This is a really good song by the Monkees. It was written by “Wildfire” author, Michael (Martin) Murphey and Owen Castleman and was an album track. If you watched a lot of their shows on reruns like I did…I knew their album tracks by heart. This would have been a good single. It has a great country/rock sound like most of his songs do.
It was on the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. that peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada and #5 in the UK in 1967.
Owens “Boomer” Castleman was the co-writer on this song and was a member of The Survivors, a pre-Monkees group that included Michael Nesmith, Bill Chadwick, Michael Martin Murphey, and John London.
What Am I Doing Hanging Round?
Just a loud mouth Yankee I went down to Mexico. I didn’t have much time to spend, about a week or so. There I lightly took advantage of a girl who loved me so. But I found myself a-thinkin’ when the time had come to go…
[Chorus:] What am I doin’ hangin’ round? I should be on that train and gone. I should be ridin’ on that train to San Antone, What am I doin’ hangin’ round?
She took me to the garden just for a little walk. I didn’t know much Spanish and there was no time for talk. Then she told me that she loved me not with words but with a kiss. And like a fool I kept on thinkin’ of a train I could not miss…
[Chorus]
Well it’s been a year or so, and I want to go back again. And if I get the money, well I’ll ride the same old train. But I guess your chances come but once and boy I sure missed mine. And still I can’t stop thinkin’ when I hear some whistle cryin’….
This is one of the first AC/DC songs I was familiar with when I was around 11 years old. My older cousin was a huge fan and would play the live If You Want Blood You’ve Got It album constantly. It was a few years later before I heard the studio version of the song.
As with most of their songs it started with an excellent guitar riff and doesn’t relent.
The song was originally on the Let There Be Rock album released in 1977. It was released as a single in 1978 as a live cut and didn’t do much but then the live cut was reissued again in 1979 and peaked at #36 in the UK in 1980.
This song is about a large woman that lead singer Bon Scott had relations with early in the band’s career. I’ll let Bon and Angus tell the tale.
Bon Scott:“We were all staying in the same hotel and this chick Rosie lived across the road. She was so big she sort of closed the door and put it on ya’, half your body, and she was too big to say no to. Then she used to look up and see what band was in town and say “hi over there boys” and we’d go over and have a party. She came to one of our shows, she was from Tasmania actually, and she was in the front row. She was like 6’2 and like 19 stone 12 pounds (around 266lbs). That girl was some mountain. So you can imagine the problems I had. So I just sorta had to succumb … I had to do it. Oh my God, I wish I hadn’t.”
Angus Young:We’d been in Tasmania and after the show [Bon Scott] said he was going to check out a few clubs. He said he’d got about 100 yards down the street when he heard this yell: ‘Hey! Bon!’ He looked around and saw this leg and thought: ‘Oh well!’ From what he said, there was this Rosie woman and a friend of hers. They were plying him with drinks and Rosie said to him: ‘This month I’ve slept with 28 famous people,’ and Bon went: ‘Oh yeah?!’ Anyway, in the morning he said he woke up pinned against the wall, he said he opened one eye and saw her lean over to her friend and whisper: ’29!’ There’s very few people who’ll go out and write a song about a big fat lady, but Bon said it was worthy.
From Songfacts
In a 1976 interview with the band for Sounds magazine, their guitarist Malcolm Young prodded Scott to tell the story about “the fat one.” Scott explained that backstage at a show in Australia, a rotund woman they called “Big Bertha” came forward when he asked, “Who wants it?” Too frightened to refuse, he did the deed with Bertha, who then called to her friend, “that’s the 37th this month,” and produced a black book where she recorded her conquests. Scott turned the incident into a song, this time naming the woman “Rosie.”
In their early days, the band shared a house in Australia where lots of unsavory incidents occurred. This gave them material for songs like this one and “The Jack.” Bon Scott had great affection for the full-size girls, and occasionally put his conquests in his songs. Another song on the album, “Go Down,” mentions Ruby Lips, who is another real person. This is confirmed in the Let There Be Rock liner notes.
The music is based on the Chuck Berry song “No Money Down.”
Originally released on the Let There Be Rock album, this song didn’t get much publicity until AC/DC re-released it a year later on If You Want Blood, You Got It when the band became internationally popular.
This song was covered and performed live by Guns N’ Roses. Nearly a decade later, Axl Rose cited an article in Melody Maker comparing the original AC/DC lineup to Guns N’ Roses as the inspiration for covering this song.
Originally, there were two versions of this song. The first was called “Dirty Eyes” and was eventually released in 1997 on the Bonfire boxed set.
Whole Lotta Rosie
Wanna tell you story About woman I know When it comes to lovin’ She steals the show She ain’t exactly pretty Ain’t exactly small Fourt’two thirt’ninefiftysix You could say she’s got it all
Never had a woman Never had a woman like you Doin’ all the things Doin’ all the things you do Ain’t no fairy story Ain’t no skin and bones But you give it all you got Weighin’ in at nineteen stone You’re a whole lotta woman A whole lotta woman Whole lotta Rosie Whole lotta Rosie Whole lotta Rosie And you’re a whole lotta woman
Honey you can do it Do it to me all night long Only one who turn me Only one who turn me on All through the night time Right around the clock To my surprise Rosie never stops She was a whole lotta woman Whole lotta woman Whole lotta Rosie Whole lotta Rosie Whole lotta Rosie A whole lotta woman
Bring your own lampshade Somewhere there’s a party
This song has just a slight early sixties vibe and shows their expanding repertoire.
Paul Westerberg has said Swingin Party drew on Sinatra’s version of Rodgers and Hart’s standard “Where or When” and The Springfield’s “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong.” It had a trace of Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s “Somethin’ Stupid” and Brian Hyland’s “The Joker Went Wild.” He said if you steal from everything nobody can put a finger on you.
The song’s oscillating rhythms and guitars provided a perfect backdrop for the lyrics.
This song was on their 4th studio album Tim. Yes, they named the album Tim which is pretty funny. It would be the last album founding member and lead guitarist Bob Stinson worked on.
Paul Westerberg:“We named it Tim for no reason at all”.This was the first time we named an album after it was done.We sat around a bar,we were gonna call it Whistler’s Mammy,Van Gogh’s Ear,or England Schmingland.”I think I said Tim and we sat and laughed for a few minutes and then we said,”Why not?”
Paul Westerberg:“One of the reasons we used to drink so much is that it was scary going up onstage. That’s one of the things ‘Swingin Party’ is all about” “The funny thing is, people think you must have all this confidence to get up onstage.”
New Zealand singer Lorde covered Swingin Party”= as the B-side to her second single, “Tennis Court.” The song peaked at #10 in the New Zealand singles chart in 2013.
Swingin’ Party
Bring your own lampshade Somewhere there’s a party Here it’s never ending Can’t remember when it started Pass around the lampshade There’ll be plenty enough room in jail
If being alone’s a crime I’m serving forever Being strong’s your kind I need help here with this feather If being afraid is a crime We hang side by side At the swingin’ party down the line
On the prairie pavement Losing proposition Quitting school and going to work And never going fishing Water all around Never learn how to swim now
If being alone’s a crime I’m serving forever Being strong’s your kind Then I need help here with this feather If being afraid is a crime We hang side by side At the swingin’ party down the line At the swingin’ party down the line
Bring your own lampshade Somewhere there’s a party Here it’s never ending Can’t remember when it started Pass around the lampshade There’ll be plenty of room in jail
If being alone’s a crime I’m serving forever Being strong is what you want Then I need help here with this feather If being afraid is a crime We hang side by side At the swingin’ party down the line At the swingin’ party down the line Catchin’ time At the swingin’ party down the line
This song you may remember from the Yardbirds and Aerosmith but this version rocks roots style. No matter what version you know…this song is built for a rock band of any kind.
It was written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, and Lois Mann, this song was originally performed by Tiny Bradshaw’s Big Band in 1951.
This version features guitar lines in what many historians consider to be the first recorded example of intentionally distorted guitar in rock music, although blues guitarists, such as Willie Johnson and Pat Hare, had recorded with the same effect years earlier.
The Trio’s guitarist, Paul Burlison, recounted that he noticed the sound after accidentally dropping his amplifier, which dislodged a power tube. Later, “Whenever I wanted to get that sound, I’d just reach back and loosen that tube”
Johnny Burnette recorded this rock version in 1956, and The Yardbirds popularized the song with their rendition in 1965. Aerosmith covered it in 1974, often playing the song as their encore in their early years. Tyler had seen the Yardbirds do it in the sixties and as he said it knocked him out.
Train Kept A Rollin’
I caught a train I met a dame She was a hepster And a real gone dame She was pretty From New York City And we trucked on down that old fair lane With a heave and a ho Well i just couldn’t let her go
Get along, creepy little woman Get along, well be on your way Get along, creepy little woman Get along, well be on your way With a heave and a ho Well i just couldn’t let her go
Well, the train kept a-rollin all night long The train kept a-rollin all night long The train kept me movin’ all night long The train kept a-rollin all night long With a heave and a ho Well i just couldn’t let her go
We made a stop In Alberquerque She must of thought That I was a real gone jerk We got off the train At El Paso Our lovin was so good, jack I couldn’t let her go Get along Well I just couldn’t let her go
Get along, creepy little woman Get along, well be on your way Get along, creepy little woman Get along, well be on your way With a heave and a ho Well I just couldn’t let her go
The train kept a-rollin all night long The train kept a-rollin all night long The train kept her movin’ all night long The train kept a-rollin all night long With a heave and a ho Well I just couldn’t let her go-oh-oh
The first thing I noticed are the huge drums that start this song off. Eddie was one of the great rock and roll guitar players in the 50s. His guitar playing influenced bands such as The Clash, The Ramones, and The Sex Pistols.
Cochran wrote this with the help of Sharon Sheeley, who became Eddie’s girlfriend. There weren’t many female songwriters at the time, but Sheeley’s first effort, “Poor Little Fool,” became a #1 hit for Ricky Nelson.
She met Eddie when she asked him to record one of her songs.
On April 17, 1960, Cochran was killed in a car accident at age 21. Sheeley and Gene Vincent were also in the car and injured in the crash, but Cochran went through the windshield.
Sheeley continued to write songs for artists like Brenda Lee and Irma Thomas. She died in 2002 at age 62.
Somethin’ Else
A look a-there, here she comes There comes that girl again Wanted to date her since I don’t know when But she don’t notice me when I pass She goes with all the guys from outta my class But that can’t stop me from a-thinkin’ to myself She’s sure fine lookin’ man, she’s something else
Hey, look a-there, across the street There’s a car made just for me To own that car would be a luxery But right now I can’t afford the gas A brand new convertible is outta my class But that can’t stop me from athinkin’ to myself That car’s fine lookin’ man, it’s something else
Hey, look a-here, just wait and see Worked hard and saved my dough I’ll buy that car that I been wanting so Get me that girl and we’ll go ridin’ around We’ll look real sharp with the flight top down I keep right on a-dreamin’ and a-thinkin’ to myself When it all comes true man, wow, that’s something else
Look a-there, what’s all this Never thought I’d do this before But here I am a-knockin’ on her door My car’s out front and it’s all mine Just a forty-one ford, not a fifty-nine I got that girl an’ I’m a-thinkin’ to myself She’s sure fine lookin’ man, wow, she’s something else
I’m letting my regular format rest this weekend and contine what I started Friday, a foray into some rockabilly. I hope you stay with me. Let start off this Saturday morning with one of the best…Wanda Jackson.
After posting about Joyce Green a while back I started hunting around for more rockabilly songs. The vocal that Jackson has on this is great. Hard to believe she was a teenager when did this.
Fujiyama Mama is a song written by Jack Hammer. It was first recorded in 1955 by Annisteen Allen. In 1957 rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson recorded it. It did not chart in the United States, but Jackson’s recording peaked at #1 in Japan for several months in 1958.
So why wasn’t this a hit in America? Wanda said “Nobody would play it,” she insists. “They barely had accepted Elvis and the other ones, and they weren’t too sure about accepting a teenage girl singing this kind of music..”
Others have said America wasn’t too happy about the sexual meaning of the lyrics being delivered by a teenage girl. The Japanese enjoyed hearing familiar places in the song much more than the memory of the war. It’s still a cult favorite in Japan.
Wanda Jackson: I’m going to go back now to the year 1958. … Finally, I got a number one song in rock and roll. [Applause.] Thank you, but it wasn’t in America. [Laughs.] It took them a little bit longer to find me. But Japan found me in ’58 and made this song number one for a whole summer. And those people still sing it today—I can’t believe it. Like an evergreen song, you know? Every generation. It’s amazing.
Fuijyama Mama
I’ve been to Nagasaki, Hiroshima too The things I did to them baby, I can do to you
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama And I’m just about to blow my top Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama And when I start erupting Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop
I drink a quart of sake, smoke dynamite I chase it with tobbacy and then shoot out the lights
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama And I’m just about to blow my top Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama And when I start erupting Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop
Well you can talk about me, say that I’m mean I’ll blow your head off baby with nitroglycerine
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama And I’m just about to blow my top Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama And when I start erupting Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop
Well you can say I’m crazy, so deaf and dumb But I can cause destruction just like the atom bomb
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama And I’m just about to blow my top Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama And when I start erupting Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop
I drink a quart of sake, smoke dynamite I chase it with tobbacy and then shoot out the lights
‘Cause I’m a Fujiyama Mama And I’m just about to blow my top Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama And when I start erupting Ain’t nobody gonna make me stop
The lead guitarist on the track was Johnny Meeks, who had replaced Cliff Gallup. The song has a great rockabilly vibe to it…from this came rock but it’s hard to top this.
In August 1957, a year after he had scored a million-seller with his debut single, Be-Bop-A-Lula Gene Vincent returned to the U.S. Top 20 with Lotta Lovin’ which, briefly restored his career here that was all too ready to overlook him.
‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ had propelled Vincent into the limelight while he was still an amateur with only a few hometown appearances to his name. Years later, he blamed his quick baptism of fire for his rapid descent into alcohol.
What didn’t help was the car accident he had on April 16, 1960…with Eddie Cochran in a taxi which killed Cochran. Vincent whose leg was weak due to a wound incurred in combat in Korea…was injured. He walked with a noticeable limp for the rest of his life.
In 1962 he was in Hamburg and played on the same bill as the Beatles. The Beatles got pretty close to him.
Lotta Lovin’
Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta lovin’ Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta huggin’ So baby can’t you see that you were meant for me I want your lovin’, yes-a-ree.
Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta huggin’ Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta kissin’ So baby please proceed to get the love I need I want your lovin’ yes indeed.
Well, I want you, I love you, I need you so much Why don’t you give out with that magic touch You send me, you thrill me, baby you’re so fine I want your lovin’ baby all the time.
Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta lovin’ Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta kissin’ So baby don’t forget I gonna get you yet I want your lovin’, aw you bet. (Rock)
Well, I want you, I love you, I need you so much Why don’t you give out with that magic touch You send me, you thrill me, baby you’re so fine I want your lovin’ baby all the time
Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta lovin’ Well I wanna-wanna lotta-lotta huggin’ So baby don’t forget I gonna get you yet I want your lovin’, aw you bet. (Rock)
Well I wanna-wanna lotta lovin’ Well I wanna-wanna lotta huggin’ So baby don’t forget I gonna get you yet I want your lovin’, aw you bet Well,I need your lovin’, aw you bet Well, I want your lovin’, aw you bet Well,I need your lovin’, aw you bet Well, I want your lovin’, aw you bet.
Whenever I hear this song… I think of David Essex’s song Rock On. It makes sense…Michael Stipe wrote this as a tribute to Rock On.
They recorded a demo version of this song at John Keane Studios, a favorite place for the band to work in their hometown of Athens, Ga. Before the bulk of the Automatic for the People sessions were to take place in March and April, the group spent a little more than a week in New Orleans, playing and recording in Daniel Lanois’ Kingsway Studio.
The ended up recording a complete demo of the song in New Orleans they would use as the basis of the song.
Automatic For the People was released in 1992. The album title comes from a sign at “Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods” diner in Athens, Georgia. It read, “Delicious Fine Foods – Automatic For The People.” The diner was near the university in Athens, and was a regular hangout for Stipe and his friends in the band’s early days.
The song peaked at #28 in the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, #11, and #5 in New Zealand in 1992.
Michael Stipe:There were, before Punk, a few songs that resonated with me. One was David Essex’s ‘Rock On.’ ‘Drive’ is a homage to that. It was the first song I wrote on computer. Before, I had a typewriter. The reason is my handwriting changes dramatically day to day. I don’t trust it. I will write one of the best lyrics ever and discard it because the handwriting looks like s–t. Or the handwriting looks good but it’s a crap lyric, lo and behold, it’s in the song. Too late.”
Mike Mills about the video: “I’m not much of a symbolist. There’s something messianic about being passed over the heads of the people like that, and yet we’re anything but messiahs. That was always a strange thing to me. I mean, yes, they get to touch you, but at the same time they’re holding you up like a saint.”
Michael Stipe:“The other interesting thing about that video was what happened backstage,” he added. “We shot it in Los Angeles with a thousand people as extras. River Phoenix came, hang out in the trailer. We had a great time, until Oliver Stone showed up. I think they had both been drinking, and they got in a fist fight in my trail (gaffaws heartily). I think River won, to tell you the truth. I know he did, in fact.”
From Songfacts
The central lyric, “Hey kids, rock n’ roll,” was borrowed from “Rock On” by David Essex. The words may be the same, but the mood is completely different. This is a much more somber song.
Lead singer Michael Stipe explained in the November 12, 2009 issue of Rolling Stone: “
Guitarist Peter Buck used a nickel as a guitar pick for the mid-song guitar solo to get a sharper sound. He overdubbed the track six times.
There is a line in the song that goes, “Smack, crack, bushwhacked.” This can be seen as an indictment of then-U.S. President George Bush (the first one). Lead singer Michael Stipe had taken out ads in college newspapers in 1988 saying, “Don’t Get Bushwhacked. Get out and vote. Vote Dukakis.” They weren’t very effective.
This was released two months before the national election between George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Clinton won that one, but eight years later Bush’s son became president. When the younger Bush ran for re-election in 2004, R.E.M. performed concerts to benefit his opponent, John Kerry.
This song has no chorus. That doesn’t happen very often in hit songs.
This was the first single released off the album. It was issued a few days before the album came out.
At live shows, R.E.M. played a funk-rock version of this song because its ambient atmosphere was difficult to duplicate. This version appears on a 1993 benefit album for Greenpeace called Alternative NRG.
Director Peter Care shot the black-and-white music video at Sepulveda Dam in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. The clip mostly has Stipe crowdsurfing as he performs the song.
The implication was unclear; is the audience protecting him, or ready to tear him apart? Stipe told Mojo it was both. “It’s everything. I’m about to be devoured.”
Drive
Smack, crack, bushwhacked Tie another one to the racks, baby Hey kids, rock and roll Nobody tells you where to go, baby
What if I ride, what if you walk? What if you rock around the clock? Tick-tock, tick-tock What if you did, what if you walk? What if you tried to get off, baby?
Hey, kids, where are you? Nobody tells you what to do, baby Hey kids, shake a leg Maybe you’re crazy in the head, baby
Maybe you did, maybe you walked Maybe you rocked around the clock Tick-tock, tick-tock Maybe I ride, maybe you walk Maybe I drive to get off, baby
Hey kids, shake a leg Maybe you’re crazy in the head, baby Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie Ollie, Ollie in come free, baby Hey, kids, where are you? Nobody tells you what to do, baby
Smack, crack, shack-a-lack Tie another one to your backs, baby Hey kids, rock and roll Nobody tells you where to go, baby
Maybe you did, maybe you walk Maybe you rock around the clock Tick-tock, tick-tock Maybe I ride, maybe you walk Maybe I drive to get off, baby
Hey kids, where are you? Nobody tells you what to do, baby Hey kids, rock and roll Nobody tells you where to go, baby Baby Baby
This song was off of the 1989 album Big Daddy. The two radio songs that got me to buy the album were Jackie Brown and this one.
In this song John didn’t want to be a pop or rock star. He didn’t want to do what the stars had to do to have hits. He wanted to be taken seriously and real. He had been through all of that when a manager renamed him to “Johnny Cougar” but he did remake his career by releasing more roots music and
This song peaked at #15 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1989.
John Mellencamp:“Everybody wanted to be a rock star in the ’80s,” he said. “Everybody but me.”
From Songfacts
“The most crucial thing for me is that I want it to be real.”
That’s what Mellencamp told Creem magazine in 1987. Two years later, he released a song about it. In “Pop Singer,” he explains that the music is what is important to him, and that he has no use for the gladhanding, trend-following or fan interaction that is expected of Pop Stars.
Mellencamp wasn’t always so “real” – his manager had him use the stage name “Johnny Cougar,” which took him years to reverse. He soon took control of his career, however, and did things on his terms. Any part of the job that isn’t related to making or performing music is something Mellencamp avoids. He will begrudgingly do promotion, but refuses corporate music traditions like radio station concerts and meet-and-greets. This stance didn’t endear him to industry types, but many fans found his candor refreshing and appreciated his authenticity and devotion to his craft.
When he wrote this song, Mellencamp was going through a divorce with his second wife, Victoria Granucci. “I was questioning the importance of music,” he told Rolling Stone. “Everybody was having to kiss everybody’s ass. If you want to be on MTV, then come here and do this. All these backroom deals were getting made. I was like, ‘I don’t want any part of this.'”
Mellencamp articulated his position in this song in his 2018 DVD Plain Spoken, where he explained that what he was after was a creative life away from his hometown of Seymour, Indiana. Had he become a painter, he would have been just as fulfilled, but when his demo got him a management deal, he was drawn toward music.
This song runs just 2:46, which is appropriate, as hit pop songs tend to be short, in part so radio stations can play more of them.
Pop Singer
Never wanted to be no pop singer, Never wanted to write no pop songs. Never had no weird hair to get my songs over. Never wanted to hang out after the show. Pop singer (writing) of pop songs.
Never wanted to have my picture taken. Now, who would want to look into these eyes? Just want to make it real – good, bad or indifferent. That’s the way that I live and that’s the way that I’ll die (As a) Pop singer (of) pop songs.
Pop singer, writing of pop song.
Never wanted to be no pop singer, Never want to write no pop songs. Never wanted to have a manager over for dinner. Never wanted to hang out after the show.
Pop singer, writing pop songs. Never wanted to be no pop singer, of pop songs. A pop singer. Never wanted to write no pop songs.
It all started for me with a Simon and Garfunkel greatest hits package and I was instantly a fan.
Being a Beatle fan I always liked the version that Paul and George Harrison did on SNL in 1976 which was their highest rated episode up til that point. Paul played this and “Here Comes The Sun” with Paul Simon in 1976 on Saturday Night Live.
This was just the second Simon & Garfunkel single, following up “The Sound Of Silence,” which became a surprise hit when their record company added instrumentation and released it a year after it was first recorded. The duo had parted ways, but got back together in a hurry when “Sound of Silence” hit #1 in America.
The song peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand, and #9 in the UK in 1966. It appeared on the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme but they recorded it during the Sound of Silence album sessions.
Paul Simon: “That was written in Liverpool when I was traveling. What I like about that is that it has a very clear memory of Liverpool station and the streets of Liverpool and the club I played at and me at age 22. It’s like a snapshot, a photograph of a long time ago. I like that about it but I don’t like the song that much. First of all, it’s not an original title. That’s one of the main problems with it. It’s been around forever. No, the early songs I can’t say I really like them. But there’s something naive and sweet-natured and I must say I like that about it. They’re not angry. And that means that I wasn’t angry or unhappy. And that’s my memory of that time: it was just about idyllic. It was just the best time of my life, I think, up until recently, these last five years or so, six years… This has been the best time of my life. But before that, I would say that that was.”
From Songfacts
Paul Simon lived in Brentwood, Essex, England when he wrote this song. When traveling back from Wigan, where he was playing, he got stuck at the train station and wrote this. The song has a double meaning: literally, wanting for a ticket home to Brentwood, but on the other hand, yearning to go to his home in the US.
Along with “I Am A Rock,” this was recorded at a late-night session in New York City with producer Bob Johnston. Simon played acoustic guitar, and Ralph Casale was on electric. Johnston was working on Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 album around this time, and Casale recalls that drummer Bobby Gregg and organist Al Kooper – both Dylan regulars – played on this Simon & Garfunkel session as well.
Paul Simon performed this song with Billy Joel at Joel’s concert on August 4, 2015 at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York. This was the last concert at the venerable arena, and Simon was a surprise guest. It marked the first time Joel and Simon ever sung together.
Peter Carlin called his 2016 novel about Paul Simon Homeward Bound. “Given the immigrant story beneath Paul’s life and work (what are his many musical re-creations if not the assimilation process writ in music over and over again) ‘Homeward Bound’ worked too well to ignore,” he explained.
Homeward Bound
I’m sitting in the railway station. Got a ticket to my destination. On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand. And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band. Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound, Home where my thought’s escaping, Home where my music’s playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me.
Every day’s an endless stream Of cigarettes and magazines. And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories And every stranger’s face I see reminds me that I long to be, Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound, Home where my thought’s escaping, Home where my music’s playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me.
Tonight I’ll sing my songs again, I’ll play the game and pretend. But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me. Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound, Home where my thought’s escaping, Home where my music’s playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me. Silently for me.
When you play in a bar band…you better know this song. I played it so many times that while I still like listening to the song…I dreaded playing it but it was hard to avoid. Just to add a little fun to it I would add a naughty description in the lyrics…no I won’t repeat here…trying to make the guys laugh. I’d get a wink from some of the slow dancers but no one seemed to mind…it added a little spice to this slower than slow song.
It’s another song inspired by Pattie Boyd. The list is long with Pattie. She inspired a lot of great songs. George Harrison wrote “Something” and “For You Blue” for her, while she inspired Clapton to write this, “Layla,” “Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad,” and “Forever Man.”
Pattie was married to George Harrison when Clapton expressed his love for her in the song “Layla.” Clapton and Harrison remained good friends, and Harrison even played at their wedding in 1979. Eric and Pattie divorced in 1988.
The song peaked at #16 in the Billboard 100, #15 in Canada, #2 in New Zealand, and #81 in the UK in 1977. The song was on the album Slowhand.
Pattie Boyd: “Clapton was sitting round playing his guitar while I was trying on dresses upstairs. I was taking so long and I was panicking about my hair, my clothes, everything, and I came downstairs expecting him to really berate me but he said, ‘Listen to this!'”
From Songfacts
A fixture at proms and weddings, Eric Clapton wrote “Wonderful Tonight” in 1976 while waiting for his girlfriend (and future wife) Pattie to get ready for a night out. They were going to a Buddy Holly tribute that Paul McCartney put together, and Clapton was in the familiar position of waiting while she tried on clothes.
On March 28, 1979, the day after they were married, Clapton brought Pattie on stage and sang this to her at his show in Tucson, Arizona.
Clapton released a live version in 1991 recorded in London with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. This is the version that charted in the UK. It is included on his album 24 Nights. In the time she had taken to get ready Clapton had written this song.
In the 2000 Friends episode “The One With the Proposal,” this plays in the background while Chandler and Monica are dancing. It also shows up in the 1984 Miami Vice episode “One Eyed Jack” and in the 2013 movie Captain Phillips. >>
This was used in the movie The Story Of Us with Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer. The song plays in the background as they eat dinner together at home, even though they had separated.
In 1997 the boy band Damage recorded a cover reaching #3 in the UK. A then unknown Craig David sent in a self-written song called “I’m Ready” for a competition Damage was running, which they used as the B-side.
Wonderful Tonight
It’s late in the evening; she’s wondering what clothes to wear. She’ll put on her make-up and brushes her long blonde hair. And then she asks me, “Do I look all right?” And I say, “Yes, you look wonderful tonight.”
We go to a party and everyone turns to see This beautiful lady that’s walking around with me. And then she asks me, “Do you feel all right?” And I say, “Yes, I feel wonderful tonight.”
I feel wonderful because I see The love light in your eyes.
And the wonder of it all Is that you just don’t realize how much I love you. It’s time to go home now and I’ve got an aching head, So I give her the car keys and she helps me to bed.
And then I tell her, as I turn out the light, I say, “My darling, you were wonderful tonight. Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight.”
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
He was born James Luther Dickinson but most people knew him as Jim Dickinson. It doesn’t get much more southern than this album and the title track.
He worked at Memphis Sun Records and Ardent Studios in the 1960s on, to sessions with the Rolling Stones (piano on Wild Horses at Muscle Shoals), Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. He also played with his roots band Mud Boy & The Neutrons and the Dixie Flyers.
Dickinson produced recordings for performers as diverse as Willy DeVille, Green on Red, Mojo Nixon, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, Toots and the Maytals and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
In the 70s he produced Big Star’s 3rd Sisters/Lovers album and in the 80s The Replacements Please To Meet Me album in Memphis.
In 1971 he started to focus on production work, producing and appearing on Ry Cooder’s acclaimed Into The Purple Valley and Boomer’s Story albums. Atlantic offered him a chance to record a solo album, and his debut Dixie Fried came out in 1972. It gave him the chance to present his own off-beat take on southern roots music, resulting in an album full of R&B and country.
The song was written by Carl Perkins and Howard “Curley” Griffin.
So if you want… sit back and sip some Tennessee Straight Sour Mash Whiskey and get Dixie Fried.
Dixie Fried
On the outskirts of town, there’s a little night spot Dan dropped in about five o’clock Took off his jacket, said, the night is short He reached in his pocket and he flashed a quart
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Well, Dan got happy and he started raving He pulled out a razor, but he wasn’t shaving And all the cats knew to jump and hop ‘Cause Dan was raised in a butcher shop
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Well, the cops heard Dan when he started to shout They all ran in to see what it was about And I heard him holler as they led him away He turned his head and this is what he had to say
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you
Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Now, Dan was the bravest man that we ever saw He let us all know, he wasn’t scared of the law The black dog barked, but the boy didn’t flinch He said, it ain’t my fault, hon, that I been pinched
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Now, Dan was the bravest man we ever saw He let us all know he wasn’t scared of the law And I heard him holler as they led him away He turned his head and this was what he had to say
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Yeah, it’s almost dawn, the cops ain’t gone And I’ve been Dixie fried
I love this era of the Stones. This song was about the record company putting pressure on the Stones to follow up their biggest to date…and their biggest hit ever, Satisfaction.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, and the UK in 1965.
It was on the US album December’s Children (And Everybody’s) released in 1965 and it peaked at #4 in the Billboard Album Charts.
Keith Richards: “‘Get Off My Cloud’ was basically a response to people knocking on our door asking us for the follow up to ‘Satisfaction,’ which was such an enormous hit worldwide. This, to us, was mind-blowing. I mean not only was it a #1 record but, boom! We thought, ‘At last. We can sit back and maybe think about events.’ Suddenly there’s the knock at the door and of course what came out of that was ‘Get Off Of My Cloud.’ Because within three weeks, in those days hey, they want another single. And we weren’t quite ready for that. So it was our response to the knock at the door: Get off of my cloud. And I’m surprised that it did so well. I mean it has a certain charm but I really remember it as a knee-jerk reaction. And it came out better than I thought.”
Mick Jagger: “That was Keith’s melody and my lyrics. It’s a stop-bugging-me, post-teenage-alienation song. The grown-up world was a very ordered society in the ’60s, and I was coming out of it. America was even more ordered than anywhere else. I found it was a very restrictive society in thought and behavior and dress.”
From Songfacts
There was a bit of controversy over this song, as it sounded like it could be about drugs. Some radio stations shied away from the song.
Stones manager Andrew Long Oldham produced this.
Ian Stewart played piano on this track. Keith Richards explained: “That was just one of those things you could do in those days – shadow a guitar with a piano. As long as you didn’t make it obvious, it would add some different air to a track.”
The B-side of this single was “I’m Free,” which remained obscure until it was revived by The Soup Dragons in 1990.
In 1973 The Dramatics scored an R&B hit with “Hey You! Get Off My Mountain,” which also contained the chorus lyrics, “Hey You! Get Off My Cloud.”
Get Off Of My Cloud
I live in an apartment on the ninety-ninth floor of my block And I sit at home looking out the window Imagining the world has stopped Then in flies a guy who’s all dressed up just like a Union Jack And says, “I’ve won five pounds if I have his kind of detergent pack”
I says, “hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, baby”
The telephone is ringing I say, “hi, it’s me, who is there on the line?” A voice says, “hi, hello, how are you?” “Well, I guess I’m doin’ fine” He says, “it’s three a.m., there’s too much noise Don’t you people ever want to go to bed? Just ’cause you feel so good Do you have to drive me out of my head?”
I says, “hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, baby, yeah”
I was sick and tired, fed up with this And decided to take a drive downtown It was so very quiet and peaceful There was nobody, not a soul around I laid myself out, I was so tired And I started to dream In the morning the parking tickets were just Like a flag stuck on my window screen
I says, “hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, baby”
“Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, hey, you
The organ intro to this song by Ray Manzarek is one of most iconic intros in rock. I first heard this song as a kid and automatically loved it. It is the song that the Doors are most known by. I like the album version that is longer and has more of a solo.
This was included on their first album and it was a huge hit. The song launched them to stardom. Before it was released, The Doors were an underground band popular in the Los Angeles area, but “Light My Fire” got the attention of a mass audience.
The producers of The Ed Sullivan Show asked the band to change the line “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” for their appearance in 1967. Morrison said he would, but sang it anyway. Afterwards, he told Sullivan that he was nervous and simply forgot to change the line. No that didn’t fly, and The Doors were never invited back.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #7 in New Zealand, and #7 in the UK in 1967. Frankly, that surprises me because I thought it would have been an international number 1.
This was the second single on their self-titled debut album. Break On Through (To The Other Side) was their debut single.
The four band members were credited for writing this song Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, John Densmore, and Ray Manzarek.
Jim Morrison indicated in his notebooks that he disliked this song and hated performing it. He also seemed to resent that the popularity of the band derived from this song, which he had just a small part in writing.
The Doors didn’t have a bass player and none was credited because studio musicians were not credited. Carol Kaye claims it was her.
From Songfacts
Most of the song was written by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, who wanted to write about one of the elements: fire, air, earth, and water. He recalled to Uncut: “I was living with my parents in Pacific Palisades – I had my amp and SG. I asked Jim, what should I write about? He said, ‘Something universal, which won’t disappear two years from now. Something that people can interpret themselves.’ I said to myself I’d write about the four elements; earth, air, fire, water, I picked fire, as I loved the Stones song, ‘Play With Fire,’ and that’s how that came about.”
Krieger came up with the melody and wrote most of the lyrics, which are about leaving inhibitions behind in flames of passion.
At first, the song had a folk flavor, but it ignited when Jim Morrison wrote the second verse (“our love become a funeral pyre…”) and Ray Manzarek came up with the famous organ intro. Drummer John Densmore also contributed, coming up with the rhythm. Like all Doors songs of this era, the band shared composer credits.
On the album, which was released in January 1967, the song runs 6:50. The group’s first single, “Break On Through (To The Other Side),” reached just #126 in America. “Light My Fire” was deemed too long for airplay, but radio stations (especially in Los Angeles) got requests for the song from listeners who heard it off the album. Their label, Elektra Records decided to release a shorter version so they had producer Paul Rothchild do an edit. By chopping out the guitar solos, he whittled it down to 2:52. This version was released as a single in April, and the song took off, giving The Doors their first big hit.
To many fans, the single edit was an abomination, and many DJs played the album version once the song took off.
Elektra founder Jaz Holzman recalled to Mojo magazine November 2010: “We had that huge problem with the time length – seven-and-a-half minutes. Nobody could figure out how to cut it. Finally I said to Rothchild, ‘Nobody can cut it but you.’ When he cut out the solo, there were screams. Except from Jim. Jim said, ‘Imagine a kid in Minneapolis hearing even the cut version over the radio, it’s going to turn his head around.’ So they said, ‘Go ahead, release it.’ We released it with the full version on the other side.”
This was the first song Robby Krieger wrote to completion. Jim Morrison did most of the songwriting for the album, but he needed some help and asked Krieger to step in. The 20-year-old guitarist asked him what to write about, and Morrison replied, “Something universal.”
There are some pretty basic, but effective, rhymes in this song:
fire liar higher mire pyre
A “funeral pyre” is a platform used in ceremonial cremations. The image evokes spirituality and ancient mythology, as well as death, one of Jim Morrison’s favorite topics. Robby Krieger objected to the line at first, but Morrison convinced him it would work in opposition to the love-based lyrics that dominate the song.
This was produced by Paul Rothchild and was recorded in late 1966 and then released in April 1967.
The song topped the Hot 100 for the first three weeks of July 1967. It sold over one million copies and was the first #1 hit for their record label Elektra.
This was the first rock song to feature both a guitar and keyboard in the instrumental section.
A blind, Puerto Rican singer named Jose Feliciano recorded a Latin-tinged version of this song that reached #3 in 1968 and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Male. For Feliciano, who also won the Best New Artist Grammy that year, the song was his breakout hit and introduced his style of acoustic, woodwind-heavy arrangements. Based on his “Light My Fire” performance, Feliciano was asked to sing the The Star Spangled Banner before Game 5 of World Series between the Tigers and Cardinals. He delivered the first non-traditional take on the National Anthem at a major sporting event, doing a slow, acoustic version and causing an uproar. Feliciano capitalized on the controversy by releasing his Anthem performance as a single, and it reached #50 in the US.
In 1968, Buick offered The Doors $75,000 to use this song in a commercial as “Come on Buick, light my fire.” With Morrison away, Krieger, Densmore, and Manzarek agreed to allow it. When Morrison found out, he pitched a fit and killed the deal.
This was the last song Jim Morrison performed live. It took place at the Doors concert at The Warehouse in New Orleans on December 12, 1970. Midway through the song, Morrison became exasperated and smashed his microphone into the floor, ending the show.
It was also the last song The Doors played live as a trio, as they continued without Morrison after his death. Their final performance took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on September 10, 1972.
According to Ray Manzarek on BBC Radio 2’s program Ray Manzarek’s Summer of Love, the baseline to “Light My Fire” was inspired by Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill.”
Manzarek told About.com how the keyboard solo came about: “It was exactly what we were doing at the time at Whisky a Go Go – letting the music take us wherever it might lead in a particular performance, just improvising. And that?s exactly the same way that solo came about.”
She was a first-call studio pro at the time and had performed on a lot of the hits that were recorded in Los Angeles, including many of Phil Spector’s productions. She told Songfacts regarding her involvement: “The Doors weren’t there. Just a couple of the guys were there in the booth. We cut the track. I’m playing on that, but I don’t like to talk about it, because there’s too many fanatics about that stuff. I’m a prude. I don’t do drugs. I think it’s stupid. I think for people to be into drugs and to die on stage, I think that’s so stupid, and totally unnecessary. So I stay away from even talking about that. But I am on the contract, yeah, I played on the hit of that.” (Here’s our full Carol Kaye interview.)
The extended organ and guitar solos in the album version of the song are based on two of John Coltrane’s works: his 1961 track “Ole,” and his jazz cover of the song “My Favorite Things” from the motion picture The Sound of Music.
Robby Krieger told Clash Music he put “every chord I knew into this song.” Most of the group’s songs to this point were three-chord compositions, so he wanted to do something more “adventurous.”
In concert, Robby Krieger never played the same guitar solo on this song. He would sometimes mix in bits of the Beatles song “Eleanor Rigby.”
Train covered this on the 2000 Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate. Lead singer Pat Monahan sang with the remaining members (Manzarek, Krieger, Densmore) on the VH1’s Storytellers dedicated to the Doors. Other artists to cover the song include Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Will Young, UB40, B. J. Thomas and Beastie Boys.
Light My Fire
You know that it would be untrue You know that I would be a liar If I was to say to you Girl, we couldn’t get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through No time to wallow in the mire Try now we can only lose And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire, yeah
The time to hesitate is through No time to wallow in the mire Try now we can only lose And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire, yeah
You know that it would be untrue You know that I would be a liar If I was to say to you Girl, we couldn’t get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire Try to set the night on fire Try to set the night on fire Try to set the night on fire
***I have posted my 10 favorite covers of Beatle songs at Keith’s site nostaligicitalian ***
The man was such a great songwriter. His influences stretched from Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Rolling Stones and everyone in between…so lets hear it for The Hillbilly Shakespeare
This could be William’s best known song. Williams wrote this shortly after divorcing his wife, Audrey Mae Sheppard. They married in 1944 right after Audrey got a divorce from her husband. The pair would go on to record several duets together (and produce a son, Hank Williams Jr.), but Williams’ drinking ultimately caused trouble in their marriage.
When Hank described his first wife (Audrey) having a cheatin’ heart to country singer Billie Jean Jones, who would soon become his second wife, he was inspired to write the song.
This song was recorded in September of 1952. He would die in January 1, 1953. This would be his last recording session. He also recorded recording Kaw-Liga, I Could Never Be Ashamed of You, and Take These Chains from My Heart.
His last single during his lifetime was I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive backed with I Could Never Be Ashamed of You which was released in November 1952.
Your Cheatin’ Heart peaked at #1 on the US Country Charts in 1953.
Billie Jean Jones (second wife) on Hank Williams saying the phrase in a car: “Then he said, ‘Hey that’d make a good song! Get out my tablet, baby, you and I are gonna write us a song,'” “Just about as fast as I could write it, Hank quoted the words to me in a matter of minutes.”
From Songfacts
Williams recorded this in September 1952 during what would be his last session at Nashville’s Castle Records. He would die just months later from heart problems (or, some say, suspicious circumstances) on the way to a New Year’s concert in Canton, Ohio. The song was posthumously released in January 1953 and topped the Country & Western Billboard Charts for six weeks.
Many artists have covered this over the years, including Louis Armstrong, Glen Campbell, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis. Ray Charles’ 1962 version was a hit in both the US and the UK, peaking at #29 and #13, respectively.
Rat Pack member Joey Bishop recorded this in the ’60s on the album Cold, Cold, Heart. Bishop was an actor, and many people considered his version so bad it was actually entertaining. On the album cover, Bishop is dressed in a rhinestone cowboy costume. It contains liner notes by fellow Rat Packer Dean Martin.
For the line “You’ll walk the floor, the way I do,” Williams took inspiration from his friend Ernest Tubb’s “Walkin’ the Floor Over You.” He also recorded three of Tubb’s hits, which were released posthumously: “First Year Blues,” “It Just Don’t Matter Now” and “I’m Free at Last.”
This song shares its name with the 1964 biopic of Hank Williams, starring George Hamilton. Hank Williams Jr. recorded the soundtrack album.
Two versions of this hit the pop charts in 1953: Joni James’ at #2 and Frankie Laine’s at #18.
Your Cheatin’ Heart
Your cheatin’ heart Will make you weep You’ll cry and cry And try to sleep But sleep won’t come The whole night through Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
When tears come down Like falling rain You’ll toss around And call my name You’ll walk the floor The way I do Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
Your cheatin’ heart Will pine some day And crave the love You threw away The time will come When you’ll be blue Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
When tears come down Like falling rain You’ll toss around And call my name You’ll walk the floor The way I do Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
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