Song Musings

Welcome to another installment of Song Musings, where I take a closer look at tunes I dig, which I haven’t covered yet or only mentioned in passing. Today’s pick is Cry by The Raspberries. Before telling you more about it, I have to give a shoutout to Max who pens the excellent PowerPop blog and brought the American power pop band on my radar screen.

Cry was co-written by Raspberries members Eric Carmen (vocals, rhythm guitar, piano) and Scott McCarl (vocals, bass). It’s from the group’s fourth and final studio album Starting Over released in September 1974. The album included their third and final U.S. top 20 hit Overnight Sensation. Unlike that song, Cry did not appear separately as a single. That’s a pity, in my opinion!

The Raspberries were formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1970 by members of The Choir and Cyrus Erie, two other local bands that had become prominent in the late ’60s. Their initial line-up featured Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson (lead guitar, vocals), John Aleksic (bass) and Jim Bonfanti (drums). Carmen had been with Cyrus Erie while Bryson and Bonfanti had been part of The Choir.

By the time The Raspberries went into the studio for their April 1972 eponymous debut album, Aleksic had departed, Dave Smalley had joined on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Carmen had moved to bass. That lineup also recorded the two following albums Fresh (Nov 1972) and Side 3 (Sep 1973).

After Fresh creative tension emerged and eventually led to Smalley’s ejection from the band. Bonfanti departed soon thereafter, and the two subsequently founded a new group, Dynamite. The Raspberries’ above-mentioned fourth album Starting Over couldn’t save the group who broke up in 1975.

Eric Carmen went on to launch a successful solo career, which resulted in various hits, most notably All By Myself (1975) and Hungry Eyes (1987), which was part of the Dirty Dancing motion picture soundtrack. In 1999, Bryson put The Raspberries back together sans Carmen but with Smalley and McCall, who released an EP in 2000, Raspberries Refreshed. In 2004, Carmen, Bryson, Smalley and Bonfanti reunited for a show in Cleveland, which led to a well-received mini-tour, a VH1 Classic special and a live album, Live on Sunset Strip.

Following are some additional tidbits on Cry from Songfacts:

The song is a blast of power pop with a lyric that finds the singer emboldened after a breakup: she made a fool out of him, so he doesn’t mind if she does some crying too.

Scott McCarl told Songfacts the story behind this song: “We’d had such good luck with ‘Play On,’ our first joint songwriting effort, that Eric suggested I pull out a few more half-written songs for him to hear. The very first one I showed him was ‘Cry.’ I played him the verse, just as you hear it now, and he sat back at the piano, shook his head and said quietly, ‘Wow, that’s great!’

Many of the flourishes on this song came courtesy of Eric Carmen and Raspberries guitarist Wally Bryson. “So much of the cool overdubbing on ‘Cry’ – the Leslie guitar, the acoustic guitars with beautiful and unique Wally chord formations, all those wonderful Beatle ‘aahhs’ – was all thought up and laid down in one afternoon by mad professors Eric and Wally,” Scott McCarl explained.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube

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The Dirty Knobs Release Long Awaited Debut Album Wreckless Abandon

Mike Campbell’s band The Dirty Knobs finally released their debut album yesterday (November 20). Originally, Wreckless Adandon had been scheduled for March 20 but was pushed back after Campbell announced in early March he had to deal with “some health issues, which, while fully treatable, need to be addressed” and that “I’m going to be just fine,” as reported by Ultimate Classic Rock at the time. In a way, the eight-month delay was relatively minor, considering the band has been around for some 20 years.

Campbell formed The Dirty Knobs in the early 2000s as a side project to Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. In August 2001, he told Rolling Stone he had recruited original Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair and the band’s drummer at the time Steve Ferrone, together with guitarist Jason Sinay. Apart from Campbell and Sinay, the Knobs’ current lineup includes Lance Morrison (bass) and Matt Laug (drums). “It’s rougher-edged [than the Heartbreakers],” Campbell described their music at the time. “It’s slightly over-driven, less polished, lots of Sixties influence — the Kinks, Zeppelin, the Animals. It’s something I probably should have done a long time ago, but I didn’t ’cause I was wrapped up in the Heartbreakers.”

The Dirty Knobs were active in-between Heartbreakers tours and studio projects. They played small venues and did some recordings but weren’t looking for a record deal. “We would go and play clubs and do some recordings and it just got better and better,” Campbell said during a recent interview with Cleveland.com. “I always had in the back of my mind it would be a great project to do if the Heartbreakers ever took a hiatus or whatever. So now here we are, and I’m all fired up to do this band.” Of course, Campbell had also been pretty busy working with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Johnny Cash and many other artists and since September 2018 as an official new member of Fleetwood Mac.

The Dirty Knobs (from left): Jason Sinay, Mike Campbell, Lance Morrison and Matt Laug

While Reckless Abandon isn’t meant to sound like a Heartbreakers album, perhaps inevitably, you find yourself looking for similarities, and there are definitely some influences. After all, Campbell and Petty had a long songwriting partnership, and it’s not a coincidence Campbell earned co-writing credits for two to three songs on many Heartbreakers albums and two of Petty’s solo records.

At times, even their voices sound a bit similar. “In the beginning I realized I had a lot of Tom’s nuances in my delivery ‘cause we grew up together, so I focused hard on trying to filter that out as much as possible and find my own voice and personality,” Campbell explained to Cleveland.com. “I don’t want to sound like Tom, of course, but I do from time to time ‘cause we have the same accents and this and that. But I think I found my own self.”

Time for some music. Here’s the opener and title track that had previously been released as the album’s lead single back in January. Like all other except for two songs, it was written by Campbell. Great tune – dig Campbell’s Rickenbacker sound. Frankly, this track could be a Heartbreakers song. One difference is there are no keyboards.

Pistol Packin’ Mama features Chris Stapleton on vocals. Stapleton also contributed a tune, Fuck That Guy. Likewise, Campbell was a guest on and co-wrote two songs for Stapleton’s new album Starting Over released on November 13. “He’s a great writer, a great artist, so I’m fortunate to be able to work with him,” Campbell told Cleveland.com. “I met Chris the first time just in passing; The Heartbreakers were headlining at (Chicago’s) Wrigley Field, and he was opening. He was going to take (Dirty Knobs) out to open for him in the summer.”

Next up: Southern Boy, another nice bluesy rocker. Again, I could also picture Tom Petty singing that tune.

On Irish Girl, The Dirty Knobs take it down a few notches. Released as the album’s most recent single on November 16, it’s among the tracks I like the best so far. “Irish Girl is my favorite lyric on the record,” Campbell told American Songwriter. “It’s whimsical and more poetic than most of the Knobs’ songs. I was inspired to write it driving home late one-night listening to Van Morrison on the radio. When I got home, the song just came to me. It’s very simple musically and I love the sound of the record. It reminds me of Ireland.” Here’s the official video.

Let’s wrap it up with one more bluesy rocker: Aw Honey. Ex-Heartbreaker Benmont Tench contributes piano.

Asked by Cleveland.com whether he feels a sense of mission to continue the legacy he had with Tom Petty, Campbell said, “Well, maybe subconsciously. I don’t perceive myself as on a mission, per se; my only mission is to have fun, really, and try to make great music and try to get better. He’s not here, obviously, so now it’s up to me, and I’ve got to carry on making music the best I can. I have a legacy to live up to. I hope the stuff that I do going forward holds up against that stuff. It’s kind of a high bar, but my only mission is just to enjoy myself and keep making music. That’s what keeps this alive.”

In addition to the album, The Dirty Knobs also postponed their supporting tour. It’s now scheduled to kick off in San Bernardino, Calif on June 5, 2021 and wrap up in New Orleans on November 2. Some of the other gigs include Denver (June 25 & 26), Chicago (July 17), Gainesville, Fla. (September 10 & 11), Nashville, Tenn. (September 14), Asbury Park, N.J. (September 18), Boston (September 23 & 24), Indianapolis (October 2 & 3), San Francisco (October 15 & 16) and Austin, Texas (October 30 & 31). The full schedule is available here.

Sources: Wikipedia; Ultimate Classic Rock; Rolling Stone; Cleveland.com; American Songwriter; The Dirty Knobs website; YouTube

Best of What’s New

It’s that time of the week again where I’d like to take a peek at newly released music. All of the selections in this Best of What’s New installment are truly new. They were all released yesterday. I’m also pleased the collection features a good deal of variety, including indie pop grunge, alternative pop, country rock, heavy rock and even some African music. Most importantly, no matter what you call it, it’s all great music, so let’s get to it!

Viji/Are You in My Head

Are You in My Head is the title track of what appears to be the debut EP by Viji. Unfortunately, there is very little publicly available information on this young artist. According to her Spotify profile, Viji is the moniker of Austrian-Brazilian, London-based singer-songwriter Vanilla Jenner. She creates imaginative and original music that crosses the worlds of alternative pop and lo-fi indie weirdness. A review by Dork Magazine includes some commentary from the artist on the song and the EP. “The song ‘Are You In My Head’ is about the internal struggle of relationships. Especially how little things can blow up in your head if you’re in a bad mood…The EP is the first body of work that I’ve ever brought out. I finished writing all the songs for it around this time last year, and then took a few months to record it…The sound is very raw, and we kept a lot of my tracks from the demos. It’s pop melodies over lofi indie chords.” While the music falls outside my core wheelhouse, I can’t deny there’s something charming about it.

Shenandoah/High Class Hillbillies (featuring Cody Johnson)

How about a nice country rocker with the lovely title High Class Hillbillies? This is from the new album Every Road by Shenandoah, a country music band founded in Muscle Shoals, Ala. in 1984. Their eponymous debut album appeared in September 1987. According to Billboard, Every Road is a collaboration album “featuring some of today’s top hitmakers” and the band’s first album in 26 years with all new music. One of the collaborators is country singer-songwriter Cody Johnson, who contributes vocals on High Class Hillbillies. The tune was co-written by Marty Raybon (lead vocals, guitar) and Mike McGuire (drums, backing vocals), the band’s two remaining original members, together with songwriters Jim Collins and Wade Kirby.

Benee/Happen to Me

Benee (born Stella Rose Bennett) is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Auckland, New Zealand. According to Apple Music’s artist profile, With her introspective lyrics and smoky, stylized vocals, BENEE combines the sophisticated R&B of artists like Sade and Corinne Bailey Rae with the atmospheric, head-voice electronics of Billie Eilish. In 2017, during her final year in high school, Benee began posting music covers to Soundcloud. Her debut single Tough Guy appeared later that year. This was followed by her debut EP Fire on Marzz from June 2019, which included the lead single Soaked that climbed to no. 14 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart. Supalonely featuring American singer Gus Dapperton, a single from Benee’s second EP Stella & Steve, gained her international popularity. Happen to Me is the opener of Hey u, x, Benee’s first full-length album. Again, it’s not the kind of music I typically listen to, but there’s just something to it.

Chris Stapleton/Arkansas

Arkansas is another great country rocker. It appears on the fourth studio album Starting Over by Chris Stapleton. The singer-songwriter, who has been active since the early 2000s, released his debut studio in May 2015. It was well received, earned Stapleton several awards and remains his most successful record to date. Billboard is pretty upbeat about his latest release: You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better country album this year than Starting Over…From Stapleton’s ragged, soulful vocals to Dave Cobb’s feral production, Starting Over is all untamed emotion. What triggered my attention in part is the involvement of two former members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers I dig: Guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboarder Benmont Tench. Arkansas is one of two tunes on the album Stapleton co-wrote with Campbell who has an album with his own band The Dirty Knobs set for release on November 20.

Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons/We’re the Bastards

Let’s crank it up a notch with a crunchy rocker by Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons: We’re the Bastards. This Welsh band was formed in 2016 by Campbell, longtime guitarist of Motörhead, following the death of frontman Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy. We’re the Bastards is the title track of the band’s new album, the second full-length record after 2018’s The Age of Absurdity. The band’s remaining members include Phil’s three sons Todd Campbell (guitar, harmonica), Tyla Campbell (bass) and Dane Campbell (drums), along with lead vocalist Neil Starr. Take it away, boys!

Star Feminine Band/Femme Africaine

I almost would have skipped over this last group, but how many all-girl female bands from Africa you know? According to The Vinyl Factory, the members of Star Feminine Band from the West African country Benin range from 10 to 17 years. The line-up inclides Angélique Balaguemon (drums, vocals), Julienne Sayi (bass guitar), Marguerite Kpetekout (drums), Grâce Marina Balaguemon (keyboard, vocals), Anne Sayi (electric guitar), Urrice Borikapei (percussion, vocals) and Sandrine Ouei (keyboard). The group came together after they responded to a local radio station’s advert inviting girls to participate in a series of free music training sessions. Femme Africaine is from their eponymous debut album, which The Vinyl Factory notes incorporates elements of highlife, garage rock, Congolese rumba, Beninese sato, and psychedelia as they address themes of equality, empowerment and female genital mutilation. Check out this video, which is such a joy to watch!

Sources: Wikipedia; Spotify; Dork Magazine; Billboard; Apple Music; The Vinyl Factory; YouTube