Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
How did Midnight Train to Georgia become an R&B classic 40 years ago this month? And what's Alice Cooper really like? In today's Wall Street Journal, I write about the R&B soul classic as well as the father of shock rock—for two different sections of the paper.
In the Arena section, my "Anatomy of a Song" column traces the evolution of the Gladys Knight and the Pips hit. In Mansion, for my "House Call" column, I interview Alice Cooper on the creepy mansion in Greenwich, Conn. where he and his band roosted between 1971 and 1973.
For the Midnight Train anatomy, I spoke with singers Gladys Knight and Cissy Houston, songwriter Jim Weatherly and producer Tony Camillo. You probably aren't aware that the song began as Midnight Plane to Houston and that the song's idea began with the late Farrah Fawcett. You also may not be aware that Randy and Michael Brecker were in the famed song's horn section. I can tell you that interviewing Ms. Knight and Ms. Houston was an absolute joy and that both soul giants were down to earth and forthcoming with information.
As for Alice Cooper, suspend all preconceived notions about his music and stage act. Like Alice, who I found extremely intelligent and well versed in film and popular culture, his music is witty, dark and powerful while his stage act is merely burlesque. Mae West, Groucho Marx and Bette Davis—his next-door neighbor in Greenwich—grasped the camp and musical value immediately.
JazzWax tracks: Here's songwriter Jim Weatherly's original Midnight Plane to Houston...
Here's Gladys Knight and the Pips' Midnight Train to Georgia...
And here's Alice Cooper being interviewed...
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Used with permission by Marc Myers
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