Saturday, March 30, 2013

Soundalikes: The Fraternal Order Of The All

Andrew Gold
The what? Never heard of them? Well, this feature is actually about Andrew Gold. Remember him? The guy who gave us "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You For Being A Friend"? Well, as it turns out, Andrew Gold was more of a busy boy than just a lonely boy. Andrew played an active part in the L.A. studio crew that was responsible for the "California sound" that hung around like an unlocatable musty odor throughout most of the 1970's. He wrote & recorded with the Eagles, America & Linda Ronstadt, along with Brian Wilson, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel and John, Paul and Ringo as well.

Between all the songwriting for himself and recording demo tracks for others, he got a little creative on the side, producing some excellent recreations of groups who had influenced him and just about everyone else. His Beatles recreations are stellar acts of devotional mimicry. After his solo career took the inevitable downturn, Gold released several cd's worth of Beatles covers. Gotta do what you love, right?

But today's subject is an interesting little side trip. In 1998, Gold enlisted former 10cc member & Hollies songwriter Graham Gouldman, former Bread-maker Mike Botts, along with members of California Sixties cover band The Bellbottoms, to do an album that was not only a tribute to the era of Sixties psychedelia, but to the specific bands that were part of that era.

"I got the idea from listening to XTC performing as The Dukes of Stratosphear. I thought it would be fun to disguise yourself as a Sixties group," said Gold in an interview. "Since my influences are showing most of the time anyway, I thought I'd indulge myself to the nth degree and imagine I'd actually been in those bands."

The result was "Greetings From Planet Love" by The Fraternal Order Of The All, and it's an amazing package of music. There's so much great stuff on here. All songs are new, original tunes designed to emulate the bands of the psychedelic era as accurately as possible. Sitars, cheesy keyboards & backward vocals abound. Imagine if Bob Dylan had actually recorded a vocal with The Beatles on a John Lennon song entitled "Mr. Plastick Business Man". It's here and it sounds just like you'd imagine it would. There are Beach Boys, Monkees & Doors homages as well.

The Byrds
The one track that messes me up beyond repair is the astonishing Byrds soundalike "Somewhere in Space And Time". It manages to bring to mind at least 4 Byrds classics all in one mashed-up song, yet still sounds for all purposes like a high quality outtake from the original 1965-1967 Byrds recording sessions. They even got the harmonies right. Between the verses, the drop-D tuned rhythm guitar & the ride cymbal bounces sound exactly like David Crosby and Michael Clarke. Did I mention the backwards 12 string guitar solo? It's just plain freaky how cool this is! Turn it up & be psychedelicized!



Marni Nixon
The Fraternal Order Of The All cd is a little hard to find, although Amazon has it available sporadically for about $20. There is also an Mp3 download available for less. Andrew Gold's other music is much easier to find. 

On June 3, 2011, Andrew Gold died in his sleep, apparently from heart failure, at age 59 in Los Angeles after having been treated for renal cancer. As a footnote, Andrew had a family predilection for being in the entertainment business. His mother was singer Marni Nixon, who provided the singing voice for numerous actresses, notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. His father was Ernest Gold, the Austrian born, Academy Award winning composer of the score for the 1960 movie Exodus, along with many other films. Just thought you'd find that interesting.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Lovesong

What? The 90's are over? *sob*
This is an unusual post for me, as I have little personal interest in the band that covers this song and even less in the band that wrote it. However, the true strength of any song is shown in its ability to reach those outside the intended audience. Therefore, I'm gonna go with it. It's the equivalent of instead of telling those kids to get off my lawn, I'm gonna go see what game they're playing that seems like so much fun, even if I'm already sure I won't care for it.

When The Cure first became popular in the mid-80's, I was several years past the stage when they would have been any kind of big deal for me. Over time, The Cure has become the Eeyore of rock. I never got the musical appeal of that much mopey darkness. According to recent photos, front man Robert Smith looks like he's been hitting the backstage deli trays pretty hard. There isn't enough black fabric in all of Europe to hide that pudge. Let's face it, the wild hair and smeary makeup may have had some appeal for angsty teens of the 90's. Now it's just creepy, dated and more whiny than ever. Time to pack it in. Oh, and please take your little goth buddies, Depeche Mode with you. My apologies to their fans, but their music just doesn't work for me and never did.

Here's The Cure with one of their better efforts, "Lovesong".


Omaha reggae rockers 311 come from a much happier place aesthetically, although since I'm not a pot puffing skater boy, I'm not their target audience. But I do see the appeal. The fact that they covered a song by The Cure is interesting because if you ask any of the band members, their primary influence is The Clash. 311 did tackle a Clash cover several years back for a tribute album (which we will address another day).

311 released their version of "Lovesong" on their Greatest Hits album in 2004. The one essential thing that 311 does here is to refashion the song in a way that retains the mood and integrity of the original, yet sounds very much like 311 should. This is, I feel, a critical ingredient for a successful cover version. It has a sturdy yet comfortable reggae groove that carries the song very nicely and lets the melody breathe a bit. I feel it fits the song much better than The Cure's pounding 4 beat, but that was likely a product of the time when it was fashionable to have highly compressed and gated snare beats, which sounded huge but were ultimately distracting. I'm sure this tune goes over very well when they play it live, as it dates from the childhood of 311's audience. Here's 311 with "Lovesong". Enjoy!



As usual, you can find all the music you can stand from both 311 and The Cure at Amazon. Unless you're really a fan of either band, a Greatest Hits disc should suffice.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Fever

The E Street band in '72: Clarence, Bruce, David Sancious,
Vini Lopez, Danny Federici, Garry Tallent
During the 1970's and most of the 80's, one way to nearly guarantee a successful single was to cover a song written by Bruce Springsteen; preferably one that Bruce had not released or even recorded himself. There are many great examples, such as Manfred Mann's version of "Blinded By The Light", The Pointer Sisters' take on "Fire", Greg Kihn's "Rendezvous", Dave Edmunds' "From Small Things, Big Things Come", Patti Smith's "Because The Night" and even David Bowie, who clocked in with "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City", recorded during his sessions for "Young Americans", although he wisely decided not to release it on that album. Such was the public hunger for all things Bruce at the time, music that even sounded like Springsteen became a hit, like the soundtrack to the movie "Eddie & The Cruisers".

"The Fever" is another early Bruce Springsteen song, recorded at 914 Sound Studios in May 1973, during sessions for Springsteen's second album "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle". It was pressed on a now extremely rare 7" single as a demo. The single was credited to the pseudonym "The Jersey Devil" on Bruce Records, Springsteen's own indie label at the time. The song was already being performed by Springsteen in concert, beginning in March 1973. As things go in the music biz, the single was never intended for public release, but for then-manager Mike Appel's Laurel Canyon publishing company, who registered it as "Fever For The Girl". Then, in early 1974, Appel sent the song to several East Coast FM rock radio stations during the ramp-up of promotion prior to the release of "Born To Run". Whether the song was to be included on that album was unknown at that point.

David Bowie, Ed Sciaky & Bruce. August '74
I can't personally vouch for how the song went over in other cities, but in Philadelphia, the song exploded! With vigorous backing by influential Philly DJ and early Bruce fan, Ed Sciaky, the song was played often on WMMR as part of their regular rotation. Phone-in requests would have had the song played at least 4 times daily. And yet, despite all the positive response, "Fever" was to remain unreleased.

It did get recorded by UK singer Alan Rich in 1975, but that record failed to make any impact. In 1976, it was covered again by Bruce's Jersey Shore homeboys, Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes, on their debut album "I Don't Want to Go Home". Re-titled as "The Fever", it became a regionally successful single. For what it's worth, The Pointer Sisters also gave the song a go on their "Priority" album in 1979.

Here's New Jersey's most famous coattail riders, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes with their version of "The Fever".


All kidding aside, Southside & The Jukes were a sturdy soul band in their own right and were well known for a strong live show and their killer horn section. They can be found on tour somewhere to this day.

The original Springsteen recording finally achieved official release in 1999 on the "18 Tracks" outtakes collection. All but three selections had been on the boxed set, "Tracks", released a half year before. The single disc was likely intended to capture more casual fans and those who didn't spring for the box set.

Initially, "Tracks" was a Bruce bonanza; a treasure trove of unused material featuring four CD's of never-before-heard songs, demos and B-sides dating from his auditions for John Hammond, through his work in the 1990's. However, there was quite the indignant furor raised by hardcore Bruce fans over the decision to omit not only "The Fever", but also a "Darkness..." era outtake, "The Promise", and a "Human Touch" outtake, "Trouble River" from the "Tracks" box. "18 Tracks" served as a Band-Aid on the problem by issuing the songs there, rather than going to the trouble and expense of remastering the entire "Tracks" box. Not everyone was happy about this arrangement, considering the annoyance at being forced to pop for another CD for just three songs, but it was better than not having those songs at all. This lesson was certainly remembered when Springsteen began going through the countless hours of even more outtakes left behind from the "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" sessions for his 2010 double CD, "The Promise".

Here's Bruce and the 1973 E Street Band with "The Fever". It's longer and a lot blues-ier than Southside's take, keeping with the "punk/soul" ethos of the early E Street sound. Clarence's sax solo is just great and the whole band is deep in the groove. I should note that the song never did get a proper mix or a decent mastering job until the release of "18 Tracks". It was recorded as a demo, with everyone in the room and it sounds like it, but it's much better now than it was then. Enjoy!


As you might well imagine, absolutely everything Springsteen is available at Amazon. There's a surprising quantity of music from Southside Johnny that's still in print too, if you're so inclined.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Come Together

There's them, and then there's everyone else.
Frankly, I've been avoiding doing any features on cover versions of Beatles songs because it's such deep water. There's a lot of premium choices for sure, but there's an awful lot of ugly fish in that lake too. It's also a category that's big on musicians doing their darndest to perfectly replicate the Fab's original recordings, which I find to be a pointless exercise. Why bother? It's been done like that already, by the masters. So, the only realistic option left is to do the song in a manner that retains the song's identity, yet sounds very much like the interpreter. It's also time for me to step out of the Rock box for a bit and get into some Jazz. A change is as good as a rest, as they say.

Brian Bromberg and elderly friend. 
Cover versions are a way of life for most jazz musicians. Coming up with interesting new interpretations of standards and classics is their bread and butter and bassist extraordinaire Brian Bromberg is no exception. He is a master of both electric and acoustic bass techniques who released an entire album in tribute to a bass legend, Jaco Pastorius, some years back. Though the album is full of Jaco's signature songs, Bromberg easily manages to sound like himself; no small task for anyone. We may revisit this recording at another time, but for now, we'll refocus on The Beatles, otherwise this ice will never get broken!

Speaking as a bassist myself, it is one thing to become proficient on an electric instrument. Notes are clearly and definitively marked and the close string distance to the fretboard provides relatively easy access and maneuverability. The acoustic upright or double bass, is a whole different animal, requiring a keen sense of pitch, precise finger placement and considerable hand strength to sound notes properly. It is a beast of an instrument and few manage to master it. The basses played by world class jazz and classical musicians can be decades or even centuries old, like Bromberg's is. They require constant maintenance and are very sensitive to environmental changes. It takes a performer of considerable skill to make this unwieldy instrument sing like Bromberg does.

"Come Together" is a logical choice for a bassist to perform, as the song is firmly grounded in the bass line. Instrumentally, it is among the more sparse of The Beatles' recordings, identifying itself with acoustic blues much more than pop. Don't know if that was Lennon's intent, but that's where it seems to land.

So now, please enjoy Brian Bromberg's solo recording of The Beatles' "Come Together". The album on which it appears, "Wood", has been lauded by audiophiles for its 24 bit 96 Khz high resolution stereo master, originally done in 2006 for DVD audio. This Mp3 won't do it full justice, but I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy it anyway. Good headphones might help.


I would recommend most any of Brian Bromberg's fine recordings, especially "Wood", "Downright Upright" and "It Is What It Is". The "Jaco" album is amazing. I will also recommend ALL of The Beatles' recordings, without reservation. Yes, all of them. Get 'em at Amazon or your local indie record store.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Poor Little Fool

It would be fair to say that during his time, Rick Nelson was the latest in a now very long line of teen singing idols. From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist at the time, except Elvis Presley, who had 53, and Pat Boone (38). Many of Nelson's early records were double hits with both the A and B sides hitting the Billboard charts.

Rick Nelson loved music and was a skilled performer even before he became a teen idol, largely because of his parents' musical background and their radio and television experience. He got to work with many musicians of repute, including James Burton, Joe Osborn, Joe Maphis, The Jordanaires, Scotty Moore, and both Johnny and Dorsey Burnette. Due to his parents' popular TV show, Rick was the first teen idol to be able to utilize television to promote his records. His father, Ozzie would experiment with editing film footage together, creating an early model for music videos.

The Nelsons: Ozzie, David, Harriet & Ricky
During the sitcom's run, Ozzie Nelson, either to keep his son's fans tuned in, or as an affirmation of his reported reputation as a controlling personality, kept his son from appearing on other television shows that could have enhanced his public profile; American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show in particular. In the summer of 1958, Rick Nelson conducted his first full-scale tour, averaging $5,000 nightly, big money at the time. Nelson eventually did appear on the Sullivan show in 1967, but his career was on the skids by then.

In 1958, Nelson recorded 17 year old Sharon Sheeley's "Poor Little Fool" for his second album, "Ricky Nelson" (pictured above), which was released that June. It instantly gained radio airplay and his record label, Imperial, wanted to release a single right away, but Rick opposed it for some unknown reason. When a single was released anyway, he exercised his contractual right to approve any artwork and vetoed a picture sleeve. On August 4, 1958, "Poor Little Fool" became the very first number one single on Billboard's newly instituted Hot 100 singles chart. It would sell over two million copies. Reportedly, Nelson so loathed the song that he refused to perform it on the "Ozzie and Harriet" show. Sheeley claimed he ruined her song by slowing the tempo. Teenage drama, as true then as it is now.

Rick Nelson died in an airplane crash on December 31, 1985, while on tour, enroute to Texas. He was 45.

Here's Rick Nelson's recording of "Poor Little Fool".



Rick Nelson and his music have many fans to this day, including some who are in a position to help remind folks of his musical legacy. In fact, that's the title of a brand spanking new tribute album, "Legacy - A Tribute to Rick Nelson"! The album was assembled over several years by Adam Waltemire of Pop Garden Radio, a radio show that airs on AM1300 WMEL out of Cocoa, Florida. PGR covers great pop music from all ends of the genre, featuring new and older music from around the country. Adam has had the pleasure of interviewing several pop legends on PGR including Brian Wilson, The Rembrandts, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens, The Rubinoos and Ron Dante of The Archies (!), just to name just a few. You can listen to their broadcasts on the PGR website.

I recently asked Adam how the tribute spotlight landed on Rick Nelson. Adam replied, "I first heard of Rick Nelson the night that he was killed. I was only 13 at the time and really didn't know much outside of country music. Getting to know his music really opened the doors for new music in my life." 

Adam Waltemire with Rick's sons, Matthew & Gunnar Nelson
Regarding how the project came to be, Adam said, "When I started Pop Garden Radio in 2005, I was focusing completely on indie-pop. I was impressed by all of the tribute CD's coming out at that time and I wanted to join in on the fun. I reached out to some of my pop friends about recording some Rick Nelson covers and it started rolling from there. Mind you, we hit some snags along the way, but I never gave up on the project. I am very thankful that so many artists have been interested in this and the contributions have really been mind-blowing!"

Mind-blowing indeed! With a whopping 22 songs, it's as good an overview of Nelson's music as you could want, and there's possibly going to be a Volume 2! The musicians doing the covers are all really talented and there's some really great interpretations on this album. Some play it fairly straight, like Ed James' rockin' take on "Stood Up", and some others take more artistic liberties. But there's one here that just cracked me up and that's the Zeppelin-esque mash-up version of "Poor Little Fool" by The Popdudes.

Mike Simmons & John Borack of The Popdudes
Drummer John Borack (also the author of the book, 'Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide') had this to say about how they came up with their unique vision of the song. "The members of Popdudes who played on "Poor Little Fool" are myself (drums) and Michael Simmons (everything else). When the producer of the Rick Nelson tribute asked us to take a whack at "Poor Little Fool," Mike and I went into the studio and started fooling around with different versions of the song (including one X-rated take featuring me attempting to sing that quickly fell to the cutting room floor). Mike was trying to think of a way for us to cover the song without producing a carbon copy, so we just began playing and for some reason we fell into the "D'yer Maker" riff pretty quickly, although I have no idea why. When we both began laughing hysterically at the ridiculousness of the concept, that's when we knew we were onto something. We recorded and completed the track that same night!"

Here's the mash-up of all mash-ups, "Poor Little Fool" by The Popdudes!


You can buy the digital download in multiple formats right now at the Bandcamp web page! You can also listen to song samples there before you buy. At only $10, that's less than 50c a song! According to Adam, there will be a physical CD out in limited quantity in just a few weeks. I'll provide a link for you to get that when it's available.

Just in case you're interested in the real thing, you can find a ton of Rick Nelson's music at Amazon.

Special thanks & a tip of the Hatlo hat to Adam Waltemire & John Borack for their gracious contributions to this article. Much appreciated!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Help Me

Joni Mitchell, holding 1/10th of the Grammys she should have won.
During the early to mid-1970's, everyone's music collection could be counted on to have records by singer/songwriter types like Elton John, James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Crosby Stills & Nash. The other essential ingredient of the time, without any doubt, was Joni Mitchell.

I have always found Joni Mitchell's recordings to be completely absorbing. They're not something you put on just to have music playing. They almost demand focused listening, but reward your attention. Joni's records always had a very unique sound due to her extensive use of alternate tunings on her guitar as much as her excellent vocals, wordplay and arrangements. What made her an artist was her rapid evolution from earnest willowy folkie to fearless vanguard of modern jazz. This was partly accomplished by integrating into her band some of the finest musicians of the time. On the concert video "Shadows & Light", her band consisted of Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Lyle Mays, Peter Erskine and others. That ridiculously talented blend of Weather Report, the Metheny band and of course, Joni's uniquely original music, was astounding to watch and listen to, although this direction was tentatively received by audiences at the time. It confused a lot of folks who wanted "Both Sides Now" and "Big Yellow Taxi" done over and over. Reviewers of that time foolishly took her to task for daring to adventure out of her perceived category, especially when she undertook an entire album with jazz bassist Charles Mingus. If it weren't for Joni Mitchell and Jeff Beck, I would never have known about Mingus or how cool his music is. The mark of a musician who is a true artist is their ability to progress and evolve in their art; constantly reinventing themselves and their music. True then, true now.

Here's Joni Mitchell from her classic album, "Court And Spark" with one of her more popular songs, "Help Me".


Kathryn Dawn Lang
If there's a contemporary singer who embodies an artists' ability to reinvent themselves, it's surely another one of Canada's finest musical exports, k.d. lang. She is that rare performer who, for over 25 years as a major-label artist, has matured before our very ears. The Western Canada native launched her career with a blend of country-rock stylings and playfully punk-ish attitude, by turns both whimsical and subversive. Back in the mid-80's, she practically put the alternative in alt-country by herself. But from the very beginning, her bravura singing belied her kitschy cowgirl outfits and spiky hair. Lang has evolved with every album release, while collaborating with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Elton John and Tony Bennett. Along the way, lang garnered four Grammys, eight Juno Awards in Canada, and Canada's highest civilian award, The Order of Canada. The Times of London declared: "It's a quirk of the music industry that one of the sexiest, most sensual voices in all of pop music comes not from some raven-tressed siren in a glitter-dress but a middle-aged woman with a utility haircut and a penchant for male tailoring." Regardless of the genre, album concept or collaboration at hand, k.d. lang always shines as one of the best pop voices of this or any recent generation.

Tribute albums are usually hit and miss affairs; often under-rehearsed and quickly cobbled together by a record label looking for a cash-in. It's a rare one that features some genuinely stunning performances by artists who are emotionally invested in the songs and in the work of the artist being feted. This 2007 Joni Mitchell tribute on the Nonesuch label is such an album. Featuring cover versions of Joni songs interpreted by the likes of Cassandra Wilson, James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris and Prince(!), it's a worthy addition to your collection. If you're not yet a Joni Mitchell fan, this album may help bring you around.

Kick back and enjoy k.d. lang's gorgeous take of "Help Me".


Do your ears and your soul a favor and get yourself some of this great music by two of the best female singers that ever stepped up to a mike. The entire catalogs of both Joni Mitchell and k.d. lang are available at Amazon. The tribute album is still available also, at a most reasonable price. The concert dvd, "Shadows And Light" is highly recommended as well. 

Saturday, March 09, 2013

You Can't Sit Down

It's one thing to undertake a cover song project that's centered on a particular artist. Here's one that takes on the classic signature songs of the city of Philadelphia, as performed by a rotating core group of pedigreed Philly musicians with some local legends as guest stars.

David Uosikkinen
The project is called In The Pocket and was conceived and is being led by David Uosikkinen, longtime drummer for The Hooters, a band that brought worldwide attention to the Philly music scene. Uosikkinen is recording, what he feels, are the essential songs of Philadelphia. The project will revisit songs recorded in Philly or those written and performed by Philadelphians.

Each song of “In the Pocket: Essential Songs of Philadelphia,” along with a video, can be downloaded for 99 cents at the In The Pocket website. A portion of In The Pocket’s proceeds will benefit Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School, whose alumni includes some of the city’s most beloved residents including Kevin and Michael Bacon, G. Love, Stanley Clarke and Kevin Eubanks. "There are a number of schools and a total of about 15,000 students" Uosikkinen said. "They’re great people, and they do really good things at Settlement. Since funding for the arts is being cut, we felt this was a worthy cause. When times are tough, the arts make life livable."

L to R: Eric Bazilian, Graham Alexander, Rob Hyman, Jerry Blavat,
Tommy Conwell, David Uosikkinen & Jay Davidson
Producer/director Steve Acito of Blue Wire Media has been making a documentary video to go with each song. Shot in part at fellow Hooter Rob Hyman’s Elm Street Studios in suburban Philadelphia, the videos give a fascinating inside look into the complexities of recording. The video for one of the singles In The Pocket has done, "You Can’t Sit Down", features singer-guitarist Tommy Conwell on lead vocals.

"When it came time to record 'You Can’t Sit Down', I knew the only guy who could pull this off with total command was Tommy Conwell." Uosikkinen said. "He does not disappoint." Also featured on the video is longtime Philadelphia-based DJ and pop oldies historian Jerry Blavat, who has been rocking the airwaves and dance floors for over 50 years. The colorful, loquacious Blavat does his signature "boss with the hot sauce, geator with the heater" radio patter and provides a detailed background to "You Can’t Sit Down", taking it back to before the song even had lyrics. "We just called Jerry and he came down to the studio and said, 'what would you like me to do?'" Uosikkinen says. "He was so gracious. We said go, he did his thing and he was brilliant. It was a gas!"

Here's the video for "You Can't Sit Down". It runs about 9 minutes, but it goes by quickly. Enjoy!



Since respect is always due to the original artist, I found a bit of info on The Dovells, who had a hit with "You Can't Sit Down" way back in 1963. There's a complete band bio on their official website, so apparently they're still around in one form or another. Here's their original recording of "You Can't Sit Down". It's an instant dance party!


You can find this great tune and their other big smash, "The Bristol Stomp" on this fantastic label compilation, Cameo/Parkway: The Greatest Hits. It's essential early rock 'n roll, it's cheap and it's at Amazon. You can purchase the In The Pocket project songs direct from them at their website or at Amazon Mp3. As the Geator himself might say, "Hey yon teens! Don't be a square, get yer hep self there!"

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Something In The Air

Every now and again, a cover version appears that is a perfect marriage of a great song and the musician covering it. I'll take it further and say that were it not for the original artist having written and recorded it, that the cover artist could have done it themselves. Such is the case with Thunderclap Newman's "Something In The Air", rendered anew by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. But first, a bit of history.
John Keen, Pete Townshend, Andy Newman & Jimmy McCulloch

In 1969, Pete Townshend of The Who created a band to showcase songs written by former Who chauffeur, drummer/singer/guitarist John "Speedy" Keen, who had written the opening track on "The Who Sell Out" album, "Armenia City in the Sky". Townshend quickly began work on a single, playing bass guitar on it under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hiring Dixieland jazz pianist Andy "Thunderclap" Newman and fifteen-year-old guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (later of Paul McCartney's Wings) for the sessions.

Keen, Newman, and McCulloch likely met each other for the first time in January 1969, when they got together in Townshend's home studio to record the song that became "Something In The Air". Before then, Townshend had planned to work on projects for each of the musicians, but Who manager Kit Lambert prevailed upon Townshend, who was then working on what became the rock-opera "Tommy", to save time by coalescing the three musicians into the collective project that became Thunderclap Newman.

1969 UK single
Originally titled "Revolution", but later renamed because The Beatles had released a single of that name in 1968 (the B-side of "Hey Jude"), "Something In The Air" hit number one in the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for three weeks, holding off both Elvis Presley and The Beatles' "Ballad of John and Yoko" in the process. By December 1969, the single was awarded a gold record for worldwide sales of more than a million. Finally, an album, "Hollywood Dream", produced by Townshend and released in 1970, peaked in the Billboard album chart at #163.


"Something in the Air" appeared on the soundtracks of the films "The Magic Christian" and "The Strawberry Statement", the latter helping the single reach number 25 in the United States. The song also appeared in the 2004 deluxe edition reissue of the "Easy Rider" soundtrack CD. "Something In The Air" served as a memorable musical moment in the 2000 film "Almost Famous". It was also used in a 2008 television episode of "My Name Is Earl" and oddly, on an episode of the NBC sitcom, "Friends".

In 1993, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers released a greatest hits package to take up the slack between studio albums. To date, it has sold nearly 8 million copies in the U.S. alone and remains Petty's best selling album, which should tell you something. Two new tracks were included; the single "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and a full-on cover version of "Something In The Air". As I suggested earlier, had this tune not been written & recorded 24 years earlier, it sounds exactly like a tune Petty could have written, as it fits him perfectly.

Here's a live take of "Something In The Air" from Petty's "The Live Anthology" box set. The studio version is certainly strong enough, but it's great to hear The Heartbreakers pull this song off live so confidently. Props to keyboardist Benmont Tench for nailing the piano solo. Enjoy!


There's a whole lot of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers music available at Amazon. The "Hollywood Dream" album by Thunderclap Newman can be found there too, for a most reasonable fee.

Friday, March 01, 2013

Tangled Up In Blue

To even contemplate exploring the deep abyss of cover versions of Bob Dylan songs is a daunting task. It's a lot like someone asking you "I'd like to listen to some Jazz, but I don't know where to start. Any suggestions?" Instant brain overload. There's so much great stuff to choose from.

But then I remembered that wonderful day when our eldest daughter, then about 15, asked me, just out of the blue, "Do you have any Bob Dylan I can listen to?" After picking myself off of the floor due to being asked this astoundingly cool question, I ambled over to the collection and pulled out my well-worn copy of "Blood On The Tracks", explaining that if she started here, she could then go forward or backward in Dylan's music career with equal ease. So while it seemed like the best starting point for her, it also remains to this day, my very favorite Dylan album.

"Blood On The Tracks", released in 1975, opens with the song "Tangled Up In Blue", the first of a few lengthy but engaging tales. I feel it still stands as one of Dylan's very best story songs, although this entire album is a masterwork. Here's the bard himself.



Back in the late 70's, when I was naive enough to believe that I could be a working musician simply because I liked music so much, I would go out to see certain local bands in an effort to 'learn the craft', but mostly to drink a lot & have a good time. Local cover bands were certainly more accessible than the arena-filling rockers of the day, so it was much easier to hang out and talk with the sound & lighting crew while they did their thing and to watch the musicians play so I could try to figure the songs out by the chord positions and what the different equipment would sound like. One of these local bands went by the name of Squeeze. 

Squeeze, circa 1977. The Jersey Edition.
Now, this was not the British pop band that made some great records in the 80's. This particular Squeeze played the Philly/Jersey/Delaware bar circuit and specialized in note-perfect renditions of Led Zeppelin songs. They had some original songs that were rather good and played lots of other cover tunes but the Zeppelin material was the draw. Any band of that time worth their gear could play "Rock 'n Roll" passably enough but Squeeze did deep cuts like "The Song Remains The Same", "The Rain Song" and even "Kashmir" with jaw-dropping authenticity. They were impressive, to say the least.

So let's get back to Dylan, shall we? One of the covers that Squeeze would do occasionally was a reworking of "Tangled Up In Blue". It was a good choice to break up the set a bit and work in a 'slow grope' dance before things started rocking again. Squeeze shortened the song by at least 3 verses and threw a 1/2 verse guitar solo back in, yet somehow managed to keep the story line intact.

This recording is as much of an exclusive as it is possible for me to present, due to the fact that I recorded it myself at a Squeeze gig in April of 1978. With the permission of the crew & band, I plugged a cassette deck into the mixing board, so what I got was live to 2 track, mixed on the fly. It's rough but real. I still have the cassettes and have attempted to contact the band members via Facebook, but have not yet received a response. This music has never been released. It seems like the appropriate forum to do so here. Enjoy!


As far as 'where are they now' goes, regarding Squeeze, vocalist Steve Richter & guitarist Steve Sheppard are alive & well & living in New Jersey. I understand their drummer, Jack Daley, passed away several years ago. The doings & whereabouts of guitarist Rick Caldwell & bassist Mike Mazzone are unknown. I wish them all well & thank them very belatedly for my using their band as my 'Rock School'.

In case you are curious, like my daughter was all those years ago, you'll be happy to know that there is more Bob Dylan music available at Amazon than anyone would ever know what to do with.

Have a great weekend!