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"Groove Me" is a song recorded by R&B singer King Floyd. Released from his eponymous album in late 1970, it was a crossover hit, spending four non-consecutive weeks at number-one on Billboard Soul chart and peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.[3] In Canada the song reached No. 11.[4]
| "Groove Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by King Floyd | ||||
| from the album King Floyd | ||||
| A-side | "What Our Love Needs" | |||
| B-side | "Groove Me" | |||
| Released | September 1970[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1970, Malaco Records Studio Jackson, Mississippi | |||
| Genre | R&B, funk[2] | |||
| Length | 3:04 | |||
| Label | Chimneyville, Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | King Floyd | |||
| Producer(s) | Wardell Quezergue | |||
| King Floyd singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song was recorded and produced by Wardell Quezergue at Malaco Records' Jackson, Mississippi recording studios during the same session as another Quezergue-produced song, Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff".[5] "Groove Me" was originally released as the B-side to Floyd's "What Our Love Needs" on the Malaco subsidiary Chimneyville. When New Orleans disc jockey George Vinnett started playing the B-side, the song began meriting attention, and as the record emerged as a local smash, Atlantic Records scooped up national distribution rights.[5]
Personnel edit
No credits are listed for the Malaco studio musicians on the record. According to Rob Bowman's liner notes from the 1999 box set, The Last Soul Company: Malaco, A Thirty Year Retrospective, the musicians for this session included:
- Jimmy Honeycutt – saxophone
- Bob Cheesman – trumpet
- Wardell Quezergue – organ
- Jerry Puckett – guitar
- Vernie Robbins – bass
- James Stroud – drums
During this time at Malaco, horn lines were typically played by saxophonist Hugh Garraway and trumpeter Perry Lomax.[6]
Origin edit
According to Rob Bowman, Canadian professor of ethnomusicology, "Groove Me" had been inspired by a young college student who had worked about twenty feet away from Floyd at an east L.A. box factory. In Floyd's words: "She'd just watch me and smile at me all day. When I went to the water fountain, she would make it her purpose to come up to the water fountain. But, I was so shy. So, I decided one day that I was gonna write this poem and give it to her and I wrote 'Groove Me.' Believe it or not, after I finished it she never came back to work. It blew me away. So, I never gave her the poem. Man, I'd sure like to meet her one day just to thank her!"[6]
Cover versions edit
- The Blues Brothers covered the song in their hit 1978 album Briefcase Full of Blues, giving the song a Jamaican reggae feel.
- In 1979, Fern Kinney, who sang backing vocals on King Floyd's original version, released a disco version of the song on her album Groove Me, which reached No. 6 on the Billboard dance chart.[7] In Canada the song reached No. 20.[8]
References edit
- ^ "King Floyd - What Our Love Needs". 45cat.com. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
- ^ Letsch, Glenn (2005). R & B Bass. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0634073702. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 209.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - February 13, 1971" (PDF).
- ^ a b "King Floyd - Biography". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- ^ a b Bowman, Rob (1999). "Malaco Records: The Last Soul Company" (PDF). Peermusic.com. p. 17. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- ^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 8 September 1979. p. 48. Retrieved 28 February 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "RPM Dance Music - November 3, 1979" (PDF).