Song of the Week – Crying, Waiting, Hoping, Buddy Holly; Come On, Let’s Go, Ritchie Valens; Chantilly Lace, The Big Bopper
Ignored Obscured Restored
Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, near Clear Lake, Iowa – “the day the music died” as it later became known, thanks to Don McLean’s “American Pie.”
Rather than rehash the details of the accident (I’m sure you’ll be hearing them all weekend) let’s simply celebrate the music made by those artists!
I have dozens of favorite Holly songs but you’ve heard them all a million times before. So I’ll treat you to something that, perhaps, you haven’t discovered yet – the demo version of “Crying, Waiting, Hoping.
In December 1958, exactly two months before the crash, Holly got his hands on a new Ampex tape recorder. He used it to record a series of demos in his New York City apartment between December 3rd and December 17th, and again between January 1st and January 19th, before heading off to begin the fateful Winter Dance Party tour. This version of “CWH” is from the “Apartment Tapes,” captured on December 17th. It even has Holly’s famous hiccup!
Mexican American singer/songwriter Ritchie Valens had several hits including Donna (#2) and the ever-present “La Bamba” (#22). But “Come On, Let’s Go” is the one that really rocks.
The Big Bopper is known for only one song – “Chantilly Lace.” (At least that’s the only one I’ve ever heard!)
On a personal note, “Chantilly Lace” was a bath time favorite when my kids were small children.
Enjoy… until next week.
The Tubes, White Punks on Dope
Al Green, Dream
Irma Thomas, Time Is On My Side
Joe Ely, I Keep Gettin’ Paid the Same
Song of the Week – Hooked on a Feeling, B.J. Thomas & Cry Like a Baby, The Box Tops
Ignored Obscured Restored
There is a very distinct guitar sound that I love and have been trying to find a vehicle for in the band I’m in. It’s the late ‘60s sound of the Coral electric sitar (by Danelectro). Whenever I’ve tried to explain the sound I’m referring to I always cite two, well known examples – The Box Top’s “Cry Like a Baby, and “Hooked on a Feeling” by B.J. Thomas.
I had no idea they were both played by the same guy, southern session guitarist Reggie Young, who died last week.
Young played on many other classic tracks from the ‘60s and ’70s, including:
Suspicious Minds Elvis Presley
Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond
Skinny Legs and All Joe Tex
Dark End of the Street James Carr
Son of a Preacher Man Dusty Springfield
The Letter The Box Tops
Drift Away Dobie Gray
Cocaine J.J. Cale
I Can Help Billy Swan (a previous SotW)
According to the New York Times obituary, “a compilation album of 24 tracks from sessions on which Mr. Young played, including recordings by Merle Haggard, Jackie DeShannon and Bobby (Blue) Bland, is to be released by the English label Ace Records this week.”
It will be well worth checking out!
BTW, use of the Coral did not end in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. Dave Stewart, of Eurhythmics’ fame, played it on Tom Petty’s 1985 hit “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
Enjoy… until next week.
The Clash, Rock The Casbah
Song of the Week – If You Wanna Be Happy, Jimmy Soul; First I Look at the Purse, J. Geils Band; When I Turn Off the Living Room Light, The Kinks
Ignored Obscured Restored
A few weeks ago I had the idea bouncing around in my head to write a post about my favorite misogynistic, politically incorrect songs. The deal was sealed when I was at a fantastic wedding in New Orleans last weekend and one of the songs that DJ Pasta played at the reception was on my list — Jimmy Soul’s “If You Wanna Be Happy” (#1, 1963).
If you don’t know the song, it has the lyric:
If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife
So from my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you
And has a spoken work dialog that goes like this:
Voice #1
Say man!
Voice #2 Hey baby!
V#1 I saw your wife the other day!
V#2 Yeah?
V#1 Yeah, an’ she’s ug-leeee!
V#2 Yeah, she’s ugly, but she sure can
cook, baby!
V#1 Yeah, alright!
Now you can’t be too sensitive about this, because it’s all meant in good fun. But at a wedding reception?
Then there’s “First I Look at the Purse.” The original was recorded by The Contours of “Do You Love Me” fame. It was released on Motown’s Gordy label in 1965 and was written by Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers and only managed to reach #57 on the Billboard Hot 100.
But the J. Geils Band rescued the song, put it onto their eponymous 1970 debut album, and released it as their first single.
This one has offensive lyrics such as:
Some fellas like the smiles they wear
Some fellas like the legs that’s all
Some fellas like the style of their hair
Want their waist to be small.
I don’t care if their legs are thin
I don’t care if their teeth are big
I don’t care if their hair’s a wig
Why waste time lookin’ at the waistline?
First I look at the purse!
The last song I’ve selected for this little theme (though I’m sure there are many more that fit it) is “When I Turn Off the Living Room Light” by The Kinks.
“… Living Room Light” was released on The Kinks’ The Great Lost Kinks Album. This 1973 set was a collection of previously unreleased tracks in the Reprise vaults that the label put out after the band had moved to RCA.
More demeaning lyrics:
Your nose may be bulbous, your face may be
spotty
Your skin may be wrinkled and tight
But I don’t want to see you, the way that you are
So I turn off the living room light
All intended with tongue firmly in cheek, so don’t be offended. Just giggle a little!
Enjoy… until next week.
Song of the Week – Strange Times, Moody Blues
Ignored Obscured Restored
The Moody Blues were finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 14, 2018. In the opinion of their multitude of fans, it was long overdue. Other perennial “bridesmaids” have also crossed the finish line in recent years — Yes (2017) and Chicago (2016). That leaves Todd Rundgren as one of the last artists that have been wrongfully omitted, though you may also have a favorite that is still in waiting.
But back to the Moodys. One thing you have to say about them is that they have been very consistent with their sound. They hit with “Go Now” soon after their formation in 1964 and settled on their classic lineup – Graeme Edge (drums), Mike Pinder (keyboards, vocals), Ray Thomas (vocals, flute, percussion, harmonica), Justin Hayward (guitar, vocals), John Lodge (bass, vocals) – by 1966. This is the group that recorded their catalog of well-known albums, from Days of Future Passed (1967) to Seventh Sojourn (1972). Beyond the ‘70s, the band in various configurations recorded high quality releases. Some even yielded hit singles like “Gemini Dream” and “The Voice” (1981) and “Your Wildest Dreams” (1986).
Today’s SotW is the title track from the 1999 release, Strange Times.
This song is well played by the classic lineup, less Mike Pinder. A highlight is their use of acoustic guitars and (as always) the harmony vocals. The lyrics are hokey, hippy gibberish, but hey, this is the Moody Blues.
This was the last album that included the work of Ray Thomas. Thomas died just after the New Year 2018, so he missed the band’s Rock Hall induction. Too bad.
Enjoy… until next week.