1970s – Page 30 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Max Picks …songs from 1973

1973

Pink Floyd released one of the biggest albums of all time…Dark Side of the Moon.

Roger Waters put together the cash register tape loop that plays throughout the song. It also contains the sounds of tearing paper and bags of coins being thrown into an industrial food-mixing bowl. The intro was recorded by capturing the sounds of an old cash register on tape and meticulously splicing and cutting the tape in a rhythmic pattern to make the “cash register loop” effect. Waters also wrote the song.

Like many of their songs, this was not released as a single in the UK, where singles were perceived as a sellout…but it was released as a single in America in 1973

Another positive song that was written by George Harrison. “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” replaced Wings’ “My Love” at number 1 on the Hot 100 singles chart…For the week ending 30 June that year, the Harrison and McCartney songs were ranked numbers 1 and 2 respectively.

This song was based on a true story that happened to the band. Smoke On The Water took inspiration from a fire in the Casino at Montreux, Switzerland on December 4, 1971. Deep Purple was going to start recording their Machine Head album there right after a Frank Zappa concert, but someone fired a flare gun at the ceiling during Zappa’s show, which set the place on fire when Deep Purple was watching. It was released in May of 1973.

Music stores would not be the same without this song. It was written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice.

Allman Brothers released this song in August of 1973. It was the band’s biggest hit that almost didn’t get released. The band thought it was too country and almost didn’t release it. This one was written by Dickey Betts.

My sister had a Jim Croce greatest hits album and I played it non-stop. This one is easy for kids to remember. This song has been played to death but I still love it. This one remains one of the most remembered songs from the early seventies. Jim Croce wrote this one.

Redbone – Come and Get Your Love

This song was a part of my childhood growing up. I never knew much about them but when I was 7 (1974)…my sister was watching Midnight Special and to see them…you didn’t forget. Then in 2014, the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy came out and the song was part of my son’s childhood. It is a very good pop song from the 1970s. They were the first Native American band to have a top 5 hit.

Native American brothers Patrick and Candido “Lolly” Vasquez-Vegas were born in Coalinga, California. The brothers played with Oscar Peterson at the Monterey Jazz and Pop Festival before relocating to Los Angeles in 1963. They were serious musicians. They started to play around on the Vegas Strip.

They opened for Lenny Bruce, as well as Richard Pryor while writing and playing on records by Tina Turner, Sonny & Cher, James Brown, Little Richard, and Elvis ( on the soundtrack to the film “Kissin’ Cousins”), among other recording artists.

Jimi Hendrix saw them play and was knocked out. Jimi stated that Lolly Vegas was the best guitarist he had ever heard and suggested that they create a band. Knowing they were Native Americans, Jimi suggested a name that reflected their roots. The name that Jimi suggested was “Redbone”, a Cajun term for a mixed-race person.

The Vegas brothers met guitarist Tony Bellamy, and collaborated on the Jim Ford album “Harlan County”. The trio hired drummer Pete DePoe and signed with Epic Records in 1969.

Come and Get Your Love peaked at #5 on the Billboard 100 and #25 in Canada in 1974. The song has recently gained a new following by being on the “Guardians of the Galaxy” soundtrack. The band was not a one-hit wonder though. They had one other top 40 hit called The Witch Queen of New Orleans.

Come and Get Your Love

Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with your head, yeah
Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with your mind
And your sign an-a, oh-oh-oh
Hail (hail)
Nothin’ the matter with your head
Baby find it, come on and find it
Hail, with it baby
Cause you’re fine
And you’re mine, and you look so divine

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with you feel right
Don’t you feel right baby
Hail, oh yeah
Get it from the mainline, all right
I said-a find it, find it
Go on and love it if you like it, yeah
Hail (hail)
It’s your business if you want some, take some
Get it together baby

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love, now

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with you feel right
Don’t you feel right baby
Hail (hail), all right
Get it from the main vine, all right

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. la, la
Come and get your love
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. woohoo
Come and get your love
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. la, la
Come and get your love
La, na, na, na, na, na, da, boom
Come and get your love
La, da boom, boom, boom, ta, daba, boom, boom
Come and get your love
La, la, la, la, la, la

Shocking Blue – Out of Sight Out of Mind

Nothing I like better than finding new/old music.

Shocking Blue was a band out of the Netherlands with a sensational singer named Mariska Veres. She sounded like Grace Slick to me… Robbie van Leeuwen was the guitar player and he wrote most of the songs including this one.

This band had the worldwide number 1 hit Venus but I like many of their other songs more like Never Marry A Railroad Man (which should have been a hit), Mighty Joe, their version of I Ain’t Never, and Love Buzz which Nirvana covered.

This one has guitar hooks all over the place. The solo that Robbie Van Leeuwen plays is a huge hook itself. Mariska Veres’s voice is great and she has her own unique style that worked well with this band. This song peaked at #6 in the Netherlands and #13 in Belgium in 1971. This was a non-album single.

Shocking Blue was together from 1968-1974. They were known as a one-hit wonder with Venus but their other songs were hits in the Netherlands and were very good and sold a lot of records. They had some edge on their music and that is why I like them. If you are looking to find some old/new music…check this band out.

Mariska sadly died in 2006. With her voice, I’m shocked she didn’t have a more successful solo career.

Out Of Sight Out Of Mind

Love comes very easy and slips easy away
If you gotta go for a long, long time
Your baby promised you’ll be on his mind
Don’t be surprised if it turns out wrong

Out of sight, out of mind
That’s what happened a million times
Out of sight, out of mind

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Love has many faces and shows them all
When you have to kiss your baby goodbye
There is a presentiment you can’t deny
Will he come back, yes or no

That’s what happened a million times

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Dr. John – Right Place, Wrong Time

My sister’s car in the 70s plus AM radio gave me my own soundtrack. This is one of the songs along with Leon Russell’s Tight Rope that was on the most played list on our AM station WMAK in Nashville.

Right Place, Wrong Time was Dr. John’s only trip to the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at #9 in 1973 and #6 in Canada. For the longest time, I thought the name was “Brain Salad Surgery”. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer later used that name for their fourth album.

The song was on the album In The Right Place released in 1973. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts. Before this album he was a musician’s musician but after he became a pop star.

Dr. John (Malcolm John Rebennack) put a little New Orleans in everything he did. Gregg Allman liked Dr. John when he first met him in Boston before the Allmans made it. Gregg took drugs but after seeing what John took…he thought that the Allmans were tame. Gregg was not a fan of the New Orleans gris-gris that John brought around…and he had a good reason not to be.

Gregg Allman: Dr. John also had a gris-gris situation going on too. Basically they were these bags that he had hanging around each shoulder which were leather or goatskin and smelled kinda funky. Inside the bags was this New Orleans voodoo stuff called gris-gris. He threw that gris-gris shit all in my brand-new Hammond—he was throwing whole handfuls of that shit. Gris-gris, my ass. It was gold glitter, and it went down through the keys, down into the stops, gumming the oil up. They had to take the organ apart and scrape down each piece. They said, “What is this crap?” and they charged me $190, which meant I could eat, but I couldn’t drink a cold beer for two weeks.

Dr. John: “That was my life for a long time. At the same time I was in the wrong place at the right time, and the right place in the wrong time, too. That was the problem. We’re always shifting those gears.”

Dr. John: “Originally, I felt to go commercial would prostitute myself and bastardize the music, on reflecting, I thought that if without messin’ up the music and keeping the roots and elements of what I want to do musically, I could still make a commercial record I would not feel ashamed from, I’m proud of, and still have a feel for – then it’s not a bad thing but it even serve a good purpose.”

Right Place, Wrong Time

I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time
I’d have said the right thing but I must have used the wrong line
I been in the right trip but I must have used the wrong car
My head was in a bad place and I’m wondering what it’s good for
I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time
My head was in a bad place but I’m having such a good time

I been running trying to get hung up in my mind
Got to give myself a good talking-to this time
Just need a little brain salad surgery
Got to cure my insecurity

I been in the wrong place but it must have been the right time
I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong song
I been in the right vein but it seems like the wrong arm
I been in the right world but it seems wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

Slipping dodging sneaking creeping hiding out down the street
See me life shaking with every ho’ I meet
Refried confusion is making itself clear
Wonder which way do I go to get on out of here

I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time
I’d have said the right thing but I must have used the wrong line
I’d have took the right road but I must have took a wrong turn
Would’ve made the right move but I made it at the wrong time
I been on the right road but I must have used the wrong car
My head was in a good place and I wonder what it’s bad for

Delaney and Bonnie – Never Ending Song Of Love

I heard this song as a kid constantly but never knew who was singing it. It was written by Delaney Bramlett, and, according to some sources, by his wife Bonnie Bramlett. It was originally recorded with his band, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, in 1971 on the album Motel Shot.

So many great musicians played on Motel Shot. Duane Allman, Joe Cocker, Jim Keltner, Bobby Keys, Dave Mason, Gram Parsons, Leon Russell, Clarence White, and Bobby Whitelock just to name a few. Delaney and Bonnie were important in the lives of Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

Coming out of Cream…Eric liked the looseness of the band as they traveled around with members going in and out. He jumped in and toured and brought George Harrison with him. Both men developed a deep, abiding, and…as it would turn out, decades-long fascination with acoustic-based music. And a musical linchpin for both of them was the husband and wife duo, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. Though they enjoyed success on their own, the Bramletts are most often remembered for their associations with other musicians.

As the title suggests…they did record some of the album in a motel room and in Bruce Botnick’s (audio engineer and record producer) living room. They treated the recording like a party. Whichever musicians were there…that was who was on the song. They recorded this in the summer of 1970 and after switching record companies…it was released in 1971. There is still confusion on who played on what track.

The song peaked at #1 in New Zealand, #13 on the Billboard 100, and #6 in Canada in 1971.

Never Ending Song Of Love

I’ve Got A Never Ending Love For You
From Now On That’s All I Wanna Do
From The First Time We Met I Knew
I’d Have Never Ending Love For You

I’ve Got A Never Ending Love For You
From Now On, That’s All I Wanna Do
From The First Time We Met I Knew
I’d Have A Never Ending Love For You

After All This Time Of Being Alone
We Can Love One Another
Feel For Each Other
From Now On

It’s So Good I Can Hardly Stand It

Never Ending Love For You
From Now On That’s All I Wanna Do
From The First We Met I Knew
I’d Sing My Never Ending Song Of Love For You

Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do….

After All This Time Of Being Alone
We Can Love One Another
Feel For Each Other
From Now On

It’s So Good I Can Hardly Stand It

Never Ending Love For You
From Now On That’s All I Wanna Do
From The First We Met I Knew
I’d Sing My Never Ending Song Of Love For You

I’ve Got A Never Ending Love For You
From Now On That’s All I Wanna Do
From The First Time We Met I Knew
I’d Sing My Never Ending Song Of Love For You

Max Picks …songs from 1972

1972

Everyone…I messed up last week. While making these, I go to Wiki’s Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles to go over some of the singles and then… I look at album cuts. Well, I didn’t check to see when American Pie was released…it was released in late 1971…but I would never have left that one off…ever. So forgive me…I won’t do this again…but I am leading off with it. It did its damage on the charts in 1972…so this one time I’m breaking my rule. It’s too important of a song.

American Pie… by Don Mclean. Where do I begin with this one? The song has so many references that it acts as a pop culture index itself. We do know the song was inspired by Buddy Holly’s death… What does it all mean? While being interviewed in 1991, McLean was asked for probably the 1000th time “What does the song ‘American Pie’ mean to you?,” to which he answered, “It means never having to work again for the rest of my life.” Now that is a great and honest answer by Mclean.

The holy trinity of power pop for me is…Badfinger, Big Star, and The Raspberries…those were the 70s pioneers. Badfinger was the most successful out of the three…hit wise anyway. You can hear later bands like Cheap Trick, The Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, and even KISS get something from each three.

This is my personal number 1 Power Pop song of all time. Baby Blue was written by Pete Ham.

He was playing in a Rock and Roll revival show in 1971 at Madison Square Gardens with other artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Bobby Rydell. Ricky Nelson was releasing new music and he did not look the way he did in the 50s. He had long hair and dressed modern. He started off with some of his old songs the fans responded enthusiastically but then he played “Country Honk” a country version of the Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women.” That is when it went south.

Arlo Guthrie seems like the most laid-back guy in the world. His father was the great singer-songwriter, Woody Guthrie. Arlo wrote some very good songs but he didn’t write this one. The City of New Orleans was written by Steve Goodman. Steve did a great job writing this song. Its structure and imagery are fantastic.

After seeing the screenplay, Mayfield jumped into this movie project and was given complete creative freedom. He wrote the songs to suit the scenes, but he made sure they could stand on their own, telling the stories even without the visuals. “Superfly” works very well outside of the film. It was written by Curtis Mayfield. I saw this on the big screen a few years ago.

…

Waylon Jennings – Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way

This song I wrote in 10 minutes…it took me 10 years to think it up though…Waylon Jennings

This is country music that I really like. Waylon was part of the Outlaw country movement of the 1970s and he was a badass. This song is a tribute to Hank Willaims and also questions the extravagance of the modern country stars of the 70s with their “new shiny cars” and “rhinestone suits”.

The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and #21 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks…it also made it in the Billboard 100 at #60 in 1975.

Waylon acted more like a rock star. He took that Outlaw title to heart. He used the Hells Angels as bodyguards and hung out and partied with them. Lynyrd Skynyrd was known as rough and fighters but when they shared a plane with Jennings and the Angels… they gave them plenty of room and stayed quiet like school boys.

In the seventies, Waylon took a pistol to a recording studio one time because he didn’t like studio musicians. He knew they were great musicians but they didn’t give any new ideas so he was joking around with the pistol about shooting someone’s fingers off if they didn’t play well. It wasn’t serious and everyone there knew it was a joke… but rumors got around that he was serious. Later on in 1975 at the Grammys… Waylon Jennings and John Lennon met backstage. They started talking to each other and really hit it off. Waylon was surprised because he told John that he was very funny but he thought he was some kind of madman because of John’s press. John then told him that people in England thought Waylon shot people.

Lennon wrote him a letter after that and there was even talk of Waylon recording a song by Lennon (Tight A$ on Mind Games). Not much came of it but the letter was found when Waylon passed away and sold at auction.

Waylon was hired to play bass for Buddy Holly on that last tour and he gave up his seat on the plane for J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) and ended up saving his own life. So he was in rock and roll before country.

Also…if you see the live clip…Waylon used that guitar for years. My guitar tech was Waylon’s guitar tech. The guitar was at the shop one day and Turner (the tech) told me to come over and play it. Of course, I did…I’ve never seen a guitar with leather…and I’ll never forget it. It was sometime in the late eighties or early nineties. He used that guitar from the 70’s to the mid-nineties.

Waylon Jennings: “I met John Lennon, and we were cutting up and everything at one of the Grammy things, and I said, man, you’re funny. I didn’t know you were funny,’ I said, ‘I thought you were some kind of mad guy or something like that.”

John Lennon: “Listen, people in England think you shoot folks.”

Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way

Lord it’s the same old tune, fiddle and guitar
Where do we take it from here?
Rhinestone suits and new shiny cars
It’s been the same way for years
We need a change

Somebody told me, when I came to Nashville
Son you finally got it made
Old Hank made it here, and we’re all sure that you will
But I don’t think Hank done it this way
No, I don’t think Hank done it this way

Ten years on the road, makin’ one night stands
Speedin’ my young life away
Tell me one more time just so’s I’ll understand
Are your sure Hank done it this way?
Did ol’ Hank really do it this way?

Lord I’ve seen the world, with a five piece band
Looking at the back side of me
Singing my songs, and one of his now and then
But I don’t think Hank done ’em this way
I don’t think Hank done it this way
Take it home

John Lennon – Mind Games

I hardly ever do birthdays or anniversaries except the ones I repeat…but this one lined up perfectly. John Lennon would have been 83 today. He has been gone 43 years…more than the 40 years he spent alive.

I bought this in the late seventies at Port ‘O’ Call Records in Nashville. One of my favorites of John’s radio hits. It was released in 1973 and peaked at #18 in the Billboard 100, #26 in the UK, and #11 in Canada. It didn’t do great on the charts but has remained one of my favorites and continues to be played on classic rock radio stations.

When Lennon was starting Mind Games…he separated from Yoko Ono and started an 18-month stint known as his lost weekend. He spent the time getting drunk with Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon, and others along with a small reunion with Paul McCartney in Los Angeles. He was living with May Pang and they eventually moved back to New York where he reunited with Yoko and had Sean.

I also bought the Mind Games album and it was the fourth album I had by him. You didn’t have the raw emotion that the first two gave you but it was a good pop album. With songs like “I Know, I Know” it remains in my rotation along with Walls and Bridges his follow-up album.

John got the name from a book called Mind Games by y Robert Masters and Jean Houston. The book was about promoting mental health through a raised consciousness. Some of the content of the book found its way into this song.

The original title was ‘Make Love Not War’ but John saw that as such a worn-out cliche at this time… he couldn’t use it. He tried to make the same message in the song though.

Usually, I don’t mention much about the video…but this one is great if you like John Lennon.

John Lennon: How many times can you say the same thing over and over? When this came out in the early Seventies, everybody was starting to say the Sixties was a joke; it didn’t mean anything; those love-and-peaceniks were idiots. [Sarcastically] ‘We all have to face the reality of being nasty human beings who are born evil, and everything’s gonna be lousy and rotten so boo-hoo-hoo…’ ‘We had fun in the Sixties,’ they said, ‘but the others took it away from us and spoiled it all for us’…‘No, just keep doin’ it.’”

Mind Games

We’re playing those mind games together
Pushing the barriers planting seeds
Playing the mind guerrilla
Chanting the Mantra peace on earth
We all been playing those mind games forever
Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil
Doing the mind guerrilla
Some call it magic the search for the grail

Love is the answer and you know that for sure
Love is a flower
You got to let it, you gotta let it grow

So keep on playing those mind games together
Faith in the future out of the now
You just can’t beat on those mind guerrillas
Absolute elsewhere in the stones of your mind
Yeah we’re playing those mind games forever
Projecting our images in space and in time

Yes is the answer and you know that for sure
Yes is surrender
You got to let it, you gotta let it go

So keep on playing those mind games together
Doing the ritual dance in the sun
Millions of mind guerrillas
Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel
Keep on playing those mind games forever
Raising the spirit of peace and love

Jimmy Buffett – Door Number Three

No I didn’t get rich you son of a bitch
I’ll be back just wait and see
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

Jimmy Buffett passed away recently. In the mid-eighties, I found his music and really liked what I heard. He wasn’t country and he wasn’t pop…he was on his own island so to speak. His concerts were like parties…a perfect place to take a date. I was lucky to see him twice.

Songs like A Pirate Looks At 40 is a fine song. Come Monday has its charm also. This one is a silly one and not one of his greats but I always liked it.

Does anyone remember Let’s Make a Deal? It was a game show in the 1970s where contestants would dress up to get the host Monty Hall’s (host) attention and try to win prizes.

This game show originally aired from 1963-1977. The premise of this is that the studio audience participated in the show. Other game shows at the time were comprised of contestants that were pre-selected and the audience was merely there to observe. Let’s Make a Deal was surprisingly different. Monty Hall, the host, began the show by wandering throughout the studio, choosing audience members at random to try their hand at a game of chance.

Monty Hall was a likable host and it is evident that he had fun with his job. He hosted around 5,000 episodes before handing his position off to Wayne Brady. People would dress in the most outlandish costumes so Monty would pick them. He would ask…do you want $200 or what’s behind door number 1, 2, or 3? Sometimes the prizes were cars and furniture and sometimes it would be a donkey or something else ridiculous. Box Carol Merrill is the lady who would reveal the “prizes” that you won.

A friend of mine, a guitar player, started to sing this song while we were learning some cover songs. I thought it was one of his, that happened a lot, but when I found it was Buffett I had to hear it. Of course, we never learned it but it sounds like a parody of a country song.

In the 1980s I worked on Murfreesboro Road in Nashville. I was with a work friend and we went to see one of his buddies who worked in a huge car lot. It was one of those huge semi-circle buildings with large windows. His buddy had this old wood desk and he was a huge Jimmy Buffett fan. He told us that Jimmy Buffett would come to that car lot in the 70s and sit at a certain desk drinking with the owner. He said when he left that job he was going to try keeping the desk…and I have to wonder if he ever got it? The building is gone now.

Love this song by Jimmy Buffett. It was released in 1974 on the A1A album. The album did include the song “A Pirate Looks at 40.” Door Number Three did manage to make it to #88 in the Country Charts.

Paul McCartney on Jimmy Buffett: It seems that so many wonderful people are leaving this world, and now Jimmy Buffett is one of them. I’ve known Jimmy for some time and found him to be one of the kindest and most generous people.

I remember once on holiday when I had forgotten to bring my guitar and was itching to play. He said he would get me one of his, but I said, ‘I’m left-handed’. So, Jimmy had his roadie restring one of his guitars which he loaned me for the duration of the holiday. He then followed this act of generosity by giving me my own beautiful left-handed guitar that had been made by one of his guitar-making pals. It’s a beautiful instrument, and every time I play it now it’ll remind me of what a great man Jimmy was.

He had a most amazing lust for life and a beautiful sense of humour. When we swapped tales about the past his were so exotic and lush and involved sailing trips and surfing and so many exciting stories that it was hard for me to keep up with him.

Right up to the last minute his eyes still twinkled with a humour that said, ‘I love this world and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it’.

So many of us will miss Jimmy and his tremendous personality. His love for us all, and for mankind as a whole.

Last, but not least, is his songwriting and vocal ability. If someone made an interesting remark he repeated it in his gorgeous Louisiana drawl and said, ‘That’s a good idea for a song’. Most times it didn’t take too long for that song to appear. I was very happy to have played on one of his latest songs called ‘My Gummy Just Kicked In’. We had a real fun session and he played me some of his new songs. One, in particular, I loved was the song, ‘Bubbles Up’. And I told him that not only was the song great but the vocal was probably the best I’ve heard him sing ever. He turned a diving phrase that is used to train people underwater into a metaphor for life when you’re confused and don’t know where you are just follow the bubbles – they’ll take you up to the surface and straighten you out right away.

So long, Jim. You are a very special man and friend and it was a great privilege to get to know you and love you. Bubbles up, my friend.

“Door Number Three”

Oh I took a wrong turn, it was the right turn
My turn to have me a ball
Boys at the shop told me just where to stop
If I wanted to play for it all
I didn’t know I’d find her on daytime TV
My whole world lies waiting behind door number three

I chose my apparel, wore a beer barrel
And they rolled me to the very first row
I held a big sign that said “Kiss me I’m a baker,
and Monty I sure need the dough!”
Then I grabbed that sucker by the throat
Until he called on me
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

And I don’t want what Jay’s got on his table
Or the box Carol Merrill points to on the floor
No, I’ll hold out just as long as I am able
Until I can unlock that lucky door
Well, she’s no big deal to most folks
But she’s everything to me
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

Oh Monty, Monty, Monty, I am walking down your hall
Got beat, I lost my seat but I’m not a man to crawl
No I didn’t get rich you son of a bitch
I’ll be back just wait and see
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three
Yes my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gimme Back My Bullets

Sweet talkin’ people done ran me out of town
And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around

This is one of my favorites from this band. The guitar riff is mean, jagged, ragged, and dangerous…it’s a really good rock song.

The bullets Ronnie Van Zant is referring to are bullets in the music charts…as in #1 with a bullet…not bullets from a gun. It had been a while since they charted and he wanted more.

Fans started throwing bullets and other objects on stage when they performed this song. They had to take it out of their setlist because they were afraid someone would get hurt. I’ve read about them in the past few years along with talking to my UK readers. They were very popular in the UK in the seventies with their live shows. They were one of the best live bands out there at the time. They were never glam or followed trends…they just played their genuine rock songs.

Ronnie’s voice is on point in this one. He was a great songwriter and used his voice well. He didn’t have range some singers had around BUT…he knew his limitations and got everything out of it with more feeling than many singers with a richer voice. He had attitude and plenty of it.

The song was off of the album Gimme Back My Bullets. It peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100, #73 in Canada, and #34 in the UK in 1976.

Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded this with two lead guitarists…Allen Collins and Gary Rossington. Ed King had left just before making this album when he was fed up with touring relentlessly without a break.

When this album didn’t sell as well as expected, another guitarist, Steve Gaines, was brought in. He gave a new life to the band and their popularity soared with a live album One More From The Road. Steve Gaines and Ed King could have played with any rock band at the time…they were that good.

Van Zant would get his bullets back with their next studio album Street Survivors but would not live long enough to enjoy it. His image on stage was not a carefree image…it was more of a “Don’t Fu*k with Me” vibe.

Gimme Back My Bullets

Life is so strange when its changin’, yes indeed
Well I’ve seen the hard times and the pressure’s been on me
But I keep on workin’ like the workin’ man do
And I’ve got my act together, gonna walk all over you

[Chorus]
Gimme back my bullets
Put ’em back where they belong
Ain’t foolin’ around ’cause I done had my fun
Ain’t gonna see no more damage done
Gimme back my bullets

Sweet talkin’ people done ran me out of town
And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around
But I’m leavin’ this game one step ahead of you
And you will not hear me cry ’cause I do not sing the blues

[Chorus]
Gimme back, gimme back my bullets
Oh, put ’em back…where they belong

Been up and down since I turned seventeen
Well I’ve been on top, and then it seems I lost my dream
But I got it back, I’m feelin’ better everyday
Tell all those pencil pushers, better get out of my way

[Chorus]
Gimme back, gimme back my bullets
Oh put ’em back where they belong
Gimme back my bullets

Max Picks …songs from 1971

1971

This year may be the best ever for albums. You had Who’s Next (My number one), Led Zeppelin IV, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin On, and so much more.

We will start off with what I think is the greatest rock song ever played in a concert environment. I’ve seen The Who play Won’t Get Fooled Again twice and of all the concerts I’ve gone to… I’ve never heard anything this powerful live.

Roger Daltrey’s Scream is considered one of the best on any rock song. It was quite convincing…so convincing that the rest of the band, lunching nearby, thought Daltrey was brawling with the engineer.

Now let’s visit Led Zeppelin and they released IV or Zoso a few weeks after The Who released Who’s Next. Stairway To Heaven…this song is considered by some as the best song in rock history. The song was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

Marvin Gaye released this great song and it came off the album of the same name. A powerful song from a powerful performer. The song was written by Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson, and Marvin Gaye.

The Moody Blues released the album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and this song was on it. It may be my favorite song by them. Story In Your Eyes.

Great melody in this song. I bought the album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour just because of this song and I ended up liking the album a lot. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard 100 in 1971. The song was written by Justin Hayward.

This is almost a perfect song…by the one and only Janis Joplin. There are few artists who give everything they have all the time. Bruce Springsteen is one…Janis was one. On film it comes through…she gives everything she has and more. It was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster.

She would die on October 4, 1970. Her nickname was Pearl and that was the name of her last album. She left $2,500 for her wake…. 200 guests were invited with invitations that read…”Drinks are on Pearl”…

…

The Exorcist

My son bought us tickets to see The Exorcist in Clarksville, Tennessee last Sunday. The original movie was playing there. I saw it in 2000 when it was re-released and I was ready to watch it again on the big screen.

Seeing this on the big screen changes everything. William Friedkin, the director, managed to keep the dread atmosphere all the way through the movie and never let up. Friedkin worked on this film for the re-release and the colors pop out at you. He just passed away on August 7, 2023. If you get a chance to see it and this doesn’t upset you…do it. The book was written by William Peter Blatty.

At one time I considered this a horror movie but I’ve changed my mind about that. How can I put it in the same category as slasher movies or some of the stupid horror movies? This is a classic movie with horror elements and should be treated as such. Is it scary? Oh yes, it is…in fact, it’s the only movie to really scare and spook me but I would not belittle it by putting it in with some of those movies. That is not a knock on those other horror movies that have their place…but this one is playing in a different league. What makes it so effective is it feels so real. This is not set in Salem or ancient times but in modern times. A normal 12-year-old girl gets possessed…something that feels tangible.

A few years ago I wrote on the cultural impact of this movie. This time I just want to talk about the characters of the movie. It’s unbelievable how many other movies have stolen bits and pieces of this or the whole thing. A lot of copycat movies came out like The Omen (which is really good), Beyond The Door (a low-budget one that I liked), and more.

The characters in The Exorcist are all vital and necessary. There are no wasted moments in the film. I first saw it when I was around 15-16 on a VHS copy and for days I would look around corners. In 2000 I was an adult but it still got to me then. What impresses me about the movie are the characters. Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Father Lankester Merrin (Max Van Sydow) finally converge near the end of the movie.

The acting of Jason Miller who plays Father Karras is outstanding especially since this was his first role. Father Karras is a guilt-ridden man who is losing his faith. All of this plays a part in his transformation to help with the Exorcism. Miller was first a playwright and a good one and this started his acting career. Max Von Sydow was only 44 while playing an old Father Merrin and like Blair…if it wasn’t convincing the movie would not have worked.

Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) and Regan MacNeil play mother and daughter and are at the story’s center. Both do a great job and of course, Linda Blair was very convincing because if not…the movie would have died on the vine. Ellen Burstyn ties the movie together with her portrayal of Regan’s mom.

Another character who felt real was Father Dyer who was played by the real Father William O’Malley…he had the experience. Also, Lt William Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb) is super as the Police Detective. He is such a real sort of character that you have known some Kindermans in your life. You can see him softening people up to get information from them in a wise old man way.

It’s worth mentioning 90-year-old Vasiliki Maliaros who played Father Karras’ mother. It was her only acting role. William Friedkin saw her in a cafe and cast her.

No character is used too much or too little and its pacing is perfect. One of my favorite scenes of all time is in this movie. When Father Merrin pulls up in the taxi and walks in the fog with light coming from a street light and the house. You can take away a lot from the ending and it’s all subjective but for me, it’s good conquering evil…you may have a different thought.

The original trailer…it was ultimately banned by film executives over concerns it was too disturbing for audiences.

Stranglers – Peaches

When I started to play bass I played loud…super loud. Sometimes I would do things on bass and people would be looking at our guitar player Ron thinking he did it. My bass always had some distortion…one of the reasons was it was a hollow body bass played loud…it would give feedback and distort a little. That is why when I first heard this song I liked it.

The Stranglers were labeled a punk band but it’s obvious they were better musically than their peers and they were able to keep that rawness.

The bass starts this song off and it is a great sound. It features the bass of J.J. Burnel taking no prisoners. Peaches was released in 1977 as a single from their debut studio album, “Rattus Norvegicus”. The song was written by the band’s lead singer and guitarist, Hugh Cornwell, and according to him, the inspiration for the song came from an incident he witnessed while touring in Belgium.

He saw this group of guys ogling a girl in a cafe saying hey….come and have a look at those peaches! It turned out that the peaches they were referring to were the khaki shorts she was wearing. Cornwell has stated that the song is essentially a critique of the voyeuristic male gazes and objectification of women.

In 2019, the song was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll” exhibit, solidifying its place in music history. The song is credited to Jean Jacques Burnel, Hugh Cornwell, Dave Greenfield, and Jet Black. The song peaked at #8 in the UK in 1977. The album peaked at #4 in the UK.

JJ Burnel: “In the very early days, in order to earn a bit of money, we had a little PA, and one day we were signed to a black label called Safari, which was more or less a reggae label. We hadn’t released anything. But the owner phoned us up one day and said, ‘Look, do you want a few pounds to augment your PA to a sound system?’ Well, we didn’t know what ‘sound system’ was.

So we turned up in part of London and we were the only white guys there. We stuck our PA to their sound system, and there was an awful lot of grass going about. We were kind of excluded from the line of grass. And lo and behold, I discovered sound systems, which were I suppose an early form of rap. You’d have a toaster: a black guy talking sort of stream of consciousness over mainly a bass and drums backing rhythm. Reggae. It was all reggae. What you might know as ‘dub.’ So you have a delay on the snare or something, there’d be a lot of separation and mainly bass speakers throughout the total.

So we stayed there for the whole gig. And at the end of it, I was hooked on the idea that the bass should be the most dominant feature. So I went back to where we were living and that night, came up with the three notes which constitute ‘Peaches.’ And of course, I wanted to make a reggae song out of it. But we didn’t quite get the snare in the right beat. But never mind. We Strangle-fied it. We interpreted a reggae theme in The Stranglers way, which became ‘Peaches.'”

Peaches

Strolling along minding my own business
Well there goes a girl and a half
She’s got me going up and down
She’s got me going up and down

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Well I got the notion girl that you got some suntan lotion in that bottle of yours
Spread it all over my peelin’ skin, baby
That feels real good
All this skirt lappin’ up the sun
Lap me up
Why don’t you come on and lap me up?

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Well, there goes another one just lying down on the sand dunes
I’d better go take a swim and see if I can cool down a little bit
‘Cause you and me, woman
We got a lotta things on our minds (you know what I mean)

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Will you just take a look over there (where?) (there)
Is she tryin’ to get outta that Clitares?
Liberation for women
That’s what I preach (preacher man)

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Oh shit!
There goes the charabang
Looks like I’m gonna be stuck here the whole summer
Well, what a bummer
I can think of a lot worse places to be
Like down in the streets
Or down in the sewer
Or even on the end of a skewer

Down on the beaches, just looking at the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at brown bodies
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the shot glasses
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm

Max Picks …songs from 1970

1970

The Beatles officially broke up in April of 1970…I hate leaving the 60s behind. The seventies was the time of my childhood at the age of 3 through 13. My music tastes were formed in this decade by listening to…well mostly the 60s.

So let’s get started with The Grateful Dead. They released two of their most popular albums this year… Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty. Two excellent albums and it was hard to pick a song off of them…but this one does quite nicely. It was written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter.

It’s George Harrison time again. When the Beatles broke up, no one knew what to expect from him. Well…George delivered a knockout punch with his album All Things Must Pass. At that time he was outselling John and Paul and just about everyone else. George wrote this song.

This was the opening track on the A Question Of Balance album by the Moody Blues, and at one point it was going to be the title track. The song was recorded several months earlier than the other tracks on the album and its title was shortened from “Question Of Balance” to “Question.”

When I was younger I started with this album and owned everything up until Long Distance Voyager. Their early seventies output is my favorite period but I liked their entire catalog as a whole. It was written by Justin Hayward.

This is what I wrote in my post on this song a while back...”The bass in this song punches you like a heavy-weight fighter and will roll you like wholesale carpet…the timing is absolutely perfect. I hear some Otis and Wilson Pickett in this song and it will make you move.” Huh…I still agree with me!

Groove Me has been a favorite of mine for so long. King Floyd takes almost a full minute to build up to the chorus and it’s well worth the wait when he kicks it in. Thank you King Floyd for writing this song.

This song by Simon and Garfunkel has become a standard. Bridge Over Troubled Water along with Georgia On My Mind was my mom’s favorite song…so I couldn’t leave it off. It was written by Paul Simon.

…

Allman Brothers – Whipping Post

The bass line at the beginning of the song is iconic. The best version of this one is the live cut. Whipping Post was one of the first songs Gregg Allman wrote for the Allman Brothers. That bass intro has a time signature of 11/8…not a common one to use.

He was staying with friends and thought of the lyrics but could not find a pencil and paper so he wrote the lyrics on an ironing board with burnt matches in the middle of the night. He had to be quiet and not wake up his friend’s child. He caught hell for messing up the ironing board but I think it was worth it.

The Allman Brothers…much like the Grateful Dead could deliver live. They constantly toured early in their careers and played free concerts in parks all over to grow their audience. They released one of the best live albums of all time with At Fillmore East. Money wasn’t the thing…they built a grassroots following and they were probably more popular in New York than anywhere else for this southern band.

The song was originally on their debut album The Allman Brothers Band and it peaked at #188. A live version was on the At Fillmore East album and it peaked at #13 on the Billboard Album Charts and #44 in Canada in 1971.

Frank Zappa would sometimes cover this song live.

This is Gregg Allman from the book “My Cross to Bear”

So that first night, I laid me down to go to sleep on my attic couch, and I dozed off for a while. All of a sudden I woke up, because a song had me by the ass. The intro had three sets of three, and two little steps that allowed you to jump back up on the next triad. I thought it was different, and I love different things. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I wish the rest of them had come like this—it was all right there in my head, all I had to do was write it down so I wouldn’t forget it by the morning.

I started feeling around for a light switch, but I couldn’t find one anywhere. I was in my sock feet; I just had on my drawers and a T-shirt. I found my way into the kitchen and it was pitch-dark. I had my hands out and I touched an ironing board—thank goodness, instead of tripping over it, which would’ve made a terrible noise.

I was feeling all around the counters for a piece of paper. I couldn’t find any paper or a pencil anywhere, but I did find a box of kitchen matches. A car happened to go by, and its lights flashed long enough to allow me to see that red, white, and blue box. I knew I could use the matches to write with, because I had diddled around enough with art to know that charcoal would work.

I figured the ironing board cover would work as a pad, so I’d strike a match, blow it out, use the charcoal tip to write with, and then strike another one. I charted out the three triads and the two little steps, and then I went to work on the lyrics:
“I’ve been run down, and I’ve been lied to …”

I got it all down on that ironing board cover, in the closest thing to shorthand as I could muster up. I was really proud that I didn’t wake Brittany up. The next morning, Hop raised so much fucking hell with me about that ironing board cover, but it worked out, and we got “Whipping Post” down that day…

The seldom-heard studio version.

Whipping Post

I’ve been run down and I’ve been lied to.
And I don’t know why, I let that mean woman make me a fool.
She took all my money, wrecks my new car.
Now she’s with one of my good time buddies,
They’re drinkin in some cross-town bar.

Sometimes I feel, sometimes I feel,
Like I been tied to the whippin’ post.
Tied to the whippin’ post, tied to the whippin’ post.
Good Lord, I feel like I’m dyin’.

My friends tell me, that I’ve been such a fool.
But I had to stand by and take it baby, all for lovin’ you.
Drown myself in sorrow as I look at what you’ve done.
But nothing seemed to change, the bad times stayed the same,
And I can’t run.

Sometimes I feel, sometimes I feel,
Like I been tied to the whippin’ post.
Tied to the whippin’ post, tied to the whippin’ post.
Good Lord, I feel like I’m dyin’.