Category: Singles

Shades of Blue – Oh! How Happy

This song brings back memories. It was released in 1966, but I heard it first in 1985 when I graduated and life was great…so it’s a ’60s song that reminds me of 1985. It was prom time, and after we left, with my white tuxedo with tails and a purple cummerbund, this came on the radio.  It will forever be linked to that moment in time for me. 

There’s a certain kind of record that arrives like a grinning stranger at your doorstep, all sunshine and tambourines and no agenda. This was written by the great Edwin Starr. This song is pure pop joy with a Motown sound. When he wrote this song, Starr was working for a Detroit record label that was eventually bought out by Motown. The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100 in 1966.

It doesn’t mess around. It goes straight to the chorus, like the song can’t wait to get to the part that matters. The lead vocal is flanked by a chorus of voices that sound like the world’s friendliest pep squad… cheering on a romance that actually worked out for once.

This was the only top ten hit for The Shades of Blue, who were a white Soul band from Detroit. The song came at a time when American Soul music influenced the British music industry, creating a genré called Northern Soul.

The lyrics won’t remind you of Bob Dylan or John Prine, but that doesn’t matter. They’d go on to release more singles, but none stuck like this one. Oh! How Happy is their legacy, and what a legacy to have: a song that never tries to be cool, only kind.

Oh How Happy

Do roo, do roo, do roo, do roo do… 

Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
I have kissed your lips
A thousand times
And more times than i can count
I have called you mine
You have stood by me
In my darkest hours
Sing
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
In our years together
We’ve got stormy weathers
But our love has been so strong
For some how we carry on
Sing
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me), ooh, ooh
You brought joy
To my empty life, yeah
And all that was wrong
You made it right
Our love (our love)
Our love (our love)
Our love, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (oh how happy)
Oh how happy (oh how happy)
Oh how happy, ooh… You…
You have made me (you have made me)
You have made me (you have made me)
You have made me (you have made me)

My Favorite John Lennon songs

Since I listed George’s songs…I have to finish what I started. This one is the hardest to write of any of them because I’m leaving off a lot of great songs. 

John is the Beatle I favor; on the surface, the reasons are many. The man’s voice was one of the best rock voices I’ve ever heard. I preferred his voice to that of McCartney, Harrison, and Starr. He probably could write better pure rock songs than the other Beatles, and he also had a great sense of melody that could keep up with Paul and, at times, surpass him on ballads. Yes, he could be witty, sharp, and downright hateful at times, but he was the truth guy for them. 

One of the worst days in my teen years was December 9, 1980. I was 13, and that morning I found out that John Lennon was murdered on the 8th. It really hit me hard and changed me in many ways. At that age, this showed me that the world could be an awful place.

When John was murdered, a very unfair thing happened. John was elevated almost as a Saint, which he would have readily admitted he was not. Paul became the sidekick and sank lower in people’s perception of the band. John became the cool one and Paul the square, which was totally unfair to both of them. It didn’t start changing until the Anthology came out in the mid-90s. People started to see Paul as an equal, which he was, and George started to get recognized more and more, as I said last week. And, most people loved Ringo anyway. 

My favorite John songs won’t include The Beatles, as I explained last week in the George Harrison post. This will be just solo John. My favorite albums by him were the first two official albums he released. Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. His Mind Games and Steel and Glass albums are great as well, but he had an edge on those first two that he didn’t have on the rest.

  1. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) – This song is so damn fresh-sounding. It sounds like it was recorded yesterday. It’s so electric-sounding and live. 

2. Working Class Hero – This song was a favorite of mine of John Lennon when I was younger. He took some flak about this one, and also the song Imagine.  When it came to being a Working Class Hero and having all of his possessions. His answer was

“What would you suggest I do? Give everything away and walk the streets? The Buddhist says, “Get rid of the possessions of the mind.” Walking away from all the money would not accomplish that. It’s like the Beatles. I couldn’t walk away from the Beatles. That’s one possession that’s still tagging along, right?”

3. Mind Games – This is around the time Lennon started to mellow out a bit musically and personally. I bought this single in 1979…6 years after it was released. 

4. I Know (I Know) – Yep…this one is not as well known, but it was reportedly about either Yoko or Paul. It was released on the 1973 album Mind Games. 

5. GOD – He pours out his feelings on the Beatles and everything else. 

6. Watching the Wheels – When listening to Double Fantasy, I like it, but not as well as his early seventies output. This one, though, fits in nicely with his best songs. 

7. Jealous Guy – He wrote this melody with the Beatles, but later added some more words to describe himself. 

8. How? – What makes “How?” stand out for me is its vulnerability. Lennon doesn’t pretend to know the answers; instead, he shares the questions most of us keep to ourselves. That honesty is what drew me to music in the first place.

9. Nobody Told Me – This one he wanted Ringo to do and had planned to give it to him. I think Ringo would have done a great job of it but I’m glad we have John’s version. 

10. Mother – It seems John was looking for a mother for all of his life. His real mother left him with his aunt Mimi, and years later, when he finally started to get to know his mother, she was killed in a hit-and-run accident. 

*Bonus! – How Do You Sleep? – It’s the song about Paul when both were angry at each other. Forget that for a minute…it’s a great melody and song on its own. It’s a brilliant piece of rock and roll with George’s snarling slide guitar and an irresistible groove, but its venom can be hard to swallow. Lennon’s line “The sound you make is muzak to my ears” still makes me wince. 

…

Bruce Springsteen – Darlington County

I’ve posted this song before, but I had to again. A friend of mine who got me into Springsteen and was like a brother to me just passed away. Paul was in this personal story below with me going to Florida.  We played this song at 11, going down the street in our small town, and on our way to Florida in 1985. Since I’ve been blogging, he would read some of my posts and text me when I mentioned a story he was involved in. This one made him laugh, but he said next time mention him by name…well, here you go, Paul. 

A lot of memories are connected with this song. Summer of 1985. I never got into much trouble in high school…never got caught making mischief anyway… but I did have this adventure after graduation.  I was driving to Florida with 3 other guys (Paul, Charles, and John) with this song blasting out with 140 bucks in my pocket…to Cocoa Beach, Florida…15 hours away. I was the rich one on this trip.

A bunch of guys who just graduated and were acting stupid. We learned that if you tilted a Coke machine (those back then), Cokes would stream out. Funny how you try things out when you are 18 and stupid. We filled a couple of coolers with them. It’s a wonder we weren’t caught or crushed by all of those machines. We also halfway wrecked a hotel room (TV was bolted down, thank goodness) and dreaded getting back home, where we would have to begin…gulp…life. No, I never tilted another coke machine, wrecked a hotel room, or anything like it again. 4 guys in a Toyota Celica for 15 hours…not comfortable but when you are 18…fun all the same…now I’d be in traction after such a trip.

Certain songs take you back to a time. Walking On Sunshine, Glory Days, and Darlington County all connect me with that trip. Back to the song! This is one of the very few on the album that wasn’t a hit…but it’s just as good as many of the others.

Bruce originally wrote this for his 1978 album Darkness On The Edge Of Town, but it didn’t make the cut. The riff in the song reminds me of Cadillac Ranch that was on The River album.

The song resolves itself in the end with the narrater’s buddy in trouble.

Driving out of Darlington County
My eyes seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
Driving out of Darlington County
Seen Wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper’s Ford

Darlington County

Driving in to Darlington County
Me and Wayne on the Fourth of July
Driving in to Darlington County
Looking for some work on the county line
We drove down from New York City
Where the girls are pretty but they just want to know your name
Driving in to Darlington City
Got a union connection with an uncle of Wayne’s
We drove eight hundred miles without seeing a cop
We got rock and roll music blasting off the T-top, singing

Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la
Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la

Hey little girl, standing on the corner
Today’s your lucky day for sure, all right
Me and my buddy, we’re from New York City
We got two hundred dollars, we want to rock all night
Well girl, you’re looking at two big spenders
Why, the world don’t know what me and Wayne might do
Our pa’s each own one of the World Trade Centers
For a kiss and a smile, I’ll give mine all to you
Come on baby, take a seat on my fender
It’s a long night, and tell me, what else were you gonna do?
Just me and you, we could

Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la
Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la

Little girl, sitting in the window
Ain’t seen my buddy in seven days, play it boys
County man tells me the same thing
He don’t work and he don’t get paid

Little girl, you’re so young and pretty
Walk with me and you can have your way
And we’ll leave this Darlington City
For a ride down that Dixie Highway

Driving out of Darlington County
My eyes seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
Driving out of Darlington County
Seen Wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper’s Ford

Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la
Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la

Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la
Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la

Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la
Sha la la, sha la la la la
Sha la la la, la la la

Who – Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy … album review

I bought this album right after I had bought Wholigans and Who’s Next. I wanted to know what their sixties output was like besides My Generation and I Can See For Miles. This compilation album was released in 1971; it wasn’t just a sampler of radio singles; it was a brash declaration of how The Who reached the top and what they broke along the way. Most of these songs did not reach the ears of Americans and Canadians in the 1960s. If Who’s Next was their grand gesture, Meaty Beaty was their rowdy scrapbook. The album is exciting!

In Canada and America, most people know the Who’s Next material and after as well. This album is the roots of the band. They stretched the limits of recording, trying new things in the studio, much like The Beatles did, but with a rawer result.

Rock in the mid to late sixties was changing, and what a diverse set of songs that you hear from that period. This is when Pete Townshend was turning teenage anxiety into rock mini-operas and Keith Moon was trying to demolish every drum kit in London. The title, reportedly referring to the four members themselves, Meaty (Roger), Beaty (Keith), Big (John), and Bouncy (Pete), is cheeky and self-mythologizing. And the tracklist? Nearly perfect. These singles are where Moon started to get his wild drumming reputation. He is everywhere in these songs, especially I Can’t Explain, making them different from other bands.

I have said that my favorite kind of band to watch live is the ones that you think will fall apart with any song they play, but they pull it between the lines without going over the cliff. They did that with these songs in the studio.

You’ve got I Can’t Explain, The Kids Are Alright, and Substitute up front, each one a case study in amphetamine, fueled mod rock. These aren’t songs that build; they explode right from the opening riff. Substitute, in particular, grabs your attention with the loud backing, but also the lyrics. Substitute could be The Who’s best single ever. And then I’m a Boy, Happy Jack, Pictures of Lily, you realize Pete was already leaning into story-song territory years before Tommy became a rock opera.

Magic Bus is a Bo Diddley-beat freakout that somehow makes a song about public transportation sound like a spiritual quest, or My Generation, the track that blew the doors off rock ’n’ roll. If that bass solo doesn’t rattle you, check your pulse. There’s a through-line here: Townshend’s fascination with identity, repression, rebellion, and guilt. These songs are electric in the best sense of the word.

Later Who albums might be deeper (Quadrophenia) or grander (Who’s Next), but this one is the sound of the band becoming The Who. Loud, brash, and already mythic. If you want to learn about The Who…this is a great starting point. 

…

Blue Shadows – Don’t Expect A Reply (Runaway Train)

This isn’t the same Runaway Train that brought Soul Asylum into heavy MTV rotation a year earlier (or Blue Rodeo’s song). No, this one’s more haunted, more twangy, and more soaked in country rock. It might be better, at least to me. Since I heard this band a few months ago, I cannot shake them, nor do I want to. I feel a Big Star love for them. 

The Blue Shadows never got their due. They existed in that strange space between country and power pop, never quite fitting into either scene completely. But that’s exactly what made them special. This song stands as a testament to what happens when talented musicians follow their instincts rather than market trends or what’s hot today. This song was released in 1995 on the album Lucky To Me, their last studio album.

Led by Billy Cowsill, the Blue Shadows carved out a very different space in early ’90s Canada. The song was written by Jeffrey Hatcher and Billy Cowsill.  Cowsill had the kind of voice that was country tinged with an edge. Hatcher was equal parts Buddy Holly with a touch of Chris Hillman cool, which makes for a killer songwriting partner.

There’s an alternate timeline in a perfect world where the Blue Shadows catch fire, tour with Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, or The Jayhawks, and end up as alt-country royalty. Instead, their last album, Lucky To Me, went quietly out into the world, loved by those lucky enough to hear it, and this song remains one of the most gorgeous things to ever slip through the cracks of the 1990s.

Billy Cowsill’s last interview, he was asked what he was most proud of in his career, and he answered with The Blue Shadows’ first album On The Floor of Heaven. “To my mind, that is the finest piece of work I ever did. It is just so good. The writing is so good. The production is so good. It is a nice little piece de resistance.”

Runaway Train

There ain’t a ball and chain
That can tie me down
There ain’t a jail been made
That can hold me now
I heard some fool say
He’s got to be insane
Well it kind of looks that way

From a runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Not from a runaway train

Oh no they can’t catch me
Because they move too slow
And they’re new at this game
I started long ago
I tell you I was here
Before the track was laid
I was the first to ride

On that runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Not from a runaway train

I used to roll on through
When it was countryside
Then the cities they grew
Until they reached the sky
I’m going to hit the coast
Then roll right on through
Wish you could see the view

From that runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Not from a runaway train

From that runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Don’t expect a reply
Don’t expect a reply

No, no don’t expect a reply

….

Roger Daltrey – Free Me

I’ve been listening to the McVicar soundtrack lately, and it’s a great soundtrack for that movie that starred Roger. It’s a song released in 1980 and was written by Russ Ballard. I remember the song and video from MTV, and it’s a hell of a rocker. Roger’s voice, one of rock’s greatest primal instruments, rips through this one, and he means it. 

McVicar was Daltrey’s project. He starred in the biopic, produced it, and brought it into existence. Based on the life of bank robber John McVicar, it’s part prison-break flick, part redemption tale. I’ve watched the movie a couple of times, and I would recommend it. 

A loud rocker with just enough polish to sneak onto FM radio and just enough attitude to sound like it’s kicking the doors in. On his three previous solo albums, Daltrey had gone out of his way to avoid the hard rock sound of The Who. On this one, he upped his game. Musicians varied on the album, but they did include Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and new Who drummer Kenney Jones. Keith Moon had played on a few songs on his 1977 album One of the Boys. 

Free Me peaked at #39 in the UK and #53 on the Billboard 100 in 1980. The McVicar album peaked at #22 on the Billboard Album Charts,  #39 in the UK, and #44 in New Zealand.  

I wanted to add one more song from his solo career. A song I haven’t heard in a long time that I always liked. A song called “Say It Aint So Joe” from his One of the Boys album in 1977. The video features John Entwistle, Keith Moon, and Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. 

Free Me

Free me
Can’t you hear that’s what I say
Free me
Anyhow or anyway

I hear a voice
Call in the night
Push on the brain
Fades with the light

And I’ve seen a face
With so many eyes
Out in the words
Know there lies

Can’t you hear me say
Can’t you hear me say
Can’t you hear me say

Free me, free me
Inside I’m bleeding, can’t you see
Free me
From all this pain and misery

I am a flame
But he held the fire
Call me a fool
Don’t call me a liar

Take me to hell
And let me stay
Get back some prize
Well, I have to pay

Can’t you hear me say
Can’t you hear me say
Can’t you hear me say

Free me

I lie awake
Burning inside
No where to run
And no where to hide

Old lady time
She’s no friend to me
I feel her change
And she holds the key

Can’t you hear me say
Can’t you hear me say
Can’t you hear me say

Free me, free me
Can’t you hear that’s what I say
Free me
Anyhow or anyway

…

Del Lords – When The Drugs Kick In

This song won me over with the intro. Such a wonderful melody with the guitar weaving in and out. Of course, the title got me to listen. I’ve covered one of their songs before called How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?

They were formed in the early ’80s by Scott Kempner of  New York punk group the Dictators. They were in the ’70s new wave scene, which the band never quite fit into. Kempner gathered together  Eric Ambel of Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, drummer Frank Funero (now with Cracker), and bassist Manny Caiati and set out as The Del-Lords.

They made 4 studio albums from 1984 to 1990. In 2010, they reunited and played gigs for the first time in 20 years. They released an album called Elvis Club in 2013, and this song came off that album.

The Del Lords were always one of those bands who seemed to fall through the cracks, too rock for the roots crowd, too straight ahead for the punks, too Bronx for Nashville. But their records had heart. They didn’t try to change. Elvis Club picks right up where they left off. Scott Kempner wrote this song and most of the songs on the album. 

This song is pure Americana, halfway between an E Street shuffle sound and a Ramones bar fight. It doesn’t ask for your pity or your praise. This one feels like the walk home from a party that went a little too sideways. But you would be happy to do it again. 

When The Drugs Kick In

I was right in the middle of a big idea(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)I forgot everything right then and there(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)for the last year or so that’s how it’s been(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)I’ve tried and I’ve tried but the drugs always win(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)

when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick inHere I go, here I go, here I go again(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)Goin’ down I know, but I’m goin’ down slow(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)When the drugsKick in

I had this dream, yeah, I used to dream(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)I’d leave no sound unheard, no sight unseen(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)But I heard lies and deception, saw heartbreak and rejection(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)Now I’m an uncast vote in a fixed election(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)When the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in

Here I go, here I go, here I go again(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)I’m goin’ down I know, but I’m goin’ down slow(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)When the drugsKick in

I’m a jet plane baby, movin’ coast to coastI’m a part time lover, I’m a full time ghostAnd the tunnel of love is the tunnel of lifeAnd I leave on the lights when I go to sleep at nightWhen the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in

Here I go, here I go, here I go again(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)I’m goin’ down I know, but I’m goin’ down slow(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)When the drugsKick inWhen the drugsKick in(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)(when the drugs kick in, when the drugs kick in)

…

Cream – I Feel Free

Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp I feel free…Jack Bruce’s voice in this is great and sets the tone of the song. The song peaked in the UK at #11 in 1967. It’s Cream before they were CREAM, before the mountain-top solos and the molten lava blues.

The track kicks off with that cool a cappella intro, a call-and-response chant that suspends it mid-air. Then Jack Bruce’s bass drops in like a swinging anchor, thumping along with a walking groove that practically skips. The whole song feels like it’s walking a line between psychedelia and British pop, and it works. It’s a perfect single from a band that rarely, if ever, cared about making singles.

Cream wasn’t known for a lot of fun songs. White Room, Sunshine of Your Love, and others meant business, but this one is fun and a little pop. They didn’t have many of those, but they did have a few. Wrapping Paper, I’m So Glad, and my personal favorite, the wonderfully bizarre Anyone For Tennis, have a place in my heart. 

British poet Pete Brown helped the band write the lyrics. Brown, who was a beat poet, had worked with Baker and Bruce before. He also wrote lyrics to Sunshine Of Your Love and White Room. Eric Clapton played a borrowed Les Paul guitar on this track, as his Beano album guitar had been stolen during album rehearsals. It was plugged into a new, 100-watt Marshall amp.

Speaking of Clapton, he used what he called his “Woman Tone” on his guitar in this song. It was one of the first times he used it. He got it by turning the amp all the way up, boosting the treble, cutting the bass, and playing a sustained guitar note.

I Feel Free

Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp
I feel free

Feel when I dance with you,
We move like the sea.
You, you’re all I want to know.

I feel free.
I feel free.
I feel free.

I can walk down the street, there’s no one there
Though the pavements are one huge crowd.
I can drive down the road; my eyes don’t see,
Though my mind wants to cry out loud.

I, I, I, I feel free.
I feel free.
I feel free.

I can walk down the street, there’s no one there
Though the pavements are one huge crowd.
I can drive down the road; my eyes don’t see,
Though my mind wants to cry out loud,
Though my mind wants to cry out loud.

Dance floor is like the sea,
Ceiling is the sky.
You’re the sun and as you shine on me,

I feel free.
I feel free.
I feel free.

I, I, I, I

My Favorite George Harrison songs

Everyone who knows me knows that John is my favorite Beatle, but since I’ve been blogging, I’ve met a lot of people who have been won over by George. I’ve always liked George, but I’ve probably delved more into his catalog than I did before because of people’s enthusiasm about him. I know many bloggers now who consider him their favorite out of The Beatles, including Lisa from tao-talk.com, who ironically, inspired this post from her John Lennon post on Sunday. Enthusiasm rubs off, so I thought I would list my top ten favorite George songs. For some of Lisa’s posts about George, check here, here, here, here, and here. George’s popularity has grown a great deal in the past few years. 

I can only imagine how he felt being in a band that contained two of the top songwriters of the 20th Century. Unlike John and Paul, George didn’t start writing songs until 1963-1964. John and Paul had been writing songs since 1956. He was influenced by both of them, and I think he influenced them later on. Songs like Something, you can hear McCartney’s influence. With Taxman I can hear some of John in that one. 

You may notice something about this list. It leaves off his two biggest hits. My Sweet Lord and I’ve Got My Mind Set On You. Maybe I’ve heard them too many times, I don’t know, but the other ones hit me more. I’m also going to leave off Beatles (and Wilburys) songs that George wrote. If I made a list of John’s songs (which I will now), I won’t include his Beatles songs because I think they belong to all four, not just John. 

I switched my number one and two songs a little while back. They are close to me, but the number one song has won me over again and again. 

  1. All Things Must Pass

This is not only my favorite George Harrison song, but I also think it’s one of the best solo Beatles songs, period. 

This 1970 George Harrison song is on the album All Things Must Pass. He brought it up during the Let It Be sessions; they went over it, and it sounded fantastic for a rehearsal…you could hear it taking shape. George was mindful of the TV show concert of some kind on Let It Be (it wasn’t decided yet). He wanted to play acoustic and was afraid the acoustic would get lost live.  All the songs they did on Let It Be live on the rooftop…were rockers. They went through the song over 30 times. They picked it back up before the concert, but George dropped it. George wanted to do more of a rocker. 

To me, it’s the greatest non-officially recorded Beatles song. When all the Beatles’ voices came together in the chorus while rehearsing this one…a shiver went through me. None of them could reproduce those vocals apart. 

2. Isn’t It A Pity

I think this one gets forgotten, and it shouldn’t be that way. It was the B side to My Sweet Lord and I think it’s the superior side. George said he wrote it in 1966, but it didn’t see the light of day until 1970. 

It resembles Hey Jude in its structure. 

3.  What Is Life

What an uplifting song this is. It’s a slice of guitar-pop ecstasy. Power pop? Soul-pop? Sunshine fuzz-rock? However you tag it, it belongs high on anyone’s list of 1970s songs. 

4. Blow Away

I bought this album, which was in a cut-out bin at a record store and I was surprised how good this album was. This is a song that doesn’t come up as much when you hear George’s music. Much like Isn’t It A Pity…it gets forgotten. It’s nothing earth-shattering or complicated about this song… It’s just a truly great pop single. 

5. Any Road

This song was released posthumously, and it remains one of my favorite George songs. It pretty much sums up his philosophy, and I love it. It seemed like a final message from George to everyone. 

I heard this song before George passed away…a live version of it by him on a VH1 special that he was on. The interviewer kept pushing him to do a song…I’m glad he did now. When I heard it, I smiled because it was so George. With George’s songs, you could expect a good melody, slide guitar, and his own nugget of knowledge that he left behind.

This song was on George’s last album, Brainwashed, in 2003. George wrote the song in 1988 while working on a video for “Cloud Nine.” 

I would follow with these songs. 

6: Crackerbox Palace –I first saw the video of this song on television in the seventies. I might have seen it on the SNL broadcast…probably a repeat. A good catchy song by George off of his Thirty-Three & 1/3 album. 

7: Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) –  Another positive song from George. George Harrison said this about the song: “Sometimes you open your mouth and you don’t know what you are going to say, and whatever comes out is the starting point. If that happens and you are lucky, it can usually be turned into a song. This song is a prayer and personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it.”

8. When We Was Fab – It was nice to hear him having fun with his legend instead of the bitterness that all of them had for a short time. 

9. Devil’s Radio – From what I read about George, as a kid, he didn’t like the neighbors knowing his business and hated gossip…this song says that plain and clear about the press as well. 

10. The Art of Dying – Harrison wrote these lyrics while he was still a Beatle. He found it hard to get many of them on Beatles albums because there was only so much room. The good side is that when The Beatles broke up, he had a backlog full of songs.

..

Camper Van Beethoven – Eye Of Fatima (Pt. 1)

I want to thank obbverse’s brother for recommending this song to him and then him to me. Love the bass in this one and the guitar licks that complement the bass. I hear a little bit of Bakersfield in this one as well, with some twang. The song feels like the first part of a bigger story, which it is. The second part song follows as a kind of comedown, but this first part is where the hooks are. Also, it’s even kind of radio-friendly.

Back in the late eighties, I was working while going to college. A co-worker of mine kept playing this band, and it drove me up the wall. My first reaction was to ask…”what the hell is this and why are you playing it?” By the end of the week, I wanted a copy of it, so she taped it and gave it to me on cassette. The song was Take The Skinheads Bowling and it was heavily played on college radio in the late 80s. That’s how I started to know about this band. 

This song was a few years later than that one. This one was on their 1988 album called Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart. The first Camper Van Beethoven record for a major label, Virgin, no less, and it’s as if the band decided to storm the gates of MTV with fiddles and surrealism. With this band, you know you’re in for something strange, but also something oddly familiar.

With all that is going on, there is something subversively pop about this song. It grooves. It twangs. It rambles with purpose. And you can sing along to it even if you’re not quite sure what it’s about.

Just so we cover this sufficiently, here is Eye of Fatima (Part 2)

Eye of Fatima (Pt. 1)

He’s got the Eye of Fatima on the wall of his room
Two bottles of tequila, three cats and a broom
He’s got an 18-year-old angel and she’s all dressed in black
He’s got 15 bindles of cocaine tied up in a sack

And this here’s a government experiment and we’re driving like Hell
To give some cowboys some acid and to stay in motels
We’re going to eat up some wide open spaces like it was a cruise on the Nile
Take the hands off the clock, we’re going to be here a while

And I am the Eye of Fatima on the wall of the motel room
And cowboys on acid are like Egyptian cartoons
And no one ever conquered Wyoming from the left or from the right
But you can stay in motel rooms and stay up all night

…

Neil Young – Cinnamon Girl

Love the nasty sound Neil has on his guitar. It’s a raw, fuzzed-out letter to the cosmos, sealed with a one-note guitar solo and dropped in the mailbox of your brain forever. It never leaves. This is a song I grew up on, but not this version. Somehow, I had The Gentrys version in my small record collection given to me by someone. It’s close, but no cigar. 

That riff, oh that riff. It’s a heavy, descending chunk of molten iron, equal parts garage and pre-grunge blueprint. It’s played in double drop D tuning, which is basically the rock ’n’ roll equivalent of letting the air out of your tires before racing. Everything sounds lower, meaner, sludgier. The minute it hits, it’s clear: Neil doesn’t want perfection. He wants feel. We played this song so many times that I know it by heart. 

Neil recruited guitarist Danny Whitten, bassist Billy Talbot, and drummer Ralph Molina from a local psychedelic group called The Rockets and renamed them Crazy Horse. The song was on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. The album peaked at #34 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #32 in Canada.

In the liner notes of his Decade compilation, Neil said, “Wrote this for a city girl on peeling pavement coming at me through Phil Ochs’ eyes playing finger cymbals. It was hard to explain to my wife.” Although Neil Young never said who it was about, the bit about finger cymbals could be a reference to ’60s folk singer Jean Ray, who performed with then-husband Jim Glover under the name Jim and Jean. 

Brian Ray, who is currently Paul McCartney’s guitarist and Jean’s younger brother, has said the song is indeed about his sister. Jean also said that she inspired another Neil Young track from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere: Cowgirl in the Sand.

The song peaked at #55 in the Billboard 100 and #25 in Canada in 1970.

Cinnamon Girl

I want to live with a Cinnamon Girl
I could be happy the rest of my life 
with a Cinnamon Girl

A dreamer of pictures, I run in the night
you see us together chasin’ the moonlight
my Cinnamon Girl

Ten silver saxes, a bass with a bow
the drummer relaxes and waits between shows
for his Cinnamon Girl

A dreamer of pictures, I run in the night
you see us together chasin’ the moonlight
my Cinnamon Girl

Pa, send me money now
I’m gonna make it somehow
I need another chance
You see, your baby loves to dance
yeah, yeah, yeah

Call – What’s Happened To You

I remember seeing The Call on MTV in the mid-eighties, and there was a reason I remembered them. Playing the organ was no other than Garth Hudson for that song. It was a minor MTV hit, and I liked it a lot. The riff really stuck with you. I started to explore more of what they did, and this song is on their album Red Moon, released in 1990. 

The Call was formed in Santa Cruz, California, in 1980. The Call was led by bassist, singer-songwriter Michael Been, a gravel-voiced singer who brought fire and the introspection of a tortured poet. His lyrics weren’t about getting the girl or cruising in muscle cars; they were about faith, doubt, injustice, identity, and the fragile grip we keep on hope. Heavy stuff delivered in tight, taut rock songs that carried a punch. 

I think the general public really missed a great band here. They did have some MTV play now and then, but never broke through. Probably because they were more Americana, and that didn’t fit in at the time of big production and synths. Altogether, they released 9 albums from 1982 to 1997. In 2024, they released an album called The Lost Tapes with unreleased music from the 1980s and early 1990s. 

Where earlier Call albums leaned into their Springsteen/U2 style, Red Moon pulls things inward. The rhythm section is more restrained. There’s even a bit of The Band in the album’s organic, Americana leanings. I also hear some Van Morrison in this track. 

The production is warm and minimal, again almost Band-like in its restraint. You get brushed drums, subtle guitar, and just enough space to let the song breathe. You could hear this playing while drifting out of a cracked car window on a long, lonely drive.

They did have one celebrity on this recording. Irishman Van …Bono. He did the backups on this song.  In the record company’s infinite wisdom…they picked this one as the single off the album. The reason? Oh, because Bono sang backups. Michael Been said, “I don’t care if Elvis and Lennon came back to life and sang backgrounds, it’s not a single kind of song.”

The song peaked at #25 on the Billboard Alternative Charts and #39 on the Mainstream Rock Charts in 1990.  

It is a good song, though…very Americana. The band members were Michael Been, Bass and lead vocals, Jim Goodwin, keyboards and sax, Tom Ferrier, guitar, and Scott Musick, drums. All of them did vocals except Musick. 

Here is the song that got me to pay attention to this band. The guest organ player is one of a kind. 

What’s Happened To You

La la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la laEverybodyLa la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la la

What’s happened to you?You used to be so shyYou used to hang your head downYou wouldn’t look in my eyesDid you some great vision?Did you finally break through?Did you shake the foundations?What’s happened to you?

La la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la la

What’s happened to you?You used to look so tiredNow there’s a spring in your stepAnd your words are on fireDid you hear some great secret?Did the words ring of truth?Did you rise from the ashes?What’s happened to you?

Where the four winds meetThe world is so stillThe waves are not poundingAnd the hungry are filledOur shadows have crossed hereWhere the sun touched the groundThe gathered are singing (ooh)What a beautiful soundThey’re singing

La la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la laEverybody singLa la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la la

What’s happened to you?You used to be so unkindYou used to curse at this poor worldSo what changed your mind?What stirred such compassionIs a mystery to meI don’t know what’s happenedOh, but I like what I see

Where the four winds meetThe world is so stillThe waves are not poundingAnd the hungry are filledOur shadows have crossed hereWhere the sun touched the groundThe gathered are singingWhat a beautiful soundThey’re singing

La la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la laEverybodyLa la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la la

Everybody!

La la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la laOh singLa la la la la la la laLa la la la la la la la

…

NRBQ – Stomp

The 1969 NRBQ self-titled debut album, released on Columbia Records, is a wonderfully scrappy introduction to a band that never played by the rules, even from the jump. This one caught my ear and never let go. I’m a newbie to the band, but I’ve listened to many of their albums and songs throughout their career in the past few months.

This is the beauty of blogs, everyone. When I first started, my foundation was the holy trinity of rock: the Beatles, the Who, and the Stones. I listened to more than them, of course, but now with all of your help, I’ve picked up on artists that I missed completely in real-time or the ones before I was aware or born. I love expanding my musical knowledge, and this band is part of that. It’s never too late to learn new/old music or movies for that matter. 

I believe that some of NRBQ’s greatest assets, such as eclecticism, unwavering artistic values, and humor, are also the reasons they never sold the millions of records they deserved. They are incredible musicians who have no problem being silly and loose as well.

While other bands at the time were chasing hits, studio trickery, and long jams, NRBQ (short for New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) decided to follow  Sun Records, Spike Jones, and Cecil Taylor, sometimes all in the same song. The album is a pre-punk, pre-power pop, pre-alt-country, pre-everything slab of glorious fun. There’s no single style to pin it down; it’s equal parts rockabilly, jazz, R&B, novelty, garage rock, and pure American musical mischief. One minute they’re playing jazz, the next they’re writing AM-radio pop that could’ve given Big Star a run for their money. In other words, if you want diverse music, NRBQ is the way to go. 

They were formed by pianist Terry Adams, guitarist Steve Ferguson, and drummer Frank Gadler, with the addition of bassist Joey Spampinato (originally Joey Spampanato) and drummer Tom Staley completing the lineup.

The album NRBQ peaked at #162 on the Billboard album charts. Stomp peaked at #122 on the Billboard 100 in 1969. The band has 24 studio albums, 14 live albums, and 15 compilation albums. Terry Adams, who formed the band, is still with them… to this day. 

Stomp

Everybody stomp, play it on the ground
Having lots of fun till the sun goes down
People got to know, miles and miles around
About the hidden secret of the stoppin’ so sound

Everybody stomp, play it on the ground
Having lots of fun till the sun goes down
Go and tell your friends, all about to stomp
They can tell there cousins and there mama and pa

And if you do refuse the rhythm my friend
Then you will have to miss the boat in the end
The biggest generation yet has come
But we got something for the old and young
And if you do refuse a+rhytum my friend
Then you will have to miss the boat in the end
You just might stop and stare and wonder why
But you’re just wasting time so come on try
(make it quick)

And if you do refuse a+rhytum my friend
Then you will have to miss the boat in the end
Everybody stomp, play it on the ground
Having lots of fun till the sun goes down
People got to know, miles and miles around
About the hidden secret of stoppin’ so sound
everybody stomp, everybody stomp
everybody stomp, everybody stomp
everybody stomp, everybody stomp
everybody stomp

…

Animals – House of the Rising Sun

I bought this 1964 single when I was 12 in 1979. On the B side was the wonderful Bring It On Home to Me. I became an Animals fan that day. Let’s talk about a song so soaked in sorrow, so drenched in drama, that it feels like a dark southern gothic fable set to tape.

This is a British band covering an old American folk ballad about a New Orleans house of ill repute, and somehow, they made it definitive. The song had already passed through Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Bob Dylan before it landed in the hands of The Animals. But it wasn’t until Eric Burdon opened his mouth that the song finally got its fangs. His voice is more of a howl than singing at times, and gives the song the oomph it needed. 

Historians have not been able to definitively identify The House Of The Rising Sun, but the two instances I have read about are these: 

1) The song is about a brothel in New Orleans. The House Of The Rising Sun was named after its occupant Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant (which means “Rising Sun” in French), and was open for business from 1862 (occupation by Union troops) until 1874, when it was closed due to complaints by neighbors. It was located at 826-830 St. Louis St.

2) It’s about a woman’s prison in New Orleans called the Orleans Parish women’s prison, which had an entrance gate adorned with rising sun artwork. This would explain the “ball and chain” lyrics in the song.

The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #1 in the UK in 1964. 

More than anything, his song cemented The Animals as the most dangerous-sounding band to crawl out of the British Invasion. It wasn’t the pop of the Hollies or Herman Hermits. This was dark. Gritty. Adult. You believed every damn word.

The original lineup only recorded three albums, yet nevertheless managed to break out eight Top 40 hits between 1964 and 1966. Alan Price left in 1965, and John Steel the following year. Also in 1966, Chandler left to start managing artists, and he discovered Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village.

Eric Burdon: “I don’t think that The Animals got a chance to evolve. We were the first to admit that we took blues songs from American artists, but if the Animals had stuck together and worked together instead of worrying about who was getting all the money, we could have evolved more and come out with more music to be proud of.”

The B side on my single

House of The Rising Sun

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I’m one

My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
My father was a gamblin’ man
Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he’s satisfied
Is when he’s on a drunk

Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun

Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I’m goin’ back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I’m one

McCoys – Hang On Sloopy

A relative gave me this single when I was around 7 or 8 years old, and I’ve been a fan ever since. It’s mid-sixties garage rock that was fronted by a great guitarist. 

This thing is raw, ragged, and ridiculously catchy. It’s also one of the most unlikely #1 hits of the mid-’60s. A teenage bar band out of Indiana fronted by a 16-year-old Rick Derringer (still using his birth name, Zehringer), drafted into the spotlight by producers looking for someone to finish off a half-assembled track. What they delivered was a rock ‘n’ roll time capsule.

They opened for a band called The Strangegloves, who were a group of producers who formed a band and had a hit called I Want Candy. The Strangegloves, an American band, told everyone they were from Australia and said they were shepherds who got rich by crossbreeding sheep. Yes, it was the sixties. They gave Rick and the Raiders (before they changed their name to the McCoys)a chance to record this song. 

It started life as “My Girl Sloopy,” a minor R&B single by The Vibrations in 1964. But the McCoys stripped it down to its most essential parts and cranked up the amp. By the time it hit the airwaves in 1965, it was an instant anthem for kids who didn’t have a lot of time for nuance.

The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 and #5 in the UK in 1965. The McCoys were not one-hit wonders. They had another top 10 hit named Fever and a top 40 hit named Come On Let’s Go.

The song was written by Bert Berns and Wes Farrell. Bert Berns wrote many songs in the sixties and signed Van Morrison to his first solo contract. The name “Sloopy” most likely originated from Dorothy Sloop, a jazz singer from Steubenville, Ohio. Sloop, who died in 1998 at age 85, performed in the New Orleans area using the name “Sloopy.”

This video was done later than the song in 1975. The Dancer, Lisa Leonard Dalton, was surprised when her video went viral a few years ago. Here is a short bio of her. 

Hang On Sloopy

Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on
Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on

Sloopy lives in a very bad part of town
And everybody there tries to put my Sloopy down
Sloopy I don’t care what your daddy do
‘Cause you know Sloopy girl I’m in love with you
And so I’m singing

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Sloopy let your hair down girl, let it run down on me
Sloopy let your hair down girl, let it run down on me

Come on Sloopy, come on, come on
Come on Sloopy, come on, come on
Well, come on Sloopy, come on, come on
Well, come on Sloopy, come on, come on

Well it feels so good, come on, come on
You know it feels so good, come on, come on

Well shake it, shake it, shake it Sloopy, come on, come on
Well shake it, shake it, shake it yeah
Yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah