Stay With Me...Bette Midler, Lorraine Ellison, Genya Ravan and Ten Wheel Drive...and GROUPIE by Bonnie Bramlett...a new review from Joe Viglione 11 pm - 11:30 pm November 21, 2020

 

BETTE MIDLER

STAY WITH ME, LIVE VERSION OF SONG ORIGINALLY ON THE ROSE SOUNDTRACK

Oh wow, listening to Bette Midler singing "Superstar" tonight (original title, "Groupie," by Bonnie Bramlett from the Roseanne show; I produced Bonnie in 1988 at the New Kids studio...) and found this nugget, "Stay With Me" - the Lorraine Ellison classic, also covered by Ten Wheel Drive, one of my fave versions.

Bette singing "Stay With Me" live in Las Vegas

https://youtu.be/Oc1oznH5bNE

Listen to the band on this Vegas version...amazing recording...amazingly powerful vocal - originally from The Rose (which was, of course, a renivention of Janis Joplin's life story as she was The Pearl...or just simply "Pearl.")

https://youtu.be/Oc1oznH5bNE

Stay With Me

Lorraine Ellison

Produced by legendary Jerry Ragovoy.

Joplin covered his material with relish!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pDBuPK0_DU   "Stay with Me" (often credited as "Stay with Me Baby") is a soul song co-written by Jerry Ragovoy and George David Weiss.^[1] It was first recorded in 1966 by Lorraine Ellison,^[2] and produced by Ragovoy.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_with_Me_(Lorraine_Ellison_song)

Donny Thompson 2 years ago

A quick FYI on this song.,. Warner Bros had originally scheduled a recording session for Frank Sinatra ( this would have been in ‘66) and Sinatra cancelled at the last moment; and Lorraine was quickly scheduled in to use the studio time, And Warner Bros gave the session - at no cost to her producer, Jerry Ragovoy. Because the 46 pc orchestra was already there and set up for the Sinatra session, Ragovoy decided to use them. He called in arranger Garry Sherman to arrange the orchestra parts, and Lorraine and the orchestra recorded the song together, everyone performing at the same time. This was very rare, usually arrangements were written weeks before a recording session, and often the backing parts were recorded in advance, and the singer would come in later and overdub vocals. What Lorraine, Ragovoy, Sherman and the musicians accomplished at this last minute session is mind blowing. They captured lightning in a bottle when they recorded this song. Anyhooo... just a few fun facts. 

TEN WHEEL DRIVE WITH GENYA RAVAN

https://youtu.be/NQX8x5q2cKI

TEN WHEEL DRIVE was an anomaly, they were too big to play WOODSTOCK at the time, though they were invited and passed. Which, of course, was the biggest mistake as they would have been superstars had they performed in the mud at the festival.

My writings on this group are extensive...and no wonder that Clive Davis chose Genya Ravan to replace Janis Joplin, which Genya balked at - performing cabaret on the Tonight Show rather than doing as Columbia Records requested.  But here on Polydor TWD come up with this masterpiece - Ravan ripping into Lorraine Ellison's classic with an abandon that, yes, only Janis Joplin could muster.   I met Ravan at a record convention in Florida, the Musexpo in 1980, oh my God we've known each other forty years now...she was producing Ronnie "Be My Baby" Spector and the Dead Boys, but as I listen to "Stay With Me" and compare Bette Midler's marvelous rendition, Ellison's unquestionable classic, it is hard to deny that Ten Wheel Drive took this and made it theirs.  The production is exquisite, majestic and eternal.

Paul A Rothchild - producer of Joplin's Pearl, most of the Doors albums and, soundtrack to The Rose, of course, re-created Stay With Me with some of my friends from Lou Reed's band.   At the Chateau Marmount - where we stayed in 1986...Burt Bacharach called for my business partner at the hotel, he woke me up and demanded I go for dinner at Carlos and Charlie's (I was exhausted from the flight) ...so bleary eyed we sit down and Hervé Villechaize  from Fantasy Island "Da plane, boss, Ze plane..." was sitting across from us.  Jo Jo stayed at the hotel...Paul and Paula Prentiss sitting across from us a year later, as Jo Jo always said, Hollywood is just so magical.   Well, I had Mr. Rothchild's number so I had Jimmy phone him as they were friends...and got to say hello to one of my all-time favorite producers (The Doors, Joplin, Midler...)...geniuses of record production... just by osmosis one can feel the energy....

Brief Replies album John Carisi

Conductor, Music Director  Tony May engineer 

As I said, you can feel the energy, Rothchild's production of "Stay with Me" for Bette's The Rose film is amazing, with members of Lou Reed's band you have the dynamic convergence of the gods of 70's rock.   It's explosive ...Midler's nuanced vocal sounds like she studied both Ellison and Ravan and dips into both their catalogs...after all, she's emulating Janis Joplin for the film with a key Ragovoy song that Joplin never got to get to.  And you know that she eventually would have.

Bette Midler's film version, pure dynamite:

https://youtu.be/8jHZKwzceIM

But on this live rendition, Midler sounds like she's with Delaney and Bonnie ...and gives the blues classic a country flair - Live Divine Miss Millennium  https://youtu.be/l-gfB4ZTytA

You can't go wrong with any of these renditions, vital song with so many perspectives on it...what a delight.

Ruby Turner

https://youtu.be/6TkwaX1VyCQ

Jools Holland with Ruby Turner...NICE!

https://youtu.be/AKdHbEhJESY

TEN WHEEL DRIVE

https://www.discogs.com/Ten-Wheel-Drive-With-Genya-Ravan-Brief-Replies/master/143035

Gotta see if Bonnie Bramlett ever did "Stay With Me"

Here's the original SUPERSTAR (hit for the Carpenters but covered by Bette Midler after Bonnie did it .....https://youtu.be/qpZ7BOSmO64

This is the quintessential version...I believe Eric Clapton is on guitar... take the Bramlett "Groupie" and Genya Ravan's "Stay With Me" (remember, Bette Midler recorded them both) and you have a lesson in musicology that few can match.   "And I can hardly wait, to sleep with you again..." something too much for the Carpenters..."to be with you again."   Luther Vandross also sings "to be with you again" performing his Vanilla Fludge (intentional...Vanilla Fudge, actually)) slowed-down version along with Stevie Wonder's "Until You Come Back To Me"  https://youtu.be/6hAuObm4FAQ

Tremendous...precious recordings.