O’Jays – Four For the Price of One
The O’Jays
Listen/Download – O’Jays – Four For the Price of One MP3
Greetings all.
Today I come to with 45 in hand, offering another very familiar song in a very unfamiliar version.
Larry Williams and Johnny Watson’s 1967 ‘Two For the Price of One’ has been a HUGE favorite of mine since I first heard it back in the 80s (when my buddy Johnny and I used to duet on the song).
It was only a few years ago when my buddy Jeff hepped me to the fact that the O’Jays had done a cover of the song.
I set out in search of the record, and managed to pick one up at a record show a while later.
The 45 you see before you today was released in 1973 – it was the O’Jays final 45 for the label – but the recording is from several years earlier, having appeared for the first time on the 1968 ‘On Top’ LP.
Sporting some fake crowd noise, and a groovy arrangement (with some strings that sound like they were lifted from a Temptations sessions) the O’Jays version of the song included slightly altered lyrics (to accommodate the extra singers) and the whole thing charges along at a very brisk pace indeed (brisk enough, and with enough strings/vibes seasoning to get any Northern Soul dance floor moving).
How it ended up tacked onto a 1973 release is a mystery, but at least it allows you to have this most excellent track on 45.
I hope you all dig it, and I’ll see you on Friday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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