O/T The Music Thread

We think can disagree that the band probably had multiple reasons for their success as well as for the reduction their number of fans. In addition to the misinterpretation of one of their stronger songs, the loss of a major band member (many stories about why, but Bachman’s conversion to Mormonism seems to be the root cause for multiple reasons. A third reason may actually be that a bunch of guys that got together in their teens were now just reaching their thirties. Sort of the way the Beatles changed and finally had simply been together too long.

In any event, the band did continue to release some very good and popular music for about three more years after they and Bachman kicked each other to the curb, but only for a very short time after “Share the Land” was released.

For my money, I felt that Cummings was the stronger reason for the bands audience. His unique voice, his energy, and his sound-writing influence were a bigger piece than Bachman’s song-writing and guitar. The Guess Who’s guitar work certainly took a hit after Bachman left, but Cummings was playing rhythm guitar for a while out of necessity...

Huh?  Randy Bachman left the band in 1970.  Share the Land was released in 1970.  

Sometimes a song is more than a song to me. This one, “Stephen” by Neil Sedaka is a song Sedaka wrote as a tribute to the great composer Stephen Foster who inspired Sedaka himself to become a prolific song writer. Sedaka twice uses the melody of one of Foster’s better known composition within the song, “Old Black Joe”, once as the closing.

For me it reminds me of two beautiful young ladies way back in high school. The one in my class had blonde hair, her older sister was a couple years ahead and had brown hair but her bust was what most of us were looking at. Sorry, we were young. We saw it. We saw her.

I learned that their parents were very strict and orthodox in their religion. The girls had no TV at home, no music, except that deemed appropriate by their parents. They were both very attentive to their school work and I don’t know if either of them ever got less than an “A”.

I saw the older girl about 15 years after I graduated. She had taken a much older, very rough looking older husband. They lived on her parents farm after the parents passed. She had a worn, tired looking face, calloused hands, graying hair. Wore the little rectangle glasses like the lady that owned “Tweety Bird” in the cartoons. Her husband was usually dirty from farm work. I don’t think he bathed often. He was a friend of my employer (they did church together). I was sent to help him build a concrete base for a new silo. I “helped” mostly while he watched.

I felt a bit bad for the girl, she looked twenty years older than she should have. But I knew she was happy inside, doing what she had been taught to do right.

Probably twenty years later I saw her younger sister. She still looked young, vibrant, and happy. I got a chance to speak with her. She had left home with a poet. They lived in a camper and traveled America as they pleased. When I saw her I immediately recalled that she developed a near-obsession with Stephen Foster’s music, and in particular that song “Old Black Joe”. She’d find a way to mention it in English class. Math class, and of course Music class.

I now have a vague memory that she also had a little sister about four years behind us in school. I had forgotten her. Another pretty blonde.

Anyway, pleasant memories of girls who were sweet and kind. Virginal at the time I would suppose. No Dome-like stories to tell. But the contrast in choices that two of them made was stunning. One austere, pumping out babies, cooking cleaning, helping with the farm work. worshipping the lord in the “proper” way. A strict husband leading the way. The other free as a bird. Both happy... interesting...





m.youtube.com/watch?v=jSi5LohcQDU

Not to fear inger, I am a Neil Sedaka fan--another former Brill Building (New York) resident which included Neil Diamond, Carol King, David Geffen and Boyce and Hart--think, the Monkees. He dated Carol King in high school and I'm pretty sure several of his songs are written about her (Oh Carol comes to mind). I find his songs to be well crafted and catchy with a few of them bordering on classics, like Breaking Up Is Hard to Do and Laughter in the Rain. Recently found out that he wrote Where the Boys Are--early 60's hit by Peggy Lee?

I recognized Boyce and Hart, too. Regarding connections between these artists, I recall playing Neil Diamond’s version of “I’m a Believer” in the house one day. Ruthie, said “That’s not bad, but he just doesn’t sing it right, you know, like The Monkees did. Of course I told her he wrote the song, so The Monkees were actually not singing it the way he wrote it. The fight wasn’t a particularly long one. 😎.

Poor Ruthie. She lives here. I asked her if she had seen the dog’s bowl today. She said, sure in the kitchen. I told her I’m anxious to see that too. I didn’t know the dog was trained to bowl... I only do this intellectual humor that goes way over her head, you see... 🥸

Since some of you brought up Bachman-Turner Overdrive, I went to see them at their peak when I was in high school. Festival seating and we were right up against the stage. The back up band was a group I had never heard of, but they were supposed to be up-and-comers (weren't they all). Anyway, the back up band was pretty good. I remember the guitar player had fingers about 6 inches long. Anyway, after they had played awhile, the singer said they were going to play something off their new album. Well, we didn't pay to see the back up band. We were there to see BTO! Nobody wants to hear something off the back up band's "new album." It's usually crap. Lots of mumbling from the crowd because we'd waited long enough to see BTO. But the singer got up there and said: "Here's a song off our new album. It's called Night Moves." Yeah, it was Bob Seger. Needless to say, they exploded on the scene when that album came out.