Search - Gene Mcdaniels :: Hundred Pounds of Clay

A Bit of Music History

Eclectic Revisited | Arizona | 12/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As I write this, it's been a year since a review was done, some of the most articulate writing I have ever seen in this forum. This package of tunes contains essentially all of Gene McDaniels' best work, except for the later song he'd write for Roberta Flack, "Feel Like Making Love" (and himself). There's the classic "100 Pounds of Clay", "Tower of Strength", "Point of No Return", my favorite, "Spanish Lace" and the noteworthy "A Tear" (which was covered by at least one other artist). Everything else is a bonus. All in all, four stars. Recommended."

Where is Gene McDaniel Today?

Daniel V. Yager | Dumfries, VA USA | 10/25/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While he didn't have a slew of hits, "100 Lbs. of Clay" and "Tower of Strength" hold up today as well as any other songs of that genre but we have yet to see Gene join any of the revival shows of artists from that era. Where are you now, Gene? We miss you!"

The Best - Minus One And All Their Flipsides

Daniel V. Yager | 07/28/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Collectables has this annoying habit of putting out a multi-track CD offering the "best of" an artist - only to leave off one legitimate hit. And while Funny, which only made it to # 99 Billboard Hot 100 in April 1962 was a very minor success, it at least should have been given a spot in this CD in place of any one of the "previously unreleased" selections. Because how - by any stretch of the definition - do these qualify as the "best of" Gene McDaniels?



Born on February 12, 1935 in Kansas City, he got his start singing gospel at the Omaha University and Conservatory of Music before securing a contract with Liberty in 1960. The following year he had his first hit with A Hundred Pounds Of Clay which, b/w Take A Chance On Love, made it to # 3 Hot 100/# 11 R&B in May. Three months later A Tear [b/w She's Coming Back] levelled off at # 31 Hot 100, and before 1961 ended he added Tower Of Strength which reached the # 5 spot on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts b/w The Secret.



Chip Chip came next, peaking at # 10 Hot 100 in March 1962 (b/w Another Tear Falls) followed in April by trhe above-mentioned Funny which had Chapel Of Tears as the flipside. He then took Point Of No Return to # 21 Hot 100/# 23 R&B in September [b/w Warmer Than A Whisper], and ended the year with Spanish Lace which tooped out at # 31 Hot 100 around Christmas b/w Somebody's Waiting. All of the foregoing hits were backed by The Johnny Mann Singers.



After that, except for It's A Lonely Town (Lonely Without You). which made it to # 20 on the recently-introduced Adult Contemporary (AC) charts and # 64 Hot 100 in September 1963 b/w False Friends, further Hot 100/R&B hits eluded him.



It has been said that, at this stage of his career, McDaniels took an angry turn to the left, eschewing the mundane pop hits fed to him in the past by the likes of Bacharach and David, Goffin and King, and Pomus and Shuman and, instead, began recording only songs that delivered a "message" about the social ills of the U.S., perhaps best summed up in his 1970s Atlantic LP Outlaw. He also made the AC charts in 1972 when River reached # 37 b/w Feeling That Glow for MGM/Verve, under the billing Universal Jones.



Well ... maybe. More likely he was angry with his inability - like many others in that period - to figure out a way to get heard on the airways over the sounds assailing North American ears by the British Invasion. Even so, the hits he did have were among the more memorable of the early Sixties, and the only thing stopping me from giving this 5 stars is the absence of that one, lonely little hit and all of the B-sides."