2018 "I NEED YOU EVERY DAY" SINGLE REVIEW
Part 1 of a review of the new Jayne Mansfield / Ricky Mason 7" single. I added the first version of a new "artist" -section for Ricky Mason on the website and to coincide with that I`m first going to review the Mason track.

EDIT 17 November 2018: The song title "I Need You Every Day" is incorrect, the track is actually titled "Sick And Tired", read about this in detail in the "Recordings With Jimi Hendrix" -section.



Ricky Mason - I Need You Every Day
I`ll let producer Ed Chalpin introduce Ricky Mason:
"please remember that what you are hearing is a boy, 22 years of age, white, and one of the best performers on stage, you have ever seen. The only way to describe him is that he is a medical freak."

The single liner notes do not include any session details but producer John McDermott emailed me some information: "I Need You Every Day" was recorded on Thursday 10th of February 1966 and the version now released on the single is an original 1966 mix.



The track is in mono and certainly sounds like a vintage mix, a bit thin and the instrument balance is a bit uneven by modern standards, in the 60s songs were mixed to sound good on transistor radios. But the audio quality is generally very good and I`m pleased that we get an authentic 60s mix of the track.

Who the other players are is a mystery, one can speculate that members of the Squires were involved but there are no obvious audible hints about the identities of the other musicians. The backing track is quite simple, Jimi basically plays the same riff throughout the song (one that very much resembles his 1970 recording of "Bleeding Heart") with very little variation, there aren`t any guitar solos.

The spotlight is squarely on Ricky Mason and because of his vocal acrobatics this track is unlike anything else in the Hendrix catalog. On top of the rhythm track two saxophones honk away and Mason delivers vocals that would make Buddy Miles green with envy. It`s a great new "early" track which apart from historical interest also has musical value - and it´s fun. Definitely a track worth releasing.

6 October 2018