The Band on Thanksgiving in 1976 at the Fillmore West. The film starts off with THIS FILM MUST BE PLAYED LOUD! A cut to Rick Danko playing pool and then it then to the Band playing “Don’t Do It”…the last song they performed that night after hours of playing. Through the music and some interviews, their musical journey and influences are retraced.
This film is considered by many the best concert film ever made. It was directed by Martin Scorsese. I love the setting with the chandeliers that were from the movie Gone With The Wind. The quality of the picture is great because it was shot with 35-millimeter which wasn’t normally done with concerts.
Before the Band and guests hit the stage, Bill Graham, the promoter, served a Thanksgiving dinner to 5000 people that made up the audience with long tables with white tablecloths.
The Band’s musical guests included
Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Van Morrison (my favorite performance of a guest), Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters
The Staple Singers and Emmylou Harris also appear but their segments were taped later on a sound stage and not at the concert.
Robbie wanted off the road earlier and that is what the Last Waltz was all about…the last concert by The Band with a lot of musical friends. He was tired of touring and also the habits the band was picking up…the drugs and drinking. Richard Manuel, in particular, was in bad shape and needed time.
The rest of the Band supposedly agreed but a few years later all of them but Robbie started to tour as The Band again. Richard Manuel ended up hanging himself in 1986. Rick Danko passed away in 1999 at the end of a tour of a heart attack attributed to years of drug and alcohol abuse. Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012.
The Band sounded great that night and it might be the best version you will ever hear of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
The Last Waltz is a grand farewell to a great band and a film that I revisit at least twice a year… once always around Thanksgiving.
The complete concert is at the bottom…without cuts.
Happy Thanksgiving! This is a Thanksgiving tradition…tonight I start another! The Beatles Get Back on Disney Plus.
The movie that Arlo movie made called Alice’s Restaurant is a fun watch. My next tradition is coming up with my next post.
Every Thanksgiving I listen to Alice’s Restaurant and this is the fourth year in a row that I’ve posted it on the 4th Thursday of November. Sorry if you are tired of it but it’s not Thanksgiving until Alice’s Restaurant is played…and the Last Waltz is watched also but that is a different story.
It’s not Thanksgiving without listening to this 1967 song. This song did not chart but he did have another version that did chart…it was called Alice’s Rock and Roll Restaurant that peaked at #97 in the Billboard 100.
Many radio stations play this on Thanksgiving. This is usually the only time they play it, since the song is over 18-minutes long.
There have been mixed reviews about the movie that was made…I’ve always found it enjoyable. It’s not going to be confused with Gone With The Wind but it’s a fun period movie.
In 1991, Arlo bought the church where this took place and set up “The Guthrie Center,” where he runs programs for kids who have been abused.
From Songfacts
Running 18 minutes and 34 seconds, this song is based on a true story that happened on Thanksgiving Day, 1965. Arlo was 18, and along with his friend Rick Robbins, drove to Stockbridge, Massachusetts to have Thanksgiving dinner with Alice and Ray Brock. Alice and Ray lived in a church – the former Trinity Church on Division Street in Stockbridge – and were used to inviting people into their home. Arlo and Rick had been traveling together, Arlo working his way up in folk singing and Rick tagging along. A number of people, Arlo and Rick included, were considered members of the family, so they were not guests in the usual sense.
When Ray woke up the next morning, he said to them, “Let’s clean up the church and get all this crap out of here, for God’s sake. This place is a mess,” and Rick said, “Sure.” Arlo and Rick swept up and loaded all the crap into a VW microbus and went out to the dump, which was closed. They started driving around until Arlo remembered a side road in Stockbridge up on Prospect Hill by the Indian Hill Music Camp which he attended one summer, so they drove up there and dumped the garbage.A little later, the phone rang, and it was Stockbridge police chief William J. Obanhein. “I found an envelope with the name Brock on it,” Chief Obanhein said. The truth came out, and soon the boys found themselves in Obanhein’s police car. They went up to Prospect Hill, and Obie took some pictures. On the back, he marked them, “PROSPECT HILL RUBBISH DUMPING FILE UNDER GUTHRIE AND ROBBINS 11/26/65.” He took the kids to jail.The kids went in, pleaded, “Guilty, Your Honor,” was fined $25 each and ordered to retrieve the rubbish. Then they all went back to the church and started to write “Alice’s Restaurant” together. “We were sitting around after dinner and wrote half the song,” Alice recalls, “and the other half, the draft part, Arlo wrote.”
Guthrie, the son of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, greatly exaggerated the part about getting arrested for comic effect. In the song, he is taken away in handcuffs and put in a cell with hardened criminals.
In the song, Guthrie avoids the draft and did not have to serve in Vietnam because of his littering arrest. In reality, he was eligible but wasn’t drafted because his number didn’t come up.
Guthrie performed this song for the first time on July 16, 1967, at the Newport Folk Festival.
This reflected the attitude of many young people in America at the time. It was considered an antiwar song, but unlike most protest songs, it used humor to speak out against authority.
After a while, Guthrie stopped playing this at concerts, claiming he forgot the words. As the song approached its 30th anniversary, he started playing it again.
Guthrie made a movie of the same name in 1969 which was based on the song.
Over the years, Guthrie added different words to the song. He recorded a new, longer version in 1995 at The Guthrie Center
Alice’s Restuarant
This song is called Alice’s Restaurant, and it’s about Alice, and the Restaurant, but Alice’s Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, That’s just the name of the song, and that’s why I called the song Alice’s Restaurant.
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant Walk right in it’s around the back Just a half a mile from the railroad track You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant
Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on – two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the Restaurant, but Alice doesn’t live in the restaurant, she lives in the Church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog. And livin’ in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of Room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin’ all that room, Seein’ as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn’t Have to take out their garbage for a long time.
We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it’d be A friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So We took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red vw Microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed On toward the city dump.
Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the Dump saying, “Closed on Thanksgiving.” And we had never heard of a dump Closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off Into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.
We didn’t find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the Side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the Cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile Is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we Decided to throw our’s down.
That’s what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving Dinner that couldn’t be beat, went to sleep and didn’t get up until the Next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, “Kid, We found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of Garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it. ” And I said, “Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope Under that garbage. ”
After speaking to Obie for about forty-five minutes on the telephone we Finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down And pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the Police officer’s station. So we got in the red vw microbus with the Shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the Police officer’s station.
Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at The police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for Being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn’t very likely, and We didn’t expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out And told us never to be seen driving garbage around the vicinity again, Which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer’s station There was a third possibility that we hadn’t even counted upon, and we was Both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said “Obie, I don’t think I Can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on. ” He said, “Shut up, kid. Get in the back of the patrol car. ”
And that’s what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the Quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop Signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars, Being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to Get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of Cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer’s station. They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and They took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles And arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each One was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach, The getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that’s not to Mention the aerial photography.
After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put Us in the cell. Said, “Kid, I’m going to put you in the cell, I want your Wallet and your belt. ” And I said, “Obie, I can understand you wanting my Wallet so I don’t have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you Want my belt for? ” And he said, “Kid, we don’t want any hangings. ” I Said, “Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?” Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the Toilet seat so I couldn’t hit myself over the head and drown, and he took Out the toilet paper so I couldn’t bend the bars roll out the – roll the Toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie Was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice (remember Alice? It’s a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few Nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back To the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat, And didn’t get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.
We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten Colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back Of each one, sat down. Man came in said, “All rise.” We all stood up, And Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy Pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he Sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the Twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows And a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog. And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles And arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry, ’cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American Blind justice, and there wasn’t nothing he could do about it, and the Judge wasn’t going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy Pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each One explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And We was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but that’s not What I came to tell you about.
Came to talk about the draft.
They got a building down New York City, it’s called Whitehall Street, Where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, Neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one Day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. ‘Cause I wanted to Look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted To feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York, And I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all Kinds o’ mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave Me a piece of paper, said, “Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604.”
And I went up there, I said, “Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I Wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and Guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, Kill, kill. ” And I started jumping up and down yelling, “kill, kill, ” and He started jumping up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down Yelling, “KILL, KILL.” And the Sargent came over, pinned a medal on me, Sent me down the hall, said, “You’re our boy.”
Didn’t feel too good about it.
Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections, Detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin’ to me At the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four Hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty Ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was Inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no Part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the Last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there, And I walked up and said, “What do you want?” He said, “Kid, we only got One question. Have you ever been arrested? ”
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice’s Restaurant Massacre, With full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all The phenome… – and he stopped me right there and said, “Kid, did you ever Go to court? ”
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten Colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on The back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, “Kid, I want You to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W…. Now kid!! ”
And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W’s Where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after Committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly Looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father Rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And They was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the Bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest Father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean ‘n’ ugly ‘n’ nasty ‘n’ horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me And said, “Kid, whad’ya get?” I said, “I didn’t get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage. ” He said, “What were you arrested for, kid? ” And I said, “Littering.” And they all moved away from me on the bench There, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I Said, “And creating a nuisance.” And they all came back, shook my hand, And we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing, Father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the Bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of Things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it Up and said.
“Kids, this-piece-of-paper’s-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna- Know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing- You-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting- Officer’s-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say”, and talked for Forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had Fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there, And I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony and wrote it Down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the Pencil and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the Other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on The other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the Following words:
(“KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?”)
I went over to the Sargent, said, “Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to Ask me if I’ve rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I’m Sittin’ here on the bench, I mean I’m sitting here on the Group W bench ’cause you want to know if I’m moral enough join the army, burn women, Kids, houses and villages after bein’ a litterbug. ” He looked at me and Said, “Kid, we don’t like your kind, and we’re gonna send you fingerprints Off to Washington. ”
And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I’m singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a situation like that there’s only one thing you can do and that’s walk into The shrink wherever you are, just walk in say “Shrink, You can get Anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant. “. And walk out. You know, if One person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and They won’t take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, They may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in Singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. They may think it’s an Organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said Fifty people a day walking in singing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and Walking out. And friends they may think it’s a movement.
And that’s what it is, the Alice’s Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and All you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the Guitar.
With feeling. So we’ll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and Sing it when it does. Here it comes.
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant Walk right in it’s around the back Just a half a mile from the railroad track You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud. I’ve been singing this song now for twenty-five minutes. I could sing it For another twenty-five minutes. I’m not proud… Or tired.
So we’ll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part Harmony and feeling.
We’re just waitin’ for it to come around is what we’re doing.
All right now.
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant Excepting Alice You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant Walk right in it’s around the back Just a half a mile from the railroad track You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. This first premiered on November 20, 1973, on CBS and won an Emmy Award. Great Thanksgiving special as always with the earlier Peanuts.
The Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Peanuts specials I always looked forward to. The way their world was only for kids where grownups were heard but only as noise in the background.
It starts off with Lucy tempting Charlie Brown with that football. Just one time I wanted to see Charlie kick the football…or Lucy.
It’s Thanksgiving and Peppermint Patty invites herself and Marcie over to Charlie Brown’s house but Charlie and Sally are ready to go to their grandmothers. Charlie talks to Linus and he suggests having two Thanksgiving dinners.
The only thing Charlie can come up with is feeding his friends toast and cold cereal which does not make Peppermint Patty happy whatsoever. She lets Charlie have it really bad until Marcie reminds her that she invited herself over.
Not going to give it away for those who have not seen this wonderful holiday cartoon. The music by Vince Guaraldi is excellent and makes every Peanuts cartoon special.
The song was written by Jerry Ragovoy and Chip Taylor. Chip Taylor is famous for writing Wild Thing.
Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)” is the opening track on I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
That was Janis’s debut solo studio album and it was released on September 11, 1969. It was the first album which Joplin recorded after leaving her former band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. This would be the only solo album released in her lifetime. Pearl came out in January 1971 three months after her death on October 4, 1970.
This song charted in Canada at #89 in 1969. The album peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts and #4 in Canada in 1969.
She got good reviews for the album partly because she wasn’t trying to out shout the loud Big Brother and The Holding Company…although I did like Big Brother…without them she might not have made it.
Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
Try, try, try just a little bit harder So I can love, love, love him, I tell myself ‘Cause I’m gonna try, oh yeah, just a little bit harder So I won’t lose, lose, lose him to nobody else, yeah Hey, I don’t care how long it’s gonna take ya But if it’s a dream I don’t want No I don’t really want it Yeah if it’s a dream I don’t want nobody to wake me
Yeah I’m gonna try, oh yeah, just a little bit harder So I can give, give, give, give him every bit of my soul I’m gonna try, oh yeah, just a little bit harder So I can show, show, show him love with no control, yeah Hey! I don’t care how long it’s gonna take ya But if it’s a dream I don’t want No I don’t really want it Yeah if it’s a dream I don’t want nobody to wake me Hey, dig it! Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right
Try oh yeah, hey, try oh yeah, Lord, Lord, Lord Try oh yeah, try oh yeah, Lord, Lord, Lord Try oh yeah yeah, try, whoa, try oh yeah, Lord, Lord, Lord, Push, work, push, work, oh yeah, try, oh yeah hey! Try oh yeah, hey try oh yeah Try Lord, try, try, you ain’t trying man You’re not trying out man, come up with it Come on, that’s a wanker that listens to words, man Hey you gotta work all night Hey little girl, gotta push on You gotta need Work a little more, hey, try a little more Need a little more Yeah, work on, push on, move on, move on You gotta work for it, you gotta work on it Push on, need on, move on Move on, hey hey hey
Work it daddy Work it daddy Come on, work it daddy, oh Yeah, yeah, you better try, try, try, try a little more You ain’t never gonna get any man if that’s the sort of thing you can do Shit, there’s lot more talent around than that man Try, try, try, try try try You’ve gotta try, try, try, try Try, try, try, try, try, try… You gotta try, try, try, try… Lord, try, try, try, try Lord, try, try, try, try Hey, try, try, try, try
My thanks to Cincinnati Babyhead (CB to be short) turned me on to this song. The guitar hooked me right away. The song has turned into a cult favorite.
Relentless came from the 1981 cult movie soundtrack Loveless staring Willem Dafoe. Eddy is not an easy guy to pin down to say the least. He has been an actor playing “Rock a Billy Guy” in the 1988 David Lynch TV Mini Series The French As Seen By… and the 1990 film Wild At Heart playing Rex. Dixon has also has been a musician playing rockabilly in New York clubs. He has been called a pioneer of the 1970s rockabilly movement in New York City.
Eddy has also performed out as Eddy Dixon and the the Dixonettes.
In the sixties Eddy was an art student who worked on some John Waters films. Later on he was friends with Willem Dafoe and he introduced Eddy to David Lynch. Eddy really ran the gamut working with Waters and Lynch.
I’ll let Eddy take over from here.
Eddy Dixon on music:1957. I was 7 years old and my best friend’s parents bought him a Fender Stratocaster. I would hang out at his house and started playing it and it just progressed from there. I went through the Dylan era and the folk era and the British Invasion era. I was playing in bands through the 60s with crazy names like The In Sex, then I got way heavy into country music towards the end of the 60s. Then in the 70s I moved to New York and started my own rockabilly band. I left Baltimore with 50 bucks, a trashbag full of clothes and a $20 guitar. I started doing all the showcases down on Bleeker Street and started hooking up with the real players, turned professional and started playing Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs.
Eddy Dixon on acting: I started off with John Waters back when I was a teenager in the late 60s. I did 5 John Waters films. He’s great – he’s very professional and knows what he wants. When I started, he was starting out and we were all art students in Baltimore living in a block in Bolton Hill. It was the most exclusive neighborhood in Baltimore at the turn of the century, but by this point everything was all run down. There were huge townhouses, gorgeous – 20-foot ceilings, marble fireplaces, mirrors from the floors to the ceilings – and they just sectioned them off and were renting them to the students. Some law firm bought up the whole block and kicked us all out. So we moved down to the docks, where we rented this 27-room double house with a courtyard – the whole deal for about $100 a month. One day my brother brought John Waters down – I think he met him at a party. So every Sunday we would pile into the Volkswagen, go out into the woods and film and that’s how it all started. My brother to this day still does all his sets. I did a Superfly sequel – I don’t know if it ever came out or not. The working title was ‘Don’t Call Me Boy’ and when they finished it they called it ‘The Hitter’. I did Run DMC’s movie – I played a cop in that.
“That beginning – ‘we-e-e-e-e-l-l-l-l-l!’ – always made my hair stand on end.” John Lennon
Can this rock and roll possibly be improved on? I don’t think so. When Gene Vincent starts this song with “well” along with that echo all around…it’s magical. Since Friday, I’ve covered songs that helped shape the young Beatles. It wasn’t just the Beatles but all of the bands that came out in the sixties had music like this as their backbone.
The Beatles played at least 14 of Gene Vincent’s songs in their sets before they made it. A song like Somewhere Over The Rainbow that the Beatles would never think of covering until Gene Vincent covered it and gave the song his ok.
They also got to know Vincent in Germany while playing in Hamburg.
This song was recorded by Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps in 1956. The song was successful on three American singles charts as it peaked at #7 on the US Billboard pop music chart, #8 on the R&B chart, and also made the top ten on the C&W Charts, and #16 in the UK in 1956. In April 1957, the record company announced that over 2 million copies had been sold to date.
As far as the origin of the song…I reblogged a fellow blogger (Freefallin’) a couple of years ago with this song. Here is the story: Donald Graves—a buddy Gene Vincent made in a Portsmouth, Virginia, Veteran’s Hospital. Vincent—born Vincent Eugene Craddock in 1935—had just reenlisted in the U.S. Navy in the spring of 1955 when he suffered a devastating leg injury in a motorcycle accident. That injury would land him in hospital for more than a year, where a fellow patient remembers Vincent and Graves tooling around the facility working out the song that would eventually become a classic. By the time Gene Vincent’s demo tape reached Capitol Records the following spring, however, Graves had been bought out of his share in “Be-Bop-A-Lula” by Sheriff Tex (Vincent’s business manager), reportedly for just $25.
John Lennon covered it on his 1975 Rock and Roll album. As much as I’m a fan of Lennon…nothing touches the original but he does a great job.
Be Bop A Lula
Well be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby Be-bop-a-Lula I don’t mean maybe Be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby Be-bop-a-Lula I don’t mean maybe Be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby doll My baby doll, my baby doll
Well she’s the girl in the red blue jeans She’s the queen of all the teens She’s the one that I know She’s the woman that loves me so
Say be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby Be-bop-a-Lula I don’t mean maybe Be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby doll My baby doll, my baby doll Let’s rock!
Well now she’s the one that’s got that beat She’s the woman with the flyin’ feet She’s the one that walks around the store She’s the one that gets more more more
Be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby Be-bop-a-Lula I don’t mean maybe Be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby doll My baby doll, my baby doll Let’s rock again, now!
Well be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby Be-bop-a-Lula I don’t mean maybe Be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby Be-bop-a-Lula I don’t mean maybe Be-bop-a-Lula she’s my baby doll My baby doll, my baby doll
This is one of those songs where I could listen to it on a loop and be happy. Ray Charles wrote this song with a gospel feel to it. It was released in 1956 and it peaked at #5 in the R&B charts.
He went to a state school for the blind in St. Augustine, Florida. He became a professional musician after leaving there in 1945, after the death of his mother. A piece of advice that Ray’s mother gave to him: “You’re blind, not stupid.”
He moved to Seattle because it was the farthest, he could get from Florida. Jack Lauderdale, one of the first black record label owners, signed Charles to the Downbeat label, for whom Charles had his first hit in 1949, Confession Blues. The recording session for it was noteworthy for another reason…Charles recorded it while there was a musicians’ strike. The union fined him $600, his life savings at that point for the infraction.
Charles’ recording contract was sold to Atlantic Records in 1952, shortly after he moved to LA. He formed his own band in 1954 and started to release records.
This song was in the Quarrymen and early Beatles repertoire and a big influence. The first time I heard this song was on the Live! at the Star Club 1962 album released in 1977. The album was recorded in 1962 in the audience by “King Size” Taylor, lead singer of the Dominos. He claims he asked Lennon if that was alright and John verbally agreed to the group being recorded in exchange for Taylor providing the beer during their performances. It was recorded on a low-grade reel to reel in the audience. The Beatles tried to block the release but were unsuccessful. I for one am glad it wasn’t blocked.
It shows how raw they were in the early days. This was recorded right after The Beatles sacked Pete Best and Ringo was brought in.
The lead singer on the Beatles version was that famous Beatle named Horst Fascher. Actually, Horst was a protector of the band and the only favor he asked was to occasionally sing a song. Fascher meant a lot to the Beatles and he worked at the Hamburg clubs they played in.
According to Mark Lewisohn (author of Tune In)… Hamburg was very important to the Beatles. In their first trip to Hamburg, they accumulated around 415 hours of stage time. The Beatles had to be the most experienced rock group in the world, not just Liverpool. When they got back to Liverpool people were amazed and they were the number 1 band in their hometown from then on.
Eddie Cochran and George Jones made chart versions of this song.
Hallelujah I Love Her So
Let me tell you ’bout a boy (girl) I know He(She) is my baby and he (she) lives next door Ev’ry morning ‘fore the sun come up He (she) brings my coffee in my fav’rite cup That’s why I know, yes, I know Hallelujah, I just love him (her) so When I’m in trouble and I have no friends I know hel’ll (she’ll) go with me until the end Ev’rybody asks me how I know I smile at them and say he (she) told me so That’s why I know, yes, I know Hallelujah, I just love him (her) so
Now if I call him (her) on the telephone And tell him (her) that I’m all alone By the time I count from one to four,I hear him (her) on my door In the evening when the sun goes down When there is nobody else around He (she) kisses me and he (she) holds me tight He (And) tells me “Baby, (Daddy) ev’ry thing’s all right” That’s why I know, yes, I know Hallelujah, I just love him (her) so
This weekend will lean toward the 1950’s…we start it off with this instrumental.
Back in 1950s Liverpool a young John, Paul, and George were riding on a bus and Paul was trying to get George Harrison in the Quarrymen. George was much younger and John had his doubts about letting the kid join. Paul asked young George to get his guitar out and play the instrumental Rauncy right there on the bus. John was impressed and the rest…as they say is history.
This was originally called “Backwards.” Justis changed the title when he heard someone enjoying the tune say that it was “raunchy,” which meant “messy” or “dirty” in ’50s teenage slang.
The song was written by Bill Justis and Sidney Manker who played that riff on the song.
Justis landed a job as musical director at Sun Records, run by Sam Phillips. During his time there, he arranged music for acts like Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Charlie Rich. Meanwhile, he got the idea to record his own rock ‘n roll tune and enlisted some jazzmen and rock ‘n roll players for the session that produced “Raunchy.” When the sax player he hired fell ill, Justis stepped in. Although he’d long ago traded his trumpet for sax, he hadn’t played the instrument for a while, which resulted in a distinctive off tone that set the original instrumental apart from its many covers.
This instrumental peaked at #2 in the US Hot 100, #1 in the R&B Charts, and #6 in the Country Charts.
Bill Justis:“I read about how much money he had made out of rock ‘n roll so I said, ‘That’s for me!'” “So, I immediately set out for a record store and bought $80 worth of the all-time rock ‘n roll hits. I studied the stuff and found it was so simple, yet basic and savage, that it was difficult to perform.”
From Songfacts
Ernie Freeman covered this. It was a reversal of the usual process as Freeman was black and Justis was white. Freeman’s version hit #4 while Justis’ hit #2. Although both did extensive session work, “Raunchy” remains each act’s sole Top 40 hit.
George Harrison played this on his guitar for John Lennon when he was auditioning to be a member of The Quarrymen.
While working for his father’s roofing business in his native Memphis, Justis made the rounds in local dance bands as a trumpet player. When the office’s closing left him without a job, Justis decided to pursue music full time as an arranger. An article about Buck Ram, a prolific songwriter and producer who was integral in the vocal group scene of the ’50s, turned him on to rock ‘n roll.
Justis and Freeman weren’t the only performers to have a hit with “Raunchy” in 1957. Billy Vaughn also released a version that went to #10. Several other acts covered the tune, including Santo & Johnny, The Ventures, Duane Eddy, Scotty Moore, Alex Chilton, and Booker T. & The M.G.’s, among others.
Justis recorded this two more times: in 1962 for the album Bill Justis Plays 12 More Big Instrumental Hits and in 1969 for the album Raunchy & Other Great Instrumentals.
This was used in the movies The Loveless (1981), Great Balls Of Fire! (1989), Nowhere Boy (2009), and Camp X-Ray (2014).
I want to thank Hans for hosting this draft and having me as one of the participants. Thanks everyone for the great songs. A Beatles song had to be in play in the draft for me. I didn’t pick my favorite Beatles song, but one that scared the hell out of me as a kid. This song gave me the creeps because it was so loud. That was before I saw the Manson TV movie.
Now, the sheer energy of it gets me every time. In 1964 they gave us I Want To Hold Your Hand and four years later we hear Helter Skelter…that is growing and versatility. This song was by the band I most admire and it was influenced by another band I admire…The Who…sort of.
The origin of the song…I’ll turn it over to Paul: “I was in Scotland and I read in Melody Maker that Pete Townshend had said: ‘We’ve just made the raunchiest, loudest, most ridiculous rock’n’roll record you’ve ever heard.’ I never actually found out what track it was that The Who had made, but that got me going, just hearing him talk about it. So I said to the guys, ‘I think we should do a song like that; something really wild.’ And I wrote ‘Helter Skelter.’”
The track that Townshend was talking is thought to be I Can See For Miles. Paul took the description and ran with it. Paul and George played the guitars while John played a six string bass…Mr blisters on his fingers played drums.
I’ve played this song at the different places I’ve worked (on cassette and computer) and I get inquiries…who is that? When I tell them who…they don’t believe me at first. A reply that I have got is… no that is NOT The Beatles…that is just not them. This is why I love the Beatles. They covered genres well.
The song has picked up evil vibes along the way because of Manson grabbing the title for his awful deeds. Some have said it was the first Heavy Metal song, but I don’t hear that. I do think it was a cog in the machine and influenced the harder bands though.
I’ve heard so many bands try to cover this song…even down to heavier bands and none match the intensity and energy of this recording. The secret is the punk rawness with it’s jagged edges showing. The only cover I like is U2’s live version on Rattle and Hum because it helped the song regain it’s reputation back and take it from Manson’s grasp to a then modern audience.
I’ve played this song with a band a few times and that little riff is so powerful and so much fun to play. I told the rest of the band…no distortion boxes…no processing…just pure loud overdrive (turn it up to 11 and beyond)…and it works.
The White Album…another reason I love it…you have Blackbird, Rocky Racoon, Dear Prudence, and Helter Skelter on the same album. The album is the very definition of eclectic.
Thank you all again for the songs.
Helter Skelter
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride Till I get to the bottom and I see you again
Do, don’t you want me to love you I’m coming down fast but I’m miles above you Tell me, tell me, tell me, come on tell me the answer Well, you may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer
Helter skelter, helter skelter Helter skelter
Will you, won’t you want me to make you I’m coming down fast but don’t let me break you Tell me, tell me, tell me the answer You may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer
Look out Helter skelter, helter skelter Helter skelter Look out, ’cause here she comes
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide And I stop and I turn and I go for a ride And I get to the bottom and I see you again, yeah, yeah
Well do you, don’t you want me to make you I’m coming down fast but don’t let me break you Tell me, tell me, tell me your answer You may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer
Look out Helter skelter, helter skelter Helter skelter
Look out, helter skelter She’s coming down fast Yes, she is Yes, she is Coming down fast
This was a song off of the Discovery album released in 1979. I got this album from Columbia House. When I recieved the album this song first caught my attention because of the name and the song lived up to it.
This was recorded at the Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. Jeff Lynne sang the lead vocals, played lead and rhythm guitar, the piano and the synthesizer.
Jeff stream lined ELO. He started by trimming the lineup to a foursome also featuring drummer Bev Bevan, keyboardist Richard Tandy and bassist Kelly Groucutt. Discovery became the first ELO project without an orchestral component.
ELO engineer Reinhold Mack suggested doing away with the choirs and strings that the production usually had. Jeff Lynn aso started to listen to the Bee Gee’s production and Voilà … ELO were venturing into disco.
The Diary of Horrace Wimp peaked at #8 in the UK Charts in 1979. The Album Discovery peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in Canada, #1 in the UK, and #2 in New Zealand.
Jeff Lynne:“I just lost my way, totally,””In the beginning, ELO was supposed to be very avant-garde, very off the wall. And then, once I started having hits, it drifted from that. Suddenly, the record companies and managers were clamoring for hits. And I tried to cater to the fuckers. And it grew into this monstrous thing that I didn’t want. I got to feel trapped, and I didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. It was a fuckin’ drag.”
Jeff Lynne:“Having a 30-piece string section was fine for the first three times, albums-wise,” Lynne told the Quietus in 2015. “I’d be going, ‘Oh great! Strings today!’ But after that, it became, ‘Oh, strings today. So fed up with these fucking strings.'”
The Diary of Horace Wimp
Late again today, he’d be in trouble though he’d say he was sorry, he’d have to hurry out to the bus
Horace was so sad, he’d never had a girl that he could care for, and if he was late once more, he’d be out
Don’t be afraid, just knock on the door, Well he just stood there mumblin and fumblin’ Then a voice from above said- Horace wimp,this is your life, Go out and find yourself a wife, Make a stand and be a man, And you will have a great life plan
Horace met a girl, she was small and she was very pretty, he thought he was in love, he was afraid
Asks her for a date, the café dowm the street tomorrow evening, his head was reeling, when she said Yes, O K
Don’t be afraid, just knock on the door, Well he just stood there mumblin’ and fumblin’ Then a voice from above said- Horace wimp,this is your life, Go out and find yourself a wife, Make a stand and be a man, And you will have a great life plan
Horace, this is it, he asks the girl if maybe they could marry, when she says gladly, Horace cries
Everybody’s at the church, when Horace rushes in and says Now here comes my wife,for the rest of my life, and she did
Don’t be afraid, just knock on the door, Well he just stood there mumblin and fumblin’ Then a voice from above said- Horace wimp,this is your life, Go out and find yourself a wife, Make a stand and be a man, And you will have a great life plan
I first heard Webb Wilder in the late eighties with songs Poolside and Human Canon Ball. He looked and sounded different right away.
Webb Wilder looks like he dropped out of a 50’s black and white detective show. By 1991 I was walking through a street fair in Nashville and there he was playing with his band. He had just released an album called Doodad that got some local and national airplay. His music is a mixture of rock/country/rockabilly/punk and anything else he can throw in…including the kitchen sink.
He has described his music as “Swampadelic”, “Service-station attendant music”, “Uneasy listening”, “Psychobilly”…they all fit.
I purchased the Doodad album and this song is what I zero’d in on. The hit off the album was Tough It out which peaked at #16 on the Mainstream Charts. It included guest appearances by Al Kooper and Sonny Landreth.
The guitar riff is instantly catchy and the first verse was about losing your house/land in a poker game. A great story telling song.
Wilder got some MTV exposure with Human Canon Ball and a lot of local play with a song caled Poolside. He is a fantastic performer to catch live. He has been an actor, disc jokey, and a great artist…a true original.
The two videos are the same version…some were getting video not found.
Meet Your New Landlord
Neon lights don’t never dim
In the kind of bars that never close
In a back room game T. Jim yells
“Saint Gabriel, I’m gonna steal the show.”
He slapped his cards down on the table
Said, “Boys, i got me a winning hand.”
But the sight that made old T. Jim tremble
Was the king that took his land
Mister, meet your new landlord
Heard you knockin’ upon my door
Mister, meet your new landlord
Plenty of room down on the floor
With a ticket burning in his hand
And the tip still ringing in his ear
Big Pete bet his whole life savings
As the race was drawing near
A shot was fired
The gates flew open
The years streaked right before his eyes
Too bad they were riding on a saddle
From the moment of ill advice
Mister, meet your new landlord
I heard you knockin’ upon my door
Mister, meet your new landlord
Plenty of room down on the floor
Other names and other places
Different rules but it’s all the same
Cause if that bug ever b***s you
The scar will bear you shame
Hey listen, son, you know you’re in trouble
When you wake up one morning in a daze
And as you peer into the mirror
The face leaning over says
Mister, meet your new landlord
I heard you knockin’ upon my door
Mister, meet your new landlord
Got plenty of room down on the floor
Mister, meet your new landlord
I heard you knockin’ upon my door
Mister, meet your new landlord
Plenty of room down on the floor
Lay Me Down was written by Pete Ham and is a wonderful pop/rock song. Another song that slipped through the cracks…I’ve heard Teenage Fanclub cover this one and I’ve liked it as well as their known hits. I want to thank everyone who stuck with me through four Badfinger songs since Thursday.
The song was on the album Head First. Joey Molland had just quit and was replaced by Bob Jackson.
Badfinger’s management replaced Chris Thomas as producer because he didn’t think they should make an album so soon (6 months) after their last album Wish You Were Here. The band felt the same but they had no control… Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise was picked to produce them, Wise had just become successful by producing KISS.
They recorded Head First in December 1974 – January 1975 after Wish You Were Here with new member Bob Jackson. While recording the album Warner Brothers wanted to know where thousands of dollars went to that disappeared from an escrow account (in the managers pocket).
WB’s sought to attach the royalties due from their previous album Wish You Were Here. Consequently, WB suspended sales of Wish You Were Here.
Although the master tapes of Head First were delivered to and accepted by WB’s recording division in Los Angeles, WB’s publishing arm there refused to accept them because of the lawsuit. With a lack of publishing protection, the record division shelved the tapes and the album was not released.
The album was stuck in limbo for 26 years. It wasn’t released until 2000. I went out and bought this the day it was released at Tower Records. On a couple of songs, Hey Mr Manager and Rock and Roll Contract, they are taking aim at their management and frustration. The songs that stand out to me are Lay Me Down, Hey Mr. Manager, Rock N’ Roll Contract, and Keep Believing. A good album and I wish it would have had a chance at the time it was recorded.
This song would have had a chance to chart.
This would be the last album released by Badfinger with Pete Ham. He would die 3 months after they finished the album. Tom Evans and Joey Molland would revive Badfinger in the late seventies and release two albums. They did have two minor hits.
Lay Me Down
Need your loving Need your loving Need your loving It’s everything to me
Need your loving Need your loving Need your loving It’s everything to me
Take me high take me low Show me anything that you know But tonight little lover lay me down Make me laugh make me sigh tell me how and tell me why But tonight lover little lay me down
Lay me down move me round Let me hear your loving sound In our mess we are blessed with our love Take and give take and live all the love that we have found And just send all our problems away
Play me fun play me sad Tell me things that could make you glad But tonight lover little Lay me down Lay me down Need you loving
Play to share play to care You can play with me anywhere But tonight lover little lay me down But tonight lover little lover lay me down Lay me down Need your loving
This song was on their Straight Up album but it’s when they were live it came alive. They have a terrific groove going on and Pete wails on the solo. This was Badfinger live as they ventured out of power pop into a jam band. The live version of the band is much different than the studio version.
This song was going to be the B side to Name of the Game issued as a single but Apple never released it. The song has a power pop base but with hard electric on top and it changes the dynmaic of it.
Making the Straight Up album was no easy task. They started off with Geoff Emerick (he produced their last album and engineered several Beatle albums) producing them. The songs were rejected by the Apple’s head of US operations Allan Steckler. George Harrison thought a lot of Badfinger, especially Pete Ham and wanted Name of the Game to be released as a single before the album. George then started to produce the band himself. He worked with them and they started to make progress. He played slide with Pete on the hit Day After Day and Leon Russell played piano.
They were making great progress but then the Bangladesh concert came up and George was distracted. He handed off the producing to Todd Rundgren. The band and Rundgren didn’t mix well but he finished producing it in two weeks. The members were much happier with George who actually listened to their ideas.
It was a great album but one of the complaints from the band was it lost a lot of rawness and energy after Rundgren mixed it.
Going through three producers…it’s a wonder it’s as good as it is.
The Studio version is the second video but I would reccomend the live version…and I don’t do that a lot.
Suitcase
Suitcase, suitcase, follow me ’round Bootlace, bootlace, tie me down Money for fun, yeah, golden crown It’s all inside a game we’ve been playing for so long
Driver, driver, go too fast Miser, miser, make it last Pusher, pusher, on the run It’s all inside a game we’ve been playing for so long
And I’m sorry to be leavin’ Yeah, that’s all I get to say ‘Cause I’m sorry to be leavin’ today
[guitar solo (Pete Ham)]
Well I’m sorry to be leavin’ But that’s all I get to say ‘Cause I’m sorry to be leaving today
(Driver drive)
Driver, driver, go too fast Miser, miser, make it last Pusher, pusher, on the run It’s all inside a game we’ve been playing so long
The song was written by Pete Ham, produced by Chris Thomas and Badfinger, and released on Apple Records in 1973.
The song is about Pete Ham having regrets leaving Apple Records where the Beatles signed them but Stan Polley (the manager) was pursuing a larger contract by moving to Warner Bros. Records. This is where Badfinger started their slide into hell. The album cover was about being led away from Apple.
Warner Bros offered them a huge contract. As it turned out they would never see the Warner Bros money as Polley took it out of escrow without telling the band. In the next few posts and little more info on this will be given.
The reason Polley wanted the band to leave Apple Records is because he could control everything with a new contract with Warners. He started to take all of the Apple royalities as well until the members stopped Apple from giving it to him. After that no one got the money (Apple held the money waiting for the courts to decide) and the band members were broke. It was held up in litigation until 1985 when some of the money was distributed.
The song peaked at #102 in the Hot 100 in 1973. Apple didn’t do a good job pushing this album because they knew Badfinger was leaving. This song ended up being the last non-ex-Beatles release on Apple Records.
In 1985 the band and family members finally got their money that had been tied up from Apple because of the lawsuits with Warners…all caused by a ruthless manager who really never got punished for his deeds and lived to be 87.
A movie was going to be made of their story…and still might be one day.
Apple Of My Eye
Oh, I’m sorry, but it’s time to move away Though inside my heart, I really want to stay Believe the love we have is so sincere You know, the gift you have will always be
You’re the apple of my eye You’re the apple of my heart But now, the time has come to part
Oh, I’m sorry, but it’s time to make a stand Though we never meant to bite the lovin’ hand And now, the time has come to walk alone We were the children, now we’ve overgrown
You’re the apple of my eye You’re the apple of my heart But now, the time has come to part
Oh, I’m sorry, but it’s time to move away Though inside my heart, I really want to stay Believe the love we have is so sincere You know, the gift you have will always be
Now, the time has come to part Now, the time has come to part.
Ever since I wrote about Baby Blue by Badfinger for Hanspostcard’s draft…I have been listening to them again and I wrote up a few posts so I thought I would make a weekend of it…so lets start the weekend a little early!
Most everyone knows this song by Harry Nilsson and some by Mariah Carey. Harry to me has the definitive version but Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger wrote it as a simple blues song. They never dreamed it would be turned around into an epic song.
The song was originally on the No Dice album released in 1970. The album peaked at #28 in the Billboard 100. The album spawned the hit No Matter What that peaked at #8 in 1970.
Without you was not released as a single and it wasn’t meant to be. Pete and Tom put together two songs they were writing… Pete’s in the verses and Tom’s chorus. They always thought of it as a little blues song that was an album cut.
Badfinger were in the studio one night and Nilsson called them over to listen to what he had recorded. They had no clue he was recording their song…when they heard Harry’s version it blew them away. Over 180 artists have recorded the song since then. The band didn’t start getting royalities from this song or much of anything else until `1985 when the court case was settled. Their former manager tried to get his hands on it then but wasn’t successful. The two families of Ham and Evans…received some of the money for the late songwriters.
You can’t really compare the versions. Badfinger never meant it to be commercial sounding and who could sing like Harry Nilsson?
In a way…this song sums up Badfinger perfectly.
Without You
Well, I can’t forget this evening And your face when you were leaving But I guess that’s just the way the story goes You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows Yes, it shows
Well, I can’t forget tomorrow When I think of all my sorrow I had you there, but then I let you go And now it’s only fair that I should let you know What you should know
I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give any more I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore
Well, I can’t forget this evening And your face when you were leaving But I guess that’s just the way the story goes You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows Yes, it shows
Oh
I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give any more I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore
I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give any more I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore
I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give any more I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore
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