When Two Make One

The other day, fellow blogger Max from PowerPop posted about Cathy’s Clown, a great tune by The Everly Brothers. He wrote, “When Phil and Don would sing….their two voices would become one.” I couldn’t agree more! In this context, I thought about Simon & Garfunkel, another example of beautiful vocals in perfect harmony. Sometimes it takes two artists to make magic happen, not only when it comes to singing but also when creating music – a good topic for a post, I thought!

After doing a bit of research, I was quickly reminded of the large number of musical duos. The following doesn’t include one-offs. I’m also excluding songwriting partnerships like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, or Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, to name a few. All of my picks were or are permanent pairings. Apart from six tracks released in different decades, which are highlighted in the upfront, I’ve included numerous additional tunes in a playlist at the end of the post.

The Everly Brothers/Wake Up Little Susie

Since this post was inspired by an Everly Brothers tune, it felt right to kick things off with a song they performed. Wake Up Little Susie, co-written by Felice Bryant and Boudleaux Bryant, was my introduction to Don Everly and Phil Everly sometime during my teenage years back in Germany. First released as a single in September 1957, Wake Up Little Susie became their first no. 1 on the U.S. mainstream Billboard Hot 100. What a great acoustic rock & roll tune!

Simon & Garfunkel/The Sound of Silence

One of my favorite songs by Simon & Garfunkel is The Sound of Silence. Penned by Paul Simon, this gem is off their debut studio record Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. from October 1964. It was also released separately as a single in September 1965 and became their first hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100, climbing to no. 2 in New Zealand, and reaching no. 3 in each Australia and Austria. It also charted in a few other European countries.

Hall & Oates/She’s Gone

While Daryl Hall and John Oates have written many great tunes, I’m mostly drawn to their ’70s output. Here’s She’s Gone, a track from their sophomore album Abandoned Luncheonette that appeared in November 1973. The song was also released as a single that same month and became their first charting tune in the U.S., reaching no. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. I’ve always loved its great soul vibe.

Eurythmics/Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

When I think about duos and the ’80s, Hall & Oates, Tears For Fears and Eurythmics come to mind first. The first time I heard of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart was in 1983 when they came out with Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Penned by Stewart and released in January that year, the tune became their first big hit. Among others, it topped the charts in the U.S. and Canada, and reached no. 2 in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand. While I’m generally not fond of synth pop, this is a pretty catchy tune and Annie Lenox’s voice is stunning!

Indigo Girls/Galileo

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers first met in elementary school and were performing together by the time they were in high school. After going separate ways, they again found themselves studying at the same institution (Atlanta’s Emory University) in the mid-’80s and became Indigo Girls. Galileo, written by Saliers, is from their fourth studio album Rites of Passage, which came out in May 1992. The tune was the first single off the record and their only top 10 hit in the U.S., reaching no. 10 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The White Stripes/Seven Nation Army

This brings me to the present century and the last tune I’d like to call out: Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. Written by Jack White, it first appeared in March 2003 as the lead single of their fourth studio album Elephant released the following month. Seven Nation Army topped the Alternative Airplay chart in the U.S., making it one of the biggest hits of the duo, which also includes Meg White. I dig the song’s raw garage feel.

Last but least, here’s the above-mentioned playlist:

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

On This Day in Rock & Roll History: October 14

After a longer pause, it’s time again for another installment of my irregular feature where I explore what happened on an arbitrarily picked date throughout rock history. The only rule I have it that it must reflect my music taste and be a date I haven’t covered yet. The good news is I got plenty of choices left, including October 14, so without further ado, let’s get to it!

1957: The Everly Brothers hit no. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 with Wake Up Little Susie. Written by husband-and-wife country and pop songwriting duo Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant, the tune became the first of three no. 1 songs Don Everly and Phil Everly scored on the mainstream charts. The Bryants also wrote Bye Bye Love, the previous single by The Everly Brothers, as well as numerous of their other hits. Wake Up Little Susie reached the top of the Billboard country and R&B charts as well, and was included on The Everly Brothers’ 1958 eponymous debut album. It was the first song by them I heard in my early teens when I was still pretty much adoring Elvis Presley. While in my mind back then nobody could ever match Elvis when it came to rock & roll, The Everly Brothers quickly earned my respect.

1967: Of course, no music history post can be without The Beatles or related topics. In this case, it’s an artist who managed to knock out The Fab Four from the top of the charts. The great Bobbie Gentrie, who later became a woman of mystery, hit no. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 with her debut album Ode to Billie Joe, ending the 15-week reign of The Beatles with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. According to Wikipedia, it was the only record that managed to displace Sgt. Pepper from the top spot. Released on August 21 that year, Gentry’s debut album had been quickly assembled following her successful single with the same title. This is such a great tune!

1968: Next let’s turn to The Beatles themselves to see what they were up to. The year was 1968 and the location was Studio 2 at EMI Studies, Abbey Road, London. John, Paul and George were working on eight songs for the White Album – of course, The Beatles Bible had to count them all! The ultimate record of Beatles truth further notes Ringo Starr had left for a two-week family vacation to Sardinia and as such was absent. In fact, he had no further involvement in the album’s mixing and sequencing. The recording session saw the completion of work on one the tunes: Savoy Truffle, a song by George Harrison, which had been inspired by Eric Clapton. Eric has “got this real sweet tooth and he’d just had his mouth worked on,” Harrison explained. “His dentist said he was through with candy. So as a tribute I wrote, ‘You’ll have to have them all pulled out after the Savoy Truffle’. George’s sense of humor could be peculiar!

1971: Specialty Records, the company that held the rights to Little Richard’s songs, sued John Fogerty, charging the Creedence Clearwater Revival song Travelin’ Band plagiarized Richard’s Good Golly, Miss Molly. Here’s Richard’s tune. The CCR track is below. Great gosh a’mighty, if this is plagiarism, then pretty much all classic rock & roll songs are! I feel this is very different from Zep’s rip-off of Spirit’s Taurus or the similarity between George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord and The Chiffons’ record of He’s So Fine. Eventually, the case was settled out of court. Travelin’ Band first appeared in January 1970 as the B-side to Who’ll Stop the Rain, the lead single of CCR’s fifth studio album Cosmo’s Factory released in July of the same year.

1977: David Bowie released his 12th studio album Heroes. The second installment of Bowie’s so-called Berlin Trilogy only came nine months after predecessor Low. The third album in the series, Lodger, would appear in May 1979. Bowie recorded all three albums in West Berlin, Germany, in collaboration with Brian Eno and co-producer Tony Visconti. Bowie was quite busy in 1977. The making of Heroes followed his participation as keyboarder during a tour of his friend Iggy Pop and co-producing Pop’s second studio album Lust for Life. Heroes incorporated elements of art rock and experimental rock, and built on Low’s electronic and ambient approaches. In general, I’m more fond of Bowie’s late ’60s and glam rock period. That being said, I always liked the album’s title track that was co-written by Bowie and Eno. The record did pretty well in the charts, reaching no. 3 in the UK, the top 20 in various other European countries, no. 6 in Australia and no. 35 in the U.S. – overall largely matching the performance of Low.

1983: Let’s finish this little history post with another album release: She’s So Unusual, the solo debut by Cyndi Lauper. The record became a huge chart success and Lauper’s best-selling album with more than 16 million units sold worldwide as of 2008. It certainly was welcome news for Lauper who only a few years earlier had found herself forced to file for bankruptcy, a fallout from the aftermath of her previous band Blue Angel, a failed debut album and a lawsuit the band’s manager Steven Massarsky had brought against her and the band. Beware of hiring a lawyer as your manager! She’s So Unusual yielded several hit singles. Here’s the most successful and my favorite, Time After Time, co-written by Lauper and Rob Hyman who is best know as a founding member of American band The Hooters. The tune topped the mainstream charts in the U.S. and Canada, climbed to no. 3 in New Zealand, reached no. 5 in Australia, and became a top 10 hit in various European countries, including Austria (no. 6), Ireland (no. 2), France (no. 9), Germany (no. 6), The Netherlands (no. 8) and the UK (no. 3).

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts Music History Calendar; This Day in Rock; The Beatles Bible; YouTube

The Sunday Six

Welcome to another installment of The Sunday Six that celebrates music from the past 70 years or so in different flavors, six tunes at a time. This week’s zig-zag excursion features a tasty stew. The ingredients include jazz, early ’60s pop, contemporary blues, classic ’70s soul, contemporary indie rock and early ’90s southern and blues rock. I generally find diversity enriching, in music and otherwise. Let’s embark on our little journey.

The Charlie Watts Quintet/Relaxing at Camarillo

On August 24, the music world lost Charlie Watts who passed away at age 80 from an undisclosed cause. Undoubtedly, he will always best be remembered as the unassuming longtime drummer and reliable time-keeper of The Rolling Stones. But it was actually his life-long love for jazz, not rock and roll, that got Watts into music. In-between tours and recording sessions with the Stones, he frequently was involved in jazz projects and eventually formed his own groups, The Charlie Watts Orchestra and The Charlie Watts Quintet. I’d like to celebrate the late Charlie Watts with Relaxing at Camarillo, a composition by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. Watts recorded the tune with his jazz quintet for a 1991 Charlie Parker tribute album titled From One Charlie. According to the credits listed on Discogs, in addition to Watts, the group featured Peter King (alto saxophone), Gerard Presencer (trumpet), Brian Lemon (piano) and Dave Green (bass). I know, it’s only jazz but I like it, like it, yes, I do!

The Everly Brothers/When Will I Be Loved

For fans of artists who are in their ’70s and ’80s, these are tough times. On August 21, Don Everly, who together with his younger brother Phil Everly had performed as The Everly Brothers for nearly 45 years (not counting a 10-year hiatus between 1973 and 1983 when each of the brothers pursued solo careers), passed away in Nashville at the age of 84. No cause of death was provided. I loved The Everly Brothers from the very first moment I got a greatest hits compilation, which must have been in the early ’80s. What spoke to me in particular was their beautiful harmony singing. I also thought their acoustic guitar playing was cool, especially on Wake Up Little Susie, their massive hit from 1957. In addition to covering songs written by others, The Everly Brothers also recorded some originals. Here’s one written by Don Everly: When Will I Be Loved. The tune was released as a single in May 1960 and also included on the album The Fabulous Style of The Everly Brothers that came out in the same year as well. What a classic!

Taj Mahal and Keb Mo’/Ain’t Nobody Talkin’

Let’s jump forward 57 years to May 2017 for some sizzling blues delivered by two great artists, Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’. I was reminded about their fantastic collaboration album TajMo the other day when putting together a post about other artists covering songs by The Who. Apart from renditions like a Cajun swampy version of Squeeze Box, TajMo also includes original tunes. One of them is Ain’t Nobody Talkin’, co-written by Kevin Moore (Keb’ Mo’) and John Lewis Parker. I was happy to see that TajMo won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. You can read more about it here. Meanwhile, here’s Ain’t Nobody Talkin’ – man, I love how Mahal and Mo’ sound together. And these horn fill-ins – so good!

Al Green/Let’s Stay Together

Next I’d like to turn to Al Green, one of the finest soul vocalists I can think of. Green, who became an ordained pastor in 1976 following the suicide of his girlfriend Mary Woodson in October 1974, is best known for a series of soul hits in the first half of the ’70s. In 1979, after he had gotten injured during a stage accident in Cincinnati, Green turned to gospel for nearly 10 years. In 1988, he came back to secular music, teaming up with Annie Lennox for a cover of Put a Little Love in Your Heart, yielding his first top 10 mainstream hit since 1974. It remains his last to date. Here’s Green’s first no. 1 from November 1971: Let’s Stay Together, his signature song. He co-wrote the smooth tune with Al Jackson Jr. (founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s) and producer Willie Mitchell. Let’s Stay Together also became the title track of his fourth studio album from January 1972. In 1983, Tina Turner brought the soul classic back into the top 10 charts in the UK, her comeback single from her comeback album Private Dancer that appeared in May 1984.

Lord Huron/Meet Me in the City

If you are a frequent reader of The Sunday Six, the name Lord Huron might ring a bell. Or perhaps you’ve been aware of this cool indie folk rock band all along, which initially was founded in Los Angeles in 2010 as a solo project of guitarist and vocalist Ben Schneider. In addition to him, the group’s current line-up includes Tom Renaud (guitar), Miguel Briseño (bass, keyboards) and Mark Barry (drums, percussion). In the June 20 installment, I featured the stunning Mine Forever, a track from the band’s most recent album Long Lost that came out on May 21. Here’s another great track from that album, Meet Me in the City, which further illustrates Lord Huron’s amazing moody and cinematic sound of layered voices, jangly guitars and expanded reverb.

The Black Crowes/Twice As Hard

This once again brings me to the sixth and final track. Let’s make it count with some crunchy rock by The Black Crowes. Initially founded as “Mr. Crowe’s Garden” in Marietta, Ga. in 1984, the band around Chris Robinson (lead vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar, percussion) and his younger brother Rich Robinson (guitar, backing vocals) has a long history. It includes the type of drama with break-ups and reunions that’s all too common once rock egos become too big. The good news is since late 2019, The Black Crowes are flying again. Perhaps the band’s third reunion is the charm. Their tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album Shake Your Money Maker from February 1990 had to be postponed because of you know what. It finally got underway on July 20 in Nashville, Tenn. and is scheduled to conclude in Bethel, N.Y. on September 25. In addition to the Robinson brothers, the group’s new line-up features Sven Pipien (bass, backing vocals), along with touring members Isaiah Mitchell (guitar, backing vocals), Joel Robinow (keyboards, backing vocals) and Brian Griffin (drums, percussion). Here’s Twice As Hard, the great opener of Shake Your Money Maker. Co-written by the Robinson brothers, the tune also became the album’s third single and their first no. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.

Sources: Wikpedia; Discogs; YouTube