Mama Never Told Me

Album: The Very Best of Sister Sledge (1973)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The third single from Sister Sledge, this funky little number is a delicious piece of Philadelphia Soul written and produced by Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around
    ") and Tony Bell ("I'm Stone In Love With You"). Hurtt and Bell got the group a deal with Atlantic Records after they signed to the label's publishing division in the early '70s. In our interview with Phil Hurtt, he told us how this song came together:

    "Thommy Bell had a hit on the Spinners called 'One of a Kind.' Tony [Thommy's brother] was playing guitar. He started playing the riff that reminded me of that: 'One of a kind...' I started humming the melody to it, and I started thinking about a story. The mom is Flo with these five daughters [one daughter did not perform with the group]. And there had to be some instruction to her daughters, had to be some communication about life. I started thinking about that, and 'Mama Never Told Me' popped off. So basically it was just imagining a mother's conversation to her daughter, then I had to flip the script, because her mama couldn't tell her too much, because she fell for the same thing: a quiet man."
  • This was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, with members of the studio house band (known as MFSB) providing the instrumentation.
  • The "Shooby dooby dooby doo bop bop" vocal was a playful touch that songwriter Phil Hurtt worked into the song, as he thought it would get people singing along to the song. It was also a cute and appropriate bit for Kathy Sledge to sing, as she was just 14 years old at the time.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.