Music – Page 72 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Rush – Limelight

I’m not the biggest fan of Rush but there are songs that were masterpieces…and this was one of them. When I heard that guitar riff at the beginning…BOOM…automatically loved the song.

As I listen to interviews and watched their documentary… that I will plug to everyone that would listen. I’ve grown to like them more and more. As a musician myself…yes I respect them as masters of their craft.

They had an unusual songwriting setup in that band. For the most part Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will come up with the music and drummer Neil Peart will supply the often complex lyrics. The drummers I’ve worked with…uh… that would not happen. This song hit me a like a great rock song which it is and is completely understandable.

While Alex and Geddy are outgoing guys…Neil Peart was not. He never hated the fans or anything but he was shy and didn’t feel comfortable with meet and greets etc. As Geddy Lee said (full quote below): “Limelight was probably more of Neil’s song than a lot of the songs on that album in the sense that his feelings about being in the limelight and his difficulty with coming to grips with fame and autograph seekers and a sudden lack of privacy and sudden demands on his time… he was having a very difficult time dealing with.

Neil said that while he was a huge fan of The Who and Keith Moon…he would have never dreamed of following them back to their hotel or meeting them. He just didn’t understand that concept and why. The song is about his feelings toward the fame that hit Rush and changed everything.

Neil Peart was a heavy reader and you could see the influence in many things. William Shakespeare’s 1599 play As You Like It contains the line “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players” – a similar phase appears in the lyrics – “All the worlds indeed a stage, and we are merely players.” Rush named one of their albums All The Worlds A Stage.

The song peaked at #18 in Canada, #55 on the Billboard 100, and #4 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks. It was on the album Moving Pictures (My favorite by them) and that one peaked at #1 in Canada, #3 on the Billboard Album Charts, and #3 in the UK. This was the album in my area that had young musicians going out and learning these songs…not an easy task.

While researching this song I saw a headline that best sums it up. “Neil Peart explains his introverted nature through Rush song ‘Limelight.”

Geddy Lee: “Limelight was probably more of Neil’s song than a lot of the songs on that album in the sense that his feelings about being in the limelight and his difficulty with coming to grips with fame and autograph seekers and a sudden lack of privacy and sudden demands on his time… he was having a very difficult time dealing with. I mean we all were, but I think he was having the most difficulty of the three of us adjusting; in the sense that I think he’s more sensitive to more things than Alex and I are, it’s harder for him to deal with those interruptions on his personal space and his desire to be alone. Being very much a person who needs that solitude, to have someone coming up to you constantly and asking for your autograph is a major interruption in your own little world. I guess in the one sense that we’re a little bit like misfits in the fact that we’ve chosen this profession that has all this extreme hype and this sort of self-hyping world that we’ve chosen to live in, and we don’t feel comfortable really in that kind of role.”

Alex Lifeson: “I’ve always enjoyed the elasticity of that solo, particularly the way it sounds on the record. It has a certain tonality I just love. I do like playing the solo live, but I think I prefer listening to it on the album. On record, it has a magical quality to it – it really conveys the pathos of the song and the lyrics. I’ve never been able to re-create that live. I get pretty close, but it’s never exactly the way it is on record. I’ll keep trying, though.”

Neil Peart: “Success puts a strain on the friendship and it puts the strains on your day-to-day relationship, and it’s something that we did go through, you know, we’re not immune to it. But we were able to overcome it just through our closeness and we were able to help each other with difficulties like that and then we could deal with the pressures and things and that.”

Limelight

Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage

Cast in this unlikely role
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact

Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme

Living in a fish eye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can’t pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend

All the world’s indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another’s audience
Outside the gilded cage

Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme

Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
The real relation
The underlying theme

Max Picks …songs from 1956

Hello everyone…I changed the name of this series…I never liked the original name and I heard from a couple of commenters and I totally agreed… Last week I got great responses from many of you and I appreciate it.

1956

Rock and Roll was reviving up now. The song that represents it the most this year to me was Be-Bop-a-Lula. The song is a perfect piece of rock and roll. His voice with reverb is just magical and artists have been chasing that sound ever since. I can’t imagine hearing this on the radio back then. Gene Vincent must have sounded so alien to some people but it’s what rock and roll needed. The song was written by Gene Vincent, Donald Graves, and Bill “Sheriff Tex” Davis.

“That beginning – ‘we-e-e-e-e-l-l-l-l-l!’ – always made my hair stand on end.”
John Lennon

***We have a bonus today at the bottom out of Lubbock Texas***

Yes, I could have gone with the Elvis version but I wanted the rockabilly man who wrote the song. Carl Perkins with Blue Suede Shoes. This was released in January of 1956 on Sun Records. Carl was amazing with his songwriting, guitar playing, and singing. The man could rock with the best.

I will make a confession here…out of all the 50s artists…Buddy Holly was probably my all-time favorite. The man had it all and he was ahead of his time. I’ve said this before but if he would have lived…out of all the 50s artists…he is the one that could have made a huge mark in the 60s alongside the British Invasion bands. They were playing modified versions of the songs he already wrote. This was not a massive hit… in fact it was a B side but one I’ve always liked. Blue Days, Black Nights. You WILL be seeing/hearing more Buddy in this series.

Now we are getting to the meat on the bone. Little Richard sings what was my dad’s favorite rock song…Long Tall Sally. The only time I remember getting a standing ovation is when I was 16 in a bar (shhhh don’t tell) playing this song with our band. Little Richard’s voice was fierce…I compare it to Jimi Hendrix’s guitar…just relentless. The song was written by Enotris Johnson, Robert Blackwell, and Richard Penniman (Little Richard).

Saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally
They saw Aunt Mary comin’
So they ducked back in the alley

It’s hard to go through these songs and pick only 5. Let’s close things out with The Man in Black! Johnny Cash released this in 1956 on Sun Records.

***BONUS: Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Scotty Moore, and Carl Perkins all in one place….backstage at a High School in Lubbock Texas in this really short clip. I wish we could hear the music.***

Bruce Springsteen – Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?

Under the Covers Tuesday will be back next week.

This was originally posted at Dave’s Turntable Talk. This is what Dave asked for… Tell us about a song (or album if you’re more ambitious) you like that is all about going somewhere. Trains, planes, automobiles – there’ve been scores of good songs about traveling, geographically or even mentally, not to mention songs about specific destinations from ‘Viva Las Vegas’ to ‘One Night in Bangkok’ and about everyplace in between.

After Dave asked us to write a post about traveling… it was between Promise Land by the Big E and this one by Bruce. I had to go with this one.

This song is a journey through an enjoyable play of words. It was written about a bus journey to Bruce’s girlfriend’s house. This song was also based on people and places Springsteen met in his early years as a songwriter. His father was a bus driver for a time, which helped inspire the song.

I listened to it so many times that I know every word to this day. I was surprised to see that he still plays this in concert every now and then…but you can’t beat the studio version.

I was around 19 (1986) or so when I found this album, or when the album found me, and I was going through an angry young man phase. I had just bought a 1976 Fender Musicmaster guitar (I still have it) and a black leather jacket so I was ready. The imagery flows like water with Greetings From Ashbury Park, Bruce’s debut album in 1973… It’s not very polished but that adds to it. The songs have a stream-of-consciousness feel to them. It was critically praised but did not have huge sales. The album only peaked at #60 in the Billboard Album Charts.

This album is my favorite by Springsteen. Yes, I like his other albums…but I love the wordplay on this one. I think the only song that halts the album is Mary Queen of Arkansas. I hear some Dylan and a very strong Van Morrison influence on this album and song. It is rough and raw and unpredictable.

Wizard imps and sweat sock pimps
Interstellar mongrel nymphs
Rex said that lady left him limp
Love’s like that (sure it is)

Songs like this helped give Springsteen the tag….” the new Dylan” and he was the one performer who actually lived up to it…strap in and ride the Springsteen-driven bus.

Does This Bus Stop At 52nd Street?

Hey bus driver, keep the change
Bless your children, give them names
Don’t trust men who walk with canes
Drink this and you’ll grow wings on your feet
Broadway Mary, Joan Fontaine
Advertiser on a downtown train
Christmas crier bustin’ cane
He’s in love again

Where dock worker’s dreams mix with panther’s schemes
To someday own the rodeo
Tainted women in VistaVision
Perform for out-of-state kids at the late show

Wizard imps and sweat sock pimps
Interstellar mongrel nymphs
Rex said that lady left him limp
Love’s like that (sure it is)
Queen of diamonds, ace of spades
Newly discovered lovers of the Everglades
They take out a full-page ad in the trades
To announce their arrival
And Mary Lou, she found out how to cope
She rides to heaven on a gyroscope
The Daily News asks her for the dope
She said, “Man, the dope’s that there’s still hope”

Senorita, Spanish rose
Wipes her eyes and blows her nose
Uptown in Harlem she throws a rose
To some lucky young matador

Cream – Spoonful

I always thought this band was the ultimate power trio…and I mean no offense to ZZ Top. Seeing Cream was like watching a baseball team that has all-star players in each position.

When I first started to listen to Cream, what stood out was not Clapton’s guitar or Baker’s drumming…no it was Jack Bruce’s bass. There are three bass players I listened to while starting to play music. John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, and Paul McCartney. Those three covered the chaotic, the sliding, and the melodic. Jack Bruce had all of these traits.

Chester Burnett…better known as Howlin’ Wolf was from White Station, Mississippi. He influenced so many including Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. This was his signature song although he didn’t write it…the one and only Willie Dixon did. Howlin’ Wolf released this song in 1960.

Cream released this single in 1967 and it was off the UK album Fresh Cream in 1966. That album peaked at #6 in the UK and #39 on the Billboard Album Charts. I searched the Canadian RPM archives but this album did not show up.

There have been many rumors about what the song is about. Some say the song is about heroin and cooking it up. Some say it’s about… let’s just say sex. Willie Dixon said no on both. Here is Dixon’s take on it. “The idea of ‘Spoonful’ was that it doesn’t take a large quantity of anything to be good if you have a little money when you need it, you’re right there in the right spot, that’ll buy you a whole lot. If a doctor give you less than a spoonful of some kind of medicine that can kill you, he can give you less than a spoonful of another that will make you well”. Asked about heroin, he replied, “People who think ‘Spoonful’ was about heroin are mostly people with heroin ideas”.

Cream influenced so many bands. They mixed blues, jazz, and hard rock into new kind of music in 1966. They may have created Heavy Metal/Hard Rock or it evolved from what they were doing. Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, and countless more. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker are all probably in the top 5 in rock with each of their instruments.

Its 1968 double album Wheels of Fire features a 16-minute-plus live version of “Spoonful” recorded at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom.

Spoonful

Could fill spoons full of diamonds,Could fill spoons full of gold.Just a little spoon of your precious loveWill satisfy my soul.

Men lies about it.Some of them cries about it.Some of them dies about it.Everything’s a-fightin’ about the spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.

Could fill spoons full of coffee,Could fill spoons full of tea.Just a little spoon of your precious love;Is that enough for me?

Could fill spoons full of water,Save them from the desert sands.But a little spoon of your forty-fiveSaved you from another man.

Ian Dury and The Blockheads – Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

The name alone makes me want to listen to the song. The bass line is one of the coolest bass parts I’ve heard in a number 1 song. Usually on high-charting songs you just don’t hear basslines like this. I also like the out-of-left-field sax solo by saxophonist Davey Payne.

This song was supposedly inspired by Dury’s disability. He contracted polio when he was 7 years old. Luckily, he was not confined to a wheelchair but he did have to use a walking cane.

The song was recorded live with all the Blockheads placed in different positions in the studio’s live area, with Jankel playing a Bechstein grand piano, Mickey Gallagher playing the Hammond organ, and Dury sitting on a stool in the center singing into a hand-held microphone.

He wrote this song with Chaz Jankel in 1978. Chaz was in a band with Dury called The Kilburns and when they disbanded…he got together with Ian Dury as a co-songwriter. It is the group’s most successful single, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 1979 as well as reaching the top three in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and it was also a top 20 hit in several European countries.

The song was a non-album single. He didn’t like to include singles on his albums if possible. It peaked at #1 in the UK, #2 in Australia, #3 in New Zealand, and #79 on the Billboard 100 in 1979. I found no charting in Canada.

“Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick” was named the 12th best single of 1978 by the writers of British music magazine NME, and best single of 1979 in the annual ‘Pazz & Jop’ poll organized by music critic Robert Christgau in The Village Voice.

Hit Me With Your Rythm Stick

In the deserts of Sudan
And the gardens of Japan
From Milan to Yucatan
Every woman, every man

Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me! Hit me!
Je t’adore, ich liebe dich,
Hit me! hit me! hit me!
Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me slowly, hit me quick.
Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

In the wilds of Borneo
And the vineyards of Bordeaux
Eskimo, Arapaho
Move their body to and fro.

Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me! Hit me!
Das ist gut! C’est fantastique!
Hit me! hit me! hit me!
Hit me with your rhythm stick.
It’s nice to be a lunatic.
Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!
In the dock of Tiger Bay
On the road to Mandalay
From Bombay to Santa Fe
Over hills and far away

Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Hit me! Hit me!
C’est si bon, mm? Ist es nicht?
Hit me! hit me! hit me!
Hit me with your rhythm stick.
Two fat persons, click, click, click.
Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!
Hit me!
Hit me!
Hit me! Ow!
Hit me!
Hit me!
Hit me! hit me!

Hit me [Repeat: x 5]

Hit me! Hit me! Hit me!

…

Dave Edmunds

I’ve always liked rockabilly and roots rock but CB has made me appreciate it even more. We have talked about Dave Edmunds before but now, let’s go deeper into his great catalog. The first time I saw Edmunds was in a movie called Stardust. The next time I saw him really play was in the Concert for Kampuchea when Rockpile did a blistering version of Little Sister with Robert Plant.

Edmunds was born in 1944 in Cardiff, Wales. His first band was with his brother Geoff, they were called fittingly enough…The Edmunds Brothers in 1954. After that, they moved on to a band called The Stompers where Dave played lead and Geoff played rhythm guitar. Keep in mind that in those two bands, Dave was only 10 years old. His brother Geoff was 15. Dave went through several bands such as The Heartbeats, The 99ers, and in 1960 he was in The Hill-Bills and then in the Raiders. In 1965 he was with a band called The Image who briefly had a recording contract and he then joined a band called The Human Beans. The Human Beans later evolved into a band called Love Sculpture and that band is where he really started his career.

Love Sculpture played mostly blues standards with some punch. They did hit the charts with a song called The Sabre Dance. The song was originally in the final act of Aram Khachaturian’s ballet Gayane. Love Sculpture’s version peaked at #5 in the UK charts in 1968. It was helped by being played by the great British DJ John Peel. After two albums the band broke up after a US 1970 tour.

The name Rockpile was used as the title of a Dave Edmunds solo album in 1970 and as the name of his backing band when he toured that year. In 1974, Edmunds began working with Lowe on various studio projects. Then, in 1976, Rockpile came together, but still wouldn’t release material as Rockpile until 1980 even though they had recorded several songs before then as a band. This was due to Edmunds and Lowe being contracted to different labels, but in 1980 they were finally able to sign to the same label and Rockpile released the album Seconds of Pleasure.

in 1981 the band went their separate ways. According to the liner notes of the CD release of Seconds of Pleasure in 2004, Nick Lowe said. “We got together for fun and when the fun had all been had… we packed it in.”

Dave released 14 albums under his name. He is also a major producer. Some of the acts that he has produced are Foghat, Flamin’ Groovies, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stray Cats, Brinsley Schwarz, and so many more. So let’s take a quick tour through Dave Edmunds’ history.

Dave started off his solo career quite nicely! This song is probably the best-known out of his catalog. It peaked at #1 in the UK charts, #4 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #3 in New Zealand in 1970. The song was written by Dave Bartholomew.

In 1978 Edumnds released Tracks on Wax 4 his fourth album. I’m hooked on this album that CB told me about. Not a weak song on the album. If you want…and I suggest checking this album out. Here is the link to the complete album. I’ve lived a week with this album at work and at home. I picked one song from the album to place on this post…it could have been any of them.

For those of you who like Rockpile the band with Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremmer, and Terry Williams…this IS a Rockpile album released by Edmunds. Since Edmunds and Lowe were signed to two different record companies…they could not release it under Rockpile at the time. Edmunds overdubs his voice over Lowe’s on some songs.

I cannot stop listening to this song. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Will Come). The song was written by Bruce Springsteen during The River sessions and one that did not get released by Bruce until 2003. Dave Edmunds released it in 1982. It peaked at #28 on the Billboard 100.

Now lets hear a song officially by Rockpile off the album Seconds of Pleasure released in 1980. This song rocks and it’s called If Sugar Was As Sweet As You.

I heard this when I was in high school and bought the single. Slipping Away was released in 1983. The pairing was odd but it worked. Jeff Lynne wrote and produced this song…even with all of the ELO studio enhancements, Edmunds still comes through. It peaked at #7 on the US Mainstream Rock Charts. I also like the Longhorn Danelectro guitar that Edmunds is playing in this video.

BONUS Track Today!

Dave Edmunds and Carlene Carter did Baby Ride Easy in 1980. Carlene at the time was married to Nick Lowe.

…

Gordon Lightfoot – Carefree Highway

I was walking around for days with the words “Every Highway” chorus in my head which I knew was Lightfoot but I had forgotten the name of the song. The mystery was solved when I got on youtube.

Lightfoot said he was influenced by a road sign he saw just north of Phoenix, Arizona. Lightfoot was traveling between Southwest concert tour stops in the early 1970s, and jotted the name of the Carefree Highway down on a piece of paper after reading it on a roadway sign. Interstate 17 had just been completed around that time between Phoenix and Camp Verde.

He kept the piece of paper with the song’s lyrics for a long time before turning it into a tune. “I thought it would make a good title for a song, I wrote it down, put it in my suitcase and it stayed there for eight months.” Just in case you want to know… The Carefree Highway is an east-west segment of State Route 74 in Maricopa County that connects I-17 to Tom Darlington Drive near the town of Carefree.

He had said that the song was about Ann, an old girlfriend of his when he was 22. She dropped by to see Gordon much later after the song had been released at a concert. After the concert, he didn’t say a word about the song and he never knew if she knew it was her he was talking about in this song.

The song peaked at #11 in Canada, #1 on the Canada Adult Contemporary Charts, #1 on the Canadian Country Charts, #1 on Billboard 100, and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary in 1974.

The song was off the album Sundown released in 1974. It peaked at #1 in Canada, #1 on the Billboard Album Charts, and #45 in the UK. This was Lightfoot’s only number 1 album in the Billboard Album Charts.

Gordon Lightfoot: “I thought it would make a good title for a song, I wrote it down, put it in my suitcase and it stayed there for eight months.”

Gordon Lightfoot: “There was a real Ann, it reaches way back to a time when I was about 20 or so. It’s one of those situations where you meet that one woman who knocks you out and then leaves you standing there and says she’s on her way.”

“She stopped by to say hello, I don’t think she knew that she is the one the song was about, and I wasn’t about to tell her.”

Gordon Lightfoot: “I’m not an act that just sits around and waits for inspiration to hit. Making record albums takes a lot of work and a lot of sweat. To borrow a phrase, 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.

“Writing takes application of your talents. A lot of people think songs pop off the top of your head while you’re walking down the street, but that is not the case. Ideas may come this way, but not songs.

Carefree Highway

Pickin’ up the pieces of my sweet shattered dream
I wonder how the old folks are tonight
Her name was Ann and I’ll be damned if I recall her face
She left me not knowin’ what to do

Carefree highway, let me slip away on you
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The mornin’ after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away
Slip away on you

Turnin’ back the pages to the times I love best
I wonder if she’ll ever do the same
Now the thing that I call livin’ is just bein’ satisfied
With knowin’ I got no one left to blame

Carefree highway, I got to see you my old flame
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The mornin’ after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away
Slip away on you

Searchin’ through the fragments of my dream-shattered sleep
I wonder if the years have closed her mind
I guess it must be wanderlust or tryin’ to get free
From the good old faithful feelin’ we once knew

Carefree highway, let me slip away on you
Carefree highway, you seen the better days
The mornin’ after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away
Slip away on you
Let me slip away on you

Carefree highway, I got to see you my old flame
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The mornin’ after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away
Slip away on you

Chuck Berry – Little Queenie

There she is againStandin’ over by the record machineLooking like a modelOn the cover of a magazine

Every single time I post a Chuck Berry song I go on and on about how great a lyricist he was…and this one will be no different. The words in his songs have a flow to them that seems so natural.

This song has the Chuck Berry style all over it. It appeared on the 1959 album Chuck Berry Is on Top and was released as a double A-side with “Almost Grown.” He has a line in the song that people seem to frown on these days. “She’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen” because of her age. What some forget is back then the target audience was teenagers. The singer whether it be Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, or Buddy Holly…they were the voice of the teens. They were the teenagers talking…the rock stars were the teen’s voices.

The song peaked at #80 on the Billboard 100 in 1959.

Later on in the late 60s and to the 2000’s he would tour by himself and in his contract…the promoter had to provide a backing band. He did this to save money but it affected the quality of the shows at times. He did have a super backing band at one of his gigs in 1973.

Berry’s contract stipulated that it was the promoter’s responsibility to supply him with a backing band for this concert. Apparently, Bruce Springsteen learned about a week before the show that the promoter was seeking a group to support Berry and immediately volunteered his band’s services for free, which the promoter gladly accepted.

There was no rehearsal or soundcheck with Berry, so Bruce and the band improvised as best they could. The show was Bruce’s first known appearance in Maryland. Bruce and the E-Street Band opened their part of the show with a 50-minute set, followed by a 60-minute set by Jerry Lee Lewis and his band. Chuck Berry (with Springsteen’s entire band backing him, including Bruce and Southside Johnny) closed the evening’s festivities with a 70-minute performance.

Springsteen asked Chuck what songs they were going to do. Berry said: “We’re going to do some Chuck Berry songs.” That is one of the funniest rock stories I’ve ever heard. Imagine being on stage and not knowing what song is coming. What makes it worse is that Chuck would change the keys of songs. So instead of playing in the universally known A chord to Johnny B Goode…he would start in an F# chord sometimes. Luckily the bass player Gary Tallent was a music historian so he led the band that night. He played in those keys because his former piano player Johnnie Johnson helped him write and arrange those songs so Chuck would play them in keys as a piano player would.

More than 20 years later, Springsteen again played backup for Berry, at a concert at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, celebrating the opening of the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame.

Bruce Springsteen when Chuck Berry died: “Chuck Berry was rock’s greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock ‘n’ roll writer who ever lived. This is a tremendous loss of a giant for the ages.”

Little Queenie

I got lumps in my throatWhen I saw her comin’ down the aisleI got the wiggles in my kneesWhen she looked at me and sweetly smiledThere she is againStandin’ over by the record machineLooking like a modelOn the cover of a magazineShe’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen

Meanwhile I was thinkin’

If she’s in the mood no need to break itI got the chance and I oughta take itIf she can dance we can make itC’mon queenie let’s shake it

Go, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenie

Tell me who’s the queenStandin’ over by the record machineLooking like a modelOn the cover of a magazineShe’s too cute to be a minute over seventeen

Meanwhile, I was still thinkin’If it’s a slow song, we’ll omit itIf it’s a rocker, then we’ll get itAnd if it’s good, she’ll admit itC’mon queenie, let’s get with it

Go, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenieGo, go, go, little queenie

Max Picks …songs from 1955

I want to start something called “Max Picks” and go through every year from 1955 to around 1990 or so. Right now I’ll try to get these in on Wednesday after Star Trek. When Star Trek ends on August 26th I might move it to the weekends. I will try to make each of these short and sweet. This post will hopefully be the longest one I write only because of telling you about it. I will pick 5 songs out of each year…now of course I’m breaking my rule in the first one! You will see why.

I won’t just pick hits as we go along. In the 80s there will be some “alternative” music and I will try to mix it up. The reason I am starting in 1955? The first song below is the reason. It helped jumpstart Rock and Roll.

1955

Ok, let’s get this rolling. The huge hit this year? The one you will know later on in Happy Days. Bill Haley and His Comets Rock Around The Clock. It was one of the most important rock songs of all time. This one was huge in America and it popped into the UK charts in 1955. Whether you are a rock fan, pop fan, heavy metal fan, or anything in between…1955 helped kick it all off.

Here…a middle age looking man takes the world by storm. The following year it would be in the movie of the same name featuring Bill and his Comets. Take it away big fellow.

Mr. Chuck Berry also debuted with his first single…the classic Maybelline. The song was written by Chuck Berry and the song just flat out rocks. This song and its beat influenced young kids like Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and many more.

Now one of my favorites from the year and decade. The one and only Fats Domino Ain’t That A Shame. I love Cheap Tricks version but Fats is Fats…he was one of the most understated rockers of this decade. This song was written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew.

I could not have this without the Big E! Elvis Presley…I’m stuck between two songs to pick. Heartbreak Hotel and Mystery Train. So…on my first post in this…I’m going to pick both! This is the Elvis that I love… before the Army and Tom Parker took his soul away. Junior Parker wrote this song and the great Sam Phillips produced it. Heartbreak Hotel was written by Mae Boren Axton (Hoyts Mom!) and Tommy Durden. Tom Parker got Elvis’s name writing credits but he didn’t have anything to do with it but singing.

Since we have thrown in rockers…I thought I would try a ballad that’s been in a lot of movies and was huge at the time. The Penguins doing Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) written by Curtis Williams, Gaynel Hodge, and Jesse Belvin.

Beatles – Money (That’s What I Want) ….Under The Covers Tuesday

John Lennon’s voice in this song is razor-sharp. He could sing a rock song like no other and could handle ballads well.

I first heard this song by the Beatles. They discovered the song in Brian Epstein’s NEMS record store before they knew Brian. It was not a hit in the UK. Many of the songs the Beatles covered were B sides or nonhits in the UK. They tried to stay away from songs that other beat bands were playing at the time. It worked out for them and later for the writers of all of these B sides.

This song was not written by the Beatles but by Berry Gordy with help from an assistant at the company, Janie Bradford. Along with “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me” and “Please Mr. Postman,” this was one of three Motown songs The Beatles released on their second album, titled With The Beatles in the UK and The Beatles’ Second Album in the US.

Barrett Strong has contested the writer’s credit. He stated that he helped write the song with Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford but his name was kept off of the credits. He WAS credited when the song was released but his name was removed three years later in 1962. Berry has maintained that his name was on there because of a clerical error.

Berry was thrilled that the Beatles thought enough of Motown songs to cover them. He also must have enjoyed the cash register Cha Chinging when their albums were sold. Barrett Strong’s signature tune is thought to have been among the first tracks recorded at Motown’s studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, in the summer of 1959.

“Money (That’s What I Want)” was released as a Tamla single in August of ’59. The local reaction was so strong that Gordy opted to lease the track to his sister Gwen’s label, Anna, because it had national distribution via Chess Records. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts in 1959 and #23 on the Billboard 100 Charts.

Another popular version of this song that charted was by the new wave band The Flying Lizards in 1979. That version peaked at #5 in the UK, #7 in Canada, #50 on the Billboard 100, and #5 in New Zealand.

Barrett Strong passed away recently on January 23, 2023, and he was 81 years old.

Money

The best things in life are free
But you can keep them for the birds and bees
Now give me money
(That’s what I want)
That’s what I want
(That’s what I want)
That’s what I want, yeah (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want

Your lovin’ gives me a thrill
But your lovin’ don’t pay my bills
Now give me money
(That’s what I want)
That’s what I want
(That’s what I want)
That’s what I want, yeah (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want

Money don’t get everything, it’s true
What it don’t get, I can’t use
Now give me money
(That’s what I want)
That’s what I want
(That’s what I want)
That’s what I want, yeah (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want, whoa

Well, now give me money
(That’s what I want)
A lot of money
(That’s what I want)
Wow, yeah, I wanna be free
(That’s what I want)
A lot of money
That’s what I want
That’s what I want, well
(That’s what I want)
Well, now give me money
(That’s what I want)
A lot of money
(That’s what I want)
Wow, yeah, you need money
(That’s what I want)
Now, give me money
(That’s what I want)
That’s what I want, yeah (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want

…

Graham Parker – I Want You Back

CB sent me a link to this song. Never did I think in a million years this was the Jackson 5 song that he covered when I saw the title. This cover knocked me out…it’s a mature cover version of the song…and that is no disrespect to the others but I like the way Parker takes this cover.

Parker released this non-album song in 1979. It managed to peak at #103 on the Billboard 100. This one to me must have come out of left field for Graham Parker fans in 1979.

The more I get into Parker’s songs…I don’t understand why he wasn’t played more. He compares to Elvis Costello pretty well. Apparently, radio only had room for one quirky, bespectacled, British pub rocker (Costello).

His record label Mercury Records has been blamed by many for not getting behind Parker and pushing his records. Parker thought the same as he said: “their promotion’s so lame, they could never take it to the real ball game.” He did eventually sign with Arista and Squeezing Out Sparks was the first album on that label for him.

He released this song and on the flip side of the single was a song called Mercury Poisoning. A clear jab at his former label. He didn’t include Mercury Poisoning on the album because he didn’t think it fit. “Sometimes some of the little throwaway things that take a few minutes to write, you just don’t think that they really have the integrity. I mean, ‘Mercury Poisoning’ is a bit of fun and all that, but I didn’t think it had the integrity to be on Squeezing Out Sparks.”

Arista saw that the single was popular so they began to include a free “Mercury Poisoning” single with every purchase of the Squeezing Out Sparks album in the UK. It was also the flip side to Local Girls in America.

The original version is of course by a young Jackson 5. It was written by a team of Motown writers called The Corporation. The head of the label, Berry Gordy, was one of the writers. They were based in California, unlike most Motown writers who were in the Detroit offices.

Michael Jackson reminded Berry Gordy of Frankie Lymon, another teenage star. Gordy helped write this as if he was writing for Lymon. The song was originally envisioned as a vehicle for Gladys Knight but Berry saw it as a way to break the Jacksons into the charts. They released it in 1969.

I Want You Back

Ohh-oh-oh-oh, let me tell you now, uh-huh, uh-uh-uh

When I had you to myself I didn’t want you around
Those pretty faces always make me stand up in a crowd
Someone picked you from the bunch, and that was all it took
And now it’s much too late for me to take a second look

Oh baby, give me one more chance
Won’t you please let me back in your heart
Oh darling, I was blind to let you go
Now that I see you in his arms
Oh I do now
Oh-oh baby
Oh I do now
Oh-oh baby

Tried to live without your love, one of those sleepless nights
But that just shows you, girl, that I know wrong from right
And every street you walk down, I leave tear stains on the ground
Following you girl, I can feel you all around, let me tell you now

Oh baby, give me one more chance
Won’t you please let me back in your heart
Oh darling, I was blind to let you go
But now that I see you in his arms
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
You’re all I want
You’re all I want
You’re all I need
Ah yeah, one more chance
Won’t you please let me back in your heart
Oh darling, I must have been blind to let you go
Now that I see you in his arms

Webb Wilder

Webb Wilder: It’s sorta like we’re a roots band for rock ‘n’ roll fans and a rock band for roots fans” He also uses these phrases…“Swampadelic”, “Service-station attendant music”, “Uneasy listening”, “Psychobilly.”

Good morning everyone…since posting about the Scorchers yesterday…I thought Wilder would be good to go over today. Webb deserved more attention than he got. Good songwriting and his voice fits the roots music he plays.

In 1991 I was walking through a street fair in Nashville and there he was, playing with his band. He had just put out an album called Doo Dad that got some local and national airplay. His music is a mixture of rock/country/rockabilly/punk and anything else he can throw in. The man has the gift of gab also. His music is just different. He looks like he dropped out of a 50’s black-and-white detective show. I also saw him shortly later at the Exit Inn.

Webb Wilder’s quote when asked what kind of music he plays.

“I came to Nashville as kind of a hunch, an educated guess that it would be a good place for me. Rock ‘n’ roll and country have more in common than not. We don’t have the typical Nashville country sound, but we thought we could use that to our advantage. It’s sorta like we’re a roots band for rock ‘n’ roll fans and a rock band for roots fans” he also adds these phrases…“Swampadelic”, “Service-station attendant music”, “Uneasy listening”, “Psychobilly.”

His real name is John “Webb” McMurry and according to wiki “The Webb Wilder character was created in 1984 for a short comedy film created by friend called “Webb Wilder Private Eye.” The character was a backwoods private detective who fell out of the 1950s and happened to also be a musician. The short appeared on the television variety show “Night Flight.”^[Whatever it is… it works.

This song I first heard on our local then rock radio station WKDF in Nashville. Poolside is what first drew me in. After I saw him in Nashville at a street fair I was a fan for life. I like unique…and Webb is unique…God bless him…

It also has elements of the 80s cowpunk music and just good rock and roll. I saw him twice through the nineties and he was excellent each time I saw him. This song was released in 1986 and it was on the album It Came From Nashville. Again…the local play in Nashville turned it into a regional hit.

My favorite song by Wilder is this one called Meet Your New Landlord. I purchased the Doodad album and this song is what I zeroed in on. The hit off the album was Tough It Out which peaked at #16 on the Mainstream Charts. It included guest appearances by Al Kooper and Sonny Landreth.

The guitar riff is instantly catchy and the first verse was about losing your house/land in a poker game. A great storytelling song.

He slapped his cards down on the table
Said, “Boys, I got me a winning hand.”
But the sight that made old T. Jim tremble
Was the king that took his land

This was probably his closest thing to a hit in America. In Nashville, it was played a lot on local rock stations. The song peaked at #16 in the Mainstream Rock Songs in 1992. This song came off of Doo Dad and is about the time I saw him for the first time. This song was being played on MTV at the time.

In 1990 this song charted on the Australian charts and it got a lot of airplay here.

Human Cannonball

Saw the ad in the paperSaid the hell with it allTook a gig with the circusAs the human cannonball

It didn’t take longTo learn my tradeVery first show, manI blew the folks awayNow the job’s a little riskyBut I’m my own bossI gotta tell ya, JackIt really gets me off

I live in a tent withThe world’s strongest manWhen I met the motherLike to broke my handMy baby she’s a ladyIn the high wire actWhen I’m feeling tenseShe walks on my back

Now the pay’s OKThe benefits are greatI get to shoot the bullWith the world’s smartest ape

Ahh hahhhI’m the human cannonballI’m the human cannonball y’all

Well, I’m a hot shotI’m a cool breezeUnderneath the big topI’m the big cheeseI lay it on the lineLet it all hangWhen I go least I knowI’ll go with a bang

I reckon I’m livingEvery kid’s dreamIt’s a buzz, its a gasIt’s a real scream

Ahh hahhhI’m the human cannonballI’m the human cannonball y’all

Yeah…

Alright folks, just make yourself at homeHave a snow cone and enjoy the show

They put me on the coverOf the USA TodayTell the world what theHuman cannonball got to sayOn the Carson showThey said “HC.What you do you got to beRight out of your tree”

Well, it’s a little riskyBut I’m my own bossI got to tell you, John,It really gets me off

Ahh hahhhI’m the human cannonballI’m the human cannonball y’all

I’m the human cannonballI’m the human cannonball y’all

Yeah…

HahahahahaNow blast off!I said… Blast Off

AhhahahhhahhhahhhaAhhahahhhahhhahhhaAhhahahhhahhhahhha

Jason and the Scorchers – Lost Highway

I truly love this band. They filled a space in the 80s for me. Loud unprocessed guitars with sparse production. They were close to the Georgia Satellites but more of a Rockabilly band on steroids. I was talking to fellow blogger Obbverse and he brought them up and I was very surprised he knew them. Not many outside the Southeast of America know much about them.

In the mid-eighties, I had a friend who was big into Jason and the Scorchers so I gave them a listen. They were big on college radio and they had many ties with Nashville and played here quite often. I saw them and Webb Wilder live downtown once. That is when I heard them do “The Race Is On”…the old George Jones song and it won me over. Their music seemed to have a kinship to the Georgia Satellites but they were a little more robust. They did have some MTV play with the song Golden Ball and Chain.

The band was formed in 1981. They were together through the 80s till the drummer Perry Baggs was diagnosed with diabetes and could not finish a 1990 tour. They have regrouped since then off and on and altogether have released 15 albums with the last one being in 2010. In 2012 Perry Baggs passed away because of diabetes.

They played a mixture between country and rock but fell into the cracks. They seemed too rock for country and too country for rock. Their concerts were simply unbeatable. They were led by frontman Jason Ringenberg and they released a couple of EPs before releasing their debut album Lost & Found in 1985. They were classified at one time as alt-country but I would add rock/punk/rockabilly in there also.

One of the things that made the band different is Jason wanted to sound country but guitar player Warner Hodges wanted to sound like AC/DC…that interplay made them unique. This song was on their 1985 album Lost and Found. The album peaked at #86 on the Australian album chart in 1987.

Most people will know the song Lost Highway…a hit by Hank Williams. It’s surprising but Hank didn’t write this song. Leon Payne wrote and released this song in 1948. Blind since he was a child, Payne wrote hundreds of songs, some of which were recorded by Hank Williams, John Prine, Elvis Presley, George Jones, Johnny Cash, and many more.

I also added another live cover they did as a bonus…the old George Jones hit The Race Is On.

Jason Ringenberg: “I kinda wanted to make a supercharged roots-rock band, some people were caught by surprise, but by and large people fell in love immediately. There was nobody else like us.”

Lost Highway

I’m a rollin’ stone, all alone and lost
For a life of sin I have paid the cost
When I pass by all the people say
Just another guy on the lost highway

Just a deck of cards, and a jug of wine
And a woman’s lies makes a life like mine
Oh, the day we met, I went astray
I started rollin’ down that lost highway

I was just a lad, nearly twenty-two
Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you
And now I’m lost, too late to pray
Lord, I’ve paid the cost on the lost highway

Now, boys, don’t start your ramblin’ around
On this road of sin, or you’re sorrow bound
Take my advice, or you’ll curse the day
You started rollin’ down that lost highway

…

Hoodoo Gurus – I Want You Back ….Power Pop Friday

I’ve almost written this song up on numerous occasions so I thought I would finish it because it’s been in my drafts for a while. Great power pop from this band.

The Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band combining elements of power pop, Beatleesque harmonies, psychedelia, and grungy garage rock. Guitarists Dave Faulkner, Rod Radalj, and Kimble Rendall were joined by drummer James Baker when the band formed in Sydney in 1981.

I Want You Back” was the final single to be released for the band’s debut album, Stoneage Romeos. The band’s debut Stoneage Romeos, full of garage punk songs and pop references, was named Australian Debut Album of the Year and was released in America where it stayed at number 1 in the Alternative / College charts for 7 weeks, becoming one of the most played albums for the year on the college network. Their next two albums also reached #1 on the Alternative College charts.

This song was played alongside The Replacements, R.E.M., and other alternative bands at the time throughout America. They were not well known to the masses here but in Australia they were huge. In 2007 were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.

They have released 10 studio albums and the last one, Chariot of the Gods, was released last year in 2022.

I Want You Back

I can still recall the time
She said she was always mine
Then she left as people do
And forget what we’ve been through

It’s not that she’s gone away, yeah
It’s the things I hear that she has got to say
About me and about my friends
When we, we’ve got no defense

That’s her, I’ll never believe her again
She might have deceived all my friends
I know they will see in the end
What it all means when she says, yeah

(Ah, ah) I want you back
(Ah, ah) I want you back
I, I, I want you
She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She says, yeah, yeah

But what’s worse, she thinks it’s true
But that’s just her, she always was a little bit confused, and
She’s not worth the time I had to lose

That’s her, I’ll never believe her again
She might have deceived my friends
I know they’ll see what it means when she says, yeah

(Ah, ah) I want you back
(Ah, ah) I want you back
I, I, I want you
She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She says

She says (ah, ah)
She says (ah, ah)
I want you back
She says (ah, ah)
She says (ah, ah)
I want you and only you (ah, ah)

She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She says

Animals – I’m Crying

I can’t get enough of the early Animals. At the time I would say they were the grittiest-sounding band of the British Invasion. The Animals were one of the many British bands I learned about through reading about the Beatles. The Animals influenced the future of rock from the garage rock of the 60s to 70s punk.

I’m Crying was written by the group’s lead vocalist Eric Burdon and organist Alan Price. The song was released as a single in September 1964 and became their second transatlantic hit after “The House of the Rising Sun”, which was released earlier in the year.

The Animals first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on October 18th, 1964. With young girls screaming, The Animals rocked the audience as they played “I’m Crying” followed by their massive hit “House of the Rising Sun.” The audience got so out of control that Sullivan shushed them several times.

They formed in 1963, from the fusion between two rival groups, one headed by bassist Chas Chandler, the other headed by organist Alan Price, stage veteran, former jazz pianist, and disciple of Ray Charles. Eric Burdon, who had played with Price until 1962, was hired as the singer. The Kontours changed their name first to The Alan Price Combo, after adding drummer John Steel, and then to The Animals, after adding guitarist Hilton Valentine.

The original lineup only recorded three albums, yet nevertheless managed to break out eight Top 40 hits between 1964 and 1966. Alan Price left in 1965, and John Steel the following year. Also in 1966, Chandler left to start managing artists, and he discovered Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village. Now a very different group, they were known as Eric Burdon & The Animals and had six additional Top 40 hits before finally disbanding in 1968.

Bruce Springsteen: For some, the Animals were just another one the really good beat groups that came of the Sixties, but to me, the Animals were a revelation. The first records with full-blown class consciousness that I had ever heard.

John Steel: We were hot enough to get on several times on The Ed Sullivan Show, and at that time in 1964, we were rated in the Top 5 bands of the British Invasion along with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, so we were pretty highly regarded.

I’m Crying

I don’t hear your knock upon my door
I don’t have your lovin’ anymore
Since you been gone I’m a-hurtin’ inside
Well I want you baby by my side, Yeah

I’m cryin’, I’m cryin’
Hear me cryin’ baby
Hear me cryin’

Im lonely and blue baby every night
Yeah, you know you didn’t treat me right
And now my tears begin to fall
Well I want you baby and that’s all

I’m cryin’, I’m cryin’
Hear me cryin’ baby
Hear me cryin’

I don’t hear your knock upon my door
I don’t have your lovin’ anymore
Since you been gone I’m hurtin’ inside, yeah
Well I want you baby by my side

But I’m cryin’, you know I’m cryin’
Hear me cryin’ baby
Hear me crying
Hear me crying