Thursday, September 1, 2022

Wilson Pickett "Don't Knock My Love--Part 2"/"Call My Name, I'll Be There"

I think I've talked about the magic film container full of 45s that I got from my uncle as a kid, right? One of the 45s in that batch was Wilson Pickett's "Call My Name, I'll Be There." Good song - I instantly liked it, and have returned to it over the years. Realizations I made over the years, by decade:
Late childhood: Wait, the background singers are literally singing W-I-L-S-O-N-P-I-C-K-E-T-T. Total vanity but kind of awesome at the same time!
Early adulthood: This "Blue Box" pedal that I bought in a clearance bin and fell in love with is totally the pedal from "Call My Name, I'll Be There" 
Middle age: Watches the documentary Muscle Shoals, realizes that this is 100% the Swampers

Anyway, the album it comes from, Don't Knock My Love, is kind of post-prime for all concerned, and is he wearing a jumpsuit tuxedo and posing in front of a Rolls on the cover? But everyone is having a good time, particularly on "Don't Knock My Love--Part 2", where you suspect the band was riffing out so hard that they had to keep going. Or they had to write a B-side. Either way, it turns a tough rock song into a spy movie theme and it totally works. Love it, particularly when it cross-fades into "Call My Name, I'll Be There." The album is super cheap everywhere and, as stated previously: Jumpsuit tuxedo. Rolls.