Tag: Little Steven

Steve Van Zandt – Until The Good Is Gone

I listened to some tracks of Van Zandt, Miami Steve, or Little Steven… any of his monickers gives you heartfelt Americana soul music. One band he always pushes is The Rascals, and I can see why. You hear that influence in his music, along with the Jersey Shore sound he helped create. This song is so tuneful, and some tasty guitar licks are going on, especially in the intro. Listening to this album was a pleasure, song after song. His passion really comes through his voice in this one.

This song came from Little Steven’s 1982 album Men Without Women. At that point, Steven Van Zandt was still a major part of the E Street Band, but he wanted something of his own. He grew up loving soul records, girl groups, and the Phil Spector sound. Those influences were all over this album. The sessions took place at the Power Station in New York. Van Zandt wanted the record to sound alive. Not polished to death. He wanted horns, echoes, and emotion.

The recording is hard into soul music. The horns punch through the mix while the guitars and rhythm section keep it grounded in rock and roll. Van Zandt and horns have a great history, like Sixteenth Avenue Freeze Out. There are stories that Springsteen added backing vocals during parts of the sessions, which gave the album even more of that Asbury Park spirit without turning it into an E Street record.

A lot of the material on Men Without Women had been around since the Southside Johnny days. Van Zandt was writing constantly then. Songs moved around between projects depending on where they fit best. This song ended up fitting perfectly on this album because it captured that mix of street soul and rock-and-roll. The record did not become a massive commercial hit, but over the years fans have come back to it. The song still sounds real today. It feels like musicians in a room, playing for the song rather than for the charts.

Until The Good Is Gone

Hmm-hmm hmm-hmm hmm-hmm hmm

Yeah, we always stood on the same block way back then
Waiting to find out where in the world we fit in
Then something on the radio changed everything we’d been
Ever since, I need it, over and over again

Where it comes from baby, I don’t know
That same old something just won’t let me go
It’s too late baby, it’s been too long
Don’t try to stop me ’till the good is gone

Now listen, it seems like only yesterday I could hear big mama call, (yes)
Get the boys and meet me down at the union hall, (yes)
And always in the background even after everybody’s gone
It was something on the radio saying, “Come on, come on”

Where it comes from baby, I don’t know, no no
That same old something ain’t gonna let me go
Oh it’s too late baby, it’s been too long
Don’t try to stop me ’till the good is gone

Let me hear you now
Say yeah, yeah, alright
Come on

Oh, yeah yeah yeah
Now baby
Oh
Woah

So many others never beat the city line
They weren’t so different, they just ran out of time
You need something in your soul baby that’s gonna keep you strong
Oh that kind of good never ever ever never gonna go wrong

Where it comes from baby I don’t know, don’t know
That same old something just won’t let me go
Oh it’s too late baby, it’s been too long
Don’t try to stop me ’till the good is gone
Say one more time
Don’t try to stop me ’till the good is gone
One more time
Don’t try to stop me ’till the good is gone
Oh let me hear you say it
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Let me hear you say it
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
One more time
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah honey
Oh yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah yeah), sing
Say yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), say everybody say
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
Say one more time
Yeah (yeah)…

Arc Angels – Arc Angels …album review

I started to listen to this album on a recommendation, and I was totally impressed. I started off with one song, but the hell with that, I went on to the complete album. Great rock and roll band with killer riffs and tones. Also, being produced by an E Street Band member doesn’t hurt either! Steven Van Zandt produced this album, and that right there is huge. Also, on keyboards, you have the Small Faces and Faces keyboard player, Ian McLagan. McLagan helped out on this recording, and he sounds great. They walk the line between rock, hard rock, blues, and even throw some funk in there in places. Great musicians on this album, and there is a reason for that.

The band formed right after the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, the backbone of Double Trouble (SRV’s backing band), found themselves without a frontman after Stevie’s passing in 1990. Instead of leaving the stage, they teamed up with two Austin guitarist-vocalists: Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton. Both were young, rising Texas guitar players with deep musical pedigrees. The name “Arc Angels” referenced the Austin Rehearsal Complex. Although the album was born out of Stevie Ray’s backing band, it sounded different and moved ahead. 

The album was recorded in Austin and at Ardent Studios in Memphis (Big Star, The Replacements), and it blended blues, alt-rock edges, and soulful songwriting. Throughout the record, Layton and Shannon play like a unit that has lived many lifetimes together, heavy but never heavy-handed. They aren’t just holding down rhythm, they’re pushing the music forward. Doyle Bramhall II, Charlie Sexton, Chris Layton, and Shannon did most of the writing, along with help from Tonio K. 

The opening song is Living In A Dream, and it’s bold and in your face, as the rest of the album is. The second song is Paradise Cafe, which is probably my favorite off the album. That guitar is raunchy as hell, and I love it. They did include a song they wrote in memory of their friend Vaughan called See What Tomorrow Brings. The track Good Times has some cool funk and blues to it. If you have some time, check this album ou.t. I think you will like it. The critical reaction was good for this album, but it got lost in the grunge shuffle that was going on at the time, unfortunately. 

 For anyone who loves Texas blues with bite, this is a great place to start. 

Living In A Dream

If you were mineI’d give you all the worldIf you were mineI’d take you higher girlBut you got me waitingOoh, you’re so coldIt kills me timeOoh and time is all we needBut god knows I’ve tried, I’ve triedTo get you close to me

But tonight when my eyes are closingYou’ll be with me

Just let me beAnd let me believe, you’re mineCause there’s nothin’ wrong hereI’m just livin’Livin’ in a dream

Without a signYou brought me to my kneesWithout a sign,I crossed the lineI beg for sleep

But tonight when my eyes are closin’You will be with me

Just let me beAnd let me believe, you’re mineJust let me beAnd let me believe, you’re mineCause there’s nothin’ wrong hereI’m just livin’Livin’ in a dream

…

Billy Joel – Say Goodbye To Hollywood

I missed this song when it came out on Joel’s 1976 album Turnstiles but I earned about it later in 1981.

in the early eighties I joined Columbia House I ordered Billy Joel’s album Songs in the Attic. I ordered it right after I purchased his album Glass Houses at a record shop. This song really caught my attention, and I became a fan of Joel that year.

This was released in the US as the B-side to “I’ve Loved These Days” a month before it was put out as an A-side single. Neither song charted. In 1981, a live version recorded at the Milwaukee Arena was released on Joel’s Songs In The Attic album. It peaked at #17 in the Billboard 100 and #27 in Canada.

Joel’s influence was The Ronettes, specifically their song “Be My Baby. Joel was a big fan of ’60s girl groups and loved both Phil Spector’s production and Ronettes lead singer Ronnie Spector’s voice. Joel met Ronnie a few times over the years, but only after he wrote the song.

When he wrote this song, Joel had recently moved from Los Angeles to New York, which helped inspire it. He didn’t care for the west coast.

Ronnie Spector, who was the influence on this song, released her own version in 1977. Her version was produced by Little Steven and was backed by The E Street Band.

Ronnie Spector: “In a way it’s my life story ’cause I was married in Hollywood, I lived in Hollywood, my life fell apart in Hollywood and now I am saying goodbye to Hollywood.”

From Songfacts

This song is a look at the temporary nature of most relationships, as people are always coming in and out of our lives. It’s told through the eyes of two characters, Bobby (in the first verse) and Johnny (in the second). They do their time in Hollywood, but now find themselves moving on with their lives, a natural progression in the series of hellos and goodbyes in life.

On The Howard Stern Show, Joel explained that he wrote “Say Goodbye To Hollywood” in a high key that was challenging to sing – he had an easier time hitting those notes when he wrote the song.

Say Goodbye To Hollywood

Bobby’s driving through the city tonight
Through the lights
In a hot new rent-a-car
He joins the lover in his heavy machine
It’s a scene down on Sunset Boulevard

[Chorus: ]
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye my baby

Johnny’s taking care of things for awhile
And his style is so right for Troubador’s
They got him sitting with his back to the door
Now he won’t be my fast gun anymore

[Chorus: ]

Moving on is a chance that you take every time you try to stay together
Say a word out of line and you find that the friends you had are gone
Forever…forever
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last, some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again

[Chorus: ]

(Repeat 3rd verse)

[Chorus: ]