You Don't Miss Your Water
Encyclopedia
"You Don't Miss Your Water" is a soul
song and the debut single
written and recorded by American singer William Bell
. It was released by Stax Records
in 1961. It is Bell's signature song and best known recording.
, playing with the Phineas Newborn Orchestra, with lyrics that were not inspired by a lost love, but by Bell's own feelings of homesickness. Bell recorded the song upon returning to Memphis, believing that he was making a demo
. However, the recording was released as the B-side
of the lesser known Bell single "Formula of Love". It was only after DJ's
flipped the record over and began playing the B-side in favor of the A-side that sales started to pick up.
The song did not chart in the Billboard R&B charts (southern U.S. records were often either not given enough attention by the chart compilers or lacked the slick production of the more popular Detroit and uptown soul outlets), although it did reach #95 on the pop charts. Since then, the track has gone on to become a Southern soul classic. The song was also released on Bell's 1967 album The Soul of a Bell, along with the original version of "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
", which was more famously covered by Aretha Franklin
.
Lyrically, the song's theme revolves around the singer's confession of his unfaithfulness to his lover and, now that she's gone, his realization of his foolishness.
by Otis Redding
and released on his critically acclaimed 1965 album, Otis Blue. The Byrds
covered the song on their 1968 album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo
, with lead vocals sung by guitarist
Roger McGuinn
, although an alternate version featuring Gram Parsons
on lead vocals was released on The Byrds box set in 1990. The song was also covered by Taj Mahal
on his 1968 album The Natch'l Blues. Jerry Lee Lewis
covered the song in 1972 and did a blues ballad arrangement.
A ska
version of the song was recorded by Peter Tosh
And The Wailers in 1965. Later a reggae
version of "You Don't Miss Your Water" was recorded by Tosh alone for his 1976 debut album, Legalize It
. Tosh was famous for being a founding member of The Wailers, one of the most influential roots reggae bands, along with Bob Marley
and Bunny Wailer
. His version of the song, which lasts for over six minutes, is highlighted by a guitar solo midway through the track. The lyrics and music were rearranged from the original, William Bell version by Tosh and Wailer.
Brian Eno
covered the song in 1988 for the soundtrack album to the film Married to the Mob
. Eno's version is a languid piece, with guitar
s, harmonized vocals
and synthesisers, which makes slight alterations to the lyrics (e.g., changing "But now you've left me/Oh, how I cry" to "But when you left me/Oh, how I cried") and replaces the second chorus with a repeat of the first.
The song was also covered by the Jayhawks with The Indigo Girls on their 2000 compilation "Colombia Records Radio Hour."
n rock group, The Triffids
. The Triffids' version was released as a 7" Vinyl Single and a 12" Vinyl Single
. The single was also available in Limited Edition Aquablue vinyl with cover artwork to accompany (aquablue replaced the grey of the original sleeve).
unless noted.
Credited to:
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
song and the debut single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
written and recorded by American singer William Bell
William Bell (singer)
William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter, and one of the architects of the Stax-Volt sound. As a performer, he is probably best known for 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water" ; 1968's "Private Number" ; and 1976's "Tryin' To Love Two", Bell's only US top 40 hit, which also hit #1 on the...
. It was released by Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
in 1961. It is Bell's signature song and best known recording.
Overview
The song was written while Bell was in New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, playing with the Phineas Newborn Orchestra, with lyrics that were not inspired by a lost love, but by Bell's own feelings of homesickness. Bell recorded the song upon returning to Memphis, believing that he was making a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
. However, the recording was released as the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of the lesser known Bell single "Formula of Love". It was only after DJ's
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
flipped the record over and began playing the B-side in favor of the A-side that sales started to pick up.
The song did not chart in the Billboard R&B charts (southern U.S. records were often either not given enough attention by the chart compilers or lacked the slick production of the more popular Detroit and uptown soul outlets), although it did reach #95 on the pop charts. Since then, the track has gone on to become a Southern soul classic. The song was also released on Bell's 1967 album The Soul of a Bell, along with the original version of "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" is a single by Aretha Franklin. It was released in March 1967. Rolling Stone listed it as number 476 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-Production:...
", which was more famously covered by Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
.
Lyrically, the song's theme revolves around the singer's confession of his unfaithfulness to his lover and, now that she's gone, his realization of his foolishness.
Cover versions
"You Don't Miss Your Water" was coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Otis Redding
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 released on his critically acclaimed 1965 album, Otis Blue. The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
covered the song on their 1968 album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the sixth album by American rock band The Byrds and was released on August 30, 1968 on Columbia Records...
, with lead vocals sung by guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
, although an alternate version featuring Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
on lead vocals was released on The Byrds box set in 1990. The song was also covered by Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
on his 1968 album The Natch'l Blues. Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
covered the song in 1972 and did a blues ballad arrangement.
A ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
version of the song was recorded by Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
And The Wailers in 1965. Later a reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
version of "You Don't Miss Your Water" was recorded by Tosh alone for his 1976 debut album, Legalize It
Legalize It
Legalize It is an album by Peter Tosh. It was his debut album as a solo artist. The album was recorded at Treasure Isle and Randy's, Kingston, Jamaica in 1975 and released in 1976....
. Tosh was famous for being a founding member of The Wailers, one of the most influential roots reggae bands, along with Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
and Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer, , also known as Bunny Livingston and affectionately as Jah B, is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh...
. His version of the song, which lasts for over six minutes, is highlighted by a guitar solo midway through the track. The lyrics and music were rearranged from the original, William Bell version by Tosh and Wailer.
Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
covered the song in 1988 for the soundtrack album to the film Married to the Mob
Married to the Mob
Married to the Mob is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine.Michelle Pfeiffer, in something of a departure from her previous roles, gave an acclaimed lead performance as a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Matthew Modine as the...
. Eno's version is a languid piece, with guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, harmonized vocals
Vocal harmony
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are sung at the same time as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from...
and synthesisers, which makes slight alterations to the lyrics (e.g., changing "But now you've left me/Oh, how I cry" to "But when you left me/Oh, how I cried") and replaces the second chorus with a repeat of the first.
The song was also covered by the Jayhawks with The Indigo Girls on their 2000 compilation "Colombia Records Radio Hour."
The Triffids' version
"You Don't Miss Your Water" was also released as a single by the AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rock group, The Triffids
The Triffids
The Triffids were a seminal Australian alternative rock and pop band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in May 1978 with charismatic, David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved negligible success in Australia, but greater success in the U.K...
. The Triffids' version was released as a 7" Vinyl Single and a 12" Vinyl Single
12-inch single
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
. The single was also available in Limited Edition Aquablue vinyl with cover artwork to accompany (aquablue replaced the grey of the original sleeve).
Track listing
All songs written by David McCombDavid McComb
David Richard McComb was an Australian rock musician. He was the singer-songwriter of the Australian band, The Triffids.-Early years in Perth:...
unless noted.
- "You Don't Miss Your Water (Till Your Well Runs Dry)" (William BellWilliam Bell (singer)William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter, and one of the architects of the Stax-Volt sound. As a performer, he is probably best known for 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water" ; 1968's "Private Number" ; and 1976's "Tryin' To Love Two", Bell's only US top 40 hit, which also hit #1 on the...
) - 2:50 - "Convent Walls" - 3:20
- "Beautiful WasteBeautiful Waste"Beautiful Waste" is a single released by The Triffids in February 1984. Whilst "Beautiful Waste" was not included on any of the band's studio albums or EPs , the B-side, "Property is Condemned", was included on the 1984 EP Raining Pleasure...
" (12" single only) - 3:20 - "You Don't Miss Your Water (Till Your Well Runs Dry)" [Instrumental] (William Bell) (12" single only)
Credited to:
- David McCombDavid McCombDavid Richard McComb was an Australian rock musician. He was the singer-songwriter of the Australian band, The Triffids.-Early years in Perth:...
- vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitar - Alsy MacDonaldAlsy MacDonaldAlan MacDonald is an Australian rock musician and lawyer, best known as the drummer of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he performed under his nickname 'Alsy'....
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Robert McComb - guitar, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Daubney Carshott (aka Martyn P. CaseyMartyn P. CaseyMartyn Paul Casey is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He had been a member of The Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass.-Biography:...
) - bass - Jill BirtJill BirtJill Birt is an Australian rock musician and architect, best known as the keyboardist of the 1980s band The Triffids.-Early years:Jillian Birt was born in Tambellup, where she attended Tambellup Primary School. She attended Methodist Ladies College in Perth, as a boarder...
- electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with... - Graham LeeGraham Lee (Australian musician)Graham Lee is an Australian rock musician and record producer, best known as the steel guitar player of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he was nicknamed 'Evil Graham Lee'....
- pedal steelPedal steel guitarThe pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
, guitar, vocals - Margaret Lami - harmony vocals