Walter Waiters

Daddy B. Nice's #146 ranked Southern Soul Artist

"Don't Scratch My Back"

Walter Waiters

Composed by Walter Waiters

Favorite old songs are like old loves--so much stuff has gone down since then--but I do wish I could remember the first time I heard "Careful Woman" and "Don't Scratch My Back." I'm sure I must have jumped out of my chair.

The beat was so insinuating. Slow and sexy. Then the voice. Guy-next-door voice. But with a definite edge to make it soulful.

Then the lyrics. Has anyone ever written better, or more wittily, on the "cheating" theme?

Listen to Walter Waiters singing "Don't Scratch My Back" on YouTube while you read.

Walter Waiters' hero--or heroine, depending on whether you were listening to the male ("Don't Scratch My Back") or female ("Careful Woman") version--made so many restrictions on what his or her partner should do or not do to avoid being discovered, you had to think every vestige of romance in the relationship had to be squeezed dry. This was one jaded tryst.

But that, too, added to the humor and "folksiness" of it. Who hasn't been in a jaded relationship? A relationship based as much on convenience as attraction?

" . . .And put on that big old wig
I bought you, baby.
Make sure it covers your face.
I'll bring the liquor
To ease your tension."

The song was a celebration of paranoia.

"And while we doing it,
Don't say my name.
Just call me 'baby,'
And I'll do the same."

And yet, in both versions ("Careful Woman" and "Don't Scratch My Back," which I'm quoting from) the song never sank to mere satire.

"I've got a woman
You've got a man."

It was grounded in the domestic reality Waiters' cheater offered as rationale. Walter was testifying for all the men and women who remain faithful less from moral conviction than expediency--the logistical nightmares and accompanying stress an affair would cause.

"Remember these words--"

--confides the female adulteress in "Careful Woman,"

"--And we can do it next week.

Don't scratch my back.
Don't wear cologne.
I got to be fresh
When that man comes home.

When it's said and done,
Don't call on me.
A careful woman
Is all I'll be."

Listen to Walter Waiters singing "Careful Woman on YouTube while you read.

In contrast with "Don't Scratch My Back's" dense, bass-dominated mix, "Careful Woman" had a leaner, acoustic feel, not far from folk and country. Utilizing a contrasting arrangement was a stroke of genius on Waiters' part, allowing allowing him to record the same song twice but make the versions each distinctive.

"Careful Woman" started comfortably from the perpective of the Waiters narrator, but soon progressed to the woman's point of view. When things got intimate, she turned out to be the female version of the "Don't-scratch-my-back" guy.

"We did our thing
All night long.
Two o'clock in the morning,
We headed back home.
She said, 'I feel you, baby,
And I had a real good time.
But I love my man,
And I can't jump out of line.'"

Well, it could be argued that she had already stepped out of line, but you get the gist of it.

"I took her to her
Girlfriend's place.
She gave me a big old hug
That put a smile on my face."

The lyrics to "Careful Woman" were, in short, inspired--of an immediacy and underlying understanding of human nature that may only be equaled among current Southern Soul artists by Luther Lackey--and Waiters brought them off with a casual, intimate tone that belied the song's careful construction.

The "Careful Woman"/"Don't Scratch My Back" tandem garnered Walter Waiters one of the top spots on Daddy B. Nice's Top 25 Singles for 2007.

Top 25 Songs of 2007

12. "Careful Woman" / "Don't Scratch My Back"----Walter Waiters

In a relatively fallow year for Mel Waiters, his cousin Walter filled the breach, with DJ Chico pushing "Careful Woman" and a half-dozen other (it sometimes seemed) Walter Waiters tunes based on the same hooky groove, "Don't Scratch My Back" being only the most obvious. That's okay, Walter. Most aspiring artists never even discover their signature groove.

Sample or buy Walter Waiters' CD's in Daddy B. Nice's CD Store.

Sample or buy Walter Waiters' CD's and MP3's on I-Tunes.

Visit Walter Waiters' official website.

--Daddy B. Nice

About Walter Waiters

Walter Waiters, a cousin of Southern Soul star Mel Waiters, was born July 20, 1971 in San Antonio, Texas. An encounter at a San Antonio club with Buddy Ace in the early 90's inspired Waiters to pursue the blues and Southern Soul.

In 2001 he recorded his first CD, Don't Scratch My Back, including his signature song, the title track. Two independently released CD's followed in 2003 and 2005 before Waiters published Just Me (2006), which brought together "Don't Scratch My Back" and its sequel, "Careful Woman."

Chitlin' circuit deejays, critics and fans clamored for the two singles, "Careful Woman" and "Don't Scratch My Back," making 2006 through 2007 a breakthrough period in Waiters' career.

Crazy Sexy Smooth, the follow-up album in 2007, added horns to Waiters' keyboard/guitar-dominated mix on such songs as "Do What It Takes" and reprised the "Careful Woman"/"Don't Scratch My Back" tempo and groove in such songs as "Crazy Sexy Smooth" and "Somewhere (There's Someone Looking For Somebody Like Me)."

Change It Up (CDS, 2009) mixed Waiters' four most popular singles--"Don't Scratch My Back," "Careful Woman," "Stays In The Club" and "Crazy Sexy Smooth"--with new tracks such as "Loving On You."

A new CD, Maverick (2011) was recently released, pending distribution.

Walter Waiters tours the chitlin' circuit once or twice a year. He resides in the Las Vegas area and does frequent hometown gigs.

Walter Waiters Discography:

Don't Scratch My Back (Waiters, 2001)

Laid Back Kind Of Place (Waiters, 2003)

Staying On My Blues & Keys (Waiters, 2005)

Just Me (Waiters, 2006)

Crazy Sexy Smooth (Waiters, 2007)

Change It Up (CDS, 2009)

Maverick (Waiters, 2011)

Sample or buy Walters Waiters CD's in Daddy B. Nice's CD Store.

Song's Transcendent Moment

"If it gets too heavy,
Don't scratch my back.
Don't wear perfume.
No, none of that.
If my baby knew,
She'd sure be pissed."

Tidbits

1.

Author's Update, September 28, 2008: From Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Theodis Ealey (Tidbits section)

In a terrific letter (see DBN's Mailbag) to your Daddy B. Nice from Walter Waiters of "Careful Woman/Don't Scratch My Back" fame on an article I'd written called "Is Southern Soul Creeping Into Mainstream R&B?," Walter wrote:

"But in order for Southern Soul to even have a chance for MAINSTREAM ..... Southern Soul is going to need a Leader, someone to take the reign and take the blows. I don't think this is actually going to be decided by the artist, the ambitious Disc Jockey (wink), but by the public that goes out and sees this artist put his heart and soul on stage and leaves it there."

Walter goes on to mention "Kenne Wayne, O.B Buchana, My Cuz Mel Waiters, The Mighty T.K Soul, Jeff Floyd, and so many others" as potential crossover stars.

2.

Listen to Walter Waiters singing "Careful Woman" on YouTube.

Listen to Walter Waiters singing "Don't Scratch My Back" on YouTube.

Listen to Walter Waiters singing "Don't Scratch My Back" on YouTube (Big K-9 Tribute version.)

Listen to Walter Waiters singing "Change It Up" on YouTube.

If You Liked. . . You'll Love

If you liked Theodis Ealey's "Please Let Me In," you'll love Walter Waiters' "Don't Scratch My Back."

Or, if you're a mainstream music fan, if you liked Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" (with Stephen Stills on vocals), you'll love Walter Waiters' "Don't Scratch My Back."



EDITOR'S NOTE

Over the last year I've been dropping hints to the younger musicians.

"Be watching because there's going to be something coming on the site that'll be a real blessing for the younger people."

And I've also been telling a lot of deserving new artists to bide their time, that their day to be featured in a Daddy B. Nice Artist Guide was coming, and long overdue.

Now, at last, the day has come.

The great Southern Soul stars are mostly gone. There's a new generation clamoring to be heard.

Rather than waiting years to go online as I did with the original Top 100, this chart will be a work-in-progress.

Each month five new and never-before-featured artists will be showcased, starting at #100 and counting down to #1.

I estimate 50-75 new Artist Guides will be created by the time I finish. The other 25-50 Guides will feature artists from the old chart who are holding their own or scaling the peaks in the 21st Century.

Absent will be the masters who have wandered off to Soul Heaven. And missing will be the older artists who for one reason or another have slowed down, become inactive or left the scene.

The older generation's contributions to Southern Soul music, however, will not be forgotten.

That is why it was so important to your Daddy B. Nice to maintain the integrity of the original Top 100 and not continue updating it indefinitely.

(Daddy B. Nice's original Top 100 Southern Soul covered the period from 1990-2010. Daddy B. Nice's new 21st Century Southern Soul will cover the period from 2000-2020.)

When I constructed the first chart, I wanted to preserve a piece of musical history. I heard a cultural phenomenon I was afraid might be lost forever unless I wrote about it.

There will be no more changes to the original chart. Those performers' place in Southern Soul music will stand.

But I see a new scene today, a scene just as starved for publicity and definition, a scene missing only a mirror to reflect back its reality.

The prospect of a grueling schedule of five new artist pages a month will be daunting, and I hope readers will bear with me as I gradually fill out what may seem at first inadequate Artist Guides.

Information from readers will always be welcome. That's how I learn. That's how I add to the data.

I'm excited to get started. I have been thinking about this for a long time. I've already done the bulk of the drawings.

In a funny way, the most rewarding thing has been getting back to doing the drawings, and imagining what recording artists are going to feel like when they see their mugs in a black and white cartoon. Hopefully----high! An artist hasn't really "made it" until he or she's been caricatured by Daddy B. Nice.

In the beginning months, the suspense will be in what new stars make the chart. In the final months, the suspense will be in who amongst the big dogs and the new stars is in the top twenty, the top ten, and finally. . . the top spot.

I'm not tellin'.

Not yet.

--Daddy B. Nice

Go to Top 100 Countdown: 21st Century Southern Soul

Honorary "B" Side

"Careful Woman"

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