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Post by chiyankee on Nov 13, 2023 14:05:55 GMT -5
I wonder if he still sings "Old Man?" Silly trivia: Did you know that James Taylor plays banjo on the original version of "Old Man"? Before those recording sessions occurred in Nashville, Taylor had never played the banjo before.  |
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Post by inger on Nov 13, 2023 14:15:03 GMT -5
1967 was the year I would stand a tiny work station in back of the news stand and fold my newspapers before hitting the streets on my delivery route to earn my $1.35 per week. The older kids were plunking money in the juke box, so what they liked is what I heard. “I Think We’re Alone Now” was huge that year. Must have heard it a thousand times. I knew all the lyrics to most of those ‘67 hits you mentioned and was just discovering that I could actually sing. Groups with a lot of harmony could be frustrating at that point, damn those Beatles anyway! … Nice story Inger. Yep, "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James and The Shondells was in the spring of 1967. It was considered mildly risque for that more innocent (but rapidly becoming less so) era. Okay I can't resist this stuff, at that same time other hit songs included "Happy Together" by The Turtles, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" by The Monkees, "Western Union" by The Five Americans, "This Is My Song" by Petula Clark, "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley, "Bernadette" by The Four Tops, "Jimmy Mack" by Martha and The Vandellas, "The Happening" by The Supremes, "Penny Lane" by The Beatles, "Don't You Care" by The Buckinghams, "At The Zoo" by Simon and Garfunkel, "You Got What It Takes" by The Dave Clark Five, "There's A Kind Of Hush" by Hermans Hermits, "On A Carousel" by The Hollies and "Friday On My Mind" by The Easybeats, which may be my favorite of the whole bunch. "This Is My Song" was written by Charlie Chaplin. I sincerely doubt that back in the 1920s when he was making silent films like "The Gold Rush" and "The Kid" that he could have imagined that over 40 years later he would have a Billboard Top Ten hit. And Buffalo Springfield was just coming together in a short but very influential run. The three principal guys in that group -- Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay -- are all still living. Man, what a great time to have a great time. Still seems like just a few months ago to me. At $1.35 per week, the free music was a great job benefit. 🤓 …I couldn’t afford the dime for the juke box. Plus that was baseball card money. Somehow I did manage to Save enough to buy a bicycle and later a set of baskets to carry the papers in. Front basket and rear baskets. The Baltimore Sun on one side, the News American on the other. The front basket for overflow of the Sun (it tended to be thicker) and the few Wilmington Journals I carried with me. Then I broke my arm and wound up just walking with all of them hanging off my neck for four months… |
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Post by inger on Nov 13, 2023 14:16:53 GMT -5
I wonder if he still sings "Old Man?" Silly trivia: Did you know that James Taylor plays banjo on the original version of "Old Man"? Before those recording sessions occurred in Nashville, Taylor had never played the banjo before. I guess if you can drive you can drive anything. If you can play a stringed instrument you ban figure out how to play another… |
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Post by inger on Nov 16, 2023 12:48:42 GMT -5
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Post by Renfield on Nov 16, 2023 17:31:56 GMT -5
Thanks for posting, inger. Love that song. Another one that I like with a similar theme was "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkins, I believe. Think she was one of the few artists to record on Apple Records--The Beatles and Badfinger being the only others I can think of. |
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Post by kaybli on Nov 16, 2023 18:10:05 GMT -5
Thanks for posting, inger. Love that song. Another one that I like with a similar theme was "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkins, I believe. Think she was one of the few artists to record on Apple Records--The Beatles and Badfinger being the only others I can think of. My parents love "Those Were the Days". My mom and dad always sing along. I've heard it so many times. Every time I'm like no not again!  |
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Post by Renfield on Nov 16, 2023 18:34:13 GMT -5
Thanks for posting, inger. Love that song. Another one that I like with a similar theme was "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkins, I believe. Think she was one of the few artists to record on Apple Records--The Beatles and Badfinger being the only others I can think of. My parents love "Those Were the Days". My mom and dad always sing along. I've heard it so many times. Every time I'm like no not again! 😄 There are much worse songs they could have loved rom that era. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 16, 2023 19:26:35 GMT -5
I'm sure you know that at Mick's request Roy Clark played that at his funeral. It was written by the French composer Charles Aznavour. The French intellectual Jean Cocteau once said that "before Aznavour, despair was unpopular." |
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 16, 2023 19:33:44 GMT -5
Thanks for posting, inger. Love that song. Another one that I like with a similar theme was "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkins, I believe. Think she was one of the few artists to record on Apple Records--The Beatles and Badfinger being the only others I can think of. Yeah, you named most of its roster. Individual Beatles' recordings and artists connected to The Beatles like Billy Preston and Ravi Shankar. The band Hot Chocolate started out on Apple but had their most famous songs like "You Sexy Thing" and "Emma" on other labels. Remember there was briefly an avant garde subsidiary called Zapple? The only thing I remember on that one was George Harrison's ill-conceived adventure into electronic music. It also had some spoken-word and experimental stuff. My sister was in middle school when Mary Hopkin struck and she was constantly playing her songs when I would come home on breaks from college. I can still hear her follow-up to TWTD, "Goodbye," also written by Paul McCartney, booming through the speakers. A few other songs from her were "Temma Harbor" and "Knock Knock Who's There." |
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 16, 2023 19:36:39 GMT -5
Thanks for posting, inger. Love that song. Another one that I like with a similar theme was "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkins, I believe. Think she was one of the few artists to record on Apple Records--The Beatles and Badfinger being the only others I can think of. My parents love "Those Were the Days". My mom and dad always sing along. I've heard it so many times. Every time I'm like no not again! You thought they'd never end, didn't you Kaybli?  |
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Post by kaybli on Nov 16, 2023 19:51:20 GMT -5
My parents love "Those Were the Days". My mom and dad always sing along. I've heard it so many times. Every time I'm like no not again! You thought they'd never end, didn't you Kaybli? 😂 |
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Post by inger on Nov 16, 2023 22:55:09 GMT -5
I'm sure you know that at Mick's request Roy Clark played that at his funeral. It was written by the French composer Charles Aznavour. The French intellectual Jean Cocteau once said that "before Aznavour, despair was unpopular." I’m sure you know that I know that now. But I didn’t know it before you told it… |
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Post by rizzuto on Nov 19, 2023 16:02:41 GMT -5
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 19, 2023 17:07:14 GMT -5
Hoo boy, now you are in my sweet spot. Al Green must have sold a billion records in the 70s. He has to be the biggest-selling soul singer from that time. Even though there is a sameness to his songs, I buy into them. My favorite of his is still his first big hit "I'm So Tired Of Being Alone" but I can listen to any of them -- "Let's Stay Together" or "Look What You've Done To Me" or "You Ought To Be With Me" or "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" and on and on. "Love And Happiness" was not as big of a hit as some of those, but still a great song. Kudos to you for knowing it. I have always loved the high-tenor soul singer, going back to Clyde McPhatter and Smokey Robinson and Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations and possibly my favorite (although commercially not terribly successful) Donnie Elbert. I love the quirky chord changes in Al Green's music and the way he utilizes brass. Smooth as silk. Funny just a few days ago I plunked on YouTube and played that Greatest Hits album you posted from. Al is still alive; I'm never quite sure if he's in his reverend phase or his sweet soul phase. Little Richard used to quite sincerely move back and forth from preaching the gospel to singing about sex. Al Green is from the same small town in Arkansas that blues great Albert King came from. Also former Cubs SS Don Kessinger. Close to Memphis, which is where Green began his recording career on a well-known R&B label called Hi Records. |
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Post by rizzuto on Nov 19, 2023 18:43:43 GMT -5
Hoo boy, now you are in my sweet spot. Al Green must have sold a billion records in the 70s. He has to be the biggest-selling soul singer from that time. Even though there is a sameness to his songs, I buy into them. My favorite of his is still his first big hit "I'm So Tired Of Being Alone" but I can listen to any of them -- "Let's Stay Together" or "Look What You've Done To Me" or "You Ought To Be With Me" or "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" and on and on. "Love And Happiness" was not as big of a hit as some of those, but still a great song. Kudos to you for knowing it. I have always loved the high-tenor soul singer, going back to Clyde McPhatter and Smokey Robinson and Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations and possibly my favorite (although commercially not terribly successful) Donnie Elbert. I love the quirky chord changes in Al Green's music and the way he utilizes brass. Smooth as silk. Funny just a few days ago I plunked on YouTube and played that Greatest Hits album you posted from. Al is still alive; I'm never quite sure if he's in his reverend phase or his sweet soul phase. Little Richard used to quite sincerely move back and forth from preaching the gospel to singing about sex. Al Green is from the same small town in Arkansas that blues great Albert King came from. Also former Cubs SS Don Kessinger. Close to Memphis, which is where Green began his recording career on a well-known R&B label called Hi Records. I was watching an episode from the second season of "House" and this song tied up the ending perfectly. Then, I thought, what an underrated song from Al Green, and it still sounds fresh and creates a mood just as it did in the 1970s. And, the lyrics mean something more to me at this age than when I was 12 in 1977. Lastly, I smiled and said to myself, "Pipps is going to eat up this one!" Some people think of BB King, when Albert King is mentioned. That's a huge mistake - I'll take Albert King any day of the week. There is a book by Lee Child in the Jack Reacher series called "Bad Luck and Trouble," and that had to have come from Albert's "Born Under A Bad Sign," from the phrase "hard luck and trouble." In the books, Jack Reacher is a blues aficionado, and he goes out of his way to visit towns and grave yards with history of the likes of Howling Wolf and Blind Blake. |
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