See Saw

(first issued in 1966, mono and stereo, CD reissue october 2000 On Koch International)

See-Saw / The Boomerang / Everything Gonna Be Everything / Fat Man / Precious You / Iron Out The Right Spots //Please Do Something / I Never Get Enough Of Your Love / The Usual Place / A Woman's Love / Sookie Sookie / Mercy, Mercy.

Like Wilson Pickett, Atlantic recording artist Don Covay made the pilgrimage to the 926 E. McLemore, Memphis TN famous Stax studio to record 4 tracks which produced 2 hit records: See-Saw and Sookie Sookie. The two other Stax recorded tracks on this overall fine LP: Never Get Enough Of Your Love and Iron Out The Right Spots are also pure Stax sound gems, backed by Booker T. & The MG's and the Mar-Keys horns at their very best.

Curiously, Atlantic has never reissued this LP on CD and it has been left to Koch International Records as a double LP reissue, along with Don Covay's first LP "Mercy, Mercy".

   Don Covay burst on the music scene in 1964 with a smash hit called Mercy, Mercy. It jumped way up on the popularity charts and established Don Covay as an artist with a real future. In 1965, he did it all over again, coming through with another big hit, See-Saw. The popularity of See-Saw indicates that Don Covay no longer has to concern himself about his future - he has arrived.
   Before Don Covay achieved fame for his exciting, soul-filled singing style, he had already made a name for himself as a composer, and as a creator of dances for the teen set. As a composer he has over 600 songs to his credit, and many of them have been recorded by name artists. He is the composer, or co-writer, of practically all the songs in this album, including the two big hits, Mercy, Mercy and See-Saw.
   As a dance creator, Don Covay is famous for the dance that swept the nation a while back, the "Pony". He taught many celebrities the Pony including Kathryn Murray, wife of Arthur Murray. Other dances he started were the "Boomerang", the "Fat Man", and the "Sookie-Sookie", and the songs that introduced them are all contained in this album. Don has always placed an emphasis on dancing in his act and in his writing.
   Don Covay considers singing as the most important aspect of his career but he looks on his writing as an adjunct to his performing. "Singing is my first love", Covay noted in a recent magazine interview, "although I like to express my talents whatever way I can. In writing I like to look for experiences that are common to everybody and express them in my songs. That's why I think Mercy, Mercy and See-Saw were so popular. They're down to earth".
   "I like to write songs", Covay said, "that you don't have to listen to fifty times before you remember them. I also like to write a song with soul". On the subject of "soul" Covay noted "Soul comes from everywhere. Dean Martin has soul the way he sings, and all Hank Williams' songs have soul. They're down-to-earth and it's truth. That's the way I like to write my songs".
   Speaking of soul, Don Covay has it. He demonstrates that moving quality on every song in this album from the opening See-Saw to the closing Mercy, Mercy. He also displays a tender quality on such plaintive material as Precious Years, I Never Get Enough Of Your Love, The Usual Place and A Woman's Love.
   Exciting, soulful, tender, warm - these adjectives describe the vocal style of Don Covay, a performer who is successful in three areas of show business, as a singer, composer and dance innovator.

Bob Rolontz