Chairman Of The Board & Clarence Carter - Patches (with lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post is Part IV of a four part series on positive, non-religious African American songs about fathers. This post showcases the 1970 song "Patches" as sung by Chairman Of The Board and by Clarence Carter. Information about the singing group Chairman Of The Board and the vocalist Clarence Carter is also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/luther-vandross-dance-with-my-father.html
for Part I of this post. Part I showcases "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-winstons-color-him-father-with.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases the song "Color Him Father" by the Winstons.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-chi-lites-let-me-be-man-my-daddy.html for Part III of this series. Part III showcases the song "Let Me Be The Man My Daddy Was" by The Chi-Lites.

The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes

Thanks to General Johnson for composing this song. Thanks to Chairman Of The Board and Clarence Carter for recording this song. Thanks also to the producer of these videos file, the transcribers of this song, and the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairmen_of_the_Board
"Chairmen of the Board is a Detroit, Michigan-based soul music group active mostly in the 1970s, that is still touring today....

General Johnson (1943 - 2010)[1] had a hit as the lead singer of The Showmen in the early 1960s, with the New Orleans rock and roll anthem "It Will Stand" and Carolina Beach classic "39-21-40 Shape".

When Holland/Dozier/Holland left Motown in 1967 to establish their own Invictus/Hot Wax group of record labels, they teamed Johnson up with Eddie Custis, Danny Woods and Canadian born Harrison Kennedy as the new company's flagship act, under the appropriate name "Chairmen of the Board". Custis left the group after their second album.

Although they all had a turn at lead vocals, it was Johnson's quirky hiccup-laden style and his songwriting that became increasingly showcased, with the group selling a million plus copies of their single, "Give Me Just a Little More Time". The disc was released in December 1969, reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, with one million sales confirmed in May 1970, when the group were presented with a gold record by the R.I.A.A.[2] Chairmen of the Board also charted with "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String", "Everything's Tuesday", "Pay to the Piper", "Finders Keepers" and (in the UK) "Working on a Building of Love" and "Elmo James". They also recorded the original version of "Patches", a 1970 hit for Clarence Carter, whose recording received a Grammy Award in 1971."...

****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE
Chairmen Of The Board ~ Patches ~ LIVE 2008



pinkfloyd426 Published in August 2010

LYRICS: PATCHES
(General Johnson)

I was born and raised down in Alabama
On a farm way back up in the woods
I was so ragged that folks used to call me Patches
Papa used to tease me about it
'Cause deep down inside he was hurt
'Cause he'd done all he could

My papa was a great old man
I can see him with a shovel in his hands, see
Education he never had
He did wonders when the times got bad
The little money from the crops he raised
Barely paid the bills we made
For, life had kick him down to the ground
When he tried to get up
Life would kick him back down

One day Papa called me to his dyin' bed
Put his hands on my shoulders
And in his tears he said

He said, Patches
I'm dependin' on you, son
To pull the family through
My son, it's all left up to you

Two days later Papa passed away, and
I became a man that day
So I told Mama I was gonna quit school, but
She said that was Daddy's strictest rule
So ev'ry mornin' 'fore I went to school
I fed the chickens and I chopped wood too
Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on
I wanted to leave, just run away from home
But I would remember what my daddy said
With tears in his eyes on his dyin' bed

He said, Patches
I'm dependin' on you, son
I tried to do my best
It's up to you to do the rest

Then one day a strong rain came
And washed all the crops away
And at the age of 13 I thought
I was carryin' the weight of the
Whole world on my shoulders
And you know, Mama knew
What I was goin' through, 'cause

Ev'ry day I had to work the fields
'Cause that's the only way we got our meals
You see, I was the oldest of the family
And ev'rybody else depended on me
Ev'ry night I heard my Mama pray
Lord, give him the strength to face another day

So years have passed and all the kids are grown
The angels took Mama to a brand new home
Lord knows, people, I shedded tears
But my daddy's voice kept me through the years

Sing
Patches, I'm dependin' on you, son
To pull the family through
My son, it's all left up to you

Oh, I can still hear Papa's voice sayin'
Patches, I'm dependin' on you, son
I've tried to do my best
It's up to you to do the rest

I can still hear Papa, what he said
Patches...

Source: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/clarence_carter/patches.html

****
INFORMATION ABOUT CLARENCE CARTER
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Carter
"Clarence George Carter (born January 14, 1936) is an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Slip Away", "Back Door Santa" (both 1968), "Patches" (1970), and "Strokin'" (1985)...

Carter's biggest hit came in 1970 with his version of "Patches", first recorded by Chairmen of the Board, which was a UK number 2 hit[7] and a US number 4. The record sold over one million copies, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A. in September 1970, just two months after its release,[8] and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1971"...

****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Clarence Carter - Patches (High Quality)



Cadillac472500, Uploaded Nov 26, 2010

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.