Eugene McDaniels Discusses "Compared to What" Chords

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Hi, my name is Gene McDaniels.
I've been known by lots of names.
I'm not going to divulge all of them, but maybe a few.
They call me Gene.
My first girlfriend called me King Gugu.
The report of my demise has been greatly exaggerated.
I'm just a hermit and I live in my cave up in Maine.
_ It's nice.
I like it.
I want to first _ make a shout out to the _ hip-hoppers who have sampled my music and turned it into fantastic hits for themselves and a great source of pride for myself.
I'm glad to be a part of the hip-hop movement, however remotely, however intimately.
I want to talk to you about my first _ hit song that I wrote.
_ In so doing, I also want to thank Les McCann for doing Compared to What. _
It was amazing to have spent all my money setting up this publishing company because I'm going to be a writer and a publisher.
_ There was a second or two there that I thought, oh my God, what have I done? _ _ _ _ _ _
The fates declared, _ decided, whatever, _ that I'd be successful with this venture.
It was a massive gamble.
_ It took my last dollar.
So for nine months, I was sleeping with friends. _ _
_ _ _ I slept in _ Washington Square Park in New York City down the village a couple of nights there.
_ _ _ _ But _ it turned out okay.
What can I say?
_ God is great and I'm grateful and here I am.
_ _ So I'm hopefully going to do a series of these short conversations to tell you about the songs and Compared to What was _ inspired by the right-wing push toward _ _ globalization _ and privatization, _ etc.,
etc.
that are kind of acing out the normal people in the world like myself and you.
So I started writing about it.
I didn't even know anybody was going to be interested in it.
But it's okay.
I appreciate it.
Believe me, because _ my _ actual survival was on the line. _
_ _ So Les McCann was my candidate.
When I wrote this song, he was in my mind to do this song.
But the caveat is Les McCann and I were not speaking at the time.
We had worked together earlier in the 60s, in 61, 62. _ _ _ _ _ _
And his company wouldn't allow me to sing on record with him.
So we had a conundrum.
We had this wonderful group and people lined up outside trying to get in because Les is an immediate draw.
People love him because he's so _ degenerate. _
_ _ That's what I love about him.
He is a degenerate.
He, I will say and do almost anything, has the biggest heart in the world.
He is probably one of God's humor points because he's an angel.
He's an angel.
He's a wonderful, wonderful man.
God love him.
So I convinced him to do the song.
First, I apologized for all of what went down.
I left the group and was stupid, but I had to do something.
I was panicked about my career.
So I did what I did and I apologized on camera.
_ Les, are you listening?
_ I love you, man. _ _
_ _ _ _ Phone rings.
I pick up the phone.
I'm listening.
Guy says to me, congratulations.
I said, congratulations?
He says, yeah.
You've got the number one jazz tune in the world.
I said, what are you talking about?
Then it dawned on me and I said, what's the title?
He said, compared to what?
I said, that's mine.
Yes, I'll take it.
_ From then _ _ _ _ on, _ _ my life has been fantastic because it's allowed me to continue writing, which is the most important part for me.
_ I dived out of the [Eb] nightclubs because _ of the smoke and the loud talk and the booze, the irreverence [N] to the music.
It drove me nuts.
I have been out of the nightclub scene since 1971 for sure.
More like _ 1968 _ is the general overall picture.
We're going to play _ Les' version of Compared to What.
Nice [F] talk. _ _
_ [Bb] [Dm] I love the night, night, the love.
We can only [Bb] push each other.
Possession is the motivation that is hanging up.
The goddamn nation looks like [Gm] we [Cm] always [Bb] end up in a rut.
[Cm] _ Everybody now, make it real, compared to what.
[Bb] _ [Dm] _
Come on, [Bb] baby.
[F] _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ [F] _ [Bb] _ _ _