Great Moments in Backup Singing: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
November 16, 2007 by Extra P.
Obviously, there is no point in actually watching the video here. But the song is there, so let’s hear it.
What I love about this song is the juxtaposition between Harold and the Blue Notes. The backup singers are steady and on-point throughout the whole song, gently reminding Harold’s woman that she should know better than to question his fidelity (so a man comes home a little late at night with no explanation, then gets defensive when confronted, so what?). Harold’s voice gets more and more raw throughout the performance, until he’s basically begging the nameless paramour to just give him a break, already. All the while his own personal greek chorus pleads the heart of his case in the background.
Awesome stuff.
Top of my list for next week are The Pixies, with the wonderful Kim Deal doing her thang, or Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - that most reciprocal of relationships in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Oh yeah…. I seriously dig that song. They were so smooth. Well done, EP; well done.
I picture Harold on his knees in the street shouting “Ten long years…. TEN LONG YEARS!!!”
Devastatingly good song there, but the lead singer isn’t Harold. It’s Teddy Pendergrass. Harold got top-billing as the band leader, but Teddy was the voice.