Roosevelt Grier/Clyde McPhatter – In My Tenement

By , July 10, 2014 1:07 pm

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Roosevelt Grier (L), Clyde McPhatter (R)

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Listen/Download Roosevelt Grier – In My Tenement

Listen/Download Clyde McPhatter – In My Tenement

Greetings all

The end of the week is approaching, so I thought I’d remind you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you prefer to do the pod-thing, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 out of the archive here at Funky16Corners.

The tune(s) I bring you today are one of the interesting intersections of artist and song that I’ve come across in the last few years.

I first heard of the song ‘In My Tenement’ (written by Bobby Scott and Artie Resnick) when I started researching the singer Jackie Shane (more here).

Not long after that I picked up a copy of Roosevelt Grier’s 1964 LP on the RIK label.

Grier, best known as a professional football player and TV personality had a very groovy sideline as a soul singer during the 60s. Many of the records he made during that period are quite good and I pick them up whenever I find them.

So, what turns up on Rosie’s LP but another version of ‘In My Tenement’, which as it turns out is also sought after in 45 form, often pulling in a couple of hundred bucks.

Then, a few months ago, while chasing down some of Clyde McPhatter’s later recordings, what do I encounter but his version of ‘In My Tenement’, also recorded and released in 1964.

The weird thing is, none of these recordings were hits, nor were they connected in any other way.

As far as I can tell Shane recorded in New York (with Juggy Murray), Grier in LA (with Bobby Darin!) and McPhatter somewhere (Nashville?) with Shelby Singleton.

The Shane and Grier versions are taken at a similar pace, with enough backbeat for the dancers (thus the cost of the 45s!), with McPhatter (more on his mid-60s recordings coming soon) taking things at a brisk pace.

I’m very curious about how the song got around so much.

There were always publisher’s demos circulating, so it’s possible that an aggressive song plugger got the tune to the right people.

Both Scott and Resnick were both successful songwriters (Scott had composed the music to ‘A Taste of Honey’, and Resnick would go on to be a mover in the the bubblegum sound later in the 60s).

The song was also covered by a group called the Lovers on the Agon label.

If anyone has any information on the history of the song (or any other versions) please let me know.

That said, have yourselves a groovy weekend, and I’ll see you all next week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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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).

 

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PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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