PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Lightnin’ Hopkins – Shotgun Blues

You know I’m gonna shoot my woman
Cause she’s foolin’ around with too many men

Before I start this I want to thank Randy from Mostly Music Covers. While writing this up the song title I had was “Bring Me My Shotgun” but I couldn’t find the album it was on. I’m a babe in the woods with blues…so I asked Randy and Shotgun Blues was recorded in 1948. As far as I can tell he did re-record many of his songs and this one around 1960. I’ll include the earlier version of Shotgun Blues and the 1960 version named Bring Me My Shotgun..at least for this post. He would change up the lyrics in some versions. What made it confusing was that he changed the way he did the vocals a little as well… again thank you, Randy.

I’m sitting with headphones on listening to Lightnin’ Hopkins and it’s like he is in the room with me. I’ve never posted anything about him before but I wanted to clear that up today.

He was born in Texas and He grew up in a musical family and learned the blues from his older cousin, country blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson. Jefferson and Hopkins started to play together at church gatherings. Hopkins started performing in the 1920s and 1930s in the local Texas blues scene. By the mid-30s Hopkins was sent to a prison farm but the reason is unknown. He described working on a road gang and being shackled to his bunk at night.

In the mid-1940s he was teamed with a Houston piano player named Wilson “Thunder” Smith. They were known as Thunder an’ Lightnin’ and they had a local hit named Katie May with Aladdin Records. Hopkins would record with many different labels throughout the rest of his life. The Folk-Blues revival was stirring in 1959, and Folkways producer Sam Charters persuaded Lightning (with the help of a bottle of gin!) to record 10 tracks in the shabby room where he had been living in Houston. I have one of them below called “Hopkins Sky Hop.” Bring Me My Shotgun was released in 1960.

He started to get popular, especially with the British white soon-to-be musicians. He worked the College and club circuit, toured Europe with the Folk/Blues Festival, and starred at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. He found an appreciative new audience of rock fans who heard this great guitarist who lived the blues.

He later headlined over the Jefferson Airplane and he played with the Grateful Dead a few times. He recorded dozens of albums through the 60s and 70s. He finally left us in 1982.

Bring Me My Shotgun

Woah, go bring me my shotgun
Oh I’m gonna start shootin’ again
Go bring me my shotgun
You know I just got to start shootin’ again
You know I’m gonna shoot my woman
Cause she’s foolin’ around with too many men

Yes bring me my shotgun
Yes man and a pocket full of shells
Yes go bring me my shotgun
Yes man and a pocket full of shells
Yeah you know I’m gonna kill that woman
I’m gonna throw her in that old deep dug well
Hide her from everybody they won’t know where she at

That woman said Lightnin’ you can’t shoot me
She said now you is dead of tryin’
I don’t take a day off for nobody
She said Lightnin’ you can’t shoot me
She said yes and you dare to try
I said the only reason I don’t shoot you little woman
My double barrel shotgun, it just won’t fire

…

Tom Robinson Band – Up Against The Wall

High wire fencing on the playgroundHigh rise housing all aroundHigh rise prices on the high streetHigh time to pull it all down

I’ve heard of this band…Dave posted something before but I never listened to a lot of their songs. CB sent me a link and off I went. The Tom Robinson Band was a British rock band formed in 1976. The band was named after its frontman, Tom Robinson, a singer-songwriter and bassist. Their music was influenced by punk rock and new wave, and they were associated with the punk scene in London during the late 1970s.

Truth is…I could have picked MANY songs but this one talked to me. It’s fairly well known and since I always like to pick a song that would ring a bell for the first song of an artist I never posted before…I picked this one. He did have a top 10 hit in the UK in 1977 with 2-4-6-8 Motorway. More than punk or new wave…he reminds me a lot of Springsteen, Joplin, and Phil Lynott…spitting out words like his life depended on it. You can see, feel, and hear the intensity as he sings. These are the kind of artists that I like… the ones that give you everything they have. Robinson not only gave everything but is a hell of a writer on top of that.

He often addressed political and social issues, including themes of anti-racism, LGBT rights, and other causes. Tom Robinson himself was openly gay in the 1970s, and this was reflected in his music, making him an important figure in that community at the time.

This song was inspired by actual events, particularly the “Battle of Lewisham” in 1977, where anti-fascist protesters clashed with members of the National Front during a march. The song captures the tension and conflict between protesters and police.

This song was on his album Power in the Darkness album released in 1977. Robinson and Roy Butterfield wrote this song. The album peaked at #4 in the UK and #144 on the Billboard Album Charts. One note about the album which I think is brilliant. They included a stencil much like the album cover but with a warning…”This stencil is not meant for spraying on public property!!!”

The song peaked at #33 in the UK in 1978.

Up Against The Wall

Darkhaired dangerous schoolkidsVicious, suspicious sixteenJet-black blazers at the bus stopSullen, unhealthy and meanTeenage guerillas on the tarmacFighting in the middle of the roadSupercharged FS1Es on the asphaltThe kids are coming in from the cold

Look out, listen can you hear itPanic in the County HallLook out, listen can you hear itWhitehall, up against a wallUp against the wall…

High wire fencing on the playgroundHigh rise housing all aroundHigh rise prices on the high streetHigh time to pull it all downWhite boys kicking in a windowStraight girls watching where they goneNever trust a copper in a crime carJust whose side are you on?

Look out, listen can you hear itPanic in the County HallLook out, listen can you hear itWhitehall, up against a wallUp against the wall…Against the wall

Consternation in BrixtonRioting in Notting Hill GateFascists marching on the high streetCarving up the welfare stateOperator get me the hotlineFather can you hear me at all?Telephone kiosk out of orderSpraycan writing on the wall

Look out, listen can you hear itPanic in the County HallLook out, listen can you hear itWhitehall, up against a wallLook out, listen can you hear itPanic in the County HallLook out, listen can you hear itWhitehall, up against a wallUp against the wallUp against the wall

Beatles new Let It Be video

Apple has released a clean version of the Let It Be film. Today they dropped a new video of the song Let It Be. I have had this movie since the 80s but you could only get a terrible quality version. This video shows how clear it will be as in The Get Back film a few years ago.

My only complaint is I wish the Let It Be version would have included George’s distorted solo.

This is the video of the title song they just released today.

Here is a comparison

Here is the trailer

The short Featurette

…

Great Buildings – Hold On To Something

I had never heard of this band but I like this song. You probably have heard of the song that two of the members made when this band was over.

Danny Wilde and Phil Solem originally met each other at a party, where they bonded over a stack of David Bowie, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, and Cheap Trick records. At the time, Solem and Wilde were just 20. Solem was performing around Los Angeles with a power pop band called Loose Change. Wilde was playing in a power-pop band The Quick. When the Quick dissolved, Wilde and his Quick bandmate, bassist Ian Ainsworth, formed Great Buildings and recruited Solem to join, adding vocals and guitar work that created

In the early eighties, they were the LA band with the best shot at Top 40 radio. From the start, the band kept a relatively low profile on the local club circuit and got their big break with Columbia and released their album Apart From The Crowd in 1981.

Well Apart From The Crowd was ignored by radio programmers and the public in general. You would think right after The Knack had exploded on the scene…these guys would get some play…but that didn’t happen. Hold On To Something is pure power pop and a good bit of ear candy. It sounds very radio-friendly.

After Great Buildings broke up, members Danny Wilde and Phil Solem, started The Rembrandts and would make considerable waves around the globe with their hit (and Friends theme song) “I’ll Be There For You,” while Ainsworth would make a name for himself as a producer.

Phil Solem: “Our m.o. is to only put out things that have a timeless kind of quality to it, that isn’t going to be time-stamped in some era,” Solem says. “And, so far, our records have done pretty well with that.”

Hold On To Something

Late night, the house is empty still
Wish I could hold you close to me
No right to leave me here this way
I thought love was here to stay tonight
Tonight

Hold on, hold on
Just hold on to something
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Just hold on to something
Hold on, hold on

Ha!

Pressure, so you refuse to share
And you forget to care at all
Something, something besides just you
And no matter if it’s true tonight
Tonight

Hold on, hold on
Just hold on to something
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Just hold on to something
Hold on, hold on

You might also like
…And The Light Goes On
Great Buildings
…And The Light Goes On
Great Buildings
Cupid (Twin Version)

I’ve got to deny myself once
Just ignore the fronts that keep me from you
Oh, you
Oh

Hold on, hold on
Just hold on to something
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Just hold on to something
Hold on, hold on

Hold on, hold on
Baby, you just gotta hold on
Hold on, hold on
Well, hold on
Well, hold on, hold on
Baby, baby, baby, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on
Yeah!

Hold on, hold on (H

…

Peter and Gordon – Woman

When I first saw the Michael Myers character Austin Powers I automatically thought of Peter Asher. I learned about them in the 80s while listening to an oldies channel at where I used to work. Peter and Gordon were Peter Asher and Gordon Waller.

The first song I remember hearing and liking from them was I Go To Pieces. They were part of the British Invasion to come in after The Beatles. Peter Asher had a secret weapon. His sister was going out with Paul McCartney and McCartney was living at the Ashers at this time in a room beside Peters.

McCartney first gave the duo a song called A World Without Love that John Lennon rejected because of the first line he didn’t like (Please lock me away). The record was huge… it peaked at #1 in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK in 1964. Paul wrote “World Without Love,” Nobody I Know,” “I Don’t Want To See You Again,” and “Woman” for the group. Woman though was different than the others.

Paul didn’t want the Lennon/McCartney name on this song. People were saying they were only hits because of who wrote the song. Peter and Gordon were told they were only jumping on the Beatle bandwagon. When this song was released it first got credited to A. Smith and then Bernard Webb. The song was rising up the charts but only after two weeks, it was traced back to Lennon and McCartney’s publishing company Northern Songs so it was exposed.

The song was a hit regardless peaking at #14 on the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #28 in the UK, and #7 in New Zealand in 1966. The duo would have other hits not written by McCartney like I Go To Pieces and Lady Godiva. They had a longer career than I first thought. Their success lasted until 1967 but not before they amassed 10 top 40 hits in America alone.

Peter Asher would later become head of A&R for Apple Records in 1968. He signed, produced, and managed James Taylor. After Allen Klein destroyed what was left of Apple Records, Asher packed up and moved to California. He took James Taylor with him and produced him through the seventies. He also picked up another artist and produced her…Linda Rondstadt. He also produced albums by J. D. Souther, Andrew Gold, and Bonnie Raitt. He also worked with Cher and 10,000 Mainiacs.

He became Senior Vice-President, of Sony Music Entertainment in 1995 and held that job until 2002 when he went back to artist management. .

Peter and Gordon reunited in 2005 and played concerts when they had time. They did this up until Gordon’s death in 2009 of a heart attack. Peter would go on to Sirus Radio doing a Beatle show on their Beatles channel called “From Me To You. ”

He also wrote a book on The Beatles called The Beatles From A to Zed. I just read it and it is really good. It’s not a biography on the Beatles or any dirt though…it’s a fun book and he goes through the alphabet and names Beatles songs, places, things, and etc corresponding to whatever letter he is on.

Woman

Woman, do you love me?
Woman, if you need me then
Believe me I need you
To be my woman

And should you ask me how I’m doing?
What shall I say? Things are okay
But I know that they’re not
And I still may have lost you

Woman, do you love me?
Woman, if you need me then
Believe me I need you
To be my woman

I guess you’ll take your time and tell me
When we’re alone, love will come home
I would give up my world
If you’ll say that my girl is my woman

I’ve got plenty of time (I’ve got plenty of time)
Time just to get through it
Once again you’ll be mine (once again you’ll be mine)
I still think we can do it
And you know how much I love you

Woman, don’t forsake me
Woman, if you take me then
Believe me I’ll take you
To be my woman

Monkees – She

As a 6-year-old I watched the Monkees show in re-runs intently dreaming of one day forming a band and living all together. Most of that dream came true except the all living together…which we probably wouldn’t still like each other if that had happened. This song was popular with me because I remember the TV show and liked this song. The Monkees had their own MTV before MTV…their show would not only play videos of hits but album cuts as this was…and it’s a good one.

This song was written and produced by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart with lead vocals by Mickey Dolenz. He had one of the best pop voices in the sixties. “She” was on The Monkees’ second album More of the Monkees. This album was the last one they would not have much control over. The album was released without the band’s knowledge. They discovered it while they were in Cleveland, Ohio on tour. They were not happy at all. This album’s release was the key moment that started Mike Nesmith’s fight for control.

After the album was released Nesmith and the others met with Don Kirshner (the show and music creator). They met him in the Beverly Hills Hotel and Nesmith punched a hole in the wall and told Kirshner and his lawyer…“That could have been your face!” After that Nesmith was told to read his contract so Nesmith did the only thing he could do to break free from the control…he threatened to quit.

Kirshner refused to allow them to play instruments on their records, hiring seasoned studio musicians instead…although Nesmith and Tork did get to play some instruments on their first two albums. After Nesmith threatened to quit…the executives took notice. They dropped Kirshner from The Monkees completely. After he was dismissed from the Monkees…he created the Archies…because he said “I want a band that won’t talk back.”

Four months after More of the Monkees was released…The Monkees released their album Headquarters in May of 1967. This time they were in control and played their own instruments with no Kirshner to be found.

More of the Monkees peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, in Canada, and The UK in 1967. Their first album with them playing everything…Headquarters peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #2 in the UK. It tops some people’s Monkee album lists.

By the way…their next album after Headquarters, again playing most of the instruments themselves Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. also peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100 in 1967. So for those who are keeping score…that is three #1 albums released in 1967.

Here are quotes about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by each member of the Monkees.

Peter Tork: [Wenner] doesn’t care what the rules are and just operates how he sees fit. It is an abuse of power. I don’t know whether the Monkees belong in the Hall of Fame, but it’s pretty clear that we’re not in there because of a personal whim. Jann seems to have taken it harder than everyone else, and now, 40 years later, everybody says, ‘What’s the big deal? Everybody else does it.’ [Uses studio artists or backing bands.] Nobody cares now except him. He feels his moral judgment in 1967 and 1968 is supposed to serve in 2007.

Michael Nesmith: “I can see the HOF (Hall of Fame) is a private enterprise. It seems to operate as a business, and the inductees are there by some action of the owners of the Enterprise. The inductees appear to be chosen at the owner’s pleasure. This seems proper to me. It is their business in any case. It does not seem to me that the HOF carries a public mandate, nor should it be compelled to conform to one.”

Davy Jones: “I’m not as wealthy as some entertainers, but I work hard, and I think the best is yet to come. I know I’m never going to make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but maybe there’s something else for me in show business. I’ve been given a talent—however big or little—that has given me many opportunities. I’ve got to try to use it the best way I can. A lot of people go days without having someone hug them or shake their hand. I get that all the time.”

Micky Dolenz: “As far as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame I’ve never been one to chase awards or anything like that; it’s never been very important to me. I was very proud to win an Emmy for The Monkees, having come out of television as a kid. When we won the Emmy for best TV show in ’66 or ’67 that was a huge feather in my cap. But I’ve never chased that kind of stuff. I’ve never done a project and thought, ‘What do I do here to win an award?’ Specifically as far as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame I’ve been very flattered that the fans and people have championed the Monkees. Very flattered and honored that they do. If you know anything about the organization, and I’ve done charity work for the foundation, the Hall of Fame is a private club.”

She

She, she told me that she loved me,
And like a fool I believed her from the start.
She, she said she’d never hurt me,
But then she turned around and broke my heart

Why am I standing here,
Missing her and wishing she were here.
She only did me wrong;
I’m better off alone.

She, she devoured all my sweet love,
Took all I had and then she fed me dirt.
She, she laughed while I was cryin’.
It was such a joke to see the way it hurt.

Why am I standing here,
Missing her and wishing she were here.
She only did me wrong;
I’m better off alone.

And now I know just why she
Keeps me hangin’ ’round.
She needs someone to walk on,
So her feet don’t touch the ground.
But I love her,
I need her,
I want her.
Yea! Yea! Yea! Yea! Yea! Yea! She!

[Instrumental]

Why am I standing here,
Missing her and wishing she were here.
She only did me wrong now;
I’m better off alone.

Why am I missing her?
I should be kissing her.

Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey Album

I don’t do many album reviews because frankly…I think other people do them better but sometimes I cannot resist…and this is one of them.

When I was 18 or so, I ordered exports from Tower Records because you could not just go to many record stores in America and buy a Them album in the eighties.

I bought the “Backtracking” album which was a compilation of Them. His voice blew me away. That is when I looked in the Van Morrison section for the albums I could buy there. The first album I bought…just by chance…was Tupelo Honey. Compared to the raw intense Them songs…this was a totally different ballgame. The songs’ production values and sophistication were in a new league.

Personally, I really like this album. I thought it was a great introduction to his catalog. Is it his best? No, it’s not, but for a beginner Van fan, it was a great introduction album. The songs on Tupelo Honey are very radio-friendly. After this album I bought Moondance, His Band and Street Choir, Veendon Fleece, etc…the 8 albums up to Wavelength. After that, I started on the 80’s catalog.

He made this album in 1971 when he moved to Northern California with his wife Janet Planet who was from that area. He originally wanted to make a country album. Soon that idea was dropped and he worked with Ted Templeton as producer. He used a lot of unused songs that he had.

The opening track Wild Night has an irresistible hook and is one of Van’s best-known songs. The title track may be my favorite Van Morrison song period. The only song that I would skip when I got the album, and still do, is I Wanna Roo You. In Moonshine Whiskey and some other songs, you can hear some of the country album he was going to make.

Another favorite on the album is Old Old Woodstock and he puts you there with his lyrics and the feel of the song. You’re My Woman was a song for Janet Planet and I’ve always liked that one.

The album peaked at #27 on the Billboard Album Charts and #32 in Canada in 1971.

Again, this is not Van’s best album but it got me into his solo career. It’s a great-sounding album and one of Van’s most commercial. I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to explore Van the Man’s catalog.

Tracklist

Wild Night
(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball
Old Old Woodstock
Starting a New Life
You’re My Woman
Tupelo Honey
I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)
When That Evening Sun Goes Down
Moonshine Whiskey

I could not find the complete album on Spotify so I found it all grouped together on YouTube with this link…

Tupelo Honey

You can take all the tea in China
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail right around the seven oceans
Drop it straight into the deep blue sea
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

You can’t stop us on the road to freedom
You can’t keep us ’cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor bent on chivalry
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

You can’t stop us on the road to freedom
You can’t stop us ’cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor intent on chivalry
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

You know she’s alright
You know she’s alright with me
She’s alright, she’s alright (she’s an angel)

You can take all the tea in China
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail it right around the seven oceans
Drop it smack dab in the middle of the deep blue sea
Because she’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like the honey, baby, from the bee
She’s my baby, you know she’s alright…..

My Least Favorite Beatle Songs

This is an interesting list to make. Everyone knows I’m a huge fan but there are some that I won’t listen to…not because they are burned out…I won’t even list those…these are ones I never really liked since I was a kid.

Some of you will notice that one “song” or experiment is not in here…that’s because I count Revolution #9 as an experiment and not a true song. I find it fascinating…a sound collage. I looked up the usual suspects… Yellow Submarine, Good Day Sunshine, Don’t Pass Me By, Rocky Raccoon, and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da but I like those.

These are songs I’ll never post except this once.

5: Little Child – This was on their Meet The Beatles album in the US. Never liked it as a kid, teen, or now. But I did find a version I like by The Inmates that I just found recently.

4: Mister Moonlight – This song was written by someone else but I just never took to it at all…although John did a great vocal on it.

3: Can’t Buy Me Love – I know…this one seems out of place on this list but it was on the first Beatle album I ever bought (Hey Jude Again) and I skipped it even as an eight-year-old.

2: Maxwell’s Silver Hammer – I’ve heard my share of jokes about this song with me being named Max. I would like to use that damn hammer on every recording of this. I’ll never forgive Paul for introducing Maxwell to the world. The other three Beatles felt the same. There are some that really like it…more power to them!

1: Now the number 1 song…it’s the only one on the White Album I cannot and will not listen to. Wild Honey Pie. This song makes Revolution #9 look like Stairway to Heaven. I have to think they did this as a joke and just left it on. Patti Harrison liked this one so Paul left it on. Paul is the only one on this song.

…

Jimmie Dale Gilmore w/ Mudhoney – Buckskin Stallion Blues

If three and four was seven only
where would that leave one and two?
If love can be and still be lonely
where does that leave me and you?

When CB sent me this link… it was like listening to something I’ve heard all of my life but I haven’t… a very cool and inviting song and voice. The song Buckskin Stallion Blues was written by Townes Van Zandt.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and moved to Austin in the 1960s. In the 1970s he joined forces with fellow musicians Joe Ely and Butch Hancock to form the influential country-folk band called The Flatlanders. The band was ahead of its time, blending traditional country music with rock and roll elements. They have been playing off and on since 1972…they have had 10 albums and the last one was released in 2021.

He released his solo debut album Fair & Square in 1988. His music has introspective lyrics, and a blend of country, folk, and rock influences. What I’ve heard is authenticity and depth. He has released 9 solo albums with his last one in 2018. But…there is more. He also acted in some movies…he was Smokey in The Big Lebowski and was Reverend Saunders in Parkland. He also has songs on soundtracks.

Mudhoney is a band out of Seattle in the early 90s. I have a friend who really likes them and I have heard some songs by them I really liked. They are often credited as pioneers of the grunge genre and were a prominent part of the Seattle music scene that eventually gave rise to bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden.

This collaboration was unlikely on paper but it worked! The joint EP Buckskin Stallion Blues was released in 1994. Allmusic labeled the style as Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Garage Punk, Grunge, Country-Folk, and Progressive Country. After listening to it I thought that was a fair assessment. The EP has 5 tracks…2 by Mudhoney alone and the other 3 by Gilmore and Mudhoney.

Buckskin Stallion Blues

heard her sing in tongues of silver
I heard her cry on a summer storm
I loved her, but she did not know it
So I don’t think about her anymore
Now she’s gone, and I can’t believe it
So I don’t think about her anymore

If three and four was seven only
Where would that leave one and two?
If love can be and still be lonely
Where does that leave me and you?
Time there was, and time there will be
Where does that leave me and you?

If I had a buckskin stallion
I’d tame him down and ride away.
If I had a flyin’ schooner
I’d sail into the light of day
If I had your love forever
Sail into the light of day

Pretty songs and pretty places
Places that I’ve never seen
Pretty songs and pretty faces
Tell me what their laughter means
Some look like they’ll cry forever
Tell me what their laughter means.

If I had a buckskin stallion
I’d tame him down and ride away.
If I had a golden galleon
I’d sail into the light of day
If I had your love forever
Sail into the light of day

Jimmy Simpson – North To The Last Frontier

This post is more personal for me. Jimmy Simpson was my uncle…my mom’s brother. The man got around and had an interesting life. He was an extra in some movies (the one I know is The Alamo) because of his friendship with John Wayne and James Arness. He was built like them and reminded me of both.

He was born in 1928 and moved out of Tennessee in the early 50s and went to Florida and ended up in Texas working in oil fields while playing at night at clubs. He would go to gigs in Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Louisana, Texas, and everything in between. He wasn’t an amateur…he played with some big players like Jim Reeves’ Blue Boys.

He recorded some singles while living in Nashville and Texas. Jimmy and his wife got to know Jimmie Rodger’s widow which this below sounds like it’s heavily influenced by.

He then moved to Alaska in the late 50s to mine for gold which he was successful at. He bought into a snowmobile factory there and played country music in bars in Alaska and Canada. He also released a few albums and charted on local charts in Alaska and Canada.

Simpson Earnest Tubb — Nashville, mid-1950s. From left: Billy Byrd, Ernest Tubb, Jimmy Simpson. Courtesy Jimmy Simpson.

My dad’s side of the family made guitars and they gave Jimmy an acoustic. Gower guitars are compared to Martins and still get really high prices at shops and on eBay. He had that guitar stolen while playing in Alaska…he finally chased the guy down and got the guitar back. The man tore out one of the serial numbers inside the guitar but didn’t get by with it…and knowing my uncle Jimmy the dude was probably missing some teeth afterward. My uncle was a man’s man. He told me about it…“Max…you don’t mess with a man’s guitar…you just don’t.”

Around six months before my uncle passed away in 2014, he came by and gave me that guitar and another one his daughter once owned that our family made. I asked him why because he treasured those guitars (his daughter passed away a few years earlier) and he said, “I want you to have them before I pass away to make sure you get them.” He was 86 at the time. I will treasure them and I play them a lot. I would include a picture but they are getting serviced right now.

He also had an autobiography published in the mid-90s called A Vanishing Breed: The Gold Miner that I read and he lived 3 lifetimes in one. I remember as a kid him showing me this bag of gold…pieces as big as a quarter and very thick. You know it’s a shame…so many questions I would love to ask the man now.

Here is one recording from 1956… I’ll copy what it says from the wired-for-sound.blogspot.com. It’s called “Blue As I Can Be“…it has a little of the Johnny Cash sound in it.

Jimmy Simpson, Tennessee honky tonk singer, Texas oilfield wildcatter, and Canadian gold digger made this one superb session in a West Monroe, Louisiana radio station studio in 1956 with Bobby Garrett (steel) and Leo Jackson (lead guitar), both on hiatus from Jim Reeves’ Blue Boys. Records and gigs weren’t paying Jimmy’s rent, so he picked up jobs working in Texas oil fields for much of the 1950s, before moving to Alaska in 1957.

“I lived at Greggton, Texas (in 1956-57),” Jimmy said in an interview. “We were on our way back from Nashville to San Angelo, and we stopped at Greggton…little town just out of Longview. We had everything we owned in the car. I had my work shoes and my hardhat, ‘cause I could always go to work on an oil rig if everything else failed. In a little restaurant there in Greggton, there was a driller in there that was short-handed, and I overheard ‘em talking. I walked over there and said, “You looking for a derrick man?” He said, “Yeah. You got your work shoes and hardhat with you?” I said, “I got it all underneath the trunk of my car.”

At the time of this session, Jimmy was appearing at the famed Reo Palm Isle club in Longview. “That’s Bobby and Leo (on the session). I forget who that bass player was. He was from Monroe. I’m on rhythm guitar. I didn’t carry a fiddle at that time, but when I was in San Angelo at the Peacock Club, I had two steels and a fiddle. Everybody else would talk about two fiddles. I didn’t make any money up there myself. I was working on an oil rig. But I thought it would be different… Jiffy (Fowler) was a jukebox operator. I just kind of stumbled into him. It was a disc jockey there in Monroe, Ed Hamilton, who set us up in there and turned us loose…You know why that ‘Blue As I Can Be’ come by? Johnny Horton’s ‘I’m a Honky-Tonk Man.'” Two other songs recorded at this session were released on Big State 595 in the Starday custom series.

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Shirley Bassey and the Propellerheads – History Repeating

This song just drew me in…not the type of song that would normally do that but it just does. Bassey is a little over the top but she’s not at the same time…she makes the song move. I have to listen whenever I hear it played….hey it swings.

Alex Gifford from Propellerhead wrote this song and he had Shirley Bassey in mind when he wrote it. Shirley Bassey said: “He said he was asleep, and he thought about me, and these words came out. And I asked, what’s a 35-year-old man doing thinking about a grandmother? I couldn’t imagine!”

They sent her a demo and she liked the song but she told them that Tina Turner would probably fit more. They argued that they wrote it for her so she decided to do it. Gifford said: We approached her last summer when our profile was rising and we felt confident enough to try a few mad ideas. The song was written specifically for her and she recognized we weren’t taking the mickey. We couldn’t expect her to come to our hovel in Bath so we booked a London studio, got the champagne and roses in and wore our best shirts.” The song got a lot of help from the movie There’s Something About Mary because it was on the soundtrack.

The song took off and peaked at #19 in the UK, #10 on the Billboard Dance Charts, #32 in New Zealand in 1997. I didn’t find any Canadian chart position. It was on their album Decksandrumsandrockandroll. The album peaked at #6 in the UK, #56 in Canada, #29 in New Zealand, and #100 on the Billboard Album Charts.

The cover of this single was a homage to Nat King Cole.

Bassey making the video

History Repeating

The word is about, there’s something evolving,
Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving…
They say the next big thing is here,
That the revolution’s near,

But to me it seems quite clear
That’s it’s all just a little bit of history repeating.
The newspapers shout a new style is growing,
But it don’t know if it’s coming or going,

There is fashion, there is fad
Some is good, some is bad
And the joke rather sad,
That it’s all just a little bit of History repeating.

And I’ve seen it before
And I’ll see it again
Yes I’ve seen it before
Just little bits of history repeating

Some people don’t dance, if they don’t know who’s singing,
Why ask your head, it’s your hips that are swinging
Life’s for us to enjoy
Woman, man, girl and boy,
Feel the pain, feel the joy
Aside set the little bits of history repeating

Just little bits of history repeating
And I’ve seen it before
And I’l see it again
Yes I’ve seen it before
Just little bits of history repeating

Southern Culture on the Skids – Firefly

I can thank CB for mentioning this band. What a fun band they are! They have a quirky and humorous style that reflects elements of Southern culture and kitsch. They have listed their influences as The International Submarine Band, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, the Byrds, the Seeds, and the Chocolate Watchband. That is a cool mixture!

This band is out of North Carolina and they cover a wide area of music and also mash it up. They sometimes merge Americana, surf, rockabilly, and swamp garage rock. The band was formed in 1983 by guitarist Rick Miller, Mary Huff on bass and vocals, and Dave Hartman on drums. They have appeared on Conan O’Brien (my favorite modern talk show host) and The Tonight Show. This song combines surf and rockabilly…it has a faint sixties sound. Miller plays fantastic and smart licks throughout this song and album.

This song came out in 1995 on the album Dirt Track Date. It was distributed by Geffen Records. Firefly was written by Rick Miller. Michael Lipton played Steel Guitar on this album, and The Soul City Singers provided backing vocals. This was their 4th album. They have 19 albums so far and they last released one in 2021 called At Home With Southern Culture on the Skids.

Rick Miller on where the name came from: ‘We were just art students who liked bands like The Cramps (an American punk band), blues, R&B and rockabilly but everyone else was into bands like R.E.M., It was weird, people were saying that was the new sound of the south and we said “If that’s the new south, it sure don’t rock ‘n’ roll like it used to, guess we liked the music better when Southern culture was on the skids” so that’s where our name comes from!’

Rick Miller plays a Danelectro guitar (check the video below). They are cheaper guitars but I have two of them and they have a unique sound. Jimmy Page used one in Kashmir. They are fun guitars. What I did with my electric 12-string Danelectro is to put better Seymour Duncan pickups and a bone nut (the original nut is metal) and now it sounds close to a Rickenbacker…and around $1500 dollars cheaper. Sorry, I got sidetracked!

Entire Concert

Firefly

I was at a party it was late one night
Moon was hitting i was sitting alright
Two ugly girls on both sides of me
I was praying for you firefly

I say firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight
Firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight

Little girls followed me all the way home
They say don’t leave me out here in the
Dark all alone by myself
Reach into my pocket trying to find my keys
I was praying for you firefly

I say firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight
Firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight

I was at a party it was late one night
Moon was hitting i was sitting alright
Two ugly girls on both sides of me
I was praying for you firefly

I say firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight
Firefly won’t you shine some light
Let me see what’s happening tonight

Crow – Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)

I was browsing through songs to write about and this title jumped out at me. I had to listen to it and I recognized it right away. It’s probably been the 70s since I heard this one last. Who ever recorded the bass in this song knew what they were doing…it’s crystal clear in front.

Crow was a blues rock band from Minneapolis and their first band name was South 40. They formed in 1967 and their members were brothers guitarist Dick Wiegand and bassist Larry Wiegand, singer David Wagner, keyboardist Kink Middlemist, and drummer Harry Nehls who was replaced by Denny Craswell.

Crow gained popularity locally in Minneapolis and then expanded their reach by touring regionally. They built a strong reputation for their live performances and powerful blues-rock sound. In 1969, Crow signed a record deal with Amaret Records.

This song was on their debut album called Crow Music. It was their only big hit. and peaked at #15 in Canada and #17 on the Billboard 100 in 1969. Many people will know the song because Black Sabbath covered it with the name of just Evil Woman and it was their first single.

The band broke up in 1972…they reformed in 1980 with a different lineup. In 2005, they were inducted into the Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame and, in 2009, the Iowa Rock & Roll Music Hall of Fame. I had no clue they had those Hall of Fames in those states. They still play once in a while in the Midwest.

Larry Wiegand bass player: “It was not a fictional story but had the same inspiration as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Both tell the story of a guy who was accused of being the father of a gal’s baby. He claims he isn’t the father. ‘Evil woman, don’t play those games with me’ is his response to her accusations. Not an uncommon story for young folks – then or now. All the Crow songs were about what young folks had to deal with at one time or another. I like to think each song is a snapshot of what was happening to us at the time.”

Black Sabbath’s cover

Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)

I see the look of evil in your eyes
You’ve been filling me all full of lies
The morrow will not change your shameful deed
You will be someone else’ fertile seed
Evil woman, don’t play your games with me
Evil woman, don’t play your games with me

Now I know just what your looking for
You want me to claim this child you bore
But I know that it was he, not me
And you know just how it’s got to be
Evil woman, don’t play your games with me
Evil woman, don’t play your games with me

Wickedness lies in your moistened lips
Your body moves just like the crack of a whip
Black cats lay atop your satin bed
You sure wish that you could see me dead
Evil woman, don’t play your games with me
Evil woman, don’t play your games with me

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Beach Boys – Do It Again

I remember hearing this song long in the late seventies for the first time. The intro drum sound is interesting. Their engineer at the time, Stephen Desper, came up with the drum effect heard at the beginning of the track. Desper created it by blending the original sound with that of one drum strike being repeated four times.

This song was released in 1968. By this time their popularity in America was falling since releasing Pet Sounds…which makes no sense considering the legendary status that album has. Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote this song and went back to the surfing image with this one. The song peaked at #20 on the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK (where they remained very popular), and #10 in Canada.

This was a single release…released only two weeks after their album Friends. This was their second UK number one…the first one was Good Vibrations. Brian Wilson named “Do It Again” as one of his favorite Beach Boys original songs, offering insight into his creative process with Mike Love. He did say it was his favorite song that he co-wrote with Mike Love. Since its Spotify debut, this track has earned over 10 million plays!

Carl Wilson: Yes, I suppose it has got the old Beach Boys surfing sound. It’s back to that surfing idea with the voice harmony and the simple, direct melody and lyrics. We didn’t plan the record as a return to the surf or anything. We just did it one day round a piano in the studio. Brian had the idea and played it over to us. We improved on that and recorded it very quickly, in about five minutes. It’s certainly not an old track of ours; in fact it was recorded only a few weeks before it was released. We liked how it turned out and decided to release it.

Mike Love: “I went to the beach with my friends and we went to the surfing spot down at a place called San Onofre, down near the Marine Corps base down south. And it was such a beautiful day and the waves were great. And then of course one of the great things about the beach is it attracts good looking girls. [Laughing].”

I’ve never been a fan of Mike Love. He kicked Brian Wilson out of the band at one time and is not known as a nice guy. Here is a short clip of Brian Wilson talking about Mike Love.

Do It Again

It’s automatic when I
Talk with old friends
The conversation turns to
Girls we knew when
Their hair was soft and long
And the beach was the place to go

Suntanned bodies and
Waves of sunshine
The California girls and a
Beautiful coastline
Warmed up weather
Let’s get together and do it again

With a girl the lonely sea looks good
Makes your night times warm and out of sight

Been so long, long, long, long
Been, been, been, been, been
Been, been, been, been, been

Been so long

Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now
Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now
Hey now, hey now

Well I’ve been thinking ’bout
All the places we’ve surfed and danced and
All the faces we’ve missed so let’s get
Back together and do it again

Martha + Squirrel + Theo + Max post

Hope you don’t mind if I post something about animals and not pop culture on this post anyway. Sometimes it’s nice to have something different. Martha is my dog, the squirrel…I never caught his or her name, and Theo is a Prairie Dog.

I always liked squirrels since my dad told me he had one as a pet. He had found an injured one and nursed it back to health. He said he let it go when it was well but it kept coming back and would jump on his shoulders. He had it for years…it lived outside in the wild but loved my dad.

Well with that in mind…I was at home and I let Martha out on our screened-in back porch. It’s something between dogs and squirrels that doesn’t mix…oil and water or whatever you want to use. I looked around and Martha was going beserk…barking and looking up high on the screen. She was jumping up on it and I was afraid she would rip it so I stopped her…she then walked around and came back and done it again. A poor squirrel was frozen high on the screen.

I took Martha back in for around 30 minutes. We went back out and that squirrel was still in the same place frozen and looking at me. Of course, the thing was scared to death so I had an idea. I took a flimsy plastic stool and turned it upside down and lifted it up to the squirrel. I’ve never had a wild animal look into my eyes like it was deciding whether to trust me or not but…it did. It walked on the stool and looked down at me like…don’t give me to that giant ass dog, please! Our porch is not high so I gently tipped it a little while holding Martha back …and the squirrel took off.

Around an hour later Martha and I went out again….we went underneath our back porch to check on something…yep…that squirrel never left! He or she jumped up and Martha was on the chase…again I held Martha back and looked at the squirrel and him at me again…with a loud “GO GO GO” (me saying that not the squirrel…I think) it took off and hopefully will not come back…at least if Martha is outside. With me, it can come back if it wants to…but don’t chew the wires in our cars like one of its relatives did a few years ago. Of all times I didn’t have my phone with me.

Martha has a piece of pizza in her mouth in the car.

I’ve told people before that I want a prairie dog one day…a lady who works at my work has one and she brings it every Tuesday and Thursday just for me. I keep it in my office and take it out every now and then…call it practice…although I’m not sure Martha + Prairie Dog will mix. Theo doesn’t stay still long enough for me to get a good picture.

Theo is only around 10 weeks old. The last prairie dog this lady had bit me and they bite hard! This one doesn’t bite at all…it’s very sociable. The other one was not socialized.

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