I just played this one last June, but back by special request …
According to Doobie Brothers singer/guitarist Tom Johnston …
“The words were written last, and they were made up around this whole idea of this wacky little town with a sheriff that had a Samurai Sword and all that sort of thing. The funny thing was that I found out in 1975 in a cab in Houston that there really was a China Grove, although what happened was in 1972 we were touring in Winnebagos, and we were driving into San Antonio. And there is a China Grove, Texas, right outside of San Antonio. I must have seen the sign and forgotten about it. And when I came up with the term ‘China Grove,’ I thought I was just making it up because of the words being about this crazy sheriff with a Samurai Sword.”
Songfacts did an interview with Mr. Johnston …
Tom Johnston’s lyrics were influenced by the oriental piano sound that Billy Payne came up with when they were working on the track. Payne was the pianist for Little Feat, and recorded with many other artists, including Elton John and James Taylor. In his Songfacts interview, Johnston said: “The piano lick went, ‘Dadadadun, dadadadadundun.’ It was an Oriental sounding lick. And so from there I took off and went to the place I ended up with lyrically. I must have seen that sign and forgotten it. And when the cab driver told me this in Houston, I said, ‘You gotta be kiddin’ me.’ He said, ‘There really is a China Grove.’ I said, ‘No, there isn’t.’ He says, ‘Yeah, there really is. And it is right outside of San Antonio.’ I said, ‘That’s weird.’ And it turns out there’s one in North Carolina, too.”
.
This song has been used in a number of TV shows, including The Simpsons, Entourage and House. It has a very distinctive guitar riff, which makes it perfect for certain scenes. According to Johnston, however, he didn’t think one way or another about the riff when he came up with it. Johnston claims that the only time he know a guitar lick was going to become a hit was the one he came up with for “Listen To The Music.”
.
The late Keith Knudsen, drummer for The Doobie Brothers, had quite a culture shock when traveling with Al Kooper (of Blood Sweat & Tears fame) in Japan. As related in Kooper’s memoir Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, Knudsen was dry and asked the bass player to score him marijuana – and was taken aback when informed that Japan was both a police state and very drug-free. The naive bass player tried anyway and brought back a tiny amount, wrapped in a paper packet as if it were a much higher-caliber substance. Knudsen casually lit up in the hotel room, and the bass player freaked out, stuffing towels under the door and carrying on like he thought they were going to be shot.
China Grove
The Doobie Brothers
When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town
Down around San Antone
And the folks are risin’ for another day
‘Round about their homes
.
The people of the town are strange
And they’re proud of where they came
Well, you talkin’ ’bout your China Grove
(Talkin’ ’bout your china grove)
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh) China Grove
.
Well the preacher and the teacher
Lord, they’re a caution
They are the talk of the town
When the gossip gets to flyin’ and they ain’t lyin’
When the sun goes underground
.
They say that the father’s insane
And dear Mrs. Perkin’s a game
Well, talkin’ ’bout your China Grove
(Talkin’ ’bout your china grove)
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh) China Grove
.
But everyday there’s a new thing comin’
The ways of an oriental view
The sheriff and his buddies with their samurai swords
You can even hear the music at night
.
Though it’s a part of the Lone Star State
People don’t seem to care
They just keep on lookin’ to the east
.
Talkin’ ’bout your China Grove
(Talkin’ ’bout your china grove)
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh) China Grove
When I played Black Water by the Doobie Brothers a couple of nights ago, our friend Clive mentioned another song by that group, one that I wasn’t as familiar with. Now, I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I hear a song for the first time, I hate it immediately, listen to the first minute or so, and that’s it for me. Other times, I might kinda-sorta like it, but unless it’s sung by Stevie Wonder, it will take a bit of time to grow on me. That’s where I am with this song, but I like it well enough to play it here tonight, even if it isn’t Stevie!
According to Doobie Brothers singer/guitarist Tom Johnston …
“The words were written last, and they were made up around this whole idea of this wacky little town with a sheriff that had a Samurai Sword and all that sort of thing. The funny thing was that I found out in 1975 in a cab in Houston that there really was a China Grove, although what happened was in 1972 we were touring in Winnebagos, and we were driving into San Antonio. And there is a China Grove, Texas, right outside of San Antonio. I must have seen the sign and forgotten about it. And when I came up with the term ‘China Grove,’ I thought I was just making it up because of the words being about this crazy sheriff with a Samurai Sword.”
Songfacts did an interview with Mr. Johnston …
Tom Johnston’s lyrics were influenced by the oriental piano sound that Billy Payne came up with when they were working on the track. Payne was the pianist for Little Feat, and recorded with many other artists, including Elton John and James Taylor. In his Songfacts interview, Johnston said: “The piano lick went, ‘Dadadadun, dadadadadundun.’ It was an Oriental sounding lick. And so from there I took off and went to the place I ended up with lyrically. I must have seen that sign and forgotten it. And when the cab driver told me this in Houston, I said, ‘You gotta be kiddin’ me.’ He said, ‘There really is a China Grove.’ I said, ‘No, there isn’t.’ He says, ‘Yeah, there really is. And it is right outside of San Antonio.’ I said, ‘That’s weird.’ And it turns out there’s one in North Carolina, too.”
.
This song has been used in a number of TV shows, including The Simpsons, Entourage and House. It has a very distinctive guitar riff, which makes it perfect for certain scenes. According to Johnston, however, he didn’t think one way or another about the riff when he came up with it. Johnston claims that the only time he know a guitar lick was going to become a hit was the one he came up with for “Listen To The Music.”
.
The late Keith Knudsen, drummer for The Doobie Brothers, had quite a culture shock when traveling with Al Kooper (of Blood Sweat & Tears fame) in Japan. As related in Kooper’s memoir Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, Knudsen was dry and asked the bass player to score him marijuana – and was taken aback when informed that Japan was both a police state and very drug-free. The naive bass player tried anyway and brought back a tiny amount, wrapped in a paper packet as if it were a much higher-caliber substance. Knudsen casually lit up in the hotel room, and the bass player freaked out, stuffing towels under the door and carrying on like he thought they were going to be shot.
China Grove
The Doobie Brothers
When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town
Down around San Antone
And the folks are risin’ for another day
‘Round about their homes
.
The people of the town are strange
And they’re proud of where they came
Well, you talkin’ ’bout your China Grove
(Talkin’ ’bout your china grove)
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh) China Grove
.
Well the preacher and the teacher
Lord, they’re a caution
They are the talk of the town
When the gossip gets to flyin’ and they ain’t lyin’
When the sun goes underground
.
They say that the father’s insane
And dear Mrs. Perkin’s a game
Well, talkin’ ’bout your China Grove
(Talkin’ ’bout your china grove)
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh) China Grove
.
But everyday there’s a new thing comin’
The ways of an oriental view
The sheriff and his buddies with their samurai swords
You can even hear the music at night
.
Though it’s a part of the Lone Star State
People don’t seem to care
They just keep on lookin’ to the east
.
Talkin’ ’bout your China Grove
(Talkin’ ’bout your china grove)
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh) China Grove
A comment conversation with a relatively new member of my ‘blogging family’ led to this song. I was thinking how it is that a new reader pops in to a post, and maybe that’s the only time we ever see him/her, but then on the other hand, maybe there’s a connection, a spark, something that says, “Hey, I really click with this person!” I’ve had that happen on a number of occasions since I started this blog, and some of my blogging family have, over time, become some of my best friends. And a line came to my mind … “I’m so glad you came into my life” … and I put those words into Google, for I knew there was a song there, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But, Google found it right off and here we are …
I was unaware that this song was originally a #39 hit for Motown artist Brenda Holloway in 1967. Holloway shares writing credit on the song with Berry Gordy, Frank Wilson and Patrice Holloway. How did I not know that??? The version I know best is the one by Blood, Sweat & Tears. According to SongFacts …
Blood, Sweat & Tears founder and keyboard player Al Kooper came up with the idea to cover this song, but he left the group before they recorded it. His replacement, David Clayton-Thomas, took over and sang lead on this track. Clayton-Thomas explained: “They had tried it with Al Kooper and they weren’t happy with the vocals, so they never did record it. Then up at [drummer] Bobby Colomby’s place one day, he was playing me a bunch of stuff that they had been considering, and I heard ‘You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.’ I said, ‘Whoa, who’s that? That’s Brenda Holloway! I know that song!’ So we did the chart and it went into the show, and we played it down at the club, and we ran up in the studio and recorded it.”
This was the first of three US #2 songs (also “Spinning Wheel” and “And When I Die”) on BS&T’s second LP, Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Virtually a small orchestra, this song stood out as Blood, Sweat & Tears established a milestone in rock history with its large horn section and jazz-blues orientation.
In his bang-up biography Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, Al Kooper relates the discovery of saxophonist and arranger Fred Lipsius: “Fred showed up at rehearsal a few days later, and I couldn’t believe it. Sam Straight. Short hair, square clothes, the whole bit. Then he unpacked his alto and started playing and that was it for me. I didn’t care what this guy looked like, he could play the f–king saxophone and make it cry f’chrissakes! We played him all my tunes and he said he was in. Freddie was as sweet and innocent as anyone could possibly be, and a corruption process was essential. He’d never listened to rock ‘n’ roll; he was a hard-core jazzer, but had soul in huge doses. We used to force-feed him marijuana and make him listen to James Brown with headphones on. He got the picture, and pretty soon we had us a rockin’ alto player.”
Blood, Sweat & Tears closed their Woodstock set with this song. When the festival started on August 15, 1969, Blood, Sweat & Tears was the #1 album in America. Since they were wildly popular at the time, the group commanded a premium fee: $15,000, which was second only to Jimi Hendrix. Unfortunately for BS&T, they were never paid (the festival lost money) and were not included in the film, since they would have been owed a portion of the receipts had they appeared.
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
Blood, Sweat & Tears
I lost at love before
Got mad and closed the door
But you said try just once more
I chose you for the one
Now I’m having so much fun
You treated me so kind,
I’m about to lose my mind
You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you came into my life
The others were untrue,
But when it came to lovin’ you
I’d spend my whole life with you
‘Cause you came and you took control
You touched my very soul
You always showed me that
Loving you was where it’s at
You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you came into my life
Thank you baby, yeah yeah
I love you so much, it seems
That you’re even in my dreams I can hear
Baby, I hear you calling me
I’m so in love with you
All I ever want to do is
Thank you, baby
Thank you, baby
You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you came into my life
You made me so very happy
You made me so, so very happy baby
I’m so glad you
Came into my life
Mmmm, I want to thank you, girl
Every day of my life
I wanna thank you
You made me so very happy
Oh, I wanna spend my life thanking you
Thank you, baby
Thank you, baby
Writer/s: BERRY GORDY JR, BRENDA HOLLOWAY, FRANK WILSON, PATRICE HOLLOWAY
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind
Filosofa's Word 