Song of the Week – It Ain’t Easy; Three Dog Night, Long Don Baldry, David Bowie, Ron Davies

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There’s a song that was recorded several times in a short period of time in 1970-1971 by major Rock artists.  You probably are familiar with “It Ain’t Easy” by one of them.

If you were into MOR Rock you would know the version by Three Dog Night.

If you favored British, blues-based Rock you may have heard Long John Baldry’s take.

If you were into Glam Rock you definitely heard the cut on David Bowie’s … Ziggy Stardust… album.

But despite the exposure from all these renditions, I’ll bet you never heard the original by the song’s composer, Ron Davies.

Davies was a talented songwriter that never broke through with commercial success.  “It Ain’t Easy” was on his acclaimed album Silent Song Through the Land (1970).  Unfortunately, that album isn’t available to stream on Spotify, and vinyl copies on Discogs command a pretty penny.

The Three Dog Night version was released on their album of the same name in 1970.  It was their fourth release in 18 months!  That’s a remarkable achievement, even for a band that curated its repertoire from other songwriters, and one of the four was a live album.

Baldry’s recording was also on an album with the same name (1971).  This is the album that was produced by Rod Stewart (side one) and Elton John (side two).  “It Ain’t Easy” was on the Stewart side and was backed by a number of the musicians that supported him on the Every Picture Tells a Story album.  Maggie Bell is the sassy female vocalist harmonizing with Baldry.

Bowie’s take was initially recorded for the Hunky Dory sessions but was ultimately left off that album.  But he brought it back and placed it at the end of side one of Ziggy.  Ultimately that was an odd choice since “It Ain’t Easy” does not fit with the thematic content of the rest of Ziggy Stardust.  But as I’ve said many times in the SotW… you can’t keep a good song down!

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Rope Ladder to the Moon, Jack Bruce

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On May 19th, one of the greatest lyricists in Rock history, Pete Brown, died.  As the cowriter with Jack Bruce, Brown’s lyrics psychedelicized some of Cream’s most memorable songs, including “I Feel Free”, “White Room”, “SWBALR”, “As You Said”, and “Sunshine of Your Love” (with Eric Clapton too).

My favorite Bruce/Brown composition is “Rope Ladder to the Moon” from Bruce’s debut solo album Songs for a Tailor (1969).

The track seems to be about a lover’s manipulation and dominance.  In the first three verses he/she lures in their “prey” with fun, love, and promise.

You asked me to a party
To a house just by the moon
You gave me silver loving
The end was all too soon

You asked me to the theater
In a place quite near the sun
You gave me golden sunbeams
Your act was all in fun

You asked me to a meeting
In a cottage in the snow
You gave me central heating
I can’t forget the glow

But by the end the lover is in total control.

You asked me to a weekend
Down by the stormy sea
You took me to a ceremony
And the sacrifice was me!

You asked me to a storm cloud
Up near the rainbow’s end
Then you threw away the ladder
And gave me to your friend

You took me to a prison
And you said its chief was me
Then you locked me deep inside you
And thew away the key

“Rope Ladder…” has been covered a few times with the version by Brian Auger and Julie Tippet that is worth a listen.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Blowin’ in the Wind & A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall, Bob Dylan

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It’s Boston in the early ‘80s and I’m in my mid-20s…  Maybe I’ve been out at The Seven’s draining a few pints of Guinness over heavy, deep, and real discussions with close friends.  Maybe I just got home from hearing some great live music at The Rat or The Paradise, or from partying at a wildly fun house party.

I’m on a work assignment that has me taking a 3-hour drive, back and forth between Albany every Sunday night, and Boston each Friday evening.  I’m spending a lot of hours with my Alpine cassette player, in my car – alone – in the dark.

It’s at times like these that I most enjoy The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.  The album always fits the mood when you are having quiet time, alone – physically or in your own head space.

So, I honor this album, today, on

the 60th anniversary of its release.

Two of the five songs Dylan chose to play at The Concert for Bangladesh (1971) were from The Freewheelin’…  Let’s let them be the SotW.

And how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows
That too many people have died?

Sadly, today’s plague of gun violence makes these lyrics as relevant now as they were 60 years ago.

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
And where have you been, my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

Sadly, it too has lyrics that still apply today!

BTW, that cassette I was playing in my late-night car drives had The Freeewheelin’ Bob Dylan on one side, and Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska on the other.  A perfect combo.  Just like rice and beans.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – London Homesick Blues, Jerry Jeff Walker ft. Gary P. Nunn

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Jerry Jeff Walker is best known for two songs – his own “Mr. Bojangles”, and “London Homesick Blues” from his terrific, live ¡Viva Terlingua! album (1973).  The peculiar detail is that “London Homesick Blues” was written and sung by Gary P. Nunn!

The song is autobiographical and was written while Nunn was on tour in England in a band supporting Michael Murphey.  The lyrics are a straightforward description of what Nunn was experiencing while he was in London, squatting on the couch in a flat with four other guys.  He has described that it was foggy and rainy all the time, and that the heat in the flat went off from 6 AM to 6 PM every day – difficult surroundings for a boy from south Texas.

Well it’s cold over here and I swear,
I wish they’d turn the heat on.


And where in the world is that English girl,
I promised I would meet on the third floor?


And of the whole damn lot, the only friend I got,
is a smoke and a cheap guitar.


My mind keeps roamin’, my heart keeps longin’
to be home in a Texas bar.

Then there’s the line everyone remembers and many mistake for the title of the song.

I want to go home with the armadillo.

Nunn thought about making “armadillo” a proper noun in reference to the Armadillo World Headquarters, a large venue in Dallas where he performed with Murphey in 1972.  But he didn’t, and even he isn’t sure why.

The way Nunn tells the story, the idea for playing “London Homesick Blues” on ¡Viva Terlingua! was a spontaneous decision.  At one of the concerts where the album was recorded in the Lukenbach Dancehall, the atmosphere was electric.  The hall was packed to the gills, and everyone was pumped up and having a great time.  Walker looked over to Nunn and said, “Do that song you were singing under the trees this afternoon.”  The rest is history!

“London Homesick Blues” became the informal state song of Texas.  For many years it was played over the closing credits for the PBS program Austin City Limits.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Star, Stealers Wheel

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Stealers Wheel is best known for their 1973, Leiber and Stoller produced, one-hit-wonder – “Stuck in the Middle with You.”  It was written by Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan and appeared on their debut album.  Rafferty went on to greater fame as a solo artist with the evergreen “Baker Street” among other hits.

The band’s next album Ferguslie Park (1973) contained another song that I always enjoy hearing called “Star.”  It was penned by Egan and released as a single but only managed its way to #29 on the US singles chart.

Lyrically, “Star” addresses the subject of fame and how public adulation also has a downside – isolation.

So they made you a star, now your head’s in a cloud
And you’re walking down the street, with your feet off the ground
They read in the press all about your success
They believe every word they’ve been told
After all you’ve been through, tell me, what will you do
When you find yourself out in the cold?

The music blog No Words, No Song summarizes the music:

“Star”, for example, boasts the wonderful poignancy of Joe Egan’s lyrics, alongside a delightful melody. Gerry Rafferty’s voice complements Joe Egan’s perfectly. And the song features a number of unexpected elements for a record made in the midst of the glam rock era — including a mournful harmonica, a kazoo, some woodblocks and an upright piano sounding like something you used to find pushed against a back wall in those clubs which host promising acts on the way up and former superstars on the way down.

“Star” is another example of a great pop song buried on an album that almost no one has heard.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Just Out of Reach, The Zombies

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I always loved the music of The Zombies.  They had a string of Billboard Top 10 hits beginning with “She’s Not There” (#2) and “Tell Her No” (#6), and ending with “Time of the Season” (#3) in 1969.

But as you know, the SotW likes to go further into the deep cuts.  So today I offer a cool Zombies’ track from 1965 called “Just Out of Reach.”

“Just Out of Reach” has a cool backstory.  While most of the Zombies’ songs were written by Rod Argent, “… Reach” was written by vocalist Colin Blunstone as one of their contributions to director Otto Preminger’s 1965 movie Bunny Lake is Missing.  It was only the second song Blunstone had written.  Argent and the group’s other main songwriter, Chris White, were on a deadline to produce three songs for the film but ran into a bout with writer’s block.  So, they challenged Blunstone to come up with something… and he did!

“… Reach” is a great example of ‘60s British Invasion/Garage Rock.  Its rhythm reminds me of The Monkees’ “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” (1966), though the melody is much different, and it has a cracking, ‘60s sounding Argent organ solo.  It was released as a single in the US but dropped off the charts without even breaking the Top 100.  Too bad because it deserved much better.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Please Let Me Wonder, The Beach Boys

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A few weeks ago, I watched A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys on CBS.  The two-hour special featured performances by John Legend, Brandi Carlile, and Beck, among many others.  It reminded me how much I love the music of the Beach Boys.

The group had so many big hits that fans often overlook some of the hidden gems that weren’t in the Top 40.  And believe me, there are many if you take the time to dig for them.  Take, for instance, today’s SotW – “Please Let Me Wonder” from The Beach Boys Today! (1965).

“Please Let Me Wonder” is a bridge from “Don’t Worry Baby” (another classic) to the more sophisticated song cycle on Pet Sounds.  The instrumentation used is not typical for rock music, but there isn’t any excess — every note serves the song.  Many of the players are from the famous Wrecking Crew, including Carol Kaye (bass), Glen Campbell (12-string), Barney Kessel (guitar), and Earl Palmer (drums).  It is worth listening to very carefully to try to pick out each instrument as they are layered to construct this beautiful arrangement.

Lyrically, Brian Wilson sings of “wondering” if a girl is in love with him, rather than facing the reality that she may not.  It is backed by beautiful Four Freshman inspired harmonies like so many other Beach Boys’ tracks.

In the month of 4/20, it is notable that “Please Let Me Wonder” has often been cited as the first song Wilson wrote on marijuana.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Lipstick Sunset, John Hiatt

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Today’s SotW was written by guest contributor Michael Paquette.  This is Michael’s 8th SotW essay since 2020.

John Hiatt grew up in the Indiana cornfields as the sixth of seven children in a Roman Catholic family.  When he was 9 years old his brother committed suicide and two years later his father died after a long illness.  He took up the guitar at the age of 11 and began listening to blues, Elvis, and Bob Dylan.  

At the age of 18, he moved to Nashville where he became a staff writer for Tree Publishing.  One of his recordings, “Sure As I’m Sitting Here”, was recorded by Three Dog Night and became a hit (#16) in 1974. As a solo artist, he first worked with the Epic label before moving to MCA and then recorded four albums with Geffen Records in the early eighties until they dropped him because none of them charted.  When financial problems drove him out of Nashville and out on the road, he became influenced by the edgy music of Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. 

His dependence on alcohol and drugs nearly ruined his career until he was offered an opportunity by Andrew Lauder, who ran the British label Demon Records in association with Elvis Costello and his management.  Andrew promised him he would put out any album he recorded and asked him who he would like to work with.  Hiatt replied Jim Keltner and Nick Lowe, never imagining they would accept the invitation.  He returned to Nashville and worked with those two artists.  Given only four days in the studio to work together, he managed to cut one of the finest albums of his career — Bring the Family (1987).  He finally had a minor Billboard hit with “Thank You Girl” (#27).  Bonnie Raitt brought some attention to the album by including “Thing Called Love” on her multi Grammy winning album Nick of Time (1989).

The song I chose from this breakthrough work is “Lipstick Sunset”.  A song, like many of his works, that is about heartbreak and lost love.  Ry Cooder lays down a terrific slide guitar accompaniment on this recording.

     

                                                                                                                 

This is a song about how love is hard for the artist.  He sings:

And Lord I couldn’t tell her

That her love was killing me

By the end of the day

All her sweet dreams would fade

To a lipstick sunset

The song continues and it appears that he ”can only see as you take away the light.”  And then it seems that he left his lover waiting, and calls out:

So hold me in the darkness

We can dream about the cool twilight

Til the dawning of the day

When I make my getaway

To a lipstick sunset

It is uncertain whether the lovers will meet or part.  Maybe another day.

A prolific songwriter, many of his compositions have been covered by other artists.  “Have A Little Faith In Me” was covered by Joe Cocker, Delbert McClinton, Jewel, Mandy Moore, and Bon Jovi.  But “Lipstick Sunset” remains solely his own. He breaks it out in concert on rare occasions.  Having seen him a few times over the years I would say that his shows remain some of the best I have ever witnessed.  His storytelling is captivating and his rapport with his audience makes it a pleasure to attend.  

In 2000 and 2001 Hiatt recorded two albums with Vanguard Records — Crossing Muddy Waters and The Tiki Bar Is Open.  These two albums were critical successes and earned him Grammy nominations.  Like “Lipstick Sunset”, all of Crossing Muddy Waters was recorded without a drummer.  It is a raw and spare album with elements of bluegrass brought into his Americana sound.  He has had considerable artistic success and he is highly respected in the industry but has never enjoyed commercial success beyond what he achieved with Bring the Family.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Highly Strung, Orianthi ft. Steve Vai

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Today’s SotW is “Highly Strung”, an instrumental by Orianthi featuring Steve Vai tha’t custom made for guitar lovers.  I’ve never heard an instrumental with a more perfect title.  It describes the music as well as the guitars that it features. 

Orianthi is an Australian, woman guitarist.  She’s also a singer/songwriter, but on “Highly Strung” she just shreds.  38 now, she’s been performing in bands for 24 years, ever since she was only 14.  Still, she’s hardly known in the US by the masses, despite gigs with Alice Cooper and Michael Jackson and one Billboard top 20 song, “According to You”, in 2009.

But you have to admit, “Highly Strung” rocks!

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Daddy Rollin’ Stone, Derek Martin

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“Daddy Rollin Stone” is a soul rocker that was written and first recorded by Otis Blackwell in 1953.  You may recall that Blackwell wrote a number of rock standards, like this Elvis Presley trifecta — “All Shook Up”, “Don’t Be Cruel”, and “Return to Sender.”

“Daddy Rollin’ Stone” was covered by Derek Martin, an American soul shouter, in 1963.

It wasn’t a hit here in the US but it was very influential with the British Invasion groups.  John Lennon called it out as a favorite of his and The Who recorded it in 1965.  It was also later covered in the ‘70s by the New York Dolls in live performances.

Enjoy… until next week.