Photo titled "The civilian students of mathematics at the Imperial School of Engineering" from the Abdul Hamid II photo survey of the Ottoman Empire, c. 1880
There are a zillion songs titled "You & Me", including an excellent ones by the Archers of Loaf, John Cale, and Alice Cooper. But my two favorite "You & Me"s are pretty obscure recordings (in one case, about as obscure as it gets). The first is "You & Me" by home-recording pioneer and eccentric R. Stevie Moore, from his 1975 album Steve Moore or LESS. Moore is the son of famous session bassist Bob Moore, so he was involved in recording from early childhood, but in the early '70s he started recording his own kind of music. He was already a proficient guitarist, pianist, and drummer at this time, and his 1976 album Phonography got a good deal of exposure, starting a multi-decade career of home recording. Over the years, he released hundreds of collections of his home-recorded songs, and "You & Me" is one of the earliest of these recordings. Moore's "You & Me" reveals his love of mid-60s British pop with a fuzzy guitar riff and echoey multi-tracked vocals. It's an excellent pop song and one of the earliest examples of the homemade power-pop that I love.
Believe it or not, my other favorite "You & Me" is even more obscure. No one knows who the excellently named Penny & the Quarters are. During their compiling of the recordings of Columbus, Ohio's Prix Label, the archivists from the Numero Group came across a rehearsal tape called "You & Me" by Penny & the Quarters. The song was probably recorded at Harmonic Sounds in the early '70s, and it is a fairly simple song. A single guitar provides the entire instrumental backing, and it sounds like the vocals (a young girl and several male back-ups) were recorded live at the same time. You can hear some talking and microphone-adjusting during the intro, but the rest of the track is almost without flaws as "Penny" gives an arresting and intimate performance. Not only is it my favorite song on the Prix Label collection, "You & Me" is one of my all-time favorite R&B songs. If I had unlimited time and resources, I might use them to track down the individuals on this recording to make sure they know that they recorded something special. Thank you, Penny, wherever you are.
Winner: PENNY & THE QUARTERS
"You & Me" by Penny and the Quarters
"You & Me" by R. Stevie Moore
13 comments:
Love it! Thanks for the support + exposure. Hope you got 10,000 readers. One payback favor: can you plz email me an mp3 of Penny & The Quarters?
RSM -
I'd love to send you an mp3, but I'm not sure I have your current email addy. If you email me at the contact email in the blog header, I'll reply right away.
Sorry for giving the win to the other team. I love your music!
You and me is probably one of my favorite songs. I knew it because it sounds in an scene of the movie Blue Valentine. It wouldn't be a payback favor, just a favor, but is it possible for you to send me an mp3 of the song by email? I just can't download it! I've been trying for weeks!
Thanks! :D
Nuloha:
I assume you want the Penny & the Quarters song - send me your email address and I'll do what I can.
Thanks!
Nathan:
I just sent you an e-mail.
THAAAANKS! :D
Bye!
Nathan, how are you? I would love it if you could e-mail me an mp3 of Penny & the Quarters "You and me". I love the song and I've been searching for it everywhere, but can't find it! Thanks a lot and sorry to bother you!
My e-mail is aleromero123_8@hotmail.com
hi nathan just found out about this you and me by penny and ive been searching for it everywhere but it is nowhere to be found. if you could find time could you also send me a copy at my email buknoyjke20@yahoo.com.ph please.. please.. it will be highly appreciated btw glad we got the same taste in music man..
Finally! I found the song! Oh thank god. I know a lot of people are asking, but could you please email me the track "you and me." I cant stop listening to it. I would really appreciate it, please!
Thanks
salima.ismaili@gmail.com
I love this song so much but can't find the mp3 online please email me the Penny and the Quarters "you and me" email is awo-a@live.com thank you so much!
I also would LOVE a copy of the MP3....have looked EVERYWHERE! email is mandygayle78@hotmail.com . Would be much appreciated!
hey hey could I get an email of the track too?? I love the song you and me and haven't found it anywhere!!
ssteele510@yahoo.com
Commenters:
Because "You & Me" is soon to be included in a high-profile movie soundtrack, I no longer feel I should be circulating this track (although, to be fair the Numero Group release that contains the track has been available from Amazon this whole time!)
I recommend getting the Blue Valentine soundtrack - I hear it's a great movie, and "You & Me" plays a role in the story as well:
Get the soundtrack here.
Thanks for visiting Wires and Waves!
Does anyone know where I can find the guitar tabs for the backup guitar part? I love it, but I am new to guitar so I cannot transcribe it myself. I looked on the internet but since it is rather obscure, no one seems to have them. Thank you!
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