Another famous club
and another famous album.
Yes. Sam Cook was a lovely man and there’s no doubt that was
a very enjoyable evening and one that I’m pleased to report didn’t involve any
enforced nose holding on my part.
Twisting the Night Away is still a classic to this day.
What a singularly joyous outpouring of innocent bonhomie
that recording was. If one close one’s eyes one can still picture the patrons
of the establishment all twisting away with sweat beaded foreheads, carefree
smiles and wild abandon. I heard this record again recently and was delighted to rehear my
modest contribution.
What contribution is
that?
During the performance of Twisting The Night Away I was located in the wings at the side of
the stage attending to a carelessly upended beverage: coca cola if you’re
interested, a drink favoured by our American cousins which I have never
acquired a taste for, possibly because it’s such a devil to remove from
flooring of any kind in its neat form, but when mixed with an alcoholic
beverage of some kind, which I believe this one was, then a concerted effort
and a brush is required to return the surface to anything approaching its
original state… why on earth am I telling you this?
Twisting the night away?
Ah yes. I thank you. At one point I had to give the floor a
quick polish so I pulled out my white cleaning cloth. Mr Cooke could see this
from the stage and mistakenly believed it was a handkerchief, which of course
it wasn’t because a gentleman never utilises his handkerchief for cleaning purposes
except in the direst of emergencies. But he saw the white cloth and turned to
the microphone and ordered all the dancing patrons to take their handkerchiefs
out and twist with them.
You can clearly hear
that on the record.
Several times. It became something of a motif which I must
say I’m quite proud of.
I believe he
continued it in other clubs and venues when performing the song. It’s quite a
legacy you left the clubs of Harlem and beyond.
Well, that’s very gratifying I must say. Of course I always
content myself in the knowledge that I have made a modest contribution to the
world of popular music by keeping venues at an acceptable level of cleanliness
for the production of recorded music, but if I have made an impact in other
ways then one feels an added sense of pride and accomplishment. It’s just a
shame that one’s family felt running an investment banking firm was a greater
contribution to society than encouraging a group of club-goers in Harlem to
have a joyous time with their handkerchiefs.
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