I’m going to write about my top 10 favorite TZ episodes in the next few weeks…Most of the Twilight Zones are like songs to me…to be enjoyed over and over. The Twilight Zone is not really an ordinary TV show. It’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE. This is my personal choice for #4 on my list.
This one I will be giving it all away…more than I usually do…so just a warning.
This one I love and it’s one of the most memorable episodes. If you have never seen it…stop reading now. It’s one of my favorites (and supposedly Rod Serling’s favorite of all that he wrote).
It’s so heartbreaking at the end and I feel so much for Mr. Bemis. This one more than any other Twilight Zone surprised me a bit. It is one of the best twists of any Twilight Zone.
Rod Serling Opening Narration:Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page, but who is conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock. But in just a moment, Mr. Bemis will enter a world without bank presidents or wives or clocks or anything else. He’ll have a world all to himself… without anyone.
The show was written by Rod Serling and Lynn Venable.
Henry Bemis (Burgess Meredith) is a bookish bank teller who has a childlike fascination for the written word…any written word be it books, periodicals, newspapers. He delights in taking any moment to read, through his incredibly thick “coke-bottle” glasses, even on his salaried time. He is consistently harassed by his wife, customers, and boss for his love of print to the point that he must sneak into the bank’s vault where he works to read on his lunch hour.
During one such visit, a nuclear bomb blast levels his city, leaving him unscathed, whereupon he exits to find that he has “time enough at last” to read all he wants when he finds the local library’s contents scattered about. At this point, (warning: spoiler!) he stacks the books into towers and rejoices in the solitude that will allow him to read everything he can…but in reaching for a particular book, his glasses slip off his face and smash….leaving him to mutter: “That’s not fair… that’s not fair at all… There was time now…. There was…all the time I needed!.. It’s not fair”. The scene then closes with the image panning away from a crying Bemis.
The Twilight Zones are mostly moral plays and justice usually is delivered to a guilty party. On this one, Mr. Bemis isn’t a bad guy. I can’t help but feel pity for Mr. Bemis. It’s not like he was anti-social. He tried to bond with people, although awkwardly, he did try.
He wasn’t the best worker but not terrible and he did read on his lunch breaks. If this episode has a bad “guy” it would be his boss and wife who took away the thing he loved the most. Maybe he was a little selfish and single-minded…but he paid an awfully big price…but the positive…he did survive!
Rod Serling Closing Narration:The best-laid plans of mice and men…and Henry Bemis, the small man in the glasses who wanted nothing but time. Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis, in the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Burgess Meredith – Henry Bemis Vaughn Taylor – Mr. Carsville Jacqueline deWit – Helen Bemis (as Jaqueline deWit) Lela Bliss – Mrs. Chester
When you play in a bar band…you better know this song. I played it so many times that while I still like listening to the song…I dreaded playing it but it was hard to avoid. Just to add a little fun to it I would add a naughty description in the lyrics…no I won’t repeat here…trying to make the guys laugh. I’d get a wink from some of the slow dancers but no one seemed to mind…it added a little spice to this slower than slow song.
It’s another song inspired by Pattie Boyd. The list is long with Pattie. She inspired a lot of great songs. George Harrison wrote “Something” and “For You Blue” for her, while she inspired Clapton to write this, “Layla,” “Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad,” and “Forever Man.”
Pattie was married to George Harrison when Clapton expressed his love for her in the song “Layla.” Clapton and Harrison remained good friends, and Harrison even played at their wedding in 1979. Eric and Pattie divorced in 1988.
The song peaked at #16 in the Billboard 100, #15 in Canada, #2 in New Zealand, and #81 in the UK in 1977. The song was on the album Slowhand.
Pattie Boyd: “Clapton was sitting round playing his guitar while I was trying on dresses upstairs. I was taking so long and I was panicking about my hair, my clothes, everything, and I came downstairs expecting him to really berate me but he said, ‘Listen to this!'”
From Songfacts
A fixture at proms and weddings, Eric Clapton wrote “Wonderful Tonight” in 1976 while waiting for his girlfriend (and future wife) Pattie to get ready for a night out. They were going to a Buddy Holly tribute that Paul McCartney put together, and Clapton was in the familiar position of waiting while she tried on clothes.
On March 28, 1979, the day after they were married, Clapton brought Pattie on stage and sang this to her at his show in Tucson, Arizona.
Clapton released a live version in 1991 recorded in London with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. This is the version that charted in the UK. It is included on his album 24 Nights. In the time she had taken to get ready Clapton had written this song.
In the 2000 Friends episode “The One With the Proposal,” this plays in the background while Chandler and Monica are dancing. It also shows up in the 1984 Miami Vice episode “One Eyed Jack” and in the 2013 movie Captain Phillips. >>
This was used in the movie The Story Of Us with Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer. The song plays in the background as they eat dinner together at home, even though they had separated.
In 1997 the boy band Damage recorded a cover reaching #3 in the UK. A then unknown Craig David sent in a self-written song called “I’m Ready” for a competition Damage was running, which they used as the B-side.
Wonderful Tonight
It’s late in the evening; she’s wondering what clothes to wear. She’ll put on her make-up and brushes her long blonde hair. And then she asks me, “Do I look all right?” And I say, “Yes, you look wonderful tonight.”
We go to a party and everyone turns to see This beautiful lady that’s walking around with me. And then she asks me, “Do you feel all right?” And I say, “Yes, I feel wonderful tonight.”
I feel wonderful because I see The love light in your eyes.
And the wonder of it all Is that you just don’t realize how much I love you. It’s time to go home now and I’ve got an aching head, So I give her the car keys and she helps me to bed.
And then I tell her, as I turn out the light, I say, “My darling, you were wonderful tonight. Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight.”
When the Beatles broke up I’m sure everyone was looking at John and Paul but George was the one who made the most noise at first. This was right after his masterpiece album All Things Must Pass.
George wrote this song and it describes the plight of the people of Bangladesh, who were fighting for independence from Pakistan. It was to raise awareness for the millions of refugees from the country formerly known as East Pakistan, following the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Harrison learned about it from his friend and Sitar player Ravi Shanker. He wrote the song for the Concert for Bangladesh, a fund raiser he helped organize with Shankar that was held at Madison Square Garden over the course of two shows on August 1, 1971. Performers that helped out were Bob Dylan, Badfinger, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell.
The song was released three days earlier to promote the event and start raising money for the cause… Harrison then performed it during the concert as an encore at both shows. He held the first rock benefit show which was years before Live Aid.
It was released as a non album single and it peaked at #23 in the Billboard 100, #13 in Canada and #10 in the UK in 1971.
From Songfacts
The country of Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan until March 26, 1971, when it declared independence. This triggered a war with Pakistan, which ruled the country to that point. Many in the area had died during a massive cyclone in November 1970, and the war was ravaging the country once again. Refugees, many Hindu, fled to India by the millions.
Outside of South Asia, this wasn’t a major news story, but Harrison’s efforts brought it to the forefront, especially in America. For many, this song was the first time they heard the word “Bangladesh.”
This was the first charity single by a major artist, and the Concert for Bangladesh was the first benefit concert on this scale. Harrison pulled a page from John Lennon’s playbook by making it a multi-media event, with a single, concert, album and film all pulling to help the same cause. It was a remarkably ambitious undertaking that has yet to be duplicated on this level, although Live Aid, which was associated with the single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” was broadcast with a global footprint to an enormous audience and had a much greater impact.
This song charted and got a lot of airplay when it was released, but it quickly vanished because it’s locked to a specific event and sung in the present (so many people are dying fast). Of George Harrison’s hits, it’s the one you’re least likely to hear on any playlist.
George Harrison is the only credited writer on this song, but Leon Russell, who performed at Concert for Bangladesh, gave him some help, suggesting the opening lines that set up the story (“My friend came to me with sadness in his eyes”). Russell most likely played piano on the track.
The title is officially “Bangla Desh,” but has also appeared as “Bangla-Desh” and what has become the common spelling of the country’s name, “Bangladesh.”
Harrison recorded this song with producer Phil Spector, who worked on Harrison’s solo album All Things Must Pass in 1970.
George Harrison was careful not to take a political position in this song, instead staying focused on the suffering. In this way, it was the model for most charity songs that came after.
The song and the concert were pulled together in about five weeks. The concert album wasn’t released until December 20, 1971, and the film didn’t appear until March 23, 1972. The album won the Grammy for Album of the Year at the 1973 ceremony.
Harrison was in London producing the Badfinger album Straight Up when he pivoted to organize the Concert for Bangladesh. Todd Rundgren took over as producer to finish the album, which includes the hits “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue.” Badfinger served as part of the backing band for the concert, and their lead singer, Pete Ham, joined Harrison to perform “Here Comes The Sun.”
Getting the money earned from this song and the related relief efforts to the right place proved challenging. The IRS audited The Beatles’ Apple Records during the ’70s, which prevented a lot of money that was raised from getting to Bangladesh. $2 million was sent through UNICEF in 1972 before the audit; $8.8 million was finally sent in 1981. Harrison kept doing good deeds through his Material World charitable trust.
Bangla Desh
My friend came to me With sadness in his eyes Told me that he wanted help Before his country dies
Although I couldn’t feel the pain I knew I had to try Now I’m asking all of you Help us save some lives
Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh Where so many people are dying fast And it sure looks like a mess I’ve never seen such distress Now won’t you lend your hand Try to understand Relieve the people of Bangla Desh
Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh Such a great disaster I don’t understand But it sure looks like a mess I never known such distress Please don’t turn away I want to hear you say Relieve the people of Bangla Desh
Relieve the people of Bangla Desh
Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh Though it may seem so far From where we all are It’s something we can’t reject That suffering I can’t neglect Now won’t you give some bread Get the starving fed We got to relieve Bangla Desh
Relieve the people of Bangla Desh We got to relieve Bangla Desh
Now won’t you lend your hand Try to understand Relieve the people of Bangla Desh
Thanks to msjadeli (Lisa) for suggesting The Black Keys.
Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys describes a Ten-Cent-Pistol as “this low-rent, heinous substance that disfigures you, like homemade napalm.” In the song, a woman takes revenge on her cheating man and his mistress by throwing the acid on their faces.
This was on the 2010 album Brothers. The album peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts, #4 in Canada, and #29 in the UK
Another definition for Ten Cent Pistol is Drugs (usually heroin) laced with lethal amounts of poison. Arsenic is common. Used as revenge against addicts and dealers alike.
The song is smooth and I love his voice…it sounds old…it sounds like his voice is coming out of a 1950s radio yet the music is not. It would have fit on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack easily.
From Songfacts
This was one of 10 songs from the Brothers album that The Black Keys recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Alabama. From 1969-1978, the studio was owned by the famous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, who recorded classic tracks like “I’ll Take You There” and “Old Time Rock And Roll” there. In 1999, Noel Webster bought the studio and eventually re-opened it. The Black Keys, in search of a classic southern studio and a vintage Soul sound, booked the place for two weeks, and spent 10 days in the area before heading back to Akron, Ohio, which seemed cosmopolitan by comparison. There’s no real nightlife in Muscle Shoals, so artists quickly get down to business, which is what Auerbach and Carney did, setting up at 10 a.m. and using an array of old instruments.
Mark Neill, who produced this track with the band, discussed the instrumentation on this song in a track-by-track on The Black Keys Fan Lounge: “Ten Cent Pistol is a slightly jazzy tune with very Ethiopian sounding 12 string guitar on it. It’s a cheap Harmony 12 string. It sounds like a lot of that incredible African guitar sound, incredible sounds out of simple instruments. It reminds me a lot of that. Two different groups come to mind that had a feel that reminds me of this. The 12 string lead on it reminds me of something very African.
We started the record with my Rickenbacker, I have a custom Rickenbacker, so the first demos were done with that. The sounds he [Dan] gets out of his Harmony’s is incredible. I don’t think there was any conscious decision officially, but I know we both agreed the sound he gets out of his Harmony’s is unbelievable.
I would say, other than ‘These Days,’ you are hearing his two Harmony guitars. And there are a few instances of a Supro guitar, which he gets a really unique sound out of. All of the recording gear at Muscle Shoals including the 1956 Gretsch drums, bass, guitar amp are from Soil of the South (Neill’s collection of vintage equipment). Dan and Pat brought congas, and various electronic keyboards as well as Dan’s guitars as well as a Music Master Fender bass amp for fuzz!”
The Black Keys
Well he ran around Late at night Holding hands Making light Of everything that came before But there she was behind the door
She hit them with her ten cent pistol Because they ruined her name Well she hit them with her ten cent pistol And they’ve never been the same
There’s nothing worse In this world Than pay-back from a A jealous girl The laws of man, they don’t apply When blood gets in a woman’s eye
Well she hit them with her ten cent pistol Because they ruined her name Oh she hit them with her ten cent pistol And they’ve never been the same, same
Stars did fall Thunder rolled Bugs crawled back In their holes The couple screamed, but it was far too late Her jealous heart did retaliate
She hit them with her ten cent pistol Because they ruined her name Well she hit them with her ten cent pistol And they’ve never been the same Oh the same All the same Never been the same
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
He was born James Luther Dickinson but most people knew him as Jim Dickinson. It doesn’t get much more southern than this album and the title track.
He worked at Memphis Sun Records and Ardent Studios in the 1960s on, to sessions with the Rolling Stones (piano on Wild Horses at Muscle Shoals), Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. He also played with his roots band Mud Boy & The Neutrons and the Dixie Flyers.
Dickinson produced recordings for performers as diverse as Willy DeVille, Green on Red, Mojo Nixon, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, Toots and the Maytals and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
In the 70s he produced Big Star’s 3rd Sisters/Lovers album and in the 80s The Replacements Please To Meet Me album in Memphis.
In 1971 he started to focus on production work, producing and appearing on Ry Cooder’s acclaimed Into The Purple Valley and Boomer’s Story albums. Atlantic offered him a chance to record a solo album, and his debut Dixie Fried came out in 1972. It gave him the chance to present his own off-beat take on southern roots music, resulting in an album full of R&B and country.
The song was written by Carl Perkins and Howard “Curley” Griffin.
So if you want… sit back and sip some Tennessee Straight Sour Mash Whiskey and get Dixie Fried.
Dixie Fried
On the outskirts of town, there’s a little night spot Dan dropped in about five o’clock Took off his jacket, said, the night is short He reached in his pocket and he flashed a quart
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Well, Dan got happy and he started raving He pulled out a razor, but he wasn’t shaving And all the cats knew to jump and hop ‘Cause Dan was raised in a butcher shop
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Well, the cops heard Dan when he started to shout They all ran in to see what it was about And I heard him holler as they led him away He turned his head and this is what he had to say
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you
Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Now, Dan was the bravest man that we ever saw He let us all know, he wasn’t scared of the law The black dog barked, but the boy didn’t flinch He said, it ain’t my fault, hon, that I been pinched
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Now, Dan was the bravest man we ever saw He let us all know he wasn’t scared of the law And I heard him holler as they led him away He turned his head and this was what he had to say
He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you Rave on, cats, he cried It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone Let’s all get Dixie fried
Yeah, it’s almost dawn, the cops ain’t gone And I’ve been Dixie fried
I love this era of the Stones. This song was about the record company putting pressure on the Stones to follow up their biggest to date…and their biggest hit ever, Satisfaction.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, and the UK in 1965.
It was on the US album December’s Children (And Everybody’s) released in 1965 and it peaked at #4 in the Billboard Album Charts.
Keith Richards: “‘Get Off My Cloud’ was basically a response to people knocking on our door asking us for the follow up to ‘Satisfaction,’ which was such an enormous hit worldwide. This, to us, was mind-blowing. I mean not only was it a #1 record but, boom! We thought, ‘At last. We can sit back and maybe think about events.’ Suddenly there’s the knock at the door and of course what came out of that was ‘Get Off Of My Cloud.’ Because within three weeks, in those days hey, they want another single. And we weren’t quite ready for that. So it was our response to the knock at the door: Get off of my cloud. And I’m surprised that it did so well. I mean it has a certain charm but I really remember it as a knee-jerk reaction. And it came out better than I thought.”
Mick Jagger: “That was Keith’s melody and my lyrics. It’s a stop-bugging-me, post-teenage-alienation song. The grown-up world was a very ordered society in the ’60s, and I was coming out of it. America was even more ordered than anywhere else. I found it was a very restrictive society in thought and behavior and dress.”
From Songfacts
There was a bit of controversy over this song, as it sounded like it could be about drugs. Some radio stations shied away from the song.
Stones manager Andrew Long Oldham produced this.
Ian Stewart played piano on this track. Keith Richards explained: “That was just one of those things you could do in those days – shadow a guitar with a piano. As long as you didn’t make it obvious, it would add some different air to a track.”
The B-side of this single was “I’m Free,” which remained obscure until it was revived by The Soup Dragons in 1990.
In 1973 The Dramatics scored an R&B hit with “Hey You! Get Off My Mountain,” which also contained the chorus lyrics, “Hey You! Get Off My Cloud.”
Get Off Of My Cloud
I live in an apartment on the ninety-ninth floor of my block And I sit at home looking out the window Imagining the world has stopped Then in flies a guy who’s all dressed up just like a Union Jack And says, “I’ve won five pounds if I have his kind of detergent pack”
I says, “hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, baby”
The telephone is ringing I say, “hi, it’s me, who is there on the line?” A voice says, “hi, hello, how are you?” “Well, I guess I’m doin’ fine” He says, “it’s three a.m., there’s too much noise Don’t you people ever want to go to bed? Just ’cause you feel so good Do you have to drive me out of my head?”
I says, “hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, baby, yeah”
I was sick and tired, fed up with this And decided to take a drive downtown It was so very quiet and peaceful There was nobody, not a soul around I laid myself out, I was so tired And I started to dream In the morning the parking tickets were just Like a flag stuck on my window screen
I says, “hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, baby”
“Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Hey, you, get off of my cloud Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, hey, you
Buster Keaton was a little off kilter to his comedy peers. He was more subtle than Chaplin or Harold Lloyd. Keaton used non movement to his advantage. You would see him in a crowd easily. They would be moving along and his stillness would get your attention.
Chaplin had two rivals in comedy at the time. Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Lloyd was more successful than Keaton but he was more of an actor playing a comedian on screen. Charlie and Buster were stage trained natural comedians and made some of the best comedies of the teens and twenties…and some would say all time.
Buster was an excellent filmmaker. I would put him over Chaplin in that regard. Buster didn’t fake stunts…he didn’t like cutting in at the last minute. He wanted the gag or whatever it was to be filmed in one shot and completely natural.
This is Buster Keaton’s civil war era masterpiece. It was released in 1927 to mediocre reviews. Keaton was ahead of his time and it caught the audience by surprise. This movie is now considered one of the best movies ever made. Buster wanted to make it look real to the era. He told his crew to make it so authentic that it hurt. This film is a reference point to some people to see what the Civil War looked like.
This film contained the most expensive shot in silent movie history. Buster had free rein on this movie and it showed. His budget was $750,000 dollars which was huge at the time for a comedy. Buster had a bridge built just to have a train go across it and crash. The single scene cost 42,000 in 1927 dollars. In today’s money that would be over half a million. But doesn’t it look great?
Buster made the movie in Cottage Grove Oregon. Animal House would be made there 51 years later. When World War 2 came, the train was pulled out of the creek bed and used for scrap iron. People say you can still find fragments around this site of the train.
This movie was based on a true story in the civil war known now as The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrew’s Raid.
The Great Locomotive Chase unfolded during the early years of the Civil War, an attempt by Union forces and sympathizers to destroy railroad infrastructure north of Atlanta, Georgia in hopes of eventually capturing the strategic city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The celebrity locomotive in what also became known as Andrews’ Raid was the Western & Atlantic Railroad’s General. The American Type 4-4-0 steamer was commandeered by James Andrews himself (leader of the raid) and used throughout the chase where he traveled northward from Atlanta causing as much damage as he could. Unfortunately, the hasty Union plans were too slow and disorganized to cause serious damage and most of those involved were eventually captured.
Buster made very few changes in the story. He kept his eye on details though. The cannon he used in the film was built to the specs of the Civil War Era.
When he shot the cannonball from the cannon railway car on the train to land in the locomotive… he kept trying different measures of powder to get it right until he had to use tweezers to get the right amount. He would do gags without camera trickery when he could. Below is the cannon shot… shot without cuts.
He worked for an independent producer Joseph Schenck so he had complete control of his movies. A little while after this movie lost money he had to go into the studio system and still managed to make a couple of great movies for MGM but after that, the studio would control everything he did which meant the quality of his movies took a nose dive.
Keaton was an incredible filmmaker. This movie is a true chase movie. Buster is either chasing the General (train) after it was stolen or being chased by the Union Army in the “Texas” until it crashes in the ravine.
If you have never seen a silent movie…this is a good one to start at…this one and The Gold Rush by Chaplin.
This is one I hope I will be able to see on the big screen one day.
The organ intro to this song by Ray Manzarek is one of most iconic intros in rock. I first heard this song as a kid and automatically loved it. It is the song that the Doors are most known by. I like the album version that is longer and has more of a solo.
This was included on their first album and it was a huge hit. The song launched them to stardom. Before it was released, The Doors were an underground band popular in the Los Angeles area, but “Light My Fire” got the attention of a mass audience.
The producers of The Ed Sullivan Show asked the band to change the line “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” for their appearance in 1967. Morrison said he would, but sang it anyway. Afterwards, he told Sullivan that he was nervous and simply forgot to change the line. No that didn’t fly, and The Doors were never invited back.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #7 in New Zealand, and #7 in the UK in 1967. Frankly, that surprises me because I thought it would have been an international number 1.
This was the second single on their self-titled debut album. Break On Through (To The Other Side) was their debut single.
The four band members were credited for writing this song Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, John Densmore, and Ray Manzarek.
Jim Morrison indicated in his notebooks that he disliked this song and hated performing it. He also seemed to resent that the popularity of the band derived from this song, which he had just a small part in writing.
The Doors didn’t have a bass player and none was credited because studio musicians were not credited. Carol Kaye claims it was her.
From Songfacts
Most of the song was written by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, who wanted to write about one of the elements: fire, air, earth, and water. He recalled to Uncut: “I was living with my parents in Pacific Palisades – I had my amp and SG. I asked Jim, what should I write about? He said, ‘Something universal, which won’t disappear two years from now. Something that people can interpret themselves.’ I said to myself I’d write about the four elements; earth, air, fire, water, I picked fire, as I loved the Stones song, ‘Play With Fire,’ and that’s how that came about.”
Krieger came up with the melody and wrote most of the lyrics, which are about leaving inhibitions behind in flames of passion.
At first, the song had a folk flavor, but it ignited when Jim Morrison wrote the second verse (“our love become a funeral pyre…”) and Ray Manzarek came up with the famous organ intro. Drummer John Densmore also contributed, coming up with the rhythm. Like all Doors songs of this era, the band shared composer credits.
On the album, which was released in January 1967, the song runs 6:50. The group’s first single, “Break On Through (To The Other Side),” reached just #126 in America. “Light My Fire” was deemed too long for airplay, but radio stations (especially in Los Angeles) got requests for the song from listeners who heard it off the album. Their label, Elektra Records decided to release a shorter version so they had producer Paul Rothchild do an edit. By chopping out the guitar solos, he whittled it down to 2:52. This version was released as a single in April, and the song took off, giving The Doors their first big hit.
To many fans, the single edit was an abomination, and many DJs played the album version once the song took off.
Elektra founder Jaz Holzman recalled to Mojo magazine November 2010: “We had that huge problem with the time length – seven-and-a-half minutes. Nobody could figure out how to cut it. Finally I said to Rothchild, ‘Nobody can cut it but you.’ When he cut out the solo, there were screams. Except from Jim. Jim said, ‘Imagine a kid in Minneapolis hearing even the cut version over the radio, it’s going to turn his head around.’ So they said, ‘Go ahead, release it.’ We released it with the full version on the other side.”
This was the first song Robby Krieger wrote to completion. Jim Morrison did most of the songwriting for the album, but he needed some help and asked Krieger to step in. The 20-year-old guitarist asked him what to write about, and Morrison replied, “Something universal.”
There are some pretty basic, but effective, rhymes in this song:
fire liar higher mire pyre
A “funeral pyre” is a platform used in ceremonial cremations. The image evokes spirituality and ancient mythology, as well as death, one of Jim Morrison’s favorite topics. Robby Krieger objected to the line at first, but Morrison convinced him it would work in opposition to the love-based lyrics that dominate the song.
This was produced by Paul Rothchild and was recorded in late 1966 and then released in April 1967.
The song topped the Hot 100 for the first three weeks of July 1967. It sold over one million copies and was the first #1 hit for their record label Elektra.
This was the first rock song to feature both a guitar and keyboard in the instrumental section.
A blind, Puerto Rican singer named Jose Feliciano recorded a Latin-tinged version of this song that reached #3 in 1968 and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Male. For Feliciano, who also won the Best New Artist Grammy that year, the song was his breakout hit and introduced his style of acoustic, woodwind-heavy arrangements. Based on his “Light My Fire” performance, Feliciano was asked to sing the The Star Spangled Banner before Game 5 of World Series between the Tigers and Cardinals. He delivered the first non-traditional take on the National Anthem at a major sporting event, doing a slow, acoustic version and causing an uproar. Feliciano capitalized on the controversy by releasing his Anthem performance as a single, and it reached #50 in the US.
In 1968, Buick offered The Doors $75,000 to use this song in a commercial as “Come on Buick, light my fire.” With Morrison away, Krieger, Densmore, and Manzarek agreed to allow it. When Morrison found out, he pitched a fit and killed the deal.
This was the last song Jim Morrison performed live. It took place at the Doors concert at The Warehouse in New Orleans on December 12, 1970. Midway through the song, Morrison became exasperated and smashed his microphone into the floor, ending the show.
It was also the last song The Doors played live as a trio, as they continued without Morrison after his death. Their final performance took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on September 10, 1972.
According to Ray Manzarek on BBC Radio 2’s program Ray Manzarek’s Summer of Love, the baseline to “Light My Fire” was inspired by Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill.”
Manzarek told About.com how the keyboard solo came about: “It was exactly what we were doing at the time at Whisky a Go Go – letting the music take us wherever it might lead in a particular performance, just improvising. And that?s exactly the same way that solo came about.”
She was a first-call studio pro at the time and had performed on a lot of the hits that were recorded in Los Angeles, including many of Phil Spector’s productions. She told Songfacts regarding her involvement: “The Doors weren’t there. Just a couple of the guys were there in the booth. We cut the track. I’m playing on that, but I don’t like to talk about it, because there’s too many fanatics about that stuff. I’m a prude. I don’t do drugs. I think it’s stupid. I think for people to be into drugs and to die on stage, I think that’s so stupid, and totally unnecessary. So I stay away from even talking about that. But I am on the contract, yeah, I played on the hit of that.” (Here’s our full Carol Kaye interview.)
The extended organ and guitar solos in the album version of the song are based on two of John Coltrane’s works: his 1961 track “Ole,” and his jazz cover of the song “My Favorite Things” from the motion picture The Sound of Music.
Robby Krieger told Clash Music he put “every chord I knew into this song.” Most of the group’s songs to this point were three-chord compositions, so he wanted to do something more “adventurous.”
In concert, Robby Krieger never played the same guitar solo on this song. He would sometimes mix in bits of the Beatles song “Eleanor Rigby.”
Train covered this on the 2000 Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate. Lead singer Pat Monahan sang with the remaining members (Manzarek, Krieger, Densmore) on the VH1’s Storytellers dedicated to the Doors. Other artists to cover the song include Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Will Young, UB40, B. J. Thomas and Beastie Boys.
Light My Fire
You know that it would be untrue You know that I would be a liar If I was to say to you Girl, we couldn’t get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through No time to wallow in the mire Try now we can only lose And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire, yeah
The time to hesitate is through No time to wallow in the mire Try now we can only lose And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire, yeah
You know that it would be untrue You know that I would be a liar If I was to say to you Girl, we couldn’t get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire Come on baby, light my fire Try to set the night on fire Try to set the night on fire Try to set the night on fire Try to set the night on fire
Last week, he presented a blog of his favorite Beatles songs that were cover songs (songs originally done by other artists). This week, he looks at the other side of the coin. Here now, is his presentation of great covers of Beatles songs by other artists. I hope you enjoy it! Take it away, Max…
Beatle Songs By Others …
Hello everyone welcome back this week for the conclusion of the Beatlefest on Keith’s site. Today I’m going to list my favorite Beatle covers. Although I like these a lot…I usually still go with the Beatles version. There is one that I do like better than the original…and that is…well you will just have to read on. I did include some live versions of songs.
I’m going to write about my top 10 favorite TZ episodes in the next few weeks…Most of the Twilight Zones are like songs to me…to be enjoyed over and over. The Twilight Zone is not really an ordinary TV show. It’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE. This is my personal choice for #5 on my list.
This is a heartwarming episode. I would think any teachers out there would really like this one.
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:Professor Ellis Fowler, a gentle, bookish guide to the young, who is about to discover that life still has certain surprises, and that the campus of the Rock Spring School for Boys lies on a direct path to another institution, commonly referred to as the Twilight Zone.
Professor Ellis Fowler has been teaching at the Rock Spring School for Boys for a great many years. In fact, he taught the grandfather of one of his current students. Just before Christmas however, he’s told by the headmaster that his contract will not be renewed for the new year.
H is despondent, he returns home convinced that his life has been wasted and decides to end it all. He gets his gun and goes to the school in front of a statue and pulls it out. He gets ready to shoot but before he can do it, his is visited by some very special students who give him cause to reconsider. Will it be enough?
Donald Pleasence plays Professor Ellis Fowler and he was only 43 years old when he played the professor.
Rod Serlings Closing Narration: Professor Ellis Fowler, teacher, who discovered rather belatedly something of his own value. A very small scholastic lesson, from the campus of the Twilight Zone.
***I have posted my 10 favorite covers of Beatle songs at Keith’s site nostaligicitalian ***
The man was such a great songwriter. His influences stretched from Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Rolling Stones and everyone in between…so lets hear it for The Hillbilly Shakespeare
This could be William’s best known song. Williams wrote this shortly after divorcing his wife, Audrey Mae Sheppard. They married in 1944 right after Audrey got a divorce from her husband. The pair would go on to record several duets together (and produce a son, Hank Williams Jr.), but Williams’ drinking ultimately caused trouble in their marriage.
When Hank described his first wife (Audrey) having a cheatin’ heart to country singer Billie Jean Jones, who would soon become his second wife, he was inspired to write the song.
This song was recorded in September of 1952. He would die in January 1, 1953. This would be his last recording session. He also recorded recording Kaw-Liga, I Could Never Be Ashamed of You, and Take These Chains from My Heart.
His last single during his lifetime was I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive backed with I Could Never Be Ashamed of You which was released in November 1952.
Your Cheatin’ Heart peaked at #1 on the US Country Charts in 1953.
Billie Jean Jones (second wife) on Hank Williams saying the phrase in a car: “Then he said, ‘Hey that’d make a good song! Get out my tablet, baby, you and I are gonna write us a song,'” “Just about as fast as I could write it, Hank quoted the words to me in a matter of minutes.”
From Songfacts
Williams recorded this in September 1952 during what would be his last session at Nashville’s Castle Records. He would die just months later from heart problems (or, some say, suspicious circumstances) on the way to a New Year’s concert in Canton, Ohio. The song was posthumously released in January 1953 and topped the Country & Western Billboard Charts for six weeks.
Many artists have covered this over the years, including Louis Armstrong, Glen Campbell, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis. Ray Charles’ 1962 version was a hit in both the US and the UK, peaking at #29 and #13, respectively.
Rat Pack member Joey Bishop recorded this in the ’60s on the album Cold, Cold, Heart. Bishop was an actor, and many people considered his version so bad it was actually entertaining. On the album cover, Bishop is dressed in a rhinestone cowboy costume. It contains liner notes by fellow Rat Packer Dean Martin.
For the line “You’ll walk the floor, the way I do,” Williams took inspiration from his friend Ernest Tubb’s “Walkin’ the Floor Over You.” He also recorded three of Tubb’s hits, which were released posthumously: “First Year Blues,” “It Just Don’t Matter Now” and “I’m Free at Last.”
This song shares its name with the 1964 biopic of Hank Williams, starring George Hamilton. Hank Williams Jr. recorded the soundtrack album.
Two versions of this hit the pop charts in 1953: Joni James’ at #2 and Frankie Laine’s at #18.
Your Cheatin’ Heart
Your cheatin’ heart Will make you weep You’ll cry and cry And try to sleep But sleep won’t come The whole night through Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
When tears come down Like falling rain You’ll toss around And call my name You’ll walk the floor The way I do Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
Your cheatin’ heart Will pine some day And crave the love You threw away The time will come When you’ll be blue Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
When tears come down Like falling rain You’ll toss around And call my name You’ll walk the floor The way I do Your cheatin’ heart Will tell on you
I’m going to write about my top 10 favorite TZ episodes in the next few weeks…Most of the Twilight Zones are like songs to me…to be enjoyed over and over. The Twilight Zone is not really an ordinary TV show. It’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE. This is my personal choice for #6 on my list.
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: Missing: one frightened little girl. Name: Bettina Miller. Description: six years of age, average height and build, light brown hair, quite pretty. Last seen being tucked in bed by her mother a few hours ago. Last heard: ‘ay, there’s the rub,’ as Hamlet put it. For Bettina Miller can be heard quite clearly, despite the rather curious fact that she can’t be seen at all. Present location? Let’s say for the moment… in the Twilight Zone.
I always thought Poltergeist borrowed heavily from this Twilight Zone episode. Both girls were lost in another dimension and it Poltergeist plays out much like this episode. The inside of the dimension in this episode is done really well.
A couple awakens in the night to hear their daughter Tina crying. When the father, Chris, enters her bedroom, however, she is nowhere to be found. She can be heard as if she is still in the room, but not seen. Moments later, the family dog, Mac, runs into the room in a state of agitation, goes under the bed and vanishes just like Tina. Panicking, Chris and his wife Ruth call their physicist friend Bill, who comes over immediately and begins to investigate, moving the girl’s bed and looking for the “opening.”
Chris and Ruth are nonplussed, but suddenly Bills hand seems to disappear through the bedroom wall, and he explains that he thinks Tina and Mac are trapped in another dimension. He draws on the wall with chalk and outlines the opening, explaining the theories about alternate dimensions. Suddenly, Ruth realizes that she can no longer hear Tina. The adults move around the house in a frenzy and finally hear her voice again, seemingly coming from another place, as well as the dog’s barks. Bill says to let the dog lead her back out, and Chris repeatedly calls Mac… Will they get her out safely?
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration: The other half where? The fourth dimension? The fifth? Perhaps. They never found the answer. Despite a battery of research physicists equipped with every device known to man, electronic and otherwise, no result was ever achieved, except perhaps a little more respect for and uncertainty about the mechanisms of the Twilight Zone.
***I have posted my 10 favorite covers of Beatle songs at Keith’s site nostaligicitalian ***
This takes me back to riding with my dad and him wearing a Merle Haggard 8-Track out completely. I knew so many of Merle’s songs before I was 6. One big regret I have is that I never saw Merle Haggard live. Haggard would be legally pardoned for his past crimes by California’s Governor Ronald Reagan in 1971.
This song peaked at #1 in the US Hot 100 Billboard Country Charts in 1967.
Merle Haggard went to jail for robbery in 1957, and was released in 1960. This song is about how he felt that no matter what he did, who would always be known for his time spent in jail “branded” as an inmate.
He was serving his time at San Quentin prison when Johnny Cash performed there. That event changed his life.
Future Eric Clapton drummer Jim Gordon played on this song.
Branded Man
I’d like to hold my head up and be proud of who I am But they won’t let my secret go untold I paid the debt I owed them, but they’re still not satisfied Now I’m a branded man out in the cold
When they let me out of prison, I held my head up high Determined I would rise above the shame But no matter where I’m living, the black mark follows me I’m branded with a number on my name
I’d like to hold my head up and be proud of who I am But they won’t let my secret go untold I paid the debt I owed them, but they’re still not satisfied Now I’m a branded man out in the cold
If I live to be a hundred, I guess I’ll never clear my name ‘Cause everybody knows I’ve been in jai No matter where I’m living, I’ve got to tell them where I’ve been Or they’ll send me back to prison if I fail
I’d like to hold my head up and be proud of who I am But they won’t let my secret go untold I paid the debt I owed them, but they’re still not satisfied Now I’m a branded man out in the cold
***I have posted my 10 favorite covers of Beatle songs at Keith’s site nostaligicitalian ***
This song was off of the 1983 album Hootenanny. This was their third release and second album. The album was all over the place style wise but it works.
For the album cover they found a 1963 Crestview Records folk sample album and changed the type.
The original The Replacements Hootenanny
What first caught my ear was the unorthodox solo that Bob Stinson played. You can hear the feedback from the guitar before he starts it.
The band never sold many records but they influenced many musicians and as it turns out movie makers.
Daniel Waters wrote the black comedy “Heathers” movie in 1989. He was such a fan of their music that Waters peppered his script with Replacements references…from the school being Westerburg High (the spelling of Paul’s surname was changed at the urging of a film exec who felt that the name Westerberg seemed “a little too Jewish” for a Midwestern high school) to male lead J.D. (Christian Slater) and one of the Heathers saying, “Color me impressed.”
He also wanted to use a Replacements song in the credits but there was no money to buy the rights.
Paul Westerberg about Hootenanny: “You could hear me more or less trying to find my voice, or trying to find out where I fit in…a way of trying to fuse what I had been listening to growing up into what was happening at the time.”
Color Me Impressed
Everybody at your party They all look depressed Everybody dressin’ funny Color me impressed
Stayin’ out late tonight Won’t be gettin’ any sleep Givin’ out their word Because that’s all that they won’t keep
Put the party on the mirror Oh shit, pass the bill to Chris Intoxicated lover ending our french kiss
Can you stand me on my feet? Can you stand me on my feet?
(Everybody)
Everybody at your party They don’t look depressed And everybody’s dressin’ funny Color me impressed
Color me impressed Color me impressed Color me impressed Color me impressed I call it out
One of the songs that reminds me of childhood. This was Elton in his most fertile period of the seventies. Elton and Bernie had the Midas touch with songs.
Elton and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin went to Jamaica to record the album, but the studio wasn’t up to standard, so the project was abandoned there with only a rough version of “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” actually being recorded. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and the rest of the album were recorded in France at Strawberry Studios (The Chateau d’Hierouville).
The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #6 in the UK, and #2 in New Zealand in 1973-74. This made the third Elton single to make number 1 in Canada in 1973.
The song’s B side was originally titled “Screw You”, although the US release re-titled the song “Young Man’s Blues” so that it would not offend American record buyers.
Bernie Taupin: “It’s funny, but there are songs that I recall writing as if it was yesterday. And then there are those I have absolutely no recollection of, whatsoever. In fact, I’d have to say that for the most part, if someone was to say that the entire Yellow Brick Road album was actually written by someone else, I might be inclined to believe them. I remember being there, just not physically creating.
There was a period when I was going through that whole ‘got to get back to my roots’ thing, which spawned a lot of like-minded songs in the early days, this being one of them. I don’t believe I was ever turning my back on success or saying I didn’t want it. I just don’t believe I was ever that naïve. I think I was just hoping that maybe there was a happy medium way to exist successfully in a more tranquil setting. My only naiveté, I guess, was believing I could do it so early on. I had to travel a long road and visit the school of hard knocks before I could come even close to achieving that goal. So, thank God I can say quite categorically that I am home.”
From Songfacts
The Yellow Brick Road is an image taken from the movie The Wizard of Oz. In the movie, Dorothy and her friends follow the yellow brick road in search of the magical Wizard of Oz, only to find they had what they were looking for all along. It was rumored that the song was about Judy Garland, who starred in the film.
Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics to this and most of Elton’s other songs. He often seems to write about Elton, but this one appears to be about himself. The lyrics are about giving up a life of opulence for one of simplicity in a rural setting. Elton has enjoyed a very extravagant lifestyle, while Taupin prefers to keep it low key.
Bernie’s canine imagery, including the part about sniffing around on the ground, is a sly poke at Linda’s two little dogs. Linda was a girlfriend of Elton John’s.
In 2008, Ben & Jerry’s created a flavor of ice cream in honor of Elton John called “Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road.” Made of chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cookie dough, butter brickle and white chocolate chunks, it was made to commemorate Elton’s first concert in Vermont (home of the ice cream makers) on July 21, 2008 at the Essex Junction fairgrounds. Elton had played every other state before his Vermont show. He had some of the ice cream before the show.
Ben Folds told Rolling Stone magazine for their 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time issue: “He was mixing his falsetto and his chest voice to really fantastic effect in the ’70s. There’s that point in ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,’ where he sings, ‘on the grooound’ – his voice is all over the shop. It’s like jumping off a diving board when he did that.”
American rock group Queens Of The Stone Age covered the song for the 2018 Elton John tribute album Revamp. Their version was produced by Mark Ronson and features backing vocals with Jake Shears of The Scissor Sisters.
“It’s nice to pick something that may seem off kilter at first for us to do. But ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ really has the psychedelic carousel nature to it,” said QOTSA’s Josh Homme. “I think at first we thought we will tinker with the arrangement, but there’s so many beautiful chords- the chord progression is so wonderful- once you step on that carousel, it’s just this beautiful musical swirl and it’s really intoxicating to be on that carousel. And it seemed like there’s a psychedelic element that we could bring out, that it’s touching on, and that maybe the key for us to do it would be to accentuate the wispiness that is going on in the song.”
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
When are you gonna come down? When are you going to land? I should have stayed on the farm I should have listened to my old man
You know you can’t hold me forever I didn’t sign up with you I’m not a present for your friends to open This boy’s too young to be singing, the blues
So goodbye yellow brick road Where the dogs of society howl You can’t plant me in your penthouse I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods Hunting the horny back toad Oh I’ve finally decided my future lies Beyond the yellow brick road
What do you think you’ll do then? I bet that’ll shoot down your plane It’ll take you a couple of vodka and tonics To set you on your feet again
Maybe you’ll get a replacement There’s plenty like me to be found Mongrels who ain’t got a penny Sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground
So goodbye yellow brick road Where the dogs of society howl You can’t plant me in your penthouse I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods Hunting the horny back toad Oh I’ve finally decided my future lies Beyond the yellow brick road
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PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 