PAUL WILLIAMS "Someday Man"
THE AMERICAN BREED "Lonely Side Of The City"
Some oldies but goodies today on Little Elpees and finally a return to my vinyl collection, albeit a little cheating. When I was at the peak of my vinyl buying days, I would go through little phases. One such phase was collecting any record with a cover of "God Only Knows" on it. That's definitely another post or fifty. For awhile though I started to notice artists covering a little song from the mid 60's A&M Records' soft rock era called "To Put Up With You".
"To Put Up With You" was penned by Paul Williams, but like life in the Bacharach/Randy Newman era, it wasn't typically the author who was known for the hit version, rather the song was sold or covered. Not that TPUWU was a hit anyway, at least not a monster. Paul Williams is best known for being the lovable twee character that would show up on the Muppet Show or any other variety show of the late 70s (or his sublime role in Smokey & The Bandit). His "Someday Man" album is a gem, very underrated, and a classic soft rock staple if you are into The Association, The Left Banke, or Sagittarius. He's likely living off the royalties from delivering such classics as "We've Only Just Begun" to the Carpenters or "Evergreen" to Barbra Streisand.
The American Breed were best known for their hippy-dippy "Bend Me, Shape Me" single which hit #5 in 1967. Their version of TPUWU ended up on a later era record called "Lonely Side Of The City". I never knew what to make of the American Breed. They exuded some soul, but some flowery pop, too, definitely a unique combination, though I don't reach for their elpees as much.
I own both of these on vinyl. However, I saw this Paul Williams album for download somewhere and I grabbed it, so you're very likely getting a decent version of this. TPUWU is a strange song, perhaps not exactly misogynistic, but a sad tale about a vain women and the man who just can't deal, would maybe rather hit the pub. Sigh.
PAUL WILLIAMS TO PUT UP WITH YOU
THE AMERICAN BREED TO PUT UP WITH YOU
2 comments:
yay for paul williams! i have recently developed this interest in his music...beyond the rainbow connection. i always just thought of him as this weird fellow who was in some movies in the 70s...perhaps the love boat as well? keep up the blogging, please, because you rule.
just discovered your blog. love the caption "albums remind me of plans". I haven't thought about that squeeze song in ages. I think i have a teeny-tiny single of that one, it's about five inches across. i couldn't play it on my turntable because the auto-return would kick in when i put the needle at the start of that shrunken single.
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