1970s – Page 85 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Thurman Munson

On August 2, 1979, I remember the news that afternoon at 6 saying that a plane crash happened in Canton Ohio and Thurman Munson was dead. It was shocking because he was only 32 years old and catcher for the Yankees.

While I was watching the 77 and 78 World Series there was one player I dreaded seeing at-bat with men on…, not Reggie Jackson…it was Thurman Munson. He is the only then Yankee player that I liked and respected.

Thurman is more remembered today for how his life ended than being a very good baseball player. He didn’t look like a prototypical Yankee. He was short and squatty with a sometimes difficult personality. He never did hit with a lot of power, the most home runs he ever hit in a season was 20. He ended up with a career batting average of .292 and an OBP of .346…very good for a catcher in that time period or now.

He was born in Canton Ohio in 1947 and grew up in a dysfunctional family. He kept progressing at baseball and attended Kent State. He was drafted with the 4th pick of the draft by the Yankees in 1968. He played with the Yankees from 1969 – 1979. Munson won Rookie of the Year in 1970. He was a 7-time All-Star and an MVP in 1976. Thurman hurt his shoulder in the mid-seventies and had problems throwing the ball to second but he played through it all.

He had a rivalry with Carlton Fisk with the Red Sox and was fun to watch play. He was grumpy with reporters but good with kids and teammates. Former GM Gabe Paul said, “Thurman Munson is a nice guy who doesn’t want anyone to know it.”

He missed his family and wanted to be at home. He learned to fly and bought a prop plane so he could go home every night after a game. He kept progressing from plane to plane until he bought a Cessna $1.4 million twin-engine jet. He was practicing takeoffs and landings that day and came in and clipped some trees. He had three passengers, David Hall, and Jerry Anderson.

The plane caught fire as soon as it landed. Munson was conscious but had suffered serious spinal damage and couldn’t move. Anderson and Hall tried to pull Thurman to safety but the main door was jammed. Munson’s legs were trapped inside the crushed fuselage and wouldn’t budge. By the time the two men burst through the emergency exit, the smoke had consumed the entire plane. Hall and Anderson jumped out of the jet barely surviving. Thurman was dead at 32.

At the time I thought Thurman would be in the Hall of Fame. His numbers at the time of his death were comparable to Carlton Fisk. Munson appeared on the ballot in 1981, two years after a plane crash ended his life, and never got more than 15.5% of the vote.

Here is a list of his accomplishments from Wiki…but remember he was passed in many categories after he died.

1st all time – Singles in World Series, 9
10th all time – Batting average by catcher, .292
11th all time – Postseason batting average, .357
11th all time – Caught stealing percentage
16th all time – On base percentage by catcher
20th all time – OPS by catcher
24th all time – Slugging by catcher
26th all time – Hits by catcher
26th all time – Runs by catcher
AL Rookie of the Year (1970)
AL MVP (1976)
3× Gold Glove Award
3 AL Pennants
2 World Series titles
7× All Star

The Sweet – Little Willy

Most of the Sweet’s singles sounded like different bands were on each one. They changed their styles quite a bit. Little Willy was their most successful single and it peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #4 in the UK.

This song is a catchy pop song and they would soon move to Ballroom Blitz, Fox On The Run, and Love is Like Oxygen.

From Songfacts

This song was written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman – neither of whom were members of Sweet. Instead, Chinn and Chapman were a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. Just as in the US, Leiber and Stoller became known for “the Brill Building sound,” Chinn and Chapman in the UK became known as the “Chinnichap” sound. They produced songs for Suzi Quatro, and British bands Smokie, Mud, Racey, and The Arrows. Chapman would later produce albums for Blondie and The Knack, and along with Holly Knight, wrote Pat Benatar’s hit “Love Is A Battlefield.”

“Little Willy” was Sweet’s biggest US hit, peaking the charts at #3 when it was re-released in 1973. It was a non-album single, but went gold in the US and UK all by itself anyway. Critics in the UK dismissed the song as “bubblegum” and referred to the lyrics as “nursery porn.” Sweet wanted to shed their bubblegum/ glam-rock image and become more hardcore, so they later turned to writing their own songs.

Putting this song together, Chinn and Chapman used a pounding drum beat popularized by Slade and producer Mike Leander. They mixed in the riff from the Who song “I Can’t Explain,” and added the exceptionally catchy chorus, which dug into your ear and wouldn’t let go. The song didn’t tell any kind of story – just that Willy won’t go home – but listeners didn’t care and with Glam Rock, the lyrics weren’t supposed to make sense anyway.

Little Willy

North side , east side
Little Willy, Willy wears the crown, he’s the king around town
Dancing, glancing
Willy drives them silly with his star shoe shimmy shuffle down

Way past one, and feeling allright
‘Cause with little Willy round they can last all night
Hey down, stay down, stay down down
‘Cause little Willy, Willy won’t go home

But you can’t push Willy round
Willy won’t go, try tellin’ everybody but, oh no
Little Willy, Willy won’t go home
Up town, down town

Little Willy, Willy drives them wild with his run-around style
Inside, outside
Willy sends them silly with his star-shine shimmy shuffle smile
Mama done chase Willy down through the hall

But laugh, Willy laugh, he don’t care at all
Hey down, stay down, stay down, down
‘Cause little Willy, Willy won’t go home
But you can’t push Willy round

Willy won’t go, try tellin’ everybody but, oh no
Little Willy, Willy won’t go home
Little Willy, Willy won’t
Willy won’t, Willy won’t

Little Willy, Willy won’t
Willy won’t, Willy won’t
Little Willy, Willy won’t
Willy won’t, Willy won’t

Little Willy, Willy won’t
Willy won’t, Willy won’t
Little Willy, Willy won’t go home
But you can’t push Willy round

Willy won’t go, try tellin’ everybody but, oh no
Little Willy, Willy won’t go home
Little Willy, Willy won’t go home
But you can’t push Willy round

Willy won’t go, try tellin’ everybody but, oh no
Little Willy, Willy won’t go home

Baseball in the 1970s

Growing up in Tennessee I was and still am a huge baseball fan. My father grew up liking the underdog Dodgers with Jackie Robinson when they played in Brooklyn while his brothers were Yankee fans. In 1977 I started to watch baseball and through my father connected with the Dodgers. He was more of a college football fan (Tennesse loves football) but I never got his passion for that. I watched some baseball before 77 but I was totally lost in it from then on.

Watching the 70s baseball was a special event. The hair, mustaches, and every color of uniform were interesting. For some reason, the Oakland A’s uniforms were my favorite.

I’ve always liked the individualism of baseball. No rigid measurements in baseball parks like football or other sports. Every park is a unique home. There were cookie cutter (multi-purpose) parks with astroturf like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The 8th wonder of the world Astrodome in Houston. A very old Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The pavilion and palm tree Dodger Stadium. The ivy-walled Wrigley field in Chicago and the oh so green Fenway Park.

Baseball wasn’t as accessible then as it is now. You had to wait for the Saturday game of the week and Monday night baseball. That made it more special. There were certain teams they showed more than others. I was lucky, the Dodgers were one of the teams. I remember a lot of Pirates, Reds, Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodger games because they all were very good.

I remember the players of that time so well. Thurman Munson (the only then Yankee I liked), Al Hrabosky (The Mad Hungarian), Dave Parker (He looked like the biggest man ever), Luis Tiant, Oscar Gamble (the cool hair), Bill Lee, Willie Stargell, Greg Luzinski, Gary Maddox, Mike Schmidt, George Foster (who I met a few years ago), Joe Morgan (who I liked better as a player than announcer), Catfish Hunter.

I could probably still mimic most of the players batting stances now.

Some of the managers were just as popular as the players for different reasons. Earl Weaver (one of the pioneers of sabermetrics), Billy Martin (could make about any team win…for a short time), and Sparky Anderson.

Some events I remember are Disco Demolition Night in Chicago (exploding disco records) and 10 cent beer night (that turned into a riot in Cleveland…who would have guessed that?).

My favorite player… Hands down Ron Cey. Steve Garvey was the marquee name of the Dodgers but Ron Cey would come through in the clutch and had a better batting eye than Garvey. I played 3rd base in little league and on up because of Cey. His nickname was “The Penguin” because he ran like one. I tried running like that until the coach asked me what was wrong with me…he thought I was hurt.

When the Dodgers traded Cey to Chicago it broke my heart. He went on to do good with the Cubs but to this day I don’t understand that trade.

I still watch baseball and don’t miss a box score and it is still a game full of characters…maybe not as colorful now.

Rod Stewart – The First Cut Is The Deepest

Rod Stewart has covered many songs in his career. I’ve always liked this version of the song. It was written by Cat Stevens in 1967. The song peaked at #21 in the Billboard 100, #11 in Canada, and #1 in the UK in 1977. Stewart recorded the song at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, United States, and it appeared on his 1976 album A Night on the Town. It was released as a double A-side single with “I Don’t Want to Talk About It”.

Rod Stewart had a total of 52 songs in the Billboard 100, 16 top 10 hits, and 4 number 1’s.

From Songfacts

This was written by Cat Stevens. It was a hit for P.P. Arnold in Britain in 1967, reaching #18 in the charts. Stevens, who included it on his debut album New Masters later in 1967, never released his version as a single, as he felt Arnold’s rendition was definitive.

P.P. Arnold is a female singer from America who got her start as one of Ike & Tina Turner’s backup performers (an Ikette). After two years with Ike & Tina, she moved to London and got a record deal with Immediate Records. Cat Stevens was also part of the London music scene at the time, and his song found it’s way to Arnold, who recorded it for her first album.

Arnold, who was in an abusive marriage as a teenager, felt it was a perfect song for her. “It encapsulated everything that I was at the time,” she said. “Having the courage to get out of that [abusive relationship] and create a life for me and my kids. What a blessing.”

In 1968, Arnold scored another UK hit when her cover of “Angel of the Morning” went to #29.

This is about a guy who has met a girl he wants to start a relationship with. In the song, he is explaining the hurt he feels because of his first love, and how it is keeping him from diving into this potential new relationship.

In America, the first version to chart was by Keith Hampshire, who took it to #70 in 1973. Rod Stewart covered it in 1976, taking it to #21 US and #1 UK; Sheryl Crow released her version in 2003, which made #14 in the US and #37 in the UK.

The First Cut is the Deepest

I would have given you all of my heart
But there’s someone who’s torn it apart
And she’s taken just all that I had
But if you want I’ll try to love again
Baby I’ll try to love again but I know

The first cut is the deepest
Baby I know the first cut is the deepest
But when it come to being lucky she’s cursed
When it come to loving me she’s the worst
I still want you by my side
Just to help me dry the tears that I’ve cried
And I’m sure going to give you a try
And if you want I’ll try to love again
Baby I’ll try to love again but I know

The first cut is the deepest
Baby I know the first cut is the deepest
But when it come to being lucky she’s cursed
When it come to loving me she’s the worst

I still want you by my side
Just to help me dry the tears that I’ve cried
But I’m sure gonna give you a try
‘Cause if you want I’ll try to love again
Baby I’ll try to love again but I know

Wooh
The first cut is the deepest
Baby I know the first cut is the deepest
When it come to being lucky she’s cursed
When it come to loving me she’s the worst

The Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop

The Ramones were no frills and to the point. No long solos or instrumental breaks. Just 2-minute rock songs full of energy. This was the song that helped launch the Ramones.

The song never charted but is probably their best-known song because of the many movies, tv shows, and commercials it’s been in. The song was mainly written by drummer Tommy Ramone, while bassist Dee Dee Ramone came up with the title (the song was originally called “Animal Hop”). Dee Dee also changed one line: the original third verse had the line “shouting in the back now”, but Dee Dee changed it to “shoot ’em in the back now”.

From Songfacts

The Ramones had a very sparse budget at the time: The entire album cost just $6,400 to make.

This song has been used in a number of movies and TV series, including The Simpsons (the 2007 “Treehouse of Horror” episode), and the 2006 Entourage episode “I Wanna Be Sedated,” revolving around a Ramones documentary.

In the 2001 movie Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, it was used in a scene where Jimmy and his friends go on a rampage of fun. Some other uses:

Fear No Evil (1981)
National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
Sugar & Spice (2001)
Shattered Glass (2003)
The King of Queens (2004)
Date Night (2010)
The Crazy Ones (2013)
Parenthood (2014)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

The New York Yankees baseball team often plays this when one of their big hitters is coming to the plate. Johnny Ramone was a huge fan of the Yankees.

Green Day performed this at the 2002 ceremonies when The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1991, this song piqued the interest of Budweiser, which used it in a commercial for their beer (without the “Shoot ’em in the back” line). There was no debate in the Ramones camp over whether to authorize it: they were all happy to get the money and exposure. In 2003, the song found its way into another commercial, this time for AT&T Wireless. It was later used in commercials for Diet Pepsi, Coppertone and Taco Bell.

Rob Zombie covered this song on the album A Tribute To Ramones (We’re A Happy Family).

Fellow first-wave punk band The Clash covered this song live on tour in 1978, often as a medley with their own song “Police and Thieves.”

Blitzkrieg Bop

Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go!
Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go!

They’re forming in straight line
They’re going through a tight wind
The kids are losing their minds
The Blitzkrieg Bop

They’re piling in the back seat
They’re generating steam heat
Pulsating to the back beat
The Blitzkrieg Bop

Hey ho, let’s go
Shoot ’em in the back now
What they want, I don’t know
They’re all revved up and ready to go

They’re forming in straight line
They’re going through a tight wind
The kids are losing their minds
The Blitzkrieg Bop

They’re piling in the back seat
They’re generating steam heat
Pulsating to the back beat
The Blitzkrieg Bop

Hey ho, let’s go
Shoot’em in the back now
What they want, I don’t know
They’re all revved up and ready to go

They’re forming in straight line
They’re going through a tight wind
The kids are losing their minds
The Blitzkrieg Bop

They’re piling in the back seat
They’re generating steam heat
Pulsating to the back beat
The Blitzkrieg Bop

Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go!
Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitzkrieg_Bop

Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy

Maybe the darkest pop song that I know. You first hear this song and it sounds cheery until you pay attention to the lyrics. I must admit I love the song because it’s just so different. The upbeat happy music with Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals is very catchy and then Warren tells the story and it ends up very dark, to say the least.

When I first paid attention to it…I was shocked and listened to it over and over to make sure I was hearing the lyrics right…No he couldn’t be singing this right? Warren had a dark sense of humor and it shows on this.

The song was not released as a single. The album peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100. Werewolves of London was the hit off of the album. It is perhaps Zevon’s best album.

Excitable Boy
Well, he went down to dinner in his Sunday best
Excitable boy, they all said
And he rubbed the pot roast all over his chest
Excitable boy, they all said

He took in the four a.m. show at the Clark
Excitable boy, they all said
And he bit the usherette’s leg in the dark
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy

He took little Suzie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
And he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy

Top 10 Favorite TV Themes 1-5

Some TV Themes can be annoying but many can be very catchy. I’m listing my top 10 on two posts. There are so many that narrowing it to ten was almost impossible. I’ve stuck with older ones for the post. I left out cartoons…

5. The Courtship of Eddie’s Father -Harry Nilsson sang this one staring the one and only Bill Bixby.

4. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show – The most brilliant theme…straight to the point.

3. Munsters – Cool sixties guitar driven theme.

2. Welcome Back Kotter – John Sebastian’s song Welcome Back peaked at #1 in 1976.

1. Monkees – Whenever I hear it I’m 7 again.

Top 10 Favorite TV Themes 6-10

10. WKRP – One of my favorite shows of the late 70s…not only did I like the theme song but the closing song.

And the closing

9. Barney Miller – Every bass player learns this one.

8. Rockford Files – The theme song made me want to watch the show.

7. Gilligans Island – I know every word and may have heard this theme more than Stairway to Heaven…and that is saying alot.

6. Hawaii Five-O – One of the ultimate themes… love the tidal wave.

Ike and Tina Turner – Nutbush City Limits

Tina Turner wrote this song named after a place near where she was born. Tina’s voice is one of a kind and she is electric. Ike and Tina only had one top ten hit and that was Proud Mary. What surprises me is they had 6 top 40 songs and 20 songs in the Billboard 100. Nutbush City Limits peaked at #22 in the Billboard 100 in 1973.

Anna Mae Bullock was born November 26, 1939 in a hospital in Brownsville, a short drive from Nutbush, Tennessee where she grew up. She would eventually marry songwriter and musician Ike Wister Turner, taking the name Tina Turner. In November 1973 the duo released “Nutbush City Limits.” Far from being a city, Nutbush is a hamlet on Highway 19, Tennessee.

From Songfacts

In this song, Turner recalls her memories of Nutbush, painting a picture of a friendly little town with a strong community. She once said that she didn’t turn any heads in Nutbush, as many women there had the goods.

Marc Bolan of the ’70s British glam rock band T-Rex played guitar on this track. Bolan was a fan of Ike’s guitar playing and in his teenage years he had had a crush on Tina Turner.

Tina Turner didn’t write many songs, but she is the sole composer on this one, which was her biggest hit as a songwriter. As her career progressed, Turner did less songwriting, putting her energies into vocal arrangements and performance. As a solo artist, she surrounded herself with top talent and developed a reputation for her strong work ethic, always getting it right in the studio. She certainly could have written more songs had she chosen to.

Turner re-recorded the song as a house number in 1991 for her compilation album Simply The Best. A single release peaked at #23 in the UK. Two years later she re-worked it again for the What’s Love Got to Do with It? soundtrack album.

Bob Seger released a live version on his 1976 album Live Bullet. Released as a single, it went to #69 in the US.

Nutbush City Limits

A church house, gin house
A school house, outhouse
On highway number nineteen
The people keep the city clean
They call it Nutbush, oh Nutbush
They call it Nutbush city limits
Nutbush city

Twenty-five was the speed limit
Motorcycle not allowed in it
You go t’the store on Friday
You go to church on Sundays
They call it Nutbush, oh Nutbush
Said they call it Nutbush city limits
Nutbush city

You go to the fields on week days
And have a picnic on Labor Day
You go to town on Saturday
But go to church every Sunday
They call it Nutbush, Nutbush
They call it Nutbush city limits
Nutbush city

No whiskey for sale
You get drunk, no bail
Salt pork and molasses
Is all you get in jail
They call it Nutbush, oh, Nutbush
They call it Nutbush city limits
Nutbush city

A lil old town on the Tennessee
Quiet little old community, one-horse town
You got to watch what they’re puttin’ down
Old Nutbush. They call it Nutbush
They call it Nutbush
Oh, Nutbush. They call it Nutbush

Rare Earth – Get Ready

This song was written by Smokey Robinson. The Temptations took the song to #29 in the Billboard 100 in 1966. Rare Earth took a 3-minute version of the song edited down from 21 minutes to #4 in the Billboard 100 in 1970.

The song was on their album Get Ready that peaked at #12 in 1970. When they started to record this album they ran out of material so they recorded a 21-minute version of this song to fill up space. The album wasn’t going anywhere until the edited version of the single was released and then it took off.

From Songfacts

Rare Earth recorded an unusual version of this song that stretched over 21 minutes and took up the entire second side of their first Motown album, which was issued in the fall of 1969. This version was based on Rare Earth’s live version of the song, where every member of the band would get a solo. In 1970,

Motown released a 3-minute edit as a single, which peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 in 1970. The song also did well on R&B stations, even though some DJs refused to play it when they found out the group wasn’t black – they were one of the first white groups signed to Motown.

This was written by Smokey Robinson, who was the main songwriter for The Temptations. In the Motown stable, The Temptations were considered the premier group, and there was a lot of competition among the songwriters to have their compositions recorded by the band. When this song underperformed on the charts, Motown chief Berry Gordy gave the next Temptations single, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” to Norman Whitfield, and he became their primary writer.

Get Ready

Never met a girl could make me feel the way that you do
You’re alright
Whenever I’m asked what makes a my dreams real
I tell ’em you do
You’re outta’ sight

Well twiddley dee, twiddley dum
Look out baby ’cause here I come

I’m bringing you a love that’s true
Get ready, get ready
Start makin’ love to you
Get ready, get ready
Get ready, ’cause here I come
Get ready, ’cause here I come

You wanna’ play hide and seek with love, let me remind you
You’re alright
Lovin’ you’re gonna’ miss, and the time it takes to find you
You’re outta’ sight
Well fee fi, fo fo fum
Look out baby, ’cause here I come

I’m bringing you a love that’s true
Get ready, get ready
Start makin’ love to you
Get ready, get ready
Get ready, ’cause here I come
Get ready, ’cause here I come

Baby all my freedoms should you want me to I think i’ll understand
You’re alright
Hope I get to you before they do, ’cause that’s how I planned it
You’re outta’ sight

Well twiddley dee, twiddley dum
Look out baby ’cause here I come

I’m bringing you a love that’s true
Get ready, get ready
Start makin’ love to you
Get ready, get ready
Get ready, ’cause here I come

Beatles – Got To Get You Into My Life

This song still sounds fresh today. Got To Get You Into My Life was on Revolver released in 1966. It was not released as a single at the time. Any other band would have released it as a single.

In 1976 it was released as a single and peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100…not bad for a song that was 10 years old. It was released off of the horribly packaged compilation album Rock and Roll Music. Capital Records seemed to forget The Beatles represented the 60s, not the 50s that the album cover represented. They probably wanted to capitalize on the 50s revival that was going on at the time… Bad Choice.

I owned this album and Hey Jude Again for my first exposure to the Beatles.

There is a 5 piece horn section on this recording that sounds great. Paul McCartney has said the song was about pot…

“’Got To Get You Into My Life’ was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot. I’d been a rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting. It didn’t seem to have too many side effects like alcohol or some of the other stuff, like pills, which I pretty much kept off. I kind of liked marijuana. I didn’t have a hard time with it and to me it was mind-expanding, literally mind-expanding.”

“So ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ is really a song about that, it’s not to a person, it’s actually about pot. It’s saying, ‘I’m going to do this. This is not a bad idea.’ So it’s actually an ode to pot, like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret. It wouldn’t be the first time in history someone’s done it, but in my case it was the first flush of pot.”

From Songfacts

This beatific love song is actually about marijuana. Paul McCartney cleared this up in his 1998 book Many Years From Now when he explained that it was not about a particular person, but his desire to smoke pot. “I’d been a rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting,” he said.

There are no obvious drug references in the song, so it appears to be about a guy who is blissfully in love:

Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life

A British rock group called Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers released this song as a single around the same time it appeared on the The Beatles Revolver album. Bennett & The Rebel Rousers were an opening act for The Beatles on their European tour in early 1966; since there were no plans to release “Got To Get You Into My Life” as a single, Paul McCartney encouraged them to record it and produced the session.

Revolver appeared on August 5, 1966 and the Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers version of this song showed up on the UK chart for the first time on August 17, rising to #6 on September 21. It ended up being the biggest hit for the group, which made #9 in 1964 with “One Way Love.”

Session musicians played trumpets and sax. It was the first time horns were used in a Beatles song.

Earth, Wind & Fire recorded a funky new version for the 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Beatles producer George Martin was in charge of the music, and the soundtrack was a success, but the movie, which starred Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees and Aerosmith, was a huge flop. Earth, Wind & Fire’s version of this hit #9 in the US.

The first group to chart with this song was Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose horn-heavy version made #62 in the summer of 1975. The Beatles version wasn’t issued as a single until 1976, when Capitol Records issued it in America backed with “Helter Skelter.”

This version went to #7 in July that year, becoming the first Beatles song to chart in the US since 1970. Later in 1976, Capitol issued “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” which made #49.

John Lennon thought this was some of McCartney’s best work.

In the ’60s, Joe Pesci was an aspiring singer known as Joe Ritchie. He recorded a version of this that can be found on Rhino’s “Golden Throat” Series. His version merits the “Stick to Acting” award. >>

This song rarely licensed for movies or TV. The only time the Beatles rendition was used in a film is the 2015 movie Minions, where it plays under the end credits. In 2009, a version by Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs appeared in the Eddie Murphy movie Imagine That, and in 2013 Kurt Hummel and Chris Colfer sang it on the “Love, Love, Love” episode of the TV series Glee.

Got To Get You Into My Life

I was alone, I took a ride
I didn’t know what I would find there
Another road where maybe I
Could see another kind of mind there
Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life

You didn’t run, you didn’t hide
And had you gone, you knew in time
We’d meet again for I had told you
Ooh, you were meant to be near me
Ooh, and I want you to hear me
Say we’ll be together every day
Got to get you into my life

What can I do, what can I be
When I’m with you I want to stay there
If I’m true I’ll never leave
And if I do I know the way there
Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life
Got to get you into my life

Boz Scaggs – Lido Shuffle

I have always liked this song. It was forever before I knew the name. Lido Shuffle peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100, #5 Canada, #13 in the UK in 1977.

Boz Scaggs met Steve Miller in 1959 and they played in various bands together. He then traveled to London, Sweden, and San Francisco and hooked back up with Miller again and played in the Steve Miller Band for their first two albums. He signed with Columbia Records in 1972. This song was on his platinum album Silk Degrees released in 1976 which peaked at #2 in the Billboard album charts.

Boz Scaggs wrote this song with David Paich, who was also his co-writer on “Lowdown.” Scaggs said: “‘Lido’ was a song that I’d been banging around. And I kind of stole… well, I didn’t steal anything. I just took the idea of the shuffle. There was a song that Fats Domino did called ‘The Fat Man’ that had a kind of driving shuffle beat that I used to play on the piano, and I just started kind of singing along with it. Then I showed it to Paich and he helped me fill it out. It ended up being ‘Lido Shuffle.'”

From Songfacts

The song is about a drifter looking for a big score. Scaggs and Paich were both very good at crafting songs with intriguing storylines using words and phrases that don’t often show up in a lyric: “A tombstone bar,” “makin’ like a beeline…”

The name Lido is very unusual as well. From the perspective of songcraft, it’s very versatile, allowing the singer to get clear vocal sounds and follow with the “whoa-oh-oh-oh” hook. Kenny Loggins did something similar on his song “Footloose,” writing the character “Milo” into it (“Woah… Milo, come on, come on let’s go”).

The last single from Silk Degrees, this wasn’t released until about a year after the album was issued. The first single, “It’s Over,” peaked in May 1976; “Lido Shuffle” didn’t reach its chart peak until May 1977. The Silk Degrees album was a slow burner, gradually gaining momentum and selling over 5 million copies.

The song’s co-writer David Paich played keyboards on this track. Scaggs played guitar, bass was handled by David Hungate, and Jeff Porcaro played drums. Paich, Hungate and Porcaro would soon form the band Toto.

Lido Shuffle

Lido missed the boat that day he left the shack
But that was all he missed
And he ain’t comin’ back

At a tombstone bar, in a juke joint car he made a stop
Just long enough to grab a handle off the top

Next stop Chi town, Lido put the money down, let ’em roll
He said one more job ought to get it
One last shot ‘fore we quit it
One for the road

Lido
Whoah oh oh oh
He’s for the money, he’s for the show
Lido’s waitin’ for the go, Lido
Whoah oh oh oh oh oh
He said one more job ought to get it
One last shot ‘fore we quit it
One more for the road

Lido will be runnin’, havin’ great big funnin’ till he got the note
Sayin’ toe the line or blow it and that was all she wrote

He’ll be makin’ like a bee line, headin’ for the border line, goin’ for broke
Sayin’ one more hit ought to do it
This joint ain’t nothin’ to it
One more for the road

Lido
Whoah oh oh oh
He’s for the money, he’s for the show
Lido’s waitin’ for the go, Lido
Whoah oh oh oh oh oh
One more job ought to get it
One last shot then we quit it
One more for the road

Lido
Woah oh oh oh
He’s for the money, he’s for the show
Lido’s waitin’ for the go, Lido
Woah oh oh oh oh oh
One more job ought to get it

Joe Cocker – You Are So Beautiful

A beautiful song by Joe Cocker. It was written by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher. Billy’s inspiration was his mom. The song was on Preston’s on his 1974 album The Kids and Me and was the B-side of his hit single “Nothing From Nothing.” Producer Jim Price created a slow arrangement for Cocker’s cover. The song was on Cocker’s album was on I Can Stand a Little Rain.

This was originally released as the B-side of “Put Out the Light,” which was the first single from the album. After a few weeks, A&M Records flipped the songs, and “You Are So Beautiful” became the A-side.

You Are So Beautiful peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100 in 1975. The song is beautiful and the slowed down tempo fits Joe Cocker’s voice perfectly. It is one of those songs that is instantly recognizable.

From Songfacts

This Billy Preston/Bruce Fisher song was first recorded by Preston

Fisher was Preston’s songwriting partner and he co-wrote both of Preston’s American chart-toppers, “Will It Go Round In Circles” and “Nothing From Nothing.”

This is one of the more romantic songs out there, but Billy Preston wrote it as a tribute to his mother, a fact that embarrassed Sam Moore, half of the soul duo Sam & Dave, who often performed the tune to attract girls. After bragging to Preston about his exploits with the song, Preston finally set him straight. “You never understood after that how stupid I felt,” Moore told BBC Radio 4 in 2010. Moore still recorded it for his 2006 solo album, Overnight Sensational, with Preston on keyboards and Eric Clapton and Zucchero on guitar.

Legend surrounding “You are So Beautiful” claims that Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys helped Preston complete it. Wilson received no songwriting credits but he sang this song for many years at Beach Boys concerts.

This was used in the 1993 movie Carlito’s Way and in the 1981 film Modern Romance.

Cocker sang this at Billy Preston’s funeral in 2006.

This is one of the most-recognized songs in America, but it didn’t crack the chart in Joe Cocker’s native UK.

You Are So Beautiful

You are so beautiful
To me
You are so beautiful
To me
Can’t you see

You’re everything I hope for
You’re everything I need
You are so beautiful to me
You are so beautiful to me

You are so beautiful
To me
Can’t you see
You’re everything I hope for
You’re every, everything I need
You are so beautiful to me

Paul McCartney – Maybe I’m Amazed

I’ve always liked the original version of this song the best. The studio version of this song was never released as a single (no tracks on the album were), but it is one of the most remembered songs on McCartney’s first solo album McCartney. “Maybe I’m Amazed” was written in 1969 just after The Beatles broke up about Linda.

A live version was released as a single in 1977 to promote the Wings Over America live album it went to #10 in the Billboard 100 in 1977.

The Faces did this song live with Ronnie Lane singing the first few lines and Rod Stewart finishing it up.

From Songfacts

Paul McCartney wrote this song about his wife Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998. McCartney never wavered in his love for Linda, and even made her part of his band so she could tour with him.

McCartney, an animal rights activist, appeared on The Simpsons episode 3F03, “Lisa The Vegetarian.” McCartney helps Lisa become a vegetarian and tells her that if you play this song backwards, you hear a recipe for lentil soup. Over the closing credits of that episode, if you listen carefully, you can hear the backwards message. As an extra feature on The Simpsons DVD, you can hear McCartney read the recipe and say, “There you have it Simpsons lovers, oh and by the way, I’m alive.”

The lentil soup recipe Paul speaks backwards is:
– one medium onion, chopped
– two tablespoons of vegetable oil
– one clove of garlic, crushed
– one cup of carrots, chopped
– two sticks of celery, chopped
– half a cup of lentils
– one bay leaf
– one tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
– salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
– two and a quarter cups of vegetable stock or water

With the exception of John Lennon, each Beatle has been on at least one episode of The Simpsons. George Harrison was on the episode “The B- Sharps” and Ringo was on the “The Letter.”

This was the standout track from McCartney’s first solo album. Unlike George Harrison, who had 3-discs worth great songs (mostly rejected by The Beatles) for his first solo effort, Paul had little in the way of leftovers to work with. He worked up the album in his kitchen, and played all of the instruments himself. The only other performer on the album was his wife Linda, who lent backing vocals (she also took the cover photo).

Critics derided the album as an unfinished work, usually citing “Maybe I’m Amazed” as the exception. The review in Melody Maker called the other tracks “sheer banality.” McCartney was annoyed that he wrote a rebuttal to the paper defending the album.

Artists who covered this song include The Faces, Petula Clark, Elkie Brooks, Black Oak Arkansas, Jem, Joe Cocker, and Gov’t Mule. The cover by Jem was used in the season finale of the first season in the show The O.C.

Actor Jamie Dornan, who plays Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades movies, recorded his take of the song for the soundtrack of Fifty Shades Freed. The film involves an impromptu piano and singing performance of “Maybe I’m Amazed” from Christian, which surprises his lover Anastasia, sister, Mia, and brother, Elliot.

Maybe I’m Amazed

Maybe I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time
Maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I’m amazed at the the way you pulled me out of time
And hung me on a line
Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you

Maybe I’m a man and maybe I’m a lonely man
Who’s in the middle of something
That he doesn’t really understand

Maybe I’m a man and maybe you’re the only woman
Who could ever help me
Baby won’t you help me understand

Maybe I’m a man and maybe I’m a lonely man
Who’s in the middle of something
That he doesn’t really understand

Maybe I’m a man and maybe you’re the only woman
Who could ever help me
Baby won’t you help me understand

Maybe I’m amazed at the way you’re with me all the time
Maybe I’m afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I’m amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I’m wrong
Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you

Van Morrison – Saint Dominic’s Preview

I thought I would do an album track today. If someone asked me what is your favorite Van Morrison song…I might say this one. It’s an epic piece of work that I get lost in. Van’s imagery in this song reminds me of a few of Dylan’s songs. Everything from Edith Piaf to Hank Williams to Safeway Supermarkets gets a nod.

The album of the same name was released in 1972 and it is not a song on it that I don’t like. From the soulful Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile) to another epic song that still blows me away, Almost Independence Day.

The album was the follow up to Tupelo Honey released in 1971. Van used some of the same musicians on both albums and the same producer, Ted Templeman. This song was not released as a single. The album peaked at #15 in the Billboard 100 in 1972.

What’s hard to believe is this album was his highest charting album until “Keep It Simple” in 2008…after that he had two more top ten albums.

I saw this interview that Van did with Rolling Stone talking about this song right before he recorded it.

RS: Are you sometimes surprised by some of the things that come out when you’re writing?

Really. There are times when I’m mystified. I look at some of the stuff that comes out, y’know. And like, there it is and it feels right, but I can’t say for sure what it means. Like take…take “Crazy Face.” Y’know, where does that come from?

RS: There’s unquestionably a strong mystical and visionary quality to your music.

Yeah, it’s there. That’s what it is, I guess. It’s strange because I don’t see myself as a mystical type person. But then every now and then these weird experiences happen. Like I’ll be lying down on the bed with my eyes closed and all of a sudden I get the feeling that I’m floating near the ceiling looking down. I couldn’t say whether that’s supposed to be astral projection but it’s pretty freaky when it happens.

RS: Have you ever had any similar experiences that seem related to your writing?

I had one just recently. I’d been working on this song about the scene going down in Belfast. And I wasn’t sure what I was writing but anyway the central image seemed to be this church called St. Dominic’s where people were gathering to pray or hear a mass for peace in Northern Ireland. Anyway, a few weeks ago I was in Reno for a gig at the University of Nevada. And while we were having dinner I picked up the newspaper and just opened it to a page and there in front of me was an announcement about a mass for peace in Belfast to be said the next day at St. Dominic’s church in San Francisco. Totally blew me out. Like I’d never even heard of a St. Dominic’s church.

RS: How did the song turn out?

Great. In fact I’m gonna be recording it in a couple of days.

RS: What did you end up titling it?

“St. Dominic’s Preview.” You know something? I haven’t a clue to what it means.

Saint Dominic’s Preview

Shammy cleaning all the windows
Singing songs about Edith Piaf’s soul
And I hear blue strains of no regredior
Across the street from Cathedral Notre Dame

Meanwhile back in San Francisco
We’re trying hard to make this whole thing blend
As we sit upon this jagged
Storey block, with you my friend

And it’s a long way to Buffalo
It’s a long way to Belfast city too
And I’m hoping the choice won’t blow the hoist
‘Cause this town, they bit off more than they can chew.

As we gaze out on, as we gaze out on
As we gaze out on, as we gaze out on
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Saint Dominic’s Preview

All the orange boxes are scattered
Against the Safeway’s supermarket in the rain
And everybody feels so determined
Not to feel anyone else’s pain

No one’s making no commitments
To anybody but themselves
Talkin’ behind closed doorways
Tryin’ to get outside, get outside of empty shells

And for every cross cuttin’ country corner, country corner
For every Hank Williams railroad train that cried
And all the chains, badges, flags and emblems
And every strain on brain and every eye

As we gaze out on, as we gaze out on
As we gaze out on, as we gaze out on
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Saint Dominic’s Preview

And the restaurant tables are completely covered
The record company has paid out for the wine
You got everything in the world you ever wanted
Right about now your face should wear a smile

That’s the way it all should happen
When you’re in, when you’re in the state you’re in
You’ve got your pen and notebook ready
I think it’s about time, time for us to begin

And meanwhile, we’re over in a 52nd Street apartment
Socializing with the wino few
Just to be hip and get wet with the jet set
But they’re flying too high to see my point of view

As we gaze out on, as we gaze out on
As we gaze out on, as we gaze out on
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Saint Dominic’s Preview

See them freedom marching
Out on the street, freedom marching
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Out in the street
Look at the man
Turn around
Come back, come back
Turn around
Look at the man
Says hold on
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Saint Dominic’s Preview
Says hold me in
Saint Dominic’s Preview