Music – Page 93 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Rick Derringer – Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo

A hard rock hit back in 1974. The song has a cool guitar riff and solo by Rick Derringer. The song was written by Derringer in 1970 and Johnny Winter had a go at it earlier.

This was Derringer’s only top 40 hit. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard 100 in 1973. I like both versions. Johnny Winter’s version is a little more laid back and Derringer’s is a little more edgy and uptempo. Hoochie Koo is short for Hoochie Koochie, which is sexual slang that was made popular by Muddy Waters in his song “Hoochie Coochie Man.”

Rick Derringer was in a band called The McCoys who had a pop/rock/ bubblegum hit called Hang On Sloopy back in 1965. The McCoys combined forces with Johnny Winter on the album Johnny Winter And in 1970. It was going to be Johnny Winter and The McCoys, but that band had a bubblegum reputation they wanted to shake but Johnny felt it better to leave The McCoys name out of it entirely. Rick wrote the song for Johnny to bring in more of a rock and roll song to him rather than blues.

Later in 1973, Rick released his solo album All American Boy and released the single. Music critic Cub Koda (also singer/songwriter in Brownsville Station) wrote of the album “this is simply Rick Derringer’s most focused and cohesive album, a marvelous blend of rockers, ballads, and atmospheric instrumentals”, adding it was “one of the great albums of the ’70s that fell between the cracks.”

In 1972 Johnny joined Rick and Edgar to sing it on Edgar’s live album, Roadwork.

Rick Derringer: “The first thing I wanted to do was bring more of a rock ‘n roll way of thinking to Johnny, but Johnny didn’t want to change and become in any way bubblegum. So I wanted to write a song specifically for Johnny that he would be able to speak the lyrics in his vernacular and feel comfortable about saying the words he was saying, but I also wanted to bring a little more of a pop kind of sensibility to the whole thing. So I wrote ‘Rock ‘n Roll Hoochie Koo’ trying to follow those guidelines and it came out like it is.”

Rock ‘n’ Roll, Hoochie Koo

Couldn’t stop moving when it first took hold
It was a warm spring night at the old town hall
There was a group called, “The Jokers” they were layin’ it down
Don’t ya know I’m never gonna lose that funky sound?

Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Lord and mama, light my fuse (light my fuse)
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Drop on out and spread the news

Skeeters start a buzzin’ ’bout this time a year
I’m goin’ ’round back, said she’d meet me there
We were rollin’ in the grass that grows behind the barn
When my ears started ringing like a fire alarm

Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Lord and mama, light my fuse (light my fuse)
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Drop on out and spread the news

Yeah, did somebody say keep on rockin’?

Hope you all know what I’m talkin’ about
The way they wiggle that thing really knocks me out
Gettin’ high all the time, hope you all are too
C’mon little closer gonna do it to you

Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Lord and mama, light my fuse (light my fuse)
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Drop on out and spread the news

Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Lord and mama, light my fuse (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Jump on out and spread the news, yeah
That I’m tired of payin’ dues (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Done said goodbye to all my blues (Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
Lord and mama, light my fuse

Skylab was Falling! 43 Years Ago Today

On July 12, 1979, Skylab fell back to the earth. Today is the anniversary.

In 1979 I was twelve and heard the news that a space workstation named Skylab was falling to earth. It was exciting for me…I was hoping that a piece of it would fall near so I could touch something that had been flying through space.

That didn’t happen because unless I was Australian I wasn’t going to see any debris. In school, our science teacher went over the event and I do remember people wearing Skylab t-shirts, hats, and buttons. Everyone was looking up hoping to see something…anything. Some kids were scared they were going to get crushed…that is when I learned…what goes up must go down.

Watching the news…there were some people panicking and…some partying. This is from Newsweek in 1979

In various parts of the country, wags painted X’s on their neighbors’ roofs or sported T-shirts with targets on the back. Entrepreneurs sold plastic helmets and Skylab survival kits compete with bags for collecting stray parts of the spacecraft and letters suing NASA for damages. “I don’t know how much we’re making, but we’re having fun,” said Steven Danzig, 25, of Bloomington, Ind., who sold more than 20,000 such kits. In Washington, a bar called Mr. Smith’s sold a concoction dubbed the Chicken Little Special.

Around the U.S., there were Skylab parties to coincide with the crash, and betting pools on precisely when or where the debris would come streaking back to earth.

Skylab was designed to go up but not come back down. It was launched in 1973 and was occupied for almost 24 weeks. There was a lot of time and money spent on how to get it up there but not much time on how to get it down. It only had a 9-year life span, to begin with. In 1979 it was clear that Skylab was rapidly descending orbit.

On July 12, 1979, Skylab came back to earth in the Indian Ocean and in Western Australia. No one was injured by the falling debris.

The San Francisco Examiner offered a $10,000 reward for anyone bringing a part of Skylab to their office. They knew it wasn’t going to hit America so it was a safe bet they would not have to pay…but Stan Thornton…an Australian truck driver heard about the reward, grabbed a piece of debris, and jumped on a plane to San Francisco and got the reward.

Stan Thornton collecting his $10.000

Boz Scaggs – Loan Me A Dime

An awesome blues song that shows what Boz Scaggs was all about before the hits came. He had been playing with Steve Miller and in 1969 he made this self-titled album Boz Scaggs. He spent some time down south getting this together. He also made a self-titled album (Boz) in 1967 and released it in Europe for the record.

Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone magazine, was producing Boz’s first U.S. solo album, and he took him to Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records, who suggested recording in the South. They had a choice of studios…Stax in Memphis, Phil Walden’s studio in Macon, or Muscle Shoals Sound, a new studio founded by the rhythm section from FAME Studios. Boz and Jann listened to everything that was coming out of those studios and they soon knew they wanted the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and they wanted Duane Allman.

Boz didn’t know a lot about Duane, but he got a good sense of his stature by spending that week with him at Muscle Shoals Sound. Duane’s work with Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin had preceded him, but Boz was most struck by who Duane was to the players at the studio. They lit up when Duane walked in the room…their respect for him was clear.

Boz Scaggs: “Duane had a profound effect on that album. One of the real revelations to me was Duane’s character, seeing him in the South hanging out with those guys. In his appearance, he looked like he was from New York or L.A., with long hair. It was a brave statement in itself in redneck America. You could get in trouble just driving around in his car. It was an occasion and a homecoming. They held him in very high esteem. He was the dude. He was the natural leader, and he made everyone laugh. It was a side I didn’t see in Macon, where he was much more serious and focused.”

Duane set up his amp in the bathroom at the studio on this recording. He liked to do that so his guitar wouldn’t bleed through on the other instruments. This song has some of Allman’s best playing.

Scaggs and his girlfriend Carmella settled into Macon Georgia and were part of the Allman Brothers Band extended family for a time, enjoying the musical energy and experience in Macon. By this time Macon was host to a lot of different musicians. Boz went fishing and played poker with the Allmans late into the night, drinking beer, and telling stories.

This song is usually listed in the top 5 of Boz Scaggs’s songs. It is not as well known but a great blues track. The track was written by Fenton Robinson.

Boz Scaggs: “The first time we did it, it lasted twenty-five minutes and everyone thought it was such a gas, they trouped back in and did it again and we ended up with about forty minutes of ‘Loan Me a Dime’ and we wanted to use at least twenty minutes of it, but we had to use the shorter version, but that music is in the can somewhere in Muscle Shoals, and Duane was really rockin’ out.”

Loan Me A Dime

Somebody loan me a dime
I need to call my old time used to be
Somebody loan me a dime mmm
I need to call my old time that used to be

Little girl’s been gone so long
You know it’s worrying me
Hey it’s worrying worrying me

I know she’s a good girl
But at that time I just didn’t understand
I know she’s a good girl
But at that time I just didn’t understand
Oh no I didn’t

Somebody loan me a dime
You know I need.. I need a helping hand

Oh… she’s a good girl
But at that time I just didn’t understand
Ooooh I know she’s a good girl
But at that time I just could not understand
Oh no

Somebody better loan me that dime
To ease my worried worried mind.. oh
Now I cry.. I just cry
Just like a baby all night long.. oooh
You know I cry I just cry
Just like a baby all night long.. oooh
Somebody better loan me that dime
I need my baby
I need my baby here at home.. oooh YES

Arthur Conley – Sweet Soul Music

When I heard Conley shout out “Do you like good music” I knew this song was for me. Sweet Soul Music makes me mourn where digital recording has gone now. Such an in-your-face narrow tight song with a perfect sound.

Redding discovered Arthur Conley, a singer who sounded remarkably like himself. Redding became Conley’s mentor… the second release on Jotis Records was Conley’s “I’m a Lonely Stranger,” which Redding produced. It was not too successful and soon the record company folded.

Redding believed in Conley’s talent. In January 1967 Redding and his managers, Phil Walden (future ABB manager) and his brother Alan Walden (future Lynyrd Skynyrd manager) brought Conley to producer Rick Hall’s FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Conley recorded two singles at FAME Studios but they were not successful and Hall did not want to work with Conley anymore.

By this time Otis was fed up and took Conley himself to FAME and used his own band. With Jimmy Johnson engineering they recorded Sweet Soul Music. It was a million-selling single. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #2 in the R&B Charts, and #7 in the UK in 1967.

It was written by Conley and Otis Redding. It was based on “Yeah Man” by Sam Cooke and was a tribute to soul singers. The songs mentioned in this song are “Going To A Go-Go,” “Love’s a Hurtin’ Thing,” “Hold On I’m Coming,” “Mustang Sally” and “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song).” The artists mentioned are Otis, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, James Brown, and Lou Rawls.

The opening horn intro sounds very similar to Elmer Bernstein’s score for The Magnificent Seven, popularly known as the Marlboro cigarette ad theme.

Conley could not duplicate the success he had with this record. He settled in the Netherlands and in 1980 legally changed his name to Lee Roberts — his middle name and his mother’s maiden name. Conley promoted new bands through his Art-Con Productions company and continued to record and perform, fronting Lee Roberts and the Sweaters.

Sweet Soul Music

Do you like good music
That sweet soul music
Just as long as it’s swingin’
Oh yeah oh yeah

Out here on the floor now
We’re going to a go go
Ah dancin’ to the music
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on Lou Rawls y’all
Ah don’t he look tall y’all
Singin’ loves a hurtin’ thing now
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on Sam and Dave now
Ah don’t they look boss y’all
Singin’ hold on I’m comin’
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spot light on Wilson Pickett
That wicked picked Pickett
Singing Mustang Sally
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on Otis Redding now
Singing fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on James Brown now
He’s the king of them all yeah
He’s the king of them all y’all
Oh yeah oh yeah

Roy Head – Treat Her Right

During my recent travels, my son had this song on his playlist. I had forgotten about it for the longest. Treat Her Right has had a resurgence in popularity because of the movie Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. There is a groove to this that is irresistible. Tarantino, much like Scorsese, knows how to pick the right songs for the right scenes.

This song has that sixties cool that others didn’t have. It’s that R&B groove that separated it from others. I’m not a guy that dances but if I was…this would be high on my list.

The song was released in 1965 and it peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, and #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts. Roy would have 3 more top 40 songs but none that reached the top 20 on the Billboard 100. The song was written by Roy Head and Gene Kurtz

Roy Head recorded for the small Back Beat record label. This was one of the few big hits it had. Back Beat records started in 1957 and ended in 1973 when ABC bought its parent label and discontinued Back Beat. Carl Carlington was about to release the hit Everlasting Love on the label but ABC decided just to issue it on their own label.

In 1974 Roy started to record country songs and released over 24 singles that charted in the top 100 but were not any major hits in the US. He did have two top 10 Canadian Country hits.

It’s been covered by Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bon Jovi, Chris Farlowe (under the title “Treat Her Good”), and both Mae West and Barbara Mandrell under the title of “Treat Him Right”. Even Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis Jr., and Tom Jones had covered it live.

Head died of a heart attack on September 21, 2020, at the age of 79. His son Sundance Head has had some success in Country Music with 2 top twenty hits in 2016.

Bruce Springsteen: The song has magic in it…magic in it I tell you

Treat Her Right

I wanna tell you a story
Every man oughta know
If you want a little loving
You gotta start real slow
She’s gonna love you tonight now
If you just treat her right

Oh, squeeze her real gentle
Gotta make her feel good
Gotta tell her that you love her
Like you know you should
And if you don’t treat her right
She won’t love you tonight

Now if you practice my method
Oh, hard as you can
You’re gonna get a reputation
As a lovin’ man
And you’ll be glad every night
Now that you treated her right

Hey hey hey
Alright, hell yeah, every night, heck, alright, heck, hey, heck, heck

If you practice my method
I said as hard as you can
You’re gonna get a reputation
As a lovin’ man
And you’ll be glad every night
That you treated her right, hit me back

Hey hey hey
Alright, hell yeah, alright, heck, hey, heck, heck

…

Derek and the Dominos – Little Wing

Damn…this is such a great song. Duane Allman came into the Derek and the Dominos sessions and made a suggestion to record a Jimi Hendrix song, Little Wing. This is what he did in the Wilson Pickett sessions with the song Hey Jude.

After the Layla sessions were completed, Clapton returned to England with a rare left-handed Fender Stratocaster, a gift for Jimi Hendrix. He wanted him to hear the Dominos’ recording of Hendrix’s Little Wing, a tribute he and Duane had recorded for him. They both greatly admired Hendrix and Duane planned to meet him when Jimi came back from Europe. On the morning of September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix was found unconscious in a Notting Hill apartment in London. He died that afternoon at the hospital, having apparently suffocated while under the heavy sedation of sleeping pills.

The album peaked at #16 in 1970 on the Billboard 100. Although Derek and the Dominos were poised to record a follow-up album in 1971… tensions and drug abuse among the band members, along with the tragic death of Duane Allman ended that idea.

Jimi wrote this song and it was inspired by the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, a concert held for 3 days in 1967. It was attended by around 200,000 music fans, it happened 2 years before Woodstock. Jimi wrote about the atmosphere at the festival as if it was a girl. He described the feeling as “Everybody really flying and in a nice mood.” He named it “Little Wing” because he thought it could just fly away.

The song was on Axis: Bold as Love released in 1967. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100 in 1968.

Bobby Whitlock keyboard player: We had two leaders then. We had Eric and Duane. Eric backed up and gave Duane a lot of latitude, a lot of room, so he could contribute up to his full potentiality, and Duane was full of fire and ideas. He’d just go, “Hey, how about we try ‘Little Wing’?”—that was completely his idea and he came up with the intro by himself. He just started playing it.

Duane was very, very good in the studio. Working with the finest musicians and engineers on the planet really paid off for him. When he had the opportunity to be thrust into that environment, he absorbed what was right and righteous and then used it to killer advantage.

Little Wing

Well, she’s walking through the clouds
With a circus mind that’s running around
Butterflies and zebras and fairy tales
That’s all she ever thinks about

And when I’m sad, she comes to me
A thousand smiles she gives to me free
Said it’s all right, take anything you want from me
(Anything you want, babe) (Anything)

Well, she’s walking through the clouds
With a circus mind that’s running around
Butterflies and zebras and fairy tales
That’s all she ever thinks about

And when I’m sad, she comes to me
With a thousand smiles she gives to me free
Said it’s all right, take anything you want from me, baby
(Anything you want) (Anything)

Whoo…
Fly on little wing
Baby, baby

Brinsley Schwarz – (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding ….Power Pop Friday

I think it’s fair to say most will know this song by Elvis Costello but the band Brinsley Schwarz did the 1974 original version which I like a lot…in fact, I favor this version. I’m a huge Nick Lowe fan so that helps. The song was written by Nick Lowe and originally recorded by his band Brinsley Schwarz in 1974. The band was named after their guitar player.

The song has a little of The Who mixed with Beach Boys-flavored harmonies. A wonderful mix of power pop. Many artists have covered this like Bruce Springsteen, Susannah Hoffs and Matthew Sweet, Chris Cornell, Midnight Oil, and many more.

Brinsley Schwarz never had a big hit but they did influence artists like Elvis Costello and The Clash. They were known as a pub rock band and were active between 1969 through 1975. The band released 6 albums in that time. Their members included Nick Lowe, Bob Andrews, Brinsley Schwarz, and Billy Rankin…they were later augmented by Ian Gomm on guitar and vocals.

One thing that did not help their cause was an incident in the US. They had an ambitious management company named Famepushers who hit on the idea of booking the band to play a high-profile gig in New York in April 1970. They were going to be the opening band for Van Morrison at the Fillmore East. The band had planned to arrive in the US a few days before the gig to rehearse for the show. Visa delays prevented this and they entered the US via Canada, arriving a few hours before their performance and having to perform with borrowed equipment they were not familiar with. The journalists were loaded onto a plane but were also delayed. They had used the downtime to take full advantage of the free bar laid on for them and, therefore, arrived drunk or hung over.

Famepushers also sent 22 limos to the Fillmore to make Brinsley Schwarz look important…they thought people would see this and ask…who is this? The limos didn’t get there until after dark so they were never seen by many.

The bad press kept rolling following the disastrous concert. The band received a flood of negative reviews for their first album, Brinsley Schwarz, which was released shortly after their return to the United Kingdom. The incident became known as the Brinsley Schwarz Hype

Dave Robinson was one of the founders of Famepushers. Robinson was the man who would go on to form Stiff Records with Jake Riviera, who would, in time, become Nick Lowe’s manager.

It’s a crying shame they weren’t heard more…they had some really good music.

Nick Lowe: “I wrote the song in 1973, and the hippie thing was going out, and everyone was starting to take harder drugs and rediscover drink. Alcohol was coming back, and everyone sort of slipped out of the hippie dream and into a more cynical and more unpleasant frame of mind. And this song was supposed to be an old hippie, laughed at by the new thinking, saying to these new smarty-pants types, ‘Look, you think you got it all going on. You can laugh at me, but all I’m saying is, ‘What’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding?’ And that was the idea of the song. But I think as I started writing it, something told me it was too good idea to make it into a joke. It was originally supposed to be a joke song, but something told me there was a little grain of wisdom in this thing, and not to mess it up.”

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding

As I walk
This wicked world
Searchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity
Oh yeah
I ask myself:
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain, hatred and misery?
Oh yeah

And each time I feel like this inside
There’s one thing I wanna know:
Oh, what’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding?
Oh, what’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding?

And as I walk on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted
Sometimes, sometimes
So where are the strong?
Who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away
It just makes me wanna cry
So, what’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding?
Oh, what’s so funny ’bout peace and love?
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

“We must have peace
More peace and love
It’s just for the children
Of a new generation”

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away
It just makes me wanna cry
So, what’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding?
Oh, what’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding?
Oh, what’s so funny ’bout a little peace and love?
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Beatles – Savoy Truffle

I love the horns in this song. It wasn’t George Harrison’s best on the album…that would be While My Guitar Gently Weeps but this one is fun.

George was good friends with Eric Clapton and was watching his friend with toothaches and getting dental work. Clapton’s weakness was candy and he would eat all of it until it was gone.

Harrison got the lyrics for this from the inside lid of a box of chocolates. Montelimar, Ginger Sling, Cream Tangerine, and Coffee Dessert were names of candies in the Mackintosh “Good News” assortment. The names “Cherry Creme” and “Coconut Fudge” were invented by George, however, to round out the verses.

Press agent Derek Taylor came up with the line ‘You know that what you eat you are‘.

Derek Taylor: “George said, ‘We need a bit here, da da, da da da da, da da,’ and I thought again of my good friend, Alan Pariser. He had done a film called ‘You Are What You Eat,’ which was a very pippy thing; ‘Don’t eat meat, man, or you’ll be filled with the adrenaline of frightened animals.’ So I said to George, ‘You know that what you eat you are.’

The MacIntosh’s Good News box where George got some of the lyrics.

Harrison wrote the line “We all know Obla-Di-Bla-Da” as an in-joke with the band. McCartney had pushed Obla-Di-Bla-Da so much that the band played endless versions of it and were not happy about it.

The White Album was released in 1968 and peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Chart, #1 in Canada, #1 in the UK, and #1 about everywhere else…and it would be #1 as well on my list.

The White Album is as diverse as you can get… Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Reggae, Avant-Garde, Blues, Hard Rock, and some 20’s British Music Hall thrown in the mix. It has plenty of songs that you have heard of and many that the masses have not heard. The Beatles more than many bands could bend to a style of music and play that style well.

Some critics said they should have taken the best of the two albums and slimmed it down to one. I understand that argument but as a Beatle fan…Nahhhhh. It’s the Beatles White Album!

George Harrison: “At that time he had a lot of cavities in his teeth and needed dental work. He always had a toothache but he ate a lot of chocolates – he couldn’t resist them, and once he saw a box he had to eat them all. He was over at my house, and I had a box of ‘Good News’ chocolates on the table and wrote the song from the names inside the lid: ‘Creme Tangerine, Montelimart’…”

“He’d got this real sweet tooth and he had just had his mouth worked on. His dentist said he was through with candy. So, as a tribute, I wrote ‘You’ll have to have them all pulled out, after the Savoy Truffle.’ The truffle was some kind of sweet, just like all the rest, ‘crème tangerine,’ ‘ginger sling,’ just candy, to tease Eric.”

Savoy Truffle

Creme tangerine and montelimar
A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
A coffee dessert, yes you know it’s good news
But you’ll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle

Cool cherry cream, a nice apple tart
I feel your taste all the time we’re apart
Coconut fudge, really blows down those blues
But you’ll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle

You might not feel it now
But when the pain cuts through
You’re going to know, and how
The sweat is going to fill your head
When it becomes too much
You shout aloud

You’ll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle

You know that what you eat you are,
But what is sweet now, turns so sour
We all know Obla-Di-Bla-Da
But can you show me, where you are?

Creme tangerine and montelimar
A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
A coffee dessert, yes you know it’s good news
But you’ll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle
Yes you’ll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle

Rolling Stones – Claudine

You won’t find this song on one of their original studio albums. They recorded it for Some Girls but could not include this on that 1978 album because of legal issues. It’s a cool country-sounding song covering a grim subject. The song’s official release date was November 21, 2011. It appears as track number 1 on the 2011 deluxe edition of the Stone’s Some Girls album.

Claudine Longet and Spider Sabich

Claudine Longet was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich on March 21, 1976. At the trial, Longet claimed the gun discharged accidentally as Sabich was showing her how it worked. Throughout the whole court case, her former husband, the singer Andy Williams was by her side as she told her story.

Sabich was one of the most well know American ski racers in the late 60s and early 70s. Claudine claimed that she was showing the gun to him when it went off. She informed detectives that their relationship was under no duress. Friends of the couple said he was about to leave her at the time. Claudine Longet and Spider Sabich met in 1972. Claudine was a well-known French actress and singer…likely most famous for her marriage and subsequent divorce to Andy Williams. They were the Aspen celebrity couple.

Longet was only charged with a felony of reckless manslaughter which resulted in spending just a few weeks in jail, at her convenience. This was because she had children from her previous marriage and the judge didn’t want her to be away from her children for too long. With that, Longet spent most of her jail time over weekends. She took years to serve her sentence of 30 days.

Cocaine was alleged to have been found in her system, and details in her diary allegedly contradicted what she had told the police about her and Spider’s relationship. However, in a blow to the prosecution, the blood and diary were deemed inadmissible to the case because they were apprehended without a warrant.

At the time Saturday Night Live also got on board with this story with a skit called The Claudine Longet Invitational

You had the SNL announcers describing someone skiing down a hill and then…

Uh-oh! He seems to have been accidentally shot by Claudine Longet! Yes.. and I’m afraid Helmut Kindle is out of this race!

Longet’s lawyer wasn’t laughing, and he sent SNL a cease-and-desist letter. In the following week’s episode, the announcer Don Pardo read a statement on air…the show’s first public apology: “It is desirable to correct any misunderstanding that a suggestion was made that, in fact, a crime had been committed. The satire was fictitious and its intent only humorous. This is a statement of apology if the material was misinterpreted.”

Claudine is 80 years old now and stays out of the news.

Keith Richards: I wished, and I think all of us did at the time, that that should have been on the original album, but there was some legal difficulties and stuff. But otherwise, she was a perfect ‘Some Girl.’

Claudine Longet: He was my best friend

Claudine

Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again, Claudine

Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again
She only does it at weekends
Claudine

Now only Spider knows for sure
But he ain’t talkin’ about it anymore
Isn’t it, Claudine?

There’s blood in the chalet
And blood in the snow
She washed her hands of the whole damn show
Claudine

She shot him once right through the head
She shot him twice right through the chest
The judge says ruled it was an accident Claudine
Accidents will happen

And Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again, Claudine

Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again, Claudine

Hey go baby
Go baby

Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again, Claudine
Oh Claudine
Oh Claudine
Oh Claudine

Now I threaten my wife with a gun
But I always leave the safety on
I recommend it, Claudine

Yea she pistol-whipped me once or twice
But she never tried to take my life
What do you think about that
Claudine

Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again
She only does it at weekends Claudine

Oh Claudine
Oh Claudine
Oh Claudine

What about the children, Claudine?
Poor, poor children
You’re prettiest girl I ever seen
Only see you on the movie screen
Hope you don’t try to make a sacrifice of me Claudine
Don’t get
Don’t get too trigger happy with me Claudine
Itchy fingers

Yeah Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again Claudine

Yeah Claudine’s back in jail again
Claudine’s back in jail again Claudine
Uh uh Claudine
Poor, poor, poor Claudine

Elvis Presley – Viva Las Vegas

ELVIS….otherwise known as The Big E, King Of Rock ’n‘ Roll, The Memphis Flash, The Jumpsuited One, The Vibrating Valentino, Ol ’Snake Hips, The Tennessee Troubadour, Mr. Sideburns, The Hillbilly Cat, The Cool Cat, or just EP. I think The Vibrating Valentino wins in the nickname department.

Viva Las Vegas was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman as the title song for the film of the same name starring Elvis Presley…. better-known AS…no I won’t go through that again. Pomus and Shuman wrote several other songs for Presley as well. Among them: “Little Sister,” “Suspicion,” and “Surrender.”

In the movie, Elvis plays a race car driver who has to wait tables at a hotel in order to pay off a debt (no doubt to Colonel Tom Parker!). He performs this song at the hotel’s talent competition accompanied by various Vegas showgirls. Viva Las Vegas was the most successful of the 31 films Elvis starred in, returning more than $5 million to MGM Studios on an investment of less than $1 million.

I do remember this movie on TV. Why do I remember this Elvis movie more than others? No other than the co-star Ann-Margret.

The song peaked at #29 in the Billboard 100, #14 in Canada, #4 in New Zealand, and #17 in the UK in 1964. It did re-chart at #15 in the UK in 2007.

Billy Strange played guitar on this track. According to Strange’s son Jerry, musician’s royalties for the song came in for years thanks to slot machines that play the song.

The song was revived by ZZ Top, who took it to #10 in the UK, #16 in the Billboard Rock Charts, #34 in Canada, and #17 in New Zealand in 1992.

Everything that is famous about Las Vegas comes up in the song…such as roulette, neon, hot dice, pretty women, blackjack, one-armed bandits, and bright lights. The song has served as an advertisement for the city although having a small consolation for losing everything…If I wind up broke up well
I’ll always remember that I had a swingin’ time… Oh OK! A swinging time is worth it!

The Dead Kennedys also did a cover of the song…in their own unique way.

Viva Las Vegas

Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher
There’s a thousand pretty women waitin’ out there
And they’re all livin’ the devil may care
And I’m just the devil with love to spare, so
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas
How I wish that there were more
Than the twenty-four hours in the day
Even if there were forty more
I wouldn’t sleep a minute away
Oh, there’s black jack and poker and the roulette wheel
A fortune won and lost on ev’ry deal
All you need’s a strong heart and a nerve of steel
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas
Viva Las Vegas with you neon flashin’
And your one arm bandits crashin’
All those hopes down the drain
Viva Las Vegas turnin’ day into nighttime
Turnin’ night into daytime
If you see it once
You’ll never be the same again
I’m gonna keep on the run
I’m gonna have me some fun
If it costs me my very last dime
If I wind up broke up well
I’ll always remember that I had a swingin’ time
I’m gonna give it ev’rything I’ve got
Lady luck please let the dice stay hot
Let me shoot a seven with ev’ry shot, ah
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas,
Viva Las Vegas, viva, viva Las Vegas

Chuck Berry – Back In The USA

What better way to celebrate July 4th than to play a Chuck Berry song. It’s nice to be back to music. I’m traveling today so I may not be able to comment until later on.

Chuck’s guitar playing got most of the publicity but his storytelling of his time is what I like best. Was it poetry? I’m not qualified to answer that but his words flowed like water and he puts you in the lunch room, classroom, dance hall, and riding in a coffee color Cadillac.

Music critic and opera composer Gregory Sandow calls him “a poet of the practical life.” John Lennon reports that Berry’s lyrics influenced his own and calls him “the greatest rock and roll poet.” Keith Richards invokes the tradition of troubadour to emphasize the poetic qualities of Berry’s lyrics. In the end, I don’t guess it matters but what we get are self-contained stories that live on today.

This was a double A-sided single…the B side was Memphis Tennessee. The song peaked at #37 on the Billboard 100 and #16 in the Billboard R&B Charts.

This song has the same sound as Roll Over Beethoven but I can’t blame Chuck for sounding like Chuck. If he could have sued everyone that ripped off his riffs…he would have lived in a courtroom.

When Berry wrote this… he was returning to the United States following a trip to Australia and witness the living standards of Australian Aborigines. This song inspired Paul McCartney to put a twist on it and he wrote Back In The U.S.S.R. on the White Album.

Linda Ronstadt covered this in 1978. Her version went peaked at #16 on the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, #24 in New Zealand.

Chuck and Linda played the song in the highly entertaining Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll and Linda’s voice is just incredible.

Back In The USA

Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today
We touched ground on an international runway
Jet propelled back home, from over the seas to the U.S.A.

New York, Los Angeles, oh, how I yearned for you
Detroit, Chicago, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge
Let alone just to be at my home back in ol’ St. Lou

Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway?
From the coast of California to the shores of Delaware Bay
You can bet your life I did, till I got back to the U.S.A.

Looking hard for a drive in, searching for a corner cafe
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and a jukebox jumping with records like in the U.S.A.

Well, I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the U.S.A.
Yes, I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the U.S.A.
Anything you want, we got right here in the U.S.A.

Nazareth – Holiday

*** This week is the last round of the TV draft. I won’t be posting a music post after today until July 4th. Hope you all have a great week! Enjoy the TV Draft!***

I liked this song when it was released… MTV played the video in a heavy rotation for a while. I saw them in 1982 opening up for a popular Billy Squier at the time. Squier was good but I was looking forward to Nazareth a bit more because of a childhood full of Hair of the Dog.

Dan McCafferty has such a recognizable voice. When I saw them the volume on his voice was at 11. On top of being very loud he would scream as he talked… it looked like it was just natural for him but when the songs started…he sounded great. There was no way the instruments were drowning him out.

Holiday was co-written by all five members of Nazareth for their Malice in Wonderland album in 1980. They toned down their heavy sound for this album and made it more radio-friendly. That paid off with this minor hit in the US. I always liked the cover of this album.

They will forever be remembered for the album Hair of the Dog released in 1975 with the hit single Love Hurts. Holiday peaked at #87 on the Billboard 100 and #21 in Canada in 1980. The album Malice in Wonderland peaked at #41 on the Billboard Album Charts and #19 in Canada.

In 1968 this Scottish band was named The Shadettes…they changed their name to Nazareth. This was not inspired by the Biblical birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. It was inspired by a line in a song called The Weight by The Band. The lyrics were “I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead…”

In this case, Nazareth referred to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Robbie Robertson chose to place the lyrics in Nazareth because it was the home of Martin Guitars. Robertson wrote the song on a 1951 Martin D-28 guitar.

The band is still touring. In 2013, lead singer Dan McCafferty retired from touring with Nazareth. In 2018 Nazareth released their 24th studio album, Tattooed on My Brain. The current lineup has Carl Sentence on lead vocals, Pete Agnew on bass guitar, Jimmy Murrison on lead guitar, and Lee Agnew on drums.

Some trivia about the video. The video game the teen is playing is Super Road Champions, made by Model Racing in 1978.

Holiday

Drinkin’ my wine, makes me feel fine,
Gonna have me a holiday
Poorman’s party, rich man’s daughter,
Gettin’ hotter and hotter.

She’s pushin’ way too hard
I don’t want any part of her way
Drinkin’ my wine, makes me feel fine,
Gonna have me a holiday.

It’s a holiday, it’s a holiday

Mama, mama, please no more jaguars
I don’t want to be a pop star
Mama, mama, please no more deckhands
I don’t want to be a sailor man
Mama, mama, please no more facelifts
I just don’t know which one you is
Mama, mama, please no more husbands

Drinkin’ my wine, wastin’ my time
Hidin’ out in my rented dream
Lookin’ for attention
A cover story mention in
Life magazine
Ask the chauffeur who he knows
Numbers he’s got, lots of those.

Drinkin’ my wine, spendin’ my time
Tryin’ to run from this halloween.

It’s a holiday, it’s a holiday

Mama, mama, please no more jaguars
I don’t want to be a pop star
Mama, mama, please no more deckhands
I don’t wanna be a sailor man
Mama, mama, please no more facelifts
I just don’t know which one you is
Mama, mama, please no more husbands
I don’t know who my daddy is.

It’s a holiday, it’s a holiday

Bob Dylan – Let’s Stick Together

This post is a 4-in-1 deal…Let’s Stick Together was on Bob Dylan’s album Down In The Groove…considered his worst album by some critics. I never thought that…I bought it when it came out and it’s not that bad. The worse Bob Dylan album is much better than a lot of others.

This song has been covered by a lot of artists. The confusing part is the song not only goes by Let’s Stick Together but also Let’s Work Together.

Our band covered this one and we did it with the arrangement that Dylan laid down. I like this song no matter who covers it. I like Bryan Ferry, Canned Heat, and Wilbert Harrison’s version.

Wilbert Harrison originally wrote and recorded this blues-style R&B number as “Let’s Stick Together,” a plea for fidelity in a fractured marriage. That version, released in 1962, didn’t make the charts (until Bryan Ferry covered it in 1976) but never left Harrison’s mind. Seven years later, he resurrected the song, keeping the melody but changing the lyrics. “I thought I’d put some words to it that meant a bit more.”

Changing the title to “Let’s Work Together,” Harrison’s new message of unity was aimed at a nation rife with conflict over the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.

Canned Heat didn’t want to overshadow Harrison with their version. In fact, if they’d known the singer was going to have success with it, they never would have recorded it in the first place. They first heard the tune when it was still making the rounds at underground radio stations. Their new guitarist Harvey Mandel played it for the rest of the guys and suggested they cover it, but their co-vocalist, Bob “The Bear” Hite, wanted to wait a few months to see if Harrison would chart first. According to drummer Adolfo de la Parra, Hite didn’t like taking songs away from living black musicians unless they weren’t hits.

Bryan Ferry had success with the song…peaking at #4 in the UK in 1976 and #1 in Australia. In 1988 Ferry did an updated version of the song, re-mixed by Bruce Lampcov & Rhett Davies. This re-recording reached #12 in the UK chart. Ferry had the most success with the song.

Let’s Stick Together

Well, a marriage vow, you know, it’s very sacred
The man put us together, now, you wanna make it
Stick together
Come on, come on, stick together

You know, you made a vow, not to leave one another, never
Well, ya never miss your water ’til your well runs dry
Now, come on, baby, give our love a try, let’s stick together
Come on, come on, stick together

We made a vow, not to leave one another, never
Well, ya never miss your water ’til your well runs dry
Come one, baby, give our love a try, let’s stick together
Come on, come on and stick together
You know, we made a vow, not to leave one another, never

It might be tough for a while, but consider the child
Cannot be happy without his mom and his papi

Let’s stick together
Come on, come on, stick together
You know, we made a vow, not to leave one another, never

Marshall Crenshaw – Whenever You’re On My Mind ….Power Pop Friday

Marshall Crenshaw wrote this song during the making of his debut album but was saved for his second album release. I had his first two albums in the 80s and I thought the guy would be huge. He could come up with some sophisticated, unexpected chord changes in a song yet maintain the feel of the song.

This song has a wonderful guitar intro that sets up the song. As the old phrase goes…it’s got more hooks than a tackle box.

He got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway touring company of the musical Beatlemania between 1978-1980. Crenshaw said: “In the beginning, I was bothered by it, as an egotistical young person, maybe because I had just gotten out of Beatlemania, and I was sick of any kind of heavy association with some other figure.”

He later played Buddy Holly in La Bamba in 1987. “I’ve been a Buddy Holly fan all my life. The joy still comes across in his music. It’s really got its own je ne sais quoi. It really stands apart from a lot of ’50s rock, because it conveys a sense of intimacy. I think it’s because it was made in this little building on the side of a highway late at night with this isolated group of people.”

“I always say the guys from the ’50s who invented ’60s rock were Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. When you watch documentaries about Holly, you see people like Keith Richards, and he still gets broken up talking about him. The English guys, they just loved Buddy Holly.”

He released his self-titled debut album in 1982 and it was nearly perfect. This song was on Field Day his second album that was released in 1983. The album peaked at #52 in the Billboard 100 in 1983. This song peaked at #103 in the Billboard 100 and #23 in the Main Rock tracks in 1983.

He also performed as a guest vocalist for the Smithereens since the 2017 death of their lead singer Pat DiNizio.

Ronnie Spector recorded a cover of this song in 2003.

When Ever You’re On My Mind

I think about you and forget what I’ve tried to be
Everything is foggy and hard to see
It seems to be, but can it be, a fantasy?
Whenever I think about you, strangers eyes in the crowd flash past
I go on and think of the fate you’ve cast
It seems to be a reverie, you’re here with me

’cause whenever you’re on my mind
Whenever you’re on my mind
I leave the world behind
Whenever you’re on my mind

I think about you and I’m weak though I’m in my prime
Set my watch and still lose the track of time
It seems to be, but can it be, a fantasy?
Whenever I think about you, strangers eyes in the crowd flash past
I go on and think of the fate you’ve cast
It seems to be a reverie, you’re here with me

Whenever you’re on my mind
Whenever you’re on my mind
I leave the world behind
Whenever you’re on my mind

I never thought I’d be in this situation
It seems wherever I go I’m with you
And though I never seem to find my place
At every turn I see your face
Whenever I think about you
It seems to be a reverie, you’re here with me
’cause whenever you’re on my mind
Whenever you’re on my mind
I leave the world behind
Whenever you’re on my mind

Bonnie Tyler – It’s a Heartache

Late seventies at the skating rink…this one was played and that is what I think of. I knew enough about Rod Stewart at the time I was 10-11 to think this was him for a while. My sister got the single and I loved it. Rod Stewart finally covered the song in 2007.

It’s a Heartache was released in 1978 and peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #4 in the UK, and #1 in Canada. It also crossed over to the country charts at #10. The single sold over 6 million copies. This song fits Bonnie Tyler’s voice perfectly. The song was written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe.

Bonnie Tyler had throat problems severe enough to require surgery in 1976, the procedure can often be career-threatening. In this case, however, the nodules that she developed singing in nightclubs in her native Wales turned out to be career-making. She was told not to speak 6 weeks after her surgery but she did and it helped cause the rasp.

Some useless trivia… The two weeks that “It’s A Heartache” was at #3, for those two weeks the #1 record was “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb and at #2 was “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty

The drummer on this song was Mike Gibbons of Badfinger.

It’s a Heartache

It’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
Hits you when it’s too late
Hits you when you’re down

It’s a fool’s game
Nothing but a fool’s game
Standing in the cold rain
Feeling like a clown

It’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
Love him ’til your arms break
Then he let’s you down

It ain’t right with love to share
When you find he doesn’t care for you
It ain’t wise to need someone
As much as I depended on you

Oh, it’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
Hits you when it’s too late
Hits you when you’re down

It’s a fool’s game
Nothing but a fool’s game
Standing in the cold rain
Feeling like a clown

It ain’t right with love to share
When you find he doesn’t care for you
It ain’t wise to need someone
As much as I depended on you

Oh, it’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
You love him ’til your arms break
Then he let’s you down

It’s a fool’s game
Standing in the cold rain
Feelin’ like a clown
It’s a heartache
Love him ’til your arms break
Then he let’s you down
It’s a fool’s game