Listen: Come On Sock It To Me / Syl Johnson SylJohnsonComeOnSock.mp3

Listen: Take Me To The River / Syl Johnson SylJohnsonTakeMeRiver.mp3

Sock it to me. A teen catch phrase in the late 60′s that was immortalized via Syl Johnson’s first hit single. Despite only one week at #97 in Billboard, not unlike Screamin’ Jay Hawkins ‘I Put A Spell On You’ (which sold over a million singles but never charted…hmmm), everyone knew this song at the time. Everyone.

A few years later, he joined Hi Records roster and his output was flawless. Often overshadowed by label mate Al Green’s chart success, it’s actually Syl who had the hit with ‘Take Me To The River’. Everything that came out of Hi’s studios, particularly when Willie Mitchell produced, sounded very linear, almost identical but it never mattered. It was an insatiable sound and is as equally signature to Memphis as Stax.