Billy Paul

I always knew him as the singer of Me & Mrs. Jones but cared little about either because it was a ballad.  

It would take me years to understand the musical and thematic implications of the song. 

For whatever reason, Me & Mrs. Jones was the only song I knew of Billy Paul for most of my life.  There is a strong chance that Billy Paul’s  me & Mrs. Jones 7” single was the first might be the only one I’ve ever seen of his that I had ever seen in my life. 

I had seen the 360 degrees album cover but heard nothing else from it or Billy Paul. I would later see the album 360 degrees of billy Paul and consider it to be the only reason to own the album.

In the late 1990s/early 2000s when the crate-digging movement to find soul and funk originals of hip hop songs was developing in Montreal, compilations were treasure maps to astute students.

The first Stand Up & Be Counted compilation introduced me to Billy Paul’s track East. 

The Stand Up & Be Counted compilation introduced me to East, my favorite billy Paul song. 

Considering all I knew of him was a monstrously successful ballad, East was a refreshing and invigorating chance of pace.  The driving pulse of the song is right up my alley.  

It blew me away because it was a far cry from the Mrs. Jones jam.  I had not thought or heard the song until Christian Pronovost played the song during his 24 Hours of Vinyl set at Death of Vinyl record store.  I have yet to find the album with East in my crate digging but found his Let ‘Em In album.

The success of his Me & Mrs. Jones single may have caused me to reduce Billy Paul to a one-hit wonder but time proved that he has a few gems in his catalog to check out.