This week in 1976, the Elvin Bishop single “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #50 (May 9)
Despite the fact that this is an Elvin Bishop single, he didn’t sing it.
He didn’t think his voice would suit the song, so he asked Mickey Thomas who was his backup singer to sing it instead.
Bishop recalled:
“I tried singing it, and I said, 'That's not buttering my biscuit, my vocal on this. Why don't we give Mickey a shot at this?'
And the producer said, 'Well, that's big of you.' And I said, 'Well, I don't think so. It's just common sense, you know?'
And Mickey just tore it up."
It went on to become a hit, going to #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and in New Zealand, #16 in Australia, #22 in Canada, and #34 in the UK.
Based on his work with Bishop, Mickey Thomas was invited to become the lead singer for Jefferson Starship (who would later evolve into simply Starship), and went on to sing on mega hits like “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”, "We Built This City" and "Sara".
Here’s a live uncut gig of the hit, of course, on the Midnight Special. Program originator Burt Sugarman dictated no lip sinking, live uncut only.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YdsaKI8gHM&pp=ygVBZWx2aW4gYmlzaG9wIGZvb2xlZCBhcm91bmQgYW5kIGZlbGwgaW4gbG92ZSBsaXZlIG1pZG5pZ2h0IHNwZWNpYWw%3D
