Badfinger (Max)

Hindo Love Gods – Raspberry Beret

I first found this band because of this song. This is my favorite Prince song by a long shot. They do a super cover of it with the rawness I like. They weren’t a band in the traditional sense, no tours, just a one-off gathering of talented artists who happened to be in the right studio at the right time.

The beginning of Hindu Love Gods started in the mid-1980s Athens scene, where REM were quickly rising. Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry often participated in jam sessions with other local players. One of those orbiting figures was Warren Zevon. With REM, he found collaborators.

The name Hindu Love Gods first surfaced around 1984 when members Buck, Berry, and Mills backed up a local singer named Bryan Cook. That version fizzled, but the name stuck. When Zevon began working with REM’s rhythm section in the late ’80s, the name resurfaced, this time attached to something much more intriguing.

This song was written by Prince, and his version was released the year I graduated in 1985. This version came out in 1990 on the self-titled album. This song peaked at #23 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks. The album peaked at #168 on the Billboard 100.

Warren Zevon on Letterman

Raspberry Beret

I was workin’ part-time in a 5-and-dime
The boss was Mr. McGee
He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind
‘Cause I was a bit too leisurely
I always was busy doin’ somethin’ close to nothin’
But different than the day before
That’s when I saw her, oh, I saw her
Walk in through the out door, out door

She wore a raspberry beret
The kind you’d find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
When it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her, love

I’m built the way she was, she had the nerve to ask me
If I meant to do her any harm
So I put her on the back of my bike and
We went riding down by Old Man Johnson’s farm
Now rainy days never turned me on
But something ’bout the way the clouds and her mixed
She wasn’t too bright, but you know the way she kissed me
I knew she knew how to get her kicks, yeah

She wore a raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
And when it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her, yeah!

Raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
And when it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her
A raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
And when it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her
A raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret

…

Bill Withers – Lean On Me

I played this single so much when I was around 7 years old. I wore it out and know every nuance of this song. Just a great vocal by Withers on this. The simple piano riff makes this song so powerful to me. Still one of my favorite songs. Sometimes less is better.

It’s been covered by many other artists, but this is my go-to version. Bill Withers wrote this song after he left his childhood town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, to live in Los Angeles in a poor section of town. Members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band were used on the recording.

Producer Ray Jackson (who doubled as the keyboard player) and engineer Bob Potter kept the recording dry and uncluttered. No strings, no brass, no unnecessary sweetening. Just voice, piano, bass, drums, and a touch of guitar. It’s like Bill is in your living room singing to you.

What’s remarkable is how this song has transcended its era. It’s been sung at weddings, funerals, movies, and classrooms. It’s part of the American pop culture now, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with songs such as Amazing Grace and This Land Is Your Land.

The musicians on this recording were Ray Jackson, Benorce Blackmon, Melvin Dunlap, and James Gadson. Some of these musicians were in The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #18 in the UK, and #20 in Canada in 1972.

Bill Withers: “This was my second album, so I could afford to buy myself a little Wurlitzer electric piano. So I bought a little piano and I was sitting there just running my fingers up and down the piano. In the course of doing the music, that phrase crossed my mind, so then you go back and say, ‘OK, I like the way that phrase, Lean On Me, sounds with this song.’ So you go back and say, ‘How do I arrive at this as a conclusion to a statement? What would I say that would cause me to say Lean On Me?’ At that point, it’s between you and your actual feelings, you and your morals and what you’re really like. You probably do more thinking about it after it’s done.”

Lean On Me

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there’s always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have faith you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won’t let show

You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you’ll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me, when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on

You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you’ll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can’t carry
I’m right up the road
I’ll share your load

If you just call me (call me)
If you need a friend (call me) call me uh huh(call me) if you need a friend (call me)
If you ever need a friend (call me)
Call me (call me) call me (call me) call me
(Call me) call me (call me) if you need a friend
(Call me) call me (call me) call me (call me) call me (call me) call me (call me)

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – Zombie

September 20, 1974 Season 1 Episode 2

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode was written by David Chase, yes, the same David Chase who would go on to create The Sopranos; the script is one of the tightest of the entire run. You can already see Chase’s fascination with mobsters, moral issues, and revenge from beyond the grave.

In the first two movies and the first episode, we have been visiting different cities in each one. This time, it opens with a string of mob-related murders and he is still in Chicago. At first, the killings look like standard gangland executions, but Kolchak quickly uncovers that something darker is at play: the mob has wronged a Haitian family, and in retaliation, a dead man has been raised from the grave to exact revenge.

This episode leans more on pure horror than the others. Where the pilot movies (The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler) established Kolchak’s mix of noir and horror, The Zombie proved the series could have frights. The scenes of the zombie slowly rising in the mortuary are classic TV horror, low budget, yes, but brilliantly lit and paced.

When this was aired, blaxploitation movies were all the rage, and this does borrow some from them. One actor in this one was Antonio Fargas, who would later become widely known to television audiences as restaurant owner and informant Huggy Bear on Starsky & Hutch.

In a comedy subplot, Vincenzo wants Kolchak to show an executive’s niece from New York the ropes of journalism. Little does she know that it will involve seeing the mangled corpses of mob enforcers lying in the street. This was creepy, moody, and more disturbing than network TV usually allowed in the mid-1970s. A must-watch for fans of horror television.

Well, I had found a full episode of this one, but they took it down. Most of them I will be able to supply, but I struck out on this one. If any of you find it, please tell me.

Here is a video of someone talking about the show, but it plays a lot of the show. I would put my version here, but I know I would violate some copyright.

Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers – I’m Not Your Man

I have to thank deKE for this one. After posting Barney Bantell, he mentioned that this song was on the radio around the same time. Sometimes a song hits hard, loud, and ready to throw its weight around. It is a no-apology bar song, full speed ahead.

What hooked me up was the opening guitar riff. This was built for FM radio in the late 80s, big guitars, bigger hooks, and just enough power to make you roll the windows down and sing along at a red light. This song isn’t meant to change the world, but just to enjoy yourself.

The song itself is pure swagger. Conwell doesn’t mince words; he’s telling you upfront that he is a bad boy, and it’s wrapped with a crunchy riff, with the Rumblers behind him turning on the gas. Since it was the 1980s, it was given a polish for that era by Rick Chertoff, the same producer who helped shape The Hooters at the time.

They went on big tours with acts like Robert Palmer and Stevie Ray Vaughan. And while mainstream fame didn’t happen, this song remains their signature song. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and #74 on the Billboard 100 in 1988.

I’m Not Your Man

Baby before hang around this old moldy
Mildewy ‘n’ crappy scene holding hands with you
There’s a whole list of things you’re gonna have to do

Jump off the Empire State in a paper sack
Talking lovey-dovey to a camel scare the hump off his back
Get the Queen of England’s golden shoes
Put ’em on your feet and sing the St. Louis blues
Look here

Seven days a week with you is more than I can handle
Seven nights of love and dirty laundry on your floor
Baby, I can see this whole thing heading into trouble
I’m out the door

I’m not your man
‘Cause you’re looking for a hero
Baby, it ain’t me, I’m not your man
I ain’t nothing to hold on to
Baby, I ain’t what you need

It’s easy being here but I’ve got ground to cover
There’s nothing you can do to make me wanna stay
Though I’ve been here awhile don’t think that
I’ve stopped moving, I’m on my way

…

Sonics – Psycho

I love classic garage rock music, and this is one of the bands that started that genre. This is why I love it, because it’s raw and unpolished music. Warts and all, it has spirit and drive.

They formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1960. A band of teenagers who didn’t care about technique and weren’t interested in following the normal pop/rock rules. They just wanted to be loud and dangerous.

The original lineup, Gerry Roslie, Larry Parypa, Andy Parypa, Rob Lind, and Bob Bennett, came together with one mission: to play harder and wilder than anyone else on the Pacific Northwest scene. The Kingsmen were in this scene as well with their hit Louie, Louie. The Sonics never cracked the national charts, but in the Pacific Northwest, they were very popular. They were on AM radio throughout the area and hit the joints and dance halls.

Their first album was in 1965 called Here Come The Sonics!!!. The sessions were done at Audio Recording, Inc. in Seattle, a modest studio that had nowhere near the cutting-edge equipment of Abbey Road or other studios. That limitation helped make their sound. Engineer Kearney Barton placed the microphones farther away, letting the room’s natural reverb and bleed create a live sound. Barton sharpened edges rather than smoothing them. That rough edge is exactly why the song still sounds so alive today. You can put it next to The Stooges, The Ramones, or Nirvana, and it fits right in.

Their debut album, Here Are the Sonics, was released in 1965 and is still a pre-punk landmark. The Sonics reunited in the 2000s with most of the original lineup, playing festivals and recording new material that still carried the old sound.

Here is a reunited Sonics in 2015

Psycho

Whoa baby, you’re driving me crazyI said baby, you’re driving me crazyOh, well you turn me on, then you shut me downOh well, tell me baby, am I just your clown?PsychoOw, oh wow, baby, you’re driving me crazyI said I’m losing my mind, you treat me so unkindPsychoOw! Whoa!Ow, oh wow, baby, you’re driving me crazyI’m going out of my head, and now I wish I was deadPsychoWhoa baby, whoa you’re driving me crazyI’m going out of my head, now I wish I was deadWhoa, psychoWhoa, psychoWhoa, psychoWhoa, psychoWhoa, whoa

…

Los Super Seven – Rio De Tenampa

The more I listen to this band, the more I like them. I have to give credit to halffastcyclingclub, who recommended them, and I’ve been meaning to post on them for 6 months now. A big thank you to him. This song took just one listen, and I was hooked.

The original idea came from the Texas Tornados’ management team, who envisioned a rotating cast of stars celebrating Mexican roots music. The first lineup in 1998 was crazy great: Freddy Fender, Flaco Jiménez, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos, Rick Treviño, Joe Ely, and Ruben Ramos. Their self-titled debut was heavily into traditional rancheras, boleros, and Tex-Mex standards. This song was written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez.

This was definitely a supergroup, and supergroups can be hit or miss. Sometimes they collapse because of too many egos, and sometimes they just fizzle out. But every once in a while, the chemistry works. That’s what happened in the late 1990s when this band made their self-titled debut album.

What makes Los Super Seven so unique is that they never pretended to be a touring band or a permanent outfit. Each record is like a snapshot, different players but the same spirit. If the name Los Super Seven sounds like a superhero crew, well… in a way, it was. Instead of capes and masks, this revolving crew came armed with guitars, voices, and deep roots in the music of Texas, Mexico, and beyond.

The album peaked at #1 on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums and #8 on the US Billboard Top Latin Albums in 1998. The album also won them the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards.

Los Super Seven – Rìo De Tenampa

I sat at a table and wrote a good song
About eyes as blue as the sea
Drank down the whiskey
And let out a sigh
And thought of how things used to be
Children played on the floor near the bar
With toys made of wood and string
Lovers kissed and others laughed
As the band would strum and sing

Speak to me Rio de Tenampa
Sing to me songs of valor
In this rincon of heaven
I leave my love and love

And I passed once a place we’d go
To escape the heat of the day
Tell all the stories of good times and bad
And hear the violins play

Speak to me Rio de Tenampa
Sing to me songs of valor
In this corner of heaven
I leave my affection and love

Remember the story about a lady on the hill
Gave roses to an Indian boy
Ran down to tell eveyone he knew
About his love and his hope and joy

…

David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez

Pete Johnson and Joe Turner – Roll ‘Em Pete

I want to thank a commenter named purplegoatee2684b071ed for recommending this song after reading my Joe Turner post. Just listen to the piano playing of Pete Johnson on this track and Joe Turner’s voice. It would raise the roof off any joint. Knowing it was made in 1938 makes it more special. Pete Johnson and Joe Turner were credited for writing this song.

Pete Johnson had been playing in Kansas City joints with his percussive style, while Joe Turner worked as a bartender and occasional singer. When the two paired up, it was dynamite. Producer John Hammond heard about them and invited the duo to Carnegie Hall for his “Spirituals to Swing” concert in 1938. Joe and Pete’s performance of this song stunned the crowd and announced that the blues and boogie-woogie weren’t just barroom music; they were the foundation of a new kind of American sound.

Listening today, you can hear the roots of countless rock and R&B records hiding within this track. The drive, it’s Little Richard before Little Richard, it’s Jerry Lee Lewis before Jerry Lee Lewis. This 1938 song is a sign that says… rock and roll is on its way. This may not have been a chart single in the way we think of hits today, but its influence rolled (pun intended) across decades.

I’m going to include a live Blasters version because they knew Joe Turner. Dave and Phil Alvin knew and spent time with Big Joe Turner, whom they regarded as a friend and mentor. As teenagers in the 1960s, the brothers followed Turner around the Los Angeles area, going to his gigs and eventually befriending him.

Roll ‘Em Pete

Well, I got a gal, she lives up on the hillWell, I got a gal, she lives up on the hillWell, this woman’s tryin’ to quit me, Lord, but I love her still

She’s got eyes like diamonds, they shine like Klondike goldShe’s got eyes like diamonds, they shine like Klondike goldEvery time she loves me, she sends my mellow soul

Well, you’re so beautiful, you’ve got to die somedayWell, you’re so beautiful, you’ve got to die somedayAll I want’s a little loving, just before you pass away

Pretty baby, I’m goin’ away and leave you by yourselfPretty baby, I’m goin’ away and leave you by yourselfYou’ve mistreated me, now you can mistreat somebody else

…

Status Quo – Pictures of Matchstick Men

I always had a soft spot for this song. It is a swirl of guitar phasing and a droning riff that seems tailor-made for the late 1960s.

Their manager, John Schroeder, who’d worked with Motown acts in the UK, booked studio time at Pye Records’ Marble Arch facility. The Pye studios were initially designed as a service for Pye Records, but also encouraged recording by outside artists. Schroeder not only produced the track but was also the one who encouraged Francis Rossi to push forward with this strange little song he’d written at home.

One of the fascinating things about Pictures of Matchstick Men is that it represents a “what if” moment in Status Quo’s history. Had they continued down this psychedelic path, you wonder how long it would have lasted. Instead, after a few more singles, they turned into a rocking boogie band.

Listening today, the song feels like an anomaly. It’s not representative of the band’s long career, but it’s a classic slice of psychedelic pop that holds its own. It was the first taste of chart success, the beginning of a 50-year run, and yet it’s also the sound of a band that almost became something completely different.

This song’s riff will stick with you. Once the riff is up, it washes over you with a psychedelic feel. The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, and #7 on the UK Charts in 1968. This was their only hit in America. One quirky detail: the inspiration for the lyric came from wallpaper. Rossi was sitting in the bathroom, staring at the bathroom wall, and saw patterns that reminded him of the artist L.S. Lowry’s “Matchstick Men” paintings.

Pictures Of Matchstick Men

When I look up to the skies
I see your eyes a funny kind of yellow
I rush home to bed I soak my head
I see your face underneath my pillow
I wake next morning tired still yawning
See your face come peeking through my window
Pictures of matchstick men and you
Mirages of matchstick men and you
All I ever see is them and you

[guitar intro]

Windows echo your reflection
When I look in their direction gone
When will this haunting stop
Your face it just wont leave me a-lone
Pictures of matchstick men and you
Mirages of matchstick men and you
All I ever see is them and you
You in the sky you with this guy you make men cry you lie
You in the sky you with this guy you make men cry you lie

Pictures of matchstick men, Pictures of matchstick…

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Ripper

September 13, 1974 Season 1 Episode 1

To view our current progress, click here for a list of episodes.

What better way to kick this series off than by dragging one of history’s most infamous villains out of the fog and dropping him right in 1970s Chicago? The pilot episode, The Ripper, set the tone for the whole series: a mix of supernatural, dark humor, and the persistence of Mr. Carl Kolchak.

Carl Kolchak, now in Chicago working for INS (International News Service) with his old boss Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland), is still involved in supernatural cases. This first episode deals with a rash of murders that have all the trademarks of the London murderer, Jack the Ripper. It has to be a copycat killer, right? Don’t ever count anything out in this series.

The direction and atmosphere are strong here, with nighttime chases through shadowy alleys, and grim murders are more suggestion rather than gore. It’s shot in a way that feels both television-tight and surprisingly cinematic; it shows how much the show did with a limited budget. The Ripper character himself is handled with restraint, making him scarier: he’s often seen in fleeting glimpses, an unstoppable figure who seems both human and otherworldly.

This is one of the best examples of why this show became such a cult classic. It combines a timeless horror with Kolchak’s pursuit of the truth, all wrapped in that 1970s mix of camp and creepiness. That’s the thing about this show: it can be very creepy. While some of the effects may feel dated today, it still works; the suspense and Darren McGavin’s performance more than carry it. For fans of horror television, this episode remains a must-watch, a great marriage of folklore and late-night chills.

*Sorry, I’m late on this post, but work was chaotic this week and looks to be for a while. So, I’ll probably do this post on Fridays instead. I’m sorry about changing it mid-stream, but Fridays will be the best day.

The entire episode is in the link below. It’s on Daily Motion, and if I embed it, it plays automatically and will drive people crazy when they open their browser.

Go to THIS LINK.

Genesis – I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

Turn on the lava lamps and sit back and relax to some music that has sitar sounds in it, and I’m always up for sitar. When you think of Genesis in the mid-1970s, you don’t immediately picture them as a singles band like the later incarnation. This was the Peter Gabriel era, long concept pieces that made up an album. However, as we will see, not everything was that simple.

This was on their 1973 album Selling England by the Pound, a quirky song that became their first charting single in the UK. The song is only about four minutes long (short by Genesis standards at the time), and it grooves along nicely. The band was almost embarrassed by a hit. Gabriel joked in later interviews that it was Genesis goes Top of the Pops, but the song showed that their long studio work could deliver something catchy and not be super long.

The lineup was Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute), Steve Hackett (guitars), Tony Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (bass/guitars), and Phil Collins (drums/vocals). They were coming off the success of their last album Foxtrot, and there was pressure from their record company to deliver something more commercially accessible without ditching their progressive roots. That is a lot harder than it sounds. The sessions were long and argumentative. Genesis were perfectionists, which paid off with this album.

The song peaked at #21 on the UK Charts in 1974. The album Selling England by the Pound peaked at #3 on the UK Charts and #70 on the Billboard Album Charts. For me, it’s one of those tracks that feels like a bridge, still theatrical but also radio-friendly.

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

It’s one o’clock and time for lunch,When the sun beats down and I lie on the benchI can always hear them talk

There’s always been Ethel:“Jacob, wake up! You’ve got to tidy your room now.”And then Mister Lewis:“Isn’t it time that he was out on his own?”Over the garden wall, two little lovebirds – cuckoo to you!Keep them mowing blades sharp…

I know what I like, and I like what I know;getting better in your wardrobe, stepping one beyond your show

Sunday night, Mr Farmer called, said:“Listen son, you’re wasting your time; there’s a future for youin the fire escape trade. Come up to town!”But I remebered a voice from the past;“Gambling only pays when you’re winning”– I had to thank old Miss Mort for schooling a failureKeep them mowing blades sharp…

I know what I like, and I like what I know;getting better in your wardrobe, stepping one beyond your show

When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench,I can always hear them talk.Me, I’m just a lawnmower – you can tell me by the way I walk

…

Mavericks – Here Comes The Rain

Back in the 1990s, I remember hearing these guys on the radio. Songs like What A Crying Shame and All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down sounded so good. What caught me was Raul Malo’s voice. His voice is always on and distinctive. But I always wondered, what are they? Are they country, pop, or Tex-Mex? Then I thought, why does it matter? Forget the box, I want to put them in and just enjoy.

The song, co-written by Malo and Mavericks bassist Robert Reynolds, hit a cool older mood. From the opening guitar chords, it feels less like a country song and more like a strong Roy Orbison sound, which is always welcoming to my ears. The band didn’t sound like anyone else in Nashville. And when they released this song in 1995, they proved that country could be a mixture of things and still be radio-friendly.

It was released as a single from the band’s 4th album, Music for All Occasions, and it became one of their most remembered tracks. It even won them a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1996. Not too bad for a band that Nashville music insiders didn’t quite know how to categorize (like me). Were they country? Rockabilly? Pop? Tex-Mex? They were all of those, and this song shows how well they could blend them all together.

For me, this song feels like the point where The Mavericks’ sound matured into something really timeless. They are still working today, which is great news. The song peaked at #22 on the Billboard Country Charts and #4 on the Canadian Country Charts. The album peaked at #9 on the Billboard Country Album Charts, #3 on the Canadian Country Album Charts, and #58 on the Billboard Album Charts, and #54 in Canada.

Here Comes The Rain

Your love’s a heartacheThat’s torn me apartYou’ve watched my heart breakRight from the startYou took everything you wantedAnd now that you are gone

Here comes the rainFalling down on meI’m showered in painNothing remainsOf what used to be

Here comes the nightDark as my soulThere’s no end in sightNo shining lightNo love to holdHere comes the rain

I must have been dreamingI must have been blindBut I never thought youCould be so unkindTomorrow I’ll forget youBut I can’t forget you now

Here comes the rainFalling down on meI’m showered in painNothing remainsOf what used to be

Here comes the nightDark as my soulThere’s no end in sightNo shining lightNo love to holdHere comes the rain

Here comes the rainFalling down on meI’m showered in painNothing remainsOf what used to be

Here comes the nightDark as my soulThere’s no end in sightNo shining lightNo love to holdHere comes the rain

…

Small Faces – You Need Loving

This song exemplifies why I like the Small Faces so much. I’ve been listening to this song for years, and I can’t believe it was made in 1966. It was at least a couple of years before its time. Jimmy Page was listening very closely. Steve Marriott was asked to join Zeppelin later on, but his manager put a stop to it. Robert Plant has said he was heavily influenced by Steve Marriott, and if you want proof, listen to this recording. This song was written by Willie Dixon, and I think Zeppelin listened to this version more than Dixon…because Whole Lotta Love came out of it.

Looking back, this is more than just an album cut; it’s an early marker of what British rock would become. You can trace a direct line from this track to Zeppelin, Free, and all the blues-rock that followed. I always thought the Small Faces never got the credit they deserved. People in America only heard Lazy Sunday and Itchycoo Park because their manager would never let them tour the US.

The Small Faces were a band that always played bigger than their small size. If the Small Faces had had a good or even decent manager, they might have had a longer career and be more remembered today. They had a couple of great songwriters, Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. A superb drummer with Kenney Jones and keyboard player Ian McLagan. They were laying down some of the rawest R&B-inspired rock coming out of Britain. This song, on their debut album Small Faces, is a perfect example.

A YouTube comment on this song was crude and rude, but I endorse: Steve m*thaf*ckin’ Marriott. The ultimate rock & roll voice.

You Need Loving

Woah you foolin’Come and get coolin’I’m gonna send you right back to school, alrightMake your way down the new side girlYou know how woman, you need lovin’, lovin’, alrightI know you need lovin’ you here, oh yeah, alright

That’s right, well I’ve been yearnin’Hey baby you’ve been burnin’We’ll have a fun time, alrightYou’ll get some lovin’Cause baby we’re gonna excite youDeep in your heart woman, you need lovin’, yeah,oh lovin’, alrightThat’s all you need, lovin’ baby, yeah, alright

Eeny-meeny-miney-moEeny-meeny-miney-moCan’t take it no moreI can’t monkey and I can’t dogCan’t do the monkey, yeahI said you know how to ponyMony-baloney, I took you to the flyerPassed me byOh rock your ponyMashed potatoSaid I want to show youI want to show youIt’s alright, it’s alright…

Woman you need loving, yeah

…

Jack Scott – Leroy

I wanted to hear some rockabilly, and that is how I ran across Canadian Jack Scott. As successful as he was, I’m surprised he is not known more.

He was born, Giovanni Domenico Scafone Jr., in Windsor, Ontario, in 1936. Scott grew up straddling the border between Detroit and Canada. That location shaped his sound. He was influenced by gospel, country, R&B, and the raw early rock, blending them into a voice and style that didn’t quite fit into any one style or box. By the late 1950s, he was producing records that rivaled those of Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, and Roy Orbison.

Jack Scott released 19 singles that charted on the U.S. Billboard 100 between 1958 and 1961, which was a remarkable number for the era. This was more U.S. singles in a shorter time than any other recording artist, except for The Beatles. Again, it looks like he would be more well-known.

Scott’s chart success slowed down after the early ’60s, but he never stopped performing. He returned to country music in the 1970s and maintained a loyal fan base in rockabilly revival circles in Europe and North America. Today, he’s remembered as Canada’s first true rock ’n’ roll star, a bridge between rockabilly, country, and pop, and an artist whose influence can still be heard in roots rock.

This song came out in 1958, and it peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100 and #15 in Canada. I’m including another song called Goodbye Baby that peaked at #8 on the Billboard 100 and #3 in Canada.

Leroy

I know a boy who was never blueNow he lives in cellblock twoI don’t know just why he’s blue…… leroy… whatd you do

Leroys back in jail again -2-I don’t know why, why he’s blue…… leroy… whatd you do

Went to the judge, dig man wailI’m here and I got leroys bailJudge said son, don’tcha tell me no tale…… leroy, he’s gonna stay in jail

Now, leroy says man, you tried the bestMan, I’m here gonna take a rest.I’ve seen minny, she’s got the blues…… she let you wear my long pointed shoes

Now, leroys heart is a bowl of hateLeroy, he just can’t go straightTell my minny, I can’t keep my date…… I’m gonna be bout six months late

Dwight Yoakam – A Thousand Miles from Nowhere

A great single by Dwight Yoakam. I didn’t listen to much country in the 1990s. This one got my attention. I would say Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam brought me back to country after hearing 1980s country. Those two artists had something substantial to offer and helped the country return to its roots, at least until Brooks arrived and took country music to hell.

I always liked Yoakam’s voice, a mix of Bakersfield twang and croon, which fits it perfectly. For me, this is Dwight at his peak, the product of the outsider cowboy image he made in the 1980s and 1990s. The album This Time had some great songs released from it. This song, Fast As You, and Ain’t That Lonely Yet. One thing I can say about Yoakam in this song is that he makes desolation sound beautiful.

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Country Charts and at #3 in Canada in 1993. The song was written by Yoakam and produced by Pete Anderson. The song was on Dwight’s album This Time. The album peaked at #4 in the Billboard Country Album Charts, #1 in the Canada RPM Album Charts, and #25 in the Billboard Album Charts.

Five singles were released from This Time. Each made the Country Top 40, and they all made the Canada top 5 Country in 1993-94.

The song was featured in two films, Red Rock West and Chasers.

Thousand Miles From Nowhere

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

I got heartaches in my pocket
I got echoes in my head
And all that I keep hearing
Are the cruel, cruel things that you said

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I

I’ve got bruises on my memory
I’ve got tear stains on my hands
And in the mirror there’s a vision
Of what used to be a man

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

Oh, I

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere

I’m a thousand
I’m a thousand

Beatles – Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey

I wrote this for Dave’s site for Turntable Talk. He wanted us to write about a song with an animal in the title or lyrics.

This is the Beatles at their most caffeinated, most chaotic, and most cracked. It’s them turning up the thermostat on rock & roll just to see if the walls start to melt. I liked the chaos and music they put to this song. It’s intense and doesn’t let up throughout the song. It’s like a cousin to Helter Skelter, but hopped up on confusion. That said, the song is very tight musically underneath the chaos. This is yet another reason I love the White Album. You have this on the same album as Blackbird and Rocky Raccoon. The Beatles, more than many bands, could adapt to a style of music and play it well.

Lennon sounds giddy, high on something, probably Yoko, maybe drugs, definitely freedom. The monkey might be Yoko. It might be his own self-made madness. Or maybe it’s a giant middle finger to everyone trying to box him in. What was it about? John said he, Yoko, and Paul thought it was drugs. Whatever it was made an interesting recording that still grabs my ear.

The Beatles began working on this song, which continued until 3 a.m. The session was not a keeper, and the tape was to be taped over (EMI saving money), but in 2018, while remastering the album, they found an alternative version of this song that was recorded on the first night. Someone didn’t tape over it. Geoff Emerick, the Beatles’ sound engineer, had said that they recorded this song and Helter Skelter at maximum volume in the studio, and it showed in the final recording.

It has one of my favorite song titles of all time. Chaos reigns in this song, and Paul adds a great short bass run…not to mention a fire bell ringing throughout. Lennon once said it was inspired by something Maharishi Mahesh Yogi would say (Take off your clothes and jump in the water type enlightenment), but by the time it was recorded for the White Album in June ’68, John had already dropped the Maharishi and picked up Yoko Ono.

The White Album was released in 1968 and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Chart, #1 in Canada, #1 in the UK, and #1 about everywhere else…and it would be #1 as well in Max’s heart.

If you’re looking for one of the most purely energetic cuts in the Beatles’ catalog, something that draws a direct line to punk, garage, and all the future people who liked their rock sweaty and unfiltered, this is your monkey.

John Lennon: About me and Yoko. Everybody seemed to be paranoid except for us two, who were in the glow of love.

Paul McCartney: “He was getting into harder drugs than we’d been into and so his songs were taking on more references to heroin. Until that point we had made rather mild, rather oblique references to pot or LSD. Now John started to be talking about fixes and monkeys and it was a harder terminology which the rest of us weren’t into. We were disappointed that he was getting into heroin because we didn’t really see how we could help him. We just hoped it wouldn’t go too far. In actual fact, he did end up clean but this was the period when he was on it. It was a tough period for John, but often that adversity and that craziness can lead to good art, as I think it did in this case.”

Fats Domino covered this song.

Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey

Come on come on come on come on
Come on is such a joy
Come on is such a joy
Come on take it easy
Come on take it easy
Take it easy take it easy
Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and
My monkey.

The deeper you go the higher you fly
The higher you fly the deeper you go
So come on come on
Come on is such a joy
Come on is such a joy
Come on make it easy
Come on make it easy.

Take it easy take it easy
Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and
My monkey.

Your inside is out and your outside is in
Your outside is in and your inside is out
So come on come on
Come on is such a joy
Come on is such a joy
Come on make it easy
Come on make it easy
Make it easy make it easy
Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and
My monkey.