Throwback Video Of The Week: The Commodores “Brick House”
You know this one as soon as you hear the first few bass notes. “Brick House” was the second single from the Commodores’ 1977 self-titled album. The song climbed to…
Walter Orange of The Commodores performs at the United Talent Agency Party during the IEBA 2016 Conference on October 10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for IEBA)
Rick Diamond/Getty Images for IEBAYou know this one as soon as you hear the first few bass notes. "Brick House" was the second single from the Commodores' 1977 self-titled album. The song climbed to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
According to Songfacts, "Brick House" came about because the band needed another track to finish the album. One night, guitar/trumpet player William King fell asleep while he was working on it. When he woke up, he found a pad of paper with the lyrics written by his wife, Shirley Hanna-King, who was also a songwriter. Unfortunately, she had gone uncredited for years.
Another surprise about "Brick House" is that the Commodores' drummer Walter "Clyde" Orange sang the lead vocals, instead of Lionel Richie, who usually sang lead. In the video below, Lionel is in the horn line playing saxophone.
