Month: March 2024

Eddie Cochran – C’mon Everybody

Don’t be a square man… listen to Eddie Cochran and play backseat bingo. Well, I thought I would try some of the fifties phrases.

Eddie Cochran was one of the first rock star guitar players…he was ahead of his time.  He didn’t use his guitar as a prop like some did (cough cough Elvis)…he played it and played it well. He also worked as a session musician. He helped bring rock guitar along in more ways than just his playing. He was one of the first to modify his pickups and he did away with the wound G string on the guitar. He replaced it with an unwound string which made it easier to bend. Many future musicians were paying attention, sitting on the front row of his British tour.

His influence can be heard throughout rock and roll…It was because Paul McCartney knew the chords and words to “Twenty Flight Rock” that impressed John Lennon enough to ask Paul to become a member of the Quarrymen.

Eddie was popular, especially in the UK where they never forgot the 50s stars that started it all. C’mon Everybody peaked at #6 in the UK and #35 on the Billboard 100 in 1958.

During a British tour in 1960, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Sharon Sheeley (Eddie’s fiancé), and tour manager Pat Thompkins were in a taxi. They were leaving a show in Bristol, England to go to the London Airport…the taxi hit a lamp post and Eddie was thrown from the car and suffered a head injury and died in a hospital. He was only 21 years old. Gene Vincent received injuries to his already bad leg and walked with a limp after the crash. Eddie was the only one to die.

Sharon Sheeley was a songwriter. She wrote Ricky Nelson’s first hit “Poor Little Fool” and a couple of songs (Love Again and Cherished Memories) for Cochran.

I love the set of this video!

C’mon Everybody

Oh, well, c’mon everybody and let’s get together tonightI got some money in my jeans, and I’m really gonna spend it rightWell, I’ve been a doin’ my homework all the week longAnd now, the house is empty and the folks are goneOoh, c’mon everybody

Oh well, my baby’s number one, but I’m gonna dance with three or fourAnd then the house’ll be shakin’ from the bare feet a-slappin’ the floorWell, when you hear that music, you can’t sit stillIf your brother won’t rock, then your sister willOoh, c’mon everybody

Oh well, we’ll really have a party, but we gotta put a guard outsideIf the folks come home, I’m afraid they’re gonna have my hideThere’ll be no more movies for a week or twoNo more runnin’ ’round with the usual crewWho cares, c’mon everybody

…

Beat Farmers – Goldmine

CB sent me a link to The Beat Farmers. I knew heard of them but at first, I was thinking hard punk. I then realized and I remembered. I first heard of the Beat Farmers in the 1980s. WKDF in Nashville was at one time the premiere rock station in Nashville. Anyway, during some spots they would play a song by the Beat Farmers that was both strange, dark, and fun. I’ll get to that one on the next Beat Farmers post-Wednesday.

I’ve listened to this album at least 5-6 times this week. The hardest part was picking one song to post on…so I’m going to pick one but include two. The one I picked has a rockabilly feel to it but that is not necessarily the sound of the entire album.

The Beat Farmers formed in San Diego California in 1983. They went to a studio with a $4000 budget, and they recorded Tales Of The New West. The album was released in 1985. The members were Country Dick Montana, Jerry Raney on guitar, Rolle Dexter on bass, Buddy Blue on guitar, and Joey Harris on guitar. They did a tour opening up for the Blasters and then signed a 7 Record Deal with CURB Records…which turned out to be a mistake…they fought for years to get away from them.

They also had several solo projects like Country Dick’s Petting Zoo, Country Dick’s Garage, Jerry and Joey acoustic, Jerry and Buddy jam nights, and the Pleasure Barons. Country Dick was recording a solo effort. Dick also worked with Mojo Nixon.

Together they released 6 albums and 15 singles + EPs. The band came to a halt on November 8, 1995, when Country Dick Montana died on stage. They have occasionally got together since then.

Below is the album Tales Of The New West… Give it a listen. They have a great base sound and their songs vary.

A cover of The Velvet Underground There She Goes Again

Goldmine

Well you can’t say that you are mine no moreWe’re history, I’m walking right out the doorWell you can have your men and your liquor tooBut without me baby whatcha gonna doBaby you lost a goldmine when you lost me

I was faithful and I shared everything that I ownI was always there when you cried babe I’m feeling aloneBut I ain’t no chump and you’re gonna findThat those men that you’ve been seeing are the hurting kindAnd I don’t need you running on back to me

Well the smile that you’re wearing gonna disappearWhen you see that I was rightWell you’ll rue the day that you pushed me tillI walked right out of your life

Well there’s plenty of women that can keep me satisfiedAnd I don’t need your cheating or your foolish liesWell I ain’t gonna miss none of your embraceSo go shake that thing in someone else’s faceBaby you lost a goldmine when you lost me

Well folks have got to reap just what they sowAnd you got some things-a coming to you don’t you knowYou’ll get no more loving or sympathyFrom the lonesome fool that you thought was meBaby you lost a goldmine when you lost me

…

Buddy Holly – Bo Diddley

I never knew that Buddy Holly covered this song…somehow I missed or forgot that he covered it.

This was recorded back in 1956 as one of his first recordings. It wasn’t released until 4 years after he died. The original version is just Buddy on guitar and vocals and Jerry Allison on drums. Producer Norman Petty then overdubbed the other instruments with help from a band called The Fireballs.

I consider him the beginning of power pop. His Fender playing a clean jangling melody. Songs like Maybe Baby, Peggy Sue, and Words of Love influenced future artists like The Beatles, Hollies, Bob Dylan, and the list is endless. He wrote his own songs and is still influencing artists today with a recording career that only lasted less than three years.

Buddy Holly’s music is still relevant almost sixty years after he passed away in 1959. He didn’t have a big voice like Elvis, Little Richard, or some of his peers but he wrote and crafted beautiful melodies for his voice to weave through.

This song peaked at #4 on the UK Charts and #116 on the Billboard 100 in 1963. The song was on an album called Reminiscing. The album peaked at #2 on the UK Album Charts and #40 on the Billboard Album Charts.

Not only was he a great songwriter but also a great producer and he would have only got better. Unlike many of his fifties counterparts, I believe that Buddy Holly would have fit in the music scene post-Beatles. I always thought his best songs were in front of him. Most of his music transcends the fifties and would have fit nicely in the sixties.

Here are two versions…the bottom WITH the overdubs and the other the original raw recording. 

Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley buy baby a diamond ringIf that diamond ring don’t shineHe gonna take it to a private eyeIf that private eye can’t see

He better not take that ring from meWon’t you come to my house back at homeTake a-my baby on away from homeLove a-that photo, where ya beenUp to your house and gone againBo Diddley caught a fat cat

To make a-pretty baby a Sunday hatBo Diddley caught him a nanny goatTo make a pretty baby a Sunday coatBo Diddley, Bo Diddley have you heardMy pretty baby says she wants a bird

….

Chris Stamey – From The Word Go

Chris Stamey formed the power pop band The dB’s with Peter Holsapple in 1978. A band that admired Big Star and followed their footsteps in releasing some critically acclaimed albums that did not sell. Chris Stamey even played bass for Alex Chilton in 1977.

The dB’s were a great unknown power pop band…who would influence many bands but not sell many records. They were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina but the group was formed in New York City in 1978. The members were  Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby, and Gene Holder.

Stamey left the dB’s for a while in the 80s to pursue a solo career. He formed a record company in New York in 1978 called Cars Records and managed to release Chris Bell’s (Big Star guitarist, singer, and songwriter) single I Am The Cosmos.

From The Word Go was on Stamey’s second solo album It’s Alright. It was released in 1987 and is the only solo album of his to be released on a major label A&M/Universal. He has released 8 solo albums over a career that is still going now. The dB’s released an album in 2012.

Chris Stamey on Big Star:“They were my favorite, and as far as I knew they were popular all the way across America. At least for that moment, I forgot about Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.”

Sorry…I could not find the lyrics