Song, by Toad

Okay maybe not blues, maybe a bit more souly, but you know what I mean. There’s a whole area of this kind of music where these boundaries blur to the point of meaninglessness for me. Lovely old songstress lullabies might be more appropriate.

I know virtually nothing at all about Bettye Swann, although a cursory internet search reveals her to be a 60s soul singer who knocked out all of the old standards from that time and before. I have no real urge to explore further as this is generally not a style of music I can get all that excited about, but I do have one stray song of hers that I love.

It appeared on a sampler about five years ago. I’ve no idea which one, but it really stuck with me – such a compassionate song about getting over a lost love and finding the strength to move on. It’s a very stripped-down version as well, which gives is a sort of scratchy sincerity that can get a bit lost in the over-production of songs of this sort. Gorgeous.

Bettye Swann – Don’t Look Back

Around about the time The White Stripes seriously hit the big time they caused – or simply embodied, I’m not sure – a massive surge of interest in stripped down garage blues, and the Detroit scene in particular. A mass of groups were knocking about the city at that point, all mixing old blues and soul sounds with grungy, aggressive guitars. I liked a lot of it, although inevitably there was a lot of dross in the mix as well.

One group I never really took to were The Come Ons, but they did do this one gorgeous track called Strangelove. It’s a simple love song that, given I was in the very early months of a whirlwhind, preposterous romance with Mrs. Toad, became something of a staple of our late night listening. Even now it still strikes a significant chord with me for that reason. Happy days indeed…

The Come Ons – Strangelove