Great rocker by Paul that was on his most successful album Band On The Run. “Helen Wheels” was Paul’s tongue-in-cheek nickname for his Land Rover vehicle (“Hell-on-Wheels”). Paul originally wanted this song to be a stand-alone single but Capitol overruled him…. and placed it on US versions of the Band On The Run album.
Drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Henry McCullough quit Wings right before Paul was heading to Lagos, Nigeria to record this album. Paul only had himself, Linda, and Denny Laine to get it done. He wanted to record outside of the UK and got a list from Capitol of all of ther studio locations. He picked Africa and was accused of going there to expand his music with their percussion and rythms.
They got to Lagos ready to work but it didn’t go well at first. Paul and Linda walked home one night from the studio and were pestered by a group of men in a car, who repeatedly asked if they wanted a lift. After arguing with the men…six of them got out of the car and robbed Paul and Linda by gun point. They ended up handing over over demo tapes, cameras and cash. Al the music and lyrics he had for Band On The Run was gone. He had to reconstruct everything in the Lagos studio.
They went out of their way to avoid an African sound after the mugging and being accused of coming to Lagos to exploit their music. After 6 weeks in Lagos, the album was completed in London.
I do wish Paul would have made more songs like Juinors Farm, Let Me Roll It, and this one. He could do edgy songs when he wanted to.
The song peaked at #10 in the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, and #12 in the UK in 1973. It was a non-album single in the UK and Europe but included on Band on the Run in America.
The Band on the Run album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, Canada, The UK, and #23 in New Zealand in 1973-1974.
Helen Wheels
Said farewell to my last hotel, it never was much kind of abode Glasgow town never brought me down when I was heading out on the road Carlisle city never looked so pretty, and the kendal freeway is fast Slow down driver, wanna stay alive, i wanna make this journey last
Helen! (Helen) Helen Wheels Ain’t nobody else gonna know the way she feels Helen! (Helen) Helen Wheels And they never gonna take her away
M6 south down Liverpool, where they play the west coast sound Sailor Sam, he came from Birmingham, but he never will be found Doin’ fine when a London sign, greets me like a long lost friend Mister motor won’t you check her out, she’s gotta take me back again
Helen! (Helen) Helen Wheels Ain’t nobody else gonna know the way she feels Helen! (Helen) Helen Wheels And they never gonna take her away
Got no time for a rum and lime, i wanna get my right foot down; Shake some dust off of this old bus, i gotta get her out of town Spend the day upon the motorway, where the carburettors blast; Slow down driver, wanna stay alive, i wanna make this journey last
Helen! (Helen) Helen Wheels Ain’t nobody else gonna know the way she feels Helen (Helen) Helen Wheels And they never gonna take her away
As you probably have seen…I’ve beening listening to some blues lately…this one is great. King’s clean piercing guitar hits the spot.
When Duane Allman was helping Eric Clapton on the Derek and the Dominos album they had Layla’s main track laid out. Duane suggest a new intro…he got that intro from this song that King did and expanded on it. It’s very faint…but Duane saw something in there and made it work. That shows you how some songs influence other artists. Just a riff here or there that they build on.
This is a great song all by itself. It was written by “Deadric Malone”, a pseudonym for Don Robey. It was first recorded by Fention Fenton Robinson and released as a single in 1959.
Albert started to record in the 50s and would eventually go to Memphis to join Stax Records in the 60s. In 1967 we would relased the album Born Under A Bad Sign which contained this song. Love that cover design!
As The Years Go Passing By
Ah the blues The ball and chain that is ’round every English musician’s leg In fact every musician’s leg Tryin’ to kick it off baby? No no. You’ll just never do it And these are the blues of time And the blues of a woman And a man thinkin’ of her As time goes by
There is nothin’ I can do If you leave me here to cry There is nothin’ I can do If you leave me here to cry You know my love will follow you baby Mmm until the day I die
I’ve given you all I own; That is one thing you cannot deny Oh I’ve given you all I own; Baby that is one thing you cannot deny And my love will follow you baby Yeah Till the day this man dies.
I’ve got failure all around me No matter how hard I try. I’ve got failure It’s all around me No matter how hard I Try try You know my ghost will haunt you baby Until the day you stop down and die Well you better get up Right now right now
Well You think that you have left me behind And that with your other man you’re safe And you’re away from me baby but uh One o’ these days you’re gonna break down and cry Because there is no escape from this man Because this man’s love is so strong He’s gonna haunt you You know my love will follow you Mmm until the day I die
There is just one thing I want to tell you before I go I’m gonna leave it I’m gonna leave it Leave it up to you So long baby bye-bye Hey I’m gonna leave it up to you baby So long baby bye-bye
Well you know my love will follow you Mmm ’til the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I am dead Till the day that they rest my head Till the day I die Till the day I I I I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day that you die and I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die Till the day I die
The title says it all with this song. It is one of the best Zeppelin pure rock and roll songs. As with most things with Zeppelin the drums made this song…John Bonham was the key element to their songs just as Keith Moon was to The Who. The two drummers helped shape the sound of their respective bands more than most.
This song came about when the band was working on “Four Sticks” at the Headley Grange mansion they had rented in Hampshire, England to record the album. With a pretty much unplayable drum pattern, John Bonham got frustrated with the session, and tensions rose. In a pique of anger, he started playing something completely different: a riff based on the intro to the 1957 Little Richard song “Keep a Knockin.'”
If you want more Led Zeppelin…yesterday Dave from A Sound Day had a post on their first album.
The band was not a singles band in any sense but this one peaked at #47 in the Billboard 100 and #38 in Canada in 1972. They didn’t release singles in the UK in the band’s lifetime.
The album did much better…it peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, and the UK in 1971.
1971 was maybe the best year of rock albums ever. A few months before this one…The Who released Who’s Next, The Allman Brothers – At Fillmore East, David Bowie – Hunky Dory, The Stones – Sticky Fingers, Doors – L.A. Woman, Alice Cooper – Killer, and many more.
Jerry Lee Lewis did a cover of this song with Jimmy Page…I like the short opening raw riff Jimmy plays.
Jimmy Page:“We were recording something else when John Bonham started playing the drum intro to ‘Keep a Knockin’ by Little Richard and I immediately started playing the riff for ‘Rock And Roll.’ Instead of laughing it off and going back to the previous song, we kept going. ‘Rock And Roll’ was written in minutes and recorded within an hour.”
Robert Plant:“We just thought rock and roll needed to be taken on again,” “I was finally in a really successful band, and we felt it was time for actually kicking ass. It wasn’t an intellectual thing, ’cause we didn’t have time for that – we just wanted to let it all come flooding out. It was a very animal thing, a hellishly powerful thing, what we were doing.”
From Songfacts
As the title suggests, the song is based on one of the most popular structures in rock and roll; namely, the 12-bar blues progression (in A). The phrase “Rock and Roll” was a term blues musicians used, which meant sex.
Robert Plant wrote the lyrics, which were a response to critics who claimed their previous album, Led Zeppelin III, wasn’t really rock and roll. Led Zeppelin III had more of an acoustic folk sound, and Plant wanted to prove they could still rock out.
Infused with creative energy, they put “Four Sticks” aside and started working on this new song, which they called “It’s Been a Long Time.” Jimmy Page blasted out a guitar part, and the bones of the song were completed in about 30 minutes.
The band often used this either as an encore or to open live shows from 1971-1975.
Ian Stewart, known for his work with The Rolling Stones (he was almost a member of the group, but their manager didn’t think he looked the part), played piano on this track. Stewart was on hand because Led Zeppelin was using the Rolling Stones’ mobile recording unit to record the album, as the Headley Grange mansion didn’t have a studio. Stewart was sent as a technician to assist with recording, but he came in quite handy on “Rock And Roll” when they needed some serious boogie-woogie piano.
Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones played this at Live Aid in 1985. It was the first time they played together since the death of John Bonham in 1980. Tony Thompson and Phil Collins sat in for Bonham on drums, which didn’t go over well with Page and Plant. When the band reformed for a benefit show on December 10, 2007, it was with John Bonham’s son Jason on drums. This was the last song they played at the show, which raised money for the Ahmet Ertegun education fund.
Besides Live Aid, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin played this on two other occasions. When Robert Plant’s daughter Carmen turned 21 in 1989, they played it at her birthday party. They also played it at Jason Bonham’s wedding in 1990. Jason is John Bonham’s son, and he sat in on drums on both performances.
This has been covered by many other artists, including Def Leppard and Heart. In 2001, it was recorded by Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan’s backup band), for their 2001 album Been A Long Time. Susan Tedeschi sang lead on the track.
All four band members got writing credits for this. Many Zeppelin songs are credited only to Page and Plant.
This was the first Led Zeppelin song used in a commercial. Cadillac used it to kick off a new advertising campaign in 2002 with the tagline “Breakthrough.” The company was going for a hip, new image, since their audience was slowly dying off. The spots aired for the first time on the Super Bowl, and sales rose 16% the next year.
The lyric “It’s been a long time since the book of love” is a reference to the Monotones’ 1958 hit “Book Of Love,” which is also referenced in “American Pie.”
Since the death of his father, Jason Bonham has filled in behind the drum set for various Led Zeppelin reunion gigs. He told American Songwriter this is the hardest Zeppelin song to play as, “a lot of people out there try and play it, and really it’s a two-handed shuffle all the way through, playing the sixteenth notes, it’s not just boom bap-boom-bap-boom- bap, it’s boom-boom-bap-bap-boom-boom-bap-bap on the snare and the hi-hat. It’s a hard one to play properly.”
Stevie Nicks added this to her live set in 2001.
Rock and Roll
It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled It’s been a long time since I did the stroll Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back, let me get it back Mmm, baby, where I come from
It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time Yes, it has
It’s been a long time since the book of love I can’t count the tears of a life with no love Carry me back, carry me back, carry me back Mmm, baby, where I come from, whoa, whoa, oh
It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
Oh, oh, ahh, ahh
Oh, it seems so long since we walked in the moonlight Making vows that just couldn’t work right Ah, yeah, open your arms, open your arms, open your arms Baby, let my love come running in, yeah
It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey Yeah, hey, yeah, hey
Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah It’s been a long time, been a long time Been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
What a great song by the one and only Muddy Waters.
The song was written by the great blues writer Willie Dixon. Muddy Waters recorded this song in 1954. Before Waters recorded it, he tested it out at the Chicago blues club Zanzibar. Willie Dixon gave Waters some advice before the band hit it: “Well, just get a little rhythm pattern, do the same thing over again, and keep the words in your mind.”Muddy recorded it a few weeks later with Dixon on bass.
Record label head Leonard Chess went south to bolster sales, and
partner Phil Chess told the magazine that the record had sold an astounding 4,000 copies in a single week. It became Muddy’s top selling single, and spent three months in the national charts, where it peaked at #3 in the R&B charts in 1954.
Willie Dixon would bring Muddy other songs that solidified his hoochie
coochie image: “Just Make Love To Me,” “I’m Ready,” and “Natural Born Lover.”
What a band backing Muddy! The musicans on the recording were Muddy Waters on lead vocals, guitar, Little Walter on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Willie Dixon on bass and Fred Below on drums.
British blues musician Long John Baldry named his 1964 band Long John Baldry And His Hoochie Coochie Men in honor of this song.
Willie Dixon:“People believe in mystic things. Like people today believe in astrology. That’s been going on for generations, since biblical days. People all over the world believe in it. Even before Jesus was born, according to the Bible. The wise men saw the stars in the East and were able to predict about things. All of these things are mystic. They say, ‘Hoochie coochie people are telling fortunes.’ You know, like the wise men of the East. They call them ‘voodoo men’ or ‘hoochie coochie men.’ They used to call them ‘hoodoo folk’ and ‘two-head people.’ They got many names for everybody.” (this appears in Zollo’s book Songwriters On Songwriting)
Wilie Dixon:“There was quite a few people around singing the blues,” “But most of ’em was singing all sad blues. Muddy was giving his blues a little pep, and I began trying to think of things in a peppier form.”
Author/musician Roger Reale: “The stark realism, the drama, and especially the vocal delivery are what do it for me on ‘Hoochie Coochie Man.’ It’s half conversational; Muddy gets your attention without overdoing it. And those lyrics about ‘a gypsy woman’ always felt kind of fascinating.”
Hoochie Coochie Man
Gypsy woman told my momma, before I was born You got a boy-child comin’, gonna be a son-of-a-gun Gonna make these pretty women, jump and shout And the world will only know, a-what it’s all about
Why’know I’m here Everybody knows I’m here And I’m the hoochie-coochie man Everybody knows I’m here
On the seventh hour, of the seventh day, On the seventh month, the seventh doctor said: “He’s born for good luck, and I know you see; Got seven hundred dollars, and don’t you mess with me
Why’know I’m here Everybody knows I’m here And I’m the hoochie-coochie man Everybody knows I’m here
Gypsy woman told my momma Said “Ooh, what a boy, He gonna make so many women, Jump and shout for joy”
Why’know I’m here Everybody knows I’m here And I’m the hoochie-coochie man Everybody knows I’m here
Gypsy woman told my momma, before I was born You got a boy-child comin’, gonna be a son-of-a-gun Gonna make these pretty women, jump and shout And the world will only know, a-what it’s all about
Why’know I’m here Everybody knows I’m here And I’m the hoochie-coochie man Everybody knows I’m here
I got a black cat bone, I got a mojo too I got John the Conqueror, I’m gonna mess with you I’m gonna make you, pretty girl, lead me by the hand Then the world will know, the Hoochie-Coochie Man
This is one of those transport songs. It takes me to a time when I wasn’t around…the mid sixties…at least my interpretation of it.
They were a great singles band but had a short window. From 1965 to 1967 they had 7 top 10 hits. This single peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #11 in the UK, and #3 in New Zealand in 1966.
The song was a collaboration between John Sebastian, Steve Boone (bass player), and John Sebastian’s brother Mark. Mark was 15 years old when he wrote a poem that John used as the basis for the song – John especially liked the line that went, But at night there’s a different world.
Steve Boone came up with the middle eight, which John thought sounded like the Gershwin composition “An American in Paris,” where the orchestra implies the sound of traffic and city noises. This gave him the idea of incorporating car horns and other city ambiance into the track
Things started to fall apart due to repercussions from guitarist Zal Yanovsky and bassist Steve Boone’s 1966 pot bust in San Francisco. They were pressured into a deal where they agreed to introduce an undercover cop to partygoers in the city, one of whom got busted. A backlash ensued that damaged their reputation in the counterculture.
In 1967 Zal Yanovsky left the band citing musical differences with John Sebastian. Yanovsky would later become a Chef in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in his restaruarnt Chez Piggy. His daughter Zoe Yanovsky took over the restaurant after Zal’s death in 2002 and still runs it.
In 1968 Sebastian left for a solo career and the band carried on until 1969 without a significant hit.
The original group (John Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky, Joe Butler and Steve Boone) reunited briefly in the fall of 1979 for a show at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills for an appearance in the Paul Simon film One Trick Pony.
John Sebastian:“That song that came from an idea my brother Mark had, he had this great chorus, and the release was so big. I had to create some kind of tension at the front end to make it even bigger. That’s where that jagged piano part comes from.”
From Songfacts
This song contrasts what it’s like to live in a large city during the day and during the night. According to the song, it’s difficult to walk around a crowded and hot city during the day, but it’s great at night because you have plenty of opportunities to chase women. This particular city is New York, where the band formed.
.The band was rather particular about the traffic sounds. Instead of just using what was available on the sound effects records in the studio, they found an old-school radio engineer – a guy who used to create the soundscapes for shows, so if a guy was riding a horse, you’d hear the hooves hitting the ground and the wind whistling by. This guy, whom John Sebastian referred to as a “hilarious old Jewish sound man,” came in with a huge library of street sounds, which the band went through for hours. They wanted the scene to build, so it starts softly (the horn at the beginning comes from a Volkswagen Beetle), and grows to a gridlock nightmare. To close the scene, they used a pneumatic hammer pounding away at the pavement.
This was recorded over two days: At the first session, they put down the instruments: guitar, bass, autoharp, drums, organ, electric piano and percussion. The second session was for vocals and sound effects.
The sound of car horns and traffic was the first time these sounds appeared on a hit song. A year later, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff used the idea when they produced the Soul Survivors track “Expressway (To Your Heart).”
Appropriately, this song was released in the summer of 1966 – July 4, to be exact. It quickly climbed the chart, reaching #1 on the chart dated August 13, where it stayed for three weeks.
This is used during the looting sequence on The Simpsons episode “Poppa’s Got a Brand New Badge.”
The song served as the theme song for German art-director Wim Wenders’ first film, 1970’s Summer in the City. It plays during an incongruous scene in which the protagonist Hans is seen walking on a brutally cold day, surrounded by snow.
This was used at the beginning of the movie Die Hard: With A Vengeance. The song plays throughout the opening credits, showing different scenes of New York City until a building blows up.
From 2006-2007, the piano portion was used in various Gatorade ads depicting the history of the sports drink, which was created in 1965.
Summer In The City
Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity? Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
But at night it’s a different world Go out and find a girl Come on, come on and dance all night Despite the heat it’ll be alright
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity That the days can’t be like the nights In the summer, in the city In the summer, in the city
Cool town, evening in the city Dressing so fine and looking so pretty Cool cat, looking for a kitty Gonna look in every corner of the city Till I’m wheezing like a bus stop Running up the stairs, gonna meet you on the rooftop
But at night, it’s a different world Go out and find a girl Come on, come on and dance all night Despite the heat, it’ll be alright
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity That the days can’t be like the nights In the summer, in the city In the summer, in the city
Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity? Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
But at night, it’s a different world Go out and find a girl Come on, come on and dance all night Despite the heat, it’ll be alright
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity That the days can’t be like the nights In the summer, in the city In the summer, in the city
This was on the soundtrack to their 1968 trippy movie Head. Where else would you find Annette Funicello, The Monkees, and Frank Zappa in the same movie?
They may have been seeking some countercultural acceptance after their show ended. The movie blew the image of the Monkees up…some say deconstruction of the Monkees completely. It was a stream of consciousness black comedy that mocks war, America, Hollywood, television, the music business, and the Monkees themselves.
If kids went into the theater expecting the Monkees TV show…they were in for a big surprise. On the other hand, kids couldn’t watch the movie because of its R rating.
Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote this song and Goffin produced it…even recording a porpoise for good measure.
I’ve watched the movie and it’s interesting but you have to remember what kind of movie it is. Jack Nicolson help write it with the band along with Bob Rafelson. Nicholson hung out with The Monkees for several weeks, even going with them on tour. Once this movie was made, Rafelson abandoned The Monkees and went off to bigger projects, starting with Easy Rider.
Mickey Dolenz – “It wasn’t so much about the deconstruction of the Monkees, but it was using the deconstruction of the Monkees as a metaphor for the deconstruction of the Hollywood film industry”
The Porpoise Song
My, my, the clock in the sky Is pounding away And there’s so much to say
A face, a voice An overdub has no choice An image cannot rejoice
Wanting to be To hear and to see Crying to the sky
But the porpoise is laughing Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Clicks, clacks, riding the backs of giraffes for laughs S’alright for a while
sings of castles And kings and things that go With a life of style
Wanting to feel To know what is real Living is a, is a lie
The porpoise is waiting Goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
I first heard this song by the ‘Beatles in Hamburg on the Star Club album. They took the song and injected it with steroids…George ripped through it. The quality is terrible but the energy is not.
“Red Hot” featured Jerry Lee Lewis on piano. The song was written by Billy “The Kid” Emerson. Emerson had already had a minor hit when Elvis Presley recorded “When It Rains It Really Pours“. “Red Hot” was showing a lot of promise as a big hit record, but Sam Phillips pulled Sun Records promotion for the single and switched it to “Great Balls Of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis.
Riley earned notoriety throughout the South with his wild live performances, and in the late’50s his shows were banned by various town councils and college administrators who worried that Riley’s raucous “devil’s music” would corrupt the souls of innocent teenagers. Riley’s backing band, The Little Green Men, were the main Sun studio band. They were Riley, Roland Janes, J.M. Van Eaton, Marvin Pepper, and Jimmy Wilson, later joined by Martin Willis.
These are the kind of singles that the Beatles liked to cover…not massive hits but good songs that not many bands were covering.
Red Hot
My gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Yeah, my gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Well, she ain’t got no money But man, she’s a-really got a lot
Well, I got a gal, six feet four Sleeps in the kitchen with her feet out the door, but
My gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Yeah, my gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Well, she ain’t got no money But man, she’s a-really got a lot
Well, she walks all night, talks all day She’s the kinda woman who’ll have her way, but
My gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Yeah, my gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Well, she ain’t got no money But man, she’s a-really got a lot
Well, she’s the kinda woman who louds around Spreadin’ my business all over town, but
My gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Yeah, my gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Well, she ain’t got no money But man, she’s a-really got a lot
Well, she’s a one man’s woman, that’s what I like But I wish she wasn’t gonna change her mind everynight, but
My gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Yeah, my gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat Well, she ain’t got no money But man, she’s a-really got a lot
I love the visuals in this song. I’ve never had the pleasure of being there but it feels like I’m standing in the middle of Penny Lane in 1967.
This song was part of what I think was the best single ever released. Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields. Both of the songs are connected with Liverpool. Both John and Paul wrote about places where they grew up. Paul explained that Penny Lane was a suburban district where, until age four, he lived with his mother and father.
The Beatles did not include these two songs on Sgt Pepper. They recorded singles and albums separately for the most part. They ended up on the Magical Mystery Tour album in America.
Lennon and McCartney were competitive and for the most part it was a good competitiveness that resulted in timeless songs that will be still remembered 100 years from now.
They made promotional films for both songs. This must have been a shock to some people. They had not seen the Beatles since the year before…they had ditched the mop tops and gone weird…that must have been in some people’s minds. The music had a sophistication that earlier songs didn’t have.
The single only made #2 in the UK…it was locked out of the #1 position by no other than Elbert Humperdinck with Release Me. It did peak at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #1 in New Zealand in 1967.
In 1967, Capitol released Beatles music on a new but short-lived format called “Playtapes.” These tape cartridges did not have the capabilities to include entire albums, so a truncated four-song version of “Magical Mytery Tour” was released in early 1968 in this portable format, some rare copies having a picture from the “Help!” soundtrack album on the front of the tape. “Penny Lane” was one of the four songs on this release. These Playtapes are highly collectable today.
Paul McCartney:“When I came to write it, John came over and helped me with the third verse, as often was the case. We were writing childhood memories: recently faded memories from eight or ten years before, so it was a recent nostalgia, pleasant memories for both of us. All the places were still there, and because we remembered it so clearly we could have gone on.” John himself relates: “We really got into the groove of imagining Penny Lane, you know – the bank was there, and that was where the tram sheds were and people waiting and the inspector stood there, the fire engines were down there. It was just reliving childhood.” In John’s Playboy interview of 1980, he concurs about his input in writing the song: “I wrote some of the lyrics. I can’t remember which. It was all Paul’s melody.”
“There was a barber shop called Bioletti’s with head shots of the haircuts you can have in the window and I just took it all and arted it up a little bit to make it sound like he was having a picture exhibition in his window. It was all based on real things; there was a bank on the corner so I imagined the banker, it was not a real person, and his slightly dubious habits and the little children laughing at him, and the pouring rain. The fire station was a bit of poetic license; there’s a fire station about half a mile down the road, not actually in Penny Lane, but we needed a third verse so we took that and I was very pleased with the line ‘It’s a clean machine.’ I still like that as a phrase, you occasionally hit a lucky little phrase and it becomes more than a phrase. So the banker and the barber shop and the fire station were all real locations.”
Here are the two videos…Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane… See those glasses that John Lennon slips on in the Penny Lane Video? The square ones…I have some identical from that time period…they are really cool.
Penny Lane
In Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs Of every head he’s had the pleasure to know And all the people that come and go Stop and say, “Hello”
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar And little children laugh at him behind his back And the banker never wears a mac In the pouring rain, very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes There beneath the blue suburban skies I sit, and meanwhile back In Penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen He likes to keep his fire engine clean It’s a clean machine
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes A four of fish and finger pies In summer, meanwhile back Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray And though she feels as if she’s in a play She is anyway
In Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim And then the fireman rushes in From the pouring rain, very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes There beneath the blue suburban skies I sit, and meanwhile back Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes There beneath the blue suburban skies Penny Lane!
I remember this George Harrison song well in 1981. This song was tribute to John Lennon, who was shot and killed the year before. The song had a bouncy melody and it was originally wrote for Ringo. After Lennon was murdered George re-wrote the lyrics to show is feelings for John.
Ringo did end up playing on the track with Paul and Linda McCartney, and Denny Laine from McCartney’s band Wings. Long time Beatle producer George Martin produced this for Harrison. Geoff Emerick, one of The Beatles sound engineers, also had a hand in this tune.
This appeared on the album Somewhere In England. I bought the single and then the album. The album peaked at #11 in the Billboard Album Charts, #13 in the UK, and #14 in Canada. The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard Album Charts, #13 in the UK, and #3 in Canada in 1981.
Al Kooper:“George was in the kitchen, white as a sheet, real shook up. We all had breakfast. He took calls from Paul and Yoko, which actually seemed to help his spirit, and then we went into the studio and started the day’s work. Ray and I kept George’s wine glass full all day…”
All Those Years Ago
I’m shouting all about love While they treated you like a dog When you were the one who had made it so clear All those years ago
I’m talking all about how to give They don’t act with much honesty But you point the way to the truth when you say All you need is love
Living with good and bad I always looked up to you Now we’re left cold and sad By someone the devil’s best friend Someone who offended all
We’re living in a bad dream They’ve forgotten all about mankind And you were the one they backed up to the wall All those years ago You were the one who imagined it all All those years ago
All those years ago All those years ago
Deep in the darkest night I send out a prayer to you Now in the world of light Where the spirit free of lies And all else that we despised
They’ve forgotten all about God He’s the only reason we exist Yet you were the one that they said was so weird All those years ago You said it all though not many had ears All those years ago You had control of our smiles and our tears All those years ago
This song is tight and very likable right off the bat. The band was punk but with a pop sensibility…a great combination.
The song didn’t appear on a studio album….it was the B side to Everybody’s Happy Nowadays. The single peaked at #29 in the UK in 1979. This is too good to be a B side…the song has been included on movie soundtracks and The Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series video game. It also was featured on Entourage in 2009.
The Buzzcocks formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They chose the name Buzzcocks after reading the headline, “It’s the Buzz, Cock!”, in a review of the TV series Rock Follies in Time Out magazine. The “buzz” is the excitement of playing on stage; “cock” is northern English slang meaning friend.
Why Can’t I Touch It was written by Steve Diggle, Steve Garvey, John Maher, and Pete Shelley.
Why Can’t I Touch It
Well, it seems so real I can see it And it seems so real I can feel it And it seems so real I can taste it And it seems so real I can hear it
So why can’t I touch it? So why can’t I touch it?
But then it looks so real I can see it And it feels so real I can feel it And it tastes so real I can taste it And it sounds so real I can hear it
So why can’t I touch it? So why can’t I touch it?
Then it looks so real I can feel it And it feels so real I can taste it And it tastes so real I can hear it And it sounds so real I can see it
So why can’t I touch it? So why can’t I touch it?
Now, it is so real I can see it And it is so real I can feel it And it is so real I can hear it And it is so real I can be it
The guitar intro to this song is worth the price of admission.
Some rockabilly bands, or roots rock bands, sound like they came in on a nostalgia wave from the 1950s. There is nothing wrong with that but…not the Blasters. They sounded contemporary in the 80s even in the middle of a period where production was at its height. Their music still sounds timely now…years after it was released.
Just the intro to this song sends shiver up my spine. This song was on the Hard Line album released in 1985. This album featured Stan Lynch from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on a few tracks and Blasters fan John Mellencamp wrote and co-produced a track (Colored Lights) also. Hard Line was the Blasters’ final studio album with their original lineup.
Dave Alvin wrote all the songs on the album except the Mellencamp song. He left the band in 1986 for a solo career. He has played in some other bands like X and with The Flesh Eaters. Now he occasionally will rejoin The Blasters on reunion tours with the original lineup.
The song has gained recognition for its appearances in several films and tv shows with its most famous being in the 1996 vampire movie From Dusk Till Dawn of which it is the main theme.
The song was also used in an episode of Miami Vice in 1985.
Dark Night
Hot air hangs like a dead man From a white oak tree People sitting on porches Thinking how things used to be Dark night It’s a dark night Dark night It’s a dark night
The neighborhood was changing Strangers moving in A new boy fell for a local girl When she made eyes at him
She was young and pretty No stranger to other men But windows were being locked at night Old lines were drawn again
I thought these things Didn’t matter anymore I thought all that blood Had been shed long ago Dark night It’s a dark night
He took her to the outskirts And pledged his love to her They thought it was their secret But someone knew where they were
He held her so close He asked about her dreams When a bullet from a passing car Made the young girl scream
I thought these things Didn’t happen anymore I thought all that blood Had been shed long ago
Dark night It’s a dark night Dark night It’s a dark night
Next to Auld Lang Syne this is my favorite New Years Song. A favorite of mine from a favorite band of mine. Everyone… I wish you a Happy New Year in 2022.
You didn’t have to read my blog but you did and I really appreciate it…I want to thank all of you for reading and commenting in 2021.
This song sounds like it should have been a hit but it was never pushed as a single at the time. It was the B side to Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914) which is an experimental song and was a big surprise to the band that it was picked as the first single. Both are from the great album Odessey and Oracle in 1968. There are several songs on this album that could have been in the charts but Time of the Season was the only one that made it and it was a year after the album was released.
Bruce Eder of AllMusic gave the album five stars out of five, calling it “one of the flukiest (and best) albums of the 1960s, and one of the most enduring long-players to come out of the entire British psychedelic boom”.
On recording Odessey and Oracle….Rod Argent
“We had the chance of going in and putting things down in the way we wanted people to hear them and we had a new studio, we walked in just after The Beatles had walked out [after recording Sgt. Pepper]. We were the next band in. They’d left some of their instruments behind … I used John Lennon’s Mellotron, that’s why it’s all over Odessey and Oracle. We used some of their technological advances … we were using seven tracks, and that meant we could overdub for the first time. And it meant that when I played the piano part I could then overdub a Mellotron part, and it meant we could have a fuller sound on some of the songs and it means that at the moment the tour we’re doing with Odessey and Oracle it means we’re actually reproducing every note on the original record by having extra player with us as well.”
This Will Be A Year
The warmth of your love Is like the warmth of the sun And this will be our year Took a long time to come
Don’t let go of my hand Now darkness has gone And this will be our year Took a long time to come
And I won’t forget The way you held me up when I was down And I won’t forget the way you said, “Darling I love you” You gave me faith to go on
Now we’re there and we’ve only just begun This will be our year Took a long time to come
The warmth of your smile Smile for me, little one And this will be our year Took a long time to come
You don’t have to worry All your worried days are gone This will be our year Took a long time to come
And I won’t forget The way you held me up when I was down And I won’t forget the way you said, “Darling I love you” You gave me faith to go on
Now we’re there and we’ve only just begun And this will be our year Took a long time to come
Yeah we only just begun Yeah this will be our year Took a long time to come
Well…it is “Next Year” today…I hope 2022 is a great year for all of us.
You could call this a power ballad. It sounds a little like Britpop and Dave Grohl has criticized the song…no not critize…he HATES the song but it’s one of my favorites by them.
Dave Grohl: ‘Next Year’ is a piece of shit! That song is so stupid! It’s weird.”
I like weird Dave…
The song was released in December of 2000. It was on the album There Is Nothing Left to Lose. It peaked at #14 in the US Alternative Airplay Charts, #12 in Canada, and #42 in the UK in 2000-2001.
The video is great… it remakes the Apollo 11 mission with clips around that time. It ends with the Foo Fighters in astronaut gear similiar to this Led Zeppelin photo.
From Wiki: The opening of “Next Year” was used as the theme song for the NBC television series Ed (2000–2004). The show’s creators, Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman (formerly of the Late Show with David Letterman) used the song despite knowledge of production company Viacom’s insistence that they own the rights to the show’s theme song. “Next Year” was thus ultimately replaced by Clem Snide’s “Moment in the Sun” during the second season. As a result of outcries from Burnett and Beckerman, however, Viacom relented and “Next Year” returned as the theme song in the third and fourth seasons.
Next Year
I’m in the sky tonight There I can keep by your side Watching the wide world riot And hiding out I’ll be coming home next year
Into the sun we climb Climbing our wings will burn white Everyone strapped in tight We’ll ride it out I’ll be coming home next year
Come on, get on, get on Take it till life runs out No one can find us now Living with our heads underground
Into the night we shine Lighting the way we glide by Catch me if I get too high When I come down I’ll be coming home next year
I’m in the sky tonight There I can keep by your side Watching the whole world wind Around and round I’ll be coming home next year
Come on, get on, get on Take it till I fall down No one can find us now Living with our heads underground
I’ll be coming home next year I’ll be coming home next year Everything’s all right up here And if I come down I’ll be coming home next year
Say goodbye Say goodbye Say goodbye Say goodbye
I’ll be coming home next year I’ll be coming home next year Everything’s all right up here And if I come down I’ll be coming home next year I’ll be coming home next year I’ll be coming home next year
This song is a great way to start a year! Anytime you can hear Otis…you are on the right path! Have a Happy New Year!
Stax’s house band, Booker T & the MGs, provides the backing. Note Booker T’s subtle but effective organ lending the song a spiritual element, while Donald “Duck” Dunn’s bass and Steve Cropper’s tasteful guitar licks ground the track’s rhythm
Stax was hoping to replicate the success of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Stax paired two of their greatest stars for the 1967 album King & Queen, which produced the hit “Tramp.” The album featured their takes on classics such as “Knock on Wood,” “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby,” “Bring It on Home to Me,” and “It Takes Two”
This song was on the King and Queen album released in 1967. This is the only album they got to make because Otis died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.
New Year’s Resolution
I hope it’s not too late Just to say that I’m sorry, honey All I want to do Is just finish what we started, baby
Let’s turn over a new leave And baby let’s make promises That we can keep And call it a New Year’s resolution, hmmm
Oh, I’m a woman And woman makes mistakes too But will you, will you forget the changes That I put you through
let’s try it again Just you and me And, baby, let’s see how happy honey, yeah That we can be And call it a New Year’s resolution, yeah, yeah, yeah
Many times we had our ups and downs And times you needed me I couldn’t be found I’m sorry And I’m sorry too I’ll never, never do it again, no, no, no So baby before we fall out Let’s fall on in, yeah, yeah Oh, and we’re gonna try harder Not to hurt each other again, oh Love me baby, huh Week after week And baby let’s make promises That we can keep And call it a New Year’s resolution, yeah, oh I know we can do it Carla I’m gonna keep my promises I’m gonna hold on that we can do it, baby Oh, it’s not too late You’re gonna love me Nobody else Oh Otis let’s finish what we started Talk no mean
When Phil and Don would sing….their two voices would become one.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, and #2 in Canada in 1960. The B side was Always It’s You and it peaked at #56 in the Billboard 100. This was the first single to simultaneously top the UK and US charts. This was the first single ever released on the Warner Bros. label in the UK, where it got the catalog number WB-1.
This song was inspired by one of Don Everly’s ex-girlfriends, this song is about a guy Cathy dumps. The writer credits on this song went to both Don and Phil Everly until 1980, when a deal was made to make Don the solo composer.
This was the first Everly Brothers single for Warner Brothers. Records. They signed with the label in 1960 after a string of hits for Cadence Records, which couldn’t afford to re-sign them. They paid the Everlys a reported $1 million and expected a hit. The Everlys delivered a hit with “Cathy’s Clown… holding the top spot for five weeks.
It had a hint of the future in this song. There was only one drummer on this track, but he was augmented by a tape loop that engineer Bill Porter used to add additional beats. This being 1960, it was done on the fly, with Porter switching to the loop when he wanted it to come in.
Cathy’s Clown
Don’t want your love anymore, Don’t want your kisses that’s for sure, I die each time I hear this sound, Here he comes that’s Cathy’s clown
I gotta stand tall You know a man can’t crawl, When he knows your tellin’ lies and He hears ’em passing by, he’s Not a man at all
Don’t want your love anymore, Don’t want your kisses that’s for sure, I die each time I hear this sound, Here he comes that’s Cathy’s clown
When you see me shed a tear, And you know that it’s sincere Don’t you think it’s kinda sad that You’re treating me so bad or don’t You even care?
Don’t want your love anymore, Don’t want your kisses that’s for sure, I die each time I hear this sound, Here he comes that’s Cathy’s clown
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