Over at my friend’s house in the early 80s, we would look at his dad’s singles from the early to mid-sixties. I couldn’t believe this man’s voice. It was like an alien…his voice was like no other.
Roy Orbison spent a couple of years at Sun as a good rockabilly artist. He was soon signed by Fred Foster who owned Monument Records in 1959. He had some good releases but no hits… but with this song, he found his strength. These slower operatic songs that he was so great at. This was the start of his commercial success.
Roy Orbison and Joe Melson wrote this song…one of the first they wrote together. The lyrics were inspired by a failed romance by Joe Melson. He said she took off in a Cadillac and the words just flowed after thinking of that.
The songwriting duo was going to try to give this song to Elvis or The Everly Brothers who already recorded a song by Orbison called Claudette. They talked Oribison into recording it himself thankfully. It ended up being one of his biggest hits. Orbison recorded this at RCA’s Studio B in Nashville with some of the best Nashville musicians. It featured Hank Garland and Harold Bradley on guitars, Bob Moore on Base, and Floyd Cramer on piano.
Fred Foster produced this song. He remembered listening to the playback with goosebumps on his arms. He turned to Roy and said, “There’s your big hit.” The producer was absolutely right. This song was Orbison’s first top-ten hit. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #1 in the UK in 1960.
Roy Orbison: “I’ve always been very content when I wrote all those songs. By this I’m saying that a lot of people think you have to live through something before you can write it, and that’s true in some cases, but I remember the times that I was unhappy or discontent, and I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t communicate, and I certainly couldn’t write a song, no way. All the songs I wrote that were successful were written when I was in a contented state of mind.”
Only The Lonely (Know How I Feel)
Only the lonely (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah)
Know the way I feel tonight (ooh yay, yay, yay, yeah)
Only the lonely (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah)
Know this feeling ain’t right (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah)
There goes my baby
There goes my heart
They’re gone forever
So far apart
But only the lonely
Know why I cry
Only the lonely (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah, ooh yay, yay, yay, yeah)
(Oh, oh oh oh oh ooh-ah-ah, only the lonely)
(Only the lonely)
Only the lonely (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah)
Know the heartaches I’ve been through (ooh yay, yay, yay, yeah)
Only the lonely (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah)
Know I cry and cry for you (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah)
Maybe tomorrow
A new romance
No-o-o more sorrow
But that’s the chance
You’ve got to take
If your lonely heart breaks
Only the lonely (dum-dumb-dummy doo-wah)
Hello everyone and those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving… I hope you have a great one with your friends and family! Those of you who don’t…have a great day and weekend coming up. I know Thanksgiving is an American holiday mostly but I have talked to a few who celebrate it from other countries…like Bruce my friend from New Zealand.
Every Thanksgiving I listen to Alice’s Restaurant and this is the fifth year in a row that I’ve posted it on the 4th Thursday of November. Sorry if you are tired of it but it’s not Thanksgiving until Alice’s Restaurant is played…and the Last Waltz is also watched but that is a different story.
The movie that Arlo movie made called Alice’s Restaurant is fun to watch.
It’s not Thanksgiving without listening to this 1967 song. This song did not chart but he did have another version that did chart…it was called Alice’s Rock and Roll Restaurant that peaked at #97 in the Billboard 100.
Many radio stations play this on Thanksgiving. This is usually the only time they play it, since the song is over 18 minutes long.
There have been mixed reviews about the movie that was made…I’ve always found it enjoyable. It’s not going to be confused with Gone With The Wind but it’s a fun period movie.
In 1991, Arlo bought the church where this took place and set up “The Guthrie Center,” where he runs programs for kids who have been abused.
From Songfacts
Running 18 minutes and 34 seconds, this song is based on a true story that happened on Thanksgiving Day, 1965. Arlo was 18, and along with his friend Rick Robbins, drove to Stockbridge, Massachusetts to have Thanksgiving dinner with Alice and Ray Brock. Alice and Ray lived in a church – the former Trinity Church on Division Street in Stockbridge – and were used to inviting people into their home. Arlo and Rick had been traveling together, Arlo working his way up in folk singing and Rick tagging along. A number of people, Arlo and Rick included, were considered members of the family, so they were not guests in the usual sense.
When Ray woke up the next morning, he said to them, “Let’s clean up the church and get all this crap out of here, for God’s sake. This place is a mess,” and Rick said, “Sure.” Arlo and Rick swept up and loaded all the crap into a VW microbus and went out to the dump, which was closed. They started driving around until Arlo remembered a side road in Stockbridge up on Prospect Hill by the Indian Hill Music Camp which he attended one summer, so they drove up there and dumped the garbage.A little later, the phone rang, and it was Stockbridge police chief William J. Obanhein. “I found an envelope with the name Brock on it,” Chief Obanhein said. The truth came out, and soon the boys found themselves in Obanhein’s police car. They went up to Prospect Hill, and Obie took some pictures. On the back, he marked them, “PROSPECT HILL RUBBISH DUMPING FILE UNDER GUTHRIE AND ROBBINS 11/26/65.” He took the kids to jail.The kids went in, pleaded, “Guilty, Your Honor,” was fined $25 each and ordered to retrieve the rubbish. Then they all went back to the church and started to write “Alice’s Restaurant” together. “We were sitting around after dinner and wrote half the song,” Alice recalls, “and the other half, the draft part, Arlo wrote.”
Guthrie, the son of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, greatly exaggerated the part about getting arrested for comic effect. In the song, he is taken away in handcuffs and put in a cell with hardened criminals.
In the song, Guthrie avoids the draft and did not have to serve in Vietnam because of his littering arrest. In reality, he was eligible but wasn’t drafted because his number didn’t come up.
Guthrie performed this song for the first time on July 16, 1967, at the Newport Folk Festival.
This reflected the attitude of many young people in America at the time. It was considered an antiwar song, but unlike most protest songs, it used humor to speak out against authority.
After a while, Guthrie stopped playing this at concerts, claiming he forgot the words. As the song approached its 30th anniversary, he started playing it again.
Guthrie made a movie of the same name in 1969 which was based on the song.
Over the years, Guthrie added different words to the song. He recorded a new, longer version in 1995 at The Guthrie Center
Alice’s Restuarant
This song is called Alice’s Restaurant, and it’s about Alice, and the
Restaurant, but Alice’s Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant,
That’s just the name of the song, and that’s why I called the song Alice’s
Restaurant.
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant
Walk right in it’s around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant
Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on – two years ago on
Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the
Restaurant, but Alice doesn’t live in the restaurant, she lives in the
Church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and
Fasha the dog. And livin’ in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of
Room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin’ all that room,
Seein’ as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn’t
Have to take out their garbage for a long time.
We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it’d be
A friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So
We took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red vw
Microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed
On toward the city dump.
Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the
Dump saying, “Closed on Thanksgiving.” And we had never heard of a dump
Closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off
Into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.
We didn’t find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the
Side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the
Cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile
Is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we
Decided to throw our’s down.
That’s what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving
Dinner that couldn’t be beat, went to sleep and didn’t get up until the
Next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, “Kid,
We found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of
Garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it. ” And
I said, “Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope
Under that garbage. ”
After speaking to Obie for about forty-five minutes on the telephone we
Finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down
And pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the
Police officer’s station. So we got in the red vw microbus with the
Shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the
Police officer’s station.
Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at
The police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for
Being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn’t very likely, and
We didn’t expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out
And told us never to be seen driving garbage around the vicinity again,
Which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer’s station
There was a third possibility that we hadn’t even counted upon, and we was
Both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said “Obie, I don’t think I
Can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on. ” He said, “Shut up, kid.
Get in the back of the patrol car. ”
And that’s what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the
Quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of
Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop
Signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the
Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars,
Being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to
Get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of
Cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer’s station.
They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and
They took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
And arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
One was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach,
The getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that’s not to
Mention the aerial photography.
After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put
Us in the cell. Said, “Kid, I’m going to put you in the cell, I want your
Wallet and your belt. ” And I said, “Obie, I can understand you wanting my
Wallet so I don’t have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you
Want my belt for? ” And he said, “Kid, we don’t want any hangings. ” I
Said, “Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?”
Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the
Toilet seat so I couldn’t hit myself over the head and drown, and he took
Out the toilet paper so I couldn’t bend the bars roll out the – roll the
Toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie
Was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice
(remember Alice? It’s a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few
Nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back
To the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat,
And didn’t get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.
We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten
Colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back
Of each one, sat down. Man came in said, “All rise.” We all stood up,
And Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
Pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he
Sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the
Twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows
And a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog.
And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles
And arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry,
’cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American
Blind justice, and there wasn’t nothing he could do about it, and the
Judge wasn’t going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
Pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each
One explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And
We was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but that’s not
What I came to tell you about.
Came to talk about the draft.
They got a building down New York City, it’s called Whitehall Street,
Where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected,
Neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one
Day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so
I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. ‘Cause I wanted to
Look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted
To feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York,
And I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all
Kinds o’ mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave
Me a piece of paper, said, “Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604.”
And I went up there, I said, “Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I
Wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and
Guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
Kill, kill. ” And I started jumping up and down yelling, “kill, kill, ” and
He started jumping up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down
Yelling, “KILL, KILL.” And the Sargent came over, pinned a medal on me,
Sent me down the hall, said, “You’re our boy.”
Didn’t feel too good about it.
Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections,
Detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin’ to me
At the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four
Hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty
Ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was
Inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no
Part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the
Last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there,
And I walked up and said, “What do you want?” He said, “Kid, we only got
One question. Have you ever been arrested? ”
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice’s Restaurant Massacre,
With full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all
The phenome… – and he stopped me right there and said, “Kid, did you ever
Go to court? ”
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten
Colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on
The back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, “Kid, I want
You to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W…. Now kid!! ”
And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W’s
Where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after
Committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly
Looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father
Rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And
They was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the
Bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest
Father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean ‘n’ ugly
‘n’ nasty ‘n’ horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me
And said, “Kid, whad’ya get?” I said, “I didn’t get nothing, I had to pay
$50 and pick up the garbage. ” He said, “What were you arrested for, kid? ”
And I said, “Littering.” And they all moved away from me on the bench
There, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I
Said, “And creating a nuisance.” And they all came back, shook my hand,
And we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing,
Father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
Bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of
Things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it
Up and said.
“Kids, this-piece-of-paper’s-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-
Know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-
You-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-
Officer’s-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say”, and talked for
Forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had
Fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there,
And I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony and wrote it
Down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the
Pencil and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the
Other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on
The other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the
Following words:
(“KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?”)
I went over to the Sargent, said, “Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to
Ask me if I’ve rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I’m
Sittin’ here on the bench, I mean I’m sitting here on the Group W bench
’cause you want to know if I’m moral enough join the army, burn women,
Kids, houses and villages after bein’ a litterbug. ” He looked at me and
Said, “Kid, we don’t like your kind, and we’re gonna send you fingerprints
Off to Washington. ”
And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a
study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I’m
singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
situation like that there’s only one thing you can do and that’s walk into
The shrink wherever you are, just walk in say “Shrink, You can get
Anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant. “. And walk out. You know, if
One person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and
They won’t take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
They may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
Singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. They may think it’s an
Organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said
Fifty people a day walking in singing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and
Walking out. And friends they may think it’s a movement.
And that’s what it is, the Alice’s Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and
All you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the
Guitar.
With feeling. So we’ll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and
Sing it when it does. Here it comes.
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
Walk right in it’s around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.
I’ve been singing this song now for twenty-five minutes. I could sing it
For another twenty-five minutes. I’m not proud… Or tired.
So we’ll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part
Harmony and feeling.
We’re just waitin’ for it to come around is what we’re doing.
All right now.
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
Walk right in it’s around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
In the year 1967, all kinds of experimentation was going on in music. Sitars, spacey lyrics, and phased guitars were the order of the day. Personally, I like the abstract lyrics and sound…artists were branching out as far as they could.
This song was written by guitarist Dave Mason and it was his first song. It was their follow-up to their first hit single Paper Sun. Despite the lyrics, Mason has said that this song was written before he tried LSD. He said that his bandmates didn’t think this represented their sound.
The brief monologue in the middle was spoken by a girl named Francine Heimann who was Chris Blackwell’s stepdaughter. Chris Blackwell was the founder of Island Records and a prominent producer. Jimmy Miller produced this song and their album Mr Fantasy.
Hole In My Shoe and Paper Sun were singles only and not included on an album. Back in that time, singles and albums were treated differently by artists than they would be in the 70s and 80s. Those two singles would be included on the 2000 CD re-release of Mr Fantasy.
Dave Mason left the band after their debut album but rejoined during the sessions of their second album in 1968 and then left again in 1969.
The song peaked at #2 in the UK and #4 in Canada in 1967.
Dave Mason: “That’s the first song I ever wrote. It was my first attempt at songwriting. I mean, that stuff I did back then, when I listen to it, I cringe and realize I need to work on writing. But writing comes out of living. You have to have something.”
Steve Winwood: “We never wanted to be a pop band but we had a hit with ‘Shoe,’ which was Dave’s song. Dave had his own idea about the band, the rest of us had another one – a not-quite-as-sensible one, really, because it wasn’t half as commercial.”
Hole In My Shoe
I looked to the sky
With an elephant’s eye
Was looking at me
From a bubblegum tree
And all that I knew was
The hole in my shoe which
Was letting in water (letting in water)
I walked through a field
That just wasn’t real
With a hundred tin soldiers
Would shoot at my shoulder
And all that I knew
The hole in my shoe which
Was letting in water (letting in water)
(I climbed on the back of a giant albatross
Which flew through a crack in the cloud
To a place where happiness reigned all year round
And music played ever so loudly)
I started to fall
And suddenly woke
And the dew on the grass
Had soaked through my coat
And all that I knew
The hole in my shoe which
Was letting in water (letting in water)
This was one of John Lennon’s favorite songs throughout his life. Rosie and the Originals were also mentioned by Led Zeppelin on liner notes after the song Dy’er Mak’er…“Whatever happened to Rosie and the Originals?”
Rosie Hamlin wrote “Angel Baby,” her and the Originals’ lone hit, when she was just 14, with her first boyfriend and the Penguins’ “Earth Angel” serving as her primary inspiration. After penning the song over a couple hours in the afternoon, Hamlin and some instrument-playing San Diego friends laid down the first version of the track.
They had trouble landing a record deal. No appointments with any of the labels. They eventually found a private studio and recorded the song themselves…all teenagers. After that, they took one of their 45’s to Kresge’s Department Store in San Diego. They had listening booths in their music section where you could preview records before you bought them. Rosie asked the manager to play their record and see if he could sell it in his store.
A distributor from Highland Records heard “Angel Baby” and, without officially signing the group to a record contract, took control of the single’s master take and gave songwriting credit to the Originals’ eldest member. The single eventually found its way to famed DJ Alan Freed, who played “Angel Baby” numerous times a day in November 1960; two months later, the single peaked at Number Five on the Hot 100.
However, Hamlin parted ways with Highland after a legal battle over the song’s authorship and ownership. After disbanding the Originals, Hamlin recorded an album with her guitarist husband Noah Tafolla before leaving the music industry by 1963.
After her divorce, a little over 3 years later, she did venture into music again but never had any other hits and played live some. She made a Spanish version of this song in 2002.
It’s been covered many times but Rosie’s favorite cover version was…John Lennon’s that he recorded for his Rock and Roll album released in 1975 but the song didn’t end up being released until 1986. John’s voice can be heard saying: “This is one of my all-time favorite songs… My love to Rosie wherever she may be.”
Rosie and the Originals never received a penny from “Angel Baby,” nor any of the other Highland recordings until September 1994, when a financial settlement was reached and the masters of their recordings were returned to them. Rosie said: “It looks like that song will be around longer than I will.”
And it is …Rosie passed away in 2017 at the age of 71.
Angel Baby
It’s just like heaven being here with you
You’re like an angel, too good to be true
But after all, I love you, I do
Angel baby, my angel baby
When you are near me, my heart skips a beat
I can hardly stand on my own two feet
Because I love you, I love you, I do
Angel baby, my angel baby
Oh, I love you, oh I do
No one could love you like I do
Ooh, ooh
Please, never leave me blue and alone
If you ever go, I’m sure you’ll come back home
Because I love you, I love you, I do
Angel baby, my angel baby
It’s just like heaven being here with you dear
I could never stay the way without you near
Because I love you, I love you, I do
Angel baby, my angel baby
Oh, I love you, oh, I do
No one could love you like I do
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
This song was on the first album I ever bought by the Beatles. It was a greatest hits package called Hey Jude Again when I was eight. This song I liked right away as I was learning about the band. Ask a Beatle fan what their opinion of Yoko is…and you will get different answers but I would safely say more negative. Don’t count me as a fan. She gets blamed for breaking the Beatles up. I think Allen Klein deserves more of the blame but not all…
It’s John, George, and Ringo who followed Klein and later paid millions for it but not as dearly as The Stones. Klein ended up with rights to all of their 1960s catalog. Paul’s lawsuit against the Beatles and Klein stopped Klein from doing more damage. I do think the Beatles broke up at a perfect time. Closing a career with Abbey Road…is about as good as it gets.
This song…was written obviously by Lennon but it wasn’t a true Beatles recording. Only John and Paul played on the recording. Despite the business BS going on…the music still worked between the two. John played all of the guitars and lead vocals and Paul played drums, bass, and backing vocals. George was out of town and Ringo was filming a movie. The song is a true story about John and Yoko getting married.
It was banned by many stations in America and the UK because of the line “Christ, you know it ain’t easy.” The song was supposedly written, recorded, and mixed on the same day…April 14, 1969. John didn’t like spending a long time in a studio and would do this later on with Instant Karma. He liked minimum production in those days.
John and Yoko were married on March 20, 1969, in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory on Spain’s south coast.
The song peaked at #1 in the UK, #8 on the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, and #2 in New Zealand in 1969. At the time, it was a non-album single with the George Harrison song Old Brown Shoe as the B side. It would later be on Hey Jude Again.
A small side note…as an eight-year-old, I did learn about Holland, France, Paris, Gibraltar, and Spain. I told my mom that I would like her to drive me to France please…hey give me a break…I was 8.
The Ballad of John and Yoko
Standing in the dock at Southampton
Trying to get to Holland or France.
The man in the mac said you’ve got to go back,
You know they didn’t even give us a chance.
Christ! You know it ain’t easy,
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going,
They’re going to crucify me.
Finally made the plane into Paris,
Honeymooning down by the Seine.
Peter Brown called to say,
You can make it OK,
You can get married in Gibraltar near Spain.
Christ! You know it ain’t easy,
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going,
They’re going to crucify me.
Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton,
Talking in our beds for a week.
The newspapers said, say what’re you doing in bed,
I said we’re only trying to get us some peace.
Christ! You know it ain’t easy,
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going,
They’re going to crucify me.
Saving up your money for a rainy day,
Giving all your clothes to charity.
Last night the wife said,
Oh boy, when you’re dead you
Don’t take nothing with you but your soul think!
Made a lightning trip to Vienna,
Eating chocolate cake in a bag.
The newspapers said,
She’s gone to his head,
They look just like two Gurus in a drag.
Christ! You know it ain’t easy,
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going,
They’re going to crucify me.
Caught the early plane back to London,
Fifty acorns tied in a sack.
The men from the press said we wish you success,
It’s good to have the both of you back.
Christ! You know it ain’t easy,
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going,
They’re going to crucify me
John’s voice is on display in this song. This was on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s debut album. It was a cover written by Screaming Jay Hawkins. John Fogerty forgot the swamp rock and just plugged into the psychedelic sound with this cut. It’s a slightly creepy song to listen to on a long car ride in the dark. Fogerty draws on every bit of soul he has in this vocal.
This was the second single they ever released as CCR…the singles they released before this was from The Goliwogs. They rightly decided that a name change would be in order. A question for the readers…if they would have remained The Golliwogs…would they have made it? What’s in a name right? Well, it can probably be argued.
This song did rather well! I didn’t know it did this much in the charts. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100 and #10 in Canada in 1968 and went Platinum.
The original version by Screaming Jay Hawkins was released in 1956. The song was banned from most radio stations because of groans and moans. He played it up to the hilt on appearances that he made.
Be Safe tonight and I hope all of you have a great time!
I Put A Spell On You
I put a spell on you
Because you’re mine
You better stop
The things that you’re doin’
I said “Watch out!”
I ain’t lyin’, yeah!
I ain’t gonna take none of your
Foolin’ around
I ain’t gonna take none of your
Puttin’ me down
I put a spell on you
Because you’re mine
All right!
I put a spell on you
Because you’re mine
You better stop
The things that you’re doin’
I said “Watch out!”
I ain’t lyin’, yeah!
I ain’t gonna take none of your
Foolin’ around
I ain’t gonna take none of your
Puttin’ me down
I put a spell on you
Because you’re mine
When I was growing up this was a must-watch in October. It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was first released in October 1966.
Charlie Brown is invited to Violet’s Halloween party. Before the party, the Peanuts gang plan to go trick or treating, with Snoopy, who is dressed as the WWI flying ace, taking his Halloween disguise to an extreme. The one person who won’t be joining them for the trick or treating or the party is Linus, who will be waiting in his local pumpkin patch for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin to give toys and candy to all the girls and boys.
This year he talked Sally, Charlie Brown’s sister, into coming with him while the others went out. Linus and Sally stays at the pumpkin patch all night until Lucy gets up in the middle of the night to take Linus back home. The next day, Charlie Brown and Linus about the night’s events. Charlie Brown assures Linus that he’s done his share of stupid things too. This upsets Linus, who vows that the Great Pumpkin will appear next year.
It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown was adapted from Schulz’s newspaper strip, which he had conceived as a metaphor for some of the hope and disappointment associated with Santa Clause. Schulz didn’t like the idea of kids getting their hopes up about a lot of presents when many families could only afford one or two gifts for the holidays. “The Great Pumpkin is really kind of a satire on Santa Claus, when he doesn’t come, Linus is crushed.”
Growing up, there was no other cartoon I looked forward to more than The Peanuts. Every holiday I was there watching the gang. I would also read the Sunday paper to see the Peanuts strip.
Everything from Linus telling us the true meaning of Christmas, Sally and Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Lucy pulling that football from Charlie Brown, Snoopy being WWI flying ace, Lucy being a Psychiatrist, and Charlie Brown getting that sad-looking Christmas tree…we got to peek into that kids only world and listen to the wisdom that was going on while Linus and Charlie Brown discussed life.
The Peanuts taught us about life. We lose more than we win therefore everyone is Charlie Brown to an extent. Every person has failed at a big moment or many of the small ones. We felt for Charlie Brown because we could relate.
I remember hearing this on an oldies channel I listened to in the 80s. I always liked the song but for the longest I never knew who played it. When I was a kid I had the original single of Eleanor and I loved it. I’ll never forget the cover art with a White Whale.
The band was formed by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan in the early sixties. They were saxophone players who did whatever was trendy in order to make a living as musicians. They were also in the choir together in high school. They started off as an instrumental band but with the Beatles and the British invasion, they soon switched to a rock and roll band with Howard Kaylan as lead singer. They hit with a Bob Dylan song called It Ain’t Me Babe released in 1965.
The Turtles had a large vocal sound. Kayblan was a good singer and when combined with Volman…it made a unique sound for the Turtles. After the Turtles broke up Volman and Kaylan would join Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention for a while and they would be known after that as Flo (Phlorescent Leech) and Eddie. The reason for the new names was because of their old Turtle contract…they were not allowed to use their real names. They adapted the nicknames of two of their roadies.
Some radio stations objected to themes expressed in the song and banned the song from their playlists and refused to play it…lead singer Howard Kaylan thought this was because of the song’s references to Morning Glories, a flower with hallucinogenic properties. The last of the song had the phrase “Gettin’ so high” so that probably didn’t go over well either.
This song was written by Alan Gordon and Garry Bonner. The song peaked at #5 in Canada and #14 on the Billboard 100 in 1967
This song was released as a stand-alone single in 1967. It would eventually make it onto multiple Turtles compilations and greatest hits LPs and CDs.
Every time I do a post on The Turtles…I recommend watching their documentary… one of the most entertaining docs I’ve ever seen. If you have watched it…what do you think?
She’s My Girl
Mornin’, mornin’ glory
If you’d like to know where was I last night
Well, I saw a girl with a boy in her eye
And she’s so outta sight
She’s my girl
And that’s where I was last night
Off in a dream
She’s my girl
I took her away last night
Went for a ride
Off in the sky, that’s where I was last night
I just come back to tell ya
There’s a little bit of heaven underneath the apple tree
And every time I see you with that smile upon your face
There’s a little bit there for me
And she’s my girl
And that’s where I was last night
Went for a ride
She’s my girl
I took her away last night
We went for a ride
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Off in the sky
She’s my girl
I took her away last night
Off in the sky
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Gettin’ so high
Off in the sky, that’s where I was last night
My girl
I took her away last night
We went for a ride
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Gettin’ so high
My girl
I took her away last night
Off in the sky
My girl
And that’s where I was last night
Gettin’ so high
Tony Sheridan was an excellent guitarist and had a good rock voice. The Beat Brothers were The Beatles and they punch this old standard up of My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean. This record is probably the most important record they made …even as just a backing group.
They were thrilled to be on a record. “I didn’t stop playing it for days,” George told the NME two years later. Teenager Jimmy Campbell would remember Paul running up the stairs at Aintree Institute shouting “This is our record!” He made the DJ Bob Wooler put it on and he was bouncing all over the place just listening to himself coming out of the speakers. He was really made up. “Listen to that!”
Brian Epstein ran NEMS record store and one of his policies was to get any song that he might not have in stock. Around mid-afternoon on Saturday, October 28, 1962, a young man from Knotty Ash, Raymond Jones, walked into the NEMS shop on Whitechapel and tried to buy the record.
What happened next is the subject of conflicting accounts, though they end the same way. Jones remembers that Brian Epstein, unable to find “My Bonnie” in any release lists, asked him questions about it, which concluded with Jones saying the Beatles were locals and “the most fantastic group you will ever hear.” Brian himself, in his autobiography, suggested this additional information only came to him over the following days, and in the raw interview transcript for that book, he said one of his shop-girls noted Jones’ order.
That led Brian Epstein to the Cavern Club where the Beatles played. That is somewhere that he would probably have never gone. Raymond Jones’s simple request would go down in history. Soon after, Brian was managing the Beatles and within a year they got George Martin’s attention and the rest is history.
While the Beatles were in Hamburg they were signed to a record contract by Bert Kaempfert. He recorded many cuts with The Beatles backing Sheridan and also a few by themselves. One original was the Lennon-Harrison instrumental Cry For A Shadow. The rest were standards like Ain’t She Sweet and When the Saints Come Marching In. The Beatles were fortunate with Bert Kaempfert. He wasn’t a shark…he signed them and when they had a chance to sign with EMI…he only asked that they record a couple of more songs and he let them go.
My Bonnie was released in October of 1961 in Germany and peaked at #32 in the German charts. It didn’t do much in the UK but fans knew about it and wanted it. The Beatles were very popular in Liverpool at the time and it sold well there after Brian got it in his store. Later on when they released Love Me Do it sold over 10,000 copies in Liverpool alone.
Record executives thought Epstein bought that many to put it in the charts but no….they really sold. Most people outside of Liverpool couldn’t understand how a “new” band would sell that many but they had been popular there since coming back from Hamburg in 1961. The Beatles started their own fan club in 1962 before Brian met them.
Their old bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe was there, but Paul played bass during the sessions.
My Bonnie
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
My Bonnie lies over the sea
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
My Bonnie lies over the sea
Well my Bonnie lies over the ocean
Yeah bring back my Bonnie to me
Yeah bring back, ah bring back
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me to me
Oh bring back, oh bring back
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me
Well my Bonnie lies over the ocean
My Bonnie lies over the sea
Yeah my Bonnie lies over the ocean
Oh I said bring back my Bonnie to me
Yeah bring back, ah bring back
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me to me
Oh bring back, ah bring back
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me
This song takes me back to when I was a kid. On my country post a few weeks ago, I did 5 songs that I liked…Obbverse mentioned this one and I didn’t remember it by the title. Once I played it I knew it right away. I probably haven’t heard it since I was around 7-8 years old.
Ned’s mom taught him how to play guitar, and he wrote his first song at 16 while still in High School in Salt Lake City. After a three-year stint in the Marine Corps – he served in the Pacific theater during World War II – he went to college with the help of the G.I. Bill and became a pipe-fitter and later air-conditioning man by trade.
He wrote a song called Dark Moon that was made into two top 5 hits for other artists. He wrote and recorded this song in 1957 but it did absolutely nothing on the charts. He convinced his record company to re-release this song in 1962 and it was a massive international hit.
Ned recorded between 1957 and 1970. He did have another huge country hit with Do What You Do Do Well. After that, he had some top-50 hits in country but nothing in the top 10. It didn’t help that Ned rarely toured owing to stage fright. He gave up recording in the 1970s and moved to Prescott, Arizona, and later to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ned came back into the limelight in 1989, when Ricky Van Shelton resurrected ‘From A Jack To A King’ and took it to #1 on the Country charts and #1 in the Canadian Country Charts.
The song peaked at #2 on the Country Charts, #6 on the Billboard 100, and #2 in the UK in 1962.
Ned Miller passed away at the age of 90 in 2016.
From A Jack To A Queen
From a jack to a king
From loneliness to a wedding ring
I played an ace and I won a queen
And walked away with your heart
From a jack to a king
With no regrets I stacked the cards last night
And lady luck played her hand just right
And made me king of your heart
For just a little while
I thought that I might lose the game
Then just in time
I saw the twinkle in your eye
From a jack to a king
From loneliness to a wedding ring
I played an ace and I won a queen
You made me king of your heart
For just a little while
I thought that I might lose the game
Then just in time
I saw the twinkle in your eye
From a jack to a king
From loneliness to a wedding ring
I played an ace and I won a queen
You made me king of your heart…
So the Beatles and Stones released something new…this is pretty cool. I wasn’t around when the Beatles were together…I was 3 when they broke up. Like 1995 and 96 I am looking forward to hearing it.
The song will be paired with Love Me Do…appropriately the first single they released and now the last.
This is another song I remember from Good Morning Vietnam. It has so many good songs on it plus is a great movie to me. The soundtrack to that movie is the soundtrack to the sixties. Martha and the Vandellas had a tough edgy sound.
A frightening story was going on at the time. Lamont Dozier said that one of the inspirations was a teenager who was frightened because he was about to go to Vietnam. Lamont threw a party for him but the boy was quiet because he said he would never make it back from Vietnam.
Dozier tried to cheer him up but it didn’t work. The nineteen-year-old didn’t make it back alive, he was killed after only two months. He said he felt trapped with nowhere to run. That really puts an awful spin on that song.
The song peaked at #8 on the Billboard 100 in 1965. The song was written by the songwriting team of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland.
The backing band on this one was “The Funk Brothers” who were the studio band for Motown at the time. During this session, they used snow chains that went on tires as part of the percussion. They would get inventive at Motown.
This song was a favorite of High School marching bands everywhere because of its sound and chorus.
Lamont Dozier: “His friends asked if I would throw a party for him at my house before he was shipped out. We had the party, but he was very solemn, just sitting with his girlfriend. He had a premonition that he wouldn’t be coming back. I told him to be positive, but he was adamant. I found myself thinking about how he was feeling trapped – nowhere to run. Sure enough, two months later they shipped his body back. I think he stepped on a land mine. Nineteen years old.”
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
It’s not love, I’m a running from,
It’s the heartbreak I know will come.
‘Cause I know you’re no good for me, but you’ve become a part of me.
Ev’rywhere I go, your face I see, ev’ry step I take, you take with me yeah
Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
I know you’re not good for me, but free of you I’ll never be, no.
Each night as I sleep, into my heart you creep.
I wake up feelin’ sorry I met you, hoping soon that I’ll forget you.
When I look in the mirror to comb my hair
I see your face just a smiling there.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from you baby,
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
I know you’re no good for me, but you’ve become a part of me,
How can I fight a lover, that shouldn’t be, when it’s so deep,
So deep, deep inside of me
My love reaches so high I can’t get over it
It’s so wide I can’t get around it, no
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from you baby
Just can’t get away from you baby, no matter how I try to
I know you’re no good for me, but free of you I’ll never be,
Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide, got nowhere to run to baby.
Once in a while, I’ll listen to a song that is so good that it’s beyond a normal song. It happens when lyrics can tell a story just right..in a real down-to-earth way. Few fit in this category…this song does. Townes said it was the first song he ever wrote. If so…that would be like painting the Mona Lisa on your first try.
He lived in an apartment with his first wife Fran and he converted a walk-in closet into a studio. Fran said that he wrote the song in there and she was disappointed that he didn’t write a happy or a love song.
“Waitin’ Around to Die” was first recorded for Van Zandt’s 1968 studio debut called For the Sake of the Song. It’s a dark song that encapsulates the pain, despair, and struggle that can engulf a person’s life. It also foretold Van Zandt’s life and ending in a lot of ways.
Townes was diagnosed with depression in his sophomore year of college. His father, Harris Williams Van Zandt, was a corporate lawyer. Townes tried to follow in his footsteps but dropped out of school to become a musician. Earlier in grade school, his friend Guy Clark said that Van Zandt found out that the sun was slowly burning out. Clark thinks that after that he didn’t take much seriously in life.
He was born John Townes Van Zandt in Fort Worth, Texas, into a wealthy oil family whose prestige was known throughout the state. His great-great-grandfather Khleber Miller Van Zandt became president of both a construction company and a bank, the Fort Worth National Bank. Khleber’s own dad, Isaac Van Zandt, was a leader of the Republic of Texas. Van Zandt County, located in the northeastern part of the state, was named for Isaac in 1848.
Townes Van Zandt died on New Year’s Day in 1997 at age 52, exactly 44 years after the death of his idol, Hank Williams.
Townes Van Zandt: “I talked to this old man for a while, and he kinda put out these vibrations. I was sitting at the bar of the Jester Lounge one afternoon drinking beer, thinking about him, and just wrote it down …..Sometimes I don’t know where this dirty road is taking me/Sometimes I can’t see the reason why/But I guess I’ll keep rambling/Lots of booze and lots of gambling/Well, it’s easier than waitin’ round to die.”
Townes Van Zandt: “I have a few others like that that I don’t play all the time. I have to watch that when I do shows. I have to stay away from that side because nobody wants to hear blues on blues on blues.”
Waiting Around To Die
Sometimes I don’t know where
This dirty road is taking me
Sometimes I don’t even know the reason why
But I guess I keep a-gamblin’
Lots of booze and lots of ramblin’
Well it’s easier than just a-waitin’ around to die
One time, friends, I had a ma
I even had a pa
Well he beat her with a belt once ’cause she cried
She told him to take care of me
Headed down to Tennessee
Well it’s easier than just a-waitin’ around to die
Well I came of age and I found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar
She cleaned me out and hit in on the sly
I tried to hide the pain, I bought some wine and hopped a train
Well it’s easier than just waitin’ around to die
A friend said he knew
Where some easy money was
We robbed a man, and brother did we fly
The posse caught up with me
And drug me back to Muskogee
Two long years waitin’ around to die
Well, now I’m out of prison
I got me a friend at last
Well he don’t drink or steal or cheat or lie
His name’s codeine
He’s the nicest thing I’ve seen
Yah, together we’re gonna wait around and die
Yah together we’re gonna wait around and die
I was introduced to Ray Charles’ music by my mom. She would play Georgia on My Mind nonstop. This was a country song that Ray Charles kicked some soul into and it worked more than anyone would have thought.
Willie Nelson said that Ray Charles did more for country music than anyone did at that time. This song was a massive hit worldwide in 1962.
The song was written by Don Gibson and this was the B side to his Oh Lonesome Me. Ray Charles finally got artistic control over his albums so he decided to shock everyone…an album full of Country and Western music with his own unique touch on it. The album was called Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music and it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts.
Ray Charles’ record company (ABC Records) didn’t release this as a single when the album came out. It was only when Tab Hunter heard this version and released a single…that ABC Records finally edited the song down to just over 4 minutes and released it after radio stations were playing it off the album. Charles was not happy when he heard Hunter’s version.
The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #1 in the UK in 1962. I Can’t Stop Loving You won the Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.
I Can’t Stop Loving You
(I can’t stop loving you)
I’ve made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday
(Dreams of yesterday)
Those happy hours that we once knew
Though long ago, they still make me blue
They say that time heals a broken heart
But time has stood still since we’ve been apart, yeah
(I can’t stop loving you)
I’ve made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday
(Those happy hours)
Those happy hours
(That we once knew)
That we once knew
(Though long ago)
Though long ago
(Still make me blue)
Still make me blue
(They say that time)
They say that time
(Heals a broken heart)
Heals a broken heart
(But time has stood still)
Time has stood still
(Since we’ve been apart)
Since we’ve been apart
(I can’t stop loving you)
I said I made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times (sing the song, children)
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life of dreams of yesterday
(Of yesterday)
This song never gets old to me. It’s full of soul and pure Dusty. I will say, I always thought Dusty Springfield was from Memphis or somewhere like that. Never did I think that she was born in London.
Mary O’Brien was the daughter of a tax consultant who grew up in Hampstead in North London. In 1958 she became the third member of a short-lived girl group known as the Lana Sisters. She started to go by Dusty Springfield, she then joined her brother Dion (stage name Tom Springfield) in the British country-music trio the Springfields, who achieved moderate success in the early 1960s.
She signed with Atlantic Records in 1968 and recorded her Dusty in Memphis album in the famed American Sound Studios with producers Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin. The album brought her critical acclaim and this international hit Son of a Preacher Man.
The song was originally offered to Aretha Franklin (who is a preacher’s daughter), but she turned it down because she thought it was disrespectful. She then changed her mind and did a cover version of it.
The song was released in 1968 and peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, #11 in Canada, and #9 in the UK. The song was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. The backup vocals were by a female group called the Sweet Inspirations, who were made up of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. Later on, they would tour with Elvis Presley.
Elton John: “I’m biased, but I just think she was the greatest white singer there ever has been … every song she sang, she claimed as her own.”
Son of a Preacher Man
Billy-Ray was a preacher’s son
And when his daddy would visit he’d come along
When they gathered round and started talkin’
That’s when Billy would take me walkin’
A-through the backyard we’d go walkin’
Then he’d look into my eyes
Lord knows to my surprise
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was
Being good isn’t always easy
No matter how hard I try
When he started sweet-talkin’ to me
He’d come and tell me everything is all right
He’d kiss and tell me everything is all right
Can I get away again tonight?
The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
(Ooh…) Lord knows he was
Yes he was
How well I remember
The look that was in his eyes
Stealin’ kisses from me on the sly
Takin’ time to make time
Tellin’ me that he’s all mine
Learnin’ from each other’s knowing
Lookin’ to see how much we’ve grown
And the only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was
The only one who could ever reach me
He was the sweet-talking son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
I kissed the son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever move me
The sweet-lovin’ son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever groove me
Ahh, ooh, ahh….
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 