"So Young" is a pop song written by Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin and Tony Faehse and recorded by Australian blues, rock and R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The song was the group's fifth single, released in September 1978 as the lead single from a 12" EP also entitled So Young (1978).
| "So Young" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons | ||||
| from the album So Young | ||||
| Released | September 1978 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:33 | |||
| Label | Oz Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin, Tony Faehse | |||
| Producer(s) | Joe Camilleri | |||
| Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Camilleri said of the song "It's Reggae meets son of Blues, with many different time changes. It took the band a week to learn because it was so intricate and not like anything else we'd tried."[1] He claimed to have written the song in June 1978 and said on its release that it was not necessarily about being young, but about "innocence". He added: "For that reason the vocals are softer. I was trying to make the sound compatible with the sentiments expressed in the song."[2]
'So Young' peaked at number 48 on the Kent Music Report in Australia, becoming the band's first top 50 single. "Everyone said that should have been a hit," Camilleri commented the following year, "but no one bought the bloody thing."[3] A live version of 'So Young' appeared on the 'free album' included in the first 5,000 Australian pressings of their next album, Screaming Targets. The group also re-recorded the song for the internationally released version of Screaming Targets.
Track listing
edit7" (OZ-11794)
- Side A – "So Young" - 3:33
- Side B – "Long Distance Call" - 3:10
Charts
edit| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report[4] | 48 |
Cover versions
edit- Elvis Costello and the Attractions added the song to their live set, and recorded it in the studio, in 1979;[5] their version of the song is included on the album Out of Our Idiot (1987)
- Frankie Miller also played the song live and included it (as 'So Young, So Young') on his 1980 album Easy Money.[6]
Return Home
editIn Ray Argall's 1987 film Return Home Camilleri has a brief cameo role as a busker on the Glenelg foreshore. At the behest of the character Noel (Dennis Coard), Camilleri plays a snippet of 'So Young'.
References
edit- ^ "Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons". Rock on Vinyl. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ Camilleri quoted in Rebecca Batties ‘So Young and oh so different’ Melbourne Age 6 October 1978 p. 42
- ^ Camilleri quoted in Stuart Coupe, ‘Jo Jo Zep back – with a bonus’ Sun Herald 1 July 1979 p. 86
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 156. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
- ^ Stuart Coupe ‘Nick’s “not a musician” Sun Herald 23 September 1979 p. 106
- ^ Rob Patterson ‘Down Under Musicians Take on the States’ Nobleseville Ledger, 31 July 1980 p. 13
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