Johnny Copeland was born March 27, 1937, in Haynesville, LA, about 15 miles south of Magnolia, AR (formerly Texarkana, a hotbed of blues activity in the 1920s and '30s). The son of sharecroppers, his father died when he was very young, but Copeland was given his father's guitar. His first gig was with his friend Joe "Guitar" Hughes. Soon after, Hughes "took sick" for a week and the young Copeland discovered he could be a front man and deliver vocals as well as anyone else around Houston at that time.
His music, by his own reasoning, fell somewhere between the funky R&B of New Orleans and the swing and jump blues of Kansas City. After his family (sans his father) moved to Houston, Copeland was exposed, as a teen, to musicians from both cities. While he was becoming interested in music, he also pursued boxing, mostly as an avocation, and it is from his days as a boxer that he got his nickname "Clyde."
Copeland and Hughes fell under the spell of T-Bone Walker, whom Copeland first saw perform when he was 13 years old. As a teenager he played at locales such as Shady's Playhouse — Houston's leading blues club, host to most of the city's best bluesmen during the 1950s — and the Eldorado Ballroom. Copeland and Hughes subsequently formed The Dukes of Rhythm, which became the house band at the Shady's Playhouse. After that, he spent time playing on tour with Albert Collins (himself a fellow T-Bone Walker devotee) during the 1950s, and also played on stage with Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Mama Thornton, and Freddie King. He began recording in 1958 with "Rock 'n' Roll Lily" for Mercury, and moved between various labels during the 1960s, including All Boy and Golden Eagle in Houston, where he had regional successes with "Please Let Me Know" and "Down on Bending Knees," and later for Wand and Atlantic in New York. In 1965, he displayed a surprising prescience in terms of the pop market by cutting a version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" for Wand.
After touring around the "Texas triangle" of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, he relocated to New York City in 1974, at the height of the disco boom. It seems moving to New York City was the best career move Copeland ever made, for he had easy access to clubs in Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Boston, all of which still had a place for blues musicians like him. Meanwhile, back in Houston, the club scene was hurting, owing partly to the oil-related recession of the mid-'70s. Copeland took a day job at a Brew 'n' Burger restaurant in New York and played his blues at night, finding receptive audiences at clubs in Harlem and Greenwich Village.
Copeland recorded seven albums for Rounder Records, beginning in 1981 and including Copeland Special, Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat, Texas Twister, Bringing It All Back Home, When the Rain Starts a Fallin', Ain't Nothing But a Party (live, nominated for a Grammy) and Boom Boom; he also won a Grammy award in 1986 for his efforts on an Alligator album, Showdown! with Robert Cray and the late Albert Collins. Although Copeland had a booming, shouting voice and was a powerful guitarist and live performer, what most people don't realize is just how clever a songwriter he was. His latter-day releases for the PolyGram/Verve/Gitanes label, including Flyin' High (1992) and Catch Up with the Blues, provide ample evidence of this on "Life's Rainbow (Nature Song)" (from the latter album) and "Circumstances" (from the former album).
Because Copeland was only six months old when his parents split up and he only saw his father a few times before he passed away, Copeland never realized he had inherited a congenital heart defect from his father. He disovered this in the midst of another typically hectic tour in late 1994, when he had to go into the hospital in Colorado. After he was diagnosed with heart disease, he spent the next few years in and out of hospitals, undertaking a number of costly heart surgeries. Early in 1997, he was waiting for a heart transplant at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. As he was waiting, he was put on the L-VAD, a recent innovation for patients suffering from congenital heart defects. In 1995, Copeland appeared on CNN and ABC-TV's Good Morning America, wearing his L-VAD, offering the invention valuable publicity.
Despite his health problems, Copeland continued to perform and his always spirited concerts did not diminished all that much. After living 20 months on the L-VAD — the longest anyone had lived on the device — he received a heart transplant on January 1, 1997 and for a few months, the heart worked fine and he continued to tour. However, the heart developed a defective valve, necessitating heart surgery in the summer. Copeland died of complications during heart surgery on July 3, 1997.
She's into Something
Johnny Copeland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Snappin' of a finger make a dog wag it's tail
A whistle from her voice make a train jump it's rail
Take her to the racetrack
Show her face
A horse in years will come in first place!
She's into something
She's into something
You should be into something too!
Well you laughed at her about a week ago
Now she's met a man with a whole lot of dough and oh yeah he's rich!
I seen the money!
And all she had to was to call the man "Honey"
She's into something
She's into something
She's into something
You should be into something too!
She rides around town
On her wheel
Oh yeah you might say she got herself a stone-cold deal
One thing the girl
She don't have to do
Is worry 'bout no money when the payment's due!
She's into something
She's into something
She's into something man you should be into something too!
The song "She's into Something" by Johnny Copeland has a fast tempo and a funky beat that gets you moving. The lyrics describe a woman who has a certain power and influence over people and things around her. The first verse talks about how she can make a dog wag its tail just by snapping her fingers and how her voice can make a train jump its rail. These lines illustrate her ability to control her surroundings by mere presence and her captivating energy. The second verse talks about how she meets a rich man who falls for her charms. She effortlessly gets herself a good life by calling him "Honey," which shows her intelligence and savvy. The last verse sums up her success, pointing out how she rides around town in luxury on her "stone-cold deal," while others struggle to pay their bills. Overall, the song celebrates the power of women and how their unique abilities can lead to success.
Line by Line Meaning
Snappin' of a finger make a dog wag it's tail
Small actions have big consequences when she's involved.
A whistle from her voice make a train jump it's rail
She has a powerful influence on those around her.
Take her to the racetrack
Even in unlikely scenarios, she brings success.
Show her face
Her presence can turn the tide of any situation.
A horse in years will come in first place!
She has a magic touch that leads even the least promising outcomes to victory.
She's into something
She has a secret power or knowledge that sets her apart.
You should be into something too!
You should strive to find your own secret power or knowledge.
Well you laughed at her about a week ago
You didn't see her for who she is.
Now she's met a man with a whole lot of dough and oh yeah he's rich!
She has accomplished something significant that you didn't expect.
I seen the money!
Her success is obvious and impressive.
And all she had to was to call the man "Honey"
She has an effortless charm that opens doors.
She rides around town
She moves through life with ease and confidence.
On her wheel
She's always on the move, making things happen.
Oh yeah you might say she got herself a stone-cold deal
She's achieved something valuable and enviable.
One thing the girl
She is unique and exceptional.
She don't have to do
Success comes naturally to her.
Is worry 'bout no money when the payment's due!
She doesn't stress about financial matters because she knows she'll always be taken care of.
She's into something man you should be into something too!
Her success should inspire you to find your own path to fulfillment and achievement.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: CARL WRIGHT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind