Billy Paul, Me and Mrs. Jones | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 143^rd edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Grammy-winning R&B singer, Billy Paul.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 142^nd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Me and Mrs. Jones”, performed by 🎙 Billy Paul.

“Me and Mrs. Jones / We got a thing going on.” Ooh-wee, 🎙 Billy Paul (1934 – 2016)! It doesn’t take long on 🎵 “Me and Mrs. Jones”, the crowning achievement of the late, great soul singer’s career, to see that cheating is going down.  The chorus of the highlight from the 1972, gold-certified album, 💿 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, continues, “We both not that it’s wrong / But it’s much too strong / To let it go now.” A no. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “Me and Mrs. Jones” earned gold certification from the RIAA, as well as his sole 🏆 Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. Paul’s electrifying vocals, alongside songwriting encompassing infidelity, in all its scandalous nature and sexiness 😈, help make “Me and Mrs. Jones” a certified classic. But, there is more credit to give where credit is due.

Billy Paul is part of one of the best movements in soul music: Philly soul! Paul was born in Philadelphia, a place rich in music history and talent.  “Me and Mrs. Jones” was written by 🎼 ✍ Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert – that’s a heavyweight team.  Of course, Gamble and Huff produce, providing that gorgeous, lush, backdrop that made Philly soul, and 70s soul in general, king 👑.  Focusing once more on Paul, he gives his all on this ballad, as him and his mistress navigate their bad behavior. In the first verse, “We meet every day at the same café – 6:30 /… Holding hands, making all kinds of plans.” In the second verse, “We gotta be extra careful / That we don’t build our hopes too high.” Indeed.  It’s dead wrong, but wrong never sound better and more sensual than on 🎵 “Me and Mrs. Jones”, among the best of the best when it comes to soul classics, and oldies in general.

🎙 Billy Paul • 💿 360 Degrees of Billy Paul • 🏷 Epic • 🗓 1972

Billy Paul, Me and Mrs. Jones: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 143 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Epic; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]