Helene Smith – Like a Baby
Miss Helene Smith
Listen/Download Helene Smith – Like a Baby
Greetings all
Welcome to a new week from my outpost in the rapidly warming Northeast.
The record I bring you today was the first indicator I had – back in the day – that not everything on the Phil LA of Soul imprint was from Philadelphia.
I first heard of Helene Smith because of her heavily sweated ‘You Got To Be a Man’,which a certain Mr Prince Rogers Nelson borrowed from to create the song ‘Kiss’.
Smith was a Florida-based singer who worked with Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid and got her start recording as a backing vocalist for Betty Wright (in the early days of that singer’s career).
She originally recorded the tune ‘Like a Baby’ as her first 45 for the Miami label Deep City in 1966.
The song was licensed by Phil LA of Soul and released there in 1967.
‘Like a Baby’ is a superb bit of sweet soul. Taken at a slow pace, with relatively spare bass, piano, guitar and drums, the coed backup vocals provide contrast to Smith’s high voice.
The song didn’t make a dent in the charts, though its flipside, the ballad ‘A Woman Will Do Wrong’ was an R&B Top 20 hit in 1967.
Smith went on to record a couple of 45s for Phil LA of Soul between 1967 and 1969, and then two more for the TK subsidiary Dash in 1971 and 1972.
After that the trail goes cold.
You can pick up a number of her tracks on the Numero Group’s comp Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
Themocracy
Dear Willard. Thank you very much for the great track by Helene Smith. She deserves to be better known than she is. Sir, there are two great versions of You Got To Be A Man”. There is the Helene Smith version and also the fine version by its writer Frank Williams & The Rocketeers that I commend to you. “You Got To Be A Man” Deep City Records 2369 and Phil LA 304 from 1967.
Incidentally the vocal on the Frank Williams & The Rocketeers version is by the great Little Beaver. You featured his Party Down Part 1 on 13 June 2013. See: Frank Williams & The Rocketeers “You Got To Be A Man”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qvNZ0S4BRM.
“You Got To Be A Man” is a song that most definitely influenced Prince Rogers Nelson in his writing of “Kiss”. The lyrical device of repeatedly using the phrase: “you don’t have to be” is the same. And in both songs there is the line “you don’t have to be rich”.
Johnnie K Auckland New Zealand