Sound Makes the Record Go Round

Song 427: This week the playlist features the sound of Lazy Music by Captain Beefheart, written by Don Van Vliet, Jan Van Vliet and Andy DiMartino (note: Don Van Vliet was Beefheart's legal name, and Jan was his wife), and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Back in June of 1974, my car radio surprised me one day with Sugar Bowl (Song 148), and I liked that cut so much I added Unconditionally Guaranteed to my collection not long after. The LP became a regular spinner on my turntable, and almost every track left a deep impression, to the point that this marks my 4th UG blog - Upon the My-O-My is Song 265 and Magic Be is Song 350. The Captain had established an earlier reputation as an experimenter in the fusion of rock and jazz, but what I had heard of his previous work hadn't really grabbed me, whereas his spring 1974 offering immediately got my attention. Evidently critics did not applaud Beefheart's move towards more conventional songwriting and recording, but I personally would echo the Sounds reviewer Steve Peacock, who wrote in the 4/6/74 edition, ”Something very strong does glow through what would otherwise be an unexceptional album, but it's something that I feel rather than can identify." When writing the Song 265 blog a few years ago, it surprised me to learn that less than a year after UG's release, the band members and the band leader all disowned the 33, but that hasn't changed the way I hear it - for me, Lazy Music still makes the whole thing keep going round and round.

Vital Personal Connections

Song 426: This week on the playlist you can hear Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks, written by Dewayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Around the turn of the 1990s, Garth Brooks emerged as one of the fresh faces lighting up the New Country scene, as it was called by the NYC country station that I listened to a lot during that stretch, and this hit stood out as one of his most entertaining releases. I had to smile at a guy who could ruin a black-tie affair just because he showed up in boots, especially when he didn't mean to cause a big scene. In researching this piece, I learned that Garth cites James Taylor as a major musical influence, as do I, and though I didn't previously know it, it doesn't surprise me - I can sense the JT echoes in Brook's performance. While he may not be big on social graces, I'm sure he'll be okay because he does have those friends in low places. On a side note, this track is the third sly reference to the final verse of my own song As Long as Merle is Still Haggard, which begins with the line So I think Aaron's been Tippin a few and Garth is one for the Brooks. You can find the Merle video by clicking on the title.

Choosing Which Route to Take

Song 425: This week the playlist features Highway to Hell by AC/DC, written by Bon Scott, Angus Young and Malcolm Young, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I had heard a few of AC/DC’s earlier efforts, and I thought they showed some potential, but when this hit came along in the summer of 1979, it really made me smile, especially in light of my early struggles as a teenager to reconcile my obsession with the devil's music that my fundamentalist religious parents and grandparents reviled. Having left that youthful guilt behind by a decade, I too could wave to Satan while Paying my dues, being on the way to the promised land. Then again, Taking everything in stride, maybe I sometimes Don't need reason, but I often feel like I do need rhyme. In addition, I'll admit that I do pay attention to stop signs and speed limit, which might have helped me get past the kind of sudden ending that AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott sadly came to about seven months after this single got released.

A Lot Going On After Dark

Song 424: This week on the playlist you’ll find The City Never Sleeps At Night by Nancy Sinatra, written by Lee Hazlewood, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. At some point not too long after the record's release, I added These Boots Are Made for Walking (Song 352) to my singles collection, and it came with this shining B-side gem. I obviously wasn't the only one in my neighborhood enjoying the flip side of the hit - one day when delivering the newspaper to the restaurant/bar a few lots away from my parent's home, I heard it playing on the jukebox, which meant that one of the customers had invested some pocket change to relish this musical ride. The lyrics paint engaging pictures that, back then, looked like Manhattan to me, and mostly still do, though the moving images could fit a number of other lively nocturnal urban settings as well. The words and the music clearly portray the Big hellos and goodbyes while along the way Not a single ho-hum appears, which might actually answer the question of How come the city it never sleeps at night.

Analyzing the Glaring Contradictions

Song 423: This week on the playlist you can hear Double Standards by Patti Rothberg, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Once again, seven weeks have passed since my last personal friend song post. I met Patti in the studio one night in 2003 while she was working on her third album, and this is the title track for that project. At the time, I was working on the Elder Street cut Marketplace, which I just posted yesterday as my September 2018 SoundCloud release. Anyway, I quickly got acquainted with her music, and immediately became a big fan. I had the pleasure of hearing a number of DS pieces before the official release, including this one, and I liked them all. I even considered jokingly suggesting to Patti that she could run for president as a way to promote her release, since presidential candidates very often say one thing and then do another and that fact would easily highlight her song and her CD. While I didn't actually mention the idea to her, I still think it might have made for a very entertaining record promotion campaign, and of course, her little piece of advice about Don't you even try To make sense of all you see applies to the current moment quite a bit more than it did 10 years ago.