Tag: April Fool

She said there’s dust and cobwebs on your north star
There’s no more frost and campfire in your hair

When I hear a Ronnie Lane song it makes me relaxed… It sounds like he is playing to you on a back porch somewhere…very intimate. He was a very underrated songwriter and singer. He just happened to be in two bands (Small Faces and Faces) that had two of the best singers of their generation so he didn’t sing lead a lot in those bands but when he did he was great.

I’ll get in a mood where I have to hear something rootsy or down to earth. I usually pick either The Band or Ronnie Lane. We all know Lane’s sad story but the man loved to play music over making money as his career will tell you. The love was for the music…not the dollar. He would record anywhere like in the middle of a meadow, on a back porch, or anywhere the notion struck. Most weren’t commercial catchy but they meant something. Songs like this…are the reason I have a blog.

An album with Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane you would figure to be huge at the time. It wasn’t huge but it was a great album and has been highly regarded since.

In October of 1976, the Who closed a North American tour in Toronto, a show that would be the last with Keith Moon before a paying audience. The band took a break to pursue individual projects. Ronnie Lane had wanted Townshend to produce his album but he then wanted Townshend to collaborate writing on the songs. Townshend declined because he had never written with anyone before but they did manage to write the title track, Rough Mix, together.

The album ended up with Townsend songs and Lane songs. They did do a cover of a Don Williams song called Till All The Rivers Run Dry. Rough Mix didn’t draw a lot of attention at the time but is now considered a lost gem. Townshend has said in his book that there was a big argument where he shoved Ronnie Lane. Pete said it felt like he didn’t know his own strength because Lane felt like he was made out of paper. Later Pete found out about Lane’s multiple sclerosis.

The album peaked at #44 in the Billboard Album Charts, #70 in Canada, and #45 in the UK in 1977.

I usually don’t post covers of the song I’m covering but this one is tastefully done by Magpie Salute. It features Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes on guitar. Something tells me Lane would like this as well.

April Fool

She said I’ll see you in the morning, darling
I’ll see you when the kids have gone to school
But well I know tomorrow is your birthday
I know you know that you’re an April Fool
We used to roam so freely. It’s been so long
I’ll take my dreams to bed now, where they belong

She said there’s dust and cobwebs on your north star
There’s no more frost and campfire in your hair
I see your wheels they’re rustin’ in the backyard
I know that we’re not going anywhere
We used to roam so freely. It’s been so long
I’ll take my dreams to bed now, where they belong