What a beautiful song this is and it was between the Green and the Buckingham/Nicks era. Thanks to Sharon for bringing this wonderful song up. The song was written by Danny Kirwan and was on the album Kiln House released in 1970.
18-year-old guitarist Danny Kirwan joined Fleetwood Mac in 1968 and one of the first recordings he played on was Albatross. He couldn’t take the pressure of touring and eventually fired in 1972.
The album peaked at #69 in the Billboard Album Charts, #67 in Canada, and #39 in the UK. The song didn’t chart. This is the first album after Peter Green left the band. Christine McVie contributed to the album with backup vocals, keyboards, and even cover art. After this album, she became a full member.
It doesn’t really sound like the Peter Green blues era or the later pure pop sound. It has more of a power-pop sound.
Jewel Eyed Judy
Moonshine time Thoughts of you Spinning round As thoughts do I just wondered if Your eyes still shine As they did When you were mine
I can see In a dream Thougts so clear And jewels that gleam Would your eyes Still sparkle then If we were, once again
Jewel eyed Judy please come home Jewel eyed Judy don’t leave me alone Jewel eyed Judy please come home Jewel eyed Judy don’t leave me alone
Lovely Judy Can you see Where it is You’re meant to be Where you lay Your head tonight May the stars Find your light So am I Sitting here Moonlight glistens On my tears Is this all That we could find Chains of memories Left behind
Jewel eyed Judy please come home Jewel eyed Judy don’t leave me alone Jewel eyed Judy please come home Jewel eyed Judy don’t leave me alone
This one was always a favorite of mine of the Stones. Keith Richards wrote this, but a lot of the lyrics were improvised in the studio. While the band played, Jagger came in with different lines to fit the music.
This song is a good example of the Rolling Stones tapestry of guitars. Keith and Ron Wood weave their guitars in and out until the two guitars are almost indistinguishable from each other.
The song peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100 and #9 in Canada.
The song was on Some Girls released in 1978. It was perhaps their last great album although I did like Tattoo You. Some Girls peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts and #1 in Canada, and #2 in the UK.
Keith Richards: “Those who say it’s about one woman in particular, they’ve got it all wrong. We were trying to write for a slightly broader audience than just Anita Pallenberg or Marianne Faithfull. Although that’s not to say they didn’t have some influence in there somewhere. I mean, what’s close by is close by! I’ve always felt it’s one of my best soul songs. It was another strict collaboration between Mick and me. I think I had the first verse—‘I’ll never be your beast of burden’—along with the hook, and we were still working very much in our traditional way: Here’s the idea, here’s the song, now run away and fill it in! Some of the theories surrounding it are very intriguing, but they’re about as divorced from reality as can be. I find it quite amusing that there are people in the world who spend a lot of their time trying to decode something that is, at the end of the day, completely undecodable. I mean, even I’ve forgotten the code!”
From Songfacts
Sometimes misunderstood as a putdown, this is a rare Stones song that treats women as equals. Jagger sings that he “Don’t need no beast of burden.”
This isn’t about a specific woman. Most women in Stones’ songs are composites of many.
A live version from their 1981 US tour was used as the B-side of their “Going To A Go-Go” single.
A beast of burden is an animal that labors for the benefit of man, like an ox or a pack mule.
This song could be allegorical – it was written by Keith as a kind of homage to Mick for having to carry the band while Keith was strung out on heroin: “All your sickness I can suck it up, throw it all at me, I can shrug it off.”
The Chinese ministry of culture ordered The Stones not to play this when they performed there in 2003. It was going to be the first time The Stones played in China, but they canceled because of a respiratory disease that was spreading through the country.
Whilst Richards spent much of the ’70s insulating himself with drugs, former London School of Economics student Jagger was running the band. However, by the time of Some Girls, Richards wanted to share the workload. Mojo magazine January 2012 asked Richards how much this song was about his relationship with Jagger? He replied; “Mick wrote a lot of it but I laid the general idea on him. At the time Mick was getting used to running the band. Charlie was just the drummer, I was just the other guitar player. I was trying to say, ‘OK I’m back, so let’s share a bit more of the power, share the weight, brother.”
Beast Of Burden
I’ll never be your beast of burden My back is broad but it’s a hurting All I want for you to make love to me I’ll never be your beast of burden I’ve walked for miles my feet are hurting All I want for you to make love to me
Am I hard enough? Am I rough enough? Am I rich enough? I’m not too blind to see
I’ll never be your beast of burden So let’s go home and draw the curtains Music on the radio Come on baby make sweet love to me
Am I hard enough? Am I rough enough? Am I rich enough? I’m not too blind to see
Oh little sister Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty girls Uh you’re a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty girl Pretty, pretty, such a pretty, pretty, pretty girl Come on baby please, please, please
I’ll tell ya You can put me out On the street Put me out With no shoes on my feet But, put me out, put me out Put me out of misery, yeah
All your sickness I can suck it up Throw it all at me I can shrug it off There’s one thing baby I don’t understand You keep on telling me I ain’t your kind of man
Ain’t I rough enough, ooh baby Ain’t I tough enough Ain’t I rich enough, in love enough Ooh, ooh please
I’ll never be your beast of burden I’ll never be your beast of burden Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be
I’ll never be your beast of burden I’ve walked for miles, my feet are hurting All I want is you to make love to me Yeah
I don’t need the beast of burden I need no fussing I need no nursing Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be
“Big Star is like a letter that was mailed in 1971 but didn’t arrive until 1985.”
Musician Robyn Hitchcock
I never travel far, without a little Big Star The Replacements
“We’ve sort of flirted with greatness, but we’ve yet to make a record as good as Revolver or Highway 61 Revisited or Exile on Main Street or Big Star’s Third.” Peter Buck
The band didn’t chart a record when they were active. I still hold their music up along with The Who, Beatles. and Kinks…they never had the sales but they did have a giant influence. They released this album as their debut in August of 1972. I had to stop myself from writing an open love letter (I may have failed) about this band. Was it the mystique of them? Was it the coolness factor of liking a band that not many people knew? No and no. It’s about the music. Mystique and coolness wear off and all you are left with is the music…We are fortunate to have 3 albums by Big Star to enjoy.
In the early eighties, I heard stories from an older brother of a friend about Big Star out of Memphis…but their records were hard to come by. I loved what little I heard and it got lost in the shuffle but it planted a seed for later.
By the mid-80s I heard more of their songs. In 1986 The Bangles released “September Gurls” and I knew it sounded familiar…and the DJ said it was a Big Star song…then came the song, Alex Chilton, by The Replacements and I’m ashamed to say it wasn’t until the early nineties, I finally had Big Star’s music along with the Raspberries and Badfinger. My power-pop fandom kicked into high gear and I have never left that genre.
Big Star was the best band never heard. Such a great band but a long frustrating story. They made three albums that were among the best of the decade that were not heard until much later. They signed with Ardent which was a subsidiary of Stax Records.
A power-pop band on the soul Stax label doesn’t sound like a good idea now and it wasn’t then. Stax was failing at that time and could not distribute the records to the stores. Kids loved the music on the radio only to go to a record store with no Big Star records. Rolling Stone gave them rave reviews…but that doesn’t help if the album is not out there to purchase. They were through by 1974 after recording their 3rd album.
When their albums were finally discovered by eighties bands, they influenced many artists such as REM, The Replacements, Cars, Cheap Trick, Sloan, Matthew Sweet, KISS, Wilco, Gin Blossoms, and many more. They influenced alternative rock of the 80s and 90s and continue to this day.
Listening to this album with each song you think…Oh, that could have been a single. Alex Chilton and Chris Bell wrote most of the songs and wanted to emulate Lennon/McCartney and they did a great job but with an obvious American slant to make it their own. After the commercial failure of this album, Chris Bell quit but the other three continued for one more album and then bass player Andy Hummel quit after the second album, and Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens recorded the third.
I could have gone with ANY three of their albums. I picked this one because of Chris Bell. The songs are a bit more polished on this one than the other two but it fits the songs they present. Chris Bell added a lot to Big Star and after hearing his solo song I Am The Cosmos you see how much. Radio City, their second album, with Chilton in charge many consider their best and their third album, Third/Sister Lovers is not as commercially accessible but I still love it. All three are in Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums of all time.
I’ll go over four songs.
The Ballad Of El Goodo A song about Vietnam conscientious objector…but it is much more than that. It is one of the most perfect pop/rock songs recorded to my ears. This would make it in my own top 10 songs of all time. The tone of the guitars, harmonies and the perfectly constructed chorus keeps calling me back listen after listen. This is when pop music becomes more.
In The Street is a song that everyone will know. It was used as the theme of That Seventies Show. Cheap Trick covered it for the show. I was not a teenager in the early seventies but with this song, I am there front and center. Steal your car and bring it down, Pick me up, we’ll drive around, Wish we had, A joint so bad.
Thirteen is a song that Chilton finds that spot between the innocence of childhood and the first teenage year where they meet and intertwine with confusion. Won’t you tell your dad, “get off my back” Tell him what we said ’bout “Paint It Black”
When My Baby’s Beside Me has a great guitar riff to open it up. This is power pop at it’s best. A nice rocker that should have been blaring out of AM radios in the 70’s.
I’m not going over every song (but I could easily) because reading this won’t do it…you have to listen if you haven’t already. You will not regret it. Not just these songs but the complete album.
It’s a mixture of songs on the album…rockers, mid-tempo songs, and ballads. Even the weaker song called The India Song is very listenable. My favorites besides the ones I listed are Watch the Sunrise, Don’t Lie To Me, Feel, and Give Me Another Chance.
I now have rounded out my albums on my island. The variety of The White Album, The rock of Who’s Next, and the ringing power-pop beauty of Big Star…swim or use a boat and come over to my island and we will listen…the Pina Coladas and High Tides (hey it’s an island) are flowing… let’s drink to BIG STAR.
On a side note. If you want to learn more there is a good documentary out about them called: Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.
Feel
The Ballad Of El Goodo
In The Street
Thirteen
Don’t Lie To Me
The India Song
When My Baby’s Beside Me
My Life Is Right
Give Me Another Chance
Try Again
Watch The Sunrise
ST 100/6
And if I swallow anything evil Put your finger down my throat And if I shiver, please give me a blanket Keep me warm, let me wear your coat
Pete Townshend originally wrote this about a character in his “Lifehouse” project, which was going to be a film similar to The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia. Townshend never finished “Lifehouse,” but the songs ended up on the great album Who’s Next.
Townshend was going to use this as the main song in the Lifehouse film for the villain, Jumbo.
I wrote this next part in my review of the album…Behind Blue Eyes is a song that lulls you with a beautiful melody with sparse accompaniment (probably the longest Moon ever sat on his hands while recording) and then it happens…all hell breaks loose and Roger sings…no correction…he doesn’t sing…he demands When my fist clenches, crack it open, Before I use it and lose my cool… it’s like getting hit by a bus that you didn’t see coming…and then it’s over.
The original demo version is a lot quieter and stripped-down. Townshend released this version on his 1983 album Scoop.
The song peaked at #34 in the Billboard 100 and #23 in Canada in 1971.
From Songfacts
Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey both have blue eyes, but the song is not autobiographical. Townshend has said that he wrote it to show “How lonely it is to be powerful.”
Pete Townshend has explained that he never behaved like a typical rock star when he was on tour, especially when it came to groupies, which he tried to avoid. He says it was a run-in with a groupie that was the impetus for this song. Townshend, who got married in 1968, was tempted by a groupie after The Who’s June 9, 1970 concert in Denver. He says that he went back to his room alone and wrote a prayer beginning, “If my fist clenches, crack it open…” The prayer was more or less asking for help in resisting this temptation. The other words could be describing Townshend’s self-pity and how hard it is to resist.
Roger Daltrey did a new version of this song with the Irish group The Chieftains, which was released on the group’s 1992 album An Irish Evening. This rendition, which was recorded live at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, features traditional Irish instruments, including fiddle and bodhrán.
The lyrics are based on Townshend’s own feeling of angst – that no one knows what it’s like to be him, with high expectations and pressure to be someone he’s not. Knowing what a miserable sod he can be, he’s telling us not to let himself enjoy it because he doesn’t want to enjoy making us (the fans) happy. It’ll mean we will ask for more!
This is one of the most popular live songs from The Who, played at the majority of their concerts. Pete Townshend has said at various stages of his career that while he believes it’s a great song, he doesn’t get any satisfaction performing it, as he feels it is out of context of his Lifehouse project.
To the horror of many Who fans who turned up their noses at nu-metal, Limp Bizkit covered this song on their 2003 on their album Results May Vary, taking it to #18 UK and #71 US (the only cover version to chart). This version was used in the Halle Berry movie Gothika. Berry appeared in the video, which was directed by Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Conveniently enough, Durst included a scene where he kisses Berry in the video.
Roger Daltrey’s dog got run over on the day he recorded his vocals for this song – it was the first dog he ever had. The Who singer recalled to AARP The Magazine that he “was desperately trying to hold it together.”
Pete’s Demo Version
Behind Blue Eyes
No one knows what it’s like To be the bad man To be the sad man Behind blue eyes
No one knows what it’s like To be hated To be fated To telling only lies
But my dreams They aren’t as empty As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely My love is vengeance That’s never free
No one knows what it’s like To feel these feelings Like I do And I blame you
No one bites back as hard On their anger None of my pain and woe Can show through
But my dreams They aren’t as empty As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely My love is vengeance That’s never free
When my fist clenches, crack it open Before I use it and lose my cool When I smile, tell me some bad news Before I laugh and act like a fool
And if I swallow anything evil Put your finger down my throat And if I shiver, please give me a blanket Keep me warm, let me wear your coat
No one knows what it’s like To be the bad man To be the sad man Behind blue eyes
I have always liked the late seventies and mid-eighties Kinks. This was one of the first songs I remembered by them.
This is the title song off of the Sleepwalker album. It was released in 1977 and it marked a comeback in America for the Kinks. The last song they released to peak this high was Apeman in 1970.
Ray Davies had just moved from London to New York during this time and had trouble adapting to the 24 hours schedule of New York…and he wrote Sleepwalker about it.
The song peaked at #48 in the Billboard 100 and #54 in Canada.
Sleepwalker
Ev’rybody got problems, buddy. I got mine. When midnight comes around, I start to lose my mind. When the sun puts out the light, I join the creatures of the night, Oh yeah.
I’m a sleepwalker. I’m a night stalker. I’m a street walker. I’m a night hawker.
Ev’rybody got secrets that they wanna hide. When midnight comes along, I take a look inside. Don’t go talkin’ in your sleep: I might come in for a peep, Oh yeah.’
I’m a sleepwalker. I’m a night stalker.
When ev’rybody’s fast asleep, I start to creep. Through the shadows of the moonlight, I walk my beat. Better close your window tight: I might come in for a bite, Oh yeah.
When the night time comes, I start to creep. I prowl around when you’re fast asleep. I walk around on my tippy toes, And I get into places that nobody knows.
I’m always around if you wanna meet. You can find me on almost ev’ry street. You’ll always get me on the telephone. I’ll even come to your home if you’re ever alone.
I’m a sleepwalker. I’m a night stalker. I’m a street walker. I’m a night hawker. [Repeat]
One of my favorites off of the band’s most successful album Rumors.
Second Hand News” was written by Fleetwood Mac frontman Lindsey Buckingham. The turmoil making this album would have made a thrilling TV movie or soap opera…take your pick.
This song was originally an acoustic demo titled “Strummer.” But when Buckingham heard the Bee Gees’ “Jive Talkin’,” he rearranged it with more audio tracks and the rhythmic effect from “playing” the faux-leather seat of a studio chair to make it evoke a slightly Celtic feel.
On recording Rumors…Stevie Nicks: “It lasted thirteen months and it took every bit of inner strength we had. It was very hard on us, like being a hostage in Iran, and to an extent, Lindsay was the Ayatollah.”
It was not released as a single but could have been…the album peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #1 in the UK, and #4 in New Zealand in 1977.
From Songfacts
It is the first track on the Rumours album – the most successful album of Fleetwood Mac’s career with sales of over 40 million worldwide, going 19x platinum in the US and 10x platinum in the UK. The band’s original drummer Mick Fleetwood calls it the most important album they ever made.
Like many of the songs on the Rumours album, this one shows a darker side in the lyrics. It’s asking you to move on, leave the singer alone. Fleetwood Mac was experiencing the shatter of all of their emotional ties with not one, not two, but three break-ups! That was the divorce of the McVies, Buckingham and Stevie Nicks breaking up, and Fleetwood going through a divorce from his wife.
In Frank Moriarty’s book Seventies Rock: The Decade of Creative Chaos, Stevie Nicks is quoted from a Creem interview in July 1977, explaining the acrid lyrics: “We were all trying to break up and when you break up with someone you don’t want to see him. You especially don’t want to eat breakfast with him the next morning, see him all day and all night, and all day the day after…”
In Bill Martin’s Avant Rock: Experimental Music from the Beatles to Bjork, while meditating on the dichotomy between Yuppies and Yippies of the ’60s/’70s, the author states: “If I had to pick the ultimate musical document of AOR [Adult-Oriented Rock]/Yuppie rock, it would probably be the 1977 album by Fleetwood Mac, Rumours.” Well, take that!
Second Hand News
I know there’s nothing to say Someone has taken my place When times go bad When times go rough Won’t you lay me down in tall grass And let me do my stuff
I know I got nothin’ on you I know there’s nothing to do When times go bad And you can’t get enough Won’t you lay me down in the tall grass And let me do my stuff
One thing I think you should know I ain’t gonna miss you when you go Been down so long I’ve been tossed around enough Awh couldn’t you just Let me go down and do my stuff
I know you’re hopin’ to find Someone who’s gonna give you piece of mind When times go bad When times go rough Won’t you lay me down in tall grass And let me do my stuff
I’m just second hand news I’m just second hand news yeah I’m just second hand news I’m just second hand news yeah I’m just second hand news I’m just second hand news yeah I’m just second hand news I’m just second hand news yeah, yeah Yeah
I’ve told this story before but I bought LA Woman at a family’s yard sale in the 80s for 10 cents I believe…it was in mint condition. I went through a Doors phase that a lot of teens go through. I never liked all they had but I do like a lot of their music. This song was love at first listen. This and the debut album are my favorite Doors’ albums.
Morrison could be a handful at times for the band. His singing always sounded ominous to me…like something was about to happen. The guitar riff in this song is light but very catchy and the song will stick with you.
Hyacinthus was a young love of the Greek God Apollo. Apollo accidentally killed him, and from his blood sprang the hyacinth, a plant with a fragrant cluster of flowers.
The line, “I see the bathroom is clear” could refer to the bathroom in the studio where the song “L.A. Woman” was recorded. At the time, Jim Morrison insisted on recording the vocal track remotely from the bathroom rather than in the studio with the rest of the band.
The song was written at guitarist Robby Krieger’s house, which inspired some of Morrison’s lyrics with its flowers (hyacinths) and cats (“lions”).
Hyacinth House
What are they doing in the Hyacinth House? What are they doing in the Hyacinth House? To please the lions in this day
I need a brand new friend who doesn’t bother me I need a brand new friend who doesn’t trouble me I need someone and who doesn’t need me
I see the bathroom is clear I think that somebody’s near I’m sure that someone is following me, oh yeah
Why did you throw the Jack of Hearts away? Why did you throw the Jack of Hearts away? It was the only card in the deck that I had left to play
And I’ll say it again, I need a brand new friend And I’ll say it again, I need a brand new friend And I’ll say it again, I need a brand new friend, the end
And the preacher said, you know you always have the Lord by your side And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran Twenty red lights in his honor Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord
When I saw the Rolling Stones in the 90s there was a vote on a song for them to play. This one won and I didn’t suspect it. Frankly, I would rather hear this than yet another version of Satisfaction or Jumping Jack Flash although I love those songs.
Mick said he wrote this after driving through Bakersfield on a Sunday morning. He would listen to the country music stations and they would many times be broadcasting black gospel church services.
This tongue in cheek song was released as the B-side to Miss You. It’s a fun song because it’s so unlike them.
Mick Jagger: “I knew Gram Parsons quite well, and he was one of the few people who really helped me to sing country music — before that, Keith and I used to just copy it off records. I used to play piano with Gram, and on “Faraway Eyes” I’m playing piano, though Keith is actually playing the top part — we added it on after. But I wouldn’t say this song was influenced specifically by Gram. That idea of country music played slightly tongue in cheek — Gram had that in “Drugstore Truck Drivin’ Man,” and we have that sardonic quality, too.
Far Away Eyes
I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield Listening to gospel music on the colored radio station And the preacher said, you know you always have the Lord by your side And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran Twenty red lights in his honor Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord
I had an arrangement to meet a girl, and I was kind of late And I thought by the time I got there she’d be off She’d be off with the nearest truck driver she could find Much to my surprise, there she was sittin’ in the corner A little bleary, worse for wear and tear Was a girl with far away eyes
So if you’re down on your luck And you can’t harmonize Find a girl with far away eyes And if you’re downright disgusted And life ain’t worth a dime Get a girl with far away eyes
Well the preacher kept right on saying that all I had to do was send Ten dollars to the church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart Of Jesus Located somewhere in Los Angeles, California And next week they’d say my prayer on the radio And all my dreams would come true So I did, the next week, I got a prayer with a girl Well, you know what kind of eyes she got, well I’ll tell ya
So if you’re down on your luck I know you all sympathize Find a girl with far away eyes And if you’re downright disgusted And life ain’t worth a dime Get a girl with far away eyes
So if you’re down on your luck I know you all sympathize Get a girl with far away eyes
This post is a small double shot…I included the A-side Easy Livin’ but the one I like the most is the B side Traveler In Time. This wasn’t the original single…it was released a little later.
Sometimes I like going off the beaten path and I’m in the woods with this one. Traveler In Time, I picked up from the BBC TV show Life On Mars from 2006. I’m not a huge fan of progressive rock but the song has a good musical hook and the singer is unreal.
Traveler In Time and Easy Livin’ was on the album Demons and Wizards released in 1971. The album made it to #23 in the Billboard Album Chart, #22 in Canada, and #20 in the UK.
Easy Livin’ peaked at #39 in the Billboard 100 and #27 in Canada in 1972.
Easy Livin’ was the only Uriah Heep song to crack the Top 40 in the United States. It was an even bigger hit in the Netherlands and Finland, two countries that had a large Uriah Heep fanbase.
Traveller In Time
Every day I have to look to the sun To see where it was that I have come from I have a feelin that there must be a time When I’ll get a chance to go home ‘Cause I’m so tired of being here alone But I’m just a traveller in time Trying so hard to pay for my crime
If I could go back the same way I got here And see the people that I once held so near I’d do my best to find an answer for you But first I must wait ’til I’m set free And I don’t know how long that’s gonna be ‘Cause I’m a man with a whole lot on his mind Just out there somewhere travelling in time Travelling in Time I’ve tried for so long to find some way Of helping mankind
Breakdown is one of the first songs that I ever heard by Tom Petty. In my band days, my friend Chris showed me the intro to this on guitar…I still know most of it. The dynamics of this song makes it a great song to hear live.
At first, Mike Campbell’s guitar lick was only used at the end of the song. Dwight Twilley came by the studio when Petty was playing it back and suggested they use it throughout the song. Petty liked the idea and called the band back to the studio in the middle of the night to re-record it.
This was Petty’s first single. When it was first released in January 1977 it went nowhere, but after months of touring, it was re-released in October and it hit. It peaked at #40 in the Billboard 100 and #40 in Canada in 1977.
From Songfacts
Dwight Twilley, who had a hit in 1975 with “I’m On Fire,” was signed to the same label as Petty, and was on the same career path for a while. Petty sang on some of Twilley’s songs, including his 1984 hit “Girls.”
Lyrically more sparse than most Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers tracks, “Breakdown” finds Petty ready to end a union that has become toxic. “Go ahead and give it to me,” he tells her.
When the band first recorded this song, it was 7-minutes long, with an extended guitar solo at the end. The final version clocks in at a tidy 2:43.
This was featured in the 1978 movie FM. About a radio station in California, the movie was the basis for the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati. This was also included on the soundtrack.
Breakdown
It’s alright if you love me It’s alright if you don’t I’m not afraid of you runnin’ away, honey I get the feeling you won’t
You see, there is no sense in pretending Your eyes give you away Something inside you is feeling like I do We said all there is to say
Baby, breakdown, go ahead, give it to me Breakdown, honey, take me through the night (baby, baby, breakdown) Breakdown, now I’m standin’ here, can’t you see? Breakdown, it’s all right It’s all right It’s all right Yeah, it’s all right It’s all right
Breakdown, go ahead, give it to me Breakdown, honey, take me through the night (baby, baby, breakdown) Breakdown, now I’m standin’ here, can’t you see? Breakdown, it’s all right It’s all right It’s all right Yeah, it’s all right
Gotta feelin’ it’s all right Yeah, it’s all right It’s all right Well, is it all right? I wanna hear you in the studio Way back there Is it all right? Is everybody sure it’s all right? Yeah, it’s all right ‘Cause if you leave if you want to Baby, I don’t mind Been standin’, facin’ Livin’ with it every day of my life It’s all right Can walk on out that door, baby It’s all right Baby, breakdown It’s all right And if you want to leave It’s all right I don’t mind It’s all right It’s all right
The Fandango album was my first introduction to ZZ Top. The album was half live and half studio. This one and Tush were my favorites of the album.
This song is a tribute to the “Border Blaster” radio stations in Mexico, specifically the two that were run by the famous disc jockey Wolfman Jack, XERF in Via Acuna, , and XERB, (in Rosarito Beach near Tijuana).
Mexican radio stations did not have to adhere to the power limits of US stations, which gave them the ability to pump their signal well into the States.
This song was on the Fandango album and was not released as a single. The album peaked at #10 in the Billboard Album Chart and #60 in the UK.
The album was helped by the hit single Tush that peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100.
Billy Gibbons:“All Mexican stations’ call letters begin with X. The X stations used to be heard everywhere because of their enormous power. The Mexican government granted licenses with no wattage ceiling. The US, back in the ’20s, established 50,000 watts as the maximum. WLS in Chicago is 50,000 watts, and you can hear it like a police call in Houston. I’m sure 500,000 watts you can pick up here in Canada. You can probably pick up XERF. It was just outrageous. You could pick it up everywhere and we’d go. And it would bury everything else. KDRC in Houston was on a close frequency, and they would get stomped on. They had to move. XERF is 1570 on the dial. I think that remains the most powerful station.”
Dusty Hill: “They’ll sell segments to anybody. There are a lot of preachers on there. I heard them one time selling autographed prayer cloths. They were to put on your radio when you’re listening to these programs. But this one was autographed by Jesus himself. Then you’d hear a 15-minute country western show. Then there’d be a blues show. You could just buy your slot and do whatever. They didn’t have a whole lot of restrictions.”
From Songfacts
Asked if ZZ Top was ever played “on the X,” Gibbons said: “We did, in fact. They do not have a pop music playlist, but the song was brought to the attention of the station owner, who, it turns out, is an attorney in Del Rio who considers the station his favorite toy. He decided to have a 15-minute pop music segment, and we did get played on XERF and then on XERB in Rosarita. They also have XROC in Juarez. So it went full circle. We heard ‘I Heard It in the X’ on the X.”
Members of ZZ Top share the same influences, which helped forge their sound. The first line of this song is a nod to those influences, which they heard on the border blaster stations:
Heard It On The X
Do you remember Back in nineteen sixty-six? Country Jesus, hillbilly blues, That’s where I learned my licks. Oh, from coast to coast and line to line In every county there, I’m talkin’ ’bout that outlaw X Is cuttin’ through the air.
Anywhere, y’all, Everywhere, y’all, I heard it, I heard it, I heard it on the X.
We can all thank Doctor be Who stepped across the line. With lots of watts he took control, The first one of its kind. So listen to your radio Most each and every night ’cause if you don’t I’m sure you won’t Get to feeling right.
Anywhere, y’all, Everywhere, y’all, I heard it, I heard it, I heard it on the X.
Another new old song from the upcoming reissue of Goats Head Soup. This one features Jimmy Page and was probably named after his daughter. It has a very cool groove to it.
The Stones’ Keith Richards has his own recollections on how “Scarlet” took shape and how “we walked in at the end of a Zeppelin session. They were just leaving, and we were booked in next and I believe that Jimmy decided to stay.”
“Scarlet” was a freak accident. “We weren’t actually cutting it as a track,” enthuses Richards in a statement, “it was basically for a demo, a demonstration, you know, just to get the feel of it, but it came out well, with a line up like that, you know, we better use it.‘’
Baby you excite me But you talk too much Won’t stand on a corner Love you more, oh yeah
Scarlet, why you wearing my heart, on your sleeve Where it ain’t supposed to be
Scarlet, why you tearing my heart, all to pieces It ain’t the way it’s supposed to be
Scarlet, why are you keeping my heart, to yourself It ain’t the way it’s supposed to be
Scarlet, Scarlet Ooh yeah!
You don’t have to change your mind And leave this neighbourhood so far behind Honey you don’t have to cry no more When I come a knocking, right at your front door
Scarlet, Scarlet, Scarlet
Scarlet, why you wearing my heart, on your sleeve Where it ain’t supposed to be Scarlet, Scarlet, oh
Scarlet, Scarlet, Scarlet Why you wearing my heart
Scarlet, why you wearing my heart Scarlet, why you wearing my heart Scarlet, why you wearing my heart Scarlet
This was made during a period where Eric was doing some country-inspired songs. I love the intro and the guitar in the song.
The song was written by Eric Clapton, Marcy Levy, and George Terry. This was released as a single with Cocaine as the B side.
Marcy Levy, one of Clapton’s backup singers, wrote this with him and sang on it. Also getting a songwriting credit on this track is George Terry, who also played guitar on the track. Terry was a member of Clapton’s band.
Lay Down Sally is one of Clapton’s biggest American hits. He wrote it in the style of one of his favorite songwriters, the Oklahoma musician J.J. Cale…Clapton said the song was as close as an Englishman could get to being J.J. Cale.
The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #39 in the UK in 1978. The song was on the album Slowhand.
From Songfacts
In this song, Clapton tries to convince a girl to hang out with him in bed instead of leaving. The song is not typical of Clapton’s work, which is often based on the blues.
“Lay Down Sally” is grammatically incorrect, as it would mean taking Sally and actually placing her horizontally. When asking Sally to join him in bed, Clapton’s correct grammar would be “Lie Down Sally.” He’s in good company: Bob Dylan also ignored this rule of grammar in “Lay Lady Lay.”
Eric Clapton once had his hand slammed in a car door by a member of the band The Blues Project. As told in Al Kooper’s Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, during the landmark 1967 concert “Murray the K’s Easter Rock Extravaganza,” Clapton, Steve Katz, and Kooper headed out to a local music store between sets and were a little late getting back. Hurrying out of the cab, “Steve was right behind me and as he left the cab he accidentally slammed the door right on Clapton’s hand! Eric began to scream in pain, and Steve turned around, ran back, and opened the door. Miraculously, Eric hadn’t broken any bones or even punctured his skin for that matter. Steve felt like a jerk, however. Can you imagine that kind of guilt?”
This is the first track on the album. Depending on who you ask, “Slowhand” was either a nickname given to Clapton by the group’s manager when he was with The Yardbirds (because of his laid-back guitar style), or derived from what would happen when Clapton would break a string on stage: the audience would do a “slow hand clap” while he fixed it.
Lay Down Sally
There is nothing that is wrong In wanting you to stay here with me I know you’ve got somewhere to go But won’t you make yourself at home and stay with me? And don’t you ever leave
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
The sun ain’t nearly on the rise And we still got the moon and stars above Underneath the velvet skies Love is all that matters Won’t you stay with me? And don’t you ever leave
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
I long to see the morning light Coloring your face so dreamily So don’t you go and say goodbye You can lay your worries down and stay with me And don’t you ever leave
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
This is my second round choice from Hanspostcard’s album draft…100 albums in 100 days.
I bought this album when I was 14. I had a few albums by The Who…Face Dances, Big Meaty Big and Bouncy, and a greatest hits package called Hooligans. Hooligans was a 4 album set and had four songs from Who’s Next and that sample was enough to know I wanted the complete album.
With headphones on, I placed needle to vinyl and could not get over the sound…the sonic boom. The biggest sound I have ever heard before on record. I listened to every song three times through in the first sitting. I knew I finally found a band that moved me like no other except The Beatles. After this came Tommy, Quadrophenia, and The Who Sell Out…but this album left me speechless. Before this record. I liked the Who…after the album they were THE WHO.
It was 1981 and this album had been out for 10 years but that made no difference. As with the Beatles, I was late to the fan party but when I arrived… I arrived in style with Who’s Next under my arm.
There is not one clinker on the album. Forty-three minutes and thirty-eight seconds of pure bliss.
I have a Glyn Johns quote on recording the album to start this off.
I have a residing memory of sitting in the truck, my hair being parted by what was coming out of the speakers, a massive amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins. There have been a few occasions over the years when I have been completely blown away, believing without a doubt that what I was listening to would become much more than just commercially successful but also a marker in the evolution of popular music, and this was one of those moments.
Won’t Get Fooled Again… this is the best concert song I’ve witnessed on film or live in person. It has drama, action, suspense, and aggression… just as much as any movie. Every member of the band is at the top of their game. You have Pete’s thick power chords, John Entwistle’s rolling basslines, Keith Moon’s controlled chaos, and Roger holding it down and keeping it grounded.
When your bookends on an album are Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again you have a great album.
My favorite song on the album is Bargain. Moon’s drumming on this song alone makes it worth a listen. Pete Townshend has said the subject of the song is God…as one critic put it… it may be the angriest message God ever received.
Goin’ Mobile is a great vehicle for Townshend’s voice…and how could you not like the line..Play the tape machine, make the toast and tea, When I’m mobile.
Behind Blue Eyes is a song that lulls you with a beautiful melody with sparse accompaniment (probably the longest Moon ever sat on his hands while recording) and then it happens…all hell breaks loose and Roger sings…no correction…he doesn’t sing…he demands When my fist clenches, crack it open, Before I use it and lose my cool… it’s like getting hit by a bus that you didn’t see coming…and then it’s over.
My Wife is a song John Entwistle wrote for the album and one of his best songs. A rocking and hilarious look at marriage by a desperate man. Love Aint For Keeping is a song that gets a lot of play at my home and car. It has a great message. Getting In Tune…this song starts off as a slow ballad and then The Who kicks it up a notch as usual.
The Song Is Over is a beautiful song with Pete and Roger taking turns singing.
Baba O’Riley…One of the most well-known intros in rock ever. Not much else to say about this song except dynamic and exhilarating…that about sums it up.
Who’s Next was released on August 14, 1971. It started off as a rock opera called Lifehouse. The problem was that Pete could not get the idea across to other band members, journalists, or even his producer Glyn Johns. It was suggested to dump the story and make a great standalone album of the songs. The Who did just that.
This album kicked down the door to the seventies and future. The mixture of synthesizers and guitars are perfect. The synthesizers still sound fresh and vibrant today. 1971 was an extraordinary year for great albums…this one helped lead the way.
So far on Max’s Desert Island, I have the White Album and Who’s Next. Life is good…I think I will pick up my guitar and play…just like yesterday.
Introgroove did a 50th-anniversary post on the great Cosmo’s Factory album and it got me thinking about this song again. This song has a gospel feel with soul. It’s the closest thing to a love song that John wrote while still with Creedence Clearwater Revival.
It was the B side to “Looking Out My Back Door.” This continued the great double A sided singles that they released.
Lookin’ Out My Back Door/Long As I Can See The Light peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1970.
John Fogerty:“About the loner in me. Wanting to feel understood, needing those at home to shine a light so that I can make my way back.”
Cosmo’s Factory peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1970.
Long As I Can See The Light
Put a candle in the window, ’cause I feel I’ve got to move. Though I’m going, going, I’ll be coming home soon, ‘Long as I can see the light.
Pack my bag and let’s get movin’, ’cause I’m bound to drift a while. When I’m gone, gone, you don’t have to worry long, ‘Long as I can see the light.
Guess I’ve got that old trav’lin’ bone, ’cause this feelin’ won’t leave me alone. But I won’t, won’t be losin’ my way, no, no ‘Long as I can see the light.
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Oh, Yeah!
Put a candle in the window, ’cause I feel I’ve got to move. Though I’m going, going, I’ll be coming home soon, Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light.
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