Shake the hand that shook the hand of P.T. Barnum and Charlie Chan
I love that line. This song has a cool simple guitar riff that starts it off into the Grateful Dead’s familiar shuffle beat. It’s a song that is commercial sounding and I don’t understand why it didn’t dent the charts. It’s a straight ahead rocker that has a great hook.
The song was released as a single with “Loose Lucy” as the B-side in 1974. It was on the album From The Mars Hotel. The album did peak at #16 in the Billboard Album Charts.
“U.S. Blues” grew out of a 1972 Grateful Dead song “One More Saturday Night.” Robert Hunter, the Dead’s lyricist wrote the words and Jerry Garcia wrote the music. They had a great writing partnership.
The song changed a lot through Hunter’s many rewrites. At some points it was a forceful anti-military song, but the final result isn’t so serious. It’s a fun song that the Dead frequently played live.
P.T. Barnum and Charlie Chan are mentioned in the lyric.
P.T. Barnum – (1810-1891), showman, author. Born in Connecticut, Barnum began his career as showman in 1835 when he bought and exhibited slave who claimed to be 161 years old and the nurse of George Washington. Seven years later he opened his American Museum, in New York City, exhibiting the Fiji Mermaid (half monkey, half fish), General Tom Thumb (a midget less than three feet tall), and the original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng. He also arranged the American tour of Jenny Lind, known as the Swedish Nightingale. After serving as mayor of Bridgeport and as a member of the Connecticut legislature, he organized “The Greatest Show on Earth,” a circus that opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1871. A merger in 1881 created Barnum and Bailey’s.”
Charlie Chan – He is a fictional character…a pudgy, wise, smiling Chinese detective living in Hawaii who appears in a number of stores by Earl Derr Diggers. Chan has a large and constantly growing family–a son in the latter tales begins to learn the sleuthing business from his father–and Charlie is given to philosophical reflections, many of them supposedly culled from Chinese sages. … Chan first appeared in The House Without a Key (1925), later in other novels, in the movies, and in many radio sketches.”
From Songfacts
Dead co-founder Bob Weir told Dupree’s Diamond News in their 18th issue (May 1991) that the song wasn’t meant to be favorable of Uncle Sam and American culture. “We have our pantheon, and one of the figures in the pantheon is Uncle Sam. He’s sort of like the godfather figure of American culture. So we actually have a fair bit of respect for him. And he comes around in different guises, you know – in our little region, he comes around as a skeleton, but he’s still wearing the same hat.”
“Uncle Sam,” who appears in the line, “I’m Uncle Sam, how do you do?” refers to a mythological character representing the United States government. The character first arose during the war of 1812. Uncle Sam appears in many contexts of varying seriousness, but one of the most consistent is as a military recruiter. During World War II it was common to see posters with Uncle Sam’s visage and the words “I Want You for U.S. Army.”
The lyric “blue suede shoes” in the first line refers to the song of the same name.
US Blues
Red and white, blue suede shoes, I’m Uncle Sam, how do you do? Gimme five, I’m still alive, ain’t no luck, I learned to duck. Check my pulse, it don’t change. Stay seventy-two come shine or rain. Wave the flag, pop the bag, rock the boat, skin the goat. Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my. I’m Uncle Sam, that’s who I am; Been hidin’ out in a rock and roll band. Shake the hand that shook the hand of P.T. Barnum and Charlie Chan. Shine your shoes, light your fuse. Can you use them ol’ U.S. Blues? I’ll drink your health, share your wealth, run your life, steal your wife. Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my. Back to back chicken shack. Son of a gun, better change your act. We’re all confused, what’s to lose? You can call this all the United States Blues. Wave that flag, wave it wide and high. Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my.
The song was credited to Keith Moon, Towser and Jason; the latter two “composers” being Pete Townshend and John Entwistle’s actual pet dogs.
I know this instrumental mostly for the drumming..and for vocals by…you guessed it… Towser and Jason…Pete and John’s dogs. This was the B side to Pinball Wizard in some countries. When they flipped the single about the deaf, dumb, and blind kid…they would hear this odd instrumental.
I found an a few Neil Peart questions answers and I thought I would post it along with this song.
Neil Peart: I told you what a big Who fan I was. When that song first started, I didn’t recognize it. It’s been probably 20 years since I’ve heard it. I thought, “Who’s around that can play like that?” I was really knocked out. Then the answer became clear. Of course. It was Keith Moon.
Question: He wrote the song.
Neil Peart: Yeah, well…. (laughs). It’s one of the craziest songs known to man. So that doesn’t surprise me.
Question: If he was just hitting the scene today, do you think he could get away with playing like that? Would there be a venue for his style of playing?
Neil Peart: Yeah. He proved it later on with the Who’s Next album, for instance, where he had to play with sequencers. He was playing to true metronomic time, but he was able to average himself over it. In the same terms that we were just discussing, he could play all around that metronomic time and still be bound by it.
Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers):I got the partying from Keith Moon. As you can see, there are ghosts. Keith Moon was the first guy I ever heard who incorporated such wild abandon. He had such personality, and it came out more in his playing than almost any other musician. No one else played like that. He was the first one I heard incorporate crashes in the middle of his fills. Live At Leeds and Quadrophenia are my favorite Who records. I don’t play anything like Moon, but what really moved me was that he always sounded like he was having so much fun playing the drums.
Roger Taylor (Queen Drummer): Keith Moon was great. In the early days, he was absolutely brilliant. He had a totally unique style; he didn’t owe anyone anything. The first time I saw him perform was with the Who in ’64 or ’65. It was just great. The Who was an outrageous band—real energy, real art. I loved them
Neil Peart:I think (Gene Krupa’s) rock ‘n’ roll heir was probably Keith Moon. In fact, I see a lot of direct similarities between their playing styles, even though Keith Moon showed even more abandon and was more sloppy. But he was a drummer who really captured my imagination because he was so free and so exciting because of his freedom. It opened me up.
No big secret to people who read my blog. If I could…I would post only on Keith Moon if I could. His drumming still amazes me every time I listen to it. No other drummer is the same.
Thanks to run-sew-read for reminding me of this date on Friday…On this date in 1978 the best drummer ever in Rock and Roll (in my opinion) passed away. His drumming gets overlooked because of his giant personality and the Moon the Loon image that still follows his name.
Not only is he my favorite drummer…he is without a doubt my favorite Rock Star. There have been interesting characters in Rock and Roll but none match Moon. He was born with a trait that few of us have…the dangerous ability to not feel embarrassment…That one trait keeps the rest of us in check… not Keith.
The world is a dull place without Keith around…safer? Oh yea… but where is the fun in that?
At the same yard sale that I purchased LA Woman by the Doors for 10 cents I got a Chuck Berry’s Greatest Hits album for the same price. That is when I became a huge Chuck Berry fan. This song in particular (no pun intended) caught my attention.
“No Particular Place To Go” was written at a time when Chuck Berry had literally no place to go… He was in prison…he also wrote Nadine in there. He was convicted in late 1961 of violating the Mann Act. Berry served one and one-half years in prison, from February 1962 to October 1963.
When he returned he was now facing the British invasion with the Beatles and the other bands out of England.
This song was released on his album St. Louis to Liverpool album in 1964. Music critic Dave Marsh named it “one of the greatest rock & roll records ever made.” The album peaked at #124 in the Billboard Album Charts. The album included You Never Can Tell and Promised Land.
No Particular Place to Go peaked at #10 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, #3 in the UK, and #2 in New Zealand in 1964.
From Songfacts
Chuck first saw the inside of a slammer back in the 1940s due to a youthful folly, but it is fair to say that since then his encounters with the law have been more low key and if anything somewhat contrived.
Although this song didn’t enrage Mrs. Whitehouse like his later, number one hit, in which he offered to show us his ding-a-ling, it is fairly laden with innuendo, although of the tragic kind, because herein, our hero is unable to unfasten his safety belt.
“No Particular Place To Go” was released in May 1964 backed by the instrumental “Liverpool Drive”, and is instantly recognizable as a Berry composition with his distinctive, clean cut guitar style.
No Particular Place To Go
Riding along in my automobile My baby beside me at the wheel I stole a kiss at the turn of a mile My curiosity running wild Crusin’ and playin’ the radio With no particular place to go
Riding along in my automobile I’s anxious to tell her the way I feel So I told her softly and sincere And she leaned and whispered in my ear Cuddlin’ more and drivin’ slow With no particular place to go
No particular place to go So we parked way out on ko-ko-mo The night was young and the moon was gold So we both decided to take a stroll Can you image the way I felt I couldn’t unfasten her safety belt
Riding along in my calaboose Still trying to get her belt a-loose All the way home I held a grudge For the safety belt that wouldn’t budge Crusin’ and playing the radio With no particular place go
When I think of certain some songs I can still see their label spinning while on the turntable. Many singles came in nice picture sleeves and they were cool…but I also liked the record company label art. When I see one and I automatically think of certain artists.
No, they are not in the same league as album cover art but they do bring back a lot of memories. The labels I remember the most are Dial, Capitol, Apple, Motown, Tamla, Epic, MCA, and Elektra but it’s the smaller record labels that had some cool designs like Kama-Sutra, Capricorn, Roulette and Hot Wax.
Here are a few that I remembered and the more I looked the more I found that I remembered.
Paul is great at combining songs together. These three different songs blended together.
The song was recorded in two parts, in different sessions. The first two were taped in Lagos while the third section was recorded in October 1973 at AIR Studios in London. Paul was robbed at knife point in Lagos, Nigeria and they took the tapes that he had at the time. They were never recovered and Paul figured they recorded over them.
The song was off the album Band On The Run which was I think Paul’s best solo album. The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, and the UK in 1974.
McCartney drew inspiration out of something George Harrison said in a lengthy Apple Board meeting “If we ever get out of this house” which Paul changed to “here” and put it in the song.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and the #3 in the UK.
I’ve read about other possible inspirations for the song other than the George Harrison line.
One source said it was about a metaphorical prison we all find ourselves in at times.
The other was bands like the Wings were running trying to escape the law because of pot convictions. Paul said: “We were being outlawed for pot … And our argument on [‘Band on the Run’] was ‘Don’t put us on the wrong side … We’re not criminals, we don’t want to be. So I just made up a story about people breaking out of prison.’”
Paul McCartney:It was symbolic: “If we ever get out of here … All I need is a pint a day” … [In the Beatles] we’d started off as just kids really, who loved our music and wanted to earn a bob or two so we could get a guitar and get a nice car. It was very simple ambitions at first. But then, you know, as it went on it became business meetings and all of that … So there was a feeling of “if we ever get out of here”, yeah. And I did
From Songfacts
Shortly after the Band On The Run album was released, McCartney told Melody Maker: “The basic idea about the band on the run is a kind of prison escape. At the beginning of the album the guy is stuck inside four walls, and eventually breaks out. There is a thread, but it’s not a concept album.”
McCartney recorded the album in Lagos, Nigeria along with his wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine. The other Wings decided not to make the trip, which worked out fine in the end: McCartney considers the album his best post-Beatles work. He told Word in 2005: “I was on drums and guitar a lot, mainly because the drummer decided to leave the group the night before and one of the guitar players decided not to come! So we got that solo element into an otherwise ‘produced’ album.”
Paul was asked if this was a reference to Wings escaping from the shadow of The Beatles…he replied “Sort of – yeah. I think most bands on tour are on the run.”
This song was used to nice effect in the movie The Killing Fields, where a young woman with a transistor radio listens to this in the wake of a brutal US bombing of a Cambodian village when suspected rebels are being rounded up and shot. The song exemplified the contrast between the sort of druggy, frivolous Pop culture of the 1970s West and the stark realities of the Third World at the same time.
Paul McCartney explained the song’s meaning to The Mail on Sunday’s Event magazine: “I wrote it as a story to sum up the transition from captivity to freedom. When the tempo changes at (sings), ‘The rain exploded with a mighty crash,’ I do that in my concert and that always feels like a freeing moment.”
Band on the Run
Stuck inside these four walls, Sent inside forever, Never seeing no one Nice again like you, Mama you, mama you.
If I ever get out of here, Thought of giving it all away To a registered charity. All I need is a pint a day If I ever get outta here If we ever get outta of here
Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash As we fell into the sun, And the first one said to the second one there I hope you’re having fun.
Band on the run, band on the run. And the jailer man and sailor Sam Were searching every one For the band on the run, Band on the run Band on the run, Band on the run.
Well, the undertaker drew a heavy sigh Seeing no one else had come, And a bell was ringing in the village square For the rabbits on the run.
Band on the run, Band on the run. And the jailer man and sailor Sam Were searching every one For the band on the run, Band on the run
Yeah the band on the run, Band on the run Band on the run Band on the run
Well, the night was falling as the desert world Began to settle down. In the town they’re searching for us everywhere But we never will be found.
Band on the run, Band on the run. And the county judge who held a grudge Will search for evermore For the band on the run, Band on the run Band on the run Band on the run
Paul McCartney came to Nashville in 1974 to record some and promised he would be back to actually play live…well he did although it was 36 years later. 2010 was his first Nashville concert ever. The closest the Beatles got to Nashville was in Memphis in 1966.
A year after he came to Nashville in 1974 I became a very young Beatles fan. Read everything, listened to everything that I could get my hands on, and saw what limited things I could. In the 80s I got to see some of the rooftop Let It Be concert on MTV. It was like the pictures I’d seen coming to life…it made it real…or as real as it got to me.
When the Paul McCartney concert was announced in spring of 2010… I bought tickets right away. I just knew something would happen. The concert would be postponed or something awful would happen…there was no way I was going to see him. My wife, my son Bailey, and I had tickets. Sure enough…on the night of the concert…just a couple of hours before it started… a tornado did damage in Nashville (no injuries) and a warning was out for downtown. While we were there and I just knew…so this is how it’s all going to end…me with a McCartney ticket in my hand.
Waiting at the venue…McCartney came on an hour late to wait for all the warnings to die down. When he came on I was pretty much in shock…all the years reading, watching, and listening to the guy…he wasn’t yet real until he broke into “Venus and Mars” an old Wings song. I was 43 and I felt like a 12 year old kid and I was full of emotion. When he started his first Beatles song of the night…All My Loving…it was even more emotion. This is the man who played with Lennon, Harrison, and Starr at the Cavern Club, Hamburg, and all over the world.
I always was jealous of my friends who liked modern bands…who could just go and see them in concert when we were younger and buy their new records. Most of the bands I grew up liking had broken up or changed years ago.
The concert was worth the wait.
This was Bailey’s first concert…his second was Ringo, third was Paul McCartney again, and fourth was The Who…I told him he was lucky…my first concert was REO Speedwagon…no offense to them but there is no comparison. Jennifer actually got to see Elvis for her first concert…when she was a small child in 1976 in West Virginia…
Paul played around three hours of solo, Wings, Fireman, and of course Beatles songs. With as many songs as Paul has…he could have played most of the night without repeating a song. I saw him again in 2014 and again he was great and added a few more songs… but nothing will beat that first time.
Setlist for July 26, 2010
Venus and Mars
Rock Show
Jet
All My Loving
Letting Go
Got to Get You Into My Life
Highway (The Fireman Song)
Let Me Roll It
The Long and Winding Road
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
Let ‘Em In
My Love
I’m Looking Through You
Tequila (The Champs cover)
Two of Us
Blackbird
Here Today
Dance Tonight
Mrs. Vanderbilt
Eleanor Rigby
Ram On
Something
Sing the Changes (The Fireman song)
Band on the Run
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I’ve Got a Feeling
Paperback Writer
A Day in the Life / (With Give Peace A Chance Snippet)
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude
Encore:
Day Tripper
Lady Madonna
Get Back
Encore 2:
Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
The End
David Bowie wrote this after seeing the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Space Oddity is a play on the phrase “Space Odyssey.”
Space Oddity was released in 1969. It peaked at #5 in the UK but only #124 in the Billboard Charts. The song was released as a single but also on the UK David Bowie album.
In 1972, the album was re-titled Space Oddity and re-issued in the US after Bowie achieved modest success in America with the singles “Changes” (#66) and “The Jean Genie” (#71). The newly released “Space Oddity” single made #15, becoming Bowie’s first US Top 40.
In 1980, Bowie released a follow-up to this called “Ashes To Ashes,” where Major Tom once again makes contact with Earth. He says he is happy in space, but Ground Control comes to the conclusion that he is a junkie.
As it says in the Bowie quote below…British TV picked up on the song during the moon landing. There was a fear that if the missions in space didn’t go well, this song would suddenly become inappropriate.
David Bowie:“In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn’t. It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing. I was out of my gourd anyway, I was very stoned when I went to see it, several times, and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing. It was picked up by the British television, and used as the background music for the landing itself. I’m sure they really weren’t listening to the lyric at all (laughs). It wasn’t a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did. Obviously, some BBC official said, ‘Oh, right then, that space song, Major Tom, blah blah blah, that’ll be great.’ ‘Um, but he gets stranded in space, sir.’ Nobody had the heart to tell the producer that.”
From Songfacts
This was originally released in 1969 on Bowie’s self-titled album and timed to coincide with the moon landing. Released as a single, the song made #5 in the UK, becoming his first chart hit in that territory. In America, the single found a very small audience and bubbled under at #124 in August 1969.
In 1975, back in the UK, the song was once again released, this time on a single which also contained the songs “Changes” and “Velvet Goldmine.” Promoted as “3 Tracks for the Price of 2,” the single leapt to the top of the charts, earning Bowie his first #1 in the UK.
In 1983, the German electro musician Peter Schilling released a sequel to “Space Oddity” called “Major Tom (I’m Coming Home).” Set to a techno beat, it tells the story of Major Tom in space. That song reached #14 in the US, outcharting Bowie’s original.
In 2003, K.I.A. released another sequel called “Mrs. Major Tom,” which is told from the point of view of Major Tom’s wife.
In the line, “And the papers want to know whose shirt you wear,” ‘whose shirt you wear’ is English slang for ‘what football team are you a fan of?’. The thinking here being that if you can make it into space then your opinions on football matter. (Note to Americans- in this case, by “football” we mean “soccer.”)
An early version of this song is performed by David Bowie in Love You Till Tuesday, a promotional film made in 1969 which was designed to showcase the talents of Bowie. You can watch it here.
Three different videos were made of this song by three different directors. The first, directed by Malcolm J. Thomson, shows Bowie as an astronaut and appears in his 1969 promotional film Love You Till Tuesday.
The next one came in 1972 when Mick Rock directed Bowie singing the song with an acoustic guitar surrounded by mission control imagery. Rock, who was primarily a still photographer, was doing a lot of Bowie’s videos around this time; he also shot “Life On Mars?” and “The Jean Genie.”
The third version Bowie filmed with David Mallet in 1979 for air on the New Year’s Eve show The Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It To 1980?, which Mallet directed. Bowie recorded a new version of the song for this version with Hans Zimmer on piano.
Nita Benn’s handclaps can be heard on this recording. She is the daughter-in-law of the British socialist politician Tony Benn and the mother of Emily Benn, who at the age of 17 became the youngest ever person chosen to fight an election when she was selected in 2007 as the Labour candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham.
This was originally written by Bowie as a guitar song. It was the producer Gus Dudgeon who turned it into an epic.
Session musician Herbie Flowers (“Walk On The Wild Side,” “Diamond Dogs”) played bass on this track. He recalled his experience working on this to Uncut magazine June 2008: “The first time I played with Bowie was on the session for ‘Space Oddity.’ Dear Gus (Dudgeon) was quaking in his boots. It might have been the first thing he ever produced. ‘Space Oddity’ was this strange hybrid song. (Keyboardist) Rick Wakeman went out to buy a little Stylophone for seven shillings from a small shop on the corner where Trident Studios was. With that and all the string arrangements, it’s like a semi-orchestral piece.”
Jimmy Page told Uncut magazine June 2008: “I played on his records, did you know that? His very early records when he was Davy Jones & The Lower Third. The Shel Talmy records. I can think of two individual sessions that I did with him. He said in some interview that on one of those sessions I showed him these chords, which he used in ‘Space Oddity’ – but he said, ‘Don’t tell Jim, he might sue me.’ Ha ha!”
In 2009, a sound-a-like version was used in commercials for Lincoln automobiles. This version was by the American singer-songwriter Cat Power, the stage name of Charlyn “Chan” Marshall.
The session players on the song were Rick Wakeman (mellotron), Mick Wayne (guitar), Herbie Flowers (bass) and Terry Cox (drums), plus string musicians. They were paid just over £9 each.
Bowie’s birth name was David Jones. He changed his name before the movie came out, but the name he picked is similar to the main character in the film: Dave Bowman. There was speculation that he got the name from the book The Sentinel, which the movie is based on, but Bowie has claimed that his moniker came from the Bowie knife.
In 1969, this song was awarded the coveted Ivor Novello Award alongside Peter Sarstedt’s “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?”
The Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded this song during his stay at the International Space Station in 2013, using a guitar that stays on the station. The female singer/songwriter Emm Gryner, who was part of Bowie’s live band in 1999-2000, put the song together, adding additional tracks and incorporating space station sounds that Hadfield had posted to his Soundclound account. A video was compiled using footage of Hadfield performing the song in space, complete with shots of planet Earth, his floating acoustic guitar, and a weightless Hadfield. The sublime compilation was posted on May 12, 2013; it quickly racked up millions of views on YouTube and got the attention of Bowie, who posted about it on his social media accounts, calling it “quite possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”
Hadfield changed a few of the lyrics – he left out the part where Major Tom loses contact and drifts away.
Releasing a cover song recorded in space poses myriad legal challenges, since jurisdiction is unclear. The original agreement was for one year, so the video was removed on May 13, 2014. By this time, Hadfield was back on Earth and worked to negotiate a new deal with the song’s publishers. In November 2014, an agreement was reached and the video went back up.
When Bowie was recording the song, he decided that he wanted real strings and Mellotron together. However, the musicians struggled to play the electronic keyboard instrument. It was Tony Visconti who suggested Rick Wakeman as somebody who could keep the Mellotron in tune. Wakeman recalled to Uncut:
“David said, ‘Get him.’ I was rehearsing with a 17-piece band in Reading, so I drove up. It was a doddle to do, to be honest. I loved the song, and I’m also credit has to go to David and Tony as I don’t think anyone else at that particular time would have heard Mellotron on that piece, where it came in. There would have been other things more obvious to do. It was clever.”
Space Oddity
Ground Control to Major Tom Ground Control to Major Tom Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six) Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three, two) Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (one, liftoff)
This is Ground Control to Major Tom You’ve really made the grade And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare
“This is Major Tom to Ground Control I’m stepping through the door And I’m floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today
For here Am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world Planet Earth is blue And there’s nothing I can do
Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles I’m feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows”
Ground Control to Major Tom Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear
Here am I floating ’round a tin can Far above the Moon Planet Earth is blue And there’s nothing I can do
Keith would sometimes call out for this song in Who concerts. The reason for that would be because he sings parts of the song along with Roger. Keith lays on the cockney voice well in this song and talks/sings it.
The song was on Quadrophenia released in 1973. The album peaked at #2 in the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in the UK, and #2 in Canada.
After the song was dropped from the set…either Keith or the crowd would request it much to Townshend’s chagrin at times.
The album was a concept album about the mod culture in the UK in the early 60s that features a character named Jimmy.
Pete Townshend:He meets an old Ace Face who’s now a bellhop at the very hotel the Mods tore up. And he looks on Jimmy with a mixture of pity and contempt, really, and tells him, in effect, ‘Look, my job is shit and my life is a tragedy. But you – look at you, you’re dead!’
From Songfacts
This is Keith Moon’s song on Quadrophenia, which centers on a character with four personalities, each one representing a different member of The Who. “Bell Boy” is about the main character Jimmy meeting an old mod “Ace Face,” or leader. However, he finds out that the Ace Face has given up music, and now he works at a hotel (as a bell boy) that a mod gang happened to destroy a few years back. Keith Moon does some of the vocals on the song.
Keith Moon’s drumming is prominent on this track. Ron Nevison, the engineer on Quadrophenia, told Songfacts what it was like recording him. “The biggest problem with Keith on the drums was finding a place to put the microphones,” he said. “He had so many drums – two hi-hats, two kick drums, six or eight tom-toms – it was challenging just to get in there to get the snare drum covered.”
Bell Boy
The beach is a place where a man can feel He’s the only soul in the world that’s real Well I see a face coming through the haze I remember him from those crazy days Crazy days, crazy days
Ain’t you the guy who used to set the paces Riding up in front of a hundred faces I don’t suppose you would remember me But I used to follow you back in sixty-three
I’ve got a good job, and I’m newly born You should see me dressed up in my uniform I work in hotel, all gilt and flash Remember the place where the doors were smashed?
Bell Boy, I got to get running now Bell Boy, keep my lip buttoned down Bell Boy, carry this baggage out Bell Boy, always running at someone’s pleading heel You know how I feel Always running at someone’s heel
Some nights I still sleep on the beach Remember when stars were in reach I wander in early to work Spend my day licking boots for my perks
A beach is a place where a man can feel He’s the only soul in the world that’s real
Well I see a face coming through the haze I remember him from those crazy days (crazy days, crazy days, crazy days, crazy days)
Ain’t you the guy who used to set the paces Riding up in front of a hundred faces I don’t suppose you would remember me But I used to follow you back in sixty-three
People often change But when I look in your eyes You could learn a lot from A job like mine The secret to me It ain’t flown on a flag I carry it behind This pretty little badge What says
Bell Boy I got to get running now Bell Boy, keep my lip buttoned down Bell Boy, carry the bloody baggage out Bell Boy, always running at someone’s heel You know how I feel Always running at someone’s heel
This 1979 song is off of their Reggatta de Blanc album.
The song peaked at #1 in the UK, #65 in Canada, #8 in New Zealand, but did not chart in the Billboard `100.
This was the second #1 UK hit for The Police. Their first album was released in 1978 but took a while to catch on. When it did, it was only a few months before this one was released. The lead single was Message in a Bottle, which gave them their first UK #1.
The song is set in space, but it’s an allegory for how Sting felt when he was on the road, confined to hotel rooms and stages as the world kept turning.
The song’s video was shot at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 23, 1979. Stewart Copeland took the opportunity to drum on a Saturn V rocket that served as backdrop. It was directed by Derek Burbidge, who did all of their early videos.
The Police’s drummer Stewart Copeland used a Roland RE-201 Space Echo unit on this track, which allowed him to create another track of delay that accentuates the moon theme.
Sting:“I came up with a melody that felt light and airy – in fact, lighter than air” “Nine years before, Neil Armstrong had walked on the moon and said the famous words that everyone misquotes. ‘Giant Steps’ is also one of my favorite John Coltrane tunes. Songs are built by whimsy, faulty memory, and free association.”
From Songfacts
Sting was visiting the German avant-garde composer Eberhard Schoener in early 1979. One night they went out on a schnapps drinking session. Sting returned to his Munich hotel room drunk, slumped on his bed when this song’s riff came into his head. He got up and starting walking around the room to try to clear his head muttering to himself, “Walking round the room, walking round the room.” The next morning he wrote down the riff and decided that “Walking round the room” was a stupid title so he changed it to an even more stupid one, which was “Walking On The Moon.”
“Each repeat is not a repeat of the immediate note preceding it, it’s a repeat of the note before that, which gives it this interesting kind of wobbling rhythmic effect,” he explained in a Songfacts interview. “I was doing that on the drums, and Andy was doing that on the guitar, and we figured that out. Years later, everybody’s doing it – check in with U2 and part of their sound is that delay line effect.”
The Space Echo units were some of the goodies they bought at Manny’s Music in New York City when the money came in from their first hit, “Roxanne.”
In America, it was a slower climb: “Message in a Bottle” stalled at #74 and “Walking On The Moon” failed to chart. Their third album, Zenyatta Mondatta, was their US breakthrough.
Acknowledging the reggae roots of this song, Sting performed it at the 2013 Grammy Awards in a tribute to Bob Marley that also included Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Damian Marley and Ziggy Marley.
The Ohio-based rock group Walk The Moon, best known for their 2014 hit “Shut Up And Dance,” took their name from this song.
Walking On The Moon
Giant steps are what you take Walking on the moon I hope my legs don’t break Walking on the moon We could walk forever Walking on the moon We could live together Walking on, walking on the moon
Walking back from your house Walking on the moon Walking back from your house Walking on the moon Feet they hardly touch the ground Walking on the moon My feet don’t hardly make no sound Walking on, walking on the moon
Some may say I’m wishing my days away No way And if it’s the price I pay Some say Tomorrow’s another day You stay I may as well play
Giant steps are what you take Walking on the moon I hope my legs don’t break Walking on the moon We could walk forever Walking on the moon We could be together Walking on, walking on the moon
Some may say I’m wishing my days away No way And if it’s the price I pay Some say Tomorrow’s another day You stay I may as well play Keep it up, keep it up
I was going to pick the At Fillmore East live album but I also wanted some studio tracks…you get both with this one. This is the last album that Duane Allman worked on before a motorcycle crash took his life. He died a few weeks into making the album. The album also included live tracks that were not used on At Fillmore East like One Way Out, Trouble No More, and a 33 minute “Mountain Jam” that was built off a riff from a Donovan song “There is a Mountain.”
They had some sort of chemistry live that was incredible. I’m usually not a fan of long endless live songs but they keep intensity up…plus with this album you get the best of both worlds.
25 years ago I would not have picked this album…I’ve learned more about them in the past few years and have become a huge fan of the classic lineup. When I listen to the Allman Brothers I listen to the music as a whole more than just the songs. They clicked so well as a band that they blended perfectly when at their best.
Their best albums to me are At Fillmore East, Eat A Peach, and Brothers and Sisters. They have been labeled and credited as starting “Southern Rock” but they were totally different than most of their peers. The Allmans were more blues/jazz oriented who happened to be from the south.
The two guitar players were Duane Allman and Dickey Betts…two of the best around at the time. They also had two drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe) (who played with Otis Redding). Their bass player was from Chicago…Berry Oakley (who would die in a motorcycle crash a little over a year after Duane) who was amazing. Gregg Allman would write and sing lead on many of the songs and as he said…pushed the gravy on the meat…he added texture with his Hammond Organ.
They started to work on this album in September of 1971 and laid down the basic tracks to for “Blue Sky,” “Stand Back” and “Little Martha.” Duane Allman died on October 29, 1971. So those tracks have Duane playing on them and of course all of the live material features him on guitar. After he died the band went back to the studio and recorded the rest and it was finished in December.
The album was released on February 12, 1972 and it peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 and #12 in Canada. The original name was going to be “Eat A Peach for Peace.”
The opening song is my favorite one on the album. Ain’t Wasting Time No More…it was Gregg Allman’s song working through the grief of his brother’s death and about soldiers coming home from Vietnam. Last Sunday morning, the sunshine felt like rain,the week before, they all seemed the same
Blue Sky is a Dickey Betts song that I never get tired of. The soaring guitars and the few verses that it has are happy and upbeat. Betts initially wanted the band’s lead vocalist, Gregg Allman, to sing the song, but guitarist Duane Allman encouraged him to sing it himself… “Man, this is your song and it sounds like you and you need to sing it.” Dickey Betts wrote this about his Native Canadian girlfriend, Sandy “Bluesky” Wabegijig.
Melissa is probably the most remembered song off of this album. It’s a great song that Greg had written years before…he couldn’t think of the right woman’s name until he heard a lady in a grocery store yell for her daughter… Melissa.
One Way Out is some of the live feel that I wanted with Fillmore East and I get it on this album along with the above studio cuts. One of their best known songs.
I thought the island needed a southern touch so the Allmans will do just fine. I’ll just sit back with soul food, listen to Allmans, and watch the tide.
It’s hard to believe this was recorded at the beginning of the Beggars Banquet album. It sounded like it belonged in 1967 than in 1968…the two years in music were drastically different.
This song was the B side to Jumping Jack Flash. The Stones made a video of it and it’s probably my favorite video they ever made. It was shot in Black and White and Color and showed the Stones in a horror/sci fi setting acting as if they are guarding a road…prepared not to let anyone pass. It feels like Children of the Damned meets a little of Lord of the Flies.
The song was never released on a studio Stones album except for compilations. I usually don’t say this but the video really helps this song…it’s a chill about this video.
In the 1960s The Stones and Beatles had power… Beatles toyed with the idea of doing Lord of the Rings and The Beatles signed a petition for Mick Jagger to play “Alex” in A Clockwork Orange…this is before Kubrick was involved.
Child Of The Moon
The wind blows rain into my face The sun glows at the end of the highway Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes Oh, child of the moon Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
She shivers, by the light she is hidden She flickers like a lamp lady vision Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes Child of the moon Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
The first car on the foggy road riding The last star for my lady is pining Oh, child of the moon, bid the sun arise Oh, child of the moon Give me a misty day, pearly gray, silver, silky faced Wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
One of Van the Man’s best songs. The jazz and bouncy feel of this song hooks you. I really started to notice the song in the movie An American Werewolf in London.
The song was the title track to the Moondance album released in 1970.
Van didn’t release the song as a single until 1977…over seven years after it was first released. The song peaked at #92 in the Billboard 100 in 1977.
“Moondance” started as a Jazz saxophone instrumental, and Van played that original sax solo he wrote for the song. Van had said he used to play this sax number over and over, anytime h picked up his horn.
The song was listed as #226 in Rolling Stone magazine’s December 2004 feature “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.
From Songfacts
Van Morrison comes up with songs many different ways, sometimes a lyric or title idea sparks a song, and other times it’s a melody.
That Rolling Stone quote is about all you’re going to get from Van regarding the song. He is notoriously fickle when it comes to speaking about his music, as he feels that the songs should speak for themselves. The liner notes to the Moondance album were written by his girlfriend Janet Planet, and instead of a traditional explanation of the recording process or a list of thank-you’s these notes are a fable, telling the story of an artist in ancient times who has a great gift but keeps it to himself. When his wife gets sick, he cures her using his gift of song. She then asks, “But who will ease your pain, who will save you?”
The flute is a big part of this song. It was played by Collin Tilton, who replaced John Payne on the instrument for the Moondance album.
This song plays throughout the sex scene in the 1981 movie An American Werewolf in London (Director John Landis also asked Cat Stevens for the use of “Moonshadow,” but was turned down). It was also used in a 2002 episode of the TV series The West Wing.
Pianist and organist Jeff Labes recalled the recording of the track to Uncut: “I remember ‘Moondance’ itself was a big question mark. It was jazzy, and didn’t seem to belong to the pack. The first time we recorded it, it came out really well, but Van thought there must be a catch. So we did it about a dozen times, and ended up going back to the first one, He liked to sing live along with the track, because Sinatra did that. He loved having a first-take vocal. He was looking for the magic.”
Moondance
Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance ‘Neath the cover of October skies And all the leaves on the trees are falling To the sound of the breezes that blow And I’m trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low And all the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with you, my love
Well, I want to make love to you tonight I can’t wait ’til the morning has come And I know now the time is just right And straight into my arms you will run And when you come my heart will be waiting To make sure that you’re never alone There and then all my dreams will come true, dear There and then I will make you my own And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside And I know how much you want me that you can’t hide
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with you, my love
Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance ‘Neath the cover of October skies And all the leaves on the trees are falling To the sound of the breezes that blow And I’m trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low And all the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with you, my love
One more moondance with you in the moonlight On a magic night La, la, la, la in the moonlight On a magic night Can’t I just have one more dance with you my love
Great riff, singing, mood, and song. Creedence was just pumping out the songs in their short window of existence.
The song was inspired by the classic movie “The Devil and Daniel Webster” where a hurricane wipes out most of the town. The song is great and by the way…so is the movie.
Another great CCR single…released in 1969, this was the lead single from Green River and the B-side was Lodi. The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, #1 in New Zealand, and #5 in Canada.
I have to bring it up…. One lyric in particular has been misheard by many people. The line “There’s a bad moon on the rise” is often heard as “There’s a bathroom on the right.” John Fogerty has fun with this line at times and will sing “There’s a bathroom on the right”live sometimes. He will sometimes point to a nearby bathroom from the stage when he gets to the famous line.
From Songfacts
The song reached its US chart peak of #2 (one of five CCR songs to place that this position – they never got to #1) on July 28, 1969, eight days after the Apollo 11 moon landing. The song has nothing to do with space travel, but the title was somewhat apropos, especially after the mission succeeded.
This was used in two science-fiction movies of the 1980s: An American Werewolf In London (1981) and Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982). In the former, it plays as the main character is awaiting a full moon and wondering if he will turn into a werewolf.The music makes this sound like a happy song, but the lyrics are very bleak, describing events that indicate a coming apocalypse.
As a result of this song, American football player Andre Rison’s nickname was “Bad Moon,” as in “Bad Moon Risin’.” Rison was an all-pro wide receiver, but is also famous for having his house burned down by Lisa (Left Eye) Lopes, a singer with TLC who was his girlfriend at the time.
This has been covered by Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Emmylou Harris, The Reels, The Meteors, Thea Gilmore, Ann Wilson with Gretchen Wilson, Type O Negative, 16 Horsepower, Reels, Spitballs, Blue Aeroplanes, Lagwagon, Battlefield Band, Ducky Boys, Acoustic Shack, Ventures, Meteors, and Rasputina.
Argentine soccer fans came up with a new version of this song after their team advanced to the World Cup finals in 2014 while the host country, Brazil, was eliminated in the semifinal. Set to the tune of this song, Argentines chanted, “Brasil, decime qué se siente tener en casa tu papa,” which means “Brazil, tell me how it feels to be bossed around in your own home.”
Even the team members were heard singing this taunt, but in the end Argentina did not take home the trophy, as they lost in the final to Germany, the team that beat Brazil.
This became the theme song of the demonstrators during the People’s Park riots in Berkeley, California, in 1969.
During his VH1’s Storytellers performance, Fogerty said that he was quite aware of the contradiction between the song’s lyrical content and its bouncy sound (though he offers no explanation for this). He then recounted how, during many performances, the audience would sing back at him “There’s a bathroom on the right” during the final lyric, which actually says “There’s a bad moon on the rise.” Fogerty has also used the “bathroom” line during some live performances.
In 2010, Jerry Lewis recorded a version of this song with John Fogerty for Lewis’ Mean Old Man album, which also featured performances with Keith Richards, Kid Rock, Willie Nelson, and many others.
During a benefit for the Berkeley Hall School, a Vietnam veteran approached Fogerty and told him that he and his squad, who called themselves the Buffalo Soldiers, would blast “Bad Moon Rising” in their camp before going into the jungle on a mission. It was their way of getting pumped up for combat, but also their way of instilling fear in the enemy. In Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, Fogerty expresses admiration for the man’s courage, and regret that he cannot remember his name.
“Bad Moon Rising” is the signature walkout song for UFC fighter Jim Miller.
Fogerty performed this song for Howard Stern at Stern’s 2014 Birthday Bash.
In his memoir, Fogerty said he borrowed the guitar lick for this song from Scotty Moore’s work on Elvis Presley’s “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone.” Fogerty stresses that he wasn’t trying to hide that he’d borrowed the lick and was instead openly “honoring it.” In 1986, at an unspecified awards get-together, Moore grabbed Fogerty from behind and said, “Give me back my licks!”
Bad Moon Rising
I see a bad moon a-rising I see trouble on the way I see earthquakes and lightnin’ I see bad times today
Don’t go ’round tonight It’s bound to take your life There’s a bad moon on the rise
I hear hurricanes a-blowing I know the end is coming soon I fear rivers over flowing I hear the voice of rage and ruin
Don’t go ’round tonight It’s bound to take your life There’s a bad moon on the rise
I hope you got your things together I hope you are quite prepared to die Look’s like we’re in for nasty weather One eye is taken for an eye
Well don’t go ’round tonight It’s bound to take your life There’s a bad moon on the rise Don’t go ’round tonight It’s bound to take your life There’s a bad moon on the rise
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