File
Pam Hall

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Pam Hall chuckles as she recounts a reaction to the song, I Was Born a Woman, in the cinema.

And it was not at one of the legendary Christmas morning shows at Carib, but from the big screen itself.

"Somebody told me one day that he was watching the movies and when he heard the song he jumped up and said 'hear that, man!'," Hall tells The Sunday Gleaner.

At least one person was not impressed and demanded that the person 'stop that'. However, when the excited musician looked across there was someone having the same reaction as he was. That person was another musician, saxophonist Dean Fraser.

But it seems to be par for the course, as Hall says that I Was Born a Woman, which packs the struggles of simply existing as a female into five and a half sometimes tear-jerking minutes, as Hall says, "Men love the song. Sometimes men will come to me and say 'I love that song'."

Demanding performance

And there were quite a few men who approached Hall, asking, sometimes demanding ('quarrelling with me', she says) that she perform I Was Born a Woman in the days when it was not one of the songs she performed regularly. Because although it was recorded in 1979, Hall did not start performing I Was Born a Woman until years later.

"I did not know that people liked it. I usually tailor my performance to what I think the audience will like. I don't impose on them," Hall says. It has reached a stage where she says, "I know there have been times I have not planned it and I have had to do it a capella".

I Was Born a Woman was recorded specifically for the movie Children of Babylon and never released as a single, Hall doing it over for one of her own albums. And, curiously enough, it was written by men.

Harold Butler did the music and Lennie Little-White the lyrics for the movie's soundtrack, which also included performances by The Mighty Diamonds (Children of Babylon), Beres Hammond (Life Is a Rainbow) and Cynthia Schloss (Can't Stand the Pain). It was Butler who introduced Hall to I Was Born a Woman, running through the song with her as he played the piano.

It was not as if a thunderbolt had fallen from the firmament, as Hall simply says when she heard the song the first time 'it was alright'.

Musicians

A superb cast of musicians recorded the song, Mikey Boo playing drums, Butler on piano, Val Douglas playing bass and Lennox Gordon on guitar. "Nice set of musicians," Hall comments.

There was something a bit unusual, though, as Hall says, "I know the first time we went to the studio to do it it was not happening quite the way it should. We left the studio and Harold ran it down with me and then we went back".

That second time was the charm. "That is unusual for me, because usually I nail things," Pam Hall says. "Although I hardly rehearse out loud I do a lot of mind rehearsal. It is basically formulated in my head before," she added.

And three weeks ago, for the first time ever, nearly 30 years after the song was recorded, Pam Hall performed I Was Born a Woman with Harold Butler among the musicians in the band as she performed at 'Blues on the Green', held at Hope Gardens, St Andrew, recently.