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.
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!
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the release of George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. The timing of the release ensured that the 3 disc, boxed set would be found under the Christmas tree of Beatles fans all over the world.
ATMP may be the best Beatles’ solo album. OK, John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band (1970) and Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run (1973) may give it a run for that claim. ATMP was the result of compiling a backlog of great songs after many years of being “subtly sat on” by Lennon, McCartney, and George Martin, as Harrison described his situation to Dick Cavett in a 1971 interview that can be seen on YouTube. In a June 1970 interview with Al Aronowitz, of Rolling Stone, Harrison said “I thought after I moved into my new house, I’d take a year off and do nothing, but here I am getting ready to make my own album in two weeks. The point is that we’re all of us writing too much now to put it all onto one Beatle record anyway.”
The album used a who’s who of session musicians including Klaus Voorman, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Dave Mason, Bobby Keys, Pete Drake, Gary Brooker, Badfinger, Ringo Starr, Derek (Eric Clapton) and his future Dominoes – Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Bobby Whitlock – coming off tour with Delaney and Bonnie.
Phil Spector co-produced the album with Harrison, so it is predictably drenched in reverb. Cal Poly’s Professor James Cushing said “The album’s blend of an epic Phil Spector orchestral sweep and the intimacy of Harrison’s voice is the key to the album’s paradox, and why the music holds up (mostly) after a half century, because it’s as big as the Beatles ever wanted to be, bigger than Shea Stadium, while it’s also George taking you aside and speaking to you privately about important matters.”
That brings me to today’s SotW – the album’s title song, “All Things Must Pass.”
A Let It Be reject, “All Things Must Pass” contains some very nice guitar work. Harrison said, “I wrote it after [The Band’s 1968] Music From Big Pink album; when I heard that song in my head I always heard Levon Helm singing it!”
It also has some of Harrison’s wisest lyrics.
All things must pass None of life’s strings can last So I must be on my way And face another day
While often interpreted as a statement about the Beatles’ break-up, I think it is much deeper than that. It reflects Harrison’s spirituality and being mindful and present in the “now” because everything is impermanent – even life.
It’s a song that is very meaningful to me today.
Enjoy… until next week.
Note: Several of the quotes above are from an article by Harvey Kubernik that was published in Music Connection.
Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of Steely Dan’s album Gaucho. Gaucho is perhaps my least favorite Dan disc – a little too “yacht rocky” for me – but by the standards of other artists, it’s a damn fine record.
Gaucho was not an easy album to make. Multiple personal issues caused major distractions. Walter Becker was deep into his heroin addiction at the time. Add to that a freak car accident while walking back to his apartment in New York that resulted in a broken foot that laid him up for six months! If that wasn’t enough, his then girlfriend died of an overdose in his home which led to a multi-million-dollar lawsuit by her family that he eventually won.
Then there was the technical snafu. The band worked for weeks on a song called “Second Arrangement” that they felt was one of their best songs ever. That was until an assistant engineer accidentally erased most of the master. (Something similar happened years earlier when the masters for Katy Lied were damaged due to an equipment malfunction.) They tried to recreate it but when the new takes didn’t live up to the standard of the erased mix, they abandoned the song. (It’s no wonder that the band stopped recording for some 20 years after they finished Gaucho.)
The “Second Arrangement” debacle left the album light one track. So, Donald Fagan went back to the vaults from earlier album sessions and found the tapes for a song called “Were You Blind That Day.” The lyrics were changed and the new track, “Third World Man,” was added to the album, and is today’s SotW.
Some Steely Dan fans think “Were You Blind That Day” was an Aja outtake. But Larry Carlton, who played the song’s outstanding guitar solo has been quoted as saying it was a leftover from The Royal Scam sessions. Experts agree that Carlton’s solo is the best of any Steely Dan recording. It is less busy than his typical solos but perfectly complements the feel of the unusually slow Dan song.
As is typical for Steely Dan songs, the lyrics to “Third World Man” are ambiguous and can be interpreted in multiple ways.
Johnny’s playroom Is a bunker filled with sand He’s become a third world man Smoky Sunday He’s been mobilized since dawn Now he’s crouching on the lawn He’s a third world man
Soon you’ll throw down your disguise We’ll see behind those bright eyes By and by When the sidewalks are safe For the little guy
I saw the fireworks I believed that I was dreaming Till the neighbors came out screaming He’s a third world man
Soon you’ll throw down your disguise We’ll see behind those bright eyes By and by When the sidewalks are safe For the little guys
Is Johnny a child playing Army? Is he a real soldier that was deployed to a hostile country? Are the fireworks real or the consequence of PTSD?
In 2005, Joni Mitchell released a covers CD album that was only available through Starbucks coffee shops. Artist’s Choice – Music That Matters to Her included “Third World Man.” It should be no surprise that Mitchell is so fond of that song for two reasons. Firstly, since she is such an accomplished writer herself, it is no wonder she would be attracted to “Third World Man’s” sophisticated lyrics. Then there’s her affection for guitarist Carlton’s work. He has played on many of her albums, including Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, and the awesome Hejira.
Happy anniversary, Gaucho! “I just sing that Ghana Rondo e l’era del terzo mondo.”
In late ‘60s Ohio, there were two bands on the circuit with gun-slinger guitarists – Joe Walsh’s James Gang, and Phil Keaggy’s Glass Harp. Yes, Phil Keaggy of Glass Harp.
Keaggy deserved the accolades. Listen to the guitar solo the 19-year-old Keaggy rips off on “Children’s Fantasy” from the band’s debut, self-titled album (1970).
Back in the day, there were rumored quotes of more well-known guitar heroes giving props to Keaggy. The most famous was that Johnny Carson had Jimi Hendrix on the Tonight Show in the late ‘60s and asked him how it felt to be the world’s greatest guitar player. Hendrix purportedly responded “I don’t know. You’d have to ask Phil Keaggy.” A review of the tape of Hendrix’s only Tonight Show appearance (with Flip Wilson sitting in for Carson) proves that never happened. But that doesn’t diminish Keaggy’s talent.
Just before the debut album was recorded, Keaggy’s mother died after a serious car accident. This incident led him to follow his sister into Christianity. In fact, a couple of songs on the debut reflected his newfound faith. “Can You See Me” contained the lyric:
The Son died for you and me That we may live eternally Through Him there is a peace we can share Yes, we can share
Later in his career, Keaggy devoted his music primarily to contemporary Christian rock and earned Grammy nominations for his work.
Today’s SotW is another installment of the Evolution Series – where I trace a song from its original version through various cover interpretations. Today’s subject is “Groovy Kind of Love.”
“Groovy Kind of Love” was written in 1965 by Toni Wine and Carol Bayer Sager. Wow, I didn’t realize those ladies were in the biz when they were that young – they were only 18!
They picked up on a “new” slang word and decided to write a song using it. When it was done – they claim to have finished it in about 20 minutes – they pitched it to Leslie Gore, but her producer rejected it. He didn’t like the word “groovy.”
So it was recorded by Diane and Annita and proceeded to go nowhere.
There isn’t much information about Diane and Annita on the internet. The most common “fact” about them is that they met working for Ray Anthony’s Bookends.
In 1966, the next version was recorded by Patti LaBelle & the Bluebells and was produced by Bert Berns of Bang Records fame as well as writing and producing songs for the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and numerous early soul/R&B acts.
The LaBelle version made it across the Atlantic to England where it was introduced to the Wayne Fontana-less Mindbenders. Fontana was replaced as the group’s lead singer by guitarist Eric Stewart, who would later go on to be a key member of 10cc.
The Mindbenders took the song all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the late Spring of 1966.
The song bounced around on oldies stations for the next 20+ years until Phil Collins recorded a remake in 1988.
Collins was working on the soundtrack for the movie Buster that was mostly a compilation of oldies. He thought “Groovy Kind of Love” would be a good fit and recorded a demo to present to the movie’s production team. They agreed and decided to use his demo, untouched, instead of The Mindbenders’ version. Collins’ recording did even better than the Mindbenders’, topping the charts in both the US and UK and finding its way onto many wedding reception playlists.
Covers have been recorded by Sonny & Cher, Gene Pitney, Petula Clark, and Neil Diamond, among others.
The melody of the song was based on the “Rondo from Sonatina in G Major” by 18th/19th century classical composer Muzio Clement.
In 1974, the ironically named Average White Band (AWB) released their second album, AWB, that contained their biggest hit – “Pick Up the Pieces.” The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
During my freshman year in college – 1974-75 – “Pick Up the Pieces” was ubiquitous. It was on the radio, on friend’s turntables, and always playing in bars and clubs where it was certain to fill the dancefloors. Since those were the days of “disco sucks” and I was a rocker, you would think that I’d hate this song. But I don’t. It’s just too good!!!
The songwriting credit on the album was given to “R. Ball, H. Stuart & AWB.” (Hamish) Stuart wrote the guitar part. Sax player (Roger) Ball wrote the horn melody. But the tenor sax solo was played by Malcolm “Molly” Duncan. And it’s a killer!
Duncan died a little over a year ago, on October 8th, 2019, of cancer.
Tragedy visited the band early on. On September 22, 1974, AWB played a sold-out show at Hollywood’s Troubadour club. After their performance, the band and friends went to a party at the home of Wall Street “whiz-kid” Kenneth Moss. Many guests snorted white powder from a vial they thought contained cocaine, but it was heroin. AWB drummer Robbie McIntosh died from an OD the next day. The band’s bass player, Alan Gorrie, also might have died, but Cher took him back to her place and kept him up and walking until the drugs wore off.
Oh yeah, and the band’s name… It has been attributed to Bonnie Bramlett, of Delaney & Bonnie, because she was amused that these pale-skinned, Scottish boys played such convincing soul music.
“Out of My League” by Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts has been in heavy rotation on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM radio recently. It was even featured as that station’s “Coolest Song in the World” the week of September 21st.
It is from Hamilton’s latest album, Nowhere To Go But Everywhere, on Little Steven’s Wicked Cool Records imprint. He was quoted in a press release as saying the album is “a group of songs about heartbreak and finding yourself.” He goes on to describe “… League” as “a song idea that was almost 10 years old. I found the old demo, and it rang true, considering what I was going through. So, I revisited the song, and reworked it into the version that it is now.”
What “it is now” is a power-pop classic in the same vein as tracks by Fountains of Wayne. The lyrics are so humble and self-effacing that you instantly fall in love with the singer.
She’s the prettiest thing I think I’ve ever seen.
It’s like she walked right off the cover of a magazine.
Which begs the question.
What’s she doing with me?
and
All my friends are saying she’s just looking to settle.
Guess what? I’m gonna let her.
And you feel his pride when he exclaims “I got a trophy wife!”
Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts are not newcomers. Their previous album, 2019’s This is the Sound, was critically acclaimed and won Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards. That record was also a big hit in the UK where his ties are strong. The Texan’s band is from the UK and most of the new album was cut while on tour there.
Hopefully “Out of My League” will make it into heavy rotation on your playlist.
