Street Corner Talking is the seventh studio album by the band Savoy Brown. Released by Parrot in 1971 it was the first album released by the band since the departure of Lonesome Dave, Roger Earl, and Tone Stevens who all went on to form the band Foghat. This left Kim Simmonds as the only remaining member on the group from the previous line-up. Simmonds recruited a fresh lineup of musicians, predominantly members of the previous line-up of Chicken Shack; which had undergone a seismic change in membership similar to that which had affected Savoy Brown; which, in turn, ushered in a new sound for the band.
The new line-up was a hit. On stage in America, the group was supported by Rod Stewart and the Faces. On the album Street Corner Talking (1971) and Hellbound Train (1972) launched favorites "Tell Mama", "Street Corner Talking", a cover of the Temptations' Motown standard "I Can't Get Next To You" and the nine-minute epic "Hellbound Train" (decades later Love & Rockets adapted it as "Bound For Hell").
"Tell Mama" was composed by Paul Raymond and Kim Simmonds. Paul Raymond was recruited by UFO in 1976 and when Michael Schenker left UFO, he joined Schenker's own band, MSG, in 1981.
Lyrics
Quit my job, ain't got no money
Seems I have to leave this town
Packed my bags, run to the station
Board the train that's eastward bound
Tell mama and all the folks back home
Sometimes a man just feels
He's got to make it alone
Tell mama why I'm leaving so soon
Because this life I live
Has got me sick through and through
Nothing to do, that's why I had to go
Seemed no use in hanging 'round
I can't stop now, the ticket's in my hand
Board the train that's eastward bound
Tell mama and all the folks back home
Sometimes a man just feels
He's got to make it alone
Tell mama why I'm leaving so soon
Because this life I live
Has got me sick through and through
Quit my job, ain't got no money
Seems I have to leave this town
Tell mama and all the folks back home
Sometimes a man just feels
He's got to make it alone
Tell mama why I'm leaving so soon
Because this life I live
Has got me sick through and through
(Paul Raymond, Kim Simmonds)
