First I Look At The Purse - Contours

[rovereab]

Just listening to this song and it struck me that the title doesn't fully work in the UK as ladies put their money in a purse and they put their purse in their handbag :)

So what do Americans call handbags?

[Methuselah2]

Rovereab - Purse is used the same here as in the UK. But purse is often used for handbag, too, as is pocketbook. But I think purse works any way it's used since it's still where the money is. Like a wallet. And many people who use purses also use them for carrying cash, not just for coins.

But no matter how ya slice it, it's a great tune, don't 'cha think?

7590

[rovereab]

Yes a great tune for sure like so many by The Contours.

[Motown4Ever518]

A great song produced for the right group. I can't imagine another group or individual doing this song convincingly that recorded on West Grand Blvd. Though 'Wherever I Lay My Hat Thats My Home", is kind of a softer take in the same vein.

[Roger Polhill]

I hope that Ace will release the previously unreleased album "It`s So Hard Being a Loser" which contains this wonderful track.

[RossHolloway]

I hope that Ace will release the previously unreleased album "It`s So Hard Being a Loser" which contains this wonderful track.

Do you [[or anyone) have a track listing for this album?

[Methuselah2]

Ross - Some interesting info here:

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/a_tom/5427674699/

[Roger Polhill]

It`s possible that you could add "All My Life " and "Come See About Me" to that list.

[RossHolloway]

@methuselah2- I'm not getting anything when I click on that link.

[Methuselah2]

Ross - Try this Google search:

The Contours '61 to '64

The flickr hit should pop up. One of the Comments from The Old Grey Wolf has info. Hope you can see it. [[Wouldn't let me cut & paste it.)

[RossHolloway]

Methuselah2- That did the job. I have never seen a mock up of that Contours album before. THanks for that.

[Methuselah2]

Ross - Hope you saw the info on the Gordy G-921 album, as well. Sounds interesting, to say the least. But the listing given isn't official.

[soulwally]

What a great, great track 'Purse' is. And to think Smokey could come up with something so upbeat and funky as well as his wonderful ballads/love songs from the same period.

[marv2]

Just listening to this song and it struck me that the title doesn't fully work in the UK as ladies put their money in a purse and they put their purse in their handbag :)

So what do Americans call handbags?

Pocketbooks

[motony]

"First I Look at the Handbag", "First I look At the Pocketbook" , First I look at the Wallett, naw First I Look At the Purse works better.

[RossHolloway]

Does anyone know if the Contours ever performed this song on tv or did anyone ever witness them sing it live in concert?

[motony]

I have seen a photograph of them doing this song LIVE at the Twenty Grand back in the day.

[Methuselah2]

Not vintage but very much live, 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIuuTQkcEjA

[nabob]

The lyrics were great for 1965 and were not a vehicle for maliciously spewing sexism. Reviewing the lyrics in the present, the song is one "piece of sexist crap" that would never fly if referring to a person's race in the same manner as the song addresses women. Still, it's a favorite.

[144man]

The record is meant to be funny.

[Sotosound]

And it is.

How many songs have the line "She could be covered with a rash long as she's got some cash."

Romantic it ain't.

[roger]

The record is meant to be funny.

"I Don't care if she waddles like a duck and talks with a lisp, I just think I'm in good luck if the dollar bills are crisp" ..

Sounds perfectly good sense to me 144man .. :)

Roger

[radionixon]

The lyrics were great for 1965 and were not a vehicle for maliciously spewing sexism. Reviewing the lyrics in the present, the song is one "piece of sexist crap" that would never fly if referring to a person's race in the same manner as the song addresses women. Still, it's a favorite.

It's not "sexist crap" - it's a joke, not a manifesto, and I find it inherently less troubling than something with genuinely misogynystic overtones. The gold-digging, exaggerating narrator is the butt of the humour here. Well, that and the litany of contemporary songs [[Motown or otherwise) praising ladies for their eyes, legs, hair etc - the narrator is saying all those guys are wasting their time.

Also, it is quite funny. We had a few good discussions about this when I reviewed it for Motown Junkies a few months back:

http://motownjunkies.co.uk/600/


Alert readers will be wondering why I’m not getting angry with this, when I blew a gasket over I’ll Be Doggone for spouting similarly sexist stuff. The answer, really, is because this is funny; the joke is on the narrator, not the woman, and [[again like Shorty Long) the impression is of some louche reprobate boasting to his mates.

I don’t believe for one moment it’s meant to be taken remotely seriously, but even if it were, Billy Gordon delivers this with such a stupid grin that says he’s already fully accepted he might deservedly earn himself a slap in the face, plus whatever the 1965 equivalent was of a badmouthing on Facebook and Twitter [[like a crudely-phrased warning written in lipstick on a diner bathroom mirror, or something). Perhaps the tone is still inexcusably sexist, but I think the misogyny is tempered by the absolute silliness of it all; this is a song about the narrator, and he’s a buffoon. An amusing buffoon, certainly, of the type we’ve all come across – annoyingly, he’s exactly as funny as he thinks he is – but I’ve no need to worry about keeping him away from my daughter, because I trust she’s got enough sense to give an amused snort and keep right on walking.

[luke]

It was a very big hit in the Philly area, much bigger than nationwide.

[mowest]

It was a very big hit in the Philly area, much bigger than nationwide.

It made the Top Ten in Detroit on WKNR.

[soulwally]

It's always been a big hit in my house!!