Help me identify this song I heard today: Jazz/blues, female singer
September 6, 2014 4:35 PM Subscribe
I heard a song this morning as I pulled into my work and didn't hear the end of it as I was running a bit late and figured I could Google it later. Well, that didn't work, so now I'm asking you guys.
The song was on a college radio station, and I already checked their website to no avail. It was a jazz/blues song with a female singer who fluctuated between lines that were almost pure spoken word and sung lyrics in a high register. Her voice wasn't smooth but it wasn't unpleasant; it lost some richness when she sang high. The song was about a guy who was running late and keeping her waiting, and some of the lyrics were witty and humorous. There was a guitar in the mix playing what sounded like a lot of jazzy and bluesy progressions. The song was relatively long, at least four minutes.
I remember one line was something like "I'm so tired of waiting for the 294." Googling produced nothing. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
The song was on a college radio station, and I already checked their website to no avail. It was a jazz/blues song with a female singer who fluctuated between lines that were almost pure spoken word and sung lyrics in a high register. Her voice wasn't smooth but it wasn't unpleasant; it lost some richness when she sang high. The song was about a guy who was running late and keeping her waiting, and some of the lyrics were witty and humorous. There was a guitar in the mix playing what sounded like a lot of jazzy and bluesy progressions. The song was relatively long, at least four minutes.
I remember one line was something like "I'm so tired of waiting for the 294." Googling produced nothing. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Best answer: If this is similar to the college radio station I DJ'd at when I was in school in the late 80's, there's a decent chance it was a non-mainstream, possibly local artist. We were a rock station, and played a mix of classic / hard rock and a number of local artists (as an example, this was in MN, and we played a number of Soul Asylum songs before they really became mainstream). You might have heard something similar.
Having said that, could you contact the station? Even 25+ years ago (ugh!) we kept records on every song we played. I'm pretty sure if you call them up and give them a time frame when you were listening, they could provide you with a playlist, or even point you to the song if whoever you reach recognizes it. It wasn't uncommon for us to get phone calls asking who or what we just played, and we were happy to help out.
Good luck!
posted by SquidLips at 5:55 PM on September 6, 2014
Having said that, could you contact the station? Even 25+ years ago (ugh!) we kept records on every song we played. I'm pretty sure if you call them up and give them a time frame when you were listening, they could provide you with a playlist, or even point you to the song if whoever you reach recognizes it. It wasn't uncommon for us to get phone calls asking who or what we just played, and we were happy to help out.
Good luck!
posted by SquidLips at 5:55 PM on September 6, 2014
Hmm...a couple of thoughts.
So Tired (by Kay Starr here). This is a very straight take on the song, which, that's Kay Starr for you. I know a lot of musicians in concert would scramble lyrics to make the audience laugh, like Sinatra. Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington are two I hear doing this a lot, but they are pretty great in the upper registers and don't "talk" a lot.
Astrud Gilberto could be a little thin in the upper registers and she kind of has a bump bump bump phrasing that can sound talky (eg Girl from Ipanema).
Blossom Dearie would "talk" a lot in her songs, cracked at higher registers, and could be very silly. I cannot remember her doing a song like you describe, but things go out of print.
A lot of jazz albums that were transferred to CD in the 90s seem to have gone out of print and have not made the jump to the internet. Also, my sister is a DJ for a college station and she looooves to get emails from listeners, and has kind of an insane memory, but also her station has online archive lists. Good luck.
posted by Lardmitten at 6:03 PM on September 6, 2014
So Tired (by Kay Starr here). This is a very straight take on the song, which, that's Kay Starr for you. I know a lot of musicians in concert would scramble lyrics to make the audience laugh, like Sinatra. Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington are two I hear doing this a lot, but they are pretty great in the upper registers and don't "talk" a lot.
Astrud Gilberto could be a little thin in the upper registers and she kind of has a bump bump bump phrasing that can sound talky (eg Girl from Ipanema).
Blossom Dearie would "talk" a lot in her songs, cracked at higher registers, and could be very silly. I cannot remember her doing a song like you describe, but things go out of print.
A lot of jazz albums that were transferred to CD in the 90s seem to have gone out of print and have not made the jump to the internet. Also, my sister is a DJ for a college station and she looooves to get emails from listeners, and has kind of an insane memory, but also her station has online archive lists. Good luck.
posted by Lardmitten at 6:03 PM on September 6, 2014
I wonder if its Lorraine Feather. I don't know which album, but I think think she does have a song about waiting. She sings delightfully whimsical songs and has a blend of typical singing and spoken/sung singing.
Oh, I just noticed the bit about the guitar in the background. She usually has piano, so not it, but still great.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 11:00 PM on September 6, 2014
Oh, I just noticed the bit about the guitar in the background. She usually has piano, so not it, but still great.
posted by Measured Out my Life in Coffeespoons at 11:00 PM on September 6, 2014
Was it anything by Caro Emerald? She's got lots of jazzy/bluesy stuff and some humorous lyrics.
posted by mibo at 6:11 AM on September 7, 2014
posted by mibo at 6:11 AM on September 7, 2014
Response by poster: I called the radio station and it's a band called White Roses fronted by Heather Rose, a Berklee graduate. It's from a 2008 release called Spark the Chain and it's "Bus Song."
If anyone's interested, the link is here.
posted by sucky_poppet at 8:52 PM on September 8, 2014
If anyone's interested, the link is here.
posted by sucky_poppet at 8:52 PM on September 8, 2014
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posted by lois1950 at 5:54 PM on September 6, 2014