The anti-war polemic He’s Not Just a Soldier was originally
recorded by Little Richard, co-composer of the song as the flip side to his 1961
Mercury 45 Joy Joy Joy; it also appeared on the album The King Of The
Gospel Singers: Little Richard, issued the same year. The single did not do
well, stalling at 113 on the Billboard charts.
Recorded in Las Vegas, Thomas Douglas’s version, complete with
an utterly ridiculous preamble, appeared in late 1969, updating the song to
include overt references to America’s involvement with the war in Vietnam. When
Richard recorded his version, the US were already participating in the conflict,
however by 1969 protesters were demanding an end to the war and that the American
government bring the troops home. It was a different world, a world that needed
a different version of the song.
So, who was Thomas Douglas, the man credited for recording
this, his only 45? Well, like me you will probably struggle to find much information
about Mr Douglas elsewhere, because he doesn’t exist. Thomas Douglas was in
fact two people, Tom Willett and Doug Rockwell and, although uncredited, the
added spoken word passages must have come from the febrile minds of Tom and Doug
themselves. Backed with their unique cover of the gospel standard He’s Got The Whole World
(In His Hands), unsurprisingly this too failed to chart although, as
Willett says, ‘We received a lot of airplay in Las Vegas and in some Texas
markets’.
Willet also recorded several sides for Freeway, the label
that put this out, under the name Herman Schmerdley and is still about today, regularly
posting videos – a mix of product reviews, piano lessons and stock trading tips
- on his popular YouTube channel, Featureman.
Here are both versions of He’s Not Just a Soldier (I
know which one I prefer) plus the b-side to the Thomas Douglas 45, he's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)
Download Douglas HERE
Download Richard HERE
Tom Willett aka Herman Schmerdley : 5 Decades of Recording and Still No Hits! I like that!
ReplyDelete