LAMONT DOZIER + RICHIE HAVENS: BACK TO THEIR ROOTS posted by O.W.

Lamont Dozier: Going Back To My Roots
From Peddlin' Music On The Side (WB, 1977)

Richie Havens: Going Back To My Roots
From Connections (Elektra, 1980)

One of my best moments in a club came back in the '00s when I was at APT during a night that Chairman Mao was spinning. I had never heard Lamont Dozier's "Going Back To My Roots" before and I was just marveling at now just how good the song was, but that incredible change in the arrangement that drops around the 6:30 mark. It was so unexpected and sublime, one of those songs that really only could work as well as it does when you give it time to unfold on a dancefloor. Simply incredible.

Not surprisingly, it drew the attention of other artists. The best known cover is by Odyssey but...I don't know...I think I found the vocals to be too disco-cliché. Richie Havens' version however won me over with that intro piano (I'm a sucker for good piano intros) and though Havens has a rougher voice than Dozier's it works well here. The "reprise" section is missing but otherwise, I find this almost as pleasing to play out.