"Daddy G" was Gene Barge, who died at the age of 98 last Sunday. See "Gene Barge, R&B Saxophonist Who Played on Landmark Hits, Dies at 98/Known as Daddy G, he recorded with Jackie Wilson, Chuck Willis and others, but he was best known for the Gary U.S. Bonds smash 'Quarter to Three'" (NYT).
Barge "played on landmark hits of the rock and soul era, beginning with Chuck Willis’s swinging remake of the blues standard 'C.C. Rider.'... [which]. reached No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1957... In 1963, Mr. Barge was featured on Jimmy Soul’s calypso-derived 'If You Wanna Be Happy,'... Mr. Barge also played the wailing tenor part on Fontella Bass’s 'Rescue Me' (1965) and supplied the rhythmic drive... for Jackie Wilson’s 'Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)' (1967)."
Those are all great recordings. I grew up with them, and maybe you did too. Beautiful to listen to them all again this morning.
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John Prine "Iron Ore Betty" 1978
"I been speaking to her in english
She's been speakin' in the english too
We always speak the same language
'cause we're always gettin' through
I met her at a dance at the union hall
It was a night with daddy g.
Yeah, I'm goin' steady with iron ore betty
And she's goin' steady with me."
All were great tunes made even better by the sax
I interviewed Gary US Bonds years ago for an article. Couldn't have been nicer.
Gary US Bonds is a fave of mine throughout his career. D E D I C A T I O N to excellence. Great sax man lifted all those tunes!
We had the best!
I was always partial to "If You Wanna Be Happy".
I appreciated the sentiment/warning much more as I got older.
Oh how I wish there was an "OK Boomer" tag, as this post cries out for such recognition.
Quarter to Three---good times, good times. I still replay it a couple of times a year.
I like the way the beginning of "Quarter to 3" is the same as "Runaround Sue." It was worth doing twice. "Quarter to 3" was first. I vividly remember when that was the most popular song. It was 1961, so I was 10.
And the hits just keep on comin'!
I listened to Motown from CKLW-AM radio.
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