It’s interesting to compare the staid, probably lip-synced and homogenized version of Bobby Hebb’s great song, Sonny (at this link) and the far funkier treatment Hebb and Ron Carter give it in the video above. The earlier version is the more familiar one, of course. In that era, great talents often had to tone it down to get television time.
An interesting passage from Wikipedia’s profile of Hebb and the fate of his older brother:
On November 23, 1963, the day after John F. Kennedy‘s assassination, Harold Hebb was killed in a knife fight outside a Nashville nightclub. Hebb was devastated by both events and sought comfort in songwriting. Though many claim that the song he wrote after both tragedies was the optimistic “Sunny“, Hebb himself stated otherwise. He immersed himself in the Gerald Wilson album, You Better Believe It!, for comfort. (Continue Reading…)
“Got You On My Mind” is below. Here is a site dedicated to Hebb and a discography.
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