Song Musings

Happy Hump Day and hope you’re in the mood for taking another deeper dive into a song I’ve only mentioned in passing or haven’t covered at all to date. It’s a real goodie: What’d I Say by Ray Charles.

The classic R&B song, written by Charles, first appeared as a single in June 1959. The single was divided with What’d I Say Part 1 as the A-side, backed by What I’d Say Part 2. The song also became the opener and title track of Charles’ sixth studio album released in October of the same year.

What’d I Say reached no. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. After significant success on the R&B chart, including a series of number 1 singles, What I’d Say marked Charles’s breakthrough on the pop chart. It also earned him his first Gold record and is considered to be one of the most influential songs in R&B and rock & roll history.

Wikipedia notes the song itself sparked a new subgenre of R&B titled soul, finally putting together all the elements that Charles had been creating since he recorded “I Got a Woman” in 1954. The gospel and rhumba influences combined with the sexual innuendo in the song made it not only widely popular but very controversial to both white and black audiences. Here’s a great live version captured in 1963 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

What’d I Say evolved from a spontaneous improvisation. At a concert in Brownsville, Pa. December 1958, there was some time left to fill after Charles and his orchestra had finished their set. Charles told his female backing vocalists The Raelettes, “Listen, I’m going to fool around and y’all just follow me.” Essentially, he played on his electric piano what came to his mind. When audience members at the end of the show asked him where they could buy the record, he knew he had something there. Charles and his orchestra played the new song at various subsequent concerts and got the same positive reaction.

Charles called Jerry Wexler at his label Atlantic Records to tell him he had a new song to record. The session happened in February 1959. Charles (piano, Wurlitzer electronic piano, lead vocals) was backed by David Newman (tenor and alto saxophone), Bennie Crawford (alto and baritone saxophone), Edgar Willis (double bass), Milt Turner (drums) and The Raelettes (backing vocals). While it only took a few takes to record What’d I Say, the problem was its original length of more than seven and a half minutes – far longer than the usual two and a half minutes radio stations typically played.

Recording engineer Tom Dowd came up with the idea to remove some parts and split the song into two three-and-a-half-minute parts. He divided the parts with a false ending where the orchestra stops and The Raelettes and orchestra members beg Charles to continue, which he does in Part 2. Moreover, while the lyrics were not obscene, the sounds Charles and The Raelettes made in their calls and responses during the song worried Dowd and the producers. Dowd ended up removing some call-outs of “shake that thing.”

What’d I Say was covered by many other artists in many different styles, such as Bobby Darin, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton, Rare Earth, Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr SecondHandSongs lists more than 270 versions. Here’s a sizzling rock rendition Rare Earth included on their June 1971 album One World.

Following are some additional insights from Songfacts:

Charles said he got the idea for this song from “The sweet sounds of love.”

The call-and-response style was inspired by church music Charles grew up with. When the preacher said something, the congregation shouted it back. “What’d I Say” stands as the epitome of call-and-response in secular music.

Although he first made his mark with “I Got a Woman,” this established Charles as a front-line star. Its success at the end of his contract with Atlantic Records enabled him to sign a lucrative one with ABC-Paramount. The hits came quickly and furiously soon afterwards.

Along with “Be-Bop-a-Lula” by Gene Vincent, this is mentioned in the first line of the Dire Straits song, “Walk Of Life.” The line is: “Here comes Johnny singing oldies goldies, Be-Bop-a-Lula baby What’d I Say.”

In 1975, John Belushi did a skit on Saturday Night Live where he plays Beethoven at a piano, but ends up rocking out to this. He was a big fan of soul music, and performed as The Blues Brothers with with fellow cast member Dan Aykroyd.

Charles released a new version on his 2002 album Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again that incorporated hip-hop elements and synthesizers. This rendition met with resistance: the Chicago Tribune called it a “dead, depressing version” in their review of the album.

Sources: Wikipedia; SecondHandSongs; Songfacts; YouTube

Song Musings

It’s Wednesday and I hope this week has been treating you kindly so far. As I usually do on this day, I’d like to take a closer look at a song I’ve only mentioned in passing or haven’t covered at all to date. This time my proposition is a true rock opus: Telegraph Road by Dire Straits.

Penned by the ex-British band’s frontman, lead vocalist and lead guitarist Mark Knopfler, Telegraph Road first appeared on Dire Straits’ fourth studio album Love Over Gold. The epic 14-minute-plus song is the opener of the album that came out in September 1982. A 5-minute edit was also released as a single in 1983, paired with Twisting By the Pool as the B-side.

Mark Knopfler was inspired to write the song while sitting in the front of the band’s tour bus and traveling along the actual Telegraph Road, a major north-south highway in southeastern Michigan. At the time, he was also reading The Growth Of the Soil by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun, a novel first published in 1917. Following a Norwegian man who rejects modernity and settles and lives in rural Norway, the work of fiction won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Dire Straits’ first live performance of Telegraph Road occurred in March 1981 during a tour of Australia and, as such, predated the song’s release by 1.5 years. The track subsequently became a staple of the band’s live set. Knopfler also continued to play it during his solo tours. Here’s a great version from Dire Straits’ first live album Alchemy: Dire Straits Live, which came out in March 1984, captured during the band’s 1983 tour.

Songfacts notes the song about the beginning of the development along Telegraph Road and the changes over the ensuing decades was a metaphor for the development of America and one man’s shattered dreams in the wake of its decline, with a particular on unemployment. Telegraph Road was the band’s final recorded song that featured original drummer Pick Withers, who left Dire Straits after the Love Over Gold sessions and was replaced by Terry Williams. Another track on the album, Industrial Disease, addresses the decline of the British manufacturing industry in the early ’80s, suggesting the societal impact of industrialization was very much on Knopfler’s mind at the time.

The following excerpt from Wikipedia addresses the compositional aspects of Telegraph Road: The song starts out with a quiet crescendo in the key of G minor that lasts almost two minutes, before the song’s main theme starts. After the first verse, the main theme plays again, followed by the second verse. After a guitar solo, a short bridge slows the song down to a quiet keyboard portion similar to the intro, followed by a slow guitar solo. Next, the final two verses play with the main theme in between. The main theme is played one last time, followed by a slightly faster guitar solo lasting about five minutes and eventually fading out.

Here’s a neat live version of the song by Mark Knopfler, which was captured in July 2015 in Seville, Spain during his tour that year. Based on what I could see on Setlist.fm, it’s most recent during which Knopfler performed the magnificent track at select dates. Apparently, it wasn’t part of his regular setlist. This is so good. Admittedly, I’m a huge fan of Knopfler’s guitar playing, so I may be a bit biased here! 🙂

I’m leaving you with the lyrics of this great story-telling song. These words could have been written by Bruce Springsteen, which never occurred to me before – clearly a reminder I should pay closer attention to lyrics more often!

A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
Made a home in the wilderness

Built a cabin and a winter store
And he plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore
The other travelers came walking down the track
And they never went further, no, they never went back

Then came the churches, then came the schools
Then came the lawyers, then came the rules
Then came the trains and the trucks with their load
And the dirty old track was the Telegraph Road

Then came the mines, then came the ore
Then there was the hard times, then there was a war
Telegraph sang a song about the world outside
Telegraph Road got so deep and so wide
Like a rolling river

And my radio says tonight it’s gonna freeze
People driving home from the factories
Six lanes of traffic, three lanes moving slow

I used to like to go to work but they shut it down
I’ve got a right to go to work but there’s no work here to be found
Yes, and they say we’re gonna have to pay what’s owed
We’re gonna have to reap from some seed that’s been sowed

And the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles
They can always fly away from this rain and this cold
You can hear them singing out their telegraph code
All the way down the Telegraph Road

I’d sooner forget, but I remember those nights
Yeah, life was just a bet on a race between the lights
You had your head on my shoulder, you had your hand in my hair
Now you act a little colder like you don’t seem to care

But just believe in me, baby, and I’ll take you away
From out of this darkness and into the day
From these rivers of headlights, these rivers of rain
From the anger that lives on the streets with these names
‘Cause I’ve run every red light on memory lane
I’ve seen desperation explode into flames
And I don’t wanna see it again

From all of these signs saying, “Sorry, but we’re closed”
All the way
Down the Telegraph Road

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Setlist.fm; YouTube

New Music Musings

Happy Saturday and welcome to my latest weekly look at new music releases. All picks are on albums that came out yesterday (April 12).

Maggie Rogers/So Sick of Dreaming

First up is Maggie Rogers, a singer-songwriter and record producer from Easton, Md., combining folk, dance and pop in her music. By the time she began writing songs in 8th grade, Rogers had picked up the harp, piano and guitar. She gained popularity in 2016 at the age of 22 with Alaska, a song she wrote while attending a master class at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. By that time, Rogers already had released two independent albums. Her first label release Heard It in a Past Life, which came out in January 2019, debuted at no. 2 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200. Off her third and latest album Don’t Forget Me, here’s the pleasant So Sick of Dreaming.

Will Hoge/Good While It Lasted

Will Hoge is an Americana and southern rock singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tenn., who I first featured in July 2020. In 1997, he released an EP with his band at the time Spoonful, but it wasn’t successful and the group disbanded. After self-releasing a live CD and his first studio album Carousel, Hoge managed to get a deal with Atlantic Records in early 2002. While it was short-lived, it resulted in his major label debut Blackbird on a Lonely Wire in March 2003. Good While It Lasted, co-written by Hoge and Hayes Carll, is a song from his new album Tenderhearted Boys.

Nicolette & The Nobodies/Better Days

Ontario, Canada-based Nicolette & The Nobodies win the prize for best band name this week. Glide Magazine noted the group is led by singer-songwriter Nicolette Hoang, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants. Their Bandcamp page describes them as “heavily influenced by the songs and stage presence of 60’s and 70’s country starlets” while retaining “the gritty rough edges of outlaw country.” From their debut album The Long Way, here’s Better Days. The song’s rock vibe immediately grabbed me.

Trummors/I Can Still Make Cheyenne

Trummors are a country rock duo from Taos, N.M., consisting of multi-instrumentalists David Lerner and Anne Cunningham who rely on a rotating cast of musicians. Their AllMusic bio notes they came together in 2010 in Brooklyn, New York and released their debut album Over and Around the Clove in 2012. Off their fifth and latest album, appropriately titled 5, here’s I Can Still Make Cheyenne, a song with a nice country vibe. Like all other tracks on the album, it was written pre-pandemic.

Mark Knopfler/Two Pairs of Hands

After Mark Knopfler quietly dissolved Dire Straits in 1994, the British guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer launched a solo career. The first album under his name, Golden Heart, appeared in March 1996. While not comparable to Dire Straits, Knopfler has continued to enjoy success with his solo albums. Off his 10th and latest, One Deep River, here’s the opener Two Pairs of Hands, written by Knopfler. I’ve always loved his distinct guitar-playing!

Blue Öyster Cult/Don’t Come Running to Me

Rounding out this post are Blue Öyster Cult. Formed in 1967 on Long Island, N.Y., the rock band first entered my radar screen with the great Don’t Fear the Reaper sometime in the late ’70s. Their 15th and latest studio album Ghost Stories is a collection of unreleased tracks they started but didn’t finish between 1978 and 1983, as well as three covers of Animals, Beatles and MC5 songs, Ultimate Classic Rock reported in a review. Here’s Don’t Come Running to Me, a pop rocker that stylistically would have fit on Mirrors, Fire of Unknown Origin or other BÖC albums from the late ’70s/early ’80s.

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; Glide Magazine; Nicolette & The Nobodies Bandcamp page; Trummors Bandcamp page; Ultimate Rock; YouTube; Spotify

Song Musings

It’s Wednesday, which means time again to take a deeper dive into a song I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date. My pick this week is I’m No Angel by Gregg Allman, an artist I’ve grown very fond of.

I’m No Angel was co-written by two British artists, singer-songwriter Tony Colton and rock sideman and session guitarist Phil Palmer. The song was first recorded by Bill Medley, former member of The Righteous Brothers, for his 1982 solo album Right Here and Now. Gregg Allman covered it five years later, making it the title track of his fourth solo album released in February 1987. The song also became the first single the following month.

I’m No Angel hit no. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock, marking Allman’s only chart-topping single. It also climbed to no. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was an unexpected success for Allman whose singles either missed the charts and or charted lower. The album reached no. 30 on the Billboard 200 and also made the Canadian Album Chart, at no. 92.

Wikipedia notes the song’s lyrics were inspired by a child Phil Palmer had spotted with a T-shirt that read “Daddy’s No. 1 Angel.” Due to a fold in the shirt, Palmer initially thought it was “Daddy’s No Angel.” Knowing Gregg Allman’s struggle with alcohol and drug addiction and that by the time he recorded the song he had been divorced for the fourth time (from Julie Bindas in 1981), one could be forgiven to think I’m No Angel was an autobiographic song.

Allman began performing I’m No Angel during live shows in the mid-’80s and recorded a demo of the song at the time. It had been eight years since his last album Two the Hard Way, which he had recorded with Cher, his then-third wife. Eventually, the demo made it to Epic Records who signed Allman and released the album and its follow-on Just Before the Bullets Fly (July 1988).

Allman continued to perform the song during live shows after he had recorded it, both solo and with The Allman Brothers Band. I’m No Angel was also covered by a few artists, who notably included Cher during some of her concerts in the late ’80s. Here’s a September 2015 studio rendition by a band called The Egrets.

Following are some additional tidbits by Songfacts:

Most of the ’80s were a tough time for Allman: He was in a drug-induced funk for much of the decade, but came out of it long enough to record this album.

This was an appropriate song for Allman, who endured years of alcohol and drug problems and five failed marriages. In the song, he explains that with him, you have to take the good with the bad. He’s a classic dangerous rebel type, complete with tattoos and a dark side. He’s letting the girl know that she’ll love him anyway, even as he drives her crazy.

Gregg Allman wrote most of his own songs and had a hand in composing most of the Allman Brothers catalog, but he didn’t write “I’m No Angel.” The song was written by Phil Palmer and Tony Colton; Palmer is a British session guitarist who recorded with Dire Straits and Eric Clapton; Colton was in a band called Head Hands and Feet with Albert Lee in the ’70s before moving on to songwriting and production work. They submitted the demo to Allman, who immediately identified with the song and decided to record it.

Cher opened her 1988 concerts with this song. Her tumultuous marriage to Allman lasted 1975-1979.

Allman never became a video star, but he did make a foray into the MTV age with his video for this song, where he and his band break down in front of a dilapidated saloon. Conveniently, there are instruments set up, so they start playing while ghosts appear from the bygone days of the Old West. Allman’s avatar is hanged, but not before he kisses his comely executioner.

Jeff Stein, who also did Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” was the director.

This was one of only two hits for Allman as a solo artist; in 1974 his song “Midnight Rider,” originally recorded with his band The Allman Brothers, reached #19 after he included it on his first solo album and issued it as a single.

In a sure sign that he will never get his wings, Allman spent three days in jail for drunk driving a few weeks before the I’m No Angel album was released. He had been arrested in September 1986 after failing a roadside sobriety test in Belleview, Florida.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Secondhand Songs; YouTube

The Sunday Six

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night – regardless in which time zone you are, I hope you’re feeling great. If you live in a U.S. state that observes daylight savings time and forgot to adjust your watch, don’t worry, you didn’t miss the departure of the magical music time machine that once again will take us to six different tracks from six different decades and in different flavors.

Michael Brecker/Midnight Mood

For our first stop today, we’ll stay in the current century with soothing jazz by saxophone great Michael Brecker. Between 1969 until his untimely death in 2007 at the age of 57, he collaborated with many music artists outside the pure jazz realm, such as Steely Dan, Dire Straits, Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon. While Brecker’s recording career as a sideman started in 1969, his solo eponymous debut album didn’t appear until 1987.  Midnight Mood, composed by Austrian jazz fusion keyboarder and Weather Report co-founder Joe Zawinul, is from Brecker’s June 2002 studio album Nearness of You: The Ballad Book.

The Replacements/Can’t Hardly Wait

Next we shall head to July 1987, which saw the release of the fifth studio album by The Replacements, arguably one of the best and most influential rock & roll bands of the ’80s despite repeated acts of self-sabotage that hindered their success in the music industry. Pleased to Meet Me, the only album recorded by group as a trio, was well received by critics. In addition to its punk roots, the band got into other genres like soul and jazz. A case in point is Can’t Hardly Wait, penned by Paul Westerberg and featuring ex-Box Tops and Big Star vocalist Alex Chilton on guitar.

Hank Williams/Honky Tonk Blues

Our next stop takes us all the way back to September 1952 and Moanin’ the Blues, the sophomore album by Hank Williams. Like his November 1961 debut Hank Williams Sings, it featured songs that all had been previously released as singles, including the hits Lovesick Blues, Long Gone Lonesome Blues and Honky Tonk Blues. Apparently, Honky Tonk Blues took various attempts to record between August 1947 and December 1951, making it one of the most challenging track for Williams to record. In the end, things worked out well and Honky Tonk Blues peaked at no. 2 on the U.S. Country charts.

Deep Purple/Speed King

Time to push the pedal to the metal with Deep Purple and a hard rock song with some of the coolest lyrics. Speed King, credited to all members of the group – Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ian Gillan (vocals), Jon Lord (organ), Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice (drums), was on the British group’s fourth studio album Deep Purple in Rock released in June 1970. The song, which is made of lyrical bits of rock & roll hits by Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, also became the albums lead single in May of the same year. Hang on to your seats – ha ha ha ha!

Sting/Shape of My Heart

After some charging high-speed hard rock & roll, I think this would be an opportune moment to slow things down. For this we shall travel to March 1993 and Sting’s fourth solo studio album. Ten Summoner’s Tales is the ex-Police frontman’s Mount Rushmore, in my humble opinion. Here’s the beautiful Shape of My Heart, which Sting co-wrote with guitarist and his long-term sideman Dominic Miller. The song also became the album’s fifth single in August 1993.

The Beatles/Back In the U.S.S.R.

Once again, we’re reaching the final stop of another music excursion, which I hope you’ve enjoyed. Let’s make it count with a song by my all-time favorite band The Beatles from their self-titled November 1968 studio album, aka. The White Album: Back in the U.S.S.R.. The album’s opener was written by Paul McCartney and, as usual, credited to him and John Lennon. The song is a parody of the patriotic sentiments about the U.S. expressed in Chuck Berry’s Back in the U.S.A. and The Beach Boys’ California Girls. Take it away, lads!

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist featuring the above tracks. So long and see you next time!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

Catching Up: Short Takes On New Music I Missed

This happened faster than anticipated. The latest Spotify Release Radar playlist made me realize there is additional great new music I missed. Here’s another attempt of catching up – I have a funny feeling it won’t be the last! 🙂

JJ Grey & Mofro/Wonderland

JJ Grey & Mofro are a southern soul and rock band formed as Mofro in 2001 by John Higginbotham, aka JJ Grey, and Daryl Hance who had played music together since the mid-’90s. Since their 2001 debut Blackwater, the group who subsequently adopted their current name have released nine additional albums, including their latest, Olustee, which came out last Friday (February 23). Based on my first impression, the music is fun with a nice dose of soul. Here’s a sample, Wonderland. Featuring an upbeat vibe, great harmony singing, a driving drum beat and neat horn work, this is my kind of music!

John Bramwell/A World Full of Flowers

English singer-songwriter John Bramwell first gained prominence as front man of alternative rock trio I Am Kloot, which he co-founded in Manchester in 1999. After their break-up in 2016, Bramwell resumed his solo career he first had launched in 1989 under the moniker of Johnny Dangerously. Last Friday, he released his new album The Light Fantastic, which his website characterizes as almost a complete U-turn from his Kloot-days. Darker clouds have been banished, there are now strings and four-part harmonies and a dozen gloriously exhilarating, beautifully crafted observed songs about life, humanity, the universe and everything else. Here’s one of them: A World Full of Flowers.

Norah Jones/Staring At the Wall

When singer-songwriter and pianist Norah Jones burst on the scene seemingly out of nowhere in 2002 with her debut album Come Away With Me and the top 40 U.S. single Don’t Know Why, I was immediately hooked with her lounge jazz-oriented music and her cool vocals. Fast-forward 22 years and seven albums to Jones’ new single Staring At the Wall released February 22. Co-written by her and producer Leon Michels, the song is from her upcoming ninth studio album Visions scheduled for March 8. Since her aforementioned debut, Jones’ music has evolved, infusing elements of blues, country, folk and pop, demonstrating she’s not a one-trick pony. I like Staring At the Wall a lot!

Mark Knopfler/Watch Me Gone

I suppose Mark Knopfler doesn’t need much of an introduction. After he quietly dissolved Dire Straits for good in 1995, Knopfler launched a solo career and released the first album under his name, Golden Heart, in March 1996. While not as successful as Dire Straits during their heyday, the British singer-songwriter and guitarist has done pretty well. Knopfler’s latest song, Watch Me Gone, which appeared on February 22, is the second upfront single from his upcoming 10th solo album One Deep River set for release on April 12. Like on his previous post Dire Straits albums, it features ex-Dire Straits keyboarder Guy Fletcher. Still very much sounds like Mark Knopfler!

Sources: Wikipedia; John Bramwell website; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Happy Sunday! In case you’ve been celebrating the holidays and perhaps feel a bit exhausted between indulging in food and drink and gatherings with family and friends, I’d like to offer you a great remedy just in time before the new year: Come and join me for the final music time travel trip of 2023! If none of the aforementioned applies to you, hop on board of the magical music time machine anyway. We’re gonna have a lot of fun!

The Charles Owens Trio/Best Part

This time, our little excursion starts in the present with contemporary jazz by The Charles Owens Trio. His web bio notes Owens is a master tenor saxophonist, composer, band leader, recording artist, and educator and has been performing, composing, and teaching for over 25 years…He has made 9 albums as a leader and appeared and continues to appear on a plethora of recordings as a hired soloist. He’s performed with such jazz luminaries as Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Omer Avital, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brian Blade, Peter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, Ari Hoenig, Alexander Claffy, Jeff Watts, and Joel Frahm among many others. Off his latest album Here It Is, released earlier this month on Dec 8, here’s Best Part. Owens is backed by Andrew Jay Randazzo (hybrid guitar) and DJHarrison RVA (drums).

Bob Dylan/Man of Peace

After what may have been a smoother opening than what you anticipated based on the slightly creepy album cover, let’s pay a visit to Bob Dylan. To borrow from a famous mid-’90s movie, the brilliant master is like a box of chocolate – you never know what you gonna get! After Dylan’s conversion to Christianity and three evangelical records, he returned to secular music on his brilliant 22nd studio album Infidels, which came out in October 1993. The album, co-produced by Dylan and then-Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler, who also played guitar on it, was well received by fans and critics alike. Other musicians on Infidels included Dire Straits’ Alan Clark (keyboards), Mick Taylor (guitar), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Robbie Shakespeare (bass) and his Sly and Robbie partner Sly Dunbar – that’s what I call a neat backing band! Here’s Man of Peace.

The Everly Brothers/Wake Up Little Susie

Our next stop takes us back to Sep 1957 and the second big hit by The Everly Brothers. Wake Up Little Susie was penned by husband and wife songwriting team Felice Bryant and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant. They also gave the duo of Don Everly and his younger brother Phil Everly their first big hit with Bye Bye Love. Wake Up Little Susie, first released as a single, did even better, topping the pop charts in the U.S., Canada and Australia and surging to no. 2 in the UK. Both songs were also included on The Everly Brothers’ eponymous debut album released in January 1958. Amazing harmony singing and a captivating groove make for my kind kind of combo!

Pretenders/I’ll Stand By You

Time to pay a visit to the ’90s with a great song by Pretenders: I’ll Stand By You, off their sixth studio album Last of the Independents, which appeared in May 1994. At that time, the English-American rock band already had seen significant changes, leaving frontwoman Chrissie Hynde (guitar, vocals) and Martin Chambers (drums) as the only remaining original members. Adam Seymour (guitar) and Andy Hobson (bass) were still new to the group. Notably, the entire line-up only recorded one song, while for the remaining tracks Hynde relied on Seymour and a rotating series of musicians on bass and drums. There’s no doubt who ran that band and still fearlessly does to this day! I’ll Stand By You was written by Hynde, along with songwriting partners Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Not only does this ballad sound beautiful, but Hynde once again proves what an outstanding vocalist she is!

Iron Butterfly/In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

For our next stop, take a deep breath for a psychedelic rock tour de force from June 1968. That’s when American group Iron Butterfly released their sophomore album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Peaking at no. 4 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200, the album sold an incredible more than 8 million copies within just its first year of release – outselling every record in the history of recorded music to that time! Eventually, it would rake up worldwide sales of more than 30 million. Here’s the epic title track, which at 17:05 minutes occupied all of side two. It was written by co-founder Doug Ingle (Vox Continental organ, vocals). The strange title reportedly came to be when Iron Butterfly drummer Ron Bushy misinterpreted the words “In the Garden of Eden” when writing down the lyrics for Ingle who was drunk and slurred the words as he sang the song to Bushy. Well, it was the late ’60s!

Gram Parsons/Ooh Las Vegas

After all that brilliant weirdness, I hope you’re still with me! If yes, congratulations, we’re getting to the final stop of today’s trip. For this, let’s set the time controls of the magical music machine to January 1974, which saw the release of the second and final studio album by Gram Parsons. Sadly, by the time it came out, Parsons already had died from an overdose of morphine and alcohol. He was only 26! Grievous Angel was compiled from recording sessions that had taken place in the summer of 1973. They prominently featured his singing partner Emmylou Harris and other prominent guests, such as Linda Ronstadt and Bernie Leadon, co-founder of the Eagles. Here’s the incredible Ooh Las Vegas.

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist featuring the above tracks. I also would like to take this opportunity to thank of all my readers for reading and commenting and wish everybody a Happy New Year! If you’re out there celebrating, please be safe. Peace and Love!

Sources: Wikipedia; Charles Owens website; YouTube; Spotify

The Queen of Rock & Roll Has Left, But Her Music Will Reign Forever

By now it’s safe to assume folks have heard of Tina Turner’s passing yesterday (April 24) at age 83 at her home near Zurich, Switzerland. While neither a notification on Turner’s Facebook page nor a statement by her publicist provided the cause, she had been in poor health in recent years. Based on concerts in Germany and the U.S. in 1985 and 1993, respectively, the Queen of Rock & Roll was among the most energetic performers I’ve seen to date, together with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and U2.

This post is all about celebrating Tina Turner’s music, which will stay with us. In case you are looking for a traditional obituary, you have plenty of other choices, such as The New York Times, CNN or Rolling Stone. My focus will be on six tunes from Turner’s 40-year-plus performing career, followed by a Spotify playlist of these and some additional songs.

River Deep – Mountain High (1966)

River Deep – Mountain High is one of my favorite tunes Tina Turner recorded with her then-husband Ike Turner as Ike & Tina Turner. Written by producer Phil Spector, together with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, River Deep – Mountain High was first released as a single in May 1966 as the title track of a studio album by Ike & Tina Turner. That album first appeared in the UK in September 1966 and three years later was also issued in the U.S.

Private Dancer (1984)

Private Dancer is the title track of Turner’s fifth solo and comeback album released in May 1984. The tune, penned by then-Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler, was one of multiple hit singles from what became Turner’s best-selling album with more than 12 million copies sold worldwide. It catapulted her to international stardom as a solo artist – eight years after she had fled from her abusive husband with just 36 cents and a Mobil card.

Proud Mary (1971)

Ike & Tina Turner’s version of Proud Mary is one of the best remakes I can think of. The song was written by John Fogerty who first recorded it with his band Creedence Clearwater Revival for their second studio album Bayou Country, released in January 1969. The tune also appeared as a single at the same time and became one of CCR’s biggest hits, climbing to no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ike and Tina Turner’s version, which was included on their 1970 studio album Workin’ Together, did nearly as well, peaking at no. 4 on the U.S. pop chart. Unlike CCR, it also won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group in 1972.

What You Get Is What You See (1986)

When it comes to Tina Turner’s solo career, I tend to favor her rock over her more pop-oriented songs. One tune in this context is What You Get Is What You See, off her sixth solo studio album Break Every Rule, which came out in September 1986. Turner’s follow-on to Private Dancer was another major internal chart and commercial success. What You Get Is What You See, co-written by Terry Bitten and Graham Lyle and produced by Bitten, also became the album’s third single in February 1987.

Acid Queen (1975)

Turner recorded Acid Queen as the title track of her second solo album released in August 1975. The tune was written by Pete Townshend and first appeared as The Acid Queen on The Who’s rock opera album Tommy from May 1969. A different recording of the song was also included on the March 1975 soundtrack album to the 1975 film Tommy, in which Turner starred as the Acid Queen. Her second solo album was inspired by that performance.

Nutbush City Limits (live) (1988)

The last track I’d like to highlight is a killer live version of Nutbush City Limits that was included on Turner’s first live solo album Tina Live in Europe. Notably, part of that album was recorded at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany on April 14, 1985 – one of the above-mentioned Tina Turner shows I attended! Written by Tina Turner, the semi-autobiographical tune about her rural hometown of Nutbush, Tenn. was the title track of a 1973 studio album by Ike & Tina Turner. It also became the duo’s most successful single and one of the last hits they released together.

Here’s the aforementioned Spotify playlist of the above and some additional tunes. The Queen of Rock & Roll sadly has left us, but her music will continue to reign!

Sources: Wikipedia; Tina Turner Facebook page; YouTube; Spotify

First Time’s the Charm

This post originally appeared on A Sound Day by Dave as part of the most recent round of his great recurring feature Turntable Talk, for which he invites fellow blogger to provide their thoughts on a topic he suggests. In Dave’s words: This month, our topic is First Time’s The Charm. We’ve asked our guests to pick a debut record by an artist that really impressed them…and maybe let us know if they feel the artist kept up the quality and momentum with subsequent works.

Following is my submission, which I reformatted to fit the template of my blog. I also added the Spotify link to the album at the end.

Thanks, Dave, for fearlessly continuing your fun series Turntable Talk and, of course, for inviting me back to share some additional thoughts.

When I saw the topic for this round, I immediately had an idea which debut album that really impressed me I would cover. Then, as oftentimes happens once I start reflecting on stuff, I had second thoughts, so I decided to get inspired by Mr. Google.

One of the first hits I got was Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time, published on July 1, 2022. While the list includes fine debuts, such as The Beatles’ Please Please Me (1963), The Doors’ The Doors (1967), Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Are You Experienced? (1967), Lynyrd Skynyrd’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) (1973) and Pretenders’ Pretenders (1979), it excludes gems like Jackson Browne’s Jackson Browne (1972), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976) and Joe Jackson’s Look Sharp! (1979).

Of course, no list can be perfect. When I realized Rolling Stone also didn’t feature the album that had come to my mind first I thought, ‘screw it, I go with my initial pick’ – The eponymous debut album by Dire Straits, released in June 1978!

When I first heard Sultans of Swing as a teenager in the late ‘70s, I was immediately hooked on the British group and Mark Knopfler’s cool sound he got out of his Fender Stratocaster. Since German radio would always fade out the song, which drove me nuts, I needed to own that tune myself. So I bought the vinyl album that includes Sultans of Swing, not realizing I could have gotten the single instead. I’m glad I did what I did since I would have missed out on great music otherwise, at least at the time!

Sultans of Swing, the album’s best-known tune, is the first song on the B-side. The single was first released in the UK in May 1978. In the U.S., it came out in January 1979. It climbed all the way up to no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached no. 8 on the U.K. Official Singles Chart. But there’s definitely more to the album than Sultans of Swing.

Let’s start with side A and the great opener Down to the Waterline. Like Sultans of Swing and all other tracks on the album, it was penned by Mark Knopfler. Mark’s brother David Knopfler, the band’s first rhythm guitarist, has said the song was based on Mark’s teenage memories walking along a river at night under the lights with his girlfriend.

Another tune on side A I’ve always liked is Water of Love, which also became the album’s second single. Knopfler created a cool sound on that song, playing a so-called resonator guitar. Some critics noted the song’s style is reminiscent of J.J. Cale’s blues approach. I think that’s fair. I also don’t have a problem at all that Knopfler was inspired by another great guitarist. In fact, I would argue great musicians getting inspiration from other great musicians happens all the time!

Moving on to side B, I’m skipping the above-mentioned Sultans of Swing and go right to Into the Gallery. Sure, you could say Knopfler’s electric guitar sound is more of the same. I just happen to love it, so I don’t mind getting more of it!

Let’s do one more: Wild West End. Songfacts explains the title refers to an area in London (West End) where Knopfler enjoyed walking around, “always with an eye on the ladies”. Apparently, this particular tune recalls “a particularly attractive young woman in Shaftesbury Avenue.” Interestingly, the official video only shows the band performing the song on a stage and doesn’t include any footage of the West End.

To me and I guess to most other Dire Straits fans, most of the band’s appeal came from Mark Knopfler and his melodic and sparing way to play the guitar. An important aspect of his technique is the use of his fingers on the strumming hand instead of a pick, which creates a very transparent and distinct sound. Knopfler was a pretty good writer as well, which would become more obvious on the group’s later works, especially Making Movies, their third studio album released in October 1980.

While it is fair to say that Mark Knopfler was Dire Straits’ dominant force, a band is never just one guy. So this post wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging the other musicians on the album: Mark’s aforementioned brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, vocals), John Illsley (bass, vocals) and Pick Withers (drums).

Undoubtedly, Dire Straits are best remembered for their 1985 studio album  Brothers in Arms and the mega hit single Money For Nothing. While I won’t deny it’s a good album, I will always prefer their 1978 debut, along with Making Movies. Thanks to fellow blogger Graham from Aphoristic Album Reviews, I’ve also gained new appreciation for Love Over Gold, the September 1982 predecessor to Brothers in Arms.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Happy Sunday and welcome to another trip, leaving these crazy times behind and visiting the great world of music, including six tunes in different flavors from different decades. All aboard our magic time machine, fasten your seatbelt, and off we go!

Chick Corea/Crystal Silence

Today’s journey starts in September 1972 with beautiful music by Chick Corea, off his first self-titled album with his then-newly formed jazz fusion group Return to Forever. The jazz pianist had started his professional and recording career in the early ’60s as a sideman for Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, Stan Getz and Miles Davis. He also had launched his solo career in 1966 and released more than 10 albums under his name. In fact, technically, Return to Forever appeared as a Chick Corea record. The band of the same name had multiple line-ups over their long on-and-off run that ended with Corea’s death from cancer in February 2021 at the age of 79. In addition to Corea (electric piano), at the time of their eponymous debut album, the group featured Flora Purim (vocals, percussion), her husband Airto Moreira (drums, percussion), Joe Farrell (flute, soprano saxophone) and Stanley Clarke (bass). Check out the gorgeous Corea composition Crystal Silence – the combination of Farrell’s saxophone and Corea’s Fender Rodes is just mesmerizing!

Marc Cohn/Walking in Memphis

Let’s move on to February 1991 and a song I instantly fell in love with when I heard it for the first time back in Germany: Walking in Memphis, the biggest hit for American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, off his eponymous debut album. The tune was also released separately as the album’s first single in March of the same year. Cohn’s signature song reached high positions on various U.S. charts, including no. 7 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock and no. 13 on the Hot 100. The single also did well on mainstream charts elsewhere, including Canada (no. 3), Australia (no. 11), the UK (no. 22) and Germany (no. 25). This was pretty much mirrored by the performance of the album, for which Cohn won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. He has since released five additional albums, which charted as well but could not match the success of the debut. After taking a break between 1998 and 2004, Cohn remains active to this day. In August 2005, he cheated death when he was shot in the head during an attempted car-jacking in Denver, Colo. Sadly, these types of incidents and even much worse happen in the U.S. all the time, yet nothing ever seems to change!

Cream/Sunshine of Your Love

Time to pay a visit to the ’60s and what may well be called the ultimate British supergroup: Cream. During their short career of less than two and a half years, the power trio of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker recorded four albums featuring some of the best blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock coming out of the UK during that time period. Sunshine of Your Love, credited to Bruce, Clapton and lyricist Pete Brown, began as a bass riff Bruce came up with after he had attended a concert by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in London in January 1967. The tune first appeared on Cream’s sophomore studio album Disraeli Gears in November 1967. It was subsequently released as a single in the U.S. and the UK in December 1967 and September 1968, respectively. Two months after the UK single had come out Cream dissolved. Given the bad fights between Bruce and Baker, which also turned physical, it’s a miracle they lasted that long and nobody was killed.

Dire Straits/Brothers In Arms

Our next stop is May 1985, which saw the release of Dire Straits’ second-to-final album Brothers In Arms. I still well remember when it came out, in part because it was among the first all-digitally recorded albums and sounded absolutely amazing. I guess it’s fair to say Brothers In Arms is best known for Money For Nothing, which became the British group’s most commercially successful single. While it’s certainly a good tune, I feel it was heavily over-exposed on the radio. I also think there’s more to the album than its mega-hit. One of the tunes I’ve always liked is the title track. Like Money For Nothing, it was written by Mark Knopfler, though Sting who provided the falsetto vocals also received a writing credit for Money For Nothing. Brothers In Arms also appeared separately as a single, but it didn’t match the other tune’s chart performance. It came very close in New Zealand where it peaked at no. 5, just one spot below Money For Nothing.

Chuck Berry/Johnny B. Goode

Let’s speed things up a few notches with one of my all-time favorite classic rock & roll songs. In order to do that we shall travel back to March 1958 when Chuck Berry first released Johnny B. Goode as a single. Written by Berry, it became one of his best-known tunes, though amazingly it didn’t reach the top of any chart – really mind-boggling from today’s perspective! But it came close in the U.S. where it peaked at no. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. It also climbed to no. 8 on the mainstream pop chart. Johnny B. Goode was also included on Berry’s third studio album Chuck Berry Is On Top, together with other classics like Carol, Maybellene, Little Queenie and Roll Over Beethoven. While Berry didn’t invent rock & roll, it’s fair to say rock & roll wouldn’t have been the same without him.

CVC/Hail Mary

And once again another music journey is reaching its final destination. For this pick, we jump back to the present and a band I had not heard of before until a few weeks ago: CVC, which NME in this review describes as a Welsh psych-rock band. Also known as Church Village Collective, they were founded three years ago. It amazes me time and again how music groups have websites that don’t provide any background whatsoever! At least there’s a Spotify profile, which notes the six-piece named themselves “after the sleepy Welsh town they come from” and “are influenced by Snoop Dogg, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Super Furry Animals and Red Hot Chili Peppers.” CVC are Francesco Orsi (vocals), David Bassey (guitar, vocals), Elliot Bradfield (guitar, vocals), Daniel ‘Nanial’ Jones (keyboards), Ben Thorne (bass) and Tom Fry (drums). This brings me to Hail Mary, a nice tune from the band’s full-length debut album Get Real.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist featuring the above tunes. Hope there’s something here you dig!

Sources: Wikipedia; NME; YouTube; Spotify