Tag: Elvis Presley

The Music of My Life – 1977

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. May 15, 1977, I turned a whopping 7 years old. I have some really great memories of 1977 and I think you’ll get to read about them and how they tie into some of these songs.

I love stories where a radio DJ plays a significant role in the creation of a song. Released in January of ’77, I’m Your Boogie Man is one of those songs.

Written by KC & The Sunshine Band bassist-producer Richard Finch and frontman Harry Wayne Casey, The “boogie” of the title is in the sense of dancing, shaking your booty, and getting down, not with the scary kind of “boogie man.” Harry Wayne Casey tells the story:

“‘I’m Your Boogie Man,’ in the initial writing of it I called it ‘I’ll Be A Son Of A Gun’:

I’ll be a son of a gun
Look what you’ve done

Then I went back and ‘I’m Your Boogie Man’ came into my head because I was thinking about how disc jockeys were always there on the radio. Like it says:

Early morning
Late afternoon
Or at midnight
It’s never too soon
I’m your Boogie Man

It’s taking the theme of the disc jockey being the one that’s there for you all the time, no matter when. So it was as if I was a disc jockey, I’m the Boogie Man. Like if you call in and want to hear a certain song, or talk about what was going on in your life, I’m your Boogie Man. And of course I put in ‘turn me on,’ but that could also mean turned on the radio.”

A specific DJ who influenced this song was Robert W. Walker at Y-100 in Miami, Florida, who was the first to give the group’s hit single “Get Down Tonight” airplay. So Walker “was the Boogie Man that brought all the funk and the good feeling and the vibes to the people every morning,” according to Richard Finch.

I’m Your Boogie Man

Bob Seger had a couple big songs in 1977. Mainstreet was released in April of that year, while an anthem was released in June – Rock and Roll Never Forgets.

According to Seger, he wrote this song after attending a high school reunion. “I wanted to just write an honest appraisal of where I was at that moment in time,” he said. “I was 31 years old and I was damn glad to be here.” He goes on, “A song like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Never Forgets” is just slammin’. When we play that song live people go nuts. At that point in my life I was 31 years old. And the first 10 or 11 years in my career I was making six, eight grand a year and just doin’ it because I loved the music. So I’m writing for Night Moves and I just felt grateful; here I am and I’m starting to make it. You know, rock ’n’ roll never forgets. You build up goodwill over 10 years and you set the stage. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Never Forgets” is a grateful song. I’m grateful to all the people I played for in those small clubs, on the top of cafeteria tables, in gymnasiums and in hockey rinks. Suddenly all those people came out and bought my records and said: “I remember him. I saw him at the high school or hockey rink.”

The song is about aging and the ongoing power of rock music. The song advises the 31 year old listener to return to the rock ‘n’ roll she loved when he/she was 16. The line, “All Chuck’s children are out there playing his licks” is a reference (and tribute) to Chuck Berry, the rock pioneer whose sound is in the DNA of many musicians how followed.

Rock and Roll Never Forgets

The very last single that Elvis ever released before his death was Way Down in June of 1977. It was recorded in the famous Jungle Room at Graceland. It was also a song that had a very interesting chart performance. The song peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at the beginning of August, fell to number 52 by the end of August, and after his death, it climbed back up to number 18 before falling again.

Way Down

In July of 1977, Foreigner released Cold As Ice. It was one of the many songs I remember buying on 45 and spinning on my little record player. It was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones.

According to Wiki, “Cold as Ice” was a replacement for a song that was intended for Foreigner but which producer Gary Lyons didn’t feel fit the album. According to Mick Jones “I went home after Gary said this, sat down at my piano and out came the riff for Cold As Ice. And the rest of the song flowed from there.” Lyons said that “When I got back, they played me Cold As Ice and it worked for me. So we went into Atlantic Studios one night to cut it.” According to Ian McDonald, “Gary and I were in there all night working on the vocals. And when we got out of the studio we discovered that a blizzard had been raging. Everywhere was covered in snow, and we heard on the radio that it had been coldest night in New York on record! Somehow that seemed to be a good omen for the song.”

Cold As Ice

One of the biggest movies of 1977 was Star Wars. It comes as no surprise to me that the main title theme was a Top 10 hit!

What can you say about composer John Williams? He conducted this score with the London Symphony Orchestra, but his main orchestra was the Boston Pops Orchestra, with which he conducted other famous film themes. This theme won him a simultaneous Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Saturn, and Grammy award. THAT is amazing!!

Star Wars Main Title

The next song was released in August of 1977 and people STILL dance to it today! Brick House epitomizes the funky side of the Commodores, who could switch between uptempo R&B and easy listening by swapping singers. “Brick House” was sung by their drummer Walter Orange, with Lionel Richie on saxophone.

In a way, the Commodores recorded it as a “radio edit.” This disco classic is about a woman with a great body. She is “Built like a Brick House.” Lionel Richie says that this is a play on the original phrase, “She’s built like a brick s–thouse.” That’s the reason for the pause with the horn fill between the words “brick” and “house.”

Brick House

A few songs ago, I mentioned the last single Elvis released before his death. For those who have been following this blog a while, you know where I was the night Elvis died. My family was at a drive-in movie theater waiting for the sun to go down when the radio broke the news that he had passed away. The movie we were there to see? Smokey and the Bandit.

The song’s lyrics tell the basic plot of the movie (leaving out the runaway bride element) of making a 28-hour round-trip run from Atlanta, Georgia, to Texarkana, Texas and back to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer for an after-race celebration put on by Big and Little Enos.

Back when Max from the PowerPop Blog was hosting a song draft, East Bound and Down was my pick. Here is that blog if you would like to read it:

Song Draft – Pick #2 – East Bound and Down – Jerry Reed

East Bound and Down

In October of 1977, Johnny Paycheck released a David Allen Coe song that expressed what many a worker felt about their employer/employment. Take This Job and Shove It was a number one country hit for Paycheck and the phrase took on a life of its own in pop culture.

This was one of the songs that was on Paycheck’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 that my grandfather and dad always played up north.

Take This Job and Shove It

The next song makes the list because I became familiar with it not by Billy Joel, but by the wedding band my dad played in. I can’t tell you how many times my brother and I sat and watched TV while the band practiced new songs. Just The Way You Are was one of them.

According to Joel, some listeners missed the point and thought the song was misogynistic because he was telling a woman she wasn’t “allowed” to change. “No, no, no. Don’t go changing to try and please me,” he told SiriusXM in 2016. “People forget these things. If they don’t like what I do, they’ll go, ‘Oh yeah, he hates women. Look at this. Don’t change, stay the way you are, the same old someone that he knew. Wow, he really doesn’t like her. ‘Don’t change for me. You wanna change for yourself, fine. But you don’t have to change for me because I’m happy exactly the way you are. That’s why I love you in the first place.”

Billy wrote this song about his first wife, Elizabeth. A pure expression of unconditional love, he gave it to her as a birthday present. Sadly, after nine years of marriage, Joel and Elizabeth divorced in 1982. Joel’s next two marriages didn’t work out either: he was married to Christie Brinkley from 1985-1994, and to Katie Lee from 2004-2010. “Every time I wrote a song for a person I was in a relationship with, it didn’t last,” Joel said. “It was kind of like the curse. Here’s your song – we might as well say goodbye now.”

Just The Way You Are

The last song was bigger in 1978 because it was released in December of 1977. It is simply an amazing song. Lovely Day was written for Bill Withers’ Menagerie album.

Skip Scarborough was a songwriter and producer who worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, Patti Labelle, LTD, and many other R&B stars before his death in 2003. He wrote the music for this song, and was also the inspiration for the lyrics Withers came up with. In a Songfacts interview, Bill explained: “Skip was a very nice, gentle man. The way Skip was, every day was just a lovely day. He was an optimist. We’re all sponges in a sense. You put us around very nice people, and the nice things come out in us. You put us around some jerks, and we practice being jerks. We all adjust. Did you ever notice the difference in the way you speak to your grandmother or your best contemporary friend? If I had sat down with the same music and my collaborator had been somebody else with a different personality, it probably would have caused something else to cross my mind lyrically. It was a combination of the music and the person and the ambiance in the room.”

One of the highlights of the song is Bill holding a note for about 18 seconds at the end of the song! It may be one of the longest notes held by a singer on a pop song.

Lovely Day

So there you have it – 10 great songs from 1977. I’m sure there are plenty others I’ve missed. Can you name any? Next week, I will age another year and we’ll visit 1978. The sound of music will start to sound a bit different as we get closer and closer to the 1980’s.

See you then!

The Music of My Life – 1976

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.  In 1976, America celebrated her 200th birthday, while I celebrated my 6th. Let’s go back there together …

My first song actually goes back to 1969, Waylon Jennings saw an advertisement for Tina Turner in a newspaper, It called her a “good hearted woman loving two-timing men”, a reference to Ike Turner. Waylon went to Willie Nelson who was in a middle of a poker game, about writing a song based on that phrase. Joining the game, he and Nelson expanded the lyrics as Nelson’s wife Connie Koepke wrote them down.

Waylon released it as a solo single in 1971. Later, he recorded a concert version for his Waylon- Live album. This served as a basis for the duet with Nelson. “I just took my voice off and put Willie’s on in different places,” he explained. “Willie wasn’t within 10,000 miles when I recorded it.” When it was released as a single in 1976, it became the first of three number ones on the country chart for the duo.

Good Hearted Woman

In March of 1976, the Doobie Brothers introduced the public to their new lead singer, Michael McDonald. He wrote the song that would become the title track of the album, Takin’ It To the Streets. Industry folks were impressed.

Cash Box magazine said, “both instrumentally and vocally this is the best thing the Doobie Brothers have done to date,” adding that “the melody is based around a strong chordal structure.” Record World magazine said that the song “has all the essential qualities that have contributed to making this group a dominating chart force” and that “all these ingredients are wrapped together in an appealing package.” Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci rated “Takin’ It to the Streets” as the Doobie Brothers’ 6th greatest song, praising McDonald’s “soulful rasp” on the vocal. Billboard magazine rated it as the Doobie Brothers’ 3rd best song, saying that it “hits an elemental theme and drives it home with soulful urgency.”

From songfacts.com: The chorus is almost a chant, with the group singing “takin’ it to the streets” as Michael McDonald ad-libs underneath. This gives the song a church feel, which was intentional: McDonald thought the melody evoked gospel music, and wanted it to sound like a gospel song. This meant delivering a powerful message in the lyric and having lots of people sing on the chorus as the spirit moved them.

Takin’ It To the Streets

The next song is here because it is yet another ballad from my mom’s red 8 track tape that we were forced to listen to on our way up north as kids. I remember thinking “Who the heck names their kid, “England?” England Dan is Dan Seals, who had a series of country hits after he stopped performing with John Ford Coley in 1980. His older brother Jim was the Seals of Seals & Crofts, who had the hit “Summer Breeze.”

The duo’s biggest hit reached number 2 on the charts – “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight.” Seals and Coley met in high school. This was their first single, but it almost never made the radio. Songfacts.com says, “When “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” was played to an executive at Atlantic Records, he turned it down. However Doug Morris of Big Tree Records heard the song through the wall of his over-joining office and offered the duo a contract.“

Listen carefully – One of the great misheard lyrics appears in this song: “I’m not talking about movin’ in” is often heard as “I’m not talking about the linen.”

I’d Really Love to See You Tonight

The next song on my list was written by Ann Orson and Carte Blanche. “Who?” you ask! I’m am sure that you are well aware of their real names – Elton John and Bernie Taupin! They wrote Don’t Go Breaking My Heart under those silly pseudonyms!

The song was originally supposed to be Elton and Dusty Springfield, but the offer was rejected because she was ill at the time. It was written to mimic some of the great Motown duets like those of Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell. Kiki Dee, who sings the duet with Elton, coincidentally was the first female artist from the UK to sign with Motown’s Tamla Label.

Songfacts.com shares this great story: Elton recorded his part in Toronto, then the tape was sent to London where Kiki Dee recorded her vocal. Producer Gus Dudgeon recalls, “I was with Elton in Canada and he actually sang about three quarters of the song and gave Kiki about four lines. I said, “Hang on a minute, is this supposed to be a duet or a guest appearance? Elton replied, ‘A duet.’ Then you’ve got to give her at least 50% of the song.”

After Elton recorded his part in Toronto, the tapes were sent to London and when Kiki got them she remembered, “Elton had recorded the song abroad and also did my vocals in a high-pitched voice which was quite funny, so I knew which lines to sing.”

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

The next song is one that I had heard on the radio a million times before seeing the 2000 Saturday Night Live Sketch that will forever be associated with it.

“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” was written and sung by Blue Öyster Cult’s lead guitarist, Donald Roeser, also known as Buck Dharma. It was rumored to be about suicide, but it actually deals with the inevitability of death and the belief that we should not fear it. When Dharma wrote it, he was thinking about what would happen if he died at a young age and if he would be reunited with loved ones in the afterlife.

Dharma was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, which got him thinking about his mortality and inspired the song. “I thought I was going to maybe not live that long,” he said wen interviewed by songfacts.com, “I had been diagnosed with a heart condition, and your mind starts running away with you – especially when you’re young-ish. So, that’s why I wrote the story. It’s imagining you can survive death in terms of your spirit. Your spirit will prevail.”

New life was given to the song on April 8, 2000. Saturday Night Live aired a skit with Christopher Walken that made fun of the overreaching cowbell in this song. In the sketch, the band would get upset when Will Ferrell would play the bell too loud, but Walken kept calling for “more cowbell.”

From songfacts.com: In the skit, Walken plays a super-producer named Bruce Dickinson, whom the band respects enough to put up with his cowbell antics. There really is a Bruce Dickinson , but he didn’t produce “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” – that was David Lucas, who also brought us the General Electric “we bring good things to life” and the AT&T “reach out and touch someone” jingles. Dickinson is an archivist who works on album reissues, which means gathering master tapes to ensure the best sound quality. He is credited as the reissue producer on a later version of the album, which apparently is how he was named in the sketch.

When Lucas and Dickinson both appeared on the Just My Show podcast, Lucas explained that the cowbell was his idea, as the song “needed some momentum.” He grabbed a cowbell from a nearby recording studio and “just played four on the floor… not hard to do.” He found out about the SNL skit when a friend instant messaged him as it was airing.

Fun fact: Is the cowbell in this song really that loud? It depends on how you’re listening to the song. On a home stereo system, it’s pretty unobtrusive, but radio stations compress their signals, and when cowbell gets compressed, it pops out in the mix.

Don’t Fear the Reaper

The next song was actually performed three years before it was released to radio. The Steve Miller Band joined Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and the Marshall Tucker Band at a New York show and played a “more bluesy and less funky” version of Fly Like an Eagle. The lyrics were a bit different, too. It was re-recorded for the 1976 album with the same name.

This introspective and inspirational song reminds us that time is always ticking away, so we’d better make the most of it. The message of freedom through revolution is one Steve Miller picked up when he formed his Steve Miller band in San Francisco in 1966, a time and place that centered him in the counterculture as America was ramping up the Vietnam War.

A lot of the SMB songs from this time were story songs or songs about having fun, but this one had a pretty serious message to it.

Fly Like an Eagle

With a name like Arnold George Dorsey, you’d just have to change your name to be a singer, right? Sure. Why not change it to something simple … like… Engelbert Humperdinck!? Yeah, there ya go!

Say what you will about Engelbert, but you have to give him credit, he was certainly very well liked by fans! He first was noticed by audiences with his 1967 hit, “Release Me.” He followed that with “The Last Waltz,” “There Goes My Everything,” and ” A Man Without Love.”

When Epic Records released “After the Lovin'” in 1976, it became a huge hit for him. It hit number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and went to number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It also won the “most played juke box record of the year” award. The album of the same name reached the top 20 on the US charts, was nominated for a Grammy Award, and was a Double Platinum hit for the singer. The song is one that I have played for countless brides and grooms to dance their first dance to.

Today, Engelbert is 88 years old and he is still performing! One of the bloggers I follow just saw him perform and said that he was terrific! God bless him!

After the Lovin’

The next song is one that I will always remember because the album we had was on blue vinyl! Elvis Presley’s Moody Blue was written by a guy named Mark James. Mark actually recorded the song first and also wrote Suspicious Minds for Elvis. The song was recorded in February 1976 in the Jungle Room at Graceland. “Moody Blue” was Presley’s last No. 1 hit in his lifetime, topping the Billboard Hot Country singles chart in February 1977. Elvis died six months after it hit number one.

Moody Blue

The next song technically was a hit in 1977, but it was released in November of 1976 on the Kansas album Leftoverture. Carry on Wayward Son has since become a classic rock staple!

It was written by guitarist Kerry Livgren. According to Livgren, the song was not written to express anything specifically religious, though it certainly expresses spiritual searching and other ideas.

Livgren became an evangelical Christian in 1980, and has said that his songwriting to that point was all about “searching.” Regarding this song, he explained: “I felt a profound urge to ‘Carry On’ and continue the search. I saw myself as the ‘Wayward Son,’ alienated from the ultimate reality, and yet striving to know it or him. The positive note at the end (‘surely heaven waits for you’) seemed strange and premature, but I felt impelled to include it in the lyrics. It proved to be prophetic.”

I have always loved the cold a cappella vocals that kick off the song!

Carry On Wayward Son

As we come to my final song from 1976, I realize that this year really has a wide range of songs. In a way that really fits who I am, as I like many different genres of music. That really comes across with this list. Ok, moving on…

Bob Seger only wrote two songs while on the road – Turn the Page and Night Moves. “Night Moves” was a breakthrough hit for Seger, introducing the heartland rocker to a much wider audience. He had been Michigan famous ever since his first album in 1969, which had the solid hit “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.” That song went to #17 on the Hot 100, but over the next few years, he struggled to make a national impact. A big break came in April 1976 when his label, Capitol, seeing the success of Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive, issued a Seger live album, Live Bullet, recorded at two of his Detroit concerts in 1975. It quickly found a following and outsold every other Seger album. The song would reach number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Seger says the song is autobiographical, but he took some liberties, as their tryst was after high school. The girl he was with had a boyfriend away in the military, and when he came back, she married him, breaking Seger’s heart. Seger says the song represents the freedom and possibility of the high school years.

In an interview, Bob describes writing the song: It was inspired by the movie American Graffiti. It was all about cars and peg pants and rolled-up T-shirts with a cigarette pack up here and stiletto pointed shoes. That’s how I grew up, that was my high-school years. It was the easiest song in the world to write but the hardest song to finish. It took me six months to finish it. I had the first two verses. Then I’m listening to Born To Run and I notice in “Jungleland” Bruce had a double bridge. I never thought of two bridges in one song. So I have two bridges in “Night Moves.” People at Capitol Records told me after they heard the song “Night Moves” that I had a ‘career record”. They said: “This is a song that you’re gonna have to play for the rest of your life.”

The famous bridge in this song, where Seger strips it down and sings “I woke last night to the sound of thunder,” is something he and producer Jack Richardson came up with on the fly in the studio.

Night Moves

And that’s a wrap on 1976 for me. What were your favorites from ’76?

Disco continued to rise into the mainstream from 1974-1979. As we head into 1977 next time, I’m wondering how many disco songs may or may not be a part of my list …

Thanks for reading (and listening).

The Music of My Life – 1974

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 four in ’74, so let’s venture back there and give a listen….

Bob Marley wrote I Shot the Sheriff and recorded it in 1973.  Eric Clapton covered in for his 461 Ocean Boulevard album.  Billboard magazine called his version a “catchy goof of a winner.” Clapton softens up the reggae a bit and it went straight to the top spot on the Hot 100 Chart.

I Shot the Sheriff

June of 1974 was a hot month for music releases as the next five songs all hit the radio in that month.  First, we have a soul hit from the Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again.

Before I go on, let me explain why it is on my list.  I was dating my prom date, Karen, and we often spent evenings driving around and listening to the radio.  There was a “love song” show called Pillow Talk that aired at night.  It always seemed to play on that show and throughout the day on the Adult Contemporary stations.

I think we both thought the name of the song was “Precious Moments” for some reason.  All I can recall is that we both laughed at the “Hoo” and “Hah” at the beginning.  I don’t know about her, but every time I hear it, I think of her and us laughing at that song.

The lead singer on the song, Sheila Ferguson, hated it the first time she heard the demo. She said she’d never sing it because she felt it was insulting to be given a song that “took no talent to sing.” Her thoughts obviously changed after the song’s success, and the group had a #2 hit!

When Will I See You Again

Canadian singer Andy Kim hadn’t had a hit record since 1971 and has lost his record deal in 1973.  He never gave up and created his own label (Ice Records) and used his own money to record Rock Me Gently. 

The song was released in June and hit #1 in September of 1974.  The B-side was an instrumental version of the song and some stations played that, too.  Rock Me Gently was the last Top Ten hit for him.

Rock Me Gently

Long before I was a radio DJ, I was introduced to Wolfman Jack by the Guess Who.  The Guess Who’s Burton Cummings explained that the song began as a jam and was originally called “Clap For Napoleon.” As they were appearing on NBC’s Midnight Special a few times in 1973 (they hosted the show in ’74), they changed the lyric as a tribute to the show’s host, the late Wolfman Jack. The Wolfman can be heard throughout the song.

In his autobiography Have Mercy!: Confessions of the Original Rock ‘n Roll Animal, Wolfman Jack singles out Burton Cummings for adding his name to the song and taking him on tour to promote it. According to the Toronto Sun, the Wolfman quit his job at WNBC (where he enjoyed “$350,000 – plus a secretary, a chauffeured limousine, a bodyguard, and a well-ventilated private room at Rockefeller Center for the smoking of dope in”) to go on tour with The Guess Who.

Clap For The Wolfman

You would think that if someone wrote a song called Sweet Home Alabama, they’d be from there, right?  Nope.  None of the writers hailed from that state. Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington were from Florida and Ed King was from California.

Lynyrd Skynyrd enjoyed a top 10 Hit with the song that will forever be recognized by that wonderful guitar intro.  Gary Rossington explained the writing process: “I had this little riff. It’s the little picking part and I kept playing it over and over when we were waiting on everyone to arrive for rehearsal. Ronnie and I were sitting there, and he kept saying, ‘play that again’. Then Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed and I wrote the music.”

Sweet Home Alabama

You can blame my mother for the next entry on the list.  She loved listening to “easy listening” stuff and this was one that she always sang along with (when she remembered the words).

Annie’s Song was written by John Denver for his wife, Annie.  She explained, “It was written after John and I had gone through a pretty intense time together and things were pretty good for us. He left to go skiing and he got on the Ajax chair on Aspen mountain and the song just came to him. He skied down and came home and wrote it down… “

The song was on his album Back Home Again and was his second number-one song in the US, occupying that spot for two weeks in July 1974.

Annie’s Song

Everlasting Love was originally a hit in 1967  by Robert Knight and there are plenty of cover versions.  My favorite version has to be by Carl Carlton.

Carl himself chose to record the song as he liked David Ruffin’s version from 1969.  It was originally released as a B-side in 1973, but it was remixed with a disco beat and released as a single in 1974.  It was a disco staple at discotheques all across the country.

Everlasting Love

In 1964, Chuck Berry wrote Promised Land basing it on the melody for Wabash Cannonball.  He wrote the song while he was in prison.  He borrowed an atlas from the prison library and he plotted out all the stops from Norfolk to California.

In 1974, it was Elvis who recorded a version of this great story song that is faster and makes even the hardships experienced by the “poor boy” sound fun. It became the title track for Elvis’ 1975 album.

Promised Land

I certainly cannot imagine the next song as a country song, but believe it or not, that was the intention.  In 1953 Peter Radcliffe wrote You’re the First, My Last, My In-Between but it was never recorded. That is until Barry White rewrote the lyrics in 1974 and recorded it with a disco beat as You’re the First, My Last, My Everything.

Most of the lyrical changes came to Barry during a rough recording session when it didn’t seem like the song was going to pan out. “I went into the studio and made up my own melody all the way through. Half of the words in it I changed right in front of the microphone.” When Peter Radcliffe heard the final result, he cried.  The song went to #2 on the charts.

I always loved how Barry always seemed to have some sort of seductive talk before he sang.  One morning we discussed this on our radio show.  My partner dismissed it by saying, “Hey, there ain’t nothing better than two minutes and forty two seconds of Barry White saying cool things!”

You’re the First, My Last, My Everything

My final song from 1974 comes from  Michigan’s own Grand Funk Railroad.  This would be a bigger hit in 1975 because it wasn’t released until December of 1974. It actually went on to become the sixth biggest hit of 1975.

Some Kind of Wonderful was originally recorded by the Soul Brother Six in 1967, but it barely cracked the Top 100, only reaching 91.  Grand Funk recorded it for their album All the Girls in the World, Beware!  It would reach #3 on the charts.

Grand Funk drummer Don Brewer explained, “We used to listen to a station called WAMM, which was a black station in Flint (Michigan). We all grew up on R&B, gospel and soul music, and they used to play the Soul Brothers Six version of that song all the time on WAMM radio in the ’60s. When we were traveling around the country, I used to start singing that song in the back of the car a cappella, and everybody would just kind of jump in and sing along with me – ‘I don’t need a whole lots of money, I don’t need a big fine car.’ We’d kind of shear off on the choruses and stuff, and our manager said, ‘That’s a great song, why don’t you record it,’ so we recorded the song and it became a huge hit.”

I love stories like that!

Some Kind of Wonderful

That wraps it up for 1974.  Did I miss one of your favorites?  Tell me about it in the comments.

See you next week in 1975.

The Music of My Life – 1973

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 three in 1973, so let’s see what music had some influence on me ….

In January of 1973, The Four Tops released their second song on the ABC label.  They had left Motown the year before and this song became their biggest post-Motown hit.  Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got) was originally recorded by Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds in 1972. It’s hard for me to hear anyone else but Levi Stubbs on the vocal.  It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)

In March of 1973, Elvis released one of my favorite live cuts – Steamroller Blues.  I did a piece on the song for Tune Tuesday a few months back.  You can read that here:

https://nostalgicitalian.com/2024/03/12/tune-tuesday-steamroller/

Elvis added the song to his concert set list and this recording was from his Aloha From Hawaii show. It reached #17 on the charts.

Steamroller Blues

In April of 1973, Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan’s song about a music industry party was released by their band The Stealer’s Wheel. “Well, I don’t know why I came here tonight” is the opening line of Stuck in the Middle and it makes you want to hear the rest of the story. 

It was a top ten hit for the group, reaching #6 on the charts.  The band was surprised at the success of the song, especially since Gerry’s vocal was meant to sound like a funny Bob Dylan. Many people thought it actually was Bob Dylan singing!

Stuck in the Middle

Also released in April of 1973, the last Top 40 hit for a singing barber.  This song actually seems out of place on my list, but I have a reason it’s here.

Don McLean wrote And I Love You So for his debut album in 1970.  It was the B-side of his single Castles in the Air. Crooner Perry Como used it as the title song for his 1973 album. It would peak at #29 on the charts.

I include it here because when my old morning show partner and I would go out and sing karaoke, he used to sing this one.  I had never heard it before then and I loved the lyrics and melody.

And I Love You So

Another great opening line for a song was from Paul Simon.  “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school….” Kodachrome was released in May of 1973.  The song was originally written as “Going Home,” but he didn’t think it worked.  Kodachrome sounded similar and he went with that.

It has been said that the song is a sort of admiration for all the things that brighten the world.  After his lamenting about high school,  his world becomes alive with memories.

Kodachrome

Also released in May of 1973, a song that is based on real events and has one of the greatest opening riffs of all time. Smoke on the Water is the story of how Deep Purple was getting to record in a mobile studio they rented from the Rolling Stones.  The night before they were set to record, someone fired a flare gun during Frank Zappa’s song King Kong and set the casino venue on fire that destroyed it.  Deep Purple watched the fire from their hotel room and the smoke from the fire across the water led to the song’s title.

The opening riff which was written by guitarist Richie Blackmore, was inspired by “an interpretation of inversion” of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.  That intro remains something I love hearing, especially in headphones.  The guitar riff by itself, then the hi-hat cymbal, snare drum kicks, bass guitar and finally the vocal.  SO cool.

Smoke on the Water

The next song has an interesting story. It has it’s origins in a song that I almost picked for my list. From Songfacts.com: In February 1973, Stevenson released the song “Shambala” which was written by the composer Daniel Moore. Two weeks later, Three Dog Night released their version of the song, which became the much bigger hit, charting at US #3 while Stevenson’s version stalled at #66. Stevenson and Moore then got together and re-wrote “Shambala” as “My Maria,” changing the lyrics so the song became an ode to a beautiful woman. The ploy worked, and Stevenson had by far his biggest hit. (It went to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.)

Brooks and Dunn enjoyed a number one country song with their cover of the song in 1996.

My Maria

Another song that was inspired by real events was from Jim Croce. In 1970, Jim Croce wrote Time in a Bottle the night that he found out his wife, Ingrid, was pregnant. Songfacts.com says: The couple had been married for five years, and Ingrid found out she was pregnant when she went to a fertility specialist. She recalls a mix of terror and delight in Jim’s reaction when she told him the news. The child was a boy named Adrian, who grew up to become the singer-songwriter A.J. Croce.

The song was released in November of 1973, and it hit #1 in America 14 weeks after Croce was killed in a plane crash in September.

For the record, I have never been to a whorehouse. The next song is a classic rock standard about the aforementioned establishment. The boys of ZZ Top based La Grange on John Lee Hooker’s Boogie Chillin’, and there is even a vocal tribute to Hooker as Billy Gibbons sings “Ho Ho Ho Ho!”

Again from Songfacts.com: The place in this song is the subject of the 1982 movie The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds, which was adapted from a 1978 Broadway play. In a 1985 interview with Spin magazine, ZZ Top bass player Dusty Hill explained: “Did you ever see the movie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas? That’s what it’s about. I went there when I was 13. A lot of boys in Texas, when it’s time to be a guy, went there and had it done. Fathers took their sons there.

La Grange

We wrap 1973 with another great classic rock song. “I was cutting a rug down at a place called the Jug with a girl named Linda Lou…” the story begins and right from the get go trouble is brewing!  Lynyrd Skynyrd released Gimme Three Steps in November of 1973.

From Songfacts.com: This song is based on a true story. As Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington tells it, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, who was about 18 at the time, used a fake ID to get in a bar while his younger bandmates Rossington and Allen Collins waited for him in a truck. Van Zant danced with a girl named Linda, whose boyfriend, who was not too happy about it, came up to Ronnie and reached for something in his boot. Figuring he was going for a gun, Van Zant told him: “If you’re going to shoot me it’s going to be in the ass or the elbows… just gimme a few steps and I’ll be gone.” He ran to the truck, and he, Rossington, and Collins wrote this song that night.

This was one of the few songs Skynyrd released as a single. It was their first major-label release, and it didn’t chart, which simply amazes me. It is a song that has truly become a party classic. I think I got more requests for this one than Sweet Home Alabama at weddings. Maybe it wasn’t a hit, but I have certainly heard this a lot throughout my life, and I always sing along!

Gimme Three Steps

That wraps up 1973 for me. Did you have any favorites from that year? Next week, we move on to 1974. See you there!

The Music of My Life – 1972

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 two in 1972, so what songs were influencing my tiny ears? Let’s find out.

By March of 1972, Badfinger was enjoying the success of their fourth album, Straight Up. Baby Blue was their last top 20 single. It reached number 14 on the charts. Todd Rundgren produced the song. Younger folks remember this song from the 2013 series finale of Breaking Bad.

Baby Blue

In April of 1972, the Hollies had a hit that was a film noir story set to music. Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress features an FBI agent, a bar filled with criminals and a 5’9″ beauty. Songfacts.com says: This tale of a government agent and a femme fatale contains one of the classic indecipherable lyrics in rock history. The part after “she was a long cool woman in a black dress” is “just a 5′ 9″ beautiful tall.”

The song should have been a number one, but Alone Again Naturally by Gilbert O’Sullivan prevented it from grabbing the top spot.

Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress

One of the biggest films of the year was The Godfather. The Love Theme from The Godfather is instantly recognizable. The music was composed by Nino Rota and most folks are familiar with the instrumental version. A lyricist named Larry Kusik actually wrote words to the song and it was recorded by Andy Williams under the title Speak Softly Love.

While it only reached number 34 on the charts, personally, I found the arrangement of this simply beautiful. Andy’s vocal is great, but give it a listen and just focus on the instrumentation of the orchestra.

Speak Softly Love

Three days after my second birthday, The Looking Glass released Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl). The story of the barmaid who serves the many sailors was from the band’s debut album and the song went to number one. The song was so popular that the US Social Security Administration saw a large increase in baby girls with that name in 1973.

This was not typical of the band’s sound, which caused a problem at concerts. While audiences expected pop songs like this one, the Looking Glass played rock, which left the crowds disappointed. The band broke up less than two years later.

Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)

Also in May of 1972, the world was introduced to a little band known as The Eagles. The story behind their debut single Take it Easy is a great one. Here is the short version from Songfacts.com:

Jackson Browne started writing “Take It Easy” for his first album, but he didn’t know how to finish it. At the time, he was living in an apartment in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles, and his upstairs neighbor was Glenn Frey, who needed songs for his new band – the Eagles.

Frey heard Browne working on the song (he says that he learned a lot about songwriting by listening to his downstairs neighbor work), and told Jackson he thought it was great. Browne said he was having trouble completing the track, and played what he had of it. When he got to the second verse, Frey came up with a key lyric: “It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me.”

Browne turned the song over to Frey, who finished writing it and recorded it with the Eagles, who used it as the first song on their first album, and also their first single. Frey says Browne did most of the work on the song and was very generous in sharing the writing credit. He described the unfinished version of the song as a “package without the ribbon.”

Take It Easy

1972 introduced us to another new artist – Jim Croce. “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” was his first single. After several years struggling for success and battling music industry politics, the song got the promotion it deserved when a rep at ABC/Dunhill named Matty Singer visited radio stations in the Philadelphia area to promote the song. It got solid airplay and national attention, which was followed by lots of positive press for the album. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim wasn’t released until nine months after it had been recorded, so Croce and his musical partner Maury Muehleisen had perfected the songs in performance, earning rave reviews.

You Don’t Mess Around With Jim

Here’s a story for you – The King of Rock and Roll was actually prevented from hitting the number one spot in 1972 by the Granddaddy of Rock and Roll. Yep, Burning Love reached number two on the charts while Chuck Berry held the number one spot with “My Ding-A-Ling!” Urgh!

Burning Love was the final Top 10 hit in the American Hot 100 or pop charts for Elvis. The electric guitar opening and riffs were overdubbed and played by Dennis Linde, the writer of the song. He performed the song in the concert movie Elvis on Tour, and because the song was still new to him, you can see him holding a sheet of paper with the lyrics on it.

Burning Love

In October of 1972, Motown’s of Stevie Wonder released on of my all time favorite songs. When some music bloggers were doing a “Song Draft” I actually picked Superstition as one of my songs. You can read that blog here:

Song Draft 2021 – Round 10 – Final Pick – Superstition – Stevie Wonder

Superstition

In September of 1972, Johnny Rivers released a cover of Huey “Piano” Smith’s 1957 song, Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu. In the late 50’s the country was hit with the Asian Flu, also called the “walking pneumonia.” The title of the song is a play on this. Johnny’s version did much better than Huey’s version. Huey didn’t even get into the top 40 (it peaked at 52), while Johnny had a top ten (peaking at 6). Playing piano on Johnny’s version was none other than the Wrecking Crew’s Larry Knechtel.

Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu

My final song from 1972 is a funky jam. There is so much that I love about Use Me by Bill Withers. The song was released on his Still Bill album. It has such a neat syncopated percussion line that interplays with the rest of the instruments and Bill’s vocal. Again, there is a great story about the writing of the song. It seems a lot of women were telling him he was just “too nice” and he wanted to change that. Bill said in an interview:

That’s fun stuff. That’s just talkin’ trash. That’s just a song about being a little playful, a little arrogant and a little cool. Unless you were one of those people that were born popular, I was a chronic stutterer until I was twenty-eight. I avoided the phone. So I wasn’t this popular guy. I remember being young and I would have girls tell me, “You’re too nice.” I didn’t understand that.

What kind of twisted world are we in? Women like bad boys, I guess. There is no more confusing form of rejection than for somebody to tell you that you’re not interesting to them because you’re too nice.

So over the course of time, you say okay, you wanna play, okay, let’s play? Use Me taps into that. I tried to be nice, now let’s get nasty. That song came quick. I was working in McDonnell Douglas out in Long Beach and the noise of the factory, they had some women working there. I crossed that line there thinking, “You all want a nasty boy? Well here I come.” [laughs]

Use Me

I hope you enjoyed my picks. What 1972 tunes were your favorites?

Next week – 1973! See you then

Movie Music Monday – Viva Las Vegas

Today we go back to 1964 for what many consider to be one of Elvis Presley’s best films – Viva Las Vegas. Why? Because his co-star in the movie, the beautiful Ann Margaret celebrated her 83rd birthday yesterday.

The chemistry between Elvis and Ann Margaret that you see on screen is real. They began an affair that got a lot of press by gossip columnists and the movie industry. This led to a showdown between Ann and Pricilla Beaulieu, Elvis’ girlfriend. Years later, in her autobiography, Ann called Elvis her “soulmate.”

15 songs were recorded for the soundtrack of the film, but only 11 were used. A full LP soundtrack was never released. Instead, to coincide with the film’s release, RCA chose four songs for a Viva Las Vegas EP.

The song Viva Las Vegas was released as a single in 1964 with What’d I Say as the B-side. This actually hurt the record’s chart performance. The title song was written by Doc Primus and Mort Shuman. The song went to #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart (What’d I Say did slightly better by going to #21). It has been covered by a few different artists (I love the ZZ Top version), but Elvis’ version remains my favorite.

Dim the lights and cue the theme song ….

Tune Tuesday – You’re Not Alone Anymore

For Tune Tuesday today, we celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest singers of all time. Roy Orbison was born on this day in 1936. A few years ago, I wrote a blog about him and this may or may not be a bit of a rehashing of that.

Roy Orbison is a rock and roll legend.  I refuse to debate this.  It is a fact.  The Beatles and Elvis Presley (both legends in their own right) have stated on record that Roy was a major influence on their music.  Roy’s music was different – it had it’s own style and a certain darkness to it.  My first exposure to Roy Orbison was when I was about 4 or 5 years old.

I remember my dad had an album of Roy’s Greatest Hits.  My favorite song as a kid was Dream Baby.  I didn’t know that was the name of it.  I know this because when I asked him to play it, I would ask for it by singing the opening bass line: “Daddy, play ‘boom boom boom, bum bum boom.’”  I remember the first song on the album was Candy Man, which started with a harmonica.  That is the instrument Roy asked for as a kid.

When asked hey wanted for his sixth birthday, Roy told his parents he wanted a harmonica.  Luckily for the music industry, his father bought him a guitar instead.  While some stories differ, most biographies claim that Roy learned how to play from his father Orbie Lee Orbison.  Some sources say that he learned from his Uncle Charlie, Orbie’s brother.

He formed a band while in Wink, Texas called the Wink Westerners and that band played some high school dances.  While in college, two friends of his had written a song called “Ooby Dooby.” They began playing that in their shows and because of their success, they got their own radio show on station KMID. In 1955, the band got their own TV show and artists came to play and sing on it.  Among them, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.

Roy pulled Johnny aside and asked for advice.  He wanted to know how to get a record released on the radio.  Johnny suggested that he call Sam Phillips over at Sun Records in Memphis.  Johnny gave Roy the number and sure enough Roy called.  I am sure he was not expecting what happened.  Sam Phillips answered the phone and after a brief conversation, Sam hung up on him, but not before telling Roy, “Johnny Cash doesn’t run my record company!”

Roy eventually found a place to record and recorded “Ooby Dooby” with his band, now called the Teen Kings.  The song was released in 1956 and Roy took it to a well known record dealer named Cecil “Poppa” Hollifield. He heard the song and immediately called a “connection” he had in Memphis and played him the record over the phone.  His connection asked for a copy of the record, and three days later he called Poppa up to tell him he wanted the Teen Kings in Memphis in three days to record in his studio.  That connection was none other than Sam Phillips of Sun Records!

That deal got him out on tour with Johnny Cash, Faron Young, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Horton among others.  In 1958, Roy was asked to tour with the Everly Brothers.  During the tour, the Everly Brothers told Roy they needed a new single and asked if he had any songs.  He picked up his guitar and sang the song Claudette.  They liked it, and asked him to write down the words and chords.  The song was the B-side of All I Have To Do Is Dream.  Roy had some of his other songs recorded by artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, and even Ricky Nelson.

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In 1959, Roy was signed to an independent label called Monument.  It was at this label that so many of Roy’s big hits came, starting with Uptown.  That was followed by Only The Lonely (which reached #2), Blue Angel, and I’m Hurtin’. What followed was Roy’s first #1 song, Running Scared.

Roy had hoped to change up the “pop” sound and try something different.  They recorded the song twice and he was disappointed with the two takes, so they cut it again.  Instead of using a falsetto voice, Roy sang the high natural A and nailed it.  The accompanying musicians were awestruck and had never heard anything like it.  Producer Fred Foster said “Nobody had ever hear anything like it before!”

What followed was four solid years of top 40 hits.  Those hits included Crying, Candy Man, Dream Baby, Working for the Man, In Dreams, Pretty Paper, Leah, Blue Bayou, Mean Woman Blues, and Its Over. His success got him a spot opening up for some concerts in England. He was the opening act for a few guys who were known as The Beatles (they had yet to become a big thing in the US).  The tour sold out in minutes, and on the first night of the show, they say that Roy played 14 encores before the Beatles ever got on stage!

In 1964, Roy recorded what is probably his biggest hit, Oh Pretty Woman.  It would be his last big hit while at Monument records.  Touring hurt his personal life, and his wife Claudette began having an affair.  One day while writing with songwriter Bill Dees, Claudette entered the room and said that she was going to Nashville.  Roy asked her if she had any money, and Dee’s replied, “A pretty woman never needs any money.” With that phrase, and about 40 minutes, they wrote Oh, Pretty Woman, which went to number 1 in almost every country in the world.

In 1966, Claudette was killed when a pickup truck pulled out in front of her and she hit the door.  She died instantly.  Two years later, Roy was on a tour in England and he received a call that his home had burned down.  As if that wasn’t enough bad news, he was also told that his two oldest sons were killed in the fire.  He tried to cope by keeping himself busy with work.  He starred in the film The Fastest Guitar Alive, which ended up being his only lead role.

Roy changed labels a few times after this and eventually re-signed with Monument.  In 1987, Roy Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Bruce Springsteen was there to do the honors.  A TV special followed.  Roy had always wanted to do one and this special included some powerful special guests:  Elvis Costello, k.d.Lang, Tom Waits, Bonny Raitt, Jennifer Warrens, Jackson Brown, and Bruce Springsteen.  The special was called Roy Orbison and Friends – A Black and White Night Live. It was aired on cable and released on video and became one of Roy’s great concerts.

Roy-Orbison-2

Jeff Lynne of ELO was busy producing George Harrison’s Cloud Nine album, and was working on Tom Petty’s and Roy’s albums at the same time.  This led to them all getting together with Bob Dylan for the Traveling Wilburys project which was a huge success! Handle With Care was a big hit from the album. 

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In late 1988, Roy put the finishing touches on the Mystery Girl album.  It was set for release in 1989.  There would be a world tour to support the project.  The album would include the smash hit “You Got It”.  On December 6, 1988, Roy was complaining of chest pains.  Just before midnight, he had a heart attack and collapsed at his mother’s home.  Roy Orbison died at the young age of 52.

I was still a senior in high school and I was going to WKSG to rip news and type up stories for the news director.  I would stay till 6am and then head to school.  I remember going to the AP wire and seeing the “URGENT” breaking news that Roy had died.  We were an oldies station and this was big news.  I remember when we broke the news.  It is one of those moments I will never forget.

You Got It was released after Roy’s death and reached the top 10.  One of the coolest tributes to Roy was when the Traveling Wilburys released the song End of the Line.  In the video, the group is on a train singing.  When Roy’s vocal comes on, the camera is on a rocking chair in which Roy’s guitar is sitting.  Next to it, is a framed photo of Roy.  Powerful!

Back to the Wilburys for my song choice for this blog. A song that was supposed to be a group song on the album was You’re Not Alone Anymore.  After rehearsing it a bit and trying a few things, it was decided that there was really only one voice that could do the song justice, and that was Roy.  It is an amazing vocal and an amazing song!

Roy Orbison is a legend.  His music was like no one else.  His style was like no one else.  His vocals were indescribably beautiful, haunting, and amazing.  Heaven’s choir is blessed to have him in their baritone section.  Happy Birthday, Roy!

Tune Tuesday – You Can Have Her

Today’s Tune Tuesday song is by a guy who should have been bigger than he was – Roy Hamilton.

Roy was born in Georgia on this day in 1929. He found success in 1953 with the song You’ll Never Walk Alone from the movie Carousel. It went to number 1 on the R&B chart and stayed there for 8 weeks. When he performed the song on the Ed Sullivan show, it got him more attention. His record label rushed him in to record other songs including Unchained Melody (which was a hit for Al Hibbler). In 1955, his version held the top spot on the R&B chart while, on the pop chart, it had reached the number six spot. It was the second number-one R&B hit of his career as well as the first, and only, top-ten US pop hit of his career.

In 1956, Roy developed a lung condition that was compared to tuberculosis and announced an indefinite retirement from show business. A year later, when he was in better health, he resumed his career, but pop standards weren’t so hot anymore. By this time, Rock and Roll had made the scene. So, in late 1957, Epic coaxed Hamilton into recording “Don’t Let Go”, an R&B rocker produced by Otis Blackwell (who wrote Don’t Be Cruel and All Shook Up for Elvis). By early 1958, “Don’t Let Go” had become the second US top-15 pop hit of Hamilton’s career and the first top-40 hit ever recorded in stereo.

By the mid 1960’s, sadly, Roy’s career was on the down side. In 1969, he made his last recordings at the same studio where Elvis was recording. About 6 months later, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while at home and was in a coma for a week before he was taken off life support. Roy was 40 years old when he died.

In a 2017 documentary for the BBC, Hamilton’s son Roy Hamilton Jr. revealed that Elvis sent Roy’s wife, Myrna, a rose every day Hamilton was in the hospital. When Roy passed away from complications of his stroke, Presley sent Myrna flowers for the following six months.

Today, I wanted to share his last hit record – You Can Have Her. In 1961, the song spent 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 12, while reaching No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Sides chart. The lyrics tell the story of a man who’s love has left him for someone else. It is a song that at one time hit home for me and led to a moment I still am not very proud of.

I once had to DJ a wedding for the sister of my ex-girlfriend. It was an incredibly awkward time for me. By the time of this wedding, my ex had remarried and had a child. Throughout that evening, I avoided looking at her as much as I could. I remember all of the emotions and they got the best of me. During a set of uptempo oldies, I snuck You Can Have Her into the mix. This would certainly be a song that no one at this party would know. Oh sure, they danced to it, but it was literally played for … my own satisfaction. Not one of my best moments.

Anyway, I digress. Roy Hamilton had SO many great songs that have long been forgotten. If you get the chance to listen to more of his stuff, I encourage it. Here is You Can Have Her:

You Can Have Her

Well, you can have her, I don’t want her,
She didn’t love me anyway.
She only wanted someone to play with
But all I wanted was love to stay.

Well, you get stuck with the wrong woman
There’s only one thing that you can do:
Just dig a hole and jump right in it,
And pull the ground right over you.

[Chorus:]
Well, you can have her (you can have her)
I don’t want her ( I don’t want her),
She didn’t love me (didn’t love me ) anyway (anyway).
She only wanted (only wanted) someone to play with (one to lay with)
But all I wanted (all I wanted) was love to stay (was love to stay).

The girl I love, she, up and left me,
She ran away with my best friend.
Comes home at night just for an hour
When day light comes she’s gone again.

[Chorus]

Life without love is mighty empty,
But confession’s good for the soul.
I’d rather have love that I can cling to
Than have the world and all of it’s gold.

(You can have her) you can have her,
(I don’t want her) I don’t want her,
(She didn’t love you) She didn’t love me, (anyway) anyway.
(She only wanted) she only wanted (someone to play with) someone to play with
(But all I wanted) Ohh! (Was love to stay) Ohh!

You can have her (you can have her)
I don’t want her (I don’t want her)
She didn’t love me (didn’t love me) anyway (anyway)
She only wanted (only wanted) someone to play with (someone to play with)
But all I want (all I want)
All I want (all I want)
All I want (all I want)
All I want (all I want)…

Tune Tuesday – Steamroller

Sweet Baby James Taylor celebrates his sweet 76th birthday today. The man is a legend. The singer-songwriter has won 6 Grammy Awards, has written countless hits, and is one of the most loved singers in America.

Songs like Fire and Rain, Handy Man, You’ve Got a Friend, and How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You made him a household name and a radio favorite. I want to dig into his Sweet Baby James album for a song that he never released – Steamroller.

According to SongFacts.com :

James Taylor wrote this song when he was in a band called The Flying Machine, which issued one single in 1966 before disbanding. He came up with the song after seeing lots of white college kids playing blues songs by the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf – he noticed a disconnect there. This song is a parody of sorts, taking aim at overtly sexual blues metaphors. Taylor has “the steamroller blues” and compares his love machine to a cement mixer, a demolition derby, and even a napalm bomb.

“Steamroller” was never released as a single, but is one of Taylor’s most popular live songs, making its way into most of his setlists. He has done different versions over the years, often having some fun with the last verse. The song was loved by not just fans, but by Rock and Roll Royalty:

Elvis Presley added this song to his live set, and performed it on his 1973 Aloha from Hawaii special. This live version was released as a single (as “Steamroller Blues”) and made #17 US.

Happy Birthday to James Taylor!

I gotta include Elvis here:

Just because – one of my favorite covers – country singer Billy Dean, who keeps his version very close to James’ version.