Singles – Page 176 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Byrds – Eight Miles High

One of the reasons that Roger McGuinn is one of my favorite guitarists is because of this song. Roger has said he was influenced by John Coltrane when arranging the song.

The song peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100 and #24 in the UK in 1966

Many people…including me believe this song is about drugs, but the band claimed it was inspired by a flight where singer Gene Clark asked guitarist Roger McGuinn how high they were in the sky. McGuinn told him six miles, but for the song, they changed it to eight.

Roger McGuinn on Eight Miles High

Eight Miles High has been called the first psychedelic record. It’s true we’d been experimenting with LSD, and the title does contain the word “high”, so if people want to say that, that’s great. But Eight Miles High actually came about as a tribute to John Coltrane. It was our attempt to play jazz.

From Songfacts.

This story was likely a smokescreen to keep the song in the good graces of sensitive listeners. The band had been doing a lot of drugs at the time, including LSD, which is the likely inspiration. If the band owned up to the drug references, they knew it would get banned by some radio stations, and that’s exactly what happened when a radio industry publication reported that the song was about drugs and that stations should be careful about playing it. As soon as one station dropped it, others followed and it quickly sank off the charts.

When we asked McGuinn in 2016 if the song was really about drugs, he replied: “Well, it was done on an airplane ride to England and back. I’m not denying that the Byrds did drugs at that point – we smoked marijuana – but it wasn’t really about that.”

In his book Echoes, Gene Clark said that he wrote the song on his own with David Crosby coming up with one key line (“Rain gray town, known for its sound”), and Roger McGuinn arranging the song with help from Crosby.

In the Forgotten Hits newsletter, McGuinn replied: “Not true! The whole theme was my idea… Gene would never have written a song about flying. I came up with the line, ‘Six miles high and when you touch down.’ We later changed that to Eight because of the Beatles song ‘Eight Days a Week.’ I came up with several other lines as well. And what would the song be without the Rickenbacker 12-string breaks?”

This song is often cited in discussions of “Acid Rock,” a term that got bandied about in 1966 with the release of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album. The genre covers a kind of psychedelic music that became popular at the time, and also the look and lifestyle that went with it. “Acid Rock” was hailed as a pathway to higher consciousness and derided as senseless drug music. At the end of the ’60s, the term petered out, as rock critics moved on to other topics for their think pieces.

The band recorded this on their own, but Columbia Records made them re-record it before they would put it on the album, partly because they had contracts with unions. The Byrds liked the first version better.

Don McLean referred to this in his song “American Pie,” which chronicles the change in musical style from the ’50s to the ’60s. The line is “Eight miles high and falling fast- landed foul out on the grass.” McLean could be sardonically implying that the song is about drugs, since “foul grass” was slang for marijuana.

Husker Du recorded a noise-pop version in 1985.

For decades, the story went that “Eight Miles High” was a commercial failure because it had been banned from radio due to its perceived pro-drug messages. Research presented by Mark Teehan on Popular Music Online challenges this theory. Teehan instead blames the song’s failure to chart on three factors:

First, its sound was too far ahead of its time, and radio stations didn’t know what to do with it.

Second, the departure of Gene Clark led to Columbia Records significantly shrinking the scope of the band’s advertising campaign.

Third, the success of Paul Revere and the Raiders’ “Kicks” further diminished Columbia’s support for the Byrds and “Eight Miles High.”

Eight Miles High

Eight miles high and when you touch down
You’ll find that it’s stranger than known
Signs in the street that say where you’re going
Are somewhere just being their own

Nowhere is there warmth to be found
Among those afraid of losing their ground
Rain gray town known for its sound
In places small faces unbound

Round the squares huddled in storms
Some laughing some just shapeless forms
Sidewalk scenes and black limousines
Some living some standing alone

Beatles – Hey Bulldog

The Beatles recorded this while they were filming the promotional video for “Lady Madonna.” Since they had to be in a studio while filming, Paul McCartney thought they should record a song. This is a nice rocking song written by Lennon. The original name was “Hey Bullfrog” but Paul barked at the end and made John Lennon laugh. They kept in the barking and changed the title, even though there is no mention of a bulldog in the verses or chorus.

John said Hey Bulldog was “a good sounding record that means nothing.” This song would not be out of place today. It is one of the few Beatle songs that gets overlooked and underplayed.

Geoff Emerick, the engineer describes the events of this session. “Even though it was destined to be given to the ‘Yellow Submarine’ film, ‘Hey Bulldog’ was a really strong song. The vibe that day was great… all four Beatles were in an exceptionally good mood because they knew they would be heading to India in a matter of days. Despite the fact that there was a film crew underfoot, it was a Sunday session, so things were quite relaxed – the Abbey Road complex was largely deserted, and The Beatles could wander around the corridors if they wanted to.”

Dave Grohl played the song with Jeff Lynne in 2014 in a tribute to the Beatles after the Grammys.

From Songfacts

This was the first recording session to which John Lennon brought Yoko.

This was the last song The Beatles recorded before leaving for a retreat in India to study meditation with the Maharishi.

John Lennon called this “a good sounding record that means nothing.” Musically, it has some interesting nuances. The middle part contains an interesting example of Lennon’s polyphonic technique: The piano in the background does not follow the singer. Near the end of the song, Lennon talks while accompanied by the music, which could be considered a forerunner to Rap. In the climax, Lennon starts shouting, and the others follow. They scream like mad while the guitar in the background plays the same notes again and again as if nothing has happened.

Hey Bulldog

Sheepdog, standing in the rain
Bullfrog, doing it again
Some kind of happiness is
Measured out in miles
What makes you think you’re
Something special when you smile

Childlike no one understands
Jackknife in your sweaty hands
Some kind of innocence is
Measured out in years
You don’t know what it’s like
To listen to your fears

You can talk to me
You can talk to me
You can talk to me
If you’re lonely, you can talk to me

Big man (yeah) walking in the park
Wigwam frightened of the dark
Some kind of solitude is
Measured out in you
You think you know me, but you haven’t got a clue

You can talk to me
You can talk to me
You can talk to me
If you’re lonely, you can talk to me

Hey hey

Roar

Hey, bulldog (hey bulldog)

Woof

Hey, bulldog
Hey, bulldog
Hey, bulldog

Hey man

Whats up brother?

Roof

What do ya say

I say, roof

You know any more?

Ah ah (you got it, that’s it, you had it)
That’s it man, wo ho, that’s it, you got it

Woah

Look at me man, I only had ten children

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ha ha ha ha
Quiet, quiet (ok)
Quiet
Hey, bulldog, hey bulldog

The Band – The Shape I’m In

The first Band album I ever bought was The Best of The Band. When I heard “The Shape I’m In” I knew I was going to like them. I knew the hits of course but the songs I never heard of at that point were great. I then started to buy their albums and loving this band. The song was off on the album Stage Fright and was a B side to the song “Time To Kill.”

There is a great version on The Last Waltz which is below. Robbie wrote the song for Richard to sing and at that time Levon, Rick, and Richard were heavy into heroin and drinking. The song peaked at #64 in Canada.

Robbie Robertson talks some about writing this song

At one time, there was talk that if you wanted to play like the angels, you had to dance with the devil—that heroin was a gateway to music supremacy. That myth was yesterday, but the power of addiction was still in full force. It hit me hard that in a band like ours, if we weren’t operating on all cylinders, it threw the whole machine off course.
This was the first time that writing songs was painful for me. In some cases I couldn’t help but reflect on what was happening behind the curtain. I wrote “The Shape I’m In” for Richard to sing, “Stage Fright” for Rick, and “The W. S. Walcott Medicine Show” for Levon—all with undertones of madness and self-destruction. While watching Richard pound out the rhythm on the clavichord, I couldn’t help but see the irony as he sang out, “Oh, you don’t know, the shape I’m in.”

The Shape I’m In

Go out yonder, peace in the valley
Come downtown, have to rumble in the alley
Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in

Has anybody seen my lady
This livin’ alone would drive me crazy
Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in

I’m gonna go down by the water
But I ain’t gonna jump in, no, no
I’ll just be lookin’ for my maker
And I hear that that’s where she’s been?

Oh, out of nine lives, I spent seven
Now, how in the world do you get to Heaven
Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in

I’ve just spent 60 days in the jail house
For the crime of having no dough, no no
Now here I am back out on the street
For the crime of having nowhere to go

Save your neck or save your brother
Looks like it’s one or the other
Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in

Now two young kids might start a ruckus
You know they feel you’re tryin’ to shuck us
Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in

Andrews Sisters – Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

I can’t help but like this song. It’s super catchy and the vocals sound so good. My 18-year-old son of all people got me into listening to 40s music…Frank Sintra and big band and I heard this one on satellite radio and remembered hearing it when I was younger.

The Andrews Sisters made the song famous when they performed it in the 1940 Abbott and Costello movie Buck Privates. The song begins in the movie with a solo trumpeter opening Reveille jazz style before a piano enters with a boogie-woogie bass vamp. Dressed in military uniforms and sitting on barstools drinking malts, the sisters stand up and start singing their inimitable close harmonies (notes near enough to grab with one hand on a piano). At the Academy Awards the following spring, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” won the Oscar for Best Song.

By the time they retired from singing professionally, the Andrews Sisters had become the most successful female vocal group in history to that point, recording some 600 tunes that sold 75 million to 100 million records. When the Vocal Group Hall of Fame opened in Sharon, Pennsylvania, in 1998, they were among the original inductees. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” remains their signature song and was voted number 6 of 365 on the 2001 list Songs of the Century.

There is a 70s version with Bette Midler and a newer version with Katy Perry…I’ll stick with the Andrew Sisters.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
He had a boogie style that no one else could play
He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft
He’s in the army now, a-blowin’ reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam
It really brought him down because he couldn’t jam
The captain seemed to understand
Because the next day the cap’ went out and drafted a band
And now the company jumps when he plays reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

A-toot, a-toot, a-toot-diddelyada-toot
He blows it eight-to-the-bar, in boogie rhythm
He can’t blow a note unless the bass and guitar is playin’ with ‘I’m
He makes the company jump when he plays reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
And when he plays the boogie woogie bugle he was busy as a “bzzz” bee
And when he plays he makes the company jump eight-to-the-bar
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

Toot toot toot-diddelyada, Toot-diddelyada, toot-toot
He blows it eight-to-the-bar
He can’t blow a note if the bass and guitar isn’t with ‘I’m
Ha-ha-hand the company jumps when he plays reveille
He’s the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

(Instrumental)

He puts the boys to sleep with boogie every night
And wakes ’em up the same way in the early bright
They clap their hands and stamp their feet
Because they know how he plays when someone gives him a beat
He really breaks it up when he plays reveille
He’s boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

Three Dog Night – Shambala

I first heard this song in the seventies and liked it. I ordered Three Dog Night’s Greatest hits off of television. They were very successful in the late sixties and seventies…songs like Joy To The World, Family of Man, Black and White, The Show Must Go On, etc… They racked up 11 top ten hits and 3 number 1’s… and 21 songs in the Billboard 100 altogether.

They were unusual because they had not one, not two…but three lead singers.

I always wondered what “Shambala” meant…now I know. The word ‘Shambala’ has a spiritual meaning in the Buddhist religion, and some Tibetan Buddhists believe that it is a mythical kingdom or a mystical land hidden somewhere in the Himalaya mountains…

The song’s writer, Daniel Moore, told this story. I remember getting excited about the sound of the word, ‘Shambala.’ Before I wrote the song, I called a friend, Eddie Zip, who I’d been working with and telling him, ‘That word Shambala has a magic sound to it, you ought to put together a band and call it Shambala, you couldn’t lose.’ We had just recorded one of his songs titled ‘Don’t Make God’s Children Cry.’ We were getting – ELEVATED!

I wrote the words and melody, a capella, driving on the Ventura Freeway in about 10 minutes. I got home, picked up my Martin guitar and had the music finished in 5 minutes; a pretty good 15 minutes.

The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 and #4 in Canada in 1973.

This is the commercial I ordered it from back in 1970s.

From Songfacts.

This was written by the songwriter Daniel Moore, and first released by the Texas songwriter B.W. Stevenson. Moore told Songfacts: “Regarding the song, ‘Shambala,’ it was written entirely by myself, Daniel Moore, in the fall of 1972. It was recorded by Three Dog Night in December of 1972. It was recorded by B.W. Stevenson in Late February, 1973 and released two weeks before the Three Dog Night version was released. During those two weeks B.W.’s version sold 125,000 single 45s. Then Three Dog Night released their version and sold 1,250,000 single 45s.”

Later in 1973, with the Three Dog Night version of “Shambala” climbing the charts, Stevenson released a carbon copy single called “My Maria” (credited to Stevenson and Moore), which peaked at #9 US, two months after “Shambala” hit #3.

‘In 1972 my brother, Matthew, called me and informed me that he had received a letter from Dorothy Beg at Lake Pleasant, Massachusetts that told him where and who he had been in his past lives. He had sent a letter to her requesting this information. After recounting several past lives the letter ended with, ‘My messenger tells me to tell you, ‘Let your light shine in the halls of Shambala.” In the phone conversation at that point Matthew said, ‘Shambala, what the hell is that?’

So I did some research and found dozens of references to the word Shambala, the 5000-year-old word originating from Sanskrit. Some were weird, some were goofy but the one I liked was found in Alice Bailey’s Treatise On White Magic. It basically said that there was a gigantic cavern under the Gobi Desert that has a replica of every evolving human being. And when that replica begins to light up or glow (meaning you are cleaning up your act and becoming more spiritual minded or raising your consciousness to a higher level), there is point where your replica gets bright enough to warrant a spiritual teacher being sent to you.

The recording session of my demo in 1972 was with Dean Parks and Jim Varley. Dean (playing bass) was sitting with me (I was engineering, playing the acoustic guitar and singing live) in the control room. We were wearing earphones with the speakers turned off, and 50 feet away at the other end of the studio on the other side of the glass with earphones, was Jim Varley playing drums. Twenty-eight years later I had Greg Beck overdub an electric guitar and that is what you hear on this recording. That’s the only time Dean Parks and Greg Beck have played together, according to Greg.

Three Dog Night heard the song through a publisher, Lindy Blaskey, who was working at ABC Dunhill Publishing. He called me and was very excited because he had gotten such a positive reaction from Three Dog Night and their producer Richie Podler. Anyway, they cut it, it was their single and it was a hit. Bless all of their hearts.

Postscript:
In the Guinness Book of World Records, under Prophecies, there is a reference to Shambala where it says, ‘Any one who furthers the name, ‘Shambala’ shall be rewarded 100 times.’ And so it is.”

This was used in a commercial television advertisement campaign for Citgo Petroleum.

Cory Wells, who along with Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron was one of three vocalists in the band, sang lead on this track. Wells died in 2015 at age 74.

Shambala

Wash away my troubles, wash away my pain
With the rain in Shambala
Wash away my sorrow, wash away my shame
With the rain in Shambala

[Chorus]
Ah, ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind
On the road to Shambala
Everyone is lucky, everyone is so kind
On the road to Shambala

[Chorus]

How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala

I can tell my sister by the flowers in her eyes
On the road to Shambala
I can tell my brother by the flowers in her eyes
On the road to Shambala

[Chorus]

How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala

The Vogues – You’re The One

Starts off with a nice guitar riff. The Vogues are from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. This was the first of eight US Top 40 hits for The Vogues, who recorded the song in Pittsburgh’s Gateway Studios. Its follow-up, “Five O’Clock World,” is their best-known tune.

This song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 in 1964.

From Songfacts.

Petula Clark is best known as a recording artist with a resumé that includes the American #1 hits “Downtown” and “My Love,” both of which were penned by Tony Hatch. However the English songbird is also a fine songwriter, having composed over 100 tunes including this hit for The Vogues. Petula told us it came about because she needed one more song for her I Know a Place album and Tony Hatch had run out of ideas. He asked her to write something and she came up with this song’s melody, to which he added the lyric.

This was the first of eight US Top 40 hits for Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania Pop group The Vogues, who recorded the song in Pittsburgh’s Gateway Studios. Its follow-up, “Five O’Clock World,” is their best-known tune.

The success of the Vogues’ cover alerted Petula Clark’s UK label to the song’s hit potential. Pye rush released Clark’s own version as a single and it peaked at #23 in the singer’s native country and also reached #4 in Australia. In addition Clark recorded a French version entitled “Un Mal Pour Un Bien,” which climbed to #6 in France. However, the English songstress vetoed her US label, Warner Bros’, suggestion to issue it as a single in America to battle with the Vogues’ version.

Surprisingly, despite her success, Petula does not consider herself to be a songwriter at all. She told us: “I’m a sometime songwriter. I’ll write a song if it comes to me, but nobody could say to me, “Will you write me a song?” Because I wouldn’t know how to do that. It just has to come.”

You’re The One

Every time we meet, everything is sweet
Oh, you’re so tender, I must surrender
My love is your love, now and forever

You’re the one that I long to kiss
Baby, you’re the one that I really miss (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You’re the one that I’m dreamin’ of
Baby, you’re the one that I love

Keep me in your heart, never let us part
Ooh, never leave me, please don’t deceive me
I want you only, you must believe me

You’re the one that I long to kiss
Baby, you’re the one that I really miss (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You’re the one that I’m dreamin’ of
Baby, you’re the one that I love

I adore you and no one before you could make me feel this way, yay
Since I met you I just can’t forget you, I love you more each day
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

There may be some tears through the comin’ years
Ooh, all the while I know you’ll be smilin’
Your love will guide me through every mile ’cause

Beach Boys – I Get Around

This is one of the best double A side singles ever released…The B side to I Get Around was “Don’t Worry Baby.” I had this single growing up and would watch the yellow and orange 45 spin. I’m not an audiophile but I will say the vinyl version of I Get Around jumps off the record at you while the cd seems flat.

I Get Around peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 while reaching #7 in the UK in 1964. This was The Beach Boys first number 1 in the US. It was rated fifth biggest seller of 1964 by both Billboard and Cash Box indicating close to 2 million US units sold.

From Songfacts.

Like most early Beach Boys songs, this does not have deep lyrical content; it’s a fun song about a teenage lifestyle featuring friends, girls and cars. Musically, however, it was incredibly innovative, with an opening fuzz guitar, stop-start rhythms and a keyboard line working in and out of the song. Written by Brian Wilson with contributions from Mike Love, it was the first Beach Boys recording after The Beatles took hold in America, and Wilson responded with this rather complex creation.

This was The Beach Boys first #1 in their own country (“Surfin’ Safari” went to #1 in Sweden two years earlier). Father-manager Murry Wilson and therefore his beleaguered son Brian despaired over not hitting the top spot in the US, coming off second best first to the Four Seasons through 1962 and into ’63, then to Jan & Dean when they got to #1 that summer with “Surf City” – a song Brian Wilson wrote – and then into 1964 with the Beatles took over.

This was The Beach Boys real breakthrough in the UK, reaching #7 in a chart that for months had seen only British faces. It was effusively pushed by Mick Jagger on British TV’s Juke Box Jury and he personally circulated copies of it to the UK’s independent pirate radio stations offshore. It was also #1 in Canada and New Zealand.

Fuzzed and reverbed guitar were demonstrated in this way before anyone else in rock, but too subtle for the general public to notice. It was about three years later that fuzz and reverb became a huge deal from the amplifiers of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards.

In our interview with Randy Bachman, he recalls a conversation with Brian Wilson where Wilson explained that this song is based on the Broadway show tune “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue.” Said Bachman:

“I said, ‘How did you do that?’ He said, ‘Well, when they say to stay on the C chord for two beats, I stay on it for four. Or if they say stay on the C chord for eight beats, I stay on it for two.’ So if you listen to ‘Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue, oh, what those five feet could do,’ that’s ‘I Get Around.’ But they went, ‘Round, round, get around, I get around.’ And then he put his own, ‘Woo oo,’ and then he wrote his own song and he put in his own lyrics.”

I Get Around

Round round get around
I get around
Yeah
Get around round round I get around
I get around
Get around round round I get around
From town to town
Get around round round I get around
I’m a real cool head
Get around round round I get around
I’m makin’ real good bread

I’m gettin’ bugged driving up and down the same old strip
I gotta finda new place where the kids are hip

My buddies and me are getting real well known
Yeah, the bad guys know us and they leave us alone

I get around
Get around round round I get around
From town to town
Get around round round I get around
I’m a real cool head
Get around round round I get around
I’m makin’ real good bread
Get around round round I get around
I get around
Round
Get around round round oooo
Wah wa ooo
Wah wa ooo
Wah wa ooo

We always take my car cause it’s never been beat
And we’ve never missed yet with the girls we meet

None of the guys go steady cause it wouldn’t be right
To leave their best girl home now on Saturday night

Round round get around
I get around
Yeah
Get around round round I get around
Get around round round I get around
Wah wa ooo
Get around round round I get around
Oooo ooo ooo
Get around round round I get around
Ahh ooo ooo
Get around round round I get around
Ahh ooo ooo
Get around round round I get around
Ahh ooo ooo

Ace – How Long

A great pop song by Ace and this was their only top 40 hit. Paul Carrack was the lead singer of Ace. He went on to sing for Squeeze and Mike And The Mechanics and had a solo hit with “Don’t Shed a Tear.” He also worked as a keyboardist in Roxy Music and a backup musician for Frankie Miller.

This song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #20 in the UK.

From Songfacts.

Many listeners believed that this was a love song. The truth is that is was about bass player Terry Comer working with other bands (he played briefly with The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver before returning to Ace). He didn’t tell the members of Ace and they felt cheated.

This was Ace’s only hit. They broke up in 1977.

The bass introduction is borrowed from “Traveling Song” by the British folk rock group Pentangle.

When singer-songwriter Paul Carrack appeared on the BBC Breakfast news programme on June 29, 2009 he was asked about the inspiration for this song. Rather than being about a two-timing lover it was, he said, about another band who were “trying to nick our bass player”.
“How Long?” was one of the first songs he ever wrote and remains one of his biggest hits. It was released on the Anchor label, copyright 1974, backed by “Sniffin’ About”, and produced by John Anthony for Neptune Productions. It has been recorded many times since. Terry Comer, the bass player a rival band were trying to “nick”, returned in time to play on the original recording.

How Long

How long has this been goin’ on
How long has this been goin’ on

Well, if friends with their fancy persuasion
Don’t admit that it’s part of a scheme
But I can’t help but have my suspicions
‘Cause I ain’t quite as dumb as I seem
And you said you was never intendin’
To break up our scene in this way
But there ain’t any use in pretendin’
It could happen to us any day

How long has this been goin’ on
How long has this been goin’ on

—- musical interlude —-

Oh, your friends with their fancy persuasion
Don’t admit that it’s part of a scheme
But I can’t help but have my suspicion
‘Cause I ain’t quite as dumb as I seem
Oh, you said you was never intending
To break up our scene in this way
But there ain’t any use in pretendin’
It could happen to us any day

And how long has this been going on
How long has this been going on
How long

How long has this been going on
How long has this been going on
How long has this been going on
How long
How long has this been going o

Ringo Starr – It Don’t Come Easy

Maybe Ringo’s best solo song. Ringo is the only songwriter credited on this, but he had a lot of help from George Harrison, who was very generous in giving him full writing credit. The track (less Ringo’s vocal and horn parts) was already completed when Harrison gave it to him, and it included a scratch vocal by George (youtube video at the bottom).

The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada and #4 in the UK in 1971.

Pete Ham and Tom Evans from Badfinger are on this track.

From Songfacts.

If you listen carefully during the guitar solo, the backup singers throw in a “Hare Krishna,” which was mixed way down. This is a nod to George Harrison’s 1970 hit “My Sweet Lord,” where he sings the mantra.

This was Ringo’s first big hit as a solo artist (his cover of “Beaucoups of Blues” made #87 US a year earlier). From 1971-1975 he had a string of hits, including two #1s: “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen.”

Peter Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger sang on the intro to this song (“It don’t come easy, ya know it don’t come easy”). Badfinger was signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records, and helped out George Harrison’s first solo album.

This song served Ringo well throughout his career. When he assembled his first “All Starr Band” in 1989 (featuring Dr. John, Clarence Clemmons, Joe Walsh and Billy Preston), this was the opening number on their tour. Throughout several subsequent incarnations of the band, “It Don’t Come Easy” typically remained at the top of setlist when they performed live.

Ringo performed this song with his good friend, musical cohort, and brother-in-law Joe Walsh when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Here is the George Harrison version

It Don’t Come Easy

One, two,
One, two, three, four!

It don’t come easy
You know it don’t come easy
It don’t come easy
You know it don’t come easy

Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues
And you know it don’t come easy
You don’t have to shout or leap about
You can even play them easy

Open up your heart, let’s come together
Use a little love
And we will make it work out better

I don’t ask for much, I only want your trust
And you know it don’t come easy
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time
And you know it don’t come easy

Peace, remember peace is how we make it
Here within your reach
If you’re big enough to take it

Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues
And you know it don’t come easy
You don’t have to shout or leap about
You can even play them easy

Peace, remember peace is how we make it
Here within your reach
If you’re big enough to take it

I don’t ask for much, I only want your trust
And you know it don’t come easy
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time
And you know it don’t come easy

“What’s my name?” Ringo!
“What’s my name?” Ringo!

“Just in case anybody forgot”

The Mindbenders – A Groovy Kind of Love

I can’t listen to this every day but once in a while, it’s alright. It’s very mid-sixties plus it has the word groovy in it. Winner winner …

They were a beat group from Manchester, England. They were known as Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders but Mr. Fontana decided to quit in the middle of a concert in 1965… Eric Stewart (later in 10cc) became the lead singer.

The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 in 1966.

Phil Collins covered the song in the 1980s and it peaked at #1 in 1988.

From Songfacts.

This was written by New York songwriters Carole Bayer Sager and Toni Wine; Sager was 22 when they wrote it, and Wine was 17. They wrote the song for Screen Gems publishing, and Jack McGraw, who worked at Screen Gems’ London office, thought the song would be perfect for the British group The Mindbenders. The song became a huge hit in England, and was released in America a year later, where it was also very successful.

Sager was still teaching high school when she wrote this, and Wine was still in high school. Both went on to very successful careers in the music industry, with Sager writing popular songs for stage productions and movies (including “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)”), and Wine writing the hit “Candida” and singing on many famous songs, including Willie Nelson’s version of “Always On My Mind” and “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies. They wrote this in Sager’s apartment.

In our interview with Toni Wine, she explained: “We were talking about ‘Groovy’ being the new word. The only song we knew of was 59th Street Bridge Song, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. You know, ‘Feelin’ groovy.’ And we knew we wanted to write a song with that word in it. Because we knew it was the happening word, and we wanted to jump on that. Carole came up with ‘Groovy kinda… groovy kinda… groovy…’ and we’re all just saying, ‘Kinda groovy, kinda groovy, kinda…’ I don’t exactly know who came up with ‘Love,’ but it was ‘Groovy kind of love.’ And we did it. We wrote it in 20 minutes. It was amazing. Just flew out of our mouths, and at the piano, it was a real quick and easy song to write. Those are incredible things when those songs can get written. Like some you can just be hung on for so long, and then others just happen very quickly. And that was one of them. And it’s been so good to us.”

In 1966, this was also recorded by Patti LaBelle And The Bluebelles, but the version recorded by The Mindbenders, who released it as their first single without lead singer Wayne Fontana, became the hit.

Wayne Fontana left the Mindbenders after numerous singles failed to chart after their hit “Game of Love.” To quote an angry Eric Stewart after Wayne just walked off the stage while they were playing: “All we lost was our tambourine player. Wayne had been threatening to leave the band for some time and drummer Ric Rothwell had reached the end of patience with his groaning an moaning. Ric was urging him to take his ego trip and p–s off.”

This was a #1 UK and US hit for Phil Collins in 1988. His version was used in the movie Buster, where Collins plays the title role of Buster Edwards. Collins put together the soundtrack using various ’60s songs because that’s when the movie was set (he enlisted Motown hitmaker Lamont Dozier to co-write “Two Hearts,” another US #1 hit used in the film). According to Toni Wine, “Separate Lives” composer Stephen Bishop wanted to record a cover and brought a demo to his pal Collins, hoping he would produce it. Instead, Collins convinced Bishop to let him record it for the movie.

A child actor, Collins was wary about taking a movie role after becoming famous as a musician, and he made sure the song didn’t appear until the end of the film so musical perceptions wouldn’t taint his performance. The film was a box office flop, but Collins stood by it, saying it was an excellent film.

The music is based on the Rondo from “Sonatina in G Major” by Muzio Clementi.

Collins’ version was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, but lost to Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy.”

Sonny & Cher recorded this for their 1967 album, In Case You’re In Love.

A Groovy Kind Of Love

When I’m feelin’ blue, all I have to do is take a look at you,
Then I’m not so blue.
When you’re close to me I can feel you heart beat
I can hear you breathing in my ear.

Wouldn’t you agree, baby, you and me got a groovy kind of love.
We got a groovy kind of love.

Any time you want to you can turn me on to anything you want to.
Any time at all.
When I taste your lips
Oh, I start to shiver can’t control the quivering inside.

Wouldn’t you agree, baby, you and me got a groovy kind of love.
We got a groovy kind of love.

When I’m in your arms nothing seems to matter
If the world would shatter I don’t care.
Wouldn’t you agree, baby, you and me got a groovy kind of love.
We got a groovy kind of love.
We got a groovy kind of love.
We got a groovy kind of love

Bob Dylan – Tangled Up In Blue

This was on the great album Blood on the Tracks. In my opinion Bob’s best album of the seventies. When I first got this album I couldn’t quit listening to it and I really wore this song out. I could sing this song in my sleep…I know every word because it’s ingrained in my head.

This would make my top 10-15 Bob Dylan songs. I’ve seen Bob 8 times and the first 6 times I saw him I kept waiting for this song because with Bob you don’t know what you will get live. He finally played it on the 7th time and I was surprised the next time because it was the only older song he played.

The song peaked at #31 in the Billboard 100 in 1975.

Talking to Ron Rosenbaum, Bob Dylan once told him that he’d written “Tangled up in Blue”, after spending a weekend immersed in Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue.

From Songfacts.

Dylan wrote this in the summer of 1974 at a farm he had just bought in Minnesota. He had been touring with The Band earlier that year.

Blood On The Tracks was Dylan’s first album under his new contract with Columbia Records. He left the label a year earlier to record for David Geffen’s label, Asylum Records.

This was influenced by the art classes Dylan was taking with Norman Raeben, a popular teacher in New York. Dylan credits Raeben for making him look at things from a nonlinear perspective, which was reflected in his songs.

This is a very personal song for Dylan. It deals with the changes he was going through, including his marriage falling apart.

Dylan sometimes introduced this on stage by saying it took “Ten years to live and two years to write.”

Tangled Up In Blue

Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’
I was layin’ in bed
Wondrin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like
Mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bank book wasn’t big enough
And I was standin’ on the side of the road
Rain fallin’ on my shoes
Heading out for the east coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues
Gettin’ through
Tangled up in blue

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam I guess
But I used a little too much force
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out west
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin’ away
I heard her say over my shoulder
We’ll meet again some day
On the avenue
Tangled up in blue

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the axe just fell
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin’ for a while on a fishin’ boat
Right outside of Delacroix
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind
And I just grew
Tangled up in blue

She was workin’ in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept lookin’ at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I’s just about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me “Don’t I know your name?”
I muttered somethin’ under my breath
She studied the lines on my face
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces
Of my shoe
Tangled up in blue

She lit a burner on the stove
And offered me a pipe
I thought you’d never say hello, she said
You look like the silent type
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And everyone of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin’ coal
Pourin’ off of every page
Like it was written in my soul
From me to you
Tangled up in blue

I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin’ on
Like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue

So now I’m goin’ back again
I got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They’re an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenters’ wives
Don’t know how it all got started
I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives
But me, I’m still on the road
Headin’ for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point
Of view
Tangled up in blue

Freda Payne – Band of Gold

I’ve always liked this song. It’s a bit of a soap opera but it’s a really good soul song. The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1970. The guitar had a rubberband type effect that was used on this song.

Because of the subject matter, Freda Payne did not want to record this at first. She thought the song was about a woman who was a virgin or sexually naïve and felt it was more suitable for a teenager. When Payne objected to this song, Ron Dunbar (co-writer of the song) said to her, “Don’t worry. You don’t have to like them! Just sing it,” and she did. Little did she know that this song would become her biggest hit and would give her her first record of gold.

The lead guitarist on this track was Ray Parker Jr., who later found success with the theme song for the comedy movie Ghostbusters.

From Songfacts.

There is some mystery to this song. Some people think it is about an impotent man, while others think it is about a frigid woman. In a Songfacts interview with Lamont Dozier, who co-wrote the song, he explained: “The story was, the girl found out this guy was not all there. He had his own feelings about giving his all. He wanted to love this girl, he married the girl, but he couldn’t perform on his wedding night because he had other issues about his sexuality. I’ll put it that way.

It was about this guy that was basically gay, and he couldn’t perform. He loved her, but he couldn’t do what he was supposed to do as a groom, as her new husband.”

This was released on Invictus Records, which Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland formed after they left Motown in 1968. Holland-Dozier-Holland produced the track and wrote it with their collaborator Ron Dunbar, but because of their dispute with Motown, the H-D-H trio couldn’t put their names on the label and credited themselves as “Edythe Wayne.” Members of the Motown house band The Funk Brothers played on the track.

Freda Payne is the older sister of Scherrie Payne, the final lead singer of The Supremes. Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote many of The Supremes’ hits.

According to 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Freda Payne said of this song: “It is about a wedding night that didn’t work out. I wondered why a girl would have a problem on her wedding night and why they would be in separate rooms, but they said, ‘Just learn it.’ I had no idea that it would be such a big hit.”

Band of Gold

Now that you’re gone,
All that’s left is a band of gold
All that’s left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the memories of what love could be
If you were still here with me

You took me from the shelter of my mother
I had never known or loved any other
We kissed after taking vows
But that night on our honeymoon,
We stayed in separate rooms

I wait in the darkness of my lonely room
Filled with sadness, filled with gloom
Hoping soon
That you’ll walk back through that door
And love me like you tried before

Since you’ve been gone,
All that’s left is a band of gold
All that’s left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the dream of what love could be
If you were still here with me

Ohhh

Don’t you know that I wait
In the darkness of my lonely room
Filled with sadness, filled with gloom
Hoping soon
That you’ll walk back through that door
And love me like you tried before

Since you’ve been gone,
All that’s left is a band of gold
All that’s left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the dream of what love could be
If you were still here with me

Soul Survivors – Expressway To Your Heart

When I was 18 I would listen to 96.3 in Nashville that would only play oldies. This one I heard quite a bit but never knew who performed this song…until now. It’s a nice 60s soul song that you don’t hear every day.

The song was written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 in 1967. It was on the Soul Survivors album When the Whistle Blows Anything Goes.

From Songfacts.

This was the first hit record written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who helped create the Philadelphia Soul sound with songs like “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” which were released on their Philadelphia International label. Gamble and Huff are from Camden, New Jersey, which is just east of Philadelphia, and often took the Schuylkill Expressway, which is the “Expressway To Your Heart.” Gamble wrote the lyrics, and he explained to National Public Radio: “I was on my way over to see a young lady, and the expressway was backed up. This is when they just started the expressway in 1967 – I was sitting there for what seemed like hours, so I started beating on the dashboard and singing, ‘Expressway to your heart, trying to get to you.’ Songs come from your imagination. You have to be quick to capture the moment.”

This song starts with the sound of car horns, which came from records containing sound effects. The horns were inspired by the Lovin’ Spoonful song “Summer In The City,” which also used the effect.

Gamble and Huff reused the lyrics “Shower you with love and affection, now you won’t look in my direction” on the song I’m Gonna Make You Love Me, which contains the line, “I’m gonna shower you with love and affection, look out, it’s comin’ in your direction.”

The Soul Survivors were a white group from New York City. They had one more Top 40 hit: “Explosion (In My Soul).”

Expressway To Your Heart

I’ve been tryin’ to get to you for a long time
Because constantly you been on my mind
I was thinkin’ ’bout a shortcut I could take
But it seems like I made a mistake

I was wrong, mmm, I took too long
I got caught in the rush hour
A fellow started to shower
You with love and affection
Now you won’t look in my direction

On the expressway to your heart
The expressway is not the best way
At five o’clock it’s much too crowded
Much too crowded, so crowded
No room for me (too crowded)
Oh, too crowded

Now there’s too many ahead of me
They’re all the time gettin’ in front of me
I thought I could find a clear road ahead
But I found stoplights instead

I was wrong, baby, I took too long
I got caught in the rush hour
A fellow started to shower
You with love and affection
Come on, look in my direction

On the expressway to your heart
The expressway is not the best way
At five o’clock it’s much too crowded
Much too crowded, so crowded
No room for me (too crowded)
Oh, too crowded

Oh, much too crowded
Oh, so crowded

Jimi Hendrix – The Wind Cries Mary

This is the softer side of Jimi. I had the American version of Are You Experienced and came across this song and it has always stuck with me. It was written about his girlfriend Kathy Mary Etchingham.

The song peaked at #6 in the UK charts and was the B side to Purple Haze in America. Bob Dylan was one of Hendrix’s biggest influences and it shows…this song has some great imagery.

From Songfacts.

Jimi wrote this in 1967 for Are You Experienced?; it was inspired by his girlfriend at the time, Kathy Mary Etchingham. He’d gotten into an argument with her about her cooking. She got very angry and started throwing pots and pans and finally stormed out to stay at a friend’s home for a day or so. When she came back, Jimi had written “The Wind Cries Mary” for her.

Kathy Mary recalled, “We’d had a row over food. Jimi didn’t like lumpy mashed potato. There were thrown plates and I ran off. When I came back the next day, he’d written that song about me. It’s incredibly flattering.” (Source Q magazine February 2013)

Jimi wrote the song quietly in his apartment and didn’t show it to anybody. After recording “Fire” (which was about his sexual relationship with Kathy), he had 20 minutes to spare in the recording studio, so he showed it to the band. They managed to record it in the 20 minute period they had. The band later recorded several more takes of the song, but they all seemed very sterile and they decided to go with the original recording.

This was the third single from Are You Experienced?.

A lot of people assumed this was about marijuana, which is also known as “Mary Jane.”

This song begins with a distinctive and recognizable introduction, in which three chromatically ascending ‘five’ chords are played in second inversion. A ‘five’ chord consists of two notes (first or “root,” and fifth) instead of three (root, third and fifth). The missing middle note gives the chord a more ‘open’ or ‘bare’ sound. A second inversion “flips” the notes in the chord, so that the fifth, not the root, is the lowest sounding note. This makes it more difficult for the listener to immediately identify what key the song is being played in. In addition, a syncopated rhythm makes it difficult for the listener to identify the “downbeats” of the song. This combination of musical elements creates a unique and disorienting experience when the song is heard for the first time.

Jamie Cullum covered this song, replacing the guitar part with a jazzy piano. Other artists to record the song include John Mayer, Popa Chubby and Robyn Hitchcock.>>

According to the book Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy, Hendrix wrote this as a very long song, but broke it down to fit the short-song convention and make it radio friendly. Hendrix was concerned that listeners wouldn’t understand the song in its shortened form.

The Wind Cries Mary

After all the jacks are in their boxes
And the clowns have all gone to bed
You can hear happiness staggering on down the street
Footprints dressed in red
And the wind whispers “Mary”

A broom is drearily sweeping
Up the broken pieces of yesterdays life
Somewhere a queen is weeping
And somewhere a king has no wife
And the wind cries “Mary”

The traffic lights they turn blue tomorrow
And shine the emptiness down on my bed
The tiny island sags downstream
Cause the life that lived is dead
And the wind screams “Mary”

Will the wind ever remember
The names it has blown in the past
And with its crutch, its old age, and its wisdom
It whispers no this will be the last
And the wind cries “Mary”

The Mamas & The Papas – I Saw Her Again

I never was a huge fan of The Mamas and Papas but I did like some of their songs like this one. This song was written by John Phillips, the leader of the Mamas And The Papas, about the affair between his wife, Michelle Phillips (a Mamas And Papas member), and Denny Doherty (a Mamas And Papas member).

After that Michelle had an affair with Gene Clark of the Byrds which ultimately led to Michelle Phillips’ dismissal from the band temporarily.

Ironically enough, Doherty received a songwriting credit. The sessions for this album must have been as uncomfortable.

I found this researching the song. The two women of the group were Michelle Phillips and Cass Elliott were opposite…one had model looks and insecure and Cass Elliott was heavy and outgoing making friends with everyone. This is a quote from Michelle Phillips…the lone survivor of the band.

“People assume that there must have been tension between us, but the truth is I wanted to be just like Cass,” says Phillips. “Cass liberated me; she stopped John trying to have too much control over me. She taught me a lot about feminism, and she always encouraged me, although I was obviously inferior to her as a singer.”

Elliot died of a heart attack in 1974, aged 32. Phillips died of heart failure in 2001, and Doherty died of an abdominal aneurysm in 2007.

This song peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100 in 1966 and #11 in the UK. This was their second album called The Mamas and Papas.

Jill Gibson took Michelle’s place in the band for a few weeks when this album was being recorded and then Michelle was asked back to finish out the album. Some songs have both of their voices on them.

From Songfacts.

Lou Adler produced this song, and Bones Howe was the engineer for the session. According to Bones, the part around the 2:45 mark where “I saw her” is repeated twice was a happy accident. Said Bones: “We were punching vocals in, and when we came to that part where the rhythm stops and the group goes, ‘I saw her again last night,’ I just punched in early. They came in early, and so we stopped. And then we went back and started again, and I punched in at the beginning of the vocal, they started two bars later or whatever it was. And when I played it back, the vocal went, ‘I saw her – I saw her again.’ It was a mistaken punch. And Lou said, ‘I love it! Leave it in.’ It was an error, it was a mistake. But Lou was wise enough, it caught his ear and he left it. And I learned something from that. You go with your gut. If something catches – they could be – there are wonderful mistakes that happen in the studio and you have to learn to catch those when they happen and use them.”

I Saw Her Again

I saw her again last night
And you know that I shouldn’t
To string her along’s just not right
If I couldn’t I wouldn’t

But what can I do, I’m lonely too
And it makes me feel so good to know
You’ll never leave me
I’m in way over my head

Now she thinks that I love her
Because that’s what I said
Though I never think of her
But what can I do, I’m lonely too

And it makes me feel so good to know
You’ll never leave me
Every time I see that girl
You know I want to lay down and die

But I really need that girl
Don’t know why I’m livin’ a lie
It makes me want to cry
I saw her again last night

And you know that I shouldn’t
To string her along’s just not right
If I couldn’t I wouldn’t
But what can I do, I’m lonely too

And it makes me feel so good to know
You’ll never leave me

But what can I do, I’m lonely too
And it makes me feel so good to know
You’ll never leave me
Every time I see that girl

You know I want to lay down and die
But I really need that girl
Don’t know why I’m livin’ a lie
It makes me want to cry

I saw her again last night
And you know that I shouldn’t
To string her along’s just not right
If I couldn’t I wouldn’t

I’m in way over my head
Now she thinks that I love her
Because that’s what I said
Though I never think of her