Rockin' All Over The World

Following the ugly and public breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1972, John Fogerty began tentatively forging a solo career, originally using the name of The Blue Ridge Rangers for his 1973 solo debut. Fogerty played all of the instruments on covers of country hits, such as "Jambalaya", which became a Top 20 single. The two John Fogerty penned songs on the album were "You Don't Owe Me" and "Back In The Hills". In early 1974, Fogerty released two rock 'n roll tunes on a 7" single, again as The Blue Ridge Rangers. The two songs were "Comin' Down The Road" b/w the instrumental "Ricochet".

The Asylum album, now a pricey rarity.

His second solo album, entitled simply "John Fogerty", was released in 1975 by the Asylum label. It's a great album, but sales were inexplicably slim, even though it yielded a top 40 hit for Fogerty in North America, "Rockin' All Over The World". The album also featured the song "Almost Saturday Night" which has been covered by Dave Edmunds, The Searchers, John Hiatt and several country artists.  Persistent legal problems with Fantasy Records dating from the Creedence days delayed a followup; an album called "Hoodoo" which Fogerty reportedly finished, but then had the masters destroyed.

After all these years, nobody sounds like John Fogerty except him and no one else ever will. That's what the other surviving members of Creedence still don't understand. Here's "Rockin' All Over The World" from that 1975 album. Enjoy!

 

Two years later, in 1977, British boogie rockers Status Quo recorded their version of "Rockin' All Over The World", which became a huge hit for them and made the song world famous; reinforced by the Quo's opening of the 1985 worldwide Live Aid concert in London with it. By then, it had become one of their best known anthems. While the Status Quo version of the song does punch things up a bit, it's not all that different. But it worked for the Quo because at its heart, the song is all about one of rock 'n roll's favorite pastimes; Rockin'!

So, in the manner of a salute to the tens of thousands of bands around the world who can be found schlepping their instruments and equipment in broken down vans from one end of town to the other  to play their music in grungy taverns, sketchy clubs and echo-plagued school gymnasiums, here's friend of the blog, Michael Carpenter with his cover band, Too Many Guitars, doing their properly raucous, set closing version of "Rockin' All Over The World", recorded at Michael's very cool home studio. Incidentally, Michael and friends hail from New South Wales, Australia! That's just southwest of Sydney, for you travel aficionados. You'll find that the guys have the right band name as you observe the whirlwind of guitars being played in the video. It's a gear freak's dream. Oh, and Michael's on the drums, y'all. Play this loud!

The John Fogerty album, the one on Asylum Records, is available at Amazon, but is also crazy expensive, due to being long out of print. Your best bet is to look for it used on vinyl. The rest of Fogerty's catalog is in print and is much more affordable, as is a good anthology of Status Quo. Music by Michael Carpenter is very much worth your while to find. Try Bandcamp for this great digital sampler of his work.

Raspberry Beret

That groove is so nasty, Prince can smell it!

One of the things about the entertainment business that really sticks in my craw, besides the devaluation of what qualifies someone as a 'celebrity', is the tendency over the last decade or so to refer to any musician who makes recordings as an artist, as though the latter term had replaced the former. I contend that they are not the same, nor are they interchangeable. There is a distinct difference. I feel that musicians, or the majority of them, tend to seek a signature sound that will make them successful; one that they can stick with in order to remain successful for as long as possible. Conversely, an artist is constantly evolving, whether they become widely popular or not; whether what they try next works or not, they are constantly exploring every conceivable facet of their craft through a variety of media and becoming masters of their instrument or even multiple instruments along the way. Such is the case with Prince, who is most definitely an artist.

Album cover fold out of "Around The World In A Day"

Following up his blockbuster 1982 album "1999" with the explosive success of his 1984 feature film, "Purple Rain" and its accompanying soundtrack, Prince demonstrated that he was just beginning to stretch out. Come 1985, Prince delivered "Around The World In A Day", a neo-psychedelic, paisley decorated workout blending funk and pop as only Prince could. He had retained his band, The Revolution, but only in name, as his band members had been in flux since before "1999". The album was tepidly received upon release, as the public was looking for "Purple Rain, Part 2" and possibly read too much into the Sgt. Pepper-esque cover art. But in retrospect, the public had already been given plenty of clues that this was no ordinary talent they were dealing with. Prince would provide them with plenty of further surprises in the years to come. Here's one of the singles from that album, "Raspberry Beret". Bet you haven't given this one a good listen in quite a while.

     

Peter Buck, Bill Berry, Mike Mills, Warren Zevon, 1987

So, here's a question. "What do you get when you combine 3/4 of R.E.M. with Warren Zevon?" The answer is, of course, Warren's great 1987 album "Sentimental Hygiene". However, when asked "What do you get when you combine 3/4 of R.E.M. with Warren Zevon, unused studio time, no specific songs to work on and some booze for those still drinking?" The answer is "Hindu Love Gods", an indirect descendant of The Rolling Stones' one-off, "Jamming With Edward". Just like that album, it's loose to the point of being sloppy. It's also loud, fun and arguably disposable. There's no pretense to artistry here. The recordings weren't even meant for release, though Zevon's label at the time chose to put it out anyway, 3 years later. We're glad they did. Even if they hadn't released it back then, can you imagine what a find it would have made for a deluxe reissue of "Sentimental Hygiene"? 

Here's Hindu Love Gods taking the piss out of "Raspberry Beret", which actually reached #23 on the Modern Rock charts back in 1990. You'll notice they omitted the entire bridge of the song, which would have been a kick to hear, but since alcohol doesn't mix well with more than four chords, it's best to just crank it up and enjoy it. 

Almost everything released by Prince is available at Amazon. Most of his catalog is affordably priced, but not all, due to some of his albums becoming collectible over the years and they're not the ones you might think would be. Go with a good anthology if you're on the fence, but you ought to have at least some of His Purple Badness in your collection.

Even the 2008 Rhino reissue of the Hindu Love Gods is now a pricey collectible, never mind a 1990 original, so if you want a copy that's affordable, I'd recommend digging in the used CD bins. You never know when one will turn up.

Black Hole Sun

Soundgarden's epic "Black Hole Sun", from their 1994 album "Superunknown", will always be remembered for one thing; inspiring one of the most disturbing and unforgettable music videos ever produced. The effects are a tad dated by now, but when this video was made, it was cutting edge and is still unsettling. If you've managed to avoid seeing this for all these years, it's not gory, nor is there any rough language, but it's not for little kids or the easily offended or creeped out either. But then, you may just find it harmlessly weird or even funny too. That said and fair warning given, enjoy!

The following year, Soundgarden won two Grammy Awards. "Black Hole Sun" received the award for Best Hard Rock Performance and "Spoonman" received the award for Best Metal Performance. The album, "Superunknown" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album of 1995. It has since been certified five times platinum in the United States and remains Soundgarden's most successful album.

Soundgarden

Regarding the idea behind "Black Hole Sun", frontman Chris Cornell stated, "It's just sort of a surreal dreamscape, a weird, play-with-the-title kind of song." He also said that "lyrically, it's probably the closest to me just playing with words for words' sake, of anything I've written. I guess it worked for a lot of people who heard it, but I have no idea how you'd begin to take that one literally." In another interview he elaborated further, stating, "It's funny because hits are usually sort of congruent, sort of an identifiable lyric idea, and that song pretty much had none. The chorus lyric is kind of beautiful and easy to remember. Other than that, I sure didn't have an understanding of it after I wrote it. I was just sucked in by the music and I was painting a picture with the lyrics. There was no real idea to get across."

That's all very interesting because there has since been plenty of talk about a literal interpretation of the song, as represented in the video, of our sun collapsing into a black hole and sucking planets and whatever else into itself. Every astronomical website where I checked out this possibility debunked the notion, typically with a discussion like this one by Ted Bunn of Berkeley.

Nonetheless, there are still those who contend that "Black Hole Sun" is indeed about an apocalypse wiping impurities from Earth and returning it to a more perfect state, as cued by the lyrics "Won't you come and wash away the rain" and "Times are gone for honest men and sometimes far too long for snakes". So it is possibly a song about how humanity is failing and needs to be cleansed, but like the author, I will leave that interpretation up to you.

Remember this? Of course you do!

However, there are occasions when ponderable lyrics can get in the way of an inspired melody. It often takes someone who is a master of their instrument that is far more eloquent and expressive with it than with their own singing voice to make that melody shine. Such is the case with Peter Frampton.

Yes, that Peter Frampton; the elfin guitarist who left Humble Pie in the early 70's to forge a solo career and became successful beyond anyone's imagination. After releasing a few reasonably good records, Frampton struck mega-platinum with his 1976 "Frampton Comes Alive" album that was the "Thriller" of its day. Every household that I knew back then had at least one copy of the album. Those with siblings had multiple copies. Nearly every song was on the radio all day, every day and the album is still a staple of Classic Rock radio, or whatever passes for that anymore.

It seems that Frampton has been holding up fairly well over the years, staying healthy and releasing new music, including the 2006 all-instrumental album "Fingerprints", where you can find his intriguing interpretation of "Black Hole Sun".

Here's a nicely done live performance filmed for Guitar Center. Every concert clip I could find of this song wasn't usable for one reason or another, but the audience freaked out every time. Frampton proves he's still a master of tone and technique. Crank this one up loud!

You may recall hearing that Frampton's prized 1954 Les Paul guitar that was featured on the cover of "Frampton Comes Alive" and had been lost in a cargo plane crash in Venezuela 30 odd years ago, was recovered last year in remarkably good condition, for all it had been through. Frampton has restored it to being playable and uses it at his concerts to this day. You can watch the CBS Sunday Morning story about it here.

Nearly everything that Peter Frampton ever recorded is available at Amazon and your usual local retail outlets. Same goes for Soundgarden.

Kover Albums: Listening Booth 1970

As if by coincidence, I've taken part in several conversations about songwriting recently and all of them have pointed to the early 1970's as a peak of quality for songwriting in popular music. I don't believe that this consensus is solely based on fond reminiscence either. If you take even a cursory look at a chart of the top 100 songs of 1970, it's almost staggering. Nearly every song is a solid classic of pop music and that's just the singles. How much great music is on those albums from which the singles were pulled? It's an embarrassment of musical riches that has rarely been matched in the years since.

This is exactly the point being made by Marc Cohn and his producer, John Leventhal on the 2010 album, "Listening Booth: 1970". In this video, Cohn & Leventhal discuss how the album was developed and demonstrate how the process began with the Cat Stevens tune, "Wild World".

"Listening Booth: 1970" represents a continuation of a creative resurgence for Cohn that was brought on by one of the strangest and scariest events of his life. In 2005, while driving back to his hotel with his band and tour manager after a show in Denver, Co., Cohn was shot in the head by a would-be carjacker. The bullet was removed from his left temple, as it had miraculously missed penetrating his skull by barely a centimeter. Cohn sustained no permanent physical damage, which allowed him to be released from the hospital the next day. After working through a bout of post-traumatic stress, Cohn has been busier than ever. Ending a nearly ten-year absence from the studio, he released one of his most critically acclaimed records, "Join The Parade" in 2007 and supported it with over 150 shows across the States. Cohn says "I had always had my priorities straight when it came to my family. For me, it never felt right bringing children into the world and then spending all your time in a studio or a tour bus. But that night in Denver somehow brought me a new appreciation for my work and my audience."

This album ultimately brings Cohn back to where he began; playing songs which, like his own hit single "Walking In Memphis", spoke eloquently about the transformative healing power of music. But even more than that, "Listening Booth: 1970" is truly the soundtrack to his life. As Cohn reflects, "It seemed like such a natural progression for me to do a record like this because, if you've been following my records from my first single, I have been paying tribute to musicians through my writing all along, from Al Green to Elvis to Levon Helm to Charlie Christian; it's really been a touchstone for me. Now I'm just repaying a debt of gratitude to the artists who've changed my life and taught me how to do what I do."

Cohn also invited a few guests to appear on the album, including India.Arie on an update of Bread's first single, "Make It With You", Aimee Mann on Badfinger's "No Matter What" (interesting, as Aimee covered "Baby Blue" herself some years back), and folk journeyman Jim Lauderdale duetting on the Grateful Dead's "New Speedway Boogie" from their excellent "Workingman's Dead" album. Other highlights include inventive takes on great songs by The Box Tops, Simon & Garfunkel, Eric Clapton, and Smokey Robinson.

The album is not categorically a soul record, but it sure is soulful. Proof of that is shown in Marc's version of one of my favorite Van Morrison tunes, "Into The Mystic". It retains all the emotion of the original while adding a new feel.

All things considered, this is no slapdash album of cover tunes where everyone is winging it and could not care less how it turns out. This is a thoughtful, meaningful, personal recording where all parties involved are personally invested in the interpretation of this music. It gets no better than that. Go to Amazon and add it to your collection right now. Your CD player and your soul will thank you.

For some reason or another, this album does not appear to be available on high quality vinyl, which I find rather odd, as it would seem tailor made for that format, given the lineage of the music and the warm, acoustic vibe that permeates these sessions. Perhaps one day, some enterprising reissue company like Mobile Fidelity will make that happen. How about it, MoFi?