Day 186: July 5: Angry Blues

"I can't help it if I don't feel so good."

James in pouty mode.  I actually really like this track from Gorilla.  It's got a nice groove and this is a good era for James.  I prefer the studio version to the live one in this video- but it's cool to see the footage- and nice to hear him lead into Chubby Checker.

Angry Blues

Chubby Checker pretty much had one song that he liked to repackage.

Let's Twist Again

Day 185: July 4: On the 4th of July

"Would you care to come down for fireworks time?"

Fairly generic James tune where Independence Day serves as a metaphor for love- or maybe more specifically a synecdoche for a relationship.  It's album filler but it's not terrible. 

On the 4th of July

This Robert Earl Keen is almost the opposite.  The Fourth of July stands for the end of a relationship.  Less happy but a little more interesting.

4th of July

Day 184: July 3: It's in His Kiss

"If you wanna know if he loves you so"

James sings backup on daughter Kate's cover of a song made famous by Betty Everett .   It's more of a duet than just backing vocals but while James' voice is the highlight it's a fairly lackluster version.  I'm not very familiar with Kate's work but it's not close to the standard of her daddy's.

 It's in His Kiss 

I'm not very familiar with Betty Everett either except for It's in His Kiss.  I really like the horns on this one though which made it to #2 on the R&B charts.

There'll Come a Time