Back in the early 2000’s I was the Afternoon Drive guy on B-95. My shift was from 2pm to 7pm. I got to “kickoff” the weekend every Friday at 5pm. They were calling the 5pm hour “The Drive at Five.” It was far from an original name.
When the clock hit 5PM, I had a factory whistle that I would play followed by the voice guy saying, “Welcome to the weekend!” This was immediately followed by 4 or 5 weekend oriented country songs. Since it is now officially the weekend here in Michigan, I thought I’d showcase some of those songs.
I’d usually start with one of these two classics –
Finally Friday – George Jones
Take This Job and Shove It
Then I would rotate from the following:
Working for the Weekend – Ken Mellons
Redneck Rhythm and Blues – Brooks and Dunn
It’s Five O’clock Somewhere – Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett
Come Friday – Aaron Tippin
Wrong Five O’clock – Eric Heatherly
Yee Haw – Jake Owen
That got me thinking about other formats. What might I play if I was working at an oldies station? Maybe:
Rip It Up – Little Richard
Friday on my Mind – The Easybeats
Five O’clock World – The Vogues
If I was at a classic rock station? Maybe:
Saturday Night – Bay City Rollers
Working For The Weekend – Loverboy
Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting – Elton John
What song is YOUR weekend song? Drop it in the comments!
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
I turned 24 in 1994. In the 7 years I had been on the radio, I was starting to get used to the fact that radio stations made changes often. It happened again when Honey Radio went off the air that year. I would go on to land a gig at W4 Country in Detroit soon after.
1994 was also the year my paternal grandfather passed away. I was very close to him and that grief hung around for some time.
Musically, I was DJing a lot more parties and discovering more music. Thanks to a full time job where I drove a lot, I discovered some alternative music that I really enjoyed. Many of those tunes will show up in the lists/years ahead.
Let’s check out 1994 …
As someone who feels like I can never put my feelings into words, I appreciate a song that can. Beautiful In My Eyes was a huge Bride and Groom song when I was DJing. When it wasn’t the bridal dance, it was a slow song that always packed the dance floor.
When I DJ’d my cousin’s second wedding, it was on the “Do Not Play” list. Why? It was the wedding song she used in her first marriage. As strange as it may sound, that happened a lot.
Joshua Kadison describes the song as being about “a love that just lasts forever, and you’ll always be beautiful in my eyes.” I’ve always thought it was an example of a great love song. I will also admit that I had no idea what he looked like until I found this video.
Beautiful in My Eyes
We had Doug Stone do a show for us when I worked at the Moose. He was a nice guy and fun to chat with. By the time he did our show, he’d pretty much had all of his hits.
One song that I found extremely relatable was Addicted to a Dollar. There are lyrics in here that any hard working person can relate to!
“F.I.C.A. and the state – they make my paycheck look like a big mistake. Tax man takes his before I see a cent And what they don’t get, I’ve already spent.”
“Got me more payments than I’ve got checks. Ten more to go on this car, it’s a wreck.”
Those hit home on many levels, especially for a radio guy! Even long after my radio career, those lyrics can still hit home.
Addicted to a Dollar
Next up, the only US hit for Des’ree, who had quite a few hits in the UK. I like this song because it’s kind of a pep talk. It’s about not being ashamed to express your feelings and about living life to its fullest.
The whole song is loaded with wisdom. The chorus is something that a person could easily tell themselves everyday when they look in the mirror.
“You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together All I know, all I know, love will save the day“
Some days you just gotta push through, and being bad, bold, wise, hard, tough, strong, cool, and calm can certainly help!
You Gotta Be
The Troggs followed up their hit “Wild Thing” with the ballad Love Is All Around. They took the song to #7 in 1967.
The group Wet, Wet, Wet covered it for the movie Four Weddings And A Funeral. It wasn’t the only song they could have recorded. The band chose “Love is All Around” over Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” even though some of their members hadn’t heard it before.
Singer Marti Pellow related that the decision to pick “Love Is All Around” was an easy choice “because we knew we could make it our own”. They made the right choice, as their version was a UK #1 for 15 weeks and became the best selling single in the UK in 1994.
The song is so much different than the Troggs’ version. I think that is why I like it so much! It isn’t that the Troggs’ version sounds dated or anything, I just think the Wet, Wet Wet version sounds more polished. It’s fantastic.
Love Is All Around
I wish I had a dollar for every time I have played this next one at a wedding or party! It was one of my most requested songs – Cotton Eyed Joe. What’s funny is that while high school kids were asking for it, they have no idea just how old the song is!
Songfacts says “This song originated in America in the 1800s, and is commonly associated with the American South. It became a popular song in country bars, as it was perfect for line dancing. It’s a traditional folk song, and many country artists recorded it.
Rednex is a group of Swedish producers who recorded “Cotton Eye Joe” as a techno dance song. After putting the song together, they came up with the country bumpkin motif and named the group Rednex, a play on the word “redneck,” a term for an uncultured southerner in America.
They found five Swedish performers to portray the band, dressing them in tattered clothes and giving them a stereotypical hillbilly look, with unkempt hair and dirty faces. In a cagy marketing move, they refused interviews and released a bio to the press explaining that the group was rescued from an uncivilized village called Brunkeflo in the backwoods of Idaho and brought to Sweden, where they could express their musical gifts. Their names were Bobby Sue, Billy Ray, Mary Joe, BB Stiff and Ken Tacky – all inbred.“
What a way to start a band, huh?
Cotton Eyed Joe
I don’t think I could ever be a good songwriter. There are some lines that I think are just brilliant. One of those lines is the opening line of Green Day’s Basket Case.
“Do you have the time to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once?”
That’s a great line! This song is about anxiety attacks and a feeling that you are going crazy. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong suffered from various panic disorders while he was growing up – he would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a panic attack and walk around his neighborhood to settle down. “Basket Case” was a cathartic and personal song for him. “The only way I knew how to deal with it was to write a song about it,” he explained.
Songfacts says “Blasting right into the verse at the beginning of this song is something that set it apart. Simplicity was a hallmark of the Dookie album, and while omitting an intro made little marketing sense (DJs couldn’t talk up the song), it got right into the meat of the track. Tre Cool of Green Day cites the first Beatles album, Please Please Me, as an influence on Dookie, since many of those early Beatles songs also got right to the point.”
Basket Case was one of those alternative songs I heard on the radio and it made me want to hear more from Green Day.
Basket Case
I’ve got the chance to hang out and interview Aaron Tippin a couple times. He’s a huge supporter of our veterans, and does a lot of charity work
During his stage show he puts together a bicycle while singing a song. Then he brings out someone from a children’s hospital or foster home and donates the bike and more to those children. Class act!
Off air, I found out he was a big fan of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. We chatted for a long time about their music. At his county fair show, he donned a fedora and nailed a Sinatra song. It was amazing.
My dad loves his music and he asked if I would get an autograph for him. Aaron and I were talking and I mentioned my dad’s request. My dad loves Aaron’s patriotism and support of veterans. I mentioned this to him. Aaron wanted to know more about him. Where did he serve? How long? What branch of service?
He grabbed one of his photos and signed it for my dad. It hangs proudly in my dad’s music room. “Sam. I KNOW you got it honest! Thank you. Aaron Tippin.”
I Got It Honest
The video for the next song is what got me. More on that in a second.
Weezer’s Buddy Holly was almost called “Ginger Rogers.” Well, it could have been. According to songfacts “The early demo of this song had a slower tempo and some different lyrics. The chorus originally referenced famous dancing duo Fred & Ginger: “Oo-wee-oo you look just like Ginger Rogers, Oh, oh, I move just like Fred Astaire,” before it was changed to “Oh wee-ooh, I look just like Buddy Holly, Oh, oh, and you’re Mary Tyler Moore.”
The video was just awesome. Spike Jonze directed it. Vintage Happy Days footage was intercut with shots of Weezer performing on the original Arnold’s Drive-In set. Al Molinaro, who played the diner’s owner on the series, made a cameo appearance in the video.
Think about this: Happy Days aired in the 1970s but was set in the 1950s, when Buddy Holly made his mark. So here we have a ’90s video referencing a ’70s TV series set in the ’50s.
The video was one of the most popular clips of 1995, it scored four MTV Video Music Awards, including Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Music Video, and two Billboard Music Video Awards, among them Alternative/Modern Rock Clip of the Year.
The single was released to radio on September 7, 1994, which would have been Buddy Holly’s 58th birthday.
Buddy Holly
In 1994, Huey Lewis and the News released Four Chords and Several Years Ago. It was an album of 50’s and 60’s cover songs. What made this really cool was that they recorded it just like they would have in those days.
You didn’t have the guitar track laid down beforehand. The drummer wasn’t in a separate booth. All the musicians and vocalists were in the same room recording at the same time. This gave the songs a very authentic sound.
The band’s final entry into the Hot 100, was a cover of the JJ Jackson hit But It’s Alright. This is not to be confused with an earlier cover they did of the Impression’s It’s Alright. They did that one all acapella.
Four Chords is one of my favorite albums.
But It’s Alright
It is fitting that the next song is the last one on my list for 1994. It’s fitting because since it came out, I almost always used this song as the last song of the night when I DJ’d.
Madonna’s Take A Bow has a beautiful instrumentation and arrangement. While beautiful, it is sad. This song is about a failed romance Madonna had with “a movie star,” possibly Warren Beatty, whom she starred opposite in the movie Dick Tracy.
Babyface sang backup and also produced this track to give Madonna the R&B feel she wanted for the Bedtime Stories album. At Madonna’s suggestion, this song was recorded with a full orchestra. It was the first time Babyface had worked with live strings.
I always felt like it was a perfect song to wrap up with. The lyrics say, “The show is over, say goodbye.” I also liked that it was a 5 minute song, which gave me a little time to start packing up at gigs. At some gigs, if I had a friend there, or my significant other, I could sneak in a brief dance with them.
Take a Bow
And just like that, we’re through 1994. Like other years, there were plenty of good ones to choose from. Which one of your favorites did I miss?
Next week, we’ll hear the dance craze people love to hate, a band that was superior to another, a soulful sweet collaboration, a rather strange song, and the reuniting of one of the biggest groups in history. I hope you’ll stop by to check it out ….
This blog is part of the next installment of Dave from A Sound Day’s Turntable Talk. This time around, the subject is “cover songs.” Per our instructions:
This time around, wanting to get your thoughts on Cover Songs…what makes a really good one, maybe what your favorite bold one is. Do you like ones really faithful to the original, or ones that spin it in an altogether direction? Or conversely, what one is atrocious to you & why.
By ‘bold’ I mean covers of songs that were already known, and hits. I won’t set any minimum guidelines but as examples, most people never heard The Arrows version of ‘I Love Rock n Roll’ or The Clique’s ‘Superman’ so it was easy for Joan Jett & REM respectively make them their own. But to do a Beatles song, like Joe Cocker did only a couple of years after the original was released… that took …something.
So what cover songs work great for you?
Cover Songs
If you do a Google search on “cover songs,” there are plenty of links to articles containing lists of “the best” ones. There are also links to video’s that feature countdowns and lists of “best and worst” cover songs. Those lists, no doubt, will include: Twist and Shout by the Beatles, Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner, Hurt by Johnny Cash, Last Kiss by Pearl Jam, Mony Mony by Billy Idol, All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, and many many more!
Many people are unaware that some of their favorite songs are actually cover songs. A lot of the early Rolling Stones and Beatles songs were actually covers of songs they loved by other artists. In a way, a cover song is the ultimate “hat tip” to a band’s early influence.
Personally, I tend to love cover songs. If you were to grab my iPod, that becomes very clear! I recall a time when I was married to my ex-wife and her iPod was dead. She wanted to go walk and asked if she could take mine instead. Upon returning home, she said to me, “How many different versions of a song do you need?!”
Cover Song Example
Dave asked “what makes a good” cover song? He also asked, “Do you like ones really faithful to the original, or ones that spin it in an altogether direction?“
It is difficult for me to say what exactly makes a good cover song because I think it can be one that is faithful to the original, spun in a different direction, or a mixture of both of those elements. Take for example, the Rodgers and Hart song – Blue Moon.
The song was written in 1934. There were recordings made as early as 1935. One of the best known versions is the Doo Wop hit from 1961 by the Marcels. Dean Martin did a stripped down version with piano and drums that was performed as a slow ballad. Frank Sinatra’s version was more “swingy”. Sam Cooke’s “bounced” and in 1997 a swing band called the Jive Aces covered it as a bouncy boogie woogie sounding cover. Every single version I mentioned, I like for different reasons.
Some of My FavoriteCovers
If I were to make a list of all the cover songs I have on my iPod and feature one a day on my blog, I would have enough songs to write about for about 6 months! Instead, I grabbed a piece of paper and off the top of my head started jotting down the cover songs that came to mind. I gave myself 5 minutes to do this and came up with about 18 songs. The reality is that I know that I will complete this blog and after it posts say, “Oh, man! I forgot (insert cover song here)!” That’s ok.
While it may be hard for me to tell you exactly what I love about cover songs, maybe by giving some examples of some of my favorites, the music will answer the question for both of us.
The first three I came up with are all from movie soundtracks. There is no shortage of cover songs in the movies. These covers will often give new life to old songs – examples include Sweet Child of Mine by Sheryl Crow from Big Daddy, Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright from Shrek, Hazy Shade of Winter by the Bangels from Less Than Zero, Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon by Urge Overkill in Pulp Fiction, and, of course, I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston in The Bodygaurd.
Johnny B. Goode – Marty McFly and the Starlighters
From Back to the Future, this is the song Marty McFly plays at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. In the movie, He goes off on a Eddie Van Halen type solo and the entire crowd looks at him stunned. On the soundtrack, however, there is a full version with an additional verse not in the movie. What I love about this version is the stripped down instrumentation, the saxophone and piano, and the whole feel of it. It really sounds like an “early” version of the song. It’s actually quite good.
From the soundtrack of Honeymoon in Vegas, which contains some very good Elvis covers. This one is my favorite. It has the feel of the Elvis version, with a little “boogie woogie” piano feel to it. Simple background vocals enhance the Billy Joel version. One addition I love is the bass drum hit after he sings, “I’m in love ….”
I stumbled on this by accident. This cut was used in the movie Little Big League. I’ve always been a fan of Fats Domino, but this version is just so much better. It has “meat” to it. The driving bass line keeps it moving, the piano is still there, and those saxes in the background – LOVE them. Add the electric guitar and Taj Mahal’s vocal to the mix and it is just perfect! This is one that I find myself listening to at work when I need a “pick up”
Phil Phillips did the original of this, but how can you NOT love this version?! First and foremost, you have Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page as well as Jeff Beck in the group! Add a beautiful string arrangement and background singers to compliment them and you have a top 5 record!
Not many people are aware that this is actually a cover song. It was originally done in 1964 by Gloria Jones. The song was written by Ed Cobb, who was in the Four Preps, and was actually the B-side of a song called My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home. The original had a “Motown” feel to it, while Soft Cell certainly has more of an 80’s feel to it.
This one was written and recorded by the legendary Otis Redding. Otis’ version is already great, but I love this one equally. It certainly has a great feel to it. It doesn’t sound dated at all. It’s funky and a great jam!
The original was done by Johnny Burnette, who was known for rockabilly, in 1960. It’s not that I dislike the original, I just think Ringo’s version is … more fun. For years I thought Paul McCartney was playing Kazoo in this, however, one article says, “Michael Verity has quoted the song’s producer Richard Perry as revealing that it wasn’t actually a kazoo: “In fact, the solo on ‘You’re Sixteen,’ which sounds like a kazoo or something, was Paul singing very spontaneously as we played that track back, so he’s singing the solo on that.” Ringo’s version remains one of the few No. 1 singles to feature a ‘kazoo-sound’ solo. (It sure sounds like a kazoo to me!) I also love the driving piano bassline in his version.
Originally done by the Beatles, this is almost a carbon copy of the Beatles version. I like it because I think Steven Tyler’s vocal perfectly fits the song.
Elvis did his share of covers, and this is one that comes from his Aloha From Hawaii concert special. I have always preferred this version to the James Taylor version. To me, it is more “bluesy.” I love everything about this cut!!
This one was originally done by the Ronettes in 1963 and featured Phil Spector’s “wall of sound.” Andy Kim recorded his version in 1969 and had a top 10 hit with it. It mimics the “wall of sound” but if you listen in headphones, there is a lot of little stuff going on in the background – jingle bells, glockenspiel, castanets, and more. I remember hearing it a lot as a kid.
This remake I stumbled on by watching MTV!! The original was done by Ivory Joe Hunter in 1956. I remember seeing the Title and Artist show up on the bottom left side of the screen when the video started and couldn’t believe that Dean Martin was on MTV. He recorded it for his The Nashville Sessions Album and I love that it stays true to the original, yet is purely Dean.
It better be good if you are covering the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and this one is! Aretha did the original in 1968 and then covered herself for a version in the Blues Brothers. I don’t remember how I stumbled on Joan Osborne’s version, but it is different enough that I love it. It has such a cocky attitude to it. Dig it –
Originally done by Wilson Pickett, this is one of greatest soul songs of all time! I heard this on the Blues channel on Sirius XM and fell in love with it. I’ve always dug Buddy Guy and while this stays pretty true to the original, it has a sound of its own!
Carl Perkins seemed to have all of his songs covered and many times, his songs became associated with the other artist rather than him. That’s the case with Blue Suede Shoes – it is Elvis. Elvis’ version is so much better than Carl’s in my opinion.
Originally done in 1952 by the late Hank Williams Sr. this takes a whiney and twangy song and cranks it up about 10 notches. We had Crystal in for a show when I worked at the country station and she was fantastic. This was on her debut album. I’m not sure she isn’t a huge star. Her voice is amazing and she is very talented.
Written by and a hit for Don Henley, I have always loved this song. The content of the song is about mass media and how they exploit just about everything. Henley had a top 5 hit with it. I didn’t even know that Lisa Marie Presley had done this song until I heard it on some Pandora playlist. Her vocal is sultry and sells the content lyrically. A great cut!
A cover of James Brown’s classic! James has a hit with this in 1956 and it went top 10 on the R&B charts. I think Delbert McClinton is someone who just doesn’t get enough praise for all he does. He’s a singer songwriter who can play many instruments and has released many albums. This version comes from his Honky Tonk and Blues album, which is a personal favorite.
Jimmy Van Heusen composed this song in 1962 with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. According to Mel Torme’, the song was written for Judy Garland to sing on her TV show. It was written as a parody to her well-known problems. Many people have done versions on the song – Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Eddie Fisher, Julie London, and more. Michael Buble’ used this as the title track for his 2007 album. It get’s me right from the opening “walking” bass lick. Buble’ has made a career out of covering so many songs from the Great American Songbook, as well as many originals. He has a great band backing him and he sings this effortlessly.
I love Bill Withers. he wrote and recorded this for his 1972 Still Bill album. It was a smash and was a number 1 song. I never cared for the cover version. Yes, it stayed very close to the original, but I just never cared for the arrangement at all. It’s almost annoying to me. It is actually playing in my headphones as I am typing this. To me, the whole 80’s synth sounds just sound out of place. Not to mention the whole “We be jammin” part – URGH!! One good thing about this was that it won a Grammy for Bill Withers as the writer for Best R&B song.
So what can we say about cover songs? Are they done as a tribute to the original artist? Are they done because it’s a favorite to perform? Are they done to “improve” on the original? Are they done because an artist feels it should be presented in a different way? Who knows, really!? One could easily ask the same questions about all the crappy movie remakes that have come about.
Some of my favorite concert memories are hearing the singer do a song that is totally unexpected. My favorite memory of the Billy Joel concert I attended wasn’t Piano Man. It was when he talked about loving the Motor City and breaking into his own version of I Heard it Through The Grapevine! Magical!! Aaron Tippin played a county fair for us and one point he threw on a fedora and sang Fly Me To the Moon, which blew my mind! Very cool songs – never released – but covers, nonetheless.
In the end, a good song is a good song. I love listening to a great song done by many other singers. It says something about the song melodically and lyrically. I don’t always love the cover, but that’s ok. It’s fun to hear the artist’s take on it.
I want to thank Dave for allowing me to ramble on and on about this month’s topic. I’ve wanted to feature cover songs on my site, but just couldn’t figure out how to present it. I guess I better stop typing because the more I think about it … the more songs are coming to my head!
Welcome to Round #2 of the 2021 Song Draft hosted by Hans and Slice the Life. Round #1 was full of great songs from different eras and genres. I have really enjoyed reading the posts from the other participants.
My first pick was kind of obscure, so for pick #2, I chose something that many will be familiar with. If I am being honest, it’s a guilty pleasure for me. It is one that always has me singing along with. My second pick is East Bound and Down from Jerry Reed.
Jerry Reed Hubbard
Jerry Reed Hubbard was born in Atlanta, Georgia on March 20, 1937. By the time he was in high school he was writing songs and singing them. At 18 years old, he was signed to a record deal at Capitol Records by publisher and record producer Bill Lowery. He was being promoted as a “teen sensation” after recording some rockabilly songs in 1956. His label mate, Gene Vincent helped him get some notoriety as a song writer when he recorded Jerry’s song “Crazy Legs” in 1958.
In 1967, he reached #57 on the country charts with “Guitar Man,” which Elvis Presley recorded (and I have blogged about here: https://nostalgicitalian.com/2019/09/10/tune-tuesday-guitar-man/ ). In the 70’s he had hits with “Amos Moses,” and “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.” He continued to record throughout the 70’s and also began to act with his buddy, Burt Reynolds. Films included WW and the Dixie Dancekings, and Gator. Then came 1977 ….
Movie Music
Jerry Reed played Burt Reynolds sidekick, Snowman, in the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit. I had the chance to interview Jerry a few years before he passed away. One of the things we talked about what the movie and, of course, the music for the movie. The story behind the song, as Jerry told me, goes like this:
Hal Needham, the director of Smokey & the Bandit, told Jerry “We need a song for the movie.” Jerry said he was driving home that night and thinking. He said he started singing, “East Bound and Down. Loaded up and trucking…” He said he had the entire chorus of the song in his head by the time he got home. He said he called Dick Feller, a producer at his publishing company and said “Here’s the chorus (and he sang it to him. Write me two quick verses to go with it.” Within two hours, Feller had them done.
Jerry grabbed his tape recorder and then made a demo of the song to play for Needham. He said Needham loved the song and wanted the tape so he could use it in the film. Jerry told him, “That’s just the demo! You can’t use that in the film. I gotta go into the studio and cut it.”
Jerry also cut “West Bound and Down” for the film. It is the song that plays as Snowman and Bandit begin their trek, and it basically the same song with a few lines/words changed.
The song was released on August 1, 1977 and spent 16 weeks on the charts. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Featured on background vocals is Gordon Stoker of Elvis’ back up group, The Jordanaires.
There have been many cover versions of the song including covers by Tonic, The Road Hammers, Supersuckers, Aaron Tippin, Dave Dudley, and Midland. None of them quite capture the “feel” of the original.
East Bound and Down
East bound and down, loaded up and truckin’ We gonna do what they say can’t be done We’ve got a long way to go, and a short time to get there I’m east bound, just watch ol’ “Bandit” run
Keep your foot hard on the pedal Son, never mind them brakes Let it all hang out ’cause we got a run to make The boys are thirsty in Atlanta And there’s beer in Texarkana And we’ll bring it back no matter what it takes
East bound and down, loaded up and truckin’ We gonna do what they say can’t be done We’ve got a long way to go, and a short time to get there I’m east bound, just watch ol’ “Bandit” run
East bound and down, loaded up and truckin’ We gonna do what they say can’t be done We’ve got a long way to go, and a short time to get there I’m east bound, just watch ol’ “Bandit” run
Ol’ Smokey’s got them ears on He’s hot on your trail And he ain’t gonna rest ’til you’re in jail So you got to dodge ’em and you got to duck ’em You got to keep that diesel truckin’ Just put that hammer down and give it hell
East bound and down, loaded up and truckin’ We gonna do what they say can’t be done We’ve got a long way to go, and a short time to get there I’m east bound, just watch ol’ “Bandit” run
For comparison, here is West Bound and Down. Note the different musical arrangement. I like the addition of the strings and brass to this version.
It has been some time since I posted a song for Tune Tuesday. Part of the reason for this is that I have been spending most of my drive to and from work listening to Old Radio Shows. This week, I plugged the old iPod in and hit shuffle. I used to keep my “To Blog” Journal next to me in the car and when I heard a song that I felt might work for Tune Tuesday, I’d jot it down. During my drive, I heard today’s song and I figured it would be a good one to write about.
Most of my radio career, I worked in Country radio. I have had the chance to meet and interview many Country singers. One of my favorites, is Aaron Tippin. He broke on the seen with a great song called “You’ve Got To Stand for Something” in 1991. Follow up songs included “Kiss This,” “There Ain’t Nothing Wrong With the Radio,” “Working Man’s Ph. D.,” “I Got It Honest,” and the post 9/11 patriotic song “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Flies.”
I’ve had the chance to interview him a couple of times, the first when I worked at B95 in Flint and then when I worked at 94-5 The Moose. The first time we chatted, we chatted about his upcoming show at the Genesee County Fair that summer. It would have been 1998, because he opened his show with today’s song, more on that in a minute. His show at the fair was the first time I had ever seen him perform. During one song, he puts together a children’s bike while singing and donates the bike to a local charity. That’s the kind of guy he is – he has a heart of gold. Later in the show, he donned a fedora and sang a Frank Sinatra song, which just blew me away!
The second time I interviewed him was in the studios at the Moose. We chatted about his love for flying, his patriotism, support of the armed services and so much more. I had to ask him about the Sinatra song! He told me what a big Rat Pack fan he was and we chatted about some very cool Dean Martin Box Sets I had. He was so gracious with his time when he was there. Before he left, I asked if I could get an autographed picture for my dad, who was also a big fan of his music. He asked me about my dad. I told him how he was a Vietnam Vet and how it was my dad who introduced me to his music. He wrote on the picture for my dad, “To Sam. I KNOW you got it honest! Thank you for your service! Aaron Tippin.” Classy guy!
On to today’s song. As I listened to the words in the car, I got to thinking about all the politics and such going on today. The country is so divided. We are hearing trash talk from each party about each candidate and so on and so forth. I remembered Aaron doing this song as his opening song at the fair. I remember introducing him and there was a podium set up in front of the microphone. It had one of those red, white, and blue, flowery banners on it. When I introduced him, he comes walking out with a suit jacket on and shirt and tie. He goes to the podium and starts singing the song like it’s his campaign speech! I loved every damn minute of it! If he ever DID decide to run for office, he’d have my vote!
The opening lyric of the song says so much “keep what’s good, pile up what’s bad and then I’d strike a match”. Going “back to the basics” would really be a good idea! And let’s face it, Washington DC could use a cool statue of Hank Sr.! Wouldn’t it be great if all the country really needed was some “steel guitar” to bring us all together? I love the USA and yes, I am “proud of it” and I will “always love it”.
This song is one of my top 10 most played songs on my iPod. Thanks, Aaron, for your friendship and your music!
What This Country Needs
If I was runnin’ this country
I’d start it over from scratch
Keep what’s good, pile up what’s bad
And then I’d strike a match
Yeah, we’d go back to the basics
Of how things ought to be
Yeah, there’d be a lot of changes
If it was left up to me
[Chorus]
Cause what this country needs
Is a little more steel guitar
And put a little fiddle right in the middle
Straight out of a Texas bar
And give us a song, we can all sing along
From sea to shining sea
Be proud of it and always love it
That’s what this country needs
(Verse 2)
Now if you want to hear about livin’
Just twist that radio dial
Til you come to a singer singin’
What life is all about
Cause you can’t deny that people still cry
They laugh and they smile and they hurt
And that’s my humble opinion y’all
You can take it for what it’s worth
[Chorus]
Yeah, turn it on up and let it ring out
Across the land of the free
They ought to build a statue of Hank Williams, Sr.
In Washington, D.C.
[Chorus]
You just be proud of it and always love it
And that’s what this country needs.
You can stop by his website and see what he is up to and try his wine here:
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 