This song is iconic and known all over the world. I automatically think of motorcycles and bar bands. We played in a few bars that bikers were visitors…this song was a requirement if you wanted to continue breathing.
Born To Be Wild has been used in countless amounts of shows and movies…One request to use the song however was turned down in 2004. Paris Hilton wanted to use it as part of her reality show The Simple Life 2. Kay denied it, telling the Toronto Star, “There are certain things even a rock ‘n’ roller will not stoop to.”
After reading that…my respect for John Kay just took a giant leap!
The song was used in the 1969 movie Easy Rider, the counterculture classic. Another Steppenwolf song, “The Pusher,” was also used in the film.
When the movie was in production, this was simply a placeholder. Peter Fonda wanted Crosby, Stills, and Nash to do the soundtrack. It became clear that the song belonged in the movie, and it stayed. Being included in this movie cemented the song’s association with motorcycles… “Teach Your Children” just doesn’t have the same ring, does it?
This was written by Mars Bonfire, which is the stage name of Dennis Edmonton. He wasn’t a member of Steppenwolf, but his brother Jerry was the band’s drummer. Bonfire wrote a few other songs for Steppenwolf as well, including “Ride With Me” and “Tenderness.”
With the line “heavy metal thunder,” this became the first popular song to use the phrase “heavy metal,” which became a term for hard rock. William Burroughs is credited with coining the phrase, as he used it in his 1961 novel The Soft Machine, describing his character Uranian Willy as “the Heavy Metal Kid.”
The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #30 in the UK, and #32 in New Zealand in 1968.
Mars Bonfire (Writer): “I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard one day and saw a poster in a window saying ‘Born to Ride’ with a picture of a motorcycle erupting out of the earth like a volcano with all this fire around it. Around this time I had just purchased my first car, a little secondhand Ford Falcon. So all this came together lyrically: the idea of the motorcycle coming out along with the freedom and joy I felt in having my first car and being able to drive myself around whenever I wanted. ‘Born To Be Wild’ didn’t stand out initially. Even the publishers at Leeds Music didn’t take it as the first or second song I gave them. They got it only because I signed as a staff writer. Luckily, it stood out for Steppenwolf. It’s like a fluke rather than an achievement, though.”
Born To Be Wild
Get your motor runnin’ Head out on the highway Lookin’ for adventure And whatever comes our way Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen Take the world in a love embrace Fire all of your guns at once and Explode into space
I like smoke and lightning Heavy metal thunder Racin’ with the wind And the feelin’ that I’m under Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen Take the world in a love embrace Fire all of your guns at once and Explode into space
Like a true nature’s child We were born, born to be wild We can climb so high I never wanna die
Born to be wild Born to be wild
Get your motor runnin’ Head out on the highway Lookin’ for adventure And whatever comes our way Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen Take the world in a love embrace Fire all of your guns at once and Explode into space
Like a true nature’s child We were born, born to be wild We can climb so high I never wanna die
This post is a small double shot…I included the A-side Easy Livin’ but the one I like the most is the B side Traveler In Time. This wasn’t the original single…it was released a little later.
Sometimes I like going off the beaten path and I’m in the woods with this one. Traveler In Time, I picked up from the BBC TV show Life On Mars from 2006. I’m not a huge fan of progressive rock but the song has a good musical hook and the singer is unreal.
Traveler In Time and Easy Livin’ was on the album Demons and Wizards released in 1971. The album made it to #23 in the Billboard Album Chart, #22 in Canada, and #20 in the UK.
Easy Livin’ peaked at #39 in the Billboard 100 and #27 in Canada in 1972.
Easy Livin’ was the only Uriah Heep song to crack the Top 40 in the United States. It was an even bigger hit in the Netherlands and Finland, two countries that had a large Uriah Heep fanbase.
Traveller In Time
Every day I have to look to the sun To see where it was that I have come from I have a feelin that there must be a time When I’ll get a chance to go home ‘Cause I’m so tired of being here alone But I’m just a traveller in time Trying so hard to pay for my crime
If I could go back the same way I got here And see the people that I once held so near I’d do my best to find an answer for you But first I must wait ’til I’m set free And I don’t know how long that’s gonna be ‘Cause I’m a man with a whole lot on his mind Just out there somewhere travelling in time Travelling in Time I’ve tried for so long to find some way Of helping mankind
Breakdown is one of the first songs that I ever heard by Tom Petty. In my band days, my friend Chris showed me the intro to this on guitar…I still know most of it. The dynamics of this song makes it a great song to hear live.
At first, Mike Campbell’s guitar lick was only used at the end of the song. Dwight Twilley came by the studio when Petty was playing it back and suggested they use it throughout the song. Petty liked the idea and called the band back to the studio in the middle of the night to re-record it.
This was Petty’s first single. When it was first released in January 1977 it went nowhere, but after months of touring, it was re-released in October and it hit. It peaked at #40 in the Billboard 100 and #40 in Canada in 1977.
From Songfacts
Dwight Twilley, who had a hit in 1975 with “I’m On Fire,” was signed to the same label as Petty, and was on the same career path for a while. Petty sang on some of Twilley’s songs, including his 1984 hit “Girls.”
Lyrically more sparse than most Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers tracks, “Breakdown” finds Petty ready to end a union that has become toxic. “Go ahead and give it to me,” he tells her.
When the band first recorded this song, it was 7-minutes long, with an extended guitar solo at the end. The final version clocks in at a tidy 2:43.
This was featured in the 1978 movie FM. About a radio station in California, the movie was the basis for the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati. This was also included on the soundtrack.
Breakdown
It’s alright if you love me It’s alright if you don’t I’m not afraid of you runnin’ away, honey I get the feeling you won’t
You see, there is no sense in pretending Your eyes give you away Something inside you is feeling like I do We said all there is to say
Baby, breakdown, go ahead, give it to me Breakdown, honey, take me through the night (baby, baby, breakdown) Breakdown, now I’m standin’ here, can’t you see? Breakdown, it’s all right It’s all right It’s all right Yeah, it’s all right It’s all right
Breakdown, go ahead, give it to me Breakdown, honey, take me through the night (baby, baby, breakdown) Breakdown, now I’m standin’ here, can’t you see? Breakdown, it’s all right It’s all right It’s all right Yeah, it’s all right
Gotta feelin’ it’s all right Yeah, it’s all right It’s all right Well, is it all right? I wanna hear you in the studio Way back there Is it all right? Is everybody sure it’s all right? Yeah, it’s all right ‘Cause if you leave if you want to Baby, I don’t mind Been standin’, facin’ Livin’ with it every day of my life It’s all right Can walk on out that door, baby It’s all right Baby, breakdown It’s all right And if you want to leave It’s all right I don’t mind It’s all right It’s all right
The Fandango album was my first introduction to ZZ Top. The album was half live and half studio. This one and Tush were my favorites of the album.
This song is a tribute to the “Border Blaster” radio stations in Mexico, specifically the two that were run by the famous disc jockey Wolfman Jack, XERF in Via Acuna, , and XERB, (in Rosarito Beach near Tijuana).
Mexican radio stations did not have to adhere to the power limits of US stations, which gave them the ability to pump their signal well into the States.
This song was on the Fandango album and was not released as a single. The album peaked at #10 in the Billboard Album Chart and #60 in the UK.
The album was helped by the hit single Tush that peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100.
Billy Gibbons:“All Mexican stations’ call letters begin with X. The X stations used to be heard everywhere because of their enormous power. The Mexican government granted licenses with no wattage ceiling. The US, back in the ’20s, established 50,000 watts as the maximum. WLS in Chicago is 50,000 watts, and you can hear it like a police call in Houston. I’m sure 500,000 watts you can pick up here in Canada. You can probably pick up XERF. It was just outrageous. You could pick it up everywhere and we’d go. And it would bury everything else. KDRC in Houston was on a close frequency, and they would get stomped on. They had to move. XERF is 1570 on the dial. I think that remains the most powerful station.”
Dusty Hill: “They’ll sell segments to anybody. There are a lot of preachers on there. I heard them one time selling autographed prayer cloths. They were to put on your radio when you’re listening to these programs. But this one was autographed by Jesus himself. Then you’d hear a 15-minute country western show. Then there’d be a blues show. You could just buy your slot and do whatever. They didn’t have a whole lot of restrictions.”
From Songfacts
Asked if ZZ Top was ever played “on the X,” Gibbons said: “We did, in fact. They do not have a pop music playlist, but the song was brought to the attention of the station owner, who, it turns out, is an attorney in Del Rio who considers the station his favorite toy. He decided to have a 15-minute pop music segment, and we did get played on XERF and then on XERB in Rosarita. They also have XROC in Juarez. So it went full circle. We heard ‘I Heard It in the X’ on the X.”
Members of ZZ Top share the same influences, which helped forge their sound. The first line of this song is a nod to those influences, which they heard on the border blaster stations:
Heard It On The X
Do you remember Back in nineteen sixty-six? Country Jesus, hillbilly blues, That’s where I learned my licks. Oh, from coast to coast and line to line In every county there, I’m talkin’ ’bout that outlaw X Is cuttin’ through the air.
Anywhere, y’all, Everywhere, y’all, I heard it, I heard it, I heard it on the X.
We can all thank Doctor be Who stepped across the line. With lots of watts he took control, The first one of its kind. So listen to your radio Most each and every night ’cause if you don’t I’m sure you won’t Get to feeling right.
Anywhere, y’all, Everywhere, y’all, I heard it, I heard it, I heard it on the X.
Another new old song from the upcoming reissue of Goats Head Soup. This one features Jimmy Page and was probably named after his daughter. It has a very cool groove to it.
The Stones’ Keith Richards has his own recollections on how “Scarlet” took shape and how “we walked in at the end of a Zeppelin session. They were just leaving, and we were booked in next and I believe that Jimmy decided to stay.”
“Scarlet” was a freak accident. “We weren’t actually cutting it as a track,” enthuses Richards in a statement, “it was basically for a demo, a demonstration, you know, just to get the feel of it, but it came out well, with a line up like that, you know, we better use it.‘’
Baby you excite me But you talk too much Won’t stand on a corner Love you more, oh yeah
Scarlet, why you wearing my heart, on your sleeve Where it ain’t supposed to be
Scarlet, why you tearing my heart, all to pieces It ain’t the way it’s supposed to be
Scarlet, why are you keeping my heart, to yourself It ain’t the way it’s supposed to be
Scarlet, Scarlet Ooh yeah!
You don’t have to change your mind And leave this neighbourhood so far behind Honey you don’t have to cry no more When I come a knocking, right at your front door
Scarlet, Scarlet, Scarlet
Scarlet, why you wearing my heart, on your sleeve Where it ain’t supposed to be Scarlet, Scarlet, oh
Scarlet, Scarlet, Scarlet Why you wearing my heart
Scarlet, why you wearing my heart Scarlet, why you wearing my heart Scarlet, why you wearing my heart Scarlet
This was made during a period where Eric was doing some country-inspired songs. I love the intro and the guitar in the song.
The song was written by Eric Clapton, Marcy Levy, and George Terry. This was released as a single with Cocaine as the B side.
Marcy Levy, one of Clapton’s backup singers, wrote this with him and sang on it. Also getting a songwriting credit on this track is George Terry, who also played guitar on the track. Terry was a member of Clapton’s band.
Lay Down Sally is one of Clapton’s biggest American hits. He wrote it in the style of one of his favorite songwriters, the Oklahoma musician J.J. Cale…Clapton said the song was as close as an Englishman could get to being J.J. Cale.
The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #39 in the UK in 1978. The song was on the album Slowhand.
From Songfacts
In this song, Clapton tries to convince a girl to hang out with him in bed instead of leaving. The song is not typical of Clapton’s work, which is often based on the blues.
“Lay Down Sally” is grammatically incorrect, as it would mean taking Sally and actually placing her horizontally. When asking Sally to join him in bed, Clapton’s correct grammar would be “Lie Down Sally.” He’s in good company: Bob Dylan also ignored this rule of grammar in “Lay Lady Lay.”
Eric Clapton once had his hand slammed in a car door by a member of the band The Blues Project. As told in Al Kooper’s Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, during the landmark 1967 concert “Murray the K’s Easter Rock Extravaganza,” Clapton, Steve Katz, and Kooper headed out to a local music store between sets and were a little late getting back. Hurrying out of the cab, “Steve was right behind me and as he left the cab he accidentally slammed the door right on Clapton’s hand! Eric began to scream in pain, and Steve turned around, ran back, and opened the door. Miraculously, Eric hadn’t broken any bones or even punctured his skin for that matter. Steve felt like a jerk, however. Can you imagine that kind of guilt?”
This is the first track on the album. Depending on who you ask, “Slowhand” was either a nickname given to Clapton by the group’s manager when he was with The Yardbirds (because of his laid-back guitar style), or derived from what would happen when Clapton would break a string on stage: the audience would do a “slow hand clap” while he fixed it.
Lay Down Sally
There is nothing that is wrong In wanting you to stay here with me I know you’ve got somewhere to go But won’t you make yourself at home and stay with me? And don’t you ever leave
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
The sun ain’t nearly on the rise And we still got the moon and stars above Underneath the velvet skies Love is all that matters Won’t you stay with me? And don’t you ever leave
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
I long to see the morning light Coloring your face so dreamily So don’t you go and say goodbye You can lay your worries down and stay with me And don’t you ever leave
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
Lay down, Sally, and rest you in my arms Don’t you think you want someone to talk to? Lay down, Sally, no need to leave so soon I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you
When I hear jangly Rickenbacker guitars I’m automatically happy … The Byrds influence everyone from Tom Petty to Cheap Trick to Big Star to new bands now. If I could go back to any era… it would be the mid-sixties. Much of the music we hear today has elements of this period.
Bob Dylan wrote “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which was originally released on his fifth album Bringing It All Back Home in early 1965. His version wasn’t released as a single, but when The Byrds released their cover later in 1965, it was a massive hit.
It peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, and #2 in Canada in 1965. topping the charts in both the US and UK. It’s the only song Dylan ever wrote that went to #1 in America.
Roger Mcguinn said he was trying for a vocal between John Lennon and Bob Dylan.
David Crosby:“He came to hear us in the studio when we were building The Byrds. After the word got out that we gonna do ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ and we were probably gonna be good, he came there and he heard us playing his song electric, and you could see the gears grinding in his head. It was plain as day. It was like watching a slow-motion lightning bolt.”
From Songfacts
Dylan wrote this on a road trip he took with some friends from New York to San Francisco. They smoked lots of marijuana along the way, replenishing their stash at post offices where they had mailed pot along the way.
The Byrds version is based on Bob Dylan’s demo of the song that he recorded during sessions for his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan (Dylan’s version was not yet released when The Byrds recorded it). It was The Byrds manager Jim Dickson who brought in the demo and asked them to record it – the group refused at first because they thought it didn’t have any hit potential. When The Byrds did record it, they took some lyrics out and added a 12-string guitar lead.
Only three of the five members of the Byrds performed on this song: Roger McGuinn sang lead and played lead guitar; Gene Clark and David Crosby did the vocal harmonies.
Session musicians were brought in to play the other instruments, since the band was just starting out and wasn’t deemed good enough yet by their management. The session musicians who played on this song were the Los Angeles members of what came to be known as “The Wrecking Crew” when drummer Hal Blaine used that term in his 1990 book. This group of about 50 players ended up on many hit songs of the era.
The Byrds who didn’t play on this one were bass player Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke.
This was the Byrds’ first single. In a 1975 interview with Let It Rock, Roger McGuinn explained how the unrefined sound of this song came about. Said McGuinn: “To get that sound, that hit sound, that ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ sound, we just ran it through the electronics which were available to us at that time, which were mainly compression devices and tape delay, tape-sustain. That’s how we got it, by equalizing it properly and aiming at a specific frequency.
For stereo-buffs out there who noticed that ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ in stereo isn’t really stereo, by the way, that’s because when Terry Melcher, the producer, first started mixing records he didn’t know how to mix stereo, and so he made all the singles up to ‘Turn Turn Turn’ mono. The label is misrepresentative. See, when Columbia Records signed us, they didn’t know what they had. So they gave production to someone low on the totem-pole-which was Terry Melcher who was Doris Day’s son who was getting a token-job-in-the-mailroom sort of thing. They gave him the Byrds and the Byrds were supposed to flunk the test.”
This was inspired by a folk guitarist named Bruce Langhorne. As Dylan explained: “Bruce was playing with me on a bunch of early records. On one session, [producer] Tom Wilson had asked him to play tambourine. And he had this gigantic tambourine. It was, like, really big. It was as big as a wagon wheel. He was playing and this vision of him playing just stuck in my mind.”
Dylan never told Langhorne about it (Bruce had to read about it in the Biograph album liner notes, like the rest of us). He wrote the song and recorded a version with Rambling Jack Elliot that got to the Byrds (known as the Jet Set at the time) before it was ever put on a record.
Dylan claims that despite popular belief, this was not about drugs: “Drugs never played a part in that song… ‘disappearing through the smoke rings in my mind,’ that’s not drugs; drugs were never that big a thing with me. I could take ’em or leave ’em, never hung me up.” >>
This was the first of many Bob Dylan songs recorded by the Byrds. Others include: “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue,” and “Chimes of Freedom.”
The production style was based on The Beach Boys song “Don’t Worry Baby,” which was the suggestion of producer Terry Melcher. Bill Pitman, Leon Russell and Hal Blaine had all played on that Beach Boys song, so it wasn’t hard for them to re-create the sound on this track.
This was the first influential folk-rock song. All of the characteristics of that genre are present, including chorus harmonies, a rock rhythm section and lots of thought-provoking lyrics.
This was discussed in the 1995 movie, Dangerous Minds. In the movie, they talked about the underlying drug references this song might entail… Example: “Mr. Tambourine Man”=Drug Dealer; “Play a song for me”=give me a joint. The basis for this theory was that music was heavily censored at that time, so musicians would share their feelings about drugs and unallowed subject material through coded songs. >>
Although the Byrds didn’t write this or play most of the instruments, they would later write the song “Rock N’ Roll Star,” which made fun of The Monkees for not writing their own songs and not playing their own instruments.
In the movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers (Mike Myers) attempts to play the CD of this album on a record player.
While many interpreted the song as a thinly veiled drugs record, McGuinn had other ideas. Having joined the Eastern cult religion Subud just 10 days prior to entering the studio, he saw the song as “a prayer of submission.” McGuinn told The Byrds’ biographer, Johnny Rogan, in 1997: “Underneath the lyrics to ‘Mr. Tambourine Man,’ regardless of what Dylan meant, I was turning it into a prayer. I was singing to God and I was saying that God was the Tambourine Man and I was saying to him, ‘Hey God, take me for a trip and I’ll follow you.'”
Chris Hillman admitted to Mojo that he’s never been a fan of The Byrds’ version. “Even though it opened the floodgates, I never liked that track,” he said. “I loved the song, but I never liked the track – it was too slick. I always wonder what would have happened if we cut it ourselves. But in a business sense Columbia were hedging their bets, because we were a pretty crude sounding band then.”
Bob Dylan didn’t make it to Woodstock, but four of his songs did, including “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which Melanie included in her set on the first day. Joan Baez and The Band both did “I Shall Be Released,” and Joe Cocker sang two Dylan songs: “Just Like A Woman” and “Dear Landlord.”
Roger McGuinn admitted to Uncut magazine he was petrified going into the studio to record “Mr. Tambourine Man.” “I was playing with the big boys, the Wrecking Crew. I was so nervous that Hal Blaine kept saying to me, ‘Settle down kid. Why don’t you go out and have a couple of beers?'”
Mr. Tamourine Man
Hey, Mr. Tambourine man, play a song for me I’m not sleepy and there ain’t no place I’m going to Hey, Mr. Tambourine man, play a song for me In the jingle jangle morning, I’ll come followin’ you
Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship All my senses have been stripped And my hands can’t feel to grip and my toes too numb to step Wait only for my boot heels to be wandering
I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade Into my own parade Cast your dancing spell my way I promise to go under it
Hey, Mr. Tambourine man, play a song for me I’m not sleepy and there ain’t no place I’m going to Hey, Mr. Tambourine man, play a song for me In the jingle jangle morning, I’ll come followin’ you
Introgroove did a 50th-anniversary post on the great Cosmo’s Factory album and it got me thinking about this song again. This song has a gospel feel with soul. It’s the closest thing to a love song that John wrote while still with Creedence Clearwater Revival.
It was the B side to “Looking Out My Back Door.” This continued the great double A sided singles that they released.
Lookin’ Out My Back Door/Long As I Can See The Light peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1970.
John Fogerty:“About the loner in me. Wanting to feel understood, needing those at home to shine a light so that I can make my way back.”
Cosmo’s Factory peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1970.
Long As I Can See The Light
Put a candle in the window, ’cause I feel I’ve got to move. Though I’m going, going, I’ll be coming home soon, ‘Long as I can see the light.
Pack my bag and let’s get movin’, ’cause I’m bound to drift a while. When I’m gone, gone, you don’t have to worry long, ‘Long as I can see the light.
Guess I’ve got that old trav’lin’ bone, ’cause this feelin’ won’t leave me alone. But I won’t, won’t be losin’ my way, no, no ‘Long as I can see the light.
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Oh, Yeah!
Put a candle in the window, ’cause I feel I’ve got to move. Though I’m going, going, I’ll be coming home soon, Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light. Long as I can see the light.
I’ve always liked the flow of the guitar intro in this song. Many of the 1970’s southern rock bands were influenced by Cream, Free, and The Stones but they put their own spin on it.
The song peaked at #34 in the Billboard 100 in 1975.
This song’s chorus was written by Outlaws drummer Monte Yoho, and lead guitarist/singer Hughie Thomasson filled out the rest of the words.
Clive Davis of Arista Records discovered them and signed the group to their first record deal; they became the fledgling label’s first rock band. Their self-titled debut album quickly went gold on the success of hits like “Green Grass and High Tides,” and this song.
Guitar Player Henry Paul:“‘There goes another love song,’ that specific line, ‘Someone’s singing about me again, now I need more than a friend,’ was written by Monte. He was a man of very few words, our drummer. He was a very smart and sharp, witty guy, but he wasn’t the most poetic character. I’m not trying to say that he was a dumb guy, just that his sense of poetry was on the target, but it wasn’t close to the center. But he wrote that, and then Hughie sort of rounded out the song with the verses.”
From Songfacts
Henry Paul, founding member of The Outlaws, says this is another in their repertoire of songs about being on the road: “‘Trying to get back to where I know I belong,’ there we are again, sitting in some stupid Days Inn in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1974.” And even though they were doing something they loved, and on the edge of serious success, it didn’t assuage the caged feeling of not being able to see their loved ones. Says Paul, “Even as much as you love your job, there’s things about that lifestyle that’ll make you do things you don’t want to admit that you did. That’s why they throw TVs out of window. That’s why the rock and roll thing is so violent and self-destructive.It’s kind of like being a lab rat stuck in some treadmill hell, that in order to keep your sanity you’ve got to lash out at what’s right immediately there, whether it’s your hotel room or shooting a TV or being Keith Moon over and over again. But that’s where that song came from, and it had a very commercial appeal, and it was a single for us. And although it didn’t chart particularly high, it was obviously and definitely a cornerstone in our musical career.”
There Goes Another Love Song
Sometimes I feel like I’m getting kinda low Thoughts that I’m thinkin’ are the reason So I try to remember without talkin’ to myself Things that I said or maybe things that I felt about you
Sittin’ in a corner of a crowded bar room People all around me and I still feel alone Just when I know I’m gonna break down and cry Someone played a tune that dried the tear from my eye
There goes another love song Someone singin’ about me again There goes another love song Now I need more than a friend
Lonesome and lonely, far from my home Tryin’ to get back to where I know I belong Wishin’ and hopin’ I was already there I just heard a voice whispered in my ear, singin’
There goes another love song Someone singin’ about me again There goes another love song Now I need more than a friend
There goes another love song Someone singin’ about me again There goes another love song Now I need it more than a friend
There goes another love song Someone singin’ about me again There goes another love song Now I need more than a friend
Heard this before I knew who John Lennon was and it is a good song…just not one of his best songs to me. It was his first solo number-one single. Many times the charts are about timing and it was the right time for this one to hit. In the video, you can see John walking around New York interacting with different people
Elton John sang backing vocals and also played piano on this track. He had a bet with Lennon that “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” song would become a #1 hit. If it did Lennon would have to appear in concert with Elton. Lennon never thought it would be a #1 hit.
When it did reach number 1, Lennon made good on the wager by making a guest appearance at an Elton John concert on Thanksgiving night 1974 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It turned out to be Lennon’s last live concert performance.
This very upbeat John Lennon song has a simple message…do whatever works for you. It was his first US #1 hit as a solo artist… he had another with “(Just Like) Starting Over,” which topped the chart in 1980 after his death.
John got the phrase by watching late-night TV. He was watching Reverend Ike, a famous black evangelist, who was saying, “Let me tell you guys, it doesn’t matter, it’s whatever gets you through the night.” Lennon loved it, wrote it down, and wrote a song about it.
This song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #36 in the UK. in 1974
From Songfacts
In December 2005, John and Yoko’s personal assistant May Pang told Radio Times: “At night he (John Lennon) loved to channel-surf, and he would pick up phrases from all the shows. One time, he was watching John loved it and said, “I’ve got to write it down or I’ll forget it.” He always kept a pad and pen by the bed. That was the beginning of Whatever Gets You Thru The Night.”
With this song, Lennon became the last of the Beatles to hit #1 US in their respective post-Beatles careers. By this time Paul McCartney had hit #1 three times, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr twice each.
Structurally, this is a rather unusual song: it’s really all chorus, separated by blasts of saxophone. Lennon alters the lines a bit in the various sections though:
Whatever gets you through the night
Whatever gets you through your life
Whatever gets you to the light
Don’t need a sword to cut through flowers
Don’t need a watch to waste your time
Don’t need a gun to blow you mind
These little lyrical alterations keep the song from sounding repetitive, even without verses.
In 1975 Lennon helped out on Elton’s John’s #1 cover of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Lennon played guitar on that track and was credited as “Dr. Winston O’Boogie.”
In 1975 Lennon helped out on Elton’s John’s #1 cover of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Lennon played guitar on that track and was credited as “Dr. Winston O’Boogie.”
What was it like recording the Walls And Bridges album? When we asked David Thoener, who was an engineer at the sessions, he told us: “It was amazing. Despite all of the personal pain John Lennon was in, (it was during his lost weekend) he was a consummate professional in the studio. Almost as if working kept him sane, through those difficult times. Working with him was quite an experience and something I am very glad to have been part of.”
This hit the top of the US charts, but it fell fast. It spent just three weeks in the Top 10 before dropping from 2-16 in November 1974. In 2004 Fantasia broke this record when after two weeks in the Top 10, “I Believe” dropped from #6-18.
Bobby Keys, who appears on many Rolling Stones recordings, played the tenor saxophone on this track. Ken Ascher played the Clavinet.
Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
Whatever gets you through the night It’s all right, it’s all right It’s your money or your life It’s all right, it’s all right Don’t need a sword to cut through’ flowers Oh no, oh no
Whatever gets you through your life It’s all right, it’s all right Do it wrong, or do it right It’s all right, it’s all right
Don’t need a watch to waste your time Oh no, oh no
Hold me, darlin’, come on, listen to me I won’t do you no harm Trust me, darlin’, come on, listen to me Come on, listen to me; come on, listen, listen
Whatever gets you to the light It’s all right, it’s all right Out of the blue, or out of sight It’s all right, it’s all right Don’t need a gun to blow you mind Oh no, oh no
Hold me, darlin’, come on, listen to me I won’t do you no harm Trust me, darlin’, come on, listen to me Come on, listen to me, come on, listen, listen
I remember hearing this before I knew who Paul McCartney was…it was unbelievably catchy but I had no clue what it was about…still don’t.
Paul combined pieces of various unfinished songs to create this… in the later years of The Beatles, he helped do this for the Abbey Road Medley. As a result, Uncle Albert – Admiral Halsey contains 12 different sections over the course of its 4:50 running time.
This jumble of character voices, sound effects, and changing tempos turned off a lot of listeners, but many others thought it was brilliant. The song wasn’t released as a single in the UK, but in America, it became McCartney’s first #1 hit as a solo artist.
Albert was Albert Kendall, who married Paul’s aunt Milly (becoming “Uncle Albert”) and provided inspiration for a portion of this song suite. Albert had a habit of getting drunk and reading from The Bible; the only time he read from the Bible was when he was drinking.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in the UK in 1971.
Stella, the McCartneys’ daughter, would be born a week and a half after “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” topped the charts.
This song won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists in 1971.
From Songfacts
Linda McCartney is credited as a co-writer on this song with Paul. She sang background and contributed some of the vocal ideas, but how much she actually wrote on the song is questionable. Paul had some incentive to credit her as a songwriter: under a deal he signed with The Beatles, songs he wrote until 1973 were owned by Northern Songs publishing and Maclen Music. By splitting the credits with his wife, he could keep half the royalties in the family. The publishers brought a lawsuit against Paul for this practice, which was settled out of court.
The flugelhorn solo that leads into the “Hands across the water” section was played by American bebop trumpeter Marvin Stamm.
Uncle Albert – Admiral Halsey
We’re so sorry, Uncle Albert We’re so sorry if we caused you any pain We’re so sorry, Uncle Albert But there’s no one left at home And I believe I’m gonna rain. We’re so sorry but we haven’t heard A thing all day We’re so sorry, Uncle Albert, But if anything should happen We’ll be sure to give a ring
Yeah, yeah,
We’re so sorry, Uncle Albert But we haven’t done a bloody thing all day We’re so sorry, Uncle Albert, But the kettle’s on the boil And we’re so easily called away
Hands across the water (water) Heads across the sky Hands across the water (water) Heads across the sky
Admiral Halsey notified me He had to have a berth or he couldn’t get to sea I had another look and I had a cup of tea and butter pie (butter pie?) The butter wouldn’t melt so I put it in the pie
Hands across the water (water) Heads across the sky Hands across the water (water) Heads across the sky
Live a little, be a gypsy, get around (get around) Get your feet up off the ground Live a little get around Live a little, be a gypsy, get around (get around) Get your feet up off the ground Live a little, get around
Hands across the water (water) Heads across the sky Hands across the water (water) Heads across the sky Ooo——ooo—–
Shake It Up was the title track to The Cars’ fourth album. This was their first top 10 hit which is surprising with all of the well-known songs they had released to this point.
They had been playing around with this song for a few years but they didn’t like the sound of it. They basically started all over and changed the song completely and then worked it out.
The Shake It Up album came out in 1981, just a few months after the first MTV broadcast. The release became a big hit for the Cars, a top 10 album that would eventually go multi-platinum… aided by this song.
The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, and #26 in New Zealand in 1982.
The album peaked at #9 in the Billboard Album Chart.
The song is typical Cars…catchy chorus and full of hooks. Ric Ocasek wrote the song but did say he was never too thrilled about the lyrics.
Drummer David Robinson: “We recorded [‘Shake It Up’] a couple of times in the studio and dumped it, and we were going to try it one more time, and I was fighting everybody,” “So we thought, let’s start all over again, like we’ve never even heard it – completely change every part – and we did. Then, when it was through and all put back together, it was like a brand-new song.”
From Songfacts
Written by frontman Ric Ocasek, it’s an outlier in that it’s very straightforward, simply encouraging us all to get on the dance floor and boogie like nobody’s watching. Ocasek’s songs were generally far more enigmatic.
This song has some throwback elements, like the “ooo ooo ooo” backing vocals and references to a “quirky jerk” and “night cats” – lingo that was hep in the ’60s when songs about dancing were in vogue. At the same time, “Shake It Up” as a futuristic sound, with synthesizers and drum machines that were part of the new wave.
Released as the lead single from the album, “Shake It Up” was a big American hit for The Cars, getting them into the Top 10 for the first time. Some fans accused them of “selling out,” but the band insisted they were simply progressing (one point in their defense: they continued to live in Boston instead of relocating to New York or Los Angeles). The jabs came mostly from the UK, where the band got lots of positive press early on but faced the wrath of a finicky press when they released this song about dancing. In the UK, “Shake It Up” wasn’t released as a single.
The Cars are one of the groups who can be credited with opening the New Wave sound up to the mainstream. As noted in Seventies Rock: The Decade of Creative Chaos, “The fact that new music was getting airplay at all – New Wave or not – was somewhat remarkable.” When The Cars came on the scene in 1978, the Bee Gees and all the disco craze they brought with them dominated the charts. While mainstream radio was reluctant to put a punk record on the air, it found New Wave less intimidating.
Meanwhile, Ken Tucker muses about the New Wave movement in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll: “Kids all over the country decided to play Record Promotion: if the big boys wouldn’t sign up their local bands, the fans would, with a vengeance. Mimeographed manifestos and homemade rock magazines multiplied as ways to push burgeoning local scenes; they plugged cherished unknowns and finessed an ad hoc network for distributing their records.” Notice any similarities with 1978 music culture and the Internet-fostered music scene now?
Shake It Up Demo
Shake It Up Studio Version
Shake It Up
Uh well, dance all night, play all day Don’t let nothin’ get in the way Dance all night, keep the beat Don’t you worry ’bout two left feet
Shake it up Shake it up, oo yeah Shake it up Shake it up
Dance all night and get real loose You don’t need no bad excuse Dance all night with anyone Don’t let nobody pick your fun
Shake it up, oo, oo Shake it up, yeah yeah Shake it up, oo, oo Shake it up
That’s right, I said Dance all night Go go go Dance all night Get real low Go all night Get real hot Well, shake it up now, all you’ve got, woo
Dance Oo dance
Uh well, dance all night and whirl your hair Make the night cats stop and stare Dance all night, go to work Do the move with a quirky jerk
Just shake it up, oo oo Shake it up, oo yeah Shake it up Shake it up
Uh well, dance all night Go go go Get so light Get real low Dance all night Get real hot Shake it up, with all you’ve got, woo
Shake it up, make a scene Let them know what you really mean And dance all night, keep the beat And don’t you worry ’bout two left feet
Just shake it up, oo, oo Shake it up, oo oo, yeah Shake it up, oo, oo Shake it up, oh, yeah
Shake it up, shake it up babe Shake it up, oo, oo Shake it up, shake it up babe Shake it up, oo, oo
Shake it up, shake it up, yeah yeah, shake it up Oo oo, shake it up Shake it up, shake it up babe Shake it up, oo, oo
This is one of the best songs from the White Album. George stated that the song was written at his mother’s home in Warrington in the north of England.
Harrison was reading I Ching, the Chinese book of changes, and decided to write a song about the first words he saw, which were “Gently Weeps.”
George wanted a sound he wasn’t getting so he called his friend Eric Clapton to play on the song. It also served another purpose. Much like bringing in Billy Preston on Let It Be…John and Paul behaved much better when a visitor came into the picture. Eric declined at first because he said that no one plays on Beatle records and the others wouldn’t like it. George told him it was his song and he wanted him on it. According to George, the atmosphere changed and the song took off from there.
After hearing the playback Eric said that there was a problem…his guitar wasn’t Beatley enough.’ So it was put through the ADT (Artificial Double Tracking) to wobble it up a bit.
George Harrsion:‘Eric’s going to play on this one,’ and it was good because that then made everyone act better…It’s interesting to see how nicely people behave when you bring a guest in, because they don’t really want everybody to know that they’re so bitchy…Paul got on the piano and played a nice intro and they all took it more seriously…Also it left me free to just play the rhythm and do the vocal…It was a similar situation when Billy Preston came later to play on ‘Let It Be’ and everybody was arguing. Just bringing a stranger in amongst us made everybody cool out.”
Mick Jagger:“It’s lovely, plaintive. Only a guitar player could write that. I love that song.”
George Harrison:“‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ was just a simple study based on the theory that everything has some purpose for being there at that given moment…So I open this book and I saw ‘gently weeps.’ I shut the book and then I started the tune.”
From Songfacts
Harrison often had to fight to get his songs on the albums. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were not interested in this song at first, but came around when Harrison brought Clapton to the studio.
This was the first song Ringo played on after leaving the band in frustration a few weeks earlier. He returned to find flowers on his drums to welcome him back.
Clapton used a Les Paul guitar on this track. Later in his career, he switched to a Fender Stratocaster.
Even though this was not a hit, it is one of the most enduring Beatles songs. It remains popular on classic rock radio.
When George Harrison arranged a trip to India for The Beatles to study Transcendental Meditation, they were joined by their good friend Donovan, a singer-songwriter who had hits with “Sunshine Superman” and “Mellow Yellow.” They shared a lot of ideas on this trip, many of which influenced The White Album. In our interview with Donovan, he said that John Lennon wanted to learn the clawhammer guitar style, while Harrison was interested in Donovan’s chord structures. The A minor descents Donovan showed him ended up in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
After working on this song, Eric Clapton became good friends with John Lennon, and played with him on some of his solo work. When George Harrison threatened to leave The Beatles in 1969, Lennon was ready to replace him with Clapton.
This was originally recorded as an acoustic ballad with just Harrison on acoustic guitar and Paul McCartney on organ. This version can be found on some bootlegs and on The Beatles Anthology 3.
The Demo Version
The Studio Version
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I look at you all, see the love there that’s sleeping While my guitar gently weeps I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know why nobody told you How to unfold your love I don’t know how someone controlled you They bought and sold you
I look at the world and I notice it’s turning While my guitar gently weeps With every mistake we must surely be learning Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know how you were diverted You were perverted too I don’t know how you were inverted No one alerted you
I look at you all, see the love there that’s sleeping While my guitar gently weeps Look at you all Still my guitar gently weeps
The Move was a successful UK band in the sixties that morphed into ELO. Roy Wood is singing and you will see a young Jeff Lynne on guitar without his trademark aviators. They only charted one song in the US and that was Do Ya.
This song was written by Roy Wood originally for the vocal group The New Seekers. The Move released this song in 1971 and it peaked at #11 in the UK.
Their style ranged from pop to psychedelic, blues, progressive, and 1950s style rock ‘n’ roll. Roy Wood’s talent as an original songwriter helped propelled the band for UK success.
If you want to know about the Move…the below link is a good start.
That’s the road It’s over there And leading down to nowhere. This is the age when you’re allowed To have your own care If you were half so bright You’d plan your life ahead Instead of waiting ’til you’re old in your bed.
I’ll be over tonight If you say you might I’ll be over tonight Need to put you right.
I’m so used to waiting that’s entirely Your decision don’t be restricted By the weightless views you’re given If you were half so bright you fight them From the head Instead of saving ’til your young heart is dead. I’ll be over tonight
Well I know what you wrote in your overcoat But don’t want to take it too far Oh I think you won’t but I know that you don’t You always say that you are
Never let the riches that my endless need will give you Show some concern for all the love That you must live through If you were half so bright You’d plan your life ahead Instead of waiting ’til you’re old in your bed.
Trying to figure out Elton’s lyrics has always been interesting…not what they mean…I won’t even try that. No, it’s,,, what is he singing? “he’s got electric boots a mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine, oh” I wasn’t even close. I thought “masseuse” was in there. I don’t think I can even spell what I’ve been singing along with for years. Mick Jagger does this well also.
Regardless of the hard to decipher words…I love the song.
Elton wrote the music to this song as an homage to glam rock, a style that was popular in the early ’70s, especially in the UK…and of course Bernie Taupin co-wrote it with Elton.
This wasn’t released as a single in the UK, where it was released as the B-side of “Candle In The Wind.” In the US, “Candle In The Wind” was not released as a single because MCA records thought this was better. Elton protested but came around when black radio stations started playing it and it became a hit.
This was also a hit on the R&B charts as it peaked at #15. Elton was surprised at that and wasn’t considering it for a single. He did not think this would be a hit. He was shocked when it went peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #13 in New Zealand in 1974. It charted at #37 in the UK in 1976.
Elton’s producer Gus Dudgeon wanted a live feel on this recording, so he mixed in crowd noise from a show Elton played in 1972 at Royal Festival Hall. He also included a series of whistles from a live concert in Vancouver B.C., and added handclaps and various shouts.
I do remember seeing Elton perform this song when he appeared on The Muppet Show in 1977, with a group of Muppets singing along with him at the piano.
From Songfacts
“Bennie” is a female character who Elton has described as a “sci-fi rock goddess.” Bernie Taupin, who wrote the lyrics, told Esquire, “‘Bennie And The Jets’ was almost Orwellian – it was supposed to be futuristic. They were supposed to be a prototypical female rock ‘n’ roll band out of science fiction. Automatons.”
It was Elton’s idea to stutter the vocal: “B-B-B-Bennie…” Bernie Taupin thought this worked very well with the futuristic, robotic theme of his lyrics. Said Taupin: “That’s a little quirk of the song which I’m sad to say I had nothing to do with. That and that wonderful big chord at the beginning. I think those two things are what probably made that song so popular. Neither of which I had anything to do with.”
Comic books, movies, and the German photographer Helmut Newton were some of the influences Bernie Taupin threw into the pot when writing the lyrics to this song. Said Taupin: “I’d always had this wacky science fiction idea about a futuristic rock and roll band of androids fronted by some androgynous kind of Helmut Newton style beauty, which was depicted to little great effect on the Yellow Brick Road album cover. I’m not sure if it came to me in a dream or was some way the subconscious of effect of watching Kubrick on drugs. Either way, it was definitely something that was totally formed as a concept, and something that could have morphed into any number of populist items. Could have been comic books or movies. In fact, I can’t help but believe that that Robert Palmer video with all the identical models somehow paid a little lip service to The Jets.”
The falsetto vocal is Elton trying to sound like Frankie Valli. He was a fan of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons growing up, and went to at least one of their concerts when he was young.
Elton tried to record the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in Jamaica, since The Rolling Stones had just recorded their Goats Head Soup album in a studio there and encouraged him to try it. Instead of the relaxing tropical paradise they expected, Elton and his crew encountered hostile locals and faulty equipment. They ended up recording the album at the studio in France (The Chateau) where they recorded their two previous albums.
Bernie Taupin says that when he saw the Robert Palmer video for “Addicted To Love,” it portrayed when he envisioned Bennie And The Jets looking like: a dapper frontman backed by robotic models.
Elton performed this on Soul Train, becoming the first white superstar to appear on the show (he was the third white performer overall, following Dennis Coffey and Gino Vannelli). His episode aired May 17, 1975, beating David Bowie by six months. Elton asked to appear on the show, as he was a big fan. He explained on the program that he and his band would often watch it while they were on tour.
Miguel covered this as part of the 40th edition expanded reissue of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in 2014, with Wale contributing vocals. Elton John had Peter Asher produce the nine cover versions, which also included Ed Sheeran’s take on “Candle In The Wind” and Fall Out Boy’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).” Asher, who produced the most successful albums by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, put the track together based on the sound of Miguel’s album Kaleidoscope Dream. Getting Miguel in the studio to record it proved challenging though.
In a Songfacts interview with Asher, he explained: “There was a period when I was hardly in touch with Miguel. I ended up meeting with him backstage at an Alicia Keys concert he was opening, and I said, ‘Did you ever get a chance to listen to the demo I sent you?’ He said, ‘No, I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened to it.’
So, we sat backstage and listened to it for the first time. He plugged in his in-ear monitors into my laptop and I played it to him and he said, ‘I love it. That’s great. Go ahead.’ And he just arranged time to come into the studio and sing it.
And then, he made some suggestions and changed some stuff and added some brilliant background parts and so on. So, it ended up being a combination of the ideas I’d started with, with some ideas he had on top.”
Benny and the Jets
She’s got electric boots a mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine, oh B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Hey kids, shake it loose together The spotlight’s hitting something that’s been known to change the weather We’ll kill the fatted calf tonight So stick around You’re gonna hear electric music solid walls of sound
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet Uh but they’re so spaced out, B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets Oh but they’re weird and they’re wonderful Oh Bennie she’s really keen She’s got electric boots a mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine oh B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Hey kids, plug into the faithless Maybe they’re blinded But Bennie makes them ageless We shall survive, let us take ourselves along Where we fight our parents out in the streets To find who’s right and who’s wrong
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet? Oh, but they’re so spaced out B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets Oh but they’re weird and they’re wonderful Oh Bennie, she’s really keen
She’s got electric boots A mohair suit You know I read it in a magazine oh yeah B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, and the Jets, yeah, oh
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