1970s – Page 79 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

John Lennon – Working Class Hero

This song was a favorite of mine of John Lennon when I was younger. He took some flak about this one and Imagine when it came to being a Working Class Hero and having all of his possessions. His answer was

“What would you suggest I do? Give everything away and walk the streets? The Buddhist says, “Get rid of the possessions of the mind.” Walking away from all the money would not accomplish that. It’s like the Beatles. I couldn’t walk away from the Beatles. That’s one possession that’s still tagging along, right?”

When I was 18 this song was a powerful one to listen to…It still is…For me, the song was about the differences between the social classes. How some could be exploited and how people use ideologies to justify manipulating people. The song was on John’s debut album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

Boston’s WBCN banned the song for its use of the word “f_ _king”.In Australia, the album was released with the expletive removed from the song and the lyrics censored on the inner sleeve.

From Songfacts

This song caused a fair amount of controversy for John Lennon, as his detractors pointed out that he was raised in an upper-middle-class home by his aunt and had no right to call himself a working-class hero. In an interview with Rolling Stone just three days before his death, Lennon explained: “The thing about the ‘Working Class Hero’ song that nobody ever got right was that it was supposed to be sardonic – it had nothing to do with socialism, it had to do with ‘If you want to go through that trip, you’ll get up to where I am, and this is what you’ll be.’ Because I’ve been successful as an artist, and have been happy and unhappy, and I’ve been unknown in Liverpool or Hamburg and been happy and unhappy.”

The final take as it appears on the album is actually a composite of two different performances done at two different studios. If you listen carefully (it might require headphones) you can clearly hear the sound of the guitar and vocals change where the edit was made about halfway through the song.

The word f–king appears twice in the lyrics. On the printed lyrics that came with the album, the word was obscured.

Why did Lennon curse in the song? Yoko Ono explained in a 1998 interview with Uncut: “He told me, ‘That’s part of being working class. It won’t be working class if what you say is all very clean and very proper.”

The line, “If you want to be like the folks on the hill” is a reference to the Beatles song “The Fool On The Hill.”

Green Day recorded this for the benefit album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, and they also performed the song on the 2007 season finale of American Idol. In their version, the last two lines are from the original John Lennon song – John sings them.

Lennon told the January 1971 edition of Rolling Stone about this song: “I think its concept is revolutionary, and I hope it’s for workers and not for tarts and fags. I hope it’s what “Give Peace A Chance” was about, but I don’t know. On the other hand, it might just be ignored. I think it’s for the people like me who are working class – whatever, upper or lower – who are supposed to be processed into the middle classes, through the machinery, that’s all. It’s my experience, and I hope it’s just a warning to people. I’m saying it’s a revolutionary song; not the song itself but that it’s a song for the revolution.”

This song seemed to resist all Lennon’s efforts to record a satisfactory vocal. Tape op Andy Stephens recalled to Uncut magazine August 2010 that he watched the former Beatle obsess about it day after day, singing “an endless number of takes… well over 100.. Probably 120, 130.”

Stephens added that Lennon became more frustrated as each take passed. “If the mix in his headphones wasn’t exactly what he wanted, he would take them off and slam them into the wall,” he recalled. “he wouldn’t say, ‘Can I have a bit more guitar?’ He would literally rip the cans off his head and smash them into the wall, then walk out of the studio.”

Working Class Hero

As soon as you’re born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool
Till you’re so f_ _king crazy you can’t follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

When they’ve tortured and scared you for twenty-odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can’t really function you’re so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you’re so clever and classless and free
But you’re still f_ _king peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

There’s room at the top they’re telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill

A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me

Shocking Blue – Venus

If you get really bored…I’ve attempted to make an index/menu for the blog above with “All Songs from A-Z”, “TV Shows and Commercials”, and “Books and Documentaries”… I will be adding more categories as I go along. If you try it and something doesn’t work just shoot me a comment…thanks

The Shocking Blue weekend is coming to a close with their biggest hit… Venus. I want to thank everyone for the positive feedback on this forgotten band over the weekend. I like some of their other songs more than this one but it is a good song.

This is one of the first songs I remember hearing. I like Shocking Blue because of their powerful lead singer Mariska Veres and the songwriting of Robbie van Leeuwen. This was their huge #1 hit Venus and it peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 in 1970.

The group’s guitarist Robbie Van Leeuwen wrote this song. The group is from The Netherlands, which led to an interesting translation problem when Shocking Blue lead singer Mariska Veres sang the English lyrics.

Van Leeuwen wrote the first line down incorrectly what was supposed to be “A goddess on the mountain top” he wrote as “A goddness (I checked and she does say goddness) on the mountain top,” and that’s exactly how Veres sang it. the result was a #1 hit with a misspoken first line thanks to a typo.

This is from http://www.oocities.org/ofmang/greg/shblbio.html

“Venus” made Number 3 in Holland, but significantly topped the charts in several countries, including Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The record came to the attention of a newly formed American record label, Colossus. The label’s head, Jerry Ross, signed Shocking Blue to his label and was rewarded when “Venus” hit the top there in February of 1970. Needless to say the group was hugely successful at home and had some fifty hits in Holland while their records also sold well in France and Japan.

Shocking Blue’s follow-up to “Venus”, “Mighty Joe“, made Number 1 in Holland and charted almost everywhere as its predecessor had. “Never Marry a Railroad Man” also hit top of the Holland rock chart. They continued to chart with songs like “Hello Darkness”, “Shocking You”, “Long Lonesome Road”, “Blossom Lady”, and “Inkpot”, but neither of these songs reached higher than 43rd place in the American chart.

Shocking Blue successfully combined Beat and R&B with psychedelic elements of the time like Indian sitar and odd production techniques. Robbie didn’t mind if the band included a few covers, as it took the pressure off him to constantly come up with new material. “We wrote a lot of our own stuff and the radio DJs preferred us to do original songs, but we had so many albums to do the band had to fill in with a few covers. It was quite exhausting writing all the lyrics and song myself”.

For several months in 1970-1971 Leo van de Ketterij(guitar) played with the group.

Mariska, Robbie, Cor and Klaasje stayed together for three years while they toured the world, visiting such distant lands as Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and South America. Traveling facilities were primitive compared to the sort of luxury top groups expect today, and Shocking Blue had to cover vast distances cramped together in an uncomfortable station wagon. “We never expected to be so busy”, recalls Robbie. “The whole touring business just became too tough for me.”

From Songfacts

The female vocal trio Bananarama recorded this in 1986. It was one of the first songs they started performing when they formed the band in 1979, but they wanted to record original songs first so they would be taken seriously.

Their version was produced by the team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, who worked on hits by Rick Astley (“Never Gonna Give You Up”), Dead or Alive (“You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)”) and Kylie Minogue (“I Should Be So Lucky”).

The distinctive guitar riff was taken from The Who’s “Pinball Wizard.”

This was produced by Jerry Ross, who also produced another Dutch group, Tee Set, who performed “Ma Belle Amie”. Ross also produced an album of orchestral arrangements of his (primarily) Dutch stable of hits, under the name Jerry Ross Symposium.

In the US, both this and the Bananarama cover version reached #1, making it one of the few songs to do so. Strangely, in the UK both Shocking Blue and Bananarama reached #8 with “Venus” and both spent 13 weeks on the chart with the song.

On an episode of the MTV cartoon Beavis And Butthead, Butthead makes up his own lyrics to this but gets frustrated when he can’t think of anything that rhymes with “Venus.”

In Shocking Blue’s home country, this never made it to #1. After its success in the States, the song was re-released but climbed no further that #3 on the Dutch pop chart.

In 1959, Frankie Avalon had a US #1 hit with the same title. There were two other instances of different songs with identical titles reaching #1 on the Billboard charts. “My Love” was #1 for Petula Clark in 1966 and another “My Love” turned the trick for McCartney & Wings in 1973. Then “Best Of My Love” topped the charts for the Eagles in 1973 and a different song of the same title was #1 for The Emotions in 1977.

In the 1988 Full House episode “But Seriously Folks,” DJ and Kimmy, influenced by Bananarama, start a band and attempt to learn “Venus.”

Venus

A goddess on a mountain top
Burning like a silver flame
A summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name.

She’s got it,
Yeah baby, she’s got it.
I’m your Venus,
I’m your fire at your desire.

Her weapons were her crystal eyes
Making every man mad,
Black as the dark night she was
Got what no one else had.

She’s got it,
Yeah baby, she’s got it
I’m your Venus,
I’m your fire at your desire.

MAS*H 1980-1983

This wraps up the Mash posts…This is my least favorite period of Mash but I’m not knocking it. It was still better than some other shows at the time. Not many shows can go on this long without some lag. The episodes were hit and miss. The show had to grow up and the characters had to change to continue this long. Mash was an ensemble-based show but now more than ever the focus was on Hawkeye than the rest of the cast.

The biggest change was the atmosphere compared to the beginning. The desperate feeling from being 3 miles from the frontline seems to have disappeared. The characters seem comfortable…maybe too comfortable being there. The dirt of the earlier episodes is washed clean now.

Characters from the from years 9-11.

Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce – Alan Alda – This is a period when a friend of mine called Alan Alda a Chatty Cathy doll. Pull the string and the puns would come out over and over. Hawkeye goes from a wisecracking skirt chaser to a sensitive person in these years. You see Hawkeye go through a mental breakdown in the last episode.

Captain B.J. Hunnicutt – Mike Farrell – BJ stays faithful to his wife and is known to be a practical joker. Like the other characters, we get to know BJ more in these seasons. Mash was really good at fleshing out the characters.

Major Charles Emerson Winchester III – David Ogden Stiers – By the end Charles was bearable. Winchester is often adversarial with Hawkeye and B.J. but joins forces with them if it is justified. He has a dry sense of humor and enjoys practical jokes as well as the occasional prank to get revenge on his bunkmates for something they did or for his own amusement.

Colonel Sherman T Potter – Henry Morgan – Sherman Potter became the father figure of the camp. He was their unquestionable leader. Henry Morgan did a great job with the role.

Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan – Loretta Swit – Of all the characters Margaret goes through the biggest change. She is now one of the gang and even defiant at authority at times. She is someone by now that you would love to know. She is still tough but far from the by the book person she was at one time.

Francis John Patrick Mulcahy – William Christopher – Mulcahy understands that many of his “flock” are non-religious or have other faiths, and does not overly preach at them. Rather than lecturing at people, he seeks to teach by example, or by helping someone see the error of their ways

Maxwell Klinger – Jamie Farr – Corporal Klinger who once tried to eat a jeep bolt by bolt just to get out of the army now seems happy to serve. When he took over Radar’s job he seemed quite content.

Stand out Episodes

Dreams – After long hours operating the episode gets into the subconscious of the 4077. Each cast member is shown dreaming.

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen – The last episode of Mash. The show was so strongly anticipated that commercial blocks were sold higher than for the Superbowl that year… from Wiki… It still stands as the most-watched finale of any television series, as well as the most-watched episode

Klinger: Rosie, I need a favor.
Rosie: Five dollars.
Klinger: I just wanna talk.
Rosie: OK, three dollars.

BJ: Do you know how to make a cow say “ah”?
Hawkeye: Not without getting emotionally involved.

PA System Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, five minutes ago, at 10:01 this morning, the truce was signed in Panmunjon. The hostilities will end twelve hours from now at ten o’clock. THE WAR IS OVER!

Hawkeye: Look, I know how tough it is for you to say goodbye, so I’ll say it. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we will see each other again. But just in case we don’t, I want you to know how much you’ve meant to me. I’ll never be able to shake you. Whenever I see a pair of big feet or a cheesy mustache, I’ll think of you.
B. J.: Whenever I smell month-old socks, I’ll think of you.
Hawkeye: Or the next time somebody nails my shoe to the floor…
B. J.: Or when somebody gives me a martini that tastes like lighter fluid.
Hawkeye: I’ll miss you.
B. J.: I’ll miss you, a lot. I can’t imagine what this place would’ve been like if I hadn’t found you here. [The two men hug, then Hawkeye boards the helicopter while B. J. mounts his motorcycle, where he shouts over the helicopter] I’ll see you back in the States—I promise! But just in case, I left you a note!
Hawkeye: What?![B. J. rides off. Hawkeye gives the pilot the thumbs-up to take off. As the helicopter ascends, Hawkeye looks down and smiles as he sees a message spelled in stones: GOODBYE]

Shocking Blue – I Ain’t Never

This was a cover by Shocking Blue of the Mel Tillis and Webb Pierce song. Mel Tillis claims he wrote the song by himself but gave Pierce credit in trade of some boots that Webb Pierce owned. Mel Tillis later said that “Them old boots cost me over eight hundred thousand dollars in royalties.”

Web Pierce took the song to #2 in the Billboard Country Charts and #24 in the Billboard 100 in 1959. Mel Tillis took the song to #1 in the Billboard Country Charts and #1 in the Candian Country Charts in 1972.

Shocking Blue did a good job of the cover. A Dutch group doing country…pretty interesting.

Shocking Blue covered the song in 1972 and it was on the Inkpot album. The album has three cover songs included because guitarist and main songwriter Robbie van Leeuwen had written 3 albums in two years.

The Mel Tillis version

I Ain’t Never

Well, I ain’t never, I ain’t never
Seen nobody like you,
No, no, no, never, ever, ever
Seen nobody like you.

You call me up and say you’ll meet me at nine,
I have to hurry, hurry but I’m fair on time.
I walk right up and knock on your door,
The landlord said he ain’t here no more.

But I never, oh darling, never
See nobody like you,
But I love you, yeah, I love you,
I love you just the same.

Well, I ain’t never, I ain’t never
Seen nobody like you,
No, no, no, never, ever, ever
Seen nobody like you.

You tell me sweet things that you don’t mean,
You got me a-living in a horny dream.
You make me do things I don’t wanna do,
All friends are saying what’s a-wrong with you?

I ain’t never, oh darling, never
Seen nobody like you,
Oh, but I’ve loved you, yeah, I’ve loved you,
I’ve loved you just the same.

MAS*H 1976-1979

There are some great episodes during the middle run of Mash. We see Henry’s replacement in Colonel Sherman T Potter. He led the 4077 but let everyone be themselves. Potter was unquestionably a better leader than Henry was but I still missed Henry. We also see Frank Burns leave and Margaret change.

We see Trapper leave and BJ Hunnicutt take his place as Hawkeye’s friend and fellow Frank Burns tormentor. BJ was faithful to his wife unlike Trapper and was a little more level headed.

Frank Burns leaving left a hole in the show. I will admit sometimes the writers would go too far with Frank but he united Hawkeye and BJ. After Frank goes crazy attacking different women (off-camera) in Tokyo (thinking they are Margaret) he gets transferred to his hometown and promoted much to Hawkeye and BJ’s dismay.

His replacement is Charles Winchester III and he is a good foil for the show but balances out because he is such a good surgeon. It’s easy to dislike Charles but he is not Frank.

We also say goodbye to Radar in the 8th season.

Characters from the from years 4-8.

Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce – Alan Alda – Hawkeye was funny as always but a bit more serious in these years. After the 4th season

Captain B.J. Hunnicutt – Mike Farrell – BJ was a good partner with Hawkeye but in other ways opposite of Trapper John. BJ was faithful to his wife Peg in Mill Valley. He was more level headed than Trapper or Hawkeye.

Major Charles Emerson Winchester III – David Ogden Stiers – The snobby surgeon who was called into duty because he was owed money by a higher ranking officer so he was sent to the 4077. Charles replaced Frank and had a few unlikeable qualities but unlike Frank, he was a great surgeon, was intelligent, and could be kind at times.

Colonel Sherman T Potter – Henry Morgan – Sherman Potter was real Army but still had his fun side. He was a much better leader than Henry and took control of the 4077 but let everyone be themselves.

Major Frank Burns – Larry Linville – I love how they wrote for Frank’s character. Many times writers will soften the “bad” guys up but Frank stayed his annoying whiny self until he left the show in the 6th season. Frank starts going insane when Margaret gets engaged to Donald Penobscot.

Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan – Loretta Swit – When Margaret got engaged to Donald Penobscot and left Frank… The character started to change. She became a little more fun-loving and went with the flow of the camp much more. She respected Colonel Potter much more so than Blake and she was a little more understanding now.

Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly – Gary Burghoff – We learn more about Radar during these seasons. One episode has his home movies and we meet his mom (Burghoff in drag) and his relatives. He also grows close to Colonel Potter and gives the Colonel a horse (Sophie) in one episode.

Francis John Patrick Mulcahy – William Christopher – His character was pretty consistent during the run of the show. He is a caring man who could very well be mistaken as a priest.

Maxwell Klinger – Jamie Farr – Corporal Klinger still dresses in women’s clothing and tries different stunts trying to get out of the army. When Radar leaves he has to take over the corporal duties and he starts being more of a conventional part of the team…though he always pulls his weight throughout the show.

Stand out Episodes

Welcome to Korea – Hawkeye gets back from Tokyo and finds out that Trapper John left that morning to go home. He wanted to say goodbye and grabbed Radar and went to the airport to catch Trapper before he left. He missed him but met BJ Hunnicutt coming in. After a few drinks, they become fast friends and bond and BJ gets action right away on the way to camp.

The Nurses – Margaret confronts her nurses and we learn a lot about her in this episode. She becomes much more of well-rounded character from this episode on…more of a human than previously explored.

The Interview – Real life war correspondent Clete Roberts interviews the gang at the 4077. The episode is shot in black and white and the jokes are kept at a minimum in this episode.

Good-Bye Radar – Radar reluctantly prepares to depart the 4077th. We see Klinger trying to do Radar’s job when he is off on R&R and Radar comes back to a mess. His Uncle Ed dies so Colonel Potter tells him he can go home and take care of his mom. He wasn’t going to go at first because he felt a responsibility to the camp.

BJ: Frank, weren’t you a Boy Scout?
Frank: Yes. I was. Later, I was Scoutmaster.
Hawkeye: Until those little ingrates set fire to his pants.
Frank: Not true. That was a drill.

Margaret: Did you ever once show me any friendship? Ever ask my help in a personal problem? Include me in one of your little bull sessions? Can you imagine how it feels to walk by this tent and… [gasps and breaks down] hear you laughing and know that I’m not welcome? Did you ever offer me a lousy cup of coffee?
Nurse: We didn’t think you’d accept.
Margaret: Well, you were wrong.

Potter: We all know when the Good Lord passed out paranoia, Frank Burns got on line twice.
Hawkeye: Three times; and the third time, he denied ever being in line!

Charles: (trying to find a place to sleep in Potter’s tent) I demand a space for my cot.
Hawkeye: (picks up a small box) Hello, room service, send up a larger room.

Shocking Blue – Never Marry A Railroad Man

I’m sounding like one of those AM radio shows…It’s going to be a Shocking Blue weekend! I’ll post some more of their songs Saturday and Sunday. This song has an unusual chorus but it is very catchy.

Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in The Hague in 1967. They were known for the song Venus which reached #1 in the Billboard 100 in 1970. “Never Marry a Railroad Man” sold over a million records and became a top-ten hit in several countries around the world.

The song is not well known in America but is a great little song. The singer was Mariska Veres who sounded a bit like Grace Slick but with a maybe stronger voice. I found this group a few years ago while listening to Venus and explored their other releases. They did have more songs than Venus that were good.

There is not much info on Shocking Blues songs but I did find a Mariska Veres fan site that has this info… http://www.oocities.org/ofmang/mariska/mariska.html

Mariska was born in Hague, Holland.. Mariska, half-Hungarian and half-German, had often sung with her father, Lajos Veres, who played violin in a gypsy orchestra. She recorded the solo singles called “Topkapi”(1965) and “Dag en nacht” (1967) and had gained experience singing with different groups before she joined Shocking Blue. How did she meet Shocking Blue?

In 1968 Shocking Blue’s manager and music publisher attended a party celebrating the success of Golden Earring’s first number one song in Holland. A band known as the Bumble Bees, fronted by the strong and striking female singer, performed at the party, and the two men thought she would be a perfect addition to Shocking Blue. Robbie van Leeuwen, leader and founder of Shocking Blue, was immediately impressed by her vocal style, quite different from most local singers of the day. When Mariska was asked to join the Shocking Blue, she requested that they (the band members) would not start any relationships with her except professional one. She replaced de Wilde as a lead singer and, no doubt, became the eye- and ear-catching attraction of the band; her soul-tingled voice gave the music a distinct R&B sound.
Mariska obviously was an attraction for many fans of SB. It’s easy to imagine how many men and boys had fallen in love with Mariska, with her mystic aura, enigmatic smile, and long black hair (which was, sadly to say, a wig). People, mostly men of course, saw her a sex-symbol, which she was, but she could never cope with it. It was a disappointment for many of her fans when in the late seventies she got rid of her sexy image starting to wear long dresses and relatively short haircut.
In spite of her fantastic look Mariska was a pretty shy, a little naive person. She could not really deal with the snobbish Robbie (guitar player): once he shouted at her, she started to cry and phoned her mother, who in return called their manager. Sounds silly, but Mariska was surely not the wild woman everybody thought she was. Mariska also was “famous” for her lifestyle: she never smoked and she did not like alcohol. During those days of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll”, when SB toured the world, Mariska’s most favorite drink was tea.

After Shocking Blue disbanded Mariska started her solo career, which was not successful. She recorded a dozen of solo singles but the singles did not score well although most of them sounded (and still sound) great. Probably, she was not motivated enough, lacked a good manager, and luck was not on her side. In 1978 Mariska was featured in a single “Neon City” recorded by Mistral (Robbie’s group at that time). In 1979 Robbie was planning to reunite the group. They even recorded a single called “Louise” as a part of their come back project, but for some reasons this was cancelled and “Louise” was never released. Robbie van Leeuwen said in an interview that Mariska was the only reason the come back was off, but never said why. Probably, Mariska was just fed up with all the attention and was just overworked. Maybe because of this she does not like to recall the 70’s. In the late 80’s she performed with her group “Veres”. In the early 90’s she appeared on stage with The Clarks, and, in my opinion, their performances together were great. Mariska also sang with several jazz musicians, and even recorded CD with four jazz musicians in 1993 (Mariska Veres Shocking Jazz Quintet). In the fall of 1993 she founded a new band and, with Robbie’s permission, called it Shocking Blue. They recorded a single “Body And Soul” (1994), which was produced by Robbie.

Never Marry A Railroad Man

Have you been broken-hearted once or twice
If it’s yes how did you feel at his first lies
If it’s no you need this good advice

Never marry a Railroad man

He loves you every now and then
His heart is at his new train. No, no, no
Don’t fall in love with a Railroad man
If you do forget him if you can
You’re better off without him ah

Have you ever been restless in your bed
And so lonely that your eyes became wet
Let me tell you then one thing

MAS*H 1972-1975

As I was sidelined…I drug out my Mash episodes and started to watch them in order. I got to the 5th season and then started to jump around. I also like the movie but I’ll concentrate on the TV show for these three days of posts.

Mash was one of the best-written tv shows ever. It’s hard to do a simple one page on this show because it lasted eleven seasons on a war that lasted a little over three years.

It seems everyone has their own favorite era of the show. For me, I have always liked the irrelevant feeling of the original cast. I never watched it in real-time between 72-75 because I would have been too young to get it then… I started to watch it around 1977 but after watching in syndication I liked the Henry Blake, Trapper John, and Frank Burns era.

This show was different than many other comedies. It was funny but also could turn serious.

I’ve always divided M*a*s*h up in three sections… Original cast 72-75 (S 1-3), Radar leaving 76-79 (S 4-8), and the end… 80-83 (S 9-11). The atmosphere changed in every section. I’ve always wondered what would have happened if Mclean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers would have stayed a couple of more years…how that would have changed how it evolved. I’ll be posting on these sections in the next few days.

Characters from the first 3 years.

Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce – Alan Alda – This character may have installed my love of the Marx Brothers. Alda followed Groucho’s template of sardonic humor.

Trapper John McIntyre – Wayne Rogers – I think Trapper John was Hawkeye’s best partner. They were just different enough to work. Like Henry, he left way too soon.

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake – McClean Stevenson – Henry wasn’t much of a leader but he was fun to have around. He really emphasized having Doctors running an Army camp. What he lacked as a leader he made up for with compassion and care for his people…

Major Frank Burns – Larry Linville – Maybe the most annoying whiny character on any show. When I was younger I hated Frank Burns…but later on, I saw how vital he was to the show. The show really missed him when he quit…still it would terrible to meet a live Frank Burns.

Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan – Loretta Swit – Of all of the characters that changed as the show progressed…Margaret changed most of all. She was still an army brat here but she could match Frank in being military and paranoid. Margaret and Frank would be an item until the 5th season.

Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly – Gary Burghoff – The most important member of the 4077… He made that camp run while representing the childlike qualities of a kid from Ottumwa, Iowa.

Francis John Patrick Mulcahy – William Christopher – William did a great job of representing Father Mulcahy. He was totally believable as the friendly priest of the 4077.

Maxwell Klinger – Jamie Farr – Corporal Klinger would go to great lengths to get out of the Army…wearing women’s clothing (in the 50s), reporting relatives dying (the same ones over and over), and even eating a jeep. Also trying to escape with a glider with pink house shoes…he looked like a big red bird with fuzzy pink feet.

Episodes that stand out are

Sometimes You Hear a Bullet – This one gets serious when a friend of Hawkeye’s is writing a book about the war and is hit on the battlefield and Hawkeye cannot save him. A young Ron Howard is in this one playing a kid who lied about his age to get in the army just to impress a girl. Hawkeye was going to keep it a secret but eventually turns him in when he sees his friend die.

“Abyssinia, Henry” – Probably my favorite Mash episode ever. They do something that just wasn’t done back then…kill a character off in a comedy. McClean Stevenson wanted off the show (a move he would regret) after three seasons and Henry Blake gets his papers to go home. He tells everyone goodbye and at the end, Radar comes in the operating room to say that Henry’s plane was shot down with no survivors.

Trapper: Klinger is not a pervert.
Frank: How do you know?
Trapper: because I’m one and he’s never at the meetings.

Frank: Your conduct in there was not only unbecoming in an officer, it was equally reprehensible as a medical man!
Hawkeye: Frank, I happen to be an officer only because I foolishly opened an invitation from President Truman to come to this costume party. And as for my ability as a doctor, if you seriously question that, I’m afraid I’ll just have to challenge you to a duel.
Trapper: Swords or pistols?
Hawkeye: I was thinking specimen bottles at 20 paces.
Frank: There are ladies present.
Hawkeye: Oh. (to Margaret) Sorry, baby.
Margaret: “Major” to you!
Hawkeye: Sorry, Major, baby.

Frank: All right, McIntyre! Time for your checkup. Into your birthday suit.
Trapper: Take a walk, Frank.
Frank: This is the army.
Trapper: Then take a hike!
Frank: Are you refusing to take your physical from a superior officer?
Trapper: No, I’m refusing to take my physical from an inferior doctor.
Hawkeye: (entering the Swamp) What’s all the adrenaline for?
Frank: McIntyre’s refused to take his clothes off for me.
Hawkeye: Well, not everybody is Major Houlihan, Frank.
Trapper: Which is a relief to us all. Out, Frank.

Shocking Blue – Mighty Joe

The tone of this guitar gets to me every time. This song was the follow up to the #1 Venus and this made it to #43 in the Billboard 100. They are known as a one-hit-wonder but the truth is they had other hits all over the world just not in Billboard.

This song was written by guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen who most all of Shocking Blue’s successful songs. The band formed in 1967 and broke up in 1974. They did regroup a few times in the 80s but never had the success of this period.

The members in this period were Mariska Veres vocals, Robbie van Leeuwen guitarist, Klaasje van der Wal bass guitar and Cor van der Beek drums.

Mighty Joe

Be careful girls
For Mighty Joe
Be careful!
He teaches you all that don’t know
He makes you cry
Before it’s through

And I bet you like it too
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Beware
Beware when he is around
Mighty Joe with the bass voice!

Mighty Joe was here last year
I tell you!
Just like you
I had no fear
I fell for him
Baby

And then he made of me a woman
Sweet
Sweet
Sweet thing
Sweet
Sweet
Sweet thing
I love you
Yes
I love you
I love you so bad

He took my heart and in a sense

I swear he ain’t got no sense
When I said yeah
He’s gone to town
I warn you
He will let you down
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Did you hear about Mighty Joe?
Beware
Beware when he is around
Mighty Joe with the bass voice!

Badfinger – Come and Get It

It’s been a while…I thought I would open the joint back up today. This is the only hit of Badfinger I haven’t posted on. It’s a softball to me because it was the first song I noticed by them and probably a song that a lot of people will answer “Beatles” when asked who did it.

Paul McCartney wrote this song and made a demo (below) of it for a movie that Ringo was in called The Magic Christian. He gave the demo to Badfinger and told them not to change a thing. They all tried singing it but it fit bass player Tom Evans the best for the lead.

It must have been an embarrassment of riches to be able to hand a hit off to an unknown Apple band at the time. This song was Badfinger’s first top ten hit in America. It peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100 in 1970.

Paul wrote this incredibly catchy song for Badfinger and this set their reputation as “Beatle ish” that they tried to run away from later on.

From Songfacts

Paul McCartney wrote this for the 1969 movie The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr.

This was Badfinger’s first hit single. They were one of the first groups to sign with Apple Records, which is The Beatles’ label.

Badfinger had a few other hits in the early ’70s, but in 1974 Warner Brothers Records, which signed them when Apple folded, sued the band and kept them from recording. One member of the group killed himself a year later, and another committed suicide in 1983.

Paul McCartney recorded the demo of this, and he played all the instruments himself. This was done prior to a Beatles recording session at Abbey Road studios. Paul’s demo sounds exactly like Badfinger’s recording, which he produced. In The Beatles Anthology book, Paul mentions that Badfinger wanted to do the song more in their own style, but he insisted they do it the same as on his demo. He told them that he knew this would be a hit song as long as they played it just as he had.

Paul McCartney’s demo of the song

Come and Get It

If you want it, here it is, come and get it
Mm mm mm mm, make your mind up fast
If you want it, any time, I can give it

But you’d better hurry ’cause it may not last
Did I hear you say that there must be a catch?
Will you walk away from a fool and his money?

If you want it, here it is, come and get it
But you’d better hurry ’cause it’s goin’ fast
If you want it, here it is, come and get it
Mm mm mm mm, make your mind up fast

If you want it, any time, I can give it
But you’d better hurry ’cause it may not last

Did I hear you say that there must be a catch?
Will you walk away from a fool and his money?
Sonny!

If you want it, here it is, come and get it
But you’d better hurry ’cause it’s goin’ fast
You’d better hurry ’cause it’s goin’ fast

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Fool and his money
Sonny!

If you want it, here it is, come and get it
But you’d better hurry ’cause it’s goin’ fast
You’d better hurry ’cause it’s goin’ fast
You’d better hurry ’cause it’s goin’ fast.

Rikki Tikki Tavi 1975

This cartoon did not get as much time on television as the Peanuts or some other ones, but I would look forward to it when it was on. I’m not a snake person at all. Seeing Rikki Tikki Tavi take on the Cobra was scary to an eight-year-old but I always enjoyed this cartoon. It’s about a heroic Mongoose named Rikki Tikki Tavi that takes on a King Cobra that tries to harm his adopted family.

It was based on the book by Rudyard Kipling

Summary and cast are below.

Orson Welles narrated it… below is the summary from shmoop

https://www.shmoop.com/rikki-tikki-tavi/

One day, a summer flood washes a young mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi away from his family. He’s found and revived by a British family living in India. The family adopts the orphaned mongoose—or, more accurately, he decides to stick around. (Their bungalow is pretty swank.)

Naturally curious and adventurous, Rikki-Tikki explores the family’s garden the next day. There he meets a Darzee, a tailorbird who is mourning his baby bird’s death at the hands (er, teeth) of Nag. Rikki-Tikki asks who Nag is and is instantly introduced to the big, black cobra. He also meets Nag’s wife Nagaina, so that’s two cobras for the price of one. Sweet!

Having missed their chance at a surprise attack, the cobras just slither off, and Rikki-Tikki goes to hang with Teddy, the British family’s son. But Teddy gets a wee bit too close to the poisonous krait snake, forcing Rikki-Tikki to fight it. Not that he wouldn’t have anyway. That’s what mongooses do, after all.

That night, Nag and Nagaina plan a sneak attack on the British family, but they haven’t reckoned with Rikki-Tikki. In the ensuing battle, Rikki-Tikki kills Nag, saving the family but also really ticking off Nagaina. The next day, Rikki-Tikki sets a plan into motion to get rid of the cobras once and for all. He has Darzee’s wife act as bait to keep Nagaina occupied (classic move). Then he heads to the cobra’s nests and goes berserker on the eggs.

But all doesn’t go according to plan. Nagaina sets out to kill Teddy, forcing Rikki-Tikki to bring one of her eggs as leverage. In the epic clash of mammal versus reptile, Nagaina manages to snatch up her egg and flees into her den. Rikki-Tikki gives the old girl hot pursuit, while Darzee mourns the loss of Rikki-Tikki. No one goes into a cobra’s den and lives.

Except for Rikki-Tikki, of course. He exits all action-hero style, and the family can’t praise him enough. He lives with the family from then on, protecting the garden from snakes.

Cast

Orson Welles … Narrator / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)
June Foray… Nagaina the Cobra, Wife of Nag / Teddy’s Mother / Darzee’s Wife (voice)
Les Tremayne…Father (voice)
Michael LeClair… Teddy (voice)
Shepard Menken… Rikki-Tikki-Tavi the Mongoose / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)
Lennie Weinrib… Darzee the Tailorbird (voice)

Stooges – Search and Destroy

Someone gave me the Stooges “Raw Power” album in the early eighties. I liked what I heard especially Search and Destroy. It’s punkish, loud, and raw. I was reacquainted with the song last year when I was watching The Wire. It didn’t chart but the album peaked at #182 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1973.

The Stooges were a band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967.

Their influence was larger than their record sales. Kurt Cobain was a fan and their songs have been covered by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Sex Pistols, and Sonic Youth. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges No. 78 on their list of 100 of the most influential artists of the past 50 years.

Iggy Pop on Search and Destroy:

“The lyrics, I just sorta took out of Time magazine, the concept of search and destroy. I used to read Time obsessively because they were the representatives of the ultimate establishment to me. They were giving the party line that represented the power people and the powers that be. So I kinda liked to look in there and see what they were talking about, and then I’d use that inventory in other ways. That’s what I was doing in that song.”

“And the thing about ‘forgotten boy’ was basically a way to express my disgust. It’s kinda like the kid in Catcher In The Rye – once you find out how the people at the top of politics or at the top of the music industry or at the top of anything, how they begin to overvalue things and think that they can push any s–t down the throats of the youth, and they just don’t care if it’s something that kids would like or not. They just don’t f–kin’ care.”

From Songfacts

“Search and Destroy” was written by Stooges’ frontman Iggy Pop and lead guitarist James Williamson. The name of the song comes from a Time magazine article Iggy Pop saw about the Vietnam War. The lyrics are rife with references to the war, including napalm, nuclear bombs, fire fights, and radiation. The title refers to a military tactic used by the US military in the Vietnam War: to seek out the enemy, destroy them, and withdraw.

In our 2013 interview with guitarist James Williamson, he talked about the songwriting process: “Well, I had come up with kind of that ‘bum bum bum bum bum bum bum’ a little bit, but it was more in regard to imitating a machine gun if you will. Because this is the era of the Vietnam War. And so we were kind of screwing around with that, and that’s where that figure comes from. Then the rest of the song was around that. But I think the beginning, the ‘bum bum bum bum bum bum bum, bum bum bum bum bum bum bum,’ that part was the thing that really kicked off that song.”

Iggy Pop recalled to Clash Magazine the making of the song: “The funny part about it was until I convinced him to step back a little and ease up on the thing, what James brought in was four times as fast and twice as heavy! (Laughs) It was two of the parts in the song, the two fastest parts – there are four basic building blocks – and when he did it there were just the two, and when he did it they just went over and over, faster and faster. I sort of said, ‘Look, can we make a new part that’s just like part two but in half time?’ So he went, ‘Okay’, and that became our chorus. Then I asked him for something which you’ll never hear on another Stooges record, something that approximates what professional songwriters call a ‘pre-chorus’.

That’s the part where I’m singing ‘Love in the middle of a firefight’ and after that, the buildup where I say “Somebody’s got to save my soul / Baby penetrate my mind” – that’s a pre-chorus where you actually downshift and then you heighten the tension through building the chords so that there is a release. So that was about the closest I got to getting any of these guys to Rock School. (Laughs) That one has more typical song writing structure in it, which is probably why it gets the most attention.”

This song and its album Raw Power have won a litany of awards. Rolling Stone ranked this song #468 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, VH1 ranked it 49th in their Best Hard Rock songs of All Time, and a 1970s Punk magazine based in San Francisco named themselves after it.

Henry Rollins (frontman for Black Flag) has the title of this song tattooed on his back!

Meanwhile, the album Raw Power has had a huge influence. The late Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Morrissey and Johnny Marr (The Smiths) have all said that this is their favorite album of all time. Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) said that he cut his guitar-playing teeth on this album. Rolling Stone, again, ranked Raw Power #125 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) executive-produced the 1997 Columbia Records remix.

In spite of all these honors, the original album and singles released from same did poorly in sales and the singles failed to chart, while the album itself barely scratched the Billboard Pop Albums chart at #182. This almost puts The Stooges in Velvet Underground territory when it comes to bands that initially flopped before becoming celebrated heroes worshiped by just about anybody in the music world. In fact, John Cale (Velvet Underground bassist) produced The Stooges’ first self-titled album.

Pop expanded to Q Magazine May 2010 on how the lyrical content was an attack on musical industry bigwigs: “Something I was trying to say through those words at the time was I had the impression that music as a branch of the entertainment industry was becoming an old cheese. It was about a bunch of people at the top manipulating certain institutional positions with the smug confidence that ‘kids’ at the bottom would swallow whatever they put out. They thought they could sell s–t if there was money in it but they’d forgotten about the simple truth that any kid can see.”

Bands and artists which have covered this song include: Cursed, Def Leppard, Red Hot Chili Peppers, EMF, the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious, Samiam, The Dead Boys, Rocket From The Tombs, The Dictators, Shotgun Messiah, Verdana, Peaches, The Hives, Emanuel, Radio Birdman, Adult Crash, Turbonegro, and You Am I.

Listen with headphones, and you might pick up the sound of swords clashing in the background. Pop explained in a 1999 interview with The Wire: “I originally wanted was to get the sound of stomping boots, but we would have had to hire a drill team and that became problematic, so we tried having a sword fight to get a clanking sound instead.”

Iggy Pop has expressed his pride in the song: “The part of myself I like best is the guy who would dare to sing a song like ‘Search And Destroy’ in the era I did, in 1969, so soon after ‘California Dreamin’; who said, Stick your flower power up your ass ‘cos you’re not sincere about it. Yeah, that’s a side of myself I admire.” (Sounds, 1986)

This was used in a popular 1996 Nike commercial which included the line, “Look out honey, ’cause I’m using technology,” repurposing it to indicate innovations in sneakers rather than warfare. Audi did the same thing when they used the song in 2017 commercials for their A4.

Search and Destroy

I’m a streetwalking cheetah with a heart full of napalm
I’m a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb
I am the world’s forgotten boy
The one who searches and destroys
Honey gotta help me please
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby, detonate for me
Oh

Look out honey, ’cause I’m using technology
Ain’t got time to make no apology
Soul radiation in the dead of night
Love in the middle of a fire fight
Honey, gotta strike me blind
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby, penetrate my mind

And I’m the world’s forgotten boy
The one who’s searchin’, searchin’ to destroy
And honey I’m the world’s forgotten boy
The one who’s searchin’, only to destroy, hey

Forgotten boy, forgotten boy
Forgotten boy said, hey, forgotten boy, said
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

George Harrison – My Sweet Lord

I’ve posted many of Harrison’s songs but I avoided this one because it is so well known… but after hearing it yesterday I couldn’t resist anymore. The opening chords with the slide part is perfect. The song was/is hugely popular and peaked at #1 as My Sweet Lord/Isn’t It A Pity in the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, #1 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand.

After Harrison died, this was re-released in the UK, where it once again went to #1. Proceeds from the single went to the Material World Charitable Foundation, which Harrison started in 1973 to support charities that work with children and the poor.

It came off the album “All Things Must Pass” which was a triple album and suddenly George was the Beatle that was finally heard and on top of the world…and it is arguably the best album by an ex-Beatle.

In 1971, Harrison was accused of copying its melody from the Chiffons’ 1963 song “He’s So Fine.” Eventually, the United States district court ruled that Harrison was guilty of subconscious plagiarism, and Harrison developed an extreme paranoia about songwriting for many years. Later on, George would write and record “This Song” as a response to what happened.

Harrison did a parody of this along with the “Pirate Song” with Monty Python…video is below.

From Songfacts

This was Harrison’s first single as a solo artist, and it was his biggest hit. The song is about the Eastern religions he was studying.

Highly unusual for a hit song, Harrison repeats part of a Hindu mantra in the lyric when he sings, “Hare Krishna… Krishna, Krishna.” When set to music, this mantra is typically part of a chant, that acts as a call to the Lord. Harrison interposes it with a Christian call to faith: “Hallelujah” – he was pointing out that “Hallelujah and Hare Krishna are quite the same thing.”

In the documentary The Material World, Harrison explains: “First, it’s simple. The thing about a mantra, you see… mantras are, well, they call it a mystical sound vibration encased in a syllable. It has this power within it. It’s just hypnotic.”

In 1971, Bright Tunes Music sued Harrison because this sounded too much like the 1963 Chiffons hit “He’s So Fine.” Bright Tunes was controlled by The Tokens, who set it up when they formed the production company that recorded “He’s So Fine” – they owned the publishing rights to the song.

During the convoluted court case, Harrison explained how he composed the song: He said that in December 1969, he was playing a show in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the group Delaney and Bonnie, whose piano player was Billy Preston (who contributed to some Beatles recordings). Harrison said that he started writing the song after a press conference when he slipped away and started playing some guitar chords around the words “Hallelujah” and “Hare Krishna.” He then brought the song to the band, who helped him work it out as he came up with lyrics. When he returned to London, Harrison worked on Billy Preston’s album Encouraging Words. They recorded the song for the album, which was released on Apple Records later in 1970, and Harrison filed a copyright application for the melody, words and harmony of the song. Preston’s version remained an album cut, and it was Harrison’s single that was the huge hit and provoked the lawsuit, which was filed on February 10, 1971, while the song was still on the chart.

In further testimony, Harrison claimed he got the idea for “My Sweet Lord” from The Edwin Hawkins Singers’ “Oh Happy Day,” not “He’s So Fine.”

When the case was filed, Harrison’s manager was Allen Klein, who negotiated with Bright Tunes on his behalf. The case was delayed when Bright Tunes went into receivership, and was not heard until 1976. In the meantime, Harrison and Klein parted ways in bitter fashion, and Klein began consulting Bright Tunes. Harrison offered to settle the case for $148,000 in January 1976, but the offer was rejected and the case brought to court.

The trial took place February 23-25, with various expert witnesses testifying. The key to the case was the musical pattern of the two songs, which were both based on two musical motifs: “G-E-D” and “G-A-C-A-C.” “He’s So Fine” repeated both motifs four times, “My Sweet Lord” repeated the first motif four times and the second motif three times. Harrison couldn’t identify any other songs that used this exact pattern, and the court ruled that “the two songs are virtually identical.” And while the judge felt that Harrison did not intentionally copy “My Sweet Lord,” that was not a defense – thus Harrison was on the hook writing a similar song without knowing it. Harrison was found guilty of “subconscious plagiarism” in a verdict handed down on August 31, 1976.

Assessing damages in the case, the judge determined that “My Sweet Lord” represented 70% of the airplay of the All Things Must Pass album, and came up with a total award of about $1.6 million. However, in 1978 Allen Klein’s company ABKCO purchased Bright Tunes for $587,000, which prompted Harrison to sue. In 1981, a judge decided that Klein should not profit from the judgment, and was entitled to only the $587,000 he paid for the company – all further proceeds from the case had to be remitted back to Harrison. The case dragged on until at least 1993, when various administrative matters were finally settled.

The case was a burden for Harrison, who says he tried to settle but kept getting dragged back to court by Bright Tunes. After losing the lawsuit, he became more disenfranchised with the music industry, and took some time off from recording – after his 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3, he didn’t release another until his self-titled album in 1979. He told Rolling Stone, “It’s difficult to just start writing again after you’ve been through that. Even now when I put the radio on, every tune I hear sounds like something else.”

This was recorded at Abbey Road studios using the same equipment The Beatles used. There were some familiar faces at the sessions who had contributed to Beatles albums, including John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Billy Preston and Eric Clapton. Bobby Whitlock was friends with Harrison and Clapton, and played keyboards on the album. When we spoke with Whitlock, he shared his thoughts:

“That whole session was great. George Harrison, what a wonderful man. All the time that I ever knew him, which was from 1969 to his passing, he was a wonderful man. He included everyone on everything he did because there was enough for all.”

Whitlock adds, “All during the sessions, the door would pop open and in would spring three or four or five Hare Krishnas in their white robes and shaved heads with a pony tail coming out the top. They were all painted up, throwing rose petals and distributing peanut butter cookies.” (For more on these sessions, check out our full Bobby Whitlock interview)

This was the first #1 hit for any Beatle after the band broke up. Harrison was the first Beatle to release a solo album. He came out with Wonderwall Music, a soundtrack to the movie Wonderwall, in 1968.

When this song was released, the phrase “Hare Krishna” was associated with a religious group called the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, whose members would often approach passengers in airports, seeking donations and trying to solicit members. Individuals in this group became popularly known as “Hare Krishnas,” with a generally negative connotation.

Artists who record chant music often face a negative reaction from listeners who don’t understand the mantras. When we spoke with Krishna Das, the leading American chant musician, he explained: “‘My Sweet Lord’ is very clear and very beautiful, but the problem is that English has been appropriated by Western religion and it’s very hard to talk about spiritual things in a song that doesn’t get too ‘organized religion-y,’ you know? And then you get a lot of people who have a negative reaction to that as well. You can get a lot of negativity from the organized religion people. Like, ‘This isn’t our Jesus. This isn’t the way it is.'”

Phil Spector produced this and sang backup. With the blessing of Harrison and John Lennon (and over the objections of Paul McCartney), Spector produced the last Beatles album, Let It Be.

In an interview with Howard Stern, Peter Frampton verified that he played lead guitar on “My Sweet Lord.” According to Frampton, Harrison was a fan of his and invited him to the studio, where he handed Frampton his legendary Les Paul. Frampton assumed he was going to play rhythm, but Harrison said he wanted him to play lead, so Frampton did. Frampton wasn’t officially credited for this (just as Eric Clapton wasn’t credited on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”), but rumors circulated for years.

Harrison released a new version, “My Sweet Lord 2000,” when he reissued All Things Must Pass.

Producer Phil Spector thought “My Sweet Lord” was the commercial hit of the album, and everyone else resisted him on that. According to Phil, George and others worried about how the public might react to the religious overtones and the Hare Krishna influence.

George Harrison parodied “My Sweet Lord” during Eric Idle’s Rutland Weekend Television Christmas special on December 26, 1975, turning it into “The Pirate Song.” >>

Artists to cover this song include Aretha Franklin, Johnny Mathis, Richie Havens, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee and Julio Iglesias. The Chiffons also covered the song in 1975 amidst the plagiarism lawsuit over their song “He’s So Fine.”

The guitar riff on America’s 1975 #1 hit “Sister Golden Hair” was inspired by this track. That song was produced by George Martin, who worked on most of The Beatles albums.

Gerry Beckley, who wrote “Sister Golden Hair” and sang lead, said in his Songfacts interview: “I very openly tip my hat there to ‘My Sweet Lord’ and George Harrison. I was such a fan of all The Beatles but we knew George quite well and I just thought that was such a wonderful intro.”

U2 performed this as a tribute at their show in Atlanta on November 30, 2001, the night after Harrison died.

George Harrison and Monty Python.

My Sweet Lord

My sweet Lord
Hm, my Lord
Hm, my Lord

I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you Lord
But it takes so long, my Lord

My sweet Lord
Hm, my Lord
Hm, my Lord

I really want to know you
Really want to go with you
Really want to show you Lord
That it won’t take long, my Lord (hallelujah)

My sweet Lord (hallelujah)
Hm, my Lord (hallelujah)
My sweet Lord (hallelujah)

I really want to see you
Really want to see you
Really want to see you, Lord
Really want to see you, Lord
But it takes so long, my Lord (hallelujah)

My sweet Lord (hallelujah)
Hm, my Lord (hallelujah)
My, my, my Lord (hallelujah)

I really want to know you (hallelujah)
Really want to go with you (hallelujah)
Really want to show you Lord (aaah)
That it won’t take long, my Lord (hallelujah)

Hmm (hallelujah)
My sweet Lord (hallelujah)
My, my, Lord (hallelujah)

Hm, my Lord (hare krishna)
My, my, my Lord (hare krishna)
Oh hm, my sweet Lord (krishna, krishna)
Oh-uuh-uh (hare hare)

Now, I really want to see you (hare rama)
Really want to be with you (hare rama)
Really want to see you Lord (aaah)
But it takes so long, my Lord (hallelujah)

Hm, my Lord (hallelujah)
My, my, my Lord (hare krishna)
My sweet Lord (hare krishna)
My sweet Lord (krishna krishna)
My Lord (hare hare)
Hm, hm (Gurur Brahma)
Hm, hm (Gurur Vishnu)
Hm, hm (Gurur Devo)
Hm, hm (Maheshwara)
My sweet Lord (Gurur Sakshaat)
My sweet Lord (Parabrahma)
My, my, my Lord (Tasmayi Shree)
My, my, my, my Lord (Guruve Namah)
My sweet Lord (Hare Rama)

(hare krishna)
My sweet Lord (hare krishna)
My sweet Lord (krishna krishna)
My Lord (hare hare)

Bruce Springsteen – Spirit in the Night

When I first heard it I loved the feel of this song. When Bruce started to sing Crazy Janey and her mission man, Were back in the alley tradin’ hands, ‘Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man, All duded up for Saturday night…I knew it was a winner.

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band covered this and it peaked at #40 in the Billboard 100 a few months after they peaked at #1 with Springsteen’s Blinded By The Light. Bruce’s version didn’t chart but I do like both songs better than their more successful covers.

This one is from Bruce’s great debut album Greetings from Ashbury Park released in 1973. For anyone first getting into Springsteen, I would recommend this one with the more obvious ones. This is an earlier post I had of the album. I had the album and cassette that I wore out in my car.

On a personal note. The band I was in many years ago covered this song at a club and I saw a guy standing on a chair with a lit lighter in his hand during this song. He came up and thanked us over and over for playing it… He was from Philadelphia and had seen Springsteen 17 times at that point.

From Songfacts

Greasy Lake is a lake near Howel NJ. It gets its name from the idea that homeless people living around the lake used it for bathing, washing dishes, etc. The homeless people were known as “Gypsy Angels” or the “Spirits In The Night.”

Part of Springsteen’s first album, it was a #40 US hit for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band when they covered it in 1977. They also covered “Blinded By The Light” and “For You” from Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

Springsteen wrote this after Columbia Records rejected his first attempt at an album, telling him to make some songs that could be played on the radio. He came up with this and “Blinded By The Light.”

This was Springsteen’s second single. It was released only in the US and did not chart.

The lyrics refer to “Route 88,” a road that runs through Ocean County, New Jersey. Springsteen would later sing about “Highway 9” in “Born To Run.”

Along with “Blinded By The Light,” this was one of 2 songs on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. featuring Clarence Clemons on saxophone. Springsteen’s band didn’t have a name when this was recorded. By his next album, they were The E Street Band – named after the street where they used to rehearse.

This has been a popular live song throughout Springsteen’s career. He still occasionally plays it live.

The version on Live 1975-1985 was recorded at The Roxy in 1978.

Spirit in the Night

Crazy Janey and her mission man
Were back in the alley tradin’ hands
‘Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man
All duded up for Saturday night
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes
And said, “Anybody want to go on up to Greasy Lake?
It’s about a mile down on the dark side of Route 88
I got a bottle of rosé so let’s try it
We’ll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe
And I’ll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They’re build like light
And they dance like spirits in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
Oh, you don’t know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
Stand up right now and let them shoot through you”

Well now, Wild Billy was a crazy cat
And he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
He said, “Trust some of this, it’ll show you where you’re at
Or at least it’ll help you really feel it”
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake
I had my head out the window and Janey’s fingers were in the cake
I think I really dug her ’cause I was too loose to fake
I said, “I’m hurt.” She said, “Honey, let me heal it”
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
And she kissed me just right, like only a lonely angel can
She felt so nice
Just as soft as a spirit in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
Janey don’t know what she do to you
Spirit in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
Stand right up and let her shoot through me

Now, the night was bright and the stars threw light
On Billy and Davy dancin’ in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn
Well now, Hazy Davy got really hurt
He ran into the lake in just his socks and his shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was makin’ love in the dirt
Singin’ our birthday songs
Janey said it was time to go
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to Gypsy Angel Row
Felt so right
Together we moved like spirits in the night (all night), in the night (all night)…

Bob Marley – Get Up, Stand Up

This was the last song Bob Marley performed live. He sang it from a stool at a show in Pittsburgh on September 23, 1980. He had cancer and it near the end. He would die on May 11, 1981.

It was released in 1973 on the Wailers album Burnin’. It’s a great song to start taking action to avoid oppression. Marley wrote it with Peter Tosh, and the song was influenced by their upbringing in Jamaica, where they had to fight for respect and acceptance for their Rastafarian religion.

From Songfacts

The music is based on the song “Slippin’ Into Darkness” by the band War. Marley was friends with members of the band, and encouraged them to come to Jamaica.

The Burnin’ album, where this song first appeared, was released by Marley’s group The Wailers. In 1974, The Wailers broke up but Marley continued to tour and record as “Bob Marley & The Wailers,” even though he was the only original Wailer in the group.

Mick Jagger says that this is his favorite reggae song. The Rolling Stones frontman met Marley at the studio when Marley was working on his 1973 Catch a Fire album. The Stones would later dip their toes in the genre, covering the reggae song “Cherry Oh Baby” on their 1976 album Black And Blue.

This was the last song Marley performed; he sang it from a stool at a show in Pittsburgh on September 23, 1980. Marley’s cancer had spread to his brain and it was surprising he could perform at all, but he did a 20-song set that night, closing with a 6-minute rendition of “Get Up, Stand Up,” and collapsing soon after the show. He would die on May 11, 1981.

Get Up, Stand Up

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight!

Preacher man, don’t tell me
Heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know
What life is really worth
It’s not all that glitters is gold
‘Alf the story has never been told
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. Come on!

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight!
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight!

Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You will look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your rights. Jah!

Get up, stand up! (Jah, Jah!)
Stand up for your rights! (Oh-hoo!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Don’t give up the fight! (Life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (So we can’t give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (Lord, Lord!)
Get up, stand up! (Keep on struggling on!)
Don’t give up the fight! (Yeah!)

We sick an’ tired of-a your ism-skism game
Dyin’ ‘n’ goin’ to heaven in-a Jesus’ name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can’t fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light (What you gonna do?)
We gonna stand up for our rights! (Yeah, yeah, yeah!)

So you better
Get up, stand up! (In the morning! Git it up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Stand up for our rights!)
Get up, stand up!
Don’t give up the fight! (Don’t give it up, don’t give it up!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up!
Don’t give up the fight! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up!
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don’t give up the fight!

Curtis Mayfield – (Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go ——— Songs that reference Richard Nixon

Educated fools, From uneducated schools, Pimping people is the rule, Polluted water in the pool, And Nixon talking about don’t worry, worry, worry, worry

I’m saying goodbye to Richard Milhous Nixon with this one. I hope you have enjoyed the songs that referenced the former President. The comments were great so I thank all of you.

(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go” was released in November 1970 as the first, and only charting single off of Curtis’ debut album Curtis, it being his first solo charting single. The song peaked at #29 in 1971 in the Billboard 100. It also peaked at #3 in the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.

The song was about racial relations and the situation in America’s inner cities. He’d already steered The Impressions toward funkier, more conscious material. As a solo artist, he wanted to make a fresh impression beyond The Impressions. This song certainly did that. Much like John Lennon, he didn’t hold back.

On August 13, 1990, a lighting rig fell on him while he was onstage in New York, crushing three vertebrae and rendering him a quadriplegic for the remainder of his life. He managed to make one last album, two years before his death on December 26, 1999; titled New World Order

(Don’t Worry) If There Is A Hell Below, We Are All Going To Go

Sisters, brothers and the whities
Blacks and the crackers
Police and their backers
They’re all political actors

Hurry
People running from their worries
While the judge and the juries
Dictate the law that’s partly flaw
Cat calling, love balling, fussing and cussing
Top billing now is killing
For peace no-one is willing
Kind of make you get that feeling

Everybody smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke
Use the pill and the dope, dope, dope, dope, dope
Educated fools
From uneducated schools
Pimping people is the rule
Polluted water in the pool
And Nixon talking about don’t worry, worry, worry, worry
He says don’t worry, worry, worry, worry
He says don’t worry, worry, worry, worry
He says don’t worry, worry, worry, worry

But they don’t know
There can be no show
And if there’s a hell below
We’re all gonna go, go, go, go, go

Everybody’s praying
And everybody’s saying
But when come time to do
Everybody’s laying

Just talking about don’t worry, worry, worry, worry
They say don’t worry, worry, worry, worry
They say don’t worry, worry, worry, worry
They say don’t worry, worry, worry, worry