PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Traveling Wilburys – Nobody’s Child

This song was not on an official Wilburys album. It was on a benefit album Nobody’s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal (a charity album released in 1990 to benefit Romanian orphans) released in 1990. It was written by Cy Coben and Mel Foree. Hank Snow did this song in the 50s and it didn’t chart for him. In the UK Lonnie Donegan covered this song also.

George was very familiar with the song. This was a song that the Beatles backed Tony Sheridan with as the Beat Brothers before they became known. The song is a sad song and what caught my attention in the Wilburys version is Jeff Lynne’s high vocal through the second chorus…beautiful song.

All the Wilburys vocals are wonderful in this song.

Nobody’s Child

As I was slowly passing, an orphans home today
I stopped for just a little while to watch the children play
A lone boy standin’, and when I asked him why
He turned with eyes that could not see, and he began to cry

I’m nobody’s child, I’m nobody’s child
Just like a flower I’m growin’ wild
No mama’s arms to hold me no daddy’s smile
Nobody wants me, I’m nobody’s child

In every town and village
There are places just like this
With rows and rows of children
And babies in their cribs

They’ve long since stopped their cryin’
As no-one ever hears
And no-one there to notice them or take away their fears

Nobody’s child, they’re nobody’s child
Just like a flower they’re growin wild
No mama’s arms to hold them, no daddy’s smile
Nobody wants them they’re nobody’s child

Nobody’s child, they’re nobody’s child
Just like a flower they’re growin wild
No mama’s arms to hold them, no daddy’s smile
Nobody wants them they’re nobody’s child
Nobody wants them they’re nobody’s child

Traveling Wilburys – Dirty World

It’s time for a Wilburys weekend…so without further ado… here we go!

Here’s to:

“Nelson Wilbury” – George Harrison, “Otis Wilbury” – Jeff Lynne, “Lefty Wilbury” – Roy Orbison, “Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr.” – Tom Petty and “Lucky Wilbury” – Bob Dylan

When I hear Bob Dylan sing “You don’t need no wax job, you’re smooth enough for me,
If you need you oil changed I’ll do it for you free, Oh baby, the pleasure would be all mine
If you let me drive your pickup truck and park it where the sun don’t shine.”

It grabs my attention really quick. This is Bob Dylan who once sang Masters of War, Tangled Up In Blue, Times Are A Changing… and he is sounding like he is having a great time.

This song next to Tweeter and the Monkey Man was my favorite on the first Wilbury album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 in 1989. Rolling Stone named this album in the top 100 albums of the 1980s.

Dirty World

He loves your sexy body, he loves your dirty mind
He loves when you hold him, grab him from behind
Oh baby, you’re such a pretty thing
I can’t wait to introduce you to the other members of my gang

You don’t need no wax job, you’re smooth enough for me
If you need you oil changed I’ll do it for you free
Oh baby, the pleasure would be all mine
If you let me drive your pickup truck and park it where the sun don’t shine

Every time he touches you his hair stands up on end
His legs begin to quiver and his mind begins to bend
Oh baby, you’re such a tasty treat
But I’m under doctor’s orders, I’m afraid to overeat

He loves your sense of humor, your disposition too
There’s absolutely nothing that he don’t love about you
Oh baby, I’m on my hands and knees
Life would be so simple if I only had you to please

Oh baby, turn around and say goodbye
You go to the airport now and I’m going home to cry
He loves your…

Electric dumplings
Red bell peppers
Fuel injection
Service charge
Five-speed gearbox
Long endurance
Quest for junk food
Big refrigerator
Trembling Wilbury
Marble earrings
Porky curtains
Power steering
Bottled water
Parts and service

Dirty world, a dirty world, it’s a …ing dirty world

Matthew Sweet – Sick Of Myself —Powerpop Friday

Sick of Myself peaked at #52 on the Billboard 100 in 1995. I first heard of Matthew Sweet with his 1992 song Girlfriend. Sweet specializes in catchy melodic hooks and this song is no exception.

Sick of Myself was on his album 100% Fun that peaked on the Billboard album charts at #65 in 1995.

From Songfacts

In this nihilistic song, Matthew Sweet is so out-of-sorts over a girl, he’s made himself sick. The world may be ugly and a lie, but she’s beautiful and true, and it’s driving him mad.

Sweet has admitted that many of his songs are personal, but they’re not necessarily a plea for help.

This was Matthew Sweet’s biggest hit, earning airplay on rock radio alongside the likes of Soundgarden and Collective Soul. He was 31 and well into his career when the song reached its chart peak in 1995. After making a name for himself in the Athens, Georgia music scene, he got a deal with Columbia Records and release his first album in 1986. His follow-up came in 1989, but neither charted and the label dropped him. Zoo Records issued his breakthrough, Girlfriend, in 1991 after a tumultuous time when he went through a divorce and lost his record collection to flood damage.

Richard Lloyd, founder of the exalted New York City band Television, played guitar on this track. Sweet and Lloyd crossed paths in the ’80s when they played together in a band called the Golden Palominos. Lloyd played on three songs from Sweet’s 1989 album Earth, and contributed to his subsequent albums up to and including 100% Fun.

In a Songfacts interview with Richard Lloyd, he said: “Matthew used to fly me in and he would send me demos like a week before. I’d listen to them through and then I would get there and they would have new songs or different songs. Some songs he would just throw at me, and depending upon the emotion in the song itself, that would lend itself to a certain kind of playing, and ‘Sick Of Myself’ had that kind of angst in it, so I tried to portray that.”

The video was directed by Roman Coppola, son Francis Ford Coppola of Godfather fame.

We don’t know this for sure, but this is likely the second-highest-charting song on the Hot 100 by a solo artist who was born and raised in Nebraska [Sweet is from Lincoln, Nebraska]. The only one we found to top it is “Never Been In Love” by Randy Meisner, which went to #28 in 1982. Nebraskan Buddy Miles charted a few times, but never higher than #62 with “Them Changes” in 1971.

The album title comes from a line in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note: “The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I’m having 100% fun.”

Sick Of Myself

You don’t know how you move me
deconstruct me and consume me.
I’m all used up, I’m out of luck I am star struck
By something in your eyes
that is keeping my hope alive.

But I’m sick of myself when I look at you
something is beautiful and true.
World that’s ugly and a lie
it’s hard to even want to try.
I’m beginning to think
maybe you don’t know.

I’ll take a leave, the room to breathe
The choice to leave it
I’ll throw away a chance at greatness just to make this
dream come into play
I don’t know if I’ll find a way

‘Cause I’m sick of myself when I look at you
something is beautiful and true.
World that’s ugly and a lie
it’s hard to even want to try.
I’m beginning to think
maybe you don’t know.

I’m beginning to think
maybe you don’t know.

Something in your eyes
that is keeping my hope alive.

I’m beginning to think
maybe you don’t know.

The Plimsouls – A Million Miles Away —Powerpop Friday

A Million Miles Away peaked at #82 on the Billboard 100 in 1983. This was their only top 40 hit. The song was written by Peter Case, Joey Alkes and Chris Fradkin. A friend of mine had their first two albums and they were full of very good power pop songs. The song was also featured in the 80s teen movie Valley Girl.

A review I found of the band… “The band’s best songs didn’t just sound like potential hit singles; they sounded like anthems in soaring tunes such as “A Million Miles Away.”

From AllMusic by Denise Sullivan

Formed in Los Angeles in 1978, the Plimsouls merged roots, retro and guitar rock with a ramshackle punk aesthetic. At a time when rock music was shifting gears, the Plimsouls’ brand of soul-punk — a modern take on ’60s soul, British Invasion and garage rock sounds — fit right in with the ’80s post-punk American guitar band movement. Known for their kinetic live performances, the Plimsouls had an exceptional frontman in singer/songwriter Peter Case whose decision to pursue a solo career effectively ended their ’80s run, but whose songs have kept the group’s slight catalog and legacy in the public eye.

A Million Miles Away

Friday night I’d just got back
I had my eyes shut
Was dreaming about the past
I thought about you while the radio played
I should have got moving
For some reason I stayed

I started drifting to a different place
I realized I was falling off the face of your world
And there was nothing left to bring me back

I’m a million miles away
A million miles away
A million miles away
And there’s nothing left to bring me back today

I took a ride, I went downtown
Streets were empty
There was no one around
All the faces that we used to know
Gone from the places that we used to go

I’m at the wrong end of the looking glass
Trying to hold on to the hands of the past and you
And there’s nothing left to bring me back

I’m a million miles away
A million miles away
A million miles away
And there’s nothing left to bring me back today

The Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again

Some songs can transport me back…this is one of them. This was written by the Philadelphia songwriting and production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. It was released on their Philadelphia International Records and became the only #1 in the UK for the label.

This song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 in 1974.

Three Degree Sheila Ferguson: The song was played to me by Kenny Gamble at the piano in 1973 and I threw a tantrum. I screamed and yelled and said I would never sing it. I thought it was ridiculously insulting to be given such a simple song and that it took no talent to sing it. We did do it and several million copies later, I realized that he knew more than me.”

From Songfacts

A few months earlier in their first recording for Philadelphia International Records, The Three Degrees supplied the vocals for the US #1 hit “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” which was the theme song for the TV show Soul Train.

When Will I See You Again

When will I see you again?
When will we share precious moments?
Will I have to wait forever?
Or will I have to suffer and cry the whole night through?

When will I see you again?
When will our hearts beat together?
Are we in love or just friends?
Is this my beginning or is this the end?
When will I see you again?
(When will I see you again?)
When will I see you again?

Are we in love or just friends?
Is this my beginning or is this the end?
When will I see you again?
(When will I see you again?)
When will I see you again?
(When will I see you again?)
When will I see you again?
(When will I see you again?)
When will I see you again?

Rolling Stones – Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)

One of my favorite intros to any song. Billy Preston did a funky clavinet intro that sounds dark and huge. Mick Taylor’s solo on this song is perfect…without Mick Taylor they would have made those stretch of albums in the late sixties and early seventies but they would have sounded different. When Mick Taylor quit…they lost their sound from this period.

The song peaked at #15 in the Billboard 100 in 1974. It was on the great album Goats Head Soup which peaked at #1 in 1973.

From Songfacts

This tells two stories, a young man shot by police in a case of mistaken identity, and a 10-year girl who dies in an alley of a drug overdose. Neither is based on a true story, but is a commentary on urban America.

The horns were arranged by trumpet player Jim Price, who along with Bobby Keys on sax, provided the brass on records and tours for The Stones in the early ’70s. This was the last time Price recorded with The Stones. He went on to produce other artists, including Joe Cocker.

Keith Richards played bass and shared lead guitar duties with Mick Taylor.

Billy Preston played the piano.

The Stones played this on their 1973 European tour, even though it describes events in America.

Chuck Findley played trumpet on this. Other artists he worked for include George Harrison, Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, the Carpenters, Julio Iglesias, Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer and Madonna.

Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker

The police in New York City
They chased a boy right through the park
And in a case of mistaken identity
The put a bullet through his heart

Heart breakers with your forty four
I want to tear your world apart
You heart breaker with your forty four
I want to tear your world a part

A ten year old girl on a street corner
Sticking needles in her arm
She died in the dirt of an alleyway
Her mother said she had no chance, no chance!

Heart breaker, heart breaker
She stuck the pins right in her heart
Heart breaker, pain maker
Stole the love right out of you heart

Oh yeah, oh yeah
Want to tear your world apart
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Want to tear your world apart

Heart breaker, heart breaker
You stole the love right out of my heart
Heart breaker, heart breaker
I want to tear that world
I want to tear that world
I want to tear that world apart

Heart breaker, heart breaker
Stone love, stone love
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Heartbreaker, heartbreaker
Want to tear that world apart

Doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo

Hollies – He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

I always liked this song as it was in the second phase of the Hollies recording career. A young Elton John – who was still called Reg – played piano on it and got paid 12 pounds. The song peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100 in 1970… #3 in the UK in 1969…also #1 in the UK in 1988 after it was in a beer commercial.

The song was written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell, their only collaboration as songwriters. Russell was dying of cancer at the time and his lyrics for this song would be the last he ever wrote. The origin of the phrase is unknown, but it did appear as the title of an article in Kiwanismagazine in 1924 and then later became the motto for Father Flanagan’s Boy’s Town in the 1940s.

In 1941, Father Flanagan was looking at a magazine called The Messenger when he came across a drawing of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, with the caption, “He ain’t heavy Mr., he’s my brother.” Father Flanagan thought the image and phrase captured the spirit of Boys Town, so he got permission and commissioned a statue of the drawing with the inscription, “He ain’t heavy Father, he’s my brother.” The statue and phrase became the logo for Boys Town. In 1979, girls were allowed and the name was eventually changed to Girls And Boys Town. The logo was updated with a drawing of a girl carrying a younger girl added.

Tony Hicks (The Hollies Guitarist): “In the 1960s when we were short of songs I used to root around publishers in Denmark Street. One afternoon, I’d been there ages and wanted to get going but this bloke said: ‘Well there’s one more song. It’s probably not for you.’ He played me the demo by the writers [Bobby Scott and Bob Russell]. It sounded like a 45rpm record played at 33rpm, the singer was slurring, like he was drunk. But it had something about it. There were frowns when I took it to the band but we speeded it up and added an orchestra. The only things left recognizable were the lyrics. There’d been this old film called Boys Town about a children’s home in America, and the statue outside showed a child being carried aloft and the motto He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother. Bob Russell had been dying of cancer while writing. We never got, or asked for, royalties.

From Songfacts

The Two Brothers concept precedes the magazine illustration that Father Flanagan saw. In 1921, there was a resident at Boys Town who had difficulty walking. He wore leg braces and the other boys would often take turns giving him a ride on their backs. There is a famous photograph of this boy and one of the other youth giving him a ride. Now there are several statues of the Two Brothers on the Home Campus in Omaha; one is the sandstone of the two brothers from the illustration, another is a bronze version by an Italian artist that was commissioned in 1977. There is also a version done directly from the 1921 photograph in the Hall of History.

In 1938, Spencer Tracey portrayed Father Flanagan in the movie Boys Town, which also starred Mickey Rooney. In 1941, they made a sequel called Men Of Boys Town, where they used the phrase “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother” for the first time in a movie.

This was originally released by Kelly Gordon, a producer who has worked with Glen Campbell, Aretha Franklin, and David Lee Roth.

This was the only songwriting collaboration between veteran songwriters Bobby Scott (“A Taste of Honey”) and Bob Russell (“Ballerina”). Russell, who wrote the lyrics, made his mark writing for films and contributing words to songs by Duke Ellington and Carl Sigman. Scott was a piano player, singer, and producer. He did a lot of work with Mercury Records on sessions for artists like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Bobby Darin. In 1990, he died of cancer.

Joe Cocker was offered this song before The Hollies after it had been played first to his producer Denny Cordell. The General Professional Manager for Cyril Shane Music Ltd & Pedro Music Ltd in England at the time explains: “Tony Hicks was in our office looking for songs for the Hollies (our office was not on Denmark Street, it was in Baker Street). Denny called from New York to say ‘Joe didn’t see the song.’ As Tony said in The Guardian, he liked the song and asked for an exclusive the following day. The version he heard was Kelly Gordon, who apart from being a successful producer, also wrote a little song entitled ‘That’s Life.’ His version was slow and soulful which is why I had thought of Joe Cocker to record it. Bobby Russell wrote this song while dying of cancer in Los Angeles.

We picked up the British rights to ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ from an American publisher Larry Shayne. The song was on a Kelly Gordon album called Defunked. The version was slow and soulful and had Joe Cocker written all over it. Joe turned it down, to his producer’s surprise. We had a hit with The Hollies previously called ‘I’m Alive,’ so we had a relationship with them. Also, we had a great working relationship with the Air London production team, of which their producer Ron Richards was a partner. We never considered playing the song for The Hollies when Tony Hicks was in the office. We were playing songs like ‘Sorry Suzanne.’ It was only at the end of the meeting I suggested playing Tony this wonderful song, not because it was for them, but just to share the song. We were surprised when he said ‘That’s the one.'”

This was the second single The Hollies released after Graham Nash left the group to form Crosby, Stills, and Nash; the first was “Sorry Suzanne.” Nash was replaced by Terry Sylvester. >>

In 1988, this was re-released in the UK after it was used in a Miller Beer commercial. This time, it hit #1.

This has been covered by many artists. It was a hit for Neil Diamond later in 1970, and also for Olivia Newton-John in 1976. Newton-John’s version was the B-side to the Linda Hargrove cover “Let It Shine” and went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

A version by Bill Medley (one of The Righteous Brothers) was used in the 1988 Sylvester Stallone movie Rambo 3.

The Osmonds recorded this and used it as the B-side of their first hit, “One Bad Apple.”

This was used in an anti-drug commercial in Canada during ’90s. The basis was two old friends meeting again in the hospital. There are some old home movie type flash backs, then they hug and the one in hospital garb cries. >>

A various artists charity version recorded under the name of The Justice Collective topped the UK singles charts during Christmas 2012.

Casey Affleck made reference to this song when he accepted the Oscar for Best Actor in 2017 for his role in “Manchester by the Sea.” Thanking his brother, Ben Affleck, he said, “you ain’t heavy.”

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows where
But I’m strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

So on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear
We’ll get there

For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

If I’m laden at all
I’m laden with sadness
That everyone’s heart
Isn’t filled with a gladness
Of love for one another

It’s a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we’re on the way to there
Why not share

And the load
Doesn’t weigh me down at all
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

He’s my brother
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

Hold the Pickles, Hold the Lettuce

Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce
Special orders, don’t upset us
All we ask is that you let us serve it your way
Have it your way

Ah, a company that cares! Burger King ran this commercial around 1974. Battling McDonald’s with the “Have it your way” campaign in 1973, Burger King put their service in the spotlight with the jingle, “Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce. Special orders don’t upset us.” The campaign increased ad awareness by 50%. The Little King was retired, and “Have it your way” was adapted to target children with ad efforts tagged “All kids are different” and “Pickle-less Nicholas.”

In 1976-77, Burger King changed advertising agents and went with “America loves burgers, and we’re America’s Burger King.” In 1982, they launched a “burger wars” effort with the slogan “Battle of the burgers,” comparing the Whopper with those of McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

The jingle’s upbeat, friendly tone made it feel like Burger King employees were singing just for you. It also helped that the melody was incredibly catchy—it got stuck in your head and stayed there.

Even decades later, people who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s can instantly recall that tune. In fact, when Burger King revived “Have It Your Way” in later years, they leaned heavily on nostalgia for that original “Hold the pickles…” jingle.

Anyway…I wish they would bring back those uniforms.

Movie Quotes Part 4

Jaws – You’re are going to need a bigger boat.

Easy Rider – We Blew It

The Godfather – Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

The Big Lebowski – Smokey This is not ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.

At 1:10…but it’s only 2:16 long…it’s worth a complete listen

Animal House – What? Over? Did you say ‘over’? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Caddyshack – You buy a hat like this, I bet you get a free bowl of soup.

What About Bob? – Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m schizophrenic, and so am I

Scarface – I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.

Duck Soup – I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.

It’s A Wonderful Life – Well, you look about the kind of angel I’d get. Sort of a fallen angel, aren’t you? What happened to your wings?

At 3:13 – 3:20

Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo Commercial

I don’t know if this is an iconic commercial of the time but it got my attention as a kid. I love the animation on it. I remember the green bottle of this shampoo and also “Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific” and I would mix them all together…I wasted a lot of shampoo but I was clean!

Clairol launched Herbal Essence in 1972 as “the most beautiful shampoo experience on Earth.” Most people remember the original green bottle, featuring a woman with long flowing hair surrounded by nature. The ad claimed the shampoo also contained scents of juniper, birch leaves, cinchona, melissa, and mountain gentian.

The scent of the shampoo changed when Proctor and Gamble bought Clairol in 2001 from Clairol who had owned it since the 50s.

Nicky Hopkins

I’ve never been a keyboard player…but when I think of keyboardists this man comes to mind. He was one of the busiest session men in the business.

Nicky Hopkins started with Screaming Lord Sutch’s Savages, which also included Jimmy Page… He played with the Cyril Davies All-Stars, one of the first British rhythm & blues bands. Because of illnesses, he started to play on studio sessions. In the studio, he played with the Beatles, Who, Kinks, Rolling Stones and just about everyone else of that era.

He later joined the Jeff Beck Group and was a full member of the Quicksilver Messenger Service.

I’ve read about Nicky from other artists books when I was younger but didn’t know until the internet how many great recordings he played on…Also that he sometimes toured with bands like the Stones on perhaps their greatest tour…the 1972 tour. The first I heard of him was reading he played piano on Revolution by the Beatles.

Here are some other artists talking about Nicky.

Ray Davies: Nicky, unlike lesser musicians, didn’t try to show off; he would only play when necessary. But he had the ability to turn an ordinary track into a gem – slotting in the right chord at the right time or dropping a set of triplets around the back beat, just enough to make you want to dance. On a ballad, he could sense which notes to wrap around the song without being obtrusive. He managed to give “Days,” for instance, a mysterious religious quality without being sentimental or pious.

Pete Townshend: “Nicky was a great talent…He is gone but his wonderful playing will live on and I’m proud that so much of his work will be heard as part of my own. Nicky is a big part of my work and I think of him often.”

Joe Walsh: “We just said, “Hey, we’re not going to tell you what to play! You can play anything you want, dude and it’ll be just fine with us.” Nicky was at his absolute best. He was just playing fantastic and coming up with these parts that just were so special.”

Keith Richards: “What I liked about Nicky is you’d give him a song and he’d develop it, with a couple of passes, into something, almost immediately. He was so easy to work with and he could hang; we’d do sessions for fifteen hours, sometimes two days
and he’d still be there, you know.”

Nicky died in Nashville Tn in 1994 from complications of surgery from Crohn’s Disease.

Below I copied a highlight of his discography.

It’s from the Nicky Hopkins website…It reads like a who’s who in music. These are just some of the albums and singles Nicky played on.

http://www.nickyhopkins.com/?page_id=6

NICKY HOPKINS DISCOGRAPHY HIGHLIGHTS

THE SIXTIES

THE WHO, My Generation, Brunswick/Decca USA
THE KINKS, The Kinks Kontroversy, Pye/Reprise
NICKY HOPKINS, The Revolutionary Piano Of…, CBS
THE KINKS, Face To Face, Pye / Reprise
ROLLING STONES, Between The Buttons, Decca/London
ROLLING STONES, Their Satanic Majesties Request, Decca/London
ROLLING STONES, Beggar’s Banquet, Decca/London
KINKS, Village Green Preservation Society, Pye/Reprise
JEFF BECK GROUP, Truth, Columbia/Epic
THE KINKS, Something Else By The Kinks, Pye/Reprise
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, Dusty…Definitely, Philips
ROLLING STONES, Let It Bleed, Decca/London
JEFF BECK GROUP, Beck-Ola, Columbia / Epic
STEVE MILLER BAND, Brave New World, Capitol
STEVE MILLER BAND, Your Saving Grace, Capitol
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, Volunteers, RCA
FAMILY, Entertainment, Reprise
ROY HARPER, Folkjokeopus, Liberty
ELLA FITZGERALD, Ella, Warner Brothers
THE MOVE, The Move, Cube
BILLY NICHOLLS, Would You Believe, Immediate

THE SEVENTIES

STEVE MILLER BAND, Number 5, Capitol
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, Shady Grove, Capitol
VARIOUS, Woodstock, Atlantic
ROLLING STONES, Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stones Records
THE WHO, Who’s Next, Track
NICKY HOPKINS, Jamming With Edward, Rolling Stones Records
JOHN LENNON, Imagine, Apple
ROLLING STONES, Exile On Main Street, Rolling Stones Records
HARRY NILSSON, Son Of Schmilsson, RCA Victor
CARLY SIMON, No Secrets, Elektra
NICKY HOPKINS, The Tin Man Was A Dreamer, CBS
GEORGE HARRISON, Living In The Material World, Apple
RINGO STARR, Ringo, Apple
ROLLING STONES, Goat’s Head Soup, Rolling Stones Records
ANDY WILLIAMS, Solitaire, CBS
JOHN LENNON, Walls & Bridges, Apple
ROLLING STONES, It’s Only Rock’n’Roll, Rolling Stones Records
JOE COCKER, I Can Stand A Little Rain, Fly
PETER FRAMPTON, Something’s Happening, A & M
RINGO STARR, Goodnight Vienna, Apple
MARTHA REEVES, Martha Reeves, MCA
NICKY HOPKINS, No More Changes, Mercury (US)
ART GARFUNKEL, Breakaway, CBS
ROLLING STONES, Black & Blue, Rolling Stones Records
JERRY GARCIA, Reflections, United Artists
ROD STEWART, Footloose And Fancy Free, Warner Brothers
JENNIFER WARNES, Jennifer Warnes, Arista
ROD STEWART, Blondes Have More Fun, Riva
LOWELL GEORGE, Thanks I’ll Eat It Here, Warner Brothers
POINTER SISTERS, Priority, Planet

THE EIGHTIES

ROLLING STONES, Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones Records
TIM HARDIN, Unforgiven, Arc International
GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR, The Up Escalator, Stiff
ROLLING STONES, Tattoo You, Rolling Stones Records
NILS LOFGREN, Night Fades Away, MCA/Backstreets
MEATLOAF, Dead Ringer, Cleveland/Epic
GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR, Another Grey Area, RCA
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, White Heat, Mercury/Casablanca
KING OF COMEDY, Soundtrack, Warner Brothers
CARL WILSON, Youngblood, Caribou
JULIO IGLESIAS, 1100 Bel Air Place, CBS
BELINDA CARLISLE, Belinda, IRS
ROD STEWART, Rod Stewart/Every Beat Of My Heart, Warner Brothers
PAUL MCCARTNEY, Flowers In The Dirt,Capitol
JACK BRUCE, A Question Of Time, Epic

THE NINETIES

ROGER CHAPMAN, Hybrid & Lowdown, Polydor
GARY MOORE, Still Got The Blues, Virgin
NICKY HOPKINS, The Fugitive (Soundtrack), Toshiba-EMI
NICKY HOPKINS, Patio (Soundtrack), Toshiba-EMI
JAYHAWKS, Hollywood Town Hall, Columbia
JOE SATRIANI, Extremist, Legacy Recordings
SPINAL TAP, Break Like The Wind, MCA
MATTHEW SWEET, Altered Beast, Zoo/BMG
JOE WALSH, Robocop Soundtrack, Rhino/Pyramid
GENE CLARK, Under The Silvery Moon, Delta De Luxe
FRANKIE MILLER, Long Way Home, Jerkin’ Crocus

THE SINGLES

SCREAMING LORD SUTCH, Jack The Ripper/Don’t You Just Know It, Decca
THE WHO, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere , Brunswick
THE KINKS, Till The End Of The Day, Pye/Reprise
CYRIL DAVIES R & B ALL STARS, Country Line Special/Chicago Calling, Pye International/Dot
CLIFF BENNETT & REBEL ROUSERS, My Old Standby (B-Side), Parlophone
RITCHIE BLACKMORE ORCHESTRA, Little Brown Jug/Getaway, Oriole
VASHTI, Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind ,Decca
DAVY JONES & THE LOWER THIRD, You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving, Parlophone
PRETTY THINGS, Midnight To Six Man, Fontana
THE KINKS, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Pye/Reprise
THE KINKS, Sunny Afternoon, Pye/Reprise
DAVID BOWIE, Can’t Help Thinking About Myself, Pye
TWICE AS MUCH, Sittin’ On A Fence/Baby I Want You, Immediate
CAT STEVENS, Matthew And Son/Granny, Deram
ROLLING STONES, We Love You, Decca/London
ROLLING STONES, 2000 Light Years/She’s A Rainbow, Decca/London
NICKY HOPKINS, Mr. Pleasant, Polydor/Decca
THE KINKS, Autumn Almanac, Pye (UK)
DAVE DAVIES, Death Of A Clown, Pye/Reprise
JEFF BECK, Beck’s Bolero, Columbia/Epic
YARDBIRDS, Little Games, Columbia
MARC BOLAN, Jasper C. Debussy, Track
PP ARNOLD, The First Cut Is The Deepest, Immediate
BEATLES, Hey Jude/Revolution (B-side), Apple
ROLLING STONES, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Decca/London
THE KINKS, Days, Pye/Reprise
DONOVAN, Goo Goo Barabajagal, Epic
SCAFFOLD, Lily The Pink, Parlophone
FATS DOMINO, Have You Seen My Baby, Reprise
JOHN LENNON/PLASTIC ONO BAND, Happy Christmas/War Is Over, Apple
THE WHO, Let’s See Action, Track
ROLLING STONES, Tumbling Dice, Rolling Stones
HARRY NILSSON, Remember Christmas, RCA
ROLLING STONES, Angie, Rolling Stones
GEORGE HARRISON, Give Me Love, Apple
RINGO STARR, Photograph, Apple
RINGO STARR, You’re Sixteen, Apple
JOE COCKER, You Are So Beautiful, A & M
ART GARFUNKEL, I Only Have Eyes For You, Columbia
JULIO IGLESIAS / WILLIE NELSON, To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before, CBS
JOE WALSH / STEVE EARLE, Honey Don’t (Beverley Hillbillies), Fox Records
JOE WALSH / FRANKIE MILLER, Guilty Of The Crime, Pyramid
PAUL MCCARTNEY, Beautiful Night/Same Love, Oobu-Joobu 6

James Taylor – Fire and Rain

This song is one that never gets old to me. I’ve heard it many times but James sounds so desperate and sincere in the lyrics. I covered this song today because I just watched James in a movie called Two-Lane Blacktop last night. Good movie if you get a chance…it is a counterculture car movie.

This was the song that took Taylor from little-known singer to the 70s singer-songwriter star. His first label deal was with Apple Records. His first album for the label James Taylor produced some known Taylor songs like “Carolina in My Mind” and “Something In The Way She Moves,” but it sold poorly due to a combination of Taylor’s heroin addiction (he had to seek treatment and couldn’t promote the album) and Apple’s downward spiral.

Taylor was dropped from Apple and picked up by Warner Bros. Records, where he released his second album, Sweet Baby James. This was the second song released from the album. Fire and Rain peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1970.

James talked about the inspiration of the song: “The first verse is about my reactions to the death of a friend…that would be Suzanne. The second verse is about my arrival in this country with a monkey on my back, and there Jesus is an expression of my desperation in trying to get through the time when my body was aching and the time was at hand when I had to do it. And the third verse of that song refers to my recuperation in Austin Riggs (psychiatric treatment facility) which lasted about five months.”

From Songfacts

This song is about the high and low points of Taylor’s life. He was only 20 when he wrote it in 1968, but was battling depression and drug addiction.

The stark lyrics about Taylor’s depression stand out on Sweet Baby James, which contains mostly lighter, uplifting songs. Taylor was surprised that such a deeply personal song would appeal to listeners, as he didn’t think people were interested in his life.

The line, “Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground” is a reference to a band Taylor was in called The Flying Machine, which he formed with Danny Kortchmar in 1966. The band recorded some songs and released one single, but split up without issuing an album. Taylor went to England, where his demo got the attention of Beatles associate Peter Asher, who arranged an audition with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. They liked what they heard, and signed Taylor to their label, Apple Records. By 1971, Taylor was on a new label and “Fire and Rain” was a hit. The enterprising (some would say exploitative) folks at the label that controlled The Flying Machine’s recordings suddenly became interested in the band, and cobbled together an album from those recordings which they released in 1971 as James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine.

The lyrics, “Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone. Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you” have been the subject of a great deal of speculation, with rumors that Suzanne was Taylor’s girlfriend who died in a place crash. In a 1971 interview with Petticoat, Taylor explained: “It concerned a girl called Susanne I knew who they put into an isolation cell and she couldn’t take it and committed suicide.”

Her name was Susie Schnerr, and Taylor also explained that it was months before he found out about her death, as his friends withheld the news so it wouldn’t distract Taylor from his burgeoning music career.

In a 1972 Rolling Stone interview, Taylor added: “I always felt rather bad about the line, ‘The plans they made put an end to you,’ because ‘they’ only meant ‘ye gods,’ or basically ‘the Fates.’ I never knew her folks but I always wondered whether her folks would hear that and wonder whether it was about them.”

This was one of the first big singer-songwriter hits of the early ’70s. Before this, most hits were either written by one person and performed by another, or written and performed by a group like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Artists like Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Elton John followed the trend of writing and performing their own songs.

In his interview with Petticoat Taylor said that he stole the chord sequence from something his brother Alexander wrote. Alexander, who was the oldest of the four Taylor siblings, was also a musician. He died in 1993.

Sweet Baby James was produced by Peter Asher, who was looking for a stripped-down sound to showcase Taylor’s songs. That sound was established on this track when he called in the musicians Danny Kortchmar (guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Carole King (piano) to rehearse the song in his living room. Kunkel was a rock drummer, but Asher asked him to play with brushes during the rehearsal so as not to disturb the neighbors. When he played with brushes instead of sticks, it brought out a new dimension in the song and established the sound they were looking for. Kunkel and Kortchmar became part of Taylor’s touring band and went on to play on classic ’70s albums by Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and Carole King, who soon established herself as a solo artist.

A session musician named Bobby West played the upright bowed bass on this track, which is sometimes mistaken for a viola or cello. In a Songfacts interview with Peter Asher, he told the story: “We didn’t have a bass on the track and it was James’ idea to try bowed upright bass to create the drone of the bottom note. So, we asked the studio for a player because I was not familiar with most of the LA musicians. I’d put together a little rhythm section already, which was Carole King, who I’d got to know and loved her piano playing, and a drummer called Russ Kunkel, who I had found. But at that point, we had not found the perfect bass player, so we used different bass players on different songs.

And, on that one, James’ idea was to use a bowed upright bass, so we asked around and they recommended this guy called Bobby West. Bobby ‘Wild Wild’ West, we discovered he was known, which clinched it for us. We thought that was such a cool name. So, we hired him and put the bass on and then I doubled the bass to give it that weird, slightly flangey effect, playing the exact same notes. And, those are the only strings on that whole album, I think.”

The Isley Brothers recorded this on their album Givin’ It Back, which contained all cover songs.

When Taylor performed this in 2015 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he and Colbert had some fun, with Taylor explaining that he was still working on it. “I wrote that song in 1970, and I just hadn’t seen that much back then – mostly fire and rain, so that’s why I keep saying it over and over again in the song,” he said.

Taylor then explained that he had never seen a calzone at the time, but if he had, he would have definitely added it to the lyric. Taylor and Colbert then performed an updated version of the song with new lyrics. A sample:

“I’ve seen man buns, Myspace and the Baha Men, but I never thought I’d see a new Star Wars again”

“I’ve seen grandmas reading 50 Shades of Grey”

“Quidditch teams and skinny jeans cutting blood off from my thighs”

Taylor guest starred in The Simpsons episode “Deep Space Homer” where he performs for a space shuttle that Homer is aboard from NASA’s mission control. He plays this, but after singing the line “Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground,” he gasps, due to the irony of that line relating to the mission, and sings it with the revised lyrics: “Sweet dreams and flying machines flying safely through the air.”

Fire and Rain

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can’t remember who to send it to

I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again

Won’t you look down upon me, jesus
You’ve got to help me make a stand
You’ve just got to see me through another day
My body’s aching and my time is at hand
And I won’t make it any other way

Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it’ll turn your head around
Well, there’s hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things
To come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Thought I’d see you one more time again
There’s just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I’d see you, thought I’d see you fire and rain, now

Valerie Harper 1939-2019

Another part of childhood is gone today. Valerie Harper passed away at 80. I always loved the show Rhoda and nothing screamed the seventies like that show did. Rhoda was a strong female lead character and Valerie Harper played her wonderfully.

Before the hype of the Dallas’s Who Shot Jr episode that aired in1974, was the Rhoda getting married 2 part episode. Many people tuned in…That episode was the highest-rated television episode of the 1970s until Roots came along in 1977. More than 53 million Americans tuned in to watch.

An article about Valerie…

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/a-generation-valerie-harper-s-rhoda-defined-imaginative-boho-style-1235876

Blue Ash – Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?) —Powerpop Friday

Blue Ash formed in the summer of 1969 in Ohio by bassist Frank Secich & vocalist Jim Kendzor. Guitarist Bill “Cupid” Bartolin and drummer David Evans were recruited later that summer.

During the years 1970-3 the band recorded numerous songs along with hitting the road playing western NY, PA, and West Virginia along with NE Ohio, performing 250+ shows a year.

Their first album No More, No Less was released in May 1973 and received rave reviews in the rock press. It is considered a power pop classic and is regarded as highly collectible among fans of that genre. Blue Ash toured and opened for such acts as The Stooges, Bob Seger, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and more but for lack of sales they were dropped by Mercury Records in May 1974.

Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?) was on the album No More, No Less.