Did somebody say “higher?”
Sorry The Nest was too distracted by crazy Target shoppers yesterday to actually bother preparing the Monday Music post for this morning. So you’ll get your earworm a few hours late and maybe a nickel short. We’re doing the Countdown of Whatever, aka, The Top 30 Songs We Just Feel Like Playing. After taking a peek at a song I like from each of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s the last three weeks… we’re going to flash back to a decade I wasn’t around for since I’m not quite that old yet. I doubt this was played at Woodstock, but that doesn’t mean it ain’t groovy and far out, man….
#27. “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher” – Jackie Wilson
I tend to have a fondness for cover versions of classic songs. Hell, my very first Top 30 countdown on this blog was dedicated to my very favorite cover songs. This is the extremely subjective arena where Tom Jones upstages Prince, The Flying Lizards make The Beatles look like amateurs, and Bruce Fucking Willis of all people puts The Staples Singers to shame…
Respect yourself, or I’m gonna blow your fucking head off!
But sometimes, no matter how hard people try, they just can’t top the original. There are a lot of songs from pop music’s golden age that have been covered again and again and again… but a few still stand the test of time. I’m in no way, shape or form a fan of soul music, but when I want to be lifted higher and higher, there’s only one singer for the job, and that’s the song’s original artist, Mr. Jackie Wison…
There’s apparently a few slight alterations of the classic out there on YouTube, and it took me a while to find the exact 1967 radio version I know and love… but this is it. I love this upbeat piece of music. And if I never hear the piece of dreck Rita Coolidge turned this song into a decade later, it will be too soon.
The chicks dig upbeat.
Unfortunately, the life of Jackie Wilson wasn’t as higher and higher as his song. He got royally screwed by his record company and manager, who left him with millions in unpaid royalties, the IRS on his back for unpaid taxes, and broke for much of his later career. He was shot in the stomach by either an overzealous fan or an overjealous girlfriend, depending on whose story you believe. He also suffered a massive heart attack in the middle of performing the song “Lonely Teardrops” on stage in 1975 and never fully recovered… remaining in a semi-comatose state for nine years before finally joining the night shift in 1984.
Jackie, he was a friend of mine…
I’ll be back next Monday with another song I just feeling like playing, and hopefully a bit more on time….
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
I like this song… how sad that liffe had so much sh.. in it’s pockets for him..
Not everyone can live The Life like Elvis and Michael Jackson. Oh, wait….
…or like Amy? ;o)
LOL! And not everyone who lived The Life ever had talent!
I’m a huge Jackie Wilson fan!
I am a huge fan of this song, at least!
This makes me want to dance and sing along. Good choice.
At first I saw the title and my heart sank. I thought this would be that over-played puke of a song by Steve Winwood. Thank you for not doing that one.
LOL, no! I liked that song when it came out, and it’s just kinda meh now. There will be no Winwood in this countdown, though I came close to considering Valerie for very sentimental reasons…
Great song! I’ve never heard any other version I don’t think. Maybe & I blocked it out.
I’ve been listening to some songs today that lift me higher & higher so this fits right in.
Rita Coolidge’s cover from the 70’s sounds so different from Jackie’s version that you might not even recognize it if you did hear it. But it is awful, just awful…
That is a truly uplifting song and I remember singing along with it on the radio a lot back when…..I had no idea that’s how Jackie passed away though. WOW………….
Pam
Seems like a tough way to go, but supposedly he brought on the health issues with his habit of swallowing large quantities of salt packets before going on stage, which increased sweating. He supposedly told Elvis the chicks dig that, and we all know Vegas era Elvis did a lot of sweating on stage. Maybe he took Jackie’s advice and sealed his own fate?
He had a run of bad luck, poor fellow. The only song I know of his is “I Get the Sweetest Feeling.”
I had to look that song up because I’ve never heard it before. And I guess this is why….
“The single was originally a moderate chart success securing a No.34 position on the Billboard charts. Four years later, the single was released in the United Kingdom and managed to become a top 10 hit, reaching number nine. After the success of the re-release of “Reet Petite” in 1987, it was decided to posthumously re-release this track as well. The re-release hit the British top 10 again, peaking at number three in the UK Singles chart and No.20 in the Dutch Top 40.”
So it was a very meh hit here, but was Top 10 in the UK TWICE!!! I also realized in looking up Wilson’s chart career that while he had a lot of volume of songs, he had very few that were big hits anywhere….
One of the greatest songs ever, nice post, poor Jackie.
Poor Jackie. But what a great song. Always reminds me of the Ghost Buster’s movie and makes me smile. These days, the nation could definitely use some of the good juju from that song.