Ronnie Lane – April Fool

She said there’s dust and cobwebs on your north star
There’s no more frost and campfire in your hair

When I hear a Ronnie Lane song it makes me relaxed… It sounds like he is playing to you on a back porch somewhere…very intimate. He was a very underrated songwriter and singer. He just happened to be in two bands (Small Faces and Faces) that had two of the best singers of their generation so he didn’t sing lead a lot in those bands but when he did he was great.

I’ll get in a mood where I have to hear something rootsy or down to earth. I usually pick either The Band or Ronnie Lane. We all know Lane’s sad story but the man loved to play music over making money as his career will tell you. The love was for the music…not the dollar. He would record anywhere like in the middle of a meadow, on a back porch, or anywhere the notion struck. Most weren’t commercial catchy but they meant something. Songs like this…are the reason I have a blog.

An album with Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane you would figure to be huge at the time. It wasn’t huge but it was a great album and has been highly regarded since.

In October of 1976, the Who closed a North American tour in Toronto, a show that would be the last with Keith Moon before a paying audience. The band took a break to pursue individual projects. Ronnie Lane had wanted Townshend to produce his album but he then wanted Townshend to collaborate writing on the songs. Townshend declined because he had never written with anyone before but they did manage to write the title track, Rough Mix, together.

The album ended up with Townsend songs and Lane songs. They did do a cover of a Don Williams song called Till All The Rivers Run Dry. Rough Mix didn’t draw a lot of attention at the time but is now considered a lost gem. Townshend has said in his book that there was a big argument where he shoved Ronnie Lane. Pete said it felt like he didn’t know his own strength because Lane felt like he was made out of paper. Later Pete found out about Lane’s multiple sclerosis.

The album peaked at #44 in the Billboard Album Charts, #70 in Canada, and #45 in the UK in 1977.

I usually don’t post covers of the song I’m covering but this one is tastefully done by Magpie Salute. It features Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes on guitar. Something tells me Lane would like this as well.

April Fool

She said I’ll see you in the morning, darling
I’ll see you when the kids have gone to school
But well I know tomorrow is your birthday
I know you know that you’re an April Fool
We used to roam so freely. It’s been so long
I’ll take my dreams to bed now, where they belong

She said there’s dust and cobwebs on your north star
There’s no more frost and campfire in your hair
I see your wheels they’re rustin’ in the backyard
I know that we’re not going anywhere
We used to roam so freely. It’s been so long
I’ll take my dreams to bed now, where they belong

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

30 thoughts on “Ronnie Lane – April Fool”

    1. I think you would like it…you being a Who fan…it is really good. The song on there you may have heard of is “My Baby Gives It Away.” But….regardless the album is really good.
      Thanks for listening…

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      2. I can’t imagine obbverse. My mom had alzheimer’s when she was in her late forties…so everytime I forget something I think about that. Hers though was caused by something else but still…it’s there. I can only imagine how he felt.

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  5. Yeah Max; my wife works in a dementia facility, and I accidentally found out my old English teacher was there- stroke induced dementia- and I did get to visit him. It was good and bad and so damned sad all at the same time. A shit of a disease.

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    1. It’s awful….just terrible. The ironic thing is her body was completely fine. My mom had the same thing caused by strokes as your old English teacher.
      When your mom doesn’t know you…it’s a hurt that cannot be explained.

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    1. Christian…it’s something about his voice that just puts me at ease and I can listen to anything he sings. His words also…some great poetic lines there. I love posting songs like this and I always said…if just one person listens to it….I’ll be happy. That is why I blog.

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    1. It does fit them and they were heavily influenced by The Faces. Something about Lanes’ voice and lyrics that I really like…

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    1. Lol glad you are here. This weekend so far it’s all roots music I’ve been listening to.
      I heard Annie and a few others last night off that album. Cb something about his lyrics and voice… like I said intimate… like he is in the room with you.

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  10. Excellent tune. On The Magpie Salute, the guitar Robinson is playing looks metal? If so, not sure if I ever saw a steel guitar quite like that. Love the slide show on Lane/Townshend one. Looks like an album I should know more about.

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    1. Oh that is a dobro…I’ve seen guitars that have metal on them that are called resonaters…I consider them the same but I could be wrong. I’ve never had one but I’d like to.

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  11. Pete says I write with no one damn it! lol Guess he didn’t want to open that door with his bandmates in the Who. Would have been cool if him and the Ox would have written something together!

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    1. No it’s odd…because he encouraged even Keith Moon to write….which he did by the way some…but only Entwistle done it a lot…I know he is just the kind that couldn’t I dont’ guess.
      The Stones…they said F**k you to the rest of their band…it was all Jagger/Richards.

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