"All Over Again"

[Jimi Mac]

Wow, I'm hitting nothing but road-blocks trying to research the songwriter behind one of my favorite all-time Blues songs; "All Over Again."

 

Which I've seen/heard titled "I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living" more often than not and is how I came to know it first.

 

I first discovered this gem as recorded by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac @ The Warehouse; New Orleans LA, USA.

 

It sounded like a dramatic departure from the Fleetwood Mac repetoire; like something deeper and more soulful where he expressed a pure Occams Razor of less-is-more phrasing exemplification never going over-the-top, but maintaining the powerful emotional content of the song perfectly...

 

 

Clearly I heard the BB King influence and licks all over this song. So I searched it up and sure enough it was clearly a rendition of BB King's version...

 

 

Upon further research I found this in the credits of the BB King & Friends Album from 1990?

 

"All Over Again" (Carl B. Adams) - 4:54 (with Mark Knopfler)

 

Other places I see the credits as; Cliff Adams & Riley B. King (BB King) then I've seen it totally credited to BB King...

 

My own research to explore more songs by the person or people that actually penned this song musically led me to the only potential Carl Adams I could find that was an early Rockabilly guitarist that performed with Tommy Blake.

 

Apparently this Carl Adams (I have no idea if it is the Carl B. Adams behind the song or not) is a lefty axe man seen far left in this picture playing with The Rhythm Rebels...

 

 

The caption for the picture is:

 

Carl Adams, Tommy Blake and Ed Dettenheim (Rhythm Rebels) playing the Louisiana Hayride. The Rhythm Rebels Drummer (Tom Ruple) isn't seen in picture

 

Other than this, I can find no other information anywhere on Carl B. Adams as credited with writing this song...

 

Anyone ever heard of this guy or if I've got the right one for the some from The Rhythm Rebels? That may not even be the Carl B. Adams from the song accreditation...

 

In fact I'm thinking it is probably not one and the same because this Blues song has a much deeper melancholy emotional plunge than anything rockabilly... And for the life of me I just cannot connect these rockabilly rebels as having the depth of soul requisite to write or perform such a deeply moving blues song... True enough, that could be due to a completely different arrangement as orchestrated by BB King compared to what the original was, which I cannot find anywhere...

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Jimi Mac]

My 2nd notion is this:

 

I found from that "Adams, Cliff" accreditation that there was a period correct composer & arranger with his own orchestra from The UK that would more likely be capable to have arranged such a song.

 

The Cliff Adams singers and/or orchestra...

 

 

Wiki says this about him/them:

 

Cliff Adams Singers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Cliff Adams)

The Cliff Adams Singers was a UK male/female vocal group, known for ballads and novelty songs.

 

 

The group was formed by the Southwark, London born Cliff Adams (21 August 1923 - 22 October 2001[1]) who had formed The Stargazers with **** James in 1950, and joined the BBC Show Band in 1954. On 3 July 1959 the singers first appeared on the BBC Light Programme in Sing Something Simple, also featuring Jack Emblow on piano and accordion. The show was originally commissioned for six programmes, but was so successful that it was immediately extended, and was still broadcasting upon Adams' death in 2001.

Several albums featuring the singers were released, usually entitled Sing Something Simple and reached number 15 in the UK Albums Chart in 1960 and 1962, number 23 in 1976 and number 39 in 1982.[2] These releases included a special album featuring songs from the musicals. There was also a release called Sing Something Silver, to mark the 25th year of Sing Something Simple, and a "Very Best Of" compilation album, which featured 56 songs, not including the theme tune, which traditionally opened and closed the radio show, and most other compilations.

The Cliff Adams singers frequently sang medleys. Sometimes the songs were grouped thematically, other times they did medleys of songs by certain artists - Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers, for example. They also sang traditional songs like "Old McDonald Had a Farm", "One Man Went To Mow", and the Swiss folk song, "Upidee".

They had a Top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1960 with the "Lonely Man Theme". The piece was an instrumental release and was credited to the Cliff Adams Orchestra.[2] The tune was used in a TV commercial for Strand cigarettes in the UK.

The actress and entertainer Anita Harris was, at various times, a singer with the group.

 

To me it makes more sense that this individual may have arranged/orchestrated the song, especially with access to an orchestra with a string section etc. Something big-band-like and BB King utilized alot of big-band type songs back in the day and made them bluesy...

 

But I just don't know and I'm speculating...

[LH_]

According to this:

 

22. All Over Again (2:35)

(Carl B. Adams)

Originally ABC-Paramount single 10724 (1965)

℗ 1965 Geffen Records

 

Recorded at either RCA Victor Studios or Universal Studios, Chicago, March 3, 1965

 

Duke Jethro (organ); Carl Adams (trumpet); Lawrence Burdine (alto sax); Barney Hubert (baritone sax); Vernon Slater (tenor sax); Leo Lauchie (bass); Sonny Freeman (drums).

 

Produced by Johnny Pate

[Jimi Mac]

I thought we might have been onto something with the big-band or orchestra angle...

 

Thanks!

 

I'll explore that avenue and see where it leads me...

 

I have been told that it is a very classic/old-school music progression that was used greatly by Italian arrangements dating back centuries so I suspect there is an orchestral connection to the song...