For some reason, I always thought that today’s classic song of the day was a Partridge Family song. I mean, it has that same sort of Baroque pop sound, the title is as vacuous as anything churned out by the P. Family’s hired songwriters, and the lead vocal sounds vaguely teen idolish. Really.
The problem is, “Sit Down I Think I Love You” was written and released in 1967, several years before the Partridge Family was conceived. Performed by a group called the Mojo Men, “Sit Down I Think I Love You” was a decent enough hit but stalled out at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #39 on the Cash Box Top 100.
Interestingly, “Sit Down I Think I Love You” was written by Stephen Stills and originally recorded by his band, the Buffalo Springfield as part of their 1966 self-titled debut album. Their version isn’t quite as good, which points out how important the arrangement and production is for a single’s ultimate success.
Witness the Mojo Men’s single, which added a Baroque pop instrumental arrangement on top of some Mamas and Papas-like vocals. That instrumentation, by the way, was courtesy of Van Dyke Parks, who took some time off working with Brian Wilson on the aborted Smile album and other projects.
The Mojo Men first got together in San Francisco in 1964, under the watchful eyes of Autumn Records producer Sylvester Stewart. You may know Mr. Stewart by his later nom de plume of Sly Stone. Well, Sly thought the Mojo Men had some real mojo and, under the moniker of Sly and the Mojo Men, recorded a few tracks with them. Unfortunately, none of the tracks were deemed releasable, so Sly and the Men eventually went their separate ways.
After parting with Sly, the Mojo Men signed with Reprise Records and released their biggest hit, then that was that—and the song itself soon slid into the dustbin of obscurity. That is, until “Sit Down I Think I Love You” was included in the seminal 1972 compilation, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968. That compilation drew renewed attention to all manner of garage rock tracks and artists, including the long-disbanded (since 1969) Mojo Men.
By the way, if you’re Australian you might remember a different but similar-sounding version of “Sit Down I Think I Love You” by an Aussie group called the Executives. They also released their version of the song in 1967 and it went to #28 on the Australian national charts. It did better in some local markets, peaking at #4 on the Sydney chart and #13 in Brisbane.
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, the Mojo Men (which included one woman) lip synching “Sit Down I Think I Love You” on the February 11, 1967, episode of American Bandstand, complete with interview by the ever-ageless Dick Clark. I still say it sounds a lot like the Partridge Family. Am I wrong?
