Today’s classic song of the day is a later and less-remembered hit from Carly Simon. Released in July of 1980, “Jesse” hit #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was a highlight of her Come Upstairs album.
“Jesse” is a fine piece of songwriting that deals with a woman weak with love for a guy who’s really bad for her. She starts out vowing to have nothing to do with the cad, tells her friends to help protect her from his advances, and ends up back with the bad boy, even though her friends “think I’ve sunk so low.” It’s all set to a catchy little tune with a simple chord structure. The verses are all I – V, switching to vi – ii. The choruses are I – vi – IV, with a little ii – V turnaround. Simple yet effective.
It’s always fun to guess who exactly Carly’s songs are about. “Anticipation” was famously about Cat Stevens. “You’re So Vain” was about… well, she still hasn’t said, but it’s definitely about someone (or someones, plural) famous. I always thought “Jesse” was about her ex-husband James Taylor—you know, Jesse as in Jesse James, as in James Taylor. Maybe not, though.
James Taylor did sing backup on this track, as did the former couple’s daughter, Sally. Other musicians on the track included Don Grolnick on acoustic piano, Sid McGinnis on slide guitar, Tony Levin on bass, and Rick Marotta on drums.
“Jesse” was Ms. Simon’s next-to-last big hit. Her other hits included “That’s the Way I Always Heard It Should Be” (#10 in 1971), “Anticipation” (#13 in 1971), “You’re So Vain” (#1 in 1972), “The Right Thing to Do” (#17 in 1973), “Mockingbird” (with James Taylor, #5 in 1974), “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain” (#14 in 1974), “Attitude Dancing” (#21 in 1975), “Nobody Does It Better” (#2 in 1977), “You Belong to Me” (#6 in 1978), and “Coming Around Again” (#18 in 1986). She released a dozen or so albums after Come Upstairs, including several albums of standards (1981’s Torch, 1990’s My Romance, 1997’s Film Noir, and 2005’s Moonlight Serenade), but none had quite the impact of her earlier work. She was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. She’s 81 years old now and still looks beautiful.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, the notoriously stage frightened Carly Simon performing “Jesse” live on the Queen Mary 2 in 2005. She has the crowd eating out of her hands.
