Jim Weatherly has died. The man who wrote the best song ever.
If you have any doubts about that claim have a proper listen to his words and then put them in the context of:-
That drum fill intro;
the riff with the horns underneath;
the sultry way that Gladys sings ‘L.A.’
And that’s just the first 15 seconds.
It continues with the incisive interjections of the Pips, sumptuous string arrangements and delightful dynamics.
There’s also the guessing game of where exactly the “Woo Woo” comes in and finally a properly funky outdo.
Of course it’s all about the production and the performance but without Jim Weatherly there wouldn’t have been the best song ever.
Well done Jim. R.I.P.
The Man Who Wrote The Best Song
And I didn’t know, till just now, that the 6 million dollar man was involved!!
This is from Wikipedia:
The song was originally written and performed by Jim Weatherly under the title “Midnight Plane to Houston,” which he recorded on Jimmy Bowen’s Amos Records. “It was based on a conversation I had with somebody… about taking a midnight plane to Houston,” Weatherly recalls. “I wrote it as a kind of a country song. Then we sent the song to a guy named Sonny Limbo in Atlanta and he wanted to cut it with Cissy Houston… he asked if I minded if he changed the title to “Midnight Train to Georgia”. And I said, ‘I don’t mind. Just don’t change the rest of the song.'”[2]
Weatherly, in a later interview with Gary James, stated that the phone conversation in question had been with Farrah Fawcett, and he used Fawcett and his friend Lee Majors, whom she had just started dating, “as kind of like characters.”[3][4] Weatherly, at a program in Nashville, said he had been the quarterback at the University of Mississippi, and the NFL didn’t work out for him, so he was in Los Angeles trying to write songs. He was in a rec football league with Lee Majors and called Majors one night. Farrah Fawcett answered the phone and he asked what she was doing. She said she was “taking the midnight plane to Houston” to visit her family. He thought that was a catchy phrase for a song, and in writing the song, wondered why someone would leave L.A. on the midnight plane – which brought the idea of a “superstar, but he didn’t get far”.
What a difference a train makes!
What an excellent story,.
Endless permutations possible too!
Midnight tram, midnight boat, midnight coach…..
He’s leavin’ (leavin’) on that midnight bus to Bilborough…
Sheer poetry.
fabulous tale of a fabulous song….Thanks
Terrific post and even better follow up story.
(Although, given the involvement of Jimmy Bowen, perhaps “smashing” or “super” is the more appropriate adjective..?)
Brilliant song, brilliant performance, brilliant recording. A timeless single.
Pathetically, I once owned a t-shirt with this cartoon in it.
Not just me then?
Also had the Celebrity Swears one with Kenneth Kendall saying Jizm
Also Roger Mellie, cheerfully saying “Bollocks!”
Once Viz-ed it never really leaves a man – I bought a new copy of Roger’s Profanisaurus last year
(I’m 50 with 2 grown up children and a grand-daughter)
The Profanisaurus has been compiled over decades and is an essential reference book.
A friend of mine who is easily amused (that’s why I like him) says that he can barely get through one page at a time. He’s probably still on the Bs.
I’m told that, once you start on your own copy, you can’t leave the house for looking up your own Rs
‘Twist On Nineteen’. Look that one up.
I don’t think I’ve really stopped laughing at that since.