Thursday, April 29, 2010

Let's Face It -- Everything Below the Waist is Kaput!

From 1958, here's Ann Cole and her remarkable answer to Muddy Waters, the rueful yet optimistic ode to female self-empowerment "I've Got Nothing Working."




To be honest, I'd never heard of Cole, or heard this record, until I chanced across it while websurfing yesterday morning, but according to my old colleague Bruce Eder over at All-Music Guide, Cole was a big deal in her day (voted Most Promising Female R&b Vocalist of 1956, actually). Not only that, this isn't even technically an answer to Muddy's record; it turns out Cole herself recorded "Got My Mojo Working" the same year as that award, and Muddy learned the song after seeing her perform it onstage.

Had Cole's version been a hit, of course, history might have been changed in unfathomable ways. Of Cole herself, alas, I can find no mention after the '50s.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great find, rocks like you know what!

ROTP(lumber)

steves said...

What a terrific discovery! I never knew about any of this before. Glad I stopped by this morning. Thanks.

J. Loslo said...

Her version of "Got My Mojo Working" is on the Rhino Blues Masters series (Vol. 6). A bit more up-tempo than the follow-up, same arrangement & background vocals. It's good.

Faze said...

Someone borrowed heavily from this arrangement for "My friends all call me speedo, but my real name is Mister Earl" -- or the other way around.