Had the Ticket

 Song 527: This week on the playlist you’ll find Train Kept A Rollin' by Aerosmith, written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay and Lois Mann, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Doing research for last week's track, I learned that when The Left Banke recorded their second album (the LP that followed the one which featured Song 526), Steven Tyler did backup vocals on a few cuts, so it seemed appropriate to have his band Aerosmith come next on the list. After the band got a lot of attention with their first 33 in 1972, their second one, which came along two years later, also got plenty of airplay, including this cover of a 1950s and 1960s blues and rock classic. I might have already known the Yardbirds version, but I felt the Tyler and Co. rendition deserved the awareness that it generated. With the current pandemic situation, I have no idea when I might find myself walkin' down that old fair lane again, but whenever I do, if I meet a sweet little woman, I could gladly encourage her to get along on her way.

Taking Difficulties in Stride

Song 526: This week the playlist applauds Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke, written by Michael Brown, Tony Sansone and Bob Calilli, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. This hit came along during the middle of my HS sophomore year, and being a violin player with the orchestra, I really liked the classical overtones of the cut. I didn't know anyone who owned the disc, so once it finished its chart run, I rarely got to hear it, but it still left a deep impression on my musical horizon. At the time, a certain young woman's name and mine inside a heart on the wall could find a way to haunt me even though they were so small. These days, the empty sidewalks on many blocks are not the same, but obviously, you're not to blame, and neither is anyone else in particular - we all know that we can point the finger at the pandemic, and just walk away.

A Pleasing Communication

 Song 525: This week on the playlist you can hear Words of Love by Buddy Holly, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I mistakenly believed that the Fab Four and the British Invaders has created RnR when they rocked my world in early 1964, and though, as time went on, I did get clues that some of the Beatles cuts I liked had actually appeared as chart toppers for other folks a bit earlier, I didn't really know the story until the 1970s rolled around. As the new decade unfolded, so did a radio 1950s revival, and my Rolling Stone subscription filled in a lot of the details. As some point I learned that this tune was yet another cover, and hearing the original version deepened my respect for the Buddy who had done the record back in the 1950s. Later I got a greatest hits LP of his which included this track, and I found it even more impressive how many studio gems he had crafted in such an unfortunately-short career that came to a sad sudden end. Thankfully Holly left behind discs that let us hear him say the words we would all want to hear.

Fortunate Timing

 Song 524: This week the playlist recognizes Lucky Day by Rank and File, written by Chip Kinman and Tony Kinman, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. In the early 1980s, my friend Eddie Spitzer started his music instrument business in the back of a record store on Telegraph Ave., and I spent a lot of time there with him, which meant that I got to hear some records that I might otherwise not have heard, with Sundown by Rand and File being a prime example. I really liked their cowpunk thing, and I soon purchased my own copy of their initial LP, which then got a lot of spins on the turntable. This marks the 4th appearance of a Sundown cut on this list, with the title track being Song 377, Coyote being Song 279, and The Conductor Wore Black being Song 180. These days, with the unfolding pandemic situation, I would never know if today was going to be my lucky day, but regardless, I would clearly understand that if love slipped away, it meant so much.

A Dawning Dilemma

Song 523: This week the playlist puts the spotlight on Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) by The Monkees, written by Neil Diamond, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I quickly became a Monkees fan soon after they came along, and I watched the TV show whenever I could. While I couldn't own LPs back in my HS years, a few good friends had More of the Monkees and so I got to hear it quite a bit, and got to know the tracks very well. This was the first time Neil Diamond showed up on my radar - at some point, hanging out with a friend who played the album, I looked at the label to find out who wrote this tune. He actually got a lot more attention for writing the 33's hit single I'm a Believer, and I liked that piece too, but not nearly as much as this one. I remember doing a field trip to NYC with an HS class in the spring of 1968, and hearing someone's radio playing this cut during the Catskill Mountain segment of the ride. At that moment, I felt it might apply to a romantic dilemma unfolding in my life, though, as it turned out, I had viewed the situation more optimistically than it warranted, but still, hearing this recording felt truly magical then, just as recalling that scene does now. Of course, with so many question marks lingering in the air due to the pandemic, we all might have a reason to sing Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow), though an amorous complication seems quaint compared to the current calamity, but, as I have said from the very beginning of it, what we really know about the COVID-19 story is… WE DON'T KNOW.