Can-Con 45 Of The Day - November 10

[radiofan]

Today's Can-Con 45 is from 1969 ... The first hit single for The Band .... "The Weight" ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmRDM7GyJXE

[Richard Skelly]

I've tangled with a proprietor or two of other music sites who dispute my contention that The Weight violated Songwriting 101 by failing to include the title in the actual lyrics. To their ears, every version featured the words 'the weight.'

But I stand my ground. Only Aretha Franklin had the moxy to tweak Robbie Robertson's lyrics and ad lib 'put the weight' rather than 'put the load' in the 'right on me' line. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Queen Of Soul's cover significantly outperformed The Band's original release and a same-in-time cover by Jackie DeShannon. The Band peaked at #63 and Jackie at #55 on Billboard in the early fall of 1968. Aretha's interpretation of The Weight peaked at #19 on March 22, 1969.

I rest my case.