Don Covay - You’re Good For Me

Man, Don Covay, where you been all my life? 

The guy is a legend, and a bit of an unsung one at that - as a performer he never quite reached the heights of contemporaries like Marvin Gaye (who he performed with in The Rainbows) or Solomon Burke (with whom he was a member of The Soul Clan). His most lasting legacy is likely writing ‘Chain of Fools’, a huge hit for ululating airship Aretha Franklin. Perhaps foreshadowed by his 1971 album 'Different Strokes for Different Folks’, Covay suffered a couple different strokes which left him somewhat debilitated - but not so much that he stopped recording - he put out 'Adlib’ in 2000.

This song, and most of the song’s on Covay’s full-length debut, 1964’s 'Mercy!’ have a grit to them that a lot of the more recognizable early 60’s R&B lacks. Notably, 'Mercy, Mercy’, the album’s lead single featured a young Jimi Hendrix on lead guitar, and though the subsequent sessions making up the rest of the LP didn’t feature Hendrix, they share that raw, passionate, loose, and crunchy sound. Shit, that sounds like a vegan breakfast cereal. Speaking of things that are good for you - 'You’re Good For Me’ is basically a dirge retreading one of my favorite subjects, bad love. One standout feature on this track is the drumming - and that’s not surprising as it’s the legendary Bernard 'Pretty’ Purdie, who’s basically having his own little party all over this track, so much so the engineer just figured he’d pan him all the way over to the right I guess. 

Covay’s voice is strikingly similar to early 60’s Mick Jagger, or perhaps it’s more appropriate to say Jagger’s voice is similar to his. At any rate; Don’s voice is like whisky for your ears. But fistfightin’ whisky, not the good stuff. Eff Peter Gabriel, I’m grabbing a trenchcoat and a ghetto blaster and going to stand beneath a window blaring this. This song is my finishing move. 

Fig 1.1: “FATALITY”