Friday Flashback :: Jean Carn's "Don't Let It Go To Your Head"
After a one week absence, the Flashback...is back.
Today's feature is from the silky-smooth voice of Jean Carn (or Carne, depending on what album you may own -- she added an "e" to her name for a short while in the 70's). Regardless of her name change, the quality of her music stayed remarkably consistent and familiar during the her great career.
Jean Carn started, as many singers did, singing the gospel, at age four, in her home town of Columbus, Georgia. She was also an accomplished bassoon and clarinet player, as well as a being a pretty good pianist. She was so good, in fact, that she earned a music scholarship to Morris Brown College.
"Don't Let It Go To Your Head" appeared on her 1978 release Happy To Be With You. It was this album that solidified Carn's change from a jazz singer, to one firmly in the mainstream. Oddly enough, despite "Don't Let It Go..." being an extremely popular song, the field in '78 was very, very tough: the song didn't even chart in the Top 30. In fact, it didn't place in the top 50! Nonetheless, "Don't Let It Go..." has an enduring quality in instrumentation and in lyrical composition, featuring that great Philadelphia International Records sound (PIR, being the home of MFSB -- who provided backing instrumentation for this record) and the production talents of and Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
And in a sign of the song's greatness, "Don't Let It Go To Your Head" was the sample and beat basis for Brand Nubians' Hip Hop smash of the same name.
One of the classic smooth R&B cuts of the 70's, today's flashback is Jean Carn's "Don't Let It Go To Your Head."
Album: Happy To Be With You
Released: 1978
Billboard peak: #54, Black Singles
Play the Track: Dont' Let It Go To Your Head (to download, Mac users, Control-click, and choose 'Save Link As...' Windows users right-click the link and choose 'Save Target As...').
Today's feature is from the silky-smooth voice of Jean Carn (or Carne, depending on what album you may own -- she added an "e" to her name for a short while in the 70's). Regardless of her name change, the quality of her music stayed remarkably consistent and familiar during the her great career.
Jean Carn started, as many singers did, singing the gospel, at age four, in her home town of Columbus, Georgia. She was also an accomplished bassoon and clarinet player, as well as a being a pretty good pianist. She was so good, in fact, that she earned a music scholarship to Morris Brown College.
"Don't Let It Go To Your Head" appeared on her 1978 release Happy To Be With You. It was this album that solidified Carn's change from a jazz singer, to one firmly in the mainstream. Oddly enough, despite "Don't Let It Go..." being an extremely popular song, the field in '78 was very, very tough: the song didn't even chart in the Top 30. In fact, it didn't place in the top 50! Nonetheless, "Don't Let It Go..." has an enduring quality in instrumentation and in lyrical composition, featuring that great Philadelphia International Records sound (PIR, being the home of MFSB -- who provided backing instrumentation for this record) and the production talents of and Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
And in a sign of the song's greatness, "Don't Let It Go To Your Head" was the sample and beat basis for Brand Nubians' Hip Hop smash of the same name.
One of the classic smooth R&B cuts of the 70's, today's flashback is Jean Carn's "Don't Let It Go To Your Head."
Album: Happy To Be With YouReleased: 1978
Billboard peak: #54, Black Singles
Play the Track: Dont' Let It Go To Your Head (to download, Mac users, Control-click, and choose 'Save Link As...' Windows users right-click the link and choose 'Save Target As...').
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Lovely sensual voice, that Jean Carn. I was always a fan of "Was That All It Was." Now that would be a great post Valentine's Anthem!!! Another house classic...
You know, I was debating between "Was That..." and "Don't Let It..." as the second has very fond childhood memories for me. I may still do "Was That..." in a future Flashback, because you are right, it's a house/disco classic that I am VERY fond of as well!