Tuesday, October 14, 2014

High Water Friends CD Track Six-- Mustang Sally

Welcome to track six on the 6th Annual Doug Green Associates Crawfish boil CD. Held in Madisonville, Louisiana on March 9, 2013, the boil drew from Louisiana’s rich musical heritage. It featured Davis Rogan, a musician from New Orleans who has become a crawfish boil staple and Warren Prejean and the Zydeco Rhythm and Blues Band. In previous blog posts we’ve covered Rogan’s songs. Now we’re deep into Prejean and the Zydeco Rhythm and Blues Band. Next up is the R&B classic, Mustang Sally.


          Songwriter Mack Rice penned Mustang Sally in 1965. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1935, Rice got his musical start in the 1950s in Detroit. From 1957 to 1963 he performed with the Falcons, a group that included Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, and Joe Stubbs. After leaving the band, Rice carved out a career for himself primarily as a songwriter. Along with Mustang Sally, he wrote songs like Respect Yourself, Betcha Can't Kiss Me (Just One Time), Money Talks, It Sho Ain't Me, and Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin'. Artists from Etta James to Lynyrd Skynrd to Ike and Tina Turner have also performed songs written by Rice. In addition to songwriting, Rice ventured into performing his own works as well. In 1992, he released his first solo album titled Right Now. To this day, he lives in Detroit and still performs.


Mack Rice 

Rice wrote Mustang Sally following a visit to his friend, singer Della Reese in New York City. Reese had off-handedly mentioned that she planned to buy her drummer a Lincoln for his birthday. Calvin Shields, the drummer, appreciated the thought, but reportedly replied, “I don’t want a Lincoln, I want a Mustang.” Shields’ response confused Rice. He could not understand why anyone would want the small Mustang instead of the bigger and more powerful Lincoln. After returning to Detroit, Rice began work on a song titled “Mustang Mama.” A serendipitous visit to Aretha Franklin’s house led to the name change to “Mustang Sally.” Franklin believed that “Mustang Sally” fit better with the music. And so the song was born.


Wilson Pickett 
Rice wrote and released his own version of the song in 1965. At a performance at the famed Apollo Theater, Wilson Pickett heard Rice performing Mustang Sally and decided to record his own version. Pickett’s cover,  released as a single and on his 1966 album The Wicked Pickett, became a hit. It peaked at 23 on the pop music charts in 1966 and reached number six on the R&B charts. In 2010, Rolling Stone Magazine named Pickett’s version, the 441st greatest song of all time. The song, however, very nearly never made it out of the studio.  When Pickett finished recording at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the tape flew off the reel and broke. Tom Dowd, a legendary engineer working on the album, ordered everyone out of the room and told them to come back in a half an hour. When they did, he had managed to piece the tape back together and save the song. The rest is musical history.



“Mustang Sally”

Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
You been running all over the town now.
Oh! I guess I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.

One of these early mornings, oh, you gonna be wiping your weeping eyes.
I bought you a brand new mustang 'bout nineteen sixty five
Now you come around signifying a woman, you don't wanna let me ride.
Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
You been running all over the town now.
Oh! I guess I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.

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