I usually feature originals but I found this video of John covering Slippin and a Slidin’ that I never have seen before and I had to include it. My son listened to John Lennon’s Rock and Roll album (made up of entirely covers of mostly 50s Rock and Roll) and he flipped over it. Afterward, he played it so much I relistened to it and John’s love of that music really came through.
The song was on the Rock and Roll album released in 1975. I could listen to John sing the phone book.
The album made it to #6 in the Billboard 200, #6 in the UK, and #5 in Canada. Stand By Me made it to #20 in the Billboard 100. John Lennon did not make another album until Double Fantasy in 1980.
Slippin’ and Slidin’
Slippin’ and a slidin’, peepin’ and a hidin’, been told long time ago, Slippin’ and a slidin’, peepin’ and a hidin’, been told long time ago, I been told, baby, you been bold, I won’t be your fool no more.
Oh, big conniver, nothing but a jiver, done got hip to your jive, Oh, big conniver, nothing but a jiver, done got hip to your jive, Slippin’ and a slidin’, peepin’ and a hidin’, won’t be your fool no more.
Oh Malinda, she’s a solid sender, you know you better surrender, Oh Malinda, she’s a solid sender, you know you better surrender, Slippin’ and a slidin’, peepin’ and a hidin’, won’t be your fool no more.
This band was musician’s musicians… Not a weak link in the Zombies.
This was written by Zombies keyboardist Rod Argent. The group had a big hit with their first single, “She’s Not There.” The band followed it up in the UK with “Leave Me Be,” which flopped. The band did not want that song to be next but the producer and all the people that were making the decisions released it anyway.
The Zombies then recorded “Tell Her No,” which became their second single in the US and third in the UK. In America, it did very well, but in the UK it fared worse as the band had lost some momentum by releasing “Leave Me Be.”
The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, and #42 in the UK. Some critics point to this song as a precursor to jazz fusion for the way the song moves.
This is one of the three big hits the band had in America. She’s Not There, Tell Her No, and Time of the Season. I also have to include their great album Odessey and Oracle which personally I would put up there in the same league as Sgt Pepper and Pet Sounds.
Tell Her No
And if she should tell you “come closer” And if she tempts you with her charms
Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no No no no no no-no-no-no No no no no no Don’t hurt me now for her love belongs to me
And if she should tell you “I love you” And if she tempts you with her charms
Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no No no no no no-no-no-no (Don’t take her love for your arms) No no no no no Don’t hurt me now for her love belongs to me
I know she’s the kind of girl Who’d throw my love away But I still love her so Don’t hurt me now, don’t hurt me now
If she tells you “I love you” Just remember she said that to me
Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no No no no no no-no-no-no (Don’t take her love from my arms) No no no no no Don’t leave me now for her love belongs to me
From the opening odd riff of his second single you knew it was going to be different. When the recording was sent to Hendrix’s American label, a note was attached that said, “deliberate distortion, do not correct.”
When manager Chas Chandler heard Hendrix tinkering with the song’s opening riff, he said, “That’s the next single!” Hendrix wrote as many as 10 verses to the song but Chas Chandler helped him edit it down to a radio-friendly length.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded the song two weeks later, on January 11th, 1967. After some overdubs and producing, the song was released as a single on March 17th. The Experience’s debut album, Are You Experienced? would be released a couple of months later.
In March of 1967, “Purple Haze,” the single, was released in England and shot up the charts. Three months later, the Experience gave its first U.S. performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. After that show, Jimi Hendrix became a star in America.
The song has become a symbol of the ’60s counterculture and has since lent its name to a strain of cannabis and acid.
This contains one of the most misheard lyrics ever, with “Scuse me while I kiss the sky” interpreted as “Scuse me while I kiss this guy.” Hendrix added to the confusion by sometimes singing it that way and pointing to one of his band members.
The song peaked at #65 in the Billboard 100 and #3 in the UK in 1967.
Jimi Hendrix:“I dream a lot and I put my dreams down as songs,” “I wrote one called ‘First Look Around the Corner’ and another called ‘The Purple Haze,’ which was about a dream I had that I was walking under the sea.”
From Songfacts
At one point, Hendrix wrote the chorus as “purple haze, Jesus saves,” but decided against it.
Part of the lyrics were formed from some of Jimi’s free verse ramblings that he jotted down from time to time.
This song was written under the guidance of Hendrix’ manager, ex-Animals bassist Chas Chandler. They had just released Hendrix’ first single, a cover of Tim Rose’s “Hey Joe” and were looking for a follow up. Chandler was impressed when he first heard the riff, and inspired Jimi to finish writing the song.
On the original recording, you hear the line up of the Experience with Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums.
The opening chord of two riffs then an interval of flattened fifth is the d5 or “tritone,” which has long been regarded as the “Most imperfect of dissonances” and was generally avoided in composition for that reason.
Hendrix claimed this had nothing to do with drugs, but it’s hard to believe they weren’t an influence. The lyrics seem to vividly portray an acid trip, and Hendrix was doing plenty of drugs at the time.
Jimi and producer Chas Chandler used some unusual studio tricks to get the unique sound. To create the background track that sounds distant, they put a pair of headphones around a microphone and recorded it that way to get an echo effect.
Hendrix wrote the lyrics on the day after Christmas in 1966. He wrote a lot more than what made it to the song. The track was developed at a press function that he attended at East London’s Upper Cut Club, run by the former boxer Billy Walker. Hendrix launched into the scorching riff in the club’s compact dressing room and every head turned. “I said, write the rest of that,” said Chandler. “That’s the next single!” It was premiered live on 8 January 1967, in Sheffield in the north of England.
For one of the guitar tracks, Hendrix used a device called an Octavia, which could raise or lower the guitar by a full octave.
A month before Hendrix died, he opened a recording studio in Greenwich Village called Electric Lady. One of the studios is known as “Purple Haze” and contains a purple mixing board. The studios have remained active with The Clash, Weezer, Patti Smith and Alicia Keys all recording there at some point.
This song is apparently referenced in an episode of The Simpsons. Homer is shopping (for useless garbage, of course) and finds a back massaging chair called the Spinemelter 2000. Homer sits in the chair and orders the store clerk to put it on full power. As the chair begins to massage Homer, he tells his family, “Excuse me while I kiss the sky…”
The track was the penultimate song Hendrix played in concert, on September 6, 1970, days before his death.
James Ford, who is a member of the production duo Simian Mobile Disco tells in the NME column “My first record”: “The first record I remember really connecting with was ‘Purple Haze.’ I remember being blown away by its wild and unhinged energy. It was also the first thing I ever tried to work out on a guitar. Needless to say, I didn’t get very far at that age.”
Bob Rivers did a parody of this song called “Holidaze,” which is all about the mad rush of the holiday season (“S’cuse me, I got gifts to buy…”). Playing Hendrix in the parody is Randy Hansen, a renowned Jimi Hendrix tribute artist. On drums is Alan White of the band Yes.
Purple Haze
Purple haze, all in my brain Lately things they don’t seem the same Actin’ funny, but I don’t know why Excuse me while I kiss the sky
Purple haze, all around Don’t know if I’m comin’ up or down Am I happy or in misery? What ever it is, that girl put a spell on me
Help me Help me Oh, no, no
Ooh, ah Ooh, ah Ooh, ah Ooh, ah, yeah!
Purple haze all in my eyes Don’t know if it’s day or night You got me blowin’, blowin’ my mind Is it tomorrow, or just the end of time?
Ooh Help me Ahh, yeah, yeah, purple haze Oh, no, oh Oh, help me Tell me, tell me, purple haze I can’t go on like this (Purple haze) you’re makin’ me blow my mind Purple haze, n-no, no (Purple haze)
Not the most pleasant song available from John but it does get your attention. I do like the guitar sound that John and Eric Clapton get in this song.
This song is about drug withdrawal. Quitting “Cold Turkey” means abruptly stopping drug use and the effect it has on your body and mind. John Lennon quit cold turkey because he wanted to get off drugs and start a family with Yoko.
John wanted to record this with the Beatles but they rejected it so he went off and recorded it on his own.
Eric Clapton and John played guitar on this, Ringo drummed, and Klaus Voormann played the bass, It was released as a single in 1969 as The Plastic Ono Band. The song peaked at #30 in the Billboard 100, #14 in the UK, and #30 in Canada.
This was Lennon’s second single away from The Beatles. “Give Peace A Chance” was released a few months earlier. This was also the first song John took complete credit for as he dropped the McCartney from Lennon and McCartney.
Its first public performance on September 13, 1969, was recorded and released on the Live Peace in Toronto 1969 album by the Plastic Ono Band.
John Lennon:“Cold Turkey was banned. They thought it was a pro-drugs song. But I’ve always expressed what I’ve been feeling or thinking at the time. So I was just writing the experience I’d had of withdrawing from heroin. To some it was a rock ‘n’ roll version of The Man With The Golden Arm because it showed Frank Sinatra suffering from drug withdrawal.”
From Songfacts
Lennon performed this on September 13, 1969 at The Toronto Rock and Revival Show, where he introduced his Plastic Ono Band (at least the configuration of it for this show). Eric Clapton was on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums. Yoko Ono was also part of the act, and she made an impact during “Cold Turkey.” As the song played, she emerged from a bag on stage, stepped up to a microphone, and made turkey-sounding noises (not out of character). The set was released as a live album called Live Peace In Toronto 1969.
Eric Clapton played some of the guitar on this. Lennon asked Clapton to join The Plastic Ono Band, but Eric declined.
Lennon wrote and recorded this song before attending Arthur Janov’s Primal Scream therapy workshop, which played a part in his song “Mother.” The screams he used in “Cold Turkey,” he was actually emulating Yoko singing.
When John Lennon decided to return his MBE (Member of the British Empire) award on November 25, 1969, he sent it to Queen Elizabeth II with a note explaining, “I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts.”
Cold Turkey
Temperature’s rising Fever is high Can’t see no future Can’t see no sky
My feet are so heavy So is my head I wish I was a baby I wish I was dead
Cold turkey has got me on the run My body is aching Goose-pimple bone Can’t see no body Leave me alone
My eyes are wide open Can’t get to sleep One thing I’m sure of I’m at the deep freeze
Cold turkey has got me on the run Cold turkey has got me on the run
Thirty-six hours Rolling in pain Praying to someone Free me again
Oh I’ll be a good boy Please make me well I promise you anything Get me out of this hell
Like “A Hard Day’s Night,” the title came from an expression Ringo Starr used. Ringo’s turn of the phrase took the edge off the heavy philosophical lyrics. Working titles for the song before Ringo gave them inspiration were “Mark I” and “The Void.”
It was on what perhaps is the greatest Beatle album…Revolver.
The inspiration for the song came from a book entitled “The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based On The Tibetan Book Of The Dead.” This book was published in August of 1964 by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert
The Beatles made “tape loops”…short tapes of grandfather clocks, sitars, seagulls, laughter, and other things. They brought them to the studio and put them together at different speeds, played forward, and backward. That is what you hear at the beginning.
John wanted his voice to…sound like the Dalai Lama chanting from a mountaintop, miles away or like a group of Tibetan monks chanting on a mountain top. Well, that was impractical so John suggested they suspend him from a rope in the middle of the studio ceiling, put a mike in the middle of the floor, give him a push and he’d sing as he went around and around. They didn’t do that either but they ended up putting Lennon’s voice through a Leslie Speaker Cabinet (a rotating speaker cabinet) and that made John happy.
Tomorrow Never Knows was a great innovation. It opened the door to Sgt Pepper and was one of the great psychedelic rock songs.
John Lennon on LSD: “Leary was the one going round saying, ‘take it, take it, take it,’” Lennon remembered in 1980, “and we followed his instructions in his ‘how to take a trip’ book. I did it just like he said in the book, and then I wrote ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ which was almost the first acid song: ‘Lay down all thought, surrender to the void,’ and all that sh*t which Leary had pinched from ‘The Book Of The Dead.’”
From Songfacts
John Lennon wrote this, and described it as “my first psychedelic song.”
The book is a reinterpretation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead and a guide to understanding it through psychedelic drugs. Lennon would read it while tripping on LSD, and according to his biographer Albert Goldman, he recorded himself reading from the book, played it back while tripping on LSD, and wrote the song.
The most overt reference to the book is the line:
Turn off your mind
Relax and float downstream
It is not dying
The book states: “Whenever in doubt, turn off your mind, relax, float downstream.”
To accompany the psychedelic imagery in Lennon’s lyric, each Beatle created strange sounds which were mixed in throughout the recording, often backward and in different speeds. Their producer, George Martin, was older and more experienced, but he allowed the group to experiment in the studio as much as they pleased.
The night before they recorded this song, Paul McCartney created 16 tape loops of guitar sounds and odd vocals that he brought in to the studio to create some of the effects. Several people remember standing around the room holding pencils for the tape to loop around and back into the recording machine as the various sound effects and instrumentation were faded in and out.
John Lennon used only one chord in this whole song, which creates a hypnotic feeling. For his vocals, he asked producer George Martin to make him sound like the Dali Lama.
Drugs influenced the creation of this song, but the Beatles recorded sober. “We would have the experiences and then bring that into the music later,” Ringo Starr explained.
George Harrison played a droning Indian instrument called a tambura on this track, which added an ethereal feel to the soundscape.
The musical break that comes in about a minute into this song consists mostly of guitars that were heavily processed. This wild passage makes use of just about every studio trick at their disposal, including passing from one channel to the other. Those listening in mono (often in cars) didn’t get the full experience.
This was the first track recorded for the Revolver album, but the last one on the tracklist.
On May 6, 2012, this song was featured in an episode of the popular American TV series Mad Men. The episode was set in 1966, and part of the plot was the ad agency in the show helping a client capitalize on Beatlemania. This was a big deal, since Beatles songs are very rarely licensed for TV shows – at least in their original versions. Cover versions and performances (think American Idol) show up from time to time, since those just have to be approved by Sony/ATV, which owns the publishing rights. Getting permission to use an actual Beatles recording requires permission from Apple Corp, which is controlled by The Beatles and their heirs.
The Wall Street Journal reported the payment for the song at $250,000, and that Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner had to reveal to Apple exactly how the song would be used, which was a big deal since he is very secretive about scripts. In the episode, the main character Don Draper has trouble adapting to changing musical times. He plays this song to see what all the fuss is about, and after a character-developing montage while the song is playing, he switches it off. The song then comes back to play over the closing credits.
Phil Collins covered this on his debut solo album, Face Value, in 1981, using synthesizers to create many of the unusual sounds. Like The Beatles did on Revolver, Collins used it to close the album.
Our Lady Peace remade this song for the soundtrack to the movie The Craft. It’s played during the opening credits.
Oasis pays tribute to this song in “Morning Glory” with the line:
Walking to the sound of my favorite tune
Tomorrow never knows what it doesn’t know too soon
The Beatles were a huge influence on Oasis.
This song is featured on the 2006 Beatles album Love (a soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil show based on their music) remixed with “Within You Without You.”
Tomorrow Never Knows
Turn off your mind relax and float down stream It is not dying, it is not dying
Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void It is shining, it is shining
Yet you may see the meaning of within It is being, it is being
Love is all and love is everyone It is knowing, it is knowing
And ignorance and hate mourn the dead It is believing, it is believing
But listen to the colour of your dreams It is not leaving, it is not leaving
So play the game “Existence” to the end Of the beginning, of the beginning
I remember I had the album this was on…Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) and I was disappointed. I always liked this song though. The album did not live up to Southern Accents the previous album.
Although this is a 1980s song…Steve Jobs, Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, and Vanessa Redgrave are singled out…as well as events in the world…the idea behind it is more relevant today than 1987.
I’ve always thought this song was about information overload on our senses…being overwhelmed in the disinformation age…and this was 1987! How about now?
Mike Campbell, the guitarist for The Heartbreakers, wrote the music for this and gave Petty the demo. Tom held it for a while and didn’t do anything with it until one day when he was working with Bob Dylan. They came up with some lyrics by picking words out of a newspaper and off the television. Tom pulled out Mike’s demo, and they inserted those words over the track. The song is about the deluge of information and marketing messages that can prove overwhelming.
This song peaked at #18 in the Billboard 100, #41 in Canada, and #38 in New Zealand in 1987. It was written by Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Mike Campbell.
From Songfacts
Many of Petty’s songs start as demos written by Campbell. Mike also wrote the tracks for Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” and “The Heart Of The Matter,” and helped Petty produce this album.
In 1986, the band toured with Bob Dylan in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, which led to Dylan’s contribution on this song. In 1988, Petty and Dylan played together in The Traveling Wilburys, a band whose other members were Jeff Lynne, George Harrison and Roy Orbison.
In the lyrics, Petty mentions various places and events that were in the news and getting constant media exposure. Actors Vanessa Redgrave, Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy also show up.
Jammin’ Me
You got me in a corner You got me against the wall I got nowhere to go I got nowhere to fall
Take back your insurance Baby nothin’s guaranteed Take back your acid rain Baby let your T.V. bleed
You’re jammin’ me, you’re jammin’ me, Quit jammin’ me Baby you can keep me painted in a corner You can look away, but it’s not over
Take back your angry slander Take back your pension plan Take back your ups and downs of your life In raisin-land
Take back Vanessa Redgrave Take back Joe Piscopo Take back Eddie Murphy Give ’em all some place to go
You’re jammin’ me, you’re jammin’ me Quit jammin’ me Baby you can keep me painted in a corner You can walk away but it’s not over
Take back your Iranian torture And the apple in young Steve’s eye Yeah take back your losing streak Check your front wheel drive
Take back Pasadena Take back El Salvador Take back that country club They’re tr yin’ to build outside my door
I always thought of this song as the sister song to Who Are You. You Better You Bet was on Face Dances. This was the first album without Keith Moon and with Kenney Jones on drums.
Pete Townshend has said he wrote it “over several weeks of clubbing and partying” while the still-married guitarist was dating a younger woman. He said: “I wanted it to be a great song because the girl I wrote it for is one of the best people on the planet.”
The song peaked at #18 in the Billboard 100 in 1981. This was the first new Who album I ever bought. Face Dances wasn’t a bad album although they did indeed miss Keith Moon.
Roger Daltrey who was never a big proponent of Jones said: “A wonderful, wonderful song. The way the vocal bounces, it always reminds me of Elvis. But it was a difficult time, yeah. The Moon carry-on was much harder than carrying on after John, because we’re more mature now. I hate going over this but, in retrospect, we did make the wrong choice of drummers. Kenney Jones – don’t get me wrong, a fantastic drummer – but he completely threw the chemistry of the band. It just didn’t work; the spark plug was missing from the engine.”
“The first tour Kenney did with us, though, he was absolutely f–king brilliant,” Daltrey added. “But after that he settled into what he knew, which was his Faces-type drumming, which doesn’t work with The Who. In some ways I’d like to go back and re-record a lot of the songs on Face Dances, but ‘You Better, You Bet’ is still one of my favorite songs of all.”
From Songfacts
This is a love song written from the perspective of a guy who drinks and smokes too much. He and his girl have a clever rapport: when he tells her he loves her, she says, “You better.”
This was the first Who single recorded with drummer Kenney Jones, who had replaced Keith Moon after his death three years earlier.
The black-and-white music video features the band and keyboardist John Bundrick playing the song onstage. It was the fourth clip played upon MTV’s launch on August 1,1981 and was also the 54th visual to be aired on the fledgling music channel, making it the first video to be shown on MTV more than once.
The lyric, “I drunk my self blind to the sound of old T-Rex,” refers to the ’60s/’70s British glam rock band T-Rex, fronted by Marc Bolan. >>
The lead single from The Who’s Face Dances album, this was the last single by the band that reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 10 in the UK.
The keyboard line came from a Yamaha E70 organ Pete Townshend played using the Auto Arpeggio setting. He used the same setup to create the keyboard riff in “Eminence Front.”
You Better You Bet
You better you better you bet, ooh You better you better you bet, ooh You better you better you bet, ooh You better you better you bet, ooh
I call you on the telephone my voice too rough with cigarettes I sometimes feel I should just go home But I’m dealing with a memory that never forgets I love to hear you say my name especially when you say yes I got your body right now on my mind and I drunk myself blind To the sound of old T-Rex To the sound of old T-Rex, who’s next?
When I say I love you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I need you say you better (You better you better you bet) You better bet your life Or love will cut you like a knife
I want those feeble minded axes overthrown I’m not into your passport picture I just like your nose You welcome me with open arms and open legs I know only fools have needs but this one never begs
I don’t really mind how much you love me A little is really alright When you say come over and spend the night Tonight, tonight
When I say I love you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I need you say you better (You better you better you bet) You better bet your life Or love will cut you like a knife
I lay on the bed with you We could make some book of records Your dog keeps licking my nose And chewing up all those letters Saying you better You better bet your life
You better love me, all the time now You better shove me back into line now You better love me, all the time now You better shove me back into line now
I showed up late one night with a neon light for a visa But knowing I’m so eager to fight can’t make letting me in any easier I know that I’ve been wearing crazy clothes and I look pretty crappy Sometime But my body feels so good and I still sing a razor line everytime
And when it comes to all night living I know what I’m giving I’ve got it all down to a tee And it’s free
When I say I love you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I need you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I love you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I need you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I love you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I need you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I love you say you better (You better you better you bet) When I say I need you say you better (You better you better you bet)
You better bet your life Or love will cut you just like a knife
Little Richard isn’t just a singer he is a force of nature. I think he would have been successful now or any decade. He is one of the best singers I’ve heard in rock and roll. His voice is brash, intense, rough, soulful, and magical. He takes you to the edge of the cliff and when you think he will go over he pulls it back.
The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart, #21 on the US pop chart, and #10 on the UK charts.
Little Richard wrote this song. This was released at a time when Richard was hot…he sold millions of records in 1956 and 1957. His songs were also very successful for other artists, who sometimes outsold him with his own songs.
“Lucille” was covered by The Everly Brothers, who matched Richard’s #21 peak position on the charts with their version in 1960. Waylon Jennings had a #1 Country hit when he recorded this on his 1983 album It’s Only Rock and Roll, and other artists to cover the song include Van Halen, Deep Purple, Johnny Winter, Bill Haley & His Comets, Otis Redding, AC/DC and The Hollies.
Little Richard: “I don’t know what inspired me to write it, it may have been the rhythm.” Certainly, the lyrics serve the rhythm, with the nonsensical first line “Lucille, won’t you do your sister’s will” scanning to the beat.
From Songfacts
This song began as a ballad Richard wrote called “Directly From My Heart to You,” which he recorded as a member of The Johnny Otis band in 1955. “Directly From My Heart to You” was released by Peacock Records as a B-side, and when Little Richard recorded for Specialty Records in September 1955, he tried recording the song for his first album. It didn’t make the cut, but Richard’s career took off, and when he needed another single in 1957, he revived the song, but gave it the sound that made him a star, speeding up the tempo considerably.
The lyrics were completely rewritten, and Richard went to a common theme for his hits: a girl’s name. If Lucille was based on a real woman who broke Richard’s heart, he isn’t saying. If there was a real Lucille, it would probably be either Richard’s (female) lover Lee Angel, or his mentor Steve Reeder Jr., who performed under the name Esquerita. Little Richard hasn’t kept a lot of secrets, so it’s more likely that he did make up Lucille. His next single was also named after a girl: “Jenny, Jenny.”
In a 1999 interview with Mojo magazine, Richard explained: “The effects and rhythms you hear on my songs, I got ’em from the trains that passed by my house. Like ‘Lucille’ came from a train – Dadas-dada-dada-dada, I got that from the train.”
Other popular Lucille’s in music: B.B. King’s guitar is named Lucille, and Kenny Rogers had a hit with different song with the same title in 1977 – his is the one that goes, “You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille…”
The Everly Brothers 1960 version broke new ground but using several guitarists on the track all at once. Recorded in Nashville and arranged by Don Everly, that sound later appeared on Roy Orbison’s hit “(Oh) Pretty Woman.”
In 1993, Little Richard sang this on Sesame Street as “Rosita,” in tribute to the blue monster of the same name.
Lucille
Lucille, won’t you do your sister’s will? Oh, Lucille, won’t you do your sister’s will? Well, you ran away and left, I love you still.
Lucille, please, come back where you belong. Oh, Lucille, please, come back where you belong. I been good to you, baby, please, don’t leave me alone.
Lucille, baby, satisfy my heart. Oh, Lucille, baby, satisfy my heart. I slaved for you, baby, and gave you such a wonderful start.
I woke up this morning, Lucille was not in sight. I asked her friends about her but all their lips were tight. Lucille, please, come back where you belong. I been good to you, baby, please, don’t leave me alone.
When I heard this song it sounded so different than other songs at the time. It’s a well-written song lyrically and musically that has a folk feel to it. It could have been a hit in any era… the lyrics got my attention. While they’re standing in the welfare lines / crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation / wasting time in the unemployment lines / sitting around waiting for a promotion
The song remains one of my favorites from that era.
A still unknown Tracy Chapman was booked to appear down the bill at the Nelson Mandela birthday concert at Wembley Stadium on June 11, 1987. She had no reason to think her appearance would be the catalyst for a career breakthrough. After performing several songs from her self titled debut during the afternoon, Chapman thought she’d done her bit and could relax and enjoy the rest of the concert.
That would not be the case… later in the evening, Stevie Wonder was delayed when the computer discs for his performance went missing, and Chapman was ushered back onto the stage again. In front of a huge prime time audience, she performed “Fast Car” alone with her acoustic guitar. Afterward, the song raced up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #6 in the UK, and #21 in New Zealand in 1988.
From Songfacts
Chapman (from Q magazine): “It’s not really about a car at all… basically it’s about a relationship that doesn’t work out because it’s starting from the wrong place.”
This won the Grammy Award in 1989 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
This song returned to the UK singles chart in April 2011 after it was performed by contestant Michael Collings on the first edition of the fifth series of Britain’s Got Talent.
Two popular dance music cover versions were released near the end of 2015.
The producer Jonas Blue was just 21 when he released his version; he wasn’t alive when the original was released, but it was one of his mother’s favorite songs, so he heard it a lot growing up in England. He struggled to find a vocalist to bring the song to life, but he hit the mark when he tried a young singer named Dakota, whom he spotted performing in a pub. She ended up being the vocalist on the track. This version went to #1 in Australia and was a hit across Europe, reaching #2 in the UK. In America, it went to #1 on the Dance chart.
Around this same time, the Swedish remix man Tobtok (Tobias Karlsson) released his version with another mononymed vocalist, River. This version, which was accompanied by a video, was a modest hit in Australia, reaching #19.
Fast Car
You got a fast car I want a ticket to anywhere Maybe we make a deal Maybe together we can get somewhere Anyplace is better Starting from zero got nothing to lose Maybe we’ll make something Me, myself I got nothing to prove
You got a fast car I got a plan to get us out of here I been working at the convenience store Managed to save just a little bit of money Won’t have to drive too far Just ‘cross the border and into the city You and I can both get jobs And finally see what it means to be living
You see my old man’s got a problem He live with the bottle that’s the way it is He says his body’s too old for working His body’s too young to look like his My mama went off and left him She wanted more from life than he could give I said somebody’s got to take care of him So I quit school and that’s what I did
You got a fast car Is it fast enough so we can fly away We gotta make a decision Leave tonight or live and die this way
So remember we were driving, driving in your car Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk City lights lay out before us And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder I had a feeling that I belonged I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car We go cruising to entertain ourselves You still ain’t got a job I work in a market as a checkout girl I know things will get better You’ll find work and I’ll get promoted We’ll move out of the shelter Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs
I remember we were driving, driving in your car Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk City lights lay out before us And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder I had a feeling that I belonged I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car I got a job that pays all our bills You stay out drinking late at the bar See more of your friends than you do of your kids I’d always hoped for better Thought maybe together you and me would find it I got no plans I ain’t going nowhere So take your fast car and keep on driving
I remember we were driving, driving in your car Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk City lights lay out before us And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder I had a feeling that I belonged I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car But is it fast enough so you can fly away You gotta make a decision Leave tonight or live and die this way
Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos starting this hippie type band in 2007. The consisted of 10-12 members at once. They tried to have a so-called campfire feel. If a musician messed up that was alright. Musicians would drop and reappear on a tour. They had one song that got a ton of airplay called Home in 2010.
This song resembles Instant Karma by John Lennon.
Janglin’ was used in commercials and it spiked its popularity in 2010.
In 2014, the band parted ways with Jade Castrinos, changing the dynamic of the band considerably…she and Ebert had broken up.
The band is named after a character from a novel Ebert was writing – Edward Sharpe is an otherworldly figure who comes to Earth to offer enlightenment to the masses, but finds himself getting distracted by the beautiful women.
Most listeners who weren’t buying this hippie vibe agreed that it was convincing, and even after they found an audience with this song, Ebert stayed steady to his creed, often blurring the lines between Edward Sharpe and his true self.
Janglin’
Well our mama’s they left us And our daddy’s took a ride And we walked out of the castle And we held our head up high Well we once were the Jesters In your Kingdom by the sea And now we’re out to be the masters For to set our spirits free – set free
[Chorus] We Want to feel ya! We don’t mean to kill ya! We come back to Heal ya – Janglin soul Edward and the Magnetic Zeros
Well your wartime is Funny Your guns don’t bother me I said we’re out to prove the truth of The man from Galilei Well your laws are for Dummies, yes Your institutions dead I say we’re out to blow the trumpet To wake you all from bed – from bed
[Chorus]
We carry the mail We carry it home We carry the Mail now We carry it home Scare up your Letters Give us your Tails Blowing like Whale now to Magnetic Ears WOW!
One of the first songs I noticed by Zeppelin when they were still a functioning band. As always in Zeppelin songs, Bonham really shines and he drives the song. BTW the B side to this song was Hot Dog. A fun rockabilly song with a hoe down guitar riff…that is the only way I know how to describe it.
Dave posted the Genesis’s song Misunderstanding the other day and I commented that I thought these two songs are sort of similar. The subject is very close (a guy waiting for the girl and both in the rain) and they do sound related…not exact copies at all but similar. Led Zeppelin’s song was recorded before and released before the Genesis song….I’m definitely not saying anything idea was ripped off… just a happy coincidence…anyway sorry about the detour.
This was on their last studio album (not counting Coda) In Through The Out Door. Fool In The Rain peaked at #21 in the Billboard 100, #12 in Canada, and #44 in New Zealand Top 50 Singles Chart in 1980.
This was the last Led Zeppelin song to chart in the US. The group didn’t release many singles, but they pegged this one for popular appeal. Zeppelin retired with six Top 40 hits in America.
From Songfacts
This song is about a guy who is supposed to meet a woman on a certain corner. When the woman doesn’t show up, he thinks he’s been stood up. It turns out he was just standing on the WRONG corner and is now a “fool in the rain.”
This song was never performed live because the group didn’t think the sound came off well. The piano was quite necessary in the song, but with John Paul Jones on piano there could be no bass, and the bass is very important in this one. There is also a twelve-string line at one point in the song and the guitar solo that has to be pulled off. The middle section was another issue.
Jimmy Page used regular distortion on this song, as well as an obscure effect called a called a blue box, which is a fuzz/octave pedal. This fuzzes (or distorts) the guitar, then drops it down two whole octaves. James Taylor’s bassist has used this effect.
Mexican rockers Mana recorded this for the Spanish language market edition of the tribute album Encomium.
Here are the two songs.
Fool In The Rain
Oh, baby Well there’s a light in your eye that keeps shining Like a star that can’t wait for night I hate to think I been blinded baby Why can’t I see you tonight? And the warmth of your smile starts a burning And the thrill of your touch give me fright And I’m shaking so much, really yearning Why don’t you show up and make it alright, yeah? It’s alright right
And if you promised you’d love so completely And you said you would always be true You swore that you never would leave me baby Whatever happened to you? And you thought it was only in movies As you wish all your dreams would come true, hey It ain’t the first time believe me baby I’m standing here feeling blue, blue ha! Yes I’m blue Oh, babe
Now I will stand in the rain on the corner I watch the people go shuffling downtown Another ten minutes no longer And then I’m turning around, ’round And the clock on the wall’s moving slower Oh, my heart it sinks to the ground And the storm that I thought would blow over Clouds the light of the love that I found, found
Light of the love that I found Light of the love that I found Oh, that I found
Hey, babe, ooh
Hand that ticks on the clock Just don’t seem to stop When I’m thinking it over Oh, tired of the light I just don’t seem to find Have you wait, yeah played Whoa, I see it in my dreams But I just don’t seem to be with you, you I gotta get it all, gotta get it all, gotta get it all I’ve got to get all
Ooh now my body is starting to quiver And the palms of my hands getting wet, oh I got no reason to doubt you baby It’s all a terrible mess And I’ll run in the rain till I’m breathless When I’m breathless I’ll run ’til I drop, hey! And the thoughts of a fool’s kind of careless I’m just a fool waiting on the wrong block, oh yeah
Hey, now, oh, oh, oh Light of the love that I found Light of the love that I found Light of the love that I Light of the love that I found Light of the hey, now light of the hey, now Light of the love that I found Light of the love that I found
What do the Monkees and Dwight Yoakum have in common? They both covered this song.
Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day is a song written by Tommy Boyce and Steve Venet that appears on The Monkees, the debut album of the Monkees.
Micky sang the lead on this song. He is the only Monkee on this recording but this setup fell away quickly as the band began to take ownership of their music and come into their own as musicians and songwriters by the 3rd album. This song has the same sound as Last Train To Clarksville…it is a nice pop song.
It was not released as a single but it was a solid song for the Monkees brand of pop.
Dwight Yoakam also covered this song. The song was on his album Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day and was released in the summer of 2016.
Tomorrow Is Gonna Be Another Day
I’m gonna pack up my pain, I been a keepin’ in my heart, I’m gonna catch me the fastest train And make me a brand new start But that’s okay, Tomorrow’s gonna be another day, Hey, hey, hey. And I don’t care what they say Tomorrow’s gonna be, tomorrow’s gonna be, Tomorrow’s gonna be another day. Yay, yay, yay, Yay, yay, yay.
They say there’s a lotta fish, Swimmin’ in the deep blue sea, I’m gonna catch me a pretty one And she’ll be good to me. But that’s okay, Tomorrow’s gonna be another day, Hey, hey, hey. And I don’t care what they say Tomorrow’s gonna be, tomorrow’s gonna be, Tomorrow’s gonna be another day. Yay, yay, yay, Yay, yay, yay.
Well, I ain’t gonna think about ya, ‘Cause it ain’t no use no more, I’m gonna make it fine without ya, Just like I did before, I’m on my way. Tomorrow’s gonna be another day, Hey, hey, hey. And I don’t care what they say Tomorrow’s gonna be, tomorrow’s gonna be, Tomorrow’s gonna be another day. Yay, yay, yay, Yay, yay, yay.
This song was on The Car’s great debut album that just keeps giving. “Good Times Roll” was released as the third single from the album.
Ric Ocasek wrote and sang lead on this song. None of the songs were huge hits but 6 songs off of the album still get played on radio today. Rolling Stone also ranked the album No. 284 in its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.
This song peaked at #41 in the Billboard 100 and #74 in Canada in 1979.
Ric Ocasek: “I just remember when we did ‘Good Times Roll’ in the studio in England on the first record, and we heard back the vocals. I told Roy that I thought it was way, way too much. … But you know, it grew on me later and it sounded so smooth. It was a nice process to do it because Roy, you know, was fortunate enough to have a 40-track machine … so he could do layering of vocals a lot.”
Good Times Roll
Let the good times roll Let them knock you around Let the good times roll Let them make you a clown
Let them leave you up in the air Let them brush your rock and roll hair
Let the good times roll Let the good times roll Let the good times roll
Let the stories be told They can say what they want Let the photos be old Let them show what they want
Let them leave you up in the air Let them brush your rock and roll hair Let the good times roll Let the good times roll-oll Won’t you let the good times roll
Good times roll
If the illusion is real Let them give you a ride If they got thunder appeal Let them be on your side
Let them leave you up in the air Let them brush your rock and roll hair Let the good times roll Won’t you let the good times roll-oll Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll Won’t you let the good times roll Well let the good times roll Let ’em roll (good times roll)
Let the good times roll Let the good times roll Ooh let the good times roll Let ’em roll (good times roll)
Let the good times roll (Let the good times roll) Let the good times roll Good times roll (Let the good times roll) Let the good times roll Let ’em roll
Yes, this has been played to death but it still sounds good. No frills rock and roll from the early seventies.
I have a new appreciation for the song. The guys come over…well before the lockdown…and play music in my garage. Someone brought this one up and started to play it a couple of months ago and we started to play…it is a great song to play and hear live.
The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, and #2 in the UK in 1970. It was featured on the Fire and Water album. In 1991, the song was remixed and re-released, reaching #8 in the UK again.
The song was written by Andy Fraser and Paul Rodgers.
This topped a 2010 online fan poll by UK radio station Planet Rock for the “Greatest Rock Singles.” Said Paul Rodgers: “When I started writing ‘All Right Now’ the lyrics and the melody flowed easily. It felt special and it’s still special to me and the fans. It’s a ‘must play’ in my solo set.”
Simon Kirke (Drummer):“‘All Right Now’ was created after a bad gig in Durham, England. Our repertoire at that time was mostly slow and medium paced blues songs which was alright if you were a student sitting quietly and nodding your head to the beat. However, we finished our show in Durham and walked off the stage to the sound of our own footsteps. The applause had died before I had even left the drum riser. When we got into the dressing room, it was obvious that we needed an uptempo number, a rocker to close our shows. All of sudden, the Inspiration struck (bass player Andy) Fraser, and he started bopping around singing ALL RIGHT NOW… He sat down and wrote it right there in the dressing room. It couldn’t have taken more than 10 minutes.”
Paul Kossoff was the guitar player and influenced a generation of guitar players before and after his early death in 1976.
From Songfacts
In the CD Molten Gold – An Anthology, Free drummer Simon Kirke explained:
Andy Fraser (Free’s Bass Player): “We’d started work on our third album, Fire and Water and things were going well. The idea for ‘All Right Now’ came about on a rainy Tuesday night in some god-forsaken minor city – I can’t remember where – in England. We were playing a college that could have held 2,000 but had something like 30 people out of their heads on Mandrax bumping into each other in front of us. They didn’t notice when we came on or when we went off.
Afterward, there was that horrible silence in the dressing room. To break the intensity, I started singing, ‘All right now…come on baby, all right now.’ As if to say, Hey, tomorrow’s another day. Everyone else started tapping along. That riff was me trying to do my Pete Townshend. We listened to everything, though: The Beatles, Stax and Motown, Gladys Knight And the Pips was one of our main influences then.
Paul (Rodgers) said he wrote the lyrics while he was waiting for us to pick him up for another gig. We used to have a dressing room amp, so every night we’d do the song and add a bit until we tested it live.”
This is the first hit song with vocals by Paul Rodgers. He later joined Bad Company and also played with The Firm and Queen.
This song really took off after Free’s performance at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31,1970 at the East Aftom Farm, Aftom Down, where over 600,000 people attended. Los Angeles disc jockey Joe Benson told Paul Rodgers during an on air interview that “All Right Now” is playing over the airwaves somewhere around the world once every 45 seconds.
Free weren’t able to follow up this song with another hit, as the next single, “Stealer,” stalled at #49 in America and didn’t chart at all in the UK. In a Songfacts interview with Simon Kirke, he said: “It became a bit of an albatross around our necks, I have to say. Even though it elevated Free into the big leagues, it became a bit of an albatross because we couldn’t follow it. It became a huge hit all around the world, only because we wanted to have something that people could dance to, but then, of course, we had to follow it up, and Island Records were desperate for us to follow it up.
Really it was just a one-off for us, and when the follow-up to ‘All Right Now’ died a death – it was called “The Stealer” – and the album that followed, Fire and Water, from which ‘All Right Now’ was taken, when that didn’t do very well, we took it to heart and the band broke up. So, in an indirect way, ‘All Right Now’ was not very good for the band, I have to say.
But, by the same token, it’s been such a durable song. I play it in my solo shows, I played it with Ringo Starr and I think one of the highlights of my career.”
The album version is over a minute longer than the radio edit, which had a shorter guitar solo.
The song has soundtracked numerous commercials in the UK, most famously in 1990 when it featured in a TV ad for Wrigley’s chewing gum, which generated enough interest to return the tune to the UK charts. “I can’t keep track of where it’s turned up,” Paul Rodgers ruefully told The Independent April 7, 2010. “Island Records owned the publishing rights to all our songs in perpetuity. In theory, they’re supposed to call me and ask, ‘Can we use this song in this way?’ but they often don’t. I think if the money’s good enough, they just go, ‘Yes! Wrigley’s? YES!!'”
A less satisfactorily tie-in came when the song was used to advertise a foot-odor powder on television. “You use this stuff on your feet and the song comes on to signify that your feet are All Right Now, you see,” Rogers said acidly. “I rang Chris Blackwell about it. He had it taken off pretty smartly.”
The song has been covered by many bands and artists, including Mike Oldfield, Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilera, the Runaways and, ex-Wham! backing singers Pepsi & Shirlie.
When Paul Rodgers teamed up with Queen in 2004 to tour as Queen + Paul Rodgers, this was a regular part of their set list and a crowd favorite.
It’s Alright Now
There she stood in the street Smiling from her head to her feet I said hey, what is this Now baby, maybe she’s in need of a kiss I said hey, what’s your name baby Maybe we can see things the same Now don’t you wait or hesitate Let’s move before they raise the parking rate
All right now baby, it’s all right now All right now baby, it’s all right now
I took her home to my place Watching every move on her face She said look, what’s your game baby Are you tryin’ to put me in shame? I said “slow don’t go so fast, Don’t you think that love can last? She said Love, Lord above Now you’re tryin’ to trick me in love
All right now baby, it’s all right now All right now baby, it’s all right now
Yeah, it’s all right now Oh yeah
Let me tell you all about now Took her home to my place Watching every move on her face She said look, what’s your game Are you tryin’ to put me in shame? Baby,I said “slow don’t go so fast Don’t you think that love can last? She said love, Lord above Now he’s tryin’ to trick me in love
All right now baby, it’s all right now All right now baby, it’s all right now
All right now baby, it’s all right now All right now baby,baby,baby it’s all right now All right now baby, it’s all right now All right now baby, it’s all right now (All right now baby, it’s all right now) We are so happy together it’s alright,it’s alright,it’s alright (Everything alright) all right now baby, it’s all right now
I remember this song from the late 80s. The best I can remember it was on an alternative radio station. It’s a nice piece of jangly power pop that stuck with me for a while.
They are best known for this song…Crash and it was released in 1988. The song peaked at #5 in the Uk charts and #3 in the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. They were not a one-hit-wonder though. They charted 5 top twenty songs in the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks…and charted 7 songs in the UK in their career but none as big as this one.
I f you like jangly power-pop like me…go check some of their vintage and new music out.
The Primitives formed during 1984 and created catchy and jangly songs that seemed to be influenced by 1960s pop and psychedelia. They were initially called an indie group and released their songs on their own label which was called Lazy.
The band then went on to sign with RCA records. While at RCA they released more original material but also re-recorded some of their earlier Lazy label songs.
They broke up in 1992 but reformed in 2009 and have been releasing albums and singles since then.
In 1994, the song was featured on the Dumb & Dumber movie soundtrack as “Crash (The ’95 Mix)”. This remix included additional guitars, percussion, organ, and backing vocals – none of which were performed by any of The Primitives.
Crash
Here you go, way too fast Don’t slow down, you’re gonna crash You should watch, watch your step Don’t look out, gonna break your neck
So shut, shut your mouth Cause I’m not listening anyhow I’ve had enough, enough of you Enough to last a lifetime through
So what do you want of me Got no words of sympathy And if I go around with you You know that I get messed up, too With you
Na na na na na na na na na Na na na na na na na na na
Here you go, way too fast Don’t slow down, you’re gonna crash You don’t know what’s been going down You’ve been running all over town
So shut, shut your mouth Cause I’m not listening anyhow I’ve had enough, enough of you Enough to last a lifetime through [Lyrics from: https:/lyrics.az/the-primitives/lovely/crash.html]
So what do you want of me Got no cure for misery And if I go around with you You know that I get messed up, too With you With you With you
Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash) Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash) Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash) Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash)
Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash) Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash) Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash) Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash) Na na na na na na na na na (Slow down, you’re gonna crash)
