Today's post was going to be Tyrone Davis' excellent "Turn Back the Hands of Time" but George at the ever excellent Jim McLean's Rabbit beat me to it by a few hours. However, as Tyrone was born on this very day back in 1938, I feel that a second helping of his smooth, poignant vocals would be appropriate. Just listen to the wonderful horns at the start before we even get to the vocals. I believe that today's tune, "Can I Change My Mind" knocked "I Heard It through The Grapevine" off the Number 1 spot in the Billboard R'n'B chart upon its release back in '69 and, in my humble opinion, is as good a track as the classic Marvin Gaye tune it replaced at the top of the chart.
Can I Change My Mind
Play this song to anyone in Italy and immediately they’ll start nodding their heads in appreciation. Then Tyrone Davis starts singing and they will look puzzled. Why? Well, this song was sampled by one of Italy’s best-known rappers, Piotta, for this tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25fBuUl-GTM.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: in my opinion, this is the funniest video ever, but beware, it’s meant as a PARODY of those typical American hip-hop videos, all scantily-clad girls and macho guys, with an Italian twist inspired by the ‘Poliziotteschi’ movies of the 70’s. Problem is, you got to be Italian to fully appreciate it, at least in order to understand the funny sketches which intersperse the video. But still, you’ve been recently awarded an honorary Italian citizenship, haven’t you?
The guy Piotta is talking to is Valerio Mastandrea, a really good Italian actor, and they’re both exchanging one-liners in strict Roman dialect. One of them has become proverbial, that is when Mastandrea, with a weary voice, proclaims: ‘I’m not anymore the cheetah I once was..’.
Ciao Luca (now that I am an honorary Italian). What a great tune to sample. I will have a look at the video but feel I may not quite get it as my citizenship is so recent...
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