Searching For Evie Sands.

I didn’t go out today because Storm Hannah was blowing. I was just wondering what to do with myself when there was a knock at the door and the nice post-lady handed me a package. It was my new cd called Any Way That You Want Me by Evie Sands. I mentioned John Cooper-Clarke the other day and it was he who started me searching for Evie Sands. I was listening to a conversation he had with Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on BBC 6 Music. John was reminiscing about the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester which was where the whole Northern Soul movement in Britain began. He said that one of the most popular records played there was I Can’t Let Go by Evie Sands. I had never heard of her, but my inquisitive nature made me look for that song on Youtube. I have put the video below for you to see. I liked what I saw. She was sultry and sexy and had a fabulous voice. I knew the song because it had been a big hit in England when it was covered by The Hollies. That was part of Evie’s problem. Other people kept having hits with her songs.

I read about her on Wikipedia. Evie was born in Brooklyn, New York and made her first records in the early 60’s when she was still a teenager. She had lots of bad luck in the early days. A test pressing of her recording of Take Me For A Little While was stolen and sold to Chess Records who recorded it with Jackie Ross and that was released ahead of Evie’s version and became a huge hit for Jackie. A lot of people don’t realise that it was Evie who sang the original version of Angel Of The Morning. Her record label went bankrupt shortly after it was released, and it was the version by Merrilee Rush that became a huge hit. In Britain P.P. Arnold made the charts with her version. Evie didn’t go unnoticed though because Dusty Springfield said that Evie was her favourite singer.

Finally, Evie’s luck changed when she had a USA hit with Anyway That You Want Me which had already been successful for The Troggs. It was written by Chip Taylor who had also provided the Troggs with Wild Thing. Chip Taylor is the brother of the actor Jon Voight of Midnight Cowboy fame and he was to play a large part in Evie’s subsequent career. Evie released her first album in 1970 and that is the cd that arrived at my house today. The first thing to say is that I don’t like the photo on the front of the album much. It shows Evie on a bicycle and doesn't reflect the contents of the album at all. There are much more attractive photos in the booklet of sleeve notes. I’m sure the album would have sold a lot more copies with a better sleeve design. The album was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York and I notice that among the musicians is Hugh McCracken on guitar. I think he played on Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. Also, James Burton is on some tracks. He played on a lot of Elvis Presley records. Most of the songs were written by Chip Taylor and his song writing partner Al Gorgoni. On first listen to the album I couldn’t help but think of Dusty Springfield in the vocals but  the lush arrangements also invite comparisons with Dusty. Evie’s voice is what people think of as blue-eyed soul but there is a folkie element in there as well.

There are 13 tracks on the album, and I won’t comment on every song. After one listen the songs that grabbed my attention were Close Your Eyes, Cross Your Fingers which is great Soul music, especially with the added brass in the arrangement. It’s This I Am is the only song written by Evie herself and it is great. I know the song from the version by Beth Orton who I saw and wrote about a few weeks ago which all adds to my theory that everything is connected. Shadow Of The Evening is a very emotional, soulful, mellow song with backing singers and lush strings that are added to many of the songs. Until It’s Time For You To Go was made famous by Buffy Saint-Marie. I’ll Hold Out My Hand is very nice and goes into a little bit of Carolina In My Mind which I have always liked by James Taylor and also Melanie. One Fine Summer Morning is another great song and it reminds me of something else, but I can’t think what it is at the moment. You might know Maybe Tomorrow from the soundtrack of the film John & Mary. It is a bonus track on this album and co-written by Quincy Jones. Every song is worth listening to. I wouldn't describe any of the tracks as 'fillers'.

I have enjoyed listening to this album today. It is a shame that Evie isn’t better known because her voice is as good as anyone. It’s nice to see that she is still working and recording. I read that she toured with Belle & Sebastian and listening to her songs on Youtube I heard a great song that she recorded with Lucinda Williams that you might like to check out called Cool Blues Story. Anyway, thank you Johnnie Clarke for leading me to search for the great Evie Sands.