Dont Play That Song! How Ben E King Broke Through With Soul – Dig!

Soul shines through

The album also has plenty to say about its era. Some of the arrangements are exceptionally orchestrated and sound like they belong in a movie. On The Horizon finds King shrouded in reverb, imagining his perfect woman on a ship steadily sailing in, while mysterious strings, harps and tinkling bells conjure a sense of magic. On the surface, its scatty romanticism straight out of Hollywood, but Ben E plays it totally straight, and you wonder what he was thinking of as he delivered it: his Black brothers fighting in the Vietnam War, unsure if theyd see their loved ones again? The hell of his ancestors being transported in slave ships? Maybe neither, but these resonances remain for the listener. Show Me The Way is as cheesy as Cheetos, full of pinging guitar arpeggios and excessive backing vocals an approach to pop which would soon be blown away by Motown and The Beatles. But, again, King delivers the song beautifully: nothing can prevent his soul shining through.

The material meant King had to be versatile. On The Hermit Of Misty Mountain, one of those cod-folk tales of spooky hokum along the lines of The Coasters Love Potion No.9 and Major Lances Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, he adopts a lower, masculine-sounding register which suggests hes telling you how he acquired his wisdom in matters of the heart. Yes finds him coming on like a romantic crooner, even if the song is a beat ballad. The excellent Young Boy Blues finds him wailing with a nasal bluesiness over some fantastic testifying piano. He is more than equal to them all.

Theres no doubt, however, which songs are the big guns. Stand By Me, written by King with Leiber and Stoller, still resonates in rock all these years later, but theres little doubt the original version is the best. Dont Play That Song (You Lied), penned by Atlantic Records boss, Ahmet Ertegun, and Kings wife, Betty, may have since been overtaken in the public consciousness by Aretha Franklins 1970 version (she also covered Spanish Harlem the following year), but King had already hit with it eight years previously. These arent just records of great influence, they are great records, period.

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Dont Play That Song! How Ben E King Broke Through With Soul - Dig!