70s Robert Palmer...Who knew?

[Texaspandj]

Whether covers or originals Robert Palmer was really excellent. I saw him on Johnny Carson and he said he does like 250 shows a year because he just loves working. I only had 2 albums (cassette) of his, Power Station and Heavy Nova. Iirc, John Ritter died about the same time and of the same thing.

 

[JRA]

great to hear all this stuff again...palmer was a bada$$...but part of his "depth," IMO, is also defined by his pop hits. i don't begrudge the guy for making hit records. another amazing talent.

 

[Pirate Captain]

Back in the day I really liked them. Pretty sure I had the cassette. To be a kid again...

Album still holds up (for the most part...Harvest for the World is a bit cringe)...shame they couldn't keep it together. When Des Barres took over it vocal duties was almost an entirely different band

 

[Fight4Bottom]

I sing and play Bad Case Of Loving You on every gig. We do in D, because yours truly can't make the vocal work in E. And every time, I have to look down to find the 17th fret for that little riff...

Same here, but in E. It's one of my favorites to play and sing lead on. We also do that one-bar drop out before the last verse like he used to do live. Such fun! And yeah, my fingers don't quite know their way to them skinny frets like they should!

This has been a great thread. Lotta great music. Thanks, two fingers!

 

[SteveCS]

great to hear all this stuff again...palmer was a bada$$...but part of his "depth," IMO, is also defined by his pop hits. i don't begrudge the guy for making hit records. another amazing talent.

Agree. For most artists the big success happens at the start followed by a wane of varying pace. For RP I think his 'pop' career represented a 'coming of age'. Not in an "all grown up" way, but more a "right you lot, this is what a real pop tune should be like! Take notice, I really know what I'm doing here!" He deserved every ounce of that stardom.

 

[GreggBummer]

I'm a terrible singer. But If I could sing like one guy: Robert Palmer.

 

[Biggbass]

I discovered Vinegar Joe sometime around 1975. Kinda surprised me to see how Palmer's music changed over the next decade. But it was all good.

 

[DJS]

Embarrassed to say I only know his 3 biggest hits. In my defense, at that period of time (80’s )- I was into hair metal and Robert Palmer wasn’t hair metal. So I dismissed a lot of music for no other reason than that

Had no idea. There was a point where the first three synth chords of "Addicted to Love" or the sight of him in front of those black clad dancers would make me fly into a rage. That was the beginning and end of my Robert Palmer awareness.

 

[JRA]

Agree. For most artists the big success happens at the start followed by a wane of varying pace. For RP I think his 'pop' career represented a 'coming of age'. Not in an "all grown up" way, but more a "right you lot, this is what a real pop tune should be like! Take notice, I really know what I'm doing here!" He deserved every ounce of that stardom.

well said! i enjoy(ed) all of his twists/turns, but i thought the pop hits were genius-level contributions for the very reasons you stated.

 

[smtp4me]

OK, so I'm late to the game.

Somehow I went down a Robert Palmer worm hole. First off, the dude was ridiculously talented. He played everything. He wrote. He sang. He collaborated. If you're into that kind of thing, he was even a fashion icon in the 80s.

But his 70s stuff is stupid good. Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley album has The Meters, Lowell George, Steve Winwood, Gordon Edwards, Bernard Purdie.... a who's who from that era.

Double Fun has Every Kind Of People written by Andy Fraser (sure sounds like him on bass too). Secrets has Bad Case Of Loving You. All of the 70s Palmer albums have ridiculously good players. Even Clues from 1980 has some cool playing on it, albeit a little more "synthy" by then.

Any of you guys into his earlier stuff? What's your hidden gem? I didn't listen to every track on every album.

I'm definitely into his early stuff. Sneaking Sally Through the Alley, as you know, has a great bassline. As does Work To Make It Work and Spanish Moon. The bass track for Spanish Moon was done either with a keyboard or a bass with an envelope filter. Every Kind of People is a good song with an island/Caribbean sound. How Much Fun is another great song.

 

[dalkowski]

RP fan from waaaaay back although he lost me after Pride. Double Fun is without question one of my desert album LPs. He left us far too soon.

 

[Vinny Vincenzo]

Pressure Drop! Great Album!

 

[FatDaddySam]

I read this, got up and listened to the SNEAKING SALLY THROUGH THE ALLEY album and then put on the “first” POWER STATION album. Pretty awesome stuff, though polar opposites.

 

[matthewbrown]

Ah, synths and gated snare! The good ol' days!

 

[fretlessbass]

Palmer, Bowie, Bryan Ferry, and Rod Stewart were the best dressed guys of late 70's/early 80's rock, at least until Clapton went full on Armani.

But truly, Palmer was the one to "wear it well".
No one rocked a suit like Robert, and we would have killed to have his tailor, back then.
The James Bond of rock, indeed. Consider him shaken, and very stirred!

Have been in his corner since Vinegar Joe. An amazing talent and persona that exuded cool without apparently trying, and left us way too soon.

I liked his take on the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis hit from Cherelle, and the video looks like the result of a bar wager "I bet we can make a video for less than $500, we'll just crash a Vogue cover shoot my buddy is working, and bribe the models with lunch!" Turns out this wasn't terribly far from the truth.

He was self aware, and made it obvious that he held talent to be more important than image. In this video, he lets us "peek behind the curtain" and see the shyness of "the most suave guy in rock and roll".
Consider the subject matter of the lyrics, and watch for the soul glimpse at 0:31 and 1:18. Totally self deprecating, almost breaking the fourth wall.

As an aside, in the 90's I met seven women who all claimed to be the drummer in this video. I guess good, but not memorable, looks can be a resume enhancer.

The man was SO suave that he even managed to make a clerical collar—in “Some Like it Hot”— look sophisticated:
Top that, 007!
Btw: A woman who played in the horn section of my band, years later, also claimed to have been in that video; an inside joke among female musicians of that era, no doubt....

 

[dalkowski]

I liked his take on the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis hit from Cherelle, and the video looks like the result of a bar wager "I bet we can make a video for less than $500, we'll just crash a Vogue cover shoot my buddy is working, and bribe the models with lunch!" Turns out this wasn't terribly far from the truth.

Yeah but breakdancing gorilla FTW (jump to 2:06):

(I'd forgotten RP covered this.)

 

[Ostie]

For those interested in the real thing:

The other day I heard Phish doing this song.

 

[Ed Maguire]

He recorded Sneaking Sally and Some People Can Do What They Like with musicians from Little Feat. Great singer, great funky musicians. Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus is one of the greatest live albums by any band - ever.

 

[Dluxe]

Bob Babbit was bass,on Every Kind Of People?Thanks for the info I love bobs playing as much as I do James Jamerson.The bass line is so beautifull.I love to play that.

I'm pretty sure it's Pierre Brock

 

[frnjplayer]

I knew. It wasn't all awesome. I forgave the horrible off pitch vocals on Hey Julia because Sneakin' Sally came up next.

Loved that record when it came out. Yep, I'm old.

I love that those horrible off pitch vocals are people singing Alan Tousaints horn lines. Sailin Shoes was the weak part of that medley for me.