A Problematic Judgemental Relative

Song 448: The week the playlist recognizes Your Auntie Grizelda by the Monkees, written by Diane Hildebrand and Jack Keller, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. When the sad news about Peter Tork arrived a few days ago, I decided to feature a Monkees track this week, and as far as I could tell, this cut was evidently the only one where Peter sang the lead vocals. The Monkees brightened my HS years, and I tried to watch their TV shows when I could, though I had to do so slyly, since my parents and grandparents did not approve of the devil's music, but when we did manage to have them on, they made me smile, along with both of my brothers. Thanks to the series, and good friends who had their records, I quickly got to know their music quite well, to the point where I could sing along with much of their repertoire, including this tune. A few years later, when I got to know the music of CSN, I remember reading the story, probably in Rolling Stone, that Stephen Stills had applied for a spot with a developing TV show, and when he got rejected, he suggested that PT might satisfy the developers' preferences, and that was how Mr. Tork got the job. I would guess that most listeners recognize the portrait this tickler paints of a woman so proper She couldn't budge a smile and do it for free, particularly when she's judging others over her tea. We have to say good-bye to Peter Tork, but we can thank him for the way he made us chuckle. No bird of grace ever lit on Auntie Grizelda, but perhaps one will fly over Peter's tombstone.

At the Economic Breaking Point

Song 447: The week’s playlist track is Busted by Johnny Cash, written by Harlan Howard, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I don't recall whether I learned this song from my Ohio relatives' vast country music collection, or if I got to know it in the early 1970s when I could pursue my own musical interests more extensively, but by my early twenties it had become one of my JC favorites. Having grown up in a struggling working-class household, I understood the message all too well, though my family did not farm, and we fortunately never found ourselves in circumstances as desperate as those outlined by the track's lyrics. Ironically, this tune appeared during an era of overall economic prosperity, and considering how much tougher the U.S. economy has become for a large percentage of the population, far too many people now have A big stack of bills Getting bigger each day, and some really have to beg like a dog for a bone, but maybe, if enough can put together how they got Busted, and trickled on, the story might get turned around (Hint: see Song 444).

Asking for Fine Curative Passion

Song 446: The week the playlist features Good Lovin' by the Young Rascals, written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I heard this hit a bunch of times from transistor radios in various locations during the summer of 1966, including a few outdoor recreational gatherings, and it magically gave those moments a deeper resonance. Not knowing the name of the 45, I originally thought from hearing it that it went by the title True Love. Soon enough, however, that confusion got cleared up, and at some point in that era I got to hear a Tommy James and the Shondells version of the song which sounded pretty good, but it didn't have the breathtaking reverberations of the YR model. I learned from those Rascals that whenever I got the fever, they, and/or other rockers, might very well know the cure. And why not? Love, love (Good love) Love, love, love, love, love - while it won't remedy every ailment, it certainly never hurts to have more of it.

A Turn for the Worse That Sounds Good

Song 445: The week on the playlist you can hear Good Lovin' Gone Bad by Bad Company, written by Mick Ralphs, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. In the middle of the 1970s, Bad Company stood out as one truly rocking combo surrounded by a sea of bland commerciality, and I remember one day in Evanston when my friend Hank Neuberger made that point while putting the Straight Shooter LP onto his turntable. This cut opens that album with a bang, and while the words mourn a romantic fling that has turned sour, the record itself never falters or loses momentum - in fact, well over 4 decades later, it still sounds fresh and fitting. For the writer, love may have gone bad, but the recording that memorialized his sad affair still sounds very good.