SKEETER DAVIS, "DON'T LET ME STAND IN YOUR WAY" C/W "WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH YOU," RCA VICTOR 47-8450 (REL.10/1964)

 

NEW PODCAST EPISODE TODAY! Sometimes it’s all about the act of finding a record—one that continues to just not be there until, at random, it appears. Until that moment, it seems that every other record by a performer mocks your efforts: still looking for that one, huh? Good luck; you’ll need it!

Such is the case with today’s single—a commercial failure in late 1964 (highest chart position: #133) by a Nashville soloist who pursued pop stardom. Skeeter Davis achieved her goal with her major hits “The End of The World” and “I Can’t Stay Mad at You” in 1963. The latter song was written by married cleffers Carole King and Gerry Goffin, who were among America’s most successful and influential songwriters at the time. To hear “Misery” by The Beatles (who covered the writers’ 1962 hit “Chains” on their debut LP) is to realize how big King and Goffin’s reach went in the music world.

As a longtime fan of their work, finding the writers’ lesser-known material is a priority for me. Thus, a Skeeter Davis single containing two of their songs (well, one and a half—more on that anon) that was not a hit was catnip to me. Finding the damned thing was another matter.

Davis made a lot of singles for RCA-Victor in the 1960s.Some find her vocal style irritating—she does, I admit, drift off-note, but I like her style and dynamics and I admire her attempt to embrace girl-group sounds (and the King-Goffin songbook) in her mid-60s releases. One of her best LPs is titled after the finest song King-Goffin wrote for her, “Let Me Get Close to You,” which was also a hit. Find that one on YouTube; King’s melody is a thing of passionate beauty. Skeeter covered “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby,” a hit for Little Eva Boyd, and “Easy to Love,” first recorded by The Chiffons; she was an obvious fan.

“Don’t Let Me Stand in Your Way” sounds like a 1962 song by the cleffers. It was, perhaps, rejected by Bobby Vee or another teen pop vocalist and sat unrecorded until Davis latched onto it. The song was copyrighted with the Library of Congress on June 10^th, 1964, so it’s possible they tailored it for Davis’ general sound. Their writing had become more expressive and pensive by ’64 but they were pros.

With its dopey opening riff (a chord progression used as a hook in The Beatles’ “Please Please Me,” and stolen from Carl Perkins’ 1957 record “Lend Me Your Comb”), The Nashville Strings kick off this very poppy side about a woman who realizes she’s been pushed out of the picture. The title phrase is spoken with a mixture of sarcasm and cynicism, which makes the song less lightweight than its merry sound might imply.

It’s not a major King-Goffin work, but this appears to be its only commercial recording and I’m glad to finally have the darn thing. It showed up in the dollar boxes of a claustrophobic all-kindsa-media store. I’ve pulled some real gems from these boxes, which are mostly “chud,” as my friend Paul Potter and I call piles of unsorted, mostly crap records. As the store buys used 45s, they sprinkle recent pick-ups atop the chud; I’ve learned a visit or two a year will cull some fine platters from this chaos. I can only take being in the submarine vibe of the store for an hour, so it’s always an intense dig and I never leave empty-handed.

The obligatory jargon-rich Cash Box assessment. A Pick of  The Week.

Ms. Davis tackled a song from the Gerry Goffin-Russ Titelman songbook for the topside. “What Am I Gonna Do with You?” received its best version by The Chiffons;  lesbian pop singer Lesley Gore also made a memorable recording of it.  Skeeter’s against some tough competition; her sincere, heartful rendition gets at the resignation of Goffin’s lyric; its narrator has been through the mill with a serial cheater and is beyond anger; this confrontation is brutal but honest and packs an emotional punch.

This made-in-Nashville version has its own merits on a song that was too hard-hitting for public taste; no version of it became a hit, though it’s considered a masterpiece by those who admire the girl-group sound. Pop music’s increased frankness overestimated public acceptance. By 1970, records like this could win the public favor. In ’64, it was too close for comfort.

Davis continued her pop-music exploration into 1967; among her efforts were an album of Buddy Holly songs and a theme LP, Singin’ in the Summer Sun. Then it was back to country, where she remained for the rest of her performing days. Her 1993 autobiography, Bus Fare to Kentucky, is a delirious, dramatic read; she dishes enough dirt to fill a playground.

Tomorrow: Black girl group The Boquets (sic) deliver a pair of eccentric delights via a 1964 Vest Records single. From unplayed “dead stock!”