Singles – Page 48 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Loretta Lynn – Coal Miner’s Daughter

She was the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century…Jack White

This is one country song that even rockers know and of course, the movie with the same title doesn’t hurt either. I remember the movie when I was younger and hearing this song constantly. She wrote it and she wears it like a badge of honor singing it.

In 1976 Loretta wrote an autobiography and named it Coal Miner’s Daughter. That book is what they made the movie on. I always looked at Loretta as the Punk of country music. What I mean by that is she wrote about subjects that weren’t talked about…much less in country music. Songs like The Pill and Rated X just to name a couple. While talking…she had no filter at times and told you exactly how she felt.

In life and in this song Lynn’s main point is that she is proud of where she comes from and the morals her family values. She is not ashamed of her poverty or rural upbringing, but appreciative of her family’s hard work ethic, love for each other, and the bond that happens in hardships.

The song was on the album of the same name released in 1970. What made this one different is that it crossed over to the pop charts. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and Canada’s Country Charts. I also peaked at #83 on the Billboard 100 in 1970.

The song was released in 1980 with Sissy Spacek singing her version of the movie…it peaked at #7 in Canada (Country Charts) and #24 in the Billboard Country Charts.

The movie Coal Miner’s Daughter was released in 1980. It starred Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn as well as co-stars Levon Helm, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D’Angelo, and more.

The producer Owen Bradley told Lynn to drop off four additional verses that she had. Loretta Lynn: “He said, There’s already been one ‘El Paso,’ and there’s never going to be another one, so I fiddled around and fiddled around, and finally I got four verses that I took off of ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter.’ I wished I hadn’t, but I did.”

Sadly those verses were lost to time because she left them in the studio.

Loretta Lynn: “I remember that, in one of the verses, I talked about Mommy papering the wall with movie magazines, and she named me after Loretta Young, because she had Bette Davis and Claudette Colbert and Loretta Young up on the wall. And the day before I was born, she said, ‘If this baby is a little girl, I’m going to name her after one of them girls.’ And she said, ‘I kept looking at the pictures, and I thought Loretta Young was the prettiest, so I named you Loretta.’ And I’m glad she did.”

“I didn’t think anybody be interested in my life, I know everybody’s got a life, and they all have something to say. Everybody has a story about their life. It wasn’t just me. I guess I was just the one that told it.”

Coal Miner’s Daughter

Well, I was borned a coal miner’s daughter
In a cabin, on a hill in Butcher Holler
We were poor, but we had love
That’s the one thing that daddy made sure of
He shoveled coal to make a poor man’s dollar

My daddy worked all night in the Van Lear coal mines
All day long in the field a hoin’ corn
Mommy rocked the babies at night
And read the Bible by the coal oil light
And ever’ thing would start all over come break of morn’

Daddy loved and raised eight kids on a miner’s pay
Mommy scrubbed our clothes on a washboard every day
Why, I’ve seen her fingers bleed
To complain, there was no need
She’d smile in mommy’s understanding way

In the summertime we didn’t have shoes to wear
But in the wintertime we’d all get a brand new pair
From a mail order catalog
Money made from selling a hog
Daddy always managed to get the money somewhere

Yeah, I’m proud to be a coal miner’s daughter
I remember well, the well where I drew water
The work we done was hard
At night we’d sleep ’cause we were tired
I never thought of ever leaving Butcher Holler

Well, a lot of things have changed since a way back then
And it’s so good to be back home again
Not much left but the floor, nothing lives here anymore
Except the memories of a coal miner’s daughter

…

Kinks – Father Christmas

We will kick off a Christmas week after today. I will still have my Max Picks but the rest will be Christmas shows, songs, and movies.

This song always brings a smile to my face. Any Kinks Christmas song would have to be different…and this one is. It’s great for cynical people on Christmas and can be enjoyed by Christmas lovers too.

I’ve always liked this raw and rough Christmas song. A writer at the NME wrote, “Successful Xmas songs are more about mood than specifics, but as this is an anti-Christmas song, it’s fine.” This is the kind of song you would expect from Ray Davies. Anti-Christmas or not…it has become a popular classic Christmas song that gets airplay every year.

The single was released during the height of punk rock and certainly exudes a punk attitude. Dave Davies told ABC Radio that he “always thought The Ramones would do a great version of it. I don’t know why they didn’t do it.”… thinking about it…Dave was right…it would have fit them perfectly.

The song was released in 1977 with the B-side Prince Of The Punks. The track was included on the Arista compilation Come Dancing with The Kinks and is also available as a bonus track on the CD reissue of the Kinks’ 1978 album Misfits.

In England, Father Christmas is the personification of Christmas, in the same way as Santa Claus is in the United States. Although the characters are now synonymous, Father Christmas and Santa Claus historically have separate entities, stemming from unrelated traditions.

Ray Davies on performing the song as an opening act in the 70s:

“When the record came out we were on tour with a very successful band at the time supporting them,” he recalled during an interview with Southern California radio station KSWD. “I went on dressed as Santa at the end of the show to do ‘Father Christmas.’ And the other band found it hard to follow us. The following night with the same band I went to run on but there was a bunch of heavies preventing me from running on stage. And I was protesting. But the people said, ‘The Kinks didn’t do an encore but Santa Claus was there and they were stopping him from going on stage.'”

From Songfacts: First written about in Tudor England and pre-dating the first recording of Santa Claus, Father Christmas was a jolly, well-nourished man who typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. In time, the tradition merged with America’s Santa Claus with both riding in a reindeer-pulled sleigh carrying a sackful of toys that lands on the roofs of houses that contain good children. The mythical, white bearded Santa/Father Christmas then enters the properties through their chimneys clutching gifts for the well-behaved little ones inside.

Father Christmas

When I was small I believed in Santa Claus
Though I knew it was my dad
And I would hang up my stocking at Christmas
Open my presents and I’d be glad

But the last time I played Father Christmas
I stood outside a department store
A gang of kids came over and mugged me
And knocked my reindeer to the floor

They said
Father Christmas, give us some money
Don’t mess around with those silly toys
We’ll beat you up if you don’t hand it over
We want your bread so don’t make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys

Don’t give my brother a Steve Austin outfit
Don’t give my sister a cuddly toy
We don’t want a jigsaw or monopoly money
We only want the real mccoy

Father Christmas, give us some money
We’ll beat you up if you make us annoyed
Father Christmas, give us some money
Don’t mess around with those silly toys

But give my daddy a job ’cause he needs one
He’s got lots of mouths to feed
But if you’ve got one I’ll have a machine gun
So I can scare all the kids on the street

Father Christmas, give us some money
We got no time for your silly toys
We’ll beat you up if you don’t hand it over
Give all the toys to the little rich boys

Have yourself a merry merry Christmas
Have yourself a good time
But remember the kids who got nothin’
While you’re drinkin’ down your wine

Father Christmas, give us some money
We got no time for your silly toys
Father Christmas, please hand it over
We’ll beat you up so don’t make us annoyed

Father Christmas, give us some money
We got no time for your silly toys
We’ll beat you up if you don’t hand it over
We want your bread so don’t make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys

Thin Lizzy – Whiskey In The Jar

I could listen to this guitar tone all day long.

This is an old traditional Irish song that was spruced up by Thin Lizzy. What set Thin Lizzy apart from other rock groups was Phil Lynott’s writing, bass playing, and singing. In this song, the guitar solo sounds fantastic.

Although a massive first hit for Thin Lizzy, this was actually meant to be the B-side. The band recorded “Black Boys On The Corner” as the A-side and put the old traditional Irish Song “Whiskey In The Jar” on the B-side because they didn’t have anything else. It was the record company that decided to make “Whiskey in the Jar” the A-side.

Phil Lynott had known the song for years, having performed it many times during the 60s in his formative days on Ireland’s folk music circuit. With Thin Lizzy members Eric Bell and Brian Downey taking a breather between songs, Lynott picked up a guitar, singing bits of this song and pieces of that song until he launched into “Whiskey in the Jar.” As they were playing, their Irish co-manager Ted Carroll walked in, noting the song sounded like a potential hit single.

“Whiskey in the Jar is a song about a notorious Irish highwayman Patrick Fleming who was hanged in 1650. What was a highwayman? This is the definition I found. A highwayman was a robber who stole from travelers. This type of thief usually traveled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads.

Metallica recorded a popular cover of this song on their 1998 Garage, Inc. album an outlier for them as they rarely mention girls in their songs. Other notable versions are The Grateful Dead, The Pogues, The Dubliners, U2, Pulp, and Smokie. The lyrics of this song can vary from version to version, but most covers use the Thin Lizzy lyrics.

Whiskey in the Jar peaked at #6 in the UK charts in 1973.

Whiskey In The Jar

As I was goin’ over the Cork and Kerry mountains.
I saw Captain Farrell and his money he was countin’.
I first produced my pistol and then produced my rapier.
I said stand o’er and deliver or the devil he may take ya.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

I took all of his money and it was a pretty penny.
I took all of his money and I brought it home to Molly.
She swore that she’d love me, never would she leave me.
But the devil take that woman for you know she tricked me easy.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

Being drunk and weary I went to Molly’s chamber.
Takin’ my money with me and I never knew the danger.
For about six or maybe seven in walked Captain Farrell.
I jumped up, fired off my pistols and I shot him with both barrels.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

Now some men like the fishin’ and some men like the fowlin’,
And some men like ta hear a cannon ball a roarin’.
Me? I like sleepin’ specially in my Molly’s chamber.
But here I am in prison, here I am with a ball and chain, yeah.

Musha ring dumb a do dumb a da.
Whack for my daddy-o,
Whack for my daddy-o.
There’s whiskey in the jar-o.

And I got drunk on whiskey-o
And I love, I love, I love, I love, I love, I love my Molly-o.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – The Kindness of Strangers

When I first heard this…I thought…damn, this is a well-written song. I don’t know much about Nick Cave but I like what I’ve heard. I’ve read where a lot of bloggers have mentioned him along with Matt and CB. I just started to listen to some songs and this one really caught me. The way he wrote it and the way it is constructed.

In 1973, Cave joined a band with fellow classmates Phill Calvert and Mick Harvey at Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia, and covered songs by Lou Reed, Alex Harvey, and Roxy Music. They moved to London in the late seventies and changed their name to The Birthday Party. They released their self-titled debut in 1980, along with three more albums — Prayers on Fire, and Junkyard — before disbanding in 1983.

Cave, along with Harvey on drums, Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Blixa Bargeld, former Magazine bassist Barry Adamson, and Jim G. Thirlwell initially formed a new band in London. At first, they called themselves Nick Cave and The Cavemen, a label that stuck for several months. The Cavemen turned into The Bad Seeds, referencing the final 1983 EP by The Birthday Party, Mutiny/The Bad Seed. Cave’s longtime girlfriend Anita Lane was credited as a lyricist on occasional songs. They broke up in 1983 but continued to work together off and on til the 90s.

His music won’t appeal to everyone but if you enjoy excellent written songs and twists…then give Cave a try. The song warns of the dangers of trusting strangers and that one must be cautious of seemingly innocent people, as some may have ulterior motives. The last four lines of the song are chilling:

So mothers keep your girls at home
Don’t let them journey all alone
Tell them this world is full of danger
And to shun the company of strangers

The song was on the album Murder Ballads released in 1996. In this song, poor Mary Bellows was traveling through Tennessee and ran into a man named Richard Slade. She trusted a stranger a little too much. The album, as it states, has songs about murder. It peaked at #8 in the UK, #3 on the Australian Charts, and #12 in New Zealand in 1996.

The song has a sense of hopelessness…and imminent death. The song drew me in by the first verse. It was written by Nick Cave.

Nick Cave on the album: “There were heroic women, and female murderers, and all sorts of stuff going on in that record, and songs before that. But I’m not personally a misogynist. I don’t have those inclinations, but I liked to write songs that were violent in those days.”

The Kindness of Strangers

They found Mary Bellows cuffed to the bed
With a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
She’d grown up hungry, she’d grown up poor
She left her home in Arkansas
O poor Mary Bellows
She wanted to see the deep blue sea
She traveled across Tennessee
O poor Mary Bellows
She met a man along the way
He introduced himself as Richard Slade
O poor Mary Bellows
Poor Mary thought that she might die
When she saw the ocean for the first time
O poor Mary Bellows
She checked into a cheap little place
Richard Slade carried in her old suitcase
O poor Mary Bellows
“I’m a good girl, sir”, she said to him
I couldn’t possibly permit you in
O poor Mary Bellows
Slade tipped his hat and winked his eye
And turned away without goodbye
O poor Mary Bellows
She sat on her bed and thought of home
With the sea breeze whistling all alone
O poor Mary Bellows
In hope and loneliness she crossed the floor
And undid the latch on the front door
O poor Mary Bellows
They found her the next day cuffed to the bed
A rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
So mothers keep your girls at home
Don’t let them journey all alone
Tell them this world is full of danger
And to shun the company of strangers
O poor Mary Bellows
O poor Mary Bellows

…

Manfred Mann – Do Wah Diddy Diddy

I’ve been blogging since 2017 and someone asked me about this song not long ago. I told them yea…I posted that one. Well, no I didn’t post this one so now is the time. I first heard this over a friend’s house in the 80s…his dad had this song among his singles collection of the early to mid-sixties.

This song was from one of the biggest years in popular music. It was released in 1964 by Manfred Mann. It was written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, who were looking to recreate the gibberish gold they struck on The Crystal’s hit “Da Doo Ron Ron.” In the UK they had already had success with 5-4-3-2-1 and Hubble Bubble (Toil and Trouble) but had yet to break through in America. This song did the trick…and well! The original name of the song was Do Wah Diddy…but the band added the extra Diddy to the end.

This was not the original version. That version was The Exciters but it tanked. Actually, it’s a pretty good version…I’ll post it at the bottom as well. Manfred Mann’s version fits well into the British Invasion and this made them known really quick. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand, and #1 in the UK. They followed this one up with another hit called Sha La La.

Paul Jones was the lead singer at the time of Manfred Mann. He heard this song by the Exciters and knew it had potential. Most of the group was not very happy with recording this song but finally did it. The band found that touring the US a thoroughly miserable experience, and decided that they weren’t going back again. So, while they would continue to have big hits in Britain for the rest of the decade, they only had a few minor successes in the States.

They would have more success in the 70s with a revamped band named Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

The original version.

Doo Wah Diddy Diddy

There she was just a-walkin’ down the street, singin’ “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”
Snappin’ her fingers and shufflin’ her feet, singin’ “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”
She looked good (looked good), she looked fine (looked fine)
She looked good, she looked fine and I nearly lost my mind

Before I knew it she was walkin’ next to me, singin’ “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”
Holdin’ my hand just as natural as can be, singin’ “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”
We walked on (walked on) to my door (my door)
We walked on to my door, then we kissed a little more

Whoa-oh, I knew we was falling in love
Yes I did, and so I told her all the things I’d been dreamin’ of

Now we’re together nearly every single day, singin’ “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”
A-we’re so happy and that’s how we’re gonna stay, singin’ “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”
Well, I’m hers (I’m hers), she’s mine (she’s mine)
I’m hers, she’s mine, wedding bells are gonna chime

Whoa-oh, I knew we was falling in love
Yes I did, and so I told her all the things I’d been dreamin’ of

Whoa-oh-oh-oh, oh yeah
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do, we’ll sing it
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do, oh yeah, oh, oh yeah
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do

Paul McCartney – Mull of Kintyre …Denny Laine

This song was a monster hit in the UK but did hardly anything in America. The reason I’m posting this today is because of Denny Laine. Laine, who co-wrote this song with Paul… passed away at the age of 79 on December 5th.

When you think about huge-selling singles of the 1970s…this one doesn’t come to mind unless you live in the UK. It was the highest-selling single in the UK over the entire course of the ’70s.

When they were a beat group, Denny Laine was the original singer for the Moody Blues. Their first big hit had Laine on vocals with Go Now.

The song is a tribute to the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland where Paul and his wife Linda had a farm. McCartney initially thought the song had no chance of becoming a hit. The duo wrote the song one afternoon as they looked at the beauty of the mull while drinking a bottle of Whiskey and letting the scenery write the song.

Wings then enlisted the local Campbelltown Pipe Band who added a sprinkling of Scottish sound to the track and suddenly Wings had their unconventional Christmas song. ‘Mull of Kintyre’ would remain the highest-selling UK single until 1984 when Band-Aid would knock it off the top spot.

The farm he had (and still does) gave Paul a lot of comfort after The Beatles ended. The citizens of Campbelltown were great to him and Linda as well. There was a huge spike in visitors to Kintyre in the wake of the songs’ release which not only boosted the local economy but filled the local residents with pride in their area. After the tranquillity Kintyre provided McCartney at his lowest point, this song allowed him to finally repay the area for helping him.

The song peaked at #1 in the UK, #33 on the Billboard 100, #1 in New Zealand, and #44 in Canada. It sold over 2 million in the UK which was a record at the time beating The Beatles She Loves You over a decade before. The B-side “Girls School” did better in America and Canada than the A-side.

Paul McCartney: “I am very saddened to hear that my ex-bandmate, Denny Laine, has died, “I have many fond memories of my time with Denny: from the early days when the Beatles toured with the Moody Blues. Our two bands had a lot of respect for each other and a lot of fun together. Denny joined Wings at the outset. He was an outstanding vocalist and guitar player. His most famous performance is probably ‘Go Now,’ an old Bessie Banks song which he would sing brilliantly. He and I wrote some songs together, the most successful being ‘Mull of Kintyre’ which was a big hit in the Seventies. We had drifted apart but in recent years managed to reestablish our friendship and share memories of our times together.”

Paul McCartney: “When we finished it, all the pipers said, ‘Aye, it’s got to be a single, that.’ It was up to them, really, to do it. I thought it was a little too specialized to bring out as a single, you would have to bring out something that has something with more mass appeal…but they kept saying, ‘Oh, the exiled Scots all over the world. It’ll be a big single for them.’ Yet I still thought, ‘Yeah, well, but there’s maybe not enough exiled Scots,’ but they kept telling me, after a few drinks.”

Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Far have I traveled and much have I seen
Darkest of mountains with valleys of green
Past painted deserts the sun sets on fire
As he carries me home to the Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Sweep through the heather like deer in the glen
Carry me back to the days I knew then
Nights when we sang like a heavenly choir
Of the life and the times of the Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Smiles in the sunshine and tears in the rain
Still take me back where my memories remain
Flickering embers go higher and higher
As they carry me back to the Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
My desire is always to be here
Oh Mull of Kintyre

Chuck Berry – Run Rudolph Run

Nice little Christmas song by Chuck Berry… the father of Rock and Roll. The song has a “Carol” vibe to it and that is never a bad thing. It was one of the first rock and roll Christmas songs and it was released in 1958.

Berry based this song on “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” giving Rudolph a bit of an attitude as he delivers the toys. The song is credited to Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie. Johnny Marks wrote Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Chuck puts his stamp on this song.

The song is sometimes known as “Run Run Rudolph,” which is how it appears on some other covers. Other artists to record the song include Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams, The Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffett, Dwight Yoakam, Bon Jovi, and Keith Richards.

The song peaked at #69 in the Billboard 100 in 1958 and has re-charted many times through the years…it peaked at #36 in the Billboard 100 in January of 2020…and I’m sure it is charting now.

The song appeared in a lot of films including Home Alone, Diner, The Santa Clause 2, Cast Away, and Jingle All the Way.

Run Rudolph Run

Out of all the reindeers you know you’re the mastermind
Run, run Rudolph, Randalph ain’t too far behind
Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s got to make it to town
Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down
Run, run Rudolph ’cause I’m reelin’ like a merry-go-round

Said Santa to a boy child what have you been longing for?
All I want for Christmas is a rock and roll electric guitar
And then away went Rudolph a whizzing like a shooting star
Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s got to make it to town
Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down
Run, run Rudolph, reeling like a merry-go-round

Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s got to make it to town
Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down
Run, run Rudolph, reeling like a merry-go-round

Said Santa to a girl child what would please you most to get?
A little baby doll that can cry, sleep, drink and wet
And then away went Rudolph a whizzing like a Saber jet
Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s got to make it to town
Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down
Run, run Rudolph ’cause I’m reelin’ like a merry-go-round

Max Picks …songs from 1979

1979

I hate that it’s the last year of the seventies. A great decade for music and a lot of cool things. Now the eighties are coming…

A masterpiece. I was 12 when this was released and it sounded timeless even then. It was a great song in 1979 and will be great in 2079. Not only are the words inventive but this was most people’s introduction to Mark Knopfler. I wasn’t a guitar player when I was 12 but I knew he was something special.

I’ve heard this one at what seems like a thousand times but I’ll always turn it up when it comes on the radio.

Blondie members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein wrote the first version of this song in early 1974, shortly after they first met. They didn’t have a proper title for the song, and would refer to it as “The Disco Song.”

Evidently finding words to rhyme to “glass” that fit in a song were… a pain in the ass. American radio at that time frowned on that rhyme. To ensure airplay stations were sent an edited version with the offending line replaced with “soon turned out I had a heart of glass.”

This was the first song I ever knew by the Clash when I heard it on the radio in 1980. The song is credited to Mick Jones and Joe Strummer like most Clash songs. Mick Jones takes the lead vocals in this one.

They started off as a punk band but The Clash, unlike some other Punk bands, could really play and sing well…, especially Mick Jones. He is was probably the best pure musician in the band.

This song was released in 1979 was one of many signs a change was coming in music. Gary Numan on the inspiration of the song. “A couple of blokes started peering in the window and for whatever reason took a dislike to me, so I had to take evasive action. I swerved up the pavement, scattering pedestrians everywhere. After that, I began to see the car as the tank of modern society.”

Numan has stated that he has Asperger syndrome, which is a mild form of autism, but until he was diagnosed, he had a lot of trouble relating to other people.

I was never a huge disco fan but this song always meant a lot to me. I’m a huge baseball fan and my Dodgers really sucked in 1979. The Pirates on the other hand had a 39-year-old Willie Stargell leading them to a World Series championship and this is the song that will be forever linked to that year, team, and World Series. Here’s to Pops…Willie Stargell.

…

Vince Guaraldi Trio – Linus and Lucy

It’s hard to resist this song. It automatically makes me happy when I hear it. I see the Peanuts gang doing their thing.

This song I can hear anytime of the year and be happy. It’s associated with Christmas also…whichever… I never get tired of it.

Here is another post of the song in Hanspostcard’s song draft a few years ago when run-sew-read’s pick was this song.

Ironically, just about everyone would call this “the Charlie Brown song” even though it’s actually titled after Linus and Lucy Van Pelt, brother and sister in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip universe.

The song is most famous for its use in the yearly favorite A Charlie Brown Christmas, which first aired in 1965, but it was written two years earlier for a documentary about Schulz and the Peanuts gang called A Boy Named Charlie Brown, which never aired.

Producer Lee Mendelson was in charge of the documentary and asked Vince Guaraldi to compose music for it

Guaraldi was huge in the jazz world and won the 1962 Grammy for Best Original Jazz Composition for “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” for his group, the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Mendelson was searching for what kind of music to play for the documentary when he took a taxi cab and “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” was playing as he crossed the Golden Gate bridge. He loved it and his decision was made.

Guaraldi wrote a series of songs for the project, including “Linus and Lucy,” which he recorded with his group, the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Even though A Boy Named Charlie Brown was shelved, the soundtrack was released in 1964, which is where “Linus and Lucy” first appeared.

In 1965, Mendelson put together the first Peanuts TV special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, using many of the same people who worked on the documentary. “Linus and Lucy” formed the score, and a song he wrote with Guaraldi called “Christmas Time Is Here” was included in a key scene.

When A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted in 1965, it quickly turned the Peanuts franchise into a television institution. That first special also shot Guaraldi to greater fame, and he became connected to all subsequent Peanuts shows.

Guaraldi would continue to work on Peanuts films until his death in 1976.

No words…just enjoy

…

Hollies – On a Carousel

A good pop song by the Hollies. They were known mostly for their harmonies but they were a good band…they had a great guitar player and drummer. Tony Hicks is never mentioned much with the guitar players with the other British Invasion bands but he could hold his own with the others. Bobby Elliot was/is a drummer’s drummer.

The Hollies had great harmonies and also a secret weapon in Tony Hicks as a guitar player. He was and still is outstanding but was never as well known as his later neighbor George Harrison and his other peers.

Tony’s son Paul Hicks was in Dhani Harrison’s band and has worked with Giles Martin on Beatle remastering projects. I have a soft spot for the Hollies. They started in the early sixties and continued through the seventies without Graham Nash who quit the Hollies for what he thought was a hipper band…Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Soon to include the elusive Neil Young.

The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, and #4 in the UK in 1967. I included a short video of The Hollies recording the song. While they were recording this The Beatles were in the next studio recording as they both recorded at EMI Studios.

Just a little trivia… The earliest known record of a carousel is a Byzantine etching from 500 AD which shows riders swinging in baskets tied to a central pole.

Graham Nash: We really hit the mark when it came to our next record. Tony, Allan, and I wanted desperately to write a monster A-side. So far, our biggest hits were Graham Gouldman songs, and, hey, you take ’em where you can get ’em. But we thought we were good enough writers to land the big fish. We knew the combination, how to come up with a universal theme, the right type of hook. So we went through a shitload of ideas until inspiration struck. I’m not sure which of the three of us came up with fun fairs. We had all been to them as kids: pulling ducks out of the water, a ring around a bottleneck, winning goldfish. We thought a love affair was pretty much like going round and round and round on a carousel. And before we knew it, the song just took shape. It was all there—the words, the tune, there was no stopping it. And Tony and Bobby wrapped it in an exceptional arrangement.

You ask me, “On a Carousel” was one of the Hollies’ best songs. It’s a pop song with an infectious chorus but flirts with gorgeous shifts in rhythmic texture. The transition to “Horses chasing ’cause they’re racing / So near yet so far-r-r-r-r” features a hook that keeps the melody from becoming predictable. Tony’s barb-like accents that echo the phrase “on a carousel” demonstrate his subtle virtuosity. And the lyric captures the essence of young love without the usual moon-and-June clichés. We knew it was a hit from the get-go.

On A Carousel

Riding along on a carousel, trying to catch up to you
Riding along on a carousel, will I catch up to you?

Horses chasing ’cause they’re racing
So they ain’t so far

On a carousel
On a carousel

Nearer and nearer by changing horses,
Still so far away
People fighting for their places just get in my way
Soon you’ll leave and then I’ll lose you
Still we’re going ’round

On a carousel
On a carousel
‘Round and round and round and round
round and round and round and round with you
Up, down, up, down, up, down, too

As she leaves, she drops the presents that she won before
Pulling ducks out of the water, got the highest score
Now’s my chance and I must take it, a case of do-or-die

On a carousel
On a carousel
‘Round and ’round and ’round and ’round
‘Round and ’round and ’round and ’round with you
Up, down, up, down, up, down, too

Riding along on a carousel, trying to catch up to you
Riding along on a carousel, will I catch up to you?

Now we take our ride together
No more chasing her

On a carousel
On a carousel
On a carousel
On a carousel
On a carousel

Outlaws – Ghost Riders in the Sky

I could have picked many artists who have covered this song but this is the one I heard first. The song is a standard and it was originally written and recorded in 1948 by Stan Jones. Jones based the melody on Johnny Comes Marching Home.

Jones said the song came from a story he heard when he was young. The story was told to him by an old Indian man from Arizona. When someone dies, their spirit leaves the body and goes to the sky. They stay up in the sky and become ghost riders. Jones was a kid when he first heard the story, he never forgot it.

This was written and originally recorded by Stan Jones in 1948. Jones was a forest ranger who wrote songs on the side. After recording his version of the song, artists like Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Lorne Greene, Gene Autry, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and too many more to list covered it. all recorded it.

The Outlaws released this song in 1980. It was on the album Ghost Riders. The album peaked at #25 on the Billboard Album Charts and the song peaked at #31 on the Billboard 100.

The band was formed in Tampa Florida in 1967. In 1974 The Outlaws were the first act signed to Arista Records under Clive Davis. They were helped out by Ronnie Van Zant. In Columbus Georgia, The Outlaws were opening up for Lynyrd Skynyrd with Clive Davis in the audience which wasn’t a secret to the bands. Van Zant said from the stage to Clive Davis…“If you don’t sign Outlaws, you’re the dumbest music person I’ve ever met—and I know you’re not.” They were signed.

Ghost Riders in the Sky

An old cowboy went ridin’ out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed steers he saw
A ploughin’ through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw

Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
He saw the riders coming hard… and he heard their mournful cry

Yippie i ay Yippie i oh
Ghost riders in
Ghost riders in the sky

Yippie i ay (Yippie i ay) Yippie i oh (Yippie i oh)
Ghost riders in the sky

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat
They’re ridin’ hard to catch that herd but they ain’t caught ’em yet
‘Cause they’ve got to ride forever in the range up in the sky
On horses snorting fire as they ride hard, hear them cry

Yippie i ay Yippie i oh
Ghost riders in
Ghost riders in the sky

Ghost riders in the sky

Kris Kristofferson – Why Me

Good morning to everyone on this fine Sunday morning! This was a song that I heard on my mom’s country stations along with the AM pop stations that my sister listened to. It crossed genres and was a massive hit.

It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and Canada’s Country Charts, #16 on the Billboard 100, and #19 on Canada’s RPM Charts in 1973.

Kristofferson is an incredible songwriter but he gave up a lot to be one. He is very intelligent and he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.

Kristofferson came from a military family. Both of his grandfathers were military men, his dad was a general in the Air Force, and his brother was in the Navy. Kris himself had made a name for himself in the armed forces, achieving the rank of captain and being offered a teaching position at West Point.

Instead, he moved to Nashville and ended up working odd jobs to support his disabled son while trying to break into the music business. When his mother found out about the music business she wrote a letter to him that he was an embarrassment to the family and he was disowned. Someone showed the letter to Johnny Cash, who believed in Kristofferson, and Cash told him ‘Always nice to get a letter from home, isn’t it, Kris?’

I feel lazy doing this but Kristofferson tells the story of the song better than I can. He went to church with country music artist Connie Smith and this happened.

Kris Kristofferson: “The night before we’d been down in Cookeville with a bunch of people, doing a benefit for Dottie West’s High School band or something and then Connie took me over to church the next day to Jimmie Snow’s church. And I had a profound religious experience during the session, something that never had happened to me before. And ‘Why Me’ came out of it.

Everybody was kneeling down and Jimmie said something like if anybody’s lost, please raise their hand. And I was kneeling there. I don’t go to church a lot and the notion of raising my hand was out of the question and I thought, ‘I can’t imagine who’s doing this.’ And all of a sudden I felt my hand going up and I was hoping nobody else was looking because everybody had their head bent over praying.

And then he said, ‘If anybody is ready to accept Jesus, come down to the front of the church.’ I thought that would never happen and I found myself getting up and walking down with all these people and going down there. And I don’t really know what he said to me. He said something to me like, ‘Are you ready to accept Jesus Christ in your life?’ And I said: ‘I don’t know.’ I didn’t know what I was doing there. And he put me down, said, ‘Kneel down here.’ I can’t even remember what he was saying but, whatever it was, was such a release for me that I found myself weeping in public and I felt this forgiveness that I didn’t know I even needed.”

Why Me

Why me Lord, what have I ever done
To deserve even one
Of the pleasures I’ve known
Tell me Lord, what did I ever do
That was worth loving You
Or the kindness You’ve shown

Lord help me Jesus, I’ve wasted it
So help me Jesus, I know what I am
Now that I know that I’ve needed you
So Help me Jesus, my soul’s in Your hand

Tell me Lord, if you think there’s a way
I can try to repay
All I’ve taken from You
Maybe Lord, I can show someone else
What I’ve been through myself
On my way back to You

Lord, help me Jesus, I’ve wasted it
So Help me Jesus, I know what I am
Now that I know that I’ve needed you
So help me Jesus, my soul’s in Your hand

Jesus, my soul’s in Your hand

Neil Young – Wonderin’

I heard this song in the 80s and really liked the video. When I first saw the 80s time lapsed video…I thought Young looked a little like Stephen King around this time…looking at it again…I still do. I want to thank Dave for the post that jarred my memory about After The Gold Rush.

It’s a song that was left off of After The Gold Rush back in 1970. He played it live with Crazy Horse but it would be 1983 when it finally appeared on the album Everybody’s Rockin’. It was re-cut into a 1950s style to fit the rest of the album. He made the album as Neil Young and the Shocking Pinks. There is a story in that as well.

In the early eighties, David Geffen signed Neil Young to a huge contract with Geffen Records. Neil Young who will do his own thing no matter what or when…released an album called “Trans” which was his foray into electronic music. Geffen wanted another “Harvest” with another Heart of Gold or Old Man…instead, he got “Computer Age” and “We R in Control” with Neil singing through a Vocoder.

After that album Neil was asked to do more rock and roll by a Geffen record company executive…the record company was thinking more along the lines of the harder rock Rust Never Sleeps…so Neil gave them rock and roll all right… “Everybody’s Rockin” is an album full of early fifties Doo-wop and rockabilly-sounding songs in the middle of the 80s (thank you, Neil!). The record company was not amused…he then released an album full of country music… In his contract, Neil had full artistic freedom.

Geffen had claimed the new albums were “unrepresentative” of Neil’s music. He sued Neil for 3.3 million dollars but the case was settled and Geffen lost and had to apologize to Neil. That shows you…sometimes life is fair.

If you look at Neil’s career…it was all about change and evolving so I don’t know what Geffen expected. Neil rarely repeats himself. Geffen was expecting early seventies Neil and that wasn’t happening. Young is not an artist that you mess with.

After hearing the original version…I like both.. and I do enjoy the early rock and roll feel of it in the 80s version. The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard Album Charts, #22 in Canada, #21 in New Zealand, and #50 in the UK.

Wonderin’

I’ve been walking all night long
My footsteps made me crazy
Baby, you’ve been gone so long
I’m wonderin’ if you’ll come home
I’m hopin’ that you’ll be my baby
I’m wonderin’ if I’ll be alone
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.

I’ve been talking all day long
To keep my heart from sadness
Baby, you’ve been gone so long
I’m wonderin’ if you’ll come home
I’m hopin’ that you’ll be my baby
I’m wonderin’ if I’ll be alone
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.

I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’,
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’,
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’,
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’.

Well, I’m knowin’
that I need you to save me
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’.

Waylon Jennings – Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line

When I hear this song…I think it’s one of the coolest songs I’ve ever heard. The song is classified as country but there is some early rock in this also. I could hear Buddy Holly singing this one with no problem. Jennings to me, could have easily been a rock and roll singer and his songs often crossed genres. Waylon was in the “Outlaws” which included Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, and David Allan Coe. It wasn’t a band but a group of musicians who had freedom with their music and didn’t follow Nashville’s so called guidelines.

Speaking of Buddy Holly. Jennings played with Buddy Holly in the 50s. Holly saw Jennings, a radio DJ since his pre-teen years, as a promising talent. The first fruits of the two late 50s partnership came when Jennings recorded the songs “Jole Blon” and “When Sin Stops (Love Begins)” with Holly and guitarist Tommy Allsup.

Jennings went on the road as part of Holly’s post-Crickets backing band for the Winter Dance Party Tour along with co-headliners Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (JP Richardson). They had unheated buses and the drummer Carl Bunch got frost bite on the bus. Holly charted a flight and bandmate Allsup allegedly lost a seat in a coin toss to Ritchie Valens, and Jennings offered his spot to a sick Richardson.

Holly and Jennings were very close. They joked with each other on the night of the crash as Holly was leaving. Holly jokingly told Jennings, “Well, I hope your ol’ bus freezes up!” Jennings jokingly replied, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes!” That haunted Jennings for years after that. Jennings has said that Buddy influenced him a lot in his career. He said he learned not to compromise your music.

Jim Alley, an American country singer, first recorded this song in 1967. However, his version didn’t become that popular during his time. Jimmy Bryant wrote this song and was a fiddle player who played on some country records along with The Monkees song Sweet Young Thing.

Waylon recorded the song at RCA Victor Studios in Nashville and no other than Chet Atkins produced it. The song was released a few months later. The song was a hit, it peaked at #1 on the Canadian Country Charts and #2 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1968. The Kentucky Headhunters and Linda Ronstadt covered the song later on.

Jennings had one of the best marriages in music. He married Jessi Colter in 1969. Jennings experienced three failed marriages before he finally found the one. Jessi remained his wife until Jennings’s death in 2002.

Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line

Everybody knows you’ve been steppin’ on my toes
And I’m gettin’ pretty tired of it
You keep a steppin’ out of line
You’re messin’ with my mind
If you had any sense you’d quit

‘Cause ever since you were a little bitty teeny girl
You said I was the only man in this whole world
Now you better do some thinkin’ then you’ll find
You got the only daddy that’ll walk the line

I keep a workin’ every day all you want to is play
I’m tired of stayin’ out all night
I’m comin’ unglued
From your funny little moods
Now Honey baby that ain’t right

You keep a packin’ up my clothes nearly everybody knows
That you’re still just a puttin’ me on
But when I start a walkin’
Gonna hear you start a squawkin’
And beggin’ me to come back home

You got the only daddy that’ll walk the line

Pogues – The Sunny Side Of The Street

I’ve posted only one Pogues song before. CB brought them up and I started to listen and song after song was quality. I remember them but more for the name than the music. What a catalog they have and I’ve been listening to them almost non-stop this week. This song is so positive that it rubs off.

This song just gives off a great vibe. The Sunny Side of the Street was inspired by the band’s experiences growing up in working-class neighborhoods. They witnessed firsthand the struggles and triumphs of the people around them. They wanted to shine the light on the resilience and ability to find joy in even the most challenging circumstances.

The Pogues were formed in Ireland in 1982 by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left because of drinking problems and was replaced by Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before breaking up in 1996. They reformed in 2001 and toured until 2014.

The song was written by Shane MacGowan and Jeremy Fier. I was released in 1990 and was on the album Hell’s Ditch. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard Alternative Charts in 1991. The album was produced by former Clash member Joe Strummer.

On November 30…Shane MacGowan passed away. Yesterday, his coffin was being taken down the streets of Dublin pulled by a horse-drawn carriage. He was 65 years old.

The Sunny Side of the Street

Seen the carnival at Rome
Had the women, I had the booze
All that I can remember now
Is little kids without no shoes

So, I saw that train and I got on it
With a heartful of hate and a lust for vomit
Now I’m walking on the sunnyside of the street

Stepped over bodies in Bombay
Tried to make it to the U.S.A.
Ended up in Nepal
Up on the roof with nothing at all
And I knew that day
I was going to stay right where I am
On the sunnyside of the street

Been in a palace, been in a jail
I just don’t want to be reborn a snail
Just want to spend eternity right where I am
On the sunnyside of the street

As my mother wept it was then I swore
To take my life as I would a whore
I know I’m better than before
I will not be reconstructed

Just want to stay right here
The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street

…