Category: Singles

dB’s – That Time Is Gone

One of the things I have always loved about the dB’s is that their music seems to exist outside of time. You can put on one of their songs from the early 1980s and then play this song from 2012, and there is no jarring difference. That’s exactly what happened to me when I first heard this song. If someone had told me it came from their earlier albums, Stands for Decibels or Repercussion, I would have believed them (I did at first). Instead, it opened Falling Off the Sky, the band’s reunion album released nearly three decades after their original run.

By the time Falling Off the Sky arrived in 2012, the original lineup of Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Gene Holder, and Will Rigby had traveled down different musical paths. Fans had waited years to hear them record together again. Reunion albums can be risky. Too often, they sound like musicians trying to recapture something that disappeared long ago. The dB’s avoided that trap by simply picking up where they left off.

This one is a perfect way to open the album. The guitar tone, the harmonies, and the melody stick with you long after the song ends. What impresses me most is how natural it all sounds. There is no attempt to modernize it at all. The dB’s understood something that many bands forget: great songs never go out of style. Peter Holsapple’s songwriting comes through with the track, giving it a reflective mood without losing its energy.

The dB’s never received the recognition they deserved outside of power pop circles, but songs like this one explain why musicians and fans continue to talk about them. Their sound was built on melody, harmony, and great playing rather than production tricks. That’s why this song could have fit comfortably on one of their early records. Sit back and enjoy.

That Time Is Gone

When you’re standing on the first step of the bus
And you’re asking yourself what are you doing this for
And you hand the man the ticket, find a place to sit
Try to rest on a night headed North
And you settle in your seat and your mind starts
Tripping on what it is you may be running from

You better wake up, wake up, wake up
That time is gone

Watch the world go by outside the window
As you lean against the greasy grey-green glass
And you’re trying to keep from sleeping
So you’re counting every moment that goes past
‘Cause you know when you sleep
You just dream a lot all night long

You better wake up, wake up, wake up
That time is gone
That time is gone
That time is gone
You better wake up, wake up, wake up
That time is gone

Every truck that passes, every cactus
Every bird is freer than you now
You got nothing holding you back, nothing tying you down
Freer than the law allows
And there’s no going back to go back to
One more time all that finished with and done

Johnny Burnette Trio – Lonesome Train

The first time I heard this song I was knocked out by that guitar sound. Not just the playing, but that incredible slapback echo that seems to jump right out of the speakers. You can buy countless pedals and plugins today that promise the same effect, but to my ears, nothing quite captures what they were doing in the 1950s. There is just something alive about it. I get all nerdy over this sound but I can’t help it.

The Johnny Burnette Trio was one of the wildest rockabilly bands of the era. They were formed by brothers Johnny and Dorsey Burnette, along with guitarist Paul Burlison; they blended country, rhythm and blues, and early rock into a raw sound. This song, recorded in 1956, became one of their signature recordings. It wasn’t a major hit at the time, but it became one of the defining records of rockabilly. Burlison’s guitar playing, along with Johnny Burnette’s vocal, gave the record an excitement that still comes across nearly seventy years later.

Paul Burlison always maintained that part of his distorted guitar sound happened because a tube in his amplifier had become loose during a rough drive to a studio. Rather than fixing it, he liked the gritty sound and kept playing. Whether every detail of that story is exactly as remembered has been debated over the years, but it’s one of rockabilly’s great legends. It helped point the way toward the distorted guitar sounds that became common in rock music years later.

I’m going to get a little technical on this subject…see nerdy again. One of the secrets behind that sound was the recording itself. In the 1950s, there were no digital effects and very few electronic echo units. Engineers often created an echo by using two tape machines. The signal was recorded on one machine and immediately played back on a second machine a fraction of a second later. By mixing the original signal with that of the delayed playback, they created the famous slapback echo that became a trademark of rockabilly. Studios also used echo chambers, actual rooms with a speaker at one end and a microphone at the other. The natural reflections inside the room produced reverb that sounded warm and real because it actually was. Every studio had its own sound, which is one reason records from that era have so much personality. You can tell if it’s a Stax or Motown by the sound in the sixties as well.

This song reminds me that sometimes limitations create the greatest music. The musicians couldn’t rely on technology to make a recording exciting. They had to play with energy, and the engineers had to invent ways to capture it. The result is a record that still sounds fresh today. If you want to hear rockabilly at its finest, with one of the greatest guitar sounds ever put on tape, this is a train well worth climbing aboard.

Below in the live cut, Johnny Black is on bass, filling in for Dorsey Burnette.

Lonesome Train

Lonesome train, on a lonesome track
I am goin’ away, ain’t comin’ back
I am goin’ somewhere far from my baby

On a lonesome train, on a lonesome track

A lonesome train, on a lonesome track
Got all my troubles in one big pack
My baby left me, so sad and lonely

On a lonesome train, on a lonesome track

Lonesome train, on a lonesome track
My girl don’t love me and that’s a fact
No use in livin’, no use in dyin’

On a lonesome train, on a lonesome track

On a lonesome train, on a lonesome track
I want my baby, I want her back
Don’t want to go on forever travelin’
On a lonesome train, on a lonesome track

Tom Waits – Ol’ 55

When most people think of Tom Waits (including me), they think of the gravelly voice and the experimental music he would make later in his career. I like that as well, but on his debut album, Closing Time, he sounded very different. He is such a great songwriter, and like the greats, he puts his soul into his performances. His voice in this is perfect to me.

This track caught my attention with its storytelling. The song was inspired by Waits’ driving home at dawn after spending the night with someone special. Rather than focusing on drama, he captured a simple moment that many people have experienced.

Musically, it’s built around a gentle piano and an arrangement that owes as much to folk and country music as it does to rock. Waits recorded the song during the sessions for Closing Time in Los Angeles. Producer Jerry Yester helped shape the album’s laid-back sound, allowing Waits’ songwriting to take center stage.

As most people who know me know, I’m not the biggest Eagles fan, to say the least, but I’m glad they covered this. Their version brought the song to a much wider audience and introduced many listeners to Waits’ songwriting. While Waits later joked about some of the band’s interpretations of his work, there is no question that their recording helped spread the song far beyond his usual fan base.

Today, it is a signature song from Tom Waits’ early years. It captures a side of him that is sometimes overlooked, the songwriter who could turn an ordinary drive home into something memorable. Long before he became one of music’s most unique voices, this song showed that he already knew how to tell a story and make listeners feel like they were right there beside him.

Ol’ 55

Well, my time went so quickly, I went lickety-splitly
Out to my ol’ fifty-five
As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy
God knows I was feeling alive

Now the sun’s coming up
I’m riding with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Stars beginning to fade
And I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I’d stayed a little longer
Oh Lord, let me tell you that the feeling getting stronger

And it’s six in the morning, gave me no warning
I had to be on my way
Well, there’s trucks all a-passing me and the lights all a-flashin’
I’m on my way home from your place

And now the sun’s coming up
I’m riding with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Stars beginning to fade
And I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I’d stayed a little longer
Oh Lord, let me tell you the feeling getting stronger

And my time went so quickly, I went lickety-splitly
Out to my ol’ fifty-five
As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy
God knows I was feeling alive

And now the sun’s coming up
I’m riding with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Freeway cars and trucks
Freeway cars and trucks

Santana – Abraxas …album review

One thing I love about this album is that the percussion never feels like a decoration or forced. It drives the songs. Many rock bands added congas or timbales for color. Santana built the entire foundation of the music around them. That’s probably why those tracks still sound so powerful today. Carlos gets the notice, but Abraxas is really a statement in what a great band can do when every member is playing at their peak. I usually reserve saying that mostly for the Allman Brothers, Little Feat, and The Dead. I was just going to cover one song…but no…the album had me transfixed with its rhythms.

When Santana recorded Abraxas in 1970, they were no longer just another San Francisco band. Their performance at the Woodstock Festival the year before had turned them into stars almost overnight. Their debut album had already produced hits like Evil Ways, but on Abraxas, everything came together. The band was firing on all cylinders. Carlos Santana’s guitar was just scorching, and Gregg Rolie handled the vocals and keyboards, and the rhythm section was incredible. Rolie was always one of my favorite members, and I’m glad I got to see him live.

Santana was a music machine built around rhythm. Michael Shrieve’s drumming worked alongside the congas, timbales, and percussion of José “Chepito” Areas and Michael Carabello. The result was a sound that felt alive. Songs like Oye Como Va and Black Magic Woman seemed to move in several directions at once, yet never lost the groove. You can hear rock, jazz, blues, and Cuban influences all blending together. No one sounded like Santana in 1970, and nobody really has since.

Carlos Santana’s guitar playing deserves all the praise it gets, but what made this album special was that he wasn’t carrying the band alone. There wasn’t a weak link anywhere. That is one reason Abraxas still sounds great more than fifty years later. If you want to be transfixed, like I was, just put on the album with headphones and enjoy the rhythms that Santana brought.

The album produced classics like Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va, and the beautiful instrumental Samba Pa Ti. I would also add Mother’s Daughter, its a song with an infectious groove written by Gregg Rolie. It became Santana’s first number-one album and remains one of the finest examples of Latin rock ever recorded. For me, Abraxas captures a band at the perfect moment. They had the hunger of a young group, the confidence that came from Woodstock, and enough talent to fill two bands. When I listen to Abraxas, I don’t just hear Carlos Santana, I hear a band at its peak.

The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in Canada, and #7 in the UK in 1970.

Steve Earle – Guitar Town

It’s been too long since I posted a Steve Earle song, and it was time. I remember this one, along with I Ain’t Ever Satisfied got me into Earle in the 1980s. I first saw him in the late eighties open up for Bob Dylan. He played a longer set than Bob that night. Bob had to leave after 45 minutes because he got sick. The guy behind me yelled, “I know you are an old SOB but come on…” Bob was at the ripe old age of 48 when this happened.

By 1986, Steve Earle had been around Nashville for years. He had written songs for other artists, worked with legendary songwriters like Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. He spent a lot of time trying to get his own career off the ground. When Guitar Town was released as the title track of his debut album, it sounded different from much of what was coming out of Nashville at the time. It had country roots, but there was also a rock and roll energy running through it. The song helped launch Earle from respected songwriter to recording star.

Earle has said the meaning behind Guitar Town came from the struggles of a musician trying to make it. The lyrics tell the story of a young man leaving home with a guitar and dreams of success. Earle knew that world firsthand. He had spent years playing clubs, writing songs, and trying to find his place in the music business. The song captured both the excitement and gamble of trying a musical career. Even people who never picked up a guitar could relate to the idea of leaving home and taking a chance on a dream.

Earle was also very smart and talented. He would regularly hang out with some great songwriters and musicians. Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, and more. He learned from them, and you can hear it in his songs. When I hear his songs, they are so accessible. They are almost inviting you to listen.

The recording sessions for the album were produced by Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr. They gave the songs a tougher edge. Guitar Town featured ringing guitars and enough country flavor to fit the format while still sounding fresh. The combination worked. The single helped make the album one of the most acclaimed country releases of the year.

Looking back, Guitar Town helped open the door for a generation of artists who mixed traditional country music and folk with rock influences. Earle would go on to have a long and diverse career, but this song remains one of his signature recordings. Nearly forty years later, it still sounds like a young man with a guitar, a full tank of gas, and no intention of turning around.

Guitar Town

Hey pretty baby, are you ready for me
It’s your good rockin’ daddy down from Tennessee
I’m just out of Austin bound for San Antone
With the radio blastin’ and the bird dog on

There’s a speed trap up ahead in Selma Town
But no local yokel gonna shut me down
‘Cause me and my boys got this rig unwound
And we’ve come a thousand miles from a Guitar Town

Nothin’ ever happened ’round my hometown
And I ain’t the kind to just hang around
But I heard someone callin’ my name one day
And I followed that voice down the lost highway
Everybody told me you can’t get far
On 37 dollars and a jap guitar
Now I’m smokin’ into Texas with the hammer down
And a rockin’ little combo from the Guitar Town

Hey pretty baby don’t you know it ain’t my fault
I love to hear the steel belts hummin’ on the asphalt
Wake up in the middle of the night in a truck stop
Stumble in the restaurant wonderin’ why I don’t stop

Well, I gotta keep rockin’ why I still can
Got a two pack habit and a motel tan
When my boots hit the boards I’m a brand new man
With my back to the riser, I make my stand

Hey pretty baby, won’t you hold me tight
I’m loadin’ up and rollin’ out of here tonight
One of these days, I’m gonna settle down
And take you back with me to the Guitar Town

Roxy Music – Virginia Plain

This is one band, for one reason or another, that I’ve never posted. I tell people that their early music has some of the best bass sound of anyone. Ferry’s vocals in this song remind me a little of Lou Reed.

When I first saw the title Virginia Plain, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. That’s part of the charm of the song. It was released in 1972 as the debut single by Roxy Music; this song pretty much announced that this was not going to be just another rock band. It was glam, strange, catchy, and different.

Roxy Music was led by Bryan Ferry and featured a really good lineup that included Brian Eno. Ferry wrote this song and took the title from a painting he had created while attending art school. The song is interesting. The lyrics are full of images and characters that seem to come and go like scenes in a movie. I always heard it as a song that is more about creating a mood.

The recording was produced by Peter Sinfield; he was best known for his work with King Crimson. Musically, the song blended old rock and roll influences with futuristic sounds. It’s different thanks in part to Eno’s synthesizer and Ferry’s vocals. The result was something fresh and exciting. Although it was recorded after the band’s debut album had already been completed, the song was later added to subsequent editions because it quickly became one of their signature tracks.

This song was successful in the UK and helped establish Roxy Music as one of the most important bands of the glam rock era. Looking back, it still sounds unique. More than fifty years later, it remains a perfect introduction to a band that never seemed interested in following the rules. If you want to hear the moment Roxy Music arrived, this is a pretty good place to start.

The song peaked at #4 on the UK Charts and #6 in New Zealand. The album peaked at #10 in the UK in 1972. BTW… the model featured on the cover of Roxy Music’s album is Kari-Ann Muller. No, she, unlike their other models, didn’t date Bryan Ferry. She married Chris Jagger, Mick’s brother.

Virginia Plain

Make me a deal and make it straight
All signed and sealed, I’ll take it
To Robert E. Lee, I’ll show it
I hope and pray he don’t blow it ’cause

We’ve been around a long time
Just tryin’ to, tryin’ to but you
Make the big time

Take me on a roller coaster
Take me for an airplane ride
Take me for a six days wonder but
Don’t you, don’t you throw my pride aside besides

What’s real and make-believe?
Baby Jane’s in Acapulco
We are flyin’ down to Rio

Throw me a line, I’m sinking fast
Clutching at straws, can’t make it
Havana sound, we’re trying
A hard edge, the hipster jiving, oh
Last picture shows down the drive-in

You’re so sheer, you’re so chic
Teenage rebel of the week

Flavours of the mountain streamline
Midnight blue casino floors
Dance the cha-cha through ’til sunrise
Opens up exclusive doors, oh wow

Just like flamingos, look the same
So me and you, just we two
Got to search for something new

Far beyond the pale horizon
Some place near the desert strand
Where my Studebaker takes me
That’s where I’ll make my stand, but wait

Can’t you see that Holzer mane
What’s her name? Virginia Plain

6 String Drag – Gasoline Maybelline

With that title, I was helpless; I had to give it a try. I’m glad I did because it’s a great song and band. This is another band that was signed by Steve Earle on his E Squared Records label and another winner. What drew me in was the vocals. Not tight pop vocals but more like The Band’s loose style. I’ll also mention the intro that builds and builds.

Every now and then you run across a song title that makes you stop before you even hear the music. This song by 6 String Drag was one of those for me. The title immediately brings to mind hot rods, rock and roll, and the classic Chuck Berry song Maybellene. It turns out the music delivers exactly what the title promises. This song was released on the band’s 1997 album High Hat, the song mixed country, rockabilly, and roots rock into a sound that felt both old and new.

6 String Drag was formed in North Carolina and became one of the leading bands in the alt-country movement of the 1990s. While many groups in that scene leaned heavily into country influences, 6 String Drag never forgot the rock and roll side. This track is a perfect example. Driven by guitars, drums, and a stop-and-go format. It’s a great mixture of music that makes one.

The album High Hat was produced by Steve Earle, who recognized the band’s talent and helped bring them to a wider audience. Earle encouraged the group to embrace their love of traditional American music while keeping their own identity intact. The result was an album that blended country, rock, folk, and roots music in a way that sounded natural. This song became one of their signature songs and remains a favorite among fans of the band.

6 String Drag never achieved the huge commercial success of some of their contemporaries like Wilco and others. Songs like this show why they are still remembered by fans of Americana and alt-country. It has energy, great musicianship, and one of the coolest song titles you’ll ever hear.

If any of you are good at deciphering lyrics…could you fill in the ? in the lyrics? If so, please let me know, and I’ll fill it in. We will have the only complete lyrics to this song on the net!

Gasoline Maybelline

Soak me in gasoline
If you need more fire baby
I gave you everything it seems but me

Put me up higher than the tallest tree
I’ll come down baby then you’ll see
My broken knees please set me free

I can hold you [?] you
Oh come, don’t turn around
I’ll be gone

Go find somebody new
There’s nothing here for you
I gave you everything it seems but me

Take me down all the way to New Orleans
Leave me lying there on the street
I gave you everything it seems but me

I can hold you [?] you
Oh come, don’t turn around
I’ll be gone

Soak me in gasoline
If you need more fire baby
I gave you everything it seems but me
I gave you everything it seems but me

Ray Davies – The Big Guy

I first heard this song a few years ago on someone else’s blog. After hearing his lyrics, I knew there had to be some big influence around it. The song was about three different things. One, his bodyguards who would save him from himself on tour. Two, Davies nearly lost his life in New Orleans when he chased a man who had stolen his girlfriend’s purse and was subsequently shot in the leg. Three, the title also alludes to God. The track explores the idea that you are never truly alone or abandoned “as long as the big guy” is there.

It comes from Ray Davies’ 2018 album Our Country: Americana Act II. Like much of the album, the song draws from Ray’s own life and experiences in America. By this point, Davies had little left to prove as a songwriter. Instead, he was looking back on the people and events that shaped his life. That gives “The Big Guy” a personal feel that makes it stand out on the record.

The inspiration for the song goes back to a frightening event in 2004. While in New Orleans, Davies chased a man who had stolen a purse from his companion and was shot in the leg during the confrontation. Years later, he reflected on waking up in the hospital and thinking about the bodyguards and friends who had looked after him over the years. The “big guy” of the title was partly inspired by those men. There is humor in the song, but there is also gratitude. Davies was looking back at a moment that could have ended very differently.

The album was recorded with members of the Jayhawks, who also played on Americana. Their playing gives the song a warm sound. The sessions focused on storytelling rather than a big commercial production. That approach fits Davies perfectly. He has always been one of rock’s great storytellers, and this album shows that.

What I like about the song is that it shows another side of Ray Davies. It’s thoughtful and reflective in a way that is a little different from the Kinks.

Ray Davies: “‘The Big Guy’ is reflections on waking up in a hospital with gunshot wounds. The big guys in the book [2013’s Americana] are my bodyguards, a guy called Tony and a guy called Bobby. The song is about them and what they meant to me, because I have a tendency to self-destruct on tour, like most musicians. Tony was under instructions that if I had more than two pints he could break my arm – or threaten to.”

Ray talks about writing the song here:

The Big Guy

Everybody’s afraid of the big guy called the gorilla
Wish you could be here today now I’m lying in the gutter
Though the cop car surrounds me I feel afraid
Now I’m lying here staring at the pearly gates

Tony, Tony you gave me security
You were a minder extraordinaire
And I miss you now that you’re not there

Terrified and in a fret
Like a child who’s lost his mother
Shivering in a cold, cold sweat
With my face in the gutter

Bobby, Bobby you gave me security
And Tony, Tony you did the same for me
Now you’re both sadly demised
I can’t believe I’m still alive

Bobby came out of Chicago
To give me a helping hand
He sat me down when I acted so sloppy
And he did the same for my whole band

Tony came out of South London
He was a cockney boy
He saved my ass back in ’82
When I acted such a silly boy

Come on man, don’t be a fool
Come on man, you’re gonna crawl
One day you’re gonna fall

Everybody’s afraid of the big guy called the gorilla
But he was never heavy, out of hand
In fact he was as gentle as a lamb

Tony, Tony you gave me security
You know
Tony, Tony you gave me security
Minder extraordinaire
I miss you now that you’re not there
Yeah I miss you now that you’re not there
No you’re never alone as long as the big guy’s there

Ricky Nelson

On Turn Table Talk, the topic was “It’s No Act!” . We all can think of musicians who’ve tried to make the leap to acting – David Bowie, Cher, Sting, among many others – but this month we’re looking at actors/actresses or other celebrities who’ve decided to try to launch a music career after being noted in other entertainment fields. I picked Ricky Nelson. Thanks Dave!

I think Ricky Nelson is one of the few examples of actors who went into music and were remembered as musicians. He was a good actor, but he will be remembered more as a musician.

I went through a Ricky Nelson phase when I graduated in 1985. I purchased a greatest-hits package and was learning more of his songs. I wanted to go see him perform that year, and I kept waiting for him to appear somewhere because I heard he was touring. This was before the internet, and you had to read the newspapers for announcements and listen to the radio. Musicians would play at places, and you would never know sometimes.

I never got a chance to see him because on December 31, 1985, his chartered jet crashed, killing him and six other passengers. Ricky was a rockabilly guy and a great one. He gets lost in the shuffle because he was a huge teenage actor at the time on his family’s show…The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In the rock world, being a teen idol knocks you down the respect ladder.

Before Ricky Nelson became one of the biggest teen idols of the 1950s, he was already a television star. He was born in 1940 into a show business family. His parents, Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson, starred in the popular radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ricky appeared on the show as himself beginning in the early 1950s. Millions of viewers watched him grow up on screen each week. By the time he reached his teenage years, he was already one of the most recognizable young faces in America.

Music came almost by accident. Ricky wanted to impress a girl (she was a massive Elvis fan) and claimed he was a recording artist. To make the story true, he recorded Fats Domino’s I’m Walkin’ in 1957. The song became a hit. Soon he was recording regularly and turning out hits such as Poor Little Fool, Travelin’ Man, and Hello Mary Lou. Unlike many teen stars of the era, Nelson worked with strong musicians and was full tilt in rockabilly and early rock and roll.

As the 1960s arrived, Nelson continued acting while building a successful music career. He later dropped the “Ricky” and became known as Rick Nelson. His sound matured and moved toward country rock before the style became popular. While television gave him his start, music became his legacy. He is remembered as one of the few entertainers who successfully made the jump from television star to respected recording artist.

The sad part is that his music wasn’t taken as seriously later on because he was a teen idol. That started to change over time, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987. I always considered Rick Nelson a musician and a great rockabilly artist, along with country rock. I always considered him the real deal.

I’ve heard the phrase “The universal language is not music, nor love; it is loneliness,” and this song fits it perfectly.

Mick Taylor – Broken Hands

Mick Taylor was in the Stones during their most successful period. That wasn’t a coincidence. He was probably the most talented guitar player they ever had. That’s not a knock on Brian Jones or Ron Wood; he was just that good. I had no clue that he could sing as well, so this was a treat when someone sent me a link to this. You can hear his style and connect the dots to that sound. When he left the Stones, it was never replaced. Ronnie Wood plays in a different style altogether.

This song is one of the standout tracks from Mick Taylor’s self-titled debut solo album, released in 1979. The album arrived five years after Taylor left the Rolling Stones, where he had earned a reputation as one of the best guitarists in rock music. While the record never became a commercial success, it gave Taylor a chance to step out from the shadow of the Stones and show what he could do as a songwriter, singer, and bandleader. This song was tucked away near the end of side one and remains one of the album’s hidden gems.

The sessions for the album spanned several years, from 1976 to 1979. Recording took place at several studios in England, including Island Studios, Ramport Studios, Ridge Farm, and the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. Taylor produced the album himself and played many of the instruments. On this song, he handled guitar, vocals, and bass guitar duties. The song has a loose rock feel with traces of blues and the melodic style that he did with the Stones.

Like much of the album, the song arrived at the wrong time commercially. By 1979, punk and new wave were dominating the music press while Taylor was delivering a blues-rock record. The album stalled on the charts, but over the years it has gained a loyal following among Rolling Stones fans and guitar enthusiasts. He was a complete musician who just happened to spend his most famous years standing next to some very large shadows that included John Mayall, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger.

Broken Hands

Yeah, I got broken hands, God

Feel so loose and I feel so free
Running so fast that you can’t catch me
Play the night like a dream machine
Play my guitar ’cause I feel so mean

Drivin’ down the highway
Trying to get ahead
And I shake the blues away, yeah
Yeah, broken hands, I’m a broken man

Ah baby, where are we?
Howling winds on a heavy sea
Always think that you got it made
I can never see you behind your shades

Fools are around me, the devils inside
So much craziness to exercise
Let’s get small and get some lovin’ done
This life’s so hard, hit and run

There’s nothin’ happenin’ here, anyway
If we sit around much longer we’re gonna slide away
Mesmerizing, washed out eyes
Users and losers, hypnotized

I like music that sounds so sweet
I like to dance and move my feet
When I hear such a heavy sound
Come on baby, let’s get down

Drivin’ down the highway
I’m just trying to get ahead
And shake these blues away
There’s nothin’ happenin’ here, anyway

Yeah, broken hands, I’m down and out
Gimme a smile and I’ll pull ya out
Yeah, broken hands

Yeah, broken hands, I’m a broken man
Yeah, broken hands, I’m down and out
Gimme a smile and I’ll pull ya out

Drifters – There Goes My Baby

Sometimes I need a 1950s song, and the Drifters are a group that can give it. Some songs are timeless and could have been released at any time. Some are tied to an era. This one is, and in the best possible way. This is a transport song, a song that transports you to a certain era even if you weren’t there. Well, at least to your version of the era. These songs have cool chord structures, and many are both depressing and uplifting at the same time.

There Goes My Baby was a turning point for the Drifters and for rhythm and blues music itself. Released in 1959, the song sounded unlike anything else on the radio. The group had already enjoyed success, but this record took them in a completely new direction. It blended R&B, pop, and orchestral music in a way that was almost unheard of at the time. Today it is considered one of the most influential records of the late 1950s.

The song was written by Ben E. King along with Lover Patterson and George Treadwell. Producer Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wanted to create something different from the standard R&B records of the day. The session featured strings and a Latin-flavored rhythm. Some people in the music business thought the record sounded strange and would never become a hit. Fortunately, they were wrong. You have the great Ben E. King’s lead vocal. His voice gave the song both power and its heartbreak.

The song became a major hit and helped reshape popular music. The song reached the Top 10 and opened the door for more ambitious productions in soul and pop music. Looking back, it is easy to hear how records from the 1960s were influenced by it. More than sixty years later, it still sounds fresh. Not bad for a song that many people thought was too unusual to succeed.

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100 and #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts in 1959.

I’ve only done this once, but sometimes I run across amateurs doing a cover of a song. Rarely do I stop and think, oh I must post this. She is far from perfect in this, but she knows what the song is about. This is really a simple version, but she finds the essence of this song. You can hear cars pass by while she is doing this. It shows you how great the song is when you can express it perfectly over a lone acoustic and a voice. She goes by “Blazin’ Blair” and this was like 15 years ago. She has appeared on local tv stations where she lives. It’s lo-fi and raw, but the spirit is there. Something about it…hit me the right way…especially the intro.

There Goes My Baby

Bom-bom (do-do-do-do-do)
There she goes (do-do-do-do-do)
There she goes (do-do-do-do-do)
Bom-bom (do-do-do-do)
Bom-bom (do-do-do-do)

There goes my baby, movin’ on down the line
Wonder where, wonder where, wonder where she is bound?
I broke her heart and made her cry
Now I’m alone, so all alone
What can I do, what can I do?

There goes my baby (whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh)
There goes my baby (yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
There goes my baby (whoa-oh-oh-oh)
There she goes, yeah, there she goes

I wanna know if she loved me
Did she really love me?
Was she just playing me for a fool?
I wonder why she left me
Why did she leave me so all alone?
So all alone?
I was gonna tell her that I loved her
And that I need her
Beside my side to be my guide

I wanna know, where is my – (do-do-do-do-do)
Where is my baby? (Do-do-do-do-do)
I want my baby (do-do-do-do-do)
I need my baby (do-do-do-do-do)
Yeah, whoa-oh-oh

There goes my baby
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
There goes my baby

Sonny Rollins – St. Thomas

Sonny Rollins passed away not long ago, and I hate to admit it, but I only knew him for playing sax on Waiting On A Friend by the Stones. Christian always runs a jazz song on his Sunday Six posts, and I find myself getting excited to hear another jazz song to start my Sunday. This post took me a while to write. I went out of my comfort zone with this one, but it was worth it, and I would like to do more in the future.

Sonny Rollins spent years learning from some of the giants of the era. He was born in New York City in 1930; Rollins came of age during the rise of bebop. By the early 1950s, he had already recorded with legends such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. Rollins quickly developed a style of his own. His playing was powerful and melodic. He became known for taking simple melodies and turning them into something completely new through improvisation.

This one was recorded on June 22, 1956, during the sessions for the album Saxophone Colossus. Rollins was backed by pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Max Roach. The tune was based on a Caribbean folk melody that Rollins had heard from his mother’s family. His parents were from the Virgin Islands, and the song reflected those roots. The calypso rhythm immediately set it apart from many jazz recordings of the period.

What I’m hearing is Rollins using a melody as a launching point for a series of inventive solos. Max Roach drives the recording while Flanagan and Watkins provide a steady foundation. I’ve noticed in these recordings that the musicians leave plenty of space for one another, which gives tracks a loose and natural feel. It is one of those recordings that sounds new no matter how many times you hear it because it’s unpredictable in the best way.

This song introduced many listeners to Rollins and became his signature tune. More than seventy years later, it is still played by jazz musicians around the world. Like so many great recordings, it takes something simple and familiar and turns it into something you remember. I understand why Sonny Rollins is regarded as one of the true giants of jazz.

Souther, Hillman, Furay Band – Fallin’ In Love

I was searching for bands to cover and ran across this one. I’ve heard of them a lot but never really listened to their music. The minute I played this one, I remembered it. This song has a bite to it, with that intro guitar. They keep an edge over the Southern California style of that time. It’s catchy without being too sweet. It works as a nice pop song.

They were formed in 1974 when J. D. Souther, Chris Hillman, and Richie Furay joined together after their earlier bands had already helped shape country rock. Furay had come from Buffalo Springfield and Poco; Hillman had been in The Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers; and Souther was already becoming known as a songwriter closely tied to the Southern California music scene. This song appeared on their 1974 debut album and became the group’s biggest single.

J. D. Souther wrote the song, and his style is all over it… a polished sound, different from what Furay and Hillman did earlier. The recording sessions were handled with producer Tom Sellers. Top Studio players helped give the record a commercial sound, but with some edge still in there as well.

Even though this song gave the band a hit, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band never fully broke through the way many expected. The music business was changing quickly, and country rock was becoming more polished and corporate by the mid-1970s. The group released two albums before splitting up in 1975. Still, this remains a good snapshot of that California country-rock era.

This song peaked at #27 on the Billboard 100 in 1974.

Fallin In Love

Here I go again, it’s all right
Full moons grown to brighten the night
I’ve been lookin’, now seein’ the light
It’s sure shinin’ bright, yea

Well, honey, believe in it, it bein’ free mm
Nothin’ to love’s like nothin’ to be
You’ve got once a lifetime
To see just how much of your dream

Honey, to feel like fallin’ in love, just to know
Honey, to feel like fallin’ in love

Turnin’ home, runnin’ free as the wind
Stretchin’ my stride, wanna hold you again
Well, it’s time to be taken in
Let me know where I’ve been, yea

Honey, to feel like fallin’ in love, just to know
Don’t you know what it feels like fallin’ in love

Honey to feel like fallin’ in love

Turnin’ home, runnin’ free as the wind
Stretchin’ my stride, wanna hold you again
Well it’s time to be taken in
Let me know where I’ve been

Gary U.S. Bonds – This Little Girl

That opening G#m chord is simple but so effective. That strum on that chord alone drew me into this song and still does. When I was 14, I bought this single and wore it out. Finding the single sleeve that went with it for this post brought back so many memories. At that time I knew Gary US Bonds vaguely for Quarter to Three. Now this one is the first song I think of when his name comes up. This guitar sound is perfect, and I love the bounce of the song.

Springsteen wrote the song, and it sounds like it could have fit on one of his own records. The recording sessions took place at the Power Station in New York. Members of the E Street Band played on the track. Bonds brought his voice, while Springsteen supplied the song and the energy behind it. Springsteen and Van Zandt ended up producing the album.

The song accomplished something that is not easy to do. It sounded modern for the early 1980s but still carried some early 60s rock and roll sound. Older listeners would like it, and so would the teens of the day. This teen certainly did. This song was one of my favorite early 80s hits. It has a timeless sound that is hard to pin down in a time period.

This was released as a single in 1981; it became Bonds’ biggest hit in nearly twenty years. It reached the Top 20 in the United States and helped introduce him to a new generation of listeners. More importantly, it proved that Bonds was far more than an oldies act. The success of the song led to more recordings and appearances for him. It was cool to see Bruce work with an older influence, and their sound went together well.

It peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100, #15 in Canada, #43 in the UK, and #11 in New Zealand.

This Little Girl (Is Mine)

Here she comes walkin’ down the street
You know she’s walkin’ just like
She’s walkin’ to come and see me
Oh she’s so young and she’s so fine

I know what’s on your mind
Know what you want to do
But if you mess with her
I’m gonna mess with you
You better watch your step
You better stay in line

This little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine
Oh this little girl
This little girl
This little girl is mine

Well if the world was mine to do with
What I want to do sir
Well I’d wrap it up in a bow
And give it all to her yeah
And all my love
All of the time

You know I’d hold her tight
I’d never let her go
And late at night
You know I’d love her so
Yeah I’d treat her right
So she’d never mind

This little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine
Oh this little girl
This little girl
This little girl is mine
Mine, mine, mine

Hey you better watch out
I’m telling you the score
Are you going to be sweeping your
Broken heart up off the floor
Oh and that ain’t all
I’m telling you my friend

I know what’s on your mind
I know what you want to do
But if you mess with her
I’m gonna mess with you

You like the way she moves
You like to watch her walk
You better listen up
‘Cause man this just ain’t talk
You better watch yourself
You better stay in line

Now mister I said
This little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine
This little girl
This little girl
This little girl is mine

Oh this little girl is mine
This little girl
This little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine
This little girl
This little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine

Yeah, yeah
This little girl
This little girl
Oh this little girl is mine
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

This little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine
This little girl is mine
This little girl she’s mine all mine

Now this little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine
Oh I said this little girl
This little girl
This little girl is mine, mine, mine
This little girl is mine
Oh this little girl is mine

Bronco – Time (So Long Between)

Ever since hearing Robbie Blunt, who played with Robert Plant on his first 3 albums, I wanted to know more about him. Bronco was the first major band he was in, and I love the results. His style was so unique and helped make Plant’s signature sound after Zeppelin. One listen to Big Log, and you can hear the uniqueness of his guitar playing. He didn’t have that sound in this, but really tasteful guitar playing.  Bronco wasn’t formed for hits; they made really good, solid albums. My UK readers, do you remember this band? 

Bronco never really became a well-known band, but for a few years in the early seventies, they were one of those British bands that blended country rock, blues, and folk in a way that fit right alongside bands like Buffalo Springfield, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and The Band. They formed in 1969 around singer Jess Roden after he left The Alan Bown Set. They signed with Island Records during the label’s peak years, when they had many roots-style bands. This song and album are very seventies-sounding, which makes sense, of course. 

Robbie Blunt joined on guitar alongside Kevyn Gammond, and even then, you could hear the tasteful style that later became so important. Blunt is not a super flashy player. He worked more in mood, tone, and feel.

Their first album, Country Home, came out in 1970 and had a laid-back country-rock sound with harmony vocals and touches of blues.  Around this period, Bronco toured the US and played shows at places like the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. Blunt later talked about seeing Duane Allman during that trip, something that left a real impression on him as a guitarist.

This song is off the Country Home album. Jess Roden and Robbie Blunt wrote this song.