Category: 50 Songs to Hear
SONG: Long Way Home
ARTIST: Don Henley
SONGWRITERS: Don Henley / Danny Kortchmar
ALBUM: I Can't Stand Still
YEAR/LABEL: 1982; Asylum
In my songwriting I'm self-critical to a point where it stifles me, sometimes paralyzes me.
(Don Henley)
One of the worst-kept secrets in the history of rock and roll music was the break-up of the Eagles in 1981. Their label, Asylum, denied it, and even Joe Walsh, who did a solo tour in 1981, continued to refer to himself as a member of the Eagles. Only when the solo albums began flying (pardon the pun) out of the various members did the truth come out.
While all five members released solo projects in the immediate aftermath of the disbanding of the Eagles (Walsh's There Goes the Neighborhood, Don Felder's Airborne, Timothy Schmit's Playing It Cool, and Glenn Frey's No Fun Aloud), by far the most outstanding solo album came from Don Henley. Henley, the golden voice of the Eagles, teamed up with guitarist/songwriter Danny Kortchmar (best known for his work with James Taylor and Jackson Browne) and created one of the best albums of 1982: I Can't Stand Still. The album sold nowhere near as well as the Eagles' final album (Eagles Live), managing only "gold" record status despite a top five hit in "Dirty Laundry." That is a shame because I Can't Stand Still remains a highlight of Henley's professional life. Highlights abound, but the song that grabs and refuses to let go is "Long Way Home."
Don Henley has one of the best voices in rock and roll: not only is it technically good, he knows exactly how to use it. In this song he delivers the song with all the pain and emotion necessary to convey a broken relationship in the line "this house don't work and this dream don't work no more, and lover neither do you and I." The last note of the song is simply beautiful over the background singers (including his fellow Eagle Timothy Schmit).
Henley's songwriting skills are in top form as well, as evident by the great philosophy in the first verse, "there's three sides to every story, baby, there's yours and there's mine and the cold hard truth." The visuals in the song are superb: one can see Henley standing in the telephone booth, the phone in his hand and his coat pulled tight against the cold he describes in the opening line.
Henley's solo career took off with his second album Building the Perfect Beast. That album went platinum and earned Henley a Grammy for his hit "The Boys of Summer." While that song is the best hit single of the 1980s and Henley is better known as an Eagle, "Long Way Home" is an outstanding song showcasing his talent as a singer and a songwriter.
OTHER DON HENLEY MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:
The entire I Can't Stand Still album -- the big hit "Dirty Laundry" pales in comparison to songs like "Lilah" and "Them and Us," the latter a seriocomical look at the arms race (complete with Warren Zevon, who was of Russian descent, providing backing vocals) that ranks with Randy Newman's "Political Science" as the best songs on the subject. "Johnny Can't Read" is another highlight.
"A Month of Sundays" (originally the B-side of "The Boys of Summer;" now on the Building the Perfect Beast CD) -- a marvelous song about the plight of farmers.
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs
Life is Too Short
I Want a Home in Dixie
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Island
Heart of Rome
Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Lost at Sea
Category: 50 Songs to Hear
SONG: Island
ARTIST: Jimmy BuffettSONGWRITERS: Jimmy Buffett / Dave Loggins
ALBUM: Coconut TelegraphYEAR/LABEL: 1981; MCA
I get these questions. People ask me, "How can you write them real sensitive songs and then write that TRASH?" And I say, "Well, I can be real sensitive on occasions and be real trashy on others."
(Jimmy Buffett)Country Music Hall of Fame member Roger Miller was plagued with a problem in his career. He became known for lighthearted, "novelty" numbers like "Dang Me" and "Chug-a-Lug" to the point where his serious material (such as his spectacular song "The Last Word in Lonesome is Me") was overlooked by the masses.
Jimmy Buffett has a similar problem. His best-known work speaks of drinking, sex, drinking, wild parties, and oh did I mention drinking. However, he has a soft side apart from those why don't we get drunk on grapefruit-Juicy Fruit in Margaritaville on a livingston Saturday night songs. Sure, those songs are more fun to sing along with at a Jimmy Buffett concert, but they also tend to diminish the fact that Buffett is a good songwriter. His ballads are where his creativity shine.
One of his best ballads is "Island," a song he co-wrote with Dave Loggins (the songwriter of Three Dog Night's "Pieces of April" who had the hit "Please Come to Boston"). This lovely song ranks with some of Buffett's best material.
Buffett sings the song as a monologue to an island. "I feel that your existence is not unlike my own," he tells the land. "They say no man is like you. Sometimes I feel that way too. It's the need for love, heart and soul accompaniment, that seems to make me different from you." Marvelous sentiment from Buffett, delivered with a simple guitar and string background.
A number of Buffett's other ballads ("He Went to Paris," "The Captain and the Kid") have become favorites. If more people listened to this gem they would be requesting that Buffett perform it in concert.
OTHER JIMMY BUFFETT MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:
"Ace" (from Down to Earth/HIgh Cumberland Jubilee) -- a terrific early tune about a homeless man who cannot read or write but can show others how to live.
"Nautical Wheelers" (from A1A) -- a song with a line that was the title of an earlier album ("that's 'cause everyone here is just more than contented to be living and dying in 3/4 time") that is a standout of one of Buffett's best albums.
"Banana Republics" (from Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes) -- an unpleasant busman's holiday for Steve Goodman turned into a classic song, and Buffett provides a great interpretation of the tune.
"The Wino and I Know" (from Living and Dying in 3/4 Time) -- at the time, Buffett was trying to be a country singer, but this song makes references to going "back to the island, honey, back to the sea," indicating what direction Buffett's music would eventually turn.
"Manana" (from Son of a Son of a Sailor) -- how can you pass up a song with lines like "Don't try to describe a Kiss concert if you've never seen it" and "I hope Anita Bryant never ever does one of my songs?"
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
Life is Too Short
I Want a Home in Dixie
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Heart of Rome
Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
Buffett sings the song as a monologue to an island. "I feel that your existence is not unlike my own," he tells the land. "They say no man is like you. Sometimes I feel that way too. It's the need for love, heart and soul accompaniment, that seems to make me different from you." Marvelous sentiment from Buffett, delivered with a simple guitar and string background.
A number of Buffett's other ballads ("He Went to Paris," "The Captain and the Kid") have become favorites. If more people listened to this gem they would be requesting that Buffett perform it in concert.
OTHER JIMMY BUFFETT MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:
"Ace" (from Down to Earth/HIgh Cumberland Jubilee) -- a terrific early tune about a homeless man who cannot read or write but can show others how to live.
"Nautical Wheelers" (from A1A) -- a song with a line that was the title of an earlier album ("that's 'cause everyone here is just more than contented to be living and dying in 3/4 time") that is a standout of one of Buffett's best albums.
"Banana Republics" (from Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes) -- an unpleasant busman's holiday for Steve Goodman turned into a classic song, and Buffett provides a great interpretation of the tune.
"The Wino and I Know" (from Living and Dying in 3/4 Time) -- at the time, Buffett was trying to be a country singer, but this song makes references to going "back to the island, honey, back to the sea," indicating what direction Buffett's music would eventually turn.
"Manana" (from Son of a Son of a Sailor) -- how can you pass up a song with lines like "Don't try to describe a Kiss concert if you've never seen it" and "I hope Anita Bryant never ever does one of my songs?"
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
Life is Too Short
I Want a Home in Dixie
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Heart of Rome
Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
Monday, March 16, 2009
Long Live the King
Category: 50 Songs to Hear
SONG: Heart of Rome
ARTIST: Elvis Presley
SONGWRITERS: Stephens / Blakely / Howard
ALBUM: Love Letters From Elvis
YEAR/LABEL: 1971; RCA Victor
Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside.
(Elvis Presley)
Forty years ago it would have been hard to imagine a "rare" Elvis Presley song. Now it's hard to find more than a handful of well-known Elvis tunes. With the increasing disappearance of "oldies" stations new generations might have to dig deep to find Elvis' music.
Fortunately, he is worth the search. Elvis had a great ear for choosing songs. Granted, not all of his renditions came out great; however, there's a very good reason that people who weren't born when he died in 1977 are fans: the man was good.
One of the best examples of a great song given the royal Elvis treatment is "Heart of Rome." The song's subject is simple: woman is going on a trip, leaving her beau in Rome. With Elvis' performance on this number, however, this could have been the Rome phone directory and it would still sound great. Elvis put everything into this song. His powerful vocal punch on the chorus of "I'll make a wish in every fountain, say a prayer that you'll be mine" is spine-tingling. (There is a bootleg of outtakes in existence that features this song, where Elvis sang a rather off-color lyric alteration, but even the joke comes out with the same vocal intensity!)
The worst thing that could happen to music is for Elvis to be relegated to "the past" and considered "un-cool" for younger people. Elvis didn't invent rock and roll, but he did present it to the masses in a way no other act had done. Elvis' music is for all generations, and the place to start listening is right here, in the "Heart of Rome."
OTHER ELVIS PRESLEY SONGS TO INVESTIGATE:
"(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" (available on 30 No. 1's) -- big hit? Absolutely. His best hit? Open for debate, but it is one of the best songs of the 1960s, period.
"It's a Matter of Time" (from Burning Love) -- if you have the 45 of "Burning Love," turn it over and discover a gem.
"Solitaire" (from From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee) -- a Neil Sedaka composition that Elvis performed masterfully.
"Always on My Mind" (from Separate Ways) -- if the only version you've ever heard of this song is Willie Nelson's, give yourself a treat and hear a broken-hearted man sing this (recorded after his divorce from Priscilla).
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
I Want a Home in Dixie
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
SONG: Heart of Rome
ARTIST: Elvis Presley
SONGWRITERS: Stephens / Blakely / Howard
ALBUM: Love Letters From Elvis
YEAR/LABEL: 1971; RCA Victor
Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside.
(Elvis Presley)
Forty years ago it would have been hard to imagine a "rare" Elvis Presley song. Now it's hard to find more than a handful of well-known Elvis tunes. With the increasing disappearance of "oldies" stations new generations might have to dig deep to find Elvis' music.
Fortunately, he is worth the search. Elvis had a great ear for choosing songs. Granted, not all of his renditions came out great; however, there's a very good reason that people who weren't born when he died in 1977 are fans: the man was good.
One of the best examples of a great song given the royal Elvis treatment is "Heart of Rome." The song's subject is simple: woman is going on a trip, leaving her beau in Rome. With Elvis' performance on this number, however, this could have been the Rome phone directory and it would still sound great. Elvis put everything into this song. His powerful vocal punch on the chorus of "I'll make a wish in every fountain, say a prayer that you'll be mine" is spine-tingling. (There is a bootleg of outtakes in existence that features this song, where Elvis sang a rather off-color lyric alteration, but even the joke comes out with the same vocal intensity!)
The worst thing that could happen to music is for Elvis to be relegated to "the past" and considered "un-cool" for younger people. Elvis didn't invent rock and roll, but he did present it to the masses in a way no other act had done. Elvis' music is for all generations, and the place to start listening is right here, in the "Heart of Rome."
OTHER ELVIS PRESLEY SONGS TO INVESTIGATE:
"(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" (available on 30 No. 1's) -- big hit? Absolutely. His best hit? Open for debate, but it is one of the best songs of the 1960s, period.
"It's a Matter of Time" (from Burning Love) -- if you have the 45 of "Burning Love," turn it over and discover a gem.
"Solitaire" (from From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee) -- a Neil Sedaka composition that Elvis performed masterfully.
"Always on My Mind" (from Separate Ways) -- if the only version you've ever heard of this song is Willie Nelson's, give yourself a treat and hear a broken-hearted man sing this (recorded after his divorce from Priscilla).
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
I Want a Home in Dixie
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Return of a Songwriting Legend
Category: Concert Review
There's an old country song titled, "Have I Stayed Away Too Long?" For J.D. Souther, the answer to that question is an unqualified YES. After nearly a quarter of a century away from recording, Souther returned last year with If the World Was You, featuring an interesting twist: his typical sardonic lyrics with jazz instrumentation.
Souther brought his rich song catalog to the historic 125 Theater at Belcourt (the former Hillsboro Theater, which was home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1934 to 1936) in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, March 4, as part of his return to musical performing (after years as an actor). If his shows have been as good in other cities as this performance, he has been knocking them dead.
The first 40 minutes of Souther's set was devoted to his classics: "Faithless Love," his one big hit "You're Only Lonely" (which people, even his fans, still mistake for the Roy Orbison song "Only the Lonely"), and "Red Wing." He performed "New Kid in Town" (the Eagles hit which Souther co-wrote) masterfully with just his guitar, and "Simple Man, Simple Dream" was elevated to a new level of greatness with the solo performance.
For the remainder of the concert, Souther was backed with his jazz ensemble and performed most of If the World Was You. The only drawback to the set was the trumpet and saxophones were at the same volume level as Souther's vocal microphone, which meant that he was frequently drowned out by the louder instruments. That is a shame, because the long hiatus did nothing to Souther's songwriting ability.
New York singer/songwriter April Smith opened the concert with six songs performed solo acoustically. The opening number, "Drop Dead Gorgeous," featured a good punch line ("If you're just drop-dead gorgeous, then drop dead") and a comment Smith relayed from her father that the song sounded like "what would have happened if Gene Pitney had been a sarcastic bastard." Smith delivered her mix of upbeat songs and ballads with a wonderful knock-the-walls-down blues/jazz voice. Her set was far too short.
Souther's portion of the concert was recorded and filmed for an apparent CD and DVD release. It is most fortunate that this magical evening by a songwriting legend was captured for all to enjoy.
There's an old country song titled, "Have I Stayed Away Too Long?" For J.D. Souther, the answer to that question is an unqualified YES. After nearly a quarter of a century away from recording, Souther returned last year with If the World Was You, featuring an interesting twist: his typical sardonic lyrics with jazz instrumentation.
Souther brought his rich song catalog to the historic 125 Theater at Belcourt (the former Hillsboro Theater, which was home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1934 to 1936) in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, March 4, as part of his return to musical performing (after years as an actor). If his shows have been as good in other cities as this performance, he has been knocking them dead.
The first 40 minutes of Souther's set was devoted to his classics: "Faithless Love," his one big hit "You're Only Lonely" (which people, even his fans, still mistake for the Roy Orbison song "Only the Lonely"), and "Red Wing." He performed "New Kid in Town" (the Eagles hit which Souther co-wrote) masterfully with just his guitar, and "Simple Man, Simple Dream" was elevated to a new level of greatness with the solo performance.
For the remainder of the concert, Souther was backed with his jazz ensemble and performed most of If the World Was You. The only drawback to the set was the trumpet and saxophones were at the same volume level as Souther's vocal microphone, which meant that he was frequently drowned out by the louder instruments. That is a shame, because the long hiatus did nothing to Souther's songwriting ability.
New York singer/songwriter April Smith opened the concert with six songs performed solo acoustically. The opening number, "Drop Dead Gorgeous," featured a good punch line ("If you're just drop-dead gorgeous, then drop dead") and a comment Smith relayed from her father that the song sounded like "what would have happened if Gene Pitney had been a sarcastic bastard." Smith delivered her mix of upbeat songs and ballads with a wonderful knock-the-walls-down blues/jazz voice. Her set was far too short.
Souther's portion of the concert was recorded and filmed for an apparent CD and DVD release. It is most fortunate that this magical evening by a songwriting legend was captured for all to enjoy.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Legend Signs Off
Category: News
For the first time in the lives of millions of Americans, there is no Paul Harvey to bring us his news and commentary.
Harvey died February 28 in a Phoenix hospital. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Paul Harvey was 90 and leaves behind family, friends, and generations raised on his radio show.
For the first time in the lives of millions of Americans, there is no Paul Harvey to bring us his news and commentary.
Harvey died February 28 in a Phoenix hospital. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Paul Harvey was 90 and leaves behind family, friends, and generations raised on his radio show.
Escaping Slavery
Category: 50 Songs to Hear
SONG: Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
ARTIST: Long Ryders
SONGWRITER: Sid Griffin
ALBUM: Two Fisted Tales
YEAR/LABEL: 1987; Island
Look at me. I'm an eighth generation Kentuckian, and yet I hated country and western as a tyke.
(Sid Griffin)
One of the best-kept secrets of the "roots rock" movement of the mid-1980s was the Long Ryders. The band released a number of critically-acclaimed albums but never managed to break free of that dreaded "cult band" status. The band broke up and lead singer/songwriter Sid Griffin moved to England, where he solidified his reputation as one of the leading experts on the late country-rock icon Gram Parsons and formed another band, the Coal Porters.
Nestled amid the Long Ryders' too-few releases is "Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home," a brilliant number about escaping slavery and referencing the Underground Railroad leader. The song is performed from the woman's point of view, although sung by a man (which is not unusual: check out Andy Pratt's "Avenging Annie" in rock or the Louvin Brothers' rendition of "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" in country).
The song is in a minor key and features prominent mandolin playing by Griffin. The song references several historical persons in addition to the title character (Frederick Douglas, Dred Scott). While the song has its roots in history, the song can easily be about breaking free of anything from the slavery of a record label to a burdensome relationship. It follows the pattern of numerous spirituals, where the title is repeated after each line in the verses ("They ain't got their freedom but they got their pride, Harriet Tubman's gonna carry me home, and there's more of them as there's more of me, Harriet Tubman's gonna carry me home"). When the song finishes the listener feels as liberated as the protagonist.
While a song from Two Fisted Tales, "I Want You Bad," generated some airplay thanks to a video (that featured, as Griffin joked in concert, guitarist/vocalist Stephen McCarthy looking way too much like Jackson Browne), this album was their last before disbanding. The Long Ryders have occasionally reunited for some shows despite their newer ventures (Griffin with the Coal Porters and a documentary on his idol, Gram Parsons; McCarthy as a touring member of the Jayhawks). Their legacy as one of the important American roots rock bands is solidified thanks to this marvelous song.
OTHER LONG RYDERS MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:
The entire State of Our Union album -- the title song presents all the speech ("if I start slowing down and I throw in too many you all's for you all") and lifestyle ("cornbread, stock cars, minor league baseball too") stereotypes unashamedly with a rocking beat that will make Yankees want to move, and the other marvelous tunes on the album ("You Just Can't Ride the Boxcars Anymore," "Looking for Lewis and Clark," "Capturing the Flag") will give them something to crank up as they make the journey south.
"(Sweet) Mental Revenge" (from 10-5-60) -- a classic country song penned by Mel Tillis and made famous by Waylon Jennings given a good treatment.
"Run Dusty Run" (from 10-5-60) -- think of taking the horse race line in the Band's "Up on Cripple Creek" and making an entire song around it while driving around a NASCAR track and you can hear this song.
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
SONG: Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
ARTIST: Long Ryders
SONGWRITER: Sid Griffin
ALBUM: Two Fisted Tales
YEAR/LABEL: 1987; Island
Look at me. I'm an eighth generation Kentuckian, and yet I hated country and western as a tyke.
(Sid Griffin)
One of the best-kept secrets of the "roots rock" movement of the mid-1980s was the Long Ryders. The band released a number of critically-acclaimed albums but never managed to break free of that dreaded "cult band" status. The band broke up and lead singer/songwriter Sid Griffin moved to England, where he solidified his reputation as one of the leading experts on the late country-rock icon Gram Parsons and formed another band, the Coal Porters.
Nestled amid the Long Ryders' too-few releases is "Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home," a brilliant number about escaping slavery and referencing the Underground Railroad leader. The song is performed from the woman's point of view, although sung by a man (which is not unusual: check out Andy Pratt's "Avenging Annie" in rock or the Louvin Brothers' rendition of "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" in country).
The song is in a minor key and features prominent mandolin playing by Griffin. The song references several historical persons in addition to the title character (Frederick Douglas, Dred Scott). While the song has its roots in history, the song can easily be about breaking free of anything from the slavery of a record label to a burdensome relationship. It follows the pattern of numerous spirituals, where the title is repeated after each line in the verses ("They ain't got their freedom but they got their pride, Harriet Tubman's gonna carry me home, and there's more of them as there's more of me, Harriet Tubman's gonna carry me home"). When the song finishes the listener feels as liberated as the protagonist.
While a song from Two Fisted Tales, "I Want You Bad," generated some airplay thanks to a video (that featured, as Griffin joked in concert, guitarist/vocalist Stephen McCarthy looking way too much like Jackson Browne), this album was their last before disbanding. The Long Ryders have occasionally reunited for some shows despite their newer ventures (Griffin with the Coal Porters and a documentary on his idol, Gram Parsons; McCarthy as a touring member of the Jayhawks). Their legacy as one of the important American roots rock bands is solidified thanks to this marvelous song.
OTHER LONG RYDERS MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:
The entire State of Our Union album -- the title song presents all the speech ("if I start slowing down and I throw in too many you all's for you all") and lifestyle ("cornbread, stock cars, minor league baseball too") stereotypes unashamedly with a rocking beat that will make Yankees want to move, and the other marvelous tunes on the album ("You Just Can't Ride the Boxcars Anymore," "Looking for Lewis and Clark," "Capturing the Flag") will give them something to crank up as they make the journey south.
"(Sweet) Mental Revenge" (from 10-5-60) -- a classic country song penned by Mel Tillis and made famous by Waylon Jennings given a good treatment.
"Run Dusty Run" (from 10-5-60) -- think of taking the horse race line in the Band's "Up on Cripple Creek" and making an entire song around it while driving around a NASCAR track and you can hear this song.
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
Monday, February 23, 2009
A Visual Song for the Video Generation
Category: 50 Songs to Hear
SONG: Entella Hotel
ARTIST: Peter Case
SONGWRITER: Peter Case
ALBUM: The Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar
YEAR/LABEL: 1988; Geffen
The whole trick to songwriting is to say as much as you can with the least amount. It's almost like sending a telegram.
(Peter Case)
The advent of MTV seems to have made songwriters lazy. So many songs sound as though they were written for background music for a video, or they're so convoluted that they need a video to explain them.
Enter Peter Case. He had already produced an exceptional debut (his 1986 self-titled album) after a hiatus following the break-up of the Plimsouls. His second solo album, The Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar (a title that sounds as though he stole it out of Joe Walsh's garbage can -- he has another album like that, Peter Case Sings Like Hell), broke the so-called "sophomore curse" that so many greats of the 80s suffered from (e.g., the BoDeans, Marshall Crenshaw), and, in fact, was a better album than Peter Case -- which is saying something.
Highlights abound on Blue Guitar, but without question the most exceptional song is the movie disguised as a five-minute song, "Entella Hotel." Forget a video, because this song is so explicitly detailed that a video would only distract from the lyrics. Case takes us through this seedy hotel and the strip bar, the Garden of Earthly Delights, with such clarity that one can almost smell those "old men laying in hallways" and hear the shatter as "the mirror falls with a roar."
Case bombards his listener with great line after great line in this song, including two back-to-back. Describing the day, he sings, "The afternoon seems to go on forever like some drunken bum till the sun finally drowns 'neath the bridge and the night has begun." He allows no time to recover from that exceptional piece of visual reporting, for the next verse begins, "Down by the bay the ships' horns are blasting the fog, and we stumble and mutter and run through the gutter like dogs." By the time Case finishes assaulting your senses in this song, you're looking for Nicole's phone number to offer to help her recover from the "terrible fight" she and her boss had down at the Garden of Earthly Delights -- or you're wanting a shower because the grunge of the hotel and its denizens has rubbed off on you.
Sadly, Blue Guitar is not currently in print, although it has been issued on CD in the past. The song is also available on Thank You St. Jude, an album of re-recorded versions of Case's most requested material from his days on Geffen. Whatever it takes, get this song.
OTHER PETER CASE MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:
The entire Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar album -- it is no exaggeration to say this is one of the best albums, not only of the 1980s, but of the last 30 years.
"Steel Strings" (from Peter Case) -- a classic song from Case's first album about the ups and downs (mostly downs) of life as a musician.
"Rose Conolly" (from Peter Case Sings Like Hell) -- better known as "Down in the Willow Garden" when Charlie Monroe & the Kentucky Partners recorded it in 1946, this old murder ballad gets a fresh reading from Case.
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
SONG: Entella Hotel
ARTIST: Peter Case
SONGWRITER: Peter Case
ALBUM: The Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar
YEAR/LABEL: 1988; Geffen
The whole trick to songwriting is to say as much as you can with the least amount. It's almost like sending a telegram.
(Peter Case)
The advent of MTV seems to have made songwriters lazy. So many songs sound as though they were written for background music for a video, or they're so convoluted that they need a video to explain them.
Enter Peter Case. He had already produced an exceptional debut (his 1986 self-titled album) after a hiatus following the break-up of the Plimsouls. His second solo album, The Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar (a title that sounds as though he stole it out of Joe Walsh's garbage can -- he has another album like that, Peter Case Sings Like Hell), broke the so-called "sophomore curse" that so many greats of the 80s suffered from (e.g., the BoDeans, Marshall Crenshaw), and, in fact, was a better album than Peter Case -- which is saying something.
Highlights abound on Blue Guitar, but without question the most exceptional song is the movie disguised as a five-minute song, "Entella Hotel." Forget a video, because this song is so explicitly detailed that a video would only distract from the lyrics. Case takes us through this seedy hotel and the strip bar, the Garden of Earthly Delights, with such clarity that one can almost smell those "old men laying in hallways" and hear the shatter as "the mirror falls with a roar."
Case bombards his listener with great line after great line in this song, including two back-to-back. Describing the day, he sings, "The afternoon seems to go on forever like some drunken bum till the sun finally drowns 'neath the bridge and the night has begun." He allows no time to recover from that exceptional piece of visual reporting, for the next verse begins, "Down by the bay the ships' horns are blasting the fog, and we stumble and mutter and run through the gutter like dogs." By the time Case finishes assaulting your senses in this song, you're looking for Nicole's phone number to offer to help her recover from the "terrible fight" she and her boss had down at the Garden of Earthly Delights -- or you're wanting a shower because the grunge of the hotel and its denizens has rubbed off on you.
Sadly, Blue Guitar is not currently in print, although it has been issued on CD in the past. The song is also available on Thank You St. Jude, an album of re-recorded versions of Case's most requested material from his days on Geffen. Whatever it takes, get this song.
OTHER PETER CASE MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:
The entire Man With the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar album -- it is no exaggeration to say this is one of the best albums, not only of the 1980s, but of the last 30 years.
"Steel Strings" (from Peter Case) -- a classic song from Case's first album about the ups and downs (mostly downs) of life as a musician.
"Rose Conolly" (from Peter Case Sings Like Hell) -- better known as "Down in the Willow Garden" when Charlie Monroe & the Kentucky Partners recorded it in 1946, this old murder ballad gets a fresh reading from Case.
PREVIOUS SONGS:
(Country)
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well
(Rock)
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine
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