Putty (In Your Hands)

Album: For Your Love (1965)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Missouri-born jazz pianist Big John Patton wrote this tune of helpless devotion with "Strangers in the Night" songwriter Eddie Snyder (under the pseudonym Kay Rogers). It debuted as a track on the Shirelles' 1962 album Baby It's You. The Shirelles were a New Jersey-based girl group known for R&B-pop hits like "Will You Love Me Tomorrow."
  • Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty explained in a 2011 interview with Rock Cellar Magazine why the band covered the song:
    "Eric (Clapton) hated the fact that we were recording a very commercial pop song ['For Your Love']. He also did not like the idea that Paul (Samwell-Smith) had elected himself as the producer of the session. In an effort to smooth Eric's feathers, we agreed to record two additional songs that he had suggested as singles: the Major Lance song 'Sweet Music' and The Shirelles' song 'Putty (In Your Hands)'. Neither of those songs was ever released as a single, but both would appear on future Yardbirds albums. The singles' setup was beginning to kill us as a band. Paul wasn't a great songwriter but he was good as a part of the team. When he left the band, it was a bit of a blow creatively. But we managed to get some songs together and carry on for a while." >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    DeeTheWriter - Saint Petersburg, Russia Federation

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Intentionally Atrocious

Intentionally AtrociousSong Writing

A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.

Cy Curnin of The Fixx

Cy Curnin of The FixxSongwriter Interviews

The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Songs Discussed in Movies

Songs Discussed in MoviesSong Writing

Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Justin Timberlake

Justin TimberlakeFact or Fiction

Was Justin the first to be Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher? Did Britney really blame him for her meltdown? Did his bandmates think he was gay?