"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.
ADDED: Here are Daddy G and Gary U.S. Bonds revisiting "Quarter to 3" (with lyrics articulated clearly enough that I think the line is "I danced 'til a quarter to 3/When they had that night with Daddy G"):
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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.
At first glance, I assumed Marco Rubio had something important to say about the passing of a celebrated saxaphonist. Now, I kind of want to know what he would say, if asked.
I saw the headline and my heart leapt thinking this must be the "Daddy G" in Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen."
Now, older and wiser, I see that "Daddy Gee" is in their song "My Old School" and apparently refers to G. Gordon Liddy.
It was the R&B theme that made me associate Daddy Gee with 'Retha Franklin and "Hey, Nineteen."
Lazarus--I thought immediately of "My Old School." Never heard of this Daddy G. (although his sax sounds familiar).
Who was "Gino?"
I had a 'comeback' album by Gary U. S. Bonds that came out in the late 70s (I think, alas I don't have it anymore). In any case, i remember it has being a solid record.
I just listened to the linked tunes. How did I not know that Fontella Bass was a woman? The bass player on Rescue Me really tears it up at the end.
As Gary US Bonds was based out of Norfolk (early-to-mid 60s at least), he performed a number of times in Raleigh, and thanks to my dad doing publicity on the side for the regional promoter Joe Murnick, got to see/hear him twice circa 1964-66.
It's hard to say. There's not much online. I asked one AI and it said it was Gino Cafarelli, a classmate of Fagan and Becker. There is a Geno Cafarelli with an imdb page, but he was born in the year of the bust. I asked another LLM and it said that Gino was another reference to Liddy (or possibly someone who made the bust with him). There is a widespread conviction that DaddyG was Liddy, but it's not universal. I suspect the song developed and evolved in the 4 years between the bust and the recording session and things were put in and taken out.
I can't believe I've never heard of Gene Barge, but I'm glad I know him now. I'd heard 3/5 of these songs, but I'd never heard "If You Wanna Be Happy" nor "Quarter to Three", and they're great. May we all live such long and fruitful lives and be remembered fondly after our deaths.
I still have that 45!!! Thanks for clarifying who "Daddy G." is - always wanted to know. One of the great dance tunes from Saturday afternoon "rec" in elementary school. Ah! The memories...
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