In recent weeks, Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace has started running commercials featuring the song Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. Oh by the way, before we get too far down the line, I’m not responsible for any earworms you may get today. The Amazon ad is below and is very effective at putting a smile on your face:
The song has been covered many times over the decades by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. The upbeat arrangement of the Amazon ad mimics the one from the 1980 The Blues Brothers movie featuring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. The song is the capstone of that movie and the movie visuals themselves add greatly to the feeling that you’re watching something fantastic (and you were). The Blues Brothers clip is below:
The song was written and originally recorded by Solomon Burke in 1964, but it never broke into the U.S. “pop” top 40. The song became popular in the U.S. in 1966 when it was re-recorded by Wilson Pickett. Pickett’s version and every version thereafter followed the song arrangement of Burke. Each version (except the Amazon ad) starts out with the singer stating how happy he is to be “wherever he is” and that he has a message for the audience, then he launches into the song. The original Solomon Burke version is below:
Wilson Pickett’s version is more up-tempo and is clearly the version the Blues Brothers were copying in the film. Pickett credits Solomon Burke in his intro, then makes the song his. Pickett’s version is below:
Solomon Burke and Wilson Pickett passed away in 2010 and 2006, respectively. But Pickett’s version of Burke’s song is the gold standard. The Blues Brothers movie may have moved the song from the R&B realm into a larger general rock & roll audience, but this 55 year old song has never lost its roots. There are other stellar performances of this song, including one from Led Zeppelin, but you have to look for them. Again beware of the earworm!