Singles – Page 112 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Webb Wilder – Tough It Out

Webb Wilder is just different…different in a great way. He looks like he dropped out of a 50’s black and white detective show. The song peaked at #16 in the Mainstream Rock Songs in 1992.

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

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

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

Psychobilly….Now that is a cool description.

By 1991 I was walking through a street fair in Nashville and there he was playing with his band. He had just put out an album called Doodad that got some local and national airplay. His music is a mixture of rock/country/rockabilly/punk and anything else he can throw in. The man has the gift of gab also.

I’ve seen him a couple of times in the 90s and he can bring the house down. He did get some MTV and VHI play nationally in 1991-92. His other known songs are my favorite “Meet Your New Landlord,” Poolside, and “Human Cannonball”. He has had some great backing bands. He also did a great cover of Steve Earle’s The Devil’s Right Hand….

I’m including my favorite song by him called Meet Your New Landlord and of course Tough it Out.

Tough It Out

When I was in the cradle
Momma used to say “Now, baby
Don’t ya cry cry cry”
She turned on the radio
And fed me rock and roll
Lullaby-by-by
Well it got under my skin
And man it pulled me in
’cause it was strong strong strong
I hit the ground runnin’
And let me tell ya somethin’
I was gone gone gone

Get offa my line
’cause I’m comin’ through
I’m aimin’ high
And I’m willin’ to shoot

I won’t bow, I won’t bend
I won’t break, I’ll tough it out
I won’t budge, I won’t deal
I won’t change, I’ll tough it out
(Tough it out) Keep rockin’ (tough it out) No stoppin’
‘Til I win the prize, I’ll tough it out
(Tough it out) Straight ahead (tough it out) knock ’em dead
No compromise, I’ll tough it out

Now I’ve got somethin’
For ever man woman
And child child child
We don’t leave the hall
’til they’re bouncin’ off the walls
Goin’ wild wild wild
It might happen any day
Might be light years away
I don’t mind mind mind
We got our head down, ears back
Headed for the barn
Feelin’ fine fine fine

Get offa my line
’cause I’m comin’ through
I’m aimin’ high
And I’m willin’ to shoot

You might catch me down
But I won’t stay caught
Now I might not sell
But I can’t be bought

I won’t bow, I won’t bend
I won’t break, I’ll tough it out
I won’t budge, I won’t deal
I won’t change, I’ll tough it out
(Tough it out) Keep Rockin’ (tough it out) No stoppin’
‘Til I win the prize, I’ll tough it out
(Tough it out) Straight ahead (tough it out) knock ’em dead
No compromise, I’ll tough it out

I won’t bow, I won’t bend
I won’t break, I’ll tough it out
I won’t budge, I won’t deal
I won’t change, I’ll tough it out
Tough it out
‘Til I win the prize, I’ll tough it out
Tough it out
No compromise, I’ll tough it out

…

Black Crowes – Sister Luck

I first heard this song on the Shake Your Money Maker album that I had just bought. I loved this song but it reminded of another song and I couldn’t put my finger on it. It then came to me…a song named Sway by the Rolling Stones off of Sticky Fingers.

I’m not saying the Black Crowes stole anything from it but they probably were influenced by the song. Rich Robinson the guitar player played the same 5 string G tuning that Keith Richards made famous…and he really does it well. Like the Georgia Satellites before them the Black Crowes sound was a throw back to the early seventies and it worked well.

The Black Crowes album Shake Your Money Maker was released in 1990. This album shocked me when I heard it. After longing for something with that 70’s tone…here it was with this new band. I always thought they sounded like The Stones/Faces musically with a Rod Stewart type lead singer.

Sister Luck was not released as a single but remains a favorite album track of mine.

Sister Luck

Worried sick my eyes are hurting
To rest my head I’d take a life
Outside the girls are dancing
‘Cause when you’re down it just don’t seem right

Feeling second fiddle to a dead man
Up to my neck with your disregard
Like a beat dog that’s walking on the broadway
No one wants to hear you when you’re down

Sister luck is screaming out
Somebody else’s name
Sister luck is screaming out
Somebody else’s name

A flip of a coin
Might make a head turn
No surprise, who sleeps
Held my hand over a candle
Flame burnin’ but I never weep

Sister luck is screaming out
Somebody else’s name
Sister luck is screaming out
Somebody else’s name

What a shame

Georgia Satellites – Another Chance

Livin’ with my back against the wall
nowhere but forward to fall

The song reminds me of something Ronnie Lane of the Faces would write…in the vein of Oh La La. A loose song that could be played on a back porch somewhere in the south. This was an album cut that I first found on their greatest hits. It’s slowly became my favorite song by this Georgia band.

I remember being a senior in high school and watching one of my buddies band play in a talent show right before us. They played “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” and it sounded great. That song was made for a rock band…any rock band and I asked him if they wrote it. He said no they had an advance copy of the song or bootleg. I’ve liked this band ever since. They were a no frills raw rock band in the middle of the sometimes over produced 80s…a band I followed until they broke up.

The song was released on the album In the Land of Salvation and Sin but wasn’t released as a single and it probably should have been. Their popularity was down at this point and the album didn’t do well. They broke up in 1990 and reformed in 1993 but without lead singer Dan Baird.

Another Chance

Livin’ with my back against the wall
nowhere but forward to fall
well I close my eyes, somebody will catch my breath
oh my lord let’s get on board
the rides gonna scare me to death

I don’t wanna leave before my time is done
don’t wanna stick around when my race is run
I don’t wanna go before they call my dance
don’t wanna die asking for another chance

come help me Poor Richard
and won’t you help me raise the glass
here’s to me and here’s to you
may our dreams all come to pass
cruel trick of time, is played in the wink of an eye
well heaven’s above you don’t need no shove
the years go sailing bye, oh

I don’t wanna leave before my time is done
don’t wanna stick around when my race is run
I don’t wanna go before they call my dance
don’t wanna die asking for another chance

another game of chance
a lifetime come and gone
I guess it’s up to me
if I don’t want to sing another man’s song
I wanna say what Grandma said, lying on her dying bed
I ain’t been cheated, no mistreated, and I don’t have to say that yet, oh

I don’t wanna leave before my time is done
don’t wanna stick around when my race is run
I don’t wanna go before they call my dance
don’t wanna die asking for another chance
another chance
no not another chance
no no another chance

ELO – Showdown

This was ELO’s third single. The song was on the album On the Third Day in the US…it was released in 1973.

Showdown was written by Jeff Lynne. Early working titles of the song were Bev’s Trousers and All Over The World. Some of these songs have been released on various ELO collections, some using these original working titles and some not. They don’t vary much from the released version, having just various parts of the song mixed in or out as Jeff experimented with different mixes

The song peaked at #53 in the Billboard 100, #12 in the UK, and #47 in Canada in 1973.

The record was a favorite of John Lennon at the time, who dubbed the band “Son of Beatles” in a US radio interview (below is his full quote).

John Lennon on on the New York City radio station WNEW:“‘Showdown’ I thought was a great record and I was expecting it to be #1 but I don’t think UA [United Artists] got their fingers out and pushed it. And it’s a nice group – I call them ‘Son of Beatles’ – although they’re doing things we never did, obviously. But I remember a statement they made when they first formed was to carry on from where the Beatles left off with ‘Walrus,’ and they certainly did. This is a beautiful combination of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye and ‘Lightnin’ Strikes’ by Lou Christie, and it’s a beautiful job with a little ‘I Am The Walrus’ underneath.”

Jeff Lynne: “On the early songs like ‘Showdown,’ we were still trying to find our way musically, but I can still listen to these tracks and smile and think how important they seemed at the time, even though at some of our shows we outnumbered the audience!”

From Songfacts

The liner notes for the ELO 2 remastered CD state: “‘Showdown’ was initially recorded under the working title ‘Bev’s Trousers No. 7.’ The song later proved to be a favorite of John Lennon’s and a popular departure into R&B (with cellos) for the band. During these sessions, Marc Bolan was also in the studio, recording material. The UK superstar and chart phenomenon was a friend of Jeff’s from his Idle Race days and accepted an invitation to play guitar on three ELO tracks. Marc also lent Jeff his 1953 Gibson Firebird for Showdown’s guitar solo. ‘Showdown’ was Jeff Lynne’s first self-composed worldwide hit single and ELO’s final release for EMI on 14 September 1973. The original promotional film, featuring an ELO performance on the banks of the River Thames, survives in EMI’s archive.”

Artists to cover this song include Odia Coates, Asia, and The Cadets.

Showdown

She cried to the Southern wind
About a love that was sure to end
Every dream in her heart was gone
Heading for a showdown

Bad dreamer, what’s your name?
Looks like we’re riding on the same train
Looks as though there’ll be more pain
There’s gonna be a showdown.

And it’s raining, all over the world
it’s raining, all over the world
Tonight, the longest night

She came to me like a friend
She blew in on the Southern wind
Now my heart is turned to stone again
There’s gonna be a showdown

Save me, oh save me
It’s unreal, the suffering
There’s gonna be a showdown

And it’s raining, all over the world
Raining, all over the world
Tonight, the longest night

Raining, raining
raining, raining

Raining, all over the world
Raining, all over the world
The longest night

And it’s raining, all over the world
Raining, all over the world
Tonight, the longest night

You gotta save me, girl
Well, I’m ready for saving
I’m a fool for you
Ya know I’m ready, yeah
come on and save me

Can’t you feel what you’re doing to me, now?
I’m on the run again
Gotta save me

The Band – Don’t Do It

Good Morning! I hope your Sunday is going well. This is such a groove song…a great way to start your day.

This song I like the Band’s cover version the best and that is saying a lot because Marvin Gaye did the original version. The song was written by Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The Holland–Dozier–Holland team wrote a number of hits through the sixties and seventies and continued on without Dozier for years.

The Band covered this on their Rock of Ages live album released in 1972. I first heard this on the Last Waltz and it stuck with me. I usually like studio cuts over live but this one sounds really good.

The song peaked at #34 in the Billboard 100 but was much more popular in Canada where it peaked at #11 in 1972. It also is included as a bonus track on the Cahoots album…a studio version.

Don’t Do It

Baby don’t you do it, don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart

A sacrifice would make you happy if nothing for myself
Now you wanna leave me for the love of someone else
My pride is all gone whether I’m right or wrong
I need you baby to keep on keepin’ on

You know I’m trying to my best
Oh I’m trying to do my best
Don’t do it, don’t you break my heart
Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart

My biggest mistake was loving you too much and letting you know
Now you got me where you want me and you won’t let me go
If my heart was made of glass well then you’d surely see
How much heartache and misery, girl, you’ve been causing me

While I’ve been trying to do my best
Well I’ve tried to do my best
Don’t do it, don’t you break my heart

Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart

Go down to the river and there I be
I’m gonna jump in girl, but you don’t care bout me
Open up your eyes
Can’t ya see I love ya?
Open up you heart, girl
Can’t ya see I need ya?

Oh baby don’t do it, do it, do it
Don’t you break my heart
Pleeeeease don’t do it don’t you break my heart

While I’ve been trying to do my best
You know I’ve tried to do my best
Don’t do it, don’t you break my heart
Pleeeeease don’t do it, don’t you break my heart

Rolling Stones – No Expectations…Sunday Album Cuts

This song will chill you out on this Sunday. No Expectations was on the 1968 album Beggars Banquet. The song is a favorite of mine on the album. This one and Prodigal Son is a throwback to some of their older blues influences. The feeling and the emotion of this song is fantastic.

Brian Jones was on the album and made one of his last contributions with slide on this song. The following year Brian would die in a swimming pool at his home.

This is one of the great Stones album tracks.

Mick Jagger: “That’s Brian playing steel guitar. We were sitting around in a circle on the floor, singing and playing, recording with open mikes. That was the last time I remember Brian really being totally involved in something that was really worth doing. He was there with everyone else. It’s funny how you remember – but that was the last moment I remember him doing that, because he had just lost interest in everything.”

From Songfacts

When Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones died in 1969, this song took on new meaning, as lyrics like “Our love is like our music, it’s here and then it’s gone” made it a fitting elegy. Jones’ slide guitar on the song was one of his last meaningful contributions to the group; after years of drug addiction and squabbles with the band, he was fired from the group in June 1969 and died less than a month later.

The Stones performed this on Rock and Roll Circus, a British TV special The Stones taped in 1968, but never aired. Brian Jones played this with a passion he was clearly losing as drugs took over his life. Rock and Roll Circus was released on video in 1995.

Nicky Hopkins, who also played with The Who and The Beatles, played piano on this.

Lenny Kravitz opened several shows for The Rolling Stones in 1994, and was invited onstage to jam with them at a Cleveland show. Kravitz helped out Mick Jagger in 2001, co-writing, performing on, and producing his song “God Gave Me Everything.”

This song was featured in the 1978 ant-war film Coming Home, with Jane Fonda and John Voight

No Expectations

Take me to the station
And put me on a train
I’ve got no expectations
To pass through here again

Once I was a rich man and
Now I am so poor
But never in my sweet short life
Have I felt like this before

You heart is like a diamond
You throw your pearls at swine
And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind

Our love was like the water
That splashes on a stone
Our love is like our music
It’s here, and then it’s gone

So take me to the airport
And put me on a plane
I’ve got no expectations
To pass through here again

…

Monkees – Saturday’s Child

This song is for Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Days of the Week…Everyone have a good Sunday!

When I was 7 in 1974 I borrowed the Monkees debut album from my cousin. I listened to the album over and over. This song has been described by some critics of having a “proto-heavy metal guitar riff.” It does have a heavy riff and it is different than the other Monkees songs.

Being seven years old and listening to pop bands from my sister’s collection I thought this song was “hard rock” because it had a guitar with some distortion. The Monkees influenced a generation of young musicians. They made being in a band look fun and in the sixties many kids watched them and wanted to play music because of the Monkees. They don’t get the credit they deserve and are snubbed by Jann Wenner and the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.

At first they didn’t play their instruments but by the third album they all played plus Michael Nesmith wrote songs for many of their albums. Peter Tork and Nesmith were musicians to begin with and good ones…Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones soon learned their parts and contributed. Dolenz and Tork also wrote.

What is not mentioned is a lot of bands didn’t play their instruments on their first albums like the Mama’s and Papas and the Byrds. Many bands had studio musicians to help them out.

Ok…I’ll get off of my soapbox now. This song was written by David Gates (who wrote and sang in Bread). Saturday’s Child was not released as a single but it was a good album track released in 1966. The Monkees debut album The Monkees peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, UK, and Canada.

Saturday’s Child

Monday had a sad child
Always feeling low down,
Tuesday had a dream child
She’s always on the go
So I’m in love with Saturday’s child

Every time you take her out at night
(She drives me wild)
You want to kiss and hold her way up tight
(Gonna spend my time)
You can tell the future’s looking bright
(Making sure that Saturday’s child is mine)

If you love a Wednesday
You live your life apart now
And if you love a Thursday
She’s gonna break your heart,
So I’m in love with Saturday’s Child

Every time you hold her close you’ll see
(She drives me wild)
You can feel the thrill that’s gonna be
(Gonna spend my time)
Now the future has a guarantee
(Making sure that Saturday’s child is mine)

Seven days of the week made to choose from
But only one is right for me
I know that Saturday’s got what it takes, babe.
I can tell by the way she looks at me.

Friday likes the good life
She’ll take you for a ride now
And Sunday makes a good wife
She wants to be your bride
So I’m in love with Saturday’s child

The Replacements – I Will Dare

How young are you?
How old am I?
Let’s count the rings around my eyes

I Will Dare was released in 1984 as an independent single and then included on their Let It Be album. I loved this song in the 80s and after hearing it in the past weeks…it was like the first time I listened to it. Peter Buck from REM is playing the intro on this song. Paul Westerberg wrote the song and plays mandolin.

Let It Be was the third full album by the band’s original lineup: lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars.

This song should have cracked the top 40 but it didn’t…mostly because they were on a small Minneapolis record label named Twin/Tone.

The song has been included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Paul Westerberg: ”I Will Dare” [From Let It Be] might have been an answer to ”I Will Follow” [by U2]. Part of it has to do with the band. We’ll dare to flop, we’ll dare to do anything. ”I Will Dare” was a good slogan for a Replacements single. Every song title, if it doesn’t apply to the band in some way, we cannot use it. On the other hand, it was a kind of love song. ”Ditch the creep and I’ll meet you later. I don’t care, I will dare.”

I Will Dare

How young are you?
How old am I?
Let’s count the rings around my eyes

How smart are you?
How dumb am I?
Don’t count any of my advice

Oh, meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I might dare

Call me on Thursday, if you will
Or call me on Wednesday, better still
Ain’t lost yet, so I gotta be a winner
Fingernails and a cigarette’s a lousy dinner
Young, are you? Wo oo

C’mon meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare

How young are you?
How old am I?
Let’s count the rings around my eyes

How smart are you?
How smart are you?
How dumb am I?
Dumb am I

Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you would dare, I would dare
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don’t care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare

Paul McCartney – Let ‘Em In

This is a song I remember riding in my sister’s Vega. Not my favorite by Paul but a cool song all the same. A lot of references in this song to famous and non famous people.

Sister Suzie was his his wife, Linda, who had recorded the song “Seaside Woman” with Wings under the moniker “Suzie & The Red Stripes”. Martin Luther was of course Martin Luther King. Phil and Don were the Everly Brothers, who were a big influence on the Beatles. Paul would later write their 1984 reunion single, “On The Wings Of A Nightingale”.

Brother Michael was Paul’s brother Peter Michael McGear. Auntie Gin was Paul’s father’s sister was named Gin.When Paul first wrote “I’ve Just Seen A Face”, he called it “Auntie Gin’s Theme”, and George Martin recorded an instrumental under that title.

Uncle Ian—Ian Harris, Paul’s cousin, and Auntie Gin’s son. Apparently Paul’s children called him “Uncle Ian”, although he was technically their cousin.

Brother John was thought to be no other than John Lennon.

Uncle Ernie seems to be a reference to either Keith Moon who played the character Ernie in The Who’s rock opera, Tommy movie or Ringo Starr who sang as Uncle Ernie in the London Symphony Orchestra’s verison of Tommy.

Paul McCartney: “When we went to Jamaica on holiday, a lot of the local guys used to call Linda ‘Susie’ for some reason. And we kind of liked that. Then ‘brother John’ – I would be thinking either of John Lennon, or Linda’s brother, John. But the weirdest thing is, my wife now, Nancy, has a sister Susie and a brother John.”

Along with Silly Love Songs,” this was one of two singles released from the Wings At The Speed Of Sound album. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, #2 in the UK, and #13 in New Zealand.

Let ‘Em In

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah, let ’em in

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Brother Michael, auntie Gin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Ernie, auntie Gin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, ooh yeah, let ’em in

Sister Suzie, brother John
Martin Luther, Phil and Don
Uncle Earnie, uncle Lin
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah

Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor
Open the door and let ’em in, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

…

Robbie Robertson – Somewhere Down The Crazy River

I had a friend who raved about Robbie’s new album in the 80s. He said he liked it better than the Bands music…I would never…ever go that far but… I did like it. Listening to this song, it took me a few listens to like it. In fact the first time I heard it I thought…this is repetitive…but after that I could not get enough of it. The back up vocal is great.

It reminds me of a narration for a movie and then Robbie goes into the chorus and the song clicks then.

Robertson enlisted fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois as co-producer of the album. The self titled album Robbie Robertson was a decent comeback for Robbie.

Robertson also brought in The BoDeans to provide group vocals for some of the tracks on the album

The song peaked at #24 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, #91 in Canada, and #15 in the UK in 1988.

The Robbie Robertson album won the 1989 Juno Award for Album of the Year. Lanois and Robertson jointly won the Producer of the Year Juno award at the same ceremony.

From Songfacts

A single from Robbie Robertson’s eponymous debut album, the song finds the former Band’s guitarist singing of the levee life in the Deep South.

RLanois told Exclaim! magazine that the song started with the “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” title. It was a line that Robertson came up with when he was telling the producer about hanging out with former Band colleague Levon Helm in his old Arkansas neighborhood. “He was telling me about the hot nights and fishing with dynamite,” he recalled. “I was curious about his stories because I wanted them to be on that record… It’s kind of like a guy with a deep voice telling you about steaming nights in Arkansas.”

Robbie Robertson wrote the song with Martin Page (“These Dreams,” “We Built This City”). He recalled the time spent with Robertson in an interview with us. “With Robbie, you were really dealing with a song craftsman who would take as long as it took to piece a great piece of music together with great, great atmosphere,” he said. Obviously, his time with Bob Dylan had influenced him.”

“My period with Robbie Robertson was very, very long,” Page added. “I’d bring in ideas and he’d mull over it and we’d experiment and experiment and experiment. But he would encourage me in the way I would sing these demos for him and I would guide him with the demo, then leave him alone.”

Somewhere Down The Crazy River

Yeah, I can see it now
The distant red neon shivered in the heat
I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land
You know, where people play games with the night
God, it was too hot to sleep

I followed the sound of a jukebox coming from up the levee
All of a sudden, I could hear somebody whistling from right behind me
I turned around, and she said
“Why do you always end up down at Nick’s Cafe?”
I said, “Uh, I don’t know, the wind just kinda pushed me this way”
She said, “Hang the rich”

Catch the blue train
Places never been before
Look for me
Somewhere down the crazy river
(Somewhere down the crazy river)
Ooh, catch the blue train
All the way to Kokomo
You can find me
Somewhere down the crazy river
(Somewhere down the crazy river)

Take a picture of this
The fields are empty, abandoned ’59 Chevy
Laying in the back seat listening to Little Willie John
Yeah, that’s when time stood still
You know, I think I’m gonna go down to Madam X
And let her read my mind
She said, “That voodoo stuff don’t do nothing for me”

I’m a man with a clear destination
I’m a man with a broad imagination
You fog the mind, you stir the soul
I can’t find no control

Wait, did you hear that?
Oh, this is sure stirring up some ghosts for me
She said, “There’s one thing you gotta learn
Is not to be afraid of it”
I said, “No, I like it, I like it, it’s good”
She said, “You like it now
But you’ll learn to love it later”

I been spellbound
Falling in trances
I been spellbound
Falling in trances
You give me the shivers
Chills and fever
You give me the shivers
You give me the shivers
I been spellbound
I been spellbound
I been spellbound
(Somewhere down the crazy river)
Somewhere down the crazy river

…

Jimi Hendrix – (Have You Ever Been) To Electric Ladyland

This one is on Jimi’s last and third studio album released while he was alive. So many albums have some out with Hendrix after he died. You get the feeling the man was constantly plugged into an amp in a studio while the record button was pushed.

This song to me, features some of his best singing…the mood of the song is a little different than his previous work. More mature and loose. I hear a little Curtis Mayfield influence in his singing.

The song was featured on his 1968 album Electric Ladyland. Written and produced by Jimi Hendrix, the song acts as the title track of the album. The album was on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, on which it was ranked 53rd… And I’m surprised it was that high since everything old plummeted in their new rankings.

Jimi Hendrix played the guitar, bass and lead vocal tracks, and Mitch Mitchell played the drums and tambourine.

The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, and #6 in the UK.

Have You Ever Been To Electric Ladyland

Have you ever been, have you ever been
To Electric Ladyland?
The magic carpet waits for you, so don’t you be late
Oh, (I want to show you) the different emotions
(I want to run to) the sounds and motions
Electric woman waits for you and me
So it’s time we take a ride
We can cast all of your hang-ups over the seaside
While we fly right over the love-filled sea
Look up ahead, I see the loveland, soon you’ll understand

[Bridge]
Make love, make love
Make love, make love

[Outro]
(I want to show you) The angels will spread their wings, spread their wings
(I want to show you) Good and evil lay side by side
While electric love penetrates the sky
(I want to show you) Lord, Lord Lord I want to show you
(I want to show you) Hmm, hmm, hmm
(I want to show you)
Show you
(I want to show you)
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Fleetwood Mac – Hypnotized

Bob Welch was a guitarist and vocalist in Fleetwood Mac from 1971-1974. He wrote this song and it was released in 1973. The song was on the album Mystery To Me album.

The song did not chart which surprises me. It was released as the B-side to Fleetwood Mac’s cover version of For Your Love…Hypnotized proved to be the more popular song out of the two. It won an ASCAP award for 35 years on consecutive worldwide radio airplay.

This was right before the Stevie Nicks-Lindsey Buckingham era Fleetwood Mac. After leaving Fleetwood Mac, Welch went on to have a couple big radio hits as a solo artist, “Sentimental Lady” and “Ebony Eyes.”

The album Mystery To Me peaked at #67 in the Billboard Album Charts and #82 in Canada.

Bob Welch: “What I remember about the Mystery to Me sessions is almost everything, so let me be selective. It was a cold winter, and we used the Rolling Stones’ mobile unit to record. I had to re-write all of my songs, because, for instance, ‘Hypnotized’ was intended to be sung by Dave Walker, who was ‘let go’ (there really is no nice way to say it) because, although he was a great singer, we (belatedly) realized that he just stylistically didn’t fit FM.”

“Those two guys in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker had just reported on a major UFO encounter, and it was all over the TV for a while. Part of that went into ‘Hypnotized.’ Mick copied my Maestro Rhythm Machine part for ‘Hypno’ almost exactly … Mick’s sense of tempo, in this day before drum machines, was almost perfect … ‘Hypnotized’ was primarily inspired by [Carlos] Castaneda’s books, the Hickson Pascagoula UFO sighting, some stories told to me by friends, and some personal experiences.”

Hypnotized

It’s the same kind of story
That seems to come down from long ago
Two friends having coffee together
When something flies by their window
It might be out on that lawn
Which is wide, at least half of a playing field
Because there’s no explaining what your imagination
Can make you see and feel

Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized

Now it’s not a meaningless question
To ask if they’ve been and gone
I remember a talk about North Carolina
And a strange, strange pond
You see the sides were like glass
In the thick of a forest without a road
And if any man’s hand ever made that land
Then I think it would’ve showed

That’s why it seems like a dream
Got me hypnotized
And I know that’s right

Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized

They say there’s a place down in Mexico
Where a man can fly over mountains and hills
And he don’t need an airplane or some kind of engine
And he never will
Now you know it’s a meaningless question
To ask if those stories are right
‘Cause what matters most is the feeling
You get when you’re hypnotized

Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized
Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized
Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized
Got me hypnotized

The Who – Acid Queen

I’ve always liked when Pete would take the lead vocals in songs. This song is on the album Tommy…In the movie Tommy, Tina Turner plays the part and sings it like only Tina can.

In the story the Acid Queen tries to cure Tommy the deaf, dumb, and blind kid but fails. The Acid Queen fails to heal Tommy, just as the way of excess and indulgence never brings lasting spiritual transformation. Pete wanted it known it was a dead end.

Pete followed the teachings of Meher Baba…an Indian guru that Townshend had been studying under since 1968. Meher Baba believe that acid and the like were unproductive for spirituality, he felt they were immensely detrimental and destructive.

Tina Turner also released a cover of this song as the third single from her The Acid Queen album.

The Tommy album peaked at #4 in the Billboard Album Charts, #6 in Canada, and #2 in the UK in 1969.

From Songfacts

“The Acid Queen” is an important song in the Who’s rock opera Tommy. In that album, the title character is “deaf, dumb, and blind,” with “dumb” being an archaic (and, in modern times, offensive) way of saying “mute.” Tommy eventually becomes a master at the game of pinball, as summarized in the album’s signature song “Pinball Wizard.”

In their quest to cure their son, Tommy’s parents take him to see a character called the Acid Queen. She’s an outsider figure who offers to liberate Tommy’s mind with drugs and sex.

The word “acid” is almost universal slang for the psychedelic drug LSD, which was the biggest shaping force of the ’60s counterculture. In the ’60s, rightfully or wrongfully (probably wrongfully), acid wasn’t looked at as a recreational drug so much as a way to elevate consciousness and “free” one’s mind.

The Acid Queen, as with the Tommy story as a whole, seem almost ridiculous until you understand what Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend was doing with them.

The character Tommy is meant to represent the average human being who is spiritually and psychologically deaf, blind, and mute in the sense that we are clouded by petty ambitions and lusts and are unable to see the full depth and breadth of reality.

The Acid Queen, meanwhile, represents one method for escaping those limitations – the way of drugs and excess, or “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” as a popular slogan of the era went.

This isn’t the only Who song Baba influenced. His name is even right there in the title of “Baba O’Riley.”

Townshend sings lead vocals on this one. That arrangement wasn’t entirely unheard of for The Who, but Roger Daltrey was the official lead singer of the band and is the voice of most of their songs.

The Acid Queen

If your child ain’t all he should be now
This girl will put him right
I’ll show him what he could be now
Just give me one night

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy and I’m guaranteed
To mend his aching heart

Give us a room, close the door
Leave us for a while
You won’t be a boy no more
Young, but not a child

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy, I’m guaranteed

To tear your soul apart

Gather your wits and hold them fast
Your mind must learn to roam
Just as the gypsy queen must do
You’re gonna hit the road

My work’s been done, now look at him
He’s never been more alive
His head it shakes, his fingers clutch
Watch his body writhe

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy, I’m guaranteed

To break your little heart

If your child ain’t all he should be now
This girl will put him right
I’ll show him what he could be now
Just give me one more night

I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy, I’m guaranteed

To tear your soul apart

Chuck Berry – Roll Over Beethoven

I like going back to the pioneers who started all of this. Those old raw recordings have been inspected, dissected, and copied to this day. All rock bands will do a Chuck Berry riff somewhere and most likely will cover at least one of his many songs.

I first was introduced to Chuck Berry by the Beatles faithful version. This song is a staple of early rock and roll. Everyone from George Harrison to Keith Richards were influenced by Chuck Berry. His songs were mini stories set against a fast guitar with a driving beat.

This song is about the rock ‘n’ roll craze that was taking over America. Beethoven and Tchaikovsky were classical composers who were being bumped aside by rock. At the time, many critics dismissed rock music as a passing fad…and the fad is still going on.

Berry started writing this song to rib his younger sister, Lucy, who played classical music on the family piano. Chuck was telling her to stop playing so he could play rock and roll.

The song peaked at #29 in the US Charts and #2 in the R&B Charts in 1956.

From Songfacts

Berry was careful to write lyrics that told a coherent story, which in this case follows a young many as he pursues his favorite music. Berry also took care to deliver his lyrics clearly so a wider audience could understand them. This helped him avoid the fate of many Little Richard songs: more popular, but sanitized covers by Pat Boone.

The line, “Early in the mornin’ I’m a givin’ you a warnin'” is a tribute to Louis Jordan’s 1947 track “Early In The Mornin’.”

Jordan, a jump-blues innovator, certainly earned the tribute: his 1946 song “Ain’t That Just Like A Woman” has a guitar intro (played by Carl Hogan) that Berry lifted for “Roll Over Beethoven.”

The Beatles released a version of this song in 1963, which they played at most of their early live shows. The following year, The Beach Boys released “Fun, Fun, Fun,” which copied the intro to “Roll Over Beethoven” nearly note for note.

This was used in the 1992 movie Beethoven, which is about a Saint Bernard.

The Electric Light Orchestra covered this in 1973, mixing in some of Beethoven’s music. It was their biggest hit at the time, going to #6 in the UK and #42 in the US.

ELO was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7, 2017, less than a month after Berry’s death. They opened the ceremony with a performance of this song in tribute to Berry.

For a February 4, 1977 primetime special celebrating 25 years of American Bandstand, Berry performed this song joined by Seals & Crofts, Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, the Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels and Doc Severinsen. This was one of the first “all-star jams” that would later become commonplace. This performance served as a showcase for the musicians, who were introduced as they performed by Paul Williams.

Iron Maiden spoofed this on their song “Roll Over Vic Vella,” which was used as the B-side to the single for “From Now to Eternity” It’s one of the few singles that featured a photograph of the band performing as cover art.

Leon Russell often covered this song. He performed it on the musical variety show Shindig! in 1964.

The Beatles version…the bands I’ve played in used more powerful amps in a small club than the Beatles had at that time for stadiums. They made it necessary to boost the power with larger amps…to this day I don’t see how they heard each other…they probably didn’t.

Roll Over Beethoven

Well, I’ma write a letter
I’m gon’ mail it to my local DJ
Yeah that’s the jumpin little record
I want my jockey to play
Roll over Beethoven, I gotta hear it again today

You know, my temperature’s risin’
The jukebox blowin’ a fuse
My heart’s beatin’ rhythm
And my soul keeps a-singin’ the blues
Roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news

I got the rockin’ pneumonia
I need a shot of rhythm and blues
I caught the rollin’ arthritis
Sittin’ down at a rhythm review
Roll over Beethoven, they rockin’ in two by two

Well, if you feel and like it
Go get your lover, then reel and rock it
Roll it over and move on up just a
Trifle further, then reel and rock it
Wind another
Roll over Beethoven, dig these rhythm and blues

Well in the mornin’ I’m givin’ you my mornin’
Don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Hey diddle diddle, I’ma play my fiddle
Ain’t got nothin’ to lose
Roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news

You know she wiggles like a glow worm
Dance like a spinnin’ top
She got a crazy partner
Ya oughta see ’em reel and rock
Long as she got a dime the music will never stop

Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven, dig these rhythm and blues

…

Rolling Stones – Stupid Girl

This song is for Song Lyric Sunda y for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Smart/Stupid. Hope everyone had a good safe Halloween.

Not a feel good song by the Rolling Stones. The song was on their album Afterman released in 1966. This was the B side to the great song Paint It Black. The Stones are known for a good amount of misogyny in their songs…this one and Under My Thumb are no exceptions.

Aftermath peaked at #2 in the Billboard Album Charts and #1 in the UK in 1966.

Stupid Girl was recorded at Los Angeles’ RCA Studios on 6–9 March 1966.

Mick Jagger: “It’s much nastier than Under My Thumb. Obviously, I was having a bit of trouble. I wasn’t in a good relationship. Or I was in too many bad relationships. I had so many girlfriends at that point. None of them seemed to care they weren’t pleasing me very much. I was obviously in with the wrong group”

Keith Richards: “Songs like “Under My Thumb” and “Stupid Girl” were all a spin-off from our environment – hotels, and too many dumb chicks. Not all dumb, not by any means, but that’s how one got.”

Stupid Girls

I’m not talking about the kind of clothes she wears
Look at that stupid girl
I’m not talking about the way she combs her hair
Look at that stupid girl

The way she powders her nose
Her vanity shows and it shows
She’s the worst thing in this world
Well, look at that stupid girl

I’m not talking about the way she digs for gold
Look at that stupid girl
Well, I’m talking about the way she grabs and holds
Look at that stupid girl

The way she talks about someone else
That she don’t even know herself
She’s the sickest thing in this world
Well, look at that stupid girl

Well, I’m sick and tired
And I really have my doubts
I’ve tried and tried
But it never really works out

Like a lady in waiting to a virgin queen
Look at that stupid girl
She bitches ’bout things that she’s never seen
Look at that stupid girl

It doesn’t matter if she dyes her hair
Or the color of the shoes she wears
She’s the worst thing in this world
Well, look at that stupid girl

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
Shut up, shut up, shut up

Like a lady in waiting to a virgin queen
Look at that stupid girl
She bitches ’bout things that she’s never seen
Look at that stupid girl

She purrs like a pussycat
Then she turns ’round and hisses back
She’s the sickest thing in this world
Look at that stupid girl