#the stylistics

[auntymurda]

I love cover art that tells you it was definitely made during the euphoric cocaine era just from the execution alone.

[douxgemini]

70s album covers featuring beautiful women, pt. 2

[jt1674]

[tha-wrecka-stow]

[tavolgisvist]

Here's a case where John discovers from someone else where he probably got a song from. From the Double Fantasy sessions:

ELLIOT MINTZ, series host: Now at the end of this run-through, off in the background, studio engineer Jon Smith sings a phrase from the song Flower Princess reminded him of, You Make Me Feel Brand New, a smash by the Stylistics in 1974. JON SMITH (sings falsetto): "You make me feel brand new." JOHN LENNON: Ah, that's where I got it from, is it? (laughs) That's why I have to rewrite it. I just want the backing. ELLIOT MINTZ: A few minutes later, with producer Jack Douglas ready to roll a tape for real, John sets the vibes for the players. JOHN LENNON: Relax, have fun. We'll take a couple of tracks. I have to rewrite the damn thing anyway 'cause it's like everything we ever heard. I'll go home, listen to the samba and bring it with me in case that's what I really need. But let's just have a nice little bit of fun, lay it down, then we can go. Ok?

A little bit on timeline: 1 The summer of 1973 - early 1975 (18 months): John lives with May Pang ('lost weekend') 2 28 March-02 April: John and Paul have a good time in L.A. 3 May 5, 1974: The Stylistics' You Make Me Feel Brand New was released as a single

My love I'll never find the words, my love To tell you how I feel, my love Mere words could not explain Precious love You held my life within your hands Created everything I am Taught me how to live again

Only you Cared when I needed a friend Believed in me through thick and thin This song is for you, filled with gratitude and love

God bless you You make me feel brand new For God blessed me with you You make me feel brand new I sing this song 'cause you Make me feel brand new

My love Whenever I was insecure You built me up and made me sure You gave my pride back to me Precious friend With you, I'll always have a friend You're someone who I can depend To walk a path that sometimes bends

Without you Life has no meaning or rhyme Like notes to a song out of time How can I repay you for having faith in me?

God bless you You make me feel brand new For God blessed me with you You make me feel brand new I sing this song for you You

4 July-August, 1974: John records Bless You

Bless you, wherever you are Windswept child on a shooting star Restless spirits depart Still we're deep in each other's hearts

Some people say it's over Now that we spread our wings But we know better, darling The hollow ring is only last year's echo

Bless you, whoever you are Holding her now Be warm and kind-hearted And remember though love is strange Now and forever our love will remain

Why Bless You, if Jon Smith and John Lennon talk about (Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess? Because not only instrumental entry of The Stylistics' song reminds the line 'forgive me, my little flower princess' but and the line 'you make me feel brand new' reminds the line 'on a shooting star' ('in each other's hearts'/'and kind-hearted'/'our love will remain').

In a way, it [Bless you] is about Yoko and I, and in a way it’s about a lot of couples or all of us who go through that, whatever it’s called, love experience. You know, the way love changes, which is one of the surprises of life that we all find out: that it doesn’t remain exactly the same all the time, although it’s still love. It comes in mysterious forms, its wonders to perform. And ‘Bless You’ expresses one side of it.

(John Lennon)

5 The summer of 1980: John during his holiday in Bermuda writes (Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess

Forgive me, my little flower princess For crushing your delicateness Forgive me, if you could forgive me

Forgive me, my little flower princess For my utter selfishness Forgive me, forgive me

Well, I know there is no way to repay you Whatever it takes I will try to The rest of my life I will thank you Thank you, thank you, my little

If you forgive me, my little flower princess Never too late unless you can't

Time is on our side Let's not waste another minute Because I love you, my little friend I really love you

Give me just one more chance And I'll show you Take up the dance where we left off The rest of our life is the, my little

I'm home

And what I want to say? Maybe both of these John's tunes were written in same time and were inspired by The Stylistics' You Make Me Feel Brand New. Maybe they were written in different time. But it seems for me like they link among themselves. And it means (for me) they was written about one and the same persen, 'whoever you are'.

[loveboatinsanity]

[serpentinesheldonserpentine]

There's a spark of magic in your eyes

Candyland appears each time you smile

Never thought that fairy tales came true

But they come true when I'm near you

You're a genie in disguise

Full of wonder and surprise

And betcha by golly, wow

You're the one that I've been waiting for forever

And ever will my love for you keep growin' strong

Keep growin' strong

[rolloroberson]

The Stylistics - You Make Me Feel Brand New

[thefuzzhead]

we as a country used to have song titles that meant something

[plus-low-overthrow]

Ramsey Lewis Trio - People Make the World Go Round (Live) (Motown)

1973.

[forever70s]

The Stylistics - Sun & Soul LP (1977)

[tha-wrecka-stow]

[myyworldinadaze]

sometimes you really do have to let karma do its thang

[thuglifetilidie]

Politics as usual…