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.
This song is for Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt Begin/End/Finish/Start…This song is about the beginning and the end of love affairs.
I watched the Graduate in the mid-eighties and I sat there transfixed watching this classic film. How the music kept the movie going and this song hit me for some reason. I spent weeks (pre internet) tracking down the soundtrack of the film. I went to different record stores but with no luck but finally found it at the Great Escape, a second hand record store.
It was one of the first movies that I recognized how much music can make a movie. It was a great film regardless but without the music the movie would not have been the same.
April Come She Will was composed by Paul Simon. Running just 1:51, it is the shortest track on the album Sounds of Silence released in 1966. It was also on the Graduate soundtrack.
The song was the B side to the Scarborough Fair single.
From Songfacts
This song is also featured in the soundtrack to the film The Graduate. Meant to evoke the capriciousness of a young girl while relating it to how the seasons change, the lyrics were inspired by a nursery rhyme recited by an English girl with whom Simon had an affair. It stands to reason, then, that this would go along with the plot of The Graduate.
Listen for an echo of this song in “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her,” from S&G’s subsequent album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme.
This song isn’t the only one with a classical lyric inspiration on that album; “Richard Cory” is also based on the poem of the same name by American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson.
April Come She Will
April, come she will When streams are ripe and swelled with rain May, she will stay Resting in my arms again June she’ll change her tune In restless walks she’ll prowl the night
July, she will fly And give no warning to her flight August, die she must The autumn winds blow chilly and cold September, I remember A love once new has now grown old
If you want to hear an optimistic song look no further than this one. This is another Beatles song that was not released as a single. Harrison wrote it and sang lead, played acoustic guitar and used his newly acquired Moog synthesizer on this track. It was one of the first pop songs to feature a Moog.
George wrote “Here Comes The Sun” after he decided to not show up for a scheduled Apple business meeting in early Spring. He wrote this in Eric Clapton’s garden using one of Clapton’s acoustic guitars enjoying a spring day.
Here Comes the Sun was on the Beatles last studio album Abbey Road. The album contained two of George’s best known songs. Something and Here Comes the Sun. This is one of my favorite George songs.
George Harrison: “‘Here Comes The Sun’ was written at the time when Apple was getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen: ‘Sign this’ and ‘sign that.’ Anyway, it seems as if winter in England goes on forever; by the time spring comes you really deserve it. So one day I decided I was going to sag off Apple and I went over to Eric Clapton’s house. The relief of not having to go and see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars and wrote ‘Here Comes The Sun.'”
When The Beatles’ music was finally made available for download on iTunes in 2010, “Here Comes The Sun” was the top-selling song the first week.
From Songfacts
“It was just sunny and it was all just the release of that tension that had been building up on me,” Harrison said in a 1969 BBC Radio interview. “It was just a really nice sunny day, and I picked up the guitar, which was the first time I’d played the guitar for a couple of weeks because I’d been so busy. And the first thing that came out was that song. It just came. And I finished it later when I was on holiday in Sardinia.”
In the documentary The Material World, Eric Clapton talked about writing this song with Harrison: “It was one of those beautiful spring mornings. I think it was April, we were just walking around the garden with our guitars. I don’t do that, you know? This is what George brought to the situation. He was just a magical guy… we sat down at the bottom of the garden, looking out, and the sun was shining; it was a beautiful morning, and he began to sing the opening lines and I just watched this thing come to life.”
The music begins on the left channel and gradually moves to the right as Harrison’s vocal begins.
The instrumental break is similar to “Badge,” which Harrison helped Clapton write for his band Cream.
John Lennon did not play on this. Around this time, he was making a habit of not playing on Harrison’s compositions as the two were not on the best of terms. The two eventually settled their differences as George contributed quite a bit to Lennon’s album Imagine two years later.
The Beatles had stopped touring by the time they recorded this song, so they never played it live. The first time Harrison played it live was at the 1971 Concert for Bangla Desh, which he organized to bring aid to that country. He played it at a handful of appearances in the ’70s and ’80s, but didn’t perform it on a tour until 1991, when he joined Eric Clapton for 12 shows in Japan. This version can be heard on the album Live in Japan.
At the Concert for Bangla Desh, Harrison brought Badfinger lead singer Pete Ham to the front of the stage to sing it with him. Badfinger was signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records and had a hit months earlier with “No Matter What.” Harrison had them play on his first post-Beatles solo album, All Things Must Pass, in 1970, and used them as backing musicians at the concert. The Badfinger story, though, had a tragic ending. As Apple Records disintegrated, the group left the label and ended up in legal wranglings that left them angry and broke. Ham committed suicide in 1975.
In 1976, a cover by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel was a #10 hit in the UK.
Richie Havens covered this in 1971. The Beatles’ version never charted, but his hit #16 in the US. Havens told DISCoveries magazine in 1994: “Fortunately, I can sing things that changed my mind and gave me articulation, like the songs of The Beatles. What they did was, they presented the language we speak in a very straightforward way. The images were totally clear. The influence of clarity – that was the whole influence of the British Invasion.”
Other popular covers were recorded by Nina Simone and Peter Tosh.
On November 20, 1976, Harrison performed this with Paul Simon on Saturday Night Live. On a previous show, producer Lorne Michaels offered The Beatles $3,000 (union minimum), to show up and perform. He said they could split it up any way they wanted, giving Ringo less if they felt like it. Lennon and McCartney were watching together in New York at the time and almost went. On the show when Harrison performed this, there is a skit where he is arguing with Michaels over the money. Michaels tries to explain that the $3000 was for the whole group, and he would have to accept less.
When Harrison died in 2001, many artists performed this at their concerts as a tribute. It was played at the induction ceremonies of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the all-star jam.
George Harrison played a guitar solo that was placed at 1:02 into the song, but didn’t make the final cut. Here’s the clip where George Martin and Dhani Harrison listen to it.
Harrison released a follow-up song called “Here Comes The Moon” on his self-titled 1979 album. That song is a tribute to the moon, the “sun’s little brother” that acts like a mirror in the sky, reflecting our light.
In 2006, this was voted by the members of the GeorgeHarrison.com forum as their favorite song of his.
Take That’s Gary Barlow covered this for a 2012 advert for Marks and Spencer. It was the first song he’d recorded as a solo artist since his sophomore album, Twelve Months, Eleven Days in 1999. He said: “It’s a real a privilege to cover such an iconic track. You can’t better perfection but I hope we’ve given it a modern twist that will capture the mood of the nation and provide the perfect anthem for summer 2012.” The song’s exposure on the commercial resulted in the original Beatles recording charting in the UK singles top 75 for the first time.
Paul McCartney was also feeling the pain from Beatles’ business dealings around this time and wrote his own, far more pessimistic, song about it: “You Never Give Me Your Money,” which was also included on Abbey Road.
Tom Petty, who was Harrison’s good friend and played with him in the Traveling Wilburys, said of this song in Rolling Stone: “No piece of music can make you feel better than this. It’s such an optimistic song, with that little bit of ache in it that makes the happiness mean even more.”
At the 2016 Republican National Convention, Ivanka Trump, speaking before her father Donald took the stage, emerged with this song playing. The Harrison estate was not happy and voiced their displeasure on Twitter: “The unauthorized use of #HereComestheSun at the #RNCinCLE is offensive & against the wishes of the George Harrison estate. If it had been Beware Of Darkness, then we MAY have approved it!”
Naya Rivera and Demi Lovato sang this on the 2013 Glee episode “Tina in the Sky with Diamonds.”
Nina Simone’s version was used on the TV series Scandal in the 2015 episode “You Can’t Take Command.”
During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, many found solace in this song. Some hospitals would play the song when a patient was discharged.
Harrison and Simon on SNL
Here Comes The Sun
Here comes the sun (doo doo doo) Here comes the sun, and I say It’s all right
Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun (doo doo doo) Here comes the sun, and I say It’s all right
Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It’s all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It’s all right
Here comes the sun (doo doo doo) Here comes the sun It’s all right It’s all right
Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run was released a year before this and it was said to influence this album. The album was Jailbreak and was the bands sixth album. It was their breakthrough album.
The album peaked at #18 in the Billboard Album Charts, #5 in Canada, and #10 in the UK in 1976. The album had three well known Thin Lizzy songs…The Boys Are Back In Town, Cowboy Song, and the title track.
The title track didn’t chart in America but it did peak at #31 in the UK in 1976.
Thin Lizzy was founded in Dublin in 1969 when Lynott and drummer Brian Downey left their group Orphanage to form a new band with musicians formally from the last incarnation of Van Morrison’s Them.
Thin Lizzy’s sound was made of Phil Lynotts songwriting and voice…along with the dual-guitar interplay of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson.
Jailbreak
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak Somewhere in this town See me and the boys we don’t like it So were getting up and going down
Hiding low looking right to left If you see us coming I think it’s best To move away do you hear what I say From under my breath
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak Somewhere in the town Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak So don’t you be around
Don’t you be around
Tonight there’s gonna be trouble Some of us won’t survive See the boys and me mean business Bustin’ out dead or alive
I can hear the hound dogs on my trail All hell breaks loose, alarm and sirens wail Like the game if you lose Go to jail
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak Somewhere in the town Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak So don’t you be around
Tonight there’s gonna trouble I’m gonna find myself in Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak So woman stay with a friend
You know it’s safer
Breakout!
Tonight there’s gonna be a breakout Into the city zones Don’t you dare to try and stop us No one could for long
Searchlight on my trail Tonight’s the night all systems fail Hey you good lookin’ female Come here!
Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak Somewhere in the town Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak So don’t you be around
Tonight there’s gonna be trouble I’m gonna find myself in Tonight there’s gonna be trouble So woman stay with a friend
Webb Wilder is just different…different in a great way. He looks like he dropped out of a 50’s black and white detective show. The song peaked at #16 in the Mainstream Rock Songs in 1992.
His real name is John “Webb” McMurry and according to wiki “The Webb Wilder character was created in 1984 for a short comedy film created by friend called “Webb Wilder Private Eye.” The character was a backwoods private detective who fell out of the 1950s and happened to also be a musician. The short appeared on the television variety show “Night Flight.”[Whatever it is it works.
Webb Wilder’s quote when asked what kind of music he plays.
“I came to Nashville as kind of a hunch, an educated guess that it would be a good place for me. Rock ‘n’ roll and country have more in common than not. We don’t have the typical Nashville country sound, but we thought we could use that to our advantage. It’s sorta like we’re a roots band for rock ‘n’ roll fans and a rock band for roots fans” he also adds these phrases…“Swampadelic”, “Service-station attendant music”, “Uneasy listening”, “Psychobilly”
Psychobilly….Now that is a cool description.
By 1991 I was walking through a street fair in Nashville and there he was playing with his band. He had just put out an album called Doodad that got some local and national airplay. His music is a mixture of rock/country/rockabilly/punk and anything else he can throw in. The man has the gift of gab also.
I’ve seen him a couple of times in the 90s and he can bring the house down. He did get some MTV and VHI play nationally in 1991-92. His other known songs are my favorite “Meet Your New Landlord,” Poolside, and “Human Cannonball”. He has had some great backing bands. He also did a great cover of Steve Earle’s The Devil’s Right Hand….
I’m including my favorite song by him called Meet Your New Landlord and of course Tough it Out.
Tough It Out
When I was in the cradle Momma used to say “Now, baby Don’t ya cry cry cry” She turned on the radio And fed me rock and roll Lullaby-by-by Well it got under my skin And man it pulled me in ’cause it was strong strong strong I hit the ground runnin’ And let me tell ya somethin’ I was gone gone gone
Get offa my line ’cause I’m comin’ through I’m aimin’ high And I’m willin’ to shoot
I won’t bow, I won’t bend I won’t break, I’ll tough it out I won’t budge, I won’t deal I won’t change, I’ll tough it out (Tough it out) Keep rockin’ (tough it out) No stoppin’ ‘Til I win the prize, I’ll tough it out (Tough it out) Straight ahead (tough it out) knock ’em dead No compromise, I’ll tough it out
Now I’ve got somethin’ For ever man woman And child child child We don’t leave the hall ’til they’re bouncin’ off the walls Goin’ wild wild wild It might happen any day Might be light years away I don’t mind mind mind We got our head down, ears back Headed for the barn Feelin’ fine fine fine
Get offa my line ’cause I’m comin’ through I’m aimin’ high And I’m willin’ to shoot
I won’t bow, I won’t bend I won’t break, I’ll tough it out I won’t budge, I won’t deal I won’t change, I’ll tough it out (Tough it out) Keep rockin’ (tough it out) No stoppin’ ‘Til I win the prize, I’ll tough it out (Tough it out) Straight ahead (tough it out) knock ’em dead No compromise, I’ll tough it out(Tough it out) (tough it out)
You might catch me down But I won’t stay caught Now I might not sell But I can’t be bought
I won’t bow, I won’t bend I won’t break, I’ll tough it out I won’t budge, I won’t deal I won’t change, I’ll tough it out (Tough it out) Keep Rockin’ (tough it out) No stoppin’ ‘Til I win the prize, I’ll tough it out (Tough it out) Straight ahead (tough it out) knock ’em dead No compromise, I’ll tough it out
I won’t bow, I won’t bend I won’t break, I’ll tough it out I won’t budge, I won’t deal I won’t change, I’ll tough it out Tough it out ‘Til I win the prize, I’ll tough it out Tough it out No compromise, I’ll tough it out
Obviously, I really like this band. When I was a newbie Beatles fan I thought Come and Get It was a Beatles song and then I found out it was this band with a funny name called Badfinger . As a teenager I had this album and I bought their 1979 Airwaves album (without Pete Ham) in the early eighties. in the cutout bin. It was a nice album but without Pete Ham it wasn’t up to their standards.
Badfinger was known as a singles band but they did have one great album along with very good ones…and Straight Up was the great one.
I bought two of Pete Ham “solo” albums named Golders Green and 7 Park Avenue in the 1990s. The albums were made of Pete’s demos from the 60s and 70s. The pop world really missed out when Pete decided to leave the earth. His songs were very McCartney like…good McCartney like.
Badfinger had undoubtedly one of the saddest stories in a business that is full of them. Two members committed suicide and the band was ripped off beyond belief by a manager. The band was left virtually penniless after making millions.
Straight Up has two of their big hits…the beautiful Day After Day and what I consider the best power-pop song of all time…Baby Blue. It’s not just the hits though that are good….the band had three songwriters with Pete Ham, Tom and Joey Molland. Tom and Joey were not in their bandmate’s writing level but they were very good. There is not a bad song on the album.
Take It All is a song written by Pete and the song is about the Bangladesh concert when Pete got to play with George Harrison up front and his bandmates were in the background. Joey Molland the other guitarist was upset at this so Pete wrote this song.
Suitcase was a rocking song that Joey Molland wrote and was a great live song. It was a departure from the power pop they played…they were expanding their repertoire. Pete Ham plays some great slide guitar in this.
Sweet Tuesday Morning is one of those seventies songs that is beautifully written and performed by Joey.
Of course the hits…Day After Day and Baby Blue…this is Day After Day it peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada and #10 in the UK in 1971.
Badfinger along with Big Star and the Raspberries gave us great power pop and helped create the genre. If you have a greatest hits…this would be a good companion album to go with it.
Take It All
Baby Blue
Money
Flying
I’d Die, Babe
Name Of The Game
Suitcase
Sweet Tuesday Morning
Day After Day
Sometimes
Perfection
It’s Over
Baby Blue peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, and #73 in the UK.
I first heard this song on the Shake Your Money Maker album that I had just bought. I loved this song but it reminded of another song and I couldn’t put my finger on it. It then came to me…a song named Sway by the Rolling Stones off of Sticky Fingers.
I’m not saying the Black Crowes stole anything from it but they probably were influenced by the song. Rich Robinson the guitar player played the same 5 string G tuning that Keith Richards made famous…and he really does it well. Like the Georgia Satellites before them the Black Crowes sound was a throw back to the early seventies and it worked well.
The Black Crowes album Shake Your Money Maker was released in 1990. This album shocked me when I heard it. After longing for something with that 70’s tone…here it was with this new band. I always thought they sounded like The Stones/Faces musically with a Rod Stewart type lead singer.
Sister Luck was not released as a single but remains a favorite album track of mine.
Sister Luck
Worried sick my eyes are hurting To rest my head I’d take a life Outside the girls are dancing ‘Cause when you’re down it just don’t seem right
Feeling second fiddle to a dead man Up to my neck with your disregard Like a beat dog that’s walking on the broadway No one wants to hear you when you’re down
Sister luck is screaming out Somebody else’s name Sister luck is screaming out Somebody else’s name
A flip of a coin Might make a head turn No surprise, who sleeps Held my hand over a candle Flame burnin’ but I never weep
Sister luck is screaming out Somebody else’s name Sister luck is screaming out Somebody else’s name
We wrapped up Hanspostcard’s album draft…100 albums in 100 days. We are going into extra innings and extending three more picks from these categories… favorite Soundtracks, Greatest Hits, and a music related movie. This is my pick for a music related movie: The Who in The Kids Are Alright.
I acquired a VHS copy of this in the mid-eighties. It wasn’t a great copy but my friends and I wore it out. One of them worked at a small cable station. The station was in a small county that usually aired farm reports and advertisements. Basically, it was a very small building in the middle of nowhere. All they would do there is broadcast videos.
We had the tape in hand and wanted to see it so we went there one afternoon. He popped it in the VHS player and played it. He had no idea but it was going out live all over the region. Near the end of the film, he took a phone call from his boss. I didn’t think anyone ever watched that station…but it turns out they did and they were not fans of The Who. He didn’t get fired but they took his key for the door for a little while. It was a big subject the next day at school as some teenagers loved it but their parents didn’t appreciate their farm reports being interrupted by My Generation and Keith Moon in bondage.
I’ve seen this film so many times I can almost quote it while it’s playing. The Who albums made me a huge fan of their music…this film made me a huge fan of band.
This film covers the original Who and being such a Who fan I’m glad Jeff Stein (director) was so persistent in doing this because many of the tapes he was able to borrow probably would have been erased and used again by the BBC as was their policy.
Jeff was a fan of the band and pestered them until they let him do this. He had no prior experience in filmmaking but this was the 1970s and he got the gig. His timing was eerily perfect. He caught the original band at the very end of their tenure with Keith Moon.
He searched high and low for clips of the band in earlier years. Stein keeps the appearance mostly in order. There is sadness in this. You see the band through the years from 1964 to 1978… you see all of them gradually age of course but Keith Moon ages faster than any of them. I’ve read where it hit him hard while watching the rough cut right before he died. His lifestyle had taken its toll on him. He saw himself as a young energetic kid that looked like Paul McCartney’s younger brother to a man who was 32 and looked like he was in his 40s at least.
This may be the first or one of the first film bios on a major rock band. Led Zeppelin had The Song Remains the Same but it focused on one concert in New York… The Beatles had Let It Be but those films didn’t show their history like The Kids Are Alright.
In this film you see a band that is fun… unlike their peers Zeppelin and Sabbath the Who were more open to their audience and didn’t have a dark mystique hanging over them. They would crack jokes from the stage…Moon and Townshend treated it like a High School talent show until they started to play…then they got serious.
You see film segments that were fun like the video of Happy Jack, the interview on the Russell Harty Show, Keith with Ringo, and Keith and Pete sharing a joke that only they could understand. One of my favorite segments is The Who playing Barbara Ann with Keith singing and the band having a good time. They also played I Saw Her Standing There but it didn’t make the final cut…you can watch it in the outtakes. I can’t imagine the big bands of that time doing Barbara Ann and goofing for the camera.
The Who did a couple of live shows for the film besides being interviewed. Stein mostly used old clips but he convinced the band to do a couple of free concerts in May of 1978 where he could get a definitive version of Won’t Get Fooled Again… which personally I think is the greatest live performance song live you will ever hear. You see Keith’s last performance as he is looking pudgy, older, and slower but still pulls it off. Pete wasn’t too thrilled about doing the concerts for the film but it turned out good. They ended up only using a version Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Riley from the 78 live show.
Keith died a few months before The Kids Are Alright debuted on June 15, 1979. The film showed The Who at it’s best. Kenney Jones from the Faces replaced him but it was never the same. You cannot replace Moon…he was the engine that drove the Who. Later on in the 90s Zak Starkey…who was Ringo’s son and Keith’s God son played drums for the Who and still does.
If you haven’t watched the film…stop what you are doing and watch it. It still holds up as one of the best music documentaries that rock has produced.
Livin’ with my back against the wall nowhere but forward to fall
The song reminds me of something Ronnie Lane of the Faces would write…in the vein of Oh La La. A loose song that could be played on a back porch somewhere in the south. This was an album cut that I first found on their greatest hits. It’s slowly became my favorite song by this Georgia band.
I remember being a senior in high school and watching one of my buddies band play in a talent show right before us. They played “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” and it sounded great. That song was made for a rock band…any rock band and I asked him if they wrote it. He said no they had an advance copy of the song or bootleg. I’ve liked this band ever since. They were a no frills raw rock band in the middle of the sometimes over produced 80s…a band I followed until they broke up.
The song was released on the album In the Land of Salvation and Sin but wasn’t released as a single and it probably should have been. Their popularity was down at this point and the album didn’t do well. They broke up in 1990 and reformed in 1993 but without lead singer Dan Baird.
Another Chance
Livin’ with my back against the wall nowhere but forward to fall well I close my eyes, somebody will catch my breath oh my lord let’s get on board the rides gonna scare me to death
I don’t wanna leave before my time is done don’t wanna stick around when my race is run I don’t wanna go before they call my dance don’t wanna die asking for another chance
come help me Poor Richard and won’t you help me raise the glass here’s to me and here’s to you may our dreams all come to pass cruel trick of time, is played in the wink of an eye well heaven’s above you don’t need no shove the years go sailing bye, oh
I don’t wanna leave before my time is done don’t wanna stick around when my race is run I don’t wanna go before they call my dance don’t wanna die asking for another chance
another game of chance a lifetime come and gone I guess it’s up to me if I don’t want to sing another man’s song I wanna say what Grandma said, lying on her dying bed I ain’t been cheated, no mistreated, and I don’t have to say that yet, oh
I don’t wanna leave before my time is done don’t wanna stick around when my race is run I don’t wanna go before they call my dance don’t wanna die asking for another chance another chance no not another chance no no another chance
The guitar intro is instantly recognizable and although I’ve heard it so many times I still like it.
Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones got the idea for this song after hearing Muddy Waters’ 1968 album Electric Mud. He wanted to try to write electric blues with a rolling bass part.
The song was credited to Jones, Plant, and Page. the song was on what was known as their greatest album Led Zeppelin IV. It was recorded at Headley Grange a then run down country cottage. It was originally built in 1795 as a three-storey stone structure which was originally used as a workhouse for the poor, infirm, and orphaned.
The album Led Zeppelin IV was a major success and peaked at #2 in the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, and #1 in the UK.
Jimmy Page on recording in Headley Grange: “The reason we went there in the first place, was to have a live-in situation where you’re writing and really living the music. We’d never really had that experience before as a group, apart from when Robert Plant and I had gone to Bron-Yr-Aur. But that was just me and Robert going down there and hanging out in the bosom of Wales and enjoying it. This was different. It was all of us really concentrating in a concentrated environment and the essence of what happened there manifested itself across three albums (IV, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti).”
It was unusual for a Zeppelin song because it was released as a single and peaked at #15 in the Billboard 100, #11 in Canada, and #10 in New Zealand. It was not issued as a single in the UK.
John Paul Jones: “I actually wrote it in rehearsal from Jimmy’s house on the train. My dad was a musician and he showed me a way of writing down notation on anything. And so I wrote the riff to ‘Black Dog’ on the back of a train ticket which I unfortunately don’t have.”
Andy Johns (Engineer):“It was more fun and more serious than for Led Zeppelin III. We mainly recorded it in Headley Grange – a haunted place – using the Rolling Stones mobile recording unit. The rest of the album was produced at Island studios, an old church. We recorded the main tracks for ‘Black Dog’ downstairs, in what used to be the crypt. The main tracks for ‘Stairway To Heaven’ were recorded in the big room upstairs.”
From Songfacts
The title does not appear in the lyrics, and has nothing to do with the song itself. The band worked up the song at Headley Grange, a mansion in Hampshire, England that is out in the country, surrounded by woods. A nameless black Labrador retriever would wander the grounds, and the band would feed it. When they needed a name for this track, which didn’t have an obvious title, they thought of the canine and went with “Black Dog.”
Jones rarely had completed songs together, but the bits and pieces he brought to Led Zeppelin’s writing sessions proved worthy. When they started putting the album together, Jones introduced this riff, the song started to form. The first version Jones played was comically complex. “It was originally all in 3/16 time, but no one could keep up with that,” he said.
When the mobile recording studio (owned by The Rolling Stones) showed up at the mansion, this song was ready to go and recorded there.
This is the first track on Led Zeppelin 4, which became the band’s best-selling album. A wide range of musical styles show up on the set, with “Black Dog” exemplifying the blues-rock that was the bedrock of the band’s sound.
The album itself is technically untitled, with symbols on the cover instead of words., but since it was their fourth album, it became known as Led Zeppelin 4. Some fans also referred to it as “ZoSo,” which is a rough translation Jimmy Page’s symbol.
In this song, Robert Plant is singing about a woman who appeals to his prurient interests, but is clearly no good for him – he tells himself he’d rather have a “steady rollin’ woman” come his way.
Robert Plant explained in an interview with Cameron Crowe: “Not all my stuff is meant to be scrutinized. Things like ‘Black Dog’ are blatant, let’s-do-it-in-the-bath type things, but they make their point just the same.”
The start-and-stop a cappella verses were inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s 1969 song “Oh Well.” Before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974, they were more of a Blues band led by guitarist Peter Green. Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes performed “Oh Well” on their 1999 tour and included it on the album Live At The Greek.
The lyrics never approached “Stairway To Heaven” level scrutiny, but were still subject to some interesting interpretations. Jimmy Page’s interest in the occultist Aleister Crowley, combined with the image of the Hermit (from the Tarot) in the album art and the band’s disappearance when they set off to Headley Grange to record, led some listeners to conclude that the titular dog was some kind of hellhound, and that the line, “Eyes that shine burning red, dreams of you all through my head,” had something to do with Satan.
The sounds at the beginning are Jimmy Page warming up his guitar. He called it “Waking up the army of guitars.”
Even by Led Zeppelin standards, this is a very complex song musically, with a chaotic blend of riffs and time signatures that make it very difficult to play and a testament to the band’s musicianship. When the drums and guitar kick in, they’re actually playing completely different patterns, which is something devised by John Paul Jones. The only real consistent element in the song are the vocal interludes. This is not a song you’d want to dance to.
The songwriting credits on this one read: John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant. Some bands – like U2 and R.E.M. – would credit every member on their original songs, but Zeppelin decided amongst themselves who would get the credits (and associated royalties). Page and Plant were almost always listed (Plant handled lyrics), but whether Jones or Bonham showed up as a writer depended on their contributions. This track was one where Jones clearly deserved a credit; he is also listed on the album as a co-writer of “Rock And Roll,” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “When The Levee Breaks.”
Robert Plant’s vocal was recorded in just two takes, marking one of his most memorable performances. His vocal booth was the drawing room at the Headley Grange mansion, which engineer Andy Johns set up with egg crates covering the walls as a sound-soak.
The guitars are heavily layered. Four separate Jimmy Page guitar tracks were overdubbed. Page recorded the guitar directly into a 1176 limiter preamp (manufactured by Universal Audio), distorted the stages of it, and then sent that to a normally operating limiter. In other words, no guitar amplifier was used in the recording process.
Plant sampled this on his solo hit “Tall Cool One.”
“Whole Lotta Love” made #4 on the US Hot 100, and “Black Dog” was their next highest-charting song. Most of their tracks were not released as singles, and fans of the band were far more likely buy the albums.
As Robert Plant sings every line after the music stops, you can faintly hear Bonham tapping his drumsticks together to keep the time.
This was one of the few songs for which John Paul Jones used a pick to play his bass.
Robert Plant would sometimes improvise some of the lyrics in concert, substituting lines like, “I’ve got a girl that loves me so love me so sweet jelly roll.” >>
This isn’t the first famous rock song with a color-animal title that doesn’t appear in the lyric: Jefferson Airplane released “White Rabbit” in 1967. In 1977, Steely Dan gave us “Black Cow,” but that one does have the title in the lyric.
Apparently, Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas can knock out a killer version of this song. Slash from Guns N’ Roses told NME, March 22, 2010: “I first heard Fergie three years ago at a fundraiser in LA, where I was one of many guests with the Black-Eyed Peas. I was going to play during a rock medley, and in walks this little blonde girl from Orange County, and she sang ‘Black Dog‚’ better than any guy I’d ever heard.”
Note the lyrics, “Baby, when you walk that way, watch your honey drip, can’t keep away.” In 1981, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page formed a group called The Honeydrippers, which scored a hit with a remake of “Sea of Love.”
Page and Plant performed an updated version of this song on their 1995 No Quarter tour. Starting in 2005, Plant added it to his setlist at solo performances. His solo renditions were more subdued vocally, but often rather intricate musically, with a range of world music elements incorporated into the song.
Led Zeppelin cover band Dread Zeppelin did a version of this mixed with Elvis’ “Hound Dog” called “You Ain’t Nuthin’ But A Black Dog.” Their lead singer is an Elvis impersonator.
In 2015, this was used in a commercial for the video game Destiny: The Taken King. Game action takes place as the song plays in the background.
Johns explained how “Black Dog” was recorded: “This one is interesting, because we trebled the guitars. On the stereo, there is one on the left, one on the right, and one in the middle. Each was recorded live. I wanted to try live recording, because I loved the sound that Bill Halverson had secured using this technique with Neil Young. Halverson had told me how he had done that, but I never achieved his results. One day, we were hanging around in the studio, and I told Page that I wanted to try something. For some reason, it worked. The guitars were very reliable.”
Black Dog
Hey, hey mama said the way you move Gon’ make you sweat, gon’ make you groove Ah ah child way ya shake that thing Gon’ make you burn, gon’ make you sting Hey, hey baby when you walk that way Watch your honey drip, I can’t keep away
I gotta roll I can’t stand still Got a flamin’ heart can’t get my fill With eyes that shine, burnin’ red Dreams of you all through my head
Ah ah ah ah ah ah Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
Hey baby, whoa my baby, my pretty baby Darlin’ makes ’em do it now Hey baby, oh my baby, my pretty baby Move the way you’re doin’ now
Didn’t take too long ‘fore I found out What people mean by down and out Spent my money, took my car Started tellin’ her friends she gon’ be a star I don’t know but I been told A big legged woman ain’t got no soul
This was ELO’s third single. The song was on the album On the Third Day in the US…it was released in 1973.
Showdown was written by Jeff Lynne. Early working titles of the song were Bev’s Trousers and All Over The World. Some of these songs have been released on various ELO collections, some using these original working titles and some not. They don’t vary much from the released version, having just various parts of the song mixed in or out as Jeff experimented with different mixes
The song peaked at #53 in the Billboard 100, #12 in the UK, and #47 in Canada in 1973.
The record was a favorite of John Lennon at the time, who dubbed the band “Son of Beatles” in a US radio interview (below is his full quote).
John Lennon on on the New York City radio station WNEW:“‘Showdown’ I thought was a great record and I was expecting it to be #1 but I don’t think UA [United Artists] got their fingers out and pushed it. And it’s a nice group – I call them ‘Son of Beatles’ – although they’re doing things we never did, obviously. But I remember a statement they made when they first formed was to carry on from where the Beatles left off with ‘Walrus,’ and they certainly did. This is a beautiful combination of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye and ‘Lightnin’ Strikes’ by Lou Christie, and it’s a beautiful job with a little ‘I Am The Walrus’ underneath.”
Jeff Lynne:“On the early songs like ‘Showdown,’ we were still trying to find our way musically, but I can still listen to these tracks and smile and think how important they seemed at the time, even though at some of our shows we outnumbered the audience!”
From Songfacts
The liner notes for the ELO 2 remastered CD state: “‘Showdown’ was initially recorded under the working title ‘Bev’s Trousers No. 7.’ The song later proved to be a favorite of John Lennon’s and a popular departure into R&B (with cellos) for the band. During these sessions, Marc Bolan was also in the studio, recording material. The UK superstar and chart phenomenon was a friend of Jeff’s from his Idle Race days and accepted an invitation to play guitar on three ELO tracks. Marc also lent Jeff his 1953 Gibson Firebird for Showdown’s guitar solo. ‘Showdown’ was Jeff Lynne’s first self-composed worldwide hit single and ELO’s final release for EMI on 14 September 1973. The original promotional film, featuring an ELO performance on the banks of the River Thames, survives in EMI’s archive.”
Artists to cover this song include Odia Coates, Asia, and The Cadets.
Showdown
She cried to the Southern wind About a love that was sure to end Every dream in her heart was gone Heading for a showdown
Bad dreamer, what’s your name? Looks like we’re riding on the same train Looks as though there’ll be more pain There’s gonna be a showdown.
And it’s raining, all over the world it’s raining, all over the world Tonight, the longest night
She came to me like a friend She blew in on the Southern wind Now my heart is turned to stone again There’s gonna be a showdown
Save me, oh save me It’s unreal, the suffering There’s gonna be a showdown
And it’s raining, all over the world Raining, all over the world Tonight, the longest night
Raining, raining raining, raining
Raining, all over the world Raining, all over the world The longest night
And it’s raining, all over the world Raining, all over the world Tonight, the longest night
You gotta save me, girl Well, I’m ready for saving I’m a fool for you Ya know I’m ready, yeah come on and save me
Can’t you feel what you’re doing to me, now? I’m on the run again Gotta save me
Good Morning! I hope your Sunday is going well. This is such a groove song…a great way to start your day.
This song I like the Band’s cover version the best and that is saying a lot because Marvin Gaye did the original version. The song was written by Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The Holland–Dozier–Holland team wrote a number of hits through the sixties and seventies and continued on without Dozier for years.
The Band covered this on their Rock of Ages live album released in 1972. I first heard this on the Last Waltz and it stuck with me. I usually like studio cuts over live but this one sounds really good.
The song peaked at #34 in the Billboard 100 but was much more popular in Canada where it peaked at #11 in 1972. It also is included as a bonus track on the Cahoots album…a studio version.
Don’t Do It
Baby don’t you do it, don’t do it Don’t you break my heart Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart
A sacrifice would make you happy if nothing for myself Now you wanna leave me for the love of someone else My pride is all gone whether I’m right or wrong I need you baby to keep on keepin’ on
You know I’m trying to my best Oh I’m trying to do my best Don’t do it, don’t you break my heart Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart
My biggest mistake was loving you too much and letting you know Now you got me where you want me and you won’t let me go If my heart was made of glass well then you’d surely see How much heartache and misery, girl, you’ve been causing me
While I’ve been trying to do my best Well I’ve tried to do my best Don’t do it, don’t you break my heart
Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart
Go down to the river and there I be I’m gonna jump in girl, but you don’t care bout me Open up your eyes Can’t ya see I love ya? Open up you heart, girl Can’t ya see I need ya?
Oh baby don’t do it, do it, do it Don’t you break my heart Pleeeeease don’t do it don’t you break my heart
My biggest mistake was loving you too much and letting you know Now you got me where you want me and you won’t let me go If my heart was made of glass well then you’d surely see How much heartache and misery, girl, you’ve been causing me
While I’ve been trying to do my best You know I’ve tried to do my best Don’t do it, don’t you break my heart Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart
This song will chill you out on this Sunday. No Expectations was on the 1968 album Beggars Banquet. The song is a favorite of mine on the album. This one and Prodigal Son is a throwback to some of their older blues influences. The feeling and the emotion of this song is fantastic.
Brian Jones was on the album and made one of his last contributions with slide on this song. The following year Brian would die in a swimming pool at his home.
This is one of the great Stones album tracks.
Mick Jagger: “That’s Brian playing steel guitar. We were sitting around in a circle on the floor, singing and playing, recording with open mikes. That was the last time I remember Brian really being totally involved in something that was really worth doing. He was there with everyone else. It’s funny how you remember – but that was the last moment I remember him doing that, because he had just lost interest in everything.”
From Songfacts
When Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones died in 1969, this song took on new meaning, as lyrics like “Our love is like our music, it’s here and then it’s gone” made it a fitting elegy. Jones’ slide guitar on the song was one of his last meaningful contributions to the group; after years of drug addiction and squabbles with the band, he was fired from the group in June 1969 and died less than a month later.
The Stones performed this on Rock and Roll Circus, a British TV special The Stones taped in 1968, but never aired. Brian Jones played this with a passion he was clearly losing as drugs took over his life. Rock and Roll Circus was released on video in 1995.
Nicky Hopkins, who also played with The Who and The Beatles, played piano on this.
Lenny Kravitz opened several shows for The Rolling Stones in 1994, and was invited onstage to jam with them at a Cleveland show. Kravitz helped out Mick Jagger in 2001, co-writing, performing on, and producing his song “God Gave Me Everything.”
This song was featured in the 1978 ant-war film Coming Home, with Jane Fonda and John Voight
No Expectations
Take me to the station And put me on a train I’ve got no expectations To pass through here again
Once I was a rich man and Now I am so poor But never in my sweet short life Have I felt like this before
You heart is like a diamond You throw your pearls at swine And as I watch you leaving me You pack my peace of mind
Our love was like the water That splashes on a stone Our love is like our music It’s here, and then it’s gone
So take me to the airport And put me on a plane I’ve got no expectations To pass through here again
This song is for Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Days of the Week…Everyone have a good Sunday!
When I was 7 in 1974 I borrowed the Monkees debut album from my cousin. I listened to the album over and over. This song has been described by some critics of having a “proto-heavy metal guitar riff.” It does have a heavy riff and it is different than the other Monkees songs.
Being seven years old and listening to pop bands from my sister’s collection I thought this song was “hard rock” because it had a guitar with some distortion. The Monkees influenced a generation of young musicians. They made being in a band look fun and in the sixties many kids watched them and wanted to play music because of the Monkees. They don’t get the credit they deserve and are snubbed by Jann Wenner and the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.
At first they didn’t play their instruments but by the third album they all played plus Michael Nesmith wrote songs for many of their albums. Peter Tork and Nesmith were musicians to begin with and good ones…Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones soon learned their parts and contributed. Dolenz and Tork also wrote.
What is not mentioned is a lot of bands didn’t play their instruments on their first albums like the Mama’s and Papas and the Byrds. Many bands had studio musicians to help them out.
Ok…I’ll get off of my soapbox now. This song was written by David Gates (who wrote and sang in Bread). Saturday’s Child was not released as a single but it was a good album track released in 1966. The Monkees debut album The Monkees peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, UK, and Canada.
Saturday’s Child
Monday had a sad child Always feeling low down, Tuesday had a dream child She’s always on the go So I’m in love with Saturday’s child
Every time you take her out at night (She drives me wild) You want to kiss and hold her way up tight (Gonna spend my time) You can tell the future’s looking bright (Making sure that Saturday’s child is mine)
If you love a Wednesday You live your life apart now And if you love a Thursday She’s gonna break your heart, So I’m in love with Saturday’s Child
Every time you hold her close you’ll see (She drives me wild) You can feel the thrill that’s gonna be (Gonna spend my time) Now the future has a guarantee (Making sure that Saturday’s child is mine)
Seven days of the week made to choose from But only one is right for me I know that Saturday’s got what it takes, babe. I can tell by the way she looks at me.
Friday likes the good life She’ll take you for a ride now And Sunday makes a good wife She wants to be your bride So I’m in love with Saturday’s child
How young are you? How old am I? Let’s count the rings around my eyes
I Will Dare was released in 1984 as an independent single and then included on their Let It Be album. I loved this song in the 80s and after hearing it in the past weeks…it was like the first time I listened to it. Peter Buck from REM is playing the intro on this song. Paul Westerberg wrote the song and plays mandolin.
Let It Be was the third full album by the band’s original lineup: lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars.
This song should have cracked the top 40 but it didn’t…mostly because they were on a small Minneapolis record label named Twin/Tone.
The song has been included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Paul Westerberg:”I Will Dare” [From Let It Be] might have been an answer to ”I Will Follow” [by U2]. Part of it has to do with the band. We’ll dare to flop, we’ll dare to do anything. ”I Will Dare” was a good slogan for a Replacements single. Every song title, if it doesn’t apply to the band in some way, we cannot use it. On the other hand, it was a kind of love song. ”Ditch the creep and I’ll meet you later. I don’t care, I will dare.”
I Will Dare
How young are you? How old am I? Let’s count the rings around my eyes
How smart are you? How dumb am I? Don’t count any of my advice
Oh, meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I might dare
Call me on Thursday, if you will Or call me on Wednesday, better still Ain’t lost yet, so I gotta be a winner Fingernails and a cigarette’s a lousy dinner Young, are you? Wo oo
C’mon meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I will dare Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I will dare
How young are you? How old am I? Let’s count the rings around my eyes
How smart are you? How smart are you? How dumb am I? Dumb am I
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now I don’t care, meet me tonight If you would dare, I would dare Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I will dare
The wild man Jerry Lee Lewis. There is no mistaking who this is…they call him The Killer for a reason. Pam from All Things Thriller wrote a great piece about Jerry Lee… here.
This song became Lewis’ signature tune, as well as the title of the movie about Lewis. Otis Blackwell, a prolific songwriter who wrote many hits for Elvis Presley, wrote this song with Jack Hammer.
This was released in England the same month that Lewis married 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown, who was the daughter of his cousin (and bass player) J.W. Brown. At the time, Lewis was headlining shows with Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry, but when the UK press found out, public outrage forced Lewis to leave the country.
Back in the States, his career started to spiral as radio stations refused to play his records and stores refused to sell them. Jerry Lee turned to country music in the late sixties and made a very successful comeback and started to appear on the charts again.
The peaked at #2 in teh Billboard 100, #1 in the Billboard Country Charts, and #1 in the UK in 1957.
Eric Clapton: “I remember the first Rock & Roll I ever saw on TV was Jerry Lee Lewis doing ‘Great Balls of Fire.’ That threw me – it was like seeing someone from outer space.”
From Songfacts
Like Lewis’ previous hit, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” this song is filled with sexual innuendo (” let me love you like a lover should…”), which was shocking for a southern musician in 1957. Lewis grew up in a religious household and was conflicted over whether or not he should record this. He and Sun Records owner Sam Phillips argued as Phillips tried to convince him to sing it. Tape was rolling during the spat and the exchange can be heard on some Sun Records collections. “I thought it was funny because I could see both of them,” recalled house drummer JM van Eaton to Uncut magazine April 2012. “Sam’s as serious as he could be, and Jerry’s as heated as he could be.”
This song made the Top 5 of the Pop, R&B, and Country charts simultaneously with “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” Both hit #1 on the Country charts, and while this sold 5 million copies, which was less then its predecessor, it still charted higher.
In the UK, a similarly raucous version by the female singer Georgia Gibbs was released in 1957 before Lewis’ version was issued. It didn’t chart, and Jerry Lee’s recording became a huge hit, topping the UK chart and becoming the first Sun Records recording to score there.
In 1989, Dennis Quaid portrayed Lewis in the movie Great Balls Of Fire, which told the story of his life.
The film took a few liberties, including a scene where Lewis sets his piano on fire while performing this song – a tale often told by Lewis but never verified.
In America, the song was released on November 11, 1957, just one day before the movie Jamboree hit theaters. Lewis performed the song in the film, which gave it great exposure. Other singers appearing in the movie were Carl Perkins, Fats Domino and Frankie Avalon.
In the movie Top Gun, “Goose” (Anthony Edwards) and “Maverick” (Tom Cruise) sing this while “Goose” plays a piano that still sits at the Kansas City Barbeque Restaurant in San Diego, California where the scene was filmed.
Dolly Parton made “Great Balls Of Fire” the title track to her 1979 album. Her cover was used in the 1985 Miami Vice episode “Golden Triangle (Part I).” Other artists to cover the song include Conway Twitty, Sha Na Na, Mae West, Rolf Harris and the Misfits.
Great Balls of Fire
You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain Too much love drives a man insane You broke my will, oh what a thrill Goodness gracious great balls of fire
I learned to love all of Hollywood money You came along and you moved me honey I changed my mind, looking fine Goodness gracious great balls of fire
You kissed me baba, woo…..it feels good Hold me baba, learn to let me love you like a lover should Your fine, so kind I’m a nervous world that your mine mine mine mine-ine
I cut my nails and I quiver my thumb I’m really nervous but it sure is fun Come on baba, you drive me crazy Goodness gracious great balls of fire
{ piano solo }
Well kiss me baba, woo-oooooo….it feels good Hold me baba I want to love you like a lover should Your fine, so kind I got this world that your mine mine mine mine-ine
I cut my nails and I quiver my thumb I’m real nervous ’cause it sure is fun Come on baba, you drive me crazy Goodness gracious great balls of fire
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