Badfinger (Max)

Moby Grape – Hey Grandma

This week I’m hitting the San Francisco sound of the 1960s. This is one area that I haven’t touched on much since I’ve been blogging besides The Dead and Janis Joplin. Those two I’ve talked about quite a bit so I’ll probably leave those off this week. I can’t tell you how much fun this is. The whole point of blogging for me is to find new songs that I haven’t heard…whether old or new. I hope you enjoy this week as we visit an area that I’m not familiar with very much.

I’ve read about this band but never heard their music. They really blew me away! They were very tight and their harmonies were great. I will post something else by this band in the future. So far I’ve found out that they are very much a song band. Not a band who will extend a song to 15 minutes…they got to the point and got out.

Alright, buckle up for a trip back to the groovy 60s! Moby Grape was this super cool band from San Francisco that rocked the scene with their unique blend of psychedelic rock. They were formed by Canadian Skip Spence and Matthew Katz. Katz was the former manager of the Jefferson Airplane and Spence was the Airplane’s original drummer. Katz asked Spence to form a band like The Jefferson Airplane.

I listen to this band and I think..how did they not make it? It comes back to some bad luck and some self-sabotage. They had it all…including five members who could all write, sing and play. Record labels were lining up for them. They have since fought for decades between each other and especially their manager Matthew Katz. Other bands like Buffalo Springfield said that Moby Grape was one of the best bands from San Francisco.

They faced more drama than your favorite soap opera. From internal squabbles to management mishaps, it was like they couldn’t catch a break. And for the icing on the cake…they were overhyped by CBS Records.

This next bit of info took me by surprise. CBS actually released 5…yes FIVE singles at once by the band. The label was convinced that each of the 10 sides had the potential to make it to the top of the national charts. The thinking was that a shot-gun approach would ensure that at least one of the five would hit and garner maximum airplay and revenue. It failed miserably. Rock magazines, underground newspapers, and the mainstream press viewed the ploy as a cynical way to move products. Having your record company behind you is good, but who could live up to that? Their reputation suffered greatly.

This was the last single of that batch to be released. It peaked at #127 on the Billboard 100 and #94 on Cashbox. The highest charting single was Omaha, another really good song and it peaked at #88 on the Billboard 100 and #87 in Canada in 1967. The album did much better. The self-titled album Moby Grape peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts.

Moby Grape was formed in 1966 with Peter Lewis as rhythm guitarist. Jerry Miller on lead guitar, Bob Mosley as the bassist and vocalist. Skip Spence on rhythm guitar and experimental drummer, and Don Stevenson on drums and he did some vocals. Their debut album, simply titled Moby Grape was released in 1967. It featured tracks like “Omaha” and “Hey Grandma” became instant Moby Grape classics, showing off the band’s killer harmonies and eclectic sound.

I really like the guitar work in this. Their harmonies sound like the future Grateful Dead would in the early seventies. Things took a darker turn with Skip Spence, one of their star members, battling personal demons. His struggles with mental health and substance abuse led to him leaving the band in 1969. He would return in 1971 and later as they disbanded and came back together.

They are still together with some of the original members. Peter Lewis, Jerry Miller, Bob Mosley, and Don Stevenson. Skip Spencer died in 1999 of lung cancer. His son Omar Spence is now with Moby Grape…singing his dad’s songs. There is a cult following of this band and they had the talent to do much more. This is a case of a record company really hurting them the opposite way they usually do.

Peter Lewis: “We were so young. All we wanted to do was be free. What made us feel worse was that Buffalo Springfield seemed to be getting along fine. They didn’t like Katz at all. Neil Young was up there at the Ark, sitting right there when we were told we had to sign this paper giving away rights to the name. I remember him sitting there, playing this orange Gretsch he had and staring down at his feet. He didn’t say anything. But after that meeting, he told us not to do it. Don’t ask me why, but we did. When Rubinson came along, he said that if we signed with Columbia he’d get rid of Katz for us. Then after he got us signed [in February 1967] he came back and said that the Columbia lawyers couldn’t do it, that they’d made a deal behind our backs. Then we were really screwed.”

Hey Grandma

Hey Grandma, you’re so youngYour old man’s just a boyBeen a long time this time (pow-pow-pow)Been a long time this time (pow-pow-pow)Been a long time this time round, this time roundEverything is upside down, upside downSure lookin’ goodYou’re lookin’ so goodYou’re sure lookin’ good

SF freak scene was on my mindFillmore Slim is just a-wasting timeWell I got high this time (pow-pow-pow)Well I got high this time (pow-pow-pow)Well I got high this time round, this time roundEverything is upside down, upside downCause your lookin’ goodYou’re lookin’ so goodYou’re sure lookin’ good

Robitussin make me feel so fineRobitussin and Elderberry wineHey GrandmaHey GrandmaHey GrandmaHey Grandma

Who – Go To The Mirror

I just can’t get enough of this band. Not counting the Beatles…this is the band I would take to a deserted island and listen to. Not only in the studio but especially live. In their concert prime, between 69-76, they were untouchable in pure rock.

This song is on their Tommy album. I just listened to the album again and I have only one complaint. The production is thin and they don’t sound like The WHO. I have the studio and live version at the bottom. When they took this album on the road it really blossomed and turned into a Who mini opera. Their next album Live At Leeds and Who’s Next made them, along with Led Zeppelin, two of the biggest bands of the 70s.

Tommy is about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who plays pinball. He is not really deaf, dumb, or blind but he dissociates himself from society and those around him. No one can break through his shell.

This song is about him seeing a doctor. The doctor confirms that there is nothing physically wrong with Tommy and his condition is caused by mental blocks from trauma as a kid. The doctor says Tommy will come out naturally. He is encouraged to go to the mirror where they know he is getting some kind of stimulation. In the mirror Tommy sings to his enlightened self “listening to you”, furthering his spiritual journey.

It’s a song that you will hear the familiar refrains running through this concept album. The “See Me, Feel Me” and “Listening to you, I get the music” parts.

Go To The Mirror

He seems to be completely unreceptiveThe tests I gave him show no sense at allHis eyes react to light the dials detect itHe hears but cannot answer to your call

See me, feel me, touch me, heal meSee me, feel me, touch me, heal me

There is no chance no untried operationAll hope lies with him and none with meImagine though the shock from isolationWhen he suddenly can hear and speak and see

See me, feel me, touch me, heal meSee me, feel me, touch me, heal me

His eyes can seeHis ears can hear his lips speakAll the time the needles flick and rockNo machine can give the kind of stimulationNeeded to remove his inner block

Go to the mirror boy!Go to the mirror boy!

I often wonder what he is feelingHas he ever heard a word I’ve said?Look at him in the mirror dreamingWhat is happening in his head?

Listening to you, I get the musicGazing at you, I get the heatFollowing you, I climb the mountainI get excitement at your feet!

Right behind you, I see the millionsOn you, I see the gloryFrom you, I get opinionsFrom you, I get the story

What is happening in his headOoooh I wish I knew, I wish I knew

Savoy Brown – A Hard Way To Go

I’ve heard a lot about this band but never listened to them much. Yesterday I did and they were stacked with great musicians. They have a big blues punch and melodic songs.

I just started to listen to many of their songs and this one caught my attention because of the tight bass intro. That is when I noticed a little of Santana’s sound in there as well. This song is a brief 2:20. If you get a chance on Spotify or Youtube…check them out. So far I’ve been going through their first 4 albums.

They are a British blues rock band formed in 1965 by guitarist Kim Simmonds. They are one of the pioneering bands of the British blues rock scene and bands like The Rolling Stones and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

Over the years, the band’s lineup has changed numerous times, with Simmonds being the only constant member. Savoy Brown has released over 30 albums, with their early work being highly influential in the blues-rock genre.

They have Kim Simmonds’ expressive guitar work and the band’s tight rhythm section. The song was on the album Raw Sienna released in 1970. The album peaked at #75 in Canada and #121 on the Billboard Album Chart. It was written by the then lead singer Chris Youlden who would be with Savoy Brown from 1967 to 1970.

A Hard Way To Go

Ain’t got time for doubts or fearsAin’t got time for shallow tearsAin’t got time to bare my soulBecause I still got a hard way to go

Said that you got a losing handAin’t no point in you raising sandAin’t got time to bare your soulBecause I still got a hard way to go

And it’s a crying shameThat you can’t lay the blameOn anybody else but yourself

Wish that you had my sympathyYou ain’t got no hold on meAnd my heart is getting coldAnd I still got a hard way to go

And it’s a crying shameThat you can’t lay the blameOn anybody else but yourself

And I still got a hard way to go

Rascals – You Better Run

I graduated in 1985…and when I hear anything by The Rascals or Cream…I think of that spring and riding around in my car with friends. That is when I bought two cassettes…The Rascal’s greatest hits and a best of Cream. This band was so talented and you can tell they influenced Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and others.

What a great band! I could almost leave it at that and post the song. They were technically the Young Rascals when this song came out of AM radio in the sixties. They were never really an album band but more of a super singles band. Another band like that was The Lovin’ Spoonful. They dropped the “young” in 1968 and continued having hits.

The Rascals made it by playing rhythm and blues and soul music. Their 1966 cover of the Rudy Clark and Artie Resnick song…Good Lovin went to the top of the Billboard Pop Singles chart. They had the majority of their hits between 1966-1968.

You Better Run peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100 and #22 in Canada in 1966.

They had nine top 20 hits and thirteen top 40 hits…they also had three number 1 hits and a total of 18 songs in the Billboard 100 before they disbanded in 1972. This song was written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati.

You Better Run

What you tryin’ do to my heart?
What you tryin’ do to my heart?
You go around tellin’ lies
You foolin’ round with the other guy’s
What you tryin’ do to my heart?

You better run
You better hide
You better leave from my side

What you tryin’ do to my soul?
What you tryin’ do to my soul?
Everythin’ I had was yours
And no I’m closing all the doors
What you tryin’ do to my soul?

You better run
You better hide
You better leave from my side

I love you girl, I love you so
Can’t you see it, don’t you know
I can’t stand you alibi
You’re tellin’ lies, and tell me why

What you tryin’ do to my head?
What you tryin’ do to my head?
Now I go my jaw out of line
You’re not gonna take my mind?
What you tryin’ do to my head?

You better run
You better hide
You better leave from my side

…

Paladins – Keep On Lovin Me Baby

I hope you are all doing well on this Saturday! This will fill your rockabilly quota of the day.

Here is some 1980’s roots rockabilly. What caught my attention is the relentless guitar on this track plus the groove. The guitar player is Dave Gonzalez and the tone reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughn. This song was written by blues guitarist and songwriter Otis Rush.

The Paladins are from San Diego and were into rockabilly. They billed their music as Western Bop. They played a combination of rockabilly and vintage country together with a blues groove. They were founded in 1980 by guitarist Dave Gonzalez and bass player Thomas Yearsley.

Dave Gonzalez’s initial influences came from his mother, who listened to Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and the Rolling Stones. He mixed this with his father’s love of country singers Buck Owens and Merle Haggard who also made a strong impression on him. As he got older he got into blues artists like B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Johnny Winter.

Put that all together and you come up with a varied roots style.

They did some tours with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Los Lobos, The Blasters, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. This song was on the Let’s Buzz! album released in 1990. They were nominated for the 1990 Entertainer Music Awards but lost out to the Beat Farmers…but they won two years later.

Dave Gonzalez and bass player Thomas Yearsley along with drummer Brian Fahey are still a top attraction at clubs at the present time. They have recorded five singles, nine full-length studio records, and three live albums.

Keep On Lovin Me Baby

I want you to love me (repeat) woh yeah.
Oh baby i’m so glad youre mine…
I want you to kiss me…
Woh baby i’m so glad you’re mine…

Early every morning, sometimes late at night i can
Feel your tender lips they make me feel alright.

Keep on loving me baby…
Woh baby i’m so glad you’re mine…

Marshall Tucker Band – Take The Highway

This wraps up my southern week…I hope you enjoyed it. Toy Caldwell was their guitar player and he could match up with any guitarist from other bands.

This song was on their self-titled debut album released in 1973. Even though Take the Highway might not be as famous as some of the band’s other hits, it’s still a total winner that deserves a spot on playlists.

There is no Marshall Tucker in The Marshall Tucker Band. The name refers to a blind piano tuner from Columbia, South Carolina. They saw the name on a door key where they used to rehearse and decided it would make a good name for their band.

The mix between the flute (Not a southern rock standard) at the beginning with Caldwell’s great guitar licks along with his powerful singing sets this song off.

This album contained the classic Can’t You See. Their 1973 album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 100 in 1973.

Many say that Toy Caldwell was the soul of that band. He was a Marine in the 60s and served in Vietnam. After getting injured he was able to go home and started to play music with his high school friends. Toy and his brother helped start Marshall Tucker.

Toy left Marshall Tucker in 1984. Contributing to his leaving was the fact that his brother… co-founder of the band and bass guitarist Tommy Caldwell, was killed at age 30 in an automobile accident on April 28, 1980. Toy’s other brother Tim Caldwell, on March 28, 1980, one month before Tommy’s death, was killed at age 25 in a collision in South Carolina.

Gregg Allman: When we wanted to get away from our old ladies, we’d head on down to Grant’s Lounge, which was a great place to hang out. We saw a lot of bands, including Marshall Tucker, or Mother Tucker, as we called them. Toy Caldwell was a good friend of mine…was Marshall Tucker—he made that band what it was.

Take The Highway

Take the highwayLord knows I’ve been gone too longLot of sad daysOne day you’ll turn around and I’ll be gone

And the time has finally comeFor me to pack my bags and walk awayHear me say

I’ll be back somedayBut darling, please don’t wait for me too longThere’s just one place I can’t stayMemories of your love still lingers on

And the time has finally comeFor me to pack my bags and walk awayHear me say

I’ll be back somedayBut darling, please don’t wait for me too longThere’s just one place I can’t stayMemories of your love still lingers on

And the time has finally comeFor me to pack my bags and walk awayMake me stay

Take the highwayTake the highwayTake the highwayTake the highway

And the time has finally comeFor me to pack my bags and walk awayHere me say

…

Allman Brothers – Ramblin’ Man

I’ve written a ton of Allman Brother posts but for some odd reason, I never wrote bout this one…their biggest hit. I never thought it was their best song but I do love Dickey Betts’s guitar work in this one. It was on their album “Brothers and Sisters” and it hit a chord with pop culture. Two popular shows at the time The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie fit in with the family theme.

After finishing Eat A Peach after Duane died…they started to work on Brothers and Sisters. They refused to replace Duane Allman with another guitar player. They didn’t want someone at that time just mimicking Duane. While they were recording the album, Gregg Allman recorded his first solo album, Laid Back. He was working with a fantastic piano player named Chuck Leavell. Gregg later invited Chuck to join the Allman Brothers and the Brothers agreed he would fit perfectly and give them a different sound.

Barry Oakley was in disarray at this time after Duane died. For a year he was spiraling down with drugs and drink. In September of 1972, Chuck joined the band and Barry Oakley was excited. It was the first time that he seemed like his old self again since Duane passed. He took Leavell under his wing and showed him the ropes of being in that band.

Leavell said he was fantastic and some of the band thought that Oakley may have been coming out of it and back to himself. That was not to be. On November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died in a motorcycle crash within a few blocks of where Duane crashed a year and 13 days earlier. He played on two songs on this album…Wasted Words and Ramblin’ Man. Lamar Williams replaced him and finished the album on bass.

Dicky Betts knew a country guy he was friends with and the guy always told him…” are you still playing your guitar and doing the best that you can?” The phrase stuck with Betts. He had the germ of the idea before The Allman Brothers started. Before Duane was killed the band played around with the song in some rehearsals in Gatlinburg.

He was hesitant to record the song. He thought it could be too country for the band. They needed a song and recorded it anyway and it sounded great. He added the solos at the end to make it more of an Allman Brothers song.

The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead were not known for their top ten hits. This is their highest-charting single. It also helped propel the album Brothers and Sisters to the top of the Billboard Album Chart chart, solidifying the band’s status as one of the leading acts of the Southern rock genre…although they were more of a blues, jazz, rock, and jam band.

The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts #1 in Canada, and #42 in the UK. What helped the album was Ramblin’ Man and Jessica, two of their most classic songs. They toured with this album and played sold-out stadiums and arenas.

Ramblin’ Man peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts and #7 in Canada in 1973.

Just found out that Dickey Betts passed away today at age 80.

Dickey Betts: “When I was a kid, my dad was in construction and used to move the family band and forth between central Florida’s east and west coasts, I’d go to one school for a year and then the other the next. I had two sets of friends and spent a lot of time in the back seat of a Greyhound bus. Ramblin’ was in my blood.”

The Allman’s November 2nd, 1972 performance went down at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Portions of the show were broadcast on ABC’s In Concert program. In this clip below we get to see rare footage of the post-Duane, pre-Berry death lineup of the band which featured Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe, Chuck Leavell, Butch Trucks, and Oakley. Barry Oakley would die 9 days after this concert…it was his last concert with the band and Chuck Leavell’s first concert with them. This was before the single was released.

Ramblin’ Man

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manTryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I canAnd when it’s time for leavin’I hope you’ll understandThat I was born a ramblin’ man

Well, my father was a gambler down in GeorgiaAnd he wound up on the wrong end of a gunAnd I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound busRollin’ down highway 41

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manTryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I canAnd when it’s time for leavin’I hope you’ll understandThat I was born a ramblin’ man

Alright

I’m on my way to New Orleans this mornin’Leaving out of Nashville, TennesseeThey’re always having a good time down on the bayouLord, and Delta women think the world of me

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manTryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I canAnd when it’s time for leavin’I hope you’ll understandThat I was born a ramblin’ man

Lord, I was born a ramblin’ manLord, I was born a ramblin’ manLord, I was born a ramblin’ manLord, I was born a ramblin’ man

Max Picks …songs from 1995

1995

We have come to the end of the line for Max Picks. I decided to draw the line this year. What a year it was for me in music. I was 2 when the Beatles stopped playing music. I never got to experience a new Beatles song and this was it. It’s still a favorite of mine. I’m going to work up a few Missed Max Picks because of the songs I missed. I want to thank ALL of you for the support and your comments on this series. It was a fun one to do. We started this on June 23, 2023!

Beatles – Free As A Bird

In the 1990s I kept reading about the Beatles Anthology coming out and the three surviving Beatles getting back together to release old never heard before music as well as new. They were going to take a John Lennon demo and add something to it. This was beyond exciting for me. I was too young to remember a new Beatles song coming out.

It had an older feel but sounded modern at the same time. George Harrison’s distorted slide guitar playing brought an edge to it. It even had a strange ending like some of their other songs.

I got an early release of the Anthology CD from a friend of mine who worked in a record store and he said…don’t tell anyone. I sat glued to Free As a Bird because for once I was listening to a new Beatles song… I was one year old in 1968 so I missed them when they were originally out. I liked the song and still do. I have talked to Beatles fans who don’t really like it that much but the song has stuck with me. .

Was Free As a Bird the best song in the Beatles catalog? No not even close but just to hear something new was fantastic. The Anthology videos and CDs jump-started their popularity all over again…and it hasn’t stopped since then. I had cousins who were teenagers at the time who were never interested in them until Anthology came out. All I could say to them was…I’ve told you for years.

Also…my favorite music video of all time

Jayhawks – Blue

This song would rank high among my favorite songs. The Jayhawks were an Alt-Country band with a pop/folk sound formed in Minneapolis–Saint Paul in 1985 and played alternative country rock. They have released 10 studio albums and are worth checking out.

The song was on the album Tomorrow the Green Grass.

They recently backed Ray Davies on his albums Americana and Our Country – Americana Act II. Their 2016 album Paging Mr. Proust was produced by Peter Buck of REM.

They combine country, folk, rock, and pop with good harmonies.

Oasis – Wonderwall

This song is awash in sixties influence…which isn’t surprising by Oasis. It caught my attention in the 90s seeing that it had a mod mid-sixties influence.

This song was supposedly about Noel Gallagher’s then-girlfriend Meg Mathews, who is compared with a schoolboy’s wall to which posters of footballers and pop stars are attached. He said: “It’s about my girlfriend. She was out of work, and that, a bit down on her luck, so it’s just saying, ‘Cheer up and f—in get on with it.’” Noel later married and then divorced Meg Mathews.

Noel also said… “The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. And how do you tell your Mrs. it’s not about her once she’s read it is? It’s about an imaginary friend who’s going to come and save you from yourself.”

Everclear – Santa Monica

With my big black boots and an old suitcase
I do believe I’ll find myself a new place

Those lyrics hit me for some reason as did the song. It was my first introduction to the band and I loved it. This is one of the few new bands at the time that I followed.

Art Alexaskis formed Everclear in Portland, Oregon, in 1991. Portland in the early 90s had a huge music scene. Everclear broke out first with this song nationally. Many bands there didn’t think Everclear deserved it over everyone else…there was a lot of competition there at that time.

Santa Monica is a seaside town in California where Everclear lead singer Art Alexakis grew up. He describes it as Like LA but on the coast.

The song peaked at #1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, #4 in Canada’s Alternative Charts, #27 in New Zealand, and #40 in the UK in 1996.

It was on the 1995 album Sparkle and Fade. John at 2 Loud 2 Old Music reviewed all of their albums in this article. It’s a great review of their recording career.

Ramones – I Don’t Want To Grow Up

This came off of the Ramones’ last album Adios Amigos. This song is a Tom Waits cover. This song actually made the top 30 for the Ramones. Their reputation grew through the years. They probably got more popular after they broke up than they were when they were together. It’s a shame that many of their songs didn’t hit bigger at the time. Their songs are short, to the point, and usually very catchy. You would have thought radio would have loved them.

The album is really good and it was a good way to go out for them.

BONUS PICK… I’m going to break my own rule about only 5 songs since this is the last Max Picks…and I’m breaking another rule by featuring a band twice in one post. Which band should it be?

Beatles – Real Love

This was the second “new” song by the Beatles to be released in the 1990s and it was on the Anthology 2 album. I liked the song but it didn’t resonate with me like Free As A Bird did. Real Love sounded more like a Lennon solo song with the Beatles backing him…but I love Lennon’s solo output so I did like it but it wasn’t as “Beatle-ly” to me as Free As a Bird.

The song was more fully realized than Free As a Bird and didn’t take as much input by the other three shaping it. This is the only Beatles song where the songwriting credit is John Lennon alone instead of Lennon-McCartney or all four Beatles.

Paul McCartney did his best John Lennon’s imitation to help the lead vocal because the recording of John’s voice was low and spotty in some places. The lead vocal is actually a John and Paul duet.

…

Wet Willie – Weekend

It’s funny how local radio stations will change how songs are remembered. When I hear Wet Willie’s band name I think of one song…Keep on Smiling. When I posted that song a while ago…some did not know it but they knew this song. We did hear this song but to tell you the truth…until Dave told me it was Wet Willie a few years ago doing this song Weekend…I would have never known.

When I posted about them before…I’ll say the same thing. First, let’s get this out of the way… wet–willy. Noun. (plural wet willies) (slang) A prank whereby a saliva-moistened finger is inserted into an unsuspecting person’s ear, often with a slight twisting motion… Oh yes…I’ve given them and have been on the receiving end. When you are 12 given wet willies were a lot of fun….oh wait…that was yesterday!

Wet Willie began as a blues-rock band during the Summer of 1969 down in Mobile Alabama. The original nucleus of the group that eventually became known as Wet Willie was called Fox. Wet Willie eventually moved to Macon Georgia and signed to Capricorn Records sharing the label with The Allman Brothers and The Marshall Tucker Band. Still, they really didn’t have a Southern rock sound.

This song was released in 1979 on the album Manorisms. The album peaked at #118 on the Billboard Album Charts.

The song peaked at #29 on the Billboard 100 and #34 in Canada. Their biggest hit was Keep On Smiling which peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100 and #21 in Canada in 1974.

Southern Rock took off in the 70s but crashed when Lynyrd Skynyrds plane did in 1977. It hung around a little longer with 38 Special and Molly Hatchet but died when the 80s came. Gregg Allman had a great quote on “Southern Rock.” He is right in this quote below. Most of the bands were so different from each other. The only thing many of them had in common was that they were Southern. The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd were the two biggest bands and they were day and night. Skynyrd was more like The Stones and Free and The Allman Brothers were a combination of blues, jazz, rock, and country.

Gregg Allman: For some reason, people think that we all grew up together and we all knew each other, and our friends were their friends and their friends were our friends, like there was one big town of southern rock stars or something. Man, it wasn’t nothing like that at all. You might know two or three cats in one band here and there, and you’d see each other passing in the night. If you did a tour together, then you’d see each other maybe a couple of hours a day.

Of course, there was some competition between bands—there has to be. But we weren’t out there to sell southern rock, we were out there because we had the best goddamn band in the land. The Allman Brothers Band has had its bad nights, but we are some Super Bowl motherfuckers compared to all them other bands.

Weekend

One Friday evenin’What a feelin’, feel like singin’Tired of workin’, my mind is buzzin’Feel like dancin’ yes I do

But you gotta make the best of life while you’re youngGood people, weekendDo just what you want to do, weekendWhen those workin’ days are throughWeekend, weekend, weekendWeekend, weekendYou know it’s time to get away, weekendI want to hear ev’rybody sayWeekend, weekend, weekend

Saturday night feelin’ just rightMakin’ new friends, lazy SundayEvery Monday ends my weekend, yes it doesBut you gotta make the best of life while you’re youngListen people, weekendParty down with all your friends, weekendIt’s party, hearty time againWeekend, weekend, weekendWeekend, weekendSpendin’ all my hard-earned pay, weekendWith crazy nights and lazy daysWeekend, weekend, weekend

But you believe me right now, weekendWatchin’ all the people play, weekendI want to hear ev’rybody sayWeekend, weekend, weekendWeekend, weekendDo what you want to do, weekendWhen those workin’ days are throughWeekend, weekend, weekendAh you gotta make the best of life while you’re youngRight now, weekendDo what you want to do, weekendWhen those workin’ days are throughWeekend, weekend, weekendYeah weekend

…

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Tuesday’s Gone

This song is one of their best songs to me. I like it better than Freebird and many other more popular ones. I could see The Stones doing this song as well as the Allman Brothers. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sound has always been closer to British crunch rock like Free and The Stones than their southern roots.

Since I’ve been blogging I’ve read a few books about them and heard from my UK readers. They were huge in the UK in the mid-70s. They toured there and played at Knebworth in 1976 on a bill with the Rolling Stones.

Ronnie Van Zant wrote the lyrics and Allen Collins wrote the music to this song. I’ve talked about how Ray Davies and Bruce Springsteen could write about everyday life and make it sound interesting and believable. I’ll put Van Zant in that same category with no hesitation. His deceptive simple lyrics always hit home.

Metallica and Phish both have both covered this song. The best cover version I’ve heard is a live version from Gregg Allman. You can imagine what the Allmans would have done with it. There was a train track near the place where the band rehearsed. The sound of the trains inspired lead singer Ronnie Van Zant to write the first line, “Train roll on, on down the line.”

Tuesday’s Gone was on the debut album Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd and peaked at #27 on the Billboard Album Chart, #47 in Canada, and #44 in the UK in 1973. It’s one of the best rock debut albums. They opened up for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour at this time.

Their producer at the time was Al Kooper. He played on this track and brought a Mellotron in this song. He would go on to produce their first three albums and also signed them to MCA records. He found them in a bar and offered to sign them after a few nights. Right after that someone broke into their van and stole all of their equipment. Van Zant called Al Kooper and asked him if he could help them out. Kooper said yes of course and sent the band $5000 and Van Zant told him…“Al, you just bought yourself a band for five thousand dollars.”

Cameron Crowe on Ronnie Van Zant: “He was the first musician that crossed the line and talked to me like I was an artist or a writer. It blew me away. He was a guy who treated me like I was an equal, and it gave me a lot of confidence, doing that. A straight-ahead, sensitive guy. No agenda, he didn’t ask me to write about him, just took the opportunity to tell me the story had reached him. Over the next three years, we stayed pretty tight, and I did write about them and went on the road with them and all kinds of stuff.”

Al Kooper talking about the stolen equipment: “Al, our equipment van got broken into last night and we can’t put food in our families’ mouths without that gear. We have engagements to fulfill immediately and unless you can lend us five thousand dollars by tomorrow morning, we’re fucked!”
I didn’t even think twice: “Where do I send it, buddy ?” He gave me the address and closed with: “Al, you just bought yourself a band for five thousand dollars.”
I never worried about that money. Ronnie was a gentleman and a man of his word. He ruled that band with an iron fist, and God help any band member who crossed him. Of course, that was impossible, because they all worshipped him. Possessed of a unique talent for savvy songwriting, a rather pedestrian voice that had its own unique sound, and remarkable leadership skills, Ronnie was the mediator between the rest of the band and myself. As a producer, I offered my artists one hundred percent of my input. What percentage they chose to use was up to them. Of course, it varied from act to act. With Skynyrd, there wasn’t that much to do. They were incredibly well rehearsed (they even composed their guitar solos beforehand), they were the best damn arrangers I have ever worked with, and their musical discipline was everything to them.

Gregg Allman singing Tueday’s Gone.

Tuesdays Gone

Train roll on, on down the line,
Won’t you please take me far, far away
Now I feel the wind blow, outside my door,
I’m leavin’ my woman at home, oh yeah
Tuesday’s gone with the wind,
Oh my baby’s gone, gone with the wind
And I don’t know, oh, where I’m goin’
I just want to be left alone
When this train ends, I’ll try again
I’m leavin’ my woman at home

Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
My baby’s gone, with the wind
Train roll on, Tuesday’s gone

Train roll on many miles from my home, see I’m
I’m ridin’ my blues, away yeah
But Tuesday you see, a she had to be free
Somehow I got to, to carry on

Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
My baby’s gone, with the wind

Train roll on
My baby’s gone
I’m ridin’ my blues, baby
Tryin’ to ridin’ my blues
Ride on train
Ride on train
Ridin’ my blues, baby
Goodbye Tuesday, goodbye Tuesday
Oh, oh, oh, train

….

Little Feat – Sailin’ Shoes

This week I will feature artists with a southern feel to them. Little Feat formed in California but fit nicely with the Southern bands of the time because of their influences.

Little Feat is one of those bands that I learned about when I read about other artists. Many musicians were fans of this band. Led Zeppelin would travel to see Little Feat when they could. They were the definition of a musician’s band. The only other band that I can think of during that period like that was The Allman Brothers.

Guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne formed Little Feat in 1969. Lowell George was a member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Bass player of the Mothers Roy Estrada joined along with drummer Richie Hayward.

This is to me, a pure album band. You don’t just sit through single songs…you listen to the album and get the entire vibe. This song was the title track to the album produced by Ted Templeman. It was the band’s second album and was released in 1972.

Even though Sailin’ Shoes wasn’t a huge hit when it first came out, it’s become one of Little Feat’s most remembered songs. The album didn’t come close to the top 40 but it has grown in stature. Their next album Dixie Chicken would go gold.

The lineup had many changes through the years and unfortunately, Lowell died in 1979 of a heart attack. The band broke up after George’s death but reunited in 1987. The band continues today with Bill Payne still as a member.

Ted Templeton: “These guys were monsters in terms of musicians”

Sailin’ Shoes

Lady in a turban, cocaine treeDoes a dance so rhythmicallyShe’s cryin’, and a singin’ and having a timeand gee that cocaine tree look fineYou’ve got to put on your sailin’ shoesPut on your sailing shoesEveryone will start to cheerWhen you put on your sailin’ shoesJedidiah, he’s got a dimeSays he catch a more fish, every timeWell I’ve got a line, and you’ve got a poleAnd I’ll meet you at the fishin’ holeYou’ve got to put on your sailin’ shoesPut on your sailing shoesEveryone will start to cheerWhen you put on your sailin’ shoesDoctor, doctor, I feel so badThis is the worst day, I ever hadHave you this misery a very long time?Well if you if, I’ll lay it on the lineYou’ve got to put on your sailin’ shoesPut on your sailing shoesEveryone will start to cheerWhen you put on your sailin’ shoes

Gregg Allman – These Days

Last week I had a UK-flavored week…this week I’m going to have a southern feel.

Right before recording the Allman’s Brothers and Sisters album…Gregg brought a song in for the Brothers and they rejected it because it didn’t fit as well with them. Gregg wanted to expand and use the folk and the California vibe that he had. He thought…I’ll just make my own album. The Allman Brothers fully supported him in this.

In the sixties, Gregg and Duane were in the band Hourglass… Gregg roomed with Jackson Browne for a while. Gregg has stated that he picked up a lot from Browne on songwriting. They kept that relationship for the rest of their lives. Gregg did this song that was written by Browne. He slowed it down and added some more soul to it and Jackson ended up changing the way he did it to match this live. The song was the B side to the biggest hit on the album, Midnight Rider. Allman would continue to play this throughout his career.

This song was on Gregg’s first solo album Laid Back released in 1973. He recorded this album while recording the great Brothers and Sisters album with the Brothers. He was also battling addiction brought on by the loss of his brother Duane and the passing of bassist Berry Oakley.

The song has a history dating back to the 1960s. Nico of the Velvet Underground recorded it first in 1967. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did it in 1968. According to Secondhandsongs the song has been covered 75 times!

Allman went on tour with Laid Back which included a string orchestra. The tour was a huge success and helped to chart the album at #13 on the Billboard Album Charts and #19 on the Canadian Charts.

Allman’s recording somewhat overshadowed Browne’s version and many have called Allman’s version the definitive version. Jackson Browne even alluded to that as well. Greg Allman and Jackson Browne covered it in 2014. Just my two cents…it’s hard to beat Allman’s voice and his soulful feel.

Jackson Browne: Gregg Allman was one of the most gifted singers of the last fifty years. We became friends in LA in the late sixties when he and Duane were in The Hourglass. He was a blues singer first, and he was so natural, and so soulful, that when he sang songs that were written in a major scale, he found all the most soulful and expressive passages through those changes. It was just how he heard it. That’s how it was with my song, These Days. He slowed it down, and felt it deeply, and he made that song twice as good as it was before he sang it. I got to speak with him in the week before he passed, and I got to tell him how much his music and his friendship has meant to me. He recently recorded one of my early songs, Song For Adam, and he and Don Was sent it to me to sing on, and I did. That song, the way he sang it and where he sang it from – at the end of his life – well, he completed that song, and gave it a resonance and a gravity that could only have been put there by him.

Jackson Browne Version

Allman and Browne…I kept the quick bio and interview with Don Was in at the beginning.

These Days

Well I’ve been out walkingI don’t do that much talking these daysThese days-These days I seem to think a lotAbout the things that I forgot to doAnd all the times I had the chance toI’ve stopped my ramblingI don’t do too much gambling these days, These days-These days I seem to think aboutHow all the changes came about my waysAnd I wonder if I’d see another highwayI had a loverI don’t think I’ll risk anotherThese days, these daysAnd if I seem to be afraidTo live the life that I have made in songIt’s just that I’ve been losing so longI’ve stopped my dreamingI won’t do too much schemingThese days, these daysThese days I sit on corner stonesAnd count the time in quarter tones to tenPlease don’t confront me with my failuresI had not forgotten them

…

Them – Richard Cory

When I bought the album “Backtracking” in the mid-1980s…I was in Van Morrison heaven. This was the only Van Morrison era I knew at the time. The first time I heard Brown Eyed Girl was in 1985. I fell in love with that song so just like I do now…I wanted to find out everything about this man. The first thing I did was to go to Tower Records. I looked it up with a magazine there and they ordered it…Tower did not have a huge stock of Them albums, to say the least.

I wore this album out and I still have it. It was the best $10 I ever spent. This was the intro song to the album. I noticed that Paul Simon wrote this one. After devouring this and another Them album I made the jump to Van’s solo career. I’m happy I did it in order. The album had songs that caught my attention. Baby Please Don’t Go, Richard Cory, Don’t Start Crying Now, and most of all…Mighty Like a Rose which was never released but on this 1974 compilation album. That song would not have passed by the censors…if you haven’t heard it give it a listen. A song about a nympha and her sugar cubes.

Richard Cory is a folk-based song but Morrison supercharges it with his voice. Simon wrote some standards but he could have never done this like Them did. The song was based on a poem called Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It’s about a lonely rich man who everyone thought was happy because of his money but they were too intimidated to come around him.

Them released this as a stand-alone single in 1966. It didn’t chart but the band was pretty much over… at least Van’s participation. The following year Van would release Brown Eyed Girl and begin his solo career with Bert Berns and Bang Records.

Them’s influence on garage, punk, and rock bands was immense.

Richard Cory

They say that Richard Cory
Owns one-half of this here town
With political connections
Spread his wealth around

Born into society, a banker’s only child
He had everything a man could want
Power, grace and style

But I, work in his factory
And I curse the life I’m livin’
And I curse my poverty
That I wish that I could be
Yeah, I wish that I could be
Lord, I wish that I could be, Richard Cory

Paper’s print his pictures
Almost everywhere he go
Richard Cory at the opera
Richard Cory at the show

And the rumours of his a-parties
And the orgies on his yacht
Well, he surely must be happy
With everythang that he has got

But I, work in his factory
And I curse the life I’m livin’
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be
I wish that I could be, yea-ah
I wish that I could be, Richard Cory

He freely gave to charity
And had that common touch
They were grateful for his patronage
And thanked him very much

So my mind was filled with wonder
When the evenin’ headlines read
That Richard Cory went home last night
And put a bullet through his head, hu

But I, I, I, work in his factory
And I, I don’t don’t dig the life I’m livin’
And I don’t dig my poverty
And I wish that I could be
Yeah, an’ I wish that I could be
Well, wish that I could be, Richard Cory

Ay-hey, I wish that I could be
I wish that I could be
Sometime, I wish that I could be
A-just like a-Richard Cory
Just li-iiiiiiike, a-Richard Cory
A-Richard Cory

A-Richard Cory
Just like Richard Cory…

Ian Hunter – Just Another Night

After Mott The Hoople yesterday I had to go into full Ian Hunter mode. The piano intro in the song is incredible. Not only the riff but the sound they got off of it. This song was written by Hunter and Mick Ronson. It was about a night in an Indianapolis jail. I have a quote by Hunter at the bottom of the page about it.

The song was off of the brilliantly named album You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic and it peaked at #35 in the Billboard 100 and #49 in the UK in 1979. The album has been called by some critics his best ever. The album also has one of his most recognizable songs Cleveland Rocks. The song peaked at #68 on the Billboard 100 Charts in 1979.

Ian Hunter had a great band behind him on this song. Mick Ronson on guitar, and the E Street Band’s Gary Tallent on bass, Roy Bittan on keyboards, and Max Weinberg on drums. It was produced by Mick Ronson.

You can just picture yourself cruising down the highway with this song blasting from the speakers. It’s got that timeless feel that makes you wanna listen to it over and over again. Just like this song…Ian Hunter doesn’t seem to age. He released an album last year called Defiance Part 1. On April 19, 2024…he is releasing part II of that album Defiance Part 2: Fiction.

My friend Christian has a review of Defiance Part 1 from last year…check it out. CB has a review of You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic.

Ian Hunter: It was about a night in a city jail, in Indianapolis. And the last interview I just did before you was from Indianapolis! That was what the song was about. It was done with The E Street Band, so the initial recording [sounded] too much like Bruce! So Ronson was like, “Come on, do it how you wrote it!” And I said, “I can’t remember how I wrote it!” And then he remembered the groove, which was more rock and roll.

Just Another Night

Oh no, the fuzz, all in a lineMy oh my, I think I’m gonna dieAnd it’s just another nightIt’s just another night

Got a long black face; Who goes there?All the reefer madnessput a poor kid in jailAnd it’s just another nightYeah, it’s just another night

Oh take it easy boy or it’s DOAChrome on my body and a lot of folks sayThat it’s just another nightHey, It’s just another nightOh, it’s just another night on the other side of life

Head one’s a saw-bones and he wrecked my chairSaid “How’d you like to do it in a room downstairs”And it’s just another nightOh, just another night

Hey now, Papa Joe, Don’t you pull my hairAll this intrigue, it gets me out of my leagueAnd it’s just another nightIt’s just another night

His old man spent a fortune just to get him inBut baby boy growed up just as stupid as himAnd it’s just another nightIt’s just another nightIt’s just another night on the other side of life

Just another night, hung down slowI don’t like the hotel let me goHells bells! Give me a chance!This rock ‘n’ roller don’t wanna danceJust another nightJust another nightWell, it’s just another night on the other side of life

I never felt so bad; Where’s my shades?It’s gonna be a long one getting crazedA head spoutin’ noodles said, “What do you plead?”I said “You ain’t got to touch a man to make a man bleed”

‘N’ it’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night (on the other side)It’s just another night!

…

The The – I Saw The Light

I wanted to post the Hank version anyway but I remember this version from a few years ago and I had to include that one as well. We are combining them today.

The Hillbilly Shakespeare Hank Williams wrote this song. When Williams moved to MGM Records in 1947 the hits started to come but this wasn’t one of them. It’s hard to believe this was not a hit. It’s a strong spiritual song that will stay with me until I die. The song started to get more popular after its initial release in 1948 and eventually, Williams would close shows with it.

Williams based the song on Albert E. Brumley Jr‘s song He Set Me Free. It’s close in melody but Hank made it a standard. Williams’s version is more universal. For me, it’s one of the best songs ever written. Williams wrote I Saw the Light on the way back from a dance in Fort Deposit, Alabama. Hank was out of it and sleeping in the car. His mother Lily said ‘Hank, wake up, we’re nearly home. I just saw the light.” He wrote the song right after she said that.

The The released their Hanky Panky album in 1995. The entire album featured Hank Williams cover songs. It was at first meant to be an EP of various artists doing the covers but then they decided just to go with the album by just them. They didn’t want to just copy the songs…they wanted to get the spirit of them in their own way. The album peaked at #28 on the UK album charts in 1995.

The song peaked at #31 in the UK.

Here is another song off of the Hanky Panky album…Your Cheating Heart.

I Saw The Light

I wandered so aimless, life filled with sinI wouldn’t let my dear Savior inThen Jesus came like a stranger in the nightPraise the Lord, I saw the light

I saw the light, I saw the lightNo more darkness, no more nightNow I’m so happy, no sorrow in sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light

Just like a blind man, I wandered alongWorries and fears I claimed for my ownThen like the blind man that God gave back his sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light

I saw the light, I saw the lightNo more darkness, no more nightNow I’m so happy, no sorrow in sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light

I was a fool to wander and strayFor straight is the gate and narrow’s the wayNow I have traded the wrong for the rightPraise the Lord, I saw the light

I saw the light, I saw the lightNo more darkness, no more nightNow I’m so happy, no sorrow in sightPraise the Lord, I saw the light

…