DICK JENSEN "A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS / TAMIKA (COME BACK LATER)" (1972)

Dick Jensen was one of the first artists to sign with the now-legendary Philadelphia International Records label in 1971. Nowadays it seems that he had little in common with the other artists which made the label famous later on, but at the time - once you heard the power and soul in his vocal delivery - it all made perfect sense. And with the label main men Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff behind the scenes, it seemed as if Dick Jensen had finally found the perfect home for his energetic style of Soul.

Like many of the label's acts, Jensen received musical assistance from PIR's house band, the illustrious MFSB. The band on the recording sessions for his self-titled album featured Ronnie Baker (bass), Larry Washington (congas, bongos), Earl Young (drums), Lenny Pakula (organ), Leon Huff (piano), Vincent Montana (vibraphone) and guitarists Bobby Eli, Norman Harris, Roland Chambers and TJ Tindall. Backing vocals were provided by Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson and Evette Benton.

Along with arrangements by Bobby Martin, Vince Montana and Norman Harris, and production by Bunny Sigler, Thom Bell and Gamble & Huff themselves (who also handled a majority of the songwriting) "Dick Jensen", released in February 1973, was as smooth and slick as anything else the label had released but was far more Pop-oriented.

Unfortunately, upon release, critics and Soul fans didn't know what to make of it. Jensen's talent was undeniable, but the album was not what they expected from the house that Gamble & Huff had built and the project itself was lost in the confusion... More information about the album are available here and here.




Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. A Penny For Your Thoughts (3:03)
02. Tamika (Come Back Later) (2:57)

Both tracks are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files; both formats include scans of the complete original artwork.

Please have a look at the comments for the download links.





Althought a "1972" release date appear on the labels, "A Penny For Your Thoughts / Tamika (Come Back Later" was released by Philadelphia International Records in a company sleeve in March 1973 with catalogue number ZS7 3527; the copy I own is a promotional item for radio stations.

Written by Gamble & Huff and arranged by Vince Montana, the breezy "A Penny For Your Thoughts" recalls the optimistic musical spirit of Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Candy Man". The song is more akin to something Tom Jones or Engelbert Humperdinck would have released in the late '60s. With that being said, it's a delicious slice of soulful Easy Listening Pop at its finests.

Also written by Gamble & Huff is "Tamika (Come Back Later)", a song that features Jensen in Levi Stubbs mode, bellowing out the words as if his life depended on it. Arranged by bassist Ronnie Baker and being closer to a Motown Pop song than a Philly Soul record, in the U.K. this number was also used as the flip side of the "I Don't Want To Cry" single released in May 1973 (see here for more details).

Most of the text on this page was sourced from the "Dick Jensen" reissue liner notes written by Stephen SPAZ Schnee. The CD was released by Big Break Records in 2013 and is currently the only available Jensen album, I strongly encourage you to buy a copy of this great long forgotten masterpiece!


More information about Dick Jensen is available here:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/06/22/news/story02.html

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jun/22/il/FP606220304.html

http://www.oahuislandnews.com/May05/Home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Jensen

I'm currently compiling a Dick Jensen biography, the first part of this work-in-progress covers the period 1942-1972 and is available here.

I'm also trying to compile a Dick Jensen exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.

Last but not least, I'm also trying to build a collection of Dick Jensen pictures and memorabilia, my work-in-progress is available here.

All my posts dedicated to Dick Jensen on this blog are available here.


I will post more Dick Jensen stuff in the next months, if you have any other useful information about him and his releases or if you spot any dead links, just get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!