The Back Street
Try-Hard 107 · USA
- Artist
- Daz' Rene
- Title
- The Back Street
- Release
- The Back Street / Letter From My Darling
- Label
- Try-Hard # 107
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- Howard Caldwell
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Funk
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The funk-soul song "The Back Street" (Try-Hard Records # 107), by Daz Rene, out of California, looked at Vietnam and the drug issue. Written by Howard Caldwell, it also appeared on the album Discover (Try-Hard # LP 108). The lyrics started with a Vietnam veteran, called Sergent Miller, who "just got home from the war". He encountered difficulties in finding a job. So the narrator of the song warned him not to turn to drugs from the back streets in order to "relieve the pressure". Thus, this dealt with post-war issues of soldiers returning home - probably released in the mid-1970s.The B-side featured the track "Letter From My Soldier", presumably also related to the conflict. No songwriting credit appeared on the record, but this sounded like a cover of the Kip Anderson single "Letter From My Darling" (which is also uncredited). As suggested by the title, the song took the form of a love letter between a soldier and his sweetheart back home.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs
The funk-soul song "The Back Street" (Try-Hard Records # 107), by Daz Rene, out of California, looked at Vietnam and the drug issue. Written by Howard Caldwell, it also appeared on the album Discover (Try-Hard # LP 108). The lyrics started with a Vietnam veteran, called Sergent Miller, who "just got home from the war". He encountered difficulties in finding a job. So the narrator of the song warned him not to turn to drugs from the back streets in order to "relieve the pressure". Thus, this dealt with post-war issues of soldiers returning home - probably released in the mid-1970s. The B-side featured the track "Letter From My Soldier", presumably also related to the conflict. No songwriting credit appeared on the record, but this sounded like a cover of the Kip Anderson single "Letter From My Darling" (which is also uncredited). As suggested by the title, the song took the form of a love letter between a soldier and his sweetheart back home.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Say brother, look I just got home from the war man / I got a family I got to take care / Just wondering if you have a job, I don't care what it is / Washing cars, dishes, anything...do you know anyone? / Now that the war is ended, all the brothers are back home again / Sergent Miller trying to find a job, but there's no jobs... / Beware of the friend and the evil that lurks within / Oh the back street, boys, oh the back street / Now that the war is over, remember what I just told you / People walking around... / Something you ought to get used to... / 'Say man, I know your having problems / While don't you relieve the pressure' / There give a treat for free, but next time there be a fee... / Talkin' about when you score to unwind, remember what I told you... / Poor soldier looking for a friend, searching for a friend This is the sweetest letter that I've ever read / It was written from my darling and this is what he said / It reads, 'my dearest darling, I still love you faithfully / And I hope...you're still in love with me' / The more I read this letter the more it touches my heart / Right here he says, don't forget him / Even though we are miles apart
Notes
Try-Hard Records 107, blue label, 866 Rosalind St., Rialto, Calif.; 107-1 "The Back Street" (Howard Caldwell), time 3:40, and 107-2 "Letter From My Darling" (writer printed as "Unknown"), time 5:10, both Ti-Harder (BMI); music by Horns, Strings N, Things, arranged by Howard Caldwell, produced by H. Caldwell & N. Patterson. [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
American deep soul and funk singer Dazrene Patterson from Victoria, Texas, who released a handful of 45s and one album in the early 1970s: 'The Back Street' / 'Letter From My Darling' (Try-Hard 107), 'Change' / 'Ghettos of Our Mind' (Cared 106, 1972) and the LP 'Discover Daz René' (Try Hard 108); 'Change' was sampled by Gonjasufi in 2010. Her records are rare collector items. [Source: The Listening Post blog / Discogs / 45cat]