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REDBONE: "Come & Get Your Love"

pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
edited March 2008 in Strut Central
To hell with Leo Sayer and Boz Scaggs. If you wanna talk about 1970's soul records made by non-black artists, consider Redbone:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xLi39E9PbAMost of what I've heard by these guys was fonky rock in a Rare Earth vein and has left me kinda . But, on "Come & Get Your Love" they got the shit right. The call-and-response lyrics, those Steve Cropper-ish guitar fills, that electric sitar, that falsetto "ooooh" towards the end, the string arrangement on the chorus that makes you feel like you could live forever - damn! It almost sounds like a demo from Let's Get It On that Marvin Gaye never used! One of the classic cases of reverse crossover - somehow this didn't make Billboard's soul Top 40, but you best believe that black radio in my hometown blasted this one every hour on the hour without fail.Strangely enough, they dropped off the face of the earth after this song. They had been around for a few years and had one earlier hit ("Witch Queen Of New Orleans"), but once they shot straight to the Top 5 with "CAGYL," they never really sustained the momentum. One more album on Epic that didn't get far, a later comeback LP on RCA, and even a best-of called Come & Get Your Redbone. And that was IT!I don't know what got me thinking of this song (and that band) at this late hour. But since I've never seen this song/band discussed on the Strut, I thought I'd throw it out there. And yes, I too was disappointed that the Youtube clip was lipsynched - Midnight Special usually had artists perform live - but then again, at least it gives the guy on the left the opportunity to put his guitar aside for some Indian tribal boogie and the end...

  Comments

  • Tuff_GongTuff_Gong 627 Posts
    Yeah, I love this song. It's funny how in the 70's there were all these bands that would have one-off kind of funky soul tracks. "Come And Get Your Love" though just had so much good stuff going on in it. Funky-ass drum intro with a bass groove locked into it, a sitar-sounding instrument in the intro too... As you noted, the call-and-response vocals... the strings. And the funniest thing of all is I couldn't tell you a damn word to the song other than the chorus!



    Also along the same lines, another song that's got a strong soul vibe...




    It was recorded too early to really be funky, but it's definitely got soul, especially for 1962. This one's as oddball as you can get since it's sung by Bruce Channel, a white guy from Texas, and featuring harmonica by Delbert McClinton! It's also really bizarre that this has become a standard song to be played by marching bands.
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts


    This guy's granddaughter is a good friend of mine. Good people.
  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    A shame that cellphone company have murdered that song.
    And what the hell kind of tagline is 'Come And Get Your Love' for a cellphone company anyway?

    Still, good 70's pop/rock song.
  • SupergoodSupergood 1,213 Posts
    An old favorite of mine. I believe Gene Page (of Barry White fame) did the string arrangements on the album that song comes from.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Pre-Redbone

  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    I love this song. This is another song (of many) that was in a skateboard video when I was a kid. Skate videos schooled me on so many different styles of music.

    I love this song. I've played it out a few times and as I was playing it I wondered if it was cheesy or not. I love it and think it's a great song, but maybe it's "that song from the commercial" for most people.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Redbone records always have a few good songs on them, a better ratio than many who were cranking out product in the late 60s, early 70s. "Come and Get Your Love" deserved to be the massive hit that it was at the time, it's one of the finest pop songs the 70s AM era produced.

    REDBONE APPRECIATED!
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
    I remember "Witch Queen of New Orleans" being a big hit in the UK when I was a young 'un, but I don't really remember much else from them until this tune. It got a bit of radio play in the UK at the time of its release, but only grazed the tail end of the Top 40. There was a dance-pop cover of it by a German act, The Real McCoy, in the 90s, so I guess it was a bigger hit elsewhere in Europe.

    Redbone are the main players on this album, which I picked up for a few dollars in Nashville a few years ago. I think the Vegas brothers produced most of it, too. It's nothing astounding, but it's fairly decent, listenable funky/bluesy rock in a Lydia Pense/Genya Ravan kind of vein.

  • G_BalliandoG_Balliando 3,916 Posts
    I always loved this song too. I have only listened to the Wovoka album though, I'm not too familiar with their earlier albums. I like a couple other songs from that album, but a lot of it is more in that funky rock style. Any other soulful cuts that never got any shine on previous albums that I should be checking for?
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Yeah, I love this song. It's funny how in the 70's there were all these bands that would have one-off kind of funky soul tracks.

    I don't know if I'd call it "one-off," since most of Redbone's stuff has a funky undercurrent...but I understand what you mean. I always thought that certain rock songs from that era like "Free Ride," "Dancing In The Moonlight" or "Hold Your Head Up" could have easily worked if a funk band did them.

    "Come And Get Your Love" though just had so much good stuff going on in it. Funky-ass drum intro with a bass groove locked into it, a sitar-sounding instrument in the intro too... As you noted, the call-and-response vocals... the strings. And the funniest thing of all is I couldn't tell you a damn word to the song other than the chorus!

    I know, man - sounds like a New Orleans Mardi Gras street chant or something, don't it?

    Also along the same lines, another song that's got a strong soul vibe ("Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel)[/b]...




    It was recorded too early to really be funky, but it's definitely got soul, especially for 1962. This one's as oddball as you can get since it's sung by Bruce Channel, a white guy from Texas, and featuring harmonica by Delbert McClinton! It's also really bizarre that this has become a standard song to be played by marching bands.

    Oh, I love this song, too! Channel kinda disappoints me, 'cause he's got a fine white soul voice, yet most of the followup singles I've found by him were straight pop. But "Hey! Baby" is definitely on the money, sounding like swamp-rock before the term was even invented.

    Major Bill Smith (who produced the record) once said that all the R&B stations dropped Channel from their playlists after he appeared on American Bandstand one afternoon and the world found out that he was a white guy...
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Pre-Redbone


    Yeah, really good album. The soul touches are a little strained at times, but for the most part it gets over.

    Also pre-Redbone: that album by the Deuce Coupes on Del-Fi...early sixties rock instrumentals aimed at the hot-rod crowd (whatever that was). Even back then, rhythm & blues had a profound influence on the Vegas brothers (founders of Redbone). I'd post an image if I could find one...
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    they also wrote the hit "Niki Hokey"

    & "Maggie" was another Redbone aor play
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
    Pre-Redbone


    Yeah, really good album. The soul touches are a little strained at times, but for the most part it gets over.

    Also pre-Redbone: that album by the Deuce Coupes on Del-Fi...early sixties rock instrumentals aimed at the hot-rod crowd (whatever that was). Even back then, rhythm & blues had a profound influence on the Vegas brothers (founders of Redbone). I'd post an image if I could find one...

    This any good to you? A grip of label/cover scans on there.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts

    This any good to you? A grip of label/cover scans on there.

    Great site....thanks for posting it.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts



  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    This any good to you? A grip of label/cover scans on there.

    Great site....thanks for posting it.

    I agree, thanx.
  • m_dejeanm_dejean Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut. 2,946 Posts
    REDBONE APPRECIATED!

    I'll ride for the debut double LP:



    One of the early records I snatched from my mom's shelf as a teen ("Wow, Public Enemy sample!"). Excellent funky swamp rock. Some good tunes on here. Lolly Vegas playing his guitar through a Leslie amp gives it a special sound that I really like. Several nice instrumental jams on it too (check Suite Mode ).

    I'm not too crazy about the later output, but this one is solid IMO.
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