Singles – Page 55 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

John Lennon – Mind Games

I hardly ever do birthdays or anniversaries except the ones I repeat…but this one lined up perfectly. John Lennon would have been 83 today. He has been gone 43 years…more than the 40 years he spent alive.

I bought this in the late seventies at Port ‘O’ Call Records in Nashville. One of my favorites of John’s radio hits. It was released in 1973 and peaked at #18 in the Billboard 100, #26 in the UK, and #11 in Canada. It didn’t do great on the charts but has remained one of my favorites and continues to be played on classic rock radio stations.

When Lennon was starting Mind Games…he separated from Yoko Ono and started an 18-month stint known as his lost weekend. He spent the time getting drunk with Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon, and others along with a small reunion with Paul McCartney in Los Angeles. He was living with May Pang and they eventually moved back to New York where he reunited with Yoko and had Sean.

I also bought the Mind Games album and it was the fourth album I had by him. You didn’t have the raw emotion that the first two gave you but it was a good pop album. With songs like “I Know, I Know” it remains in my rotation along with Walls and Bridges his follow-up album.

John got the name from a book called Mind Games by y Robert Masters and Jean Houston. The book was about promoting mental health through a raised consciousness. Some of the content of the book found its way into this song.

The original title was ‘Make Love Not War’ but John saw that as such a worn-out cliche at this time… he couldn’t use it. He tried to make the same message in the song though.

Usually, I don’t mention much about the video…but this one is great if you like John Lennon.

John Lennon: How many times can you say the same thing over and over? When this came out in the early Seventies, everybody was starting to say the Sixties was a joke; it didn’t mean anything; those love-and-peaceniks were idiots. [Sarcastically] ‘We all have to face the reality of being nasty human beings who are born evil, and everything’s gonna be lousy and rotten so boo-hoo-hoo…’ ‘We had fun in the Sixties,’ they said, ‘but the others took it away from us and spoiled it all for us’…‘No, just keep doin’ it.’”

Mind Games

We’re playing those mind games together
Pushing the barriers planting seeds
Playing the mind guerrilla
Chanting the Mantra peace on earth
We all been playing those mind games forever
Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil
Doing the mind guerrilla
Some call it magic the search for the grail

Love is the answer and you know that for sure
Love is a flower
You got to let it, you gotta let it grow

So keep on playing those mind games together
Faith in the future out of the now
You just can’t beat on those mind guerrillas
Absolute elsewhere in the stones of your mind
Yeah we’re playing those mind games forever
Projecting our images in space and in time

Yes is the answer and you know that for sure
Yes is surrender
You got to let it, you gotta let it go

So keep on playing those mind games together
Doing the ritual dance in the sun
Millions of mind guerrillas
Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel
Keep on playing those mind games forever
Raising the spirit of peace and love

Sly and The Family Stone – Everyday People

It would take a lot of work not to like this song. It’s very meaningful and it’s catchy. They even shared a line from a new cartoon…Scooby Doo “And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby.” The song was written by Sly Stone.

Sly & the Family Stone was a great band. This song was released in 1968 and it peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, and #36 in the UK Charts in 1969. Sly arranged this song perfectly with great dynamics for the chorus. A great piece of songwriting and arranging. It would have been a hit whenever it was released.

It was this song that broke them into a larger audience and Stone into stardom. Billboard later ranked it as the #5 song of 1969, and the single’s success helped power the album Stand! to sales of three million copies.

Sly and the Family Stone really made their presence known at Woodstock with a great set. Carlos Santana has remarked that they were the standout band. They recorded songs in many genres, including funk, psychedelic soul, rock, soul, pop, funk rock, and R&B.

Billy Preston played organ on this single and the song has been used in many movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Everyday People

Sometimes I’m right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I’m in
I am everyday people, yeah, yeah

There is a blue one
Who can’t accept the green one
For living with a fat one
Trying to be a skinny one
Different strokes
For different folks

And so on and so on
And scooby dooby dooby
Oh sha sha
We got to live together

I am no better and neither are you
We are the same, whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can’t figure out the bag I’m in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah

There is a long hair
That doesn’t like the short hair
For being such a rich one
That will not help the poor one
Different strokes
For different folks

And so on and so on
And scooby dooby dooby
Oh sha sha
We got to live together

There is a yellow one
That won’t accept the black one
That won’t accept the red one
That won’t accept the white one
Different strokes
For different folks

And so on and so on
And scooby dooby dooby
Oh sha sha
I am everyday people

Graham Parker – Wake Up (Next to You)

I’ve been listening to a lot of Graham Parker since last May when I posted his debut album Howlin’ Wind. If I had to compare him with someone…it would be Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson but with a touch of Van Morrison and The Band sprinkled in here and there.

In an interview, Parker revealed that the inspiration for the song came from his own personal experience. He was deeply in love with his wife at the time and wanted to express his love for her through his music. The song was written in just 20 minutes. He said he wanted to emulate Smokey Robinson on this song.

The song was released in 1985 and is the only Parker song to get into the Billboard Top 40. The song was on the album Steady Nerves. Parker wanted William Whittman as producer but his record company Electra did not like that choice. They went into the studio just to do a few tracks as a test and they sent Electra this track…and they approved Whittman.

Whittman was no slouch… As a producer and engineer his credits include Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, The Hooters, and The Outfield. He also played bass in the Cyndi Lauper Band, recording and touring internationally, and also serves as the Musical Director.

The song has a nice feel to it. It’s been covered by David Bowie and Elvis Costello just to name a few.

The song peaked at #39 on the Billboard 100 and #94 in Canada in 1985. Graham Parker didn’t use Rumour as his backing band on this one. His backing band on this album included Brinsley Schwarz, George Small, Kevin Jenkins, Mike Braun, and Huw Gower.

Wake Up (Next To You)

I can’t have no objection to the world outside
I don’t have no complaints against life’s one way ride
I know I’m sleeping with an angel and this devil’s in luck
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up

I’ve been dreaming for too long
I guess something’s always wrong unless I
Wake up next to you
I wanna wake up next to you

The summer’s left a spell on us, magic and gold
The tarmac’s cracked and shimmering up on the road
I know I’m walking with an angel down a hot avenue
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up

I’ve been dreaming for too long
I guess something’s always wrong unless I
Wake up next to you, I wanna wake up
Wake up next to you

You know what I’m gonna do
I’m gonna pick up the telephone right now
And I’m gonna call Information
And I’ll say to them

“Where is she right now?
‘Cause I want her and I need her”
And I wanna hear her say
“Hey, baby, wake up”

Wake up next to you, I’m wanna wake up
Wake up next to you

Where is she right now?
‘Cause I want her and I need her
And I wanna hear her say

Wake up, wake up, wake up
Gonna wake up, wake up, wake up
Gonna wake up, wake up, wake up
Gonna wake up, wake up, wake up

Canned Heat – Going Up Country

I wasn’t there but this song equals Woodstock to me. Every time I hear this song I think of a field full of hippies with bubbles. Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson wrote this song based on an old blues song called Bull Doze Blues. It peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100 and #5 in Canada in 1969.

Alan Wilson moved to Los Angeles and met Bob “The Bear” Hite and in 1965 started Canned Heat. The group took their name from “Canned Heat Blues,” an obscure 1928 track by bluesman Tommy Johnson that described the drug high achieved through drinking the household product Sterno.

In 1967, after appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival, Canned Heat signed with Liberty Records. They made a self-titled album that year and it peaked at #76 on the Billboard Charts. In 1968 they released “Boogie with Canned Heat” which made it to number 16. They followed that album with “Living the Blues”(#18) and in 1969 released the album Hallelujah(#37).

Their appearance at Woodstock raised their stock higher. They had two hit singles both sung by Alan Wilson, this song released in 1968, and On The Road Again released in 1969. Alan wasn’t the regular lead singer of Canned Heat but he did sing the two best-known singles by them. They were both written by him and based on old blues songs. His unusual voice came from him trying to mimic the voice of old blues singers. Bob Hite was the lead singer of the band.

Alan Wilson is a forgotten figure who was a gifted musician. He died in 1970 under strange circumstances outdoors in a sleeping bag near his band’s lead singer’s (Bob Hite) house. He was dead at the age of 27. Jimi Hendrix would die in a couple of weeks and Janis Joplin would follow a month later…all of them were age 27.

Going Up Country was heavily influenced by an old and obscure Blues song called “Bull Doze Blues” by Henry Thomas. The song caught on in the summer of 1969 and was very popular among Hippies who appreciated the nature theme.

Going Up Country

I’m goin’ up the country, baby don’t you want to go?
I’m goin’ up the country, baby don’t you want to go?
I’m goin’ to some place, I’ve never been before
I’m goin’ I’m goin’ where the water tastes like wine
I’m goin’ where the water tastes like wine
We can jump in the water, stay drunk all the time
I’m gonna leave this city, got to get away
I’m gonna leave this city, got to get away
All this fussin’ and fightin’ man, you know I sure can’t stay
So baby pack your leavin’ trunk
You know we’ve got to leave today
Just exactly where we’re goin’ I cannot say
But we might even leave the U.S.A.
It’s a brand new game, that I want to play

No use in your runnin’, or screamin’ and cryin’
‘Cause you got a home as long as I’ve got mine

Red Rider – Lunatic Fringe

When I first heard the song the first thing I thought of…love that guitar tone! Some people have falsely said it was about Lennon’s murder but it was already written by then.

Red Rider was a Canadian band that had a lot of success in Canada but this song is their best-known song in the United States. They were known as Red Rider and later Tom Cochrane and Red Rider. They lasted until 1990 and reformed in 2002 and are still together with three original members including Cochrane.

This song was released in 1981. It starts off very ominous until a great-sounding guitar comes in and plays the main riff. The demo of this song was recorded on the night John Lennon was murdered.

Cochrane said the record company stated it wasn’t commercial enough but Lennon’s death made him want to release it all the more because Lennon echoed the song’s meaning. “It just hit me like a ton of bricks and I thought, here’s a guy that always wore his heart on his sleeve. For better, for worse, these lyrics are going to stand. I didn’t think the song would see the light of day because it was just so different, so unique. I’m very proud of this song. It’s probably one of the more unique pieces of music I’ve ever written.”

Tom Cochrane said he wrote this song about the oppression of people. He was inspired by a book about Raoul Wallenberg who rescued Jewish people from the Holocaust during the Second World War.

The song peaked at #11 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1981.

Tom Cochrane: “Everybody was saying, ‘What are these lyrics? These are way too heavy for rock and roll. Why don’t you just get down to writing a pop song? Just write some pop lyrics and let’s get on with it.’ And I thought, ‘No, this is important to say.’ The song speaks out against racism, it speaks out against a number of things, and it topically is current today, I suppose, as it was back then in some ways. It’s about being vigilant, about our freedom.”

“Lunatic Fringe”

Lunatic fringe
I know you’re out there
You’re in hiding
And you hold your meetings
I can hear you coming
I know what you’re after
We’re wise to you this time (wise to you this time)
We won’t let you kill the laughterOh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

Lunatic fringe
In the twilight’s last gleaming
But this is open season
But you won’t get too far
‘Cause you’ve got to blame someone
For your own confusion
We’re on guard this time (on guard this time)
Against your final solution

Oh no

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

We can hear you coming (we can hear you coming)
No, you’re not going to win this time (not gonna win)
We can hear the footsteps (we can hear the footsteps)
Hey, out along the walkway (out along the walkway)

Lunatic fringe
We all know you’re out there
Can you feel the resistance
Can you feel the thunder

Oh no

Hey!

John Mellencamp – Paper in Fire

After Mellencamp hit with the song Hurt So Good and Jack and Diane…the rest of the 80s he took advantage of the opportunity that he got. The radio constantly played him and to be truthful…I took him for granted. Next album…more hits…it just seemed natural. He is one of the very few artists I liked in the 80s that was constantly in the top 20. This song grew on me as time went by.

John Mellencamp was releasing quality songs in the eighties that were timeless. This song was on his album The Lonesome Jubilee which was released in 1987. When he wrote this he was tremendously popular but he had some downs in his personal life. His uncle and grandfather had recently died, and many of his friends were getting divorced. He made the statement “It’s horrible to think you’ve gotta be a miserable son of a bitch to write a good song, but I guess that’s kind of the way it works sometimes.”

The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, #16 in New Zealand, and #86 in the UK….the heartland rockers didn’t translate as well in the UK at the time. That includes Petty, Mellencamp, and even Springsteen.

The video was shot outside of a house on a dirt road in Savannah, Georgia. Mellencamp wanted to show poverty in America to go along with the social commentary in the song, and also explore racism – the extras in the video are black. His next video – for “Hard Times For An Honest Man” – was also shot in Savannah.

Paper In Fire

She had a dream
And boy it was a good one
So she chased after her dream
With much desire
But when she get too close
To her expectations
Well the dream burned up
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

He wanted love
With no involvement
So he chased the wind
That’s all his silly life required
And the days of vanity
Went on forever
And he saw his days burn up
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

There’s a good life
Right across the green fields
And each generation
Stares at it from afar
But we keep no check
On our appetites
So the green fields turn to brown
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

Jimmy Buffett – Door Number Three

No I didn’t get rich you son of a bitch
I’ll be back just wait and see
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

Jimmy Buffett passed away recently. In the mid-eighties, I found his music and really liked what I heard. He wasn’t country and he wasn’t pop…he was on his own island so to speak. His concerts were like parties…a perfect place to take a date. I was lucky to see him twice.

Songs like A Pirate Looks At 40 is a fine song. Come Monday has its charm also. This one is a silly one and not one of his greats but I always liked it.

Does anyone remember Let’s Make a Deal? It was a game show in the 1970s where contestants would dress up to get the host Monty Hall’s (host) attention and try to win prizes.

This game show originally aired from 1963-1977. The premise of this is that the studio audience participated in the show. Other game shows at the time were comprised of contestants that were pre-selected and the audience was merely there to observe. Let’s Make a Deal was surprisingly different. Monty Hall, the host, began the show by wandering throughout the studio, choosing audience members at random to try their hand at a game of chance.

Monty Hall was a likable host and it is evident that he had fun with his job. He hosted around 5,000 episodes before handing his position off to Wayne Brady. People would dress in the most outlandish costumes so Monty would pick them. He would ask…do you want $200 or what’s behind door number 1, 2, or 3? Sometimes the prizes were cars and furniture and sometimes it would be a donkey or something else ridiculous. Box Carol Merrill is the lady who would reveal the “prizes” that you won.

A friend of mine, a guitar player, started to sing this song while we were learning some cover songs. I thought it was one of his, that happened a lot, but when I found it was Buffett I had to hear it. Of course, we never learned it but it sounds like a parody of a country song.

In the 1980s I worked on Murfreesboro Road in Nashville. I was with a work friend and we went to see one of his buddies who worked in a huge car lot. It was one of those huge semi-circle buildings with large windows. His buddy had this old wood desk and he was a huge Jimmy Buffett fan. He told us that Jimmy Buffett would come to that car lot in the 70s and sit at a certain desk drinking with the owner. He said when he left that job he was going to try keeping the desk…and I have to wonder if he ever got it? The building is gone now.

Love this song by Jimmy Buffett. It was released in 1974 on the A1A album. The album did include the song “A Pirate Looks at 40.” Door Number Three did manage to make it to #88 in the Country Charts.

Paul McCartney on Jimmy Buffett: It seems that so many wonderful people are leaving this world, and now Jimmy Buffett is one of them. I’ve known Jimmy for some time and found him to be one of the kindest and most generous people.

I remember once on holiday when I had forgotten to bring my guitar and was itching to play. He said he would get me one of his, but I said, ‘I’m left-handed’. So, Jimmy had his roadie restring one of his guitars which he loaned me for the duration of the holiday. He then followed this act of generosity by giving me my own beautiful left-handed guitar that had been made by one of his guitar-making pals. It’s a beautiful instrument, and every time I play it now it’ll remind me of what a great man Jimmy was.

He had a most amazing lust for life and a beautiful sense of humour. When we swapped tales about the past his were so exotic and lush and involved sailing trips and surfing and so many exciting stories that it was hard for me to keep up with him.

Right up to the last minute his eyes still twinkled with a humour that said, ‘I love this world and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it’.

So many of us will miss Jimmy and his tremendous personality. His love for us all, and for mankind as a whole.

Last, but not least, is his songwriting and vocal ability. If someone made an interesting remark he repeated it in his gorgeous Louisiana drawl and said, ‘That’s a good idea for a song’. Most times it didn’t take too long for that song to appear. I was very happy to have played on one of his latest songs called ‘My Gummy Just Kicked In’. We had a real fun session and he played me some of his new songs. One, in particular, I loved was the song, ‘Bubbles Up’. And I told him that not only was the song great but the vocal was probably the best I’ve heard him sing ever. He turned a diving phrase that is used to train people underwater into a metaphor for life when you’re confused and don’t know where you are just follow the bubbles – they’ll take you up to the surface and straighten you out right away.

So long, Jim. You are a very special man and friend and it was a great privilege to get to know you and love you. Bubbles up, my friend.

“Door Number Three”

Oh I took a wrong turn, it was the right turn
My turn to have me a ball
Boys at the shop told me just where to stop
If I wanted to play for it all
I didn’t know I’d find her on daytime TV
My whole world lies waiting behind door number three

I chose my apparel, wore a beer barrel
And they rolled me to the very first row
I held a big sign that said “Kiss me I’m a baker,
and Monty I sure need the dough!”
Then I grabbed that sucker by the throat
Until he called on me
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

And I don’t want what Jay’s got on his table
Or the box Carol Merrill points to on the floor
No, I’ll hold out just as long as I am able
Until I can unlock that lucky door
Well, she’s no big deal to most folks
But she’s everything to me
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

Oh Monty, Monty, Monty, I am walking down your hall
Got beat, I lost my seat but I’m not a man to crawl
No I didn’t get rich you son of a bitch
I’ll be back just wait and see
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three
Yes my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gimme Back My Bullets

Sweet talkin’ people done ran me out of town
And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around

This is one of my favorites from this band. The guitar riff is mean, jagged, ragged, and dangerous…it’s a really good rock song.

The bullets Ronnie Van Zant is referring to are bullets in the music charts…as in #1 with a bullet…not bullets from a gun. It had been a while since they charted and he wanted more.

Fans started throwing bullets and other objects on stage when they performed this song. They had to take it out of their setlist because they were afraid someone would get hurt. I’ve read about them in the past few years along with talking to my UK readers. They were very popular in the UK in the seventies with their live shows. They were one of the best live bands out there at the time. They were never glam or followed trends…they just played their genuine rock songs.

Ronnie’s voice is on point in this one. He was a great songwriter and used his voice well. He didn’t have range some singers had around BUT…he knew his limitations and got everything out of it with more feeling than many singers with a richer voice. He had attitude and plenty of it.

The song was off of the album Gimme Back My Bullets. It peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100, #73 in Canada, and #34 in the UK in 1976.

Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded this with two lead guitarists…Allen Collins and Gary Rossington. Ed King had left just before making this album when he was fed up with touring relentlessly without a break.

When this album didn’t sell as well as expected, another guitarist, Steve Gaines, was brought in. He gave a new life to the band and their popularity soared with a live album One More From The Road. Steve Gaines and Ed King could have played with any rock band at the time…they were that good.

Van Zant would get his bullets back with their next studio album Street Survivors but would not live long enough to enjoy it. His image on stage was not a carefree image…it was more of a “Don’t Fu*k with Me” vibe.

Gimme Back My Bullets

Life is so strange when its changin’, yes indeed
Well I’ve seen the hard times and the pressure’s been on me
But I keep on workin’ like the workin’ man do
And I’ve got my act together, gonna walk all over you

[Chorus]
Gimme back my bullets
Put ’em back where they belong
Ain’t foolin’ around ’cause I done had my fun
Ain’t gonna see no more damage done
Gimme back my bullets

Sweet talkin’ people done ran me out of town
And I drank enough whiskey to float a battleship around
But I’m leavin’ this game one step ahead of you
And you will not hear me cry ’cause I do not sing the blues

[Chorus]
Gimme back, gimme back my bullets
Oh, put ’em back…where they belong

Been up and down since I turned seventeen
Well I’ve been on top, and then it seems I lost my dream
But I got it back, I’m feelin’ better everyday
Tell all those pencil pushers, better get out of my way

[Chorus]
Gimme back, gimme back my bullets
Oh put ’em back where they belong
Gimme back my bullets

Max Picks …songs from 1971

1971

This year may be the best ever for albums. You had Who’s Next (My number one), Led Zeppelin IV, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin On, and so much more.

We will start off with what I think is the greatest rock song ever played in a concert environment. I’ve seen The Who play Won’t Get Fooled Again twice and of all the concerts I’ve gone to… I’ve never heard anything this powerful live.

Roger Daltrey’s Scream is considered one of the best on any rock song. It was quite convincing…so convincing that the rest of the band, lunching nearby, thought Daltrey was brawling with the engineer.

Now let’s visit Led Zeppelin and they released IV or Zoso a few weeks after The Who released Who’s Next. Stairway To Heaven…this song is considered by some as the best song in rock history. The song was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

Marvin Gaye released this great song and it came off the album of the same name. A powerful song from a powerful performer. The song was written by Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson, and Marvin Gaye.

The Moody Blues released the album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and this song was on it. It may be my favorite song by them. Story In Your Eyes.

Great melody in this song. I bought the album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour just because of this song and I ended up liking the album a lot. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard 100 in 1971. The song was written by Justin Hayward.

This is almost a perfect song…by the one and only Janis Joplin. There are few artists who give everything they have all the time. Bruce Springsteen is one…Janis was one. On film it comes through…she gives everything she has and more. It was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster.

She would die on October 4, 1970. Her nickname was Pearl and that was the name of her last album. She left $2,500 for her wake…. 200 guests were invited with invitations that read…”Drinks are on Pearl”…

…

Temptations – I Can’t Get Next To You

Back when I was dating…Whenever I broke up with a girl…I would drag the Temptation’s greatest hits out. I would play them for at least two weeks and wallow in self-pity…just a phase I had to go through. After that, I was ready for the next one.

In the mid-eighties, they came to Nashville when the theme park Opryland was still open. They had a theater inside the part but it was sold out. No problem…I had a friend who worked there and we borrowed his sister’s work ID that worked there also. All you had to do was flash the card really quickly so they never saw that I wasn’t a Sarah. He took me the back way and we snuck into the theater and saw the Temptations. I’m not proud of it…but I did get to see the Temptations. It was the only concert that I never got a ticket stub from.

The song was off on their album Puzzle People. which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #1 on the R&B Charts, #8 in Canada, and #20 in the UK in 1969. The Punk Panthe r reviewed this and some of their other albums. On this one, he said: First off I Can’t Get Next To You has a super intro in the opening door and “wait a minute” vocal before it kicks into a magnificent piece of lively, funky, punchy Motown pop.

The song was written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield. They also wrote Cloud Nine for the group. I like how all 5 Temptations trade verses on this song…everyone got a turn. I also like the party atmosphere of the song.

The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts, #11 in Canada, and #13 in the UK in 1969. It knocked off “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies and was replaced by “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley.

There have been numerous covers of the song. Other versions include those by The Osmonds, Al Green, Savoy Brown, The Jess Roden Band, Annie Lennox, Toto, and David Cassidy.

I Can’t Get Next To You

Hold it, everybody
Hold it, hold it, listen

I can turn the gray sky blue
I can make it rain whenever I want it to
Oh, I can build a castle from a single grain of sand
I can make a ship sail, huh, on dry land

But my life is incomplete and I’m so blue
‘Cause I can’t get next to you (I can’t get next to you, babe)
Next to you (I can’t get next to you)
I just can’t get next you (I can’t get next to you, babe)
(I can’t get next to you)

I can fly like a bird in the sky
Hey, and I can buy anything that money can buy
Oh, I can turn a river into a raging fire
I can live forever if I so desire

Unimportant are all the things I can do
‘Cause I can’t get next to you (I can’t get next to you, babe)
No matter what I do (I can’t get next to you)
Uh-yah

Ooh
Ooh
Chicka boom, chicka boom
Chicka boom, boom, boom

I can turn back the hands of time, you better believe I can
I can make the seasons change just by waving my hand
Oh, I can change anything from old to new
The things I want to do the most, I’m unable to do

Unhappy am I with all the powers I possess
‘Cause, girl, you’re the key to my happiness
And I, oh I can’t get next to you

Girl, you’re blowing my mind
‘Cause I can’t get (next to you)
Can’t you see these tears I’m crying?
I can’t get (next to you)
Girl, it’s you that I need
I gotta get (next to you)
Can’t you see these tears I’m crying?
I can’t get (next to you)
I, I, I, I, I can’t get (next to you)
I, I, I, I, I can’t get, now (next to you)
Girl, you’re blowing my mind
‘Cause I can’t get…

Kinks – All Day and All of the Night

Happy Monday everyone…if that is possible. I hope you all had a good weekend.

This simple riff is raw and cutting like Louie, Louie, and Wild Thing…and became a staple of garage bands forever.

The sound of the guitar was revolutionary. Dave Davies got the dirty guitar sound by slashing the speaker cone on his amplifier with a razor blade. The vibration of the fabric produced an effect known as “fuzz,” which became common as various electronic devices were invented to distort the sound. At the time, none of these devices were available to Dave, so Davies would mistreat his amp to get the desired sound, often kicking it.

The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, #5 in New Zealand, and #2 in the UK in 1964. It’s punk…raw rock and roll to the core. The guitar was really distorted and hard for the time.

The record executives in their wisdom didn’t like this song when they heard it. They said the guitar sounded like a barking dog. Later on, the Doors would borrow this melody for Hello I Love You.

One of my favorite things about these early Kinks singles is Dave Davies’s solos. They were always driving and exciting…and yes Dave played on this song, not studio musician Jimmy Page.

The Kinks would revisit this melody with the song “Destroyer” off of the “Give The People What They Want” album.

James Hetfield from Metallica: “schooled on early riff-rock by this man [Ray Davies] and his band – The Kinks”.

Ray Davies:“I cranked up my guitar more than on ‘You Really Got Me’, when we went into the studio, everybody knew what they were doing. I think we did it in three takes… the first time the band heard it was when I ran through it with them at the soundcheck, afterwards we drove back down to London, got up in the morning, and finished the song by midday”.

Ray Davies getting the truth out…this is what he said about the rumor of Jimmy Page playing on this record: “I remember Page coming to one of our sessions when we were recording ‘All Day And All Of The Night.’ We had to record that song at 10 o’clock in the morning because we had a gig that night. It was done in three hours. Page was doing a session in the other studio, and he came in to hear Dave’s solo, and he laughed and he snickered. And now he says that he played it! So I think he’s an asshole, and he can put all the curses he wants on me because I know I’m right and he’s wrong.”

Ray Davies: ” I was a rebellious, angry kid anyway, but that had a profound effect on me. I was full of rage.” That anger was coupled with the frustration that The Kinks song ‘You Really Got Me’ just wasn’t translating in a studio setting. “I could easily have slashed my wrists,” but I had a little green amplifier, an Elpico, that was sounding crap. I thought, ‘I’ll teach it’ – and slashed the speaker cone. It changed the sound of my guitar. Then, when I wired that amp up to another, a Vox AC30, it made it a lot, lot louder”.

Dave Davies: “A little later, I was very depressed and fooling around with a razor blade. I could easily have slashed my wrists, but I had a little green amplifier, an Elpico, that was sounding crap. I thought, “I’ll teach it” – and slashed the speaker cone. It changed the sound of my guitar. Then, when I wired that amp up to another, a Vox AC30, it made it a lot, lot louder.“

All Day and All of the Night

I’m not content to be with you in the daytime
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
The only time I feel alright is by your side
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night

I believe that you and me last forever
Oh yeah, all day and nighttime yours, leave me never
The only time I feel alright is by your side
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night
Oh, come on

Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally

Motown and Stax were vital to the 1960s and 70s. This is just my opinion… but Motown had more hits but Stax had an edge that was hard to beat. I always thought their music had more of a groove to it.

This is a song that our band never officially learned…it’s one of those songs where if you have played for a few years…you just know by instinct. We did this one from a request and also Midnight Hour we would play loud and intense.

The music is in groove mode, but Pickett’s explosive voice drives it home. Mustang Sally was recorded at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The studio had a unique sound plus some of the best musicians anywhere. It started to get the attention of Atlantic Records and they sent Pickett to record there. Later on, a guitar player known as Duane Allman would end up as a studio musician and talked Pickett into recording Hey Jude.

As soon as they finished this take… the tape flew off the reel and broke into pieces everywhere. Producer Tom Dowd cleared the room and told everyone to return in half an hour. Dowd pieced the tape back together and saved what became one of the coolest songs of the decade.

It was written by Mark Rice. In 1950, he moved with his family to Detroit, where he graduated from high school. After he served in the Army, he joined a group called The Falcons. He soon began singing with the Falcons, whose other members included Wilson Pickett, Joe Stubbs, and Eddie Floyd. But he would find real fame as a songwriter.

“Mustang Sally” began as “Mustang Mama,” which he was inspired to write by the newly introduced Ford Mustang sports car. It was Aretha Franklin, the pianist on Rice’s demo of the song, who persuaded him to rename it.

He recorded “Mustang Sally” as Sir Mack Rice in 1965, and it peaked at #15 on the Billboard R&B chart. Rice did a nice job but the song needed Wilson Pickett’s powerful voice.

Pickett’s version peaked at #23 on the Billboard 100, #6 on the R&B Charts, #28 in the UK, and #4 in Canada.

Mustang Sally

Mustang Sally, huh, huh, guess you better slow your Mustang down
Oh Lord, what I said now?
Mustang Sally, now baby, oh Lord, guess you better slow your Mustang down
Huh oh yeaah
You been running all over the town now
Oh! I guess I’ll have to put your flat feet on the ground
Huh, what I said now?

Listen
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride. Huh
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride

One of these early mornings, baby, you gonna be wiping your weeping eyes
Huh, what I said now?

Look it here.
I bought you a brand new mustang nineteen sixty five. Huh
Now you come around signifying a woman, you don’t wanna let me ride
Mustang Sally, now baby, oh Lord, guess you better slow that mustang down
Huh, oh Lord. Look here
You been running all over the town
Oh! I got to put your flat feet on the ground. Huh, What I said now?

Let me say it one more time ya’ll
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride

Johnny Cash – Delia’s Gone

First time I shot her
I shot her in the side
Hard to watch her suffer
But with the second shot she died
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

When I first heard this song in the 1990s I did a double-take. Did he sing what I thought he sang? I had never heard the original version he did in the 60s. I do prefer the 1994 version but both are worth a listen.

This song is coming from a man who once had a lyric that stated I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. This song…goes much darker than that.

Johnny Cash originally recorded this song written by Karl Silbersdorf and Dick Toops on his 1962 The Sound of Johnny Cash album.

He re-recorded it in 1994, on American Recordings produced by Rick Rubin. He explained why he chose to redo the song: “‘Delia’s Gone’ is the Devil’s deed of daring, we were talking about ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and ‘I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die’ and I said, ‘I want another song like that.’ So Rick and I started listening and we found ‘Delia’s Gone.’ We realized I had recorded it in the ’60s, but not the way I’ve recorded it on American, and that I should work it up and do it over. So we started working on it and we did it and we came up with this version.”

in 1992, Rick Rubin reached out to Cash with the prospect of releasing a new album of music on his label, American, to which Cash was initially skeptical, but curious. Johnny Cash didn’t know who Rick Rubin was and couldn’t understand why Rubin would want to work with him. Johnny Cash’s sales were not like they were in the 60s and early 70s. Rubin just told him to grab a guitar and sing some songs he would want to do.

That shows you the mindset of some stars…some. Cash was wondering why someone would want to work with him which blows my mind.

Rubin was finally able to convince him to make the album and it was released in 1994. The album marked the beginning of a career resurgence for Cash, who was widely recognized as an icon of American music but whose record sales had suffered during the late 1970s and 1980s

This song was inspired by a true-life story. Late on Christmas Eve, 1900, young lovers Delia Green age 14, and Moses Houston, age 16, attended a party that night.

As usual at parties, Moses had too much to drink. Witnesses say he began to tease Delia, making her angry. He called her his “little wife” and they were not married. This escalated to the point of Delia calling Houston a “Son of a Bitch”, which carried much more weight at that time than it does now. Moses then pulled out a gun and shot Delia in the groin, and he ran away.

Moses was caught by the authorities and not only confessed to the killing but said he would do it again! Delia ended up dying at 3:00 AM Christmas morning. Mr Houston got a life sentence but it ended up shorter. Cooney served 12 1/2 years, the last several years at a facility in Commerce, GA. He was granted parole in October 1913, by Governor John M. Slaton.

After 120 years without a headstone at her grave…Delia got one in 2020. Here is the article.

Delia’s Gone

Delia, oh, Delia
Delia all my life
If I hadn’t shot poor Delia
I’d have had her for my wife
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

I went up to Memphis
And I met Delia there
Found her in her parlor
And I tied her to her chair
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

She was low down and trifling
And she was cold and mean
Kind of evil make me want to
Grab my submachine
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

First time I shot her
I shot her in the side
Hard to watch her suffer
But with the second shot she died
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

But jailer, oh, jailer
Jailer, I can’t sleep
‘Cause all around my bedside
I hear the patter of Delia’s feet
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

So if your woman’s devilish
You can let her run
Or you can bring her down and do her
Like Delia got done
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

Hank Williams – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

You can’t do better in country or music period… than with The Hillbilly Shakespeare. I always thought his songs express many feelings we feel in life but we just don’t say them.

One of the most beautiful gut-wrenching songs ever written. The lyrics can be read without music and still work. The silence of a falling star lights up a purple sky, and as I wonder where you are I’m so lonesome I could cry. Songwriters work all of their lives trying to come up with a line like that… Williams had a career of them.

The song was released on November 8, 1949…as a 78-RPM single with “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It.” The song quickly became a favorite on Country radio and a staple of Williams’ live shows. The song peaked at #2 on the Country Charts. The song was rereleased in 1966 and peaked at #43 on the Hot Country Charts and #109 on the Billboard Charts.

When he wrote this song he was going to do it as a spoken word bit but his friends and musicians urged him to put music to it. He wrote it about his first wife Audrey Sheppard who seemed to love one another but had a tumultuous relationship.

Everyone knows how I feel about Bob Dylan’s songwriting. It’s incredible and to me…Hank Williams is right up there beside Bob. The artists that covered this one include Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Dean Martin, Al Green, Freddy Fender, Bob Dylan, Little Richard, Cowboy Junkies, and Elvis Presley.

If you are interested in Hank Williams and great music I suggest you check out this song by The Blasters…Long White Cadillac. The song is about the night Hank Williams died in the back of a car. He died somewhere between Bristol, Tenn., and Oak Hill on the way to a New Year’s Day 1953 show in Canton, Ohio.

Rolling Stone ranked it #111 in the list of 500 greatest songs of all time.

Bob Dylan: “Even at a young age, I identified with him. I didn’t have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I’d never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it, and it made me sad.”

K.D. Lang: “‘I think ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’” is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly. Beautiful song.”

Kasey Chambers: “It’s totally heartbreaking but you don’t want to stop listening to it. Oh God, it just makes you want to crawl into a hole. It has that combination of making you feel good and bad at the same time, which is what all great country music does.”

I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill,
He sounds too blue to fly.
That midnight train is whining low,
I’m so lonesome I could cry.

I’ve never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by.
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry.

Did you ever see a robin weep,
When leaves begin to die?
That mean he’s lost the will to live,
I’m so lonesome I could cry.

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky.
And as I wonder where you are
I’m so lonesome I could cry.

Stranglers – Peaches

When I started to play bass I played loud…super loud. Sometimes I would do things on bass and people would be looking at our guitar player Ron thinking he did it. My bass always had some distortion…one of the reasons was it was a hollow body bass played loud…it would give feedback and distort a little. That is why when I first heard this song I liked it.

The Stranglers were labeled a punk band but it’s obvious they were better musically than their peers and they were able to keep that rawness.

The bass starts this song off and it is a great sound. It features the bass of J.J. Burnel taking no prisoners. Peaches was released in 1977 as a single from their debut studio album, “Rattus Norvegicus”. The song was written by the band’s lead singer and guitarist, Hugh Cornwell, and according to him, the inspiration for the song came from an incident he witnessed while touring in Belgium.

He saw this group of guys ogling a girl in a cafe saying hey….come and have a look at those peaches! It turned out that the peaches they were referring to were the khaki shorts she was wearing. Cornwell has stated that the song is essentially a critique of the voyeuristic male gazes and objectification of women.

In 2019, the song was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll” exhibit, solidifying its place in music history. The song is credited to Jean Jacques Burnel, Hugh Cornwell, Dave Greenfield, and Jet Black. The song peaked at #8 in the UK in 1977. The album peaked at #4 in the UK.

JJ Burnel: “In the very early days, in order to earn a bit of money, we had a little PA, and one day we were signed to a black label called Safari, which was more or less a reggae label. We hadn’t released anything. But the owner phoned us up one day and said, ‘Look, do you want a few pounds to augment your PA to a sound system?’ Well, we didn’t know what ‘sound system’ was.

So we turned up in part of London and we were the only white guys there. We stuck our PA to their sound system, and there was an awful lot of grass going about. We were kind of excluded from the line of grass. And lo and behold, I discovered sound systems, which were I suppose an early form of rap. You’d have a toaster: a black guy talking sort of stream of consciousness over mainly a bass and drums backing rhythm. Reggae. It was all reggae. What you might know as ‘dub.’ So you have a delay on the snare or something, there’d be a lot of separation and mainly bass speakers throughout the total.

So we stayed there for the whole gig. And at the end of it, I was hooked on the idea that the bass should be the most dominant feature. So I went back to where we were living and that night, came up with the three notes which constitute ‘Peaches.’ And of course, I wanted to make a reggae song out of it. But we didn’t quite get the snare in the right beat. But never mind. We Strangle-fied it. We interpreted a reggae theme in The Stranglers way, which became ‘Peaches.'”

Peaches

Strolling along minding my own business
Well there goes a girl and a half
She’s got me going up and down
She’s got me going up and down

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Well I got the notion girl that you got some suntan lotion in that bottle of yours
Spread it all over my peelin’ skin, baby
That feels real good
All this skirt lappin’ up the sun
Lap me up
Why don’t you come on and lap me up?

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Well, there goes another one just lying down on the sand dunes
I’d better go take a swim and see if I can cool down a little bit
‘Cause you and me, woman
We got a lotta things on our minds (you know what I mean)

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Will you just take a look over there (where?) (there)
Is she tryin’ to get outta that Clitares?
Liberation for women
That’s what I preach (preacher man)

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Oh shit!
There goes the charabang
Looks like I’m gonna be stuck here the whole summer
Well, what a bummer
I can think of a lot worse places to be
Like down in the streets
Or down in the sewer
Or even on the end of a skewer

Down on the beaches, just looking at the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at brown bodies
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the shot glasses
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm