Take one listen and suddenly you are walking along Carnaby Street in Swinging London in 1967.
While under the influence of what was going on at the time…The Stones dipped their toe in the wild and colorful Psychedelic water. This was right after Sgt Peppers and experimentation was in the air.
The result was Their Satanic Majesties Request. I know some Stones fans that won’t mention this album but I’ve always liked it.
It didn’t suit them as well as their earlier pop and later rock and blues style but the album did have some high points.
The string section was arranged by John Paul Jones, who was doing session work two years before he joined Led Zeppelin. Nicky Hopkins also played piano on this song.
This song was written by Jagger and Richards.
She’s A Rainbow peaked at #25 in the Billboard 100 and #9 in Canada.
The song returned to Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart in 2018 as a result of its appearance in a commercial for the all-new Acura RDX.
Mick Jagger:There’s a lot of rubbish on Satanic Majesties. Just too much time on our hands, too many drugs, no producer to tell us, “Enough already, thank you very much, now can we just get on with this song?” Anyone let loose in the studio will produce stuff like that. There was simply too much hanging around. It’s like believing everything you do is great and not having any editing.
She’s A Rainbow
She comes in colors ev’rywhere She combs her hair She’s like a rainbow Coming, colors in the air Oh, everywhere She comes in colors
She comes in colors ev’rywhere She combs her hair She’s like a rainbow Coming, colors in the air Oh, everywhere She comes in colors
Have you seen her dressed in blue? See the sky in front of you And her face is like a sail Speck of white so fair and pale Have you seen a lady fairer?
She comes in colors ev’rywhere She combs her hair She’s like a rainbow Coming, colors in the air Oh, everywhere She comes in colors
Have you seen her all in gold? Like a queen in days of old She shoots colors all around Like a sunset going down Have you seen a lady fairer?
She comes in colors ev’rywhere She combs her hair She’s like a rainbow Coming, colors in the air Oh, everywhere She comes in colors
She’s like a rainbow Coming, colors in the air Oh, everywhere She comes in colors
Well, this rock and roll has got to stop Junior’s head is hard as rock Now junior, behave yourself
This song was written and originally recorded by Larry Williams, a black rock singer admired by John Lennon. The song is about a rebellious kid who loves rock and roll. The Beatles chose cover songs that fit them very well.
I really like Larry’s version of this also. His version is rooted in the fifties with rhythm and blues… With Lennon’s voice, the Beatles version makes it sound like an early garage rock/punk record.
This Larry Williams song didn’t get much traction in the charts when it was released in 1959 but the British bands were listening and covering this song. The Beatles covered three of his songs on albums… Slow Down, Bad Boy, and Dizzy Miss Lizzy.
One of the very good covers The Beatles did early on. Nice guitar and Lennon’s voice comes right at you. The song was included on the American Beatles album The Beatles VI. In the UK it wasn’t on an album until the release of A Collection of Beatles Oldies in 1966. It was released in December just as the Beatles were starting on Sgt Peppers. Having an Oldies album released only 4 years after you start recording is odd but it was perfect timing because they would never sound the same again.
Bad Boy
A bad little kid moved into my neighborhood
He won’t do nothing right just sitting down and look so good
He don’t want to go to school and learn to read and write
Just sits around the house and plays the rock and roll music all night
Well, he put some tacks on teachers chair
Puts chewing gum in little girl’s hair
Man, junior, behave yourself
Buy every rock and roll book on the magazine stand
Every dime that he get is lost to the jukebox man
Well, he worries his teacher till at night she’s ready to poop
From rocking and a-rolling spinning in a hula hoop
Well, this rock and roll has got to stop
Junior’s head is hard as rock
Now junior, behave yourself
Going tell your mama you better do what she said
Get to the barber shop and get that hair cut off your head
He took your canary and he fed it to the neighbors cat
He gave the cocker spaniel a bath in mother’s laundromat
Well, mama’s head has got to stop
Junior’s head is hard as rock
Now junior, behave yourself
This was part of the famous Abbey Road medley that featured parts of songs by the Beatles.
John Lennon usually wrote about what he knew best…himself and and his personal views. Paul would many times write about fantasy…he would write about his significant other at any given time also but this is one of the few songs that he was living through. Unlike John he usually would mask things more.
Allen Klein’s time as manager built-up tensions within the band. Paul wanted Lee Eastman his in-law at the helm but John, George, and Ringo wanted the notrious Allen Klein. Klein managed the Stones for years and at the end Mick and company found out that they inadvertently signed away their songs up until 1969 to him. Paul was right in this case…they should have never gone with Klein but Paul should have picked someone else but his in-laws as a choice. No way were the others going to go with that decision.
The song was about Klein and his attitude. Always telling them how much they were worth but never handing over cash…just money figures on “funny paper.”
This song was the first song in the medley. It is actually 3 short songs into one. “You Never Give Me Your Money, ” “Out of College section,” and the “One Sweet Dream section”
I’ve been asked, what’s so special about the Beatles? The medley on side 2 of Abbey Road is just one of many things.
Paul McCartney: “This was me directly lambasting Allen Klein’s attitude to us,” “no money, just funny paper, all promises and it never works out. It’s basically a song about no faith in the person, that found its way into the medley on ‘Abbey Road.’ John saw the humor in it.”
George Harrison: “We get bits of paper, saying how much is earned and what this and that is, but we never actually get it in pounds, shillings and pence. We’ve all got a big house and a car and an office, but to actually get the money we’ve earned seems impossible.”
From Songfacts
This song is about The Beatles’ business problems. When their manager Brian Epstein died in 1967, they were burdened with handling their own finances, which became a source of tension in the band.
This is the first of a medley of songs on Abbey Road, which goes another 15 minutes to “The End.”
By 1969, members of The Beatles had a lot of unfinished song ideas, which they sometimes combined. This contains fragments of four songs put into one.
Regarding the lines, “You never give me your money, you only give me your funny paper,” “Funny Paper” is how The Beatles felt they were paid. They got frustrated when their accountants would tell them how much they were worth “on paper,” without actually telling them how much money they had.
Paul McCartney played this combined with “Carry That Weight” on his 2002 “Back In The US” tour.
You Never Give Me Your Money
You never give me your money You only give me your funny paper And in the middle of negotiations You break down
I never give you my number I only give you my situation And in the middle of investigation I break down
Out of college, money spent See no future, pay no rent All the money’s gone, nowhere to go Any jobber got the sack Monday morning, turning back Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go But oh, that magic feeling, nowhere to go Oh, that magic feeling Nowhere to go, nowhere to go
One sweet dream Pick up the bags and get in the limousine Soon we’ll be away from here Step on the gas and wipe that tear away One sweet dream came true today Came true today Came true today (yes, it did)
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven All good children go to Heaven
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven All good children go to Heaven
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven All good children go to Heaven
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven All good children go to Heaven
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven All good children go to Heaven
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven All good children go to Heaven
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven All good children go to Heaven
Great hard bluesy song on one of my favorite Beatle albums…The White Album. This is one reason I like the White Album so much. The variety it gives you is off the charts…but there is no mistaking who the band is in every song. The Beatles kept their style through the lush soft songs to the hard ones.
What I like about it is the rawness. This song and Helter Skelter have enough to spare.
The room they recorded this in was called Room 2A, which was next to the control room of EMI Studio Two and was a mere 8 ft. by 15.5 ft. The room had been used for storing four-track machines before it was emptied. It was very tight quarters for The Beatles once they set everything up. That added to the sound. They jammed together from 7pm to 5am and after 14 takes produced this song.
John Lennon wrote this in India while The Beatles were on a retreat learning meditation with the Maharishi.
Lennon was self-conscious about singing the blues.
John Lennon: “There was a self-consciousness about suddenly singing blues,” John continues. “Like everybody else, we were all listening to Sleepy John Estes and all that in art school (in the late ’50’s). But to sing it, was something else. I was self-conscious about doing it.”
Ringo Starr: “We were just in an 8 foot room, with no separation, just doing what we do best: playing.”
A 9 minute version with Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell was performed on the Rolling Stones’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus. They called themselves the Dirty Mac.
Yer Blues
Yes, I’m lonely Want to die Yes, I’m lonely Want to die If I ain’t dead already Oh, girl, you know the reason why
In the morning Want to die In the evening Want to die If I ain’t dead already Oh, girl, you know the reason why
My mother was of the sky My father was of the earth But I am of the universe And you know what it’s worth
I’m lonely Want to die If I ain’t dead already Oh, girl, you know the reason why
The eagle picks my eye The worm he licks my bone I feel so suicidal Just like Dylan’s Mr. Jones
Lonely Want to die If I ain’t dead already Oh, girl, you know the reason why
Black cloud crossed my mind Blue mist round my soul Feel so suicidal Even hate my rock and roll
Want to die Yeah, want to die If I ain’t dead already Oh, girl, you know the reason why
Happy Father’s Day! I hope everyone has a great day.
I do miss my dad…this is Christmas 1975…yea I’m the dork beside him.
James Brown = The MAN
James Brown recorded this song in one take…the released version was supposed to be a run-through, but sounded so good it was kept anyway.
Brown, who still hadn’t memorized the song’s lyrics, read from a sheet in front of him at the beginning of the original take, he can be heard saying “There’s a lot of words here, man.” He also can be heard exclaiming “This is a hit!” just before the band kicks in.
The song peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in the R&B Charts in 1965.
This song was followed by “I Got You (I Feel Good),” which quickly became Brown’s biggest hit (until “Living in America” was released in 1985) as it went to #3 on the Hot 100.
This won a Grammy for Best R&B Recording of 1965. It was also inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999.
From Songfacts
A “bag” is slang for a way of doing something or a kind of lifestyle. It was a popular saying in the ’60s, especially among musicians, who wouldn’t describe songs as being “in an R&B bag” or “in a doo-wop bag.”
In this song, James Brown sings about coming up with a new “bag,” meaning a completely different way of approaching music. Inspired by what he heard in church, he punctuated the music on the downbeat, creating his “brand new bag.”
In March 1965, after a legal battle with King Records, Brown agreed to a new contract with a higher royalty rate than their previous agreement, plus Brown’s own publishing company and complete artistic control. Brown promptly went into a Charlotte, North Carolina, studio and cut “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.”
King Records executive Syd Nathan gave a copy of this to New York DJ Frankie Cocker, who hated the new James Brown style but was impressed with the response when he put it on the air anyway. When King Records released the track as a single, Smash Records, the label Brown had leased some of his songs to that prompted the lawsuit, released an instrumental version of the song. As part of the ruling, Smash Records could release only instrumental versions of Brown’s songs.
Brown had recorded the very similar sounding “Out Of Sight” for Smash earlier that year, violating his King contract. James retooled the song, using a riff his band had been playing live, as a peace offering to King.
The original song was about seven minutes long, moved at a slower pace, and featured a more elaborate intro. After the song was cut, Brown sliced off most of the intro, sped the song up to get it played on pop radio, and broke it up into three parts (the second of which can be heard on the flipside of the original single).
The vocal version reached #8 in the US. It was the first Top 10 hit for the Godfather of Soul, and marked a departure from his early music toward the definition of his signature sound. Horns are used for percussive effect, and Brown’s vocals are tightly attached to the overall instrumental mix.
Dancing was a big part of James Brown’s stage show, and he often referred to dances in the lyrics to his songs. The dance crazes mentioned in this one are: The Jerk, The Fly, The Monkey, The Mashed Potatoes, The Alligator, The Twist, and the Boomerang.
Artists to record this song include Pat Boone, Freddy Cannon, Georgie Fame, Quincy Jones, L.A. Guns, Willie Mitchell, Pigbag, Otis Redding, Roger, Jimmy Smith, The Ventures, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.
Brown’s longtime sax player Maceo Parker played baritone sax on this track, and Maceo’s older brother Melvin was the drummer. The guitar, which is most prominent when it answers Brown’s chorus line, came courtesy of Jimmy Nolen.
This was performed in Beat the Devil, one of a series of BMW films (see it at YouTube). Faced with the problem of viewers skipping past commercials or simply ignoring them, BMW decided to make short films starring their products that people would choose to watch. James Brown stars in this one.
This was used in the 1993 Robin Williams film Mrs. Doubtfire.
Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag
Come here sister, Papa’s in the swing He ain’t too hip, about that new breed babe He ain’t no drag Papa’s got a brand new bag
Come here mama, and dig this crazy scene He’s not too fancy, but his line is pretty clean He ain’t no drag Papa’s got a brand new bag
He’s doing the Jerk He’s doing the Fly Don’t play him cheap ’cause you know he ain’t shy He’s doing the Monkey, the Mashed Potatoes Jump back Jack, See you later alligator
Come here sister Papa’s in the swing He ain’t too hip now But I can dig that new breed babe He ain’t no drag He’s got a brand new bag
Oh papa! He’s doing the Jerk Papa, he’s doing the Jerk He’s doing the twist, just like this He’s doing the Fly every day and every night The thing’s, like the Boomerang Hey, come on Hey! Hey, come on Hey! Hey, he’s put tight, out of sight Come on. Hey! Hey!
I had a friend’s dad who owned their 1969 greatest hits album when I was in sixth grade and we wore it out. Broken Arrow and Expecting to fly were the ones we played over and over and heard something we missed on the previous play.
Buffalo Springfield were only active between 1966-68 but had a huge impact on other artists. The band was very talented……with Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer, Dewey Martin and Jim Messina who replaced Bruce Palmer. They had some great songs like Mr Soul, Now days Clancy Can’t Even Sing, Burned, Expecting to Fly, Bluebird, Rock and Roll Woman, Broken Arrow and their big hit For What It’s Worth…
Ritchie Furay and Steven Stills had played together in the Au Go Go Singers. Bruce Palmer and Neil Young had played together in the Mynah Birds. That band featured Rick James on lead vocals and was signed to Motown.
It was written by Neil Young. The song peaked at #98 in the Billboard 100 in 1968.
Expecting to Fly
There you stood on the edge of your feather, Expecting to fly. While I laughed, I wondered whether I could wave goodbye, Knowin’ that you’d gone. By the summer it was healing, We had said goodbye. All the years we’d spent with feeling Ended with a cry, Babe, ended with a cry, Babe, ended with a cry.
I tried so hard to stand As I stumbled and fell to the ground. So hard to laugh as I fumbled And reached for the love I found, Knowin’ it was gone. If I never lived without you, Now you know I’d die. If I never said I loved you, Now you know I’d try, Babe, now you know I’d try. Babe, now you know I’d try, Babe.
They were the first mostly white band signed to Motown Records in 1966. So who was the band’s lead singer? A young AWOL American sailor who went by the name of Ricky James Matthews, later Rick James. On lead guitar you had Canadian Neil Young.
The band lasted from 1964 to 1967.
The band didn’t last a long time but the memorable lineup was Rick James, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, Rickman Mason, and John Taylor. Neil and Bruce would later be members of Buffalo Springfield. Earlier members Goldy McJohn and Nick St. Nicholas would later become members of Steppenwolf.
Canadian rocker Neil Merryweather was also an earlier member of the band.
Neil joined in 1965 and Neil and James wrote some songs together and they were recorded…but the band’s manager apparently misappropriated their advance money from Motown and they fired the manager. In return, the manager informed Motown that the band’s singer was AWOL from the Navy. Rick James was taken into custody and incarcerated by the Navy. “It’s My Time” remained unreleased, and Motown scrapped plans for a Mynah Birds album.
The music was not released until the single was included in the 2006 box set The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 6: 1966
Neil and Bruce bought a hearse…yes a hearse when Rick was detained and drove to California to start Buffalo Springfield.
The Mynah Birds were a really good band. In a biography of Neil Young called Shakey… Jimmy McDonough writes this:
The Mynah Birds—in black leather jackets, yellow turtlenecks and boots—had quite a surreal scene going…. Those lucky enough to see any of the band’s few gigs say they were electrifying. ‘Neil would stop playing lead, do a harp solo, throw the harmonica way up in the air and Ricky would catch it and continue the solo.’
Neil Young:“We got more and more into how cool the Stones were. How simple they were and how cool it was.” James had them play “Get Off My Cloud” and “Satisfaction”—before the braids, cocaine, and sequins, Rick James “fancied himself the next Mick Jagger.”
The band did get back together with different members when Rick James returned in 1967…but they soon broke up.
If you want to read more about them check out the links below.
“Shake” was written and originally recorded by Sam Cooke. Cooke’s version reached #7 on the Billboard 100. Cooke was a huge influence on Otis Redding; along with “Shake,” Redding also recorded covers of Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Chain Gang,” “Cupid,” “Nothing Can Change This Love,” “Wonderful World,” and “You Send Me.”
The song peaked at #47 in the Billboard 100 in 1967.
Otis made a huge impact at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival along with The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.
The album this was on was Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul and it peaked at #77 in the Biullboard Album Charts in 1966.
Shake
Shake! (Everybody say it!) Shake! (Early in the morning) Shake! (Late in the evening) Shake! (In the midnight hour) Shake! (When the time’s going bad, now) Shake! Shake with the FEELING! Shake with the FEELING!
Listen while I’m talkin’ to you now Tell you what I’m gonna do now There’s a new thing going around now I’ll tell what to put down now
You move your body all around And just shake Thats the way you do it Shake, Shake, Shake it baby Shake it like a bowl of soup Let your body loop de loop Put your hands on your hip Come on and let your backbone slip Move your body like your hip And just shake!
Shake early in the morning Shake early in the evening
A Ring-A-Ling-a-Ling Honey, Shakin’ is the greatest thing But if you really roll Gotta do the thing with SOUL!
Shake shake with all your might now If you do it, do it right now Put your hands on your hip,yeah Come on and let your backbone slip Move your body like your hip And just shake
(God have mercy now!) Early in the morning Early in the evening All night long, y’all! If you really want to roll Gotta do the thing with SOUL! Shake shake with all your might If you do it, do it right Let your body loop de lite Shake! Everybody say it, Shake! One more time, Shake! Everybody louder, Shake! One more time, now, say Shake! Everybody a bit louder, Shake!
I binged watched Bewitched during the lockdown and some afterward. The first five seasons were probably the best. Having the lovely Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) as a wife who could twitch her nose and whip up anything you desired…doesn’t sound half bad…therefore… I never understood Darrin…either Darrin.
Bewitched was full of funny characters. Mr and Mrs Kravitz next door. Uncle Arthur (the great Paul Lynne), Aunt Clara, Maurice, Endora, and a cast of witches and warlocks. The show stuck the characters with the same actors/actresses for the most part. The continuity was pretty good in this show with one big exception…the two Darrins. More on that in a few.
The show was about a mortal (Darrin Stevens) that married a witch (Samantha Stevens) and Darrin does not like Samantha to use her powers. Endora the mother-in-law was a witch that played the stereotypical mother-in-law but one that could Darrin into a horse if she so pleased.
One of my favorites was Aunt Clara played perfectly by Marion Lorne. The character Aunt Clara collected doorknobs. The writers did that because Marion Lorne actually collected doorknobs from everywhere… The producers of the show would ask to borrow one if they wanted one for a different look for the show.
A funny story about Marion Lorne is that she once called Elizabeth Montgomery and said, with her trademark stammer, to come to her hotel residence right away as she seemed to have actual magical powers like her character. Every time she clapped her hands, her TV set would change the channel. What Marion didn’t know was that the bracelets on each of her arms made contact when she clapped her hands, and the sound was the same as a remote control, which operated as tuning forks in those days. Montgomery never told her this.
The two Darrins. The first Darrin was Dick York. The second Darrin was Dick Sargent.
Dick York had severe back problems and a pain pill addiction. He was on for almost 5 full seasons. He came down with a fever during the last part of the 5th season and collapsed on an episode. He entered the hospital and never came back to the show. His career essentially ended then.
The next season Dick Sargent took over with no explanation to the audience. Sargent was never as popular with the audience and the ratings soon dropped. The show lasted 8 total seasons before ending in 1972.
It’s a fun show to watch and it had some great actors and actress that would show up. Agnes Moorehead who played Endora was part of the Mercury Theatre with Orson Welles.
Bewitched had some really good effects for the time. I grew up on this show in syndication.
As you may have guessed by now I’m an extreme fan of power pop. This list was hard to write…I kept changing most of it… but I knew the top choice and worked from there.
I just gave my self ten choices or I would have gone on and on. A lot of artists and their songs were left off…such as Todd Rundgren, The Cars, Sloan, The Lemon Twigs, The Flamin’ Groovies, The Shivvers, The Jayhawks, and too many more to mention.
10. The Ride – Twisterella– 1992 – I found this a few months back and have been listening to it ever since.
9. The Records – Starry Eyes– 1979 – Great song. Starry Eyes would end up being The Record’s best-known song. Robert John “Mutt” Lange produced their debut album for The Records.
8. The La’s – There She Goes– 1990 – A very good power pop song that has no verses…It just repeats the chorus four different ways four different times…but that doesn’t matter.
7. Cheap Trick – Voices– 1980 – One of my top Cheap Trick songs. Robin Zanders voice sounds great in this Beatlesque song.
6. The Who –Pictures of Lily– 1967 – When this song came out Pete Townshend coined the name “power pop” and this song is about the childhood…lusts…of a boy.
5. Raspberries – Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)– 1974 – An epic song by the Raspberries. Not their most popular…that would be “Go All The Way” but this encapsulates everything power pop is about. Bruce Springsteen on Overnight Sensation: It’s one of the best little pop symphonies you’ll ever hear.
4. Big Star – The Ballad of El Goodo – 1972 – The tone of the guitars, harmonies and the perfect constructed chorus keeps me coming back listen after listen.
3. Badfinger –No Matter What– 1971 – The only band to make this list twice. Why? because this song defines the crunchy power pop of bands like Cheap Trick to come.
2. Tom Petty – American Girl– 1977 – The Rickenbacker, the hook, and a Byrds sounding track.
Badfinger – Baby Blue – 1972 – The number one song was the easiest decision of the list. The rest were changed a few times…this one for me is a no-brainer. This song is the perfect power pop song…strong vocals, Crunchy Brit guitar, great hook, and great melody
My favorite psychedelic song and it was on Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. The “Lucy” who inspired this song was Lucy O’Donnell (later Lucy Vodden), who was a classmate of John’s son Julian Lennon when he was enrolled at the private Heath House School, in Weybridge, Surrey.
It was in a 1975 interview that Lennon said, “Julian came in one day with a picture about a school friend of his named Lucy. He had sketched in some stars in the sky and called it Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”
Many thought Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was about LSD because of the initials but John denied it all of his life. I believe John because he was honest about much worse than this…John went to great lengths to deny any drug connotations involved in this song.
John did say he was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland. He wrote the song with help from Paul. One of the highlights of this song is Paul’s bass playing. His walking bass line builds suspense through the song and then kicks in with the chorus.
This was banned by the BBC for what they thought were drug references. A Day In The Life was also banned off of the same album.
John Lennon: “I didn’t even see it on the label. I didn’t look at the initials. I don’t look – I mean I never play things backwards. I listened to it as I made it. It’s like there will be things on this one, if you fiddle about with it. I don’t know what they are. Every time after that though I would look at the titles to see what it said, and usually they never said anything.”
From Songfacts
The identity of the real Lucy was confirmed by Julian in 2009 when she died of complications from Lupus. Lennon re-connected with her after she appeared on a BBC broadcast where she stated: “I remember Julian and I both doing pictures on a double-sided easel, throwing paint at each other, much to the horror of the classroom attendant… Julian had painted a picture and on that particular day his father turned up with the chauffeur to pick him up from school.”
Confusion over who was the real Lucy was fueled by a June 15, 2005 Daily Mail article that claimed the “Lucy” was Lucy Richardson, who grew up to become a successful movie art director on films such as 2000’s Chocolat and 2004’s The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers. Richardson died in June 2005 at the age of 47 of breast cancer.
Lennon affirmed this on the Dick Cavett Show, telling the host, “My son came home with a drawing of a strange-looking woman flying around. He said, ‘It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.’ I thought, ‘That’s beautiful.’ I immediately wrote the song about it.”
It’s not just fans that didn’t believe him: Paul McCartney said it was “pretty obvious” that this song was inspired by LSD.
In our interview with Donovan, who was good friends with John Lennon and joined The Beatles on their 1968 retreat to India, he made the point that Lennon often thought in terms of artwork, and like Donovan did on this song “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” Lennon painted images in his head that became the lyrics for this song. “When we put the painter’s brush down and we picked up the guitar, a lot of the songwriters started ‘painting’ songs,” he said. “You’d just have to think of John’s ‘Picture yourself on a boat on a river’ – you’re actually in a movie or you’re in a painting. ‘Tangerine trees and marmalade skies’ – he’s painting.
The images Lennon used in the song were inspired by the imagery in Through The Looking-Glass, the sequel to the book Alice In Wonderland. “It was Alice in the boat,” Lennon explained in a Playboy interview. “She is buying an egg and it turns into Humpty Dumpty. The woman serving in the shop turns into a sheep and the next minute they are rowing in a rowing boat somewhere and I was visualizing that.”
George Harrison played a tambura on this track. It’s an Indian instrument similar to a sitar that makes a droning noise. He had been studying with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, who is the father of Norah Jones.
Elton John released a cover version of this song in 1974 that hit #1 in the US the first week of 1975. Elton is the only artist to top the tally with a Beatles cover, although Peter & Gordon took “A World Without Love,” which was written by Lennon and McCartney, to #1 in 1964.
John Lennon sang and played guitar on Elton’s “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” but reportedly forgot some of the chords and needed Davey Johnston, Elton John’s guitarist, to help him out. Lennon made a surprise appearance in Elton’s Thanksgiving concert in New York and performed three songs, which proved to be his last public performance.
Actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on Star Trek, covered this in his dramatic, spoken-word style. In at least one poll, this version was voted the worst Beatles cover of all time.
In 1974, Johanson and Gray named the 3 million-year-old Australopithecus fossil skeleton they discovered (the oldest ever found) Lucy, after this song because it was playing on the radio when Johanson and his team were celebrating the discovery back at camp. >>
Lennon said “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes” turned out to be Yoko: “There was also the image of the female who would someday come save me… a ‘girl with kaleidoscope eyes’ who would come out of the sky. It turned out to be Yoko, though I hadn’t met Yoko yet. So maybe it should be ‘Yoko in the Sky with Diamonds.'”
During the media controversy over this song in June of 1967, Paul McCartney admitted to a reporter that the band did experiment with LSD.
In 2004, McCartney addressed the issue of drugs in an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper: “‘Day Tripper,’ that’s one about acid. ‘Lucy In The Sky,’ that’s pretty obvious. There are others that make subtle hints about drugs, but it’s easy to overestimate the influence of drugs on The Beatles’ music. Just about everyone was doing drugs in one form or another, and we were no different, but the writing was too important for us to mess it up by getting off our heads all the time.”
A group called John Fred and his Playboy Band had a #1 hit in 1968 with “Judy In Disguise (with Glasses),” a song that is a parody of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.”
In the Anthology one of the Beatles referred to being on LSD as like seeing through a kaleidoscope. Although Lennon denied this is about drugs, it does refer to “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.”
This song is very distinctive musically: It’s in three different keys and uses two different beats.
Lennon admitted to British journalist Ray Connolly in an interview around the time of the break-up of the Beatles that he didn’t think he sang this song very well. “I was so nervous I couldn’t sing,” he said, “but I like the lyrics.”
In 2004 the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced the discovery of the universe’s largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers gave the star the catchier name of “Lucy” from this song.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Picture yourself in a boat on a river With tangerine trees and marmalade skies Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly A girl with kaleidoscope eyes
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green Towering over your head Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes And she’s gone
Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Ah
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers That grow so incredibly high
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore Waiting to take you away Climb in the back with your head in the clouds And you’re gone
Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Ah
Picture yourself on a train in a station With plasticine porters with looking glass ties Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes
Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Ah Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Ah Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds Lucy in the sky with diamonds
The Kinks are a band that I saw in 1983. Along with The Who and Paul McCartney they were among the best bands, I saw live.
Kinks lead singer Ray Davies wrote this song while he was a student at Hornsey School of Art in London. Ray was running out of ideas, so he decided to record the song he had written in college. The group put down the backing track, but he couldn’t remember the words, so he went home and wrote them the next day on the train ride into the studio.
This was released as the first single from the album Kinda Kinks. “Tired of Waiting for You” was a hit, peaking at #6 in the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, #3 in Canada in 1965.
Dave Davies:“The recording went well but there was something missing and it was my raunchy guitar sound. Ray and I were worried that putting that heavy-sounding guitar on top of a ponderous song might ruin it. Luckily it enhanced the recording, giving it a more cutting, emotional edge. In my opinion ‘Tired Of Waiting’ was the perfect pop record.”
From Songfacts
When the Kinks released their first album in 1964, they scored a huge hit with the Davies-penned “You Really Got Me,” which was followed by the sound-alike “All Day And All Of The Night.”
In this song, Ray Davies sings about a girl who has him under her spell. Problem is, she keeps stringing him along and it’s wearing him out. The vocal is suitably weary, lacking that adrenaline rush of their previous hits. This discontent would play out for real throughout 1965 as The Kinks were dispatched to one show after another, doing promotional appearances along the way. It quickly became clear that there was a great deal of animosity in the band and that they couldn’t keep up the pace for long.
Tired Of Waiting
So tired Tired of waiting Tired of waiting for you
So tired Tired of waiting Tired of waiting for you
I was a lonely soul I had nobody till I met you But you keep a-me waiting All of the time What can I do?
It’s your life And you can do what you want Do what you like But please don’t keep a-me waiting Please don’t keep a-me waiting
‘Cause I’m so tired Tired of waiting Tired of waiting for you
So tired Tired of waiting Tired of waiting for you
I was a lonely soul I had nobody till I met you But you keep a-me waiting All of the time What can I do?
It’s your life And you can do what you want Do what you like But please don’t keep a-me waiting Please don’t keep a-me waiting
‘Cause I’m so tired Tired of waiting Tired of waiting for you
So tired Tired of waiting Tired of waiting for you For you For you
After reading the John Entwistle biography I’ve been listening to the Who for the past week and a half. Tommy is not my favorite Who album…but the album does contain a lot of good songs. Tommy did make a huge mark in pop culture…a movie and Broadway play has been made from the story.
The riff is simple and powerful. A very good song that adds to Tommy. Like some of the other songs…I’m Free was written before Tommy was thought of but Pete fit what songs he had with the new ones to make the story.
Tommy was the breakthrough album for the Who in America. A concept album about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who…you guessed it…loves pinball. On the album the Who’s sound is subdued but on tour, they presented it loud and aggressive as only the Who could be.
The album peaked at #4 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1970. I’m Free peaked at #37 in the Billboard 100 in 1969.
Pete Townshend: ‘I’m Free’ came from ‘Street Fighting Man.’ This has a weird time/shape and when I finally discovered how it went, I thought ‘well blimey, it can’t be that simple,’ but it was and it was a gas and I wanted to do it myself.
The guitar sound in this version sends shivers down my spine. Compare it to the album version below this one.
I’m Free
I’m free I’m free And freedom tastes of reality I’m free I’m free An’ I’m waiting for you to follow me
If I told you what it takes To reach the highest high You’d laugh and say ‘nothing’s that simple’ But you’ve been told many times before Messiahs pointed to the door And no one had the guts to leave the temple!
I’m free I’m free And freedom tastes of reality
I’m free I’m free An’ I’m waiting for you to follow me
When I see the word “authorized” I get really skeptical that they will not tell the complete story. This one proved me wrong. John’s son Christopher had said that this book was going to be warts and all. He was correct in that. I was super excited to read this. In the past year, I re-read Pete Townshend’s autobiography, Roger Daltrey’s autobiography, and re-read Keith Moon’s biography by Tony Fletcher and to top it off the Kenney Jones biography.
John actually wrote 4 chapters himself in 1990 when he wanted to write his own book. He soon grew tired of it and just stored it away. Rees did manage to incorporate some of what he wrote that included stories about him and Moon I never heard. John Entwistle is the least written about of the four. Any info on him is nice and a lot of this was new to me. Rees goes over the highlights and you don’t get dragged down at any point. The only thing I didn’t like was…like Daltrey’s autobiography it’s short…only 320 pages long.
The book goes through the history of the Who that Who fans know but with a lot of anecdotes. I found out more about John’s life than I ever knew. You see where he developed his black humor and he was probably the best pure musician in that band. I would recommend this book to any rock music fan. You get some funny stories also…
One about the Who opening up for the Beatles and listening to them through monitors in the dressing room rolling on the floor laughing hearing The Beatles sing obscene words to their songs “I Want To Hold Your ****”…A Hard Day’s ****. because the screaming was so loud and they couldn’t be heard out front.
John was a bass hero of mine growing up. I started off learning trying to learn the riffs he did by slowing Who albums with my finger so the riffs would be slower…but they were still fast. Most bass players fill in the empty space but with the Who, there wasn’t much empty space because of Moon’s playing. He played what amounted to lead bass and it worked well…his harmonics made up for the lack of other instruments.
Keith Altham (journalist): John was an enigma. That he was the best bass guitarist of his generation is not in dispute, but because of the peculiar demands placed upon him by The Who he wasn’t a bass player in the accepted sense of the term because he didn’t play bass like anyone else, any more than Keith Moon played the drums like anyone else or, for that matter, Pete Townshend the guitar. “His playing was so dextrous and inventive that he was often indistinguishable from a second guitar.”
Lemmy:“He’s the best player in Rock and Roll ever…no contest”
John Entwistle:“I just wanted to play louder than anyone else …
Bill Wyman: John was the Jimi Hendrix of bass players
What I like about Zeppelin is change. Every album took a step in another direction. It wasn’t just the bombardment of hard guitars like the first album. They stepped into folk, reggae, rockabilly, soul, blues, country, and rock and roll. The fans and critics complained at times especially over Led Zeppelin III.
I’ve always liked this song. John Paul Jones’s bass stands out in this song. His bass in some Zeppelin songs is back in the mix a bit. The lyrics were inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien and similar themes appeared on subsequent Led Zeppelin albums. In this song they did what they did best…light and dark…soft and hard. The dynamics they worked on would later culminate into Stairway to Heaven.
This song was on Led Zeppelin II that they recorded all over in different studios on their first tour. They recorded this song in New York.
The album Led Zeppelin II peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, and #1 in the UK.
From Songfacts
Some of Robert Plant’s lyrics in this song were inspired by the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of The Rings. The references are to the adventures of the Hobbit, Frodo Baggins, as he goes to “the darkest depths of Mordor” and encounters “Gollum and the evil one.” Plant later admitted in an audio documentary that he was embarrassed by the Tolkien references, as they don’t make all that much sense – a fair maiden wouldn’t be found in Mordor, and Gollum would want nothing to do with her anyway, since his only concern is the precious ring.
This is one of Led Zeppelin’s most enduring songs, but they never performed it live from start to finish while the band was active. It was in their set when Zeppelin reunited for a one-off concert at the O2 Arena in London on December 10, 2007. John Bonham’s son Jason filled in on drums at that show.
What John Bonham played as percussion to supplement his drums on this song is not clear. It sounds like bongos, but has been reported to be a plastic garbage pail or a guitar case.
The concept of the troubadour “rambling on” – going from place to place and constantly moving forward – is one Robert Plant embraced. In his post-Zeppelin career, he went from one project to the next, refusing to fall back on nostalgia. It was Plant who kiboshed the proposed Led Zep reunion tour in 2007.
The group Train covered this on their 2001 Midnight Moon album. Their lead singer, Pat Monahan, was once in a band that did entire sets of Zeppelin songs. Producer Brendan O’Brien heard Train’s version and agreed to produce their second album.
This was sampled by the Insane Clown Posse for the song “50 Bucks” on their rare album Psychopathics From Outer Space and was also the single that accompanied The Pendulum #7, a 12-comic series of the group done by Chaos! Comics.
Along with “Going To California,” this is one of two Led Zeppelin songs used in the 2019 indie film The Friend. The band agreed to license the songs at a much lower rate than usual after hearing pleas from the filmmakers. The movie tells the true story of Nicole Teague, a woman with terminal cancer. The songs were part of her story and played an important role in the narrative.
Ramble On
Leaves are falling all around It’s time I was on my way Thanks to you I’m much obliged For such a pleasant stay But now it’s time for me to go The autumn moon lights my way For now I smell the rain And with it pain And it’s headed my way
Ah, sometimes I grow so tired But I know I’ve got one thing I got to do
Ramble on And now’s the time, the time is now To sing my song I’m goin’ ’round the world, I got to find my girl On my way I’ve been this way ten years to the day Ramble on Gotta find the queen of all my dreams
Got no time for spreadin’ roots The time has come to be gone And thoough our health we drank a thousand times It’s time to ramble on
Ramble on And now’s the time, the time is now To sing my song I’m going ’round the world, I got to find my girl On my way I’ve been this way ten years to the day I gotta ramble on I gotta find the queen of all my dreams
I ain’t tellin’ no lie Mine’s a tale that can’t be told My freedom I hold dear How years ago in days of old When magic filled the air ‘T was in the darkest depths of Mordor I met a girl so fair But Gollum, and the evil one Crept up and slipped away with her Her, her, yeah Ain’t nothing I can do, no
I guess I keep on rambling I’m gonna, yeah, yeah, yeah Sing my song (I gotta find my baby) I gotta ramble on, sing my song Gotta work my way around the world baby, baby Ramble on, yeah Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, my baby Doo, doo, doo, doo Doodoo doodoo doodoo doodoo doodoo
I gotta keep searching for my baby (Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby) I gotta keep-a-searchin’ for my baby (My, my, my, my, my, my, my baby) Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I can’t find my bluebird I listen to my bluebird sing I can’t find my bluebird I keep rambling, baby I keep rambling, baby
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