October Song #2 - "The Dark End Of The Street"
OK, I promise that every song I cover in this series won't be one covered by Ry Cooder, but the man's got such good taste! After all this one has been done a lot; Linda Ronstadt, Richard and Linda Thompson, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Porter and Dolly, Percy Sledge, and Eva Cassidy, to name but a lot. I think even my buddy Don Dixon does it live. All strive to achieve the power of the original, recorded in 1967 by James Carr:
I'll let the gods of Wikipedia take over for a minute:
"The Dark End of the Street" is a 1967 soul song written by Muscle Shoals songwriters Dan Penn and Chips Moman and first performed by James Carr. The song became Carr's most popular, reaching number 10 on Billboard Magazine's Black Singles Chart, and crossing over to number 77 on the Pop chart.
Written by Penn, a professional songwriter and producer, and Moman, a session guitarist at Phil Spector's Gold Star Studio, the song is the lament from an adulterer to his illicit lover, told from the adulterer's point of view. They continue their sin, "hiding in shadows where [they] don't belong" because their "love keeps coming on strong." At the climax of the song, the narrator fears "they're gonna find us some day."
In the summer of 1966, while a DJ convention was being held in Memphis, Tennessee, the song was written in about thirty minutes. Penn and Moman were cheating while playing cards with Florida DJ Don Schroeder.[1] They wrote the song while on a break. “We were always wanting to come up with the best cheatin’ song. Ever,” Penn said.[2] The duo went to the hotel room of Quinton Claunch, another Muscle Shoals alumnus, and founder of Hi Records, to write. Claunch told them, "boys, you can use my room on one condition, which is that you give me that song for James Carr. They said I had a deal, and they kept their word.”[3]
Again, not a difficult song, chord-wise. A lot of versions modulate up a half-step for the last verse, which causes much grumblings among guitar players. No biggie.
Like most suburban white boys, I've always had fantasies of being a soul singer. I might have to hit an open mic and try this one.
I'll let the gods of Wikipedia take over for a minute:
"The Dark End of the Street" is a 1967 soul song written by Muscle Shoals songwriters Dan Penn and Chips Moman and first performed by James Carr. The song became Carr's most popular, reaching number 10 on Billboard Magazine's Black Singles Chart, and crossing over to number 77 on the Pop chart.
Written by Penn, a professional songwriter and producer, and Moman, a session guitarist at Phil Spector's Gold Star Studio, the song is the lament from an adulterer to his illicit lover, told from the adulterer's point of view. They continue their sin, "hiding in shadows where [they] don't belong" because their "love keeps coming on strong." At the climax of the song, the narrator fears "they're gonna find us some day."
In the summer of 1966, while a DJ convention was being held in Memphis, Tennessee, the song was written in about thirty minutes. Penn and Moman were cheating while playing cards with Florida DJ Don Schroeder.[1] They wrote the song while on a break. “We were always wanting to come up with the best cheatin’ song. Ever,” Penn said.[2] The duo went to the hotel room of Quinton Claunch, another Muscle Shoals alumnus, and founder of Hi Records, to write. Claunch told them, "boys, you can use my room on one condition, which is that you give me that song for James Carr. They said I had a deal, and they kept their word.”[3]
Again, not a difficult song, chord-wise. A lot of versions modulate up a half-step for the last verse, which causes much grumblings among guitar players. No biggie.
Like most suburban white boys, I've always had fantasies of being a soul singer. I might have to hit an open mic and try this one.
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