Few songs scream “summer” as loudly as “Itchycoo Park” by the Small Faces.
The track was released in August 1967 – the Summer of Love! It has a joyous pop melody with carefree lyrics about frolicking in the park, in the sun, getting high. That sounds like a great summer day to me!
“Itchycoo Park,” written by the talented duo of Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. It famously employed an effect called flanging, which produced that “swooshing” sound heard in the drum breaks and choruses.
Both songwriters went on to further their careers in rock and roll. Marriott left the Small Faces to form Humble Pie alongside Peter Frampton. When Marriott split, Lane hired Ronnie Wood to replace him, then snatched Rod Stewart from the Jeff Beck Group. The band dropped the word “small” from their name and became known simply as The Faces.
Tragically, both died in the ‘90s at young ages. Yet, their contributions to the realm of music endure. So, crank up the volume, let the music take you back to the trippy ‘60s, and groove to the eternal magic of “Itchycoo Park.”
Martin Mull passed away on June 27th. He held a warm place in my heart. I enjoyed his snarky sense of humor and his amusing songs. I had a copy of his self-titled debut album (1972) that included some of my favorite titles like “Livin’ Above My Station”, “Eggs”, and “Partly Marion”, all of which had Levon Helm on drums. (Helm’s partner at the time, Libby Titus, supplied backing vocals.)
I fondly remember seeing him live in the fall of 1975 at Paul’s Mall on Boylston Street in Boston.
Later he became a regular on the late-night soap opera parody, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, playing the character Garth Gimble. My friends and I made time nightly to catch the show in college. That role led to a couple of offshoots, Fernwood 2 Night (1977), America 2 Night (1978), where Gimble (Mull) was in the lead role.
All this led to dozens of television and film roles in a career that kept him busy up until now.
Today’s SotW is a duet he did with Melissa Manchester called “They Never Met.” It’s the story of two aging virgins whose destiny could have been different, but “they never met.”
But they never met Not even briefly I know what you thought You thought that they might Now, what was the problem? Thе problem was, chiefly She workеd the day shift And he worked the night
A few years ago, I went to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. The ticket included a pre-show featuring a concert by Manchester. When her performance ended, she hung around for a “meet and greet.” When my turn came to say hello, I sang her the chorus to “They Never Met.” I clearly caught her by surprise. She seemed to recognize the song but also had a quizzical look on her face – like she couldn’t quite place it. Her reaction was priceless!
A new documentary about the life of Anita Pallenberg was recently released. Pallenberg, The First Lady of The Rolling Stones, was a significant part of the band, even though she was not a musician.
The film is superb. The story moves along briskly. It has excellent video footage (much of it from private home movies), great interviews (including audio from Keith Richards), and readings from Pallenberg’s unpublished memoir (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).
One of my favorite moments was learning that Richards wrote “You Got the Silver” for Pallenberg after the birth of their first son, Marlon. Though Richards was reluctant to become a father, this was a very tender moment in their often stormy relationship.
“… Silver” is a bluesy, deep cut from Let It Bleed (1969). It is one of the few songs on which Richards is the lead vocalist. The Stones recorded a version with Mick Jagger singing lead but opted to include Richards’ version on the album. That was an appropriate choice given the personal nature of the track.
Hey babe, what’s in your eyes? I saw them flashing like airplane lights You fill my cup, babe, that’s for sure I must come back for a little more
You got my heart you got my soul You got the silver you got the gold You got the diamonds from the mine Well that’s all right, it’ll buy some time
By the time of the Let It Bleed sessions, founding Rolling Stone Brian Jones was, for the most part, a “no show.” But he did contribute an autoharp part to “… Silver.”
Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg can be seen on most streaming services (to rent for $6.99). Here is a link to the New York Times review of the film:
I’ve been a huge fan of the Memphis based Stax label for a long time. Their brand of southern soul music appeals to me much more than the sanitized sounds that came out of Motown, though I love a lot of Motown too.
Over the years I have immersed myself in the Stax catalog and history. I downloaded The Complete Stax/Volt Singles compilations as soon as they were released. One of the best music books I ever read was Peter Guralnick’s Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom. While that book isn’t only about Stax, the label plays a huge role in his story. I have also watched the Wattstax concert movie and listened extensively to the soundtrack record.
Now there is a new four-part documentary series about Stax on HBO called Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. I watched it a few weeks ago and highly recommend it to anyone who loves 60s/70s soul music.
The docu-series devoted significant time to the story behind Shirley Brown’s “Woman to Woman,” the 1974 single that was a #1 R&B hit but stalled at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was penned by the trio of James Banks, Eddie Marion, and Henderson Thigpen. On the website soulexpress.com, Thigpen is quoted saying:
James and I used to get together every day, and we were at a studio one day trying to come up with some ideas, something different. When people get serious, they say ‘hey, let’s talk man to man’. So we came up with a concept. We thought it would be interesting to have a song with somebody coming up ‘hey, let’s talk woman to woman’. I had overheard my wife at the time arguing over the phone with a friend of hers about a man with another woman, so we – James, myself and Eddie – came up with the monologue. But no females were doing it. Isaac Hayes was doing long monologues at the time. Whenever we came up with an idea, we demoed it to give the rough idea of the whole song.
Fortunately for us, last February a boxed set titled Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos was released. It includes 146 demos from the Stax stable of songwriters – 140 previously unreleased – including the one of “Woman to Woman” made by Thigpen and mentioned in the quote above.
So, sit back and enjoy both versions of this slow jam, soul classic.
Billy Joel has been all over the news in recent months. In February he dropped his first new song in over 20 years, called “Turn the Lights Back On,” and performed it to an ecstatic audience at the 2024 Grammys that same month. In April he gave the 100th performance of his concert residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The show was broadcast on CBS on April 14th. On the personal side, it was recently disclosed that he purchased a 5-acre property in East Hampton, complete with a horse farm, pool, and lily pond, making him a neighbor to Alec Baldwin.
But this being the SotW, you know there’s a curveball coming. Instead of making the obvious choice of some Billy Joel obscurity, today’s SotW is “Deco Dance,” by Elliott Murphy.
You’re probably thinking “How did Tom get from Billy Joel to Elliott Murphy?” Let’s talk!
In 1975, Murphy released a particularly good album called Night Lights. At the time, Murphy was vying for some of the same turf Bruce Springsteen was claiming. That may seem quaint with the benefit of hindsight, but it’s true.
Anyway, one of the best songs on Night Lights was “Deco Dance.” Billy Joel played piano on the campy cut. It’s blatantly evident on the opening piano intro. Joel’s style is unmistakable.
The track also takes advantage of the stellar horn section of Michael Brecker (too many credits to list!), Howard Johnson (The Band, John Lennon), Lou Marini (Frank Zappa, J Geils, Blues Brothers), Lew Soloff (B,S&T) and Tom Malone (B,S&T, Blues Brothers).
Night Lights is of its time, but still satisfies today. Besides “Deco Dance,” Murphy’s rant about the fleeting satisfaction of celebrity culture and fame, it has another song called “Lady Stilletto (sic),” written as an homage to Patti Smith.
Pearl Jam hit the national scene in 1991, at the height of the Seattle-based grunge rock movement led by Nirvana. I liked their debut album, Ten, but was skeptical of all the hype the grunge bands received. I asked myself, “Is this band for real or not?”
Then I saw them perform on Saturday Night Live in April 1992, and I was hooked. The video is no longer available, but there is a YouTube “video” of the sound recording from that performance of “Alive” and “Porch.”
In 2017, Rolling Stone rated that appearance at #13 on their list called Saturday Night Live Rocks: 25 Greatest Musical Performances.
Today’s SotW is Pearl Jam’s “Black,” also from Ten.
The lyrics to “Black” were written by vocalist Eddie Vedder. They tell the story of a very personal, emotional breakup with a lost lover. As the song builds to a sentimental peak, the singer howls:
I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life I know you’ll be a star In somebody else’s sky But why Why Why can’t it be Why can’t it be mine?
Rarely has a male rock star exhibited such naked vulnerability. It is easy to understand how this song has endured as a fan favorite for over 30 years.
In the mid to late ‘70s, the eclectic Amazing Rhythm Aces released a series of incredibly good albums on the ABC label that contained their own brand of “roots” music, though it wasn’t called that at the time. Their debut album, Stacked Deck (1975), contained their greatest hit, “Third Rate Romance,” which reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Third Rate Romance” has a “Margaritaville” Caribbean feel with some nice guitar fills played by its songwriter, Russell Smith. It is a story song about a dalliance at the Family Inn after a couple connects at a “ritzy” restaurant. The tryst is humanized when the woman says, “I’ve never really done this kind of thing before, have you?” And her partner replies “Yes, I have. But only a time or two.”
You can often measure a song by the company it keeps. In this case, “Third Rate Romance” has been covered by Jesse Winchester, Sammy Kershaw, Roseanne Cash, and Elvis Costello (on the unreleased Flip City Demo album that can be heard on YouTube). Not a bad group of characters.
John Barbata is most well-known as the drummer for Jefferson Starship. He died on May 8th at the age of 79.
His career began much earlier than his mid/late 70s run with the Starship. In the mid-60s, Barbata joined the Turtles at the recommendation of the Byrds’ Gene Clark. He was the drummer on their first hit, “Happy Together.”
“Happy Together” spent three weeks at the top of the charts in 1967. It’s a chestnut that we all know and love.
By the early 70s, Barbata had hitched his cart to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He was the drummer on the tour that produced the 4 Way Street album. He collaborated with those fellows in all their different configurations. One of the best is “Immigration Man,” a song from the first Crosby & Nash album, simply called Graham Nash David Crosby (1972).
“Immigration Man” was released as a single and should have fared better than its peak of #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has luxurious harmonies and a tasteful solo provided by Dave Mason.
I would be remiss if I didn’t also acknowledge his work with the Starship. Their most successful album was Red Octopus which contained the Marty Balin classic “Miracles.”
“Miracles” didn’t quite reach the heights of “Happy Together,” but it came damned close. It soared to #3 and parked there for three weeks in 1975. Non-band member Irv Cox adds a screaming sax solo to this soft rock gem.
Besides the groups mentioned, Barbata contributed to the work of many other artists. Too many, in fact, to mention in this short post. But to name a few, he drummed with Lee Michaels, Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder, Johnny Rivers, and the Byrds.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a post featuring the Evolution Series. I’m returning to that today with a fun one!
Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie recorded many songs together, including “When the Levee Breaks” in 1929. (As most of you will recognize, that song was later recorded by Led Zeppelin in a reworked version.) In 1930, they recorded another song called “Can I Do It For You”, written by Memphis Minnie.
The country blues number is a duet between the artists where the male singer offers several expensive items to his woman. He wants “to do something for” her. But she’s a feminist that can’t be bought. For each offer, she responds “I don’t want nothin’ in the world you got, and you can’t do nothin’ to me.”
In 1965, Donovan resurrected the song in an updated version he titled “Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)”.
Donovan’s version was a tribute to his friend Gyp Mills (Gypsy Dave). By this time, the “expensive” gifts included different cars, including a Chevrolet, a Ford Mustang, a Cadillac, and a sugar cube to which the response is “I don’t want to go for no trip”!
The song was picked up again in 1966 by Jim Kweskin & His Jug Band, but by now it was called “Chevrolet.”
This version harkens back to the Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie version with a male and female call and response in each verse. The woman’s voice is Maria Muldaur, of “Midnight At the Oasis” fame.
In 1978, the British hard rock band Foghat took a shot at the song.
I’ve never been a Foghat fan, but their rendition of this classic song rocks! It begins acapella, then the band kicks in. By the end, the guitar solos are screaming!
“Chevrolet” has been covered many other times in versions I didn’t feature in this post but include artists such as The Animals, The Soul Survivors, Taj Mahal, The Derek Trucks Band, and Jack White’s Raconteurs.
This “evolution” is a wonderful example of how a simple country blues can become a rock classic.
Today’s post is the next installment of my Contrast Series, this time analyzing a group of songs with the theme “Tonight.”
Let’s start with “Tonight” from the movie soundtrack for the musical West Side Story (1961), with music written by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
This is a key song from the show, portraying its version of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. As such, it is an ode to teenage romance, though it sounds much more mature.
Tonight, tonight The world is full of light With suns and moons all over the place Tonight, tonight The world is wild and bright Going mad Shooting sparks into space
The Raspberries released the Eric Carmen penned “Tonight” in 1973.
This power pop classic opens with a count-in and a guitar intro the lead guitarist Wally Bryson has claimed “nobody knows how to play but me” because he made up “weird chords to get different sounds.” Hmmm.
It is a typical Carmen teenage drama but without the innocence of the West Side Story song. The protagonist wants to bed the “too young” person that smiled at him. (I guess it doesn’t take much to make Carmen horny!) I dig the “bop-om-doo-doh-woh-mop-shoo” he exhorts while “making love” in the bridge section.
Sadly, Carmen recently passed away in March at the age of 74.
“Tonight, Tonight” from Smashing Pumpkins’ epic Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) is something totally different, both musically and lyrically. It was recorded with a 30-piece string section that adds palpable drama to the recording, making it a very unlikely single release.
The lyrics are more vague than the other songs. Exactly who is vocalist Billy Corgan singing to? Wikipedia reports:
On The Howard Stern Show, Corgan has said that the song pays homage to Cheap Trick, with its black humoresque lyrics and theme, and that the song is addressed to himself, who escaped from an abusive childhood against all odds, so as to keep him believing in himself.
If this is right, the song’s final verses are the payoff:
We’ll crucify the insincere Tonight, Tonight We’ll make things right We’ll feel it all Tonight, Tonight We’ll find a way to offer up the night Tonight The indescribable moments of your life Tonight The impossible is possible Tonight, Tonight
Believe in me as I believe in you Tonight Tonight, Tonight Tonight, Tonight
