''UpTight'' is a soundtrack album by
Southern soul
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated ...
band
Booker T. & the M.G.'s for
the film of the same title. The album features "
Time Is Tight", the single version of which became a US Top 10 hit (the second biggest of their career) and a signature song for the band.
Recording
The version of "Time Is Tight" included on the ''Up Tight'' soundtrack album is an alternate recording, which differs from the single version in several respects: it is in stereo, it is played at a faster tempo, it runs almost two minutes longer (4'55"), and it includes both an extended introduction and an instrumental "breakdown" (beginning around 3'30"), neither of which are in the single version. "Johnny, I Love You" (the B-side of "Time Is Tight") features a rare vocal by keyboardist
Booker T. Jones
Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known art ...
.
Judy Clay
Judy Clay (September 12, 1938 – July 19, 2001)
Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
provides vocals on "Children, Don't Get Weary."
The album was recorded at
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
Stax was ...
' studios by Ron Capone, produced by Jones, and was overdubbed and mixed at
Ardent Studios by
Steve Cropper and
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...
.
Reception
The album charted at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart and number 7 on the ''Billboard'' R&B albums chart.
''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' critic
Robert Christgau called it a "superb score"
and later said that until the band's 1971 ''
Melting Pot'' album, ''UpTight'' was the exception to the "somewhat mechanical, boxy rhythms that always made their albums boring even though the individual cuts were unexceptionable".
"Time is Tight" was covered by the
Clash on their 10-inch vinyl ''
Black Market Clash
''Super Black Market Clash'' is a 1993 compilation album released by the English punk rock band The Clash. It contains B-sides and rare tracks not available on the group's regular studio albums. The album is an expanded repackaging of the 1980 r ...
'' LP in 1980 (and later on their ''Super Black Market Clash'' CD) and by
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...
on his 1993 double CD ''
The World's Most Dangerous Party''.
Track listings
All tracks composed by Booker T. Jones, except where indicated
;Side 1
#"Johnny, I Love You" – 3:00
#"Cleveland Now" – 3:08
#"Children, Don't Get Weary" (Frank Williams) – 3:35
#"Tank's Lament" – 2:49
#"Blues in the Gutter" – 3:24
;Side 2
#
"We've Got Johnny Wells" – 3:46
#"Down at Ralph's Joint" – 3:51
#"Deadwood Dick" – 4:29
#"Run Tank Run" – 2:37
#" Time Is Tight" (Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson Jr.) – 4:55
References
External links
*
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Booker T. & the M.G.'s albums
Drama film soundtracks
1969 soundtrack albums
Albums produced by Booker T. Jones
Stax Records soundtracks
Atlantic Records soundtracks