded at Motown Studios, Detroit, MI 1969
Drummers: Uriel Jones and Richard "Pistol" Allen of the Funk Brothers
"Norman!" Molly shrieked from the back of the bus as she struggled to get up. They must have had an accident. She had to wake up. Had to get to her cousin. "Normaaaaan!"
"Stay there!" screamed Norman as he tried to stop the bus from swinging wildly back and forth and skidding off the road into a ditch. He was horrified to realize they could smash into a telephone pole and burst into a fiery furnace with a full tank of gas.
"Go!" the stranger urged once again. "Get away before he can come after you!"
Norman yelled at the stranger. "Who are you?"
"Norman!" Molly wailed. She had grabbed onto a bus seat and was finding her footing. "Turn on the lights!"
A two-fer of the same song this time, above by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell, and below by The Supremes. Listen to how different they are, recorded in the same studio, two years apart, percussion by the Funk Brothers both times, but two very different acts, with very different approaches, different purposes, and in part, different audiences.
Welcome to ANTHEM, Motown.
I love both versions. I'm partial to Marvin Gaye's, but the ending of the Supremes version is awfully inspiring, eh?
In researching these songs, I was most pulled to the story of Tammy Terrell, and her battle with cancer, and how, when she lost that battle, in 1970, Marvin Gaye was lost as well. He would come out of that time with the album "What's Going On?" which is a testament to a new way of approaching the power of music for Marvin Gaye, as an activist against the war in Vietnam and against racial profiling and much more.
I use "What's Going On?" in KENT STATE, my book that publishes next spring. ANTHEM serves as a springboard into the '70s as well as a hard look at the mountain we climbed in order to get ourselves out of Vietnam and bring our troops home.
Plus, as Molly says in ANTHEM: "A night drive through the North Alabama mountains is inadvisable."
Chapter 18.
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