Today’s post is an example of what can happen when you get an idea for a topic and it sends you down a rabbit hole.
I was listening to some old Beatles albums (I got a new turntable) and the verbal “count in” on “I Saw Her Standing There” caught my attention. I thought to myself “It’s very cool that they left the count in on the released recording.” Then I began to tickle my brain to try to remember other songs that are better for having the count in left on them.
If you don’t know what I’m referring to, a count in (sometimes called a count off) is used by a band to set the tempo and help the musicians all start at the right time.
I’m breaking my usual format of analyzing the songs’ music and lyrics to make more room for the recordings. Today I’m a man of few words – except 1-2-3-4!
There are plenty of other examples.
Lawyers, Guns, and Money – Warren Zevon
Ball of Confusion – The Temptations
The Ocean – Led Zeppelin
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen (but in the middle, not at the beginning)
Wooly Bully – Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (in Spanish!)
Today’s post was written by repeat guest contributor, Michael Paquette. This is Michael’s third SotW essay this year. Merry Christmas! TM
Before launching his career as a blues artist B.B. King worked as a disc jockey for a radio station in Memphis in the late 1940s under the name Riley B. King. There he became known as the “The Beale Street Blues Boy” which was later shortened to Blues Boy and eventually to B.B.
He recorded more than a dozen hit songs in the 1950s and 1960s before he released “The Thrill Is Gone” in 1969 which became a global sensation and introduced him to a much wider audience. It also earned him a spot as an opening act for The Rolling Stones. In his time his career would last more than 50 years and he would become America’s most famous blues musician. He traveled the world with his trusted guitar Lucille, thrilling audiences with his brilliant solos and his heartfelt vocal treatments.
In 2001 he released his 39th studio recording which was a Christmas album — A Christmas Celebration of Hope — and one of my favorites of this genre. It peaked at 151 on the Billboard Top 200 and it hit number one on the Billboard Blues list. The album earned him two Grammy Awards for the Best Traditional Blues Album and his take on “Auld Lang Syne” earned him the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
The “title cut” is my choice for SOTW.
It showcases King’s distinctive jazz-influenced blues style with a big band arrangement that features a rhythmic piano accompaniment punctuated by short bursts of rhythm and blues brass. This song was originally recorded in 1960 and it harkens back to his earlier big band style.
The lyrics are appropriate for an intimate gathering on Christmas with the singer professing his love and holiday wishes to his sweetheart. As many couples will likely enjoy a more secluded holiday gathering this year this song seems to fit the bill.
The last part of the song says:
We’ll enjoy ourselves together, Christmas dinner and everything
We’ll share every bit of pleasure, every Christmas brings
Here’s to you
May Christmas bring you happiness
I want you to have a good time
Like we did on all the rest.
I wanna be home with you baby when New Year’s rolls around
We’ll make our resolutions before the sun goes down
Here’s to you honey
May Christmas bring you happiness
I want you to have a good time
Like we did on all the rest.
Merry Christmas to all from the King of the Blues.
In the mid-’70s, the McGarrigle sisters – Kate and Anna – put out two outstanding albums. The first, self-titled album (1975) included “Heart Like a Wheel” which was made famous a year earlier by Linda Ronstadt.
Key to that record’s success was the stellar slate of session musicians that played on the album, including on today’s SotW – “Kiss and Say Goodbye.”
Kate wrote the song, played rollicking piano and duets with Anna on vocals. Tony Levin (King Crimson, Bowie, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, and many more) played bass. Steve Gadd (Steely Dan, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, and many jazz greats) played drums. The cut used four guitarists! David Spinoza, Greg Prestopino, Hugh McCracken, and Lowell George. Anna has disclosed in interviews that only one note by George was left on the recording… but it was an important one. “… it slides up.” And the icing on the cake is the tenor sax solo by the great Bobby Keys.
The melody is a real earworm and uses clever rhymes that lodge in your head. It’s a sweet story about a woman that’s looking forward to a hookup with a lover that’s coming into town.
Call me when you’re coming to town Just as soon as your plane puts down Call me on the telephone But only if you’re traveling alone Counting down the hours Through the sunshine and the showers Today’s the day You’re finally going to come my way
and
I do believe the die is cast Let’s try and make the night-time last And I don’t know where it’s coming from But I want to kiss you till my mouth gets numb I want to make love to you Till the day comes breaking through And when the sun is high in the sky We’ll kiss and say goodbye
Sadly, Kate died in 2010 after a long battle with cancer. Her musical legacy lives on through Anna and her two children – Rufus and Martha Wainwright – that she birthed when married to Loudon Wainwright III.
I just learned Len Barry died a month ago on November 5, 2020. It reminded me of a post I wrote for the SotW back on July 10, 2010, before Rock and Roll Remnants began. I’m posting it here now in tribute to Barry.
Ignored Obscured Restored
A few year’s ago my brother told me he had just seen a very interesting documentary on PBS about John Lennon’s Jukebox. Since I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable Beatles fan, I was surprised to learn a documentary was made on a subject I didn’t even know existed. I was able to catch the show a few days later on a rebroadcast.
Here’s the skinny. Apparently Lennon found a Swiss made “portable” (33 lbs.) jukebox and bought one around 1965. He stocked it with forty-one 45s and took it on the road when he toured. In 1989, the juke showed up in a Beatles memorabilia auction at Christie’s and some dude (John Midwinter) bought it for about $5 grand.
But the best part is that it still had the forty-one records in it, complete with title strips in Lennon’s own handwriting! The song selection gives a great insight into the music that influenced Lennon’s own early compositions. Here’s a link to the complete list of records:
It’s hard to pick a single song from this list but I’m going with “1-2-3” by Len Barry, partly because I’ve always liked the song and partly because I have a personal connection to it. “1-2-3” was a #2 hit in the U.S. in 1965 when I was a nine year old boy. At the time, my father was dabbling in concert promotion, bringing national acts to upstate New York and using his roller skating rink as the performance venue. When he booked Barry I was excited and asked if it would be possible to get his autograph. Well, being a young boy I fell asleep before the concert was over but my father woke me up at the end of the night to meet Barry and collect the autograph. Barry couldn’t have been nicer, scribbled his autograph and handed it to me. Still in a stupor, I took it from him – and tore it in half!
I really didn’t mean to insult the poor guy. Hopefully the incident didn’t bruise his ego too deeply.
In 1967 The Soul Survivors had a major hit with “Expressway to Your Heart.” Yesterday their lead singer, Kenny Jeremiah, died from the COVID virus.
The New York/New Jersey-based Soul Survivors were formed by three white guys – Jeremiah and the Ingui brothers, Richie and Charlie – to play the R&B music they loved. They connected with Philadelphia based Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff who wrote “Expressway…”, their first hit. Of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Gamble and Huff would go on to write and produce many ‘70s soul classics like “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes), “Me and Mrs. Jones” (Billy Paul), and the major hits for the O’Jays – “The Backstabbers”, “Love Train”, and “For the Love of Money.”
“Expressway..” began as a regional hit in the NY/Philadelphia corridor. Eventually it expanded nationally and landed at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 but went even higher to #3 on the R&B chart!
Besides the traffic horn sound effects, I always dug how Jeremiah goes into his Elvis Presley voice on the pre-chorus.
I was wrong, baby, I took too long I got caught in the rush hour A fellow started to shower You with love and affection Come on, look in my direction
“Expressway…” has been covered by other New Jersey rock royalty Bruce Springsteen (in concert during the Working on a Dream tour) and Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (on the Adventures in Babysitting soundtrack).
Sadly, the original Soul Survivor couldn’t be a COVID survivor. This thing is real. Wear a mask!
