They Say It’s Your Birthday

Today, Paul McCartney turned 82. To celebrate the occasion, I’m republishing a post I did for Paul’s 80th birthday two years ago – two days after I had seen him at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey where he wrapped up his North American Got Back Tour. This post has been slightly edited.

You say it’s your birthday

...Yes we’re going to a party party
Yes we’re going to a party party
Yes we’re going to a party party…Things We Said Today (1964)

A song from The Beatles era I’ve always loved, which appeared on the U.K. version of the A Hard Day’s Night album released in July 1964 but wasn’t part of the movie soundtrack. According to The Beatles Bible, McCartney wrote this tune on a yacht in the Virgin Islands in May 1964, where he vacationed with his girlfriend Jane Asher, as well as Ringo Starr and his future first wife Maureen Cox.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

The title track and a Macca tune from my favorite Beatles album on most days, which was released in May 1967. The idea of the song and the entire album of an alter-ego band that would perform before an audience came to McCartney in November 1966 on a flight from Nairobi back to England.

Maybe I’m Amazed (1970)

The highlight of McCartney’s debut solo album McCartney from April 1970. Written in 1969, the tune is about his first wife Linda McCartney (née Eastman). Linda who passed away from breast cancer in 1998 undoubtedly had an enormous impact on Paul. Instead of picking the studio track, I’m cheating a bit here and feature what I feel is a superior version that appeared on the great Wings Over America live album from December 1976.

Band on the Run (1973)

The title track from what I think is the Mount Rushmore of Macca’s solo period, released in December 1973. The tune was McCartney’s response to drug laws he believed unfairly criminalized him and his friends. Noting the latter included the Eagles and The Byrds, Songfacts quotes Macca as follows: “We’re not criminals… We just would rather do this than hit the booze – which had been a traditional way to do it. We felt that this was a better move.”

Letting Go (1975)

A nice rocker from Venus and Mars, McCartney’s fourth studio album with  Wings, which came out in May 1975. Letting Go is another tune about Linda McCartney, a reflection on Paul’s relationship with her and that she deserved more freedom to pursue her own interests after she had given up her photography career. Linda received a co-credit for the song.

Here Today (1982)

A moving tribute to John Lennon Macca wrote wrote in the wake of Lennon’s senseless murder in December 1980. It appeared on McCartney’s third solo studio album Tug of War from April 1982, another gem from his solo catalog I previously covered here. This song can still make me well up!

Fine Line (2005)

Time to continue the party by jumping to the current century. Fine Line is the opener to Macca’s 13th solo album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard from October 2005. It’s a great piano-driven pop song that also showcases the multi-instrumental talents of Sir Paul. In addition to piano and vocals, he provided guitar, bass and drums – pretty much the track’s entire instrumentation, except for the strings that were played by London-based session players  Millennia Ensemble.

I Don’t Know (2018)

A beautiful piano ballad from Egypt Station, McCartney’s 17th solo studio effort from September 2018 – a late career gem in his solo catalog, in my opinion! You can read more about it here. Yes, Paul’s voice is clearly showing some wear and tear, but I think it works very well for this and the other tracks on the album.

Lavatory Lil (2020)

A nice rocker from McCartney III, which is yet another intriguing late-career release in my book. I would also say it’s the charm of Macca’s three DIY home-made albums, as I previously wrote here. Check out the cool descending bass line of Lavatory Lil.

Birthday (1968)

A birthday celebration calls for a birthday song, so I’d like to wrap up this post with exactly that. Conveniently, Sir Paul also wrote the perfect tune for the occasion. It first appeared on The Beatles’ White Album from November 1968 as the opener to side three (speaking in vinyl terms here!). Instead of picking the original studio track, let’s up the fun with a live version captured during a performance at New York’s Grand Central Station in September 2018 to celebrate the release of the above-noted Egypt Station album. It’s just great to see how much fun Macca continues to have when performing in front of an audience.

…I would like you to dance, birthday

Rock on, Paul, and here’s to good health and many more years to come! Following is a Spotify playlist with the above and some other tunes:

Sources: Wikipedia; The Beatles Bible; Songfacts; YouTube; Spotify

Song Musings

It’s hard to believe today is the final Wednesday of 2023. I hope everybody is feeling groovy. For the last time this year, welcome to my weekly feature, where I take a closer look at a song I’ve only mentioned in passing or not covered at all to date.

If you’ve visited this blog before or are aware of my music taste otherwise, you know The Beatles are my all-time favorite band. I also like a good deal of each member’s solo work and have featured them and the band on many other occasions but not in Song Musings except for John Lennon.

Today, I’d like to turn to George Harrison. While he had become a seasoned writer by the mid-’60s, many of the songs he presented to The Beatles were rejected by Lennon and Paul McCartney. My pick was one of them. Ironically, it’s titled Isn’t It a Pity.

Harrison wrote Isn’t It a Pity in 1966 and proposed it for inclusion on a Beatles album various times, including the Get Back sessions that resulted in Let It Be, as well as The Beatles (White Album), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver. Like many other such songs it ended up on All Things Must Pass, Harrison’s massive first solo album after the break-up of The Beatles and his third overall.

“‘Isn’t It a Pity’ is about whenever a relationship hits a down point,” Harrison explained in his 1980 biography I, Me, Mine. “Instead of whatever other people do (like breaking each other’s jaws) I wrote a song. It was a chance to realize that if I felt somebody had let me down, then there’s a good chance I was letting someone else down. We all tend to break each other’s hearts, taking and not giving back – isn’t it a pity.”

Isn’t It a Pity, paired with My Sweet Lord, was released as a double A-side lead single on November 23, 1970, four days prior to the All Things Must Pass album. In the UK, My Sweet Lord was paired with What Is Life. The single became a massive hit worldwide, topping the charts in the U.S.; Canada; various European countries, including the UK, Republic of Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden; as well as Australia.

It also became Harrison’s best-selling single, reaching Platinum status in the U.S. and the UK, and 2x Platinum in Japan. In the mid-’70s, that success got him into trouble with My Sweet Lord, and he was found guilty for subconsciously having plagiarized Ronnie Mack’s He’s So Fine, a 1963 hit for The Chiffons. Going back to Japan, here’s a live version of Isn’t It a Pity, captured there in 1991 during Harrison’s tour with his friend Eric Clapton. While it’s a pity the video is blurry, the audio is pretty good!

Co-produced by Harrison and Phil Spector, Isn’t It a Pity included a remarkable amount of high profile musicians: Tony Ashton (piano); Billy Preston (piano); Gary Wright (electric piano); Bobby Whitlock (harmonium), of Derek and the Dominoes; Badfinger’s Pete Ham, Tom Evans and Joey Molland (each acoustic guitar) and Mike Gibbins (tambourine); Klaus Voormann (bass); and Ringo Starr (drums). In addition to providing slide guitar and vocals, Harrison played acoustic guitar and Moog synthesizer. Orchestral and choral arrangements were done by John Barham. All of this creates a lush wall of sound, but I think it works magnificently for this song!

One of the things I absolutely love about Isn’t It a Pity is Harrison’s distinct slide guitar – a true signature sound. Apart from melodic playing and overdubbed harmony action, the soft tone is outstanding. The latter likely resulted from Harrison using his thumb instead of a pick. It’s also part of the equation for Jeff Beck’s magic tone.

In addition to the famous long 7:10-minute version, All Things Must Pass includes a shorter edit, Isn’t It a Pity (Version 2). At 4:48 minutes, this cut isn’t only significantly shorter but also noticeably slower. Apparently, Harrison initially wasn’t happy with the long version. The shorter version is said to have come about by chance on a separate occasion after one of the backing musicians began playing the song.

Taking a look at the credits for version 2 reveals the following: George Harrison (vocals, acoustic guitar), Eric Clapton (electric guitar), Tony Ashton (piano), Bobby Whitlock (organ), Carl Radle (bass), Ringo Starr (drums), Mike Gibbins (tambourine) and John Barnham (woodwind arrangement). It’s a more subdued cut, but I like it as well.

Isn’t It a Pity has been covered by many other artists, including Matt Monro, Nina Simone, Cowboy Junkies, Annie Lennox and Peter Frampton, among others. The songs was also performed during the commemorative Concert For George on November 29, 2002 by Eric Clapton and Billy Preston who were backed by a large band that included Jeff Lynne and Harrison’s son Dhani Harrison.

I’m leaving you with three of the above renditions, as well as the lyrics.

Isn’t It a Pity

Isn’t it a pity
Now, isn’t it a shame
How we break each other’s hearts
And cause each other pain

How we take each other’s love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn’t it a pity

Some things take so long
But how do I explain
When not too many people
Can see we’re all the same

And because of all their tears
Their eyes can’t hope to see
The beauty that surrounds them
Isn’t it a pity

Isn’t it a pity
Isn’t is a shame
How we break each other’s hearts
And cause each other pain

How we take each other’s love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn’t it a pity

Forgetting to give back
Isn’t it a pity
Forgetting to give back
Now, isn’t it a pity

[Repeat: x6]
What a pity
What a pity, pity, pity
What a pity
What a pity, pity, pity

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube

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

My Top 5 Live Albums Turning 50

Three make a charm. Here’s my third and probably last look for now at 1971. Previously, I mused about my top 5 studio records and my top 5 debut albums that appeared during this remarkable year in music. Now it’s time for my top 5 live albums turning 50 this year.

Similar to debuts, narrowing the universe to live albums substantially reduced the choices compared to studio albums. That being said, I was surprised how many live albums appeared in 1971. For the purposes of my fun exercise, I considered 14 live records. Here are my five favorites. This time, I decided to list them according to their release date.

Elton John/17-11-70

This early Elton John album was new to me. Released on April 1, 1971, it was John’s fifth record overall and his first live release – and, boy, what a great album! It captured a live radio broadcast from November 17, 1970 – hence the title. This was an unplanned album, which was triggered by bootlegs. From a strictly commercial perspective, it turned out it didn’t quite work. A 60-minute bootleg, which included 12 more minutes of John’s music than the officially sanctioned live album, is believed to have impacted sales of the latter. An extended 2-LP edition was released for Record Store Day in 2017. Regardless of the original album’s commercial performance, the music is fantastic. Here’s closer Burn Down the Mission, a tune John initially included on his third studio album Tumbleweed Connection from October 1970. As usual, he composed the music while his long-time partner Bernie Taupin provided the lyrics. This is an extended version that incorporates parts of Arthur Crudup’s My Baby Left Me (starting at around 10:30) and The Beatles’ Get Back (starting at about 14:10). At 18 minutes plus, it can compete with prog rock, but listening to John demonstrating his rock piano chops is a lot of fun! BTW, the guy playing that groovy bass is Dee Murray, who was a longtime member of John’s backing band.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young/4 Way Street

4 Way Street, released on April 7, 1971, is the first live album by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It includes footage from gigs at Fillmore East (New York), The Forum (Los Angeles) and Auditorium Theatre (Chicago) recorded during CSNY’s 1970 tour. By the time they played these shows, tension between the members had grown to intense levels, and the band dissolved shortly after the double-LP’s appearance – egos in rock! Sides one and two are acoustic and are primarily focused on the individual members, while sides 3 and 4 are electric, featuring the full band playing together. Here’s Ohio, written by Neil Young, and first released as a single by CSNY in June 1970 to protest the Kent State shooting that had occurred on May 4 of the same year.

The Allman Brothers Band/At Fillmore East

At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band is perhaps the ultimate southern and blues rock album and one of the best live albums ever. Released on July 6, 1971, it features music from three of the band’s concerts at the legendary New York City music venue that occurred in March 1971. The Allman Brothers’ third album overall also marked the band’s commercial breakthrough, climbing to no. 13 on the Billboard 200. As of August 1992, At Fillmore East has reached Platinum status. In 2004, it was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, deemed to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” by the National Recording Registry. Rolling Stone ranked the album at no. 49 in their 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In the list’s latest revision from September 2020, it still came in at a respectable no. 105. Here’s Hot ‘Lanta, an instrumental the Allman Brothers debuted on this live album. It is credited to all members of the band at time: Duane Allman (lead guitar, slide guitar), Gregg Allman (organ, piano, vocals), Dickey Betts (lead guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), Jai Johanny Johanson (drums, congas, timbales) and Butch Trucks (drums, tympani). These harmony guitar parts combined with Greg Allman’s Hammond are just out of this world!

Chicago/Chicago at Carnegie Hall

Chicago’s fourth album overall and their first live release, Chicago at Carnegie Hall, released on October 25, 1971, falls into the band’s early period, which is my favorite. As such, it immediately made my list of live albums I considered for my top picks. The 4-LP set was recorded from shows Chicago played at New York’s prominent concert venue for a week in April 1971 during their supporting tour for Chicago III, the band’s third studio album that had come out in January of the same year. “The reason behind the live record for Carnegie Hall is, we were the first rock ‘n’ roll group to sell out a week at Carnegie Hall, and that was worth rolling up the trucks for, putting the mikes up there, and really chronicling what happened in 1971,” co-founding band member Walter Parazaider told William James Ruhlmann, who wrote the liner notes for the 1991 Chicago compilation Group Portrait. Not all members were happy with the outcome. James Pankow, one of three co-founders who remain in the current line-up of Chicago, felt the venue’s acoustics weren’t made for amplified music, comparing the sound of the brass to kazoos. In 2005, a remastered version of the album with improved sound quality appeared. And earlier this month, Rhino Records announced a 50th anniversary 16-CD box set titled Chicago Live At Carnegie Hall Complete. It’s slated for July 16. Meanwhile, here’s the amazing 25 Or 6 To 4. Written by Robert Lamm, the tune first appeared on Chicago’s eponymous second studio album from January 1970 (also known as Chicago II).

George Harrison & Friends/The Concert for Bangladesh

I trust The Concert for Bangladesh doesn’t need much of an introduction. This 3-LP album captured the pioneering music charity event that had been organized by George Harrison to raise money for war-ravaged and disaster-stricken Bangladesh and took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971. The two concerts conducted for UNICEF, which raised from than $243,000 at the time, featured an incredible line-up of artists, who in addition to Harrison included Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and Eric Clapton, among others. The event brought Harrison and Starr together on stage for the first time since 1966 when The Beatles had stopped to tour. It also marked Dylan’s first major concert appearance in the U.S. for five years. I recall reading somewhere Harrison literally didn’t know whether Dylan would show up until he walked out on stage. Here’s Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which was first appeared on The Beatles’ White Album from November 1968.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

When Covers Are Just As Much Fun As Originals

Recently, I remembered a post from July 2017, which featured some of my favorite cover versions of songs I dig. This triggered the idea to put together a second part. Rather than focusing on covers I already knew, this time, I decided to take a slightly different approach. Except for one instance, I picked some of my all-time favorite songs and checked whether they have been covered and, if yes, by whom. Not only did I find some intriguing renditions, but there were also a couple of real surprises.

Ella Fitzgerald/Sunshine of Your Love

Did you know that one of the greatest voices in jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, covered Cream? I had absolutely no idea! Not only did she do so, but she even named a live album after the tune: Sunshine of Your Love, released in 1969. Composed by Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton with lyrics by Pete Brown, the original was included on Cream’s sophomore album Disraeli Gears from November 1967. Fitzgerald’s orchestral version is really cool. Obviously her singing is amazing. Check it out!

Richie Havens/Won’t Get Fooled Again

Richie Havens performing The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again was another unexpected find. He recorded the tune for his final studio album Nobody Left to Crown that appeared in March 2008. The original, written by Pete Townshend, was included on my favorite album by The Who, Who’s Next, their fifth studio release from August 1971. Haven’s acoustic guitar-driven taken is great. I also like the violin. He really made the epic rocker his own.

Townes Van Zandt/Dead Flowers

Townes Van Zandt wrote almost all tunes that are on his 10 studio albums, and many of them have been recorded by the likes of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Gillian Welch. One exception is the live album Roadsongs, a collection of live covers from the mid-’70s through the early ’80s, which was released in 1994. It includes a fantastic take of Dead Flowers, which has become my favorite song by The Rolling Stones, at least on most days! Co-written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Dead Flowers was included on Sticky Fingers, which also happens to believe is the best Stones album that appeared in April 1971. It’s almost a bit painful to listen to Van Zandt’s version, considering he had struggled with drug addiction for most of his short life.

Noah Guthrie/Whipping Post

Noah Guthrie is a 27-year-old South Carolina-based singer-songwriter. According to his website, he taught himself to play guitar and began writing songs at 14. Here’s a “quarantine” cover version of Whipping Post Guthrie recorded with his band Good Trouble in April 2020. Written by Gregg Allman, Whipping Post appeared on the eponymous debut album of The Allman Brothers Band from November 1969. While this cover stays close to the original, these guys are doing a great job, giving this classic a nice build.

Heart/Stairway to Heaven

This cover of the Led Zeppelin gem is the exception I noted above. In other words, I had known about it. Just the other day, I watched this footage again from the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors, during which Heart with Jon Bonham’s son Jason Bonham on drums honored the surviving members of Led Zeppelin. This is one of the most amazing renditions of Stairway to Heaven, co-written by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant (and Randy California of Spirit!), and included on Led Zeppelin IV from November 1971. Messrs. Page, John Paul Jones and Plant were visibly touched. Yes, it’s a bit bombastic but still so good!

Kenny Lattimore/While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Here’s a great soulful version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Kenny Lattimore, an R&B and gospel singer-songwriter who has released seven studio albums to date. This cover of the George Harrison tune – one of his best during his period with The Beatles, IMO – is included on his sophomore album From the Soul of Man that came out in October 1998. While My Guitar Gently Weeps was first recorded for the White Album from November 1968. Thank goodness John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn’t reject all of Harrison’s songs!

Green Day/Like a Rolling Stone

In case you’ve ever asked yourself how Bob Dylan would sound grunge style, here’s one possible answer. Green Day’s eighth studio album 21st Century Breakdown from May 2009 includes this version of Like a Rolling Stone as a bonus track. The maestro first recorded the tune for his sixth studio album Highway 61 Revisited released in August 1965.

Willie Nelson/Have You Ever Seen the Rain (feat. Paula Nelson)

The last cover I’d like to call out is a breathtakingly beautiful rendition of my favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival song: Have You Ever Seen the Rain, written by John Fogerty and included on CCR’s sixth studio album Pendulum from December 1970. Willie Nelson recorded this rendition with his daughter Paula Nelson for his 62nd studio album To All the Girls…, which appeared in October 2013. Nelson, who at age 87 remains active, has a new album coming out on February 26, his 71st! In April 2019, Nelson told Rolling Stone weed had “saved his life,” adding, “I wouldn’t have lived 85 years if I’d have kept drinking and smoking like I was when I was 30, 40 years old.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Noah Guthrie website; Rolling Stone; YouTube

Sheryl Crow Releases Engaging Live Album

Many folks, who like me dig the late ’60s and focused their attention on the major reissues of the White Album and Electric Ladyland, may have missed this new album that also appeared on Friday: Sheryl Crow Live At The Capitol Theatre. It popped up this morning under new music in my streaming service, and it’s just great fun to listen to. Now I feel like adding Crow to my list of artists I’d like to see!

Crow entered my radar screen with her debut album Tuesday Night Music Club, which was released in August 1993. You couldn’t switch on the radio in those days without encountering the catchy All I Wanna Do. There are other great tunes on that record as well, such as the lead single Run Baby Run. But for some reason, that song didn’t even chart in the U.S., unlike All I Wanna Do, which became Crow’s biggest hit here, peaking at no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Overall, this was a hugely successful debut for Crow, ending up at no. 3 on the Billboard 200 and with a RIAA 7X Multi-Platinum Certification, as of February 1997.

While I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a huge Sheryl Crow fan, I’ve consistently listened to her over the past 20-plus yeas. To me she’s a genuine artist who not only writes much of her own music and has a great ear for catchy pop rock songs but who also is a real musician. And let’s face it, the music industry is pretty male-dominated, so as a lady, she has to work twice as hard to get the recognition she deserves. With that said, let’s get to some music.

I’d like to kick things off with My Favorite Mistake, the opener to Crow’s third studio album The Globe Sessions, which came out in September 1998. She co-wrote the tune with her longtime collaborator Jeff Trott.

Next up: Be Myself, the title track from Crow’s last studio album released in April 2017, which is also the record that her 2017 tour supported. Like all other songs on that album, it was co-written by Crow and Trott, who also served as co-producer.

Here’s the above mentioned Run Baby Run. The tune from Crow’s debut album is credited to her; producer Bill Bottrell, who also played guitar and pedal steel on the record; and guitarist David Baerwald.

If I could only select one Sheryl Crow song, it would be If It Makes You Happy. I just love that tune, which became the lead single to her eponymous second studio album from September 1996. It’s another Crow-Trott co-write.

The last track I’d like to call out is a nice cover of a song by one of my all-time favorite bands: Midnight Rider by The Allman Brothers Band. The classic, which appeared on the Brothers’ second studio album Idlewild South from September 1970, was primarily penned by Gregg Allman. According to Wikipedia, a roadie, Robert Kim Payne, helped Allman to finish the song’s lyrics and received a co-credit.

The album appears on Cleopatra Records and is available in DVD, Blu-ray, audio CD packages. The concert, which was the final gig of Crow’s 2017 tour, was filmed in its entirety at the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y., a place that has seen many great music acts. Here’s a nice teaser clip that addresses this aspect of the show.

“Very rarely, you walk into a venue and deeply feel the musical history of the place,” said Crow in an announcement issued by Rock Fuel Media, which managed the filming of the show. “The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York is one of those places, with so many legendary shows by artists like The Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers…..their imprint resonates. The vibe really elevated our performance – my band goes out and kills every night, but this set was on another level entirely. I’m so glad we were able to capture this show on film, it was one of those really special nights.”

Sources: Wikipedia, Sheryl Crow website, YouTube

Clips And Pix: Paul McCartney/Mother Nature’s Son

This clip felt right to post on Earth Day. Usually, I try to keep this a “happy” blog and stay away from social issues. No matter where one stands politically, preserving our planet shouldn’t be about politics in the first place. But sadly this country continues to be more divided than ever. And, as mind-boggling as it is in the 21st Century, there are still folks out there who believe climate change is a hoax or that mankind can somehow beat the laws of chemistry, physics and biology – and most of it for selfish short-term gain!

Anyway, to get back to music, according to Songfacts, Paul McCartney wrote Mother Nature’s Son after listening to a speech from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India, where The Beatles were attending a camp to learn transcendental meditation. McCartney recorded the tune by himself in two sessions on August 9 and 20, 1968. It was included on the “White Album,” The Beatles’ ninth studio record that appeared in November 1968.

In October 2008, McCartney told Mojo magazine the song was influenced by Nature Boy, a Nat King Cole standard from 1948. “At that time I considered myself a guy leaning towards the countryside,” he reportedly said. “But I would have to tip a wink to Nature Boy. Though, when you think about it, the only thing they have in common is the word ‘nature’- the rest of the link is pretty tenuous.”

Sources: Wikipedia, Songfacts, YouTube