Category: Music

Fats – Domino – I’m Walking

I bought some records at a relative’s yard sale when I was really young. A Chuck Berry album, The Doors LA Woman album, and this single. So for a dollar, I took home a great deal. This one is an excellent song with a beat that won’t leave you.

Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. was not flashy and wild like some of his 1950s peers such as Elvis, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The first I heard of Fats Domino was on “Happy Days” and the song Blueberry Hill.

Domino was the youngest of eight children in a musical family, he spoke Creole French before learning English. At age 7 his brother-in-law taught him how to play the piano. By the time he was 10, he was already performing as a singer and pianist.

This song was inspired by a comment a fan made to Domino after Domino’s car broke down: “Hey, look at Fats Domino, he’s walking!” Domino then thought to himself, “Yeah, I’m walking,” and wrote the song as he walked.

Domino wrote this song with Dave Bartholomew, a fellow New Orleans musician who did a lot of work arranging and composing songs for him. One thing about the song that just jumps out is the sax solo by Herbert Hardesty. He also played on Ain’t That A Shame.

It peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100 and #19 in the UK in 1957.

Domino received The Lifetime Achievement Grammy, a National Medal of the Arts from President Bill Clinton, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fats semi-retired in the 80s and said he would not travel outside of New Orleans.

He lived in New Orleans During Hurricane Katrina, he lost most of his possessions and he and his family were rescued by the Coast Guard. He unselfishly made many personal appearances to raise money for the hurricane relief. His house was hit hard and he lost his National Medal and gold records but George Bush gave him another medal to replace the lost one and the RIAA gave him replacement gold records.

To raise money for repairs for his own home, friends and fellow musicians recorded a tribute album, Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, featuring the likes of Robert Plant, Elton John, and Sir Paul McCartney. He was living in New Orleans at the time of his death on October 24, 2017.

I’m Walkin’

I’m walkin’, yes indeed, and I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me
I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me (yes)
I’m lonely as I can be, I’m waitin’ for your company
I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me
What ‘ya gonna do when the well runs dry?
You’re gonna run away and hide
I’m gonna run right by your side, for you pretty baby I’ll even die
I’m walkin’, yes indeed, I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me
I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me

I’m walkin’, yes indeed, and I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me
I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me (yes)
I’m lonely as I can be, I’m waitin’ for your company
I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me
What ‘ya gonna do when the well runs dry?
You’re gonna sit right down and cry
What ‘ya gonna do when I say bye-bye?
All you’re gonna do is dry your eye
I’m walkin’, yes indeed, I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me
I’m hopin’ that you’ll come back to me

The Inmates

CB and I were emailing each other and he sent me a few links to this band. They were a great British pub band that formed in 1977. They got together after the split of another band named The Flying Tigers. As CB and I have done these…I usually give you a “sample platter” of them and later on I’ll concentrate on one song at a time in a later post. This should introduce you to them.

The first thing I noticed was how good their songs sound. Many pub bands I’ve heard have a muddy sound to them but this band sounded clear and great. I do remember one of their songs…it was a cover of the Standells Dirty Water. Their producer until 1989 was a guy named Vic Maile who helped shape their overall sound. He was a winner…he worked with artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, The Pirates,  Hawkwind, Motörhead, The Godfathers, The Kinks, Small Faces, Dr. Feelgood, Girlschool, and the Deep Fix. Most of those bands I’ve covered.

They released nine studio albums and three live ones between 1979 and 2008. They were considered a Pub band but you also hear a lot of that great 1960s garage sound in lead singer Bill Hurly’s voice. They remind me of pre-Godfathers…they take no prisoners and come right at you. Their songs are rough and raw but their melodic and catchy at the same time. Their choice of covers is quite interesting. They pick many songs you wouldn’t think.

They also made a tribute live album to the Beatles called The Inmates Meet The Beatles: Live In Paris. They did it in their style and made the songs their own which is a great way of doing it. They even managed to take one of the very few Beatles songs I don’t like and turned it on its head. I like their version of it…Little Child.

Enough of me babbling on…let’s listen to the Inmates. I’ll start off with one that you should know. I do remember this song and this version. Their first album First Offence peaked at #40 on the Billboard Album Charts. The song Dirty Water peaked at #51. I’ve included songs from their first three albums.

The next song is a cover of a song called The Walk by Jimmy McCracklin and His Band originally released in 1958.

This song is Sweet Rain off of their  2nd album Shot in the Dark released in 1980. I can hear a lot of Them in this one. The guitar in this has an older sixties feel. This was the B-Side to the song below.

This song is the A-Side to Sweet Rain called Stop, It Baby off of their  2nd album Shot in the Dark released in 1980. It jumps and moves…very catchy.

This one called She’s Gone Rockin’ was off of their third album Heatwave in Alaska It was released in 1982.

 

Tom Waits – I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You

I was commenting on Aphoristical’s blog and he listed the 10 best Tom Waits songs. I’ve heard Waits through the years and I’ve liked what I’ve heard but never listened to his debut album. I knew more of his later music than his beginning. After reading Graham’s site it got me listening to Wait’s debut album and it shocked me with his voice…but forget that…it’s a damn good album called Closing Time. The comment I left on his site was “Unlike most artists…I know more of him in the later parts of his career. I never heard your number 1 song…that floored me! Great song and that voice…I like that voice.”

A few weeks ago I listened to the album and the songs really stuck with me. The three top songs to me are this one, Grapefruit Moon, and Ol’55. The album is one that music fans should listen to. I had forgotten which song that Graham had number one so after I picked the one I wanted to post about…I went to link Graham’s site and yes…he picked this one…I see why. You know…this is why we do these blogs… to learn.

I rarely do this but I like how Waits takes the opposite approach in this song. Instead of hoping he can go to the next step with this woman…he is aware of the potential risks and heartbreak that come with falling in love. He is trying to place a wall between any thought of it. The vulnerability of a closely guarded world-weary man. Waits is a great songwriter and many times takes a different approach which I can appreciate.

Closing time was released in 1973 and it charted at #44 on the German charts and #29 in Ireland. On secondhandsongs.com it lists 36 versions of the song.

I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You

One, two, three, four

Well, I hope that I don’t fall in love with you

‘Cause falling in love just makes me blueWell, the music plays and you display your heart for me to seeI had a beer and now I hear you calling out for meAnd I hope that I don’t fall in love with you

Well, the room is crowded, people everywhere

And I wonder, should I offer you a chair?Well, if you sit down with this old clown, take that frown and break itBefore the evening’s gone away, I think that we could make itAnd I hope that I don’t fall in love with you

Well, the night does funny things inside a man

These old tomcat feelings you don’t understand

Well, I turn around to look at you, you light a cigaretteI wish I had the guts to bum one, but we’ve never metAnd I hope that I don’t fall in love with you

I can see that you are lonesome just like me

And it being late, you’d like some companyWell, I turn around to look at you, and you look back at meThe guy you’re with, he’s up and split, the chair next to you’s free

And I hope that you don’t fall in love with me

Now it’s closing time, the music’s fading out

Last call for drinks, I’ll have another stout

Well, I turn around to look at you, you’re nowhere to be foundI search the place for your lost face, guess I’ll have another roundAnd I think that I just fell in love with you

Beatles – Not A Second Time

This was on the American album Meet The Beatles (the UK version would be With The Beatles) that I first heard when I was a kid. Lennon’s voice in this is fantastic. It’s a bit more sophisticated than many of their other songs at the time. The lyrics and the chord structure are really good.

I’ve always liked this song and the song drew a serious review from William Mann. Willaim Mann was the music critic of The Times in London. The article, titled “What Songs The Beatles Sang…,” was printed on December 23rd, 1963, just over a month after the release of the album “With The Beatles” in the UK. This critical analysis was unlike any media exposure The Beatles were getting up to this time, most of which consisted of reports on the mass hysteria that accompanied their appearances or their hair.

“Harmonic interest is typical of their quicker songs, and one gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, and the flat submediant key switches, so natural is the Aeolian cadence at the end of ‘Not A Second Time’ (the chord progression which ends Mahler’s Song of the Earth).”

Mann would go on to say that Lennon and McCartney were “the greatest songwriters since Schubert.”

Pop music wasn’t considered important enough for serious music critics to review. Lennon and McCartney had no formal musical training. They wrote by feel, which Lennon said in 1973: “Intellectuals have the problem of having to understand it. They can’t feel anything. The only way to get an intellectual is to talk to him and then play him the record. You couldn’t put a record on and just let him hear it.” 

The effect of William Mann’s review had such a lasting impact that the subject was still raised in a 1980 interview shortly before John’s death. His last words on the subject of Aeolian cadences were, “To this day I don’t have any idea what they are. They sound like exotic birds!”

This is one Lennon and McCartney song that was written solely by John Lennon. He said he was influenced again by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

Not A Second Time

You know you made me cryI see no use in wondering whyI cry for you

And now you’ve changed your mindI see no reason to change mineI cry

It’s through, oh-ohYou’re giving me the same old lineI’m wondering whyYou hurt me then, you’re back againNo, no, no, not a second time

You know you made me cryI see no use in wondering whyI cry for you, yeah

And now you’ve changed your mindI see no reason to change mineI cry

It’s through, oh-ohYou’re giving me the same old lineI’m wondering whyYou hurt me then, you’re back againNo, no, no, not a second time

Not a second timeNot a second timeNo, no, no, no, noNo, no, no (not a second time)

Grand Funk – The Loco-Motion

This is one band the critics roasted during the seventies but they were extremely popular. Led Zeppelin was also the critic’s target but their music has aged very well. Grand Funk did come out with some catchy hits …and this remake is one of them.

I remember this song as a kid and I was captivated by it…I’ve always liked the overall sound of this recording that Todd Rundgren captured. He produced this album named Shinin’ On in 1974 and We’re an American Band the year before. He made a big difference with their sound. He started to work with them to shorten songs. When I was around 7 or 8…I heard this solo and it grabbed my attention.

Little Eva first took this song to #1 in 1962. The Grand Funk version peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1974. The Locomotion was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Another cover that Grand Funk did well with was Some Kind Of Wonderful.

The album Shinin’ On peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts and #4 in Canada in 1974.

Don Brewer: “The idea of Locomotion came when we were working on the Shinin’ On album in the studio with Todd (Rundgren). We had basically finished the album – ‘Shinin’ On’ was going to be the first single, and we were thinking about what we were going to do for another song. Mark (Farner) came in one day and off the top of his head was singing, ‘Everybody’s doing a brand new dance now,’ just for fun, and we all went, ‘Yeah, Grand Funk doing the Locomotion.’ It was a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing, and we said, ‘Let’s try it, let’s do it,’ so we sent off to New York, got the lyrics, and Todd had the idea of doing the song kind of like The Beach Boys’ ‘Barbara Ann’ where it sounded like a big party was going on, except Todd could really crank up everything with the hand claps and all of that stuff. It just had this huge sound to it – it sounded like a big party.”

Gerry Goffin: “It’s like a nice gift. It is kind of weird hearing it done in a different way, but you can still hear how it appeals to the kids.”

The Locomotion

Everybody’s doing a brand-new dance, now
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
I know you’ll get to like it if you give it a chance now
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
My little baby sister can do it with me
It’s easier than learning your A-B-C
So come on, come on, do the Loco-motion with me
You gotta swing your hips, now

Come on
Jump up
Jump back
Well, now, I think you’ve got the knack
Wow, wow

Now that you can do it, let’s make a chain, now
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
A chug-a chug-a motion like a railroad train, now
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
Do it nice and easy, now, don’t lose control
A little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul

Come on, come on
And do the Loco-motion with me

Move around the floor in a Loco-motion
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
Do it holding hands if you get the notion
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)

There’s never been a dance that’s so easy to do
It even makes you happy when you’re feeling blue
So come on, come on, do the Loco-motion with me

(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
So come on, come on and do the Loco-motion with me
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
So come on, come on and do the Loco-motion with me
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)
(Come on baby, do the loco-motion)

Max Picks …songs from 1983

After this year, my fandom with The Replacements and REM began to accelerate because of the top 40. There is still some great top 40 coming but alternative music started to make more of an impression on me.

1983

U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday – Of all the U2 songs this one is probably on the top of my list right beside Angel of Harlem. The drum pattern sounds like they are marching off to battle. It’s raw and you can hear the conviction in what Bono is singing. The Edge’s guitar is crunchy and perfect. The drum beat was composed by Larry Mullen Jr. It was recorded in a staircase of their Dublin recording studio because producer Steve Lillywhite was trying to get a full sound with natural reverb.

“Bloody Sunday” was a term given to an incident, which took place on 30th January 1972 in Derry, Northern Ireland where British Soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians who were peacefully protesting against Operation Demetrius. Thirteen were killed outright, while another man lost his life four months later due to injuries. It was reported that many of the victims who were fleeing the scene were shot at point-blank range.

The first person to have addressed these events musically was John Lennon who composed “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and released it on his third Solo album “Sometime In New York City”. His version of the song directly expresses his anger towards the massacre

David Bowie – Modern Love – This was my favorite song off of the Let’s Dance album released in 1983.

Stevie Ray Vaughan played guitar on this song. Bowie asked him to play on the Let’s Dance album after seeing him perform at a music festival.

David Bowie and Nile Rodgers wrote this song.  Modern Love peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #2 in the UK, and #6 in New Zealand in 1983. The album was also produced by Bowie and Rodgers.

Nile Rodgers said that Bowie came into his apartment one day and showed him a photograph of Little Richard in a red suit getting into a bright red Cadillac, saying “Nile, darling, that’s what I want my album to sound like.”

How cool is that?

John Mellencamp – Pink Houses -I remember this song well but I also remember the MTV giveaway contest “Paint The Mutha Pink”. Oh yes, you could win a free house in Indiana where Mellencamp was from…a pink one of course! MTV got a good deal on the first house…20,000 dollars…there was a reason for that. It was across the street from a toxic dump. MTV then had to get another house and they finally did and gave it away. Susan Miles won the house along with a pink jeep and a garage full of Hawaiian Punch…not sure how that factored in.

According to a 1991 article in the Herald times online, it turned out that Susan Miles had only kept the house long enough to reap some tax advantages from owning a property. She never actually lived in the house. She went back to Bellevue, Washington after the contest was over.

Inspiration for this song came when Mellencamp was driving on Interstate 65 in Indianapolis. As described in the first verse, he saw a black man sitting in a lawn chair just watching the road. The image stuck with Mellencamp, who wasn’t sure if the man should be pitied because he was desolate, or admired. After all, he was happy.

MTV Contest

Big Country – Big Country – I love the drums in this song…they are so BIG…no pun intended. In America, this was their only song that hit big. Stuart Adamson was inspired to write “In A Big Country” after hearing what producer Steve Lillywhite was able to achieve on Big Country’s “Fields of Fire” single.

I thought this had bagpipes in it but it doesn’t. The guitarist, Stuart Adamson, used a technique called the “e-bow” to achieve the sound that resembles bagpipes. This technique involves using a handheld electronic device to vibrate the guitar strings, creating a sustained, bagpipe-like sound. For almost all of their music, Big Country was an all-guitar band.

Van Halen – Jump – This song was unusual for Van Halen because of the Oberheim OB-Xa synthesizer. Roth didn’t want to use it because he was afraid people would look at it as selling out to get a record in the charts. ZZ Top was doing the same thing at the time.

Eddie wanted to use it and had written the riff in 1981. Songfacts said: 1984 was David Lee Roth’s last album with Van Halen before he left the band in 1985; the video for “Jump” inflamed the tensions that led to his departure. The video was produced by Robert Lombard, who wanted to show the personal side of the band on stage. Roth, however, wanted the performance intercut with footage of him in various hedonistic pursuits, so they shot him doing things like riding a motorcycle and getting arrested while wearing nothing but a towel. Lombard edited the video and used none of the extra Roth footage, taking it to Eddie and Alex for approval. Two days later, the band’s manager fired him for bypassing Roth; Lombard says he never received the award the video won from MTV.

A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead ….by Dennis McNally

I started this book back in July of 2022 while driving across America in an audiobook format. I then got sidetracked by a couple of other books but returned to it. It is a very good biography of the Dead. Dennis McNally worked as the Dead’s publicist from the 1980s through to 1995 when Jerry Garcia died. He also continued in those duties for Grateful Dead Productions until its dissolution in 2004.

The way he writes is interesting. He starts off in the 80s and then goes back and starts at the beginning. He does this throughout the book but it is smooth and not forced. He finds something that links the 80s and 90s to the 60s and 70s. If you don’t know much about the Grateful Dead…this is the book to get. He goes through their entire history and it’s deep.

Dennis Mcnaly and Jerry
Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead talks backstage with band publicist Dennis McNally before a concert in Oakland.

Everyone that came into contact with the band…gets their own mini-biography in this book. The road crew, former friends, wives, and everyone else. You get a well-rounded look at the band and the history of those who surrounded them.

The only critical thing I would say is if you want more personal fun stories from band members… other books do that better. Bill Kreutzmann’s book Deal or So Many Roads by David Browne will give you more personal stories. That’s not to say you don’t get any in this book.

If you don’t know much about the Grateful Dead and you want to know their history…this is the book for you. I wish I would have started with this one to begin with. Dennis McNally doesn’t exaggerate or dig up a lot of dirt…he tries to get the story right. Garcia wanted him to write a biography of the band in the 1980s so McNally was trusted.

Overall, it’s the best Grateful Dead book I’ve read about their history in detail. So I give it a big thumbs up.

Here is an interview with Dennis McNally

John Lennon – How?

This song was on the Imagine album and I heard it in more than one documentary about him. This song is about John being vulnerable which is not as typical of him.

This song was written after the Beatles broke up plus after the primal scream therapy of Dr Arthur Janov. What is Primal Scream Therapy? I found this definition: psychotherapy in which the patient recalls and reenacts a particularly disturbing past experience usually occurring early in life and expresses normally repressed anger or frustration, especially through spontaneous and unrestrained screams, hysteria, or violence.

When the Beatles broke up, John and Paul dove headfirst into their individual careers. Paul jumped straight into pop and Lennon dived into writing what he thought was the truth and setting it to a backbeat. They were not going to veer from their respective targets. You could tell they didn’t have each other to hold the other back anymore. That is what the Beatles had as a whole that the two head Beatles didn’t anymore. George just went on… already accustomed to writing alone but John and Paul had no brakes or guard rails.

For John, it paid off in two brilliant albums off the bat that probably would not have been the same with The Beatles. With Paul, it paid off with Ram but with just an OK debut album. After these first two albums, John seemed to lose some of his edge and Paul took a while but finally gained more confidence until he made his masterpiece Band On The Run released late in 1973.

Imagine peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts and in the UK. It also peaked at #2 in Canada in 1971.

I’ve always read and seen interviews where Ozzy Osbourne is a huge fan of the Beatles and John Lennon. Ozzy Osbourne released a cover of this song in support of Amnesty International during the same week John Lennon would have turned 70. Ozzy sticks very close to John’s version of the song.

John Lennon on recording the Imagine album: We recorded it at home in our studio, Phil Spector produces with Yoko and I, so as we don’t go overboard and he doesn’t go overboard – we get a balance between the three of us. It was better than the first time, because now we know each other and we’ve done quite a lot of work together and we understand each other, so we know how to work better. That’s why it’s been quicker. We did the last one in ten days and we did this one in nine.

How?

How can I go forward when I don’t know which way I’m facing?
How can I go forward when I don’t know which way to turn?
How can I go forward into something I’m not sure of?
Oh no, oh no

How can I have feeling when I don’t know if it’s a feeling?
How can I feel something if I just don’t know how to feel?
How can I have feelings when my feelings have always been denied?
Oh no, oh no

You know life can be long
And you got to be so strong
And the world is so tough
Sometimes I feel I’ve had enough

How can I give love when I don’t know what it is I’m giving?
How can I give love when I just don’t know how to give?
How can I give love when love is something I ain’t never had?
Oh no, oh no

You know life can be long
You’ve got to be so strong
And the world she is tough
Sometimes I feel I’ve had enough

How can we go forward when we don’t know which way we’re facing?
How can we go forward when we don’t know which way to turn?
How can we go forward into something we’re not sure of?
Oh no, oh no

Band – Atlantic City

I first heard this version on television with the Band playing this song from their new album on David Letterman. I knew right away they picked the perfect song for them. It’s probably the best track they had since Robbie’s departure.

A decade earlier I bought the Nebraska album when it was released after I saw the video for this song. Bruce Springsteen wrote and recorded that album on a Tascam 4-track machine as a demo for the band. He tried to do the songs with the E-Street band, but they didn’t sound as good as the demo.

After carrying the cassette around in his pocket for weeks, they mastered it and made the Nebraska album…it was the demo. The album was only Bruce with an acoustic guitar with overdubs by him. It’s one of my all-time favorite songs and albums by Bruce… It’s a very powerful album. I didn’t ever think someone would cover any of those songs but The Band put their own spin on Atlantic City and it works.

On their album Jericho, The Band covered this song. This was The Band long after Robbie Robertson had left. Richard Manuel was dead by this point so you had Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson of the original band left. Levon’s voice fits this song so well that it’s a toss-up which version I like the best.

A book came out in 2021 claiming that someone offered The Band 3 million dollars to reunite with Robbie Robertson for 20 or so shows in 1993 when Jericho was released. The plan fizzled out but that would have been interesting.

The first line, “They blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night,” was taken from a newspaper article about a mob hit in Atlantic City. The “Chicken Man” was Phil Testa, the number two man in the Philadelphia Mob under Angelo Bruno.

After Bruno was murdered in his car, Testa was blown up by a bomb placed under his front porch. These hits were orchestrated by Nicky Scarfo, who took over the Philly boys so he could control the new Atlantic City gambling rackets. He made such a mess of things that he and most of his crew were either murdered or in jail within a few years.

Jericho peaked at #166 on the Billboard Album Charts and #50 in Canada in 1993. Atlantic City by the Band peaked at #37 in Canada.

Atlantic City

Well, they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night
And they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk they’re ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do

Now there’s trouble busin’ in from outta state
And the D.A. can’t get no relief
Gonna be a rumble on the promenade
And the gamblin’ commissioner’s hangin’ on by the skin of his teeth

Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies some day comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

Well, I got a job and I put my money away
But I got the kind of debts that no honest man can pay
So I drew out what I had from the Central Trust
And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus

Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies some day comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever I’ll stay
We’ll be goin’ out where the sand turns to gold
But put your stockings on, ’cause it might get cold

Oh, everything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies some day comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

Now I’ve been a-lookin’ for a job, but it’s hard to find
There’s winners and there’s losers and I’m south of the line
Well, I’m tired of gettin’ caught out on the losin’ end
But I talked to a man last night, gonna do a little favor for him

Well, everything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies some day comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Oh, meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Oh, meet me tonight in Atlantic City

…

John Fogerty – Old Man Down The Road

One thing that Max Picks has taught me is that I haven’t posted as many hits as I truly like. I usually concentrate on the album cuts but songs like this I really like. This one is a good example. I thought for sure I did it before but never have. Well, I guess I’ve given away one Pick…

It was one of the very very very very…yes that is bad English…but what I mean to say is a VERY rare new song that our band played. See…I even liked older songs much more in the mid-eighties. We were already playing many CCR songs so this just fit right in perfectly. It seemed weird playing a song in the top 10 back then. It’s a fun easy riff to play on guitar. Something a beginner could do. 

It was one of those songs in the mid-eighties that I could not get enough of. Real drums and real guitar riffs. Fogerty had been out of the spotlight since 1975…this single was released in December 1984 right before his great album Centerfield. I didn’t buy this single…I knew it was Fogerty so I just bought the album. It was Creedence in the 80s to me. His next album I won’t talk about as much but this was an instant classic. The album had Big Train From Memphis, I Saw It On TV, Centerield,  and Rock and Roll Girls plus more very good songs. This is the song that signaled his comeback.

After it was released John had said the song was supposedly about “the devil” and that would be Saul Zaentz who owned all of Fogerty’s publishing from the CCR days. To top it off and make the song pretty much true…Saul Zaentz sued Fogerty for sounding like himself in this song. He claimed this song sounded like Run Through The Jungle…one that Fogerty wrote with Creedence. John has since said that Saul probably jumped into his mind after the lawsuit…and he developed that riff and just wrote around it. 

The B-Side to this single was Big Train From Memphis (Below) which I loved. It’s one of my favorite Train songs. The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, #12 in Canada, #11 in New Zealand, and #90 in the UK. Wow…I don’t guess the UK were Fogerty fans.

John Fogerty was in court playing the song on guitar to show how he wrote it and said this later: “Yeah, it’s the same interval. What am I supposed to do, get an inoculation? I proved that, no, I didn’t copy myself, I invented something new that really sounds a lot like me. Do you find fault with Elvis for sounding like Elvis? When McCartney sounds like McCartney or Dylan sounds like Dylan? No one else ever had to go through that.”

John DID win the court case. If he had lost that case…all hell would have broken loose on solo artists who left bands for a solo career that sounded like themselves.

Big Train From Memphis

Old Man Down The Road

He take the thunder from the mountain, he take the lightning from the sky,
He bring the strong man to his begging knee, he make the young girl’s mama cry.

You got to hidey-hide, you got to jump and run;
You got to hidey-hidey-hide, the Old Man is down the road.

He got the voices speak in riddles, he got the eye as black as coal,
He got a suitcase covered with rattlesnake hide, and he stands right in the road.

You got to hidey-hide, you got to jump up run away;
You got to hidey-hidey-hide, the Old Man is down the road.

Ah!

He make the river call your lover, he make the barking of the hound,
Put a shadow ‘cross the window, when the Old Man comes around.

You got to hidey-hide, you got to jump and run again;
You got to hidey-hidey-hide, the Old Man is down the road.
The Old Man is down the road.

Ah!
You got ta, you got ta, you got ta, hidey-hidey-hide!

Godfathers – Birth, School, Work, Death

I made a post about these guys in April 2023 and gave you all a sample platter of their songs. This one was included but let’s look closer and listen to this song. This band doesn’t mess about…they hit you head-on.

The lyrics were written by the lead vocalist and songwriter of The Godfathers, Peter Coyne. He did a good job of reflecting the emotions and sentiments associated with each stage of life portrayed in the song released in 1988.

Peter and Chris Coyne started the band in 1982 calling it the Side Presley Experience. By 1985 they had removed some members and brought in some more. They also made a name change to The Godfathers.

They wanted to record so they found a producer in Vic Maile who had worked with The Kinks, Who, and Motorhead. They released some singles in the UK and finally after seeing import sales they put together an album made up of singles and B sides plus they did a cover of John Lennon’s Cold Turkey and called it Hit By Hit (#3 in the UK).

Then came the call every band wants…Epic Records signed them to a contract. They released the single Birth, School, Work, Death in 1987. The following year they released an album with the same name. Birth, School, Work, Death peaked at #38 in the US Modern Rock Charts.

Birth, School, Work, Death

Been turned around till I’m upside downBeen all at sea until I’ve drownedAnd I’ve felt torture, I’ve felt painJust like that film with Michael CaineI’ve been abused and I’ve been confusedAnd I’ve kissed Margaret Thatcher’s shoesAnd I been high and I been lowAnd I don’t know where to goBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathAnd heroin was the love you gaveFrom the cradle to the graveBoys and girls don’t understandThe devil makes work for idle handsI cut myself but I don’t bleed‘Cause I don’t get what I needDoesn’t matter what I sayTomorrow’s still another dayBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathYeah I been high and I been lowAnd I don’t know where to goI’m living on the never never neverThis time it’s gonna be foreverI’ll live and die don’t ask me whyI want to go to paradiseAnd I don’t need your sympathyThere’s nothing in this world for meBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, death

…

Robert Gordon – Fire

A few weeks back Randy from Mostlymusiccovers was listing songs with Rock and Roll in the title and mentioned Robert Gordon. I knew I knew the name and I remember CB mentioning him a while back and I’ve been in a rockabilly mood recently and have been listening to him.

Bruce Springsteen wanted Elvis to do this song but Elvis died in 1977 soon after Bruce wrote it. Springsteen offered it to Robert Gordon after seeing him perform live. This 1977 recording features Link Wray on guitar and Springsteen on piano. “Fire” would become a hit later that year when it was recorded by the Pointer Sisters. After listening to it…I do understand why he offered it to Gordon. He did a fantastic job with it and yes…you can hear Elvis in his version.

The man sounds like he should have been born earlier and active through the fifties.  He helped kickstart the worldwide rockabilly revival in 1977 with the release of his debut album, Robert Gordon With Link Wray, made in tandem with the guitar legend behind the 1958 instrumental hit Rumble.

Everyone thought he would be huge. His producer was Richard Gottehrer and he helped launch the careers of Madonna, Blondie, The Ramones, and The Talking Heads. Gordon did pave the way for future rockabilly acts like The Stray Cats that came in the 80s. He also shined a much-needed light on the legendary guitarist Link Wray. He saw Wray playing the oldies circuit and convinced Wray to play guitar with him.

Much like The Yardbirds and John Mayall…Gordon had a knack for picking great guitar players to play with him. Chris Spedding (a versatile session guitarist), Danny Gatton (toured with Roger Miller and others), Eddie Angel, Quentin Jones, and, most recently, Danny B. Harvey. Gordon’s 2020 album Rockabilly For Life had players such as Albert Lee, Steve Wariner, and the great Steve Cropper.

From 1977 to 2022 he made 12 studio albums and 4 live albums. Gordon died in 2022 of acute myeloid leukemia.

Robert Gordon: “I’ve always done my thing. I choose the songs, and I let the guitarists do their thing. I don’t step on their territory, but I like to hear what I like to hear, and it works out good. When you’re working with people like Chris Spedding and Danny Gatton, you don’t have to tell them too much. These guys have been there and done that, and they’re the best. I always let them do their thing before I open my mouth.” 

Fire

I’m drivin’ in my car, you turn on the radio
I’m pullin’ you close, but you just say no
You say you don’t like it, but girl I know you’re a liar
‘Cause when we kiss, ooh, fire

Late at night, I’m chasin you home
I say I wanna stay, you say you wanna be alone
You say you don’t need me, but you can’t hide your desire
‘Cause when we kiss, ooh, fire

You’ve had a hold on me right from the start
It felt so good, I couldn’t tear it apart
Got my nerves all jumpin’, actin’ like a fool
‘Cause your kisses they burn, but your heart stays cool

Romeo and Juliet, Samson and Delilah
Baby, you can bet the love they couldn’t deny
Well, now your words say split, but your words they lie
‘Cause when we kiss, ooh, fire

Oh-oh, fire
Mm-mm, fire
Oh-oh, fire
Oh-oh, fire

Leon Redbone – I Ain’t Got Nobody

In the seventies, I would sometimes sneak a peek at SNL when I was a kid. I wasn’t old enough to get the jokes but I liked the music. This was back when Lorne Michaels would actually take a chance and let someone play that wasn’t on the charts or “hot.” He was so different then. The way he looked, sounded and presented himself. You would expect Mark Twain to pop out at any moment.

This guy I could never forget. In the middle of disco and punk, he was a throwback from the 1920s or so. Leon Redbone’s musical style was shaped by his deep love for early jazz, blues, and country music. He spent countless hours studying the recordings of legendary artists from the 1920s and 1930s, seeking to recreate the sound and feel of that era. This dedication, coupled with his exceptional talent and passion for music, allowed him to develop a truly unique style that set him apart from his contemporaries.

Redbone and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan himself said that if he owned a record company, he would sign Leon Redbone. Soon thereafter, Leon Redbone did sign with a major label, Warner Brothers.

Redbone was one of the best vocalists of his time. He basically gave  1970’s audiences vintage music at a time when nobody was asking for it. He mixed blues of various dialects and included them in his musical performances along with early country, ragtime, tin pan alley favorites, and songs from America. He played music that was so far out of the mainstream he was labeled an eccentric. The truth of the matter was that it was beautiful music played brilliantly.

This song was off on his 1994 album Whistling in the Wind. If you want something different find some Leon Redbone, sip on a Mint Julep, and enjoy life. I wish I would have caught him live in concert. He passed away on May 30, 2019, at the age of 69.

I Ain’t Got Nobody

I ain’t got nobody and nobody cares for me
I got the blues, the weary blues

There’s a saying going ’round and I begin to think it’s true
It’s awful hard to love someone, when they don’t care ’bout you
Once I had a lovin’ man, as good as many in this town
But now I’m sad and lonely, for he’s gone and turned me down, now

I ain’t got nobody and nobody cares for me
I got the blues, the weary blues

And I’m sad and lonely, won’t somebody come and take a chance with me?
I’ll sing sweet love songs honey, all the time
If you’ll come and be my sweet baby mine
‘Cause I ain’t got nobody, and nobody cares for me

Won’t somebody go and find my man and bring him back to me
It’s awful hard to be alone and without sympathy
Once I was a loving gal, as good as any in this town
But since my daddy left me, I’m a gal with her heart bowed down

Jerry Reed – Amos Moses

Well I wonder where the Louisiana sheriff went to?

I can still see the 8-track of Jerry Reed’s greatest hits in my stepdad’s truck. Jerry was a great guitar player but that gets lost sometimes because of his later acting career. He played guitar on his own recordings, as well as on sessions for Elvis, Bobby Bare, Porter Wagoner, Joan Baez, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, and others.

Whenever I read or think about the best guitarists…I think Jimi Hendrix (my favorite), Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, SRV, and others. Some guitarists seem to be left out in the country field. Jerry Reed, Roy Clark, and perhaps the greatest of them all…Glen Campbell. Jerry Reed’s style is what I always called “chicken picking” and he was one of the greats.

Frankly, I was surprised when I checked Billboard and saw how successful he was in the charts. He had 51 songs in the Country 100 charts…including three number 1’s and six top ten hits. In the Billboard 100, he had ten songs in the top 100 including two top 10 hits. Amos Moses was one of them… peaking at #8 in the Billboard 100 and #16 in the Country Charts in 1971…The other song was When You’re Hot, You’re Hot at #9.

The song’s popularity further established Reed as a prominent figure in the country music scene. His last number-one in the country charts was “She Got the Gold Mine (I Got the Shaft)” in 1982… Why did I mention it? How could I not with a title like that?

The song appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Chet Atkins produced this recording.

This is from Guitar Player magazine.

WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT UNDERRATED guitarists, the name Jerry Reed often doesn’t even come up. That’s how underrated Jerry Reed is. More often viewed as an actor, singer, or variety show regular, Reed possessed mindboggling guitar technique that incorporated intricate fingerpicking, gorgeous cascading harp-style runs, and an infectious, funky sense of rhythm and humor. He got his start as a songwriter, penning “Crazy Legs” (which would be covered by Gene Vincent and later inspire an album of the same name by Jeff Beck) and “Guitar Man,” which caught the ear of Elvis Presley. By the mid-’60s, Mr. Guitar himself, Chet Atkins, had taken note of Reed’s amazing fingerstyle prowess and began producing and collaborating with Reed, most notably on the albums Me & Jerry and Me & Chet.

Amos Moses

Yeah here comes Amos
Now Amos Moses was a Cajun
He lived by himself in the swamp
He hunted alligator for a living
He’d just knock them in the head with a stump
The Louisiana law gonna get you Amos
It ain’t legal hunting alligator down in the swamp boy

Now everyone blamed his old man
For making him mean as a snake
When Amos Moses was a boy
His daddy would use him for alligator bait
Tie a rope around his neck and throw him in the swamp
Alligator bait in the Louisiana bayou
About forty-five minutes southeast of Tippitoe, Louisiana
Lived a man called Doc Mills South and his pretty wife Hannah
Well, they raised up a son that could eat up his weight in groceries
Named him after a man of the cloth
Called him Amos Moses, yeah

Now the folks around south Louisiana
Said Amos was a hell of a man
He could trap the biggest, the meanest alligator
And he’d just use one hand
That’s all he got left cause an alligator bit it
Left arm gone clear up to the elbow

Well the sheriff caught wind that Amos was in the swamp trapping alligator skin
So he snuck in the swamp gonna get the boy
But he never come out again
Well I wonder where the Louisiana sheriff went to
Well you can sure get lost in the Louisiana bayou
About forty-five minutes southeast of Tippitoe, Louisiana
Lived a cat called Doc Mills South and his pretty wife Hannah
Well, they raised up a son that could eat up his weight in groceries
Named him after a man of the cloth
Called him Amos Moses

Sit down on ’em Amos!
Make it count son
About forty-five minutes southeast of Tippitoe, Louisiana
Lived a man called Doc Mills South and his pretty wife Hannah

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Call Me The Breeze

I’ve been in a J.J. Cale mood for a while so here is another one of his songs made popular by someone else and he was happy about it.

Like Eric Clapton… Lynyrd Skynyrd helped Cale finance his lifestyle, allowing him to release albums in a leisurely fashion. Cale didn’t like fame and tried to avoid it. On his first seven albums, he didn’t include a picture of himself.

Of Skynyrd’s rendition of “Call Me the Breeze,” Cale said that it afforded him the money to have more freedom in how and when he made his music and was always honored when other artists covered his songs. This was a popular song by the band but never was released as a single. It has become a staple of classic rock radio though since the format started. It appeared on Second Helping released in 1974.

Instead of following Cale’s more stripped-back lead on the track, Skynyrd amped the song up with a more rock style. With Van Zant’s vocals and King, Collins, and Rossington’s guitars it became a concert favorite. Throughout the years, “Call Me the Breeze” has been covered by Johnny Cash with his son John Carter Cash, Shooter Jennings, Bobby Bare, Peter Frampton, John Mayer, and more.

When Cale died in 2013 from a heart attack, Clapton paid tribute to his friend by including a rendition of “Call Me the Breeze” and other tracks for a Cale tribute album in 2014, The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale, which also features Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, and John Mayer.

Lynyrd Skynyrd thought a lot of J.J. Cale. They didn’t record covers very often but they covered Cale twice with this one and a song called Same Old Blues off of the 1976 album Gimme Back My Bullets.

Call Me The Breeze

Call me the breeze
I keep blowin’ down the road
Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin’ down the road
I ain’t got me nobody
I don’t carry me no load

Ain’t no change in the weather
Ain’t no changes in me
Well there ain’t no change in the weather
Ain’t no changes in me
And I ain’t hidin’ from nobody
Nobody’s hidin’ from me
Oh, that’s the way it’s supposed to be

Well I got that green light baby
I got to keep movin’ on
Well I got that green light baby
I got to keep movin’ on
Well I might go out to California
Might go down to Georgia
I don’t know

Well I dig you Georgia peaches
Makes me feel right at home
Well now I dig you Georgia peaches
Makes me feel right at home
But I don’t love me no one woman
So I can’t stay in Georgia long

Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin’ down the road
Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin’ down the road
I ain’t got me nobody
I don’t carry me no load
Oooh Mr Breeze