Back in 2006 I learned about a band from Texas called Midlake. I bought a CD copy of their second album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, and played it endlessly. I still think it is one of the underappreciated albums of the aughts.
Tim Smith was the band’s primary songwriter as well as their vocalis and guitarist. When he left Midlake in 2012, I lost interest in the group, though their music without him still received positive critical notice.
Smith has been pretty quiet ever since, but he recently released a single – “I Am The Seed” – in advance of an album to be called Albion, under the band name Harp. Harp is a project Smith has launched with his wife, Kathi Zung.
“I Am The Seed” sounds like classic Midlake. Smith’s forlorn vocals are still a distinctive feature of the tune that has Baroque pop/rock trappings. In an interview he mentioned that this album will feature songs inspired by the music of Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, Tears For Fears, and The Cure. Not a bad group of artists to emulate!
The full album is scheduled for release in December.
This is the first of a new series I’ve created that I’m calling the Contrast Series. The Contrast Series will compare and contrast songs with similar titles and/or themes. To start I’ll discuss The Beach Boys’ “Caroline, No” with Lou Reed’s “Caroline Says II”.
“Caroline, No” is the final track on the Beach Boys’ seminal album, Pet Sounds (1966). Pet Sounds was conceived by Brian Wilson as a “teenage symphony to God.” The music was very technically complex, but lyricist Tony Asher said the words needed to be “topics that kids could relate to.” “Caroline, No” is the perfect example.
It is unclear who inspired the lyrics. Wikipedia says Asher wrote them about a former girlfriend named Carol Amen. But other sources say that Wilson provided the inspiration as a combination of three different girls, including a high school friend named Carol Mountain.
In any case, it is a stunningly intimate song about lost innocence.
Where did your long hair go? Where is the girl I used to know? How could you lose that happy glow? Oh, Caroline, no
Who took that look away? I remember how you used to say You’d never change, but that’s not true Oh, Caroline, you
Break my heart I want to go and cry It’s so sad to watch a sweet thing die Oh, Caroline, why
Could I ever find in you again Things that made me love you so much then? Could we ever bring ’em back once they have gone Oh, Caroline, no
“Caroline Says II” was included on Lou Reed’s Berlin (1973), the follow up to his breakthrough Transformer. Berlin was initially panned by the critics who were expecting (and wanted) more Transformer. According to MOJO’s Gus Stewart:
“In Rolling Stone, Stephen Davis denounced the album as “a disaster” and “patently offensive,” declaring the end of “a once-promising career” with the kiss-off, “Goodbye, Lou.”
But in time the album has earned respect as a Reed classic due in part to songs like “Caroline Says II”.
The song begins as a simple, acoustic guitar number then adds piano and strings. But this is no song about lost innocence. It is a brutally realistic snapshot of domestic violence.
Caroline says As she gets up off the floor “Why is it that you beat me? It isn’t any fun” Caroline says As she makes up her eyes “You ought to learn more about yourself Think more than just I”
But she’s not afraid to die All of her friends call her “Alaska” When she takes speed, they laugh and ask her What is in her mind What is in her mind
Caroline says As she gets up from the floor “You can hit me all you want to But I don’t love you anymore” Caroline says While biting her lip “Life is meant to be more than this And this is a bum trip”
She put her fist through the window pane It was such a funny feeling
It’s so cold in Alaska
Jordan Potter, of Far Out, describes the song’s finale – “As she puts her “fist through the window pane”, a shiver in the spine is palpable, as if the air of Alaska had entered the room.” I can feel the chill!
One of the most important songs in the history of Rock and Roll is “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. The most distinctive feature of the Phil Spector produced track, other than Ronnie Spector’s outstanding vocal, is the opening beat played by Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine, which has become known as the Hal Blaine Beat. You may not know it by name, but you will instantly recognize the ‘Bum-ba-bum-BOOM’ beat in the song’s intro.
Blaine was modest about his “invention” of the beat, saying:
“That famous drum intro was an accident. I was supposed to play the snare on the second beat as well as the fourth, but I dropped a stick. Being the faker I was in those days, I left the mistake in and it became: ‘Bum-ba-bum-BOOM!’ And soon everyone wanted that beat.”
Now I don’t mean to start a controversy here, or to take credit away from the huge contribution Blaine made to popular music, but that rhythm had been “a thing” before Blaine’s happy accident. In fact, the Brazilian baion beat (as it is formally known), was used on the Leiber and Stoller produced recordings by The Drifters – “There Goes My Baby”, ”Save the Last Dance for Me”, and “Under the Boardwalk”, though not as prominently as it was on “Be My Baby”.
Phil Spector acknowledged that “There Goes My Baby” was a major influence on his Wall of Sound technique.
But let me be clear. The way Blaine played the beat has been an inspiration for hundreds of other songs from The Beach Boys outstanding “Don’t Worry Baby”
… to Badfinger’s “Baby Blue”
…to Billy Joel’s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”
… to “Just Like Honey” by the Jesus and Mary Chain, the SotW on March 25, 2017.
Tonypop has compiled a list of 373 songs in a Spotify playlist called “Be my baby! – The songs that use Hal Blaine’s drum intro of “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes.” You can listen to it using this link:
Broken Baby is an LA based band that plays their own version of post-punk, power pop. The band is led by guitarist Alex Dezen and Amber Bollinger on vocals. Max Diaz (bass) and Garrett Henritz (drums) round out the foursome.
The band’s sense of fun reminds me of the early B-52’s. They’ve validated that viewpoint by making a recording and video cover of the B-52’s “Private Idaho.”
Today’s SotW is “It’s My Show!”, a feminist declaration of freedom over the entitled bro culture’s attitude toward women.
Fill my glass to the brim with a shit Bordeaux You wanna know my sign, sure it says stop bro No Patrick Swayze you ain’t gettin no ride I’m not looking for the time of my life With enough candles on my cakeyou can watch me blow
This is music for fans of Blondie and the aforementioned B-52’s. You can dance to it, but it will also make you think. I’ll be following this band.
A few weeks ago. I celebrated the anniversary of the Woodstock festival as I do every year, by watching the 3+ hour director’s cut of the documentary film. One of the highlights is always the performance by Sly & the Family Stone. They were sooo good!
My favorite Sly album is Stand! (1969) thought the critics favorite is always There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971). Although not included in the Woodstock movie, one of Sly’s signature songs from Stand! was “Sing a Simple Song”, today’s SotW.
“… Simple Song” follows a familiar formula where several of the band members are featured on vocals. The lyrics idealistically implore us to “sing a simple song” as a solution for dealing with unhappiness.
I’m living, living, living life with all its ups and downs I’m giving, giving, giving love and smiling at the frowns You’re in trouble when you find it’s hard for you to smile A simple song might make it better for a little while
The funk is incomparable. Great horns, chicken scratch guitar, pulsing organ stabs and a heavy bottom make this track irresistible.
In the early ‘90s, a British band called The Blessing released a pretty damn good album called Prince of the Deep Water. The band was led by vocalist and songwriter William Topley. Their best-known song, “Highway 5”, is today’s SotW.
Topley’s soulful vocals are terrific on this cut. When he gets to the pre-chorus, the timber of his voice changes to sound like Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals – and that’s a good thing! And that soaring chorus is catchy.
Baby got lost on Highway 5 and called my name out loud Said she broke down and cried about how we can’t live apart And all the people they were driving by they watched her like she was mad But she knew she would never suffer from the madness that they had
I always wondered if “Highway 5” was a reference to Interstate 5 (“the 5”) in California. Although Topley is British, part of the album was recorded in Hollywood, CA.
According to the album liner notes a large cast of superstars contributed “their help in making this record,” including Robben Ford, Nicky Hopkins, Bruce Hornsby, Steve Khan, Hugh McCracken, Jeff Porcaro, and Soozie Tyrell, among others. According to Wikipedia Rickie Lee Jones also participated but I can’t find her name anywhere in my CD liner notes. It’s also too bad that those artists aren’t given credit for the specific songs they contributed to.
The Blessing broke up after two albums, but Topley continued to record and perform. His latest release was Back at the Napoleon House (2020).
It was this week in 1968 that the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago. That was 55 years ago!
As most of you know (and maybe remember) this was the convention that resulted in chaos and violence when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called in his police force and the National Guard to quell the anti-Viet Nam war protests that were being staged outside the convention hall.
One of the most important organizers of the protests was the folk artist, Phil Ochs. Most other artists, including Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and Paul Simon refused invitations to attend and perform. Only the MC5, managed by Yippie John Sinclair, accepted the invitation.
Ochs played “I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore”. The male protesters burned their draft cards.
In 2018, he Chicago publication The Reader reported:
“Wednesday, August 28, (is) the day that most people think about when they think about that convention in Chicago. That early morning, protesters agitated along the east side of Michigan Avenue across from the Conrad Hilton Hotel where the Democratic delegates were staying. That included Ochs, who wore a flag pin on his suit jacket.”
“… about 3,000 protesters tried to march and the police didn’t let them and some of them started throwing rocks, sticks, sometimes feces. What ensued was a 17-minute melee in front of the hotel between the marchers and a force that included some of the 12,000 Chicago police in addition to 6,000 army troops and 5,000 National Guardsmen that had been called to protect Chicago on the orders of Mayor Daley. Officers beat activists bloody in the streets of Chicago with nightsticks—live on national TV.”
This incident inspired Graham Nash to write his song “Chicago”.
Today’s rock stars often choose to “play it safe”, rather than engage in the political discourse that may alienate some part of their fan base. I wish we could bring back the old days.
I have plans to see the Grateful Dead tribute band Grateful Shred in November. Two of the musicians in that band, Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch, have been performing and recording together as Mapache for several years.
Mapache (Spanish for racoon) has a unique blend of Gram Parsons like country, Americana, and traditional, Spanish language, Mexican influences. Their 2022 album, Roscoe’s Dream, is a tribute to Blasucci’s Boston terrier, that has travelled on the road with them for many years.
Today’s SotW is “Pearl to the Swine.”
It has Americana roots but with a groovy, ‘60s fuzzed out, psych guitar. And in Mapache style, there are some nice harmonies on the outro.
Annette Peacock is one of those artists that almost no one remembers, even though she was quite influential in her day. Her 1972 album I’m the One was a mix of jazz, psych, and avant-garde funk. It was helped along with a prototype synthesizer that we provided to her by none other than Robert Moog himself. She used it to process her vocals very effectively.
As background, Peacock was married to jazz bassist Gery Peacock in the early ‘60s when she hooked up with Timothy Leary at Millbrook — the hippy commune just east of Poughkeepsie, NY devoted to drug experimentation and spirituality — to study Zen and Microbiotics. She later married jazz keyboardist Paul Bley, who was also a pioneer in the use of ARP and Moog synthesizers.
On I’m the One (1972), Peacock was responsible for vocals, electronic vocals, acoustic and electric piano, synthesizers, and electric vibraphone. It also included appearances by Bley, keyboardist Mike Garson, and drummer Rick Marotta.
Legend has it that David Bowie was so impressed with I’m the One that he invited Peacock to guest on his next album — Aladdin Sane. (The title is a pun on the words A Lad Insane.) She declined but suggested Bowie hire her keyboardist, Garson. Garson accepted and is responsible for the innovative piano solo on the title song. It is one of my favorites!
So, if you are the type of person that is always seeking out new musical ideas, check out Peacock’s I’m the One. It is available on Spotify and YouTube.
Today’s post is yet another in my “Evolution” series.
Sixty-five years ago, Eddie Cochran released the evergreen “Summertime Blues.” Originally intended as the B-side to Cochran’s “Love Again” it captured the zeitgeist of the late ‘50s rebellious American teenage life. It rose to #8 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the summer of 1958.
San Francisco’s hard rock group Blue Cheer made the song their own when they released the unlikely single in 1968. Given the ear-splitting volume that Blue Cheer’s music was meant to be played at, their version reached a surprising #14 on Billboard’s Hot 100. I remember watching them perform on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Bandstand was well known for having their guest performers lip-synch. The band clearly isn’t playing live (they have no vocal mics, although drummer Paul Whaley seems to be pounding the skins) but as a 12-year-old kid, I was very impressed with the giant wall of Marshall stacks they had behind them as props.
The Who also included “Summertime Blues” in their setlist. They recorded studio versions of the song, but they didn’t see the light of day until the late ‘90s and early aughts on expanded CD releases of Odds and Sods and The Who Sell Out. But their seminal version from Live at Leeds (1970) managed to reach #27 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The Who also performed “Summertime Blues” at Woodstock which will have its 54th anniversary in mid-August.
That makes 3 top 40 versions of the song!
In 1999, Japanese Punk Rock band Guitar Wolf, released their own version of “Summertime Blues.” The fact that they are singing the lyrics in an undecipherable form of Japanglish only adds to the charm of their recording and is true to the spirit of teen defiance that was captured in the Cochran original.
