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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tna9lceUhMw

Tommy James went solo after the Shondells disbanded in 1970. It was first released as the B side of "Church Street Soul Revival" in 1970. The song was judged to have some hit potential so they went back in the studio and added horns to the master and re-released it as an A side single in 1971.

In a Songfacts interview with Tommy James, he explained: "'Draggin' The Line' I wrote up at my farm in 1970, and it was with Bob King. My farm was in upstate New York, I had a couple hundred acres. It was a song I probably couldn't have written in the city. We just kind of toyed with it. We wrote it, and it was a very repetitious track, and a very sort of hypnotic track. We had the track before we had the song. We went into the studio and just laid down, I don't know, eight or ten bars of track. We looped it and looped it and looped it, and created the hypnotic rhythm. Bob played bass, Russ Leslie from Neon played drums, and I played guitar. And so we just created loops of tape based on this little riff, and when we had three-plus minutes of it put together we stopped, and then we wrote the song around the track. Second time I had ever done that - first one was "Mony" actually. 'Draggin' the Line' just meant working every day. Nothing really very mysterious about it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGHjHU_Z8d8

In a 1994 interview with Mojo, Mitchell said: "I didn't write 'Circle Game' as a children's song, but I'm very pleased to see it go into the culture in that way." While written, and played in concerts, for a few years before she released this song on her "Ladies Of The Canyon" album, it was covered (in 1967) by Buffy Sainte Marie in a more upbeat version, and more similarly to Joni's version by Tom Rush in 1968.

This was partly written in response to Neil Young's song about lost innocence "Sugar Mountain," where Young sings, "You can't be 20 on Sugar Mountain." Mitchell's last verse is a rejoinder of sorts, with the 20-year-old facing diminished dreams but still with plenty of hope. The line "The painted ponies go up and down" gave David Clayton-Thomas the idea for the lyric "Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel spin" in the Blood, Sweat & Tears hit "Spinning Wheel."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWopFr1umBY

The 11 minute album jam version of the classic Temptations hit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MRLd1Cgbdg

It's heavy as fuck....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HHQ11HOZwM

I forgot this song existed...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnPMoAb4y8U

"Try a Little Tenderness" was written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods. It was first recorded on December 8, 1932, by the Ray Noble Orchestra (with vocals by Val Rosing). Ted Lewis and Ruth Etting had hits with it in 1933. Bing Crosby also recorded it on January 9, 1933

A popular version in an entirely new form was recorded by soul artist Otis Redding in 1966. Redding was backed on his version by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and Stax staff producer Isaac Hayes worked on the arrangement. Redding's recording features a slow, soulful opening that eventually builds into a frenetic R&B conclusion, incorporating elements from the Duke Ellington–Lee Gaines song "Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)" as well as the words "Sock it to me". Redding did not want to record this song, but Stax Records executives and his friends wore him down with a constant barrage of requests. When he finally recorded it, he did it with a pleading vocal that he was "sure" would not be released. The ploy didn't work. Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness" became his signature song and the biggest-selling of the records released before his death.

Sam Cooke's version of this was a big influence on Redding. It was never released as a single but was one of high points of his live "Sam Cooke at the Copa" LP (1964) as part of a medley that started with "Tenderness" (followed by "Sentimental Reasons" and "You Send Me"). Redding idolized the man, particularly after Cooke's death, but he did not want to record "Tenderness." He caved in after tremendous pressure from his friends and (according to one source) a family member - but he didn't want to record it like Cooke (in fact, he considered his version a "joke" to quiet the people who wanted him to record it).

This version peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been named on a number of "best songs of all time" lists, including those from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is in the 204th position on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Three Dog Night released a version of the song in (1969).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaT6PyrZGN0

One for you COF