1967
PERSIAN CAT * TOMMY McCOOK AND THE SUPERSONICS * TREASURE ISLE 7017 * UK
As if it wasn't good enough getting Once A Man on this record it also gave us this beautiful instrumental from the great Tommy McCook on the other side. I'm not sure if the title of this song refers to the longhaired species of feline known as the Persian - see below or a attractive female dancer in the Rock Steady era; as was mentioned in a fascinating interview with Bunny Lee recently "When you have great dancer dem, like Sparky an' Pluggy an' Lloyd Pompadoo an' dem guys deh, dem was electric, man. An' Persian the Cat now was a rock steady dancer - pretty, y'understan'. Every era produce some great dancers."
Persian cats were introduced into Europe during the sixteenth century from Turkey, Persia (now Iran) and neighboring countries.
"This song is a version of the famous Ketelbey song In a Persian
market. Albert William Ketelbey (1875-1959) managed the famous Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. In a Persian market was a big hit in 1920.
I hear the Ketelbey original (very easy to find it) and the McCook song is just
a beautiful version of the 1920 hit".
From:
Rocksteady Greg.
See also: