Tag Archives: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

♫ Neither One Of Us ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I last played this one in 2020 … it’s one of those songs that you can’t NOT love!

Released on December 26, 1972 on Motown’s Soul Records, it became one of the biggest hit singles to date for Gladys Knight and the Pips, and was also the last single the group released prior to them leaving Motown for Buddah Records in February 1973.  They had been with Motown for six-and-a-half years, but according to Ms. Knight, she and the group were regarded as a second-string act and that “Diana (Ross) & The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye were given all the hits, while we took the leftovers”.

On March 2, 1974, at the Grammy Awards ceremony, Gladys Knight & The Pips won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Neither One of Us. Previously that same night, they had won their first Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Midnight Train to Georgia.  In 1996, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I did not know that Gladys Knight made her singing debut at the age of 4, and three years later, she won a $2000 first prize singing Nat “King” Cole’s Too Young on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour.  Pretty impressive, eh?

Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)
Gladys Knight

It’s sad to think
We’re not gonna make it
And it’s gotten to the point
Where we just can’t fake it

For some ungodly reason
Just won’t let it die
I guess neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

I keep wondering
What I’m gonna do without you?
And I guess you must be
Wondering the same thing too

So we go on
Go on together living a lie
Because neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

Every time I find the nerve
Every time I find the nerve to say, I’m leaving
Memories, those old memories
Get in my way

Lord knows it’s only me
Only know it’s only me that I’m deceiving
When it comes to saying goodbye
That a simple word that I just cannot say

There can be no way, there can be no way
This can have a happy ending, no, no
So we just go on hurting and pretending
And convincing ourselves to give it just one more try

Because neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say
Neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say
Neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say

Farewell my love
Goodbye

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: James D. Weatherly
Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ You Send Me ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under music

Sam Cooke wrote this song, but gave the writing credit to his younger brother L.C. because he did not want his own publisher to profit from the song.

According to Songfacts …

“Cooke was signed to Specialty Records, which was a gospel label. Cooke’s producer, Bumps Blackwell, brought this to Art Rupe, who owned the label. Rupe objected to the use of the choir on this track and was afraid it was too secular and would alienate the label’s gospel fans. He offered Cooke a release from his contract in exchange for outstanding royalties. The song was passed to the Keen label where it sold over 2 million copies.”

I did not know that Aretha Franklin released her own version of this as a B-side in 1968, but naturally I had to listen.  As much as I love Aretha Franklin, I preferred Sam Cooke’s version, but since mine is not the only opinion that counts, I am offering both tonight.

Tragically, at only 33 years of age, Cooke was shot in the chest by Bertha Franklin, the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California on December 11, 1964. Franklin claimed that she acted in self-defense after he broke into her office residence and attacked her. Her account was immediately disputed by Cooke’s acquaintances. It’s a long and strange story, still an unsolved mystery

You Send Me was named as one of the 500 most important rock and roll recordings by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In April 2010, the song ranked No. 115 in Rolling Stone magazine’s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  The song reached #1 in the U.S. and #29 in the UK.

You Send Me
Sam Cooke

Darling, you send me
I know you send me
Darling, you send me
Honest, you do, honest, you do
Honest, you do, whoa

You thrill me
I know you, you, you thrill me
Darling, you, you, you, you thrill me
Honest, you do

At first I thought it was infatuation
But, woo, it’s lasted so long
Now I find myself wanting
To marry you and take you home, woah-woah

You, you, you, you send me
I know you send me
I know you send me
Honest you do

Whoa, oh, oh, whenever I’m with you
I know, I know, I know when I’m near you
Mm hmm, mmm hmm, honest, you do, honest, you do
Woah, oh, oh, I know oh, oh, oh

I know, I know, I know, when you hold me
Woah, whenever you kiss me
Mm, hmm, mm, hmm, honest you do

At first I thought it was infatuation
But, woo, it’s lasted so long
Now I find myself wanting
To marry you and take you home

I know, I know, I know you send me
I know you send me
Woah, oh, you, you, you, you send me
Honest you do.

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Sam Cooke
You Send Me lyrics © Burlington Music Co., Ltd

♫ You Send Me ♫

Posted on by under music

Every song I’ve considered playing for the past hour, I have already played too recently for a redux.  And anyway, I’ve been re-duxing entirely too much of late.  I was chatting with a friend the other evening and the subject of Sam Cooke came up, so I went in search of a Sam Cooke favourite that I haven’t already worn out here.  And I found one!  I literally did a happy dance … well, okay, it was more a sigh of relief, since it’s late and I am too exhausted to dance at the moment.

Sam Cooke wrote this song, but gave the writing credit to his younger brother L.C. because he did not want his own publisher to profit from the song.

According to Songfacts …

“Cooke was signed to Specialty Records, which was a gospel label. Cooke’s producer, Bumps Blackwell, brought this to Art Rupe, who owned the label. Rupe objected to the use of the choir on this track and was afraid it was too secular and would alienate the label’s gospel fans. He offered Cooke a release from his contract in exchange for outstanding royalties. The song was passed to the Keen label where it sold over 2 million copies.”

I did not know that Aretha Franklin released her own version of this as a B-side in 1968, but naturally I had to listen.  As much as I love Aretha Franklin, I preferred Sam Cooke’s version, but since mine is not the only opinion that counts, I am offering both tonight.

Tragically, at only 33 years of age, Cooke was shot in the chest by Bertha Franklin, the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California on December 11, 1964. Franklin claimed that she acted in self-defense after he broke into her office residence and attacked her. Her account was immediately disputed by Cooke’s acquaintances. It’s a long and strange story, still an unsolved mystery

You Send Me was named as one of the 500 most important rock and roll recordings by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In April 2010, the song ranked No. 115 in Rolling Stone magazine’s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  The song reached #1 in the U.S. and #29 in the UK.

You Send Me
Sam Cooke

Darling, you send me
I know you send me
Darling, you send me
Honest, you do, honest, you do
Honest, you do, whoa

You thrill me
I know you, you, you thrill me
Darling, you, you, you, you thrill me
Honest, you do

At first I thought it was infatuation
But, woo, it’s lasted so long
Now I find myself wanting
To marry you and take you home, woah-woah

You, you, you, you send me
I know you send me
I know you send me
Honest you do

Whoa, oh, oh, whenever I’m with you
I know, I know, I know when I’m near you
Mm hmm, mmm hmm, honest, you do, honest, you do
Woah, oh, oh, I know oh, oh, oh

I know, I know, I know, when you hold me
Woah, whenever you kiss me
Mm, hmm, mm, hmm, honest you do

At first I thought it was infatuation
But, woo, it’s lasted so long
Now I find myself wanting
To marry you and take you home

I know, I know, I know you send me
I know you send me
Woah, oh, you, you, you, you send me
Honest you do.

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Sam Cooke
You Send Me lyrics © Burlington Music Co., Ltd

♫ Neither One Of Us ♫

Posted on by under music

Now, typically I get a song in my head, check to see if I have played it here before and if so, when.  If it has been played in the past 12 months, I won’t re-play it, but will move on and find another.  Every now and then, though, I make an exception to that rule (I can do that, ’cause it’s my blog so I can break my own rules, just not too often).  The reason for this one tonight is that last night I played another by Gladys Knight, “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me”, and in the comments, my dear friend David mentioned that if I had played this one, he would “still be relaxed all over the floor”.  Well, since I thought that would be a fun thing to see, I decided to play this one, but then discovered I played it back in May of this year.  Oh well … rules are meant to be broken, so sit back and enjoy!  ( I did make one change from May’s version, and changed to a different video)

I hope you’re in the mood for a bit of soul music tonight, ’cause I bookmarked this one a week or so ago to play, and never got around to it.  Y’know … I’m amazed by how short my memory has become just in the past year, maybe less.  I came up with a song I wanted to play, thought I had never played it, only to find that I played it about two weeks ago!  Wouldn’t you think I could remember that far back?  Sigh.

Released on December 26, 1972 on Motown’s Soul Records, it became one of the biggest hit singles to date for Gladys Knight and the Pips, and was also the last single the group released prior to them leaving Motown for Buddah Records in February 1973.  They had been with Motown for six-and-a-half years, but according to Ms. Knight, she and the group were regarded as a second-string act and that “Diana (Ross) & The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye were given all the hits, while we took the leftovers”.

On March 2, 1974, at the Grammy Awards ceremony, Gladys Knight & The Pips won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Neither One of Us. Previously that same night, they had won their first Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Midnight Train to Georgia.  In 1996, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I did not know that Gladys Knight made her singing debut at the age of 4, and three years later, she won a $2000 first prize singing Nat “King” Cole’s Too Young on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour.  Pretty impressive, eh?

Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)
Gladys Knight

It’s sad to think
We’re not gonna make it
And it’s gotten to the point
Where we just can’t fake it

For some ungodly reason
Just won’t let it die
I guess neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

I keep wondering
What I’m gonna do without you?
And I guess you must be
Wondering the same thing too

So we go on
Go on together living a lie
Because neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

Every time I find the nerve
Every time I find the nerve to say, I’m leaving
Memories, those old memories
Get in my way

Lord knows it’s only me
Only know it’s only me that I’m deceiving
When it comes to saying goodbye
That a simple word that I just cannot say

There can be no way, there can be no way
This can have a happy ending, no, no
So we just go on hurting and pretending
And convincing ourselves to give it just one more try

Because neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say
Neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say
Neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say

Farewell my love
Goodbye

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: James D. Weatherly
Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Neither One Of Us ♫

Posted on by under music

I hope you’re in the mood for a bit of soul music tonight, ’cause I bookmarked this one a week or so ago to play, and never got around to it.  Y’know … I’m amazed by how short my memory has become just in the past year, maybe less.  I came up with a song I wanted to play, thought I had never played it, only to find that I played it about two weeks ago!  Wouldn’t you think I could remember that far back?  Sigh.

Released on December 26, 1972 on Motown’s Soul Records, it became one of the biggest hit singles to date for Gladys Knight and the Pips, and was also the last single the group released prior to them leaving Motown for Buddah Records in February 1973.  They had been with Motown for six-and-a-half years, but according to Ms. Knight, she and the group were regarded as a second-string act and that “Diana (Ross) & The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye were given all the hits, while we took the leftovers”.

On March 2, 1974, at the Grammy Awards ceremony, Gladys Knight & The Pips won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Neither One of Us. Previously that same night, they had won their first Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Midnight Train to Georgia.  In 1996, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I did not know that Gladys Knight made her singing debut at the age of 4, and three years later, she won a $2000 first prize singing Nat “King” Cole’s Too Young on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour.  Pretty impressive, eh?

Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)
Gladys Knight

It’s sad to think
We’re not gonna make it
And it’s gotten to the point
Where we just can’t fake it

For some ungodly reason
Just won’t let it die
I guess neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

I keep wondering
What I’m gonna do without you?
And I guess you must be
Wondering the same thing too

So we go on
Go on together living a lie
Because neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

Every time I find the nerve
Every time I find the nerve to say, I’m leaving
Memories, those old memories
Get in my way

Lord knows it’s only me
Only know it’s only me that I’m deceiving
When it comes to saying goodbye
That a simple word that I just cannot say

There can be no way, there can be no way
This can have a happy ending, no, no
So we just go on hurting and pretending
And convincing ourselves to give it just one more try

Because neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say
Neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say
Neither one of us
Wants to be the first to say

Farewell my love
Goodbye

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: James D. Weatherly
Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group