Joe Simon, Nine Pound Steel | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 84^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Nine Pound Steel” by the late, southern soul singer, Joe Simon.

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 they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 84^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Nine Pound Steel” performed by Joe Simon.

“Through these walls / I see the sun / I’m here because / The wrong I’ve done.” Uh-oh, Joe Simon – sounds like a sad song to me! “Nine Pound Steel” is the sixth track on Simon’s 1968 album, No Sad Songs. Not sad? That’s debatable.  In the first verse, he admits, “I stole from her / Oh, when I should’ve stood up like a man / You see, I’ve got to say good morning / To a nine-pound steel.” Although not a top-40 hit for the southern soul singer, it impacted the pop charts, reaching no. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. “Nine Pound Steel” was written by Dan Penn and Wayne Carson.

Joe Simon delivers commanding vocals, steeped in soul, specifically that southern soul. He sings authentically with incredible expression and nuance from the beginning.  Beyond his epic lead, the supporting vocals are utterly sublime.  Thematically, he’s paying for his wrongdoing in the slammer aka prison. Not only has his incarceration affected him, but it’s affecting his girl.  “I know someday / I’ll be free (someday) / Please darling / Oh honey, wait for me.” “Nine Pound Steel” has marvelous production including exuberant rhythmic piano, robust bass line, and a consistent, anchoring drum groove. “Nine Pound Steel” is another timeless gem from Simon’s collection.

Joe Simon // No Sad Songs // Sound Stage 7^TM // 1967

Joe Simon, Nine Pound Steel: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 84 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Sound Stage 7^TM; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via Pixabay]