{"id":4361,"date":"2013-11-10T17:31:14","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T22:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=4361"},"modified":"2013-11-10T17:31:14","modified_gmt":"2013-11-10T22:31:14","slug":"staple-singers-why-am-i-treated-so-bad-soul-45-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=4361","title":{"rendered":"Staple Singers – Why (Am I Treated So Bad) (Soul 45 mix)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Example\"
\n<\/strong>
\nThe Staple Singers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Example\"
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download The Staple Singers – Why (Am I Treated So Bad)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Greetings all<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

The record I bring you today is an interesting one indeed.<\/p>\n

I first heard \u2018Why (Am I Treated So Bad)\u2019 as an organ instrumental by the Wildare Express.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first vocal versions I heard were by Brian Auger<\/strong> and Julie Driscoll<\/strong>, and the mighty Bobby Powell.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until later that I realized that the song had been written by Roebuck \u2018Pop\u2019 Staples<\/strong>, and originally waxed by the Staple Singers<\/strong> in 1965.<\/p>\n

While I haven\u2019t spent a lot of time tracking down and digging for gospel, I am a huge fan of the Staple Singers, especially their early work for VeeJay and Epic.<\/p>\n

In the years before they broke through on Stax, the Staples were a gospel group, almost always recorded with just their voices and the accompaniment of Pop Staples remarkable guitar.<\/p>\n

The original version of \u2018Why (Am I Treated So Bad)\u2019 opens with an introductory monologue by Pop, backed by his guitar, bass and some very spare percussion before Mavis, Cleotha and Pervis<\/strong> join in.<\/p>\n

It is a remarkable testament to the group\u2019s power as singers (and vocal arrangers) as well as the song\u2019s simply stated message.<\/p>\n

If you get the chance, pick up any of the Staples\u2019 Epic-era LPs, as they are uniformly excellent.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t but a few weeks ago, when I was posting some videos on Facebook, that I discovered \u2013 quite by accident – the version of the song you see before you today.<\/p>\n

Though I haven\u2019t been able to nail down the recording date for this session, I suspect it was sometime in 1967 or early 1968, before the group left Epic.<\/p>\n

Produced by Larry Williams<\/strong> (with no arranging credit listed) this version of \u2018Why (Am I Treated So Bad)\u2019 is a radical reinterpretation of the song, excising the monologue, but adding in a full, funky band.<\/p>\n

The tempo is a touch faster, and the spare accompaniment of the original is replaced with electric guitar, bass, drums and a horn section, with a very groovy electric piano leading the show.<\/p>\n

The 45 you see before you was released in 1971 and it was included on a compilation of their Epic material (studio and live) called \u2018The Staple Singers Make You Happy\u2019, intended to cash in on their success with Stax (the title is even a shamless reference to one of their Stax hits, 1970\u2019s \u2018Heavy Makes You Happy\u2019).<\/p>\n

Though I\u2019m not 100% positive, I think this version of \u2018Why (Am I Treated So Bad)\u2019 was issued (and charted briefly) in 1967. There is some confusion because both \u2018Why (Am I Treated So Bad\u2019\u2019 and \u2018For What It\u2019s Worth\u2019 were issued multiple times, with different B-sides. I suspect this version did in fact get issued, since the Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll version seems to mirror its arrangement (especially the horns).<\/p>\n

If anyone knows for sure, please drop me a line.<\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s a great record, and I hope you all dig it.<\/p>\n

See you on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Keep the faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to go to the ordering page.<\/strong><\/a>
\nAlso, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Staple Singers Listen\/Download The Staple Singers – Why (Am I Treated So Bad) Greetings all The record I bring you today is an interesting one indeed. I first heard \u2018Why (Am I Treated So Bad)\u2019 as an organ instrumental by the Wildare Express. The first vocal versions I heard were by Brian Auger and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43,14,82,12,18],"tags":[171,166,181],"class_list":["post-4361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chicago-soul","category-funky16corners","category-gospel","category-soul","category-soul-45","tag-chicago-soul","tag-funky16corners","tag-gospel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-18l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4361"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4410,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4361\/revisions\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}