Fun Channels..an obscure Springsteen track?

Bruce Springsteen is old enough to be the father of the guys in Fun, but their top 10 hit Some Nights is a dead ringer for his 1980 song The Price You Pay. Fun had a # 1 hit earlier this year with We Are Young. Check out Some Nights: Here's Bruce and the E Street Band with The Price You Pay from The River album. This song is a favorite among Bruce aficananos and was hardly ever played in concert until recent years. As you'll hear, Bruce references his own song The Promise Land in the last verse, making The Price You Pay a sort of sequel to that song.

R.I.P.: Joe South and Hal David

We lost two of our greatest song writer this week. Joe South wrote some of the most memorable songs of the 1960's and early 1970s including Down in the Boondocks by Billy Joe Royal, Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson, Hush by Deep Purple, and Walk a Mile in My Shoes, a song in which a son of the South called out hypocrisy and intolerance, later covered by Elvis. He had hits of his own including the 1969 smash Games People Play, an era defining song. He was a very soulful singer as you will hear in his hit from 1969 Don't it Make You Want to Go Home. I Knew You When was Royal's excellent follow-up to Down in the Boondocks. Hal David was one half of one of the greatest songwriting partnerships of all time, supplying the words to Burt Bacharach's beautifully inventive melodies. This was the man who asked Do You Know the Way to San Jose? and What's it all About Alfie? he also told us that "What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love." Moreover, he once rhymed "pneumonia" with "phone ya"! That was in "I'll Never Fall in Love Again." Putting powerful sentiments in terms that the average listener can relate to is a great, and often under-appreciated talent, and David excelled at it. Here's an appreciation by Bacharach: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-hal-david-burt-bacharach-appreciation-20120904,0,2503388.story Trying to select the best Bacharach/David songs would be a fool's errand, but here are some favorites:

Lost Hit: The Hangmen "What a Girl Can't Do"

The Hangmen aka The Reekers' "What a Girl Can't Do" was huge in the Washington DC area in late '65.

Boss Influences : "It's the Same @#%$ing Riff!"

At last week's SXSW Festival in Austin TX, Bruce Springsteen gave the "Keynote Address." In it he revealed the inspiration for one of his most famous songs. I've heard both Badlands and Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood hundreds of times but never made the connection. It's easy to hear the similarity IF you're looking for it.

Bruce also discussed the profound influence that the Animals song It's My Life had on him.

Here's Badlands from the Darkness on the Edge of Town album:







 And the Animal's Don't Let Me Be Understood from 1965:

 

Sounds Like Teen Spirit on Absolute Radio

Please join my tomorrow as I join the lovely and talented Pete Mitchell on his Absolute Radio '60s Show. We'll be discussing the connection between two of the decade's greatest songs: The Kinks All Day and All of the Night and The Doors Hello, I Love You. Listen to www.absoluteradio60s.co.uk at 12:30 pm London time. That's 7:30 am EST.

John and Yoko's Happy Xmas: A Horse Opera?

Christmas is only days away. What better time to deconstruct a beloved holiday classic?

Yes, John and Yoko's Phil Spector-produced Happy Xmas (War is Over) is a thinly disguised re-write of the folkie standard Stewball. Peter Paul & Mary's recording of Stewball is probably the most widely known, but this tale (tail?) of a racehorse has been covered by scores of artists including Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez.

The Hollies recorded Stewball on their 1966 album Would You Believe? Here's their version, taken at a tempo and arrangement similar to Happy Xmas:





...and John and Yoko's song, which turns forty this year:

Sounds Like Teen Spirit on Absolute Radio 60s

Please check out Pete Mitchell's fantastic new show on Absolute Radio 60s here.

I will join Pete on his midday extravaganza on Wednesday December 7th at around 12:30 pm UK time, 7:30 EST. All you need to do is register with your email to enjoy plenty of Beatles, Stones, and Motown.

The Beatles - Bobby Parker Connection

Both John Lennon and George Harrison are on the record as stating that I Feel Fine was "inspired" by Bobby Parker's 1961 hit Watch Your Step.

It's a testament to the breadth of the Beatles' musical knowledge that they were even aware of Watch Your Step, a low charting item on the U.S. charts. Lennon had the song on his jukebox in his Kenwood home during the mid-1960's. A few years ago Parker appeared in a documentary about the discovery of the jukebox. In his interview Parker stated that while he was honored that he was an inspiration for John, some financial remuneration wouldn't have hurt.

John played Watch Your Step during several of his guest DJ spots on U.S. radio 1974 during the promotional tour for his Walls and Bridges album. He stated that it was one of his favorite songs. A variation of the song's riff can be heard in the Beatles Day Tripper and in the Allman Brothers' One Way Out.

Long based in the Washington D.C. area, Parker is still active today! Check him out here.

Here's the smokin' Parker track from '61 here:



And the Fabs update here:

Lost Hit: Soul Inc - I Belong to Nobody

I first heard this wonderful song on Joe Donovan's overnight show on WHAS out of Louisville at around 3 o'clock in the morning. He played this during a segment highlighting local hits.

I Belong to Nobody was a top 10 record in Louisville and other Midwest cities in the spring of 1968. For some reason it failed to catch on nationwide.

The band reformed some years ago and continues to perform in the Louisville area.

Sounds Like Teen Spirit in DelMarVa

I will join my friend Jared Morris on his show at 10 am EST this morning. You can listen live here: www.wgmd.com

Jake Holmes (Finally) Sues Led Zeppelin

Singer and songwriter Jake Holmes has filed a copyright infringement case against Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin for stealing his 1967 song Dazed and Confused.

It's puzzling that it took him this long given the striking musical and lyrical similarities between Zeppelin's classic and Holmes original. Page credited himself as sole author of Dazed and Confused when the song was included on Zeppelin's first album in 1969.

As I documented in an earlier post, Holmes shared a bill with Page's Yardbirds in New York City during the summer of 1967, and Dazed and Confused quickly became a part of the Yardbird's live set.

Needless to say, there's a lot of money at stake here. The Led Zeppelin album has sold over 8 million copies in the U.S. to date. Add that worldwide sales plus the song's inclusion of various Zeppelin live albums and compilations and Holmes is looking a substantial payday.

Holmes has stated that he attempted to contact Zeppelin's representatives at various times through the years, but to no avail.

It's good to see justice served after so many years.

Here's a link to the New York Times story.

Here's how the song evolved starting with the version on Holmes' 1967 album The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes:




The Yardbird's version from French TV in early 1968:




And the version Page and the newly formed Zeppelin recorded in the fall of 1968 for release on their debut album:

The Lenny Welch - Beatles Connection

I recently noticed a newspaper article wherein singer Lenny Welch recounted being told that Paul McCartney had based the Beatles' version of A Taste of Honey on Welch's 1962 recording of the song.

Welch is best remembered for his hit Since I Fell For You, but I had never heard his version of A Taste of Honey.

A Taste of Honey served as the instrumental theme of the 1961 film and the 1960 Broadway production of the same name. The Welch version was the first to have lyrics. Along with Look Back in Anger and Room at the Top, A Taste of Honey was one of the realistic "kitchen sink" style of British films from the late '50s and early 60s. It tells the story of a working class girl from the north of England who refuses to conform to societal expectations. Tony Richardson directed both A Taste of Honey and Look Back in Anger.

Fun Fact: A photo of A Taste of Honey playwright Shelagh Delaney was used for the cover of the Smiths' Louder Than Bombs compilation and their 1987 single Girlfriend in a Coma. NOt coindidentally, the Smiths and Delaney both hail from Manchester.

Take a listen and see if you agree that the Fabs' arrangement of the song is closely based on Welch's record:

For Your Listening Pleasure: Los Bravos - Going Nowhere

This song is from an obscure 1967 Spanish movie and was issued on Rhino's Nuggets II box set. Here's Los Bravos with one of the great lost hits of the '60s:

R.I.P., Captain Lou

We lost one of the greats yesterday, Captain Lou Albano.

If you followed wrestling in the 1970s or 80s, you'll remember his outrageous ringside antics. "The Guiding Light' managed no less than 15 WWF tag team champions including The Valiant Bros. ("Handsome" Jimmy and "Luscious" John), the Moondogs (Spot and Rex) and the Wild Samoans (Afa and Seka). He also managed Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and George "The Animal" Steele among many others.

He may be best know for playing Cyndi Lauper's father in the video for Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

These were among his more famous insults:
"If you put his brain inside a parakeet it would fly backwards!"
"He's often constipated, rarely imitated."

In retrospect, Albano and his contemporary wrestling managers The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and "Classy" Freddie Blassie were performance artists by another name. This was something Andy Kaufman picked up on as he enjoyed antagonizing audiences in the mid-South back in the early '80s. The Captain could make you laugh more than 100 comedians.

Thanks for the laughs, Captain Lou.

Here's NRBQ's tribute to Albano featuring the vocal stylings of the man himself:

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Michael Jackson's New Song is an Old Song

Paul Anka has been award 50 of the publishing of the just-released Michael Jackson song, the much hyped "This Is It." It seems Anka was working with Michael back in 1983 but this song never saw the light of day until Safire recorded it in 1991 under the title "I Never Heard."

Read the full story here.

This is probably a case of lack of competance among the folks trolling thru Michael's archive unreleased material. It reminds me of the time one of Paul McCartney's PR people announced prior to the release of the Yellow Submarine Songtrack that an unreleased Fabs track had been unearthed - "a real rocker." Turns out he was referring to "Hey Bulldog," a song that had been on the original album released over thirty years earlier!

Here's the You Tube mash-up of "This Is It" and "I Never Heard":

Time for a 'Soundcheck'

I will be appearing on WNYC's always excellent excellent Soundcheck with John Schaefer on Monday 10/5 at 2 pm EDT. We'll be discussing recent cases of musical plagiarism and some technological advances that might help combat it. You can listen live or check out their amazing show archive (which includes everyone from Thurston Moore to Judy Collins) here:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck

Coldplay/Satriani Case Settled

Coldplay and Joe Satriani have reached an out of court settlement in Satriani's copyright infringement case over the song Vida La Vida. Given Vida La Vida's strong melodic similarities to Satriani's 2004 track If I Could Fly, Coldplay was well-advised not to let this case get in front of a jury.

The issue here was never whether Coldplay had knowingly copied Satriani's work, it was whether they had COULD have heard If I Could Fly (a slam-dunk) and whether the songs were close enough that Satriani's copyright had been infringed.

These out of court settlements typically include a gag order preventing either side from discussing the case but we can assume that Satch will receive a payoff while Coldplay will not have to admit any wrongdoing and will avoid the hassle of a court trial. Chris Martin was probably sincere in claiming that the similarities here were conicidnetal and not intentional.

So everyone's happy. Now the ball's in Cat Stevens' court.

Here's the Billboard article:

http://www.billboard.com/#/news/coldplay-satriani-copyright-lawsuit-dismissed-1004012280.story

Any Major Dude Will Tell You...

If there's a better music blog than Any Major Dude Dude, I sure haven't found it. They consistently feature great music along with informative stories on the artists who created it. That's why I'm proud that they just posted an extensive entry on the Beatles-related material in Sounds Like Teen Spirit. Once you've visited their site, I can guarantee that you'll be returning again and again. Check it out here:

http://halfhearteddude.wordpress.com/

And as a special tip of the hat, here's Wilco's excellent rendition of their namesake song:

Sounds Like Teen Spirit with Dennis Miller

I will be appearing on Dennis Miller's radio show tomorrow Wednesday, August 12th. Click here to find your local station that carries the show.

Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce: Too Close for Comfort

There is a lot of buzz today surrounding Kelly Clarkson's new song Already Gone and its musical similarities to Beyonce's hit Halo. Although she performed Already Gone on Good Morning America this morning, Clarkson is claiming that the song is being released against her will. She seems to be blaming Ryan Tedder, the One Republic frontman who is the songwriter of both songs. It appears that Tedder submitted the same backing track to both artists, accounting for their very strong musical similarities.

Read the New York Magazine story and listen to both songs here.

This case brings to mind the story of how Bon Jovi's breakthrough hit You Give Love a Bad Name began life as If You Were a Woman and I Was a Man (yes, that's really the title) by Bonnie Tyler. In that instance Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and songwriter Desmond Child reworked the song Child had earlier written for Tyler into You Give Love a Bad Name. While not a big U.S. hit, If You Were a Woman and I Was a Man topped the charts in several European countries in early 1986. It preceded You Give Love a Bad Name's release on Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet album by six months.

Here's the video for Tyler's song. See if it doesn't sound familiar: