The Sunday Six

Hope everybody is enjoying their weekend. I’d like to welcome you to another Sunday Six zigzag journey to the beautiful world of music, six tunes at a time. While writing about music typically makes me a happy camper, I always particularly look forward to putting together another installment of this weekly feature. As long as I dig the track, these posts can include any type of music. Not being limited to a particular album or specific theme feels very liberating. Let’s do it!

Clifford Brown and Max Roach/Sandu

Today, I’d like to start our little trip in 1956. Clifford Brown was an American jazz trumpeter and composer, who during only four years of recording left an impressive legacy. Sadly, he passed away in a car accident at the age of 25 en route to Chicago for a gig, along with pianist Richie Powell and Powell’s wife Nancy Powell who was at the wheel when their car went off the road for unknown reasons. Max Roach, a pioneer of bebop, is regarded as one of the most important drummers in history. In 1954, the two musicians formed a quintet and over the next few years recorded a series of albums. One of them was Study In Brown, which included the great Brown composition Sandu. In addition to Brown, Roach and Powell, at the time, the quintet featured Harold Land (tenor saxophone) and George Morrow (double bass). My kind of music for a Sunday morning to get in the mood…

Bruce Springsteen/Bobby Jean

I trust Herr Springsteen doesn’t need an introduction. While I’ve covered The Boss multiple times since I started penning this blog in June 2016, based on a quick search, apparently, this is only the second time I feature Bruuuuuuuuce in The Sunday Six. With so many songs Bruce Springsteen has written over nearly six decades, it’s hard to pick one. I decided to go back to June 1984 and the album that brought the New Jersey rocker on my radar screen: Born in the U.S.A. One of the tunes I’ve always loved and think would have made a good single is Bobby Jean. The story about a guy who wants to visit somebody important to him only to find out the person left is “a good song about youthful friendship”, according to Springsteen, as noted by Songfacts. Apparently, the tune was written as a farewell message to E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who during the Born in the U.S.A. recording sessions decided to leave to focus on his solo career. Of course, Little Steven has been back since 1999 and is set to join Bruce and the band for a 2023 international tour. Man, it just feels so good hearing the great Clarence Clemons blowing that saxophone – nobody did it quite like the big man!

Otis Redding/(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some sweet soul music. And when it comes to that genre, nowadays, my first preference tends to be Stax – you know, the real good stuff! The Memphis soul label is associated with so many great artists like Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas and Kim Weston. And, of course, Otis Redding, who by the time (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was released as a single on January 8, 1968, had become the label’s biggest star. Sadly, he wasn’t able to witness the huge success of the tune, which became his only no. 1 hit on the U.S. mainstream chart Billboard Hot 100. Only three days earlier, Redding had died in a plane crash at the age of 26. The song, co-written by him and Steve Cropper, the guitarist of Stax killer house band Booker T. & the M.G.’s, also became the de facto title track of Redding’s seventh studio album The Dock of the Bay, which he had finished recording two days prior to his untimely death. And, yep, you guessed it correctly, the record also became Redding’s most successful on the Billboard 200. Life can be so unfair!

Dwight Twilley Band/I’m On Fire

Going from Otis Redding to the Dwight Twilley Band does seem to be a leap. Who’s Dwight Twilley anyway? But you see, to borrow from a famous Tom Hanks movie, I’d like to think of The Sunday Six like a box of chocolate: You never know what you’re going to get! BTW, had you asked me about Twilley a couple of weeks ago, I would have drawn a blank. Then Spotify served up I’m On Fire as a listening suggestion. While it perhaps didn’t set me on fire, I quite liked how this catchy tune rocks. If you don’t know it, you should give it try. It turned out I’m On Fire, first released as a single in April 1975, is one of two U.S. top 20 singles Twilley is best known for, according to Wikipedia. The other one is called Girls (1984). I’m On Fire, written by Twilley, was also included on Sincerely, his debut album released as Dwight Twilley Band. The “band” really was a duo and in addition to Twilley (guitar, piano, lead and harmony vocals) only included his music partner Phil Seymour (drums, bass, percussion, lead and harmony vocals). They released a second studio album in 1977. Each subsequently recorded solo albums. Seymour also sang backing vocals on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ tunes American Girl and Breakdown. Twilley still seems to be around. Sadly, Seymour passed away from lymphoma at age 41 in August 1993.

Sonny Landreth/Congo Square

Time for a stop-over in the ’90s before heading to our final destination. If you’re into guitar-driven blues chances are you’ve heard of Sonny Landreth. If you haven’t, I’d encourage you to check out this slide guitarist from Louisiana, who has been active for nearly 50 years and released close to 20 albums under his name. Given his talent, it’s not surprising he’s played with the likes of John Hiatt, John Mayall, Mark Knopfler, Gov’t Mule and Little Feat. Congo Square, which Landreth wrote together with Roy Melton and David Ranson, is a tasty tune from his fourth studio album South of I-10. Released in February 1995, the record marked the first time Landreth collaborated with Knopfler who played guitar on Congo Square and two other tunes. Cool stuff!

Dirty Honey/The Wire

Let’s go out with a great rocker: Gypsy by Dirty Honey. If you’re a frequent reader of the blog, you may recall me raving about this contemporary rock band from L.A., founded in 2017. I just love their classic rock sound, which reminds me of groups like Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and The Black Crowes. To date, they have released a self-titled EP and debut album, as well as a bunch of singles. The Wire, credited to the band, is from their first album that came out in April 2021. It was also released separately as the third single. Dirty Honey aren’t reinventing classic rock, but this is kick ass and I love it – and that’s good enough for me!

This post wouldn’t be complete without an accompanying Spotify playlist. Hope you’ll find something here you dig!

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Bruce Springsteen website; YouTube; Spotify

Second Tom Petty Posthumous Album Out

The title pretty much says it all. The Best Of Everything is a compilation of Tom Petty’s amazing music from his 40 years as a recording artist, largely focusing on his better known songs. Released yesterday, it’s billed as his first career-spanning collection of hits. Unlike last September’s An American Treasure, the 38 tracks for the most part were taken from past albums. There are two exceptions: For Real, a previously unreleased tune, and an alternate version of the title track that restores a lost second verse.

While to a longtime Tom Petty fan like myself it’s not exactly news what an outstanding songwriter he was, it’s still impressive when you see the track listing. Free Fallin’, Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Saving Grace, Breakdown, Refugee, American Girl, The Last DJ,  Runnin’ Down A Dream and Even The Losers, to name some of the gems, surely make for a beautiful collection. While I would say American Treasure is more for die-hard Tom Petty fans, The Best Of Everything is a terrific compilation for folks who know just a few songs and would like to further explore his music beyond the fantastic first Greatest Hits mid-career collection from November 1993.

Released via Geffen Records/UMe, The Best Of Everything is available as a 2-CD or 4-LP set

To make it truly career-spanning, it would have been nice to include a couple of tunes from The Traveling Wilburys. Sure, it’s fair to note the supergroup wasn’t Petty’s band. The Wilburys were primarily initiated by George Harrison and Jeff Lynne, and their songs were credited to all members. Unlike Mudcrutch and Petty’s solo albums, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, who helped put together The Best Of Everything and last year’s compilation, had no involvement with the Wilburys. There may also have been legal reasons for keeping the supergroup’s material out. Still, adding two tunes featuring Charlie T. Wilbur Junior on lead vocals would have been cool, in my humble opinion!

Let’s get to some music. I deliberately skip the big hits. The track order seems to be a bit random. Perhaps part of the idea here was to spread the bigger hits throughout to keep the more casual Tom Petty fans engaged. The number of YouTube clips from The Best Of Everything is still limited, so I’m borrowing clips from the original albums, as needed. The first tune I’d like to call out is Dreamville from The Last DJ, the 11th studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in October 2002. I’m glad they included this beautiful ballad, which definitely is not among Petty’s big hits.

I Should Have Known It is a nice rocker with a great guitar riff – my kind of song! Perhaps not surprisingly Campbell was a co-writer for this guitar player type of tune, which appeared on the band’s 12th studio record Mojo from June 2010. “I was glad that was on there, because I’m really proud of that track and that performance,” Campbell noted during an interview with Variety, conducted together with Tench and Petty’s eldest daughter Adria Petty, who was also involved in assembling the collection. “It showed a band in their later development still doing quality music.” Listen for yourself!

Next up: The alternate version of The Best Of Everything, another great tune! Originally, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded it for their sixth studio album Southern Accents, which came out in March 1985. Even though I own that record on CD, frankly, I had forgotten about the song.

Scare Easy is a track from the first Mudcrutch album simply titled Mudcrutch, which appeared in April 2008. Initially formed in Gainesville, Fla. in 1970, Mudcrutch was the predecessor to The Heartbreakers. After recording some demos and releasing one single that failed to chart, Mudcrutch broke up in 1975. It’s kind of remarkable they lasted for more than four years. Then, in August 2007, Petty reunited the band. In addition to Campbell (guitar, mandolin) and Tench (keyboards), the lineup featured the other two original members Randall Marsh (drums) and Tom Leadon (guitar), with Petty on bass and lead vocals.

The last tune I’d like to call out is For Real. This previously unreleased song also wasn’t available on any bootlegs, so until it came out as a single a few weeks ago, it’s something even fans hadn’t heard before. According to Rolling Stone, the track was recorded in August 2000 and is “a declaration of purpose” by Petty. “That song to me sounds like Tom reporting from his heart — reporting from the front,” Tench told Variety during the above interview. “It may sound like it’s meant to be a summing up of a career or something, but it’s not, really, because it’s almost 20 years old. We weren’t quite as long-in-tooth and gray then.” I think Tench is right, though it’s the perfect tune to close out the collection.

“When I went back through all this stuff… I don’t want to get heavy with it, but it’s very emotional, in being nostalgic, because we were never nostalgic when we were working,” Campbell told Variety. “We never looked back. We just always were looking forward. But Ben and I were forced to look back as we went through this stuff, and we both had an epiphany about how we have a legacy that has integrity. We were sad, but also very proud of what we’ve done.” Who can blame them.

Added Adria Petty: “I feel like Ben and Mike haven’t had a second to process this, what the next chapter can be, and I think for us, it’s kind of the same. Ben had a baby for the first time six or seven weeks after my dad died, and he’s been deeply in love and entrenched in that. It’s a really horrible thing to have to process both things at the same time, so he probably finally has a little space to just focus on that. Mike’s going to be on the road with Fleetwood Mac through April. He had his first grandchild right after Dad died. There’s a third generation of Heartbreaker kids coming in that are all amazing.”

Benmont Tench (l) and Mike Campbell, August 2018

So after two major compilations, what else might be in store or in the vault I should perhaps better ask. “There a bunch of really great stuff,” Tench told Billboard. He noted early Mudcrutch recordings, demos from The Last DJ and music from the period of Hypnotic Eye, the final studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from July 2014.

Campbell would like to explore a live album from the band’s shows at the Fillmore from 1997 to 1999, he explained to Rolling Stone. “For me, that was almost the pinnacle of the band just being totally spontaneous night to night to night. We might throw in a Grateful Dead song that we just learned that afternoon. We recorded every show and we had guest artists from Bo Diddley to Roger McGuinn to John Lee Hooker. And I know, in my memory of those 20 nights, there’s an amazing album in there.” That surely sounds like a great idea to me!

However, both Tench and Campbell want to be mindful about further releases to make sure the quality is right and Petty would have wanted to release the material. Adria Petty agrees. “I don’t want to inundate the fans with “Hey, here’s another record!”,” she told Variety. That’s a good thing!

Sources: Wikipedia, Tom Petty official website, Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard, YouTube

Great Covers Tom Petty Style

American Girl, Refugee, You Got Lucky, Runnin’ Down A Dream, Breakdown, Free Fallin’, Southern Accents, Mary Jane’s Last Dance, The Last DJ – there are countless great songs written by Tom Petty. In addition to that, Petty has also performed many fantastic covers, especially during his concerts. With The Heartbreakers, he had one hell of a backing band. I was reminded of that earlier today, when I came across and listened to an EP titled Bad Girl Boogie, which apparently was exclusively released on Amazon.com in June 2010 as a bonus CD to the DVD Live At The Olympic: The Last DJ. This triggered the idea of putting together a post focused on covers played by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

I’d like to start things off with what I believe was the first cover I ever heard from Tom Petty: Needles And Pins, a song I’ve always dug. It was included on Pack Up The Plantation: Live!, the first official live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,  which appeared in November 1985. Written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono, the tune was first released by Jackie DeShannon in April 1963. In January 1964, The Searchers turned it into a no. 1 hit single in the U.K. In the U.S., it performed strongly as well, peaking at no. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Petty’s great rendition features Stevie Nicks on backing vocals.

Next up: Green Onions, simply one of the coolest instrumentals I know. It appears on The Live Anothology, a live box set and true treasure trove released in November 2009. The tune was initially written by Booker T. Jones and recorded by Booker T. & The M.G.’s in 1962 in a largely improvised fashion while waiting to back another artist in the studio. It became the title track of the Stax house band’s debut album from October 1962 and their signature tune. According to the liner notes, the Heartbreakers’ killer take was recorded during a February 6, 1997 gig at The Fillmore in San Francisco.

Here’s I’m Crying from the above-mentioned bonus CD to the Live At The Olympic DVD. The concert was recorded on October 16, 2002 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Written by Eric Burden and Alan Price, this great tune by The Animals first appeared as the B-side to the Australian version of their 1964 single Boom Boom, a cover of the John Lee Hooker tune. I’m Crying was also included on their second U.S. studio album The Animals On Tour.

Another intriguing cover appearing on The Live Anthology is Goldfinger – yep, that would be the title track of the classic 1964 James Bond motion picture! Composed by John Barry, with lyrics co-written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, it’s one of the greatest movie songs I know. Presumably because it would have been hard to capture the amazing vocal by Shirley Bassey, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played the track as a cool Shadows-style instrumental. Mike Campbell is doing an outstanding job that I assume made Hank Marvin proud, if he heard it. Like Green Onions, Goldfinger was captured at The Fillmore in San Francisco, except it was a different date: January 31, 1997.

The last cover I’d like to highlight in this post also appears on the above Bad Girl Boogie EP/bonus CD: The Chuck Berry classic Carol, first released as a single in August 1958. It also appeared on Berry’s first compilation album Chuck Berry Is On Top from July 1959. This take features more awesome guitar work by Campbell and some kickass honky piano by Benmont Tench – great gosh a’ mighty, to borrow from another talented gentleman and piano player called Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard.

Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube