1974
KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR CLOSE FRIENDS (INSTRUMENTAL) * THE NEWCOMERS * STAX 2023 * USA
Released in the US on Truth # 3204 Keep An Eye On Your Close Friends was the first of two by The Newcomers for the label, a subsidiary of Stax Records, they also had two on both Volt and Stax, making six in all. Written and produced by Homer Banks and Carl Hampton the song deals with the recurring theme in human existence: the breach of trust and disingenuousness from a duplicitous, so-called friend. It could well be that the producers had been listening to Reggae music specifically the Versions of vocal cuts, as the Instrumental side of Keep An Eye On Your Close Friends is punctuated with vocals just as it would be on the Dub of a Reggae record of the period. Another piece of advise along these lines was given by Michael Corleone in the film The Godfather Part 2: "Keep Your friends close, but your enemies closer."