1966 "Sock It To Me Santa"

.....Today we have an A-side only.

.....Here's the rock archeologist's equivalent to a tip from Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers' Notebook: notice that the copyright date at the bottom of the label is 1963, in conjunction with the label's name, Cameo-Parkway. Notice also that the copyright date below the catalog number (right side, middle) is 1966, in conjunction with the publisher's name, Gear Publishing, Co. Was this song originally issued in 1963 and reissued in 1966? No. 1963 refers to the copyright of the graphic design of the label, which is itself intellectual property. Publishing copyrights don't change dates when new pressings are released. And when new recordings are released, their dates are noted with a letter 'P' in a circle, not a letter 'C' in a circle. This is where many databases screw up release dates of music and movies as well. Often if a vinyl album is reissued on CD with previously unreleased bonus tracks, the original album tracks are noted with a 'P' and their original release date, the bonus tracks with a 'P' and the reissue's date. The album art, if it needs to be reworked to reflect the different playlist, will be protected by a 'C' and the reissue date. Sometimes a sufficiently radical remastering job may justify the entire package being given a 'C&P' for the current date and that's where databases compiled on the fly by persons unfamiliar with the source material start disseminating misleading or outright false information. When I get information from something not in my hands (such as this super-rare label image from the indispensable folks at Soulful Detroit, posted November 20, 2008), I'll try to make a note of it. I can still make typos, of course, so call me out on those and any other gaffes in the comment section below.

• 02:13 "SOCK IT TO ME, SANTA" (Bob Seger, Dan Honaker, Carl Lagassa, Dave Leone)
• -N/A- b/w "FLORIDA TIME" ("Punchy" [probably Seger's manager Edward Andrews])
• performed by Bob Seger and the Last Heard
• original source: 7" Cameo C-444 (US) December 1966
• and my source: VA 4CD CAMEO-PARKWAY 1957-1967 ABKCO Music & Records OX01-92232 (US) May 17, 2005

.....Since the B-side is not a Christmas song, locating these two songs together isn't a priority for the purposes of this blog. The A-side has made a handful of appearances on CD, which is about right. Borrowing as it does from Gary Walker's James Brown pastiche "Santa's Got A Brand New Bag", it warrants less of a market presence than something purely original, such as Brown's own "Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto". I've included it (A) because I hope to get around to everything eventually and (B) the enthusiastic performance makes up for the weak material. Yet, even though Seger's own song was derivative to start with in 1966, that didn't stop Bud Logan from releasing a second "Sock It To Me Santa" on 7" RCA Victor 47-9678 in 1968. That version was written by country-western session musician Thomas Bailey Keels. I haven't heard it myself, but Pete Bilderback (on his blog Flowering Toilet) contends "It's a totally different song."(Dec. 15, 2008) and I wouldn't doubt it. Still, it managed to confuse Howard Smiley and Bill Crowley, compilation producers for Polygram/JFC. They put together VA CD A ROCK'N'ROLL CHRISTMAS PolyGram Special Markets 314 520 244-2 (US) 1994, a budget release including the Seger recording, but with the song-writing credit "T. Keels".

.....Let's try to put together a timeline to help them out.

.....The phrase "sock it to [someone]" actually made it into print in the 1800's, meaning to make an impact on someone out of aggression or anger. The variant "Sock it to me", meaning to give me something so good or so true that it will impact me like a physical blow, probably came from black musicians in the 20th century. James A. Mitchell claimed in his Mitch Ryder biography "It Was All Right" that Ryder brought the phrase "to America"(?) with the LP SOCK IT TO ME! New Voice 2001(US) April, 1967. What makes that claim curious is not only that the album followed Seger's single in December 1966 but Ryder's own "Sock It To Me-- Baby!" single in January 1967.

.....Next came Aretha Franklin interjecting the phrase into her famous cover of Otis Redding's "Respect", recorded on Valentine's Day 1967 and released shortly thereafter. The television show "Laugh-In" debuted as a one-hour special in September and was brought back as an ongoing series in January 1968, turning "Sock It To Me" into an all-purpose non-sequitur. An appearance on the show by presidential candidate Richard Nixon in September 1968 is probably what precipitated the recording of the Bud Logan/Thomas Keels version.

.....The line-up for the Last Heard was:

• Bob Seger on organ, guitar and vocals
• Carl Lagassa on guitar
• Dan Honaker on bass
• Pep Perrine on drums

.....which was practically the Bob Seger System that signed to Capital in 1968. The single was produced by Doug Brown and Bob Seger and engineered by Les Cooley. The name from the writing credits I've not explained as yet is Dave Leone. Not a band member, but a partner with Seger's manager Edward Andrews. Together they ran the label Hideout. I'm not sure why he was given a songwriting credit and it seems neither was abkco. On the label retrospective boxed set cited above they removed his name from the credits in the booklet. I am not aware if they've been restored in their latest holiday collection, VA CD CAMEO PARKWAY HOLIDAY HITS Collector's Choice WWCL M21662 (US) November 23, 2010.