Aretha Franklin: "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" (1970)

Aretha Franklin is one of the most recognizable singers in history. Born in Memphis, both of her parents were gospel singers but her mother abandoned the family and later died while Aretha was very young. Her dad would become a famous pastor in Detroit and Aretha sang in church and recorded gospel at 14. Smokey Robinson knew the family. and introduced her to Berry Gordy Jr. at Motown. The result? Eighteen Grammy's, Seventeen top ten (Hot 100) hits and Twenty no. 1 hits on the R & B charts. Aretha was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" is a song written by Ahmet Ertegün and Betty Nelson and first recorded by soul singer Ben E. King in 1962. It would reach as high as  #2 on the U.S. R&B singles chart and #11 on the pop chart. The songwriter Ahmet Ertegun may ring a bell with you as he was the founder of Atlantic Records and established the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Aretha Franklin (The Queen of Soul) covered the song for her twenty-first album, Spirit in the Dark, released on Atlantic Records. Her version, performed with the Dixie Flyers, was released as a single in 1970. Franklin's version was certified gold with sales of over a million copies. In the United Kingdom it reached #13. This was the first of two covers Franklin did of songs made popular by King. The other was her cover of "Spanish Harlem" in 1971.

"Don't play that song for me 
'Cause it brings back memories 
Of days that I once knew 
The days that I spent with you 
Oh no, don't let him play it
It fills my heart with pain 
Please stop it right away 
I remember just-a what he said"

This song is powerful and you can feel Aretha's anguish throughout the song. This really comes through towards the end of the song. The horns give it a rousing lift and by the time she starts shouting "You lied!", you want to find whoever did this to her and slap them. Of all her songs, this is the one you hear the least, despite it being one of her best...

Other acts who have recorded or performed the song include Adriano Celentano (in 1977) and Mariah Carey. It was also performed to great acclaim on American Idol by Kelly Clarkson---the eventual winner---in the first season. More recently Sam Moore duetted the song with Bekka Bramlett on his 2006 album Overnight Sensational.

Here is Aretha showing her piano chops in performing the song live on the Cliff Richards Show. Note that she is crossing her legs and beating time with her left leg as she plays the pedals with her right...




An additional note: Staff at Monahan's Song of the Week believe some of her finest performances are on her completely overlooked album "Aretha Sings the Blues". You can find it on Amazon for $5.99. Buy it! We give it a 5M rating!

Lennon and Maisy Stella:"Telescope" (2012)

Introducing Maisy and Lennon Stella, from the television show Nashville, in a country/folk pared down version of the song Telescope.  The same song was also performed on the show by Hayden Panitierre, the song itself about staying one step ahead of your man's wandering eyes. Both versions are quite good, but we are featuring this version with these two young sisters singing it.  They are amazing, and have already performed at the Grand Old Opry, at 9 and 13 years-of-age!  The earlier songs on You Tube by these sisters begin when the younger of the two (Maisy) was 7.  And yes, the elder sister really is playing that guitar.

You may have first seen the sisters on the talent how scene on the first Season of Nashville. Reportedly Maisy sang for the audition to be part of the cast and they loved her. She told the creators she had and older sister whom she sang with and that was that, both sisters were placed in the roles of sisters. 

Monahan's Song staffer Susan Spinella nailed this one early. The two sisters went viral on YouTube with a vocal only cover of "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn. They use a plastic bowl to tap out a beat. Between that video and Telescope, they have become a video sensation and the number of views are pushing 10 million.

Most recently, they did a cover of "Ring of Fire" to commemorate what would have been Johnny Cash's 81st birthday. It was recorded in the Ryman Auditorium.

We think the future is bright for the Stella Sisters. Here we are including "Telescope", but also "Call Your Girlfriend". There is a Nashville soundtrack if you want to own some of these tunes...


 

Follow-up: First Rock Song Ever...

We received a lot of input on the first rock and roll song with "Rock Around the Clock"( the top vote getter by far followed by "Rocket 88"), but is that the end of the story? Of course not! We tracked down some articles generated by experts, music professors and other academia to muddy the waters... (like that?)

Bill DeMain, in a post on mental_floss.com maintains that "if we define rock ‘n’ roll as the collision of blues, country and Tin Pan Alley pop, with a manic spirit and, as Chuck Berry put it, a backbeat you can’t lose, then the following are all leading contenders for the song that changed popular music forever." He makes a good case in his explanations, picking the following five songs:

1. "That's All Right, Mama" -Arthir "Big Boy" Crudup (1946)


2. "Good Rockin' Tonight"- Wynonie Harris (1948)


3. "Rock This Joint" - Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians (1949)


4. "Saturday Night Fish Fry" - Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five (1949)


5. "Rocket 88" Jackie Brentson and  His Delta Cats (1951)

Look for a great comment on this list from Nate who said: "I am 76 years old and have been listening to R&B all my life, no matter what other names people try to give it. Wyonnie Harris as well as the Ink Spots were doing R&B and no one cared. The only difference I ever noticed was if white people sang it, it was called "rock and roll".

Robert Fontentot, in an About.com article on the topic, feels differently, stating that the older songs..."don't measure up in terms of musical cross-pollination, most of these songs work in one style, boogie or jump blues, usually. The Elvis and Haley discs, for better or worse, sound like new musical forms, although there will always be those who say that this is only because both men are white. However, hot on Elvis' heels was a young man named Chuck Berry who was about to transform an old country tune called "Ida Red" into a boot-stomping bluesy workout named Maybellene. More proof that good music sees no color, and that rock and roll has always been bigger than any one person. Bigger than all of us, in fact."

But just a minute, Mark Wallace, in a post on his blog WallaceThinks Again, he maintains (as do many others) that the very term "rock and roll" was created and popularized by Alan Freed and "The term "rock and roll" was invented by black Americans as a slang word for dancing and sex. The musical style that later became known as rock and roll was invented by black musicians by mixing influences from various genres (blues, jazz, country, folk, gospel, r ‘n’ b) in a way that involved only a slight variation on a number of earlier precursor songs from those genres.

Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" was the first recorded song to feature these variations. Recorded in early 1951 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, it featured Turner’s band under a different name with Brenston singing. Brenston received the song writing credits although the tune was probably primarily Turner’s."

Southeastern Louisiana University rock historian Joseph Burns, who also hosts a weekly radio program called "Rock School", announced that Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right Mama" is the first rock song as it contains the first guitar break ever.  According to Burns : "

 “That’s All Right Mama” was the first song to contain all of the elements that he says are associated with rock and roll:

• It’s music that draws heavily from blues and country in a hit form that’s often danceable.
• There should be hints of jazz, gospel or folk influence.
• There should also be some technology influence.

“It’s a lot to ask of one song,” he said. “Few fit the bill.”

Burns is convincing in this great article by Jennifer Viegas and posted on Discovery.com.

So what does the Monahan's Song of the Week staff think? The argument will go on forever and that is in itself fun. We love "Rocket 88", but Crudup's entry sounds WAY ahead of it's time having been recorded in 1946. Anyway, all the choices would make for great party music, so let's just enjoy them all!

Here is "That's All Right, Mama" -Arthir "Big Boy" Crudup (1946), followed by "Rocket 88" Jackie Brentson and His Delta Cats (1951).