Don Covay |
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Mon. September 18.2000 8:32 AM EDT |
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Rebounding From Stroke, Don Covay Resumes RecordingSinger/songwriter says Aretha Franklin's cover of 'Chain of Fools' is his favorite version of one of his songs. by Contributing Editor Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen |
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Don Covay, 63, was one of the most storied songwriters of the 1960s, though his own records often were overshadowed by more successful cover versions. ( ) |
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Adlib opens with a snaky roadhouse groove. Then a voice rises up from the funk: "Hey now, I got it all, baby! Hangin' in the ceiling, hangin' on the wall ... but I got it all, sweetie! Oww!" The voice isn't quite sure how you
Don Covay, 63, was one of the most storied songwriters of the 1960s, though his own records often were overshadowed by more successful cover versions. Chubby Checker did "Pony Time" in 1962, the Rolling Stones did "Mercy Mercy" (RealAudio excerpt of Rolling Stones version) in 1965, and Aretha Franklin turned "Chain of Fools" into one of her signature songs in 1968 (RealAudio excerpt of Aretha Franklin version). Covay said it's still his favorite version of any of his songs, and he remembers the day in '68 when he first played it for her. "She and [Atlantic Records producer] Jerry Wexler were in the studio, playing a lot of songs and just throwin' 'em over her shoulder into the trash can," Covay said. "I put 'Chain of Fools' (RealAudio excerpt of Don Covay version) on for her, and after two bars she screamed and hollered. People thought something bad had happened. She said, 'I just found the song I want to do right now!' " Covay Sends Others To Top "They did it at one o'clock, and by six o'clock it was over the million mark," Covay recalled, exaggerating how quickly the song became a success. Franklin's single went gold, and she won the Best R&B Vocal Performance Grammy Award in 1969 for her version of the tune. Franklin also had a 1968 hit with Covay's "See-Saw" (RealAudio excerpt of Aretha Franklin version), a song that had been a lesser hit for its writer in 1966. Covay kept recording throughout the 1970s, and he also took an A&R position at Mercury Records. His fortunes faltered, however, as his own albums had a harder time finding an audience, despite such successful covers as Bonnie Raitt's 1977 version of "Three Time Loser" (RealAudio excerpt of live Bonnie Raitt version). Covay suffered a major stroke in 1992, and now he lives in a rehabilitation facility in Clinton, Md. Jon Tiven, his longtime friend and musical director, said he worked hard to make sure Covay stayed active during his recovery. Tiven would call Covay, and the two would write songs together over the phone. "A guy like Don is so creative that the songs never stop coming," said Tiven, a producer and musician who marshaled Wilson Pickett's W. C. Handy Award-winning 1999 comeback, It's Harder Now, and has worked with B.B. King, Irma Thomas and dozens of others. "He's a hard guy to keep up with." Covay, who is in a wheelchair but said he's "getting better every day," considered the decision to record a new album an easy one. "I had the songs in my mind, so it was time. When I went in there, everything came together." Covay recorded the basic tracks for Adlib in April during three days at Omega Studios in Rockville, Md., with Tiven on guitar and organ; Tiven's wife, Sally, on bass and guitar; and Anton Fig on drums. Paul Shaffer added piano and more organ later. A Touch Of Raunchy Rock The album features "Poontang," a raunchy, funky song Covay wrote while he was still in the hospital in 1994. He and Tiven performed it at a concert in front of Covay's fellow patients, and Covay soon became known around the ward as "The Poontang Man." "You haven't lived until you've been onstage with Don, singing, 'Come on baby take off your dress/ You know what I like the best,' to an audience of 200 or so men and women in wheelchairs all singing along, 'I want some poontang,' " Tiven said. The album features a new version of "Chain of Fools," sung by Ann Peebles, as well as two duets with Pickett, "Nine Times a Man" and "Three Time Loser." It was the first time Pickett and Covay had sung together since the two were with Atlantic Records in the 1960s and '70s. "We hugged each other like we didn't want to let each other go," Covay said. "You can tell on the song ('Nine Times a Man') we were having fun. I shouted, 'Turn the Wicked [Pickett's nickname] loose, let him scream like a wild-necked goose!' " Covay hopes to come back for good. "I'm already working on the next album in my mind," he said. "A song a day keeps the doctor or the rent man away. Tell the world to get ready for me, here I come." |
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