Don Covay

Covay's solo career began in 1957 as part of the Little Richard Revue, when he worked both as the star's chauffeur and as an opening act. A single, "Bip Bop Bip", on which Covay was billed as "Pretty Boy", was released on Atlantic, produced by Little Richard and featuring his backing band, the Upsetters.^[5]

Over the next few years, Covay drifted from label to label, eventually signing with

In 1962, Covay had his first hit on Cameo-Parkway Records under his own name, "The Popeye Waddle", a dance-oriented track.^[5] He also started writing songs for Roosevelt Music in the Brill Building in New York City, writing a hit for Solomon Burke, "I'm Hanging Up My Heart for You".^[6] Gladys Knight & the Pips reached the US Top 20 with Covay's song "Letter Full of Tears", and Wilson Pickett recorded Covay's "I'm Gonna Cry (Cry Baby)" as his first single on Atlantic.^[7]

His singing career continued to falter until 1964, when he had one of his biggest pop hits on the small, Atlantic-distributed Rosemart label with "Mercy, Mercy".^[5] It was co-written with Goodtimers guitarist Ronnie Miller, which established Covay's earthy bluesy style, and featured a young Jimi Hendrix on guitar. The following year the song was recorded by the Rolling Stones for their album Out of Our Heads, on which Mick Jagger closely followed Covay's singing style.^[4]

Atlantic bought Covay's contract and minor R&B hits followed, but it was a year before Covay returned to the pop chart, with "See-Saw", co-written with guitarist Steve Cropper and recorded at Stax,^[5] along with "I Never Get Enough of Your Love", "Sookie Sookie" (both also co-written by Covay and Cropper), and "Iron Out the Rough Spots" (by Cropper, Booker T. Jones, and David Porter).^[8] His relationship with Stax's staff has been described as difficult, both with its musicians^[9][10] and with its management.^[11] Cropper ascribed it to a clash between executive Jim Stewart's more conservative persona and Covay's unpredictable creative character. Cropper emphasized his appreciation of Covay: "I loved Don to death. We get along great but I don't think Jim and them understood Don. He thinks in different areas and he was kind of driving people bananas."^[11] According to Carla Thomas, the musicians enjoyed working with artists sent by Atlantic, including Covay and Wilson Pickett, but resented having to give them studio time.^[10] On "See-Saw", Covay "achieved an even more powerfully soulful edge;" but he did not maintain momentum as a performer, and most of his later recordings for Atlantic failed to chart.^[5]

However, his songwriting continued to be successful, as he wrote songs for