Musical Memories of Chris Childs
Like everyone else, I found narrowing down my selection to 15 tracks well-nigh impossible. I decided in the end that the tracks I chose would not necessarily represent my all-time 15 favourites but, in the spirit of the title of these sessions, they would be favourite tracks that aroused particular memories and about which I could say something. I’ve tried to include a bit of variety and – if there is a link between them – it would be either a distinctive voice or a particular style of guitar playing; both of which are things that particularly appeal to me. Also I believe that all my choices have a story to tell (apart perhaps from the instrumentals) and a good narrative is something I really enjoy in a song.
I was born in West Ham and moved to Heston (Hounslow, close to Heathrow) when I was about 4 years old. It’s a fairly unremarkable place but, in many ways, I consider myself lucky to have grown up there. I had the chance to go to a local youth club where I first came into contact with the music of artists like Bob Dylan; and a lot of the ‘60s bands that I admired cut their teeth less than five miles down the road from where I was living.
I wouldn’t say that my family was particularly musical but my parents did have some old 78s and I remember some of them were by a group called the Ink Spots. I was particularly taken with one song of theirs called Thoughtless, which contained the lyric, “Darling I was so thoughtless, but not because I thought less of you.” I guess that, even then, I liked a song with a good play on words. My cousin also gave me some more modern 78s; Tommy Steele and some Elvis as I recall.
The first singer of popular music that I really took a shine to was probably Lonnie Donegan. We didn’t have a TV when I was young but I managed to see Lonnie performing on my grandparents’ TV set, when we visited them in West Ham, and I could listen to The Battle of New Orleans and Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavour (1959) on Uncle Mac’s Childrens’ Favourites (1954-64/5) or Saturday Club with Brian Matthew (1957-69) on the radio. I could only have been about 10 years old at the time but I remember skiffle was all the rage and my friends & I could often be found with an old washboard and a tea chest bass, trying to imitate Lonnie Donegan.
When I was about 12 I got my first proper record player – one of those rectangular boxes with the speaker in the front and a lid that you lifted to reveal the deck. The record was placed on a spindle and, when you turned the player on, the disc dropped to the turntable and the pick-up arm swung across and descended onto the record.
Once I got the record player, I bought my first single – from the remaindered pile at the local record shop. It was Ja-Da by Johnny and the Hurricanes – they were an American instrumental group featuring organ, guitar and sax who specialised in knocking out versions of old tunes with a rock and roll beat. Their best known releases were probably Red River Rock & Rocking Goose – both of which got to No 3 in the UK charts. (Ja-Da only made it to No 14, which is maybe why it was remaindered.)
Buying a record was a big deal in those days (In 1966 a 45 rpm cost 6s. 8d {34p} and an LP £1.12s.6d {£1. 62.5p} – a quarter of a 15 year-old’s weekly wage.) You would always go to the record shop in town to listen before buying, because -apart from Radio Luxembourg which I tuned into on my crystal set (when I could get reception) secretly in bed - the only opportunity to hear the latest music on the radio was to listen to Saturday Club and, as I said, we didn’t have a TV at the time. On to my first choice.
1. Buddy Holly: Peggy Sue Got Married (1959)
The first LP I bought may well have been Ball Barber & Bilk - a compilation - but the first artist I liked enough to buy a proper LP was Buddy Holly. Actually, for my first choice, it was a hard to decide between Buddy Holly & Del Shannon. Del Shannon singles like Runaway, Hats Off to Larry and Little Town Flirt were all favourites of mine. I called it fairground music. The fair would come to Heston where I grew up and it set up in the local park about half a mile away. I would sit in my bedroom doing my homework and I could hear the music drifting across. They always seemed to play Del Shannon records on the rides and, when you were walking through the fairground with the music blaring away, it really stirred something inside me and seemed quite exciting.
However Buddy Holly was my favourite – his distinctive voice appealed to me; I liked the songs he sang and the sound of his guitar &, of course, he was in a group.
Who knows how things would have turned out had he not died in the air crash in 1958. The crash did a lot for his record sales but he was also widely respected by lots of musicians at the time, including the Beatles, who recorded Words of Love and the Stones: Not Fade Away.
I like to think that maybe Buddy Holly would have ended up in the Travelling Wilburys with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan & George Harrison (plus Jeff Lynne & Tom Petty).
The Crickets were from Lubbock, Texas, and they featured Buddy Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe Mauldin on bass. The guitar, drums, bass template was one followed by many of the bands that came after them. Another unusual feature of the Crickets was that they wrote most of their own material.
Their first hit record, That'll Be the Day, released in 1957, reached number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart. Their producer Norman Petty decided to market the Crickets' recordings under two separate names. The solo vocals were issued as Buddy Holly releases, and the songs with dubbed backing vocals were marketed as Crickets’ recordings. Being played on the radio was all important and Petty argued - correctly as it turned out - that disc jockeys might be reluctant to play a single artist too heavily but would give more airtime to records by two seemingly different groups. Some disc jockeys referred to the band as "Buddy Holly and the Crickets", but record labels never used this wording until after Holly's death.
After Buddy Holly died in 1959 the band continued to tour and record with other band members into the 21st century.
The song I’ve chosen is Peggy Sue Got Married - not one of his most well-known songs but it is a typical Buddy Holly track and a follow-up to one of his best known songs Peggy Sue. So in a way it completes the story of unrequited love.
I like the way the lyrics refer to his previous songs: "You recall a girl that's been in nearly every song. This is what I heard of course the story could be wrong." In fact it is reputed to be one of the first sequels of the rock era. It was written and performed by Buddy and posthumously released as a single in 1959 (with Crying, Waiting, Hoping on the flip side).
The track lasts 2 minutes. Apparently, talking later about the length of his songs, Berry Gordy stated, ”….if you can’t say it in 3 minutes, it’s not worth saying.” Quoting Berry Gordy, Billy Bragg pointed out, that, whilst this is not always true, it’s not a bad maxim to start off with.
2. Chuck Berry: Johnny B Goode (1958)
I count myself very fortunate to have grown up in the ‘60s, with so many great bands around (although, unfortunately, I was just a little too young to actually go and see most of them.)
The big difference then was that, instead of having a singer like Tommy Steele - backed by professional musicians - bands like the Beatles, the Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds, the Who and the Kinks etc were all making their own music (even if – to start with -they were mostly covering other people’s songs).
A bit like the Punk era that came later, the ‘60s made lots of teenagers think they could be in a band too.
For us it started with Skiffle and washboards and then R & B became popular- not the modern version of R & B but music that was a mixture of blues and rock and roll. (I was an enthusiastic collector of the distinctive red and yellow singles on the Pye International R & B label.)
One of the features of R & B was that a lot of the songs followed the same 12 bar blues pattern. Once you had mastered that, it meant that there was a whole list of songs you could play.
Like many other teenagers at the time, I was in a band. One of my close friends was a talented musician. He could play flute and guitar and, most importantly, he had a Vox amplifier. His sister also had a tape recorder, through which we could play our guitars. (Needless to say we wrecked it.) I got a bass guitar & my friend told me what to play. We had a drummer and a couple singers and we were away.
There were no discos in those days and there would be a dance at the local church hall or youth club most weekends, so bands like ours, no matter how terrible, were in demand. We were too young to drive so we could often be seen trudging along the road, guitars on our backs and carrying the Vox amp between us.
Naturally, one of the artists whose songs we played a lot was Chuck Berry. This is a slightly difficult one. Chuck Berry’s sexual history means that – like Jerry Lee Lewis - he not the sort of role model that I would really want in my list. (In January 1962, he was sentenced to three years in prison for offenses under the Mann Act—he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines.)
Despite his somewhat unsavoury private life, he was such an influential musician that I feel I can’t leave him out. He was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; he was cited for having "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance."
Chuck Berry was also ranked fifth on Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 and 2011 lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll includes three of Berry's: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music".
It was his distinctive guitar playing that first attracted me to his music. But you couldn’t ignore his performances, including the famous duck walk, and I really liked his songs – many of which tell stories about his own life and about the lives of young people in America at the time.
Many of the bands I admired at an early age were influenced by Chuck Berry, including the Stones and Eric Clapton etc.
It’s hard to pick a favourite track. Let it Rock came close and I always liked Memphis Tennessee but – appropriately - I have chosen Johnny B Goode, which is all about a young guy aiming to make it to the big time in the world of popular music.
Written by Chuck Berry in 1955, but not released until 1958, Johnny B. Goode is about an illiterate "country boy" from the New Orleans area, who plays a guitar "just like ringing a bell", and who might one day have his "name in lights". Chuck acknowledged that the song is partly autobiographical; apparently the original lyrics referred to Johnny as a "colored boy", but he changed it to "country boy" to get it played on the radio.
Johnny B. Goode is considered one of the most recognizable songs in the history of pop music and it was a major hit among both black and white audiences, peaking at number two on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its Hot 100 chart. It is credited as "the first rock & roll hit about rock & roll stardom" and it is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
Chuck Berry wrote four more songs involving the character Johnny B. Goode, Bye Bye Johnny, Go Go Go, Johnny B. Blues and Lady B. Goode; and titled an album, and the nearly 19-minute instrumental title track from it, as Concerto in B. Goode.
3. Rolling Stones: Brown Sugar (1971)
I’ve always been a fan of the Stones. I bought their first single Come On in 1963 and I’ve continued to follow them ever since.
I would have been 14 at the time and, in those days, you were either a Beatles or a Stones fan. My friend Phil followed the Beatles & I followed the Stones but that didn’t mean you couldn’t listen to each other’s band. He bought all the Beatles records and I would go round to his house to listen to them – especially as he was the only person I knew who had a stereo record player – and he would come round to mine when I bought a Stones record.
Phil’s record player was like mine – basically a box with a lid – except that it had a separate speaker. Stereo was pretty basic then and I can remember Phil and I spending hours dissecting Beatles’ tracks by disconnecting first one speaker and then the other and listening to the different parts of the recording that came out of the different speakers.
There was just something about the Stones. They played Chuck Berry songs and R & B numbers and they looked and seemed far more rebellious, which appealed to me. (Even though they wore jackets, shirts and ties on their first few TV appearances.)
I saw them at the free concert in Hyde Park in July 1969, 2 days after the death of Brian Jones, when they released all the butterflies. This was also Mick Taylor’s full debut performance. (The concert also featured Third Ear Band, King Crimson, Screw, Alexis Korner's New Church, The Battered Ornaments and, a favourite band of mine at the time, Family.)
Whilst the Hyde Park concert was a memorable event for all sorts of reasons, it was the Stones’ first public performance in over two years and critics agree that it was not one of their best. Apparently, even their guitars were out of tune. According to Keith in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone magazine. "We played pretty bad until near the end, because we hadn't played for years ... Nobody minded, because they just wanted to hear us play again."
The audience at that concert was estimated at between 250,000 and 500,000 fans and I think Keith was right; nobody minded too much about the quality of the performance, they were just glad to be there.
I saw the Stones in Hyde Park again in 2013. (One of the 50th anniversary shows). We had to pay this time but the band was much better the second time around. I thought it was a brilliant performance, added to which the facilities were light years ahead of those in 1969. Lots of food and drink, free water (it was a hot day) and plenty of toilets with not a queue in sight!
I could have chosen any number of Stones’ tracks – their recordings are a bit like the soundtrack to my life. In the end I chose Brown Sugar. I know it’s been played to death but for me it is one of their best.
It was released 16 April 1971 – just before I moved to Brighton and it was the opening track & lead single from the album Sticky Fingers. (The Stones’ famous tongue & lips logo first appeared on Sticky Fingers in 1971.) Brown Sugar was a number one hit in both the United States and Canada and a number two hit in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, and has since become a classic rock radio staple, ranking number five on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
It features Mick Taylor who, as I said, first appeared as a member of the band in 1969. (His career with the Stones lasted 1969-1974.) An ex member of John Mayall’s band, for me he never quite fitted the image of a true Rolling Stone – a bit too clean cut and innocent looking somehow. I think Ronnie Wood fits the hedonistic and “how the hell am I still alive” image portrayed by Keith much better. But Mick Taylor was a great guitarist and he complemented Keith really well, even if they didn’t always get on. He appeared on some of the Stones' classic albums including Let It Bleed and Exile on Main St, as well as Sticky Fingers.
In 1995, when asked about Mick Taylor’s contribution to the band by Rolling Stone magazine, Mick Jagger said, "I think he had a big contribution. He made it very musical. He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don't have now. Neither Keith nor Ronnie Wood plays that kind of style. It was very good for me working with him ... Mick Taylor would play very fluid lines against my vocals. He was exciting, and he was very pretty, and it gave me something to follow, to bang off.”
Some people say that the Stones with Mick Taylor was the best version of the band. Asked if he agreed with that assessment, Jagger said: "I obviously can't say if I think Mick Taylor was the best, because it sort of trashes the period the band is in now."
I think Charlie Watts put it well when he said: "I think we chose the right man for the job at that time just as Ronnie was the right man for the job later on. I still think Mick is great. I haven't heard or seen him play in a few years. But certainly what came out of playing with him are musically some of the best things we've ever done.”
In an October 2002 Guitar World interview, Keith Richards looked back (through rose tinted spectacles??) on his relationship with Mick Taylor: "Mick Taylor and I worked really well together... He had some lovely energy. Sweetly sophisticated playing, way beyond his years. Lovely sense of melody. I never understood why he left the Stones. Nor does he, I think... I had no desire to see him go. “ (An attempt at rewriting History?)
Though credited, like most of their compositions, to Mick and Keith the song was mainly Mick’s work. He wrote it in 1969 and it was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama over 3 days, in December 1969. However, it wasn’t released until 1971 due to legal problems with the band's former label. At the request of guitarist Mick Taylor, it was first performed live during the infamous concert at Altamont on 6 December 1969
It was claimed that the song was written with Marsha Hunt in mind. She was Jagger's secret girlfriend and mother of his first child Karis. However, American backing singer Claudia Lennear also claimed that it was about her because, at the time when it was written, Mick used to hang around with her.
In many ways the lyrics are pretty scandalous and certainly not very PC – dealing as they do with a combination of a number of taboo subjects, including slavery, rape, interracial sex, heroin and sadomasochism, to mention but a few.
In 1993 Jagger said, "The lyric was all to do with the dual combination of drugs and girls."
And in a Rolling Stone interview (14 December 1995) Mick Jagger claimed that the lyrical ambiguity was partially why the song was considered successful. "That makes it... the whole mess thrown in. God knows what I'm on about on that song. It's such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go... I never would write that song now."
In these more politically correct days, when the Stones perform "Brown Sugar" live, Mick often changes the lyrics from "Just like a young girl should" to "Just like a young man should." The line "Hear him whip the women just around midnight" is also often changed to the less offensive "You shoulda heard him just around midnight".
What I like about Brown Sugar are the opening riffs, the instantly recognisable guitar sound and the driving beat – it really rocks along. Also making a significant contribution to the whole sound are the sax playing of Bobby Keys and Ian Stewart’s piano.
It’s brilliant played live or just played loud at a disco. It gets everyone upon their feet and the “yeah, yeah, yeah” and answering “woo” has brought it anthemic status.
An alternative version of Brown Sugar was recorded on 18 December 1970, at Olympic Studios in London, after (or during) a birthday party for Keith Richards. It features Al Kooper on piano, and Eric Clapton on slide guitar. Keith wanted to release this version on Sticky Fingers, mostly for its more spontaneous atmosphere, but the original version was preferred. The alternative version, which is well worth a listen, was released in June 2015 on the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of the reissued Sticky Fingers album.
4. John Mayall with Eric Clapton: Steppin’ Out (1966)
The British Rhythm & Blues of the ‘60s (or R & B as it was known) was probably my favourite music of the time. (To be distinguished from Contemporary R & B, which apparently combines, pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music). I enjoyed some original Blues but R & B was more to my liking. Bands like the Yardbirds and the Animals and the Downliners Sect were big favourites.
It was all happening just a few miles away from my home, at places like the Crawdaddy Club at the Station Hotel Richmond and Eel Pie Island. Unfortunately I was just too young to be allowed to go and see my favourite bands playing at these venues.
However - later - I did see Chicken Shack at Eel Pie Island and the Graham Bond Organisation at the Richmond Jazz & Blues Festival. (I missed the bus home and had to walk the 5 miles back to Heston).
John Mayall (born 29 November 1933) is a renowned English blues singer, guitarist, organist and songwriter in his own right. He has an amazing musical career spanning over fifty years. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall’s Blues Breakers - the band that seemed to launch the careers of some of the most famous and blues rock musicians of the day. People like Peter Green, Jack Bruce, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood & Mick Taylor. Then of course there was Eric Clapton.
Like Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton is someone who has not always covered himself in glory but I have followed his career from the days of the Yardbirds, through Cream, Blind Faith, Derek & the Dominoes & on to his solo career. I saw him perform in Cream’s last performance at the Albert Hall & I have seen him on a number of occasions since.
When Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds, he joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and it was in this band that he gained his iconic status (“Eric is God”, “Slowhands” etc). He played on John Mayall’s 2nd album The Blues Breakers: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, released in 1966. It became known as The Beano Album because of its cover photograph showing Clapton reading The Beano. Clapton stated in his autobiography that he was reading The Beano on the cover because he felt like being "uncooperative" during the photo shoot. (Nothing new there then!).
The band on this album includes Mayall on piano, Hammond organ, harmonica and most vocals; John McVie plays bass and Hughie Flint is on drums. Augmenting the band on this album was a horn section added during post-production, with Alan Skidmore, Johnny Almond, and Derek Healey. (They got Derek’s name wrong on the album sleeve, confusing him with the then Secretary of State for Defence, Dennis Healey).
In 2003 the Beano Album was ranked number 195 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Apart from being one of the most influential blues albums, this was the album on which Clapton finally found the sound he had been searching for. Combining a sunburst 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard Guitar and a Marshall “Bluesbreaker” amplifier he played 2 instrumentals on the album that featured some extraordinary guitar playing for the time: Hideaway and Steppin’ Out.
I’ve chosen Steppin' Out , which was a blues-instrumental originally recorded by Memphis Slim in 1959. (You can hear it on Youtube - Memphis Slim playing the opening bars on piano, followed by a tenor sax solo and guitar solos.)
Eric Clapton recorded a number of different versions of Steppin' Out. There were 3 versions with different bands in 1966 alone: Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse in March; with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in April for the Beano album, and with Cream in a live performance for broadcast on BBC Radio in November.
His early versions were relatively brief – ranging from under two minutes to little over three – but in live performances with Cream, Steppin’ Out became an extended improvisational piece often lasting thirteen minutes or more.
The guitar he used was stolen in 1966 and its whereabouts remain unknown. The model is also called the "Blues Breaker” or "Beano” Les Paul and a replica of it was reissued by Gibson in 2012.
Many critics consider Clapton's guitar tone and playing on this album to be hugely influential in the artistic and commercial development of rock-styled guitar playing.
To quote Roger Waters of Pink Floyd in the film Eric Clapton My life in 12 Bars. “That changed everything. Before Eric, guitar playing in England had been Hank Marvin & the Shadows; very, very simple - not much technique. Suddenly we heard something that was completely different. The record (Beano Album) sounded unlike anything any of us had ever heard before and was completely revolutionary.”
5. Jimi Hendrix: All Along the Watchtower (1968)
Having existed on a diet of Buddy Holly & Rolling Stones albums, the first step I made into the unknown was “Are You Experienced” (Released May ’67) by Jimi Hendrix. (I had already bought 2 Jimi Hendrix singles: Hey Joe (released Dec ’66) & Purple Haze (Mar ’67)
For some reason I remember buying this album quite clearly. It was 1967 just before I left home to go to university and it really was a big deal. I was totally blown away by Jimi Hendrix – his guitar playing his attitude etc. Just how 3 people, Jimi, Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Noel Redding (Bass), could make such an amazing sound was a revelation to me.
Looking back on it now, the purchase of this LP was the start of a whole new journey into the world of popular music for me. The next album I bought was Cream, Disraeli Gears and from there I moved on to other so-called “underground” bands like Family and Jethro Tull, and American West Coast music like the Country Joe & the Fish and Jefferson Airplane.
It was a time of pirate radio (despite the passing of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act in 1967, Radio Caroline continued to broadcast intermittently) and there were free concerts – lots of them. Can you believe it was possible to see bands like Jefferson Airplane, Blind Faith, the Stones etc, all for free? And of course there was the Edgar Broughton Band, who seemed to turn up at every concert and demonstration going.
I saw Jimi at the Albert Hall. But my abiding memory of the Jimi Hendrix Experience was – of all places -the Lulu Show in 1969. This was Saturday early evening TV – family viewing - and what Jimi Hendrix was doing on the show is still a mystery to me but, anyway, they were supposed to play Hey Joe with Lulu joining them at the end.
The band started playing but, midway through the song - before Lulu had a chance to join them onstage-Hendrix signalled to the others to stop. "We'd like to stop playing this rubbish," he said, "and dedicate a song to the Cream, regardless of what kind of group they may be in. (Cream had recently disbanded). We dedicate this to Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce." The band then launched into an instrumental version of Sunshine of Your Love.
The performance overran and there was no time for Lulu to sing at the end of her own show. Hendrix was reportedly banned from the BBC as a result but the event made rock and roll history. Years later, Elvis Costello paid homage to Hendrix and did a similar thing on Saturday Night Live. You can watch the clips of both Hendrix’s & Costello’s stunts on Youtube (The Stunt That Got Elvis Costello Banned from SNL)
For my 5th choice I’ve chosen All along the Watchtower, which was recorded in ’67 and released in ’68.
It’s a Dylan song of course and I love the imagery of the song even though I’ve no idea what it’s about. As I understand it Jimi didn’t really know what was about either but it certainly made a big impression on him and he was captivated by its brooding, dramatic nature. Not long after hearing the original he was in the studio recording his own version. Some 27 takes and numerous overdubs later, he succeeded in creating what was hailed by the Telegraph and Rolling Stone as the greatest cover of all time. The first 20 seconds of the introduction still send shivers down my spine.
6. The Doors: You’re Lost Little Girl (1967)
The late ‘60s were a great time for music as far as I was concerned. I was at Reading University and I had the opportunity to see and hear all sorts of bands. Groups like Ten Years After played at my Hall of Residence and the Who played at the Union Ball. I think this would be very unlikely happen now as bands of a similar standing would be far too expensive today.
It was a time of so-called “underground” bands (presumably because their music was seen as non-commercial and part of the so-called counter culture – the hippie movement that was copying what was going on in places like Haight Ashbury in San Francisco). There were lots of free concerts and I was able to hitch to London and see bands like Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Edgar Broughton and my favourite band of the time Family. (Roger Chapman & Rick Gretch).
American “West Coast” bands were also very popular at the time. The Grateful Dead were probably the best known band and a friend of mine was mad about Captain Beefheart. But I liked Country Joe & the Fish and Jefferson Airplane (who I also saw at a free concert). Then there were the Byrds (Roger {Jim} McGuinn, Dave Crosby, Gene Clark Chris Hillman – Gram Parsons joined 1967) and Buffalo Springfield (Stephen Stills and Neil Young).
But I guess my favourites were The Doors, who I saw a number of times in the late ‘60s. The Doors were formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with
• Jim Morrison on vocals
• Ray Manzarek on keyboards
• John Densmore on drums
• Robby Krieger on guitar
Apparently the band’s name was Morrison's suggestion and it came from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, which itself was a reference to a quote made by William Blake, "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”
I was a great fan of The Doors and I saw them several times - at free concerts and also at the Roundhouse in London. They had a unique sound. Jim Morrison was the charismatic front man of course. He had great presence and his voice could be mesmerising but he was also unpredictable.
The songs were often provocative and uncompromising and ranged from hits like Light my Fire and Hello I Love You, to epics like When the Music’s Over and The End, which lasted 11-12 mins each on record and could go on for hours live.
However it wasn’t all about Morrison; it was a band of talented musicians. I particularly liked Ray Manzarak’s keyboard playing and the guitar of Robby Krieger. Together they produced a distinctive sound.
After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973. They are regarded as one of the most influential bands of the ‘60s and - interestingly - their popularity has persisted long after they stopped playing. They have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.
They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993. Sadly Ray Manzarak, possibly my favourite band member, died in 2013.
The song I have chosen maybe isn’t one of their best known numbers. It’s the second track on The Doors’ 1967 album Strange Days. The album had two top 30 hit singles People Are Strange and Love Me Two Times . My choice was never released as a single and is perhaps one of the Doors’ calmer, more subdued numbers but it demonstrates the sound created by the band very well.
The track is called: You’re Lost Little Girl and Ray Manzarek suggested that it was about a very young Mia Farrow, who had just got married to the much, older Frank Sinatra.
7. Emmylou Harris: Boulder to Birmingham (1975)
I enjoy Country Music & I like Rock but I am also a big fan of Americana, which is difficult to categorise but has been described as covering those artists that don’t fit comfortably in to either Country or Rock.
Americana is music drawn from the shared musical traditions of the United States and is defined by the Americana Music Association (AMA) as "contemporary music that incorporates elements of various mostly acoustic American roots music styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, gospel and bluegrass resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band.”
Although the term had its origins in the mid ‘80s and didn’t really come into its own until the ‘90s I think the category fits the music of Emmylou Harris very well.
I can’t really remember how I came across her music but I had been a fan of the Birds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby Stills Nash & Young etc, and Emmylou followed on naturally from that.
The track I have chosen, Boulder to Birmingham was co-written by Emmylou Harris and Bill Danoff. (She wrote the lyrics and he wrote the music I believe.) It was the central song on her second solo album Pieces of the Sky released in 1975. Although she had released a rather obscure folk-styled album Gliding Bird five years earlier, Pieces of the Sky became the album that launched Emmylou’s career and is widely considered to be her début, reaching the No. 7 spot in the Billboard country albums chart.
Early in her career, Emmylou toured with Gram Parsons and sang on his 1973 album GP. Gram had played with the Byrds & the Flying Burrito Brothers and he mentored Emmylou at a time when she was struggling in the music business. They became good friends she forged a musical relationship with him that would alter the musical direction that her career would take.
Emmylou & Gram Parsons seemed to really complement each other when they played together and, in 1973, they worked on Gram’s album Grievous Angel – she sang on all the songs but one. Gram Parsons was battling heroin and alcohol addiction and was a bit of mess during the recording of the album and Emmylou reputedly ended up minding him – getting him to the studio etc.
Sadly, after mixing the album, Gram Parsons set off for Joshua Tree, California, where he died of a drug overdose. His album was released posthumously and, although it received great critical acclaim upon release, it failed to find commercial success. Despite its modest sales, it is viewed as a successful example of the hybrid between country and rock and roll that Parsons called "Cosmic American Music” – personally I think the term “Americana” is better.
The Grievous Angel album was originally credited to "Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris" and featured a photograph of the two of them on the front cover. Parsons's widow, Gretchen, who – perhaps unsurprisingly - had never cared for Emmylou Harris's relationship with her husband, removed Emmylou from the front of the album and relegated her to a credit on the back cover.
Emmylou was devastated by Gram Parson’s death: she said that learning he had died was “like falling off a mountain.” Her feelings of grief were expressed in the song Boulder to Birmingham - which is known for its chorus "I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham/I would hold my life in his saving grace/I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham/If I thought I could see, I could see your face.“
The album Pieces of the Sky was produced by Brian Ahern and is reckoned to be a great example of his production strategy, which was to focus on the voice. There are no background vocals and the various instruments, including acoustic and pedal steel guitar, are carefully mixed to accentuate her singing.
Brian Ahern produced Emmylou’s next few albums and they married in 1977 (the same month her 3rd album Luxury Liner was released. They divorced in 1984.
Incidentally Pieces of the Sky was recorded with several musicians who went on to become her legendary Hot Band (1974-91). After Parson’s death in 1973, Emmylou, living in Los Angeles at the time, began to think about a solo career. Warner Bros. Records signed her up but she was told she would need to form “a hot band” to back her.
The resulting “Hot Band” included the celebrated guitarist James Burton (who had played with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson and countless others since the mid-’50s), Glen D. Hardin, who was Elvis’s long-time pianist (and an honorary member of the Crickets after Buddy Holly’s death), steel guitarist Hank DeVito, bassist Emory Gordy Jr, drummer John Ware and Singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell who was enlisted as a rhythm guitarist and duet partner. (Some Band!)
When Burton left the Hot Band in 1976 preferring to stay with Elvis’s Band he was replaced by the English guitarist Albert Lee. (It gets even better.)
As I noted earlier, Boulder to Birmingham was the central track on Pieces of the Sky and the song became something of a signature tune for Emmylou Harris.
8. Paul Simon: Under African Skies (1987)
For my next choice I’ve selected a track from Paul Simon’s album Graceland. This was his 7th solo studio album, released on August 26th, 1986. I’d always liked Paul Simon - not enough to include him in my favourites - but Graceland was completely different; vibrant, exciting, and I loved the mixture of musical styles on the album, from pop & rock to South African music and even Zydeco. But above all it was the sound made by the South African musicians that really attracted me, the guitar, the whoomping bass and the choir of Ladysmith Black Mombasa.
Graceland did really well commercially and it became Simon's most successful studio album. It was lauded by critics and it won the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It is estimated to have sold up to 16 million copies worldwide; it has been called one of the best albums of the 1980s, and is included in numerous publications' lists of greatest albums of all time. It was added to the National Recording Registry in 2007, having been judged to meet the registry's admission criterion of being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."
Whilst I think it is a brilliant album, I can’t deny that it was also very controversial, stirring up controversy even before it was released. At the time Paul Simon went to South Africa to record the album with local musicians, the country had been placed under an international boycott by the United Nations, as a result of its policy of apartheid. Paul Simon ignored the boycott and to some he was a rebellious hero taking a stand against bureaucracy and totalitarian regimes; to others he was a naïve fool who undermined the anti-apartheid cause.
Was he right to break the boycott, and should he have made the album at all? Some people felt he was a little more than a common thief, stealing black South African culture. To some critics the album amounted to a kind of musical colonialism: a white man going to Africa, strip-mining raw materials, and bringing it home to the West where it could be refined and sold at a massive profit.
At the time terms like “cultural appropriation” didn’t really exist and white artists had been incorporating traditionally black music into their work for most of the 20th century. If they acknowledged this at all they would describe it with phrases like “borrowing” or “paying homage to”.
But Graceland was ground breaking for acknowledging its influences for all to see. Paul Simon’s insistence that the album was a true collaboration is arguable but South African musicians and singers were invited to share the spotlight with him and he gave many of them mainstream international exposure for the first time. Following the album’s completion, he toured Graceland alongside South African musicians, providing them with a platform when their homeland legally prohibited them from participating on an international stage.
In 2012 saxophonist Barney Rachabane recalled: “In South Africa, we had no opportunity…you could have dreams, but they never come true. It really destroys you. But Graceland opened my eyes and set a tone of hope in my life.” Reportedly, this was a view shared by practically all of the musicians who played with Simon on Graceland.
Paul Simon insisted that the South African musicians who played and recorded with him were there of their own free will and he went to great lengths to make sure that they were all treated as equals throughout the sessions. He offered the band almost $200 dollars an hour – triple the scale wages for top players in New York City – at a time when the going rate in Johannesburg was around $15 a day. Moreover, he promised to share writing credits for any musical or lyrical input.
The South African black musician’s union, understandably suspicious of the deal, nevertheless thought it was good enough to pass a resolution formally inviting Simon to record in their country. When sessions were shifted to New York City and London, Paul Simon made sure his musicians flew first class, stayed at the top rate hotels, and dined in five-star restaurants.
Even so, recording in Johannesburg wasn’t without its problems. The early dates in Johannesburg had an undeniable edge. “There was a surface tranquility, but right below the surface there was all this tension,” Simon told Rolling Stone in 1986. “For instance, we would begin recording sessions at noon, and we would stop when we got a finished track. So a session could go past dark. But once it gets past dark, the musicians have to figure out a way home. They couldn’t use public transportation. They are not allowed to be on the streets of Johannesburg after curfew. They would have to show papers, and it was something they clearly didn’t want to have to do. So always around six or seven o’clock, there would be an uncomfortable time when the players couldn’t concentrate until they knew there might be a car to take them home.”
Despite treating them well and providing them with an international showcase, not all South African musicians were happy with Paul Simon’s project. Famed South African trombonist and anti-apartheid activist Jonas Gwangwa summed up the thoughts of a number of black artists when confronted with Graceland‘s success: “So, it has taken another white man to discover my people?”
Years later Simon reflected on the criticism he received: “The intensity of the criticism really did surprise me…... Part of the criticism was, ‘Here’s this white guy from New York, and he ripped off these poor innocent guys.'”
The question of cultural appropriation is arguable but ignoring the international boycott was much more serious. The cultural boycott of South Africa could be seen as a deeply flawed strategy that did more harm than good for the black population it was put in place to support. But flouting it could be – and often was – seen as tacit support of a brutal racist regime.
Dali Tambo, founder of Artists Against Apartheid, felt that Paul Simon put the showbiz ambitions of a handful of local musicians above the struggles of a nation. “We were fighting for our land, for our identity,” he told The New York Times. “We had a job to do, and it was a serious job. And we saw Paul Simon coming as a threat because it was not sanctioned … by the liberation movement.”
I can’t remember where I got this quote but it sums up the controversy very well: “The Graceland saga is a tale of black, white and a sprawling grey area”.
At the time Gracelands came out I hadn’t been to Africa, but since then, I have visited half a dozen African countries, so the track Under African Skies is now particularly meaningful to me. When my wife and I went to Namibia we didn’t see a cloud for 2 weeks. So this particular track evokes strong associations.
It was the fifth and final single from the album, released in August 1987, and even this track didn’t escape controversy. The song features guest vocals from Linda Ronstadt, whose contribution caused nearly as much outrage as Simon’s decision to employ South African musicians and record in Johannesburg. She had also broken the boycott by making six appearances at the luxury Sun City resort in May 1983.
Whilst she was obviously aware of the abysmal human rights practices in South Africa she claimed that she was unaware of an official boycott until she had already arrived at Sun City. She had to make a quick decision: she was approached to appear as a last-minute replacement act for the strange duo of Frank Sinatra and boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. “I had two days to decide [to come],” she told Rolling Stone at the time. “I talked to everyone. I called friends of mine at Motown. Their story was: ‘Black artists go, so we can’t tell you not to go.”
Whether or not she was initially genuinely unaware of the boycott and failed to grasp the complexity of the situation, she remained defiant: “The last place for a boycott is in the arts. I don’t like being told I can’t go somewhere.”
She repeatedly maintained that her appearances were not an endorsement of the South African government; so she went and performed, accepted a $500,000 fee and received worldwide condemnation for the concerts.
Sidestepping the controversy surrounding her involvement in the recording, Linda Ronstadt also made an interesting contribution to the lyrics of Under African Skies. Apparently Paul Simon rang her up one day to say that he was having a hard time writing the song and he asked her to give him some images her childhood. She told him that she grew up in Tucson, Arizona near the San Javier Mission. “I’ve loved that place and considered it my spiritual homeland. I told him about the mission, and he included that part in the song.” So, even though it’s about Africa there’s a verse in the song that references Linda Ronstadt’s youthful memories of the American Southwest.
In early memory
Mission music
Was ringing 'round my nursery door
I said take this child, Lord
From Tucson Arizona
Give her the wings to fly through harmony
And she won't bother you no more
I visit Arizona quite a lot and I’ve been to the San Javier Mission – an amazing building - so it’s another close association I have with the song.
According to Paul Simon, the purpose of the track was to both celebrate music’s power to nourish the soul and also illustrate how we are all united under the same sky. But not everyone saw it like that. Nelson George of Billboard likened the choice of Ronstadt to sing on the track to “using gasoline to put out birthday candles.” Legendary rock writer Robert Christgau described Ronstadt’s presence on Graceland as, “A deliberate, considered, headstrong slap in the face…..” to the world anti-apartheid movement.
The Youtube live version is well worth watching: Paul Simon - Under African Skies (Live from The African Concert, 1987) with Miriam Makeba.
9. Mark Knopfler: Going Home (Theme from Local Hero) (1983)
From the moment I first heard Sultans of Swing I was a dire Straits fan. I guess it must have been late ’78 early ’79. I had just returned to Brighton after spending a year in the Lake District. Coming back to Brighton again, everything seemed to move at a very fast pace compared to the Lakes. It was also the time I met John Simkin and we spent a year driving from Brighton to Heathfield and back every day – putting the world to rights en route. John tells me that we did talk about Dire Straits at the time, although I don’t really remember doing so.
Sultans of Swing would have been an automatic choice in my list of 15 musical memories. The idea – which according to Mark Knopfler he actually witnessed - of a jazz band playing their heart out, largely ignored, in a practically deserted pub in south London (Deptford) and the lead singer announcing at the end of the set that they were the “Sultans of Swing” - the contrast between the group's grandiose name and their somewhat less than salubrious surroundings - just seemed so apt.
I found the words of the song particularly appealing. They describe old-school musicians, well-versed in their craft: real characters who live for the music and who have no interest in achieving recognition, fame or fortune.
Check out guitar George, he knows-all the chords
Mind he's strictly rhythm he doesn't want to make them cry or sing
They said an old guitar is all he can afford
When he gets up under the lights to play his thing
And Harry doesn't mind, if he doesn't, make the scene
He's got a daytime job, he's doing alright
He can play the honky tonk like anything
Savin' it up, for Friday night
And then there was Mark Knopfler’s guitar playing……I just thought everything about Sultan’s of Swing was brilliant. But the track had already been chosen in one of the earlier sessions so, in the end, I had to go for something else.
Although it’s no longer fashionable to say so (with disparaging comments about “Dad Rock” flying round), Dire Straits (founded in 1977 by Mark & David Knopfler) remain one of my all-time favourite bands - probably in second place after the Stones - and, since they finally disbanded in 1995, I have continued to follow Mark Knopfler as a solo artist.
I don’t think he is the world’s best singer – but then neither are artists like Bob Dylan. He’s a finger style guitarist - ranked 27th on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time - and, whether he’s playing a National Guitar (acoustic steel, resonator guitar) or his Fender Stratocaster, I really admire his style. (Apparently he is left handed but plays the guitar right handed.)
I also enjoy the songs that he writes, many of which reference his upbringing in the North East (eg Tunnel of Love, about the Spanish City funfair at Whitley Bay North Tyneside.)
One track I nearly chose was Sailing To Philadelphia – a song about Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon (from County Durham) the two English surveyors who established the border separating Pennsylvania and Delaware from Maryland and Virginia in the 1760s. This border later became known as the Mason–Dixon line and was used to denote the border between the Southern and Northern States in the USA – an area of the world and a period of history that particularly interests me.
As well as being a musician, Mark Knopfler is also a record producer, (He has produced albums for Tina Turner, Bob Dylan and Randy Newman) and he composes film scores. He has composed and produced film scores for nine films, the first of which was the film Local Hero in 1983.
Local Hero is a long-time favourite film of mine. A comedy-drama, which is not usually my type of film, it was written and directed by Bill Forsyth (who won the 1984 BAFTA Award for Best Direction) and produced by David Puttnam. The film is about the conflict faced by the representative of an American oil company (Mac) who is sent to the west coast of Scotland to purchase a village and the surrounding property to make way for a refinery. Gradually Mac gets used to the slower-paced life and comes to know the eccentric local residents. As he does so, he realises that building the refinery will spell the end of the quaint little village he has come to love.
I’ve chosen the theme tune from the film Going Home. A lot of Mark Knopfler’s music has a Celtic influence, with songs and tunes about Ireland and Scotland, often involving traditional instruments. There’s a great Youtube clip in which the track is played against various Scottish scenes (Going Home-Wild Theme- from "Local Hero " motion picture- Mark Knopfler) and the opening two and a half minutes of the track complement the scenery very well. But it is the triumphant second half of the track, combining two of my favourite instruments (the guitar and saxophone), that really makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Going Home, is played at Newcastle United F.C. and Aberdeen FC home games. , and apparently also at the end of games at other clubs such as Tranmere Rovers F.C. In ice hockey, the Fife Flyers play Going Home at the end of every home match.
The song also used to be played at the end of Dire Straits concerts, after all the encores. When the lights went up, the road crew would start to de-rig the set, whilst this tune was blaring out. It was really effective and left everyone in no doubt that’s it was time to go home.
I chose this track to be played at my wedding, as we were leaving the church, and I would like it played at my funeral.
10. Billy Bragg: Levi Stubbs’ Tears (1986)
Billy Bragg grew up in Barking, a working class suburb in east London. He understood that, unless he did something drastic, a career at the local car factory was waiting for him. "To get out of it, it seemed I needed to be a boxer, a footballer or a rock star. I didn't want to get punched in the head," Bragg later recalled, "and I'm not that good at football, so I went for music."
He has been one of my favourite performers for a long time. Billy is famous for his political views and protest songs; his involvement in Red Wedge etc but I also think he is a brilliant performer – particularly a solo performer. I’ve seen him on a number of occasions; at the Hackney Empire and in Brighton.
Last year I saw him at St George’s Church in Kemp Town performing with an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, Joe Henry. Together they had recorded an album of railway songs called “Shine a Light” - something they did while travelling around the US by train. (Listening to Rock Island Line took me right back to Lonnie Donegan & the Skiffle days.)
One of the best live performances I’ve seen from anybody was Billy playing at Brighton Dome a few years ago. It was just him, his guitar and a cup of tea on the stage, with a number of Union banners as a backdrop. He really engages the audience with his presence, his banter, his anecdotes and his philospical and political remarks. He completely owns the stage but he does it in an informal manner.
The sound he can create with a single guitar is remarkable; ranging from the loud, brash metallic sound as he belts out Waiting for the Great Leap Forward, to the more melodic tone of his love songs like Saturday Boy, Shirley or Walk Away Renee. The only comparable performance I have seen from a solo performer was also at the Dome and that was Elvis Costello (who originates from the same stable as Billy).
I could have picked a number of songs that have a special association or memories for me: The World Turned Upside Down, There’s Power in a Union or Waiting for the Great Leap Forward. But, instead of one of his political standards, I chose Levi Stubbs Tears – the first single released from Billy’s 1986 album Talking with the Taxman about Poetry (described as the difficult third album).
One of the things that particularly attracts me to Billy Bragg songs is the word play and imagery that he uses. Right from the start of his career, he wrote great songs about the lives of ordinary people and any song that starts with the words: With the money from her accident she bought herself a mobile home” gets my vote.
A bit pretentious perhaps but, I’ve seen this opening line described as “a complete and self-contained twelve word story”. It’s in your face from the start. In one sentence it gets you wondering about this person, what happened to them and what their future will be. In one line it has you hooked.
The song is about a young woman who leads a very bleak life:
She ran away from home in her mother’s best coat. She was married before she was even entitled to vote”.
She spends most of her time on her own and she lives in an abusive relationship that ends in extreme violence. But she is resigned to her lot and takes comfort in the music of the Four Tops. She imagines Levi Stubbs, their lead vocalist, crying for her as he sings.
In the middle of the song – instead of an instrumental eight - Billy lists the names of 5 song writers: Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.
Are here to make everything right that’s wrong.
Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too
Are here to make it all okay with you.
These are the people who wrote the lyrics for Motown artists like the Four Tops, from which the woman in the song draws solace. Billy is often thought to have been influenced by a mixture of Punk & Woody Guthrie but there is no doubt that, like me, he grew up (he was born 1957) listening to Soul & Motown music and its influence on his work is often overlooked.
So you have this desperately sad song but accompanying it is the harsh metallic sound of Billy’s guitar- described in one review as having the effect of a tin plate dragged across prison bars. And, at the end of the song, he is accompanied by some mournful horn playing. In the early days I remember he had a trumpet player called Dave “Woody” Woodhead. Does the horn provide a final note of optimism/of stubborn resilience?
Although it's one of Billy’s saddest tracks, it’s also one of his most powerful.
When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face.
11. Jackson Browne: The Birds of St Marks (2014)
My 11th choice is what I might call “the Leonard Cohen slot”: it seems as if it’s almost obligatory to choose a Leonard Cohen track in these sessions. However, I’ve never really been a great Cohen fan, so I chose Jackson Browne instead. In 2003 the Guardian wrote about Jackson Browne’s: “long-standing reputation for extreme earnestness... writing infinitely weary songs about death, disillusion and apocalypse when still in his early 20s”
So it’s not Leonard Cohen but it could be a close run thing and it’s as near as you’re going to get I’m afraid.
Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948 in Germany) is an American singer-songwriter and musician of course. When he was three his family moved to LA and, after graduating in 1966, he joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (a country-rock band) who performed some of his songs. After a few months he moved to Greenwich Village New York where he backed Tim Buckley and Nico of Velvet Underground. In 1967 became romantically involved with Nico and in 1968, after breaking up with her, he returned to Los Angeles, where he formed a folk band and first met Glenn Frey.
Browne's early songs, such as These Days, were recorded by some famous artists: the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tom Rush, Gregg Allman, Joan Baez, Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, the Byrds, and others.
He didn’t really come to prominence as a solo artist and start releasing his own versions of his songs until the ‘70s. Since then he’s sold over 18 million albums in the United States alone. In 2015, Rolling Stone listed him as number 37 in its list of "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.” He is also well known for his environmental & political activism.
In the Sixties, Bob Dylan had an uncanny ability to define a decade and its denizens. Throughout the Seventies and into the Eighties - for me, at least - Jackson Browne has taken over this job and done it better than anyone else. (Rolling Stone Interview 1980)
He’s someone whose song-writing, singing and musician ship I admire but I could have just as easily chosen someone like Elvis Costello, another song-writer and performer I greatly admire.
In the end I chose Jackson Browne for the sort of music he represents to me. In my mind there is a musical connection, as well as a personnel connection, through bands like the Hollies (Graham Nash), the Byrds (Roger McGuin, Dave Crosby, Gram Parsons), Buffalo Springfield (Stephen Stills & Neil Young) & then Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. These were all bands I followed in the late ‘60s. Then there were their successors – bands like the Eagles (Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Glen Frey) and artists like Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Jackson Browne follows in this tradition very well.
It’s that Country-Rock, Americana connection again. I visit the USA quite a lot and enjoy travelling through the American West. When driving through the Arizona scenery nothing seems more appropriate than playing an artist like Jackson Browne on the radio.
Once again there’s a whole bunch of tracks I could have chosen: Running on Empty, Doctor My Eyes, These Days, The Pretender, Take it Easy (written with Glen Frey and a big hit for the Eagles),The Naked Ride Home etc.
Instead I chose a more modern track, although The Birds of St. Marks was originally written in 1967. This was when Jackson Browne was 18 and returning home to California after his brief stint living in New York where he was recording with Nico.
The song was recorded as a demo in 1970 and again on an acoustic album in 1994. But Browne didn’t record it properly until 2014 and it appears on his 14th studio album Standing In The Breach.
"This is a song I always heard as a Byrds song, and that was even part of the writing of the song," he told Rolling Stone in an August 2014 interview, and you can certainly hear a "Roger McGuinn-esque 12-string," featured on the recording and – according to Rolling Stone - “even an essence of Crosby in the vocal harmonies."
12. Eric Bibb: The Cape (2004)
I must have first seen Eric Bibb about 20 years ago. Apart from Christmas cards, I hadn't been in contact with Phil, the childhood friend I mentioned at the start of this session, for many years. Then suddenly he rang me up to tell me that there was this singer- guitarist that he really liked, performing in Brighton and would I like to go.
Phil was a good judge and I took to Eric Bibb right from the start. He is often described as an acoustic blues singer-songwriter but he is so much more than that. Yes he does play folk blues but he also writes his own songs, many of which fail to fit neatly into any genre of music. A recent review in the Brighton Argus described his music as an " effervescent mix of blues and soul mixed with compelling gospel and folk infusions ."
He ticks all the boxes for me. He is brilliant guitarist, playing finger-picking style on acoustic guitar, and he is a good singer with a distinctive voice. He is also a gifted songwriter and storyteller.
Although he is quite well-known now and does play to larger audiences (he recently supported George Benson) you usually get to see him up close. I have seen him several times in small, local venues, sometimes on his own, sometimes with other musicians like the Swedish guitarist Staffan Astner and, occasionally, with a small band.
In fact I saw him a couple of weeks ago in Kemp Town. He has none of what I would call the star-performer characteristics; he relates to his audience very well and you really feel he is talking to you – to the extent that he usually goes to the back of the hall to meet up with and chat to the audience after the show.
Again from the Argus review : " Eric Bibb is simply, unflappably cool; a performer that has you gripped from the first notes to his very last chord."
He has an interesting background. He was born in New York in 1951. His father was Leon Bibb, a musical theatre singer, who made a name for himself as part of the 1960s New York folk scene; his uncle was the jazz pianist and composer John Lewis , of the Modern Jazz Quartet . Family friends included Pete Seeger , and the actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson was Eric's godfather. During the late-1950s and early-1960s, Eric's father Leon was one of a number of American entertainers, including his good friend Paul Robeson , who were blacklisted for alleged ties to left-wing groups and causes.
Eric was given his first steel-string acoustic guitar at age seven. Growing up surrounded by talent, he recalls a childhood conversation with Bob Dylan who, on the subject of guitar playing, advised the 11-year-old Bibb to " Keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff."
When Bibb was 16 years old, he played guitar in the house band for his father's TV talent show Someone New. He then went to Columbia University to study Psychology & Russian and in 1970, aged 19, he left the US for Paris.
He has lived in Britain, France and Finland, and he has travelled extensively , gathering critical acclaim wherever he goes. His current home is in Sweden and, unusually for an American, he regards himself as a citizen of the world.
To quote Eric himself, a big part of his life, " is travelling and getting to know folks from many places. This exposure to different cultures has led me to think of myself as a citizen of the world, blessed with countless opportunities to recognise my connectedness to people everywhere. Feeling this connection makes it easier to let go of my pre-conceived notions and prejudices toward people and cultures that are outside of my experience."
This might sound a bit pretentious coming from some people but you really get the impression that Eric means it and lives his life accordingly.
His latest album, the 37 th of his career, delivers a strong political message. It's called Migration Blues and it's a response to " the ongoing plight of refugees everywhere." It includes songs about the journey slaves took to America, a traditional cover of Woody Guthrie's " This Land Is Your Land " and Dylan's "Masters of War."
A migrant himself, Eric says, "Whether you're looking at a former sharecropper hitchhiking from Clarksdale to Chicago in 1923, or an orphan from Aleppo, in a boat full of refugees in 2016 – its migration blues."
"I want to encourage us all to keep our minds and hearts wide open to the ongoing plight of refugees everywhere," he insists. "As history shows, we all come from people who, at some time or another, had to move."
However, as much as I enjoy them, I haven't chosen one of Eric's more traditional blues songs. The track I have chosen is called, The Cape. It's from an Album called Friends , released in 2004 and it features the guitar of Martin Simpson, English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter.
It's not one of Eric's own songs, it was written by Guy Clark but it is typical of some of the simpler songs he sings. Eric's voice is a bit more gravelly than normal but the track demonstrates his acoustic guitar playing very well. I also like the message behind the song; a philosophy for life if you like.
Voltaire said, " Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe".
So spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape.
13. Tedeschi Trucks Band: Calling Out To You (2013)
In one of the earlier sessions it was suggested that music from more recent times (I think the cut-off point was sometime about the year 2000) didn’t provide much in the way of musical memories. I have chosen the next two tracks to try and dispute that idea. But I realise that, by doing so, I might be shooting myself in the foot and – in the minds of some of you - I might be proving the original proposition right, We’ll see……
My next choice is the Tedeschi Trucks Band. I’m not sure when I first heard them but it must have been about 2013, when their second album Made Up Mind was released. I probably picked up a link on Facebook or Youtube, or maybe I heard them on Paul Jones’ Radio 2 Blues programme. Anyway I liked them from the start and I’ve bought all their records since. I haven’t seen them live yet but it’s on my bucket list & I’ve watched countless live performances on Youtube.
Tedeschi Trucks Band is an American band based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 2010, it is led by married couple Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. They are both well-known artists in their own right.
Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) is an American guitarist – he plays slide guitar - and songwriter. He founded the Derek Trucks band in 1994 and, by his 20th birthday, he had played with artists such as Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh, and Stephen Stills. He performed with The Allman Brothers for several years as a guest musician, and became an official member of The Allman Brothers Band in 1999. He’s also collaborated and toured with Eric Clapton. He has twice appeared on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Susan Tedeschi (born November 9, 1970) is an American singer and guitarist. She formed the Susan Tedeschi Band in 1993 and learned how to play blues guitar. She has a powerful voice which has been described as a blend of Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, which she maintains is because she has been influenced by both singers.
Eventually she & her band found themselves opening for acts like John Mellencamp, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Bob Dylan and even the Rolling Stones in 2003.
In 1999, in New Orleans, she was the opening act on the Allman Brothers Band's Summer Tour, which is where she met Derek Trucks and, in December 2001, they married. With Derek Trucks on guitar and Susan Tedeschi’s powerful vocals, they complement each other very well and they frequently toured together under the name Soul Stew Revival.
In 2010 the couple merged their respective groups to form the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Derek left the Allman brothers at the end of 2014, the same year the Allman Brothers announced their retirement. (Derek played in their final show on October 28, 2014, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.)
Unlike Soul Stew Revival – the Tedeschi Trucks Band focuses on writing and performing original material, although they still play plenty of covers. Their repertoire includes blues, soul, rock, R & B even Bob Dylan (they do a great version of Don’t Think Twice) and Leonard Cohen. (I did think about selecting their version of Bird on a Wire, but I thought I might be lynched.)
I love an R & B big band and I’ve been to see Jools Holland many times. The blending of all the different instruments – there’s so much to watch and to listen to. Tedeschi Trucks has about 12 members, including Derek and Susan - a brass section, keyboards, flute, backing vocals etc. I guess you’ve got to watch them live really.
The track I’ve chosen is Calling out to You - written by Eric Krasno & David Gutter. This is a stripped -down track from their 2nd Album Made up Mind. You don’t really hear the band in full flow on this track but you can appreciate both Susan’s singing and Derek’s guitar playing. (Incidentally there’s a great acoustic version of this song on Youtube featuring Susan accompanied by flute and Derek on acoustic guitar.)
14. Lake Street Dive: I Want You Back (2012)
I first became aware of Lake Street Dive about 4 or 5 years ago. I came across them on YouTube, performing an acoustic version of the Jackson 5 song I Want You Back on a Boston street corner in 2012. The clip was a big hit on YouTube, receiving over 5 million views.
The band was founded in 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts. It consists of Rachael Price (lead vocals), Bridget Kearney (upright bass), Mike "McDuck" Olson (trumpet, guitar), and Mike Calabrese (drums). They met while attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and the band is named after a street with many dive bars in Olson's hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their newest member is Akie Bermiss (keyboards) who joined the band on tour in 2017 and is on their 2018 album. They’re now based in Brooklyn.
Their music covers several genres including, pop, soul, Motown, folk rock etc and they claim as influences songs from the likes of the Mamas and the Papas, ABBA, the Drifters, Fleetwood Mac, Hall & Oates, Jackson 5 and Paul McCartney.
They are all accomplished musicians; most of them came from a musical background and had some classical music training. By the time they met they had migrated to jazz. However, the band says they were influenced by the music their parents were playing at home - ranging from swing-era jazz to classic '60s pop, soul and rock & roll. Their music definitely has a jazzy feel to it and, in Rachel & Bridget, they have a couple of powerful women performers.
They’ve released several albums and I’ve seen them performing a couple of times in Brighton. They are very good live.
The track I’ve chosen is the Jackson Five’s I Want You Back – not the version performed on the streets of Boston (although I do recommend looking at that on Youtube) but a studio version recorded as a track on an EP called Fun Machine that was released in 2012.
15. Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (2004)
This is a live Performance at the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony – featuring Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison etc (available on Youtube).
Well, I’ve come to my last choice and I look at the list of all the artists and tracks I haven’t included. The Animals for example. When I retired, my wife was asked what my favourite piece of music was – so that it could be played at my leaving “do”. With no hesitation she said “House of the Rising Sun” – probably because she’s heard me attempting to play it on the guitar ever since she’s known me.
I can’t believe I haven’t included tracks from some of my other favourite artists such as, Elvis Costello, Bruce Sprinsteen, Ry Cooder, The Killers, Joan Armatrading, Family, The Kinks, The Everly Brothers, Kirsty McColl, The Who, Cream, The Band, The Pretenders, Toots & the Maytalls, Sam Cooke, David Bowie, Squeeze, Small Faces etc, not to mention all the Soul & Motown artists.
To make up for these omissions I have cheated a bit on my last choice and I’ve chosen a live performance from the posthumous induction of George Harrison into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 – 3 years after his death in 2001.
This has enabled me to combine several potential choices in one – one of my favourite songs performed by a band which included several of my favourite artists. The song is George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” which originally appeared on the Beatles’ White Album in 1968.
George wrote the song after his return from India, where the Beatles had been studying Transcendental Meditation under the Maharishi during the spring of 1968. It is said to be his comment on the disharmony within the Beatles following their return and, initially, the rest of the band were certainly not very taken with the song.
So George countered by inviting his friend Eric Clapton, to contribute to the recording. Clapton overdubbed a lead guitar part, although he was not formally credited for his contribution. Eric said later that "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" conveyed Harrison's spiritual isolation within the group.
I must admit I’m not partly struck on the lyrics. Lines like “I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping” seem rather banal to me. Apparently the song conveys George’s dismay at the world's unrealised potential for the universal love, latent in us all, which he refers to as "the love there that's sleeping". All very profound and perhaps rather pretentious to our modern more cynical minds.
Harrison’s claimed that the song was an exercise in randomness inspired by reading the Chinese I Ching. Embracing the idea of relativism, he decided to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening a book, which happened to be "gently weeps” and the rest, as they say, is history.
Despite my reservations I do like the song; it has a special atmosphere; I like the imagery of the title and of course it references guitars.
Rolling Stone ranked While My Guitar Gently Weeps 136th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time": seventh on the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time", and at number 10 on its list of "The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs". Clapton's performance was ranked 42nd in Guitar World's 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos". In 2011 it was voted the sixth best collaboration of all time in a Rolling Stone readers’ poll. Quite a collection of accolades.
George Harrison and Eric Clapton often performed the song together in various live performances, during which they shared the lead guitarist's role over the closing section. However Eric Clapton doesn’t appear in the performance I’ve chosen.
The band on this version (2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction) includes Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne on guitar and vocals, both of whom have distinctive voices – something that always appeals to me.
In 1970 Jeff Lynne joined Roy Wood in The Move (a band I saw at Reading) and in 1972 he went on to form ELO, another band I enjoyed. They were disbanded in about ‘86 but he reformed ELO in 2014 and I really like their latest CD.
Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne of course played in the Travelling Wilburys, (1988-90) with George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. Could you ever beat that line-up? They were a great band I: it’s a shame they only lasted a short while.
Tracks by Tom Petty like Free Fallin & I Won’t Back Down (from the 1989 album Full Moon Fever), American Girl (1976) and especially Learning to Fly (1991) are favourites of mine. (There’s great live version of Learning to Fly on Youtube: Tom Petty playing with Stevie Nicks). Sadly Tom died 2017 after an accidental overdose, whilst suffering from significant medical problems.
Also in the band at the Hall of Fame event was Steve Winwood on Hammond Organ. He’s someone else whose career I’ve followed, right from the Spencer Davis Group (he joined in ‘62 aged 14 – left in ’67) who had their first number one single at the end of 1965, with Keep on Running. Then there was Traffic and Blind Faith who I saw at Hyde Park (‘69 Eric Clapton, GingerBaker & Ric Gretch from Family.) The first CD I ever bought was Steve Winwood’s Chronicles in 1987.
The performance also features George Harrison’s son Dhani on acoustic guitar and a few members of Tom Petty’s band the Heartbreakers.
Fellow inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2004 included Jackson Browne, Traffic (hence the presence of Stevie Winwood) and Prince. Apparently, the show’s producer, Joel Gallen, asked Prince to play the guitar solos on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, since he was there to be inducted anyway. But during rehearsals, Marc Mann, who plays guitar with Jeff Lynne, took over, knocking out a note-perfect recreation of Eric Clapton’s original mid-song solo. They got to the end of the number and Prince stepped forward to go into the guitar solo and Marc Mann started to play that too.
They ran out of time for further practice, but Prince assured Gallen everything would be fine at the actual performance. He told the producer to let Mann take the first solo, and he would perform the extended solo at the end of the song. “They never rehearsed it really,” Gallen says. Prince “Never really showed us what he was going to do, and he left, basically telling me, the producer of the show, not to worry.”
“And the rest is history. It became one of the most satisfying musical moments in my history of watching and producing live music.”
Though Prince is onstage the entire time, he stands off to the side and doesn’t appear on the video until the end, when he takes centre stage. From that point on, the show is entirely his. The smile on the face of Dhani Harrison - George Harrison’s son, who plays acoustic guitar on the number - shows how much he was enjoying Prince’s star-turn on his father’s song.
You see me nodding at him, to say, ‘Go on, go on,’ Petty said. I remember I leaned out at him at one point and gave him a ‘This is going great!’ kind of look. He just burned it up. You could feel the electricity of something really big’s going down here. (Petty)
Watching the clip, the question people ask is how Prince (and his roadie, of course) make his guitar disappear. At the end of the performance Prince throws his guitar up into the air. (Something he often did at the end of a show.) But once it leaves Prince’s hands, it never reappears: no one is seen catching it on the video.
Even Petty’s drummer, Steve Ferrone, remains confused about it and he was onstage : I didn’t even see who caught it, he says. I just saw it go up, and I was astonished that it didn’t come back down again. Everybody wonders where that guitar went, and I gotta tell you, I was on the stage, and I wonder where it went, too.
Reportedly one of Prince’s crew was standing in the front row, ready to catch the guitar, which, on Prince’s instructions, he then handed to Oprah Winfrey.
So, with one choice, I get a favourite song and performances by several favourite artists; Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood; a great live performance and an amazing guitar solo. But the best way to appreciate it, as well as listening to it, is to watch it on Youtube.
