Rock critic Dave Marsh, who died last Friday, wrote more than two dozen books, including three about Bruce Springsteen and an entire volume about the song “Louie Louie.” All his obituaries also mentioned the one that probably started more arguments than all the others put together.
“The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made,” published in 1989, contended that the single, not the album, was the ultimate medium for the music, and he had a good point – during rock and roll’s first decade, roughly 1955-65, most artists sold far more singles than albums. The list was idiosyncratic, but if there was a theme it was that black music was given prominence, as were songs delivered with energy and passion.
That’s a lot of songs, but one of them had to finish last, and this one was it, maybe because Marsh had an irresistible story to go with it: A friend recorded it on a reel-to-reel tape at Cornell University’s student radio station years before, but didn’t write down the title or who sang it. It took years of searching before he found a copy of the record, and he still knew nothing more about who sang it. Once Marsh wrote about it, the disc became a holy grail for record collectors.
Joyce Harris was a white singer from New Orleans backed by a black band, the Daylighters. She recorded this self-penned tune for the small Austin, Texas-based label Domino. It was released in 1960 and failed to chart, even after a larger label licensed the record and got Harris a guest slot on “American Bandstand.”
Harris moved to Los Angeles, where her record company changed her name. “Don’t Knock It,” her only release as Sinner Strong, didn’t chart either. Britain’s Northern Soul DJs, always in search of obscure American R&B, preferred the B-side, “Nobody But Me.” Harris returned to New Orleans, where she recorded one more single but soon retired.
“Dreamer,” also written by Harris herself, was the B-side to “No Way Out.” Dave Marsh didn’t write about it.
