By Randal C. Hill
In mid-1974, musician Billy Swan entered Tennessee record producer Chip Young’s Young’un Sound Studio and, in two takes, recorded “I Can Help,” a chart-topping rockabilly shuffle that had taken him 20 minutes to write.
Born in Missouri in 1942, Swan drummed in local beer joints before eventually moving to Memphis where he wrote songs for established country artists. In time, he signed with Nashville’s Monument Records.
Billy composed “I Can Help” in the “music room” that his wife, Marlu, had converted from a closet inside the small duplex they shared. Those cramped quarters held an electric organ, an amplifier and a Rhythm Master drum machine. “That Rhythm Master had something like 10 preset sounds,” recalls Swan. “It had mambo, cha-cha, bossa nova, Rock 1 and Rock 2. I used one of those rock settings when I wrote ‘I Can Help.’”
Young’un Sound was a two-room log house about 35 miles southeast of Nashville. To record his million-seller, Billy borrowed a portable organ from a session musician in the studio that day. Swan explains, “Chip set up a vocal mic. I stood in front of the organ, and what you hear was captured on the second take. While I was playing the organ and singing… Chip’s little puppy Bowser was tugging on my pants leg.”
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Let’s examine “I Can Help.” On the surface, a kind-hearted man is offering his services to a lady who may need his assistance:
I got two strong arms, I can help
Apparently, nothing is too big a task for him:
If your child needs a daddy, I can help
But the song’s refrain reveals a change in focus, and Mister Nice Guy is obviously also interested in having a traditional romantic relationship, as well:
When I go to sleep at night
You’re always a part of my dream
Holding me tight and telling me everything
I want to hear
You’ve explained yourself, Billy. Now all you can do is await her decision. Good luck.
