January 22, 2008 Earworm

Clyde Otis' career in music began while driving a taxi. He overheard his fare discussing their upcoming attendance at a music executive's party and suggested that they pass along a song that he wrote. The passengers followed through and Nat King Cole had a top twenty hit with Clyde's "That's All There Is To That" in 1956. Two years later, he made music history by becoming the first African-American A&R executive at a major label when he joined Mercury Records. He formed a close working relationship with Brook Benton beginning with his production of Brook's delicious "It's Just A Matter of Time", an Otis composition, and together they would rack up another 16 hits. Otis also worked with Sarah Vaughn, both solo and on her duets with Brook.
Leaving Mercury for a position with Liberty, he left his mark on recordings by two of my favorite ladies: Jackie DeShannon and Timi Yuro. The DeShannon records didn't fare well on the charts but Timi's debut, the shocking "Hurt", rose to the top five and confused listeners everywhere when they saw the tiny little girl who sounded like a very large man.

Clyde's final release with Timi, "What's The Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)", was not quite finished when he left the label in '62 and Phil Spector was called in to doctor the tracks. The story is varied as to what, exactly, he did to it - a remixing is the closest you'll get to a general consensus - but there's no denying his, nor Clyde's presence. It practically throws the stylus off with it's "needles in the red" shot gun blast opening and then stabs at your wounds with a defiant string line. And then Timi really gets nasty. The backing lalalalala chants add insult to injury with mocking that suggests a stuck out tongue and moose-ears.

It's awesome!

Clyde Otis died on January 8th at the age of 84. Timi died of throat cancer in 2004. Spector is so far gone that he might as well be gone. "What's A Matter Baby" plays on and on and on.