Arif Mardin Chorus: “Evil Companions” (1968)
Little-known and rare in hard-copy form, the Arif Mardin Chorus’ recording of “Evil Companions” is a song with a history in my own family.
Possibly no record in my late father’s collection better exemplified his winking, faux-bawdy sense of humor. This 45 was added to the stack on the spindle for a lighthearted moment, or when Dad’s sister’s family was visiting our Pittsburgh home from Chicago.
Next weekend, on the occasion of my sister’s 50th wedding anniversary dinner, the 45-turned-digital file will be heard by the family once more.
We don’t forget the important stuff–like music.
“Evil Companions” had no accompanying album; it was released only as a single, and available information is scant. According to the Atlantic Records discography, it was recorded in NYC on June 17th, 1968.
The song, as the label indicates, is from The Broadway Musical Production Her First Roman, which made its debut the same year.
As for Arif Mardin, who arranged the song, the Turkish-born record producer is a giant of the recording industry, with 12 Grammy awards and 18 nominations to his credit across genres of jazz, rock, soul, disco, country and more.
Among the artists he’s worked with are: the Rascals, Queen, John Prine, Melissa Manchester, the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Michael Crawford, Chaka Khan, Howard Jones, Laura Nyro, Ringo Starr, Carly Simon, Phil Collins, Daniel Rodriguez, and Norah Jones.
Mardin was credited with reviving the Bee Gees’ career in the mid-1970’s as producer of Main Course, a massive comeback album that signaled an R&B-inflected course correction (so to speak) for the band.
Hard to imagine any of the above roster of artists recording anything like “Evil Companions”. I’d like to know more about what compelled this little one-off project, but I’m pretty sure I never will.
The original, Broadway cast version of the song has a couple additional verses. Et tu is amusing.
Every Moment Has A Song 