[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“Tighten Up” - Archie Bell and the Drells
(Words/music: Archie Bell and Billy Buttier, available on Tighten Up, Atlantic 1968)

I’m usually skeptical of any song that comes with its own dance, as Archie Bell suggests in the opening to “Tighten Up.”  However, Bell’s showmanship quells my fears instantaneously.  He manages to sound both genuinely delighted to front his band and completely in control of his group as he calls on each of his bandmates to step into the spotlight.  Musically, “Tighten Up” sounds like a fun dance record – the drums skitter briskly, the bass player nimbly moves up and down the neck of his guitar, and the guitarist lays down a funky rhythm track.  I’m drawn in every time by the informal, almost live feel to the track – even for something with such a simple structure (no verse, no chorus), the song gradually evolves as the different parts start and finish.  These different layers – the soloists, the hand claps, Bell’s own soulful bursts of vocals – keep the song interesting throughout its duration.

My two bits of trivia (one old, one new) on “Tighten Up.”  Earlier this season while watching the Mets, current broadcaster/ former player (and Seinfeld-made icon) Keith Hernandez insinuated that “Tighten Up” was his favorite song.  It was during a discussion of another song, so it was only a passing mention, but the idea of Hernandez wiggling around on the dance floor to “Tighten Up” stuck with me, for better or worse.  Earlier today, I looked up “Tighten Up” on YouTube and the note on the video suggested that Bell recorded “Tighten Up” while on leave from the Army and that the song became a hit while he was stationed overseas.  Allmusic confirmed the story, adding that “Tighten Up” topped the pop and R&B charts while Bell was recovering from wounds from the Vietnam War.  I haven’t done much research on this fact, but I can’t imagine that there are a lot of people who enjoyed their number one single while laid up in bed wounded in combat.

More on Archie Bell and the Drells: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm