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Medicine Man
byThe Buchanan Brothers
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The Buchanan Brothers were Terry Cashman, Gene Pistilli and Tommy West. Cashman and West went on to produce Jim Croce and had a hit as Cashman & West with "American City Suite." Cashman explains: "We had started our own company. There was a label called Event Records, and we made a deal with them to some singles. They were mainly a black record, R&B label. But they wanted to get into some pop stuff. So we came up with the idea for a group called the Buchanan Brothers, which was actually the three of us. That song was from a bass figure that Tommy and Gene were figuring out with like an eighth-note bass thing. I think Gene came up with the title. Tommy was more of an arranger than a songwriter - Gene and I would come up with the melodies and lyrics - I was more of the melody, Gene more of the lyricist. But that song… the three of us were just sitting around and someone came up with the chorus of 'Medicine Man': 'I'm the man, understand, I'm the only one who can.' It was written pretty quickly, which happens with a lot of songs, something flashes and you get a riff, or a line or a title, and then everything kind of falls into place after that. It didn't have any particular category, but it was a catchy song."
Comments:
One of the best songs from 1969.
- Tom, Dozier, AL