Songoftheday 3/26/19 - Cokes are in the icebox popcorn's on the table, me and my baby yeah we're out here on the floor...
from the album Unplugged...And Seated (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 3
Today's song of the day comes from Scottish rock legend Rod Stewart, whose stint on MTV's Unplugged program produced a live album that had already spun off two big pop hits with covers of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately" and Tim Hardin's "Reason To Believe". Also, Rod had returned to #1 on the American pop chart with his collaboration with Bryan Adams and Sting with "All For Love" from the movie The Three Musketeers. While his native Britain was served up an acoustic live version of "People Get Ready", which climbed to #45 in the UK, in the US Rod released the soulful classic "Having A Party" as the third single. Written by the man who originally released it and is indelibly connected to it, Sam Cooke, the swinging track climbed to #17 on the pop chart in 1962, and made it to #4 on the R&B chart (it was the "A-side" of the 7" vinyl single; the "B-side", "Bring It On Home To Me", also charted)...
Rod's version on the Unplugged show doesn't stray too far from Cooke, even importing the string section into the mix, and keeping the casual flow intact, with help from former Small Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood...
"Having A Party" became the third top-40 pop hit in the U.S. from the Unplugged album in February of 1994. The song did much better on "easy listening" radio, peaking at #6 on the Adult Contemporary radio format chart in Billboard magazine.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
And here's Rod performing live in concert in 2003...
Up tomorrow: Drummer man has a ritual.
Comments