Midwestern Sweet Soul B-Side Bonus

The Five Emprees “Hey Lover” (Freeport, 1965)

It’s Monday and I know everyone is feeling a little down so I thought we’d roll out this beautiful slab of midwestern melancholy.  Though their work falls more in line with the Norton re-issue type of garage rock this B-Side to their biggest hit Little Miss Sad is something special to my ears.  A bittersweet song, the clean guitar is played in an almost harp-like manner and the backing vocals just barely audible hums, it is full of a calm sadness that hasn’t worn off after listening to the song 10 times in a row.

The composition was written by a powerhouse team of John Berry and Don Covay.  Covay has been featured here and should be familiar with readers as an esteemed performer and more so as a songwriter though Berry is lesser known.  Both are South Carolina natives that came to Chicago via DC after a largely unsuccessful run as members of The Rainbows.  They composed a number of songs together throughout the 60’s and many apart, Covay most famous for his Aretha Franklin tracks and Berry for his Chubby Checker hits.

The Five Emprees were originally called “The Five Empressions” but weren’t handed a nice little cease and desist from our friends at ABC-Paramount for infringing on The Impressions who were bona fide stars by this point.  They released a number of additional singles, enough that Arf! Arf! did a full on reissue of their work recently so if you’re curious, by all means pick it up!

I hope you enjoy today’s 45 and find your proverbial lasagna on this Monday.

-George / Snack Attack

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