This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(July 2016) |
"Groove Me"is a song recorded by R&B singerKing Floyd.Released from hiseponymousalbum in late 1970, it was a crossover hit, spending four non-consecutive weeks at number-one onBillboard Soul chartand peaking at No. 6 on theBillboardHot 100.[4]InCanadathe song reached No. 11.[5]
| "Groove Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SinglebyKing Floyd | ||||
| from the albumKing Floyd | ||||
| A-side | "What Our Love Needs" | |||
| B-side | "Groove Me" | |||
| Released | September 1970[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1970,Malaco RecordsStudio Jackson, Mississippi | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:04 | |||
| Label | Chimneyville,Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | King Floyd | |||
| Producer(s) | Wardell Quezergue | |||
| King Floydsingles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song was recorded and produced byWardell QuezergueatMalaco Records'Jackson, Mississippirecording studios during the same session as another Quezergue-produced song,Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff".[6]"Groove Me" was originally released as the B-side to Floyd's "What Our Love Needs" on the Malaco subsidiary Chimneyville. WhenNew Orleansdisc jockey George Vinnett started playing the B-side, the song began meriting attention, and as the record emerged as a local smash,Atlantic Recordsscooped up national distribution rights.[6]
Personnel
editNo credits are listed for the Malaco studio musicians on the record. According toRob Bowman's liner notes from the 1999 box set,The Last Soul Company: Malaco, A Thirty Year Retrospective,the musicians for this session included:
- Jimmy Honeycutt – saxophone
- Bob Cheesman – trumpet
- Wardell Quezergue– organ
- Jerry Puckett – guitar
- Vernie Robbins – bass
- James Stroud– drums
During this time at Malaco, horn lines were typically played by saxophonist Hugh Garraway and trumpeter Perry Lomax.[7]
Origin
editAccording toRob Bowman,Canadian professor of ethnomusicology, "Groove Me" had been inspired by a young college student who had worked about twenty feet away from Floyd at an east L.A. box factory. In Floyd's words: "She'd just watch me and smile at me all day. When I went to the water fountain, she would make it her purpose to come up to the water fountain. But, I was so shy. So, I decided one day that I was gonna write this poem and give it to her and I wrote 'Groove Me.' Believe it or not, after I finished it she never came back to work. It blew me away. So, I never gave her the poem. Man, I'd sure like to meet her one day just to thank her!"[7]
Cover versions
edit- The Blues Brotherscovered the song in their hit 1978 albumBriefcase Full of Blues,giving the song a Jamaican reggae feel.
- In 1979,Fern Kinney,who sang backing vocals on King Floyd's original version, released adiscoversion of the song on her albumGroove Me,which reached No. 6 on the Billboard dance chart.[8]InCanadathe song reached No. 20.[9]
References
edit- ^"King Floyd - What Our Love Needs".45cat.com.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
- ^Letsch, Glenn (2005).R & B Bass.Hal Leonard Corporation.pp. 24–25.ISBN0634073702.RetrievedAugust 6,2013.
- ^Smith, Danyel (19 April 2022). "Intro".Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop.Rock Lit 101.p. x.ISBN978-0-593-13271-5.
- ^Whitburn, Joel(2004).Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004.Record Research. p. 209.
- ^"RPM Top 100 Singles - February 13, 1971"(PDF).
- ^ab"King Floyd - Biography".Billboard.Retrieved2016-07-26.
- ^abBowman, Rob (1999)."Malaco Records: The Last Soul Company"(PDF).Peermusic.com.p. 17.Retrieved2016-07-26.
- ^"Billboard".Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 8 September 1979. p.48.Retrieved28 February2024– via Internet Archive.
- ^"RPM Dance Music - November 3, 1979"(PDF).