From wikipedia...
Love is Strange was a crossover hit by American
rhythm and blues duet Mickey & Sylvia, which was released in late November
1956 by the Groove record label.
The song was based on a guitar riff by Jody Williams. The
co-writers of the song are of some dispute. The song has also been recorded by
Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley, among others. The guitar riff was also used by Dave
"Baby" Cortez in his 1962 instrumental song Rinky Dink.
At a concert at Howard
Theatre in Washington ,
D.C. Mickey & Sylvia heard Jody
Williams play a guitar riff that Williams had played on Billy Stewart's debut
single Billy's Blues. Billy's Blues was released as a
single in June 1956 and the instrumentation combined a regular blues styling
with Afro-Cuban styling.
Sylvia Robinson claims that she and Mickey Baker wrote the
lyrics, while Bo Diddley claims that he wrote them.
(Sylvia later founded Sugar Hill Records and introduced the world to the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's The Message.)
(Sylvia later founded Sugar Hill Records and introduced the world to the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's The Message.)
Recorded on October
17, 1956 on RCA’s Groove label.
"Love is strange" was given by Bo Diddley (the author of the melody) to Mickey. They were close friends at this time. It's Mickey who personally tall the news to me. He was a good friend of mine too. The lyrics had been written by Mickey and nobody else.
ReplyDeletePhil
Thanks for the first hand account of the events surrounding this recording. It's always nice to hear from the source!
ReplyDelete