Bobby Parker, "Watch Your Step" c/w "Steal Your Heart Away," V-Tone 223 (rel.5/1961)

 

Today's performer is not the Robert Parker of the super-common hit single "Barefootin'." This Bobby Parker came from the Baltimore/DC area, a hotbed of Black musical talent, and created a single for the ages with V-Tone #223. The record just missed the Top 51 in the spring of 1961, was not reviewed by any music magazines, and fell into the limbo reserved for mid-chart hits: liked by some but soon forgotten in the mad onrush of new records and artists.

"Watch Your Step" had a lasting influence on rock 'n' roll. Issued in the UK, it hit many prominent young musicians smack dab on their foreheads. John Lennon loved it. In his own words: “'Watch Your Step' is one of my favorite records. The Beatles have used the lick in various forms. The Allman Brothers used the lick straight as it was.” Lennon fashioned two guitar-riff-heavy songs from its distinctive musical hook. "I Feel Fine" and "Day Tripper" are variants on the "Watch Your Step" riff. Ringo Starr's drumming on "I Feel Fine" shows that he dug Parker's single; his facility as a percussionist gave him easy access to any groove he favored and he gives this laid-back beat his own imprint.

Some white Boomer musicians feel the Beatles' song is an improvement on Parker's 1961 original. I beg to differ. "I Feel Fine" is a likable song, but feels dashed-off, as does its B-side, "She's a Woman." The Beatles were at the peak of career stress at the time, burned out from touring and exhausted by a lack of privacy. Their musical efforts took a dip in quality in late 1964--still appealing but below their bellwether standard.

And, though he tried his hardest and sang with often-ferocious intent, John Lennon could never be a club-hardened Black American musician. After a fanfare of horns, Parker's stinging, insistent guitar riff enters the picture. This song was inspired by Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" and "Manteca," a bebop jazz instrumental by Dizzy Gillespie. With his own version of the Raeletts, Parker raves away on this song that informs a wayward sweetheart that they'd better mind their Ps and Qs.

Parker's intense lead vocal and distorted guitarwork results in what music writer S. J. Dibai calls "...as good a blues, rock ‘n’ roll, or soul record as any that came out in the early 1960s." The song got immediate UK covers from future James Bond film composer John Barry's band, pop singer Adam Faith, and would be covered in the beat-boom era by Manfred Mann and The Spencer Davis Group. The Yardbirds' "I'm Not Talking" borrows from the "Step" riff.

Its influence didn't end there. Led Zeppelin, those notorious pilferers, based their instrumental "Moby Dick" on the record's riff; the aforementioned Allman Brothers' "One Way Out," a cover version of a blues song by Elmore James, affixes the riff to that older classic.

In this century, Mahjongg and Gamma Ray referenced Parker's work in their songs "Tell the Police the Truth" and "New World Order." Here is the wellspring of a substantial rock lodestone...

Another UK band of note, Manchester's Moody Blues, covered Parker's B-side, "Steal Your Heart Away," as the flip of their debut 45, "Lose Your Money," in 1964. Denny Laine, one of the beat-boom's best vocalists, does a credible job on that version. It's not a patch on Parker's original. His opens with a dark, doomy guitar figure. From the git-go, we know this song's no romp through the flower garden.

It's an intense declaration of lasting love, with emotions as positive and hopeful as the melody feels desolate, bluesy and bereft of hope. Like The Velvet Underground's "Who Loves the Sun?", "Steal..." creates a stark contrast between sound and substance.

Parker outdoes himself on his vocal. He is in full testifying mode, and his pledge of devotion is as a blood pact: he's in deep and for good. The femme backup reinforces this hard-line intent. And the band...they're in stellar form with a big sound like Ray Charles' orchestra and enough jazz in the mix to further the sinister mien of the song's melody.

I'm hard pressed to choose a favorite side of this single. Call it a double A-side; I do. It's impressive that such a forbidding, powerful record got halfway up the pop charts; Parker seemed to have bad luck in his musical career. More on that after this musical content.

His debut single for Vee-Jay Records in 1958 paired another minor-keyed original "Blues Get Off My Shoulder" (covered by label-mate Dee Clark in a riveting rendition) and "You Got What it Takes." The latter song was co-opted by Berry Gordy, who slapped his name on it and got a pop hit with solo singer Marv Johnson in 1960. Parker was rightfully bitter about this experience and spoke about it in a later interview:

"I wrote 'You've Got What It Takes,' that was MY song. Even had the Paul 'Hucklebuck' Williams band playing on it behind me... And then Berry Gordy just stole it out from under me, just put his name on it. And what could I do? I was just trying to make a living, playing guitar and singing, how was I going to go on and fight Berry Gordy, big as he was, and Motown Records? There wasn't really nothing I could do about it - it was just too big and I didn't have any way to fight them..."

The song was a US chart hit for UK group The Dave Clark 5 in 1967, with a fine lead vocal by Mike Smith. Its success sired an LP of the same name, which charted and sold well and might have further ired Parker, who soldiered on, beloved by fellow musicians but unknown to the masses. And, alas, sometimes that's just the way it goes.

Tomorrow: winning teen rockabilly from young Dickie Polodor, later known as Ritchie Allen, via a 1958 Radio Records 45. Maybe we'll have a Cash Box review for this one. It's been a minute.