Jody's on the Run
1971 · Hill H-777 · USA
- Artist
- Sonny Green
- Title
- Jody's on the Run
- Release
- Jody's on the Run / If You Want Me to Keep on Loving You
- Year
- 1971
- Label
- Hill # H-777
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- Miles Grayson / Bobby Lexing
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The blues/jazz influenced soul track "Jody's on the Run" (Hill Records # H-777) by Sonny Green, obviously took on the Jody theme - in which a man stole the wife / girlfriend of a soldier - as discussed with Johnnie Taylor's "Jody Got Your Girl and Gone". Unlike the Taylor track, this one actually referenced the war, with the narrator telling the listener that a "fellow is back from 'Nam". The soldier knew what was going on, and so now the narrator tells "Jody" that "he's looking for you with his gun", and so "you better run home Jody". The song was released on Matt Hill's Californian label Hill.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Everybody, Jody's on the run... / Son you better pack your stuff and run / Cause fellow is back from 'Nam / He's looking for you with his gun / He said you've been doing him wrong / Sleeping at his house when he wasn't home / You better run home, Jody, you better run fast... / Jody, let me tell you something / You've been running around this town / Talking sweet, soak him down
Notes
Hill Records H-777 A, blue label with silver print, 4224 E. Rosecrans, Compton, Calif.; "Jody's on the Run" (Miles Grayson; Bobby Lexing), Respect Music Co., BMI, time 2:40; arranged by Miles Grayson; produced by Matt Hill & Miles Grayson. [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
Robert "Sonny" Green, born Monroe, Louisiana in 1942, learned to sing in church, worked with Big Jay McNeely in Los Angeles, led a band out of Amarillo, Texas for 18 years, then settled in Los Angeles, opening for Tyrone Davis, Johnnie Taylor and Little Milton. He recorded for Whip (1964), Fuller, United Artists and Hill Records (owned by his manager Matt Hill); "Jody's On The Run" (Hill 777, 1971), the flip of "If You Want Me To Keep On Loving You", is confirmed by Sir Shambling's, which calls it "a real funky screamer". Still active: his debut studio album "Found! One Soul Singer" appeared…
Themes
In collections
US Domestic Perspective Songs [War Years] · Jody Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs