Roosevelt Grier – People Make the World b/w Hard to Forget
Rosey Grier during his gridiron days.
Listen/Download Roosevelt Grier – People Make the World
Listen/Download Roosevelt Grier – Hard To Forget
Greetings all
The middle of another hot, steamy summer week is here, so I thought that I’d mellow things a little with a ballad.
I have made no secret over the years of my affinity for the musical efforts of Mr Roosevelt Grier.
Folks my age or older will know why I make that distinction, bit for those of you born after the cretaceous period, Roosevelt ‘Rosey’ Grier was a powerful defensive lineman for the NY Giants and the LA Rams during the 1950s and 1960s, who had a couple of relatively successful sideline careers as an actor and singer.
If you grew up in the 60s and 70s, Rosey was a familiar presence on episodic television, as well as all kinds of talk and game shows.
I only really discovered his singing career when I started digging for soul 45s in my early 20s.
Grier has a couple of Northern Soul faves in his discography, as well as a grip of tasty sides recorded in Memphis with the American Studios crew (Slow Drag is a big fave).
I picked up today’s 45 a while back, and while I was unfamiliar with the tunes, the price was right and I’m always game to file some more Rosey in my crates, so I grabbed it.
What I discovered was that ‘People Make the World’ wasn’t just any ballad, but reflection on a particularly tragic event in Grier’s life.
During the late 60s, Grier was both friend and bodyguard for Robert Kennedy. Grier was present the night Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, and ‘People Make the World’ – written by none other than Bobby Womack and produced by Chips Moman and Tommy Cogbill– is offered up as a reflection on/reaction to that event.
Starting out with spare, gospel-inflected organ and guitar, Grier steps in with an opening narration before moving into a heartfelt performance.
The record charted briefly in New York City in July of 1968 (a month after the assassination) and is one of the finest sides in Grier’s catalog. It also saw released in the UK on the Action label that same month.
The flip side, ‘Hard To Forget’ is an atmospheric, churchy organ instrumental by the American Studios band.
It’s a very nice bit of soul balladry, and an especially interesting chapter in the already intriguing story of Roosevelt Grier.
I hope you dig it and I’ll see you all on Friday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Themocracy
that’s aw awesome track, never heard before . . . having read the MEMPHIS BOYS book on american sound, I don’t specifically recall ref to it, but maybe it’s in there, given that she was WAY comprehensive.
it def has that womack feel. he’s such a brilliant ballad writer . . . doesn’t have the uplift of ab, martin & john, which i guess maybe explains why it got no bigger. that and the fact that dion was already a star/known quantity.
thanks so much, Larry, for sharing it. you’ve got the knowledge!
I haven’t read ‘Memphis Boys’ but I hope to soon.
I agree with you about ‘Abraham Martin and John’ being a record with a much broader appeal. It’s more of an anthem, and as far as I can tell Grier had little to no popular success as a singer.
Nice pick Larry. I only heard Wilson Pickett’s version of this song from his Hey Jude album.