"Patches" (sometimes known as "Patches (I'm Depending On You)") is a

country soul ''Country Soul'' contains recordings of a prestardom Glen Campbell, which were made around 1960-1961. This album, just like the other Starday album '' Country Music Star No. 1'', was released after Glen Campbell rose to international fame with hit ...

song written by General Johnson and

Ron Dunbar Ronald Dunbar (April 15, 1939 – April 3, 2018) was an American songwriter, A&R director and record producer who worked closely with Holland–Dozier–Holland, and with George Clinton. His co-writing credits include the hit songs "Give Me Just ...

and best known in the 1970 hit version by

Clarence Carter Clarence George Carter (born January 14, 1936) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His most successful songs include " Slip Away", "Back Door Santa" (both released 1968), " Patches" (1970) and "Strokin" (1986). Ear ...

. It won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song.

Chairmen of the Board

The song was written by General Johnson, the lead singer of

Chairmen of the Board Chairmen of the Board is an American-Canadian, Detroit, Michigan-based soul music musical ensemble, group, who saw their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Recording career General Johnson (musician), General Johnson (1941–2010) had a ...

, with Ron Dunbar, who worked in A&R and

record production A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

at the

Invictus "Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was written in 1875 and published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section ''Life and Death (Echoes)''. Backgr ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, owned and overseen by

Brian Holland Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous hit ...

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote and produced 14 US ''Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Doz ...

, and

Eddie Holland Edward Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", ...

, formerly of

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

. Dunbar was often credited with co-writing hit songs at Invictus with "Edyth Wayne", a pseudonym used by Holland-Dozier-Holland during the time when they were in legal dispute with Motown and its

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

arm Jobete to which they had been contracted. The song tells a story about how a boy born and raised in poverty in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

"on a farm way back up in the woods" took over responsibility for his family from his dying father. After his father dies, he has to endure extra labor as the oldest son of the family, by doing farming and going to school. However, a rainstorm washes the crops away, and he has to work extra hard in the fields, in order to have his meals. Years later, his mother dies and the other members of his family move away, leaving him as the man of the farm. This story, which featured spoken recitations, ends unresolved. "Patches" was included on Chairmen of the Board's first album, ''

The Chairmen of the Board Chairmen of the Board is an American-Canadian, Detroit, Michigan-based soul music group, who saw their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Recording career General Johnson (1941–2010) had a hit as the lead singer of The Showmen in th ...

'' (later reissued as ''Give Me Just a Little More Time''), and was the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the group's July 1970 single, "Everything's Tuesday", their third chart hit.

Clarence Carter

The blind

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer Clarence Carter heard the song, later saying: "I heard it on the ''Chairmen of the Board'' LP and liked it, but I had my own ideas about how it should be sung. It was my idea to make the song sound real natural..." Initially he thought "that it would be degrading for a black man to sing a song so redolent of subjugation" but was persuaded to do so by record producer

Rick Hall Roe Erister "Rick" Hall (January 31, 1932 – January 2, 2018) was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who became known as the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music", he was i ...

, who told him that it related to his own personal history as he was growing up.Mick Brown, "Deep Soul: How Muscle Shoals became music's most unlikely hit factory", ''The Telegraph'', 2013
Retrieved 6 September 2014 Carter recorded the song at the FAME Studios in

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

, with Hall as producer and musicians including Junior Lowe (guitar), Jesse Boyce (bass), and Freeman Brown (drums). "Patches", ''Songfacts.com''
Retrieved 6 September 2014 Carter's recording was released in July 1970 and was described by a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' reviewer as a "powerful blues item" featuring a "blockbuster vocal work-out." The record rose to No. 4 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, No. 2 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, and No. 2 on the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Following Carter's success, the song won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song for its writers, Johnson and Dunbar. Grammy Awards 1971
Retrieved 6 September 2014 Carter's recording of "Patches" briefly features at the end of ''

The Angry Beavers ''The Angry Beavers'' is an American animated television series created by Mitch Schauer for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around Norbert and Daggett Beaver, two young beaver brothers who have moved out of their parents' home to become bache ...

'' episode "Utter Nonsense".

Chart history

Weekly charts

;Clarence Carter ;Ray Griff version ;Jerry Reed cover

Year-end charts

Other versions

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

version was recorded late in 1970 by The Rudies, later known as

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

. Another version by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer

Ray Griff John Raymond David Griff (April 22, 1940 – March 9, 2016) was a Canadian country music singer and songwriter, born in Vancouver and raised in Toronto. His songwriting credits reached over 2500 songs, many of which were recorded by Nashville's t ...

reached #26 on the US country music chart the same year. The song was also recorded by

some time before 1980,

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", " U.S. Male", "A Thi ...

in 1982, and by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

on the album ''

Rhythm, Country and Blues ''Rhythm, Country and Blues'' (a.k.a. ''Rhythm Country and Blues'') is an album featuring duets between R&B and country music artists on classic songs. It was released by MCA Records on March 1, 1994. The album debuted at #1 on Top Country Album ...

'' in 1994. "Patches", ''SecondhandSongs.com''
Retrieved 6 September 2014 A parody version of the song performed by Joe Cumia, brother of Anthony Cumia of

Opie and Anthony ''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg Hughes, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton (comedian), Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show origina ...

fame, titled "Black Earl" was often played on the Ron and Fez show.

Marvin

In 1984, the song was rewritten and rearranged in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

as "Marvin (Patches)" by the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian band

Titãs Titãs () are a Brazilian rock band from São Paulo. Though they basically play pop/alternative rock, their music has touched a number of other styles throughout their 30-year career, such as new wave, punk rock, grunge, MPB and electronic mu ...

and released on their self-titled debut album. The idea to adapt the song came from band member

Nando Reis Nando Reis (, born José Fernando Gomes dos Reis; January 12, 1963) is a Brazilian musician and producer, best known as the former bassist and one of the lead singers of Brazilian rock band Titãs and for his successful solo career, with his ow ...

, who found out about the song from the cover released by reggae band King Sounds & The Israelites. The new namesake was chosen as a tribute to a recently deceased

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

. The new lyrics tell the story of Marvin, a young farmer whose father dies, leaving him responsible for making ends meet for his family. A live version taken off their 1988 live album '' Go Back'' was released as their eighth single and a second live version, acoustic and retitled simply as "Marvin", was released on their MTV Unplugged album '' Acústico MTV'', becoming a hit in Brazil.

Cover versions

* Paulo Ricardo on his 1996 cover album Rock Popular Brasileiro * Jeito Moleque on their 2005 live album Me Faz Feliz - Ao Vivo *

Biquini Cavadão Biquini, previously known as Biquíni Cavadão, is a Brazilian rock band formed in 1985 in Rio de Janeiro. They are a very influential 1980s band that still continues successful to this day. History Biquini Cavadão is the name of a tiny cut ...

on a live performance *

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

on his 1971 album (released 2006) '' Live at Club Mozambique''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patches (song) 1970 songs 1970 singles 1981 singles Chairmen of the Board songs Ray Griff songs Jerry Reed songs Songs written by Ron Dunbar Atlantic Records singles RCA Records singles Warner Music Group singles Songs about labor Songs written by General Johnson (musician) Clarence Carter songs Songs about fathers Cashbox number-one singles