Badfinger (Max)

Beatles Hey Jude Greatest Hits…Desert Island Albums

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 greatest hits…Hey Jude Greatest Hits by the Beatles.

2020 ALBUM DRAFT- ROUND 12 -PICK 10- COMPILATION- BADFINGER20 SELECTS- THE BEATLES -HEY JUDE

It wasn’t my intention to go to the Beatles three times but…there is a reason for this one as I will explain…I didn’t know this album was a greatest hits package when I purchased it. I’m picking this album because of the personal connection to it…and it might be the album that influenced me the most in my life.

Is this the best Beatles greatest hits album? No, not by a long shot but it was the first Beatle album (or any album) I bought and was not handed down by my sister or relatives. I had some money given to me by a relative and mom helped me with the rest. The first Beatle album I listened to was my cousin’s copy of Meet The Beatles…he let me borrow it for while. The Hey Jude album sent me down the road of getting into music that was at least a generation before me…and I’m still in that generation…and I don’t regret a thing…because I’m still discovering new old music and new music that has it’s influences.

My cousin kept telling me of this great song called “Paperback Writer” and he didn’t have a copy. He built the song up so much that I had to listen to it. I found this album at a record store that I begged my mom to take me to. I went through the Beatle albums and this one had Paperback Writer. I couldn’t believe these bearded guys were the same band as on Meet The Beatles. So when I was 8 years old I got two albums… one was a birthday present… the soundtrack to Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang (that I requested) and then I bought this one. My mom asked…are you sure? A nod of my head and I bought a ticket to enter the Beatles world which I still reside.

It has an slight mixture of older, middle, and at that time, newer songs. This was a collection of non-album singles and B sides from the Beatles on the American Capitol label.

The album was conceived by Allen Klein (boooo) and Apple Records and released in 1970. The original name was going to be “The Beatles Again” but they wanted to capitalize on the hit Hey Jude. It was a nice album that should have included more of their earlier hits but it gave us a couple in Can’t Buy Me Love and I Should Have Known Better.

My favorite at that time was of course Paperback Writer…that guitar and those backing vocals…were/are great! Remember… all I’d heard to that point was their first album with Capitol… Meet The Beatles…so I couldn’t believe that “Rain” and the rest came from the same band that played I Want To Hold Your Hand. I didn’t know the history…my 8 year old mind thought…”What the hell happened?…” Where I am musically now…all started with this album purchase.

Rain…the B side to Paperback Writer…I grew to like Rain more than Paperback Writer through the years…in fact it is in my top 10 of Beatle songs.

Lady Madonna… Terrific driving piano riff that is relentless.

I will close out with an earlier Beatles song. I Should’ve Known Better is an instantly catchy song with a harmonica that they would stop using as much in the future. When looking back on their career…the early ones get forgotten sometimes and they shouldn’t be. Those early songs built the foundation.

My island is getting very Beatle-ly…and I don’t mind. I went with the album that influenced me the most at an early age…it just so happened to be a Beatles greatest hits package. This album brings back memories of playing it on a green portable turn table I had at the time with removable speakers.

Like this but green…

Can’t Buy Me Love
I Should Have Known Better
Paperback Writer
Rain
Lady Madonna
Revolution
Hey Jude
Old Brown Shoe
Don’t Let Me Down
Ballad Of John And Yoko

Paul McCartney – Let ‘Em In

This is a song I remember riding in my sister’s Vega. Not my favorite by Paul but a cool song all the same. A lot of references in this song to famous and non famous people.

Sister Suzie was his his wife, Linda, who had recorded the song “Seaside Woman” with Wings under the moniker “Suzie & The Red Stripes”. Martin Luther was of course Martin Luther King. Phil and Don were the Everly Brothers, who were a big influence on the Beatles. Paul would later write their 1984 reunion single, “On The Wings Of A Nightingale”.

Brother Michael was Paul’s brother Peter Michael McGear. Auntie Gin was Paul’s father’s sister was named Gin.When Paul first wrote “I’ve Just Seen A Face”, he called it “Auntie Gin’s Theme”, and George Martin recorded an instrumental under that title.

Uncle Ian—Ian Harris, Paul’s cousin, and Auntie Gin’s son. Apparently Paul’s children called him “Uncle Ian”, although he was technically their cousin.

Brother John was thought to be no other than John Lennon.

Uncle Ernie seems to be a reference to either Keith Moon who played the character Ernie in The Who’s rock opera, Tommy movie or Ringo Starr who sang as Uncle Ernie in the London Symphony Orchestra’s verison of Tommy.

Paul McCartney: “When we went to Jamaica on holiday, a lot of the local guys used to call Linda ‘Susie’ for some reason. And we kind of liked that. Then ‘brother John’ – I would be thinking either of John Lennon, or Linda’s brother, John. But the weirdest thing is, my wife now, Nancy, has a sister Susie and a brother John.”

Along with Silly Love Songs,” this was one of two singles released from the Wings At The Speed Of Sound album. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, #2 in the UK, and #13 in New Zealand.

Let ‘Em In

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah, let ’em in

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Brother Michael, auntie Gin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Ernie, auntie Gin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, ooh yeah, let ’em in

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Earnie, uncle Lin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

…

Robbie Robertson – Somewhere Down The Crazy River

I had a friend who raved about Robbie’s new album in the 80s. He said he liked it better than the Bands music…I would never…ever go that far but… I did like it. Listening to this song, it took me a few listens to like it. In fact the first time I heard it I thought…this is repetitive…but after that I could not get enough of it. The back up vocal is great.

It reminds me of a narration for a movie and then Robbie goes into the chorus and the song clicks then.

Robertson enlisted fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois as co-producer of the album. The self titled album Robbie Robertson was a decent comeback for Robbie.

Robertson also brought in The BoDeans to provide group vocals for some of the tracks on the album

The song peaked at #24 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, #91 in Canada, and #15 in the UK in 1988.

The Robbie Robertson album won the 1989 Juno Award for Album of the Year. Lanois and Robertson jointly won the Producer of the Year Juno award at the same ceremony.

From Songfacts

A single from Robbie Robertson’s eponymous debut album, the song finds the former Band’s guitarist singing of the levee life in the Deep South.

RLanois told Exclaim! magazine that the song started with the “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” title. It was a line that Robertson came up with when he was telling the producer about hanging out with former Band colleague Levon Helm in his old Arkansas neighborhood. “He was telling me about the hot nights and fishing with dynamite,” he recalled. “I was curious about his stories because I wanted them to be on that record… It’s kind of like a guy with a deep voice telling you about steaming nights in Arkansas.”

Robbie Robertson wrote the song with Martin Page (“These Dreams,” “We Built This City”). He recalled the time spent with Robertson in an interview with us. “With Robbie, you were really dealing with a song craftsman who would take as long as it took to piece a great piece of music together with great, great atmosphere,” he said. Obviously, his time with Bob Dylan had influenced him.”

“My period with Robbie Robertson was very, very long,” Page added. “I’d bring in ideas and he’d mull over it and we’d experiment and experiment and experiment. But he would encourage me in the way I would sing these demos for him and I would guide him with the demo, then leave him alone.”

Somewhere Down The Crazy River

Yeah, I can see it now
The distant red neon shivered in the heat
I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land
You know, where people play games with the night
God, it was too hot to sleep

I followed the sound of a jukebox coming from up the levee
All of a sudden, I could hear somebody whistling from right behind me
I turned around, and she said
“Why do you always end up down at Nick’s Cafe?”
I said, “Uh, I don’t know, the wind just kinda pushed me this way”
She said, “Hang the rich”

Catch the blue train
Places never been before
Look for me
Somewhere down the crazy river
(Somewhere down the crazy river)
Ooh, catch the blue train
All the way to Kokomo
You can find me
Somewhere down the crazy river
(Somewhere down the crazy river)

Take a picture of this
The fields are empty, abandoned ’59 Chevy
Laying in the back seat listening to Little Willie John
Yeah, that’s when time stood still
You know, I think I’m gonna go down to Madam X
And let her read my mind
She said, “That voodoo stuff don’t do nothing for me”

I’m a man with a clear destination
I’m a man with a broad imagination
You fog the mind, you stir the soul
I can’t find no control

Wait, did you hear that?
Oh, this is sure stirring up some ghosts for me
She said, “There’s one thing you gotta learn
Is not to be afraid of it”
I said, “No, I like it, I like it, it’s good”
She said, “You like it now
But you’ll learn to love it later”

I been spellbound
Falling in trances
I been spellbound
Falling in trances
You give me the shivers
Chills and fever
You give me the shivers
You give me the shivers
I been spellbound
I been spellbound
I been spellbound
(Somewhere down the crazy river)
Somewhere down the crazy river

…

Jimi Hendrix – (Have You Ever Been) To Electric Ladyland

This one is on Jimi’s last and third studio album released while he was alive. So many albums have some out with Hendrix after he died. You get the feeling the man was constantly plugged into an amp in a studio while the record button was pushed.

This song to me, features some of his best singing…the mood of the song is a little different than his previous work. More mature and loose. I hear a little Curtis Mayfield influence in his singing.

The song was featured on his 1968 album Electric Ladyland. Written and produced by Jimi Hendrix, the song acts as the title track of the album. The album was on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, on which it was ranked 53rd… And I’m surprised it was that high since everything old plummeted in their new rankings.

Jimi Hendrix played the guitar, bass and lead vocal tracks, and Mitch Mitchell played the drums and tambourine.

The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, and #6 in the UK.

Have You Ever Been To Electric Ladyland

Have you ever been, have you ever been
To Electric Ladyland?
The magic carpet waits for you, so don’t you be late
Oh, (I want to show you) the different emotions
(I want to run to) the sounds and motions
Electric woman waits for you and me
So it’s time we take a ride
We can cast all of your hang-ups over the seaside
While we fly right over the love-filled sea
Look up ahead, I see the loveland, soon you’ll understand

[Bridge]
Make love, make love
Make love, make love

[Outro]
(I want to show you) The angels will spread their wings, spread their wings
(I want to show you) Good and evil lay side by side
While electric love penetrates the sky
(I want to show you) Lord, Lord Lord I want to show you
(I want to show you) Hmm, hmm, hmm
(I want to show you)
Show you
(I want to show you)
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Fleetwood Mac – Hypnotized

Bob Welch was a guitarist and vocalist in Fleetwood Mac from 1971-1974. He wrote this song and it was released in 1973. The song was on the album Mystery To Me album.

The song did not chart which surprises me. It was released as the B-side to Fleetwood Mac’s cover version of For Your Love…Hypnotized proved to be the more popular song out of the two. It won an ASCAP award for 35 years on consecutive worldwide radio airplay.

This was right before the Stevie Nicks-Lindsey Buckingham era Fleetwood Mac. After leaving Fleetwood Mac, Welch went on to have a couple big radio hits as a solo artist, “Sentimental Lady” and “Ebony Eyes.”

The album Mystery To Me peaked at #67 in the Billboard Album Charts and #82 in Canada.

Bob Welch: “What I remember about the Mystery to Me sessions is almost everything, so let me be selective. It was a cold winter, and we used the Rolling Stones’ mobile unit to record. I had to re-write all of my songs, because, for instance, ‘Hypnotized’ was intended to be sung by Dave Walker, who was ‘let go’ (there really is no nice way to say it) because, although he was a great singer, we (belatedly) realized that he just stylistically didn’t fit FM.”

“Those two guys in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker had just reported on a major UFO encounter, and it was all over the TV for a while. Part of that went into ‘Hypnotized.’ Mick copied my Maestro Rhythm Machine part for ‘Hypno’ almost exactly … Mick’s sense of tempo, in this day before drum machines, was almost perfect … ‘Hypnotized’ was primarily inspired by [Carlos] Castaneda’s books, the Hickson Pascagoula UFO sighting, some stories told to me by friends, and some personal experiences.”

Hypnotized

It’s the same kind of story
That seems to come down from long ago
Two friends having coffee together
When something flies by their window
It might be out on that lawn
Which is wide, at least half of a playing field
Because there’s no explaining what your imagination
Can make you see and feel

Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized

Now it’s not a meaningless question
To ask if they’ve been and gone
I remember a talk about North Carolina
And a strange, strange pond
You see the sides were like glass
In the thick of a forest without a road
And if any man’s hand ever made that land
Then I think it would’ve showed

That’s why it seems like a dream
Got me hypnotized
And I know that’s right

Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized

They say there’s a place down in Mexico
Where a man can fly over mountains and hills
And he don’t need an airplane or some kind of engine
And he never will
Now you know it’s a meaningless question
To ask if those stories are right
‘Cause what matters most is the feeling
You get when you’re hypnotized

Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized
Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized
Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized
Got me hypnotized

The Who – Acid Queen

I’ve always liked when Pete would take the lead vocals in songs. This song is on the album Tommy…In the movie Tommy, Tina Turner plays the part and sings it like only Tina can.

In the story the Acid Queen tries to cure Tommy the deaf, dumb, and blind kid but fails. The Acid Queen fails to heal Tommy, just as the way of excess and indulgence never brings lasting spiritual transformation. Pete wanted it known it was a dead end.

Pete followed the teachings of Meher Baba…an Indian guru that Townshend had been studying under since 1968. Meher Baba believe that acid and the like were unproductive for spirituality, he felt they were immensely detrimental and destructive.

Tina Turner also released a cover of this song as the third single from her The Acid Queen album.

The Tommy album peaked at #4 in the Billboard Album Charts, #6 in Canada, and #2 in the UK in 1969.

From Songfacts

“The Acid Queen” is an important song in the Who’s rock opera Tommy. In that album, the title character is “deaf, dumb, and blind,” with “dumb” being an archaic (and, in modern times, offensive) way of saying “mute.” Tommy eventually becomes a master at the game of pinball, as summarized in the album’s signature song “Pinball Wizard.”

In their quest to cure their son, Tommy’s parents take him to see a character called the Acid Queen. She’s an outsider figure who offers to liberate Tommy’s mind with drugs and sex.

The word “acid” is almost universal slang for the psychedelic drug LSD, which was the biggest shaping force of the ’60s counterculture. In the ’60s, rightfully or wrongfully (probably wrongfully), acid wasn’t looked at as a recreational drug so much as a way to elevate consciousness and “free” one’s mind.

The Acid Queen, as with the Tommy story as a whole, seem almost ridiculous until you understand what Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend was doing with them.

The character Tommy is meant to represent the average human being who is spiritually and psychologically deaf, blind, and mute in the sense that we are clouded by petty ambitions and lusts and are unable to see the full depth and breadth of reality.

The Acid Queen, meanwhile, represents one method for escaping those limitations – the way of drugs and excess, or “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” as a popular slogan of the era went.

This isn’t the only Who song Baba influenced. His name is even right there in the title of “Baba O’Riley.”

Townshend sings lead vocals on this one. That arrangement wasn’t entirely unheard of for The Who, but Roger Daltrey was the official lead singer of the band and is the voice of most of their songs.

The Acid Queen

If your child ain’t all he should be now
This girl will put him right
I’ll show him what he could be now
Just give me one night

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy and I’m guaranteed
To mend his aching heart

Give us a room, close the door
Leave us for a while
You won’t be a boy no more
Young, but not a child

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy, I’m guaranteed

To tear your soul apart

Gather your wits and hold them fast
Your mind must learn to roam
Just as the gypsy queen must do
You’re gonna hit the road

My work’s been done, now look at him
He’s never been more alive
His head it shakes, his fingers clutch
Watch his body writhe

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy, I’m guaranteed

To break your little heart

If your child ain’t all he should be now
This girl will put him right
I’ll show him what he could be now
Just give me one more night

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy, I’m guaranteed

To tear your soul apart

Taj Mahal – Six Days On The Road

I got ten forward gears and a sweet Georgia overdrive
I’m taking little white pills and my eyes are open wide

I’ve heard this song by dozens of other artists. I’ve heard country and rock versions…and country/rock versions of it. The first time I heard it was on Altamont when the Flying Burrito Brothers were playing it. It is often referenced as one of the first trucker songs.

Taj Mahal is the stage name of Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, one of the more prominent blues musicians of the late 20th century who is noted for blending various genres from zydeko, reggae, jazz, and world beat together with the blues. He influenced Duane Allman’s slide guitar playing with his version of Statesboro Blues.

This song was originally written by Carl Montgomery and Earl Green, and originally performed by Dave Dudley, becoming Dudley’s first hit at #2 on the Billboard Country chart.

From Songfacts

“Six Days On The Road” may just be one of the most-covered songs in country music. Johnny Rivers’ cover in 1974 hit #58 on the Country charts and #105 on the Billboard Hot 100. Steve Earle’s cover in 1988 hit #29 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and was used in the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Sawyer Brown’s cover in 1997 hit #13 on the Country chart, and they titled their album after it. Dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of other covers exist.

Six Days On The Road

I pulled out of Pittsburgh an I rolling down the eastern seaboard
I’ve got my diesel wound up and she’s running like she never did before
There’s a speed zone ahead all right, I don’t see a cop in sight
Six days upon the road and I gotta see my baby tonight
I got ten forward gears and a sweet Georgia overdrive
I’m taking little white pills and my eyes are open wide
Just passed a Jimmy and a White, I’ve been passing everything in sight
Six days upon the road and I gotta see my baby tonight
It seems like a month since I kissed my baby bye bye
I got a lot of woman but I’m not like some of the guys

Got my air horns running clear
Baby you oughta watch the way I shift my gears
Six days upon the road and I gotta see my baby tonight
ICC is checking on down the line
Honey you know I’m a little overweight and my log books way behind
But nothing bothers a soul at night, I can dodge them scales all right
Six days upon the road and I gotta see my baby tonight
My rigs a little old but it don’t mean she’s slow
There’s a good flame coming from her smokestack and the smoke’s black as coal
My home town coming in sight, if you think I’m happy baby baby baby your right
Six days upon the road and I gotta see my baby tonight

Chuck Berry – Roll Over Beethoven

I like going back to the pioneers who started all of this. Those old raw recordings have been inspected, dissected, and copied to this day. All rock bands will do a Chuck Berry riff somewhere and most likely will cover at least one of his many songs.

I first was introduced to Chuck Berry by the Beatles faithful version. This song is a staple of early rock and roll. Everyone from George Harrison to Keith Richards were influenced by Chuck Berry. His songs were mini stories set against a fast guitar with a driving beat.

This song is about the rock ‘n’ roll craze that was taking over America. Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were classical composers who were being bumped aside by rock. At the time, many critics dismissed rock music as a passing fad…and the fad is still going on.

Berry started writing this song to rib his younger sister, Lucy, who played classical music on the family piano. Chuck was telling her to stop playing so he could play rock and roll.

The song peaked at #29 in the US Charts and #2 in the R&B Charts in 1956.

From Songfacts

Berry was careful to write lyrics that told a coherent story, which in this case follows a young many as he pursues his favorite music. Berry also took care to deliver his lyrics clearly so a wider audience could understand them. This helped him avoid the fate of many Little Richard songs: more popular, but sanitized covers by Pat Boone.

The line, “Early in the mornin’ I’m a givin’ you a warnin'” is a tribute to Louis Jordan’s 1947 track “Early In The Mornin’.”

Jordan, a jump-blues innovator, certainly earned the tribute: his 1946 song “Ain’t That Just Like A Woman” has a guitar intro (played by Carl Hogan) that Berry lifted for “Roll Over Beethoven.”

The Beatles released a version of this song in 1963, which they played at most of their early live shows. The following year, The Beach Boys released “Fun, Fun, Fun,” which copied the intro to “Roll Over Beethoven” nearly note for note.

This was used in the 1992 movie Beethoven, which is about a Saint Bernard.

The Electric Light Orchestra covered this in 1973, mixing in some of Beethoven’s music. It was their biggest hit at the time, going to #6 in the UK and #42 in the US.

ELO was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7, 2017, less than a month after Berry’s death. They opened the ceremony with a performance of this song in tribute to Berry.

For a February 4, 1977 primetime special celebrating 25 years of American Bandstand, Berry performed this song joined by Seals & Crofts, Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, the Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels and Doc Severinsen. This was one of the first “all-star jams” that would later become commonplace. This performance served as a showcase for the musicians, who were introduced as they performed by Paul Williams.

Iron Maiden spoofed this on their song “Roll Over Vic Vella,” which was used as the B-side to the single for “From Now to Eternity” It’s one of the few singles that featured a photograph of the band performing as cover art.

Leon Russell often covered this song. He performed it on the musical variety show Shindig! in 1964.

The Beatles version…the bands I’ve played in used more powerful amps in a small club than the Beatles had at that time for stadiums. They made it necessary to boost the power with larger amps…to this day I don’t see how they heard each other…they probably didn’t.

Roll Over Beethoven

Well, I’ma write a letter
I’m gon’ mail it to my local DJ
Yeah that’s the jumpin little record
I want my jockey to play
Roll over Beethoven, I gotta hear it again today

You know, my temperature’s risin’
The jukebox blowin’ a fuse
My heart’s beatin’ rhythm
And my soul keeps a-singin’ the blues
Roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news

I got the rockin’ pneumonia
I need a shot of rhythm and blues
I caught the rollin’ arthritis
Sittin’ down at a rhythm review
Roll over Beethoven, they rockin’ in two by two

Well, if you feel and like it
Go get your lover, then reel and rock it
Roll it over and move on up just a
Trifle further, then reel and rock it
Wind another
Roll over Beethoven, dig these rhythm and blues

Well in the mornin’ I’m givin’ you my mornin’
Don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Hey diddle diddle, I’ma play my fiddle
Ain’t got nothin’ to lose
Roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news

You know she wiggles like a glow worm
Dance like a spinnin’ top
She got a crazy partner
Ya oughta see ’em reel and rock
Long as she got a dime the music will never stop

Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven, dig these rhythm and blues

…

Rolling Stones – Stupid Girl

This song is for Song Lyric Sunda y for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Smart/Stupid. Hope everyone had a good safe Halloween.

Not a feel good song by the Rolling Stones. The song was on their album Afterman released in 1966. This was the B side to the great song Paint It Black. The Stones are known for a good amount of misogyny in their songs…this one and Under My Thumb are no exceptions.

Aftermath peaked at #2 in the Billboard Album Charts and #1 in the UK in 1966.

Stupid Girl was recorded at Los Angeles’ RCA Studios on 6–9 March 1966.

Mick Jagger: “It’s much nastier than Under My Thumb. Obviously, I was having a bit of trouble. I wasn’t in a good relationship. Or I was in too many bad relationships. I had so many girlfriends at that point. None of them seemed to care they weren’t pleasing me very much. I was obviously in with the wrong group”

Keith Richards: “Songs like “Under My Thumb” and “Stupid Girl” were all a spin-off from our environment – hotels, and too many dumb chicks. Not all dumb, not by any means, but that’s how one got.”

Stupid Girls

I’m not talking about the kind of clothes she wears
Look at that stupid girl
I’m not talking about the way she combs her hair
Look at that stupid girl

The way she powders her nose
Her vanity shows and it shows
She’s the worst thing in this world
Well, look at that stupid girl

I’m not talking about the way she digs for gold
Look at that stupid girl
Well, I’m talking about the way she grabs and holds
Look at that stupid girl

The way she talks about someone else
That she don’t even know herself
She’s the sickest thing in this world
Well, look at that stupid girl

Well, I’m sick and tired
And I really have my doubts
I’ve tried and tried
But it never really works out

Like a lady in waiting to a virgin queen
Look at that stupid girl
She bitches ’bout things that she’s never seen
Look at that stupid girl

It doesn’t matter if she dyes her hair
Or the color of the shoes she wears
She’s the worst thing in this world
Well, look at that stupid girl

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
Shut up, shut up, shut up

Like a lady in waiting to a virgin queen
Look at that stupid girl
She bitches ’bout things that she’s never seen
Look at that stupid girl

She purrs like a pussycat
Then she turns ’round and hisses back
She’s the sickest thing in this world
Look at that stupid girl

Them – Mighty Like A Rose

Ya’ know, their turnin’ on
in the classroom
ain’t the point.
It’s when you’re missin’ out
teacher teach ya’ how to
roll a joint.

I’ve pulled the album out and I’ll type the liner notes on this song… Mighty Like A Rose:

“Remember Brown Eyed Girl? (It’s not here) Well it’s father, Mighty Like a Rose is one elegant slice of raunch and it’s here in spades. It’s a simmering summer song about a nympha and her sugar cubes. “

This song was not a B side… it was never released when the band was together. I first heard it when I bought an old import album called Them Featuring Van Morrison ‎– Backtrackin’ that was released in 1974. I found it in a cutout bin in the mid 80s.

It has the sound of Brown Eyed Girl. Van Morrison has said that this was just a demo…not a finished song but it sounds really good. It does predate Brown Eyed Girl…after he left Them he recorded for Bert Burns and released Brown Eyed Girl.

Them was a very good sixties band. Some of their songs were Stones like…in many cases a little tougher and raunchier…and I mean that in a good way. Mighty Like A Rose is one of my favorite Them songs.

I doubt the song would have passed the censors back then…it probably would have been blacklisted immediately.

Mighty Like A Rose

You have drowned
a thousand sorrows
all in one,
and mixed with mugs, (?)
and millionaires
you have done.
Ya’ been and gone and done it
for a quid,
and just what you don’t know,
up there you got hid.

Lord, you’re only
fourteen summers
and God knows,
yeah, child,
you’re gettin’ mighty
like a rose.

You got pulled (?)
for tryin’ to straighten
up this town,
and looked bashful
bribin’ old, bent
Barrister Brown.

Ya’ know, their turnin’ on
in the classroom
ain’t the point.
It’s when you’re missin’ out
teacher teach ya’ how to
roll a joint.

Lord, hey,
while you’re down there
lookin’ up my nose,
yeah,
child you’re gettin’ mighty
like a rose.

Next time they try to fire me,
ya’ make the scene.
You’re gettin’ sugar cubes
for breakfast.
Ya’ know what I mean.

And the, the hazard old, (?)
the wind blows
through you’ ears.
Ya’ haven’t got enough
of those
what ya’
haven’t got for years.

Yeah, but never mind
steppin’ on my toes.
Yeah, child,
you’re gettin’ mighty
like a rose.

Yeah, hey, hey,
you’re mighty like a rose.
Uh-huh, aww, aww, aww, aww, aww, aww,
mmm-mm, mmm-mm, mmm-mm, mmm-mm…

AC/DC – Hells Bells…Happy Halloween!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Have a safe one.

This is song by the one and only AC/DC called Hells Bells.

AC/DC recorded this a few months after lead singer Bon Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning after a night of heavy drinking. The album is a tribute to him, with new singer, Brian Johnson, on vocals.

This is the first track on Back In Black, AC/DC’s biggest album. In tribute to Bon Scott, it starts off with the bell tolling four times before the guitar riff comes in. The bell rings another nine times, gradually fading out. When played live, Brian Johnson would strike the bell.

Back In Black peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada and The UK in 1980.

Brian Johnson on writing the song: “I don’t believe in God or Heaven or Hell. But something happened. We had these little rooms like cells with a bed and a toilet, no TVs. I had this big sheet of paper and I had to write some words. I was going, ‘oh f–k.’ and I’ll never forget, I just went (scribbles frantically as if his hand is possessed). I started writing and never stopped. And that was it, hells Bells. I had a bottle of whisky and I went (generous gulps). I kept the light on all night, man.”

From Songfacts

You don’t honor Bon Scott’s memory with a bell from a sound effects reel, so the band needed a real bell, and a big one. The first attempt to record the bell took place in Leicestershire, England at the Carillon and War Memorial Museum. This proved insufficient, so the band commissioned a one-ton bronze bell from a local foundry that they would also use on stage.

The bell wasn’t ready in time for recording, however, so the manufacturer (John Taylor Bellfounders) arranged for them to record a similar bell at a nearby church. According to engineer Tony Platt, that didn’t go well, as there were birds living in the bell, so when they rang it they also got the fluttering of wings (the birds would retreat back inside the bell after the toll).

They decided to use the bell that was in production, so they borrowed a mobile recording unit owned by Ronnie Laine and wheeled it into the foundry. The bell was hung on a block and tackle and struck by the man who built it.

Because of the harmonics, bells are not easy to record, so Platt placed about 15 microphones with various dynamics in different locations around the foundry to record the sounds. Once it was on tape, Platt brought the recordings to Electric Lady Studios in New York, where he and producer Mutt Lange chose the right combination of bell sounds, put a mix together, and slowed it down to half speed so the one-ton bell would sound like a more ominous two-ton bell. This was integrated into the mix, and the song was completed. Listeners with very sharp ears will notice that the bell when chimed live is an octave higher than than it is on the recording.

This was one of the first songs regularly played as entrance music for a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. In the ’90s, the bells signaled the entrance of San Diego Padres relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman. This bit of home team intimidation was copied throughout the league, most famously by the New York Yankees, who appropriated Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” as Mariano Rivera’s entrance music.

The concept of relief pitcher entrance music was introduced in the 1989 movie Major League, where Charlie Sheen’s character comes in to “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. A few years later, The Philadelphia Phillies played that song when their pitcher Mitch Williams would come in from the bullpen.

There is an all-female AC/DC tribute band in Seattle called Hell’s Belles.

The term “Hell’s Bells” is an exclamation of surprise, although in the context of this song, it is used to conjure up images of the underworld and the feeling of raising hell – something Bon Scott was known for.

The album was produced by John “Mutt” Lange, who also helmed the previous AC/DC album, Highway to Hell. Lange went on quite a run after Back In Black, producing the Foreigner album 4 (1981) and the Def Leppard albums High ‘N’ Dry (1981) and Pyromania (1983).

At University of North Carolina football games, this song is played at the start of the fourth quarter.

Johnson told Q magazine how this song played a part in rescuing imprisoned Black Hawk Down pilot Michael Durant following the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993. He recalled: “That was the best one. He was shoved in prison, his back was broken. They were kicking him, shooting bullets into him and he was terrified. His pals knew that AC/DC was his favorite band so they hooked up a speaker to the skid of one of the Black Hawks and they were playing ‘Hells Bells’ over the rooftops. He took his shirt off and- cos his legs were broken- he crawled up to the windows and waved his shirt. That’s how they got him out. Ain’t that amazing!”

Since this song specifically is a tribute to the late Bon Scott, it’s probably a good idea to mention that a statue of him was unveiled in 2008 in Fremantle, Western Australia. Here’s a little video tour of the statue.

At the same time, as soon as the first lyric is heard, it is unmistakable that the band could not have found a better replacement than Brian Johnson. Johnson puts a manic rage into every syllable and an unearthly howl on the chorus, making a song with scarily sacrilegious lyrics even scarier. By the way, that hat he wears onstage was his brother’s idea, to help Brian Johnson keep the sweat out of his eyes. His brother loaned it to him and never got it back.

Four years after this song, Metallica released “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” which also opens with a bell. Theirs came from a sound effects library.

Hells Bells

I’m a rolling thunder, a pouring rain
I’m comin’ on like a hurricane
My lightning’s flashing across the sky
You’re only young but you’re gonna die

I won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives
Nobody’s putting up a fight
I got my bell, I’m gonna take you to hell
I’m gonna get you, Satan get you

Hell’s bells
Yeah, hell’s bells
You got me ringing hell’s bells
My temperature’s high, hell’s bells

I’ll give you black sensations up and down your spine
If you’re into evil you’re a friend of mine
See my white light flashing as I split the night
Cause if good’s on the left,
Then I’m stickin’ to the right

I won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives
Nobody’s puttin’ up a fight
I got my bell, I’m gonna take you to hell
I’m gonna get you, Satan get you

Hell’s bells
Yeah, hell’s bells
You got me ringing hell’s bells
My temperature’s high, hell’s bells

Yeow

Hell’s bells, Satan’s comin’ to you
Hell’s bells, he’s ringing them now
Hell’s bells, the temperature’s high
Hell’s bells, across the sky
Hell’s bells, they’re takin’ you down
Hell’s bells, they’re draggin’ you around
Hell’s bells, gonna split the night
Hell’s bells, there’s no way to fight, yeah

Ow, ow, ow, ow

Hell’s bells

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special

I love watching this from time to time. Yes, it’s bad…really bad but it’s so bad it’s good. All the celebrities who are in different phases of their careers, cross paths in this epic of a show. First, let’s go through all of the stars. It’s probably remembered most for KISS’s first television appearance.

Paul Lynde of course,

Billie Hayes (Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf)

Margaret Hamilton (The witch from Wizard of Oz)

Tim Conway (No seventies variety show was right without Tim Conway)

Florence Henderson (Brady Bunch mom)

KISS (their first TV show appearance)

Billy Barty (was in many films)

Betty White (and still going)

Roz Kelly (Pinky Tuscadero from Happy Days)

Donny and Marie Osmond! (just to top it off)

The plot… which really doesn’t matter.

I always thought Paul Lynde was wickedly funny. In this, he was watered-down and could not be his Hollywood Squares best. He had a quick campy wit at times and the writers probably toned it down for prime time. I first noticed Lynde on Bewitched as Uncle Arthur and he was great in that role. It was his delivery that made everything work in his comedy.

This special has comedy bits and music…oh yes the music. You have KISS, you have the disco and you have Florence Henderson singing “That Old Black Magic…” Most of the comedy bits fail but the real comedy is how bad it is… The only thing missing from this extravaganza was a guest appearance from Harvey Korman and/or Don Knotts.

The main reason many people have watched it since it aired is it was KISS’s first TV show appearance…not including concert material.

It is a train wreck but one I like watching over and over again. At no other time could a show like this have been aired. It only aired once…for good reason.

What other show does Paul Lynde play a trucker who wants to marry Pinky Tuscadero?

The complete show is second one down.

If you have time…here is the complete show

Beatles – Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

This song made me look for a sitar to buy for a time…unfortunately I never could find one in Nashville at the time. You just don’t see them hanging up in pawn shops.

This was the first pop song to use a sitar…George Harrison played it. Harrison was new to the sitar and attempted many takes until it was right. He bought a cheap sitar and and taught himself to play. Later on Harrison studied the instrument with the Indian musician Ravi Shankar, who helped Harrison explore Eastern music and religion.

The song was on the Rubber Soul album released in 1965. The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, Canada, and the UK. The song was not released as a single in America.

John Lennon: “I was trying to write about an affair without letting my wife know I was having one. I was sort of writing from my experiences – girl’s flats, things like that. I was very careful and paranoid because I didn’t want my wife, Cyn, to know that there really was something going on outside of the household. I’d always had some kind of affairs going on, so I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair, but in such a smoke-screen way that you couldn’t tell. But I can’t remember any specific woman it had to do with.”

John Lennon: “I think it was at the studio. George had just got the sitar and I said ‘Could you play this piece?’ We went through many different sort of versions of the song, it was never right and I was getting very angry about it, it wasn’t coming out like I said. They said, ‘Well just do it how you want to do it’ and I said, ‘Well I just want to do it like this.’ They let me go and I did the guitar very loudly into the mike and sang it at the same time and then George had the sitar and I asked him could he play the piece that I’d written, you know, dee diddley dee diddley dee, that bit, and he was not sure whether he could play it yet because he hadn’t done much on the sitar but he was willing to have a go, as is his wont, and he learned the bit and dubbed it on after. I think we did it in sections.”

From Songfacts

There are not many lyrics in this song, but they tell the story of a man who gets invited to a girl’s house. When she won’t let him into her bed, he sleeps in the tub. When she leaves the next morning, he sets the place on fire. It was one of the first songs Lennon wrote that told a complete story.

Norwegian Wood is a fake wood that was used to make cheap furniture. John Lennon claimed he had no idea where the title came from, but Paul McCartney said he came up with it, inspired by the Norwegian Wood in the Asher household, where he was staying. McCartney was dating Jane Asher, and was good friends with her brother, Peter Asher from the duo Peter & Gordon.

The Beatles recorded this on October 12, 1965, the first day of the Rubber Soul sessions. The first take of the song, which is included on the Anthology 2 CD and includes George’s sitar much more prominently, was originally going to be put on Rubber Soul until a remake was made a week or two later. The notes in the Anthology 2 album verify this.

Ringo played the finger cymbals on this track.

Bob Dylan wrote a parody of sorts to this song called “Fourth Time Around,” which appears on his 1966 album Blonde On Blonde. His song uses a similar melody; it also tells a story about a strange encounter with a girl.

It was Paul McCartney who came up with the album title Rubber Soul. Lennon told Rolling Stone that he supposed it was a pun meaning English Soul. He added: “There is no great mysterious meaning behind all of this, it was just four boys working out what to call a new album.”

Some of the many artists to cover this song include José Feliciano, Herbie Hancock and Buddy Rich. The mellow rap group P.M. Dawn also did a version on their 1993 The Bliss Album, and Cornershop covered it on their 1997 album When I Was Born for the 7th Time – the one with their #1 UK hit “Brimful Of Asha.”

Norwegian Wood

I once had a girl
Or should I say she once had me
She showed me her room
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?

She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn’t a chair

I sat on a rug biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two and then she said
“It’s time for bed”

She told me she worked
In the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn’t
And crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?

The Clarks – Better Off Without You ….Power Pop Friday

This band keeps popping back up in my playlist. Lately in power pop I’ve been listening to Sloan and The Clarks. They complement each other well.

This is a local band out of Pittsburgh that formed in the mid 80s at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where most of them were enrolled. They started out as a cover band and soon began playing original songs.

The song was on Let It Go, the fifth studio album by The Clarks, released on June 20, 2000. The album outsold many major national releases in the Pittsburgh area and generated huge local radio hits.

The band still has all of the original members and are going strong.

Better Off Without You

You are sultry, dirty, soft and hard
You are close to me and you’re so far
And I’m thinking of the time we spent together
Now I’ll bury this in my backyard
Sometimes I sit and wonder
But I’ll never dial your number ’cause

I’m having fun looking out for number one
And I’m doing all the things I like to do
I’m having fun ’cause I knew it all along
I’d be better off without you

You are guilty, pretty, high and low
You’re a place to stay and a time to go
And I’m searching through the things you left behind here
Now it’s time for me to let it go
Sometimes I sit and wonder
But I’ll never dial that number ’cause

I’m having fun looking out for number one
And I’m doing all the things I like to do
I’m having fun ’cause I knew it all along
I’d be better off without you

Late at night you pick up the telephone
Call me up and cry ’cause you’re all alone I don’t care
Apologize for taking my cigarettes
Now it’s time to feel all the side effects
Missing the life you had

…

Talking Heads – Take Me To The River

Take Me To the River was written by Al Green with his guitarist, Teenie Hodges, “Take Me To The River” first appeared on Green’s 1974 album Al Green Explores Your Mind. It wasn’t a hit, but attracted lots of cover versions.

The song is about a baptism, a topic that makes sense with Al Green, who later became an ordained minister and has his own church in Memphis Tennessee.

I never knew this was a cover song until this past year. The Talking Heads make this song their own.

Brian Eno, known for his work in Roxy Music and David Bowie, produced this track. Eno was was a great fit for the Talking Heads. The song was on the album More Songs About Buildings and Food.

The album peaked at #29 in the Billboard Album Charts, #27 in Canada, #4 in New Zealand, and #21 in the UK.

Take Me To The River peaked at #26 in the Billboard 100, #37 in Canada, and #20 in New Zealand in 1978…I thought it would have peaked higher in the US…I’ve heard this song more than a lot of their others.

From Songfacts

Green and Johnson’s versions were well known in R&B circles, but the Talking Heads brought it to the New Wave rock crowd and had the highest charting version of the song, reaching #26 in the US.

You wouldn’t think a New York City-based art-rock band could pull off a gospel-tinged song by a Southern soul singer, but Talking Heads kept the spiritual feel of the song while putting their own spin on it – lead singer David Byrne doesn’t sound like a traditional vocalist and could inhabit a character quite believably. His version of preaching on “Take Me To The River” foreshadowed a later Talking Heads hit, “Once In A Lifetime.”

A key element that set Talking Heads’ version of this song apart from the other covers is the tempo. They had been playing the song live for a while and had a good feel for it when they entered the studio, but when they recorded it, they played it as slowly as they could without losing the groove. This gave the song a seductive feel that set it apart.

A track from Talking Heads’ second album, More Songs About Buildings And Food, “Take Me To The River” was their biggest hit to this point and the only single from the album. It earned them a spot on American Bandstand, getting them on national TV for the first time. The group didn’t strive for hits and didn’t rack up huge sales numbers, but they pushed musical boundaries throughout their career to end up with a very impressive discography that landed them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

The More Songs About Buildings And Food album was one of the first recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. The studio was set up by Island Records owner Chris Blackwell, who cut the Talking Heads a deal because he needed to get some big acts in there to establish it. According to Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz, Blackwell ringed the perimeter of the grounds with chicken blood to keep evil spirits away. This voodoo worked: The band had a great experience at Compass Point and recorded their next two albums there.

This was the only cover song Talking Heads ever recorded. “David [Byrne] resented that it wasn’t one of his songs that was the hit,” Chris Frantz told Songfacts. “So he said, ‘I’m not doing any more cover songs.'”

Take Me To The River

I don’t know why I love her like I do
All the changes you put me through
Take my money, my cigarettes
I haven’t seen the worst of it yet
I wanna know that you’ll tell me
I love to stay
Take me to the river, drop me in the water
Take me to the river, dip me in the water
Washing me down, washing me down

I don’t know why you treat me so bad
Think of all the things we could have had
Love is an ocean that I can’t forget
My sweet sixteen I would never regret

I wanna know that you’ll tell me
I love to stay
Take me to the river, drop me in the water
Push me in the river, dip me in the water
Washing me down, washing me

Hug me, squeeze me, love me, tease me
Till I can’t, till I can’t, till I can’t take no more of it
Take me to the water, drop me in the river
Push me in the water, drop me in the river
Washing me down, washing me down

I don’t know why I love you like I do
All the troubles you put me through
Sixteen candles there on my wall
And here am I the biggest fool of them all

I wanna know that you’ll tell me
I love to stay
Take me to the river and drop me in the water
Dip me in the river, drop me in the water
Washing me down, washing me down.