I haven’t featured many garage rock songs in a while so I wanted to include this one. There was such an explosion of garage rock bands in the 60s and some were lucky enough to be heard if only for a brief while. They made their mark on rock music and their music is still played and still inspire bands today.
Roky Erickson co-founded the 13th Floor Elevators in late 1965 in Austin Texas. He and bandmate Tommy Hall were the main songwriters. Early in her career, singer Janis Joplin considered joining the Elevators, but Family Dog’s Chet Helms persuaded her to go to San Francisco, California instead where she joined Big Brother and the Holding Company.
I’ve noticed a lot of these bands have singers who have a sound like a young Mick Jagger or young Van Morrison with Them…
Many of these bands were punk long before punk.
This song peaked at #55 in the Billboard 100 in 1966. This would be their only charting single.
You’re Gonna Miss Me
Oh yeah!
Ahh!
You’re gonna wake up one morning as the sun greets the dawn.
You’re gonna wake up one morning as the sun greets the dawn.
You’re gonna look around in your mind, girl, you’re gonna find that
I’m gone.
You didn’t realize,
You didn’t realize,
You didn’t realize,
You didn’t realize,
You didn’t realize.
Oh! you’re gonna miss me, baby.
Oh! you’re gonna miss me, baby.
Oh! you’re gonna miss me, child, yeah, yeah.
I gave you the warning,
But you never heeded it.
How can you say you miss my lovin,
When you never needed it?
Yeah! Yeah! Ow!
You’re gonna wake up wonderin’,
Find yourself all alone,
But what’s gonna stop me, baby?
I’m not comin’ home.
I’m not comin’ home.
I’m not comin’ home.
Oh, oh, oh, yeah!
The main thing I like about the song is the guitar. It has a slight Chuck Berry feel to it and I like the fills the guitar player throws in. The band signed with Warner Brothers and the label wanted a soft country sound like the Eagles but the band refused to change it’s raw style.
Hot Rod Lincoln was originally written by Charlie Ryan. It was first recorded and released by Charlie Ryan and The Livingston Brothers in 1955. This was the only hit for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, who were a County-Rock group formed at the University of Michigan. Commander Cody is the lead singer and piano player George Frayne.
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen are still out there touring now.
The song peaked at #9 in the Billboard 100 and #7 in Canada in 1972.
From Songfacts
It tells the second half of the story started by the song “Hot Rod Race,” recorded in 1951 by Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys, as referenced by the opening: “Have you heard this story of the Hot Rod Race, when Fords and Lincolns was settin’ the pace? That story is true, I’m here to say; I was drivin’ that Model A.” While the song tells of a race between a Lincoln and a Cadillac on the Grapevine grade in California, the actual location was on the Lewiston grade in Idaho.
The most iconic line from the song is: “Son, you’re gonna drive me to drinkin’ if you don’t stop drivin’ that Hot Rod Lincoln!”
Was there really a “hot-rod Lincoln?” Yes and no. Actually, it was a rebuilt car with the body of a Model “A” coupe set into the frame of a 1941 Lincoln, along with a “hopped-up” Lincoln engine block. However, at the time of this song’s writing, Ryan built a second car, this time with a chop-shop melding of a 1930 Model “A” Ford coupe and a wrecked 1948 Lincoln. It is this second restored car with which has Ryan toured.
Both the songs “Hot Rod Lincoln” and “Hot Rod Race” are defining anthems of the hot rod community and 1950s car song culture. “Hot Rod Lincoln” has appeared in the soundtracks to The Beverley Hillbillies and MTV’s Beavis and Butthead.
Hot Rod Lincoln
My pappy said, “Son, you’re gonna’ drive me to drinkin’
If you don’t stop drivin’ that Hot Rod Lincoln.”
Have you heard this story of the Hot Rod Race
When Fords and Lincolns was settin’ the pace.
That story is true, I’m here to say
I was drivin’ that Model A.
It’s got a Lincoln motor and it’s really souped up.
That Model A Vitimix makes it look like a pup.
It’s got eight cylinders; uses them all.
It’s got overdrive, just won’t stall.
With a 4-barrel carb and a dual exhaust,
With 4.11 gears you can really get lost.
It’s got safety tubes, but I ain’t scared.
The brakes are good, tires fair.
Pulled out of San Pedro late one night
The moon and the stars was shinin’ bright.
We was drivin’ up Grapevine Hill
Passing cars like they was standing still.
All of a sudden in a wink of an eye
A Cadillac sedan passed us by.
I said, “Boys, that’s a mark for me!”
By then the taillight was all you could see.
Now the fellas was ribbin’ me for bein’ behind,
So I thought I’d make the Lincoln unwind.
Took my foot off the gas and man alive,
I shoved it on down into overdrive.
Wound it up to a hundred-and-ten
My speedometer said that I hit top end.
My foot was blue, like lead to the floor.
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more.
Now the boys all thought I’d lost my sense
And telephone poles looked like a picket fence.
They said, “Slow down! I see spots!
The lines on the road just look like dots.”
Took a corner; sideswiped a truck,
Crossed my fingers just for luck.
My fenders was clickin’ the guardrail posts.
The guy beside me was white as a ghost.
Smoke was comin’ from out of the back
When I started to gain on that Cadillac.
Knew I could catch him, I thought I could pass.
Don’t you know by then we’d be low on gas?
We had flames comin’ from out of the side.
Feel the tension. Man! What a ride!
I said, “Look out, boys, I’ve got a license to fly!”
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by.
Now all of a sudden she started to knockin’,
And down in the dips she started to rockin’.
I looked in my mirror; a red light was blinkin’
The cops was after my Hot Rod Lincoln!
They arrested me and they put me in jail.
And called my pappy to throw my bail.
And he said, “Son, you’re gonna’ drive me to drinkin’
If you don’t stop drivin’ that hot rod Lincoln!”
I first found this song on Simon and Garfunkel’s greatest hits. At times everyone could relate to this song. Beautiful melody along with lyrics about someone shutting themselves from life. The verse I’ve built walls, A fortress deep and mighty, That none may penetrate, I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain, I am a rock, I am an island… says it all.
The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, #2 in New Zealand, and #17 in the Uk in 1966.
In the UK, this was released three times in a one year span: first as the original Paul Simon single in 1965, then in the summer of 1966, it was released as an EP and again as a single. The song was very popular there in 1966, but the chart position suffered because the sales of the single were diluted by multiple releases.
From Songfacts
This song is about a recluse locking himself away from the world. When he says, “I am a rock, I am an island,” he means away from everything and everyone. It’s far from autobiographical, as Paul Simon was doing his best to write a hit song with this effort, and didn’t write it for himself. The use of the word “rock” is interesting in that Simon considered himself a folk singer, and didn’t associate himself with rock music. In the vast majority of songs with the word “rock” in the lyrics, it is used to imply music or lifestyle, but for Simon, it was just a piece of stone. He did the same thing in 1973 for his song “Loves Me Like A Rock.”
This song has one of more perplexing histories of recordings and releases. Written by Paul Simon before he hit it big as a musician, the song was offered to the duo Chad and Jeremy, who turned it down. Simon then recorded it himself for his UK solo album (released in America 1981) The Paul Simon Songbook, which was released in the UK in August 1965. The single was issued in September but didn’t chart despite a performance by Simon on the show Ready, Steady. Go!
Simon was going solo at this time because the Simon & Garfunkel 1964 debut album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. had stiffed, and the duo split up. Late in 1965, the producer Tom Wilson overdubbed and remixed a track from that album, “The Sound Of Silence,” and it became a huge hit. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were summoned back to the studio, where they recorded the singles “I Am A Rock” and “Homeward Bound,” which were included on their Sound of Silence album. These songs were recorded with producer Bob Johnston at one of the Columbia Records studios in New York City, and now released with a more contemporary sound, “I Am A Rock” became a hit for the duo.
The guitarist on the Simon & Garfunkel hit version of this song was Ralph Casale, who was a top session player in the ’60s. He remembers organist Al Kooper and drummer Bobby Gregg – both associated with Bob Dylan – also performing on the song. Describing the sessions, Ralph told us: “The band was booked from 7:00 p.m. into the wee hours of the morning. I was given a lead sheet for ‘I Am A Rock’ with just chords and asked to play the electric twelve string guitar. The producer wanted a sound similar to the Byrds. It was important that session players became familiar with the current hits because many times producers describe the style they want by referring to well known groups. Paul Simon sang the figure he wanted me to play between verses and asked me to play it in thirds. The rest was left to me. ‘Homeward Bound’ was on that same date.”
I Am A Rock
A winter’s day In a deep and dark December I am alone Gazing from my window to the streets below On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow I am a rock I am an island
I’ve built walls A fortress deep and mighty That none may penetrate I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain I am a rock I am an island
Don’t talk of love But I’ve heard the words before It’s sleeping in my memory I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings that have died If I never loved I never would have cried I am a rock I am an island
I have my books And my poetry to protect me I am shielded in my armor Hiding in my room, safe within my womb I touch no one and no one touches me I am a rock I am an island
And a rock feels no pain And an island never cries
This song was off the 2012 album Temptest. Bob wrote this song with Robert Hunter, the Grateful Dead lyricist. The album peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts. My son is who called my attention to this one. Unlike some other older performers, Bob somehow stays relevant to the times.
The memorable video is directed by Nash Edgerton. Bob looks just really cool in this video as he leads some kind of gang.
The song refers to the Duquesne train service that used to run between New York Penn and Pittsburgh Penn Stations, which was named after the 18th century Fort Duquesne in the latter city. That route is now served by the daily Amtrack Pennsylvanian service.
From Songfacts
The bluesy song The lyrics show Dylan’s distaste at times a changing’. “Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing,” he demands. “Blowing like it’s gonna sweep my world away.”
The Nash Edgerton-directed music video is set on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Dylan appears briefly throughout the clip.
The line, “I’m gonna stop at Carbondale and keep on going” refers to Carbondale, Pennsylvania, in the northeast corner of the state. Like all of the region, it’s now a small rust belt town, but at the time when the Duquesne train line was running, Carbondale was fat off the anthracite coal industry.
Duquesne Whistle
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it’s gonna sweep my world away I’m gonna stop at Carbondale and keep on going That Duquesne train gon’ rock me night and day
You say I’m a gambler, you say I’m a pimp But I ain’t neither one
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Sound like it’s on a final run
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like she never blowed before Little light blinking, red light glowing Blowing like she’s at my chamber door
You smiling through the fence at me Just like you’ve always smiled before
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like she ain’t gon’ blow no more
Can’t you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing? Blowing like the sky’s gonna blow apart You’re the only thing alive that keeps me going You’re like a time bomb in my heart
I can hear a sweet voice steadily calling Must be the mother of our Lord
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like my woman’s on board
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it’s gon’ blow my blues away You’re a rascal, I know exactly where you’re going I’ll lead you there myself at the break of day
I wake up every morning with that woman in my bed Everybody telling me she’s gone to my head
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like it’s gon’ kill me dead
Can’t you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing? Blowing through another no good town
The lights on my native land are glowing I wonder if they’ll know me next time ’round I wonder if that old oak tree’s still standing That old oak tree, the one we used to climb
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing Blowing like she’s blowing right on time
Some songs make you think about social issues, some make you feel good, some make you sad, some make you think of certain people…and some take you back to a place in time when you first remember it. This one does the later for me. It’s not Elton’s best single whatsoever but I heard it a lot later on when I was 13 and I’m 13 again when I hear it and it’s 1980. I must have heard it before many times but it took hold for some reason then.
This came along in the fifties revival that happened in the 1970s. This is not a type of song I would normally like but it transports me back and I like it.
Crocodile Rock was a fifties sounding single that was a massive hit. It peaked in 1972 at #1 in the Billboard 100, #5 in the UK, #1 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand.
Elton and Bernie Taupin wrote the song.
Bernie Taupin “a strange dichotomy because I don’t mind having created it, but it’s not something I would listen to.”
From Songfacts
This tells the story of a guy in the ’50s and ’60s who frequented a restaurant where the patrons loved an obscure dance called the Crocodile Rock. Because of all the events that happened in the ’60s, however, this unknown little dance forever vanished into history and no one cared anymore. Even his girlfriend, who also enjoyed “burning up to the Crocodile Rock,” left him. It’s a catchy little song with really sad lyrics.
There is a distinct ’50s musical theme in this song. Elton said that it contains flavors of a lot of his favorite early rock songs, including “Little Darlin’,” “At The Hop” and “Oh Carol,” as well as songs by The Beach Boys and Eddie Cochran. The title is a play on the Bill Haley song “See You Later Alligator” – Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock” even gets a mention, as that’s what the other kids were listening to while our hero was doing the Crocodile Rock.
This was the first of many #1 singles by Elton John in the US. His first in the UK came in 1976 with Kiki Dee (“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”). His first solo #1 in the UK was “Sacrifice” in 1990.
The falsetto hook from Pat Boone’s 1962 hit, “Speedy Gonzales” has some similar “La La”s, and that song’s writers spoke out, accusing Elton of plagiarism. There was no legal action taken, and Elton has copped to the influence, saying “Crocodile Rock” was “a really blatant homage to ‘Speedy Gonzales’ and all the great ’50s and ’60s records that we used to love.”
A precursor to this song is Elton’s 1970 single “Rock And Roll Madonna,” which pays tribute to the musical form. “This time I wanted to do something that was a send-up of the early ’60s rather than an out-and-out rocker,” he told Beat Instrumental. I wanted it to be a tribute to all those people I used to go and see as a kid. That’s why I used the Del Shannon-type vocals and that bit from Pat Boone’s ‘Speedy Gonzales.'”
Elton added: “We also tried to get the worst organ sound possible… something like Johnny and The Hurricanes used to manage to produce. This type of song is actually a very hard thing to write because the temptation is to try too hard and go berserk.”
Don McLean has mentioned that this is similar to his hit “American Pie,” which came out the previous year. Both songs are about young people in the ’50s obsessed with rock n’ roll, but disappointed when the music “dies.” Both songs also feature a Chevy. Elton admits the song is highly derivative because it’s about the things he grew up with. In Elton John: The Definitive Biography, Elton is quoted as saying: “I wanted it to be a record about all the things I grew up with. Of course, it’s a rip-off.”
Elton performed this on The Muppet Show when he appeared on a Season Two episode in 1977. A very popular song with kids, it made for a great opening number, with Elton performing in a swamp with a crocodile chorus.
This song helped send the Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player album to #1 on both sides of the Atlantic. It was Elton’s first #1 in the UK, but Honky Chateau went to #1 in the US earlier that year.
A few “firsts” are attributed to both the song and album. It was the first song released as a single on the MCA label (catalog #40000) after MCA dissolved its Uni (Elton John’s previous label), Decca, Kapp and Coral labels. It was also MCA’s first #1 song as well as Elton John’s first #1. >>
There is a Crocodile Rock in The Philippines, which from the right angle, looks like an enormous croc.
Partial inspiration for this song is the Australian band Daddy Cool and their hit single “Eagle Rock,” which Elton discovered on his 1972 tour to Australia. In the artwork for the Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player packaging, there is a shot of Bernie Taupin wearing a badge that says “Daddy Who?”
The sheer popularity of this song caused a backlash against it in some circles – notably disc jockeys who had to play it over and over. Stations used to determine what songs they would play by using “auditorium testing,” where listeners were gathered into a big room and played hooks from different songs, which they would then rate. This song always got very high marks, which embedded it onto playlists and drove some DJs to hate it.
The odd thing is that Elton has a very deep catalog filled not just with meaningful hits, but with more obscure songs that many listeners enjoy. “It was just a one-off thing,” Elton said of “Crocodile Rock,” adding, “It became a huge hit record, and in the long run, it became a negative for me.”
Elton has described this song as “disposable pop.” Bernie Taupin gave his thoughts in a 1989 interview with Music Connection. Said Taupin: “I don’t want people to remember me for ‘Crocodile Rock.’ I’d much rather they remember me for songs like ‘Candle In The Wind’ and ‘Empty Garden,’ songs that convey a message. Well, they don’t really need to convey a message, as long as they can convey a feeling. But there are things like ‘Crocodile Rock,’ which was fun at the time, but it was pop fluff. It was like, ‘Okay, that was fun for now, throw it away, and here’s the next one. So there’s a certain element of our music that is disposable, but I think you’ll find that in anybody’s catalog.”
One of Elton’s more memorable performances of this song took place on September 7, 1973 at the Hollywood Bowl. As Elton played from his piano, a few feet behind him, sound engineer Clive Franks played the electric piano while wearing an enormous crocodile head.
The Baha Men recorded a new version of this for the film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course with new lyrics that described the life of Steve Irwin. Ironically, “Suzie” (the girl described in this song) is the name of Steve Irwin’s dog, who appears frequently on the series.
Elton John – Crocodile Rock
I remember when rock was young Me and Suzie had so much fun Holding hands and skimming stones Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own But the biggest kick I ever got Was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock While the other kids were Rocking Round the Clock We were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock
Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking When your feet just can’t keep still I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will Oh Lawdy mama those Friday nights When Suzie wore her dresses tight And the Crocodile Rocking was out of sight
But the years went by and the rock just died Suzie went and left us for some foreign guy Long nights crying by the record machine Dreaming of my Chevy and my old blue jeans But they’ll never kill the thrills we’ve got Burning up to the Crocodile Rock Learning fast as the weeks went past We really thought the Crocodile Rock would last
Well Crocodile Rocking is something shocking When your feet just can’t keep still I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will Oh Lawdy mama those Friday nights When Suzie wore her dresses tight And the Crocodile Rocking was out of sight
I had this post started since last year but never posted. I saw another blog yesterday mentioning Leon’s passing at 69 years old on Thursday. I never bought a record by him but I loved his songs and his appearances on Saturday Night Live in the 70s. This was back when Lorne Michaels would actually take a chance and let someone play that wasn’t on the charts or “hot.”
I have a friend…Chris who would play his songs on guitar and sometimes goof around on popular songs in Leon’s style. Redbone was one of a kind and a part of my childhood growing up.
He was a hell of a guitar player that played in a twenties – forties jazz and blues style along with his deep voice.
This was on Leon’s website…
“It is with heavy hearts we announce that early this morning, May 30th 2019, Leon Redbone crossed the delta for that beautiful shore at the age of 127. He departed our world with his guitar, his trusty companion Rover, and a simple tip of his hat. He’s interested to see what Blind Blake, Emmett, and Jelly Roll have been up to in his absence, and has plans for a rousing sing along number with Sári Barabás. An eternity of pouring through texts in the Library of Ashurbanipal will be a welcome repose, perhaps followed by a shot or two of whiskey with Lee Morse, and some long overdue discussions with his favorite Uncle, Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites. To his fans, friends, and loving family who have already been missing him so in this realm he says, ” Oh behave yourselves. Thank you…. and good evening everybody.”
Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone
Please don’t talk about me when I’m gone, oh honey
Though our friendship ceases from now on
If you can’t say anything real nice, it’s better
Not to talk at all, is my advice
You go your way I’ll go mine, best we do
Here’s a kiss, I hope that this brings lots of luck to you
Makes no difference, how I carry on
Please don’t talk about me when I’m gone
You go your way I’ll go mine, best we do
Here’s a kiss, I hope that this brings lots of luck to you
Makes no difference, how I carry on
Please don’t talk about me when I’m gone
It’s hard not to like John Prine. This is a brilliant song…for him to think of this and write about it shows he thinks outside of the box. The song is included on the album “Sweet Revenge” released in 1973… it peaked at #135.
I have a one John Prine story. A friend of mine named Chris went to see John Prine and Arlo Guthrie in the ’90s and met John in the parking lot after the concert. Prine was really talkative and asked Chris if he could boost his car off…which, of course, he did. Chris told me he was really down to earth and a genuinely nice guy.
Dear Abby for those of you who may be too young to remember was an American Advice Columnist. Her real name was Pauline Phillips who went under the pen name “Abigail Van Buren”. people would write in and tell her their troubles and she would answer back in the newspaper. Her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, now owns the legal rights to the pen name.
From Songfacts
Prine’s song about an assortment of miserable people who write letters to the renowned advice columnist was recorded during a live gig at New York’s State University after a studio session didn’t pan out. Prine explained in an interview with Performing Songwriter: “The studio version of that was cut with a band, and it was real stiff and humorless. We cut it once, live, and that was it. That was the power of the song, in the way people would turn their heads the minute I’d get to the first verse, the first chords. That was the reason we used the live version.”
Prine found inspiration when he happened upon a “Dear Abby” column while on a trip to Rome, Italy. He said:
“I was in Europe and my first wife and I stopped in Rome for the day. I wanted a newspaper and all they had was the International Herald Tribune which is all the tragic news in the world crammed into six pages with no sports results and no comics. And yet here’s ‘Dear Abby.’ She was the only relief in the whole paper. and that’s where I wrote most of the song – in Rome, Italy that is.”
“Years later somebody took the verse about the guy whose stomach makes noises, wrote it just out of kilter enough so it didn’t rhyme, and send it to ‘Dear Abby.’ And she answered it in her column. She suggested that he seek professional help. She got loads of letters from people who knew the song and told her she’d been had.”
Dear Abby
Dear Abby, dear Abby My feet are too long My hair’s falling out and my rights are all wrong My friends they all tell me that I’ve no friends at all Won’t you write me a letter, won’t you give me a call Signed bewildered
Bewildered, bewildered
You have no complaint You are what your are and you ain’t what you ain’t So listen up buster, and listen up good Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood
Dear Abby, dear Abby My fountain pen leaks My wife hollers at me and my kids are all freaks Every side I get up on is the wrong side of bed If it weren’t so expensive I’d wish I were dead Signed unhappy
Unhappy, unhappy
Dear Abby, dear Abby You won’t believe this But my stomach makes noises whenever I kiss My girlfriend tells me it’s all in my head But my stomach tells me to write you instead Signed noise-maker
Noise-maker, noise-maker
Dear Abby, dear Abby Well I never thought That me and my girlfriend would ever get caught We were sitting in the back seat just shooting the breeze With her hair up in curlers and her pants to her knees Signed just married
I’ve always liked this song and album. I saw them on this tour and it would be the only time I got to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The song is a cautionary tale about stardom and the record business. The album of the same name peaked at #13 in 1991. This was the first Heartbreakers album since Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) in 1987. Tom Petty released his solo album Full Moon Fever two years before this.
The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard Album Rock Tracks.
The video to the song was well made. Petty later commented that he was approached about making a movie out of the song. The video not only featured Johnny Depp but also Faye Dunaway.
From Songfacts
“‘Into The Great Wide Open’ had a lot of dark humor,” Tom Petty told Mojo in 2009.
The song tells the story of a guy named Eddie who moves to Los Angeles, meets a girl and becomes a rock star. On their journey, there is a struggle, but always a possibility, as the future is wide open. Eddie plays from the heart, and it pays off with a record deal and a hit. But once he’s achieved his dream, the sky is no longer the limit, as his A&R man spouts that industry cliché, “I don’t hear a single.”
Petty, who knows a thing or two about record company machinations, leaves it to the listener to decide what happens next. There’s a good chance it doesn’t go so well for Eddie.
In the music video, Johnny Depp stars as Eddie. It was directed by Julien Temple and also features Faye Dunaway as Eddie’s manager, Gabrielle Anwar as his girlfriend, and appearances by Matt LeBlanc, Terence Trent D’Arby and Chynna Phillips. As in many of his videos, Tom Petty opens the book to reveal the story. In this one, Petty also plays the roadie Bart, the tattoo artist, and the reporter.
In the video, Eddie becomes a boorish narcissist and his career tanks. Dropped by his label, he goes into the same tattoo parlor where he started and sees himself inking up a newcomer (LeBlanc).
This was the first music video in which Johnny Depp starred. He was a big deal at the time (it was after Edward Scissorhands but before What’s Eating Gilbert Grape), and Petty remarked, “I never met so many women in my life as when we had Johnny Depp in this video.”
Depp later featured in videos for Lemonheads (“It’s A Shame About Ray”), Johnny Cash (“God’s Gonna Cut You Down”) and Alice Cooper (“I’ll Bite Your Face Off”). He also played guitar on songs by a number of high-profile artists, including Oasis (“Fade In-Out”), Patti Smith (“Banga”) and Paul McCartney (“My Valentine”).
This was used in the 2013 Family Guy episode “12 and a Half Angry Men.”
Into The Great Wide Open
Eddie waited till he finished high school He went to Hollywood, got a tattoo He met a girl out there with a tattoo too The future was wide open
They moved into a place they both could afford He found a nightclub he could work at the door She had a guitar and she taught him some chords The sky was the limit
Into the great wide open Under them skies of blue Out in the great wide open A rebel without a clue
The papers said Ed always played from the heart He got an agent and a roadie named Bart They made a record and it went in the charts The sky was the limit
His leather jacket had chains that would jingle They both met movie stars, partied and mingled Their A&R man said “I don’t hear a single” The future was wide open
Into the great wide open Under them skies of blue Out in the great wide open A rebel without a clue
Into the great wide open Under them skies of blue Into the great wide open A rebel without a clue
What hooked me on this song was the guitar riff played by Mick Ronson. Bowie said that the song is “about the ultimate rock superstar destroyed by the fanaticism he creates.”
The song is off of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and it peaked at #75 in the Billboard 100 in 1973 and #5 in the UK in 1972.
Ziggy Stardust is a character Bowie created with the help of his then-wife, Angela. The character’s name was inspired by the 1960s psychobilly musician, Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Bowie performed under the Stardust persona for about a year.
In 2010 the song ranked at No. 282 on Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
In the middle of this period, Bowie was itching to move on from Ziggy. “I’d said all I could say about Ziggy,” Bowie said. “I’m very tempted to go further with this Ziggy thing only because it’s so popular, but actually, it’s not what I really want to do. I’ve created this bloody thing, how do I sort of get out of it?” He soon did… Bowie abandoned Ziggy and re-imagined himself again. “He really grew, sort of out of proportion — got much bigger than I thought Ziggy was going to be,” “Ziggy just overshadowed everything.”
Bowie said that Ziggy “wouldn’t leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to go sour … My whole personality was affected. It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity.”
From Songfacts
This specific song is about Stardust growing too conceited: “Making love with his ego, Ziggy sucked up into his mind.” Stardust’s band, The Spiders From Mars, consequently plan to get revenge on the egotistical front man: “So we bitched about his fans, and should we crush his sweet hands?”
Iggy Pop (note the name: zIGGY), Lou Reed, Marc Bolan, Gene Vincent and Jimi Hendrix (“He played it left hand, but made it too far” – Hendrix was left-handed), were all likely influences on the character Ziggy Stardust, but the only musician Bowie admits was a direct influence is Vince Taylor, an English singer who took the “rock star” persona to the extreme, calling himself Mateus and declaring himself the son of God. Taylor was popular in France in the early ’60s, and Bowie met him in 1966 after his popularity had faded.
Bowie-based the clothes, hair, and makeup of Ziggy Stardust on the Malcolm McDowell character in A Clockwork Orange, and on William Burroughs book Wild Boys. Some of the posturings were inspired by Gene Vincent, a rockabilly star who injured his leg in a 1960 car accident that killed Eddie Cochran. When Bowie saw Vincent in concert, he was wearing a leg brace and had to stand with his injured leg behind him; Bowie appropriated this stance, calling it “position number one for the embryonic Ziggy.”
“Weird and Gilly” were two of Bowie’s bandmates in The Spiders From Mars: bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Woody Woodmansey.
This song and the Ziggy Stardust persona as a whole was a major influence on glam rock bands like T-Rex and Suede. Glam rock was characterized by outrageous costumes, flamboyant stage antics, and sexual ambiguity.
Bowie was very theatrical and a student of acting and mime. He admitted that the Ziggy character was his way of dealing with the mental health issues that plagued his family – he basically went into character so he wouldn’t go crazy. “One puts oneself through such psychological damage in trying to avoid the threat of insanity,” Bowie said. “As long as I could put those psychological excesses into my music and into my work, I could always be throwing it off.” After a while, Ziggy started to scare David, as he was getting engrossed in the persona. He was afraid that the blurring of Stardust and Bowie would lead to madness, and on July 3, 1973, David did his last show as Ziggy at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The show was made into a movie directed by D.A. Pennebaker called Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. It was released on DVD in 2003. For years Bowie would not look at tapes of himself performing as Ziggy Stardust, but when he finally did, he thought they were hilarious.
The album cover shows David Bowie (dressed as Ziggy Stardust) standing outside the furriers, K. West, which was located at 23 Heddon Street, London. In March 2012, a plaque honoring Ziggy Stardust was installed where the K. West sign once hung. This plaque is one of the few in the UK dedicated to a fictional character.
While doing an interview in character as Ziggy Stardust, Bowie admitted he was gay. This gave him a great deal of publicity, even though it was not entirely true. Bowie later married the model, Iman.
Bauhaus recorded a version of this song in 1982 that hit #15 in the UK. The song has also been recorded by Def Leppard, Nina Hagen, and Hootie And The Blowfish.
A production error meant a live version of this song was left off some copies of the 3-CD set Bowie At The Beeb. Bowie later made the track available for download to those fans who did not get it on the album.
This never charted because it was not released as a single. Many British acts at the time focused on albums and tried to limit the number of singles they issued.
There is a plaque outside the pub in London where Bowie created the Ziggy Stardust character. Bowie performed there when it was The Three Tuns. It is now called The Rat And Parrot.
Ziggy Stardust
Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly And the spiders from Mars. He played it left hand But made it too far Became the special man, then we were Ziggy’s band
Now Ziggy really sang, screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo Like some cat from Japan, he could lick ’em by smiling He could leave ’em to hang ‘Came on so loaded man, well hung and snow white tan
So where were the spiders, while the fly tried to break our balls With just the beer light to guide us So we bitched about his fans and should we crush his sweet hands?
Ziggy played for time, jiving us that we were voodoo The kid was just crass, he was the nazz With God given ass He took it all too far but boy could he play guitar
Making love with his ego Ziggy sucked up into his mind Like a leper messiah When the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band
This song took a while to grow on me but it did and became one of my favorites from the White Album. The song is divided into three different sections that fit together and climaxing at the end with the great chorus Happiness is a warm gun (bang bang shoot shoot). It has a fifties sound with the backup vocals.
John saw an article in a gun magazine that George Martin had in the studio. The article was titled Happiness is a Warm Gun… John: “Wow! Incredible,’ you know, the fact that happiness was a warm gun that had just shot something or somebody…I thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say.”
The magazine in question was the May 1968 edition of “American Rifleman,” which contained an article entitled “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” This article, written by Warren W. Herlihy, relates the author’s pride in his 18-year-old son John who has been shooting guns since the age of seven.
The song seems to have had drug references in the song although John usually denied them. The line “I need a fix ’cause I’m going down” does point that direction. According to Paul and others around him at this time, John was into heroin.
Paul McCartney said: “and so his songs were taking on more references to heroin. Until that point, we had made rather mild, rather oblique references to pot or LSD. Now John started to be talking about fixes and monkeys and it was a harder terminology which the rest of us weren’t into. We were disappointed that he was getting into heroin because we didn’t really see how we could help him…It was a tough period for John, but often that adversity and that craziness can lead to good art, as I think it did in this case.”
The chorus is what won me over at first but the lyrics are fascinating in the first section.
She’s well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane. The man in the crowd with the multi-colored mirrors on his hobnail boots. Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy working overtime. A soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to the National Trust.
Lennon said that the Mother Superior jump the gun section was about Yoko.
John: “She was rabbiting on in the car one day, and I said, ‘mother superior jumped the gun again,’ because she’s always one jump ahead. So that was Yoko really. It was camp.”
The White Album was a stressful album to make but there were some fun and camaraderie during this time also. One such occasion was the recording of this song. All four Beatles have been quoted as saying they liked the song, Paul even naming it as the best on the White Album.
From Songfacts
In the last section of the song, the backing vocals are “Bang, Bang, Shoot, Shoot.”
A popular theory is that Lennon meant for this to be a drug metaphor for doing heroin:
“Needing a fix”
“Jump the gun” – meaning to cook it up
“Bang, Bang, SHOOT, SHOOT”
“When I hold you in my arm, nobody can do me no harm” – heroin addicts tell how when you’re on it, nothing can do you no harm and Lennon’s overall nature seem to point to this
This was banned by the BBC for sexual symbolism. They thought the gun was a phallic symbol.
The original line “When I hold you in my arms and feel my finger on your trigger…” appears in unreleased, bootlegged versions of “I’m So Tired” as “When I hold you in your arms, when you show me each one of your charms, I wonder should I get up, and go to the funny farm.” This could mean the line was originally sexual but was put in as a metaphor for a gun later on.
The final doo-wop chorus of this song has the exact same chord progression as “This Boy,” just in a different key.
The phrase “happiness is a warm gun” is a play on a Peanuts comic strip from 1960 where Lucy hugs Snoopy and says, “Happiness is a warm puppy.” That phrase became a popular slogan, appearing on mugs, T-shirts and lots of other merch.
Tori Amos covered this on her 2001 album Strange Little Girls. All the songs on the album were written by men – Amos took on different characters to interpret them from a woman’s point of view. Yoko Ono had to approve this, and she did.
The Breeders covered this on their 1990 album Pod.
This is the song that inspired 2Pac to cast his gun as his girlfriend in “Me and My Girlfriend”: “She’s the only woman I need!”
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
She’s not a girl who misses much Do do do do do do, oh yeah
She’s well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane.
The man in the crowd with the multi-colored mirrors on his hobnail boots.
Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy working overtime.
A soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to the National Trust.
I need a fix ’cause I’m going down Down to the bits that I left uptown I need a fix ’cause I’m going down
Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun Mother Superior jump the gun
Happiness is a warm gun (bang bang shoot shoot) Happiness is a warm gun, mama (bang bang shoot shoot) When I hold you in my arms (oh, yeah) And I feel my finger on your trigger (oh, yeah) I know nobody can do me no harm (oh, yeah) Because, (happiness) is a warm gun, mama (bang bang shoot shoot) Happiness is a warm gun, yes it is (bang bang shoot shoot)
Happiness is a warm, yes it is, gun Happiness (bang bang shoot shoot)
Well don’t you know that happiness (happiness) is a warm gun, (is a warm gun, yeah).
The intro and the harmonies are great in this song. One of my favorite CSN&Y songs. This song was written by Joni Mitchell. She did not perform at Woodstock. The fear of missing the Dick Cavett Show is what actually led to Joni Mitchell canceling a scheduled appearance at Woodstock. Her manager David Geffen convinced her that it was more important for her career to do the Cavett Show than it was to appear at Woodstock.
The song was on Déjà Vu that peaked at #1 in 1970. Woodstock peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100 in 1970.
Joni Mitchell: “I was one of the many who were thwarted,” “That was the place every kid wanted to be. I got to the airport with CSN and our agent, David Geffen, and our manager, Elliott, on a Sunday night. It was a catastrophe. I had to do The Dick Cavett Show the following day, and it was Geffen who decided we can’t get Joni out in time. So he took me back to his suite where he lived, and we watched it on TV. I was the deprived kid who couldn’t go, so I wrote it from the point of view of a kid going. If I had been there in the back room with all the egomaniacal crap that goes on backstage, I would not have had that perspective.”
From Songfacts
That Tuesday, Mitchell, David Crosby and Stephen Stills all appeared on The Dick Cavett Show. Crosby has said that he and Stills were talking about the festival, and Mitchell wrote the song based on their experience there. Mitchell, however, claimed that she wrote the song before the band returned.
Joni Mitchell watched coverage of the Woodstock festival from a New York City hotel room. She had given up religion long ago, but found herself going through a “born-again Christian trip” when she wrote this song. Said Mitchell: “Suddenly, as performers, we were in the position of having so many people look to us for leadership, and for some unknown reason, I took it seriously and decided I needed a guide and leaned on God. So I was a little ‘God mad’ at the time, for lack of a better term, and I had been saying to myself, ‘Where are the modern miracles?’ Woodstock, for some reason, impressed me as being a modern miracle, like a modern-day fishes-and-loaves story. For a herd of people that large to cooperate so well, it was pretty remarkable and there was tremendous optimism. So I wrote the song ‘Woodstock’ out of these feelings.”
Joni Mitchell released this the same year on Ladies of the Canyon. It was also the B-side to her song “Big Yellow Taxi.” Her version is much more basic than the CSN&Y release.
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s performance at Woodstock was only their second show together. Before forming the band, Crosby had been a member of The Byrds, Nash was with The Hollies, Stills and Young were members of Buffalo Springfield. Neil Young played with the group for only part of the set.
It may seem odd that the most famous song about Woodstock came from someone who wasn’t there, but Mitchell had a different perspective.
Without Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash returned to play Woodstock ’94. Other acts that played both festivals include Joe Cocker, The Band, and Santana.
Neil Young is not seen in the Woodstock movie even though he was there for part of the set. He strongly disagreed with the idea of the movie, so he declined to appear in it. If he were to play any songs in the movie, he’d have to be cropped out of frame. >>
The opening lyrics are a reference to the book of Matthew in which it says, “Blessed are those who try to make peace for they will be called children of God.”
In the UK the best-known version is the more country-rock flavored recording by Matthews’ Southern Comfort, which topped the British singles and peaked at #23 in the US. Ian Matthews had been the lead singer with Fairport Convention, leaving in 1969 to form Matthews’ Southern Comfort. He recalled in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner & Spencer Leigh: “I had bought Joni Mitchell’s album and we had to do four songs on a BBC lunchtime show. We worked up an arrangement for ‘Woodstock’ and the response was so good that we put it out as a single. Crosby, Stills & Nash’s record had just come out and so we waited to see what happened to that first.” In 1978 Matthews had a #13 hit in the US as a solo artist with “Shake It.”
Joni Mitchell’s no-show at Woodstock was sometimes reported as being caused by “transportation problems.” A persistent rumor was that James Taylor was supposed to give her a lift up the New York Thruway from her hotel in New York City, but Taylor was in a bad motorcycle accident on Martha’s Vineyard, breaking both arms and keeping him out from behind the wheel and away from the guitar for months. That was it for Joni’s trip to Woodstock.
In September 1969, Stephen Stills was invited to a Jimi Hendrix session at the Record Plant in New York. Stills burst into the session with a song Joni Mitchell had recently composed, titled “Woodstock.” Joined by Hendrix and Buddy Miles, the trio laid down the tune months before Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released their popular rendition. The Hendrix, Stills and Miles version can be heard on Both Sides of the Sky, a 2018 compilation of previously unheard Hendrix material.
Woodstock
Well, I came upon a child of God He was walking along the road And I asked him, Tell me, where are you going This he told me
Said, I’m going down to Yasgur’s Farm Gonna join in a rock and roll band Got to get back to the land and set my soul free
We are stardust, we are golden We are billion year old carbon And we got to get ourselves back to the garden
Well, then can I roam beside you? I have come to lose the smog, And I feel myself a cog in somethin’ turning And maybe it’s the time of year Yes and maybe it’s the time of man And I don’t know who I am But life is for learning
We are stardust, we are golden We are billion year old carbon And we got to get ourselves back to the garden
We are stardust, we are golden We are billion year old carbon And we got to get ourselves back to the garden
By the time we got to Woodstock We were half a million strong And everywhere was a song and a celebration And I dreamed I saw the bomber death planes Riding shotgun in the sky, Turning into butterflies Above our nation
We are stardust, we are golden We are caught in the devils bargain And we got to get ourselves back to the garden
Smokey has one of the best voices ever and he can write like no one else. Everyone from John Lennon to Bob Dylan was a fan. I had the single “Tears of a Clown” given to me as a kid by my cousin along with this one.
This song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 in 1967.
Al Cleveland and Smokey Robinson wrote this song. It was inspired by a trip to a department store. Robinson and Cleveland were shopping at a Detroit department store. Smokey found a set of pearls for his wife, Claudette. “They’re beautiful,” he said to the salesperson. “I sure hope she likes them.” Cleveland then added, “I second that emotion.” and the song was born.
From Songfacts
“I second that motion” is a common phrase heard at meetings in America where policy is being determined. It’s what Motown producer Al Cleveland meant to say when he was on a shopping trip with Smokey Robinson.
Robinson and Cleveland produced the song, and it was released in October 1968, entering the US Top 40 in December, about a year after it was written. The song was also a #1 R&B hit.
This was the first Top 10 hit for the group after their 1967 name change from The Miracles. Robinson and Cleveland teamed up to write several more hits for the group, including “Special Occasion” (#26 US, 1968), “Yester Love” (#31 US, 1968), and “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry” (#8 US, 1969).
Robinson and Cleveland wrote a third verse for this song, which pushed the length to 3:15. Acutely aware that songs longer than 3 minutes were often denied airplay, Motown head Berry Gordy had them eliminate the verse and bring the song down to 2:38, which was much more palatable for radio programmers. Robinson was OK with altering the song, as he had tremendous respect for Gordy’s judgment and wanted the song to be a hit. He felt that he could tell a story in a song in whatever time he was allotted – even under 3 minutes.
In songwriting circles, this one is often studied for its use of secondary rhymes and melodic intricacy. Smokey Robinson sprinkled in words like “notion” and “devotion” to compliment the title, all while rhyming verses with phrases like “kisses sweet” and “no repeat.” The guitar line also perfectly accents the vocal. Robinson credits Berry Gordy for his songwriting evolution. Gordy was a songwriter before he started Motown (he wrote song for Jackie Wilson), and he taught Robinson how to write intricate, yet accessible songs like this one.
This was featured on the soundtrack of the 1983 film The Big Chill.
This song was a favorite of Jerry Garcia; he often performed it with the Grateful Dead and with the Jerry Garcia Band. These versions show up on a variety of bootleg recordings.
I Second That Emotion
Maybe you’ll wanna give me kisses sweet But only for one night with no repeat. And maybe you’ll go away and never call, And a taste of honey is worse that none at all. Oh little girl!
In that case I don’t want nobody I do believe that that would only break my heart Oh, but if you feel like lovin’ me If you got the notion, I second that emotion. So, if you feel like giving me a lifetime of devotion I second that emotion.
Maybe you’ll think that love will tie you down And you don’t have the time to hang around. Or maybe you’ll think that love will make us fools, And so it makes you wise to break the rules. Oh little girl!
In that case I don’t want nobody I do believe that that would only break my heart Oh, but if you feel like lovin’ me If you got the notion, I second that emotion. So, if you feel like giving me a lifetime of devotion I second that emotion.
In that case I don’t want nobody I do believe that that would only break my heart Oh, but if you feel like lovin’ me If you got the notion, I second that emotion. So, if you feel like giving me a lifetime of devotion I second that emotion.
Sam Cooke is one of the artists that you have to think…what could have been if he wouldn’t have had such a tragic death at such a young age… Not that he didn’t have a very successful career to that point. He had 20 Top Ten Hits, 29 Top 40 Hits, and 4 Number 1 hits in the R&B Charts.
In the Billboard 100, he had 34 songs in the top 100 and 4 top ten hits. He died when he was only 33 years old. I would suggest reading All Things Thriller’spost about Sam Cooke’s death.
The first time I heard the Cooke version of this song was in Animal House when Belushi was heading down the cafeteria line and for me this is my go-to version. Cooke had such a smooth soulful voice.
Cooke recorded Wonderful World on Keen Records shortly before he left the label over a royalty dispute in 1959. In 1960, Cooke had moved on to RCA Victor, but Keen, still owning the rights to Wonderful World, released the single in April 1960.
From Songfacts
“Wonderful World,” or “(What a) Wonderful World,” was one of Sam Cooke’s 29 US Top 40 hits released between 1957 and 1964. The song was released on April 14, 1960 and quickly reached #2 on the US Black Singles chart, #12 on the US Pop Singles chart, and #27 on the UK Singles chart.
“Wonderful World” was originally written by music legends Lou Alder and Herb Alpert, but Cooke added the finishing lyrical touches, and the trio used the songwriting pseudonym “Barbara Campbell,” the name of Cooke’s high school sweetheart. Adler went on from this success to found Dunhill Records and manage big name artists such as Jan & Dean, The Mamas & The Papas, and Carole King. Not to be outdone, his writing partner, Herb Alpert, put the “A” in A&M Records after performing for several years with his band Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.
Don’t let the bouncy rhythm and upbeat tempo fool you. According to Craig Werner, a professor of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the song may have a more politically charged meaning. In his book, A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America, Werner writes that “Wonderful World” may be one of the first examples of Cooke’s crossover into politics, where he informs white listeners that he “don’t know much about history” and “don’t know much biology” as a comment that these are the things to forget about African-Americans, and all they need to remember is love.
Throughout the years, “Wonderful World” has been covered by a number of artists including Otis Redding, Bryan Ferry, Michael Bolton, and Rod Stewart. After Sam Cooke’s death in 1964, there were a rash of “tribute” covers released including a 1965 up-tempo version by Herman’s Hermits, which reached #4 on the US Pop Singles chart and #7 on the UK Singles chart, and a rendition by The Supremes released on their 1965 album “We Remember Sam Cooke.” In 1977, Art Garfunkel put his spin on the hit for his album, Watermark, which featured harmonies by friend, James Taylor, and former partner, Paul Simon.
“Wonderful World” has been a hit with filmmakers since its release. The song can be heard in the famous lunchroom scene of the 1978 classic, Animal House. It was also featured in the 1983 Richard Gere drama, Breathless, and appeared in the opening titles of the 2005 Will Smith comedy, Hitch. A Greg Chapman cover of “Wonderful World” was spotlighted in the 1985 film, Witness, which spurred resurgence in popularity for the single and led to use of the Cooke original in a well-remembered 1986 British ad for Levi 501 Jeans. The song originally peaked at #27 in the UK, but after the commercial, the song was re-released there and reached #2.
According to Rolling Stone, before the song came out, Cooke liked to sing it for women he met, telling them he’d made it up on the spot just for them.
Wonderful World
Don’t know much about history Don’t know much biology Don’t know much about a science book, Don’t know much about the french I took But I do know that I love you, And I know that if you love me, too, What a wonderful world this would be
Don’t know much about geography, Don’t know much trigonometry Don’t know much about algebra, Don’t know what a slide rule is for But I do know that one and one is two, And if this one could be with you, What a wonderful world this would be
Now, I don’t claim to be an “A” student, But I’m tryin’ to be For maybe by being an “A” student, baby, I can win your love for me
Don’t know much about history, Don’t know much biology Don’t know much about a science book, Don’t know much about the french I took But I do know that I love you, And I know that if you love me, too, What a wonderful world this would be
History Biology Science book French I took But I do know that I love you, And I know that if you love me, too, What a wonderful world this would be
I wish this era of the Stones would have lasted longer. Yes, I love the electric blues slanted work they did after this but they wrote some great pop songs. Brian Jones plays the recorder (it sounds like a flute) in this song. You don’t hear much about Brian now but he expanded their sound in the mid-sixties with an array of instruments.
Bill Wyman said that Keith wrote the lyrics and Brian helped finish the melody. This song was the B side to “Let’s Spend The Night Together.”
This song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 in 1967.
Keith Richards: “That’s one of those things – some chick you’ve broken up with. And all you’ve got left is the piano and the guitar and a pair of panties. And it’s goodbye you know. And so it just comes out of that. And after that, you just build on it. It’s one of those songs that are easiest to write because you’re really right there and you really sort of mean it. And for a songwriter, hey break his heart and he’ll come up with a good song.”
From Songfacts
The fourth US #1 hit for the Rolling Stones, this ballad is about a groupie. It may have been inspired by Linda Keith, who was Keith Richards’ girlfriend. Richards said in According to the Rolling Stones: “It was probably written about Linda Keith not being there (laughs). I don’t know, she had pissed off somewhere. It was very mournful, very, VERY Ruby Tuesday and it was a Tuesday.”
Originally, this was called “Title B.”
Keith Richards and Brian Jones wrote most of this, but in keeping with Stones tradition, it was credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Brian Jones was their lead guitarist until he died in 1969, and could play just about any instrument.
A large double-bass was used. Bill Wyman plucked the notes while Richards played it with a bow.
This was not on the English version of Between The Buttons because it was already released as a single there, and it was customary not to put singles on albums.
This was supposed to be the B-side of “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” but many radio stations shied away from the sexual implications of that song, so they played this instead and made it a hit.
Jagger: “Ruby Tuesday is good. I think that’s a wonderful song. It’s just a nice melody, really. And a lovely lyric. Neither of which I wrote, but I always enjoy singing it.”
The singer Melanie, who had a #1 hit with “Brand New Key” in 1971, released a cover of “Ruby Tuesday” in 1970 that went to #9 in the UK and #52 in the US. Rod Stewart also released a popular cover that was accompanied by a video. His version made #11 in the UK in 1993.
Ruby Tuesday
She would never say where she came from Yesterday don’t matter if it’s gone While the sun is bright Or in the darkest night No one knows, she comes and goes
Goodbye Ruby Tuesday Who could hang a name on you? When you change with every new day Still I’m gonna miss you
Don’t question why she needs to be so free She’ll tell you it’s the only way to be She just can’t be chained To a life where nothings gained And nothings lost, at such a cost
Goodbye Ruby Tuesday Who could hang a name on you? When you change with every new day Still I’m gonna miss you
“There’s no time to lose”, I heard her say Catch your dreams before they slip away Dying all the time Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind Ain’t life unkind?
Goodbye Ruby Tuesday Who could hang a name on you? When you change with every new day Still I’m gonna miss you
Goodbye Ruby Tuesday Who could hang a name on you? When you change with every new day Still I’m gonna miss you
That simple bass guitar riff hooks me when it comes in during the drum intro.
A good pop song from Paul McCartney in the 1980s. This was on an album called Tug of War which peaked at #1 in the Billboard album charts. The highlight to me is another McCartney bass line. The song peaked at #10 in the Billboard 100 in 1982.
Paul played bass, Ringo played drums, and George Martin played electric piano. Eric Stewart from 10cc influenced the layered backup vocals.
Paul McCartney:
“Well, there were a couple of songs that we ended up recording which Ringo asked me to write at a certain period. I was writing some songs for Ringo and “Take It Away” was in amongst those songs. I thought it would suit me better the way it went into the chorus and stuff; I didn’t think it was very Ringo.”
“I mean, the chorus I think, was Ringo, the other bits… but that’s how that comes to be that kind of track I think, I was right in that sort of direction with Ringo in mind actually.”
Take It Away
Take it away Want to hear you play Till the lights go down Take it away Don’t you want to stay Till there’s no one else around?
Take it away Want to hear you play Till the lights go down Take it away Don’t you want to stay Till there’s no one else around?
Lonely driver Out on the road With a hundred miles to go Sole survivor Carrying the load Switches on his radio
Take it away Want to hear you play Till the lights go down (down down) Take it away Don’t you want to stay Till there’s no one else around?
Take it away Want to hear you play Till the lights go down (down down) Take it away Don’t you want to stay Till there’s no one else around?
In the audience Watching the show With a paper in his hand (In his hand, in his hand) Some important impresario Has a message for the band
Oh Take it away Want to hear you play Till the lights go down (down down) Take it away Don’t you want to stay Till there’s no one else around?
You never know who may be Listening to you Never know who may be Listening to you You never know who may be Listening to you Take it away, take it away
After hours Late in the bar By a darkened corner seat Faded flowers wait in the jar Till the evening is complete
The magazine in question was the May 1968 edition of “American Rifleman,” which contained an article entitled “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” This article, written by Warren W. Herlihy, relates the author’s pride in his 18-year-old son John who has been shooting guns since the age of seven.
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