"Spinning Wheel" is a song recorded in 1968 by

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and ...

; it was written by

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lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas and included on their eponymous album, released in 1968. The song, released as a single in 1969, peaked at no. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in July that year, remaining in the runner-up position for three weeks. "Spinning Wheel" was kept out of the no. 1 position by both "The Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" by

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

and "

In the Year 2525 "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. It peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for t ...

" by

Zager and Evans Zager and Evans was an American rock music, rock-popular music, pop Duet (music), duo active during the late 1960s and early 1970s, comprising Denny Zager (born February 14, 1944, Wymore, Nebraska) and Rick Evans (born January 20, 1943, Lincoln, ...

. In August that year, the song topped the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Easy Listening chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary music, adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on ...

for two weeks.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 74. It was also a crossover hit, reaching No.45 on the US R&B chart. "Spinning Wheel" was nominated for three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s at the 1970 ceremony, winning in the category Best Instrumental Arrangement. The arranger for the song was the band's

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, Fred Lipsius. It was nominated for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

and Song of the Year; the album won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

Composition

Clayton-Thomas was quoted as describing the song as being "written in an age when psychedelic imagery was all over lyrics ... it was my way of saying, 'Don't get too caught up, because everything comes full circle'". In Clayton-Thomas's 2010 autobiography, ''Blood, Sweat and Tears'', he wrote that the

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

song " The Circle Game" inspired some of the lyrics. They lived across the hall from one another in Yorkville, the bohemian rock music epicenter of Toronto similar to

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

in Manhattan at the same time. He claimed a long-unrequited crush on her. "In later years, our common love for jazz brought us closer together... I was so completely smitten by her that I borrowed a phrase from her song 'The Circle Game', the line about 'painted ponies', and used it in my song 'Spinning Wheel'. In 2007 both songs were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and I confessed my plagiarism to her. She said she had never even noticed". The album version ends with the 1815 Austrian tune " O Du Lieber Augustin" ("

The More We Get Together "The More We Get Together", now regarded today as a popular English language, English-language children's song, of United States, American origin, was originally written by Irving King as the anthem of the Ancient Order of Froth Blowers, to be su ...

" or " Did You Ever See a Lassie?") and drummer Bobby Colomby's comment: "That wasn't too good", followed by laughter from the rest of the group. According to producer James William Guercio this section was inserted at the last minute after the end of the master tape was recorded over accidentally by an engineer at the studio. Most of this section and

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944 – March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. He was a founding member of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studie ...

's trumpet solo were edited out for the single version; the instrumental break features also an eight-bar piano solo which precedes the trumpet solo on the album version, and that section was overdubbed with guitar on the single version before the last verse. The

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic, also called quadrasonic or by the neologism quadio ortmanteau, formed by analogy with "stereo" sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are po ...

mix is presented as the song was originally intended, retaining the guitar solo in the instrumental break from the single version, while the finale (which fades out in this version) is presented uncut as originally recorded before the Austrian tune was added and recorded over for the album version. Alan Rubin sat in on trumpet for Chuck Winfield, who was not able to attend the recording session.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

's 1969 single release climbed the

, with a peak of No. 24, even before the BST version. She performed the song on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' on April 6, 1969. * Sammy Davis Jr. included it on his 1970 album ''Something for Everyone''. *

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

included the song on her 1970 album ''

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''. * Nancy Wilson covered the song in the '' Hawaii Five-O'' episode "Trouble in Mind", which originally aired September 23, 1970. * Austrian singer Marianne Mendt released a version of the tune in 1970 as "A g'scheckert's Hutschpferd". *

Barbara Eden Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead; August 23, 1931) is an American actress and singer, who starred as the title character in the sitcom ''I Dream of Jeannie'' (1965–1970). Her other roles included Roslyn Pierce opposite Elvis Presley in ...

performed a live version on U.S. television in 1970. * Jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith recorded an extended

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

version for his 1970 album '' Drives'', released through

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

; this recording was later

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

by hip-hop group

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

in their song " Can I Kick It?". * American organist Lenny Dee covered "Spinning Wheel" on his album of the same name in 1970. * In 1970, P. P. Arnold recorded a version produced by

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

; it remained unreleased for almost five decades until the long-delayed 2017 issuing of her album ''The Turning Tide''. *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

scored a minor hit in 1971 with an instrumental version of the song, reaching no. 90 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He also performed it at his shows as early as 1969. * Canadian

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

music group

Cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

covered this song. *

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

released a big-band arrangement by Adrian Drover on his 1972 album '' M.F. Horn Two''. *

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

's instrumental version was released on a ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' album in 1973. *The

Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli ( ) was a German duo R&B music act from Munich. The act was created in 1988 by Frank Farian, founder of Boney M., and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing performers, with the two actual main studio sing ...

song " All or Nothing", released as a single in 1990, has a similar melody to "Spinning Wheel", and was later the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by David Clayton-Thomas. *Mexican rap pop group Caló made an adaptation of this song on their album 1991 "Ponte Atento" *

Jason Forrest Jason Forrest is an American electronic music producer known for noisy Experimental music, experimental electronica and breakcore incorporating many ideas of Mashup (music), mash-up and rock and roll. Largely produced and performed on a single c ...

released an instrumental remix of the song in 2005, with an accompanying video by Joel Trussell.

In popular culture

*An instrumental rendition of this song was used as a cue on the first '' Wheel of Fortune'' pilot titled '' Shopper's Bazaar''. *In Germany, a part of the song was used as opening tune for the political cabaret TV show '' Neues aus der Anstalt'', aired 2007–13. *The song is performed by

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American retired actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank ...

's character Hank Kingsley in an episode of

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. Created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein, the show ran for six seasons and List of The Larry Sanders Show episodes, ...

("Larry's Agent"), where he creates a more Latin sound to it, hoping to perform tap-dancing along with the song. *"Spinning Wheel" appears in the films ''

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or mor ...

'', '' Where the Truth Lies'', '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', and '' Elvis & Nixon''. *In the mid-1980s, a version of the song was used in a British advertisement for Graham & Brown's Superfresco wallpaper. * In Stage 5 (S6E14) of the HBO series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'',

Paulie Gualtieri Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri is a fictional character portrayed by Tony Sirico on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'', one of the chief henchmen of series protagonist Tony Soprano. Sirico auditioned for the role of Junior Soprano, Uncle Jun ...

mistakenly quotes the song, saying "ride the painted pony, let the spinnin' wheel glide". * A commercial for Pets.com that aired during

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

has the dot-com's sock puppet mascot briefly sing the chorus while riding with a delivery driver. * The song was performed on a sketch for the children's show ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' by a trio of Anything Muppets.

References

External links

Graham & Brown advertising campaign
* {{Authority control 1968 songs 1969 singles 1971 singles Blood, Sweat & Tears songs Peggy Lee songs James Brown songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by James William Guercio Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Columbia Records singles Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals