Listen: I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) / Kitty Wells KittyWellsLovingTooLong

Now here’s some amazing information. Kitty Wells is 91, and has been married to husband Johnny for 73 years.

She’s released 35 albums and 90 singles. Check out some of her awards and achievements, they’re remarkable.

One of the most under appreciated of Kitty Wells’ releases came long after her star had settled to legend, in ’74. Phil Waldin, owner of Capricorn Records and at the time, extremely successful with his southern rock roster (The Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, The Marshall Tucker Band) decided to use his fortunate moment and pay tribute to her greatness with a recording deal.

With various members from the Capricorn roster, she recorded FOREVER YOUNG, from which ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)’ was released as the third single. Sadly out of step with both country and pop, the release underperformed and seems to get overlooked consistently.

A song often covered, this take on it is pretty unique. Who can possibly pass up Kitty Wells giving it a go.

Listen: See My Baby Jive / Wizzard WizzardJive.mp3

This isn’t the first time SMRSLT has celebrated Roy Wood’s mere presence on this earth. Thankfully, he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to music by the University of Derby as recently as January 18, 2008. After all, the guy mastered guitar, bass, sitar, cello, double bass, saxophone, clarinet, trombone, tuba, recorders, oboe, French horn, banjo, mandolin, bassoon, drums, percussion, vibraphone, bagpipes and keyboards. And as a songwriter, well he’s an international treasure.

As much as The Move played a vital building block in my musical preferences, Wizzard contributed equally. For one thing, I’d finally gotten the 50′s RnR humor that had before passed me by. In the looks department, I was crazy about his multi-colored hair extravagance that, during the height of Glam in ’73, seemed commonplace. Luckily, when I landed in London that June, ‘See My Baby Jive’ was everywhere, on every pub jukebox, on every radio station.

Listen: Angel Fingers / Wizzard WizzardAngel.mp3

‘Angel Fingers’ raced to #1 that fall, and if you can believe it, I loved it even more. I could never understand why no one in the US cared about Wizzard. How could anyone seriously prefer The Marshall Tucker Band or Wet Willie (yes, ‘Keep On Smilin’ is great) to this bunch? Still baffling.

Listen: I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday / Wizzard WizzardChristmas.mp3

Of equal amazement at the time was the complete US musical disinterest in anything Christmas. Now, from Thanksgiving onward, we’re bombarded with seasonal music. Not so in the 70′s, bar maybe the Brenda Lee classic. Roy Wood had just signed to Warner Brothers, and in their haste, mistakenly pressed copies of what was clearly about to be a seminal record (see above – now how did they get those masters?). Harvest adamantly maintained ownership to ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’, and so (most) of the WB vinyl was scraped, but the sleeves (in possibly the label’s first attempt to be green) were saved and passed on to Harvest, who proceeded to use them for their release despite the Warner Brothers catalog number still present on the packaging.

So some 36 years later, on December 24, 2009, as the single’s yearly re-entry sat at #45 in the UK chart, what do I hear in Bed, Bath & Beyond?: ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’. Finally, and I lived to witness it. Despite my excitement, no one else flinched. Still, a joyous moment.