Gene West – In the Ghetto
Gene West (aka Barry White)
Listen/Download – Gene West – In the Ghetto
Greetings all.
I hope the world is treating you all well at the dawn of a brand new week.
It was a groovy – if frigid – weekend, with me and the little corners having a boys day on Saturday, and then on Sunday Miles and I went out for some digging and Vietnamese food.
We headed over to the once great Record Store That Shall Not Be Named (even though it’s near a major NJ Ivy League university…) and much to my surprise I scored some cool LPs, despite the fact that whoever is pricing the new arrivals section appears to also be sniffing glue. The place really is a huge crapshoot these days, which – when you have to drive almost an hour to get there – makes it difficult to get motivated, but sometimes it’s actually worth the trip.
I don’t know about you all, but I’m sure that if they ever lock me up in a padded cell, it will have something to do with my obsession with cover songs, who was being covered and who was doing the covering.
The tune I bring you today is something I knew nothing at all about until stumbling over it recently, the musical equivalent of finding a twenty dollar bill in the street.
What caught my eye was not the song title (I was still unaware that this was the same song that Elvis made famous), but the mention that the artist in question, a certain Gene West, was in actuality the master of sexy, soulful sounds, Mr. Barry White.
Once I got my hands on the record (at what turned out to be a very nice price, always cool) it was immediately apparent that this was the same ‘In the Ghetto’, written by Mac Davis and taken onto the charts by Elvis.
The voice delivering the tune was unmistakably that of Barry White.
As it turns out, in the short time between the end of his tenure working with Bronco/Mustang records, and the launch of his extremely successful solo career, Barry White was at loose ends. During this time (1967 – 1970) White did a lot of studio work, as well as writing lost gems like ‘Doin’ the Banana Splits’ for – of course – the Banana Splits. And recording today’s selection.
Why he (or the folks at Original Sound) thought that ‘Gene West’ sounded better than Barry White I do not know (perhaps contractual entanglements, though his real name appears on the label as arranger), but the record, released in the summer of 1970 is a lost classic.
Despite any fondness one might have for Elvis’s version (I haven’t got much…), White takes the tune from a dark, almost maudlin place and funks it up, adding a layer of defiance to the lyrics that are completely absent in the earlier recording.
Oddly, White was a big Presley fan. I’ve read anecdotes that state that when a teenaged White, just having finished a jail sentence for stealing $30,000 worth of tires, heard Presley’s ‘It’s Now Or Never’ he decided to devote himself to a career on music, for which I will say for the first and last time in my life, ‘Thanks Elvis!’
I hope you dig the tune.
Peace
Larry
If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
PS Head over to Iron Leg for some classic 1965 LA garage folk.
Themocracy
What a cool find. I’m actually a huge Elvis fan and am always interested in SOUL folks’ interpretations of his hits. This one is indeed great. Thanks so much for sharing! Peace and SOUL…
Great find Larry and without doubt the best version I’ve heard.
I’m with you on the cover versions!!
I’ve been to that record store, last time had to be over 10 years ago. Surprised they are still there, and the shop pretty much looks the same.
Interesting find. Have you heard Chris Clark’s version at Motown? Not so good
some years ago ,it was one of the first “expensive” 45s i ‘d bought ,(25 $) – i love that version. but i did not know that it was sung by barry white ,thank you for always coming up with some nice background informations.
Barry White was always reluctant to be a front man, releasing his first couple of lead vocal turns under assumed names (like Gene West and “Lee Barry”)…his first solo hits he sang originally as demos and had to be convinced by others to re-record them and release them under his own name.
Barry White was absolutely one of the nicest most talented and creative artist I’ve had the pleasure of working with and producing. I owned a recording studio in Hollywood and Barry and I became friends, at the time he was reluctant to be a front man, lead singer. I recorded this song in June 1970. I brought Barry to A&M Records as the first act I wanted to produce after getting my job as a staff producer. Unfortunately the company was not geared up to support a black artist at that time.