Carrying on with the Summer
of Love reminiscence, here’s a range from that time.
Reminding us that it
wasn’t all rock ‘n roll, here’s Nina Simone’s “He Ain’t Comin’ Home No More”,
from her High Priestess of Soul
album.
The Queen of Soul
released perhaps her most iconic song in April of 1967, but it was still going
strong that summer, so here it is.
And on the other side of
the Atlantic that year, a British band was forming, giving itself a Latin name
referring to “beyond these far-off things”, and putting together a sound that
drew on Baroque and Classical music traditions, which led to what became known
as progressive rock. Procul Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” was their first—and
biggest—hit, released in May.
I love the reference to
this piece in Alan Parker’s The
Commitments, based on Roddy Doyle’s novel. (It’s particularly apt for today’s
post, because The Commitments is
about the protagonist’s obsession with soul music. The Irish soul band’s
renditions of “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and “The Dark End of the Street”
are particularly zesty.)
(Sorry about the size;
it’s the only clip I can find online.)
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