Category: Singles

Max Picks …songs from 1986

1986

Crowded House – Something So Strong

It was love at first listen to this song. They had another hit that was larger in Don’t Dream It’s Over but this song is a perfect pop song. The lyric “bring life to frozen ground” still stands out to me and I cannot hear this song enough. As far as pop songs go it’s hard to beat this New Zealand band.

The song dates back to 1984 when Neil Finn did a demo of the song. He was still in Split Enz at that time. They split in 1985 so Finn and drummer Paul Hester formed Crowded House.

The song was written by Neil Finn and  Mitchell Froom.

R.E.M. – Fall On Me

A musician friend of mine invited me over to listen to this album. We must have played it 5 times through by nighttime.

Bill Berry (drummer) said the song was specifically about Acid Rain, which occurs when the burning of fossil fuels releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, causing rain to be acidic and threatening the environment.

Michael Stipe said about the song: “I was reading an article in Boston when I was on tour with the Golden Palominos, and Chris Stamey showed me this article about this guy that did an experiment from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, whereby he dropped a pound of feathers and a pound of iron to prove that there was… a difference in the… density? What did he prove? I don’t even know. They fall just as fast.”

Steve Earle – Someday

Ever since I heard him in the mid to late 80s I liked Steve Earle. He opened up for Bob Dylan in 1988 and he was fantastic. His music was between country, folk, and rock. You can’t really put Earle in a box…and you shouldn’t. I’ve read reviewers compare him to Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, and Waylon Jennings in the same review. That is a great span of artists.

The song is about escaping the town you are living in. I knew a lot of people who wanted to escape the small town I grew up in. The song reminds me a little of The River by Bruce Springsteen in content. It’s a song that many people will be able to relate to.

The song was from his debut album Guitar Town. I remember he was being played on country radio and WKDF…Nashville’s number-one rock station back in the 80s. The album is ranked 489 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 500 albums. They called it a rocker’s version of country.

Georgia Satellites – Keep Your Hands To Yourself

A friend of mine who played guitar in high school got a bootleg of this song a year before it was officially released. His band was playing in the gym before we went on and they played this song. I thought they wrote it until I asked him. It’s a great-sounding song live.

It was an instant bar band song classic. It was a song you didn’t really have to rehearse…just one listen would do it. We learned it in one take… and again it was one of only a handful of times that we played a song in the top ten at the time. This is the kind of music I missed in the mainstream during the mid to late eighties.

This was the only big hit for the Georgia Satellites, although lead singer Dan Baird had a hit as a solo artist in 1992 with “I Love You Period.” They didn’t have another big hit but they did have some songs that got airplay on radio and MTV like Battleship Chains and a cover of Hippy Shake. This was one of the few straight-out rock and roll songs to hit the charts at this time.

Dwight Yoakam – Guitars, Cadillacs

Buck Owens made the Bakersville sound popular and it’s one of my favorite types of country. Yoakam and Steve Earle came out at around the same time and they were not like everyone else (George Jones has a funny quote about that at the bottom). They were a breath of fresh air in country music and they crossed over genres as well. They essentially brought the country back to being country and not southern rock pop with a twang.

It was released in 1986 and was the second single off of his debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. This song was written by Dwight Yoakam. Pete Anderson (producer) was a huge help in the making of the album. He provided some ideas music-wise, played the guitar, and even sang background vocals.

George Jones: ‘We spent all these years trying not to be called hillbillies, and Dwight Yoakam and Steve Earle fucked it up in one day.’”

…

Ringo Starr – Early 1970

This song is not one of Ringo’s best songs but it probably is my secret favorite of his because of what it’s about. The song is about the status of the Beatles in early 1970.

I usually don’t describe what a song is about because I like the back stories to songs much more…and everyone interprets songs a different way…but this one is known to be about the other Beatles.  This was the B side to It Don’t Come Easy…it’s a very basic simple song…no great work of art but it has a charm about it because it’s Ringo.

The first verse is about Paul… he talks about his farm, and his new wife Linda, and Paul was very quiet around this time and he stopped coming to Apple. He also told Ringo to get out of his house when Ringo delivered a message from the 3 Beatles for McCartney to delay releasing his debut album because of Let It Be releasing at the same time. They finally gave in to Paul.  Ringo was wondering if Paul would play music with him when he came by again. And when he comes to town, I wonder if he’ll play with me.

The second verse is about John. Ringo sings about John and Yoko doing the bed in and what I thought was “Cocaine” as a kid was really a lesser drug…”Cookies.” He also references Yoko with “With his mama by his side, she’s Japanese.” At the end of the verse…unlike Paul he knows John will play music with him. And when he comes to town, I know he’s gonna play with me.

The third verse is about George. Ringo and George were extremely close in the Beatles and afterward. Things did pop up between them through the years but they remained friends. He describes George in the first line, Pattie Boyd Harrison in the second, and George’s famous mansion Friar Park in the 3rd. Ringo and George wrote together and George hung out with Ringo more than the other Beatles. He’s a long-haired, cross-legged guitar picker, um-um.
With his long-legged lady in the garden picking daisies for his soup. A forty acre house he doesn’t see, ‘Cause he’s always in town playing for you with me.

The last verse was pretty much true…Ringo knew a little piano and guitar but that is about it other than drums. It’s the last verse that had to make Beatle fans happy at the time. “And when I go to town I wanna see all three.”

Early 1970

Lives on a farm, got plenty of charm, beep, beep.
He’s got no cows but he’s sure got a whole lotta sheep.
And brand new wife and a family,
And when he comes to town,
I wonder if he’ll play with me.

Laying in bed, watching tv, cookies!
With his mama by his side, she’s japanese.
They scream and they cried, now they’re free,
And when he comes to town,
I know he’s gonna play with me.

He’s a long-haired, cross-legged guitar picker, um-um.
With his long-legged lady in the garden picking daisies for his soup.
A forty acre house he doesn’t see,
‘Cause he’s always in town
Playing for you with me.

I play guitar, a – d – e.
I don’t play bass ’cause that’s too hard for me.
I play the piano if it’s in c.
And when I go to town I wanna see all three,
And when I go to town I wanna see all three,
And when I go to town I wanna see all three.

…

Modern English – Melt With You

This was a 1983 New Wave song from the band Modern English. I wasn’t a big New Wave fan but I liked this song. I did like some of the songs I heard but music at the time began to miss something. It seemed to be either New Wave, Pop, or Heavy Metal…rock and roll wasn’t heard hardly at all on mainstream radio.

This song is dark but people and advertisers don’t care. The lead singer Robbie Grey said it was about a couple making love as an atom bomb drops and they melt together. At that time in the 80s the Cold War was going on and we would talk about it as teens. The single was released around the same time as other Cold War songs like Nena’s “99 Luftballons,” Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Two Tribes,” Time Zone’s “World Destruction,” Men at Work’s “It’s a Mistake,” Prince’s “1999,” and Culture Club’s “The War Song.” As long we are naming songs… let’s name some movies that touched on the subject. War Games, Red Dawn, and the frightening TV movie The Day After. The Day After was the most-viewed TV movie of all time with over 100 million viewers in 1983. It was truly frightening.

It peaked at #78 on the Billboard 100 which surprises me that it didn’t get higher. It recharted again in 1990 at #76. Again, I’m surprised at how low some of the songs of my youth charted. The song was first popularized when it was featured in the 1983 Nicolas Cage teen rom-com Valley Girl.

They were essentially a one-hit wonder in the US but not back in the UK where they had a few top twenty hits. They did have one other song in the Billboard 100 with Hands Across The Sea which peaked at #57 but it’s not remembered like this one.

During Covid, Modern English re-recorded a “From Quarantine” rendition by guitarist Gary McDowell, bassist Michael Conroy, keyboardist Stephen Walker, and drummer Roy Martin—from their respective homes during lockdown. Only drummer Roy Martin is not from the original band. The original drummer was Richard Brown and he couldn’t make it.

They have been reunited since 2010 and did a tour in 2022. Blogger Jim Everett Table Toss suggested checking out Nouvelle Vague’s cover of this song. I really like it…it’s really smooth and sleek.

Robbie Grey: “The amount of times we get told people got married to our song, made love to that song for the first time… whatever, it’s lovely. But literally, the lyrics are about a couple making love as the atom bomb drops and sort of melting together, but that’s quite good. I like the fact that it’s got layers to it — that people can get what they want from it. … I like the fact that it’s like a love song, but with a dark lyric.”

Robbie Grey: “I was definitely stoned when I wrote it, It was during the day, I remember it really well. I sat down on the floor of my flat in London, a cheap place in the housing association, and wrote the verse just straight off in about 10 minutes.”

Robbie Grey: “I’d always been shouting on songs before, I’d never really sung on a song. And there’s not really any singing on this either, it’s more spoken, but Hugh Jones the producer said, ‘Don’t shout into the microphone, just talk into it.’ I’d never done that before – I was a punk rocker. And so, I did. I just kind of stood back and mouthed the words. And I think that’s a lot of the attraction of the verses on ‘I Melt With You’ is that almost spoken quality.”

Nouvelle Vague – Melt With You

Melt With You

Moving forward using all my breath
Making love to you was never second best
I saw the world crashing all around your face
Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time
There’s nothing you and I won’t do
I’ll stop the world and melt with you

Dream of better lives the kind which never hates
(You should see why)
Trapped in the state of imaginary grace
(You should know better)
I made a pilgrimage to save this humans race
(You should see why)
Never comprehending the race has long gone bye

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all
the time
(Let’s stop the world) There’s nothing you and I won’t do
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

The future’s open wide

**The future’s open wide

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) I’ve seen some changes but it’s getting better all the
time
(Let’s stop the world) There’s nothing you and I won’t do
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

The future’s open wide

hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm

I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)
You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time (Let’s stop the
world)
There’s nothing you and I won’t do (Let’s stop the world)
I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)

I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)
I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)

I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)
I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)

Led Zeppelin – Dancing Days

I like the strange riff that opens this one up. It sounds tonally off in some ways and that makes it appealing. While in Bombay, Page and Plant heard an Indian song that inspired this. The creative process for “Dancing Days” began with Jimmy Page’s guitar riff.  Robert Plant then added the lyrics, which they were inspired by a girl he met in Bombay.

The term “dancing days” is thought to refes to high school. On a bootleg recording of the song from a concert on Jan. 14th, 1973 Robert Plant sings “Let’s go back to high school” in the song.

The song was on the Houses of the Holy album released in 1973. The funny thing is that the song Houses of the Holy would be on the Physical Graffiti album, not its namesake. This song was the B side to Over The Hills And Far Away rare single released in 1973. The single peaked at #51 on the Billboard 100 and #63 in Canada.

The band was determined not to repeat themselves after the success of Led Zeppelin IV. This album is diverse with songs Over The Hills and Far Away, The Ocean, The Rain Song, and the funk of The Crunge. This album was a perfect gateway into their next album Physical Graffiti.

The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Charts, #1 in the UK, and #1 in Canada.

Dancing Days

Dancing days are here again
As the summer evenings grow
I got my flower, I got my power
I got a woman who knows

I said it’s alright, You know it’s alright
I guess it’s all in my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?
Crazy ways are evident
In the way that you’re wearing your clothes
Sippin’ booze is precedent
As the evening starts to glow

You know it’s alright, I said it’s alright
You know it’s all in my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?

You told your mamma I’d get you home
But you didn’t say I had no car
I saw a lion he was standing alone
With a tadpole in a jar

You know it’s alright, I said it’s alright
I guess it’s all in my heart, my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?

So dancing days are here again
As the summer evenings grow
You are my flower, you are my power
You are my woman who knows

I said it’s alright, You know it’s alright
You know it’s all in my heart
You’ll be my only, my one and only
Is that the way it should start?

Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog

As I was listening to Robert Earl Keen…CB sent me a link to the Stooges. A change of pace to put it lightly. I went on a binge of Stooges songs. You know what’s great about this song? Hard-driving music that doesn’t let up. This was punk before there was punk. For an added bonus I’m posting Iggy’s friend right after this post.

In 1969 this was about as hard and loud as you could get on a record. And yes…when you listen to this song… you will hear Christmas sleigh bells in the background. So, it’s a holly jolly tune about sexual submission. Now that is punk!

The song would not have worked with the masses because of the sexually explicit lyrics. Guitarist Ron Ashton came up with the driving riff. They were all sitting around and just throwing out words. They came up with the word God but didn’t want to include that in this song so they turned the letters around backward.

This song is on their self-titled album was released in 1969. This was released as a single the same year. John Cale of The Velvet Underground produced the album. The song was written by The Stooges… Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, and Iggy Pop.

Iggy Pop: “I was in a band called The Stooges in a little town in Michigan called Ann Arbor, we weren’t a very empowered group of people. We were basically a kind of far-fetched group of dreamers, and our dream was to have a little rock band. A lot of people used to laugh at us.”

“We used to get pretty stoked on hash and grass, and one thing that we’d do on this hash and grass, we’d sit around and we’d imagine these kind of savage tribes, like ‘How are the Mongols when they just came in and killed everybody?’ Think of how it must have been when these little guys with these fierce faces on their little ponies going ‘Wooooo!’ Just killing and riding over all opposition in their path, and that was the kind of thing we were talking about.”

Iggy Pop: “I used to do ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog,’ and people just stared in horror,” he recalled. “And then I would do ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog,’ and people would just drink their beer and watch, kind of musing. And it got to the point where I did it and people were grooving. When I go out and do it now go out, they know all the words in the verses. So, that’s a beautiful thing.”

I Wanna Be Your Dog

So messed up, I want you hereIn my room, I want you hereNow we’re gonna be face-to-faceAnd I’ll lay right down in my favorite place

And now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dog

Well, come on

And now I’m ready to close my eyesAnd now I’m ready to close my mindAnd now I’m ready to feel your handAnd lose my heart on the burning sands

And now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dogAnd now I wanna be your dog

Well, come on

WooUhUh

…

David Bowie – The Jean Genie

I love the rawness of this song and performance. I’m convinced there is no style that Bowie could not do. Since I posted his friend Iggy Pop this morning I thought I would post this Bowie song. I love this song because of its rawness and energy…I’m not surprised that it was recorded in the 1st take.

The two main influences for this song were said to be Iggy Pop and Cyrinda Foxe. Many of the lyrics reflect Iggy Pop’s lifestyle and stage antics. Cyrinda Foxe was an actress who starred in commercials for Jean Genie jeans. Legend has it that Bowie wrote this in Foxe’s apartment to entertain her. Foxe would appear in the song’s official video alongside Bowie.

The song was on Bowie’s album Aladdin Sane which was released in 1973. The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard Album Charts, #20 on the Canadian Charts, and #1 on the UK Charts in 1973. Bowie was prolific during this period. He would release another album Pin Ups later in the year. Here is a review of the Aladdin Sane from The Press Music Reviews. Whenever I want to look up anything Bowie I go to that blog.

The Jean Genie was the first song recorded for the album. It’s believed to have emerged from a jam on board the Spiders From Mars’ Greyhound tour bus, as they traveled between Cleveland and Memphis on 23 September 1972. It originally had the working title ‘Bussin”, and originated after Mick Ronson began playing the central riff on his new Les Paul guitar.

This song was released in 1972 and peaked at #2 in the UK, #71 on the Billboard 100, and #75 in Canada.

David Bowie: “Starting out as a lightweight riff thing I had written one evening in NY for Cyrinda’s enjoyment, I developed the lyric to the otherwise wordless pumper and it ultimately turned into a bit of a smorgasbord of imagined Americana … based on an Iggy-type persona. The title, of course, was a clumsy pun upon Jean Genet.”

David Bowie: “I wanted to get the same sound the Stones had on their very first album on the harmonica. I didn’t get that near to it, but it had a feel that I wanted – that ’60s thing.”

The Jean Genie

A small Jean Genie snuck off to the city
Strung out on lasers and slash-back blazers
Ate all your razors while pulling the waiters
Talking ’bout Monroe and walking on Snow White
New York’s a go-go, and everything tastes right
Poor little Greenie, ooh-ooh

Keep her comin’
The Jean Genie lives on his back
The Jean Genie loves chimney stacks
He’s outrageous, he screams and he bawls (Jean Genie)
Jean Genie, let yourself go, whoah

Sits like a man but he smiles like a reptile
She love him, she love him but just for a short while
She’ll scratch in the sand, won’t let go his hand
He says he’s a beautician and sells you nutrition
And keeps all your dead hair for making up underwear
Poor little Greenie, ooh-ooh

The Jean Genie lives on his back
The Jean Genie loves chimney stacks
He’s outrageous, he screams and he bawls (Jean Genie)
Jean Genie, let yourself go, whoah

He’s so simple-minded, he can’t drive his module
He bites on the neon and sleeps in a capsule
Loves to be loved, loves to be loved

Oh, Jean Genie lives on his back
The Jean Genie loves chimney stacks
He’s outrageous, he screams and he bawls (Jean Genie)
Jean Genie, let yourself go, whoah

Go!
Go!

The Jean Genie lives on his back
The Jean Genie loves chimney stacks
He’s outrageous, he screams and he bawls (Jean Genie)
Jean Genie, let yourself go, whoah

Go, go go!

Robert Earl Keen – The Road Goes On Forever

The road goes on forever and the party never ends

This is the kind of song that a songwriter dreams of writing and very few ever do. The Road Never Ends was released in 1989 on his second album West Textures. It has become Keen’s signature song. It’s a Bonnie and Clyde type of song framed by that chorus. I heard this song way back in the early nineties but was reminded of it in a comedy song of all things. Todd Snider with Beer Run .

Keen was born in Houston, Texas, and performed some concerts with the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. The song has been covered by Joe Ely, The Highwaymen, and Jack Ingram.

Keen grew up listening to Bob Wills’ Western swing, so he asked his parents for a fiddle. His frustration at trying to master it found him giving that up and trying an acoustic guitar…which worked out much better. He moved to Austin in 1978 and launched his professional career playing folk and bluegrass at night spots around town and other venues such as Gruene Hall in nearby New Braunfels.

Keen won the 1983 New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival which encouraged him to record his first album, No Kinda Dancer. In 1986 he headed for Nashville but less than two years he was back in Texas landscaping and trying to make a living. He kept playing and released a live album in 1988 and then this one in 1989. His popularity and influence grew after that.

He had a top 10 country album in 2001 called Gravitational Forces and his five next albums were in the top 21 in Country music and his last one called Happy Prisoner number 10 in 2015. Keen decided to retire and spend time with his family now.

This song has spawned a lot of tattoos.

Tattoo REK

The Road Goes On Forever

Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in townShe had a reputation as a girl who’d been aroundDown Main Street after midnight with a brand new pack of cigsA fresh one hangin’ from her lips and a beer between her legsShe’d ride down to the river and meet with all her friendsThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Sonny was a loner he was older than the restHe was going into the Navy but he couldn’t pass the testSo he hung around town he sold a little potThe law caught wind of Sonny and one day he got caughtBut he was back in business when they set him free againThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Sonny’s playin’ 8-ball at the joint where Sherry worksWhen some drunken outta towner put his hand up Sherry’s skirtSonny took his pool cue laid the drunk out on the floorStuffed a dollar in her tip jar and walked on out the doorShe’s runnin’ right behind him reachin’ for his handThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

They jumped into his pickup Sonny jammed her down in gearSonny looked at Sherry and said lets get on outta hereThe stars were high above them and the moon was in the eastThe sun was settin’ on them when they reached Miami BeachThey got a hotel by the water and a quart of Bombay ginThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

They soon ran out of money but Sonny knew a manWho knew some Cuban refugees that delt in contrabandSonny met the Cubans in a house just off the routeWith a briefcase full of money and a pistol in his bootThe cards were on the table when the law came bustin’ inThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

The Cubans grabbed the goodies and Sonny grabbed the JackHe broke a bathroom window and climbed on out the backSherry drove the pickup through the alley on the sideWhere a lawman tackled Sonny and was reading him his rightsShe stepped into the alley with a single shot .410The road goes on forever and the party never ends

They left the lawman lyin’ and they made their getawayThey got back to the motel just before the break of daySonny gave her all the money and he blew her a little kissIf they ask you how this happened say I forced you into thisShe watched him as his taillights disappeared around the bendThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Its Main Street after midnight just like it was before21 months later at the local grocery storeSherry buys a paper and a cold 6-pack of beerThe headlines read that Sonny is goin’ to the chairShe pulls back onto Main Street in her new Mercedes BenzThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Powerhouse – I Want To Know

Last week I ran across the one-off “supergroup” The Buzzin’ Cousins that John Mellencamp formed with  Joe Ely, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine, and James McMurtry. I thought I would look around for any more that I don’t know about.

Many of you probably know this band but I had no clue about it. It’s been called different things like Eric Clapton’s Powerhouse. This band featured Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Steve Winwood, Paul Jones (Manfred Man) Pete York (Spencer Davis Group drummer), and Ben Palmer (piano,  previously played with Clapton and Jones as a member of the Roosters and the Grands) and they recorded this in 1966.

This was meant to be and was a short-term one-off band that included some heavy players back in the day and huge historically. They recorded three songs that appeared on the Elektra Records compilation What’s Shakin’ in 1966. A fourth song, “Slow Blues”, was recorded but remains unreleased to this day.

It’s been said that I Want To Know was written by Paul Jones but he used his wife’s name in the credit…Sheila McLeod. I would guess for contract reasons. Also due to contractual restrictions, Stevie Winwood is listed as Steve Angulo. The songs are I Want To Know (Shelia McLeod), Steppin Out (Memphis Slim), and Crossroad (Robert Johnson) which Cream would later cover.

Later on these songs were released on collections by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Steve Winwood. This was around the time that Jack Bruce was in Manfred Man.

Here is a link to the complete album on youtube.

I’m going to include their released discography here…all three songs.

I Want To Know

I want to know why do you always run around
I want to know why do you always run around
Every man I know is watching you pull me down
I want to know, do you really mean to hurt me
I want to know, do you really mean to hurt me
Well, I’m tryin’ to understand the dirty way you always treat me
I want to know if I can come home every night
I want to know if I can come home every night
Well, oh woman, oh woman, why can’t you try to treat me right

I wanna know, I wanna know
Hey hey I want want, I wanna know, oo oh
All right, what do you say
Well woman, oh woman, why can’t you try to treat me right

Hometown Artist…Don Williams

Dave from A Sound Day wanted us to write about our Hometown and for us to write  either a song about our hometown or highlight an artist from there.

It’s my sister’s birthday today so I thought I would post this since she is in it. Dave posted this a while back.

If you have read my blog for a while…you already know a couple of these stories so I do apologize. When someone asks me where I’m from I usually say Nashville. I was born there but I lived/live in a small town north of Nashville. It’s a town called Ashland City and it’s your typical two-redlight town. I could write about Nashville but that would cover around 20 posts so I’ll go with the town I grew up in.

Now to confuse everyone…there are 3 towns close to each other in the same county. Ashland City, which is the capital of the county, Pleasant View, and Chapmansboro where I live now…they are all within 7-8 miles of each other so “Ashland City” pretty much covers them all…at least in our minds.

3 major country stars lived in our small area while growing up at that time. Don Williams, Mel Tellis, and Randy Travis. I was at my sister’s house in the eighties and I heard her scream and then run out and slam the door. She woke me up with her oohing and ahhing and I asked what was going on. Someone was riding a horse down tout dirt road. Tammy (my sister) went out and talked a little and she came back all happy.

I asked who it was and she said it was Randy Travis. I was a total modern country snob back then…I told her…when Eric Clapton rides by on a horse…then you wake me up. Make it someone worth it…yea I know I wasn’t nice. The reason for the snobbery…if you live here you are expected to like country music…but I couldn’t take it…except early country music. You start to rebel against music that is thrown at you constantly. That may be the reason I liked British rock artists more than country artists in my backyard. As I got older I started to appreciate them more.

Why did I say, Eric Clapton? Many of us think he might have visited our town in the 70s. The reason was that he was good friends with Don Williams. Now I did like Don Williams a lot. I also liked Mel Tillis but Randy Travis was part of that new country at the time that I didn’t really care for. I personally think my sister just loved the way he looked more than anything else.

Here are two stories that I’ve told before…The first star I met was Loretta Lynn and I had breakfast with her at her ranch (in a town called Waverly) which was the coolest breakfast I ever had while I was 8 years old. I would see other stars (Jerry Reed and Kenny Rogers) also once in a while but only really talked to two…Loretta Lynn and the featured artist today.

I was around 10-12 and I played baseball at the city ballpark. I would go there after school and practice. There were days I would just hang around and talk to people. I saw this man mowing the grass that had this old cowboy hat on. After a little while, he stopped and talked to me and asked me how I was doing. I knew the guy’s face and it came to me… I was talking to Don Williams. The reason I knew him was because of my mom’s country albums. I wasn’t into country music but some songs I did like.

I would see him off and on throughout my teenage years and he always was as nice as can be. I went to school and played baseball with his son. Don would mow the city park and the high school field. I’m not sure if he was bored or just wanted to help the community…he was a super guy either way. One of the last things he did was help raise money to get his church a new building. He passed away at 78  years old in 2017.

Williams had songs like It Must Be Love and I Believe In You…plus many more.

I Believe in You peaked at #1 on the Country chart in 1980. It also peaked at #1 in Canada on the Country Charts. It ended up being Don Williams’ only Top 40 song on the Billboard 100, the song peaked at #24 in the Billboard 100, #4 in New Zealand, and #20 in Australia.

It Must Be Love peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and #2 on the Canada Country Charts in 1979.

All together Williams had 21 #1 singles on the Country Charts and a total of 25 studio albums and 62 singles.

Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend were admirers of Don Williams and both covered his songs. Eric Clapton would cover Tulsa Time and take it to #30 in the Billboard 100.

…

Jean Knight – Mr. Big Stuff

A fun soul song from the seventies. Jean Knight’s birth name was Jean Caliste. She adopted the professional name of Jean Knight because she felt that “Caliste” was too hard to pronounce. Love the bass sound in this song. It peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 and #10 in Canada in 1971. The song reminds me of “”Groove Me” and they were recorded at the same studio…Malaco Studios in Mississippi.

After Knight recorded this song, it was given to several different national record labels, all of which rejected it. However, when King Floyd’s hit “Groove Me” became a #1 R&B hit in early 1971, the employees of Stax Records remembered Knight’s recording of “Mr. Big Stuff,” reconsidered, and released it.

This one was quite successful…not only did it stay on the R&B charts for 16 weeks… it went double platinum and was nominated for a Grammy. Not bad for a song that was at first rejected.

The reason I remember this song so well is because the band Everclear used the intro in their song AM Radio which I always liked. I’ll drop the video below. It’s a song about how important AM radio was in the 1970s. A fun song and a fun video.

Mr. Big Stuff

(Oh yeah, ooh)
Mr. Big Stuff
Who do you think you are
Mr. Big Stuff
You’re never gonna get my love

Now because you wear all those fancy clothes (oh yeah)
And have a big fine car, oh yes you do now
Do you think I can afford to give you my love (oh yeah)
You think you’re higher than every star above

Mr. Big Stuff
Who do you think you are
Mr. Big Stuff
You’re never gonna get my love

Now I know all the girls I’ve seen you with
I know you broke their hearts one after another now, bit by bit
You made ’em cry, many poor girls cry
When they try to keep you happy, they just try to keep you satisfied

Mr. Big Stuff, tell me tell me
Who do you think you are
Mr. Big Stuff
You’re never gonna get my love

I’d rather give my love to a poor guy that has a love that’s true (oh yeah)
Than to be fooled around and get hurt by you
Cause when I give my love, I want love in return (oh yeah)
Now I know this is a lesson Mr. Big Stuff you haven’t learned

Mr. Big Stuff, tell me
Who do you think you are
Mr. Big Stuff
You’re never gonna get my love

Mr. Big Stuff
You’re never gonna break my heart
Mr. Big Stuff
You’re never gonna make me cry

Mr. Big Stuff, tell me
Just who do you think you are
Mr. Big Stuff
You’re never gonna get my love
Mr. Big Stuff

Max Picks …songs from 1985

1985

This was an important year for me. It was the year I graduated from high school and I got into surf and alternative music. The pop charts were dismal to me so I turned to my records, tapes, and alternative radio stations. If I listed what I listened to in 1985…it would be Beatles, Jan and Dean, Beach Boys, Van Morrison, and The Who. There still were some things I listened to on the charts as you see down below.

Replacements – Bastards Of Young

This is a lost anthem of the eighties that should have been taken up by my generation. Just because a song isn’t heard by the masses doesn’t mean it isn’t great. Westerberg’s songwriting in the 1980s rivaled any artist in that decade…including Springsteen.

This song starts with a raw cool riff and a scream…how much more rock and roll can you get? The lyrics are what got me into this song in the 80s. The song was on the album Tim released in 1985. It was produced by Tommy Ramone. Alex Chilton also helped out with the album.

It has no giant 80’s production…it’s raw and honest about youthful uncertainty and alienation.

Dire Straits – Money For Nothing

This was the first video played on MTV Europe. The network went on the air on August 1, 1987, six years after MTV in the US… This was back when MTV (Music Television) actually played music but now has questionable shows.

The clipped guitar sound won me over the first time I heard this.

In the US, this stayed at #1 for three weeks. It also won a Grammy in 1986 for best Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

Dire Straits recorded this in Montserrat. Sting was on vacation there and came by to help. Sting sings on this and helped write it…Sting and Knophler were credited as songwriters. Sting did not want a songwriting credit, but his record company did because they would have earned royalties from it. It’s been said that the line “I Want My MTV” sounded very similar to a song Sting wrote for The Police: “Don’t Stand So Close To Me.”…well the same amount of syllables anyway.

Tom Petty – Don’t Come Around Here No More

When I first heard this song in the 1980s…the instrument that stood out was the sitar. I’ve been in love with that instrument since I heard Norwegian Wood. I want one and if I find a cheap one I will get it. One strum and you are back in the sixties and it fit this song well…or this song fits the sitar.

After Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers toured in 1983, they took some time off, and Petty started working with Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. This was the first song they wrote together, and the psychedelic sound was a big departure from Petty’s work with The Heartbreakers.

It was at the time, my favorite video hands down.

The Smiths – How Soon Is Now? –

This intro is just plain epic. The Smiths had difficulty playing this song live. Johnny Marr had trouble recreating the guitar effect in concert. The tremolo is perfect in this song.

Bassist, Andy Rourke, called the song “the bane of The Smiths’ live career.”

This incredible song was the B side to William, It Was Really Nothing. It was on the album Hatful of Hollow. The album was a compilation album released in 1984 and Q magazine placed the album at No. 44 on its list of the “100 Greatest British Albums Ever.”

John Fogerty – Centerfield

Near spring training every year I listen to John Fogerty’s Centerfield. This was John Fogerty’s comeback after being away from the charts since 1975.

Along with “Talkin’ Baseball” and “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” this quickly became one of the most popular baseball songs ever. It’s a fixture at ballparks between innings of games and plays at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

John Fogerty: “I’d hear about Ruth and DiMaggio, and as my dad and older brothers talked about the Babe’s exploits, their eyes would get so big. When I was a little kid, there were no teams on the West Coast, so the idea of a Major League team was really mythical to me. The players were heroes to me as long as I can remember.”

“It is about baseball, but it is also a metaphor about getting yourself motivated, about facing the challenge of one thing or another at least at the beginning of an endeavor. About getting yourself all ready, whatever is necessary for the job.”

…

Keith Richards – Take It So Hard

When my Max Picks come up for 88…this will probably be in it. That year we had Keith Richards release Talk Is Cheap and a few weeks later The Traveling Wilburys released their debut album. The year before that George Harrison released his Cloud 9 album. I started to listen to mainstream radio a little more because of those three albums.

When I heard this song with the opening riff coming from that 5-string G turning that he is known for… it was love. I bought the album Talk is Cheap which some reviews half-jokingly called the best Rolling Stones album in years. The song got plenty of play on rock stations at the time. It peaked at #3 in the Mainstream Rock Tracks.

The album was recorded when Mick and Keith were feuding about the direction of the Stones. The Stones were not recording or playing live. “You Don’t Move Me Anymore” off the album points right at Mick.

Personally, I’ve always liked Keith Richards voice. Happy, Salt of the Earth, You Got the Silver, Before They Make Me Run rank among my favorite Stones songs. This song would fit on any Stones album.

The band Keith put together was great.
Keith Richards: lead and background vocal, guitar
Waddy Wachtel: guitar
Steve Jordan: drums (he is now drummer for the Stones)
Charley Drayton: background vocal, bass
Ivan Neville: piano and keyboards

Waddy Wachtel: We went up to Canada and did the whole of the first record, Talk Is Cheap, there. I think the second track we cut was “Take It So Hard,” which is a magnificent composition. And I just thought, I get to play on this? Let’s go. And we played it a few times. I guess you could call it rehearsing. And there’s one take that is just a great pass. It’s just ridiculously good. It was the second tune of the night, and it was this killer fucking take of our strongest tune. I went back to the house going, we’ve conquered Everest already? These other mountains we can climb easily if we’ve got the big one down. And Keith didn’t want to believe it; he was going, I don’t want these guys thinking they’re that good. He made us do a retake. I don’t know why. The take was shouting, hey, dude, I’m the take. I think Keith just did it to make sure people stayed in focus. But it never sounded as good as that first take. When you’ve got it, you’ve got it. When we were putting the sequence of the album together, I insisted “Big Enough” should be the first song. Because the first time you hear Keith sing on that, that first line is amazing, his voice sounds so beautiful. He delivers it effortlessly. I said, people when they hear this, they’re not going to believe it’s fucking Keith Richards singing. And then we’ll hit ’em with “Take It So Hard.”

Keith Richards: Steve and I thought we ought to make a record and started to put together the core of the X-Pensive Winos–so named later on when I noticed a bottle of Chateau Lafite introduced as light refreshment in the studio. Well, nothing was too good for this amazing band of brothers. Steve asked me who I wanted to play with, and first up, on guitar I said Waddy Wachtel. And Steve said, you took the words, brother. I had known Waddy since the ’70s and I’d always wanted to play with him, one of the most tasteful, simpatico players I know. And he’s completely musical. Understanding of it, empathetic, nothing ever needing to be explained. He’s also got the most uncanny ultrasonic ear, still tuned high after years of bandstands. He was playing with Linda Ronstadt and he was playing with Stevie Nicks– chick bands–but I knew my man wanted to rock. So I called him and said simply, “I’m putting a band together, and you’re in it.” Steve agreed that Charley Drayton should be the bass player, and I think it was just a general consensus that Ivan Neville, from Aaron Neville’s family from New Orleans, should be the piano player. There was no audition process whatsoever.

Take It So Hard

Giving up lovin’, easy to do
People so pitiful they never come through
Honey, honey, honey, I ain’t that way
(You want a little bit) once in a while, come on and get a bit
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah) you shouldn’t take it (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

Take a look around you, tell me, what do you see?
People with little bits try, tryin’ to smile
Most of what you’ve gotten is free (yeah)
(Yeah) you shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah) you shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

Yank it up baby or go get yourself a new name
You want a little bit once in a while, yeah you got a taste for it
You shouldn’t take it (yeah) you shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
(Yeah)

You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

Moody Blues – Go Now

I have always liked the song because it’s such a timeless song. This was before Justin Hayward and John Lodge joined the band.

The singer was Denny Laine who quit the Moodies in 1966 and was replaced by Justin Hayward. The Moody Blues started to open up for the Beatles in 1965. The two bands got close and Paul McCartney was a big fan of this song released the year earlier. Laine later ended up playing with Paul McCartney and Wings until 1980. During the 1976 Wings tour Paul stepped aside so Denny could sing this song.

What a mood this song creates. This was before the Moody Blues went searching for the lost chord…or evolved into an Art Rock type of band. They were just a beat group at this stage but the song’s arrangement pointed to a different direction. I would safely say this song was the most important one of their career because it broke them internationally. Without this song who knows what would have happened to them?

Ray Thomas and Justin Hayward tried singing it a few times live but as their music changed they dropped the song. The lineup that did this song was Graeme Edge (drums, backing vocals), Denny Laine (lead vocals, guitar), Mike Pinder (piano, backing vocals), Ray Thomas (backing vocals), Clint Warwick (bass, backing vocals). It was produced by Alex Murray.

The song was written by Larry Banks and Mike Milton Bennett and first released in 1964 by Bessie Banks. Her version did peak at #40 on the Cashbox R&B single charts. Bessie would be songwriter Larry Banks’s ex-wife. She said: “I remember 1963 Kennedy was assassinated; it was announced over the radio. At the time, I was rehearsing in the office of Leiber and Stoller. We called it a day. Everyone was in tears. “Come back next week and we will be ready to record ‘Go Now'”; and we did so. I was happy and excited that maybe this time I’ll make it. ‘Go Now’ was released in January 1964, and right away it was chosen Pick Hit of the Week on W.I.N.S. Radio. That means your record is played for seven days. Four days went by, I was so thrilled. On day five, when I heard the first line, I thought it was me, but all of a sudden, I realized it wasn’t. At the end of the song it was announced, “The Moody Blues singing ‘Go Now’.” I was too out-done. This was the time of the English Invasion and the end of Bessie Banks’ career, so I thought. America’s DJs had stopped promoting American artists”

The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100 #2 in Canada, and  #1 in the UK in 1965.

Denny Laine: “It came in one of these suitcases full of records from America. This guy, James Hamilton, he was a friend of B. Mitchel Reed, who was a DJ, and he would send this stuff across. So I picked that one out especially because Mike Pinder was a piano player. (chuckles) We’d always get the gig where the piano would be out of tune and we’d get the slow handclap because they were waiting to tune the piano… (laughs) Anyway, we did ‘Go Now’ because it was a song with a piano in it.”

Go Now

We’ve already said “goodbye”
Since you gotta go, oh you’d better
Go now, go now, go now (go now, ooh)
Before you see me cry?

I don’t want you to tell me just what you intend to do now
‘Cause how many times do I have to tell you darlin’, darlin’
I’m still in love with you now
Whoa oh oh oh

We’ve already said “so long”
I don’t want to see you go, oh you’d better
Go now, go now, go now (go now, ooh)

Don’t you even try?
Tellin’ me that you really don’t want it to end this way
‘Cause darlin’, darlin’, can’t you see I want you to stay, yeah

Since you gotta go, oh you’d better
Go now, go now, go now (go now, ooh)
Before you see me cry
I don’t want you to tell me just what you intend to do now
‘Cause how many times do I have to tell you darlin’, darlin’
I’m still in love, still in love with you now
Ooh ooh ooh
I don’t want to see you go but darlin’, you better go now

…

Alejandro Escovedo – Always A Friend

But if I do you wrong, smoke my smoke, drink my wine
Bury my snake skin boots somewhere I’ll never find

CB took a break from fishing and posted a song on Friday by Alejandro Escovedo. He sounded fantastic along with his band, featuring some great players like Peter Buck on guitar. I had never heard of Alejandro Escovedo but immediately liked what I heard. I started to go through his discography and I hit this song. He has a lot of good songs and needs to be heard.

I’ve found this world of Texas musicians and songwriters with some like Steve Earle, Joe Ely, Townes Van Zant, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, and now I add Alejandro Escovedo to that growing list. These guys are some of the best singer-songwriters ever but only a few are well known. Escovedo combines power with excellent writing. Many times both don’t go together but when I heard some of his live performances you get the raw rock but with intelligent writing.

He was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1951, one of 12 children. His family was deep in music with his father playing in mariachi bands and swing combos before and after he migrated from Mexico. Later, Alejandro moved to California and saw acts such as Jimi Hendrix, Buffalo Springfield, the Doors, the Seeds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. After that, he started to get into bands such as the New York Dolls and Stooges. Those two bands were a big influence on him.

Here is a very brief musical history. He began his musical career as a guitarist with the punk band The Nuns, in 1975. He then played with Judy Nylon in 1980 and cofounded Rank and File, in 1981. He left Rank and File and began True Believers with his brother Javier in 1982. The True Believers disbanded in 1987 and after that, he performed with The Alejandro Escovedo Orchestra, the Setters, and Buick MacKane. In 1992 he released his first album Gravity. Since then he has released 17 albums including La Cruzada in 2021.

Alejandro didn’t know it but Bruce Springsteen was a fan of his work. On April 14, 2008, Bruce was in Houston, Texas touring and he wanted Alejandro to come up with him on stage. Bruce loved this song as it was the lead single off of Escovedo’s album Real Animal released in 2008. The E Street Band learned it that day just so Bruce could play with Alejandro.

Alejandro Escovedo on being called up to sing with Bruce. “We were two hours out! I get there late, of course, like an hour before the show, He takes me to the dressing room, he has all the lyrics written out, he’s already run the band through it at sound check, and he and I sing it alone in the dressing room together.”

“And then I go out and see my first Bruce show, which just chopped my head off. It was unbelievable. I had never realized the magnitude and power. I was like, oh my God, I forgot how big rock ‘n’ roll could be.”

Alejandro Escovedo: “Those four minutes on stage with Bruce were more important than the 33 years I’ve been playing music. It just changed my life. It was like being blessed by the Dalai Lama. Suddenly all those years of working really hard and struggling, someone said, ‘You’re alright. You’re good at what you do. You deserve to be up here.’” 

Always A Friend

Wasn’t I always a friend to you?
Wasn’t I always a friend to you?
Do you wanna be my friend?
Do you wanna be my friend?

Every once in a while honey let your love show
Every once in a while honey let yourself go
Nobody gets hurt no, nah
Nobody gets hurt

We came here as two, we laid down as one
I don’t care if I’m not your only one
What I see in you, you see in me

But if I do you wrong, smoke my smoke, drink my wine
Bury my snake skin boots somewhere I’ll never find
Still be your lover baby, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

Wasn’t I always a friend to you?
Wasn’t I always a friend to you?
Do you wanna be my friend?
Do you wanna be my friend?

Every once in a while honey let yourself go
Every once in a while honey let your love show
Nobody gets hurt no, no
Nobody gets hurt

Well, I could be an astronaut on the wrong side of the moon
Or wrapped up like a baby on a bus under you
Wherever I go you go with me

But if I do you wrong, take the master suite, I’ll take the floor
Sleep in late, get your rest, I’ll catch up on mine
Still be your lover, baby, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

Wasn’t I always a friend to you?
Wasn’t I always a friend to you?
Every once in a while honey let your love show
Every once in a while honey let yourself go, yeah
Nobody gets hurt, it’s only love, love, love
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

…

Tornados – Telstar

Dave posted this on January 16th on his Turntable Talk series. The theme was instrumentals. The problem wasn’t finding one…it was choosing one between all of the instrumentals out there.

I can’t really say how this song makes me feel. It still sounds futuristic, but I also feel nostalgic about an era before my time. It sounds both uplifting and melancholy at the same time.

This was the best-selling British single of 1962. It was also the first song by a British group to hit #1 in the US. This did not happen again until The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in 1964.

The legendary Joe Meek wrote and produced this song. This was an adventurous instrumental record for the time and ahead of its time. The song took off and peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK in 1962.

Meek was ahead of his time. He was doing things in a studio that the Beatles found years later like playing things backwards and getting different effects in 1962. Meek was a genius at recording. Some say he was a mad genius because some say he had mental illnesses and a narcissistic personality disorder. There is a movie I would recommend watching… Telstar: The Joe Meek Story.

An instrumental with space sound effects, this was inspired by the Telstar communications satellite, which was launched shortly before this song was written. Telstar had been launched for 5 weeks when this song came out. Telstar no longer functions but still orbits the earth to this day.

The Tornados were a club band that disliked the song, but Meek added his effects at his home studio above a leather shop in northern London. An overdubbed Clavioline keyboard provoked spooked space effects, while a backward tape of a flushing toilet evoked all the majesty of a space-bound rocket. The Clavioline was an early electronic keyboard that could create a range of otherworldly sounds, to play the main melody of the song, which he then layered with other instruments and sound effects to create an orchestral and ethereal sound that evokes the vastness and wonder of space.

The Tornados received little money from the song. Meek had leased the record to Decca Records and having negotiated a 5% royalty of the record sales he received 29,000 pounds, very little of which was passed on to The Tornados.

I’ve listened to the first demo of it and it’s not like anything the finished product sounded like.

A little more on Meek…that’s who developed this song. George Martin had just left EMI in 1965 and the head of EMI was Sir Joesph Lockwood. Lockwood thought of Joe Meek as a suitable replacement for Martin. Martin still produced the Beatles as a contractor, but Meek could fill in his other EMI duties. Meek was told about the job offer but he didn’t want to give up his independence, but it was tempting. Meek was unable to decide. On January 17, 1967, Sir Joseph finally called him to press for a decision. Meek joined the meeting accompanied by his lawyer. It’s not known how the meeting went, only the result is known: Joe Meek said no. Meek would be dead of a murder (his landlady) suicide the next month.