Thriving and Stylish Performers

Song 496: This week the playlist showcases Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits, written by Mark Knopfler, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. This hit started coming across the airwaves shortly after I arrived in Oakland, CA, in the fall of 1978, and I clearly remember a transistor radio playing it while I hung out with a couple of friends just outside the front door of the house where I lived. In addition, I remember hearing it coming out of a car radio on a ride I had gotten while hitching through the southern part of Sonoma County in the years before I owned a car, and at the time, I strongly agreed with the woman giving me the lift when she said that Dire Straits was one of the best-sounding ensembles of the era. On this particular cut, lead singer/songwriter Knopfler demonstrates a Dylan fascination/obsession that I had experienced myself a few years earlier, but that I had worked hard to overcome, and I felt I had gotten beyond it by the time this track came along, so I thought I might have some lessons to teach Mark, but I also understood and could identify with his Dylan fixation. Setting all that aside, MK's guitar work on this record amazed me the first time around, and it still does - he can make it cry or sing, and if you're like me, you feel all right when you hear that music ring.

Still Feeling Connected

Song 495: This week on the playlist you’ll find You Keep Me Hangin' On by The Supremes, written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Not long after the Vanilla Fudge version of this tune hit the airwaves in the middle of 1968 (Song 361), I got to hear the earlier Supremes rendition, which I also thought sounded pretty good. At the time, I strongly identified with the words of the piece, seeing myself trapped by my attraction to a girl my age who seemed to relish my obsession with her, but who had no interest in any sort of romance with me. A few years later, when I began my record collection, I added a disc that included this cut, and I enjoyed hearing it regularly, though at that point I did not feel the same connection with the lyrics that I had earlier. By then, the one girl had set me free, and I had had a very short affair with someone else who, although we broke up, did wanna be just friends after she set me free, and while seeing her would have broken my heart again, I suspected that we would never actually see each other again, and I was right.

The End of a Work Night

Song 494: This week the playlist features Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) by Harry Belafonte, which is a traditional song that has no writer credits. You can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I first became acquainted with this hit during my grade school era, making it one of the few tunes on this list that predates the seventh grade moment when the Beatles rocked my world. I have a vague memory of possibly singing the song in my grade school class, and I also have another vague memory of my high school choir doing a version of the piece as well. This marks Mr. Belafonte's first appearance on this list, and I had decided a few weeks ago to add this calypso classic at some point during the current stretch because of the 12/2/19 death of 95-year-old Irving Burgie, who is credited with passing this composition along to HB. Perhaps, when daylight came, Mr. Burgie wanted to go home, and then he did. In researching this blog, I learned about Belafonte's opposition to the W crew, which is something we two have in common. In my case, two of the cuts from Elder Street point the finger at that nefarious bunch - Don't Misunderestimate Me and Chainy Snake (you can watch YouTube videos of them by clicking on the titles) - and my upcoming release Elder Statesman will have a lot more.

Had to Make That Move

Song 493: Seven weeks after my previous personal friend song post, this week the playlist puts the spotlight on Leaving California by my buddy Jeff Larson, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I want to start off the new year by adding another JL gem to this collection. According to my memory, it was my personal decision to leave CA in the late summer of 1988 that inspired Jeff to write this tune at the time. When I departed, the stuff I loaded into my van included a banjo that my songwriting colleague had given me which he had actually constructed. When he first handed me the gift, of course I appreciated his generosity, but at the moment, I also felt I didn't have any particular use for it. I had done a banjo section on one of my early recordings in that era, but I had no intentions of adding that sound texture to any of my other studio projects. However, just a few months ago, I had that same instrument in hand when I headed to another session, and the banjo Jeff gave me will adorn a track called New American Century Part 2 on my upcoming CD release Elder Statesman and will also enliven a cut called Curiosity which will appear on the follow-up CD Purrfection: The Cat Single, so I guess that really shows another hand. When Leaving California a little over 3 decades ago, perhaps I was wondering if the die is cast through all the dreams that didn't last and had to be replaced, but if Jeff is right when he sings it's a circle game at best, then perhaps one of these days I'll get to circle back to CA and greet him there again.