Hard to Handle (song)
Encyclopedia
"Hard to Handle" is a 1968 song originally recorded by Otis Redding
and written by Redding, Al Bell
and Allen Jones
. It was released posthumously after Redding's death in 1967 on the album The Immortal Otis Redding
. Redding's version reached #38 on the Billboard R&B charts and #51 on the pop charts.
with likely the earliest cover in 1968, King Floyd
, The Grateful Dead, Between Fate, UFO, The Black Crowes
, Stefan Roland, Tom Jones
, DJ Andy Smith, Toots & the Maytals
, Rustix
, Band from TV
, Harpers Bizarre
, Gov't Mule
, and Tony Joe White
, as well as by Mae West
in the film Myra Breckinridge
.
"Hard to Handle" was also a mainstay of the Grateful Dead
's live set from 1969 to 1971, as sung by Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. The song has been brought back recently by Furthur
, Bob Weir
and Phil Lesh
's band.
The Stanford Band
performs a cover as part of their standard repertoire. A recording is on their album The Wind of Freedom Blow (Greatest Hits 1970-1998).
Gov't Mule
with Toots Hibbert
covered the song on Gov't Mule's 2006 album, Mighty High
.
In August 2007 soul singer Guy Sebastian
recorded a tribute version of Hard to Handle at Ardent Studios
in Memphis
, Tennessee for his album of soul classics The Memphis Album
with many of the original Stax
music band members including Steve Cropper
, Donald Duck Dunn, Lester Snell, Steve Potts
.
The song also featured prominently in the movie The Commitments
.
, for whom it was their breakout hit single from their 1990 debut album Shake Your Money Maker. The melody of the Crowes' version is taken from Buddy Guy
's song 'A Man of Many Words' from the 1972 album Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Plays The Blues. Two versions of the song exist, the original album version and the hit single remixed with an overdubbed brass section. The Crowes' version reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100
. This version is notorious for having a difficult to comprehend rendition of the hook often leading to humorous misinterpretations of the lyrics.
A version in the style of the Black Crowes cover is available as a downloadable track for the music video game
series Rock Band. Another covered version by Steve Ouimette
is in the video game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
.
song "Rock
" features sampled elements of "Hard to Handle".
Masta Ace
samples this song's bass line for "Four Minus Three", a song from his debut album, Take a Look Around.
The hip-hop producer Marley Marl
sampled the five-note ascension and descension intro for his song "The Symphony" from his 1988 album In Control, Volume 1. This was re-sampled for the 1992 Wreckx-N-Effect
song "Hard" and the 1999 Snoop Dogg
song "Ghetto Symphony" from his 1999 album No Limit Top Dogg
. Rapper Frankie Cutlass also uses the five ascending notes on his song "The Cypher Pt III" from his 1997 album Politics & Bullshit.
The song has been used in a 2011 advert for Anchor butter
, celebrating 125 years of Anchor.
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
and written by Redding, Al Bell
Al Bell
Al Bell is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. Bell is best known as one of the key figures behind and a co-owner of Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records during the latter half of the label's nineteen-year existence...
and Allen Jones
Allen Jones (record producer)
Allen Jones was an American record producer.Jones produced several albums for Albert King, and became the producer and manager for The Bar-Kays. He produced all of their records including their last records for Mercury Records. He formed their production company, and produced other acts such as...
. It was released posthumously after Redding's death in 1967 on the album The Immortal Otis Redding
The Immortal Otis Redding
-Chart history:...
. Redding's version reached #38 on the Billboard R&B charts and #51 on the pop charts.
Cover versions
It has been covered several times, including by Patti DrewPatti Drew
Patti Drew is an American pop singer who achieved brief success in the late 1960s.Drew was raised in Nashville, Tennessee and Evanston, Illinois, where she sang in church with her sisters, Lorraine and Erma...
with likely the earliest cover in 1968, King Floyd
King Floyd
King Floyd was a New Orleans soul singer and songwriter, best known for his Top 10 hit from 1970, "Groove Me".-Early career:...
, The Grateful Dead, Between Fate, UFO, The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...
, Stefan Roland, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
, DJ Andy Smith, Toots & the Maytals
Toots & the Maytals
Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group and one of the best known ska and reggae vocal groups. According to Sandra Brennan at Allmusic, "The Maytals were key figures in reggae music...
, Rustix
Rustix
Rustix were an American R&B/blue-eyed soul ensemble from Rochester, New York.Rustix formed in 1967; the band was signed to Rare Earth Records, a Motown Records subsidiary. Prior to signing with Rare Earth, the band had a single on the Cadet Records label...
, Band from TV
Band From TV
Band from TV is a charity cover band, whose members are all actors from American television series, who donate the proceeds of their performances and recordings to the charities of their choice.-Band history:...
, Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre
Harpers Bizarre was an American pop-rock band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway/Sunshine Pop sound and their remake of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song ."- Career :...
, Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
, and Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie"; "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970; and "Steamy Windows", a hit for Tina Turner in 1989...
, as well as by Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
in the film Myra Breckinridge
Myra Breckinridge (film)
Myra Breckinridge is a 1970 American campy comedy film, based on Gore Vidal's 1968 novel of the same name, the film was directed by Michael Sarne, with Raquel Welch in the title role. It also starred John Huston as Buck Loner, Mae West as Leticia Van Allen, Farrah Fawcett, Rex Reed, Roger Herren,...
.
"Hard to Handle" was also a mainstay of the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
's live set from 1969 to 1971, as sung by Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. The song has been brought back recently by Furthur
Furthur (band)
Furthur is a rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The original lineup also included John Kadlecik of the Dark Star Orchestra on lead guitar, Jeff Chimenti of RatDog on keyboards, Jay Lane of RatDog on percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo...
, Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
and Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
's band.
The Stanford Band
Stanford Band
The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band is the student marching band of Stanford University. Billing itself as "The World's Largest Rock and Roll Band", the Stanford Band performs at sporting events, student activities, and other functions...
performs a cover as part of their standard repertoire. A recording is on their album The Wind of Freedom Blow (Greatest Hits 1970-1998).
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
with Toots Hibbert
Toots Hibbert
Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert is a ska and roots reggae singer and leader of the reggae band Toots & the Maytals.-Biography:...
covered the song on Gov't Mule's 2006 album, Mighty High
Mighty High
Mighty High is an album released by Gov't Mule on October 16, 2007. Mighty High features reggae and dub versions of classic Mule covers and originals with special guest appearances by reggae legends Michael Franti, Toots Hibbert, and Willi Williams...
.
In August 2007 soul singer Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
recorded a tribute version of Hard to Handle at Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...
in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee for his album of soul classics The Memphis Album
The Memphis Album
The Memphis Album is a cover album of Memphis soul songs by Australian singer Guy Sebastian released in Australia by Sony Music on 10 November 2007. The album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Steve Cropper, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, Steve Potts , and Lester Snell...
with many of the original Stax
Stax
Stax can refer to:* StAX, Streaming API for XML. An API for reading and writing XML in Java.* Stax Earspeakers, a Japanese brand of electrostatic earspeakers* Stax Records, an American record company...
music band members including Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
, Donald Duck Dunn, Lester Snell, Steve Potts
Steve Potts
Steven "Steve" Potts is an American born English football coach and former professional footballer. He played as a defender and is associated with his time spent at West Ham United...
.
The song also featured prominently in the movie The Commitments
The Commitments
The Commitments is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, and is the first episode in The Barrytown Trilogy. It is a tale about a group of unemployed young people in the north side of Dublin, Ireland, who start a soul band.-Plot summary:...
.
The Black Crowes version
Perhaps the most notable cover is that by The Black CrowesThe Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...
, for whom it was their breakout hit single from their 1990 debut album Shake Your Money Maker. The melody of the Crowes' version is taken from Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
's song 'A Man of Many Words' from the 1972 album Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Plays The Blues. Two versions of the song exist, the original album version and the hit single remixed with an overdubbed brass section. The Crowes' version reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. This version is notorious for having a difficult to comprehend rendition of the hook often leading to humorous misinterpretations of the lyrics.
A version in the style of the Black Crowes cover is available as a downloadable track for the music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
series Rock Band. Another covered version by Steve Ouimette
Steve Ouimette
Steve Ouimette is a rock guitarist. He is known for performing a cover version of the hit song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" for the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, in which the parts played on the fiddle are instead played on an electric guitar...
is in the video game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a music video game developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. It was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, with a Wii version developed by Vicarious Visions, a PlayStation 2 version by Budcat Creations and with a PC and Mac version by Aspyr Media...
.
Other uses
The Lemon JellyLemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and BRIT Awards....
song "Rock
Soft/Rock
"Soft/Rock" is a single released by Lemon Jelly on 21 June 2001. The 7" single was released in two formats; the first was limited to 1,000 copies and released on blue vinyl, each coming in its own hand-stitched denim sleeve with a flavoured condom, the second was also limited to 1,000 copies but...
" features sampled elements of "Hard to Handle".
Masta Ace
Masta Ace
Duval Clear , known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is a rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony"...
samples this song's bass line for "Four Minus Three", a song from his debut album, Take a Look Around.
The hip-hop producer Marley Marl
Marley Marl
Marlon Williams , better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.-Biography:...
sampled the five-note ascension and descension intro for his song "The Symphony" from his 1988 album In Control, Volume 1. This was re-sampled for the 1992 Wreckx-N-Effect
Wreckx-N-Effect
Wreckx-N-Effect was a New Jack Swing Hip-Hop group who had the multi-platinum hit "Rump Shaker" in 1992/1993, which was produced by Teddy Riley.-History:...
song "Hard" and the 1999 Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
song "Ghetto Symphony" from his 1999 album No Limit Top Dogg
No Limit Top Dogg
* The Source - Included in The Source's "Top 10 Albums of the Year [1999]."* Rolling Stone - 3 out of 5 - Good - "Snoop's finest work since his debut album...full of seductive party jams that will keep heads bobbing through the summer. Snoop has returned to West Coast G-funk with the help of some...
. Rapper Frankie Cutlass also uses the five ascending notes on his song "The Cypher Pt III" from his 1997 album Politics & Bullshit.
The song has been used in a 2011 advert for Anchor butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
, celebrating 125 years of Anchor.