Yeah, just drop that bass bomb on me, guys. Kind of similar to the two note opening of Jailhouse Rock (see yesterday's post), but descending in tone and really heavy and sludgy. Wow, that bass is so classic. And the great Don Van Vliet growling his way through. This was Captain Beefheart's first single.
This is probably one of the most significant songs in the history of rock n roll. Those opening two notes grab hold of you, and then Elvis bursts through the speakers. I don't think I ever knew all the correct lyrics until today. I found them here. I never knew there was a 'drummer boy from Illinois'. It didn't matter to me, since it was all about the overall feeling of the song. I knew it was about a party in the jail and all the inmates having a good time. It was a pretty good movie too, as far as Elvis movies go.
I am certain I first heard this song in the film Stand By Me, the scene in the junkyard where they hang out and count their money. I loved the electric guitar picking and the clickity clack rhythm. I think this song made me more aware of doo wop. If you like this song, there is a great doo wop box set out there. It's got all the great songs - Blue Moon, Get A Job, Book Of Love, I Only Have Eyes For You.
The story of the Dell-Vikings is pretty interesting, you can read about them here.
Another great story song from the Village Green Preservation Society album (see January 16), this one tells the story of a guy who gets drunk before a big performance and embarrasses himself in front of his friends, as well as his friends' friends. For days after he disguises himself when he goes out in public. Eventually, he performs again and, in spite of drinking 'large glasses of gin', pulls off a decent performance. His life can go back to normal now and he can forget about his original bad performance.
Musically, I love the bouncy start of verse oompa beat, and also the stereo split during the slower parts, nicely picked acoustic guitar on the right, organ on the left.
Sometime around 1978 my Mom got me the Red album and Doug got the Blue Album, or at least that is how we adopted them. I used to sit in our comfy brown swivel chair next to the stereo with the headphones on and read the lyrics and look at the gatefold photo. I'd sit there and wonder how the one kid got to be on the other side of the fence. And the kid in the middle looked sad and kind of out of place, but he seemed pretty cool, too. I always liked how Ringo was at kid height, all hunkered down. The lyrics to the songs were printed on the sleeves, so you could follow along. I really liked Paperback Writer because it told a story and I liked books, and it wasn't about girls and all that hold your hand stuff. The way the vocals cascade all over themselves from the top, and the way they echo around after writererererer....so trippy .The guitar riff is great, but i don't think I appreciated it at the time. I could also imagine the Monkees doing this one, my favorite lunch time entertainers. Anyhow, it's a fun Paul song. I don't think John would have written a song that began with 'Dear Sir or Madam.'
Here's the deal...I heard this song on the radio when I was a freshman in high school. I didn't know what it was called, as Led Zeppelin often has song titles that aren't mentioned in the lyrics. I probably thought the song was called 'The land of ice and snow'. I should have asked C. DePinto, that kid knew about LZ, at least he told me this other song I liked was called 'Fool in the Rain.' That Christmas, my grandmother bought me Led Zeppelin III. However, the vinyl was so warped that the needle bounced right off when the first song on the album started to play. I still didn't know that the song was 'Immigrant Song', since I couldn't listen to the record. I had to go back to the record store to return it. So did I just exchange it for another copy? Noooo...stupid me decided to get 'Coda' on cassette and keep the change. I probably ended up eventually getting LZIII through Columbia Record and Tape Club. I allowed 4-6 weeks for delivery, I'm sure.
This is a song to inspire the Viking in all of us. Robert Plant's opening cries are frightening - look out world, here we come to pillage and plunder! I love the bass lines during the 'on we sweep with threshing oar' part. Valhalla, I am coming!
Watch out, it's Jello Biafra! Sing along with Jello! Yeah, I love the roaring reverby surf guitar of East Bay Ray on this one. This song makes me think of the Clockwork Orange gang with badges. A condemnation of police brutality. I blame society.
This song has some major cowbell action going on as well (see yesterday's post) and other things clanking away, but it makes my favorites list because of that unbelievable bass line at 2:04. Floors me every time. Plus it has the fun wordplay that John liked to write, as in 'your inside is out when your outside is in'. This song is from The Beatles (White Album).
I probably heard this song as a kid and liked the scooby dooby doo-bee part. There was a time when I would put on Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits CD and just have it repeat over and over. Well, sometimes I would skip 'Life' because I would get tired of that circus music. Like many of the songs from this album, 'Everyday People' feels so positive and universal, 'we got to live together' (love how he sings at the end of 'together') and respect one another. Such a funky groovy bunch, great clothes, and Sly had the cool giant afro. Whoa, listen to that cowbell coming out of the left speaker, can we get more cowbell?
This is probably the first song I heard and loved by the Beatles. Those opening drums are so dramatic and the harmonies and the wooos!! and the yeah yeah yeahs, it is the British Invasion right there in one song. I remember finding the "apologize to her-er-er" bit oddly awkward and funny. Then it ends on that cool 6th chord or whatever it is. I imagine how thrilling it must have been for so many teens to hear this back in 1963. How could any kid back then hear this song and not go crazy with excitement and start jumping around the room? I'd be walking to school with that one in my head.
The little rrrolll of the tongue on 'provincial? The 'blessed' DJ? Of course this spells Morrissey. Hang the DJ! Why? Well, hmmm...maybe Morrissey was tired of hearing garbage when the radio should have been playing Smiths songs 24/7? I mean, the Smiths were the best British band of the 80s, so that could be why. Or was it because he hated discos, or because a BBC DJ played a song by Wham! following an announcement about the Chernobyl disaster, and that seemed really meaningless and absurd? Or could it have simply been Morrissey per usual expressing his highly sensitive aesthetic? Everybody: Hang the DJ hang the DJ hang the DJ!!
This was the first single by the Yardbirds. I fell for that opening riff the first time I heard it. So raw and distorted, those two seconds really blew my mind. I also love Keith Relf's reverby vicaks, haha I mean vocals, yes I can sometimes type without looking at the keys. His harmonica playing during the middle frenzy is fantastic as well. The Yardbirds have lots of great songs, but this one will always be my favorite.
'Parachute Woman' from Beggars Banquet. Acoustic riff opens the song and pretty much keeps the rhythm throughout. Electric slide guitar buzzes along in parallel with the vocals during the verses, sometimes just playing one note can sound so cool. Keith plays s a couple of wonderfully basic solos in middle and end. Mick gets a nice harp outro there. This is a nice example of the sound they began to develop once they were done dabbling in psychedelia. Keith experienced his open g tuning epiphany and the rest is history. Regarding the lyrics, well...I will plead the fifth.
I love Joey's voice, it's double-tracked and full of reverb, kind of a wall of sound thing. It's one of the slower Ramones songs. The guitars are nice and crunchy, big power chords, nice bass and drum keeping the beat, in a way it reminds me of the Pixies. About ten words in the song, repeated in three identical verses. OK, Joey, I get it. You were obsessed with someone awhile ago and you thought about this person a lot, especially at night, then eventually you stopped, but you still remember that period of your life. Anything else? OK, see ya later.
One the earliest whacked out rock n roll guitar riffs appears around 1:23, and this is why I love the song. I mean, Elvis can sing on and on about the dog, but it is this one moment from Scotty Moore that always amazes me. Meanwhile, we get the Jordanaires ahhing their way throughout every guitar solo, it's like enough already you guys, can't I just listen to the guitar without you butting in? I wonder if any members of the Jordanaires ever wore Air Jordans.
Ah, the quiet life in a small pastoral English village. You can travel to one of these places in this song. Imagine yourself sipping a pint in a little pub populated by kind tweed wearing elderly chaps. People teeter past on creaky old bicycles. Little shops sell this and that. Church bells ring in the distance. Kids go to Sunday school. The moss grows in the ancient cemeteries.
The narrator reflects on his early life there prior to leaving home for the big noisy city. He longs for an opportunity to experience this place again, when life was simple and carefree. Well, if he never makes it back, he can at least dream about it. Great lyrics throughout, I think my favorite one is "and Daisy's married Tom the grocer boy and now he owns a grocery", or maybe "they snap their photographs and say gol darn it, isn't it a pretty scene."
Hey, it's another song about the Moon! And it is another gentle little piece, elegantly arranged with strings and woodwinds. Taken from the phenomenal album Third/Sister Lovers, I think one of the greatest albums ever. That album is a story in itself. Is it really a Big Star album or an Alex Chilton solo album? How many times has it been reissued? Ten or so.
I remember when I first saw the Volkswagen commercial that featured this song. I thought it was cool that someone out there in advertising land knew this song. The commercial was pretty tasteful as I recall. The song itself is lovely, featuring a nice piano solo in the middle. I am not a fan of the color pink, but I like the Pink Panther.
I can't remember when I first saw Easy Rider, but I know it was the first time I ever heard this song. It also appears on The Notorious Byrd Brothers, but I really only knew the Byrds from Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn Turn Turn back then. Those gentle Byrds harmonies pour out so sweetly. The phased middle section is quite trippy. This song will always conjure images of Peter Fonda exploring the open freedom road of America. Hey, man, is that Freedom Rock? Yeah! Well turn it up, man!
Garage rock at its finest here. From the two note fuzz bass riff to the weird lyrics (My name is really Mud) and wild growled vocals, the crazy guitar solo, fantastic drums.
This was a case of musical serendipity. I first heard this song in a small restaurant in Sangju, South Korea in 1998. I sat at a table hypnotized by the vocal harmonies, the guitar, organ, the haunting mood, kind of similar to the Moody Blues. I persuaded my Korean friend to ask the restaurant staff what the song was. I was so excited by it that they ended up just giving me the cassette. It was a budget compilation of Korean pop tunes from the 70s. Although I now possessed the song, no one told me anything about it, like its title or the group that performed it. Oh well, I was just glad to have it. The mystery remained unsolved for many more years.
I eventually figured it out via the information superhighway, thanks mostly to a great blog about Korean Psych and Acid Folk music. The group, He 6, released a couple of decent albums, but this song will always have a magical hold on me.
I still have the cassette in a box in my basement, the song that came on after this one has some guy whistling. Alas, there were no other songs on the cassette that had any effect on me.
The Mascots were from Sweden. Words Enough to Tell You is one of the best Beatles-inspired songs ever recorded. It has great harmonies, nice guitar strumming, teen angst of the protagonist, I think these guys may have even been teenagers when they recorded it. It is a fantastic little two minute pop nugget. I first heard it on the Nuggets II box set.
A two minute rockfest from Julian Cope and his group. This is an accelerated version of the song "You..." from Peggy Suicide. The crazy amazing wah wah guitar solo starting at 1:05 is my favorite part of the song. This is from Floored Genius 2 – Best of the BBC Sessions 1983–91
"You think it's cool to wear a Smiley."
"I'd love to hang around, but this is not a doorway..."
Right right right, Julian...exactly. All hail the Drude.
The word 'effervescing' means bubbly, foamy, which I always associated with beverages like champagne. This songs opens with the sounds of the jungle at night. Then a tuba sounds a few notes to introduce the elephant. The elephant is the bubbly gossip of the jungle. He intentionally creates a general panic among all the little 'inferior' animals by telling them that a tiger is on the loose and will probably eat them. The animals comically run around "for all the day and the night." But have no fear little ones, says the tiger, you are too small to quench my appetite. I need something more, something big and chewy...like an elephant. The song ends with the sounds of the jungle at night and the scary end of the babbling effervescing elephant. Syd delivers the whole story with great cheer and portrays the tiger as casual bon vivant. This song is from Barrett.
The narrator reminds me of Jimmy Stewart on the bridge asking to have his life back in It's a Wonderful Life. He is begging, please please...please. How about some good times for once, let me dream again. He says, "let me get what I want. Lord knows, it would be the first time." It could be interpreted as 'Waaa, I never get what I want!!' Stomping his feet. But what heartless person could be so presumptive. Nah. Based on the beautiful music accompanying the story, I pretty much have to accept that this guy is suffering. Someone buy him a decent meal for cryin out loud. Heck, I have no idea what he wants. Maybe his mom is having surgery and he wants her to be OK. Maybe he was fired from his job. He really wanted a puppy for his birthday and didn't get one. sniff.
Towards the end of the song, the shimmering rainbow of mandolin appears and either pushes you over the emotional waterfall or rescues you like a light at the end of a tunnel. According to wikipedia, Morrissey has been known to cry during this part when the song is played live. Every time Morrissey cries, an angel gets its wings. Attaboy, Clarence.
Oh man, I love this delightful little doo wop extravaganza so much. It is really amusing the way they cram all the syllables of 'somebody's in love with somebody' into these tiny spaces, little doo wop tongue twisters similar to the bombababom sound of songs like 'Blue Moon'.
John is in love with Joan, but Joan loves Jim, who is in love with 'someone I know.' I wonder who that person is...Jane? It could go on and on. The narrator (John?) was involved with Joan but they had a quarrel. Too bad.
favorite moments: the way one of the guys hits the high note on the word 'love' the second time through the title passage.
This song is available on Sun Ra's Singles compilation.
I was twelve when I first heard this at a friend's house. I listened through headphones. It felt like I was in some sort of loud thrilling electric church. I'm sure I just sat there with my mouth open. My friend let me borrow this album, and I let him borrow my copy of Genesis' Duke. I still have his copy of Van Halen.
Eruption is pretty much all about what happens after the 25 second intro, when it becomes a pure electric guitar tornado of classical music style. This is the church part of it, it reminds me of the organist I grew up listening to at First Presbyterian.
Favorite moments:
0:57 - 1:24...wow, just blinding and beautiful.
last 12 seconds - vaguely recalls some sort of industrial service vehicle being fed materials to shred, or a partial warning siren.
headphones on and read the lyrics and look at the gatefold photo. I'd sit there and wonder how the one kid got to be on the other side of the fence. And the kid in the middle looked sad and kind of out of place, but he seemed pretty cool, too. I always liked how Ringo was at kid height, all hunkered down. The lyrics to the songs were printed on the sleeves, so you could follow along. I really liked Paperback Writer because it told a story and I liked books, and it wasn't about girls and all that hold your hand stuff. The way the vocals cascade all over themselves from the top, and the way they echo around after writererererer....so trippy .The guitar riff is great, but i don't think I appreciated it at the time. I could also imagine the Monkees doing this one, my favorite lunch time entertainers. Anyhow, it's a fun Paul song. I don't think John would have written a song that began with 'Dear Sir or Madam.'
