No Good Lover - Mickey and Sylvia
I said we'd come back to them.
One of my favourite tracks, a mile away from Love is Strange – the other side of the coin if you will. And steeped in the gritty realism of the new electric urban bluesmen of the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.
There were several reason why Mickey and Sylvia were brilliant, hardly ever laying down a dull track. One was that Mickey was such a steaming hot guitarist, another that Sylvia was an equally great singer especially in the aforesaid steamy hot department. Also much of their material was written by soul and blues pioneer Bo Diddley. All of this is evident in this racy track.
They use the country and blues railway train running format, - it's the break up of a relationship and they've both got grievances, and she's
"gotta get going - move on down the line"
but then they intersperse it with those great hoochie coochie style blues breaks.
Him:
"you standing there
say you won't be back
took all of my money
and bought a cadillac
Her:
I'm on way
on my way to stay
goodbye goodbye
's all I got to say"
Listen to the great drumming of the legendary Bernard "Pretty" Purdie.
What I love about this music is the way it takes on the misery of this world, stares it in the face, rejects it, and then takes what's left over and makes something beautiful or joyful or everlasting out of it.