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Zombies – Care of Cell 44

This is one of my favorite pop songs of the 1960s. The vocals are reminiscent of the Beach Boys. It’s a sunny and bright song musically about a guy writing to his girl…in prison. The song doesn’t express or explain why she is in prison just that he will be with her when her stay is over.

The song is arranged beautifully. with the vocal only arrangements, You can hear Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney’s influence on this recording. Chris White’s (Zombies bass player) bass playing is phenomenal in this song.

It is on the album Odessey and Oracle, one of the best albums of the sixties. The hit song on the album is Time of the Season but it is full of great songs. It charted a year after it was released at #95 in the Billboard 200 album charts in 1969. The song/album would be on my desert island list.

Rod Argent (Zombies keyboard player) talks about recording the album: We didn’t think, “Oh, we have to do something like Pet Sounds,” but I think it did inspire us. There wasn’t any attempt to copy the elements that were in there so much as the creativity of it and the feeling of pushing pop music forward into different spaces than it had been before. I think Pet Sounds was an indirect influence, as it was on Sgt. Pepper. Since then, Paul McCartney’s said the same thing; they felt they had to do something similar.

Rod Argent wrote the song.

From Songfacts

This uptempo pop symphony is about a guy writing to his girlfriend, who is in prison. The group’s main songwriter Rod Argent recalled in Mojo Magazine February 2008: “It just appealed to me. That twist on a common scenario, I just can’t wait for you to come home to me again.”

This was released as the first single from the Odessey And Oracle album in the UK, but it didn’t make the charts, which surprised vocalist, Colin Blunstone. He said in his Songfacts interview, “It’s a wonderfully crafted song. I think it’s got an incredible lyric, wonderful chord sequence and a great melody – it’s just got everything.”

Blunstone was shocked by the song’s lack of popular appeal, as he thought it was a very commercial track. Soon after it stiffed, the band split up and Blunstone took a job in the Burglary Department of a London insurance office. Bassist Chris White admitted: “We tried to promote ‘Care Of Cell 44,’ but there was no positive reaction. It was downhill from then on.” However the band did have a surprise hit in America a year after their breakup when “Time Of The Season” peaked at #3.

Care of Cell 44

Good morning to you, I hope your feeling better baby
Thinkin of me while you are far away
Counting the days until they set you free again
Writing this letter, hoping your okay
Sent to the room you used to stay in every Sunday
The one that is warmed by sunshine every day
And we’ll get to know each other for a second time
Then you can tell me about your prison stay

Feels so good your coming home soon

Its gonna be good to have you back again with me
Watching the laughter play around your eyes
Come up and getcha, saved up for the train fare money
Kiss and make-up and it will be so nice

Feels so good your coming home soon

Walking the way we used to walk
And it could be so nice
Talkin the way we used to talk
And it could be so nice

Its gonna be nice to have you back again with me
Watching the laughter play around your eyes
Come up and getcha, saved up for the train fare money
Kiss and make-up and it will be so nice

Feels so good your coming home soon

(Ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh
Ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh)

Feels so good your coming home soon

The Knickerbockers – Lies

I had forgotten about this song and band. The Knickerbockers were basically a Beatles knock-off band. This is not a great song by any means but at the time some people passed this off as a rare unheard Beatles track. For me and I’m sure many more, it is not too hard to tell this is not a Beatles track…but it’s a fun song.

The Knickerbockers were found Jerry Fuller in a bar in Albany, New York and he relocated them to Los Angeles and they soon became a popular club attraction.

This was their only top forty recording… it peaked at #20 in the Billboard 100 in 1966.

Lies

Lies, lies, you’re tellin’ me that you’ll be true
Lies, lies
That’s all I ever hear from you
Tears, tears

I shed a million tears for you
Tears, tears
And now you’re lovin’ someone new
Someday I’m gonna be happy

But I don’t know when just now
Lies, lie-ies
A-breakin’ my heart
You think that you’re such a smart girl

And I’ll believe what you say
But who do you think you are, girl
To lead me on this way hey
Lies, lies

I can’t believe a word you say
Lies, lies
Are gonna make you sad someday
Some day you’re gonna be lonely

But you won’t find me around
Lies, lie-ies
A-breakin’ my heart
Someday I’m gonna be happy

But I don’t know when just now
Lies, lie-ies
A-breakin’ my heart
You think that you’re such a smart girl

And I’ll believe what you say
But who do you think you are, girl
To lead me on this way hey
Lies (ah!), lies (yeah baby)

I can’t believe a word you say
Lies, lies
Are gonna make you sad someday
Some day you’re gonna be lonely

But you won’t find me around
Lies, lie-ies
A-breakin’ my heart
I said, baby, now (breakin’ my heart)

Oh, yeah, you’re still breakin’ my heart (breakin’ my heart)

Steppenwolf – Magic Carpet Ride

The dynamic of the intro really works in this song. The wall of distortion and feedback starts and then it snaps into the song. It is incredibly catchy and bouncy for being a harder song. This song was on Steppenwolf’s “Second” album and the song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1968. I’ve always liked John Kays voice and he also has a great stage presence.

Steppenwolf had 13 songs in the Billboard 100 and 3 top ten hits. This was the second big hit for Steppenwolf. “Born To Be Wild” was released a few months earlier. They were on different albums, with “Born To Be Wild” on their first and this on their second, although this was released well before their second album came out.

From Songfacts

The group wrote this based on the bass line their bass player, Rushton Moreve, came up with. The only words he had written for it were, “I like my job, I like my baby.” Lead singer John Kay wrote the rest of the lyrics. He got inspired when he put the demo tape in a home stereo system he bought with the royalties from their first album. That’s where he came up with the line, “I like to dream, right between my sound machine.”

John Kay of Steppenwolf teamed up with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to do a 1988 rap-rock remake of this song. It was similar to the Run-D.M.C./Aerosmith mash-up of “Walk This Way,” which was released in 1986.

This song first appeared in a 1968 movie called Candy by the French director Christian Marquand. It starred Ewa Aulin, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, Ringo Starr and Charles Aznavour. It’s an extremely strange movie, definitely of it’s time and kind of gives context to the song, intended or not. The movie was based on a popular counterculture novel.

In 2004, this was used in the “America Revolution” series of Chevy car commercials.

Magic Carpet Ride

I like to dream, yes, yes
Right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near
To the stars away from here

Well, you don’t know what
We can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride

Well, you don’t know what
We can see
Why don’t you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free

Close your eyes now
Look inside now
Let the sound
Take you away

Last night I hold Aladdin’s lamp
So I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away

I looked
Around
A lousy candle’s all I found

Well, you don’t know what
We can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride

Well, you don’t know what
We can see
Why don’t you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free

Close your eyes now
Look inside now
Let the sound
Take you away

Charlie Chaplin – The Kid

This 1921 movie by Charlie Chaplin teamed him up with young Jackie Coogan. You may remember the adult Coogan as Uncle Fester on the Addams Family. It’s a great film with some classic scenes between Chaplin and Coogan. This was Chaplin’s first feature film. He was finishing up his First National contract as he co-founded United Artists with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith.

The Jackie Coogan and Chaplin…Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester

The story starts off with a woman (Edna Purviance) that abandons her baby in the back of an expensive car hoping that the owners will give her baby a life that she can not. The car is then stolen and the baby is left on the street. The Tramp (Chaplin) finds the baby and takes it home and raises him. Five years pass and he loves the kid and together they have a great scheme going on.

The kid goes around throwing rocks through windows and out of nowhere later on comes The Tramp who would just so happen to have glass and materials with him to fix the window for a price.

The authorities soon find out that the Tramp is not the kid’s father. While this is going on the mother who is doing really well now is looking for her child. The Tramp and Kid are pursued and in this film, Chaplin had some serious and tender moments combining comedy with pathos which at the time was a turning point. The movie was considered a masterpiece when it was released.

One scene that jumps out is the scene where social services are physically taking the child away and Chaplin fights…not comically but really fights to keep the Kid.

The film was written, directed, produced and starred… Charlie Chaplin. Edna Purviance makes her last appearance acting with Chaplin. She would be directed by him one more time in a drama as a leading lady. This movie kicked off Coogan’s very successful child acting career.

Jackie Coogan would become a star in the twenties. He earned 3-4 million dollars acting and when he turned 21 in 1935 he thought he was set for life only to find out the money was gone. His mother and step-father spent all of his money on furs, jewelry, and cars. His mom said that Jackie enjoyed himself acting and no promises were ever made to give him any of the money. Jackie sued his mom in 1938 and only received 125,000 dollars of his money.

Coogan had financial problems for a long while and even went to Chaplin for help which Chaplin gladly gave him money.

One good thing came out of it. The “Coogan Act” which made parents set aside at least 15 percent of their child’s earnings to a trust fund.

If you get a chance this is a great short entertaining movie.

Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup

Wednesday I covered their other song Baby Now That I’ve Found You and this is their other big hit…Build Me Up Buttercup that was the biggest hit of their career. It’s one of those 60’s pop hits that I can’t help but like. The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1969.

The Foundations sounded like they were straight out of Motown but they were actually formed in London and consisted of members from the West Indies, Britain, and even Sri Lanka.

From Songfacts

This was written by Mike D’Abo and Tony Macaulay. D’Abo was lead singer of Manfred Mann, and Macaulay was a successful songwriter who also wrote The Foundations hit “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” as well as songs by The Hollies, Andy Williams and The New Seekers.

David Essex, who was unknown at the time but went on to success with “Rock On,” was offered this song, but he turned it down as he didn’t like the title.

This was featured in the 1998 film There’s Something About Mary.

This was featured in the 2001 pilot episode of the spy drama Alias, “Truth Be Told,” when Sydney Bristow’s (Jennifer Garner) ill-fated boyfriend sings it on the campus lawn before he proposes to her.

Build Me Up Buttercup

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin’
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don’t break my heart

“I’ll be over at ten”, you told me time and again
But you’re late, I wait around and then (bah-dah-dah)
I went to the door, I can’t take any more
It’s not you, you let me down again

(Hey, hey, hey!) Baby, baby, try to find
(Hey, hey, hey!) A little time and I’ll make you mine
(Hey, hey, hey!) I’ll be home
I’ll be beside the phone waiting for you
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

You were my toy but I could be the boy you adore
If you’d just let me know (bah-dah-dah)
Although you’re untrue, I’m attracted to you all the more
Why do I need you so

I-I-I need you-oo-oo more than anyone, baby
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don’t break my heart

Gentrys – Keep on Dancing

This song was written by Allen A. Jones and Willie David Young. The Gentrys were from Memphis and best known for this 1965 hit which rose to the Top 10 and became a million seller. It’s not a great song but it’s a fun one.

The song is interesting for the fact that it is actually one short recording repeated, to stretch the record out to the length of the typical pop single of its day. The second half of the song, after the false fade, beginning with Wall’s drum fill, is the same as the first. Many modern recordings today more or less use the same trick on songs.

Keep on Dancing peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 in 1965. The Gentrys did manage an appearance in the 1965 movie It’s a Bikini World and kept releasing singles up to 1971 but they had no other top 40 single and the Gentrys disbanded.

I owned a Gentrys single before…they did a cover of Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl which I placed below the Keep On Dancing video. It’s odd that its the same group that did Keep On Dancing.

I’m not a wrestling fan at all but this band included Jimmy Hart who would make his name as a bad guy wrestling manager.

Keep On Dancing

I keep on dancin’ (keep on)
Keep on doin’ the jerk right now
Shake it, shake it, baby
Come on & show me how you work

Yellin’ in motion
Keep on doin’ the locomotion, yeah
Don’t worry, little babe
Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, yes!

[Chorus:]
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)

[Organ Solo]

I keep on dancin’ (keep on)
Keep on doin’ the jerk
Shake it, shake it, baby
Come on & show me how you work

Yellin’ in motion
Keep on doin’ the locomotion, yeah
Don’t worry, little babe
Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, yes!

[Chorus:]
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)

[Organ solo, temporarily fadin]

I keep on dancin’ (keep on)
Keep on doin’ the jerk right now
Shake it, shake it, baby
Come on & show me how you work

[Chorus:]
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)
Keep on dancin’ & a-prancin’ (ah)

[Fade]

Beach Boys – God Only Knows

Simply a beautiful song written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher. Carl Wilson sings lead on this song and it is an incredible vocal performance…one of the best in my opinion. The song peaked at #39 in the Billboard 100 and #2 in the UK in 1966. I still have a hard time believing it only made it to #39.

The Beatles’ “Here, There And Everywhere” was inspired by this song. John Lennon and Paul McCartney heard Pet Sounds at a party and went back to Lennon’s house to write it. Paul McCartney once called “God Only Knows” “The greatest song ever written.”

“God Only Knows” was voted 25th in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,

From Songfacts

Brian Wilson wrote this song with Tony Asher, who was an advertising copyrighter and lyricist that Wilson worked with on songs for Pet Sounds. This song reflects Wilson’s interest in spirituality, and it was a big departure from previous Beach Boys songs that dealt with girls, cars and surfing. Wilson explained to Goldmine in 2011: “Tony Asher and I tried to write something very spiritually. It’s got a melody similar to the song (recites lyric to ‘The Sound Of Music’), ‘I hear the sound of music…’ (Sings lyrics to ‘God Only Knows’) ‘I may not always love you…’ It was similar to it. Tony came up with the title ‘God Only Knows.’ I was scared they’d ban playing it on the radio because of the title but they didn’t.”

This song is considered a Beach Boys classic, but it only managed to scrape the Top 40 in the United States. That’s because it was released as a B-side, partly because of fear that radio stations would refuse to play a song with “God” in the title. In the liner notes to the reissued Pet Sounds album, Tony Asher explained, “I really thought it was going to be everything it was, and yet we were taking some real chances with it. First of all, the lyric opens by saying, ‘I may not always love you,’ which is a very unusual way to start a love song.”

Carl Wilson handled lead vocals on this track. Not long after the song was released, he said, “At present our influences are of a religious nature. Not any specific religion but an idea based upon that of Universal Consciousness. The concept of spreading goodwill, good thoughts and happiness is nothing new. It is an idea which religious teachers and philosophers have been handing down for centuries, but it is also our hope. The spiritual concept of happiness and doing good to others is extremely important to the lyric of our songs, and the religious element of some of the better church music is also contained within some of our new work.”

The famous French horn on this song was played by Alan Robinson, who appeared on the scores for many films, including The Sound of Music and The Ten Commandments. He got the call for the session because he could play without music written out. Brian Wilson sang him the horn line he had in mind, and Robinson played it by ear using a glissando technique suggested by Wilson.

Brian Wilson would sometimes introduce this as “the first song in the world to have God in the title.” God is common in hymns and standards (“God Bless America,” “Nearer, My God, to Thee”), and was rare in pop songs, but not unprecedented; in 1961 Johnny Burnette made #18 US with “God, Country And My Baby.”

Brian Wilson planned to sing the lead vocal himself, but decided that his brother Carl was better suited for the track. “I was looking for a tenderness and a sweetness which I knew Carl had in himself as well as in his voice,” said Brian.

This was featured at the end of the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually. It was also used in the films Boogie Nights (P.T. Anderson’s drama about the porn industry) and Saved (a 2004 drama about a Christian high school, where there are two versions, both covers). >>

This was the theme song for the first three seasons of the HBO television series Big Love, which ran 2006-2011.

Asked by The Guardian which Beach Boys song took the least effort to write, Brian Wilson replied: “I wrote ‘God Only Knows’ in 45 minutes. Me and Tony Asher.”

In Al Kooper’s tell-all autobiography Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, Kooper talks about his evening visiting Brian Wilson only a week before Pet Soundshit the streets: “Brian played a test-pressing of the record, jumping up and stopping cuts in the middle and starting them over to emphasize his points. He was very proud of his accomplishment, maybe even a little show-offish, but I wasn’t about to argue. Do you remember the first time you heard ‘God Only Knows’?”

A cover version of the song was broadcast simultaneously across BBC television and radio channels on October 7, 2014 to launch BBC Music. The new adaptation featured Brian Wilson himself as well as various guest stars including Pharrell Williams, Sir Elton John, Lorde, Chris Martin, Stevie Wonder, One Direction and Dave Grohl.

Brian Wilson first toyed with the idea of titling this “Fred Only Knows” before settling on “God Only Knows.”

John Legend and Cynthia Erivo played this to bookend the “In Memorium” segment at the Grammy Awards in 2017. There were an extraordinary number of musical passings that year, David Bowie, Prince and George Michael among them.

God Only Knows

I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I’ll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I’d be without you

If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would livin’ do me
God only knows what I’d be without you

God only knows what I’d be without you

If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would livin’ do me
God only knows what I’d be without you

God only knows what I’d be without you

Billy Bragg and Wilco – Secret of the Sea

This great pop song was written by Woody Guthrie in 1939. Billy Bragg and Wilco recorded their version of the song on the album Mermaid Avenue, Volume II (#88) in 2000. The album contained lyrics by Guthrie and music by Bragg and Wilco. On this song, the music was by Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy from Wilco.

I heard this song many times on an alternative station in Nashville…Lightning 100 in the early 2000s. This project was conceived by Guthrie’s daughter, Nora Guthrie and Mermaid Avenue (#90) came out in 1996. It has everything I like in a song. Catchy chorus and jangly guitars.

Secret of the Sea

Who can guess the secret of the sea?
Who can guess the secret of the sea?
If you can guess the secret of my love for you
Then we both could know the secret of the sea

Tell me could you ever tell the secret of the sea?
These high rolling waves along the shore
The footprints of the lovers that come here to love
By the tides washed away forever more

Who can guess the secret of the sea?
Who can guess the secret of the sea?
If you can guess the secret of my love for you
Then we both could know the secret of the sea

You claim to know the secret of a kiss and a hug
The secret of the grass and of the trees
If you can tell the secret of a warm friend’s hand
Then we all would feel the secrets of the sea

Who can guess the secret of the sea?
Who can guess the secret of the sea?
If you can guess the secret of my love for you
Then we both could know the secret of the sea
We both could know the secret of the sea

The Wonders – That Thing You Do

This was a fictitious band playing the title song to the Tom Hanks movie “That Thing You Do.” It was a nice song with an early sixties feel. The song peaked at #41 in the Billboard 100 in 1996. I really liked the movie when it came out and couldn’t help but like the song also.

Adam Schlesinger, the bass player for Fountains Of Wayne, wrote this song. He said “That was a very long time ago. That was 1995 I think I first heard about it, or ’96, and I was just starting out. I had a publishing deal as a writer and they told me about this movie – they said that they were looking for something that sounds like early Beatles. And they knew that that was an era that I liked a lot. So I just took a shot at it and got very lucky and they used the song.” Schlesinger said he found he was more known for this song than Fountains of Wayne’s hit single “Stacy’s Mom.”

The Knack later covered this song.

From Songfacts

This was featured in the movie That Thing You Do, starring Tom Hanks as the manager of the fictional ’60s Pop band The Wonders. In the movie, the song becomes their breakout hit and makes the band a huge success with legions of teenage fans.

The song is about heartbreak and chasing after lost love – cliché ’60s songwriting topics. The track also has a chipper sound, complete with bright guitars and harmonies, reminiscent of early Beatles.

Mike Viola, from the band The Candy Butchers, sang lead on this track. Adam Schlesinger was friends with Viola, and had him sing on the demo. The movie’s producers liked his sound and kept him for the film version. None of the actors in the movie actually played on the song.

In 1997, this was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards and Best Original Song at the Golden Globe Awards, but lost to Madonna’s “You Must Love Me” from the film Evita on both occasions.

NSYNC, New Found Glory and The Knack have all covered this song.

That Thing You Do

You, doin’ that thing you do
Breaking my heart into a million pieces, like you always do
And you, don’t mean to be cruel
You never even knew about the heartache
I’ve been goin’ through

Well, I try and try to forget you girl
But it’s just so hard to do
Every time you do that thing you do
And I, know all the games you play
And I’m gonna find a way to let you know that
You’ll be mine someday

Cause we, could be happy, can’t you see
If you’d only let me be the one to hold you,
And keep you here with me
‘Cause I try and try to forget you girl
But it’s just so hard to do
Every time you do that thing you do

I don’t ask a lot girl but I know one thing’s for sure
It’s the love I haven’t got girl
And I just can’t take it anymore (whoa!)
Cause we, could be happy, can’t you see
If you’d only let me be the one to hold you,
And keep you here with me

‘Cause it hurts me so just to see you go
Around with someone new
And if I know you, you’re doin’ that thing
Every day, just doin’ that thing
I can’t take you doin’ that thing you do

The Foundations – Baby Now That I’ve Found You

I first heard this song on an oldies station in the 80s. This song peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in the UK in 1968. The Foundations were a British Soul band that was active between 1967 to 1970.

When this was first released there appeared to be little enthusiasm for the single until BBC’s newly founded Radio 1 began to play it. The song got onto the station’s playlist mainly because they wanted to avoid any records being played by the pirate radio broadcasters, so they looked back at recent releases that the pirates had missed.

From Songfacts

The song’s co-writer Tony Macaulay recalls in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh: “I woke up that morning with a stinking headache and when I got to the studio and heard The Foundations, I thought they were pretty terrible. I decided my hangover was to blame, and so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. The only song I could think of was something John McLeod and I had had for some time, ‘Baby Now That I’ve Found You.’ I didn’t have a lot of faith in the song but they recorded it with a lot of energy and I learned a lot from making that record.” It went on to become an international hit.

Clem Curtis, the lead vocalist of The Foundations recalls in the same book “Tony Macaulay gave us 2 songs. One was ‘Let The Heartaches Begin’ and the other was ‘Baby Now That I’ve Found You’ and we chose ‘Baby Now That I’ve Found You.’ Long John Baldry recorded the other one and that knocked us off the top.”

This was used in the 2001 film Shallow Hal.

This was the first song by a multiracial band to top the UK singles chart.

A cover version by Alison Krauss was featured in the 1997 Australian comedy, The Castle.

Baby Now That I’ve Found You

[Chorus]
Baby, now that I’ve found you
I can’t let you go
I’ll build my world around you

I need you so
Baby, even though you don’t need me
You don’t need me.

[Chorus]

Baby, baby, since first we met (doot-doot)
I knew in this heart of mine (I want to tell you, doot-doot)
The love we had could not be bad (doot-doot)
Play it right and bide my time

Spent a lifetime looking for somebody
To give me love like you
Now you’ve told me that you want to leave me
Darling, I just can’t let you.

[Chorus: x2]

Spent a lifetime looking for somebody
To give me love like you
Now you’ve told me that you want to leave me
Darling, I just can’t let you.

[Repeat Chorus]

Young Rascals – Good Lovin’

Great song by the Young Rascals and also covered by a number of artists. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 in 1966. This song was written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick. It was originally recorded in 1965 by The Olympics, a novelty/doo-wop group who had hits with “Peanut Butter,” “Western Movies” and “Hully Gully.”

Felix Cavaliere of The Young Rascals was listening to a New York Soul station when he heard The Olympics version. The Rascals liked it and played a sped-up version at their live performances. They recorded the song for Atlantic Records, and although the group did not like the outcome, famed producer Tom Dowd loved the rawness of it and that version was released, becoming a huge hit.

From Songfacts

The Young Rascals added the famous half spoken/half sung “One! Two! Three!” count-in, which was by Cavaliere.

According to Rolling Stone magazine, The Young Rascals were surprised by the success of this track. Felix Cavaliere admitted, “We weren’t too pleased with our performance. It was a shock to us when it went to the top of the charts.”

This was The Young Rascals first hit. They went on to achieve seven US Top 30 hits before becoming The Rascals in 1968. They disbanded in 1972 after recording five more American Top 30 songs.

Good Lovin

1-2-3-
(Good lovin’ )
(Good lovin’ )
(Good lovin’ )

I was feelin’ so bad,
I asked my family doctor just what I had,
I said, “Doctor,
(Doctor )
Mr. M.D.,
(Doctor )
Now can you tell me, tell me, tell me,
What’s ailin’ me?”
(Doctor )

He said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Yes, indeed, all you really need
(Is good lovin’)
Gimme that good, good lovin
(Good lovin’)
All I need is lovin’
(Good lovin’)
Good lovin’, baby.

Baby please, squeeze me tight (Squeeze me tight)
Now don’t you want your baby to feel alright? (Feel alright)
I said Baby (Baby) now it’s for sure (it’s for sure)
I got the fever, Baby, Baby, but you’ve got the cure
(You’ve got the cure)

I said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Yes, indeed, all I really need
(Is good lovin’)
Gimme that good, good lovin
(Good lovin’)
All I need is lovin’
(Good lovin’)
Good lovin’, baby.

This is Spinal Tap

I remember seeing this movie with some buddies in the 1980s and we all loved it. A great mockumentary of the fictional rock group Spinal Tap and their dying drummers. There are many quotable lines in this movie and they have stayed with me since I saw it the first time. I’ve met some people who didn’t get this movie at all and some who loved it.

The movie starred Michael McKeon as singer/guitarist David Saint Hubbins, Christopher Guest as guitarist Nigel Tufnel (reminded me of Jeff Beck), Harry Shearer as bassist Derek Smalls, Tony Hendra as manager Ian Faith, David Kaff as keyboard player Vic Savage and R.J. Parnell as drummer Mick Shrimpton…also Rob Reiner as the Marty DiBergi the filmmaker.

Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest actually wrote, played, and sang the music.

The movie was released in 1984 and started slow but built a cult following. At first, some people thought it was about a real band and they would ask Reiner why he would do a documentary on a band no one had heard of.

Christopher Guest said he was inspired at an LA hotel in 1974 when a British band came in and the manager of the band asked the bass player if he left his bass at the airport. The bass player replied I don’t know if I left it…did I leave it? Do you get my bass at the airport? Guest said this went on for 20 minutes back and forth and it stuck with him.

They did have a basic story but the movie was ad-libbed with no script. They had over 100 hours of film and had to edit it down. They have regrouped many times and played live concerts as Spinal Tap.

This Is Spinal Tap was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry because it is a film that is considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress.

My favorite bits? Stonehenge, Nigel’s “Mach” piece, these go to 11, Nigel’s bread, you can’t dust vomit… there are too many to name them all. check the videos out at the bottom.

Some of it hits home according to some rock stars.

Quotes about the movie

The Edge – “It’s so hard to keep things fresh, and not to become a parody of yourself,”. “And if you’ve ever seen that movie Spinal Tap, you will know how easy it is to parody what we all do. The first time I ever saw it, I didn’t laugh. I wept. I wept because I recognized so much and so many of those scenes.”

Ozzy Osbourne reportedly thought it was a real documentary. ” “They seemed quite tame compared to what we got up to”

Joe Perry from Aerosmith – “It was great, every bit as brilliant as it was supposed to be, so good. Even then, we had been through it all six times. I told Steven the next day, ‘You’ve got to see this movie! It’s so good. It’s hilarious.’”

Steven Tyler from Aerosmith – “That movie bummed me out, because I thought, ‘How dare they? That’s all real, and they’re mocking it’

Pete Townsend – “Keith Moon “was ‘Spinal Tap incarnate.”

Stonehenge

These go to 11

Nigel’s Bread

Can’t dust vomit

Trailer

Hank Williams – Lost Highway

This man was brilliant and so was the song but this is one song that Hank did not write. Leon Payne wrote and released this song in 1948. Blind since he was a child, Payne wrote hundreds of songs, some of which were recorded by Hank Williams, John Prine, Elvis Presley, George Jones, and Johnny Cash, and many more.

Payne had been hitchhiking around and working jobs. One day he needed to get home to his sick mother in Alba Texas. No one would pick him so he wrote this song on the side of the road.

Hank Williams released this song in 1949 and it peaked at #12 in the Country Charts. This song is one of my favorite country songs.

From Songfacts

This song gave us two of the most famous metaphors in music: the Lost Highway and the Rolling Stone (from the line, “I’m a rolling stone, I’m alone and lost”).Both images represent a wandering spirit that keeps moving but often ends up in dark places. Many musicians who left town to pursue their dreams could relate to these concepts and used them in songs. The Lost Highway shows up in:“All I Left Behind” and “Guitar Town” by Emmylou Harris“Heart Is A Drum” by Beck (“You’re falling down across your lost highway”)“Happiness” by Lee Ann Womack (“Down by the lost highway cafe I met a man there with a map in his hands”)“Jesus Of Suburbia” by Green Day (“At the end of another lost highway. Signs misleading to nowhere.”)Those New Jersey ramblers Bon Jovi made their song “Lost Highway” the title track of their 2007 album; in 2009, Willie Nelson also released an album of that name. In 1997, director David Lynch released a suitably disconcerting movie called Lost Highway.

The saying “a rolling stone gathers no moss” dates to biblical times, but this song popularized it in the musical landscape. It was Williams’ version that gave Bob Dylan the title for “Like a Rolling Stone,” which has been the subject of many essays, including one written by Ralph Gleason, who used the phrase when he founded the magazine Rolling Stone.In 1950, Muddy Waters released the song “Rollin’ Stone,” which is where The Rolling Stones got their name from.

This became one of Hank Williams’ most famous songs, but he didn’t write it. It was written by a blind singer named Leon Payne, who released the original version in 1948. According to an interview with Payne’s widow published in the book , he wrote the song when he was hitchhiking from Texas to California when he got stuck for a stretch and was taken in by the Salvation Army.His version is surprisingly upbeat, featuring a string band and various quips by Payne throughout the song.Payne’s version didn’t reach the charts, but when Williams recorded it in 1949, that rendition made #12 on the Country chart. The song grew in popularity as Williams legend grew, as it was so associated with his itinerant lifestyle of wine, women and song.Payne, who died in 1969, also wrote the popular songs “I Love You Because” and “Psycho.”

Lost Highway was used as the title for an off-Broadway play about Williams that ran in 2003.

Artists to cover this song include Leon Russell, Tom Petty, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Osborne Brothers, Bill Frisell and Johnny Horton.

Lost Highway

I’m a rollin’ stone all alone and lost
For a life of sin I have paid the cost
When I pass by all the people say
Just another guy on the lost highway

Just a deck of cards and a jug of wine
And a woman’s lies makes a life like mine
O the day we met, I went astray
I started rolling down that lost highway

I was just a lad, nearly twenty two
Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you
And now I’m lost, too late to pray
Lord I take a cost, o the lost highway

Now boy’s don’t start to ramblin’ round
On this road of sin are you sorrow bound
Take my advice or you’ll curse the day
You started rollin’ down that lost highway

Lost Horizon 1937

I just watched this movie for the 3rd time this past week. It was directed by Frank Capra and starred Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt and featured Sam Jaffe, H.B. Warner (Mr. Gower in It’s A Wonderful Life), and the great character actor Thomas Mitchell.

It’s about a group of people on a plane and crashing in the Himalayas and being taken to a wonderful place called Shangri-La. Shangri-La is a place that is beautiful and everyone lives and works in harmony. It is directed by Frank Capra. Ronald Colman is great as a British diplomat named Robert Conway. Jane Wyatt is gorgeous and she plays Sondra a resident of Shangri-La that falls for Conway and him for her.

One of the things they get right is the human element. Who would not want to live in a perfect place, live long, be healthy, and be in peace? Well, there is always one in every crowd and you have a couple here.

The movie has a few minutes with stills and audio because the footage is missing. It’s not a lot of the movie and it doesn’t get in the way. I will recommend this movie to anyone.

Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose – It’s Too Late to Turn Back Now

It’s Too Late to Turn Back Now peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canda in 1972

This was the follow-up song to “Treat Her Like a Lady” that peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 and #10 in Canada in 1971.

From Wiki…The band was a family soul singing group from Dania Beach, Florida that formed in 1970. While the group failed to find any further success on the scale of their first two singles, two releases, “Don’t Ever Be Lonely” and “I’m Never Gonna Be Alone Anymore” reached the Billboard Top 40. Their final charting single was “Since I Found My Baby” in 1974, from their third and last album. Their records were all produced by Bob Archibald at the Music Factory in Miami.

Too Late To Turn Back Now

My mama told me
She said, “Son, please beware
There’s this thing called love
And it’s everywhere”

She told me, “It can break your heart
And put you in misery”
Since I met this little woman
I feel it’s happened to me
And I’m tellin’ you

It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love
It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love

I found myself wantin’ her
At least ten times a day
You know, it’s so unusual for me
To carry on this way

I’m tellin’ you, I can’t sleep at night
Wantin’ to hold her tight
I’ve tried so hard to convince myself
That this feelin’ just can’t be right
And I’m tellin’ you

It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love
It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe I believe, I’m fallin’ in love

It’s too late to turn back now oh, baby
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love
It’s too late, baby to turn back now I tell ya
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love

I wouldn’t mind it
If I knew she really loved me too
But I hate to think that I’m in love alone
And nothing that I can do

It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love
It’s too late, baby to turn back now I tell ya
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love
It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love

Ooh, baby, I tell ya
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love
It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love
It’s too late to turn back now
I believe, I believe, I believe, I’m fallin’ in love