Tony Roman and Nanette Workman
Listen/Download – Tony Roman and Nanette Workman – Hey Joe
Greetings all.
I hope the new week finds you all well.
Things in our part of the world are still tense and emotionally trying, but progress (no matter how incremental) is being made, so we can dig that.
I hope all of you had a chance to listen to the latest edition of the Iron Leg Radio Show, and if you haven’t, get thee to the archive and pull down the ones and zeros.
The tune I bring you today is something I picked up recently on something between a whim and an educated guess, and got lucky (as you shall soon hear).
Though I’ve only featured one example of it previously, I am fascinated, and simultaneously clueless about Quebecois rock of the 60s.
I’d say that it has something to do with the language barrier (much of it being en francais) but so is Dutronc and all of his Gallic amis, and that doesn’t stop les collecteurs.
I can say that there was a fairly significant (for a single Canadian province) scene, but what I have seen is mostly in reissue.
That said, I had an in of sorts with today’s selection because I already had a 45 by Nanette Workman in my funk crates, a particularly tasty cover of Labelle’s ‘Lady Marmalade’.
Workman is an American who worked for a while on Broadway, then emigrated to Canada in the 60s after meeting Tony Roman (already a star in his native country).
She and Roman recorded a number of 45s and at least one album in a Sonny and Cher style (see here) before Workman moved yet again, this time to the UK where she recorded backing vocals on the Stones ‘Let It Bleed’ as well as her own records.
‘Hey Joe’ was recorded for the duo’s 1968 LP ‘Fleurs D’Amour, Fleurs D’Amitie’, and is a very cool, moody, vaguely punky interpretation of the classic.
It starts out with a drum break (?!?) , with Workman and Roman trading lines.
It’s a cool take on the oft recorded folk punk chestnut, and I thought you might like to hear it.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back next week.
Peace
Larry