I'm a Peace Loving Man
1965 · Thelma T-108 · USA
- Artist
- Emanuel Laskey
- Title
- I'm a Peace Loving Man
- Release
- I’m a Peace Loving Man / Sweet Lies
- Year
- 1965
- Label
- Thelma # T-108
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The song "I'm a Peace Loving Man" (Thelma Record Company # T-108) by the Detroit soul singer Emanuel Laskey (1945-2006) is a peace song. Laskey called for an end to the war because he wanted to marry his girl - in other words, he did not want to leave his life in the US. The narrator said that if Uncle Sam called him then "I will fight real hard", but he wanted to "stop this war" and for everybody to know that "I'm a peace loving man" - thus an interesting reflection of somebody who supported the peace movement, but was willing (in the early days of the conflict) to do his duty if called. Note that two years later (in 1968) Laskey released another song about the war - A Letter From Vietnam (Westbound Records # W-143).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
James Emanuel Laskey, American soul singer, born 20 June 1945 in Detroit, Michigan; died 23 June 2006 in Detroit after a long battle with cancer. A leading voice of the 1960s Detroit soul scene, he recorded for Thelma Records ('I'm a Peace Loving Man' / 'Sweet Lies', 1965) and later Westbound; started out at The Village club alongside Nathaniel Mayer and Mitch Ryder. [Source: Soul Source (Rob Moss) / Rate Your Music / Soulful Detroit]
Themes
In collections
Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs