The name NERF actually comes from drag racing. In the late ‘60s, foam-covered bars sometimes called “nerf bars” were put on the front of the trucks that pushed racers to the starting line. This prevented damage to cars.
I had many Nerf Footballs and small Nerf basketballs growing up and they were always fun to bonk someone in the head.
In 1968 Reyn Guyer who invented Twister helped invent the Nerf Ball. He was testing a new caveman game with colleagues. The prototype included a bunch of foam-rubber rocks that, the men soon discovered, were more fun to throw at one another than use in the game. He then thought (and probably saved a lot of broken lamps…and spankings) they could be used as balls and played within a home.
In 1969 Reyn tried to sell the idea to Milton Bradley but they didn’t want it, but Parker Brothers did. The first Nerf product as a 4-inch polyurethane foam ball. They marketed it as “world’s first official indoor ball” and soon they had blasters, footballs (Fred Cox, kicker for the Vikings actually invented the Nerf Football), basketballs, living room baseball and a line of Nerf products.
Parker Brothers handed the company off to Kenner Products, a sister company, in 1991, when Hasbro acquired the Nerf line. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Nerf brand served under the subsidiaries OddzOn and Larami before Hasbro took full control of the brand.
Smokey has one of the smoothest voices I ever heard. On top of that, he is one of the top songwriters of popular music. Bob Dylan called him “America’s greatest living poet.” and John Lennon was heavily influenced by him. The song peaked at #16 (only 16???) in the Billboard 100 and #9 in the UK in 1965.
Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, and Marv Tarplin wrote this song. Robinson penned the lyrics; Tarplin, The Miracles’ guitarist, came up with the riff. Tarplin got the idea for the music after listening to a calypso tune: Harry Belafonte’s “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O).”
From Songfacts
One of the most gut-wrenching songs on record, this one is about a man who tries to hide his pain, but cannot conceal the tracks made by his tears. He has come out of a relationship with the love of his life, and the song is his confession to her that his high spirits are just an act and she’s the only one for him, or perhaps what he wants to tell her but can’t.
Miracles leader Smokey Robinson came up with the concept when he was looking in the mirror one day, and thinking, What if a person would cry so much that you could see tracks of their tears in their face?
Robinson recalled: “‘Tracks of My Tears’ was actually started by Marv Tarplin, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing [sings melody], you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became ‘Tracks of My Tears.'”
Robinson had the music Tarplin wrote on a cassette, but it took him about six months to write the lyrics. The words started coming together when he came up with the line, “Take a good look at my face, you see my smile looks out of place.” From there, it was a few days before he got the lines, “If you look closer it’s easy to trace… my tears.”
What to do with those tears was a problem, as he wanted to say something no one has said about tears. In a 2006 interview with NPR, he explained that he finally came up with the image of tears leaving lasting marks, and the song came together. “One day I was listening, and it just came – the tracks of my tears,” said Robinson. “Like footprints on my face. So that was what I wrote about.”
Four different artists have charted with this song in America. Johnny Rivers had the biggest hit, taking it to #10 in 1967. Two of the most acclaimed female vocalists of their time, Aretha Franklin and Linda Ronstadt, also charted covers, Franklin’s making #71 in 1969 and Ronstadt’s going to #25 in 1976.
Other notable versions of this song include renditions by Go West in 1993 and Adam Lambert in 2009.
When he first recorded this song with The Miracles, Robinson left out the last chorus, fading it out on the “I need you, I need you” line. He was convinced to end on the chorus when he played the song at one of the famous Monday morning meetings at Motown, where songs were scrutinized by their team.
Robinson wrote a similar song a few weeks later called “My Girl Has Gone,” which was released as the next Miracles single.
Motown head Berry Gordy has said that this song represents Smokey Robinson’s best work.
The song was popular among American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War, which is reflected in the 1986 Oliver Stone movie Platoon, where the song is used.
Other films to feature the song include The Big Chill (1983), The Walking Dead (1995) and Bobby (2006). TV series to used the song include The Wonder Years and Wife Swap.
Tracks Of My Tears
People say I’m the life of the party Because I tell a joke or two Although I might be laughing loud and hearty Deep inside I’m blue So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears I need you, need you Since you left me if you see me with another girl Seeming like I’m having fun Although she may be cute
She’s just a substitute Because you’re the permanent one So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears
I need you, need you Outside I’m masquerading Inside my hope is fading Just a clown oh yeah Since you put me down My smile is my make up
I wear since my break up with you So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears
It took a few listens to this song for me to fully appreciate it. It was not released as a single but it was on the Rubber Soul album in 1965. This song expressed desire and optimism for universal peace and love.
Multi-part vocals over a simple chord structure that sounds so different to what they did the year before. From I Want To Hold Your Hand to The Word shows The Beatles refusing to use a formula and continuing to move forward. They would stick to this pattern and lead the way until the end of the sixties.
Rubber Soul would peak at #1 in the Billboard album charts in 1966.
Paul McCartney said of the song:
“To write a good song with just one note in it – like ‘Long Tall Sally’ – is really very hard. It’s the kind of thing we’ve wanted to do for some time. We get near it in ‘The Word.’
John on the song:
“It sort of dawned on me that love was the answer, when I was younger, on the ‘Rubber Soul’ album. My first expression of it was a song called ‘The Word.’ The word is ‘love.’ ‘In the good and the bad books that I have read,’ whatever, wherever, the word is ‘love.’ It seems like the underlying theme to the universe. Everything that was worthwhile got down to this love, love, love thing. And it is the struggle to love, be loved and express that (just something about love) that’s fantastic. I think that whatever else love is – and it’s many, many things – it is constant. It’s been the same forever. I don’t think it will ever change. Even though I’m not always a loving person, I want to be that, I want to be as loving as possible.”
From Songfacts
This is another brilliant musical innovation from the Rubber Soul album, the first point at which The Beatles shrugged off the “mop tops” image and went for bolder artistic horizons. “The Word” sounds almost like evangelizing; as opposed to a standard boy-girl love song, the lyrics here embrace love as more of a concept, the way the Flower Power movement was thinking about it.
The lyrics of “The Word” also mark an important point at which The Beatles began to realize that they were, in fact, spokespeople for a new generation. Their songs started packing a stronger message, bridging their way to the future when John and George would make their lyrics more political.
Lead vocals on this song were shared by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Beatles producer George Martin played the harmonium, an organ-like keyboard instrument.
Yoko Ono gave the sheet music of this song as a gift to the composer John Cage, who later published it in his book Notations. Ono studied under Cage, even sharing the occasional stage with him, before she met John Lennon.
Out of all the zillions of times that music fans claim that something was composed on drugs, this is one of the rare times when a performer actually states that they did drugs while creating it. Paul McCartney reported in interviews that they’d blazed some reefer before setting down to do the lyrics, and reports that far from enhancing their ability, it actually got in the way.
In 2002, Joan Jett covered this for the album, It’s All About Eve (Music For The Cure), a charity compilation to support breast cancer research. It was produced by Rob Stevens, who had worked with John Lennon.
Rubber Soul is often cited as the first album issued without the artist’s name on its cover, but that honor really goes to Elvis Presley for his 1959 album For LP Fans Only.
The Word
Say the word and you’ll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
In the beginning I misunderstood But now I’ve got it, the word is good
Spread the word and you’ll be free Spread the word and be like me Spread the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Every where I go I hear it said In the good and bad books that I have read
Say the word and you’ll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Now that I know what I feel must be right I’m here to show everybody the light
Give the word a chance to say That the word is just the way It’s the word I’m thinking of And the only word is love
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Say the word love Say the word love Say the word love Say the word love
This track was produced by Sam Phillips of Sun Records, the man who signed Elvis Presley. It was recorded at Phillips Recording studio, a newly updated state-of-the-art studio in Memphis TN. Jeff Beck, who is a fan of early rockabilly, said that he introduced the song to the group: “They just heard me play the riff, and they loved it and made up their version of it”
I’ve always liked this version and Beck’s filthy sound he had on his guitar.
It was written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, and Lois Mann, this song was originally performed by Tiny Bradshaw’s Big Band in 1951. Johnny Burnette recorded a rock version in 1956, and The Yardbirds popularized the song with their rendition in 1965.
Aerosmith covered it in 1974, often playing the song as their encore in their early years. In the ’60s, Aerosmith was on the same bill as The Yardbirds for some shows, and former Yardbird Jeff Beck opened some shows for them in the ’70s.
The song didn’t chart in Billboard but was included on the album “Having A Rave Up” in 1965 which peaked at #53.
From Songfacts
This song is about a guy who is blown away by a woman, but he has to act cool to make sure he doesn’t scare her away. The train rolling is in reference to sex.
In the beginning of the song, Jeff Beck used his guitar to create the train whistle sound.
There are two voices singing throughout the song. Both belong to lead singer Keith Relf. In the beginning, they sing different words, but by the end, both sing in unison.
When Jimmy Page joined the band and he was playing lead guitar with Jeff Beck, the Yardbirds appeared in the 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film Blowup playing a new version of this song re-titled “Stroll On.” The Yardbirds appeared as a band in the film, which is about a London fashion photographer who may have witnessed a murder. It was one of the first major films with a full frontal nudity scene.
In an interview with Q Magazine January 2008, John Paul Jones recalls this was the first ever song he played with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Bonham after joining Led Zeppelin: “I can remember the first song I played with Led Zeppelin in a tiny basement room in Soho in 1968, with wall-to-wall amps. That was ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’,’ the Yardbirds song, which I didn’t know at the time. But I knew immediately, ‘This is fun.”
Train Kept A-Rollin’
I caught the train, I met a dame, She was a hipster, well and a real cool dame, (She was handsome,) She was pretty, from New York City, Well and we trucked on down in that old Fairlane, (Goin’ on,) With a heave, and a ho,
Well, I just couldn’t let her go. (Yes I did,) Get along, sweet little woman, get along, Be on your way, Get along, sweet little woman, get along, Be on your way, With a heave, and a ho, (Love the way you walk,) I just couldn’t let her go. (Yes I do now.)
Well, the train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (Sweet little woman, get along,) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, ([You’re my queen?]) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (Sweet little woman, get along,) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (You’re my queen?) With a heave, and a ho, (Love the way you walk,) Well I just couldn’t let her go, (Yes I do.)
We made a stop at Albuquerque, She must have thought I was a real gone jerk, We got out the train in El Paso, Lookin’ so good, Jack, I couldn’t let her go. Get along, sweet little woman, get along, (Oh, right,)
Well, the train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, With a heave, and a ho, Well I just couldn’t let her go.
This song has a fifties quality to it. Doris Troy was a true one hit wonder. This is her only top 100 song. It peaked at #10 in the Billboard 100 in 1963. This was just the second Top 10 pop hit that was written and performed by the same woman, following “Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)” by Carla Thomas.
She appeared on Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” as a backup singer. In the UK, this was a #2 hit for The Hollies. It has also been covered by Lulu, and Linda Ronstadt, Mark Farner and Anne Murray.
From Songfacts
Doris Troy, born Doris Higginson in New York City, was an R&B singer/songwriter who first recorded as Doris Payne. When she was 16 years old, she got a job at the famous Apollo Theater, which featured many legendary black performers.
In a 1970 interview with Blues & Soul magazine, Troy explained: “I had the uniform and a flashlight and everything, and when I saw them stars up there performing I said to myself ‘that’s where I want to be someday,’ and I started to spend my off-duty hours in this restaurant in New York where out-of-work artists and composers hung out. I’d written ‘Just One Look’ and needed to make a demo. Well the demo got made, and it was the demo that was released. I was performing at the time, but I’d never looked on myself as ready for making hit records. I’d had a previous release out on Everest under the name of Doris Payne, but it didn’t mean a thing.
We’d taken the demo to Atlantic to sell the song, and as soon as they heard it they flipped and said they’d rush release it at once. I was on the road at the time touring with Chuck Jackson who was big then, and since I had no time to go in the studio and re-record it they issued the record straight off the demo-dub I’d had made. Wasn’t that a bitch? Well, the record took off so damn fast that it sold like crazy, and it was really lucky for me to be touring at the same time since Atlantic were able to arrange all sorts of promotional stints and interviews to tie in with the local radio stations where I was visiting.”
Troy wrote the song “How About That,” which hit #33 for Dee Clark in 1960. She worked as a session singer, appearing on recordings by Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Dee Dee Warwick and The Drifters. “Just One Look” was her only American hit, but “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” nicked the UK charts at #37 in 1964. She moved to England in 1969 and signed with The Beatles’ Apple Records, where she release the Doris Troy album in 1970 before becoming a casualty of the rampant mismanagement at Apple. She resumed work as a session singer, and performed on The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and also tracks by Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck. She also sang backup on the 1973 Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon. Troy died in 2004 at age 67.
Troy’s version of this song appeared in a popular Pepsi commercial starring supermodel Cindy Crawford. It also appeared in a spot for DirectTV.
This appeared in the films Mermaids (1990), The Flamingo Kid (1984) and Buster (1988).
Just One Look
Just one look and I fell so hard In love with you uh oh uh oh I found out how good it feels To have your love uh oh uh oh Say you will, will be mine Forever and always uh oh uh oh Just one look and I knew That you were my only one uh oh uh oh
I thought I was dreaming but I was wrong Yeah yeah yeah Oh but ah I’m gonna keep on scheming ‘Til I can ah make you, make you my own
So you see I really care Without you I’m nothing uh oh uh oh Just one look and I know I’ll get you someday uh oh uh oh
I first saw them perform this on The Kids Are Alright. The performance was electric. I like the studio version but the live versions they push a little harder. The song didn’t chart being so long. The album “A Quick One” peaked at #4 in the UK charts. The hit song of the album was Happy Jack.
The Who had 10 minutes left to fill on the album. Kit Lambert, The Who’s manager, suggested to Pete Townshend that he write “something linear… perhaps a 10-minute song.” Townshend responded by saying that rock songs are “2:50 by tradition!” Lambert then told Townshend that he should write a 10-minute story comprised of 2:50 songs.
The song was a “mini-opera,” paving the way for the other mini-opera “Rael” and eventually full-length rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia.
From Songfacts
The plot of the story is simple. A girl is sad that her boyfriend is away. Her friends suggest that she take a substitute lover, Ivor The Engine Driver. When the boyfriend returns, she confesses her infidelity and is forgiven.
The Who performed this on the Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus, which was going to be a TV special. It never aired on television but it was released on VHS in 1996 and DVD in 2004. The Who’s performance of this was included in The Kids Are Alright, a 1979 film about The Who.
According to legend, Rock And Roll Circus didn’t air because the Rolling Stones felt that they were showed up by The Who. Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithful, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell all appeared on Rock And Roll Circus.
A live version of this song appears on Live At Leeds and the soundtrack for The Kids Are Alright.
The Who wanted to put Cellos on the track but Kit Lambert said they couldn’t afford it. So they sang “cello, cello, cello, cello,” where the Who thought they should go. >>
This was used in the Wes Anderson film Rushmore starring Jason Shwartzman and Bill Murray
A Quick One, While He’s Away
Her man’s been gone For nearly a year He was due home yesterday But he ain’t here
Her man’s been gone For nigh on a year He was due home yesterday But he ain’t here
Down your street your crying is a well-known sound Your street is very well known, right here in town Your town is very famous for the little girl Whose cries can be heard all around the world
Fa la la la la la Fa la la la la Fa la la la la la Fa la la la la
We have a remedy You’ll appreciate No need to be so sad He’s only late
We’ll bring you flowers and things Help pass your time We’ll give him eagle’s wings Then he can fly to you
Fa la la la la la Fa la la la la Fa la la la la la Fa la la la la Fa la la la la la Fa la la la la la
We have a remedy Fa la la la la la la We have a remedy Fa la la la la la la We have a remedy Fa la la la la la la We have a remedy Fa la la la la la la
We have a remedy. We have!
Little girl, why don’t you stop your crying? I’m gonna make you feel all right
My name is Ivor I’m an engine driver
I know him well I know why you feel blue Just ’cause he’s late Don’t mean he’ll never get through
He told me he loves you He ain’t no liar, I ain’t either So let’s have a smile for an old engine driver So let’s have a smile for an old engine driver
Please take a sweet Come take a walk with me We’ll sort it out Back at my place, maybe
It’ll come right You ain’t no fool, I ain’t either So why not be nice to an old engine driver? Better be nice to an old engine driver Better be nice to an old engine driver
We’ll soon be home We’ll soon be home We’ll soon We’ll soon, soon, soon be home
We’ll soon be home We’ll soon be home We’ll soon We’ll soon, soon, soon be home
Come on, old horse
Soon be home Soon be home Soon We’ll soon, soon, soon be home
Bob Dylan wrote this song and it was on his John Wesley Harding album. It was the longest time that I finally started to like Jimi’s version. The song peaked at #20 in the Billboard 100 in 1968. This was Jimi’s only top 40 hit in the Billboard 100.
I do like the simplicity of Bob’s original version also.
Bob said this about Jimi Hendrix in a 2015 speech: “We can’t forget Jimi Hendrix. I actually saw Jimi perform when he was with a band called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. Something like that. And Jimi didn’t even sing. He was just the guitar player,” Dylan said. “He took some small songs of mine that nobody paid any attention to and brought them up into the outer limits of the stratosphere, turned them all into classics. I have to thank Jimi, too. I wish he was here.”
From Songfacts
This was written and originally recorded by Bob Dylan in 1967, but it was the Jimi Hendrix cover that made the song famous. Many other artists have covered it, including Eric Clapton, Neil Young, U2, Dave Matthews Band and The Grateful Dead. Dylan was so impressed with Jimi’s version that Dylan for years played it the way that Jimi had recorded it.
This was Hendrix’ only Top 40 hit in the US, where his influence far outpaced his popularity. He charted a few times in the UK, where he rose to fame before making a name for himself in America.
This was recorded while Hendrix played with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hendrix on guitar, Noel Redding on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums. For this song, however, Redding was not on bass; Hendrix did it. Redding was also the guitar player for his band Fat Mattress, which Hendrix referred to as Thin Pillow. Hendrix often felt that Redding did not put his heart into the bass and was concerned that Redding concentrated more on Fat Mattress than he did on the Experience. Things like these led to him being replaced by Billy Cox. >>
The original version of this song is very slow. Jimi Hendrix’ version had a large impact on Dylan which made him make his own version “heavier.”
Hendrix: “All those people who don’t like Bob Dylan’s songs should read his lyrics. They are filled with the joys and sadness of life. I am as Dylan, none of us can sing normally. Sometimes, I play Dylan’s songs and they are so much like me that it seems to me that I wrote them. I have the feeling that Watchtower is a song I could have come up with, but I’m sure I would never have finished it. Thinking about Dylan, I often consider that I’d never be able to write the words he manages to come up with, but I’d like him to help me, because I have loads of songs I can’t finish. I just lay a few words on the paper, and I just can’t go forward. But now things are getting better, I’m a bit more self-confident.” >>
Hendrix had been working on and off with the members of the band Traffic as he recorded Electric Ladyland. Traffic guitarist Dave Mason caught Hendrix at a party and the two discussed Bob Dylan’s newest album, John Wesley Harding, containing “All Along The Watchtower.” Hendrix, long fascinated with Dylan, decided to cover the song on the album. On the resulting track, Mason plays rhythm on a 12-string acoustic guitar.
In our interview with Mason, he explained: “Hendrix just happened to be sitting in one of those semi-private clubs in London. He was there one night just sitting alone, and it was like, “F–k, I’m just going to go over and say hi and talk to him.”
Mason recorded the song himself in the Hendrix arrangement for his 1974 self-titled album. He also made the song a mainstay of his concerts. Mason says it’s a deceptively simple song: “It’s just the same three chords, and they never change.”
This was used in an episode of The Simpsons when Homer’s mother was telling him a story that took place in the ’60s about why she had to leave him.
In a 2008 poll conducted by a panel of experts in the Total Guitar magazine, this was voted the best cover song of all time. The Beatles’ rendition of “Twist and Shout,” first recorded by the Top Notes, came second, followed by the Guns N’ Roses version of the Wings song “Live and Let Die” in third place.
This was used in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump shortly after the title character arrives in Vietnam.
Yes this is Bob’s version…the only one I could find.
All Along The Watchtower
There must be some kind of way outta here Said the joker to the thief There’s too much confusion I can’t get no relief
Business men, they drink my wine Plowman dig my earth None were level on the mind Nobody up at his word Hey, hey
No reason to get excited The thief he kindly spoke There are many here among us Who feel that life is but a joke But, uh, but you and I, we’ve been through that And this is not our fate So let us stop talkin’ falsely now The hour’s getting late, hey
All along the watchtower Princes kept the view While all the women came and went Barefoot servants, too Outside in the cold distance A wildcat did growl Two riders were approaching And the wind began to howl
Thinking of Peter Tork who passed away Thursday at 77. This song would play over the closing credits of their TV show. Peter Tork (Peter Halsten Thorkelson) co-wrote the song with Joey Richards. “For Pete’s Sake” kicked off side two of the Monkees’ third album, 1967’s Headquarters. The song was not released as a single but the album Headquarters (the Monkees played their instruments on this one) and eventually peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 until Sgt Pepper took over the spot.
The song has a garage band sound and lyrically it’s very 1967…and that is a good thing.
For Pete’s Sake
Love is understanding, Don’t you know that this is true. Love is understanding, It’s in everything we do.
In this generation, In this lovin’ time, In this generation, We will make the world shine.
We were born to love one another This is something we all need. We were born to love one another We must be what we’re goin’ to be And what we have to be is free.
In this generation, In this lovin’ time, In this generation, We will make the world shine.
We were born to love one another This is something we all need. We were born to love one another We must be what we’re goin’ to be And what we have to be is free.
Love is undertanding, we gotta be free Love is undertanding, we gotta be free [Repeat and adlib]
Some TV Themes can be annoying but many can be very catchy. I’m listing my top 10 on two posts. There are so many that narrowing it to ten was almost impossible. I’ve stuck with older ones for the post. I left out cartoons…
5. The Courtship of Eddie’s Father -Harry Nilsson sang this one staring the one and only Bill Bixby.
4. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show – The most brilliant theme…straight to the point.
3. Munsters – Cool sixties guitar driven theme.
2. Welcome Back Kotter – John Sebastian’s song Welcome Back peaked at #1 in 1976.
Some TV Themes can be annoying but many can be very catchy. I’m listing my top 10 on two posts. There are so many that narrowing it to ten was almost impossible. I’ve stuck with older ones for the post. I left out cartoons…
10. WKRP – One of my favorite shows of the late 70s…not only did I like the theme song but the closing song.
And the closing
9. Barney Miller – Every bass player learns this one.
8. Rockford Files – The theme song made me want to watch the show.
7. Gilligans Island – I know every word and may have heard this theme more than Stairway to Heaven…and that is saying alot.
6. Hawaii Five-O – One of the ultimate themes… love the tidal wave.
This song still sounds fresh today. Got To Get You Into My Life was on Revolver released in 1966. It was not released as a single at the time. Any other band would have released it as a single.
In 1976 it was released as a single and peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100…not bad for a song that was 10 years old. It was released off of the horribly packaged compilation album Rock and Roll Music. Capital Records seemed to forget The Beatles represented the 60s, not the 50s that the album cover represented. They probably wanted to capitalize on the 50s revival that was going on at the time… Bad Choice.
I owned this album and Hey Jude Again for my first exposure to the Beatles.
There is a 5 piece horn section on this recording that sounds great. Paul McCartney has said the song was about pot…
“’Got To Get You Into My Life’ was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot. I’d been a rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting. It didn’t seem to have too many side effects like alcohol or some of the other stuff, like pills, which I pretty much kept off. I kind of liked marijuana. I didn’t have a hard time with it and to me it was mind-expanding, literally mind-expanding.”
“So ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ is really a song about that, it’s not to a person, it’s actually about pot. It’s saying, ‘I’m going to do this. This is not a bad idea.’ So it’s actually an ode to pot, like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret. It wouldn’t be the first time in history someone’s done it, but in my case it was the first flush of pot.”
From Songfacts
This beatific love song is actually about marijuana. Paul McCartney cleared this up in his 1998 book Many Years From Now when he explained that it was not about a particular person, but his desire to smoke pot. “I’d been a rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting,” he said.
There are no obvious drug references in the song, so it appears to be about a guy who is blissfully in love:
Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life
A British rock group called Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers released this song as a single around the same time it appeared on the The Beatles Revolver album. Bennett & The Rebel Rousers were an opening act for The Beatles on their European tour in early 1966; since there were no plans to release “Got To Get You Into My Life” as a single, Paul McCartney encouraged them to record it and produced the session.
Revolver appeared on August 5, 1966 and the Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers version of this song showed up on the UK chart for the first time on August 17, rising to #6 on September 21. It ended up being the biggest hit for the group, which made #9 in 1964 with “One Way Love.”
Session musicians played trumpets and sax. It was the first time horns were used in a Beatles song.
Earth, Wind & Fire recorded a funky new version for the 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Beatles producer George Martin was in charge of the music, and the soundtrack was a success, but the movie, which starred Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees and Aerosmith, was a huge flop. Earth, Wind & Fire’s version of this hit #9 in the US.
The first group to chart with this song was Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose horn-heavy version made #62 in the summer of 1975. The Beatles version wasn’t issued as a single until 1976, when Capitol Records issued it in America backed with “Helter Skelter.”
This version went to #7 in July that year, becoming the first Beatles song to chart in the US since 1970. Later in 1976, Capitol issued “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” which made #49.
John Lennon thought this was some of McCartney’s best work.
In the ’60s, Joe Pesci was an aspiring singer known as Joe Ritchie. He recorded a version of this that can be found on Rhino’s “Golden Throat” Series. His version merits the “Stick to Acting” award. >>
This song rarely licensed for movies or TV. The only time the Beatles rendition was used in a film is the 2015 movie Minions, where it plays under the end credits. In 2009, a version by Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs appeared in the Eddie Murphy movie Imagine That, and in 2013 Kurt Hummel and Chris Colfer sang it on the “Love, Love, Love” episode of the TV series Glee.
Got To Get You Into My Life
I was alone, I took a ride I didn’t know what I would find there Another road where maybe I Could see another kind of mind there Ooh, then I suddenly see you Ooh, did I tell you I need you Every single day of my life
You didn’t run, you didn’t hide And had you gone, you knew in time We’d meet again for I had told you Ooh, you were meant to be near me Ooh, and I want you to hear me Say we’ll be together every day Got to get you into my life
What can I do, what can I be When I’m with you I want to stay there If I’m true I’ll never leave And if I do I know the way there Ooh, then I suddenly see you Ooh, did I tell you I need you Every single day of my life Got to get you into my life
I was alone, I took a ride I didn’t know what I would find there Another road where maybe I Could see another kind of mind there Ooh, then I suddenly see you Ooh, did I tell you I need you Every single day
I watched a few episodes this weekend. The show has a local connection for me because of Frank Sutton.
The show ran from 1964 to 1969 and was a spinoff from The Andy Griffith Show. The character of Gomer Pyle was portrayed by Jim Nabors and he left The Andy Griffith Show in the 4th season in an episode entitled Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Gomer was a naive country boy from Mayberry North Carolina who joined the Marines and Andy went with him for the induction and helped the clueless Gomer get accepted. Frank Sutton played quick tempered Sgt Carter who would be tormented by Gomer Pyle for five seasons. I would watch the show as a kid and I thought Sgt Carter was mean to Gomer…as an adult I could understand if Carter would have choked him.
The show was a major hit. It never placed lower than 10 in the Neilson ratings. In 1969 Jim Nabors wanted out because he wanted to do a variety show. No one could understand why he wanted out of a hit show but he wanted to be in a program where he could sing, dance, and do different bits.
CBS offered Nabors a variety show so he was happy. They also offered Frank Sutton his own show Sergeant Carter–USMC. It would employ a black recruit who, unlike Gomer, would always be one step ahead of the Sergeant. It could have been a big hit but he turned it down because he felt like he did everything he could do with the character.
Sutton ended up co-starring with Nabors on his variety show and Sutton worked well in the comedy bits but was not a dancer or singer. CBS told Nabors he had to fire Sutton but Nabors refused and the show was canceled.
The local connection with Sutton is he was born in Clarksville Tennessee, a few miles from where I live. Sutton appeared in movies and shows from the 50s thru the 70s. The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Route 66 and many more.
He took acting in East Nashville High School and graduated in 1941.
After high school, Sutton returned to Clarksville to become a radio announcer. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and served in the South Pacific, taking part in 14 assault landings. Sutton was a sergeant who served from 1943–1946 in the 293rd Joint Assault Signal Company. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart; he had been medically rejected by the Marine Corps.
Frank, a heavy smoker, would only live to be 50. He would die of a heart attack in 1974 just a few months shy of his 51st birthday. In 2017 a statue of Frank Sutton was unveiled in Clarksville Tn. Here is a link to the story of the unveiling. Statue of Frank Sutton in Clarksville.
This is an interview with Frank Sutton that was never published around the time of the variety show.
Musically this is a sing-along song but the lyrics are full of social satire and anger. The Kinks record company Pye did not release this song in the UK at the time because they wanted harder songs like “You Really Got Me.” It was released in other countries and peaked at #13 in the Billboard 100 in 1965.
I first heard this song on a Kinks complication album along with “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” and The Kinks earlier songs. A Well Respected Man marked a turning point in Davies’s writing from rock/punk to more satirical, character-driven songs.
From Songfacts
Kinks frontman 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 a 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,” he told him. “I’m not gonna be your caddy so you can say you played with a pop singer.”
Dense with lyrics describing the pretentious gentleman born to good fortune, Ray Davies says this was the first “word-oriented” song he wrote.
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.
A garage band song released in the wake of the Beatles… It was written by written by guitarist Ron Elliott. They were as among the first wave of San Francisco groups to make the Charts. Laugh Laugh resembled the British Invasion songs that were dominating the charts at the time.
At the height of the band’s popularity, the Beau Brummels were seen as teen idols. The band appeared on several television productions such as American Bandstand, Shindig!, Hullabaloo and the cartoon series The Flintstones (as the animated version of themselves, the Beau Brummelstones). They appeared in movies as well, such as Village of the Giants andWild, Wild Winter.
“Laugh, Laugh” became the Beau Brummels’ first hit, peaking at #15 on the Billboard 100 in 1965.
Laugh Laugh
I hate to say it but I told you so, don’t mind my preachin’ to you I said “don’t trust ’em, baby” now you know You don’t know ev’rything there is to know in school. Wouldn’t believe me when I gave advice, I said that he was a tease If you want help you better ask me now So be sincere, convince me with a “pretty please”
Laugh, laugh, I thought I’d die It seemed so funny to me Laugh, laugh you met a guy who taught you how it feels to be Lonely, oh so lonely
Don’t think I’m bein’ funny when I say you got just what you deserve I can’t help feeling you found out today You thought you would, you could, you had a lot of nerve
Won’t say I’m sorry for the things I said. I’m glad he packed up to go You kept on braggin’ he was yours instead Found you don’t know ev’rything there is to know
Laugh, laugh, I thought I’d die It seemed so funny to me Laugh, laugh you met a guy who taught you how it feels to be Lonely, oh so lonely
Before I go I got to say one thing, don’t close your ears to me Take my advice and you find out that he Is just another guy who’ll cause you misery Don’t say you can’t get any boy to call, do be so smug or else You’ll find you can’t get any boy a’tall You’ll wind up an old lady sittin’ on the shelf.
Laugh, laugh, I thought I’d die It seemed so funny to me Laugh, laugh you met a guy who taught you how it feels to be Lonely, oh so lonely
It’s hard to believe this voice was coming out of a teenager… An 18-year-old Alex Chilton was singing this song with the Box Tops. The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #15 in the UK, and #3 in Canada. The band was successful with 10 songs in the top 100, 2 top ten songs and a number 1 (The Letter). The Box Tops were formed in Memphis in 1967. The most famous member would be future Big Star member Alex Chilton.
A bizarre personal story…a one in a million shot…Back in the 90s, I was trying to call a musician that was recommended but I dialed a wrong number and talked to Gary Talley the guitar player for the Box Tops for a good 45 minutes. He laughed and told me that I at least reached a guitar player but in Nashville, my odds were good getting one with any number. He was really cool and we talked about guitars and his touring etc… He was giving guitar lessons at the time. He told me that other people have called him looking for Garry Tallent the bass player for Bruce Springsteen.
Cry Like a Baby was recorded at American Studios in Memphis, which was run by Chips Moman, who produced the album. Spooner Oldham played keyboards on the track in addition to co-writing it.
The Box Tops still tour with members Gary Talley and Bill Cuningham.
From Songfacts
This was written by Dewey “Spooner” Oldham and Dan Penn, whose other credits together include the hits “I’m Your Puppet” (a hit for James and Bobby Purify), “It Tears Me Up” (a hit for Percy Sledge) and “A Woman Left Lonely.” In our interview with Spooner Oldham, he told the story: “Dan Penn was producing The Box Tops, he had produced a #1 record called ‘The Letter.’ He recorded that in Memphis when he and I were both living there. So he calls me one day and says, ‘Spooner, will you help me try to write a song for Alex (Chilton) and the Box Tops?’ He says, ‘People have sent me some songs, but I don’t think any of them really fit. This record company’s been after me about three weeks for a follow-up single.’ And I said, ‘Sure, I’ll try to help write a song for you.’ We got together in the studio one evening with our little notes of our five or ten best ideas or titles. We each pulled one out and they eventually ended up in the garbage.
The next morning, we were getting tired and decided to call it quits. So we locked the doors, turned out the lights in the studio, turned off the instruments. Went across the street to the little café – name was Porky’s or something like that – and ordered breakfast. I remember I was putting my head on the table. There was nobody in there, I don’t think, but us and the cook. And I tiredly put my head on the table, my arms under my head, just for a few seconds. Then I lifted my head up and looked at Dan, and because I felt sorry that he needed another record and we were no help to each other that evening, I said, ‘Dan, I could just cry like a baby.’ And he says, ‘What did you say?’ And I said it again. He says, ‘I like that.’ So unbeknownst to me, we had a song started. By the time we walked across the street back to the studio, we had the first verse written. When we got in, he turned on the lights and the recorder, and I turned on the Hammond organ. He got his guitar out, and we put on a quarter-inch 90-minute tape, and we finished the song, just recorded a demo.
The next day or two in the morning Alex Chilton came in. I was so tired and weary I didn’t know what we had, if anything. I played the little tape demo to him and he smiled and reached out his hand, shook my hand, so I knew he liked it, anyway. And then we got in the studio and recorded it shortly, I think that day.”
In the tale of this song, a man previously took for granted the love of his caring, faithful girlfriend. He regrets how terribly he had treated her now that she’s left him. He now cries every time he sees her or even thinks of her.
This song is notable for its electric sitar, which was provided by guitarist Reggie Young.
It wasn’t worth crying over, but this song stayed at US #2 for two weeks, kept out of the top spot by Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey,” which held the top spot for five weeks.
Cry Like A Baby
When I think about the good love you gave me I cry like a baby Living without you is driving me crazy I cry like a baby Well, I know now, that you’re not a plaything Not a toy, or a puppet on a string
As I look back on a love so sweet I cry like a baby Oh, every road is a lonely street I cry like a baby I know now that you’re not a plaything Not a toy, or a puppet on a string
Today we passed on the street, and you just walked on by how my heart just fell to my feet and like a fool I began to cry
Oh when I think about the good love you gave me I cry like a baby Living without you is driving me crazy I cry like a baby I know now,that you’re not a plaything I cry like a baby, cry like a baby
Every road is a lonely street I cry like a baby, cry like a baby Living without you is driving me crazy I cry like a baby, cry like a baby I cry, I cry, I cry
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