Jackie Wilson said....

OK then…. If Carlos Santana uses his guitar as if it were Dionne Warwick’s voice (see previous post), and if Van Morrison uses his voice as if it were a tenor sax (which he does), then Jackie Wilson uses his voice like a great alto saxophonist.

This is nowhere more clear than on the Gordy/Carlo/Gordy song “To Be Loved.”

“To Be Loved” was Wilson’s second single, sandwiched between “Reet Petite” in 1957 (which reached #11 on the R&B charts and #62 on the Billboard Pop charts), and “Lonely Teardrops” (which hit #1 on the R&B charts and #7 on the Pop charts) in November of 1958. “To Be Loved” entered the Billboard Pop charts in April of 1958 and made it to #22 (it didn’t make the R&B charts).

Someone to care,
Someone to share,
Lonely hours
And moments of despair,

To be loved, to be loved!
Oh, what a feeling,
To be loved!

Someone to kiss,
Someone to miss,
When you're away
To hear from each day.

To be loved, to be loved!
Oh, what a feeling,
To be loved!

Some wish to be a king or a queen,
Some wish for fortune and fame,
But to be truly, truly, truly loved
Is more than all of these things!

To be loved, to be loved
Oh, what a feeling,
To be loved!

It’s the note he hits on “…loved!” It just soars, and he rolls into it without a hint of trepidation. It’s like some link between love and freedom is forged in the fire of that note. I’ll bet it’s what caught the imagination of the short and angry Irishman:

Da, da, da, da, da,
Jackie Wilson said
It was
"Reet-Petite"
Kinda love you got
Knock me off my
feet
Let it all hang out
Oh, let it all hang out.

And you know
I'm so wired-up
Don't need
no coffee in my cup
Let it all hang out
Let it all hang out.

Watch this:
Ding-a-ling-a-ling
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-ding
Ding-a-ling-a-ling
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-ding
Do-da-do-da

Almost ten years later, in 1967 at the close of his career as a significant artist, Wilson hit #1 again on the R&B charts (and #6 on Pop) with “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)” and I am certain it was the very same love that was being invoked, not just on this song but on that first world wide satellite broadcast as well and The Beatles’ live performance of “All You Need Is Love” (34) and all the other songs in that year’s Top 100:

84. “Gimme Some Lovin” Spencer Davis Group
83. “Somebody To Love” Jefferson Airplane
73. “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” Aretha Frankin
66. “Standing In The Shadows Of Love” The Four Tops
62. “Words Of Love” The Mamas And The Papas
60. “Your Precious Love” Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
59. “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” Johnny Rivers
58. “Baby I Love You” Aretha Franklin
40. “Dedicated To The One I Love” The Mamas And The Papas
36. “Please Love Me Forever” Bobby Vinton
27. “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” The Supremes
20. “I Was Made To Love Her” Stevie Wonder
16. “Never My Love” The Association
1. “To Sir, With Love” Lulu

If that seems like a whole lot of love, remember it was the Summer of Love.

Dionne Warwick, Carlos Santana, and Guitar Secrets

In jazz and classical music, technical virtuosity plays a different role than it does in rock or in blues. In jazz or classical music, there is no equivalent, for example, to Sister Rosetta Tharpe or Chuck Berry. But in rock & roll or blues, the measure of a guitar player is not in his technical skills but in the ability to be recognized within the first two or three notes.

Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis are all great guitarists. But all three play hollow-body arch-top electric guitars and rely exclusively on the muted tones of the pick up in the neck position. As good as they are, I don’t know that I could readily identify any of them if you played me a solo from a jazz standard (Farlow maybe).

But I would bet the farm (house, barn, tractor, cow, all of it) that I can identify George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandell, B.B. King or Chuck Berry in five seconds or less.

It may be that there is actually be some kind of anti-virtuosity involved. The sort of idiosyncratic attack that produces this sort of signature sound is probably the result of uncorrected mistakes, something a good classical guitar instructor would never let develop.

As a bandleader Carlos Santana has long been identified with Afro-Cuban rhythms that define his first two albums in particular. As a guitarist, his sound is identified by these enormous notes. He plays notes that are like these warm, thick, round, gold strands rich with sustain and a slight distortion. But while his tone is the result of his choice of guitar and amp and the settings on both, his real identity lies in the way he phrases his solos.

Some years ago I stumbled upon an interview in which he named his primary reference point for his phrasing. As soon as I read it I knew instantly that it was the missing piece; it makes perfect sense:

“I first started with B.B. King because that's the most natural thing for a guitar player to start with. Because you want to bend notes, you want to be able to express joy, attitude, anger and a cry. But for those people who want to really begin to sing, I suggest getting a lot of Dionne Warwick albums-the old ones-and instead of playing the chords as much, or trumpet things, try to match her vocal note-for-note. Because there was one time where she had that beautiful balance between black and white, you know? Not too black and not too white-right in the middle. The Burt Bacharach period; beautiful stuff. I listened to that, and I learned how to sing. Like that. Through her.” - Carlos Santana (interview with J.D. Considine, Guitarworld 1981)

Listen to any Carlos solo from any period. Then go listen to “I Say a Little Prayer For You” or “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.”