More about music

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged about my twin interests of classic rock music, and ordering things into lists.  I got burned out on that music list project, and after a while I figured out why.

It was the ranking that did it, trying to come up with which was my favorite song for the year, then my second favorite, and so on.  I’d go back and forth on two or three titles, worry about whether to call a tie on some of them for the same place, and I’d keep second guessing myself.  Then I’d worry about where to cut off the list, what would be the last song, when was it all good enough, and so on.

It was just too much work for something which was supposed to be just a fun diversion.

So here’s my new, simpler approach, and I’m having more fun with this.

For a long time I’ve been intrigued with those “best of” compilations you can buy.  The only problem is that none of them perfectly match my interests.  Most of them are ratings driven, the “Number 1 Hits” which sold the most.  But good luck to you if you liked a deeper cut from the album better than the big hit.

So now I’m making playlists on my computer for each year, and I’m using Wikipedia as a reference source for US release dates.  Keeping it chronological makes for an easier, quicker project.  It’s like listening my way back through one year or other.

So, here’s what I recently did for...

1971.

January 

                  Mountain – Taunta / Nantucket Sleighride

February

                  George Harrison – What Is Life

                  Yes – Your Move / All Good People

March 

                   Jethro Tull – Aqualung

April 

                   James Gang – Walk Away

                   Rolling Stones – Wild Horses

May

                   Rod Stewart – Reason To Believe

                   Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine

July 

                   Moody Blues – The Story In Your Eyes

August 

                  The Who – Baba O’Riley

September

                  Jefferson Airplane – Rock and Roll Island

                  T. Rex – Get It On
                  Three Dog Night – Never Been To Spain
                  Van Morrison – Blue Money

October 

                  Van Morrison – Wild Night

November 

                  Harry Nilsson – Jump Into the Fire

                  Led Zeppelin – Rock and Roll

December 

                  Badfinger – Baby Blue

It’s not perfect.  I really wish I had, or could check out from the library Paul McCartney’s “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” (released in May, after “Reason To Believe”).  And if I could find a copy of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”, I would put that in the playlist instead of “Baba O’Riley”.

And maybe also Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy” (in April, after “Walk Away”), and Santana’s “No One To Depend On” (in September, between whichever song by The Who, and Jefferson Airplane’s “Rock and Roll Island”).

1972...

...is turning out to be a bigger project.  Think:  two CD’s worth.  I haven’t got it completely figured out, but so far…

January

                  Paul Simon – Mother and Child Reunion

                  Jackson Browne – Doctor My Eyes

February 

                  Todd Rundgren – I Saw the Light

                  Allman Brothers Band – (2 of these 3:  “Melissa”,
                                         “Trouble No More”, “Blue Sky")

                  Neil Young – Heart Of Gold

March

                  Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees

April 

                  Arlo Guthrie – City Of New Orleans

                  Hollies – Long Cool Woman In a Black Dress

                  Jim Croce – Operator

                  Creedence Clearwater Revival – Sweet Hitch-Hiker

                  Wishbone Ash – Sometime World

                  Wishbone Ash – Leaf and Stream

May

                  Randy Newman – Simon Smith and the

                                                   Amazing Dancing Bear

                  Bill Withers – Lean On Me (maybe)

                  Rolling Stones – Happy

June

                  Alice Cooper – School’s Out (maybe)

                  Eagles – Take It Easy

                  Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now

                  Leon Russel – Tight Rope (maybe)

July

                 Argent – Hold Your Head Up

                 Doobie Brothers – Listen To the Music

                 Jefferson Airplane – Long John Silver

                 Rod Stewart – You Wear It Well

August

                  Seals and Crofts – Summer Breeze (maybe)

                  Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes –

                             If You Don’t Know Me By Now (maybe)

                  Pure Prairie League – Amie

September

                  Yes – Siberian Khatru

October

                  Steely Dan – (two of these three:  “Kings”,

                                        “Midnight Cruiser”,

                                        “Reelin’ In the Years”) 

                  Stealers Wheel –
                                  Stuck In the Middle With You (maybe)

                  Loggins and Messina – Your Mama Don’t Dance

                  Joe Walsh – Turn To Stone

                  Billy Preston – Will It Go Round In Circles

                  Albert Hammond – It Never Rains In

                                Southern California (maybe)                            

                  Stevie Wonder – Superstition

November 

                  Joe Cocker – High Time We Went (maybe)

                  Carly Simon – You’re So Vain

                  Gordon Lightfoot – Old Dan’s Records (maybe)

                  Edgar Winter Group – Free Ride

                  Moody Blues – I’m Just a Singer
                                           (In a Rock and Roll Band)

                  America – Ventura Highway (maybe)

If I end up burning two CD’s off this playlist, the dividing point will probably be Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up”.  That will likely be either the last song of the first CD, or the first song of the second.

One more thing…sometimes when you check out CD’s from the library, you’ll surprise yourself with something you missed.  My last week’s discovery was from The Doobie Brothers “Long Train Runnin’ 1970 – 2000” CD, where I got “Listen To the Music” for this playlist.  There’s a track, “Dark Eyed Cajun Woman” that I don’t remember hearing.  I didn’t know the Doobies ever did that much of a blues number.  As you might suspect, the lyrics are slightly suggestive if you want to take them that way, but it could have been worse.  Musically though, I like the song.

Another short post

We plan to get the last of the decorating done this week, hopefully in the next day or three.  So this evening I worked on decorating the mantle.  I cleared off everything but the lamp, put up the long two-by-four with the cup hooks for the stockings, and placed on top of that the big wooden nativity set my stepfather made for us years ago on his scroll saw.  I added the lighted garland, and it all looks festive.  There's really only a few finishing touches to go.

While I was doing this, it occurred to me that I usually put on Christmas music while I decorate indoors.  But this time what I was hearing was a lot of weird sound effects; my youngest daughter was playing a video game.  Otherwise cute cartoon characters were giving off mournful wails and groans as they entered combat and blasted each other to destruction.

I'm not quite sure what it all means, but anyway, Merry Christmas.
  

Mike's Birthday: What not to do

It’s likely that Mike will celebrate his birthday today in a subdued manner at his home, Subdued Manor. But I could be wrong about that, any time now there might be a big crowd of revelers arriving for the festivities.

And you just might be one of them!

Is there anything better than celebrating with good friends, good conversation, and great dessert? And is there anything worse than the sudden realization that you just did or said exactly the wrong thing, brought the celebration to a screeching halt, and now everyone’s staring at you with their mouths open, dumbfounded?

Forewarned is forearmed as they say, and if you’ll give me your attention for just a bit, maybe I can help prevent any embarrassing moments.

It could be that you want to bring a CD to share some music, and you may be asking, “what kind of music does Mike like”?  I think it’s safe to say that he knows more about the contemporary Christian music scene than I do, and while I don’t know his favorites, that would probably be a good genre to choose from. He’s also listened to a lot of what they used to call “top 40” rock music. I think he would enjoy most anything by the Beatles, and I’ve heard him speak well of Billy Joel. Van Morrison would be a great choice, of course. And if you have a copy of Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh, bring it on and let the party begin!

Think twice about bringing your Pink Floyd collection, though. A few seconds of Floyd might seem like hours to Mike. And the band Rush is right out. You might be shown the door for that.

Mike loves to talk about baseball, and a conversation about the Saint Louis Cardinals is always a hit. But if you happen to be a fan of “the team that shall not be mentioned by name” (think big city, small bears), it’s probably just as well to keep silent about that.

Mike also follows the news, but you want to take care bringing up just any old item. Say, maybe you’ve been following a story about a city somewhere where the people have long endured a major crime spree, and the heck of it is that the police force is as corrupt as the criminals; the poor decent souls have lost hope. There might be a better time than a birthday party to mention that.

After all, in a big city like Gotham, Batman would never allow such a situation to drag on that long. He would have dealt with it on day one.

And speaking of that, you might have thought of surprising Mike by arriving in costume. That seems creative, but you want to choose wisely. If I were you, I’d walk right past the Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman costumes and say, no thanks. Even if they are in the reduced bin marked half off for quick sale.

Mike always likes a good clean joke, but he’s already heard the one where a cat, a monkey, and Indiana Jones walk into a bar. Just sayin’.

I’m sure there will be dessert. But if you want to bring extra {considering the crowd of people and all), well that’s considerate of you and it would be appreciated.

If you don’t bring some kind of weird sour pickle dessert, that is. This is the day for chocolate mayonnaise cake. Oh, and don’t eat all of Mike’s cake. Not only is that bad manners, you probably won’t be invited back next year.

One other thing, Mike isn’t all that enthusiastic about fireworks. I know, that’s hard to believe, but it’s true nonetheless. Sure, maybe a few sparklers would be fun for a few minutes.

Outdoors.

But hours worth of firecrackers, cone fountains, Roman candles, artillery shells, and missile barrages? All those sparks and popping and booming, into the small hours of the morning? Mike can do without all that. He’d rather call it a day at a decent hour, and get a good night’s rest.

After all, some people have to get up early in the morning.

Please join with me in wishing Mike a Happy Birthday!

Cable drummer boy (updated and bumped)

(Note: I cannot claim to be a fan of Levon Helm's or The Band, in fact, I know very little about them. However I did write about him a while back for reasons, I hope, will be plain in the post. I thought it worth re-posting in light of the passing of Helm today. - Mike)

I'm sure most people with cable TV notice that there are all kinds of channels that broadcast programming of, shall we say, limited appeal. Some of them look like they were shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting. And they look that way because it was shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting.

For example, take this one program on Mediacom here in Springfield. It was shot in a nightclub and the focus of the program is the musical act that is performing there. More specifically, the subject seems to be this scraggly, old drummer with a gravelly voice who does all the lead singing. I watched it a for a few minutes and I thought, "Eh." They're probably some regional act that does all the hotspots in the college towns around here. And they probably drink up all their profits.

The things they show on TV.

And, it's interesting, in view of the discussion of popular music here at "The Porch" lately. Many of the acts that we admire would be old, gravelly and scraggly, like the drummer on this cable show. I heard a new Bob Seger song the other day and you can definitely hear some age in his voice.

Cousin Bob posted his list of favorite songs from 1973 and we've been having fun with it. He listed "Dancing In The Moonlight" by King Harvest and someone from that group was kind enough to reply and we got a kick out of that. Later, I posted in response and playfully asked Bob if his new friends, King Harvest, would explain how their name came about. Lo and behold! I got a reply from them! What generous and friendly people! It's an interesting story.

"In 1970 we made a last minute entry into a R&R contest in Paris, France. They asked for our band's name, which we had not yet decided on. On the stereo we had one of our favorite albums by The Band playing. The song was King Harvest Has Surely Come. So we gave them King Harvest as a name. As it turned out we won the contest and never changed the name. Two years later, still in Paris, we recorded Dancing in the Moonlight."

I think that is a cool story and it's a good band name. I think a lot of creativity is like this - it just happens, it's not forced.

So, in reading this reply, I had a thought. The record was by a group called The Band? That sort of rang a bell, so I did what any self-respecting person would do at this moment, I Googled. (I Google, therefore I am?)

I Googled "the band king harvest has come" and up came the typical Google page with lots links. At the top was a You Tube video of the song, so I clicked it and about 20 seconds later, I was floored.

The video opens with a shot of a cabin and the camera zooms in to look through the window. At about :20, I recognized someone. I recognized this bobbing head and the shrugging shoulders. I recognized the inelegant twisting neck so the singer could line up with a microphone.

It was the scraggly old drummer from the show on my local cable provider! Only he wasn't so old in this video! Amazing! You mean this guy on my local cable was SOMEBODY?

Quick! More Googling! I Googled The Band and got the Wikipedia page. (There is a sentence that would have been meaningless 10 years ago!) I saw a picture of The Band and their names. And I saw it! Levon Helm! He's the drummer for The Band and he's the drummer on my cable show! I remember seeing it when the credits rolled!

So, Levon Helm was the drummer for The Band and they recorded a song called King Harvest Has Come which inspired a nameless band in Paris to name themselves King Harvest and two years later they recorded "Dancing In The Moonlight" which my cousin listed as one of his favorite songs from 1973 on this blog and somebody from the band King Harvest replied to that and then I asked a question and they answered with a story about The Band and I looked it up and saw the drummer from my cable show was not a club guy but a real rock and roll pro, the drummer for The Band. Amazing.

Did I just win "Six Degrees of King Harvest"?

(Originally posted October, 2008)

One Saint Patrick's Day

Last year for St. Patrick’s, my wife, my son, my youngest daughter and I went to a place in Shawnee Kansas called Waxy O’Shea’s, for lunch and to listen to some great Irish music. Our son is home from Missouri State, so we decided since we each enjoyed the outing so much last year, we’d do that again. My wife couldn’t find a calendar on their website, so we weren’t sure what music, if any, would be there. We decided we’d drive over and check it out anyway. If there wasn’t live music, or if the lines were too long, we’d make the decision – stay and wait our turn for supper, or go elsewhere. At the last minute before we left home, my wife found an Applebee’s gift card and put it in her purse, just in case.

That turned out to be a good idea.

We drove into the parking lot and immediately saw the sign on the building:

SPACE AVAILABLE.

Now if I understand those letters right, in that order, it means, “Nobody Home, We’re Closed Now”. Our other clue was all the plywood on the windows…The Shawnee location of Waxy O’Shea’s was no more.

My wife had noticed an Applebee’s when we passed it earlier, so we went there and were well treated. No Irish music, though.

On our way back to Missouri, I’d listen from time to time to the conversation between my wife and daughter in the back seat. I don’t always quite hear what’s being said and I’m not sure what it was about, but one thing I heard sounded like “butterbean”.

Hmmm…that could be a fun name for a story character.

“Dear, you had a call while you were out, a Mister Butterbean.”

“Was it Charles Butterbean?”

“No…that doesn’t sound right.”

“Was it George, then?”

“Yes, that’s it, George Butterbean. He said you’d know what it was about.”

“Okay, I’ll call him back.”

George Butterbean is the founder of Butterbean and Associates, importers of all kinds of hard to find items of value. I could say many of the items were impossible to find, but I’d have to leave it at that. It would be wise if I said no more.

George had recently turned over the daily operation of the business to his son Charles. One thing I learned early was to never, and I mean never, call him Charlie. He really hates that, so it’s Charles or C. W.

I had a pretty good idea of what the call was about, and I had been expecting and dreading it. I couldn’t ignore the call (business is business, after all), and while I was glad it was George rather than Charles who called, I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to become involved.

Call it a premonition, if you must. I’ve really got to start paying attention to those…

Perhaps it's a supernatural delight

It's been said that it's a small world and I suppose in some way (or ways) it is. Or maybe it's not the size of the world but the number of possibilities that is relatively small, even though it seems as though a given event is about as unlikely as a whale landing on my house.

I'm expecting to see Bob this weekend, and thought I would see him tonight, but did not. His daughter's a senior at Missouri State and will graduate with a degree in Interior Design. I think that's right - her degree might be officially called something else.

Anyway, her and her soon-to-be similarly-degreed school chums were showing their projects in a gallery downtown and I went and saw her (and her project!) but missed her parental units. After a few minutes it was time to go, so I headed for the car. I got out onto the street and had not walked very far when I heard my name. I looked across the road and there was my daughter and her husband.

I ambled over and we chatted and soon up walked my son-in-law's uncle, whom they were meeting for dinner downtown. I left them and went on to the car. A few minutes later, in the car, and I was headed for my next destination and had the radio playing.

And what upon my wondering ears should fall, but the cheerful sounds of "Dancing In The Moonlight" by King Harvest. Regular readers of the Porch, whoever you are, would be familiar with the conversation that occurred on this blog with Bob and one of the members of King Harvest a while back. Bob had named "Dancing In The Moonlight" as one of his favorite tunes of 1973 and one of King Harvest's members was kind enough to chime in and provide some details, some real behind-the-scenes info! If you wish to re-live those heady times, the posts are here, also here and one there.

So, how likely is it that this confluence of events would occur in the space of 15 minutes and four blocks: I don't see Bob, who I expected to see; I see my daughter and her husband, who I don't expect to see; and I hear "Dancing In The Moonlight" on the radio which I probably haven't heard since Bob, who I expected to see but missed, was discussing it in the fall of 2008.

I'm not sure, but I think "Dancing In The Moonlight" should be considered the Official Song of Poppy's Front Porch.

Lyrics Game answers

We have a winner! Song #2 was indeed "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean. That song just came to mind one day after lying dormant for many years, and I have no idea why. I often wonder why stuff just pops into mind at random. I can imagine a couple of clerks in adjoining cubicles in "Mind Control". One is tasked to data entry, the other keeps the archives...

"Quick, he's drifting again!"

"What?"

"Anything, give me the first thing you can get your hands on. We've got to get him thinking about something!"

(A file cabinet drawer creaks open, and a paper is tossed over the cubicle wall.)

"Man, that's weird. What is this?"

"A really old song lyric. Well, you said anything."

"Okay I'll key it in...but he won't have a clue why."

"Hey, at least he won't just be on automatic..."

Where was I...Oh. The other two songs. Number one was "Bang On the Drum All Day" by Todd Rundgren. And the third song was "Pretzel Logic" by Steely Dan.

"I stepped up on the platform,
The man gave me the news,
He said, you must be joking son,
where did you get those shoes?"

"Well I've seen 'em on the TV, the movie show,
They say the times are changing but I just don't know,
These things are gone forever,
Over a long time ago, oh yeah."

Apparently Steely Dan's Donald Fagen claims the lyrics are about time travel.

Okay Mike, the lyrics game ball is in your court!

There's a light up above

We have a protracted version of the 'Lyrics Game' in progress right now. I have no idea when the original post went up. I guess I could look it up.

Hold on.

Okay, it was the eve of Christmas Eve. We're pushin' six weeks, I think. We probably need some resolution.

I have high confidence that song number 2 is 'Big Bad John' after Bob's hints from the other day. The others remain a mystery. But, I am promised, that I may recognize one of them when it's revealed.

This is so exciting.

Return of the Lyrics Game - three songs

I've been meaning to get back to this for quite a while. Recently I heard one of these on the radio, just thought of another lyric out of the blue for no apparent reason, and was reminded of another when I looked over my music list project.

Hints: three different decades, two genres (in other words, two of these songs you might hear on a classic rock station, the other you won't). And as always, it's more fun to guess if you resist the urge to "Google".

So here they are, in no particular order:

#1:
"Every day when I get home from work,
I feel so frustrated, the boss is a jerk,
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed..."

#2:
"He didn't say much, he kinda quiet and shy,
And if you spoke at all, he just said "Hi"..."

#3:
"I have never met Napoleon,
But I plan to find the time,
'Cause he looks so fine upon that hill,
They tell me he was lonely, he's lonely still,
Those days are gone forever..."

Can you guess? Let the game begin!

Thanks for talking back

It's Friday night and I figure that's a good time to give the answer to the most recent Lyrics Game.

The quote was:

"Just tell your hoodlum friend outside
You ain't got time to take a ride"

It was indeed, as one commenter suggested, from the song Yakety Yak and was written for the Coasters.

Taking up some slack

While Bob's computer has the crud, I'll jump in with another installment of the Lyrics Game. To review, I'll post some song lyrics and you astute Porch Heads name the tune. Try ever so hard not to Google for the answer.

Also, this is for fun, alas, we have no prizes to award. It's mainly amusement for me as I like to read the song lyrics for humor, creativity or other qualities. In other words, they are not necessarily difficult, though we can't rule out the possibility.

And now today's lyrics:

Just tell your hoodlum friend outside
You ain't got time to take a ride

Enjoy!

Oh yeah?

Well, two can play at that game.

Another round of Lyrics Game

This one may not be hard and, really, I don't intend them to be terribly hard: I mean them to be fun. And these lyrics are fun -

“The coolerator was jammed with TV dinners and ginger ale”

Name the tune. Put your guess in 'Comments'.

John Williams is the man

We will get back to the game in a bit, but I wanted to take a musical diversion tonight.

I showed this to my co-conspirator here at the Porch a few weeks ago when he was in Springfield. I am sure the followers of our blog will enjoy it.

It's Star Wars! We love it!

Keep not the eager in suspense

Sounds like an ancient proverb, eh?

As for the song lyrics, when I chose this for my first challenge, it didn't occur to me that the apparent music business theme would make it tricky. It's just one that popped into my mind first. If you want something really obscure, just wait until I get going...bwa ha ha ha! (mad scientist laugh).

Oh, the answer. Your guesses were good ones, but it was the third verse of Cinnamon Girl, by Neil Young (1969). The song doesn't go into a long story line like the ones you guessed (Bob Segar, Dire Straits). Basically the song builds up to some well executed hard rock guitar chord progressions and harmonics at the end, and - unless I'm missing something - what theme there is, is all summed up in the first verse:

"I wanna live with a cinnamon girl,
I could be happy the rest of my life with a cinnamon girl"

But if I'd chosen that verse, it would have been too easy. What's always intrigued me by the lyrics is...why ten silver saxes? Why not three or six?

Anyway, that song's gotten enough airplay on the classic rock stations over the years that I guess you have some familiarity with it, but what I don't know is how well you fare with Mr. Young's music. I like maybe one fourth to one third of his stuff, and the handful of what I consider his best efforts I really like. This one, for instance. A lot of people though (like my wife and my kids), just can't stand his singing.

Mike you're up next. And here's an idea to ponder...what do you say to posting two different song challenges at a time?

Ten silver saxes

It's an evocative line and one, I am just sure, I might have remembered - but I don't.

I get the impression that the song might be about the music business itself. That makes me think of Jackson Browne's 'Stay', or Dire Straits' 'Sultans of Swing' or Bob Seger's 'Turn the Page'. The image of the 'silver saxes' makes me want to say it is a Dire Straits song. But I have no idea.

If I have heard it, as Bob has suggested, then why don't I remember this line? I am eager to know the answer.

Ah, the chorus would have given it away

Of course. Mike, the lyrics you chose were just obscure enough that I didn't make the connection. I do remember the song...now. It got good airplay.

Okay, now it's my turn!

"Ten silver saxes
a bass with a bow,
the drummer relaxes
and waits between shows..."

Is this obscure? That depends on if you're a fan of the artist, or on how well you know the genre. Hint: It's almost certain that you've heard this.

Good luck, and have fun!

The game was 'Crashed'

The answer to the Lyrics game was 'Rub It In' as sung by Billy 'Crash' Craddock. An obscure tune, to be sure, but I seem to recall it had it's 15 minutes of fame.

I've got a couple more up my sleeve right now, but I think that Bob may wish to weigh in with a Lyrics Quiz - and, we've got to figure out what to call it - I don't think 'the game' is enough info.

I thought there might have a been a half a dozen or so folks who look at the Porch and that would surely be enough to play. You only need four for Scrabble! And particularly after the grief I caught for not knowing about Levon Helm - Goodness! Surely there are other experts out there!! Let's hear from you!

I'm not bitter . . .

Looks like Mike stumped us all

I really like Mike's song lyrics game, but hey, I think I commented on that before. It's been a few days now and no one has chimed in with the answer.
Which for one thing proves I don't have enough readership here on The Porch yet.

All in good time. Anyway, Mike you have me stumped too. I tried to make it fit one song I thought of, to no avail. Now that I've admitted my puzzlement, I could Google the answer. But instead of that, Mike, I'll give you the honor. What was that song?

New game

As I have reported multiple times before, I listen to Yahoo radio frequently, mostly while at my desk at work. And from time to time I hear things that I probably have heard before but, somehow, this time it just hits me funny. Or hits me poignant. Or hits me clever.

Anyway, I thought, "This is Blog Material!" which probably proves I've too much time on my hands.

Well, here's the game - I print the lyrics that I heard that made me sit up and take notice and all you Porch Heads identify the song. Knowing this bunch, this will probably not be a hard game. However, it will give me something to write about and, after all, production is what we're after.

Here we go:

"turn your radio on
and find a slow, groovin’ song"

Identify the song. No Googling!! Leave your guess in the comments section. And I would suggest that the Grand Poobah of the Porch (Bob) let others guess before he weighs in. I suspect he'll be the Master of this game.

Have fun! I'll check back in a couple of days.