So there was this front-page headline in the morning paper:
Music legend Robert Dickey dies at age 72
Er, I thought; Who?!? I mean, I hardly know every (well, possibly any) music legend in town. But I’ve been here for almost 20 years and couldn’t recall the name at all.
As it happens, Dickey — that’s him over there at the right, in an undated and uncredited file photo from the newspaper story — was the “Bobby” half of a late-1960s soul duo called James & Bobby Purify. More precisely: he was the first of three singers to play brother “Bobby” to James Purify, and turned over the role (and the pseudonym) to Ben Moore in 1971.
But before Dickey moved on, the pair recorded several hits, the biggest of which (#6 on Billboard’s “Hot 100”) was 1966’s “I’m Your Puppet.”
It’s not, y’know, a profound song. In fact, when I first read the article I couldn’t remember the song at all. (Hence, my second “Huh?” moment: the subhead, “I’m Your Puppet” sold millions in the late ’60s.) But then I hunted around online for an audio clip. And of course one listen — with that signature ding-ding-DING-ding-ding triangle, especially — was all it took to bring it back to me.
Dickey himself apparently didn’t care for the song (excerpt from the article (may be hidden behind a paywall for non-subscribers)):
“I didn’t even like it,” Dickey said in October 2000, when he was honored as part of “Follow That Dream: Florida’s Rock & Roll Legends” exhibition at the Museum of Florida History. “I hated it. It was originally intended to be the B-side. But things got changed… I sang it for 23 hours straight (in the studio), that’s why I hate it. And the last one, the last take was the one they decided to go with.”
Ha!
Here’s James & Bobby Purify, then, performing “I’m Your Puppet” on some unidentified television show; I think Dickey/”Bobby” is the one on the right:
Lyrics:
I’m Your Puppet
(by Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn; performed by James & Bobby Purify)Pull the string and I’ll wink at you, I’m your puppet
I’ll do funny things if you want me to, I’m your puppetI’ll be yours to have and to hold
Darling you’ve got full control of your puppetPull another string and I’ll kiss your lips, I’m your puppet
Snap your finger and I’ll turn you some flips, I’m your puppetYour every wish is my command
All you gotta do is wiggle your little hand
I’m your puppet, I’m your puppetI’m just a toy, just a funny boy
That makes you laugh when you’re blue
I’ll be wonderful, do just what I’m told
I’ll do anything for you
I’m your puppet, I’m your puppetPull them little strings and I’ll sing you a song, I’m your puppet
Make me do right or make me do wrong, I’m your puppetTreat me good and I’ll do anything
I’m just a puppet and you hold my string, I’m your puppet
Yeah, I’m your puppetWalking, talking, living, loving puppet
I’m hanging on a string girl, I’ll do anything nowI’m a walking, talking, living, loving puppet, and I love you…
Jayne says
Ha! Given the election year, I can’t help but listen to this song with a political twist.
Something about those lyrics made me think of the republicans/corporate giants relationship. Where is my mind tonight?
Apolitical. Totally. Honest!
And I remember singing that song as a kid. Used to think it was fully. ;)
John says
Politics, or rather apolitics: ahem. (I prefer to think of this primary season as separating the chaff from the chaff. :))
Jayne says
Funny! Fully funny. ;)
John says
Haha, this is funny enough in its own right that I won’t correct the comment for you!
Jayne says
I’m going to start leaving comments in the morning hours, only. That is, after 7:00am. ;)
Nance says
See, now here’s where my NC/SC coastal history comes into its own. This was one of those perfect Motownish numbers to dance the Shag to. Can you picture that fluidity of movement set to this? It’s slow enough to permit all the swivels and heel-to-toe rolls and fancy, weaving footwork that Shaggers love. Plus, it was really easy for the local bands to cover.
I’m pretty sure I saw these guys perform it at one of the clubs in ’66. Purify was pure sex! It was Everybody On Your Feet for “I’m Your Puppet.” I’ll bet it was a pure drag to sing, though; they needed to do some of that good ol’ Buddy & Stacy stuff to it. (Hold me back!).
John says
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn there was a time when you were ready to dance the Shag at the first note of pretty much any song coming down the pike. (Hence those inflammatory twins, the -itises.)
Buddy & Stacey — well, I vaguely remember a song called “Shotgun,” but I’m not sure that it was that one… and them, I remember not at all. The Missus and I get all twitchy-footed, however, at almost anything by Jackie “Mr. Excitement” Wilson. She’s more likely to respond to the twitchiness, and it’s often Shag-like in nature. (Another Southron girl, y’know.)
Nance says
P.S. And then there was the stuff you could NOT do the Shag to. Whew!
James and Bobby Purify, “Shake A Tail Feather”
John says
True. Shagging to that little number could result in skeletal dislocation.