We aren’t quite sure who wrote this; Elmore James and Sonny Boy Williamson II both recorded it in the ’60’s, but it’s probably from much earlier. Anyway, Duane Allman, who was most likely influenced by Elmore James and other slide guitar players, probably learned this and lobbied the rest of the Allman Brothers to cover it.
The Allman Brothers Band is pretty much the 800-pound gorilla of Southern rock; it’s hard to talk about the genre without talking about them. They formed in 1969 and recorded two studio albums, their eponymous debut (1969) and Idlewild South (1970), but it wasn’t until their first live album, 1971’s At The Fillmore East, that people began to take notice of them. This is from that live album.
Southern rockers the Marshall Tucker Band (from Spartanburg, South Carolina) released this as a single from their 1977 album Carolina Dreams. It was their highest-charting single, reaching #14 on the Hot 100, #51 on the Country chart, and #25 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It did even better in Canada, reaching #5 on the Pop chart. The song was written by lead guitarist and vocalist Toy Caldwell.
Atlanta Rhythm Section was formed in 1970 by members of two bands: The Candymen and Classics IV. They were the house band for the newly-opened Studio One recording studio in Doraville, Georgia (outside of Atlanta) before becoming a touring and performing band, but it wasn’t until 1978 that they found commercial success with Champagne Jam, their seventh studio album. This is the title track.
I’ve played Starbuck’s "Moonlight Feels Right" here so many times that you’ll likely kill me (or tune me out) if I play it again. They were pretty close to being a one-hit wonder, although the follow-up single, "I Got To Know", reached #11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Since the band members have gone their separate ways, marimba player Bo Wagner passed away in 2017, and lead singer/keyboardist Bruce Blackman has recorded two albums, Moonlight Feels Right 2014 and Is That Your Yacht?. Here is the title track from the latter.
For today’s promp, "Come/Go/Leave/Stay," I’ve chosen "Come Fly With Me," with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. They wrote the song in 1957 with Frank Sinatra in mind, and it was the title track on his 1957 album. AZLyrics gives us this little quote…
Charles Pignone, Vice President of Frank Sinatra Enterprises, said about this song in an interview with songfacts.com, "They wrote ‘Come Fly With Me’ with him in mind. And I think that epitomized that decade and the good life and having a good time. America was just picking up the pieces from World War II, and the decade before that they were in a war, and things were changing in America. That song caught on and that was one of his most popular albums."
Others have recorded it, among them Dean Martin, Frankie Avalon, Count Basie, and Michael Bublé, but no one does it like Ol’ Blue Eyes.
The lyrics from AZLyrics:
Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away If you can use some exotic booze There’s a bar in far Bombay Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away
Come fly with me, let’s float down to Peru In llama land there’s a one-man band And he’ll toot his flute for you Come fly with me, let’s take off in the blue
Once I get you up there where the air is rarefied We’ll just glide, starry-eyed Once I get you up there I’ll be holding you so near You may hear angels cheer ’cause we’re together
Weather-wise it’s such a lovely day Just say the words and we’ll beat the birds Down to Acapulco Bay It’s perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away
Once I get you up there where the air is rarefied We’ll just glide, starry-eyed Once I get you up there I’ll be holding you so near You may hear angels cheer ’cause we’re together
Weather-wise it’s such a lovely day You just say the words and we’ll beat the birds Down to Acapulco Bay It’s perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly Pack up, let’s fly away!!
And that’s Song Lyric Sunday and Song of the Day for February 16, 2020.
