1962 Songs Top Ten: Lover Please (#2)

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The holiday is upon us. It’s rare that Memorial Day actually falls on its original date. When first established in 1868 it was commemorated (it sounds odd to say “celebrated” about Memorial Day) on May 30 before it was changed to the last Monday in May in the “three-day weekend” law (officially the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968). Enjoy the day, and enjoy another song on my list of favorites from sixty years ago. #2: Lover Please - Clyde McPhatter Hey, it’s another song on my 100 favorites list! And, unless you’re a speed reader, it’s going to take longer to go through this discussion than it’ll take you to listen to the song! Clocking in at 1:50 or so, it didn’t take long for Billy Swan (of “I Can Help” fame) to write the point, or for two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (Drifters and solo) Clyde McPhatter to deliver it. McPhatter sadly fell on the hard times caused by ever-changing tastes in music. Feeling betrayed by fans, he turned to drugs and alcohol, which damaged his body and caused his premature death at the age of 39. If he could have only imagined he would become the first two-time inductee into the Hall of Fame and have the list of subsequent multiple inductees named after him: the “Clyde McPhatter Club.” Lover Please Written by Billy Swan Recorded by Clyde McPhatter From Lover Please!, 1962 Don’t take a train coming down the tracks: