Tommy James ~ Draggin' The Line 1971 Disco Purrfection Version

Now streaming on Apple Music

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dra...

Tommy James formed the Shondells at the age of 11 after his family moved to Niles, Michigan. The following year at the age of 12, he had 500 copies of "Long Pony Tail" distributed in and about his hometown. That tune got interest from a DJ in Niles who asked if The Shondells had any other songs to submit. Tommy offered up "Hanky Panky" and it took the pop world by storm with the garage sound. I can tell you even the french girls were nuts for Tommy James and the Shondells. It spent two weeks at #1 in 1966 when the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield were competing with them. True rock and roll chameleons, they expanded their repertoire with classic 60's dance tunes like "Mony Mony" and "I Think We're Alone Now" which were famously remade first by Billy Idol whose own #1 hit was knocked of the top of the heap by Tiffany's pop remake. Their next successful artistic stretch came with psychedelia and the mesmerizing sounds of "Crimson & Clover" #1 for two weeks and then "Crystal Blue Persuasion" that peaked at #2 for three weeks. The constant pressure to produce and tour took its toll on James, who began to suffer anxiety attacks so severe that he collapsed onstage during a concert in 1970. The rest of the Shondells changed their name to Hog Heaven and in 1971 released "Happy" that peaked at #98. James however, took the time to produce Alive & Kicking's "Tighter & Tighter" a 1970 pop hit that reached #7. I always thought that Janis Joplin would have owned that song if she had recorded it. James then returned to the studio and created a psychedelic anthem right up there with Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky" called "Draggin' The Line". The psychedelic imagery of "my dog Sam eats purple flowers" and "hugging a tree when you get near it" elicits something out of "picture yourself in a boat on a river...." type territory to me. The beat is simple and insistent with the song building throughout...after working on Ace's "How Long" I starting thinking about a follow up and today this one just came to life before me. I love the brass in this one! I hope you like it! The original version of this one peaked at #4 in August of 1971, a perfect summer rouser with an insistent groove that just won't quit. "Draggin' the Line" has been described as a "lazy psychedelic shuffle whose hypnotic feel is perfectly expressed in its title." Thank you Tommy James!