Category: 1960s

Led Zeppelin – Good Times, Bad Times

The first song on Led Zeppelin’s 1968 debut album, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page are the credited songwriters on this track. Jones and Bonham really stand out on this track.

To get the sound on his guitar Page ran his guitar through a Leslie cabinet to make the swirling sound. A Leslie cabinet has a speaker in it that spins and makes the sound swirl. The Beatles and Buddy Guy first used that effect with a guitar in 1965. Before that, it was used mostly with the Hammond Organ.

This song peaked at #80 in the Billboard 100 in 1969.

Jimmy Page: “John Paul Jones came up with the riff. I had the chorus. John Bonham applied the bass-drum pattern. That one really shaped our writing process. It was like, ‘Wow, everybody’s erupting at once.”

 

From Songfacts

John Bonham used a device called a “Triplet” on his bass drum for this song to get a double bass pedal sound. He used the tip of his toe to flick the bass pedal back fast, creating an effect many drummers tried to copy. Jimmy Page explained in the BBC Book Guitar Greats, “‘Good Times, Bad Times,’ as usual, came out of a riff with a great deal of John Paul Jones on bass, and it really knocked everybody sideways when they heard the bass drum pattern, because I think everyone was laying bets that Bonzo was using two bass drums, but he only had one.” 

Led Zeppelin played this at their live shows until 1970.

Page put microphones all over the studio to capture a live sound when they recorded this.

When the band reformed for a benefit show on December 10, 2007 with Jason Bonham playing drums in place of his father, this was the first song in the set. Bassist John Paul Jones told Rolling Stone magazine after the show: “That’s the hardest riff I ever wrote, the hardest to play.”

There are some rumors that “Good Times Bad Times” (and “Your Time Is Gonna Come”) was played in its entirety once or twice in 1968 when the group was transitioning from The New Yardbirds to Led Zeppelin. However, there is no recording of this, and there’s no complete version on any of the unofficial live recordings from 1968 to 1980, the closest being inside a “Communication Breakdown” medley on September 4, 1970, in which John Paul Jones played a bass solo. They did play parts of it in different medleys, usually either “Communication Breakdown” or, most often “Whole Lotta Love.” The first recorded instance of the entire song being played by the full band is the 2007 reunion.

Good Times, Bad Times

In the days of my youth
I was told what it was to be a man
Now I’ve reached the age
I’ve tried to do all those things the best I can
No matter how I try
I find my way to do the same old jam

Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
When my woman left home
With a brown eyed man
Well, I still don’t seem to care

Sixteen I fell in love
With a girl as sweet as could be
Only took a couple of days
Till she was rid of me
She swore that she would be all mine
And love me till the end
When I whispered in her ear
I lost another friend

Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
When my woman left home
With a brown eyed man
Well, I still don’t seem to care

Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
When my woman left home
With a brown eyed man
Well, I still don’t seem to care

I know what it means to be alone
I sure do wish I was at home
I don’t care what the neighbors say
I’m gonna love you each and every day
You can feel the beat within my heart
Realize, sweet babe, we ain’t ever gonna part

Simon and Garfunkel – The Boxer

This is a truly great song. Wonderfully written by Paul Simon. The song peaked #7 in the Billboard 100, #6 in the UK, #3 in Canada, and  #9 in New Zealand.

This song was not recorded in one take and done. It took over 100 hours to record, with parts of it done at Columbia Records studios in both Nashville and New York City. The chorus vocals were recorded in a church: St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in New York. The church had a tiled dome that provided great acoustics. It was an interesting field trip for the recording crew who had to set up the equipment in the house of worship.

Paul Simon: “I think the song was about me: everybody’s beating me up, and I’m telling you now I’m going to go away if you don’t stop. By that time we had encountered our first criticism. For the first few years, it was just pure praise. It took two or three years for people to realize that we weren’t strange creatures that emerged from England but just two guys from Queens who used to sing rock’n’roll. And maybe we weren’t real folkies at all! Maybe we weren’t even hippies!” 

 

From Songfacts

With all this material to work with, a standard 8-track recorder wasn’t enough, so the album’s producer, Roy Halee, brought Columbia boss Clive Davis into the studio to demonstrate his problem and lobby for a new, 16-track recorder. Davis, who didn’t become a legendary record executive by turning down such requests, bought him the new machine.

Simon found inspiration for this song in The Bible, which he would sometimes read in hotels. The lines, “Workman’s wages” and “Seeking out the poorer quarters” came from passages.

Sometimes what is put in as a placeholder lyric becomes a crucial part of the song. That was the case here, as Simon used “Lie la lie” in place of a proper chorus because he couldn’t find the right words. Other examples of placeholders that worked include the “I know” chorus in “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Otis Redding’s whistling in “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.”

In a 1990 interview with SongTalk magazine, Simon said: “I thought that ‘lie la lie was a failure of songwriting. I didn’t have any words! Then people said it was ‘lie’ but I didn’t really mean that. That it was a lie. But, it’s not a failure of songwriting, because people like that and they put enough meaning into it, and the rest of the song has enough power and emotion, I guess, to make it go, so it’s all right. But for me, every time I sing that part, I’m a little embarrassed.”

Simon added that the essentially wordless chorus gave the song more of an international appeal, as it was universal.

The legendary session drummer Hal Blaine created the huge drum sound with the help of producer Roy Halee, who found a spot for the drums in front of an elevator in the Columbia offices. As recounted in the 2011 Making of Bridge Over Troubled Water documentary, Blaine would pound the drums at the end of the “Lie la lie” vocals that were playing in his headphones, and at one point, an elderly security guard got a big surprise when he came out of the elevator and was startled by Blaine’s thunderous drums.

The opening guitar lick came courtesy of the session player Fred Carter Jr., who Simon hired to play on the track. Simon would often use another guitarist to augment his sound.

This song was recorded about a year before the album was released.

Bob Dylan recorded a version of this on his 1970 album Self Portrait.

 

The Boxer

I am just a poor boy
Though my story’s seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles
Such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station
Running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places
Only they would know

Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie

Asking only workman’s wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers
Just a come-on from the whores
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare
There were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there
Le le le le le le le

Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie

Then I’m laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren’t bleeding me
Leading me
Going home

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving”
But the fighter still remains

Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie

Kinks – A Well Respected Man

Ray Davies wrote this song after the group’s 1965 tour of the United States. The tour did not go well, with infighting, fatigue, and conflict with the musician’s union that kept them from performing in the country for another four years.

Davies recovered from the tour with a vacation at the English resort town of Torquay, Devon. There, a wealthy hotel guest recognized him and asked Ray to play a round of golf. Far from being flattered by the invitation, he took great offense. “I’m not gonna play f–king golf with you,” “I’m not gonna be your caddy so you can say you played with a pop singer.”

The song peaked at #13 Billboard 100 but it didn’t chart in the UK.

A Well Respected Man

‘Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
‘Cause his world is built ’round punctuality,
It never fails.

And he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And his mother goes to meetings,
While his father pulls the maid,
And she stirs the tea with councilors,
While discussing foreign trade,
And she passes looks, as well as bills,
At every suave young man.

‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
‘Cause he’s better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father’s loot,
When Pater passes on.

‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And he plays at stocks and shares,
And he goes to the regatta,
And he adores the girl next door,
‘Cause he’s dying to get at her,
But his mother knows the best about
The matrimonial stakes.

‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

Monkees – Mary, Mary

It’s a misconception that the Monkees completely relied on other people to write all of their songs. They also started playing their own instruments starting with the third album. Michael Nesmith wrote this song before he joined The Monkees. The song was the B side to The Monkees Theme.

Loved this song when I was growing up. I still like the song and the drum sound they recorded. It has been covered by different artists. It was first recorded by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band on their East-West album on Elektra in 1966. The president of Elektra actually caught some flap once the Monkees’ version came out because people couldn’t believe that a Monkee actually wrote it.

Run-D.M.C. also covered this in 1988 on their album Tougher Than Leather.

Micheal Nesmith: Nesmith: “That song was written to be a hit. I knew it would be a hit. I never once thought of me doing the lead on that one. Mickey was my choice for that.”

Mary, Mary

Mary, Mary, where you goin’ to?
Mary, Mary, can I go too.
This one thing I will vow ya,
I’d rather die than to live without ya.

Mary, Mary, where you goin’ to?
Mary, Mary, tell me truly
What did I do to make you leave me.
Whatever it was I didn’t mean to,

You know I never would try and hurt ya.
Mary, Mary, where you goin’ to?
What more, Mary, can I do
To prove my love is truly yours?

I’ve done more now than a clear-thinkin’ man would do.
Mary, Mary, it’s not over.
Where you go, I will follow.
‘Til I win your love again

And walk beside you,
But until then.
Mary, Mary, where you goin’ to?
Mary, Mary, where you goin’ to?

Mary, where you goin’ to?
Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, where you goin’ to

Jackie DeShannon – Put a Little Love in Your Heart

Well written and great pop song. I remember it from the movie Scrooged where now that film and this song goes hand in hand. Nineteen years after this song was a hit for Jackie DeShannon, Annie Lennox and Al Green covered it for the 1988 film Scrooged. Their version reached #9 in the US and #28 in the UK and reached the Top 40 in five other countries.

DeShannon co-wrote this song with her brother Randy Myers and  Jimmy Holiday.

Jackie is a great songwriter and was inducted into the Songwriting Hall Of Fame in 2010. Other songs that she wrote or co-wrote are Bette Davis Eyes, What The World Needs Now is Love, Santa Fe / Beautiful Obsession and many more.

This song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 and #12 in Canada in 1969.

 

Jackie DeShannon: “My brother Randy was playing this little riff and I said, ‘Gee, I really like that riff, that’s great.’ All of a sudden, ‘Think of your fellow man, lend him a helping hand, put a little love in your heart,’ came just like that. I owe some of that to my mom because she was always saying that people should put a little love in their heart when things are not so good. I’d like to say it was very difficult, but it was one of those songs you wait a lifetime to write.”

Jimmy Page was said to write Tangerine about DeShannon after their breakup.

From Songfacts

She is best known as a singer, but Jackie DeShannon is one of the most talented tunesmiths of her time – she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. She wrote many of her own songs, including this one, which she composed with her younger brother Randy Myers (Jackie’s real name is Sharon Lee Myers) and a Soul singer at her label (Liberty Records), Jimmy Holiday.

In our interview with Jackie DeShannon, she told the story: 

Jimmy Holiday’s contribution came after Jackie and her brother started composing it, as he helped polish the song. Holiday, DeShannon and Myers went on to write Jackie’s hits “Love Will Find A Way” (#40, 1969) and “Brighton Hill” (#82, 1970).

DeShannon recorded a demo of this song which she had a hard time beating in the recording session. In our interview, she recalled struggling to get the right feel. “After about eight hours we finally got it and I just felt that I had done probably one of my best vocals ever,” she said. “But when I came back in to hear it somehow my vocal was erased. Somebody must have hit something. I called my mom and I said, ‘You know what, I’m just heartbroken. I’ve probably done the best vocal ever – at least it felt to me that it was right on the button – and I have to go do it again.’ So I went right back in there fast, before I lost the muse. When I got to hear the new vocal I felt that, of course, I wished I could have had the other one. But who’s to say? Maybe this was the better vocal.”

The song was released as the first single from the album in June of 1969, and it gained momentum when a radio station in Atlanta started playing it. In August, the New York radio station WABC made it a “Pick of the Week,” and stations around the country jumped on it, sending the song to its peak chart position of #4 on August 30. Said DeShannon: “The airplay was great, and in those days if you had a record in rotation, that could be very good money. I was actually able to buy a car for my dad, and I bought a house for my parents.”

Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Think of your fellow man, lend him a helping hand
Put a little love in your heart
You see, it’s getting late, oh, please don’t hesitate
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place for you and me
You just wait and see

Another day goes by, and still the children cry
Put a little love in your heart
If we want the world to know, we won’t let hatred grow
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place for you and me
You just wait and see, wait and see

Take a good look around and if you’re lookin’ down
Put a little love in your heart
I hope when you decide kindness will be your guide
Put a little love in your heart
And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place for you and me
You just wait and see
People now
Put a little love in your heart
Each and every day
Put a little love in your heart
There’s no other other
Put a little love in your heart
We ought to
Put a little love in your heart
Come on and
Put a little love in your heart

Everly Brothers – When Will I Be Loved

I first heard the Linda Ronstadt version when I was younger but I’ve grown to like this one just as well. The Everly Brothers version peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100, #16 in Canada and #4 in the UK in 1960.

Linda’s version peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1975.

Phil Everly wrote this in his car, parked outside an A&W root beer stand. He took inspiration from his on-again, off-again romance with Jackie Ertel-Bleyer, the stepdaughter of Cadence Records founder, Archie Bleyer. Phil and Jackie got married in 1963 and divorced in 1972.

From Songfacts

One of their classic songs, this tune finds the Everly Brothers fed up with the constant heartache that leaves them wondering, “When will I be loved?”

The Everly Brothers had already moved from Cadence Records to Warner Bros. when their former label issued this as a single in 1960. Hoping to shift from their signature rockabilly style to mainstream pop-rock, they were already achieving their goal as the pop-oriented “Cathy’s Clown” climbed to #1. The release of “When Will I Be Loved” was not only a throwback to their old sound, but it also threatened to derail their success by splitting airplay among their other tunes. But the public couldn’t get enough of the Everlys and they notched four Top 10 hits that year, including the #8 entry “When Will I Be Loved.”

Linda Ronstadt had even greater success when she released this as the second single from her 1974 album, Heart Like A Wheel. Aside from peaking at #2 on the Hot 100, it became her first #1 hit on the Country chart.

Several other artists have recorded this, including John Denver, Tanya Tucker, Gram Parsons, Rosemary Clooney, Manfred Mann, and The Little River Band, while Dolly Parton frequently included it in her live repertoire. As part of the English folk-rock collective The Bunch, Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson covered it on the 1972 covers album, Rock On. Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds included it on their 1980 EP, Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing The Everly Brothers. John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen also recorded it as a duet for Fogerty’s 2009 album, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again.

Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong sang this with Miranda Lambert at the 2014 Grammy Awards in honor of Phil Everly, who died of lung disease earlier that year.

Cabaret singer Amanda McBroom sang this on the 1985 Magnum P.I. episode “Let Me Hear The Music.” Jamison Belushi also performed it on her dad James Belushi’s sitcom According to Jim in the 2008 episode “Jami McFame.”

When Will I Be Loved

I’ve been made blue, I’ve been lied to
When will I be loved
I’ve been turned down, I’ve been pushed around
When will I be loved

When I meet a new girl that I want for mine
She always breaks my heart in two, it happens every time
I’ve been cheated, been mistreated
When will I be loved

When I meet a new girl that I want for mine
She always breaks my heart in two, it happens every time
I’ve been cheated, been mistreated
When will I be loved

When will I be loved

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River

One of my favorite songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #19 in the UK, and #5 in Canada. If you want proof that life isn’t fair… Green River was kept from #1 because of the novelty bubblegum song “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies.

The song is an example of a perfect rock song. Great lick, lyrics, and wonderful guitar fills by John Fogerty.

The song was on the album Green River which peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Chart.

John Fogerty: “Green River is really about this place where I used to go as a kid on Putah Creek, near Winters, California. I went there with my family every year until I was ten. Lot of happy memories there. I learned how to swim there. There was a rope hanging from the tree. Certainly dragonflies, bullfrogs. There was a little cabin we would stay in owned by a descendant of Buffalo Bill Cody. That’s the reference in the song to Cody Jr. [“Up at Cody’s camp I spent my days…”

The actual specific reference, Green River, I got from a soda pop-syrup label. You used to be able to go into a soda fountain, and they had these bottles of flavored syrup. My flavor was called Green River. It was green, lime-flavored, and they would empty some out over some ice and pour some of that soda water on it, and you had yourself a Green River.”

Image result for green river fizzy drink 50s

 

From Songfacts

John Fogerty has said that Green River is his favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival album, in part because it sounds like the ’50s albums by the likes of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash that came out of Sun Records in Memphis.

Asked about his songwriting by Mojo magazine, John Fogerty replied: “More common is me fooling around on the guitar coming up with a riff or a lick or even just a tone which sparks some kind of creativity. Your mind gets a vibe, like the lick for ‘Green River’ – that’s what it sounded like, a green river, haha. And that was a title I had carried around since I was about eight years old.”

Green River

Well, take me back down where cool water flow, yeh
Let me remember things I love
Stoppin’ at the log where catfish bite,
Walkin’ along the river road at night,
Barefoot girls dancin’ in the moonlight

I can hear the bull frog callin’ me
Wonder if my rope’s still hangin’ to the tree
Love to kick my feet way down the shallow water,
Shoe fly, dragon fly, get back t your mother
Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River

Up at Cody’s camp I spent my days, oh,
With flat car riders and cross-tie walkers
Old Cody, Junior took me over,
Said, you’re gonna find the world is smouldrin’
An’ if you get lost come on home to Green River
Well, come home

Beatles – Don’t Let Me Down

This song was the B side to Get Back. This song was credited to John and Paul but it’s a clear John song that he wrote directly to Yoko. Don’t Let Me Down should have been on the Let It Be album in my opinion. It would have made it a stronger album but Phil Spector decided to took it out.

This one is one of my favorite late Lennon Beatle songs. I liked the time signature change in this song. All measures are in 4/4 time except for the eighth measure, which is in 5/4, the extra beat needed in order to fit in John’s first verse lyric “Nobody ever loved my like she…”

The song peaked at #35 in the Billboard 100 in 1969. It’s a powerful and sincere love song by John.

Billy Preston, who The Beatles met when he was on tour with Little Richard in 1962, played keyboards on this track. Preston was one of the few outside musicians (excluding members of orchestras) to play on any Beatles song.

George Harrison brought Preston in to play on the sessions. It was a smart move by George. Not only did Preston bring his talents in the mix but his presence helped smooth the tensions the band had at the time. He did the same thing on the White Album sessions by bringing Eric Clapton in to play on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

From Songfacts

John Lennon dedicated this song to Yoko Ono. It was the first song he wrote for Yoko, whom he married on March 20, 1969.

This was one of the songs The Beatles played at their impromptu rooftop concert in 1969. The concept of the album was The Beatles performing new songs for a live audience, with film footage of their rehearsals used to make a documentary TV special. George Harrison didn’t like the idea, and when things got tense during recording, he left the sessions and returned only after they agreed to cancel the live performance. The Beatles were still under contract to make another movie, so they decided to use the rehearsal footage as their last movie, Let It Be. In order to end the movie, they needed a big scene, so they went to the roof of Apple Records and started playing. John Lennon forgot some of the words to this song while the Beatles were playing their rooftop concert. 

When Apple Records remixed the album Let It Be and released it in 2003 as Let It Be… Naked, this was included. An alternate take was used. It was the only song on the new album that did not appear on the original.

Lennon asked Ringo to crash his cymbals loudly to “give me the courage to come in screaming.”

Billy Corgan’s band Zwan covered this. They rearranged the entire song so only the melody was the same. They added a guitar solo at the end. Others artists to cover the song include Randy Crawford, Crown of Thorns, Dylan & Clark, Garbage, Gene, Marcia Griffiths, Taylor Hicks, Julian Lennon, Annie Lennox, Maroon 5, Matchbox Twenty, The Persuasions, Phoebe Snow, Stereophonics and Paul Weller. >>

Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson is from Edinburgh, and in 1999 they played this song at the opening of the newly-elected Scottish Parliament, which was celebrating autonomy after 300 years of British rule.

Don’t Let Me Down

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me down, don’t let me down

Nobody ever loved me like she does
Oh, she does, yeah, she does
And if somebody loved me like she do me
Oh, she do me, yes, she does

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me down, don’t let me down

I’m in love for the first time
Don’t you know it’s gonna last
It’s a love that lasts forever
It’s a love that had no past

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me down, don’t let me down

And from the first time that she really done me
Oh, she done me, she done me good
I guess nobody ever really done me
Oh, she done me, she done me good

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me down

Stevie Wonder – For Once In My Life

Great song by Stevie Wonder. It peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 in 1968.

This was written by the Motown songwriters Ron Miller and Orlando Murden and was originally recorded in 1966 by a singer named Jean DuShon, who was signed to Chess records.

Other versions of this song to this point were long, drawn-out ballads. Stevie Wonder was the first to pick up the tempo and use an upbeat arrangement. Wonder’s version, however, sat in the Motown vaults for nearly a year before Gordy finally released it in 1968. This became the hit record and definitive version of the song.

From Songfacts

Miller had DuShon record the song as a demo but liked her version so much that he thought she should sing it. Record company politics ensued as Berry Gordy, the head of Motown, was not pleased with one of his songwriters’ compositions going to other labels. He made sure to have his artists record the song, and the first to do so was Barbara McNair, who performed it later in 1966 on a TV special and released it on her album Here I Am that year. The next Motown act to record it was The Temptations, who released it in 1967 on their album In a Mellow Mood.

The song is about finding that special someone who gives you a feeling of boundless happiness. Wonder was just 17 when he first recorded it.

Ron Miller wrote a few more Motown favorites, including “Heaven Help Us All,” “Yester-Me, Yester-You,” “Yesterday” and “A Place In The Sun” for Stevie Wonder, and “Touch Me In The Morning” for Diana Ross. He also reworked “I’ve Never Been To Me” into a hit for Charlene.

The Temptations version featured lead vocals by Paul Williams. It became the showcase song for Williams at their live shows.

Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett both recorded this song, with Bennett’s version hitting the Hot 100 at #91 – one year before Stevie Wonder charted with it. Bennett often sang it in concert, and in 2006 he performed a slow version with Stevie Wonder for his album Duets: An American Classic. This version won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. At the awards ceremony, Wonder dedicated the Grammy to his mother, who died in 2006. Bennett then thanked his sponsor – Target department stores.

British singer-songwriter Emeli Sande recorded this for the Hulu miniseries Four Weddings and a Funeral. Other versions have also been used in these TV shows:

Happy Endings (“Brothas and Sisters” – 2013)
Glee (“Wonder-ful” – 2013) by Kevin McHale
Fringe (“Brown Betty” – 2010; “6B” – 2011)
The West Wing (“Welcome To Wherever You Are” – 2006)
The King Of Queens (“Sold-Y Locks” – 2006)
Boston Legal (“Breast In Show” – 2006)
Entourage (“Exodus” – 2005)
The Nanny (“The Wedding” – 2008)
Good Times (“That’s Entertainment, Evans Style” – 1978)

Joe Cocker – Feelin’ Alright

Dave Mason wrote this song and recorded it with  Traffic in 1968. Included on their self-titled second album, it was released as a single but it didn’t hit the charts in America and didn’t place at all in the UK.

The following year, Joe Cocker recorded what has become the most popular version of the song, peaking at #33 in Billboard 100 in 1972 with a more upbeat rendition. He included it in his set at Woodstock.

Joe Cocker did great covers of songs. Many of Cocker’s hits were covers, including “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “The Letter,” and “You Are So Beautiful.” He made a career out of soulful interpretations of other people’s songs. When Paul McCartney wrote “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” he gave it to Joe Cocker to record.

 

From Songfacts

This is one of those songs where the title belies the meaning. The singer is tormented by a breakup and asking “Are you feeling alright,” with the retort, “I’m not feelin’ too good myself.”

In our interview with Dave Mason, he explained: “It’s just a song about a girl. It’s just another relationship gone bad.”

Dave Mason wrote this song with the title “Not Feelin’ Too Good Myself,” which is more accurate in terms of the song’s meaning, but less marketable. The original Traffic version of the song, filled with the corresponding melancholy, was issued as “Feelin’ Alright?” – the question mark providing a vital clue to the content. Joe Cocker’s version scrapped the punctuation and was issued as “Feeling Alright,” which is how it was listed on most subsequent covers.

This song was written while Dave Mason was visiting the Greek island of Hydra. “I was trying to write the simplest thing I could come up with,” he told us. “Two chords was it.”

Mason had left the band when he wrote the song (he split before their first album was released), but when he returned to New York after his time in Hydra, he ran into his bandmates, who were working on the group’s second album. They reached an accord, and Mason came back into the fold, contributing this song and “You Can All Join In,” as well as “Vagabond Virgin,” which he wrote with the band’s drummer Jim Capaldi.

Soon after the album was released in October 1968, Mason once again left the band, and a month later they broke up, with Winwood forming Blind Faith. In 1969, a third Traffic album called Last Exit was cobbled together from live recordings and unused studio tracks.

Traffic lead singer Steve Winwood played on Joe Cocker’s With A Little Help From My Friends album, but not on his cover of this song, which was on the tracklist. Cocker’s version featured the ace Los Angeles bass player Carol Kaye, Paul Humphrey on drums, Artie Butler on piano, and percussion from David Cohen and Laudir de Oliveira.

A distinguishing feature of Cocker’s cover is the female backing vocals, which were comprised of three of the most powerful Soul singers of the era: Brenda Holloway, Merry Clayton and Patrice Holloway. Clayton can also be heard on the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.”

At least 45 different acts have recorded this song. Mongo Santamaria took it to #96 US in 1969, and Grand Funk Railroad made #54 with their 1971 version. Other artists to record it include Three Dog Night, Lou Rawls, the 5th Dimension, Rare Earth, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Paul Weller, the Jackson 5, Maceo Parker and Isaac Hayes.

In 1976, Cocker performed this on Saturday Night Live. John Belushi joined him on stage doing his famous impersonation of Cocker’s spastic stage movements. Cocker didn’t know Belushi was going to come on stage, but wondered what was going on when John asked him before the show what he would be wearing during the performance.

The song found a good home on the various FM rock formats of the early ’70s, and Joe Cocker’s version later became a classic rock staple. In 1972, after Grand Funk Railroad charted with the song, Cocker’s was re-released, this time making #33 US.

Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, Keith Richards, Kid Rock, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, and music director Paul Shaffer performed this at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The Jackson 5 performed part of this song on a 1971 TV special hosted by Diana Ross. Nine years later, Michael Jackson sang on Dave Mason’s track “Save Me.”

Feelin’ Alright

Seems I got to have a change of scene
‘Cause every night I have the strangest dreams
Imprisoned by the way it could have been
Left here on my own or so it seems
I got to leave before I start to scream
But someone’s locked the door and took the key

You feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself
Well, you feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself

Boy you sure took me for one big ride
Even now I sit and wonder why
And when I think of you I start myself to cry out
I just can’t waste my time, I must keep dry
Gotta stop believin’ in all your lies
‘Cause there’s too much to do before I die, hey

You feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself
You feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good

Don’t get too lost in all I say
Though at the time I really felt that way
But that was then, and now you know it’s today
I can’t get off, I guess I’m here to stay
‘Til someone comes along and takes my place, yeah
With a different name, oh, and a different face
You feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself
Yeah, not feeling too good myself
Oh, woah, I’m not, well I’m not feeling good myself
You can turn away, feeling, almighty I’m not feeling too good myself

 

Cream – Crossroads

The solo Eric plays in this song is phenomenal. It is a live version and he pulls notes out of the air and sounds as fresh now as when I first heard it. After Cream, Eric never played the same way again.

This was originally recorded by the blues musician Robert Johnson in the 1930s. According to legend, Johnson went to the crossroads and made a deal with the Devil, giving up his soul in exchange for the ability to play the blues. The story originates from an interview with the blues singer Son House, who explained how Johnson went from being a terrible guitar player to a very good one in a very short period of time. Over the years, the story grew into the tale of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil.

Cream’s version is a compilation of parts of two Johnson songs: “Crossroads Blues” and “Traveling Riverside Blues.” The song was on the album Wheels of Fire which peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1968. Crossroads peaked at #28 in the Billboard 100.

When I first learned the bass to this song…at least kinda close to what Jack Bruce played…I knew I accomplished a lot.

 

From Songfacts

Johnson fueled the legend on his track “Me And The Devil Blues,” where he sings about his meeting with Satan himself. In that song, Johnson explains that as part of his deal with the Devil, the Prince Of Darkness would harvest all of Robert’s “Childrens” at the age of 27, which is exactly how old he was when he died in 1938. A spooky correlation is the number of music stars who have died at age 27. Some members of the “27 Club” include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Al Wilson (Canned Heat), Brian Jones (The Rolling Stones) and Kurt Cobain. (Thanks to music historians Dwight Rounds and Ed Parker for their help with this.)

Inside the gatefold of the 2-disk LP Wheels Of Fire, the song listings for Sides 3 (including “Crossroads”) and 4 are misleadingly subheaded, “Live at the Fillmore.” Same with Disk 2 of the 2-CD versions.

“Crossroads” was recorded at the Winterland Ballroom, also in San Francisco. Just one of the four live songs on these two LP sides, “Toad,” was actually recorded at the Fillmore, but the Fillmore name had a lot more marketing appeal. “Crossroads” was recorded at Winterland on March 10, 1968, a Sunday, during the first of the two Cream shows that night. “Crossroads” immediately followed “Spoonful” in the performance, whereas on the album, “Crossroads” comes right before “Spoonful.”

The version on the album was not edited down, although the booklet for the Crossroads boxed set implies that it was. Eric Clapton didn’t like to talk about the song and has said it was an inferior performance because the trio got the time disjointed a bit in Eric’s third solo chorus – that is, the first chorus (instrumental “verse”) of his second solo. So, he never really praised that performance.

When pressed on the length and editing issues, he might say something along the vague lines of he supposed it was originally longer, because the Cream usually played it longer live.

At the end of the song, Jack Bruce announces, “Eric Clapton, please,” over Eric’s saying, “Thank you” (both said simultaneously). Eric follows up by saying (probably turning toward Jack), “Kerfuffle.” This is British English for “foul-up,” referring to the time disjoint back in mid-song.

Clapton played this on a Gibson SG, a solid-body guitar that had been psychedelically painted.

Clapton recorded this song two years earlier in a greatly different form – slower, less urban, Steve Winwood singing, plus a harmonica – though he still gave credit to Robert Johnson.

In March 1966 he was still with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, but he went to do a one-off studio session with, among others, Jack Bruce (bass) and Stevie Winwood (vocals and keys). This group called themselves The Powerhouse, and “Cross Roads” (note space) was one of three songs they recorded. This was the version, appearing on an album with various artists called What’s Shakin’, that was heard by a young Duane Allman in mid-1966. With his early band The Allman Joys, Duane (with his brother Gregg on vocals) recorded a ragged version of “Cross Roads” soon after What’s Shakin’ was released, and about two years before the Cream version was released. The Allman Joys’ version might have been pretty ragged, but in spirit it actually anticipated the Cream’s smoking version, rather than the Powerhouse’s take.

Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded this for their One More From The Road live album. In most ways it is like the Cream’s arrangement, but the guitar solos are pretty much different, though they refer to Eric’s solo in a few phrases.

Fusion bassist Jeff Berlin did a version on the 1986 album Pump It!. It had additional parts – especially an intro and an outro – but was otherwise similar to the Cream’s arrangement. Berlin played Eric’s solos somewhat note for note, only on bass.

Eddie Van Halen has also covered the song, and Rush (another trio of musicians) covered this on their album Feedback. John Mayer covered the song on his 2009 album, Battle Studies. >>

Clapton named his 1988 greatest hits compilation Crossroads after this song. In 2004, he released a blues album called Me And Mr. Johnson, the title a reference to Robert Johnson.

Cream played this in 1993 when they reunited for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Crossroads” is the name of Clapton’s rehab center in Antigua. Clapton battled depression and drug addiction in the ’70s.

In Clapton: The Autobiography, Eric talks about Robert Johnson’s fingerpicking style that had him “simultaneously playing a disjointed bass line on the low strings, rhythm on the middle strings, and lead on the treble strings while singing at the same time.” Johnson’s sound was very hard to re-create, and it often sounded like more than one guitarist was playing. >>

This song had a profound effect on Geddy Lee of Rush, who told Rolling Stone: “Seeing Jack Bruce roam wildly up and down the neck of his Gibson EB3 in concert made me not want to play bass, but to play bass in a rock trio.”

Crossroads

I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above for mercy, “Save me if you please”

I went down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
I went down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Nobody seemed to know me, everybody passed me by

I’m going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side
I’m going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side
You can still barrel house, baby, on the riverside

You can run, you can run, tell my friend-boy Willie Brown
You can run, you can run, tell my friend-boy Willie Brown
And I’m standing at the crossroads, believe I’m sinking down

Doors – L.A. Woman

I’m not a huge Doors fan but I do like some of their songs…this one I really like.

This song was the title track to the Door’s last album with Jim Morrison released in April 1971. The remaining members released two more albums, Other Voices and Full Circle, which both sold poorly.

The Doors performed this live only once, in Dallas at the State Fair Music Hall on December 11, 1970. The only live recording of this is on the bootleg If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Another. The band wanted to bring more musicians along to simulate the studio sound, but Morrison died before they could launch the tour.

This song wasn’t released as a single. The album peaked at #9 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1971.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek: “A song about driving madly down the LA freeway – either heading into LA or going out on the 405 up to San Francisco. You’re a beatnik on the road, like Kerouac and Neal Cassady, barreling down the freeway as fast as you can go.”

From Songfacts

“Mr. Mojo Risin'” is an anagram for “Jim Morrison.” He repeats the phrase at the end of the song faster and faster to simulate orgasm. Early blues musicians often referred to their “Mojo,” like in the Muddy Waters song “Got My Mojo Working.”

A mojo is a Hoodoo charm, usually a bag filled with items like roots, lodestone, rattlesnake rattles, alligator teeth, charms, coins – whatever does the trick. Different bags would be used for different purposes: If the bag were red, it would be a mojo for love and you would have to put a personal item, such as hair or bit of clothing in order for the mojo to work. If the mojo were made out of a black bag it would be for death. Many white listeners, including Jim Morrison, thought mojo meant sexual energy, and that is how it’s usually interpreted today, in part due to Austin Powers movies. 

Morrison recorded his vocals in the studio bathroom to get a fuller sound. He spent a lot of time in there anyway because of all the beer he drank during the sessions.

The Doors needed extra musicians to record this. Jerry Sheff (famous for his work with Elvis Presley) was brought in to play bass, Marc Benno to play guitar. Sheff and Benno were going to tour with the band, but Morrison’s death canceled those plans.

Morrison got the idea for the “City of Night” lyric from John Rechy’s 1963 book of the same name. The book describes a sordid world of sexual perversion, which Morrison translated to Los Angeles.

They put this together in the studio and recorded it live with no overdubs. It came together surprisingly well. Guitarist Robby Krieger has called it “the quintessential Doors song.”

The first line, “Well, I did a little down about an hour ago,” is a reference to a barbituate, specifically Rorer 714.

Billy Idol covered this on his 1990 album Charmed Life, his version hitting #52 in the US. Idol was in the 1991 Oliver Stone movie The Doors, but had to take a smaller role because of a 1990 motorcycle accident that limited his mobility.

At a press conference to promote the album, Idol explained that he had been playing “L.A. Woman” for years and was a big fan of the song. He would often use it to audition new band members.

The Doors produced this album with Bruce Botnick. Paul Rothchild, who produced their first five albums, did not want to work on this because he didn’t like the songs. He produced an album for Janis Joplin instead.

In 2000, the surviving members of the Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Perry Farrell, formerly of Jane’s Addiction, sang on this.

Doors drummer John Densmore said in the The Story of L.A. Woman documentary: “The metaphor for the city as a woman is brilliant: cops in cars, never saw a woman so alone – great stuff. It’s metaphoric, the physicality of the town and thinking of her and how we need to take care of her, it’s my hometown.”

Ray Manzarek put his UCLA film studies to use when he made a video for this song that was issued on a collection of Doors material called R-Evolution in 1985. To make the video, Manzarek combined archive footage of the band with new material he shot in Venice Beach, California. The actress Krista Errickson stars as the “LA Woman”; the male lead is John Doe of the band X – Manzarek produced their first four albums and directed two of their videos.

L.A. Woman

Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows

Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light
Or just another lost angel, city of night
City of night, city of night, city of night, woo, c’mon

L.A. woman, L.A. woman
L.A. woman Sunday afternoon
L.A. woman Sunday afternoon
L.A. woman Sunday afternoon
Drive through your suburbs
Into your blues, into your blues, yeah
Into your blue-blue blues
Into your blues, ohh, yeah

I see your hair is burnin’
Hills are filled with fire
If they say I never loved you
You know they are a liar
Drivin’ down your freeways
Midnight alleys roam
Cops in cars, the topless bars
Never saw a woman
So alone, so alone
So alone, so alone

Motel money murder madness
Let’s change the mood from glad to sadness

Mister mojo risin’, mister mojo risin’
Mister mojo risin’, mister mojo risin’
Got to keep on risin’
Mister mojo risin’, mister mojo risin’
Mojo risin’, gotta mojo risin’
Mister mojo risin’, gotta keep on risin’
Risin’, risin’
Gone risin’, risin’
I’m gone risin’, risin’
I gotta risin’, risin’
Well, risin’, risin’
I gotta, wooo, yeah, risin’
Woah, ohh yeah

Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows

Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light
Or just another lost angel, city of night
City of night, city of night, city of night, woah, c’mon

L.A. woman, L.A. woman
L.A. woman, your my woman
Little L.A. woman, little L.A. woman
L.A. L.A. woman woman
L.A. woman c’mon

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

I watched this movie in the early eighties with my dad, it was on the late, late, late-night show and I could not remember the title…with that title, it doesn’t seem possible. I remembered one scene of the movie and googled it for years and 5 years ago…I finally found it. It was better than I thought it would be after watching it as an adult.

The movie was released in 1964 and the special effects were great for being what it was…a 1960s science fiction movie. There are no fake-looking monsters in rubber masks running around and the scenery looks really good. The first half is slow but it picks up well in the second half. Paul Mantee plays the lead role and he does it well. Also, you will see a young Adam West in this one. He is in it a short while.

After a slow start where our stranded astronaut has to find his way around the alien planet, things pick up with the arrival of an odd Man Friday-type who leads him out of the grasp of the aliens who descend with destruction in mind. Mantee holds the lead role together well.

For a low-budget film, this is visually stunning at times. The pre-CGI special effects occasionally fail to convince but the inventiveness of the crew makes it special in its own way.

I would recommend watching this on a slow Sunday. It’s not Star Wars by any means but a fun 60’s movie.

Here is a short description in IMDB

During a flight to Mars in the spaceship Mars Gravity Probe 1, Commander Christopher ‘Kit’ Draper and Colonel Dan McReady are forced to deviate from an asteroid and they leave their spacecraft in pods. Draper lands on the surface of the Red Planet and survives. He learns how to produce oxygen and while exploring the planet, he finds McReady dead in his crashed pod. He finds also the monkey Mona and brings the animal to the cave where he is sheltered. He learns that he can breathe the Martian air for short periods but needs also oxygen. But Mona finds water and an edible plant in the underground. .After a long period alone, Draper feels the loneliness. One day, he sees a spacecraft landing on Mars and he believes it might be the rescue team to save him. But he finds aliens working on the planet and some of them are slaves. One of them flees and stumble with Draper and he names him Friday. Now he needs to find a way to be rescued and return to Earth

 

 

 

Lovin’ Spoonful – Daydream

Nice easy going laid back song by the Lovin’ Spoonful. John Sebastian wrote this song and he was influenced by “Baby Love” by the Supremes.

A good song by the Lovin’ Spoonful who had a string of hits in the sixties. They had a short window…1966-1969 but they had 14 songs in the Billboard 100. 1 number one and 7 top ten hits. This song peaked at #2 in 1966 in the  Billboard 100, #1 in New Zealand, #2 in the UK, and #1 in Canada.

Lovin’ Spoonful played “jug band” music and like the Rascals, they were more of a singles band than an album band.

John Sebastian on Daydream: “We had no way of knowing what a nice long shelf life some of that material was gonna have. At the time, we were certainly aiming only for the next few months. That’s really what we were trying for, a Top Ten record right now, right then. Everything else is unexpected.”

From Songfacts

This song started The whole New Vaudeville Bandwagon in the late 1960s of which Sgt. Pepper was the most well-known example. This song influenced the Beatles, as John Lennon’s jukebox included both this and “Do You Believe In Magic?.” This song was a major influence on Paul McCartney’s Beatles composition “Good Day Sunshine.”

Films and TV shows to include this classic as part of their soundtrack include 1989 film Field of Dreams, the pilot episode of the TV series Men of a Certain Age, 1994 film The War, the “John Lennon’s Jukebox” episode of the TV series The South Bank Show, 1967’s Poor Cow, and 1970 film Summer in the City.

One of our research team members ranted about something involving the Grim Reaper frolicking to this song in a TV commercial. Yes, that’s a Jeep Cherokee commercial with the Grim Reaper enjoying a relaxing day off to the tune of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream”, and anybody else suffering from the same fits of half-remembered nostalgia can now see it at that link and rest in peace, at last.

How authentic is the Baby Boomer street-cred of Lovin’ Spoonful lead John Sebastian? So much so that he was born in 1944 in Greenwich Village, New York, and his tie-dyed denim jacket is on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, since they were inducted into it in 2000.

More trivia: John Sebastian is the godson of actress Vivian Vance, who played Ethel Mertz in the classic TV series I Love Lucy.

Other artists to cover this song include: Chet Atkins, David Cassidy, Art Garfunkel (on the album named Daydream – Songs from a Parent to a Child), Rick Nelson, The Sweet, and The Sandpipers.

Daydream

What a day for a daydream
What a day for a daydreamin’ boy
And I’m lost in a daydream
Dreamin’ ‘bout my bundle of joy
And even if time ain’t really on my side
It’s one of those days for takin’ a walk outside
I’m blowin’ the day to take a walk in the sun
And fall on my face on somebody’s new mowed lawn

I’ve been havin’ a sweet dream
I been dreamin’ since I woke up today
It’s starrin’ me and my sweet dream
‘Cause she’s the one that makes me feel this way

And even if time has passing me by a lot
I couldn’t care less about the dues you say I got
Tomorrow I’ll pay the dues for droppin’ my load
A pie in your face for bein’ a sleepy bulltoad

And you can be sure that if you’re feelin’ right
A daydream will last along into the night
Tomorrow at breakfast you may pick up your ears
Or you may be daydreamin’ for a thousand years

What a day for a daydream
Custom made for a daydreamin’ boy
And now I’m lost in a daydream
Dreamin ‘bout my bundle of joy

The Cascades – Rhythm of the Rain

My older cousin had given me this single but it skipped so much I replaced it. When I was 5 or 6 I had a fascination with this song. I’m not sure why I liked it so much… but I bought the single in Donelson…a town near Nashville with my mom. The song has a nice pop melody.

The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1963. This was the band’s only top ten hit. They had a total of 5 songs crack the Billboard 100.

This was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, which is where Phil Spector produced many of his hits. Some of the elite west coast studio musicians played on this song, including the legendary session drummer Hal Blaine and guitarist Glen Campbell.

It was written by The Cascades lead singer John Gummoe: “I wrote ‘Rhythm of the Rain’ over a period of time, but the lyrics began while I was serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Jason AR8. I was standing a mid-watch on the bridge while we were underway to Japan. We were sailing up in the north pacific and it was raining heavily and the seas were tossing.”

The title came to me first and I liked the ‘ring’ of it, the way it flowed, and that night I wrote down most of the lyrics. It was like the rain was talking. It was later on that I sat down at a piano and was fooling around with the black keys and started playing a sequence from E flat down to F sharp, well, if you do it you’ll see it’s the melody that is now stuck in the heads of millions of people around the world. Later on, when we did a demo on the song, that great little ding ding thing that goes FC-FC, DA, DA came to be. The great arranger Perry Botkin Jr. enhanced that little hook and it was producer Barry De Vorzon who came up with the idea of opening the song with that famous burst of thunder.”

 

From Songfacts

Hundreds of artists have covered this song, including Lawrence Welk, Bobby Darin, Dan Fogelberg, Jan & Dean, Neil Sedaka and Jerry Jeff Walker. A huge worldwide hit, BMI named “Rhythm of the Rain” the 9th most performed song of the 20th century.

The Cascades next singles, “Shy Girl” and “Last Leaf,” failed to chart, and Gummoe left the band in 1967, because he was “mainly just tired of being on the road and our career was going downhill instead of up.”

Gummoe: “Most of the guys though were together on into the mid ’70s. We then reformed for a one night reunion at the Greek theater in Los Angeles in 1995. Next was in 2004 when I was contacted by Danee Samonte (AKA Steve O’Neal) a DJ and promoter in Manila. I contacted Gabe Lapano and Tony Grasso who had at different times been members of the group and we then did four tours of The Philippines which also included a gig in Maylaysia and a gig in Japan. We are blessed by our popularity in The Philippines and we love the Philippine people. We’ve met Gloria, the president and have been to Imelda’s mansion for a party which she threw for us two years ago. We meet mayors, congressmen and other government dignitaries on a regular basis when we are there.”

Gummoe: “A few years ago, I was asked to be a part of a great book that was put together by the legendary Graham Nash. It’s called Off the Record and it contains stories about many famous songs and famous songwriters. The book includes CDs with live interviews with each of the featured songwriters. In conjunction with this, I was asked to do an original piece of art using my song and that is included in the book. In the last four years, I’ve been to Asia on four occasions for concert tours, mainly in The Philippine Islands. During this period, The Cascades and I have done a couple of new CDs which are available on itunes for download. One CD is called All the Way to Yesterday and the other is called We’ve still Got the Magic.” (Thanks to John for the stories. Learn more at rhythmoftherain.com, where you can hear different versions of this song. John adds that his email address is on the site and he’s always happy to hear from the fans around the world.)

Former Neighbours actor and late 1980s teen pop star, Jason Donovan, had a #9 in the UK in 1990 with his cover.

Rhythm of the Rain

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I’ve been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again

The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart

Rain please tell me now does that seem fair
For her to steal my heart away when she don’t care?
I can’t love another when my hearts somewhere far away

The only girl I care about has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
But little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart

Rain won’t you tell her that I love her so
Please ask the sun to set her heart aglow
Rain in her heart and let the love we knew start to grow

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I’ve been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again

Oh, listen to the falling rain
Pitter patter, pitter patter
Oh, oh, oh, listen to the falling rain
Pitter patter, pitter patter