In this episode, Dr. House's cell phone rings, and lo and behold, his ring tone is Linda Lyndell's What A Man recorded at American Studios! Hugh Laurie, who plays Dr. House, is a musician -- and a very informed one at that!
But wait, there's more! Download your own "What A Man" ringtone here:
http://blog.georgiamusic.info/what_a_man.mp3
EDITOR'S NOTE: 6/10/09 -- It appears that a retraction is in order. Fellow blogger MizzGrizz has pointed out that there is no concrete proof that any of the Memphis Boys played on "What A Man." As I recall, Dave Crawford, the producer of this record, had often used different rhythm sections for his recordings (STAX, Muscle Shoals, Criteria Sound) and it is possible that he used musicians whose names we may never know. I had always thought it was the Memphis Boys because of the sound of the drums. I have asked Gene Chrisman whether he played on this and he didn't recall doing so. So I guess that's the end of the story. I am on a mission to find out who played on this recording. Stay tuned! - Allen
Wasn't Linda Lindell at Stax when she recorded? Her stuff came out on that label.Reggie Young kept all his old session books and there doesn't seem to have been any mention of Linda Lindell.And the backing sure sounds like Booker T and The MGs.
ReplyDeleteMizzGrizz -- you are right. It was on the Stax label. To me though, the bass and drums don't sound like Duck Dunn and Al Jackson. Duck didn't really play the 'busy bass' style that's apparent on 'What A Man' -- to me it sounds a lot like Tommy Cogbill's style. That's not to say it couldn't be someone else other than Duck or Tommy. And also, that sure does sound like Gene on drums. However, I must concede that Gene didn't recall this session either when I spoke to him about it. Of course, they've done so much and that was so long ago. Plus it wasn't a huge record at the time as far as I know. Interesting...
ReplyDeleteThey might have gone to Muscle Shoals to do the recording--David Hood was definitely Cogbill-influenced. Another possibility is that Don Davis, who was affiliated with Stax by then, took Linda to Detroit for a session with the Funk Brothers...but the bass doesn't really sound like James Jamerson.It also could have been some of the musicians in the regrouped and revamped Bar-Kays.
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