Singles – Page 61 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Mink DeVille – Spanish Stroll

While talking to my friends CB and Paul…they bring up Mink Deville a lot so I decided to go check them out. I’ve heard of some of their music but I wanted more so I spent a few hours listening…I see why they bring them up…they are different and bring a lot to the table.

Mink DeVille was formed in 1974 in San Francisco but they are known for their association with punk bands at the New York club CBGB. They would go on to record six albums and Willy DeVille made 10 albums solo. The band lasted until 1986.

When I post a song of a more unknown artist to most of my readers…I try to find a song that is more commercial…maybe not their best song but a “radio-friendly” song to get people digging more. This one is radio-friendly and has a Lou Reed feel. I really like this band’s music…love the lyrics to this.

The song “Spanish Stroll” by Mink DeVille is an iconic track from their debut album, released in 1977. It’s very New York and it describes navigating around in urban life to escape the mundane and ordinary. They blend genres, I can hear Latin and punk elements, which helped propel this track into the mainstream. I can also hear some Springsteen and even Mellencamp on some of their songs.

This was on their debut album Cabretta. It peaked at #186 on the Billboard Album charts. The song Spanish Stroll peaked at #20 in the UK in 1977. The song was written by the lead singer Willy DeVille.

I learned a lot by reading Paul’s reviews of their albums on his site. He has a wide variety of album reviews to look at…and that is an understatement.

Bob Dylan on how Willy DeVille should be in the Hall of Fame: “(DeVille) stood out, his voice and presentation ought to have gotten him in there by now.”

Peter Wolf: “He had all the roots of music that I love and had this whole street thing of R&B – just the whole gestalt … He was just a tremendous talent; a true artist in the sense that he never compromised. He had a special vision and remained true to it.”

Willy DeVille: “We were sitting around talking of names, and some of them were really rude, and I was saying, guys we can’t do that. Then one of the guys said how about Mink DeVille? There can’t be anything cooler than a fur lined Cadillac can there? “What could be more pimp than a mink Cadillac? In an impressionistic sort of way.”

Piano player Kenny Margolis: “I don’t think the American public had a chance to experience him because in America at that time you had MTV telling you what to like. Europe had not had MTV at that point and they were very open to different music.”

Spanish Stroll

Hey Mr. Jim I can see the shape you’re in
Finger on your eyebrow
And left hand on your hip
Thinking that you’re such a lady killer
Think you’re so slick!
Alright

Brother Johnny, he caught a plane and he got on it
Now he’s a razor in the wind
And he got a pistol in his pocket
They say the man is crazy on the West Coast
Lord there ain’t no doubt about it!
Well allright

Sister Sue tell me baby what are we gonna do
She said take two candles,
And then you burn them out
Make a paper boat,light it and…. send it out
send it out now..

Spanish Stroll
Spanish Stroll
Spanish Stroll

Hey Rosita! Donde vas con mi carro Rosita?
tu sabes que te quiero
pero ti me quitas todo
ya te robasta mi television y mi radio
y ahora quiere llevarse mi carro
no me haga asi, rosita
ven aqui
ehi, estese aqui al lado rosita
Spanish Stroll

Mira aqui!

Hey Johny! Yeah, tenth street Johny
We’ve been looking for you man
Everybody told me you had moved uptown
Hey! you wanna go for a ride
I’m going uptown myself
For what?

Yeah, ain’t it right?
Yeah, one time for Tito Puente, one time
Are you ready?
Yeah, of course we cannot leave out, Mr Ray Baretto
Are you ready?Are you ready?Are you ready?

Ike and Tina Turner – River Deep, Mountain High

I’ve never been a huge fan of Phil Spector. He did produce some classic songs that I really like but sometimes he went crazy with the Wall of Sound and reverb a little too much. This one to me, is one of his greatest recordings.

The song has an epic and massive feel to it. It was written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector. Greenwich and Barry were married from 1962-1965 but kept working together after their divorce. They were one of the most successful songwriting teams of the sixties. The song was written for Tina Turner because her strong-as-hell voice would cut through.

Phil Spector put everything he could into this song. The song was, Spector thought, destined to be his masterpiece. He didn’t want Ike Turner around trying to change things so he gave Ike 20,000 dollars to NOT show up at the studio. Phil wanted to hand-pick the musicians that backed Tina Turner. The song would still have his name but Ike happily counted his money and stayed at home. Ike Turner knew he won either way. If it was a hit he would prosper and if not…he would take charge again…which he did.

Spector hadn’t had a hit for eighteen months and he was obsessed with the production of this one song for around six months. It was going to be his masterpiece. Some thought it was. George Harrison called it a perfect record. Brian Wilson was floored. But the masses had moved on. “River Deep Mountain High” was a hit in England — and a total flop in America.

The song peaked at #88 on the Billboard 100, #3 in the UK, and #62 in Canada in 1966. After the failure of the song in America, Phil Spector was devastated and went into seclusion and didn’t produce anything for a few years.

Phil Spector: “I just wanted to go crazy for four minutes on wax.”

River Deep – Mountain High

When I was a little girl
I had a rag doll
Only doll I’ve ever owned
Now I love you just the way I loved that rag doll
But only now my love has grown

And it gets stronger, in every way
And it gets deeper, let me say
And it gets higher, day by day

And do I love you, my oh my
Yeah river deep, mountain high, yeah yeah yeah
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby

When you were a young boy, did you have a puppy?
That always followed you around
Well I’m gonna be as faithful as that puppy
No I’ll never let you down

‘Cause it grows strong, like a river flows
And it gets bigger baby, and heaven knows
And it gets sweeter baby, as it grows

And do I love you, my oh my
Yeah river deep, mountain high, yeah yeah yeah
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby

I love you baby like a flower loves the spring
And I love you baby, like a robin loves to sing
And I love you baby, like a school boy loves his pet
And I love you baby, river deep, mountain high

Baby baby baby oh baby
Awh awwwwwwwwwww

Do I love you my oh my, yeah
River deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby

Rolling Stones – Salt Of The Earth

Let’s drink to the hard-working people
Let’s drink to the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Let’s drink to the salt of the earth

This song is on my favorite Rolling Stones album, Beggars Banquet. There is not a bad song on the LP. This one and Prodigal Son I always liked. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in the UK, and #3 in Canada in 1969.

I played this album to death. As with most Stones albums, you get what you get…rock, blues, and a little country thrown in the mix. I got this album when I was 12 and it opened my eyes wide to the Stones…much more than a collection of their hits would ever do.

This album is not considered up there with Sticky Fingers or Exile On Main Street but I have the strongest connection to it. I’ve always related Beggars Banquet to the White Album. They were both released in 1968 and were raw and honest. No studio trickery to either…a big departure from the psychedelic era of 1967 for both bands. I think the Stones and Beatles also owe a nod to The Band’s rootsy music (Music From Big Pink) which was influencing everyone around this time.

I learned that a greatest hits package from The Beatles and Rolling Stones was NOT enough. Those two bands taught me to buy albums and not just rely on the “hits” which even at that time were worn out. You never got the really good songs that lay hidden like this one. The two well-known songs off of the album were great like Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man but I liked some of the others just as much. Now with certain artists…yes, a Greatest Hits package is fine but not with the Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and a few more.

I don’t think Jimmy Miller gets enough credit for their sound. That is not a knock against the Stones but the Miller-produced albums are special. He produced them during their 5 album stretch golden period. Keith and Mick Jagger both sing on this with the Los Angeles Watts Street Gospel Choir singing background…Nicky Hopkins is on piano. It was written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.

The title refers to the working class…they are “The salt of the Earth.” Jagger later said: “The song is total cynicism. I’m saying those people haven’t any power and they never will have.”

Speaking of albums. My friend Paul has a massive site with album reviews called The Punk Panther Music Reviews. I can almost promise you he will have what you are looking for.

Also, Graham has a wide selection of albums that he reviewed…it’s called Aphoristic Album Reviews. When I want to see album reviews I go to those two sites. I hardly ever do album reviews because frankly, I’m not that good at it but I still try once in a while.

Salt Of The Earth

Let’s drink to the hard working people
Let’s drink to the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Let’s drink to the salt of the earth

Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Say a prayer for his wife and his children
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth

And when I search a faceless crowd
A swirling mass of gray and
Black and white
They don’t look real to me
In fact, they look so strange

Raise your glass to the hard working people
Let’s drink to the uncounted heads
Let’s think of the wavering millions
Who need leaders but get gamblers instead

Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows
And a parade of the gray suited grafters
A choice of cancer or polio

And when I look in the faceless crowd
A swirling mass of grays and
Black and white
They don’t look real to me
Or don’t they look so strange

Let’s drink to the hard working people
Let’s think of the lowly of birth
Spare a thought for the rag taggy people
Let’s drink to the salt of the earth

Let’s drink to the hard working people
Let’s drink to the salt of the earth
Let’s drink to the two thousand million
Let’s think of the humble of birth

Max Picks …songs from 1966

1966

This may be the best year ever in pop music. So many choices but as Ricky Nelson said “You Can’t Please Everyone…” so here it goes.

There are so many Beatles songs this year like Day Tripper, Eleanor Rigby, Paperback Writer, and more. My two favorite Beatles songs of this year would be And Your Bird Can Sing and this one…the B side to Paperback Writer…Rain. The bass in this song is incredible. The song was credited to Lennon/McCartney but it’s more of a Lennon song.

Now we have The Beatles arch-rivals…just kidding. Actually, they were friends who worked together and made sure their releases didn’t overlap each other. The Rolling Stones in Paint It Black. Personally, I like this one better than Satisfaction. Paint It Black was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Wild Thing…you make my heart sing. That’s all that needs to be said by this band. They were not a one-hit wonder though. I’ve been a fan of The Troggs since I bought their single as a kid in the late seventies. Their hits included Wild Thing, With a Girl Like You, and the song that has been covered many times…Love Is All Around. They were punk rock before punk rock. The song was written by Chip Taylor.

Let’s go to the American band The Lovin Spoonful who scored huge with this single. The song was written by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, and Steve Boone.

This man would change rock guitar forever and some still consider him the best. Hey Joe was released in December of 1966. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was making its debut. The song’s songwriting credits have been disputed. Here is what Wiki said: Public Domain (1st pressing), Dino Valenti a.k.a. Chet Powers (2nd & 3rd pressings), and Billy Roberts (copyrighted)

Howard Jones – No One Is To Blame

You can feel the punishment, but you can’t commit the sin

You can probably count how many 80s ballads I like on one hand but… I liked this ballad when I heard it in the mid-80s. I could relate to it at the time and still can. The song was a hit, but Jones got a chilly reception from his American record company. He was told “I think it’s a B side” by an executive. It taught Jones to listen to himself and not the higher-ups.

There were two versions of this song. The original one was stripped down but the second had Phil Collins drumming and doing backups. I think it was a requirement in the 1980s to have Phil Collins on your record. This song was his biggest hit in the United States.

The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100, #12 in Canada, and #16 in the UK Charts in 1986. Howard Jones had 5 top twenty songs and 2 top ten songs in the 1980s. Altogether he had 11 songs in the top 100.

Howard Jones: “Well, I think we can all relate to the main theme of the song. But I was in San Francisco, and I was doing a promotion with the local record company guy, and we were crossing the street to go to the radio station, and he said to me, ‘Howard, what do you think of all the amazing women here in San Francisco?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, they’re great, they’re fantastic.’ And he said, ‘Well, you can look at the menu, but you don’t have to eat.’ And I’ve never actually heard anybody say that before. And so that was it, a good spark for a huge idea coming for a song.”

Howard Jones: “It was originally on the Dream Into Action album, and it’s quite stripped down. And I always thought I could probably get more out of the song. It was suggested I work with Phil, and I’d worked with Phil on the Prince’s Trust concerts here in England. And I’ve been in a band and so I knew Phil. So it was really great working with him. But I’ll tell you what, the fans all like the original version best.” I think it’s because it’s less slick and it’s got more emotion in it. Personally, I prefer the Phil Collins version. But I understand why they like the first one. On this tour when we’re playing the song, I play the original version. I don’t do the second one.”

The original version

No One Is To Blame

You can look at the menu, but you just can’t eat
You can feel the cushion, but you can’t have a seat
You can dip your foot in the pool, but you can’t have a swim
You can feel the punishment, but you can’t commit the sin

And you want her, and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame
You can build a mansion, but you just can’t live in it
You’re the fastest runner but you’re not allowed to win
Some break the rules, and let you cut the cost
The insecurity is the thing that won’t get lost

And you want her, and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

You can see the summit but you can’t reach it
It’s the last piece of the puzzle but you just can’t make it fit
Doctor says you’re cured but you still feel the pain
Aspirations in the clouds but your hopes go down the drain

And you want her, and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

No one ever is to blame
No one ever is to blame

Rush – The Spirit of Radio

A very radio-friendly song by Rush. When I was a teen many local bands covered Rush…usually terrible, but they gave it a try. When I first heard this song…right away I made a connection to another older song written by Paul Simon. Sound of Silence has the lyrics:

And the sign said, “The words of the prophetsAre written on the subway wallsAnd tenement halls

Spirit of the Radio has:

For the words of the profits
Were written on the studio wall
Concert hall

Other than that…the songs have no other connection but I can’t help but think that Peart made that connection with Sound of Silence. That’s one of the reasons I liked it…plus the musical break during that time of the song. It gave the song a huge dynamic.

I always liked the intro by Alex Lifeson, who doesn’t get the credit he deserves compared to Lee and Peart. He is not doing a Van Halen finger tapping or hammer on… during that intro…he is actually picking those notes.

With the lyric “Sound of Salesmen” Peart would listen to bands they were opening for every night saying THIS was the city they loved the most… wherever they were… every night it was the same disingenuous spiel. One of the bands Peart was talking about was KISS who would market anything. Rush did open for KISS many times in the 1970s.

The song was on the Permanent Waves album released on January 18, 1980. The album peaked at #3 in Canada, #4 on the Billboard Album Charts, and #3 in the UK.

The song peaked at #22 in Canada, #51 on the Billboard 100, and #13 in the UK in 1980.

The song is Rush’s only entry on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Rush wasn’t inducted into the Hall until 2013; they were first eligible in 1999.

Neil Peart: “‘The Spirit Of Radio’ was actually written as a tribute to all that was good about radio, celebrating my appreciation of magical moments I’d had since childhood, of hearing ‘the right song at the right time.’ However, [the song’s] celebration of the ideals of radio necessarily seemed like an attack on the reality – on the formulaic, mercenary programming of most radio stations, with music the last of anyone’s concerns. And yes, it was really ironic that such a song became popular on radio, though it was a kind of litmus test. Some radio guys who ‘got it’ could hear the song and think, ‘That’s the way it ought to be,’ while others – the shallow, swaggering salesmen-of-the-air – could be oblivious to the song’s meaning and proudly applaud themselves, ‘That’s about me!’

From Songfacts: Rush released a new animated video for the song on June 12, 2020 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Permanent Waves. The conceptual clip references milestones and influential broadcasters in FM rock radio history, including an homage to the pioneering Italian radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi. It closes with a personal tribute to the late Rush drummer Neil Peart, who died in January 2020. Fantoons.tv created the visual along with producer Linda Otero and directors David Calcano and Alberto Hadyar.

The Spirit of Radio

Begin the day with a friendly voice
A companion, unobtrusive
Plays that song that’s so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood

Off on your way hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
For the spirit ever lingers
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude

Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on a timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price almost free

All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted
Not so coldly charted it’s really just a question
Of your honesty, yeah, your honesty

One likes to believe in the freedom of music
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah

Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on a timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price almost free

For the words of the profits
Were written on the studio wall
Concert hall

And echoes with the sound of salesmen
Of salesmen, of salesmen

Flying Burrito Brothers – Six Days on the Road

I got ten forward gears and a sweet Georgia overdrive
I’m taking little white pills and my eyes are open wide

I love this song so much. The first time I remember hearing it was in the Gimme Shelter film and the Flying Burrito Brothers were playing it before all hell broke loose. This is country music that I can get into.

I’ve heard this song by dozens of other artists. I’ve heard country and rock versions…and country/rock versions of it. This song was originally written by Carl Montgomery and Earl Green, and originally performed by Dave Dudley, becoming Dudley’s first hit at #2 on the Country chart. It is often referenced as one of the first trucker songs.

In 1963 the Grand Ole Opry star Jimmy C. Newman let Dudley hear a demo for ‘Six Days on the Road’. It was an up-tempo song, it was a departure from the ballads Dudley had specialized in, and he was initially reluctant to record it. At the session in 1963 for ‘Six Days on the Road’, produced by Shelby Singleton at Kay Bank Studios, in Minneapolis, MN, the song was recorded unrehearsed and nailed on the second take. The release, on the independent Minneapolis label Golden Wing Records, led Mercury Records to sign him in Nashville.

Taj Mahal and Steve Earle did great versions of it as well.

The studio version came out on Hot Burritos Anthology released in 2000. A live version came out in 1972 that was on the Last of the Red Hot Burritos live album. By this time Gram Parson had left for a solo career and Bernie Leadon left for The Eagles. Chris Hillman was the only original member left. He left in late 1971 and A&M released this album and dropped the band.

According to Secondhandsongs.com …the song has 126 versions. Not too bad for a truck driver country song.

Dave Dudley on the recording session: “I went to make three songs, it took all the money I had to do it. We weren’t planning on a fourth song, but we found out we had 35 or 40 minutes of time left. So I gave the lyrics to the girl, and while she was typing it, we were learning it. We practiced it once, and on the second time through we got it.”

Six Days On The Road

Well, I pulled out of Pittsburgh rolling down the Eastern seaboard
I got my diesel wound up and she’s a running like never before
There’s a speed zone ahead alright but
I don’t see a cop in sight
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight
I got ten forward gears and a George Overdrive
I’m takin’ little white pills and my eyes are opened wide
I just passed a Jimmy and White
I been passing everything in sight
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

Well, it seems like a month since I kissed my baby goodbye
I could have a lotta women but I’m not like some other guys
I could find me one to hold me tight
But I could never make believe it’s alright
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

The FBI is checkin’ on down the line
Well, I’m a little overweight but my log books way behind
But nothing bothers me tonight
I’m gonna dodge all the scales alright
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

My rigs a little old but that don’t mean she’s slow

There’s a good flame blowing from her smoke stack
Black as coal
Well, my home town’s coming in sight
And if you think I’m happy you’re right
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight

…

Corrs and Bono – When the Stars Go Blue

Good morning everyone. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday…well it’s Sunday here. Now that Star Trek is over I’ll start posting music, book reviews, and other things on the weekends before the music posts…and sometimes two music posts like today.

I heard this song in the early 2000s and liked it the first time I heard it. I had never heard of the Corrs…I recommend checking them out. I also like Ryan Adams’s original version of the song. This one was written by Ryan Adams and released on his album Gold in 2001. The Corrs with Bono released this song in 2002 and it peaked at #18 in the Adult Top 40. The song was off the album VH1 Music First Presents: The Corrs -Live In Dublin released in 2002 and it peaked at #52 in the Billboard 200.

The Corrs grew up in the small town of Dundalk, County Louth, on the east coast of Ireland, which is 50 miles north of Dublin. Their parents, Jean and Gerry were also musicians who played in cover bands. Jean was the singer and lyrics writer and Gerry was the keyboard player. The house was very musical and all the siblings were taught classical piano at an early age.

The Corrs are an Irish band that contains three sisters and one brother, the Corrs consists of vocalist Andrea, drummer Caroline, violinist Sharon, and guitarist/keyboard player Jim. In late 1995, Anthony Drennan (lead guitar) and Keith Duffy (bass guitar) joined the band and remained a permanent part of the touring and recording line-up.

When Drennan was released in early 1998 to tour with Genesis, his temporary replacement for two legs of the Talk on Corners tour was Irish guitarist Conor Brady. Jason Duffy, younger brother to Keith, joined the line-up as drummer for the Borrowed Heaven tour due to Caroline’s pregnancy. Both Anthony Drennan and Keith Duffy re-joined the band for their 2015 return.

Ryan Adams: I’m always so shocked by what it’s up to, another year will pass and I’ll hear like, ‘Oh, so-and-so is doing ‘When The Stars Go Blue.’ It’s like the song that wouldn’t go away.”

When The Stars Go Blue

Dancing where the stars go blue
Dancing where the evening fell
Dancing in your wooden shoes
In a wedding gown

Dancing out on 7th street
Dancing through the underground
Dancing little marionette
Are you happy now?

Where do you go when you’re lonely?
Where do you go when you’re blue?
Where do you go when you’re lonely ? I’ll follow you…
When the stars go blue (bluuuuue)
When the stars go blue (bluuuuue)
When the stars go blue (bluuuuue)
When the stars go blue

Laughing with your pretty mouth
Laughing with your broken eyes
Laughing with your lover’s tongue
In a lullaby

When the stars go blue (bluuuuue)
(bluuuuue) when the stars go (bluuuuue)

Where do you go [Bono] when you’re lonely?
Where do you go when you’re blue yeah?
Where do you go when you’re lonely ? I’ll follow you..

Animals – Don’t Bring Me Down

This song starts off with organ and bass and then…then the guitar comes in with a slight tremolo power chord that makes it. This was right before The Animals split and Eric Burdon formed a new version of the Animals. Their drummer in this is Barry Jenkins and he replaced original member John Steel.

The original lineup only recorded three albums, yet nevertheless managed to break out eight Top 40 hits between 1964 and 1966. Alan Price left in 1965, and John Steel the following year. Also in 1966, Chandler left to start managing artists, and he discovered Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village. Now a very different group, they were known as Eric Burdon & The Animals and had six additional Top 40 hits before finally disbanding in 1968.

The biggest difference between the Animals and The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, and The Who was that the Animals didn’t write many of their songs. They kept looking at the Brill Building for songs. This one was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Those two wrote a lot of the sixties soundtrack on their own.

That would change soon. In 1966, The Animals changed labels to Decca and started writing their own material in the following years. They would release songs such as San Franciscan Nights, Monterey, and Sky Pilot.

Don’t Bring Me Down peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #6 in the UK in 1966.

Eric Burdon: “I didn’t realize that it was a Goffin, King song until I was in a doctor’s office in Beverly Hills and Ms. King came in and sat next to me. I didn’t know it was her, I was just reading a magazine and she turned to me and said, ‘You know, I hated what you did to my song.’ I didn’t know what to say, so all I said was, ‘well, sorry.’ and then as she got up to go into the doctor’s office, she turned around and said, ‘but I got used to it.'”

Eric Burdon: “I’ve always viewed myself as a punk. The Animals could have evolved that way. We had the energy and the anger, but we didn’t stick together. When the punk scene became commercial, I was all for the politics of the movement, but the music didn’t really stand up and ultimately, it was self destructive.”

Don’t Let Me Down

When you complain and criticize
I feel I’m nothing in your eyes.,
It makes me feel like givin’ up
Because my best just ain’t good enough.
Girl I want to provide for you and
Do the things you want me to!

But oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!
Oh, baby you know!
Oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!

Sacrifices I will make,
I’m ready to give as well as take,
One thing I need is your respect,
One thing I can’t take is your neglect,
More than anything I need your love
Then trouble’s easy to rise above.

But oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!
Oh, baby you know!
Oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!

But oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!
Oh, baby you know!
Oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!
Oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!
Oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!
Oh, oh, no, don’t bring me down!

Ben E. King – Stand By Me

This is one of the great songs in pop history. I know I’m in the minority but I’ve always favored John Lennon’s version but…the two versions of the same song are apples and oranges. Lennon changed it and made it choppy. King’s version is as smooth as you can get…both are great to me.

King recorded this after he left the Drifters. Charles Albert Tindley wrote “Stand By Me” but it was a gospel hymn. He did copyright it but some say it goes back a century early.

The Staple Singers covered it in 1955 and King tried to get the Drifters to cover it but they rejected it. Now… let’s back it up a little…this version of Stand By Me really didn’t sound like the version we know. King took this song to songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and they modernized it and made it into the song we know today with King’s help.

The bassline was the innovation the track has been missing. It gave what had been a mournful gospel hymn the uplifting rhythm it needed. King also had the idea of asking the drummer to turn over his snare and scrape across the skin with a brush – creating that infectious groove.

Leiber, Stoller, and King were credited but they left off Tindley’s name who came up with the version of the song they heard.

The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, #45 in New Zealand, and #16 in Canada (Chum Hit Parade) in 1961.

Some 25 years after the song first became a hit, it was given a new lease of life by Rob Reiner, who asked to use King’s original arrangement for a movie he was working on called Stand By Me (same version). It peaked at #1 in Canada, #9 on the Billboard 100, #45 in New Zealand, and #1 in the UK in 1986-87. It also was included in a Levi’s commercial in the UK.

A side personal note… Our band played this song when we were the house band for a club…more like the John Lennon version and I did the vocals. I had an “idea” for this song. I would look for a girl between songs and ask her…” Would you want to slow dance in a minute?” The first one I ever asked said yes. So I started the song and I did a couple verses and chorus and then I put my guitar on its stand and walked off the stage while the other guitar player played a long solo straight to the girl… and I continued to slow dance her. Sometimes the song would last 10-15 minutes much to the band’s dismay and frustration…but finally, I would come back up and finally finish it with another verse and chorus. After the first time I did this…I had volunteers the next night. I was never a lady’s man at all…but this worked out for me… I dated a few of my dance partners…and I’m no dancer.

Jerry Leiber: “Ben E. is not a songwriter, he’s a singer, he might have written two songs in his whole career. I would guess that this comes out of church. The whole ‘stand by me’ and the way the release takes out, it sounds like a gospel-type song.”

Stand By Me

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No I won’t be afraid, oh I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So darlin’, darlin’, stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand
Stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin’, darlin’
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Whoa, stand now
Stand by me, stand by me

Darlin’, darlin’, stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now
Stand by me, stand by me
Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me?
Oh, stand by me
Whoa, just stand now
Oh, stand, stand by me

When all of your friends have gone

…

Steppenwolf – Don’t Step On The Grass Sam

Well it’s evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don’t step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don’t be such an ass, Sam)
It will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You’re so full of bull, Sam)

Hmmm, wonder what this song was about? When I was 18 I had a Steppenwolf compilation tape that I would play driving around and this song will stick in your head. I probably listened to it more than any other song on that cassette. Love the riff and the build-up. I really get into this song when it kicks in.

With edibles and pot legal in some states…this song shows how some things have changed. In 1968 the government had a full-blown war on drugs and just having pot could get you in serious trouble. In that year the government created The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. A lot of the laws were made in the 50s and included a first-offense marijuana possession carried a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.

In 1970, some of the mandatory laws were repealed when Congress saw it wasn’t doing anything to cut the drug culture. This song was banned for a period for obvious reasons in 1968.

John Kay the singer for Steppenwolf advocated for marijuana legalization during his band’s heyday in the late 1960s. The ‘Sam’ mentioned in the title of course refers to Uncle Sam and Harry Anslinger who was the commissioner of The U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics who helped make some of those strict laws early on. Kay wrote this song.

I don’t want anyone to think I’m advocating drugs…but come on… 2-10 years mandatory on possession of pot? Personally…I never smoked pot…not because I had anything against it but because I just cannot inhale smoke (Sorry Bill C.) of any kind. I’ll take that back…I did try in 2006 on my way to a Stones concert but I just couldn’t deal with the smoke. As a musician, it was all around me constantly so I did have plenty of contact highs.

Don’t Step On The Grass Sam was off of their second album…appropriately named The Second in 1968. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100 and #2 in Canada in 1968.

The song suddenly stops and then….after pounding on the door, a group of actors playing policemen storm in saying, “Alright you guys, you’re under arrest for possession of marijuana.”…then you hear flushing.

Don’t Step On The Grass, Sam

Starin’ at the boob tube, turnin’ on the big knob
Tryin’ to find some life in the waste land
Finally found a program, gonna deal with Mary Jane
Ready for a trip into hate land
Obnoxious Joe comes on the screen
Along with his guest self-righteous Sam
And one more guy who doesn’t count
His hair and clothes are too far out

While pushin’ back his glasses Sam is sayin’ casually
“I was elected by the masses”
And with that in mind he starts to unwind
A vicious attack on the finest of grasses

Well it’s evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don’t step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don’t be such an ass, Sam)
Well it will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You’re so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight, alright)

Misinformation Sam and Joe
Are feeding to the nation
But the one who didn’t count counted them out
By exposing all their false quotations
Faced by a very awkward situation
This is all he’d say to save the day

Well it’s evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don’t step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don’t be such an ass, Sam)
It will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You’re so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight alright)

You waste my coin Sam, all you can
To jail my fellow man
For smoking of the noble weed
You need much more than him
You’ve been telling lies so long
Some believe they’re true
So they close their eyes to things
You have no right to do
Just as soon as you are gone
Hope will start to climb
Please don’t stay around too long
You’re wasting precious time

Max Picks …songs from 1965

1965

All of these songs are stone-cold classics. The first two are probably the best-known in their catalog by their respective artist…and that statement is saying a lot. These are in no order but we will kick it off with the song that Keith Richards wrote the riff in bed and then turned over and went to sleep. Luckily he had his tape recorder running and the next morning he listened to his riff and him snoring for hours. The Rolling Stones‘s Satisfaction.

Bob Dylan has his mega vindictive hit Like A Rolling Stone. It’s been voted in some polls as the best rock single ever. I picked a live version backed by the future Band at the Royal Albert Hall the following year.

The Beatles released their second soundtrack album in 1965. The album would bridge Beatlemania to Mid Beatles. It was one of John Lennon’s personal favorite songs he wrote. How they did those great backup vocals without proper monitors is beyond me.

The Who released My Generation in 1965. It wasn’t a top seller in America but it would become one of their best-known songs. They would release brilliant singles throughout the 60s and then help to invent arena rock in the 70s. A band we will be hearing more from.

This fifth spot was hard. I’m being open and honest…it was between Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and The Byrds. This whole thing is based on what I like the most…well, I like Tracks of My Tears and Mr. Tambourine Man around the same. I’m going to include Smokey coming up.

I loved those glasses that Mcguinn wore so much that in 1987 I tracked a pair down. No, they were not easy to find in the eighties. Parachute pants? One white glove? Hair spray? yes…but not the out-of-style small rectangle glasses.

Jason and The Scorchers – Golden Ball and Chain

Jason & The Scorchers had a cult following in Nashville and around parts of the world in the 80s and got some airplay on MTV at the time…they were led by frontman Jason Ringenberg and they released a couple of EPs before releasing their debut album Lost & Found in 1985. They were classified at one time as alt-country but I would add rock/punk/rockabilly in there also.

I first heard them do a live version of “The Race Is On”…the old George Jones song and it won me over. They were really a big deal in the southeast in the middle eighties and should have spread more. Their music seemed to have a kinship to the Georgia Satellites but they were a little more country. Seeing them live is an event…Jason is all over the stage.

The band was formed in 1981. They were together through the 80s till the drummer Perry Baggs was diagnosed with diabetes and could not finish a 1990 tour. They have regrouped since then off and on and altogether have released 15 albums with the last one being in 2010. In 2012 Perry Baggs passed away because of diabetes.

They played a mixture between country and rock and fell into the cracks. They seemed to rock for country and too country for rock. Live they were unbeatable.

One of the things that made the band different is Jason wanted to sound country but guitar player Warner Hodges wanted to sound like AC/DC…that interplay made them unique. This song was off of their 1986 album Still Standing. The album peaked at #91 on the Billboard Album chart in 1987.

Golden Ball and Chain (written by Ringenberg) peaked at #16 in the Billboard Rock Mainstream Songs.

Golden Ball and Chain

“Oh hello there” you coughed and smiled
Your hair messed up enough, a little wild
You said, “I’m sorry but it’s all a waste
Not a whole meal just a little taste”

Now you’ve nothing left to fight and gain
Another line another carved link of your name
On the golden ball and chain

L.A. it calls and London grooms the star
Get on the phone to find out who you are
But happiness was a dying trend
You say you saw that train around the bend

That was carrying its weight in pain
The engine straining on the full weight of your name
And the golden ball and chain

You saw it then, you saw the sign
A drowning sailor in a jug of wine
First it was her, but now it’s you
No psychoanalyst is there to tell you what to do

So now you whimper like a helpless child
You broke when they quit saying you were wild
But your tears they are like grass in sand
They speak to no one, they give no command

No there’s nothing left to cleanse the stain
Another line another carved link of your name
On the golden ball and chain

Stevie Wonder – You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

You are the sunshine of my lifeThat’s why I’ll always be around

Stevie Wonder… had such a long career before he was even 18. He wrote this for his wife Syreeta Wright whom Wonder married in 1970.

Wright was from Detroit, an aspiring ballet dancer who didn’t have the money to pursue her passion and who ended up working as a receptionist at Motown in 1965. Eventually, Wright started singing on demos for Motown singers, and the label released a single of hers in 1968 under the name Rita Wright. When Diana Ross left the Supremes, Berry Gordy thought about installing Wright as her replacement but it didn’t happen.

in 1968 Syreeta Wright met Stevie Wonder. In 1969, they started dating, and they also started working together. In 1970, they got married, when Wright was 24 and Wonder was 20. By that time, they were already writing partners. Together, Wright and Wonder helped write the Spinners’ “It’s A Shame” and Wonder’s own “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”

In 1972 they broke up. Wonder also produced the album Syreeta…Wright’s first album. He also recorded this song that year. It was no doubt who it was about. It was on the great album Talking Book. Just as he was singing this beautiful song they were breaking up. She would go on to record more music and one song with Billy Preston. She passed away in 2004 at the age of 58.

Some sources list the couple’s divorce as happening in 1972, but Wright, who died in 2004, claimed they were married until 1975. The marriage was difficult and exacerbated by their working relationship, which Wright found stifling. “I was always living in his shadow.”

He recorded this at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. It was recorded off the cuff and his band fell right in. The album Talking Book peaked at #3 on the Billboard Album Charts, #12 in Canada,#16 in the UK in 1972.

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, #8 in New Zealand, and #7 in the UK. The first single off the album was Superstition…how is this for a follow-up!

This song won Wonder the 1973 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

You are the sunshine of my lifeThat’s why I’ll always be aroundYou are the apple of my eyeForever you’ll stay in my heart

I feel like this is the beginningThough I’ve loved you for a million yearsAnd if I thought our love was endingI’d find myself drowning in my own tears, whoa, oh, oh

You are the sunshine of my life, yeahThat’s why I’ll always stay around, mmm, mmm, yeah, yeahYou are the apple of my eyeForever you’ll stay in my heart

You must have known that I was lonelyBecause you came to my rescueAnd I know that this must be heavenHow could so much love be inside of you?Whoa, whoa

You are the sunshine of my life, yeahThat’s why I’ll always stay around, mmm (baby)You are the apple of my eyeForever you’ll stay in my heart, yeah

You are the sunshine of my life, babyThat’s why I’ll always stay around

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes – Hearts of Stone

A strong New York sound with a song written by Bruce Springsteen. Southside Johnny did some incredible vocals on this one. The album songs were written by Southside Johnny (Johnny Lyon), Bruce Springsteen, and Steven Van Zandt.

It’s a downright beautiful ballad and the vocals are about as good as it gets. This song is off his third studio album Hearts Of Stone released in 1978. Critics have called it “the best album that Bruce Springsteen never recorded.” Some also have compared it to Exile On Main Street. Steven Van Zandt produced and arranged this album.

Springsteen recorded this song during his Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions in 1977. He gave this song and Talk To Me it to Southside Johnny and Bruce didn’t end up releasing it until 1998. Springsteen also shares writing credits with Southside Johnny and Steven Van Zandt on Trapped Again which was co-written in early 1978 during the Hearts Of Stone recording sessions.

Van Zandt tapped photographer Frank Stefanko to shoot the album cover art, after meeting Stefanko when they worked together with Springsteen on Darkness On The Edge Of Town.

This album could have been huge because his record company Epic got fully behind it but then the tour got cut short. Southside Johnny: “I had cut my arm on a glass during a show in Sacramento. I was supposed to be off the road for three months at least and we were back on the road in two weeks. We had a huge tour booked. We were going to be gone for a year. The record company had actually started to get into it, but as soon as I got hurt and was off the road, they kind of said ‘That’s that’ and moved on to other things. It was bitter for me then, but over time you learn that’s just the way this business is.”

The album peaked at #112 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1978. E Street drummer Max Weinberg played on this album along with The Miami Horns.

Hearts of Stone

You stare in the mirror at the lines in your faceAnd you try so hard to see, girlThe way things were when we were at your placeEveryday was just you and me, girlAnd you cry because things ain’t like beforeWell, don’t you know it can’t be that way anymore?But don’t worry baby

I can’t talk now, I’m not aloneSo put your ear close to the phoneCause this is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone

If there was something, baby, that I could doSomething that would last, honey, I wouldBut you should know better than to think that youCan return to the pastSo close your eyes and I’ll be thereHold you once more, not go anywhereI wish I could, babe

But I can’t talk now, I’m not aloneSo put your ear close to the phoneCause this is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone

And you cry because things get so strange so fastAnd you cry because nothing good ever lastsWell, I know babeYes, I know, babe

But I can’t talk now, I’m not aloneSo put your ear close to the phone‘Cause this is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone

This is the last dance, the last chanceFor hearts of stone