I recently saw the dirtiest grandfather of rap, Blowfly. Brian McKnight’s been releasing songs for porn websites. R. Kelly has a new album coming out. Sex jams have been on my mind. After hearing the (awful and sad) Brian McKnight pussy-eating ode, I kept thinking back to this Jackie Wilson/LaVern Baker remix that never saw release.
The original (also called “Think Twice”) was a minor hit. When you think long and hard about the type of content that was considered explicit in the mid-60’s (especially within the context of soul music), this song has got to be one of the dirtiest songs recorded during that whole decade. For that alone, I really appreciate its value.
I also think there’s something to be enjoyed in the fact that Jackie Wilson’s higher-pitched quieter voice is dwarfed by LaVern Baker’s deep and booming voice. It changes the dynamic of this outright fun and dirty gospel-soul song. It’s odd to me how so many female soul singers really avoided the notion of sexuality, especially when they had the pipes to really send their message with power and grace.
“Now listen to me honey/ I give you all the reefer/ All the cocaine/ And you still fucked up” might be one of the first instances in music where a woman calls out a man for being bad at sex, right? I mean it’s a common enough thing to bring up in our world today, but it certainly wasn’t something that was widely accepted in Jackie and LaVern’s culture.
Anyway, I’m going to try suffering through the Usher album and then wind up listening to R. Kelly remixes. Please keep this song on a playlist for when you need a soul song that’s as fun as all the others but aggressively filthy.