It’s In The Wind
by Joe McEwen (aka Mr. C)
Don Covay wrote “It’s in the Wind” after the plane crash that killed his friend Otis Redding. Today this wistful, melancholy ode sadly serves as Don Covay’s own epitaph.
Born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Don migrated to Washington D.C. and
joined some doo-woper friends in The Rainbows. Somehow he latched on to Little Richard, who briefly took Don under his wing, nicknaming him Pretty Boy and producing his first solo record, “Bip Bop Bip,” backed by the Upsetters. After several years as a Richard wannabee and a bunch of boogity shop singles, Covay found his footing in the emergence of ‘60s soul. After advice from his singing and songwriting idol, Sam Cooke, he developed a keen, narrative songwriting style that found early success with Gladys Knight (“Letter Full of Tears”) and particularly Solomon Burke (“Tonight’s the Night,” “I’m Hanging Up My Heart for You” and “You’re Good for Me”), who became a buddy and partner in mischief.
His own records, first on Rosemary/Atlantic as Don Covay and the Goodtimers, were extraordinary, idiosyncratic gems. They were passionately sung tales framed with trademark choppy, guitar-led syncopation and highlighted by the oft-covered smash “Mercy, Mercy.” Covay seemed to thrive in Jerry Wexler’s Atlantic universe, despite only achieving two subsequent hits of his own: “See Saw” (recorded with Booker T and the MG’s at Stax) and “Sookie Sookie.”
His singles were singular in style, rich in storytelling drama, and delivered with absolute conviction: “Take This Hurt Off Me,” “Temptation Was Too Strong,” Watching the Late, Late Show,“ House on the Corner” I Stole Some Love" and The Soul Clan (Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Ben E. King, Joe Tex and Don) opus “That’s How It Feels.” He delivered perfectly calibrated, classic songs for Wilson Pickett (“Three Time Loser,” “I’m Gonna Cry”), Little Richard (the epic wrenching, recitation “I Don’t Know What You Got (But it’s Got Me),” Otis Redding (another beautifully crafted, “begging” classic,“Think About It,” which was only released posthumously), and Aretha Franklin (“Chain of Fools). Later, in 1973, at Mercury, Covay clicked with the half-whispered, half-sung infidelity tale "I Was Checkin’ Out (While She Was Checkin’ In).”
Before his debilitating 1992 Stroke, Don Covay was an irrepressible force, never lacking for a song, an idea, a plan, a scheme (the Soul Clan was one of his best) or a bright new day. On a personal note, our paths happily crossed often in 1974 and '75, and I hosted him on my WBCN radio show where he proudly premiered the glorious, Dixie Hummingbirds style rave-up, “It’s Better to Have and Don’t Need (Than Need and Don’t Have).” Today, Don Covay is in the wind.