The slide guitar sounds familiar because George Harrison produced this and played slide on it. The year before, Badfinger played on Harrison’s first solo album, All Things Must Pass. Leon Russell played piano on this recording. It was mixed by Todd Rundgren. It’s a beautiful song about longing.
They were signed to the Beatle’s Apple Records which was a blessing and a curse. It got them noticed with initial excitement but also hindered their development for their own sound.
This is one of their best-known songs. This is their highest charting song and it peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #10 in the UK Charts in 1972. The song was off of the Straight Up album that peaked at #31 in the Billboard album charts.
From Songfacts
Badfinger guitarist Peter Ham wrote this. A few years later, after a dispute with their record label over missing money, Ham committed suicide.
This sounds a lot like The Beatles. Badfinger was one of the first bands to sign with The Beatles’ label, Apple Records. As a result, they got to know The Beatles quite well and picked up on their sound. Badfinger signed with Warner Brothers when Apple Records folded.
This song appeared on the Fox television show The Simpsons, in the episode “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind” (Episode 9, Season 19) in which Homer tries to recollect events that happened from the night before. It had a very high rating on Fox, and is considered by fans to be as good as the original seasons episodes.
Day After Day
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out from my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember holding you while you sleep
Every day, I feel the tears that you weep
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
Looking out of my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you.
The song peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100 and #3 in the R&B Chart. B-A-B-Y was released on Stax Records in 1966. It was written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter.
Carla had 20 songs in the Billboard 100 with 4 top 40 hits and 1 top ten hit. The song was on the 2017 Baby Driver soundtrack. The song has a great soul sound to it with that Stax feel.
She is called the Queen of Memphis Soul. Carla Venita Thomas was born on December 1, 1942, in the Foote Homes Housing Project in Memphis, Tennessee. She teamed with Stax performer Otis Redding and in March of 1967, they released the album, King & Queen.
B-A-B-Y
Baby, ooh baby I love to call you baby Baby, oh oh baby I love for you to call me baby When you squeeze me real tight You make wrong things right And I can’t stop loving you And I won’t stop calling you Baby, oh baby You look so good to me baby Baby, ooh baby You are so good to me baby Just one look in your eye And my temperature goes sky high I live for you and can’t help it [Lyrics from: https:/lyrics.az/soundtracks/baby-driver/b-a-b-y-by-carla-thomas.html] You know I really don’t want to help it B.A.B.Y. baby B.A.B.Y. baby Whenever the sun don’t shine You go out to light my hind Then I get real close to you And your sweet kisses see me through I said baby, ooh baby You look so good to me baby Baby, ooh baby How I love for you to call me baby When you squeeze me real tight You know you make wrong things right And I can’t stop loving you And I won’t stop calling you B.A.B.Y. baby
The first chords come in and start the powerful riff. I love the way Bruce phrases the lyrics with an urgency to be heard. As soon as I heard lyrics
I don’t give a damn For just the in-betweens Honey I want the heart, I want the soul I want control right now
I was hooked. Springsteen was one artist who lived up to the “new Dylan” title that was given to him by the press. They are quite different artists but Springsteen managed to live up to the hype.
This was the second single off Darkness On The Edge Of Town, the first album Springsteen released after a legal battle with his first manager, Mike Appel, kept him from recording for almost 3 years. The first single was #33 Prove It All Night.
The title came from a 1973 movie of the same name starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Springsteen got the idea from a poster in the theater lobby. Springsteen did not see the movie until after he wrote this.
The song peaked at #42 in the Billboard 100 in 1978.
From Songfacts
This was more mature songwriting from Springsteen, as much of Darkness On The Edge Of Town reflects the characters of his previous album, Born To Run, getting older and more pessimistic.
“Badlands” was considered for the name of the album. Around this time, Springsteen would come up with titles and try to come up with deserving songs for them. He told Rolling Stone in 2010: “Badlands, that’s a great title, but It would be easy to blow it. But I kept writing and I kept writing and I kept writing and writing until I had a song that I felt deserved that title.”
This is a concert favorite. It was featured on Springsteen’s 1999 reunion tour with The E Street Band, and on many of their subsequent tours.
Badlands is a US national park in South Dakota. It is famous for striking scenery and expansive prairie land.
The version on Live 1975-1985 was recorded in Arizona the night after Ronald Reagan was elected president. Bruce introduced the song by saying: “I don’t know what you guys thought of what happened last night, but I thought it was pretty terrifying.” Reagan would later misinterpret “Born In The U.S.A.” in a 1984 campaign speech.
Bill Murray and Paul Shaffer chose to open the 25th Anniversary Show of Saturday Night Live with this song, as sung by Murray’s character of Nick the Lounge Singer. According to the book Live From New York, they chose this song because Murray and Shaffer felt that there was a certain lyric in the song that best described their experience of growing up in life and in show business on Saturday Night Live in the ’70s. Murray was quoted as saying performing the harmony with Paul was one of the high points of his entire career.
Badlands
Lights out tonight Trouble in the heartland Got a head-on collision Smashin’ in my guts man I’m caught in a crossfire That I don’t understand I don’t give a damn For the same old played out scenes I don’t give a damn For just the in-betweens Honey I want the heart, I want the soul I want control right now Talk about a dream Try to make it real You wake up in the night With a fear so real Spend your life waiting For a moment that just don’t come Well don’t waste your time waiting
Badlands, you gotta live it every day Let the broken hearts stand As the price you’ve gotta pay We’ll keep pushin’ till it’s understood And these badlands start treating us good
Workin’ in the fields Til you get your back burned Workin’ ‘neath the wheel Till you get your facts learned Baby got my facts Learned real good right now Poor man want to be rich Rich man want to be king And a king ain’t satisfied Till he rules everything I want to go out tonight I want to find out what I got
I believe in the love that you gave me I believe in the hope that can save me I believe in the faith And I pray that some day it may raise me Above these badlands
Badlands, you gotta live it every day Let the broken hearts stand As the price you’ve gotta pay We’ll keep pushin’ till it’s understood And these badlands start treating us good
For the ones who had a notion A notion deep inside That it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive I want to find one face that ain’t looking through me I want to find one place I want to spit in the face of these badlands
Badlands, you gotta live it every day Let the broken hearts stand As the price you’ve gotta pay We’ll keep pushin’ till it’s understood And these badlands start treating us good
This song gets overlooked at times. It’s a simple song but a good pop song. I do remember hearing this on the radio quite a bit when it was released. The song was on the album George Harrison (#14) and it peaked at #16 in the Billboard 100, #51 in the UK, and #7 in Canada. This song stood out a little in this disco and punk era.
Steve Winwood is providing backup vocals and playing a PolyMoog synthesizer. The song was included in the Eric Idle film “Nuns on the Run” released in 1990.
In 2010, AOL radio listeners chose the track as one of the “10 Best George Harrison Songs”, appearing at number 2 on the list, behind “My Sweet Lord”… I don’t agree with the AOL listeners as being number 2 but I do like the song.
The original video is below…the duck baffles me but I just enjoy it.
Blow Away
Day turned black, sky ripped apart Rained for a year ’til it dampened my heart Cracks and leaks The floorboards caught rot About to go down I’d almost forgot.
All I got to do is to love you All I got to be is, be happy All it’s got to take is some warmth to make it Blow away, blow away, blow away.
Sky cleared up, day turned to bright Closing both eyes now the head filled with light Hard to remember what a state I was in Instant amnesia Yang to the yin.
All I got to do is to love you All I got to be is, be happy All it’s got to take is some warmth to make it Blow away, blow away, blow away.
Wind blew in, cloud was dispersed Rainbows appearing, the pressures were burst Breezes a-singing, now feeling good The moment had passed Like I knew that it should.
All I got to do is to love you All I got to be is, be happy All it’s got to take is some warmth to make it Blow away, blow away, blow away.
Most people today know the Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac but the band has a long winding history. The band members at this time in 1968 were Peter Green – Guitar, Mick Fleetwood – Drums, John McVie – Bass, Jeremy Spencer – Guitar and Piano, and Danny Kirwan on guitar. Christine Perfect contributed keyboards from the second album on and then married John McVie and joined in 1970.
Peter Green is a great guitar player, good singer and a very good songwriter. The Peter Green era produced songs such as Oh Well, Albatross, and The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown).
This was a hit for Santana, and their version was a cover of this Fleetwood Mac song that hit #37 on the UK charts. Peter Green, who was a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, wrote the lyrics. The original’s music sounds very similar to the sound Santana added on his version. Mick Fleetwood once described this as “three minutes of sustain reverb guitar with two exquisite solos from Peter.”
Black Magic Woman
Got a black magic woman Got a black magic woman I’ve got a black magic woman Got me so blind I can’t see That she’s a black magic woman She’s trying to make a devil out of me
Don’t turn your back on me, baby Don’t turn your back on me, baby Yes, don’t turn your back on me, baby Stop messing about with your tricks Don’t turn your back on me, baby You just might pick up my magic sticks
You got your spell on me, baby You got your spell on me, baby Yes, you got your spell on me, baby Turnin’ my heart into stone I need you so bad Magic woman I can’t leave you alone
This song broke it open for the Beatles in the UK. After Love Me Do peaked at #17 in the UK charts…this one shot to #1 in the New Musical Express, Disc and Melody Maker charts in 1963. The song would later peak at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1964 after Beatlemania had hit.
George Martin never cared much for Love Me Do and told the Beatles that. He did like Please Please Me and thought it had potential if they would increase the tempo. They had played it to him very slow like a Roy Orbison song. They worked on it for the next studio visit and it started to take shape.
The song was a vast improvement over Love Me Do. The quick catchy riff with those harmonies are hard to resist. The climbing “come on come on come on” led to a perfect chorus hook.
John Lennon was partly inspired by a line from a Bing Crosby song that read, “Please lend a little ear to my pleas.” He recalled: “I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing “Only The Lonely”, or something. And I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing Crosby song that went, ‘Please lend a little ear to my pleas’. The double use of the word ‘please’. So it was a combination of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby.”
From Songfacts
This was The Beatles first single released in America, and getting it issued in the States was a struggle. The Beatles first recorded “Please Please Me” on September 11, 1962. That version was rejected for release. They re-recorded the song on November 26, 1962 and that version was first issued in England on the EMI-owned Parlophone label on January 12, 1963. After EMI’s US affiliate, Capitol Records, rejected the song (and a lot of other early Beatles material), the small, Chicago-based Vee Jay label stepped in and released “Please Please Me” stateside on February 25, 1963 and again on January 30, 1964 and August 10,1964. The only release that charted was the second, when The Beatles finally made a name for themselves in America.
John Lennon, who was a big Roy Orbison fan, wrote this in the style of Orbison’s overly dramatic singing. Beatles producer George Martin suggested it would sound better sped up. In 2006, Martin told The Observer Music Monthly, “The songs the Beatles first gave me were crap. This was 1962 and they played a dreadful version of ‘Please Please Me’ as a Roy Orbison-style ballad. But I signed them because they made me feel good to be with them, and if they could convey that on a stage then everyone in the audience would feel good, too. So I took ‘Love Me Do’ and added some harmonica, but it wasn’t financially rewarding even though Brian Epstein bought about 2,000 copies. Then we worked for ages on their new version of ‘Please Please Me,’ and I said: ‘Gentlemen, you’re going to have your first #1.'”
This was rumored to be about oral sex. The Beatles denied this, since they had a very clean image to maintain at the time. Lennon said of the song: “I was always intrigued by the double use of the word ‘please.'”
Although in the UK this was officially a #2 record, three of the four charts used at the time – Melody Maker, NME and Disc – listed it #1. Only the Record Retailer chart had it at #2.
The group’s name was misspelled “Beattles” on the record label on the first American release of the single.
Typical for the verse in “Please Please Me,” and for many of Lennon’s songs, are the long notes (legato) that are also used in hymns – even sounding a bit like Mendelssohn’s Wedding March in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When Lennon was a little boy he used to go to church on Sunday. Afterwards he improvised his own counterpoints to the hymns.
The climbing in the melody “Come on, come on…” is similar to parts of two traditional folk songs: “New’s Evens Song” and “Come Fair One.” >>
In the UK, this was re-released in 1983 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of it’s initial release.
The Beatles performed this on their second Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1964. Sullivan was not a fan of many rock groups, but loved The Beatles and had them on his show whenever he could.
This was the second Beatles single released in England, the first being “Love Me Do.”
An early version of this song with session drummer Andy White playing drums instead of Ringo can be found on Anthology 1.
The Please Please Me album was The Beatles debut long player. When they recorded it at Abbey Studios in London, John Lennon was struggling with a streaming cold and all were tired after a tour supporting Helen Shapiro. However with the help and encouragement of producer George Martin within nine hours and 45 minutes they had recorded their groundbreaking LP.
The album was released to cash in on the success of this single in the UK. It took them about 12 hours to record, and was basically a re-creation of their live show, which was mostly cover songs. The album was released with the text “Please Please Me with Love Me Do and 12 other songs.” >>
The Beatles performed this on Thank Your Lucky Stars on January 19, 1963. It was their first ever UK television appearance.
The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown revealed in an interview on the British TV program GMTV that this was the first record that he ever bought.
George Martin told Music Week magazine that the first time the Beatles played this to him, he wasn’t very impressed. He recalled: “I listened to it and I said: ‘Do you know that’s too bloody boring for words? It’s a dirge. At twice the speed it might sound reasonable.’ They took me at my word. I was joking and they came back and played it to me sped up and put a harmonica on it, and it became their first big hit.”
Lennon was a great fan of Bing Crosby and when in 1978, Yoko gave him a vintage ’50s Wurlitzer jukebox for his birthday he loaded the machine with as many 78-rpm records by the easy-listening vocalist as he could find.
This is Keith Richards’ favorite Beatles song. He told Jimmy Fallon: “I’ve always told McCartney, ‘Please Please Me.’ I just love the chimes, and I was there at the time and it was beautiful. Mind you, there’s plenty of others, but if I’ve got to pick one, ‘Please Please Me’… oh, yeah!”
Lennon-McCartney was the standard alphabetical credit for their Beatles songwriters compositions except on Please Please Me, where for reasons unknown, the names were reversed.
Please Please Me
Last night I said these words to my girl I know you never even try, girl Come on, come on, come on, come on Please, please me, woah yeah, like I please you
You don’t need me to show the way, love Why do I always have to say, love Come on, come on, come on, come on Please, please me, woah yeah, like I please you
I don’t want to sound complaining But you know there’s always rain in my heart I do all the pleasing with you, It’s so hard to reason with you Woah yeah, why do you make me blue?
Last night I said these words to my girl I know you never even try, girl Come on, come on, come on, come on Please, please me, woah yeah, like I please you Woah yeah, like I please you Woah yeah, like I please you
The song can bring tears to your eyes while watching the video. Zevon recorded this when he knew he was dying and it is a touching song. The song was off of the album The Wind which peaked #12 in the Billboard 200 album charts in 2003.
This was the final song Zevon wrote and recorded before dying of mesothelioma (a form of lung cancer) in September of 2003. This was also the only song on Zevon’s final album The Wind that he wrote entirely after learning of his terminal illness. With the exception of the cover of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” all of the remaining songs on the album were songs Zevon had already at least started writing beforehand.
Zevon saved the recording of this song for last. His deteriorating health rendered him too weak to continue commuting to the studio where the other tracks had been recorded, so he had a makeshift studio set up at his home to record this song.
Keep Me In Your Heart
Shadows are fallin’ and I’m runnin’ out of breath Keep me in your heart for a while If I leave you it doesn’t mean I love you any less Keep me in your heart for a while
When you get up in the mornin’ and you see that crazy sun Keep me in your heart for a while There’s a train leavin’ nightly called “When All is Said and Done” Keep me in your heart for a while
Keep me in your heart for a while
Keep me in your heart for a while
Sometimes when you’re doin’ simple things around the house Maybe you’ll think of me and smile You know I’m tied to you like the buttons on your blouse Keep me in your heart for a while
Hold me in your thoughts Take me to your dreams Touch me as I fall into view When the winter comes Keep the fires lit And I will be right next to you
Engine driver’s headed north up to Pleasant Stream Keep me in your heart for a while These wheels keep turnin’ but they’re runnin’ out of steam Keep me in your heart for a while
This was Duane Allman’s favorite song that his brother Gregg wrote….but it was also one of the first songs the band recorded without Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle accident about four months before it was released. Eat A Peach was dedicated to Duane. At Duane Allman’s funeral in 1971, Gregg Allman played this song on one of Duane’s old guitars. At the service, Gregg said, “This was my brother’s favorite song that I ever wrote.”
The song peaked at #86 in the Billboard 100 in 1972. The song didn’t chart too well but it remains a staple of classic radio.
Gregg actually taught Duane how to play the guitar, who quickly became a virtuoso. They played together until 1969 when Duane assembled what would become the Allman Brothers Band. Gregg was reluctant to sign on having already been accepted into college to be a dental surgeon. He soon did and they played together until Duane’s death in 1971.
From Songfacts
Gregg Allman spoke at length about this song in an interview with the San Luis Obispo (California) Tribune on November 30, 2006: “I wrote that song in 1967 in a place called the Evergreen Hotel in Pensacola, Florida. By that time I got so sick of playing other people’s material that I just sat down and said, ‘OK, here we go. One, two, three – we’re going to try to write songs.’ And about 200 songs later – much garbage to take out – I wrote this song called ‘Melissa.’ And I had everything but the title. I thought (referring to lyrics): ‘But back home, we always run… to sweet Barbara’ – no. Diane…? We always run… to sweet Bertha.’ No, so I just kind of put it away for a while.
So one night I was in the grocery store – it was my turn to go get the tea, the coffee, the sugar and all that other s–t… and there was this Spanish lady there and she had this little toddler with her – this little girl. And I’m sitting there, getting a few things and what have you. And this little girl takes off, running down the aisle. And the lady yells, Oh, Melissa! Melissa, come back, Melissa!’ And I went, ‘Oh – that’s it.’ I forgot about half the stuff I went for, I went back home and, man, it was finished, only I couldn’t really tell if it was worth a damn or not because I’d written so many bad ones. So I didn’t really show it to anybody for about a year. And then I was the last one to get to Jacksonville – I was the last one to join the band that became the Allman Brothers. And my brother sometimes late at night after dinner, he’d say, ‘Man, go get your guitar and play me that song – that song about that girl.’ And I’d play it for him every now and then.
After my brother’s accident, we had three vinyl sides done of Peach, so I thought well we’ll do that, and then on the way down there I wrote “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.” I wrote that for my brother. We were all in pretty bad shape. I had just gotten back from Jamaica and I was weighing at about 156, 6-foot-1-and-a-half – I was pretty skinny. So we went back down there, got in the studio and finished the record. And the damn thing shipped gold.”
This was first recorded in 1968 by the 31st Of February, one of Gregg and Duane Allman’s first bands. Duane’s version of this with the 31st Of February is the first recording of him playing the bottleneck slide guitar, a technique he became famous for.
Steve Alaimo, who was operating the studio where The Allman Brothers recorded this song, received a songwriting credit on this track along with Gregg Allman. Alaimo had a few Hot 100 entries as a singer in the ’60s and early ’70s before moving into production work.
The part of the song that begins: “Crossroads, will you ever let him go” is probably a reference to Robert Johnson, a blues legend who supposedly went to a crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.
Gregg Allman told Esquire in 2013 that thanks to ready access to biphetamines, he had been awake for about two days when he wrote this song. He was working like crazy on another song, but when he played it for his brother, Duane said, “What you have here is a new set of lyrics to an obscure Rolling Stones song.” Said Gregg: “That’s discouraging as s–t, right there. And just as I was about to say f–k it, I wrote ‘Melissa.'”
The Allman Brothers performed this on the last episode of the syndicated Dennis Miller Show on July 25, 1992.
This was used in a commercial television advertisement campaign for Cingular/AT&T Wireless.
Melissa
Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah The gypsy flies from coast to coast Knowing many, loving none Bearing sorrow, having fun But, back home he’ll always run To sweet Melissa Mmm, hmm
Freight train, each car looks the same, all the same And no one knows the gypsy’s name And no one hears his lonely sighs There are no blankets where he lies Lord, in his deepest dreams the gypsy flies With sweet Melissa Mm, hmm
Again, the mornin’s come Again, he’s on the run A sunbeam’s shinin’ through his hair Fear not to have a care Well, pick up your gear and gypsy roll on Roll on
Crossroads, will you ever let him go? Lord, Lord Or will you hide the dead man’s ghost? Or will he lie, beneath the clay? Or will his spirit float away? But, I know that he won’t stay Without Melissa Yes, I know that he won’t stay, yeah Without Melissa Lord, Lord, it’s all the same
Holly recorded this on May 1957 with The Crickets at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, NM. It was written by Charles Hardin and Norman Petty, “Charles Hardin” being Buddy Holly, whose real name was Charles Hardin Holley.
One of my favorite songs that recycle the great Bo Diddley riff.
This song was credited to The Crickets. Until the end of his career, Holly recorded with his group, The Crickets, but he set up a deal with their record company, Decca Records, to release some songs under his name and have others credited to the group. This was credited to The Crickets and released on the Brunswick subsidiary. Songs credited to Buddy Holly came out on Coral Records.
The song was the B side to “Oh Boy.”
From Songfacts
This was one of the first pop songs to feature the “Bo Diddley” sound, a series of beats (da, da, da, da-da da) popularized by Diddley, who used it on his first single, the egotistically named “Bo Diddley.” The signature beat originated in West Africa and was adopted by Diddley in the US, where many artists have used it since. For more, check out the Songfacts on “Bo Diddley”.
The Grateful Dead covered this on their Rockin’ The Rhein album.
Florence and the Machine recorded a new version of the song for the Buddy Holly tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly, which was issued for the 75th anniversary of Holly’s birth. Florence Welch had a transformative moment when her grandmother took her to see the movie The Buddy Holly Story when she was a kid, and Welch was happy to contribute to the tribute, recording the song in New Orleans with local Cajun musicians.
Drummer Jerry Allison played a cardboard box for percussion on this. He’d heard Buddy Knox’ drummer do the same on “Party Doll.”
Not Fade Away
Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop
I’m gonna tell you how it’s gonna be ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop You’re gonna give your love to me Bop-bop-bop-bop I want to love you night and day ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop You know my loving not fade away Bop-bop-bop-bop Well you know my loving not fade away ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop
My love bigger than a Cadillac ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop I’ll try to show it when you’re driving me back ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Your love for me got to be real ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop For you to know just how I feel ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop A love for real not fade away ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop
I’m gonna tell you how it’s gonna be ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop You’re gonna give your love to me ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Love to last more than one day ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Love is loving and not fade away Bop-bop-bop-bop Love is loving and not fade away ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop
Smokey has one of the smoothest voices I ever heard. On top of that, he is one of the top songwriters of popular music. Bob Dylan called him “America’s greatest living poet.” and John Lennon was heavily influenced by him. The song peaked at #16 (only 16???) in the Billboard 100 and #9 in the UK in 1965.
Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, and Marv Tarplin wrote this song. Robinson penned the lyrics; Tarplin, The Miracles’ guitarist, came up with the riff. Tarplin got the idea for the music after listening to a calypso tune: Harry Belafonte’s “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O).”
From Songfacts
One of the most gut-wrenching songs on record, this one is about a man who tries to hide his pain, but cannot conceal the tracks made by his tears. He has come out of a relationship with the love of his life, and the song is his confession to her that his high spirits are just an act and she’s the only one for him, or perhaps what he wants to tell her but can’t.
Miracles leader Smokey Robinson came up with the concept when he was looking in the mirror one day, and thinking, What if a person would cry so much that you could see tracks of their tears in their face?
Robinson recalled: “‘Tracks of My Tears’ was actually started by Marv Tarplin, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing [sings melody], you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became ‘Tracks of My Tears.'”
Robinson had the music Tarplin wrote on a cassette, but it took him about six months to write the lyrics. The words started coming together when he came up with the line, “Take a good look at my face, you see my smile looks out of place.” From there, it was a few days before he got the lines, “If you look closer it’s easy to trace… my tears.”
What to do with those tears was a problem, as he wanted to say something no one has said about tears. In a 2006 interview with NPR, he explained that he finally came up with the image of tears leaving lasting marks, and the song came together. “One day I was listening, and it just came – the tracks of my tears,” said Robinson. “Like footprints on my face. So that was what I wrote about.”
Four different artists have charted with this song in America. Johnny Rivers had the biggest hit, taking it to #10 in 1967. Two of the most acclaimed female vocalists of their time, Aretha Franklin and Linda Ronstadt, also charted covers, Franklin’s making #71 in 1969 and Ronstadt’s going to #25 in 1976.
Other notable versions of this song include renditions by Go West in 1993 and Adam Lambert in 2009.
When he first recorded this song with The Miracles, Robinson left out the last chorus, fading it out on the “I need you, I need you” line. He was convinced to end on the chorus when he played the song at one of the famous Monday morning meetings at Motown, where songs were scrutinized by their team.
Robinson wrote a similar song a few weeks later called “My Girl Has Gone,” which was released as the next Miracles single.
Motown head Berry Gordy has said that this song represents Smokey Robinson’s best work.
The song was popular among American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War, which is reflected in the 1986 Oliver Stone movie Platoon, where the song is used.
Other films to feature the song include The Big Chill (1983), The Walking Dead (1995) and Bobby (2006). TV series to used the song include The Wonder Years and Wife Swap.
Tracks Of My Tears
People say I’m the life of the party Because I tell a joke or two Although I might be laughing loud and hearty Deep inside I’m blue So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears I need you, need you Since you left me if you see me with another girl Seeming like I’m having fun Although she may be cute
She’s just a substitute Because you’re the permanent one So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears
I need you, need you Outside I’m masquerading Inside my hope is fading Just a clown oh yeah Since you put me down My smile is my make up
I wear since my break up with you So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears
A great song with an R&B feel to it. Little Steven directed the horn section. Bruce sings it like it’s his last day on earth…like many of his other songs. Tenth Avenue runs through E Street in Belmar, New Jersey. The band got their name from the street, which is where they used to rehearse. Springsteen, however, has said that he has no idea what a “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out” is.
The song peaked at #83 in the Billboard 100 in 1976. It was off the Born To Run album that propelled him to stardom.
The “Big Man” in the third verse is Clarence Clemons…the saxophone player. Springsteen met him when Clemons came into a club in Asbury Park, N.J., where Bruce was playing. It was a stormy night, and the door flew off the hinges when Clemons opened it. Springsteen would talk about how he “Literally blew the door off the place.”
In Clemons’ autobiography Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales, he explained: “It was one of those nor’easters – cold, raining, lightning and thunder. Now, this is God’s honest truth. I open the door to the club and a gust of wind blew the door right out of my hand and down the street. So here I am, a big black guy, in Asbury Park, with lightning flashing behind me. I said to Bruce, ‘I want to sit in.’ He says, ‘Sure, anything you want.'”
From Songfacts
This tells the story of the E Street Band coming together. On Springsteen’s first album in 1973, he didn’t use a lot of backup musicians, but on his next one The E Street band was crucial to the sound. Later on, Springsteen released the albums Nebraska and The Ghost Of Tom Joad without the band, but they didn’t sell nearly as well as the ones they played on.
Clemons was working as a social worker at the time and playing in a Jersey Shore bar band when he got his big break with Bruce.
At many of their early shows, this was the first song in the set.
Springsteen used this to introduce the band on the 1999 E Street Band Reunion tour. He would explain what each member brought to the group (Roy Bittan – Foundation, Little Steven – Soul, etc.), ending with Clemons. Some nights the band members did short solos as they were introduced.
“Bad Scooter” in the opening line, “Teardrops on the city Bad Scooter searching for his groove” is Springsteen. Note the initials are the same.
While touring with “the other band” during his 1992/93 tour promoting the Human Touch and Lucky Town albums, Springsteen sometimes brought out Clarence “Big Man” Clemons to play his usual sax part in this song. When introduced, the crowd always gave the big man a huge ovation. >>
After imploring the audience to put down the guacamole dip and chicken fingers (we were actually eating chicken wings, but anyway…) Springsteen played this as the first song of his performance at halftime of the 2009 Super Bowl between the Cardinals and Steelers.
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
Tear drops on the city, Bad Scooter searching for his groove Seem like the whole world walking pretty and you can’t find the room to move Well, everybody better move over, that’s all ‘Cause I’m running on the bad side and I got my back to the wall Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Well, I was stranded in the jungle trying to take in all the heat they was giving The night is dark but the sidewalk’s bright and lined with the light of the living From a tenement window a transistor blasts Turn around the corner, things got real quiet real fast I walked into a Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out
And I’m all alone, I’m all alone (And kid, you better get the picture) And I’m on my own, I’m on my own And I can’t go home
When the change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band From the coastline to the city, all the little pretties raise their hands I’m gonna sit back right easy and laugh When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half With the Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze I’m talking ’bout a Tenth Oh, nothing but a Tenth I’m talking ’bout a Tenth I’m talking bout a Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, I’m talking ’bout a Tenth Avenue freeze-out…
This song is about an acid trip. According to David Byrne, it was written about a girl he knew who used to take LSD in a field next to the Yoo-Hoo drink factory. it took me a while to warm up to The Talking Heads but I ended up really liking them. They always made interesting videos.
The song peaked at #54 in the Billboard 100 and #17 in the UK in 1985. The song was off of the “Little Creatures” album that peaked at #20 in the Billboard Album Charts. Byrne is listed as the sole author of Little Creatures’ nine songs, with the band credited only with arrangements.
It is a very good… catchy pop song.
From Songfacts.
The video was the first created by Jim Blashfield, who pioneered a collage-animation style with his short film, Suspicious Circumstances. That got the attention of Talking Heads, which wanted a similar motif for their “And She Was” video. The resulting clip earned MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best Group Video and Best Concept Video. Blashfield was commissioned for more videos in this style; his work can be seen in “The Boy in the Bubble” (Paul Simon), “Sowing the Seeds of Love” (Tears For Fears) and “Leave Me Alone” (Michael Jackson).
And She Was
Hey!
And she was lying in the grass And she could hear the highway breathing And she could see a nearby factory She’s making sure she is not dreaming
See the lights of a neighbor’s house Now she’s starting to rise Take a minute to concentrate And she opens up her eyes
The world was moving she was right there with it and she was The world was moving she was floating above it and she was And she was
And she was drifting through the backyard And she was taking off her dress And she was moving very slowly Rising up above the earth
Moving into the universe and she’s Drifting this way and that Not touching the ground at all and she’s Up above the yard
The world was moving, she was right there with it and she was (Hey, hey) The world was moving, she was floating above it and she was (Hey, hey, hey)
She was proud about it, no doubt about it She isn’t sure about what she’s done No time to think about what to tell him No time to think about what she’s done and she was (Hey hey, hey hey, hey)
And she was looking at herself And things were looking like a movie She had a pleasant elevation She’s moving out in all directions oh, oh oh
One of the many songs on the greatest hits album. If I remember right it closed out the second side on the album. The main thing I remember about this song is the rhythm track. Cecilia was originally on the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 and #2 in Canada in 1970.
The greatest hits came out in 1972 and in 2003, the album was ranked number 293 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
From Songfacts
This song is about a guy who had a girlfriend, but then she broke up with him. Like it says in one of the verses, “I got up to wash my face, when I come back to bed someone’s taken my place.” But later on they get back together – “Jubilation, she loves me again.”
No too much should be read into the lyrics of this song. As Paul Simon explained in an interview with Rolling Stone: “Every day I’d come back from the studio, working on whatever we were working on, and I’d play this pounding thing. So then I said, ‘Let’s make a record out of that.’ So we copied it over and extended it double the amount, so now we have three minutes of track, and the track is great. So now I pick up the guitar and I start to go, ‘Well, this will be like the guitar part’ – dung chicka dung chicka dung, and lyrics were virtually the first lines I said: ‘You’re breakin’ my heart, I’m down on my knees.’ They’re not lines at all, but it was right for that song, and I like that. It was like a little piece of magical fluff, but it works.” >>
In the Catholic church, Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians. In this context, the song can be interpreted as the singer asking for musical guidance, possibly to help writing a song. Paul Simon says he can’t remember the specific inspiration when he was writing the song, but he knew Cecilia is the goddess of music. >>
According to the liner notes to Paul Simon’s Anthology album, the strange sounding rhythm to this particular track was Paul and Art slapping their thighs, while Paul’s brother Eddie thumped a piano bench and a friend named Stewie Scharff strummed a guitar with its strings slackened to the point of atonality. This all happened at a house Paul and Art were living in on Blue Jay Way in the summer of 1969, not long after the Charles Manson murders took place at the nearby home of the actress Sharon Tate. After they started the pounding and came up with the rhythm, they got out their Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder and made the recording. There was a 1:15 section that Simon thought was great, so they looped it in the studio, which wasn’t easy in 1969 – you had to actually cut out the tape and put it on the recorder in a loop. Their producer Roy Halee added some reverb, and they had their basic backing track from this home recording.
Worked into the mix is the sound of drumsticks falling on the parquet floor of the Columbia Records studio in Los Angeles. Simon also played a bit of xylophone that was heavily processed and added to the track. They had a lot of fun recording it and were enjoying various experiments in sound.
When the Bridge Over Troubled Water album was finished, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee all thought this would be the first single, as catchy, upbeat songs were typically chosen to introduce a new album. Columbia Records president Clive Davis decided that the powerful, plaintive title track needed to be the album’s calling card, so he bucked convention and released that one as the first single instead. It was a shrewd move: “Bridge Over Troubled Water” went to #1 for six weeks a propelled the album to the top as well – it spent a total of 10 weeks at #1. “Cecilia” was issued as the second single.
In 1996 Suggs, the lead singer for Madness, teamed up with vocal duo Louchie Lou and Michie One to record a cover that peaked at #4 in the UK. This is the only time the song reached the Top 75 in Britain as surprisingly Simon & Garfunkel’s original 1970 single failed to chart there.
The Swedish pop group Ace Of Base recorded a song called “Cecilia” on their 1998 album Flowers that was based on the character in this song.
Cecilia
Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart You’re shaking my confidence daily Oh, Cecilia, I’m down on my knees I’m begging you please to come home
Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart You’re shaking my confidence daily Oh, Cecilia, I’m down on my knees I’m begging you please to come home Come on home
Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia Up in my bedroom (making love) I got up to wash my face When I come back to bed someone’s taken my place
Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart You’re shaking my confidence daily Oh, Cecilia, I’m down on my knees I’m begging you please to come home Come on home
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba
Jubilation She loves me again I fall on the floor and I’m laughing
Jubilation She loves me again I fall on the floor and I’m laughing
It took a few listens to this song for me to fully appreciate it. It was not released as a single but it was on the Rubber Soul album in 1965. This song expressed desire and optimism for universal peace and love.
Multi-part vocals over a simple chord structure that sounds so different to what they did the year before. From I Want To Hold Your Hand to The Word shows The Beatles refusing to use a formula and continuing to move forward. They would stick to this pattern and lead the way until the end of the sixties.
Rubber Soul would peak at #1 in the Billboard album charts in 1966.
Paul McCartney said of the song:
“To write a good song with just one note in it – like ‘Long Tall Sally’ – is really very hard. It’s the kind of thing we’ve wanted to do for some time. We get near it in ‘The Word.’
John on the song:
“It sort of dawned on me that love was the answer, when I was younger, on the ‘Rubber Soul’ album. My first expression of it was a song called ‘The Word.’ The word is ‘love.’ ‘In the good and the bad books that I have read,’ whatever, wherever, the word is ‘love.’ It seems like the underlying theme to the universe. Everything that was worthwhile got down to this love, love, love thing. And it is the struggle to love, be loved and express that (just something about love) that’s fantastic. I think that whatever else love is – and it’s many, many things – it is constant. It’s been the same forever. I don’t think it will ever change. Even though I’m not always a loving person, I want to be that, I want to be as loving as possible.”
From Songfacts
This is another brilliant musical innovation from the Rubber Soul album, the first point at which The Beatles shrugged off the “mop tops” image and went for bolder artistic horizons. “The Word” sounds almost like evangelizing; as opposed to a standard boy-girl love song, the lyrics here embrace love as more of a concept, the way the Flower Power movement was thinking about it.
The lyrics of “The Word” also mark an important point at which The Beatles began to realize that they were, in fact, spokespeople for a new generation. Their songs started packing a stronger message, bridging their way to the future when John and George would make their lyrics more political.
Lead vocals on this song were shared by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Beatles producer George Martin played the harmonium, an organ-like keyboard instrument.
Yoko Ono gave the sheet music of this song as a gift to the composer John Cage, who later published it in his book Notations. Ono studied under Cage, even sharing the occasional stage with him, before she met John Lennon.
Out of all the zillions of times that music fans claim that something was composed on drugs, this is one of the rare times when a performer actually states that they did drugs while creating it. Paul McCartney reported in interviews that they’d blazed some reefer before setting down to do the lyrics, and reports that far from enhancing their ability, it actually got in the way.
In 2002, Joan Jett covered this for the album, It’s All About Eve (Music For The Cure), a charity compilation to support breast cancer research. It was produced by Rob Stevens, who had worked with John Lennon.
Rubber Soul is often cited as the first album issued without the artist’s name on its cover, but that honor really goes to Elvis Presley for his 1959 album For LP Fans Only.
The Word
Say the word and you’ll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
In the beginning I misunderstood But now I’ve got it, the word is good
Spread the word and you’ll be free Spread the word and be like me Spread the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Every where I go I hear it said In the good and bad books that I have read
Say the word and you’ll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Now that I know what I feel must be right I’m here to show everybody the light
Give the word a chance to say That the word is just the way It’s the word I’m thinking of And the only word is love
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Say the word love Say the word love Say the word love Say the word love
This track was produced by Sam Phillips of Sun Records, the man who signed Elvis Presley. It was recorded at Phillips Recording studio, a newly updated state-of-the-art studio in Memphis TN. Jeff Beck, who is a fan of early rockabilly, said that he introduced the song to the group: “They just heard me play the riff, and they loved it and made up their version of it”
I’ve always liked this version and Beck’s filthy sound he had on his guitar.
It was written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, and Lois Mann, this song was originally performed by Tiny Bradshaw’s Big Band in 1951. Johnny Burnette recorded a rock version in 1956, and The Yardbirds popularized the song with their rendition in 1965.
Aerosmith covered it in 1974, often playing the song as their encore in their early years. In the ’60s, Aerosmith was on the same bill as The Yardbirds for some shows, and former Yardbird Jeff Beck opened some shows for them in the ’70s.
The song didn’t chart in Billboard but was included on the album “Having A Rave Up” in 1965 which peaked at #53.
From Songfacts
This song is about a guy who is blown away by a woman, but he has to act cool to make sure he doesn’t scare her away. The train rolling is in reference to sex.
In the beginning of the song, Jeff Beck used his guitar to create the train whistle sound.
There are two voices singing throughout the song. Both belong to lead singer Keith Relf. In the beginning, they sing different words, but by the end, both sing in unison.
When Jimmy Page joined the band and he was playing lead guitar with Jeff Beck, the Yardbirds appeared in the 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film Blowup playing a new version of this song re-titled “Stroll On.” The Yardbirds appeared as a band in the film, which is about a London fashion photographer who may have witnessed a murder. It was one of the first major films with a full frontal nudity scene.
In an interview with Q Magazine January 2008, John Paul Jones recalls this was the first ever song he played with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Bonham after joining Led Zeppelin: “I can remember the first song I played with Led Zeppelin in a tiny basement room in Soho in 1968, with wall-to-wall amps. That was ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’,’ the Yardbirds song, which I didn’t know at the time. But I knew immediately, ‘This is fun.”
Train Kept A-Rollin’
I caught the train, I met a dame, She was a hipster, well and a real cool dame, (She was handsome,) She was pretty, from New York City, Well and we trucked on down in that old Fairlane, (Goin’ on,) With a heave, and a ho,
Well, I just couldn’t let her go. (Yes I did,) Get along, sweet little woman, get along, Be on your way, Get along, sweet little woman, get along, Be on your way, With a heave, and a ho, (Love the way you walk,) I just couldn’t let her go. (Yes I do now.)
Well, the train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (Sweet little woman, get along,) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, ([You’re my queen?]) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (Sweet little woman, get along,) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (You’re my queen?) With a heave, and a ho, (Love the way you walk,) Well I just couldn’t let her go, (Yes I do.)
We made a stop at Albuquerque, She must have thought I was a real gone jerk, We got out the train in El Paso, Lookin’ so good, Jack, I couldn’t let her go. Get along, sweet little woman, get along, (Oh, right,)
Well, the train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, With a heave, and a ho, Well I just couldn’t let her go.
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