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11-05-2015, 06:53 PM | #1 |
Radical Centrist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
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Strawberry Letter 23
"Strawberry Letter 23" was recorded by The Brothers Johnson with Mr. Quincy Jones producing, and released as a single in 1977. I loved this single. I hope you did too.
Hello my love I heard a kiss from you "I heard a kiss from you" - what an opening line. He has just gotten a letter from his love, in a pink envelope. That letter is the 22nd letter they have exchanged. In his mind, he begins to compose his reply. The letter he sends in reply is the 23rd letter they will exchange. So, this song is his letter. Hence the title! "I heard a kiss from you" He has read her letter, and he describes it as hearing her kissing him. That's what poets do. And it's turned a dreary day into a rainbow of colors: Red magic satin playing near, too All through the morning rain I gaze, the sun doesn't shine Rainbows and waterfalls run through my mind In the garden, I see West purple shower bells and tea Orange birds and river cousins Dressed in green Pretty music, I hear So happy and loud Blue flowers echo From a cherry cloud Feel sunshine sparkle pink and blue Playgrounds will laugh If you try to ask, is it cool? Kinda acidy stuff. Turns out it was written in the acid years, 1971, by a cat named Shuggie Otis. And Shuggie was 17 years old, so he was ahead of his time. In fact, Shuggie came up with almost all the tricky parts of the song. The doubled, repeating, arpeggiating guitar solo was Shuggie's invention. When Quincy Jones wanted to reproduce it, he got jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour to do it. If you arrive and don't see me I'm going to be with my baby I am free, flying in her arms Over the sea Stained window, yellow candy screen See speakers of kite With velvet roses diggin' freedom flight A present from you Strawberry letter 22 The music plays, I sit in for a few Poetry. That's his love letter. The original song has all the charm of the hit single, and it has the soaring background harmonies and guitar solo. But the one thing it doesn't have is bass player Louis Johnson (R.I.P.). The bass part on the original is plain vanilla. What Louis Johnson did was to create a sonic foundation of pure funk. I loved the song for 4 decades and played bass for 3, and I never realized what was happening underneath, until I heard this isolated bass track. (Let it kick in at about the 25th second) Take it from any bass player: that's astounding. And the way Quincy Jones put it all into the mix, none of this outrageous bass part sticks out. It all fits perfectly. The Bros Johnson song hit #5 on the US chart and #1 on the US soul/R&B chart. |
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