Pervis Staples and Carla Thomas – It’s Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul)
Pervis Staples and Carla Thomas
Listen/Download – Pervis Staples and Carla Thomas – It’s Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul) MP3
Greetings all.
The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which drops each and every Friday with finest in soul, funk, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the Stitcher and TuneIn apps. Check it out on Mixcloud, or gran yourselves an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com
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I am in the process of gearing up for this year’s fundraiser, as well as a reassessment of blogging/podcasting workload.
All podcasts, Funky16Corners Radio Show, Iron Leg Radio Show and my weekly live bag, Testify! on WFMU’s Give the Drummer Radio will continue going forward.
The actual written end of the blogs may undergo some truncation to accommodate the increased production schedule.
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We close out the week with the groovy version of song first recorded by Jeanne and the Darlings (on Volt) in 1968.
This version of the song ‘It’s Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul)’ was recorded by the duet of Pervis Staples and Carla Thomas as part of the massive (and quite good) Stax project ‘Boy Meets Girl’, issued as a 2-LP set in 1969 and featuring the cream of the Stax/Volt stable.
Most of the duet pairings were new, i.e. no long standing pairings were included, but the results were always interesting.
Both Pervis and Carla were second-generation singers, Pervis as part of the Staple Singers (along side his father Roebuck, aka Pops, and his sisters Mavis, Cleotha and Yvonne) and Carla the daughter of Stax legend Rufus Thomas.
It’s interesting to hear Pervis outside of the framework of the Staples sound, and to realize how mush his voice sounds like his father.
Carla, of course, had had solo hits prior to this session, and had duetted with both her father and the mighty Otis Redding.
Their version of ‘It’s Unbelievable…’ is very cool. The song was co-written by Homer Banks (a big fave hereabouts) and Don Davis, and the session was co-produced by Davis and Al Bell.
The sound is a little more restrained than the Jeanne and the Darlings version (also produced by Davis), but I attribute that to the difference in the vocals, which are much harder-edged in the latter.
The pair duet on one other song (‘I’m Crying’) and participate in the group opening of ‘Soul-a-Lujah’.
That said, it is an excellent number, and I recommend the ‘Boy Meets Girl’ LP very highly. The original vinyl isn’t terribly expensive or hard to find, and some of the CD reissues truncate the track list significantly.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Monday.
Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.
Many thanks, sir, as always.