Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Lover Please



Billy Swan-penned "Lover Please"
is probably best known sung by Clyde McPhatter. It was a hit in 1962 (Mercury Records).

This is the very first version by the Rhythm Steppers (vocal : Jim Boyer) on the Memphis Louis label owned by Bill Black.


A band Bill Black sometimes played with, Mirt Mirley & the Rhythm Steppers, drove from St. Louis to Memphis to record for Black. Billy Swan was just along for the ride. « My friend Jimmy Boyer was the lead singer for them. », recounts Swan. « So, we went into Satellite studios, and Chips Moman was the engineer, and they did one song called « Little Miss Heartbreak ». That’s the only one they had with ‘em. Then Jimmy Boyer, who was standing against a wall drinking a Coke, said « Well, Swan writes songs". So Bill said, « Well, play me something." So I played him three, and ‘Lover Please' was one of ‘em. So, they did ‘Lover Please’.
[from The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley's Band, book by Ken Burke,Dan Griffin]


Mirt Mirley & the Rhythm Stepppers’ version of the song didn’t click, but Black liked the song well enough to record it with another Swan’s friends, Dennis Turner.

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4 comments:

  1. I flipped when I heard these two versions of this great hit today. It would interesting to know who the musicians where on the Turner and McPhatter versions. Since it is almost note for note, could some (or all) of them be the same?

    No one seems to know that Louis 1003 existed. Can you please give me the song title on the B-Side of Louis 1003?

    Thanks.

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  2. "Hard Times" on the B-side. Written by Jerry Bass, bass guitarist of the Rhythm Steppers and Jim Boyer.

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  3. Can I get a copy of these? It appears the Download button is disabled.

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    Replies
    1. Mr.Cybarian, box.net bandwidth is limited unfortunately. You have to wait until the first day of the next month...

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