Singles – Page 52 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Townes Van Zandt – Waiting Around To Die

Once in a while, I’ll listen to a song that is so good that it’s beyond a normal song. It happens when lyrics can tell a story just right..in a real down-to-earth way. Few fit in this category…this song does. Townes said it was the first song he ever wrote. If so…that would be like painting the Mona Lisa on your first try.

He lived in an apartment with his first wife Fran and he converted a walk-in closet into a studio. Fran said that he wrote the song in there and she was disappointed that he didn’t write a happy or a love song.

“Waitin’ Around to Die” was first recorded for Van Zandt’s 1968 studio debut called For the Sake of the Song. It’s a dark song that encapsulates the pain, despair, and struggle that can engulf a person’s life. It also foretold Van Zandt’s life and ending in a lot of ways.

Townes was diagnosed with depression in his sophomore year of college. His father, Harris Williams Van Zandt, was a corporate lawyer. Townes tried to follow in his footsteps but dropped out of school to become a musician. Earlier in grade school, his friend Guy Clark said that Van Zandt found out that the sun was slowly burning out. Clark thinks that after that he didn’t take much seriously in life.

He was born John Townes Van Zandt in Fort Worth, Texas, into a wealthy oil family whose prestige was known throughout the state. His great-great-grandfather Khleber Miller Van Zandt became president of both a construction company and a bank, the Fort Worth National Bank. Khleber’s own dad, Isaac Van Zandt, was a leader of the Republic of Texas. Van Zandt County, located in the northeastern part of the state, was named for Isaac in 1848.

Townes Van Zandt died on New Year’s Day in 1997 at age 52, exactly 44 years after the death of his idol, Hank Williams.

Townes Van Zandt: “I talked to this old man for a while, and he kinda put out these vibrations. I was sitting at the bar of the Jester Lounge one afternoon drinking beer, thinking about him, and just wrote it down …..Sometimes I don’t know where this dirty road is taking me/Sometimes I can’t see the reason why/But I guess I’ll keep rambling/Lots of booze and lots of gambling/Well, it’s easier than waitin’ round to die.”

Townes Van Zandt: “I have a few others like that that I don’t play all the time. I have to watch that when I do shows. I have to stay away from that side because nobody wants to hear blues on blues on blues.”

Waiting Around To Die

Sometimes I don’t know where
This dirty road is taking me
Sometimes I don’t even know the reason why
But I guess I keep a-gamblin’
Lots of booze and lots of ramblin’
Well it’s easier than just a-waitin’ around to die

One time, friends, I had a ma
I even had a pa
Well he beat her with a belt once ’cause she cried
She told him to take care of me
Headed down to Tennessee
Well it’s easier than just a-waitin’ around to die

Well I came of age and I found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar
She cleaned me out and hit in on the sly
I tried to hide the pain, I bought some wine and hopped a train
Well it’s easier than just waitin’ around to die

A friend said he knew
Where some easy money was
We robbed a man, and brother did we fly
The posse caught up with me
And drug me back to Muskogee
Two long years waitin’ around to die

Well, now I’m out of prison
I got me a friend at last
Well he don’t drink or steal or cheat or lie
His name’s codeine
He’s the nicest thing I’ve seen
Yah, together we’re gonna wait around and die
Yah together we’re gonna wait around and die

Ray Charles – I Can’t Stop Loving You

I was introduced to Ray Charles’ music by my mom. She would play Georgia on My Mind nonstop. This was a country song that Ray Charles kicked some soul into and it worked more than anyone would have thought.

Willie Nelson said that Ray Charles did more for country music than anyone did at that time. This song was a massive hit worldwide in 1962.

The song was written by Don Gibson and this was the B side to his Oh Lonesome Me. Ray Charles finally got artistic control over his albums so he decided to shock everyone…an album full of Country and Western music with his own unique touch on it. The album was called Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music and it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts.

Ray Charles’ record company (ABC Records) didn’t release this as a single when the album came out. It was only when Tab Hunter heard this version and released a single…that ABC Records finally edited the song down to just over 4 minutes and released it after radio stations were playing it off the album. Charles was not happy when he heard Hunter’s version.

The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #1 in the UK in 1962. I Can’t Stop Loving You won the Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.

I Can’t Stop Loving You

(I can’t stop loving you)
I’ve made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday
(Dreams of yesterday)

Those happy hours that we once knew
Though long ago, they still make me blue
They say that time heals a broken heart
But time has stood still since we’ve been apart, yeah

(I can’t stop loving you)
I’ve made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday

(Those happy hours)
Those happy hours
(That we once knew)
That we once knew
(Though long ago)
Though long ago
(Still make me blue)
Still make me blue
(They say that time)
They say that time
(Heals a broken heart)
Heals a broken heart
(But time has stood still)
Time has stood still
(Since we’ve been apart)
Since we’ve been apart

(I can’t stop loving you)
I said I made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times (sing the song, children)

(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life of dreams of yesterday
(Of yesterday)

Colin Linden – When The Spirit Comes

CB sent me a link to this song and I liked it on the first listen. It didn’t need to grow on me or take time to gel…first off I liked it. I started to listen to more of the album and again…first time I heard it was great.

Colin Linden is a great Canadian guitarist who has played with many artists. To name a few Bruce Cockburn, Lucinda Williams, T-Bone Burnett, Kevin Gordon, Colin James, Emmylou Harris, Leon Redbone, Rita Chiarelli, Chris Thomas King, The Band, Keb’ Mo’, Charles Esten, and last but not least Bob Dylan. He now makes his home near me…in Nashville.

Colin fulfilled a dream with this recording. He was always a huge fan of The Band. Garth Hudson and Rick Danko are on this song with him. If you listen to near the last verse you can hear Danko’s unmistakable harmony voice that he was so great at. Danko sings the last verse right before the solo. Along with that, you can hear Garth Hudson playing like only Hudson can…not many keyboard players have a certain sound…but Garth sure does. Danko and Linden met each other in 1985 in Toronto at the Diamond Club. Linden was opening up for The Band at the time. They got along well musically and personally.

As soon as you hear Rick Danko sing near the end he turns the song into Americana by just opening his mouth. The end of the song has a cool music breakdown of Linden’s guitar and Hudson’s organ taking the song in a really cool direction. Every song should have an ending like this one.

This song was the title cut to the album released in 1988. Danko, Hudson, and Levon Helm contributed to it. Along with his solo career he played with many artists on the way. He has released 14 albums in all beginning in 1980 and the last one called bLOW in 2021. He has also won multiple Juno awards for his contributions.

Colin joined Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing in Hamilton, Ontario to form Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. I’ll be covering something by them soon.

The lyrics were nowhere to be found. After transcribing them I got an assist from CB on them…a thanks to him on that.

Colin Linden: “Rick’s way of looking at things is very much in keeping with what I feel about priorities, he’s a very Zen guy and he has a very positive aura about him. He looks at the world in a truly unjaded way–and he sees a lot of shit. The prospect of playing with him was so appealing to me because he treats life with a lot of respect, and that’s a perfect vibe for playing music and playing it well.”

When The Spirit Comes

When the spirit comes, electrons will charge through your veins
It won’t take any money, it won’t give you a name
When the spirit comes, you’re going to ride the fastest rail
And whatever you may try, no way you can fail
You will feel like superwoman, like you just discovered electricity
Here ye I’ll wait and I’m ready when the spirit comes

When the spirit comes, it will catch you mostly off guard
It will make things seem so easy, the same things that once seemed so hard
But you can’t force the spirit inside you, like you can’t force the dead to rise
And you can’t be on 10, and be ready when the spirit comes

When the spirit comes, sit down by your plough and be ready
When the spirit comes, throw away your crutches and be ready
When the spirit comes, put away your sheep suit and be ready
Be ready
Be ready
Be ready
When the spirit comes

When the spirit comes, you are gonna jump straight up in the air
And you will see the world from great heights, and you won’t have to travel anywhere
And there will be no tears or no funerals, and no preachers on TV
Just an intermittent spark that will let you know when the spirit’s come

Here ye I wait and I’m ready when the spirit comes

Chuck Berry – Let It Rock

Pick up you belongings boys and scatter about
We’ve got an off-schedule train comin’ two miles out

Great title for Mr. Chuck Berry. My only complaint about this song is it’s way too short. He borrowed liberally from Johnny B. Good but that is alright…hell it’s his song to borrow from. Just think how many artists have taken this riff, especially the rhythm track, and used it over and over again. The Rolling Stones, Animals, and Beatles owe a large part of their success to this man.

Speaking of the Rolling Stones…they recorded this song live as a B-side in the UK for the single Brown Sugar. It was recorded live in March 1971 at the University of Leeds in England. Right around the time when The Who recorded possibly the best rock live album ever…Live At Leeds. The Stones do a good job on this song…it’s in their wheelhouse completely.

This song is not about teenagers. Chuck wrote this from the perspective of a railroad worker in Alabama. The phrase “Let It Rock” won’t be found in the lyrics. Supposedly the train that is coming is Rock and Roll.

The musicians on this album are Johnnie Johnson on piano, Willie Dixon on double bass, and Fred Below on drums. Johnnie Johnson was one of the best boogie-woogie piano players around at the time.

Johnnie Johnson never got his due for these wonderful riffs that he helped Chuck create. When Keith Richards wanted him to play in Hail Hail Rock and Roll in the mid-80s…he was driving a bus in Saint Louis. Chuck gave his OK and Johnnie was in the band. After he appeared in the movie he worked for the rest of his life as a musician.

This song has been covered by The Connection, The Grateful Dead, Rockpile, The Rolling Stones, Motörhead, Jerry Garcia, Hasil Adkins, Skyhooks, The Yardbirds, Widespread Panic, The MC5, Bob Seger, the Stray Cats, George Thorogood, The Head Cat, Shadows of Knight, John Oates, The Georgia Satellites, and Jeff Lynne to name a few.

The song peaked at #18 on the Billboard R&B Charts and #64 on the Billboard 100 Charts in 1959.

Have a great day and Let It Rock!

Let It Rock

In the heat of the day down in Mobile Alabama
Working on the railroad with the steel driving hammer
I gotta get some money to buy some brand new shoes
Tryin’ to find somebody to take away these blues
“She don’t love me” hear them singing in the sun
Payday’s coming and my work is all done

Well, in the evening when the sun is sinking low
All day I been waiting for the whistle to blow
Sitting in a tee pee built right on the tracks
Rolling them bones until the foreman comes back
Pick up you belongings boys and scatter about
We’ve got an off-schedule train comin’ two miles out

Everybody’s scrambling, running around
Picking up their money, tearing the tee pee down
Foreman wants to panic, ’bout to go insane
Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
Engineer blows the whistle loud and long
Can’t stop the train, have to let it roll on

Joe Ely – Musta Notta Gotta Lotta

Randy had a post a few days ago about Rock and Roll Revivalists and I started to search a little bit and ran across a live version of this song. I love roots music and this Texan delivers every single time. When I saw the live clip of this one I heard so much of Jerry Lee Lewis in it. The title alone gets my attention really quick.

This song was released in 1981 on an album with the same name…OK, I want to type it again… Musta Notta Gotta Lotta. Now I feel better. You could see something happening in the eighties out of the top 40. You have Joe Ely opening the door along with The Blasters and then Steve Earle came on through along with the alt-country bands like Uncle Tupelo.

Ely has 16 studio albums and 20 singles in his career so far. This album charted at #135 in the Billboard Album Charts. He has charted quite a few in the Country Charts.

Ely’s first album was released in 1977. He met The Clash the year after in London and both liked each other. They both toured together a bit after that. Ely sang backups on the Clash hit Should I Stay or Should I Go.

He also co-wrote a play called Chippy about a Texas prostitute who counted around 6,000 customers. She died in the 1960s and had a quote that I will never forget. “Texas had the bread and I had the butter.”

The man is known through the music industry. In 1990 he was part of a band for the house party for the premiere of Buddy that played some songs. That band included The E Street band members Max Weinberg and Gary Tallent along with The Crickets, Dave Edmunds, Steve Forbert, and Paul McCartney. Joe and Paul traded vocals on three Holly songs.

Musta Notta Gotta Lotta

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

I was high flyin’ down the riverside driveRockin’ to the radio man aliveStopped into a joint bought a round of boozeHot dog I got a buzz in my shoe

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Writin’ you a letter it’s late in the nightSittin’ in a caffe honey eatin’ a biteI’m telln’ you about where all I’ve beenHot dog I’m gone again

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Now there’s two kind of people in this big ‘ol townThere’s the early to rise and the late to go downI guess I better find a better way to stop the clockHot dog I like it a lot

Hot dog I like it a lot

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night, yeah, hot dog

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Dusty Springfield – Son of a Preacher Man

This song never gets old to me. It’s full of soul and pure Dusty. I will say, I always thought Dusty Springfield was from Memphis or somewhere like that. Never did I think that she was born in London.

Mary O’Brien was the daughter of a tax consultant who grew up in Hampstead in North London. In 1958 she became the third member of a short-lived girl group known as the Lana Sisters. She started to go by Dusty Springfield, she then joined her brother Dion (stage name Tom Springfield) in the British country-music trio the Springfields, who achieved moderate success in the early 1960s.

She signed with Atlantic Records in 1968 and recorded her Dusty in Memphis album in the famed American Sound Studios with producers Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin. The album brought her critical acclaim and this international hit Son of a Preacher Man.

The song was originally offered to Aretha Franklin (who is a preacher’s daughter), but she turned it down because she thought it was disrespectful. She then changed her mind and did a cover version of it.

The song was released in 1968 and peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, #11 in Canada, and #9 in the UK. The song was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. The backup vocals were by a female group called the Sweet Inspirations, who were made up of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. Later on, they would tour with Elvis Presley.

Elton John: “I’m biased, but I just think she was the greatest white singer there ever has been … every song she sang, she claimed as her own.”

Son of a Preacher Man

Billy-Ray was a preacher’s son
And when his daddy would visit he’d come along
When they gathered round and started talkin’
That’s when Billy would take me walkin’
A-through the backyard we’d go walkin’
Then he’d look into my eyes
Lord knows to my surprise

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was

Being good isn’t always easy
No matter how hard I try
When he started sweet-talkin’ to me
He’d come and tell me everything is all right
He’d kiss and tell me everything is all right
Can I get away again tonight?

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
(Ooh…) Lord knows he was
Yes he was

How well I remember
The look that was in his eyes
Stealin’ kisses from me on the sly
Takin’ time to make time
Tellin’ me that he’s all mine
Learnin’ from each other’s knowing
Lookin’ to see how much we’ve grown

And the only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was

The only one who could ever reach me
He was the sweet-talking son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
I kissed the son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever move me
The sweet-lovin’ son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever groove me
Ahh, ooh, ahh….

Janis Joplin – My Baby

As of yesterday, she has been gone for 53 years. She dedicated this song to her dad. It was on her last studio album Pearl released in 1971 right after Joplin died.

Janis’s voice is gold on this one… a pure blues voice. I’m convinced Janis had a built-in dynamic. She had one of the best dynamics in her songs based purely on her building up to the choruses of her songs. Her influences were Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and last but not least…Otis Redding. She saw Otis a few months before he died and copped some of his stage mannerisms.

This was written by Jerry Ragovoy and Mort Shuman. Shuman’s credits include Teenager In Love and Let’s Live For Today. Ragovoy also wrote Joplin’s songs Piece Of My Heart and Try. The song was first released by Garnet Mimms in 1966.

I have included the studio version and a live version she did on the Dick Cavett show. Cavett talks about her as if he had somewhat fallen for her. It was an odd combination…Cavett attended Yale and here was Janis…a loud brash blues singer from Port Arthur Texas.

Cavett tells a story about Janis and him eating at a restaurant and the song “Down On Me” is playing while they are at the table. Cavett said to Janis…I bet they don’t play that song on the radio because of it’s sexual nature…Janis then leaned in and told Cavett…Dick…uh it’s a gospel song.

Cavett later credited Joplin for sending so many other major rock stars his way after her first appearance on his show in 1968. She told her fellow musicians that Cavett wasn’t a dreary television personality like many. The fact is…Cavett was different from other talk show hosts…especially now. He would dedicate entire shows to one person and he had conversations with them, not interviews. He also mixed and matched people that you would not see in everyday life. Janis for instance, was on a show with Raquel Welch and Gloria Swanson. Three completely different women but he had all of them in a conversation.

If you see the Cavett DVD’s…get them…if not many of them are on youtube.

The biography I read on Janis was by Holly George-Warren. It was released in 2019 and it is one of the best books about her I’ve read. Here are a few quotes from that author.

Holly George-Warren: You can look to two major influences that Janis had that I think affected her sexuality and the way she expressed it on stage. One was, of course, the great Bessie Smith, whose lyrics Janis knew by heart. She started out singing Bessie Smith songs way before we ever saw her, these images of her with Big Brother and the Holding Company. She started performing Bessie Smith songs around 1963. And those kind of lyrics of sexuality, of sexual longing, sexual betrayal, those very much informed Janis’ own songwriting and the songs that she chose to sing.

The other major influence was Otis Redding. She was a huge Otis fan until the day she died. And she got to see him perform live three nights in a row at The Fillmore back in 1966, and it transformed her because he was a very sexual performer. And he was able to emit this heat on stage that Janis herself was able to do through her own way of manifesting these feelings that she had while singing these songs. And I mean, Janis herself, she compared singing on stage to having an orgasm. She blew some journalists’ minds when she used that expression, but she – it was a very sexual experience for her.

The original version of this song was by Garnet Mimms.

My Baby

And when I work hard all day long
I tell you what, it don’t bother me nohow,
‘Cause how could anything ever go wrong
When I got my baby, Lord, yes,
When I got my baby, oh Lord!

And when they tell me love is pain
I said it might be true for you, honey,
But not for Janis no more, no no no no.
All I’ve ever got to do is call my daddy?s name
Yeah and I got m-my baby, Lord, yeah,
Yes I got my baby, good good God,
Honey, I want to tell you something that I do.

Deep down, h-honey, in the dark of the night,
When I lay my head down, I want to go to sleep,
And I know everything is gonna be alright,
Yeah I got my baby, Lord yeah,
‘Cause I got m-my baby, oh yeah.

And when I want to call the names
Or the things to be that want to be to you.
And when I want to reach out my hand
It always seems you hold me, dear,
Love, don’t you know how long I looked for you
Daddy, daddy, daddy.
Love, don’t you know how hard I tried,
But now I got my baby, Lord, yeah,
Now I got my baby, yeah.

Max Picks …songs from 1973

1973

Pink Floyd released one of the biggest albums of all time…Dark Side of the Moon.

Roger Waters put together the cash register tape loop that plays throughout the song. It also contains the sounds of tearing paper and bags of coins being thrown into an industrial food-mixing bowl. The intro was recorded by capturing the sounds of an old cash register on tape and meticulously splicing and cutting the tape in a rhythmic pattern to make the “cash register loop” effect. Waters also wrote the song.

Like many of their songs, this was not released as a single in the UK, where singles were perceived as a sellout…but it was released as a single in America in 1973

Another positive song that was written by George Harrison. “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” replaced Wings’ “My Love” at number 1 on the Hot 100 singles chart…For the week ending 30 June that year, the Harrison and McCartney songs were ranked numbers 1 and 2 respectively.

This song was based on a true story that happened to the band. Smoke On The Water took inspiration from a fire in the Casino at Montreux, Switzerland on December 4, 1971. Deep Purple was going to start recording their Machine Head album there right after a Frank Zappa concert, but someone fired a flare gun at the ceiling during Zappa’s show, which set the place on fire when Deep Purple was watching. It was released in May of 1973.

Music stores would not be the same without this song. It was written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice.

Allman Brothers released this song in August of 1973. It was the band’s biggest hit that almost didn’t get released. The band thought it was too country and almost didn’t release it. This one was written by Dickey Betts.

My sister had a Jim Croce greatest hits album and I played it non-stop. This one is easy for kids to remember. This song has been played to death but I still love it. This one remains one of the most remembered songs from the early seventies. Jim Croce wrote this one.

Action – Brain

My favorite era in rock/pop music is probably the mid-sixties British singles that were released. Between The Who, Stones, Beatles, and Kinks you had some of the best rock/pop singles ever. Along with the other bands, it was a very creative time.

The Action was formed in North West London in 1963. After some member changes, they were signed to Parlophone to work with no other than George Martin. Despite that, they never had a hit. They did release four singles…a cover of A Land Of a 1000 Dances with the B side of “In My Lonely Room” in 1965.

They started off as a Mod band similar to The Who and Small Faces. The band released a second single “I’ll Keep on Holding On” b/w “Hey Sah-Lo-Ney.” That was released in 1966. There is not a lot of info on the band so I emailed my UK friend Colin who is involved in two blogs Once Upon A Time In The Seventies and LOUD HORIZON. So a quick thank you to Colin… Also thanks to CB who sent me a link to the song that neither one of us had heard before.

I’ve added Colin’s research at the bottom for their original discography. This band sounded great but couldn’t get a foothold in the UK charts. That would be their last single. The song Brain was recorded in 1967-1968.

George Martin finally had to let them go because they could not get charting songs. They turned to more psychedelic in 1967 and they continued to record demos and shop the tapes. No other record company ever signed them so they went their separate ways.

In the 1980s a collection of their songs were released with the liner notes written by Paul Weller who was a huge fan. There was also a collection released in 2002 called Rolled Gold… take a listen. In 2018 everything they ever recorded was released in a set called Shadows and Reflections: The Complete Recordings 1964-1968.

The Action reunited in 1998 because of renewed interest… they played to a gathering of mods on the Isle of Wight. It went so well that they continued to play shows for the next few years, their last one being 2004’s Madstock.

Land of 1,000 Dances / In My Lonely Room .. Parlophone R5354 …. 1965 (Rare / Very Rare)

I’ll Keep on Holding On / Hey Sah-Lo-Ney ….Parlophone R 5410 ….1966 (Very Rare)

Baby You’ve Got It / Since I Lost My Baby……Parlophone R 5474……1966 (Very Rare)

**Never Ever / Twenty Fourth Hour Shadows & Reflection / Something Has Hit Me ….Parlophone R 5610 … 1967 (Very Rare)

** Also released as a Promo in the US ( Capitol P 5949)

They were then subsequently released again in 1981 / 82

(Thanks Colin!)

I’m going to include another song by them called Strange Roads. I like the intro and the lead guitar to this one.

Brain

Take Your Brain, Its Time To Go
And You Dont Have Long To Go

Remember Me, Remember Me
Cuz Im The One Who Made You See
Remember Me

Hang Your Brain, Up In The Sky
Hang It Up, Hang It High

Remember Me, Remember Me
Cuz Im The One Who Made You See
Remember Me

Take Your Brain, Its Time To Go
And You Dont Have Long To Go

Remember Me, Remember Me
Cuz Im The One Who Made You See
Remember Me

Take Your Brain, Its Time To Go
And You Dont Have Long You Know

Remember Me, Remember Me
Cuz Im The One Who Made You See
Remember Me

Redbone – Come and Get Your Love

This song was a part of my childhood growing up. I never knew much about them but when I was 7 (1974)…my sister was watching Midnight Special and to see them…you didn’t forget. Then in 2014, the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy came out and the song was part of my son’s childhood. It is a very good pop song from the 1970s. They were the first Native American band to have a top 5 hit.

Native American brothers Patrick and Candido “Lolly” Vasquez-Vegas were born in Coalinga, California. The brothers played with Oscar Peterson at the Monterey Jazz and Pop Festival before relocating to Los Angeles in 1963. They were serious musicians. They started to play around on the Vegas Strip.

They opened for Lenny Bruce, as well as Richard Pryor while writing and playing on records by Tina Turner, Sonny & Cher, James Brown, Little Richard, and Elvis ( on the soundtrack to the film “Kissin’ Cousins”), among other recording artists.

Jimi Hendrix saw them play and was knocked out. Jimi stated that Lolly Vegas was the best guitarist he had ever heard and suggested that they create a band. Knowing they were Native Americans, Jimi suggested a name that reflected their roots. The name that Jimi suggested was “Redbone”, a Cajun term for a mixed-race person.

The Vegas brothers met guitarist Tony Bellamy, and collaborated on the Jim Ford album “Harlan County”. The trio hired drummer Pete DePoe and signed with Epic Records in 1969.

Come and Get Your Love peaked at #5 on the Billboard 100 and #25 in Canada in 1974. The song has recently gained a new following by being on the “Guardians of the Galaxy” soundtrack. The band was not a one-hit wonder though. They had one other top 40 hit called The Witch Queen of New Orleans.

Come and Get Your Love

Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with your head, yeah
Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with your mind
And your sign an-a, oh-oh-oh
Hail (hail)
Nothin’ the matter with your head
Baby find it, come on and find it
Hail, with it baby
Cause you’re fine
And you’re mine, and you look so divine

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with you feel right
Don’t you feel right baby
Hail, oh yeah
Get it from the mainline, all right
I said-a find it, find it
Go on and love it if you like it, yeah
Hail (hail)
It’s your business if you want some, take some
Get it together baby

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love, now

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Hail (hail)
What’s the matter with you feel right
Don’t you feel right baby
Hail (hail), all right
Get it from the main vine, all right

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. la, la
Come and get your love
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. woohoo
Come and get your love
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. la, la
Come and get your love
La, na, na, na, na, na, da, boom
Come and get your love
La, da boom, boom, boom, ta, daba, boom, boom
Come and get your love
La, la, la, la, la, la

Shocking Blue – Out of Sight Out of Mind

Nothing I like better than finding new/old music.

Shocking Blue was a band out of the Netherlands with a sensational singer named Mariska Veres. She sounded like Grace Slick to me… Robbie van Leeuwen was the guitar player and he wrote most of the songs including this one.

This band had the worldwide number 1 hit Venus but I like many of their other songs more like Never Marry A Railroad Man (which should have been a hit), Mighty Joe, their version of I Ain’t Never, and Love Buzz which Nirvana covered.

This one has guitar hooks all over the place. The solo that Robbie Van Leeuwen plays is a huge hook itself. Mariska Veres’s voice is great and she has her own unique style that worked well with this band. This song peaked at #6 in the Netherlands and #13 in Belgium in 1971. This was a non-album single.

Shocking Blue was together from 1968-1974. They were known as a one-hit wonder with Venus but their other songs were hits in the Netherlands and were very good and sold a lot of records. They had some edge on their music and that is why I like them. If you are looking to find some old/new music…check this band out.

Mariska sadly died in 2006. With her voice, I’m shocked she didn’t have a more successful solo career.

Out Of Sight Out Of Mind

Love comes very easy and slips easy away
If you gotta go for a long, long time
Your baby promised you’ll be on his mind
Don’t be surprised if it turns out wrong

Out of sight, out of mind
That’s what happened a million times
Out of sight, out of mind

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Love has many faces and shows them all
When you have to kiss your baby goodbye
There is a presentiment you can’t deny
Will he come back, yes or no

That’s what happened a million times

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Dr. John – Right Place, Wrong Time

My sister’s car in the 70s plus AM radio gave me my own soundtrack. This is one of the songs along with Leon Russell’s Tight Rope that was on the most played list on our AM station WMAK in Nashville.

Right Place, Wrong Time was Dr. John’s only trip to the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at #9 in 1973 and #6 in Canada. For the longest time, I thought the name was “Brain Salad Surgery”. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer later used that name for their fourth album.

The song was on the album In The Right Place released in 1973. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts. Before this album he was a musician’s musician but after he became a pop star.

Dr. John (Malcolm John Rebennack) put a little New Orleans in everything he did. Gregg Allman liked Dr. John when he first met him in Boston before the Allmans made it. Gregg took drugs but after seeing what John took…he thought that the Allmans were tame. Gregg was not a fan of the New Orleans gris-gris that John brought around…and he had a good reason not to be.

Gregg Allman: Dr. John also had a gris-gris situation going on too. Basically they were these bags that he had hanging around each shoulder which were leather or goatskin and smelled kinda funky. Inside the bags was this New Orleans voodoo stuff called gris-gris. He threw that gris-gris shit all in my brand-new Hammond—he was throwing whole handfuls of that shit. Gris-gris, my ass. It was gold glitter, and it went down through the keys, down into the stops, gumming the oil up. They had to take the organ apart and scrape down each piece. They said, “What is this crap?” and they charged me $190, which meant I could eat, but I couldn’t drink a cold beer for two weeks.

Dr. John: “That was my life for a long time. At the same time I was in the wrong place at the right time, and the right place in the wrong time, too. That was the problem. We’re always shifting those gears.”

Dr. John: “Originally, I felt to go commercial would prostitute myself and bastardize the music, on reflecting, I thought that if without messin’ up the music and keeping the roots and elements of what I want to do musically, I could still make a commercial record I would not feel ashamed from, I’m proud of, and still have a feel for – then it’s not a bad thing but it even serve a good purpose.”

Right Place, Wrong Time

I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time
I’d have said the right thing but I must have used the wrong line
I been in the right trip but I must have used the wrong car
My head was in a bad place and I’m wondering what it’s good for
I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time
My head was in a bad place but I’m having such a good time

I been running trying to get hung up in my mind
Got to give myself a good talking-to this time
Just need a little brain salad surgery
Got to cure my insecurity

I been in the wrong place but it must have been the right time
I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong song
I been in the right vein but it seems like the wrong arm
I been in the right world but it seems wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

Slipping dodging sneaking creeping hiding out down the street
See me life shaking with every ho’ I meet
Refried confusion is making itself clear
Wonder which way do I go to get on out of here

I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time
I’d have said the right thing but I must have used the wrong line
I’d have took the right road but I must have took a wrong turn
Would’ve made the right move but I made it at the wrong time
I been on the right road but I must have used the wrong car
My head was in a good place and I wonder what it’s bad for

Merle Haggard – Swinging Doors

And I’ve got swinging doors a jukebox and a barstool
And my new home has got a flashing neon sign

This is country music I love. I’ve always been a bit jealous of the Country music genre in one area. I’m not sure they still have this but at certain times of year the musicians and artists are out and about and you can meet them. It was really big in Nashville through the years.

It was called Fan Fair. It’s basically like a job fair but with country stars. Can you imagine Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and others in a building meeting and talking to their fans? How about going up to Bob Dylan and slapping him on the back…” Hey Bob” how are ya? No that would not happen.

I remember this happening in Nashville where you could go and meet Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, and more. Rock and Roll doesn’t have anything like that. Maybe it’s because Country is centered in Nashville where Rock is spread throughout the world? I think it was a great way to spread their music.

In 1966 Merle Haggard traveled to Nashville to record his first-ever collaboration project with The Strangers. They would later on become his backing band. At first, it just didn’t work but Haggard and the band continued. The album ended up with 12 tracks and Swinging Doors was the title track. Haggard wrote all of the tracks on the album. The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts. His first number-one album. He would go on to record 66 studio albums and 8 live ones.

The song peaked at #5 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1966. Another song off of this album peaked at #5…The Bottle Let Me Down.

This song takes me back to being a kid. Early morning rides with my dad and him having a country station on.

Swinging Doors

This old smoke-filled bar is something I’m not used to
But if gave up my home to see you satisfied
And I just called to let you know where I’ll be living
It’s not much but I feel welcome here inside

And I’ve got swinging doors a jukebox and a barstool
And my new home has got a flashing neon sign
Stop by and see me anytime you want to
Cause I’m always here at home till closing time

I’ve got everything I need to drive me crazy
I’ve got everything it takes to lose my mind
And in here the atmosphere’s just right for heartaches
And thanks to you I’m always here till closing time

And I’ve got swinging doors a jukebox and a barstool
And my new home has got a flashing neon sign
Stop by and see me anytime you want to
Cause I’m always here at home till closing time

Yeah, I’m always here at home till closing time

…

Yardbirds – Heart Full Of Soul

The Yardbirds had three of Rock’s greatest guitar players pass through them. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. They had such a raw edge to them with Jeff Beck so that is the version I like best.

Heart Full of Soul peaked at #9 in the Billboard 100, #2 in the UK, and #2 in Canada in 1965. From the opening, it hooks you.

The lead guitarist Jeff Beck used an early version of a fuzz box on his lead part. They tried a sitar in the intro but they instead opted for Beck’s sitar-sounding guitar. “Heart Full of Soul” was the second of three Yardbirds singles written by non-member Graham Gouldman (the first was “For Your Love,” the other was “Evil Hearted You”).

This was the Yardbirds’ first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. Released only three months after “For Your Love.” The song is interesting because it contains Eastern and Western musical influences.

Jeff Beck gave the song an Eastern feel by the way he played the intro. When Jeff Beck joined the Yardbirds he didn’t have a guitar.

Jeff Beck: I actually didn’t have a guitar of my own, I was so hard up. The Yardbirds sort of sneaked Eric’s guitar out. He’d finished using the red Tele (Fender Telecaster)
and was using a Les Paul, so he didn’t care about the red Tele. The bands manager, said well, ‘You’d better use Eric’s guitar—we can’t afford to go out and buy one now.’ So I borrowed Eric’s for the first couple of gigs”.

Drummer Jim McCarty: “‘Heart Full of Soul,’ which was very moody, gave us the ability to play the riff in sort of an Eastern way, give it an Oriental touch. Another very good song.”

Heart Full Of Soul

Sick at heart and lonely, deep in dark despair
When you want her only, tell me where is she where?
And if she says to you, that she don’t love me
Just give her my message, tell her of my plea
And I know, if I could have her back again, I would never make her sad
I got a heart full of soul I got a heart full of soul
She’s been gone such a long time, longer than I can bear
But if she says she wants me, tell her I’ll be there

And I know, if I could have her back again, I would never make her sad
I got a heart full of soul I got a heart full of soul
Sick at heart and lonely, deep in dark despair
When you want her only, tell me where is she where?
And if she says to you, that she don’t love me
Just give her my message, tell her of my plea
And I know, if I could have her back again, I would never make her sad
I got a heart full of soul I got a heart full of soul
I got a heart full of soul!

Blasters – Trouble Bound

This song has a cool groove to it. A little gospel touch at first and then Dave Alvin’s guitar lifts it up and is quite loud in the mix which is fantastic.

The Blasters never had mainstream success…but popular radio back in the 80s would have been greatly improved by these guys. The band has a cult following and during the 80s they had critical acclaim and recorded for Warners, but no big hits.

The Blasters are a rock and roll band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman.

This song was on their fourth album which was Hard Line which was released in 1985. This is it was written by Phil Alvin who was the guitarist, singer, and main songwriter for the band. The band produced a range of “rockabilly, country, blues, and New Orleans roadhouse R&B.” This album peaked at #86 on the Billboard Album Charts.

I’ve said this before but some rockabilly bands, or roots rock bands, sound like they came in on a nostalgia wave from the 1950s. There is nothing wrong with that but…not the Blasters. They sounded contemporary in the 80s even in the middle of an era where production was at its height and overkill. Their music still sounds timeless now…years after it was released and you can’t peg it to a decade.

The Blasters promoted the album heavily and did a bunch of radio concerts and TV appearances including their third appearance on American Bandstand, a taped concert for MTV, and Farm Aid. In the summer a full concert was taped while on their European tour for a show called Rockaplast. The concert was aired only in Europe and was an outstanding performance.

Dave Alvin left right after the release of this album.

Dave Alvin: “The night that Gene Taylor (piano player) left the Blasters was this gig in Montreal (Nov. 1985) and it was maybe the worst gig that I ever played. It was obvious that this wasn’t working anymore. The Thunderbirds had opened up the show and Gene just walked off stage at the end of the night and went right out the back door and got on the Thunderbirds bus and left. That night I decided I’m quitting. Everybody was so pissed off at each other. I flew to New York the next morning to do a Knitters gig at Irving Plaza and when I got to the gig, John said, ‘Billy’s (Zoom of X) leaving the band, you want to join?’ I said ‘Yeah!!’ without hesitation. Once I became a member of X, the Knitters became X.”

Trouble Bound

I’m old enough to know the score
But I’m young enough to want more more more
They say it means nothing all said and done
But that’s alright, I’m just here for the fun

And I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

There’s a demon deep inside of me
Sometimes I let the old boy run free
Trying to make a living during the day
Deep in the night I throw it all away

But I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

You see that girl lookin’ fine fine fine
I’m gonna throw her a good time line
If she bitеs I’ll reel her in
But if she don’t I’ll throw my line again

I’m old еnough to know the score
But I’m young enough to want more more more

And I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

You see that girl lookin’ fine fine fine
I’m gonna throw her a good time line
If she bites I’ll reel her in
But if she don’t I’ll throw my line again

This old world is a tired place
The same sad story on every face
Trying to make a living during the day
Deep in the night I throw it all away

And I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

…