ZZ Hill – Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep)
ZZ Hill
Listen/Download – ZZ Hill – Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep) MP3
Greetings all.
There are few things better (for me anyway) than finding a new version of one of my favorite songs.
I have always been a big fan of Tim Hardin’s first few Verve albums, which yielded a number of folk rock standards, like ‘If I Were a Carpenter’, ‘Reason to Believe’ and the original version of today’s selection, ‘Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep)’.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t Hardin’s original that introduced me to the song, but rather a cover version by Rick Nelson.
Then, last year a friend posted the version you see before you today, by southern soul legend Z.Z. Hill, on Facebook, and as is often the case, I set out immediately in search of a copy for my playbox.
Hill is one of those guys that I knew of for years, but never really dug down into his music because he was best known for a kind of blues-inflected soul that was never really my speed.
As it turns out, I should have kept digging.
Hill’s recording of ‘Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep)’ is from 1968, and it features his warm, slightly raspy voice, female backing singers, and a really nice arrangement with enough kick that this record has become a favorite on soul dance floors in the decades since it was first released.
The bass and drums are tight and crisp, pushed along by rhythm guitar, handclaps and just enough strings to give the record a touch of uptown class.
Despite the fact that Hill had been recording for Kent since 1964, he didn’t really start hitting the R&B charts until 1971, after which he had a steady string of hits that lasted until his untimely passing in April of 1984, from injuries suffered in a car accident a few months earlier.
I will certainly be exploring the Z.Z. Hill discography in more depth.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Friday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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