The Pieces of Eight – Come Back Girl
The Pieces of Eight
Listen/Download The Pieces of Eight – Come Back Girl
Greetings all.
Welcome to another hot, sweaty summer week at Funky16Corners.
The song I bringh you today was one of those happy discoveries that come upon you when you take the time to flip over a 45.
Many years ago, someone (I forget who now) hepped me to a groovy version of the Jimmy Smith instro ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf’ by a group called the Pieces of Eight.
Though I was led to believe that this was a white, southern band (much like the Bad Boys), I knew little else about them.
A few years after that, while out in the field digging I happened upon another Pieces of Eight 45 (TNT) and grabbed it.
That 45 sat in a box of records for a few more years, until one day, while engaged in one of my periodic re-digging sessions – in which I sift through my own crates in search of things I missed the first time around – that I was lucky enough to drop the needle on the tune you see before you today, ‘Come Back Girl’.
As fine a piece of equal opportunity soul as I have ever heard (it even grabbed the ears of the mighty Mr Finewine when I spun it one night at Botanica in NYC) ‘Come Back Girl’ is another window into the wonders of the ‘Beach Music’ scene.
Though I have only skirted its frontiers while digging for information, the Beach Music scene, based mainly out of the Southeast (Carolinas and Georgia) has, like Northern Soul in the UK, a largely white fan base.
Unlike Northern Soul, Beach Music had, and still has a tradition of homegrown show bands that toured (and recorded) all over the South, many of them also, largely white.
That said, the scene is built on R&B and soul, much of that, recorded and performed by black artists, many of whom were backed by the white bands as they toured in the South.
The Pieces of Eight were formed in the mid-sixties when two members of the Swinging Medallions split off on their own and joined up with a band called the Tassels. The new band had a hit in several national markets with the tune ‘The Lonely Drifter’ (also recorded by the O’Jays) and released a few 45s on regional labels that were later picked up by A&M and Mala for national distribution.
Written by the group’s guitarist Carlie Barbour, ‘Come Back Girl’ is a perfect example of the kind of shuffle so common on Beach Music dance floors, combined with an uptempo, sweet soul feel.
Though it gets said over and over again about countless, obscure records, ‘Come Back Girl’ really should have been a hit.
Unfortunately, outside of a few regional Top 40 appearances toward the end of the summer of 1967 in Alabama and North Carolina, the record didn’t make a dent.
That’s too bad, because it’s a killer.
As Pieces of Eight 45s go, it’s not the most expensive, but seems to run north of $25 or $30 bucks when it turns up.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Themocracy
Larry, I wanted you to know that the Pieces of Eight got back together in 2003 and are once again entertaining crowds in the SE. The record Come Back Girl is being redone along with a couple of other new beach songs, which we hope to have on the waves by April… In time for SOS. The photo you have posted is one of their originals & if you like, I can email you a current promo one.
Thanks, Bettie Asip, Marketing Coordinator