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.
There were times when I could not hear this song anymore because it’s been played so much but…now I enjoy hearing it again. It is a great song but a song that radio has played endlessly. When I think of this phrase, I think of Elvis. Elvis loved the saying…he wore a “TCB” necklace and called his backing group “The TCB Band.”
Canadian Randy Bachman wrote this song and the music was inspired by The Beatles Paperback Writer. He came up with the idea for the song in the late-’60s while he was still a member of The Guess Who. After hearing Paperback Writer and he used that music to create a song about going to work called “White Collar Worker,” which needed a new hook to complete.
For the lyric, Bachman was listening to C-Fox radio on the way to the club and heard the DJ say they were “Takin’ Care of Business,” which gave him the idea for the hook. Singing his lyrics to “White Collar Worker,” Bachman sang “Takin’ Care of Business” in the breakdown, and he had his song.
The song lay dormant until Bachman formed Bachman-Turner Overdrive and was playing a show when lead singer Fred Turner’s voice gave out. Forced to sing for a set, Bachman told the band to “Play these three chords over and over – C, B flat, and F – endlessly and when I get to the hook, help me out.”
Randy Bachman: “Ralph (Murphy) and I wrote a song in ’67 called ‘A Little Bit Of Rain.’ That riff is used in the middle of ‘Takin’ Care Of Business,’ just to break the monotony because ‘Takin’ Care Of Business’ was three chords over and over and over. It had no bridge. No hook. No song format, other than that it was ‘Louie Louie.’ Endless, mind-bashing of three chords. And the original version, as I explained at the Ryman, had twelve chords. That’s why nobody liked it. It had an incredible number of chords.”
From Songfacts
The band captured the feel of jamming in the club by having Bachman sing it, which Turner appreciated since it would give his voice a rest at their shows. Bachman had a sore throat and a head cold when he recorded his vocals.
The song propelled the phrase “Takin’ care of business” into the popular lexicon, forever to be used by athletes, performers and the common man to indicate they are on the job.
While the song title implies an industrious responsibility, a closer listen reveals that this song is more of a slacker anthem. The singer is presumably unemployed, and he “loves to work at nothing all day.”
Norman Durkee played the piano on this track. So who is this Norman fellow? John Presho, who knew Bachman and worked security at their concerts, gives this account: “Randy Bachman told me that when BTO was in the recording studio the record producer wasn’t happy with the raw version of that song. BTO took a time out, ordered a pizza and went back to work on the song. A while later there was a knock on the studio door and it was the pizza delivery man. After giving the band their pizza he commented that ‘Takin’ Care of Business’ was a great song but it needed some piano playing. The pizza man introduced himself as Norman and said that he was a piano player. BTO thanked and tipped him and sent him on his way. Hours later with no improvement in the song they decided to call Norman, but no one got his phone number or could remember the name of the pizza place. BTO called a half dozen pizza houses before they were able to track him down. The band paid Herman’s $75 to join the musicians union so he could play the piano in the recording studio.”
BTO being introduced by the great Keith Moon.
Takin’ Care Of Business
You get up every morning from your alarm clock’s warning Take the 8:15 into the city There’s a whistle up above and people pushin’, people shovin’ And the girls who try to look pretty And if your train’s on time, you can get to work by nine And start your slaving job to get your pay If you ever get annoyed, look at me I’m self-employed I love to work at nothing all day
And I’ll be taking care of business (every day) Taking care of business (every way) I’ve been taking care of business (it’s all mine) Taking care of business and working overtime, work out
If it were easy as fishin’ you could be a musician If you could make sounds loud or mellow Get a second-hand guitar, chances are you’ll go far If you get in with the right bunch of fellows People see you having fun just a-lying in the sun Tell them that you like it this way It’s the work that we avoid, and we’re all self-employed We love to work at nothing all day
And we be taking care of business (every day) Taking care of business (every way) We be been taking care of business (it’s all mine) Taking care of business and working overtime
Mercy Whoo All right
Take good care of my business When I’m away, every day Whoo
You get up every morning from your alarm clock’s warning Take the 8:15 into the city There’s a whistle up above and people pushin’, people shovin’ And the girls who try to look pretty And if your train’s on time, you can get to work by nine And start your slaving job to get your pay If you ever get annoyed, look at me I’m self-employed I love to work at nothing all day
And I be taking care of business (every day) Taking care of business (every way) I’ve been taking care of business (it’s all mine) Taking care of business and working overtime, take care
Takin’ care of business, whoo Takin’ care of business Takin’ care of business Takin’ care of business Takin’ care of business (every day) Takin’ care of business (every way) Takin’ care of business (it’s all mine) Takin’ care of business and working overtime, whoo
Takin’ care of business Takin’ care of business We be takin’ care of business We be takin’ care of business Takin’ care of business Takin’ care of business Takin’ care of business
Don Gordon who plays Salvadore Ross a troubled young man who has fits of rages. He soon finds out that human characteristics can be bought, sold, and exchanged like stock. There is one thing though…it’s a price steeper than money. Salvadore starts out as another Serling low life. A small-time man looking for shortcuts who only want things without giving back. His newfound power has no explanation, but I didn’t mind.
This is an episode about getting what you want and how essential it is to be true to yourself in attaining it. Sometimes it’s not about having it but how you get it. The acting is top-notch. Don Gordon went on to have 134 acting credits in 6 different decades. He also appeared in the Twilight Zone appearance since The Four of Us Are Dying. The character here is similar…cocky, slightly cruel, and short-tempered.
From IMDB Trivia: Based upon a short story of the same name, written by Henry Slesar and first published in the May 1961 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction by Mercury Press, Inc.
Kathleen O’Malley plays the nurse and J. Pat O’Malley played the older patient in the hospital. They were not related, however, when he began his career, he was known as Pat O’Malley, but when he arrived in Hollywood, he became known professionally as J. Pat O’Malley to avoid confusion with the actor Pat O’Malley who was, in real life, the father of Kathleen O’Malley.
The character of Salvadore Ross is 26, but the actor playing him, Don Gordon, was 38.
The $100,000.00 offer in 1964 would be the equivalent of about $896,000.00 in the year 2022.
This show was written by Jerry McNeely, Henry Slesar, and Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
Confidential personnel file on Salvadore Ross. Personality: a volatile mixture of fury and frustration. Distinguishing physical characteristic: a badly broken hand, which will require emergency treatment at the nearest hospital. Ambition: shows great determination towards self-improvement. Estimate of potential success: a sure bet for a listing in Who’s Who in the Twilight Zone.
Summary
Salvadore Ross is a volatile mix of violence and frustration. He’s not very bright and hasn’t made much of himself so far. He is very much in love with Leah Maitland though she has told him she doesn’t want to see him anymore. He thinks she won’t see him because her father doesn’t approve and that they both think she can do better. When he realizes he can actually exchange parts of himself, like his age, with others he sets out on a path to make himself more acceptable to both of them.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
The Salvadore Ross program for self-improvement. The all-in-one, sure-fire success course that lets you lick the bully, learn the language, dance the tango and anything else you want to do. Or think you want to do. Money-back guarantee. Offer limited to…the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited) Don Gordon…Salvadore Ross Gail Kobe…Leah Maitland Vaughn Taylor…Mr. Maitland J. Pat O’Malley…Old Man Douglass Dumbrille…Mr. Halpert Douglas Lambert…Albert Rowe Seymour Cassel…Jerry (uncredited) Ted Jacques…Bartender (uncredited) Kathleen O’Malley…Nurse (uncredited)
I had a greatest hits package by the Guess who given to me by a relative. At the time I thought the Guess Who and The Who were the same.
The title of this song was inspired by Bob Dylan. Randy Bachman said he got the idea after hearing the Dylan song “Ballad In Plain D” on the radio. It was a very long song, and just as Bachman was about to turn off the radio, Dylan sang the line “She came undone.” Bachman said the lyrics were about a girl he saw at a party who went into a coma after dropping acid.
Canadian Jazz guitarist Lenny Breau taught Bachman some chords and you can hear the jazzy feel of the song. Bachman also was influenced by an obscure Kenny Rankin song called “Soft Guitar.”
Burton Cummings learned to play the flute for this song. In his old band The Deverons he played saxophone. While playing at a music store Cummings saw a flute in a case. Burton learned from the dealer that the fingering for the flute was the same as a sax (except for C).
Their name came about when their label Quality Records released their first hit single (“Shakin’ All Over”) credited only to “Guess Who?” in an attempt to build a mystique around the band. They wanted the public to believe that this was a possible British band. The real name of the band was “Chad Allan & The Expressions,” but radio station DJs continued to refer to them as “The Guess Who.” when playing subsequent singles.
This was released as the B-side of Laughing. It got radio play when some disc jockeys flipped the single and played it. That in turn prompted the record company to release it as an A-side 4 months later.
The song peaked at #21 in Canada and #22 in the Billboard 100 in 1969. The song was on the album Canned Wheat.
Undun
She’s come undun She didn’t know what she was headed for And when I found what she was headed for It was too late
She’s come undun She found a mountain that was far too high And when she found out she couldn’t fly It was too late
It’s too late She’s gone too far She’s lost the sun
She’s come undun She wanted truth but all she got was lies Came the time to realize And it was too late
She’s come undun She didn’t know what she was headed for And when I found what she was headed for Mama, it was too late
It’s too late She’s gone too far She’s lost the sun She’s come undun
Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb Too many churches and not enough truth Too many people and not enough eyes to see Too many lives to lead and not enough time
It’s too late She’s gone too far She’s lost the sun
She’s come undun
It’s too late She’s gone too far She’s lost the sun
She’s come undun She didn’t know what she was headed for And when I found what she was headed for It was too late
She’s come undun She found a mountain that was far too high And when she found out she couldn’t fly Mama, it was too late
It’s too late She’s gone too far She’s lost the sun
I haven’t had a theme week in a while. This week will be 1970’s songs that you would have heard on AM Radio back then that were big pop hits…as you were cruising in your parent’s LTD or some other vehicle.
This is one of those AM Gold radio singles from the seventies. It’s made to be heard through an AM station while you are riding in your…insert your 1970s car of choice (mine would be an Opel GT).
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils were, in one word, eclectic. They have been called southern rock, country, country rock, and pop. This song is one of those great pop hits during the mid-seventies. It is part of my childhood DNA.
The band started out with the name “Family Tree” but they found out that another band was using that name, so they stopped using it. They soon had a “naming party” and came up with “Cosmic Corn Cob & His Amazing Ozark Mountain Daredevils” but decided to shorten the name…and none of the band wanted to be called Cosmic Corn Cob.
The song was written by bandmates Steve Cash and Larry Lee. The song was inspired by someone they had met in L. A. that was strung out on drugs. It was a guy who partied way too much…when they recorded the song, they changed Jackie to a girl.
This song was off of their It’ll Shine When It Shines album released in 1974. The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #9 in New Zealand. It was the biggest hit of their career…they are known most for this song and If You Want To Get To Heaven. After their first two albums, they didn’t have a lot of big hits but retained a good following. They have released 8 studio albums and 6 charting singles…the latest album was released in 2018 called Off The Beaten Path.
Bassist Mike ‘Supe’ Granda: “[Ozarks drummer] Larry Lee brought the song to us. He said he wrote it about a guy we knew. Every night, this guy would go out to the nightclub with a wad of money and a pocket full of blow and he’d be out there chasing women. “So we played this song for about a year. After we recorded the song we went to LA to mix it, and A&M said: ‘You’ve recorded a number one song, but Jackie needs to be a girl.’ So Larry took Steve Cash, our lyricist, into the other room, and three or four hours later they came out and Jackie was a girl. Larry laid his vocals down, and it flipped all of us out. “We’d been hearing this song about a guy for a year-and-a-half, and all of a sudden it was about a girl. But it sounded great.”
Jackie Blue
Ooh, Jackie Blue Lives her life from inside of her room Hides a smile when she’s wearin’ a frown Ooh, Jackie you’re not so down
You like your life in a free-form style You’ll take an inch but you’d love a mile There never seems to be quite enough Floating around to fill your lovin’ cup
Ooh, Jackie Blue What’s a game girl, if you never lose? Ask a winner and you’ll probably find Ooh, Jackie they’ve lost at sometime
Don’t try to tell me that you’re not aware Of what you’re doing and that you don’t care You say it’s easy, just a natural thing Like playing music, but you never sing
Ooh, Jackie Blue Making wishes that never come true Going places that you’ve never been Ooh, Jackie Blue, you’re going again
Ooh, Jackie Blue Lives a dream that can never come true Making love is like sifting through sand Ooh, Jackie, it slips through your hand
Every day, in your indigo eyes I watch the sunset but I don’t see it rise Moonlight and stars in your strawberry wine You’d take the world but you won’t take the time
Ooh-hoo-hoo, Jackie Blue Lives her life from inside of a room Makes you think that her life is a drag Ooh Jackie, what fun you have had
My friend and I discovered his father’s Buffalo Springfield’s greatest hits album in the early eighties. I grew to be a fan then and there, before I knew about Stills, Young, and the rest. Broken Arrow was my favorite song but Mr. Soul, For What It’s Worth, and this one we could not get enough of.
This song was Buffalo Springfield’s first single and the breakout for both Stephen Stills and Neil Young – although it wasn’t supposed to be. Originally the song Go and Say Goodbye by Stephen Stills on the A-side and Young’s Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing on the B-side, before their producers caved to pressure from distributors and flipped the sides.
Richie Furay sings the lead on this song after hearing Young play it earlier. Furay had songs he wanted to include on the album. His songs got lost in the shuffle with the Stills and Young and the developing rivalry between the two.
It wasn’t a smash by any means, but it charted at #110 in the Billboard 100 and #75 in Canada in 1966… so it got some airplay and was a regional success in California. Their album Buffalo Springfield peaked at #80 in the Billboard Album charts in 1967.
In Los Angeles, California’s WKHJ was the first radio station to play the song. Buffalo Springfield’s management arranged this feat by giving the station advanced tapes of “A Day In The Life” by the Beatles, which gave them the chance to break the song ahead of anyone else.
Neil Young wrote this song, which is partially based on one of his real-life schoolmates. Ross “Clancy” Smith attended Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, Canada, with Young.
Neil Young:“He was a kind of persecuted member of the community. He used to be able to do something, sing or something, and then he wasn’t able to do it anymore. The fact was that all the other problems or things that were seemingly important didn’t mean anything anymore because he couldn’t do what he wanted to do.”
The Carpenters did a version on their album Ticket To Ride in 1969.
From Songfacts
Further stress on the band’s debut was brought about by frustration with their producers. Though the legendary Ahmet Ertegun was their mentor, they’d been hooked up through the management team of Charlie Greene and Brian Stone, who were clearly out of their depth. Greene and Stone named themselves Buffalo Springfield’s producers and had them signed not to Atlantic proper or even their subsidiary Atco, but to their own York/Pala Records label, giving them a bigger slice of the profit pie than they otherwise would have been entitled to. As drummer Bruce Palmer is quoted in Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History, “They were the sleaziest, most underhanded, backstabbing motherf–kers in the business! They were the best!”
Also from that book: “What hurt the album more than anything, though, was Greene and Stone’s production. Despite the Springfield’s strength as a live act, the managers forced each musician to record separately, piecing the parts together. Worse, after the band participated in the mono mix, Greene and Stone quickly converted the album to stereo, resulting in a tinny mix that outrages the group to this day. Young commented that Greene and Stone made them sound like the All-Insect Orchestra.”
In the same book, classmate Diana Halter says Clancy had multiple sclerosis, and was “so intelligent and so bright that he masked the sweet soul beneath it all.”
All accounts taken together, it’s hard to put an exact picture together of what made Clancy such a standout figure, but all agree he was exactly that.
Though Clancy was an inspiring figure in the song, “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” is about Young as much as it about Clancy. He wrote it in 1965 after having a terrible time in Toronto, where his attempts to get things going as a professional musician totally flopped. The rejection he experienced there was so complete (“humbling,” as he called it) that it sent him into a fit of introspective, frustrated songwriting. Out of this pain began to emerge the songwriting style on which Young would build his legend. The pinnacle of those songs, many of which were only recorded on demos or not recorded at all, was “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing.”
Released on Buffalo Springfield’s eponymous debut album, the song peaked at #110, which wasn’t very good at that time. Unlike the modern era when there are so many bands and expectations are a bit more muted, back then a major-label act, even a new one, was expected to at least break into the top 100 to be considered commercially viable. The song was popular in the Los Angeles area, however, which was the nexus of hippie counterculture.
Young first recorded this song on a January 1966 demo for Elektra Records (Elektra rejected the demos). It can be heard on the 2009 release of The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972.
There’s a live solo recording of the song on Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968.
The psychedelic band Fever Tree recorded the song in 1968 on their self-titled debut album.
Furay got an early preview of this song from Young himself when the Canadian visited Furay’s New York City apartment. He was auditioning to be house performer at a nightclub called the The Bitter End and played it there. Some of the auditions were recorded but haven’t been released anywhere.
The Clancy Brothers inspired the musical form in this song, with its Irish-styled 2/4 rhythm verses and 3/4 rhythm choruses.
Many journalists and historians have noted this song as Young’s artistic breakthrough, the one that helped him find the niche that would give him the kind of appeal that endured over 50 years later.
Who’s coming home on old 95?
Einarson in Don’t Be Denied posits that this line might refer to a trip that Young took home to Winnipeg in the fall of ’65, suggesting that the train was numbered 95.
Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing
Hey who’s that stomping all over my face? Where’s that silhouette I’m trying to trace? Who’s putting sponge in the bells I once rung? And taking my gypsy before she’s begun? To singing the meaning of what’s in my mind Before I can take home what’s rightfully mine Joinin’ and listenin’ and talkin’ in rhymes Stoppin’ the feeling to wait for the times Who’s saying baby that don’t mean a thing ‘Cause nowadays Clancy can’t even sing
And who’s all hung-up on that happiness thing? Who’s trying to tune all the bells that he rings? And who’s in the corner and down on the floor? With pencil and paper just counting the score? And who’s trying to act like he just in between? The night isn’t black, it can only be screened Don’t bother looking you’re too blind to see Who’s coming on like he wanted to be Who’s saying baby, that don’t mean a thing ‘Cause nowadays Clancy can’t even sing
And who’s coming home on the old ninety five? Who’s got the feeling to keep him alive Though havin’ it, sharin’ it ain’t quite the same It ain’t no gold nugget you can’t lay a claim Who’s seeing eyes through the crack in the floor There it is baby don’t you worry no more Who should be sleepin’ but is writing this song Wishin’ and a-hopin’ he weren’t so damned wrong Who’s saying baby, that don’t mean a thing ‘Cause nowadays Clancy can’t even sing Who’s saying baby that don’t mean a thing ‘Cause nowadays Clancy can’t even sing
The Long Morrow is a simple but complicated love story in the Twilight Zone. Robert Lansing and Mariette Hartley play Commander Douglas Stansfield and Sandra Horn respectively. They make the characers real and inject an emotional depth to their story. The Twilight Zone had some of the best casting of any show on television.
I would say it’s The Twilight Zone’s most romantic episode. This one is unbelievably poignant with the ironic ending. It makes you think about human spirit and the lenghs to which Man (and Woman) will go to realize an ultimate ambition. We are clever when we want to be but sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way we think it will.
To talk anymore about it would give the ending away. This is one you will have to watch.
Robert Lansing:I was a little reluctant to do the semi-nude thing in the ice block, but it was such a good idea, so visual, that I bypassed my own feelings and did it. I was wearing a pair of mini-trunks which today id wear on a beach.
From IMDB Trivia:
Both Robert Lansing (Commander Stansfield) and Mariette Hartley (Sandra Horn) later both guest star on Star Trek (1966), but not together. Robert Lansing played Gary Seven in S2E26 (“Assignment: Earth”), for a spin-off series that was not picked up. Mariette Hartley played Zarabeth in S3E23 (“All Our Yesterdays”) as a love interest for Mr. Spock.
This episode takes place in June 1987, in November 1987, from December 31, 1987 to January 1, 1988, on April 19, 1988, on May 1, 1988 and in 2027.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
It may be said with a degree of assurance that not everything that meets the eye is as it appears. Case in point, the scene you’re watching. This is not a hospital, not a morgue, not a mausoleum, not an undertaker’s parlor of the future. What it is is the belly of a spaceship. It is en route to another planetary system, an incredible distance from the Earth. This is the crux of our story – a flight into space. It is also the story of the things that might happen to human beings who take a step beyond, unable to anticipate everything that might await them out there.
The narration continues after Stansfield is informed that his journey into space will take forty years:
Commander Douglas Stansfield, astronaut, a man about to embark on one of history’s longest journeys: forty years out into endless space and hopefully back again. This is the beginning, the first step towards man’s longest leap into the unknown. Science has solved the mechanical details and now it’s up to one human being to breathe life into blueprints and computers, to prove once and for all that man can live half a lifetime in the total void of outer space, forty years alone in the unknown. This is Earth. Ahead lies a planetary system. The vast region in between is the Twilight Zone.
Summary
Commander Douglas Stansfield is selected to be the first astronaut to go on a deep-space mission. He will be away for 40 years but for much of that, he will be in stasis, and on his return he will hardly have aged. Stansfield is a seemingly ideal candidate as he is single and has no close family. Prior to his departure however, he meets the beautiful Sandra Horn and they fall very much in love. Forty years later, Stansfield returns but it seems he and Sandra had their own way of dealing with the 40 years since they last saw each other.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Commander Douglas Stansfield, one of the forgotten pioneers of the space age. He’s been pushed aside by the flow of progress and the passage of years, and the ferocious travesty of fate. Tonight’s tale of the ionosphere and irony, delivered from the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited) Robert Lansing…Commander Douglas Stansfield Mariette Hartley…Sandra Horn George Macready…Dr. Bixler Ed Binns…General Walters William Swan…Technician
Being a fan of bands like this is like being in a secret club. When you do find a person who knows Big Star, The Velvet Underground, or any other band like that…you usually have found a friend.
In the 80s a buddy of mine had some Velvet Underground albums (same one with Big Star albums) and I loved what I heard. After I started to know some of their songs, I wanted to talk to other people about them…most people I talked to never knew who I was talking about. Lou Reed they knew but not this band. That is when I learned what a cult band was…after being introduced to Big Star and Velvet Underground by the same person…I’ll never be able to thank him enough.
This song was on their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico it was released in 1967. Lou Reed wrote There She Goes Again. The lyrics to this song must have sounded outrageous to the listeners in 1967. The album only charted at #129 in the Billboard 100 and that would be the best charting LP of all of their 5 original albums.
Their compilation album VU did peak at #85 in 1985.
The band got its name from the 1963 paperback book of the same title. Cover quote on the book: “Here is an incredible book. It will shock and amaze you. But as a documentary on the sexual corruption of our age, it is a must for every thinking adult.”
It came with an introduction by Louis Berg, M.D. Cover price: sixty cents. Lou Reed called it “the funniest dirty book he’d ever read.
From Songfacts
“There She Goes Again” is the 8th track from the Velvet Underground’s debut album, reaching up the Billboard Hot 100 charts at… oh, wait, the Velvet Underground never charted. However as Velvet Underground songs go, this one is perhaps the most mainstream-sounding.
The lyrics more than make up for the ear-friendly notes, however, when you realize that this song is about a woman falling into prostitution. And in fact it does so with gritty references to being on her knees and walking the streets – maybe not so shocking today, but monocle-popping in 1967.
On December 11, 1965, the Velvets appeared at the Summit High School Auditorium for one of their first paid gigs, alongside two other bands since long forgotten. Their set began with this song, then went to “Venus In Furs,” and finished with “Heroin.” At a high school. Sterling Morrison later recounted in a 1983 interview that a “murmur of surprise” changed to “a roar of disbelief” and then to “a mighty howl of outrage and bewilderment” over the course of their three-song set.
Musically, this song does borrow from Marvin Gaye’s “Hitch Hike” – give it a listen. It’s even more obvious of an influence if you listen to the Rolling Stones cover on the Out of Our Heads album – there’s the guitar riff and the pronounced stops.
That album cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico – have you ever thought about how, if you peel off the sticker, the revealed banana is pink? Isn’t that an… interesting color choice for a… peeled banana? It’s almost like Andy Warhol was trying to convey some subtle Freudian signal to us. Pink banana.
There She Goes Again
There she goes again (There she goes again) She’s out on the streets again (There she goes again) She’s down on her knees, my friend (There she goes again) But you know she’ll never ask you please again (There she goes again)
Now take a look, there’s no tears in her eyes She won’t take it from just any guy, what can you do (There she goes again) You see her walkin’ on down the street (There she goes again) Look at all your friends she’s gonna meet (There she goes again) You better hit her
There she goes again (There she goes) She’s knocked out on her feet again (There she goes) She’s down on her knees, my friend (There she goes) But you know she’ll never ask you please again (There she goes)
Now take a look, there’s no tears in her eyes Like a bird, you know she would fly, what can you do (There she goes) You see her walkin’ on down the street (There she goes) Look at all your friends that she’s gonna meet (There she goes) You better hit her
Now take a look, there’s no tears in her eyes Like a bird, you know she will fly, fly, fly away (Fly, fly, fly) See her walking on down the street Look at all your friends that she’s gonna meet
She’s gonna bawl and shout, she’s gonna work it She’s gonna work it out, bye bye Bye by by by by by bye baby She’s all right
The first episode that was shown in 1964. America was going through a big change. JFK had been assassinated two months before and The Beatles were on their way the following month. This episode predates the movie Christine and The Car by decades. Edward Andrews plays Oliver Pope who is driving distractedly on a rainy day and runs down a boy on a bike.
The boy is badly injured, and Andrews runs when he sees no one around. He goes home, filled with guilt and paranoia. He is worried about a man who he thinks is after his job. At this point, his car begins to act out. At first, it flashes headlights. Then it’s the horn. Then the radio. No matter what Andrews does, the car continues to act out.
They could have played this one like a horror movie but instead, they built up suspense based on a guilty conscience.
Another good episode that was written by Earl Hamner Jr….the creator of The Waltons.
Earl Hamner Jr:All mechanical things frustrate me. Im like my friend, John McGreevey, the writer, who once cut himself with a sponge. I am afraid of and inept with all mechanical devices. Its kind of a love-hate relationship. I drive a Corvette which I love because it is so at odds with the image of John-Boy Walton as an old man. And of course it is a stunning machine. But at the same time, I do not trust it. It seems to have a life of its own, and sometimes when it will not start I suspect it is because it has some personal grudge against me.
This show was written by Rod Serling and Earl Hamner Jr.
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
Portrait of a nervous man: Oliver Pope by name, office manager by profession. A man beset by life’s problems: his job, his salary, the competition to get ahead. Obviously, Mr. Pope’s mind is not on his driving.
Oliver Pope, businessman-turned-killer, on a rain-soaked street in the early evening of just another day during just another drive home from the office. The victim, a kid on a bicycle, lying injured, near death. But Mr. Pope hasn’t time for the victim, his only concern is for himself. Oliver Pope, hit-and-run driver, just arrived at a crossroad in his life, and he’s chosen the wrong turn. The hit occurred in the world he knows, but the run will lead him straight into—the Twilight Zone.
Summary
On a rainy day, office manager Oliver Pope is driving home when he hits a newspaper boy with his car and promptly flees the scene. He puts the car in his garage but when his wife sees the lights flashing, she thinks they have an intruder. In fact, its just the car acting up. In the middle of the night, his car horn honks and when his wife takes it out the next day, it stops at the exact corner where the accident occurred. When his competitor at the office, Pete Radcliff, is arrested he thinks he’s home free. It’s apparent however that the car is going to continue acting up until Pope makes things right.
WARNING VIDEO CONTAINS SPOILERS
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
All persons attempting to conceal criminal acts involving their cars are hereby warned: check first to see that underneath that chrome there does not lie a conscience, especially if you’re driving along a rain-soaked highway in the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited) Edward Andrews…Oliver Pope Helen Westcott…Lillian Pope Kevin Hagen…Pete Radcliff Totty Ames…Muriel Hastings Michael Gorfain…Timmy Danbers, newspaper boy John Hanek…Policeman Robert McCord…Passerby
This wasn’t released in the prime years of Badfinger. Pete Ham was gone by this point but this is one new Badfinger song that I heard on radio at the time. I liked it so much that I bought the album Airwaves.
I posted another Airwaves song not long with a song called Lost Inside Your Love that came off of the Airwaves album. This song was a minor hit and peaked at #69 in 1979. It’s a nice power pop song that Joey Molland wrote.
Following the “hold placed (by the record company) on the last Badfinger album, Head First, and the suicide of group co-founder Pete Ham in 1975, Badfinger disbanded, and the remaining members joined various other groups or dropped out of music for the next two years.
This was a comeback album for the band trying to make it back without their main songwriter Pete Ham.
Rick Springfield just covered the song with Joey Molland that was released on an album which Joey worked with different artists such as Todd Rundgren, Springfield, Rick Wakeman, Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Sonny Landreth, Vanilla Fudge and more for a Badfinger cover album called Badfinger No Matter What: Recovering the Hits.
Love Is Gonna Come At Last
There are times when it feels so hard just to carry on There are times when the days all seem to be so long Then this feeling inside of me sets me free from the past
And I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come at last Yes, I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come at last
Been alone in a crowded room, watched it all go on I’ve had so many sleepless nights when I dreamed alone Then a break in the clouds above feels like love shining down
And I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come around Yes, I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come around
I live for tomorrow, what it may bring I live through the sorrow Live in my dreams, in my dreams
This feeling inside of me sets me free from the past And someday I’ll find a way to make my dreams come true
‘Cause I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come at last Yes, I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come at last Yes, I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come at last Yes, I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come at last Yes, I know that when I’m ready, love is gonna come at last
I’ve seen the Stones twice…once in 1997 and another time in 2006. If they would not have played Satisfaction it would not have bothered me in the least. Don’t get me wrong….it’s a great song…an iconic song but they could have subbed Happy or All Down The Line and I would have been happy. That is the way I felt at the time…but looking at it now…yea they are identified with this song. You probably could call it their signature song. This song made them international stars.
On May 6, 1965, The Rolling Stones played to about 3,000 people at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Florida while on their first US tour. That night, Keith Richards woke up in his hotel room with the guitar riff and lyric “Can’t get no satisfaction” in his head. He recorded it on a portable tape deck, went back to sleep, and brought it to the studio that week. The tape contained his guitar riff followed by the sounds of him snoring…no he doesn’t still have the tape.
The guitar riff is similar to Martha & the Vandellas “Dancing in the Street.” Richards thought that is where he got the idea, and was worried that it was too similar.
Mick Jagger wrote all the lyrics except the line “Can’t get no satisfaction.” The lyrics deal with what Jagger saw as the two sides of America, the real and phony. He sang about a man looking for authenticity but not being able to find it. Jagger experienced the vast commercialism of America in a big way on their tours, and later learned to exploit it, as The Rolling Stones made truckloads of money through sponsorships and merchandising in the US.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, The Uk…but…Canada was the rebel of the bunch…it peaked at #3 there.
Keith Richards about the Fuzzbox:“It was the first one Gibson made. I was screaming for more distortion: This riff’s really gotta hang hard and long, and we burnt the amps up and turned the s–t up, and it still wasn’t right. And then Ian Stewart went around the corner to Eli Wallach’s Music City or something and came around with a distortion box. Try this. It was as off-hand as that. It was just from nowhere. I never got into the thing after that, either. It had a very limited use, but it was just the right time for that song.”
Mick Jagger: “It sounded like a folk song when we first started working on it and Keith didn’t like it much, he didn’t want it to be a single, he didn’t think it would do very well. I think Keith thought it was a bit basic. I don’t think he really listened to it properly. He was too close to it and just felt it was a silly kind of riff.”
Mick Jagger:“People get very blasé about their big hit. It was the song that really made The Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band. You always need one song. We weren’t American, and America was a big thing and we always wanted to make it here. It was very impressive the way that song and the popularity of the band became a worldwide thing. It’s a signature tune, really, rather than a great, classic painting, ’cause it’s only like one thing – a kind of signature that everyone knows. It has a very catchy title. It has a very catchy guitar riff. It has a great guitar sound, which was original at that time. And it captures a spirit of the times, which is very important in those kinds of songs… Which was alienation. Or it’s a bit more than that, maybe, but a kind of sexual alienation. Alienation’s not quite the right word, but it’s one word that would do.”
From Songfacts
Richards was staying at the Fort Harrison Hotel (known at the time as the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel) when he rolled out of bed with the idea for this song. The hotel still exists. In 1975, it was bought by the Church of Scientology and frequently hosts religious retreats.
This was released in the United States on June 6, 1965, just a month after Keith Richards woke up with the guitar riff in his head. In the UK, it wasn’t issued until August 20, since The Stones did not want to release it in England until they were there to support it. While they were touring in America, they became very popular in England, so they kept recording singles in the States to keep their momentum until they could return for a tour.
Richards ran his guitar through a Gibson Fuzz Box to create the distortion effect. He had no intention of using the sound on the record, but Gibson had just sent him the device, and he thought the Fuzz Box would create sustained notes to help sketch out the horn section. The band thought it sounded great and wanted to use the sound because it would be very unusual for a rock record. Richards thought it sounded gimmicky and did not like the result, but the rest of the band convinced him to ditch the horn section and use the distorted guitar sound.
There is some debate as to whether this is the first use of fuzz guitar in a rock song. Shiloh Noone sheds some light on the subject in his book Seekers Guide To The Rhythm Of Yesteryear: “Anne Margaret does have one claim to fame that embarrassingly whitewashes the rock generation, namely her studio recording of ‘I Just Don’t Understand’ which boasts the first fuzz guitar applied to wax, courtesy of Billy Strange, a one time member of Phil Spector’s session crew who later hit the charts with an instrumental version of Monty Norman’s ‘James Bond theme.’ ‘I Just Don’t Understand’ was later launched as a single by Freddie & The Dreamers and also played live by the Beatles at the Cavern. Billy Strange repeated his fuzz on ‘Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah’ (Bob B Soxx & The Blue Jeans). So what’s the buzz about fuzz? Well it did launch the early stages of psychedelia and boost its prime exponents The Ventures, specifically their 1962 single ‘2.000lb Bee.’ Sure-fisted Keith Richards claims he revolutionized the fuzz on the ripping ‘Satisfaction’ while utilizing his new fuzz box, yet Big Jim Sullivan used it previously on P.J. Proby’s ‘Hold Me.’ Billy Strange exalted the riff that Link Wray had already laid claim to three year previous, so what’s the fuzz?”
The Stones performed this on their third Ed Sullivan Show appearance, which took place February 13, 1966. The line, “Trying to make some girl,” was bleeped out by Sullivan’s censors, as it was a family show. Sullivan was perhaps the only host that could get away with this, as he helped launch the band in America. On their fifth appearance, Jagger agreed to sing “Let’s Spend The Night Together” as “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.”
This was included on the US version of the Out Of Our Heads album, but not the British. Putting singles on albums was considered ripping people off in England.
The stereo mix has electric instruments on one channel and acoustics on the other.
Jack Nitzsche worked with The Stones on this, playing piano and helping produce it. He also played the tambourine part because he thought Jagger’s attempt lacked soul. Nitzsche was a successful producer who worked on many early hits for the Stones, including “Get Off My Cloud” and “Paint It, Black.” He died in 2000 at age 63.
Otis Redding recorded this in 1966 at the behest of Steve Cropper and Booker T. Jones, who were part of his backing band at Stax Records. Otis hadn’t heard the song, and he didn’t like it, so he did a radically different version of the song, using horns and changing many of the words. Using horns was what Keith Richards originally had in mind for the song, and he lauded Redding’s take. His version was one of the first British songs covered by a black artist; usually it was the other way around.
The final take was recorded just five days after Richards first came up with the idea. Three weeks later, it was released as a single in the US. An instant hit, it made The Stones stars in America; it helped that they were already touring the US to support it.
There is a song by Chuck Berry called “Thirty Days” with the line “I can’t get no satisfaction from the judge.” Richards is a huge Chuck Berry fan and it is possible that this is where he got the idea for the title.
This was featured in the 1984 film Starman, starring Jeff Bridges. The movie is set on a deep space probe in the ’70s. >>
Sesame Street did a version called “(I Can’t Get No) Cooperation,” which is about a kid at school having trouble to finding someone to play jump rope or ride the seesaw.
Some of the artists who have covered this include Britney Spears and Devo. Another unusual cover was by The Residents, whose version is much more intense, with distorted, raging vocals, and a heavy guitar solo courteously of Phil “Snakefinger” Lithman.
The Stones don’t own the publishing rights to this song. In 1965, they signed a deal with an American lawyer named Allen Klein and let him make some creative accounting maneuvers to avoid steep British taxes. He ended up controlling most of their money, and in order to get out of their contract, The Stones signed over the publishing rights to all the songs they wrote up to 1969. Klein, who died in 2009, still had to pay royalties to the songwriters, but controlled how the songs were used.
Richards says he never plays this on stage the same way twice.
In 2006, The Rolling Stones played this at halftime of Superbowl XL.
The phrase, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” is grammatically incorrect. It’s a double negative and really means, “I Can Get Satisfaction.”
Keith Richards used his fuzzbox, but he also played clean guitar during the song, with Brian Jones strumming an acoustic throughout. This meant Keith had to switch between his two tones during the song, as multiple tracks were sparse back then and overdubs rare. If you listen to the song at :36 you will hear Keith switching on his fuzz with an audible click, just between Jagger’s “get” and “no.” At about 1:35, Keith is stomping his fuzz too late, slightly missing his cue, ending up playing the riff a little behind. At his next cue (2:33) he probably wants to be sure that his fuzz is on, so you can hear a short but audible fuzz note (accidentally?) played before the actual riff and slightly before Jagger’s “I can’t get.”
Despite the dig at TV advertising in this song (“When I’m watchin’ my TV, and that man comes on to tell me how white my shirts can be…”), Snickers wanted it badly for their “Snickers Satisfies” campaign, and got it for a price of $4 million, according to Allen Klein of the song’s publishing company, ABKCO. Klein said $2.8 million of that went to Jagger and Richards as writers of the song.
Further, Snickers didn’t even get the original song for their money. The commercial, which aired in 1991 used a version performed by studio musicians.
The song spent four weeks at #1 in America before getting knocked off by Herman’s Hermits “I’m Henry The VIII, I Am.” In the UK, it spent two weeks at #1, knocked off by The Walker Brothers “Make It Easy on Yourself.”
The Stones debuted “Satisfaction” on the ABC variety show Shindig! May 20, 1965, a few weeks before it was released in America. Months earlier, they had a UK #1 with “Little Red Rooster,” a song originally recorded by Howlin’ Wolf, an American bluesman who wasn’t well known in his home country. The Stones insisted that Wolf appear on the show, and they helped introduce his performance of How Many More Years.
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no satisfaction ‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try I can’t get no, I can’t get no
When I’m drivin’ in my car, and the man come on the radio He’s tellin’ me more and more about some useless information Supposed to fire my imagination
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey That’s what I say I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no satisfaction ‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try I can’t get no, I can’t get no
When I’m watchin’ my TV and a man comes on and tells me How white my shirts can be But, he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke The same cigarettes as me
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey That’s what I say I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no girl reaction ‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try I can’t get no, I can’t get no
When I’m ridin’ ’round the world And I’m doin’ this and I’m signin’ that And I’m tryin’ to make some girl, who tells me Baby, better come back maybe next week Can’t you see I’m on a losing streak? I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey That’s what I say, I can’t get no, I can’t get no I can’t get no satisfaction, no satisfaction No satisfaction, no satisfaction I can’t get no
I’m very happy to have Colin Jackson and Paul Fitzpatrick from Once Upon A Time In The 70’s guest host my blog today and reproduce a great post. As many of you know two of my favorite rock stars are Keith Moon and Keith Richards. What an experience this had to be! Without further ado…
Colin Jackson and Paul Fitzpatrick grew up in Bearsden, a northern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. They were school friends from the age of five until in 1974, aged sixteen, Paul left school to starta career working with fashion and sportswear brands.Their paths would not cross again for forty-four years, during which time Colin pursued a career in Banking.
With Paul in London and Colin in Glasgow they re-connected in 2020 when they both became active on their old secondary school’s Facebook page, instigating discussion and memories of their time at Bearsden Academy in the early to mid ’70s.
It became apparent pretty quickly that they enjoyed revisitingthose halcyon daysand after a quick catch up, they agreed that most people of a certain age, would have stories to share of growing up and living through the late 1960s and ’70s.
Inspired by the recent Apollo posts I’ve decided to share some of my own gig memories.
On 12th of May 1976, myself and my friend Peter attended The Rolling Stones concert at The Glasgow Apollo.
I don’t remember too much about the gig but apparently, it wasn’t their best as it was beset by sound problems all night.
It’s what happened after the gig that is etched on my mind, however.
As we were leaving there was an altercation on the street right outside the main doors. Peter and I decided to cut along Renfield Lane to avoid whatever was happening. Just as we got to the side door it burst open and a figure hurtled out, slipped on the cobbles and crashed to the ground. I reached down to help him to his feet.
‘Scrag-dab Groog Slubdabahoo!’ spluttered the man and I suddenly realized that the skinny figure I was propping up was a totally wasted Keith Richards! Almost immediately a black limo screeched to a halt in front of us and a very large man jumped out, removed KR from my arms, opened the back door and threw him onto the back seat! He grunted ‘Thanks man’ jumped into the car and sped off! The entire incident lasted about 40 seconds!
Peter and I just stared open-mouthed at each other and then burst out laughing!
A few weeks later, on 5th June 1976, I was very fortunate to be asked to be part of the security team at ‘The Who Put The Boot In’ all-day gig at Celtic Park.
My brother was friendly with a guy (MR) who booked all the bands for Glasgow Tech and he was asked to provide some bodies for the day. MR was very well known in the UK music industry and even had Pans People at his 22nd birthday party at the old Albany Hotel, where I danced with my long-time crush, the gorgeous Cherry Gillespie……but I digress.
My brother and I and 4 other friends duly turned up at Celtic Park at 8.00am and along with 60 other ‘security’ guards were given a briefing on our duties for the day. We were issued with our yellow ‘Harvey Goldsmith’ security jackets and split up into teams of six. We were then taken on a tour of the ground’s fire exits, toilets, catering, and first aid points. We were also shown the No Access areas and told that in no uncertain terms that the large, bulky figures sporting the blue ‘Rock Steady’ jackets were the REAL security and we were to assist them whenever asked to!
Our team of six was then told to report to the front of the stadium where the crowds had been gathering for the last few hours. We were to assist the Police confiscating the fans’ alcohol before they entered the stadium! ‘Either drink it where you stand or give it to us!’ We had to open and empty the beer cans and smash the glass bottles into large brick bins. The smell of alcohol was eye-watering! People were attempting to consume their entire kerryoot there and then! Especially the ones at the back of the huge queues as the word quickly spread.
I watched a skinny wee guy down a bottle of vodka in the five minutes it took him to get to the turnstile! I doubt if he saw much of the day’s entertainment!
Though I imagine quite a lot (hunners) of half and quarter bottles of alcohol were missed by our untrained searches and smuggled into the stadium. (I’m also sure quite a few made it into Yella Jaikets’ zipped pokits!) After about 2 hours of confiscating booze, I was partnered with an older guy and sent to guard the pylon on the right side of the stage.
We were there to prevent anybody trying to climb up it, but as you couldn’t see the stage from there, nobody did! After a boring half-hour, my partner announced that he was ‘Offski’ ‘F#€K This’ were his exact words. I later found out that he was ejected for drinking. I lasted another 15 minutes then abandoned my post and decided to have a wander backstage. Little Feat were on stage and I was enjoying Lowell George’s superb slide guitar work.
Little Feat’s Lowell George
I was talking to a long haired denim clad guy next to me who turned out to be the bass player (Frank O’Keefe… I had to google him) of The Outlaws who had already played their set.
The Outlaws, Frank O’Keefe second from right
A man approached us and said to Frank ‘Excuse me, this is Alan Longmuir of The Bay City Rollers….’Alan also plays bass’ Frank stared right through him, shrugged a ‘So what?’ and returned to talking to me! I felt really sorry for Alan Longmuir.
A Rock Steady Security Guy shouted ‘Right you! Follow me!’ So I did.
I followed him down a back staircase and emerged outside in a courtyard.
A few weeks before the gig a Sunday newspaper ran a competition to win a gig ticket and the chance to meet Keith Moon and help him smash up a replica of the organ used in Rock Opera, Tommy!
There stood Keith Moon dressed in a leather bikers jacket with tasseled sleeves and brandishing a sledgehammer!
Keith Moon
After posing for press photographs, cackling Keith dealt the first mighty blow to the poor keyboard sending black and white keys flying in all directions! Then he handed his sledgehammer to me and said ‘Your turn’ The competition winner and I then set about the helpless instrument with glee! After 15 minutes our ‘Appetite for Destruction’ waned and we put down our weapons. Keith reappeared and invited us onto The Who’s tour bus for a drink. We were greeted by a stunning 6′ 2″ woman dressed in a black leather basque, fishnet stockings and thigh length leather boots with 4″ stiletto heels! Oh and she was carrying a whip! The bus had been converted into a fully functioning bar with beer pumps, spirit optics and high stools! We took our seats and Miss Whiplash served our drinks. I had an ice cold beer (very welcome after our exertions) and a Jack & Coke. I did feel a pang of guilt for all the poor sods that had had their carry outs destroyed earlier…but not for long.
Keith was laughing and talking nonstop and it was obvious that he was already quite drunk and had probably partaken of other various substances. It was around 4pm and The Who weren’t due on stage for at least another 5 hours!
Keith offered us a second round but I declined and said I’d better, very reluctantly, get back to work. The competition winner (we never did introduce ourselves) left the bus with me. We were both still on a high after this amazing encounter with one of the legends of rock!
I returned backstage and watched SAHB’s amazing set. Nobody questioned why I was there and I had a brilliant view! The crowd went wild at Alex Harvey’s mad antics and Zal and the rest of the band pounded out song after song!
SAHB’s elaborate Vambo set then had to be dismantled and The Who’s much-heralded outdoor laser light show (the first in Scotland) was set up.
The crowd was getting a bit restless by the time The Who took the stage about 9.30pm but they played a magnificent set.
However the laser show didn’t really work as intended as it was still pretty light until around 10.30pm. Then the show was over and I met up again with my brother and his pals as we queued up to be paid. The deal was ‘Hand in your Yellow Jacket and get paid £1 per hour cash or keep the jacket and get zero. Now if I’d known then that eBay would exist in the future then I would’ve kept the jacket and sold it now for £500!
However I took my £14.00 handed out by Harvey Goldsmith himself sitting in a little wooden booth.
HG was beaming as he handed over the little bundles of cash obviously calculating the tens of thousands that he’d personally made from the tour!
I can’t even remember how we all got home from that exhausting but exhilarating day!
Now this last story may not be true…..It was told to me by an older guy who regularly attended gigs throughout 70’s
Fun and substance-loving band Dr. Hook were partying hard with their crew and local security at The Central Hotel after their gig at The Apollo.
Dr Hook
One of the band overheard a local guy mentioning ‘Hocken-Shoe-Gal! and in their spaced out, inebriated state the sound of this, strange, mystical place must’ve appealed to them and they decided they must visit, so they enquired how to get there. The local guy suggested a taxi but the band insisted on traveling ‘like the other pilgrims do’ ‘Then get the No. 64 bus from under the bridge’ They were told, so off they went to Argyle St. and got on the No. 64 bus….
Unfortunately, they boarded it on the wrong side of the road so instead of traveling east to the magical, mystical Auchenshuggle, they headed west through Finnieston, Partick, Whiteinch, Yoker, Clydebank and arrived at the large concrete terminus of Dalmuir West!
The band was very confused and didn’t appreciate these surroundings at all! They clambered back on the bus for the return journey back to the city centre to continue their par-tay! Hahaha
This is my second selection in the first round of the SlicetheLife TV Draft. And my choice is Fawlty Towers.
A great BBC sitcom…some have rated it as the best BBC sitcom ever.
The series is quick, well written and well-acted. The show was made in the mid and late seventies after John Cleese left the Monty Python TV series. I watched it when our PBS station carried it in the 80s.
There is not a bad episode of Fawlty Towers. John Cleese and his wife Connie Booth wrote all of the episodes. The scripts are solid and there is some physical comedy blended in with Sachs and Cleese. Cleese and Booth spent two-and-a-half weeks working out each plot before they wrote a single line of dialogue, generally spending the time most sitcom writers used for a whole series on a single episode.
There was a four-year gap between season one and two. That was because Cleese and Booth had divorced. They still wrote the second season together. The first season aired in 1975 and the second season in 1979.
Fawlty Towers centered around Basil… a rude, class-conscious hotel owner with a domineering wife Sybil a commonsense maid Polly, a Spanish waiter Manuel who could not understand English and took Basil’s abuse, and a retired senile military officer Major Gowen.
Cleese and Booth were inspired by the manager of a real Torquay hotel, Gleneagles, where they had stayed while filming Monty Python. They found the manager, Donald Sinclair, to be entertainingly rude. There were only 12 episodes made…two seasons with six episodes each. Instead of milking it dry they stopped at 12 because Cleese and Booth didn’t think they could write anymore up to the standards they set.
My favorite episode is the 6th episode of the 1st season called The Germans. The episode is a classic.
The Characters:
Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) – Basil seems to spend most of his life alternating between fawning over any guest who he perceives as being worthy of his attention, and then trying to berate them when they didn’t quite have the social standing, he first thought they had. Basil’s trouble is that he thinks his hotel is a higher-class establishment than it really is. The real thorn in his life is his wife Sybil. For all of his bluster, Basil can quickly be brought into line with a curt “Basil!” or two from Sybil. Basil never could stand up to his evidently better half.
Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales) – She spends her time keeping a tight rein on her husband Basil. She never misses an opportunity to close off an avenue of pleasure for Basil, such as betting on the horses. She can be domineering and controlling but with Basil you can’t blame her.
Polly Sherman (Connie Booth) – She probably has more common sense than anyone in the hotel. She struggles to calm down Basil, placate Sybil, and to instruct Manuel.
Manuel (Andrew Sachs) – Poor Manuel takes Basil’s abuse constantly. He was the waiter, bell-boy, porter, and all around do anything guy. Basil hired him with the intention of teaching him English because he’s cheap, but due to Basil’s only rudimentary grasp of Spanish it goes wrong.
Major Gowen (Ballard Berkeley)- A very forgetful retired Major who is a constant guest at the hotel.
Miss Gatsby and Miss Tibbs (Gilly Flower and Renee Roberts,) – They are two sweet natured spinsters who have taken a fancy to Basil, feeling that they need to take care of him.
I just had a Ricky Nelson song not long ago…sue me…I’ve been listening to him a lot lately.
“Poor Little Fool” was written by 17-year-old Sharon Sheeley when she was still attending high school in Newport Beach, California. Female songwriters were rare at the time, and when the song climbed to #1 in the US, she became the first woman to compose an American chart-topper on her own.
Sharon Sheeley was engaged to Eddie Cochran and was involved in the car wreck that killed Cochran and injured Gene Vincent. Sheeley suffered a broken pelvis, Vincent broke his ribs and collarbone and added further damage to his already weak leg.
Sheeley later collaborated with Jackie DeShannon on hits for artists like Brenda Lee, and Irma Thomas. Sheeley and DeShannon were the first female writing team to have significant success in the pop realm. She died in 2002 at the age of 62 of complications following a cerebral hemorrhage.
Ricky Nelson didn’t hear hit potential in this song, but his father, the popular bandleader Ozzie Nelson, did. Ozzie convinced Ricky’s label, Imperial Records, to issue it as a single, but Ricky refused to approve a photo for the cover and wouldn’t perform it on the family TV show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ozzie’s instincts were correct. Father knew best in this instance.
Poor Little Fool featured The Jordanaires, who were Elvis Presley’s backing singers. This song peaked at #1 in the Billboard Charts in 1958. This was Ricky’s first number one hit.
Poor Little Fool
I used to play around with hearts that hastened at my call But when I met that little girl I knew that I would fall Poor little fool oh yeah I was a fool uh huh (Uh huh poor little fool I was your fool oh yeah)
She played around and teased me with her carefree devil eyes She’d hold me close and kiss me but her heart was full of lies Poor little fool She told me how she cared for me and that we’d never part
And so for the very first time I gave away my heart Poor little fool The next day she was gone and I knew she’d lied to me She left me with a broken heart and won her victory
Poor little fool Well I’d played this game with other hearts but I never thought I’d see The day that someone else would play love’s foolish game with me Poor little fool
Today I’m guest hosting on “Once Upon a Time in the 70s.” If you can please give them a visit and leave a comment…I would appreciate it! They have a great site and they will be guest hosting my site one day this week! Now back to our song…
This one has always been a favorite of mine. Many people I know thought it was a religious song because of Mother Mary but Mother Mary was Paul’s mother. It does have a gospel feel though.
It’s always had a calming effect on me. The song is part of my DNA and although it’s been played quite a bit on radio…I can still enjoy it.
Paul McCartney has said he wrote “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road” on the same day. How is that for a day’s work?
One thing that makes the song unique is what solo are you going to hear from George? The single version of the song has a good solo, but the album version has the best. On January 4, 1970, Paul, George, and Ringo went into the studio to clean up tracks for the album release. George put down one of my favorite solos of all time. It’s the solo that has some growl to it and is highly melodic. Later on, in 2003 when Let It Be Naked was released…yet another version of the solo was on there but not as good as the distorted version.
On October 31st, 1956, Paul’s mother Mary Patricia McCartney had passed away from breast cancer. Paul had said she was the unsung leader of their family. John and Paul bonded later on when John’s mother was killed by getting hit by a car.
The song was on the Let It Be Album. The album had the largest initial sales in US record history up to that time: 3.7 million advance orders. That is going out on top. Let It Be peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, New Zealand and #2 in the UK. The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, Canada, and the UK in 1970.
At the time some critics didn’t like the album as much. I’ve always liked the raw feel of it. The album contained Let It Be, The Long and Winding Road, Get Back, and I’ve Got A Feeling…plus a song that could have been a single…The Two Of Us. It shows what high standards they were held to.
I bought the Let It Be at a yard sale when I was a kid. The single had a B side that I had never heard of at the time. The song is called You Know My Name (Look Up The Number). It’s so off the wall it has to be heard…not described. It is basically John and Paul making a comedy record…with Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones on sax.
Paul started to write this during the White Album sessions but instead of Mother Mary…it was Mother Malcome after their roadie Mal Evans. He also sings a ling about Brother Malcome in a video I have below. Mal Evans has said that during the White Album sessions Paul had a vision of him saying Let It Be. I have Mal’s quote below.
Mal Evans:“Paul was meditating one day, they were writing all the time, and I came to him in a vision. I was just standing there, saying, “Let it be, let it be,’ and that’s where the song came from. It was funny; I had driven him back from a session one night (at Twickenham Film Studios in London, January 1969) a few months later. It was three o-clock in the morning, it was raining, it was dark in London and we were sitting in the car, just before he went in, just laughing and talking. He said, ‘Mal, I’ve got a new song and it’s called “Let It Be,” and I sing about “Mother Malcolm,” but he was a bit shy. So, he turned to me and said, ‘Would you mind if I said, “Mother Mary,” because people might not understand?’ So, I said, ‘Sure.’ But, he was lovely.”
Paul McCartney:“One night during this tense time, I had a dream. I saw my mum, who’d been dead ten years or so. And it was so great to see her because that’s a wonderful thing about dreams: you actually are reunited with that person for a second; there they are and you appear to both be physically together again. It was so wonderful for me and she was very reassuring. In the dream she said, ‘It’ll be all right.’ I’m not sure if she used the words ‘Let it be’ but that was the gist of her advice. It was, ‘Don’t worry too much, it will turn out okay.’ It was such a sweet dream. I woke up thinking, ‘Oh, it was really great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing the song ‘Let It Be.’ I literally started off ‘Mother Mary,’ which was her name. ‘When I find myself in times of trouble,’ which I certainly found myself in. The song was based on that dream.”
“She was reassuring me, saying, ‘It’s going to be OK, just let it be.’ I felt so great. She gave me the positive words. I woke up and thought, ‘What was that? She said ‘Let It Be.’ That’s good.’ So I wrote the song ‘Let It Be’ out of positivity.”
From Songfacts
Since Let It Be was The Beatles’ last album, it made an appropriate statement about leaving problems behind and moving on in life. The album was supposed to convey an entirely different message. It was going to be called “Get Back,” and they were going to record it in front of an audience on live TV, with another TV special showing them practicing the songs in the studio. It was going to be The Beatles getting back to their roots and playing unadorned live music instead of struggling in the studio like they did for The White Album. When they started putting the album together, it became clear the project wouldn’t work, and George Harrison left the sessions. When he returned, they abandoned the live idea and decided to use the TV footage as their last movie. While the film was being edited, The Beatles recorded and released Abbey Road, then broke up. Eventually, Phil Spector was given the tapes and asked to produce the album, which was released months after The Beatles broke up. By then, it was clear “Let It Be” would be a better name than “Get Back.”
According to McCartney, this is a very positive song, owing to its inspiration. One night when he was paranoid and anxious, he had a dream where he saw his mother, who had been dead for ten years or so – she came to him in his time of trouble, speaking words of wisdom that brought him much peace when he needed it. It was this sweet dream that got him to begin writing the song.
Many have been moved by the song on a deeply personal level, including Corden, who broke down when they sang it together. “I remember my granddad, who was a musician, sitting me down and telling me, ‘I’m going to play you the best song you’ve ever heard,’ and he played me that,” he said. “If my granddad was here right now he’d get an absolute kick out of this.” McCartney replied, “He is.”
It was John Lennon who wanted Phil Spector to produce the album. Spector worked on Lennon’s “Instant Karma” and was known for his bombastic “Wall Of Sound” style. McCartney hated Spector’s production, and in 2003 he pushed to have the album remixed and released without Spector’s influence. The result was Let It Be… Naked, which eliminated most of Spector’s work and is much closer to what The Beatles intended for the album. “Maggie Mae” and “Dig It” were removed, and an entirely different guitar solo was used for this song.
The Beatles weren’t the first to release this song – Aretha Franklin was. The Queen of Soul recorded it in December 1969, and it was released on her album This Girl’s In Love With You in January 1970, two months before The Beatles released their version (she also covered The Beatles “Eleanor Rigby” on that album).
Aretha recorded it with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, who were a group of musicians that owned their own studio in Alabama, but would travel to New York to record with Aretha. David Hood, who was their bass player, told us that Paul McCartney sent demos of the song to Atlantic Records (Franklin’s label) and to the Muscle Shoals musicians. Said Hood, “I kick myself for not grabbing that demo. Because I think they probably dropped it in the garbage. Our version was different. We changed it a little bit from his demo, where their version is different from that demo and from Aretha’s version, as well. Just slightly, but little things.”
In April 1987, this was released as a charity single in aid of The Sun newspaper’s Zeebrugge ferry disaster fund. Featuring Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Kate Bush, Boy George and many others, it was called “Ferry Aid” and spent three weeks at #1 in the UK.
Billy Preston added organ and electric piano to this track. Preston was such a significant contributor to the Let It Be album that John Lennon floated the idea of making him a full band member. Preston’s contributions were more than musical: He came in after George Harrison got frustrated with the sessions and quit the band. After his bandmates agreed to his terms (including abandoning a live performance they had planned), Harrison returned to the sessions after 12 days and arranged for Preston to join them. Having Preston there kept tensions at bay and greased the creative gears, allowing them to complete the album that was looking precarious when he arrived.
This was the first Beatles song released in The Soviet Union. The single made it there in 1972.
In 2001, McCartney helped organize the “Concert For New York,” to benefit victims of The World Trade Center disaster. He closed the show with this, inviting the other acts and some New York cops and firefighters on stage to sing with him.
This song was played at Linda McCartney’s funeral.
On July 18, 2008, Paul McCartney joined Billy Joel onstage at Shea Stadium in New York and played this as the final song of the final concert at Shea. As a member of The Beatles, McCartney played the first stadium rock concert when they performed at Shea on August 15, 1965.
Until 1994 and the recordings for “Free As A Bird,” the session for this song on January 4, 1970 was the last Beatles recording session. Lennon wasn’t present that day, as he was on holiday.
A cover by American R&B artist Jennifer Hudson featuring the Roots, who are the house band on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, debuted at #98 on the Hot 100 in February 2010. She recorded it for the Hope For Haiti Now charity telecast after the earthquake that devastated the country. It was the third time the song had entered the US singles chart as Joan Baez’s version peaked at #49 in 1971.
A month after Jennifer Hudson’s version reached the Hot 100, Kris Allen took the song to the chart for a fourth time when his cover debuted at #63. Allen’s cut charted after he performed the song on American Idol, with proceeds from its digital sales benefiting Haiti earthquake relief efforts through the Idol Gives Back Foundation.
John Legend and Alicia keys performed this song on the tribute special The Beatles: The Night That Changed America, which aired in 2014 exactly 50 years after the group made their famous appearance on Ed Sullivan Show. Legend introduced it as “a song that has comforted generations with its beauty and its message.”
Sesame Street used this with the title changed to “Letter B.” The lyrics were changed to list words that begin with B.
Paul sings “Brother Malcolm” in this rough version near the end
Let It Be
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree There will be an answer, let it be For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be, be
And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me Shinin’ until tomorrow, let it be I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
I have a bootleg concert of The Who in 1976 in Houston. This song is very dynamic and powerful live. This was released in August 1976 in Canada and the US with “Dreaming From The Waist” as its B side. It was on the album The Who By Numbers and it peaked at #8 in the Billboard Album charts, #7 in the UK, #9 in Canada and #29 in New Zealand in 1976.
The Who played this song in 1976 but after they didn’t play it much at all until the 50h anniversary tour.
Pete Townshend wrote this song, which uses imagery as metaphor for life in the music business. Much of the album deals with his frustrations with the industry, of being obsolete as a 30-year-old rock star. Oh, how times have changed now.
Pete usually wrote a lot of songs for the band to pick from for an album. This time they recorded everything he wrote because he was going through writer’s block at the time.
It’s one of my favorite Who album covers. They usually took turns on who would think of the album cover. It was John Entwistle’s turn and he drew the album cover along with numbers.
John Entwistle on the cover
“The first piece of artwork released is The Who by Numbers cover, which I never got paid for, so now I’m going to get paid. We were taking it in turns to do the covers. It was Pete’s turn before me and we did the Quadrophenia cover, which cost about the same as a small house back then, about £16,000. My cover cost £32
Pete Townshend:“‘Slip Kid’ came across as a warning to young kids getting into music that it would hurt them – it was almost parental in its assumed wisdom.”
Pete Townshend on The Who By Numbers: I felt partly responsible because the Who recording schedule had, as usual, dragged on and on, sweeping all individuals and their needs aside. Glyn worked harder on The Who by Numbers than I’ve ever seen him. He had to, not because the tracks were weak or the music poor but because the group was so useless. We played cricket between takes or went to the pub. I personally had never done that before. I felt detached from my own songs, from the whole record. Recording the album seemed to take me nowhere. Roger [Daltrey] was angry with the world at the time. Keith [Moon] seemed as impetuous as ever, on the wagon one minute, off the next. John [Entwistle] was obviously gathering strength throughout the whole period; the great thing about it was he seemed to know we were going to need him more than ever before in the coming year
Slip Kid
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight …
I’ve got my clipboard, text books
Lead me to the station
Yeah, I’m off to the civil war
I’ve got my kit bag, my heavy boots
I’m runnin’ in the rain
Gonna run till my feet are raw
Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
And I’m a soldier at thirteen
Slip kid, slip kid, realization
There’s no easy way to be free
No easy way to be free
It’s a hard, hard world
I left my doctor’s prescription bungalow behind me
I left the door ajar
I left my vacuum flask
Full of hot tea and sugar
Left the keys right in my car
Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
Only half way up the tree
Slip kid, slip kid, I’m a relation
I’m a soldier at sixty-three
No easy way to be free
Slip kid, slip kid
Keep away old man, you won’t fool me You and your history won’t rule me You might have been a fighter, but admit you failed I’m not affected by your blackmail You won’t blackmail me
I’ve got my clipboard, text books Lead me to the station Yeah, I’m off to the civil war I’ve got my kit bag, my heavy boots I’m runnin’ in the rain Gonna run till my feet are raw
Slip kid, slip kid, slip out of trouble Slip over here and set me free Slip kid, slip kid, second generation You’re slidin’ down the hill like me No easy way to be free No easy way to be free No easy way to be free
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