JOHNNY BRISTOL - NOT A FACSIMILE

JOHNNY BRISTOL enjoyed a creative and successful period as a SONGWRITER / PRODUCER working for  TAMLA MOTOWN from the late 60's onward. He co-produced '' AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH '' for MARVIN GAYE and TAMMI TERREL and also co-wrote and produced '' MY WHOLE WORLD ENDED { THE MOMENT YOU LEFT ME } for DAVID RUFFIN, '' TWENTY FIVE MILES '' for EDWIN STARR,  SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER '' for THE SUPREMES and '' WHAT DOES IT TAKE { TO WIN YOUR LOVE } for JNR WALKER. He left MOTOWN in '73 and continued to produce records for CBS. When the company were unwilling to back him as a solo artist, he struck a deal with MGM and they released his Debut LP '' HANG ON IN THERE BABY '' the following year. The title track reached the US top ten when it was released on 45 and was hugely successful on the dancefloor. Today it's seen as one of the key records of the EARLY DISCO ERA 

The LP included a number of great DISCO / FUNK and DEEP SOUL BALLADS, but BRISTOL choose the COUNTRY / SOUL number '' MEMORIES DONT LEAVE LIKE PEOPLE DO '' as the follow up. He clearly had great enthusiasm for the song as he had already produced a version for JERRY BUTLER and later did the same for JOHNNY MATHIS and TOM JONES .Unfortunately his his own version failed to register in the same way that '' HANG ON IN THERE '' had . The LP contained another COUNTRY / SOUL number that had an unusual BAROQUE feel: '' LOVE ME FOR A REASON ''. The track was placed at the end of the LP and it fades into a reprise of the opening cut '' WOMAN, WOMAN ''. That could have been the end of the story, but the song was given to another MGM act: THE OSMONDS. Producer MIKE CURB went for a more straightforward sound for their recording and dropped the harpsichord / flute feature which was reminiscent of '' I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOVE HIM '' from the musical '' JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR ''. Two hit versions of that song had been recorded { one by cast member YVONNE ELLIMAN and another by HELEN REDDY } and to cloud things further: the melody was presumed to have been lifted from a violin concerto by ' Bach fanboy ' FELIX MENDELSSOHN

The OSMONDS were at the height of their success and the gifted song eased into the US top 10. In the UK it did even better, reaching the number 1 spot where it joined '' HANG ON IN THERE '' in the TOP 5. Ironically it's possibly still the only hit pop song to contain the word FACSIMILE!