Treat Her Right (Roy Head song) explained

Treat Her Right
Type:single
Artist:Roy Head and the Traits
Album:Treat Her Right: The Best of Roy Head
B-Side:So Long, My Love
Recorded:1965
Studio:Gold Star (Houston, Texas)
Genre:Soul
Label:Back Beat
546
Producer:Huey Meaux
Next Title:Just a Little Bit
Next Year:1965

"Treat Her Right" is a soul music song, with a standard 12-bar-blues structure. Written by Roy Head and Gene Kurtz,[1] it was recorded by Head and The Traits and released on the Back Beat label in 1965.

Background

Members of the Traits on this record included Johnny Clark on lead guitar, Frank Miller on rhythm guitar, Gene Kurtz on bass, Dan Buie on keyboards, Danny Gomez and Tommy May on tenor sax, Johnny Gibson on trumpet, and Jerry Gibson on drums.

In the ending instrumental choruses, Roy Head's voice is heard repeatedly shouting "HEY", and saying ad-libs including "You're too much, baby".

In 1965 the band signed with producer Huey Meaux[2] of Houston, who maintained a stable of record labels. "Treat Her Right" was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Houston. Issued on Don Robey's (Nov. 1, 1903 - June 16, 1975) Back Beat label, it reached No.2 on both the U.S. Pop and R&B charts in 1965,[3] behind The Beatles' "Yesterday." "Treat Her Right", with its blazing horns and punchy rhythm,[4] credited to Head and bass man Gene Kurtz,[5] established Head as a prime exponent of blue-eyed soul.[6] By 1995 "Treat Her Right" had been covered by as many as 20 nationally known recording artists including the Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bon Jovi, British blue-eyed soul vocalist Chris Farlowe (under the title "Treat Her Good") and both Mae West and Barbara Mandrell under the title of "Treat Him Right". Even Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones[7] covered it "live".

Roy Head and the Traits "Just a Little Bit" and the bluesy-rockabilly hybrid, "Apple Of My Eye" also cracked the Top 40 in 1965. However, those were only minor hits in the wake of "Treat Her Right", which is estimated to have sold over four million copies worldwide, and was a featured song, along with Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" and Steve Cropper's "In the Midnight Hour", in the successful 1991 motion picture, The Commitments.[8]

Chart performance

The song reached No.2 in the United States on both the Billboard pop and R&B charts.[9] The Beatles' "Yesterday" kept "Treat Her Right" from the No.1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, it reached No.8.[10] In the UK, No.30.

Covers

Popular culture

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Secondhandsongs.com. Secondhandsongs.com. February 23, 2021.
  2. Web site: Huey P. Meaux ~ The Crazy Cajun . Laventure.net . 1929-03-10 . 2011-07-24.
  3. Book: Billboard book of number 2 singles - Google Books . January 2000. 9780823076956 . 2011-07-24. Feldman . Christopher G. .
  4. Web site: - YouTube. https://web.archive.org/web/20140612155441/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6DMJvvO51k. dead. 12 June 2014. YouTube. 7 June 2021.
  5. http://www.genekurtz.com/biography.htm
  6. Roy Head and the Traits Page". Tsimon.com. 2007-10-27.
  7. Web site: Tom Jones treat her right 70s . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/GIGAacoUQzY . 2021-12-21 . live. YouTube . 2011-07-24.
  8. Web site: Roy Head and the Traits Page . Tsimon.com . 2007-10-27 . 2011-07-24.
  9. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 250.
  10. Web site: RPM Top 40 Playsheet - November 1, 1965.
  11. Web site: Treat Her Right. Rory Gallagher. 2020-04-06.
  12. Book: McFarlane . Ian . Ian McFarlane . . Encyclopedia entry for 'Shindiggers' . https://web.archive.org/web/20040419055455/www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=366 . http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=366 . 1999 . . . 19 April 2004 . 1-86508-072-1 . dead .
  13. Web site: George Thorogood - Treat Her Right. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/MrjxXQIi7Qo . 2021-12-21 . live. 7 June 2021. YouTube.
  14. Web site: Roffman. Michael. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Soundtrack Detailed. Consequence. July 25, 2019. April 6, 2020.