Baby, It's You
I heard Smith's version of "Baby, It's You" today while driving back from taking the dogs for a long walk at a local park. 
You probably don't remember Smith. They were a "one hit wonder," with only the above mentioned song, a hit during the summer of 1969. That was the summer before my senior year in high school. I had just joined my first serious band - and I went through my first case of being "serious" about a girl.
The song is a typical pop-rock tune from it's time for the most part. There's a really competent organist (playing a Hammond B-3, I'm sure) and a decent rhythm section. The guitar is nothing to speak of.
But the singer, a good looking blonde named Gayle McCormick, does a killer job on the vocal. And that makes the song.... I really, really like it.
I don't know where I'm going with this. I got an idea because I heard this song. It's a great cover that takes a standard Shirelles' arrangement and sexes it up - a lot.
But this isn't what I was going to talk about. I was going to talk about my Smith waste basket.
When I went off to college, my mom went and bought me the usual dorm stuff - sheets, blankets, a bedspread, towels, etc. The university provided a check list, so my mom just got what was on the list trusting that I would ignore my needs until the last second. Good mom, huh?
Anyway, "waste basket" was on the list - so she came home with a waste basket that had the picture of Smith on it I've posted above.
My response was basically "WTF"? It was the summer of 1970 ( a full year after their one and only hit) and I was way, way, way, ever so many times way too cool for a Smith waste basket. Beatles/Stones/Hendrix/Cream - definitely. Steppenwolf - I could deal. But Smith? Freakin' Smith?
"It was on sale for 99 cents," my mom told me. "The choices were this or Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. I thought you'd hate this less. After all, it's only a waste basket."
Sound thinking, you must admit.
Anyway, I had that waste basket for about ten years. It was a beer cooler (lined with a plastic bag) numerous times when I was in college. After college it was a conversation piece at parties. It got cooler all the time. It was part of my mystique for a long time.
I don't remember when I lost or tossed my Smith waste basket. I hope it's found a happy second life somewhere.
Oh, the girl I mentioned. She looked like Gayle McCormick, the singer in that picture of Smith. I hope she's found a happy second life somewhere, too.
That's all I got.
You probably don't remember Smith. They were a "one hit wonder," with only the above mentioned song, a hit during the summer of 1969. That was the summer before my senior year in high school. I had just joined my first serious band - and I went through my first case of being "serious" about a girl.
The song is a typical pop-rock tune from it's time for the most part. There's a really competent organist (playing a Hammond B-3, I'm sure) and a decent rhythm section. The guitar is nothing to speak of.
But the singer, a good looking blonde named Gayle McCormick, does a killer job on the vocal. And that makes the song.... I really, really like it.
I don't know where I'm going with this. I got an idea because I heard this song. It's a great cover that takes a standard Shirelles' arrangement and sexes it up - a lot.
But this isn't what I was going to talk about. I was going to talk about my Smith waste basket.
When I went off to college, my mom went and bought me the usual dorm stuff - sheets, blankets, a bedspread, towels, etc. The university provided a check list, so my mom just got what was on the list trusting that I would ignore my needs until the last second. Good mom, huh?
Anyway, "waste basket" was on the list - so she came home with a waste basket that had the picture of Smith on it I've posted above.
My response was basically "WTF"? It was the summer of 1970 ( a full year after their one and only hit) and I was way, way, way, ever so many times way too cool for a Smith waste basket. Beatles/Stones/Hendrix/Cream - definitely. Steppenwolf - I could deal. But Smith? Freakin' Smith?
"It was on sale for 99 cents," my mom told me. "The choices were this or Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. I thought you'd hate this less. After all, it's only a waste basket."
Sound thinking, you must admit.
Anyway, I had that waste basket for about ten years. It was a beer cooler (lined with a plastic bag) numerous times when I was in college. After college it was a conversation piece at parties. It got cooler all the time. It was part of my mystique for a long time.
I don't remember when I lost or tossed my Smith waste basket. I hope it's found a happy second life somewhere.
Oh, the girl I mentioned. She looked like Gayle McCormick, the singer in that picture of Smith. I hope she's found a happy second life somewhere, too.
That's all I got.