Tag Archives: Paul Riser

♫ Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours ♫

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I had every intention of playing this one last night after it had been mentioned in comments the previous day, but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men … oh wait, I am neither mouse nor man!  At any rate, tonight I find myself in need of another ‘Stevie fix’, so here’s one I haven’t yet played here on ye olde blog!

Wonder wrote this with Motown songwriters Lee Garrett and Syreeta Wright, along with his mother Lula Mae Hardaway. Garrett and Wright also worked with Wonder on the Spinners song It’s A Shame, and Wonder was briefly married to Wright. Like Stevie Wonder, Lee Garrett is also blind, and they first met at the Michigan School for the Blind.

The song was arranged by Paul Riser and featured a distinctive “sitar-guitar” in the introduction.

Peter Frampton took this song to #18 with his 1977 version. Other artists to cover this song include Elton John, Chaka Khan, Michael McDonald, Jermaine Jackson, The String Cheese Incident, and the California Raisins. Syreeta Wright, who co-wrote the song, recorded it using her stage name Syreeta.  The “String Cheese Incident”?????  Are you serious?

Stevie’s version hit #3 in the U.S., #15 in the UK, and #19 in Canada.  Released in 1970 when Wonder was but 20 years old, this gave him his sixth Grammy nomination!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours
Stevie Wonder

Oh yeah, baby

Like a fool, I went and stayed too long
Now, I’m wondering if your love’s still strong
Ooh baby, here I am
Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Then that time I went and said goodbye
Now, I’m back and not ashamed to cry
Ooh baby, here I am
Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Here I am, baby
You got my future in your hands
Here I am, baby
You got my future in your hands
I’ve done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn’t mean, yeah, yeah, didn’t I?

Oh baby, seen a lot of things in this old world
When I touch them, they mean nothing, girl
Ooh baby, here I am
Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours, I’m yours

Oowee baby, you set my soul on fire
That’s why I know you’re my heart’s only desire
Ooo baby, here I am
Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Here I am, baby
You got my future in your hands, baby
Here I am, baby
You got my future in your hands, baby

Yeah, I’ve done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn’t mean
I could be a broken man
But here I am
Watch out with my future babe

Here I am, baby
Here I am, baby, get it
Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours
Ooh baby
Here I am, baby

Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours
Here I am, baby
Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Garrett Lee / Wonder Stevie / Wright Syreeta / Hardaway Lula Mae
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours lyrics © Black Bull Music, Stone Agate Music, Sawandi Music, Black-bull-music, Inc., Jobete Music Co., Inc.

♫ I Hear A Symphony ♫

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I seem to be in Motown mode at the moment, don’t I?  This one came to me tonight when I kept hearing music that wasn’t there.  It’s funny that I cannot hear what is there, and do hear that which isn’t.  At any rate …

This is yet another written by the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who wrote five consecutive #1 hits for The Supremes, starting with Where Did Our Love Go.  Says Lamont Dozier …

“I used to go to the movies and I would see that the main stars had their own theme songs. When they appeared on the screen, you would hear this melody behind them – they had their own little melody each time they appeared in the movie. So the lyrics, ‘Whenever you are near, I hear a symphony,’ it was about this guy. Whenever he came around, in her mind she got this feeling and she heard this melody. He brought out the music in her.”  

You won’t hear a full symphony orchestra in this song, but there is a prominent string section, arranged by Paul Riser, that implies it. Otherwise, the instrumentation is more typical, with a saxophone section and piano (played by Funk Brother Earl Van Dyke). The song evokes classical music in its structure though, building throughout to a kind of crescendo.

Now this I didn’t know … Brian Holland had an affair with Diana Ross in the early ’60s.  In the book The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success and Betrayal, he revealed that the song never got to him until the ’80s, when he was driving one day and the song came on the radio … 

“I hadn’t had any emotional reaction to it before that. It took 25 years for it to sink in how good that song is. Things were happening in our lives by then, Eddie’s and mine, that began to creep into the songs. Those songs were supposed to be about simple things. And at the beginning, they were. It was ‘baby this, baby that.’ But when I hear something like ‘Symphony,’ man, there ain’t nothing simple about it.”

This song peaked at #1 in the U.S., #17 in Canada, and #39 in the UK.

I Hear A Symphony
The Supremes

You’ve given me a true love
And every day I thank you, love
For a feeling that’s so new
So inviting, so exciting

Whenever you’re near, I hear a symphony
A tender melody
Pulling me closer, closer to your arms
Then suddenly (I hear a symphony)
Ooh, your lips are touching mine
A feeling so divine
Till I leave the past behind
I’m lost in a world
Made for you and me

Whenever you’re near, I hear a symphony
Play sweet and tenderly
Every time your lips meet mine, now, baby, baby, baby
You bring much joy within
Don’t let this feeling end
Let it go on and on and on, now, baby, baby, baby
Those tears that fill my eyes
I cry not for myself
But for those who’ve never felt the joy we felt (baby)

Whenever you’re near, I hear a symphony
Each time you speak to me
I hear a tender rhapsody of love now, baby, baby
As you stand holding me
Whispering how much you care
A thousand violins fill the air, now, baby, baby
Don’t let this moment end
Keep standing close to me
Ooh, so close to me, baby, baby, baby, baby
I hear a symphony
A tender melody

Writer/s: JR., BRIAN HOLLAND, EDWARD HOLLAND, EDWARD JR. HOLLAND, LAMONT DOZIER, LAMONT HERBERT DOZIER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

♫ What Becomes of the Brokenhearted ♫ (Redux)

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It’s funny how sometimes a train of thought takes one down a track different than the one it started out on, isn’t it?  Tonight, having just finished my ‘good people’ post, I was feeling almost mellow and had a Supremes’ song stuck in my head … right now I cannot remember which one, nor do I have a clue how I got from the Supremees to Jimmy Ruffin.  But, here I am, and while I did play this before, it’s been two years, so most of you have forgotten anyway!  This is a song that somehow stirs emotions within me … good ones, mostly.  When I played this in 2018, most people agreed that both Ruffin’s and Paul Young’s versions were good, but still overwhelmingly chose Ruffin’s as their favourite.  For the record, I agree.

This song was written by Motown writers Jimmy Dean, Paul Riser, and William Witherspoon. They wrote it for The Detroit Spinners, but Jimmy Ruffin convinced the Motown writers to let him try it, and they liked what they heard. Ruffin is the brother of The Temptations’ David Ruffin, by the way.  Smokey Robinson produced the track.

Now, while many artists recorded this song, including The Supremes, I have two favourites and I am torn between the two, so I’m interested in your opinions.  The first is the original by Jimmy Ruffin, released in 1966.  This version hit #6 in the US and #10 in the UK.

In 1992, Paul Young recorded the song and, while it didn’t do as well as the Ruffin version, I still like it.  What do you guys think?  The Jimmy Ruffin version …

Or the Paul Young …

What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted
Jimmy Ruffin/Paul Young

As I walk this land with broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion
What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that’s now departed?
I know I’ve got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Maybe

The roots of love grow all around
But for me they come a-tumblin’ down
Every day heartaches grow a little stronger
I can’t stand this pain much longer
I walk in shadowsm searching for light
Cold and alone, no comfort in sight
Hoping and praying for someone to care
Always moving and goin’ nowhere
What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that’s now departed?
I know I’ve got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Help me

I’m searching, though I don’t succeed
But someone look, there’s a growing need
Oh, he is lost, there’s no place for beginning
All that’s left is an unhappy ending
Now, becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that’s now departed?
I know I’ve got to find
Some kind of peace of mind

I’ll be searching everywhere
Just to find someone to care
I’ll be looking everyday, I know I’m gonna find a way
Nothing’s gonna stop me now
I’ll find a way somehow
And I’ll be searching everywhere
I know I gotta find a way
I’ll be looking

Songwriters: James Anthony Dean / Paul Riser / William Henry Witherspoonn
What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ What Becomes of the Brokenhearted ♫

Posted on by under music

This song was written by Motown writers Jimmy Dean, Paul Riser, and William Witherspoon. They wrote it for The Detroit Spinners, but Jimmy Ruffin convinced the Motown writers to let him try it, and they liked what they heard. Ruffin is the brother of The Temptations’ David Ruffin, by the way.  Smokey Robinson produced the track.

Now, while many artists recorded this song, including The Supremes, I have two favourites and I am torn between the two, so I’m interested in your opinions.  The first is the original by Jimmy Ruffin, released in 1966.  This version hit #6 in the US and #10 in the UK.

In 1992, Paul Young recorded the song and, while it didn’t do as well as the Ruffin version, I still like it.  What do you guys think?  The Jimmy Ruffin version …

Or the Paul Young …

What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted
Jimmy Ruffin/Paul Young

As I walk this land with broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion
What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that’s now departed?
I know I’ve got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Maybe

The roots of love grow all around
But for me they come a-tumblin’ down
Every day heartaches grow a little stronger
I can’t stand this pain much longer
I walk in shadowsm searching for light
Cold and alone, no comfort in sight
Hoping and praying for someone to care
Always moving and goin’ nowhere
What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that’s now departed?
I know I’ve got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Help me

I’m searching, though I don’t succeed
But someone look, there’s a growing need
Oh, he is lost, there’s no place for beginning
All that’s left is an unhappy ending
Now, becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that’s now departed?
I know I’ve got to find
Some kind of peace of mind

I’ll be searching everywhere
Just to find someone to care
I’ll be looking everyday, I know I’m gonna find a way
Nothing’s gonna stop me now
I’ll find a way somehow
And I’ll be searching everywhere
I know I gotta find a way
I’ll be looking

Songwriters: James Anthony Dean / Paul Riser / William Henry Witherspoonn
What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC