WNEW | Where Rock Lives

Video Classics: 'Proud Mary'

If you thought this 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit (which reached #78 on the 1991 Firecracker 500 before falling to 223 for the '96 list) was titled 'Rollin' on the River' instead of Proud Mary, you wouldn't be alone.  The phrase is repeated over and over, far more often than the titular line (which refers to the Mississippi steamboat Mary Elizabeth, on which the song was written.)  The song topped out at #2 on the U.S. Pop chart, and was the first of five number two singles the band would release, giving them the bittersweet distinction of being the group with the most #2 singles that has never had a #1 hit.

According to Wikipedia ...

Stylistically, the song merges elements of several genres, including rock and roll, blues, gospel, and soul. Nevertheless, it contains many of Creedence Clearwater Revival's most characteristic elements, including a repeated guitar riff, "down-home" lyrics, and a guitar solo (guitarist John) Fogerty said was influenced by Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the M.G.s.

The second line of the second verse has generated considerable confusion, and can be considered a type of mondegreen. Listeners have variously interpreted it as "pumped a lot of pain" and "pumped a lot of 'pane", referring to propane, which is commonly used as a fuel. The controversy was further fueled by Ike & Tina Turner's cover, in which Tina sings "pumped a lot of 'tane", referring to octane, the grading scale and chemical in gasoline. The author, Fogerty, finally laid the confusion to rest, saying, "Sometimes I write words to songs because they sound cool to sing. Sometimes the listener doesn't understand what I'm singing because I'm dedicated to singing the vowel, having fun with the word sounds coming out of my mouth. 'Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis, pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans,' is a good example. I think Tina Turner sang '`tane' instead of 'pain,' as in a contracted form of 'octane'. But I knew what she meant."

Proud Mary has over the years been covered by a number of artists. The most wellknown and probably the best version came from Status Quo in the early seventies. In 1971, a cover version was released by Ike & Tina Turner that differed greatly from the structure of the original, but is also well known and has become one of Tina's most recognizable signature songs.

The video was taken from a 1970 performance in Albert Hall, and despite the presence of a large audience still has something of the feel of a casual garage band jam session.

New Release Tuesday Preview

For all that June offered, July sure has a lot to live up to. But based on the albums set to release on the first Tuesday of this new month, it looks as if musicians and record labels are giving us more time to catch up on all of last month's quality releases, rather than offer anything truly worth a listen.

Regardless, Tuesday, July 1st still promises a few noteworthy releases, most specifically the sixth studio album from Alkaline Trio. Agony & Irony will mark the Chicago-based band's first new material since 2005's Crimson as well as their major label debut on Epic Records. Along with the recent release of the 11-track album's first single, Help Me, Alkaline Trio are promoting the effort with a "Settle the Score" contest, giving fans an opportunity to perform the new songs in their own style.

Los Lonely Boys also return Tuesday with Forgiven, the band's third full-length effort since 2006's commercially successful Sacred. Produced by Steve Jordan, best known for his work with John Mayer, Staying With Me fronts the 12-track album described as a representation of "Familia!...Three brothers. True American spirit – or Texican spirit."

Some 25+ years and ten albums later, Night Rider are still alive and kicking. Best known for their power ballad Sister Christian, the San Francisco natives saw tremendous success in the 1980s with three platinum selling albums. On Tuesday, VH1 Classics Records will release Night Rider's most recent effort, 2007's Hole in the Sun, for the first time in the United States, with a new, refreshed edition.

On the live album front, John Mayer gears up for the release of Where the Light Is this week. The CD/DVD combo will offer footage from Mayer's December 8, 2007 show at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, a special concert which featured three different sets - an acoustic performance, a rare set with the John Mayer Trio (John Mayer, Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino), and one with his full touring band. All 22 songs from the three performances will be presented in high-quality, Blue-ray picture quality.

So whether it be traveling to your local music store, clicking "purchase" on iTunes, or using those 'unmentionable' methods, go out and get something good - and enjoy your new week of music.

Who Knew It Was National Music Blog Day?

In an article I wrote a few weeks ago, I noted that for every ailment, historical event or product invention, there's a day, week, month or year to celebrate, signify or make you aware of it.

For example: the United Nations declared 2008 the 'International Year of the Potato' and 'International Year of Sanitation.' I may be crazy but don't you think the importance of sanitation is self-evident? Do we need to give sanitation its own year?

Likewise, it seems that small tasks like, um, WORLD PEACE, should be a little higher on the U.N.'s to-do list than commemorating the potato. I might be a little more forgiving if this were the 'International Year of the French Fry' but, either way, I'm not sure what they were thinking.

My last article was a little tardy bringing to light all the things that June was and it caused no small headache amongst our readers.

Jim J. of Altoona, PA, emailed me to say his ignorance that June was 'National Celibacy Month' caused him considerable shame during his monthly poker party. His insistence on having the regular 'Dirty Joke Hour' was sadly frowned upon.

Marissa K. of Providence, RI was completely embarrassed to learn the other moms at pre-school were having 'National Potty Training Month' celebrations for their kids.

With July just around the corner, here's advance notice of some of the many weekly celebrations you'll encounter this month...and what to put on those 'Nude Recreation Week' mix tapes.

National Unassisted Homebirth Week (July 1-7)
-The Ventures - Pipeline (last.fm) or The Offspring - I Wanna Be Sedated (last.fm)

Be Nice To New Jersey Week (July 6-12)
-Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - I Don't Wanna Go Home (last.fm)

International Chicken Wing Week (July 5-7)
-Rufus Thomas - Do The Funky Chicken (YouTube) or Sly And The Family Stone - Chicken (last.fm)

Nude Recreation Weekend (July 6-13)
-The Hombres - Let It All Hang Out (last.fm)

Did you notice that 'International Chicken Wing WEEK' lasts only 2 days but 'Nude Recreation WEEKEND' lasts 7 days?

National Farriers Week (July 13-19)
-America - A Horse With No Name (last.fm)

Sports Cliche Week (July 13-19)
-Gary Glitter - Rock and Roll, Part II (last.fm)

Rabbit Week (July 15-21)
-Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbitt (last.fm)

Scrabble Week (July 25-30)              

(last.fm)

A.M. Nuggets: New Album, Tour for Beck; Up North Festival

Beck's new album Modern Guilt isn't out until July 10th, but it's already cracked the Top 10 at iTunes based on pre-orders. Several of the tracks are streaming on his myspace including the eerie, echoing Chemtrails.

This is Beck's 10th album and his latest since 2006's The Information (the one with the do-it-yourself cover and sticker set). Don't expect stickers with this new release - Beck seems more focused on propelling his unique 'modern' sound ever forward. Early reviews, including 4 stars in this week's Rolling Stone, indicate he's done just that.

Bob Weir & Ratdog will headline the inaugural Up North Festival, to be held in Hiram, Maine this August (8-10). Other performers include Umphrey's McGee and the Wailers. Set between the New Hampshire border and beautiful Sebago Lake, Up North promises "not only delightful scenic surroundings but, also a very fitting atmosphere for the festivities at hand." What more could a festival-goer ask for?

Chopping Block: Bruce Springsteen

Having risen from the 'new Dylan' of 1973 to the 'future of rock and roll' in just four albums, Bruce Springsteen opened the 1980s with The River, a two-record set that, paradoxically, showcased a new facet of his abilities: economy.

Not that anyone was complaining, but through the ‘70s, Springsteen took a kitchen sink approach to recording, either weighing his tunes down with frantic wordplay (Blinded by the Light, For You) or building them up into extended, multi-layered pop operas (Rosalita, Jungleland). But The River is one lean, mean, crowd-pleasing machine, with a slew of three-minute sucker punches that are just about as catchy as anything by Bruce’s boyhood idols – Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bobby Fuller, Elvis Presley.

And that’s what makes this week’s Chopping Block such a fool’s errand:

We start things off with The Ties that Bind, and right away Springsteen’s new appreciation for all things short and sweet is evident. (The chorus can be most accurately written as The ties that bi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-ind / Now you can’t brea-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay -eak/The ties that bind.) Never before had Springsteen written a song so fun to sing along to. Brilliant, yes, important, yes, but never this much fun.

If anything, Sherry Darling ratchets up the fun quotient, what with the spontaneous cheering and applause. Of course, Springsteen’s lyrics touch on political and economic strife, but deep down it’s just a funny little tune about a guy who can’t stand his mother-in-law. Another keeper.

You’d think a Bruce Springsteen song called Jackson Cage would be important and thought-provoking, maybe remarking on hope in a hopeless world, that sort of thing. And you’d be right. But it also rocks pretty hard for its 3:03 running time. Follower Two Hearts is also great, the kind of song that makes you wonder why you don’t listen to this album more often. And it’s a head-spinning 2:46 long.

Have I made my point yet? Good. Because things slow way down on Independence Day. This song was left off of Darkness on the Edge of Town, probably because it sounds an awful lot like Racing in the Street. Which is a good thing. Oh, and the lyrics are heartbreaking.

Hungry Heart is next, the album’s lead single and Springsteen’s first in a long line of ‘80s hits.

(Trivia: Hungry Heart was the result of Joey Ramone asking Bruce to write a radio-ready tune for his band, and Bruce – who in years past had penned hits for Patti Smith and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – happily obliged. But when Columbia Records producer Jon Landau heard it, he convinced Bruce to keep the song. That’s why Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen went all the way up to #5 on the Billboard Pop charts while The Ramones’ next single, We Want the Airwaves, stalled at #50 on something called the Club Play Singles chart.)

Follower Out in the Street is another great one, with its story of a guy just happy to be alive in a five o’clock world. Crush on You might be even better, since chicks are more inclined to dig it. You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) sounds like a cover of an old Buddy Holly chestnut, which means it’s totally awesome.

With a frilly organ intro, I Wanna Marry You starts exactly as you’d imagine. But before that first verse is finished it has become something deeper. (To say I’ll make your dreams come true would be wrong / But maybe, darling, I could help them along.) And then we end the album’s first half with the title track, a mid-tempo dirge about the narrator of Thunder Road, ten years later. Pretty depressing stuff, but also great. Keep it.

Finally, after eleven brilliant songs that combine the hooky with the meaningful, Point Blank is an almost welcome misfire, a weird marriage of cocktail lounge piano, screechy organs and boring lyrical content.

We’re back to rock and roll genius with Cadillac Ranch, and this one’s got no deeper meaning than its raucous celebration of James Dean, Junior Johnson and gas guzzlers ‘tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur.’ I’m a Rocker is another classic, as Bruce and the E Street Band channel Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

Fade Away is, in the words of Steve Van Zandt, a 'lost little gem,' and he’s right. It might have stalled on the pop charts (it was the album’s second single, reaching #20 before going under), but it’s a great slow number. Keep it.

Like Independence Day and The River, Stolen Car is vintage Bruce. It's a story song about a man driving a – you guessed it – stolen car in the hopes of getting caught before he’s swallowed by the darkness around him. (No one else in the world writes songs like this, by the way. Those who want more of this kind of thing should pick up a Raymond Carver short story.) It was also used to nice effect in the Stallone flick, Copland.

Ramrod features some goofy double entendres and a haymaker of a sax solo by Clarence Clemons. It may not be the best song on the album, but that roller rink organ riff (think Chris Montez’s Let’s Dance) is hypnotic. As much as I’d like to chop something, there’s no way I could get rid of this one. Follower The Price You Pay is a moving mid-tempo ballad about living with regret. Yet another keeper. Eight-and-half-minute Drive All Night is one of Bruce’s all-time greatest moments as a singer.

This masterful, life affirming two-record set ends with Wreck on the Highway. Inspired by Roy Acuff’s song of the same name, it’s about a man who has witnessed a car accident on his way home from work and can’t shake the image of ‘blood and glass all over.’ A harrowing closer, to be sure, and an effective statement about just how precarious life is. Rock songs are rarely, if ever, this poignant.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we might as well leave The River alone. (Even Point Blank isn’t bad enough to stand as the album’s only duff track.) I should have known who I was tangling with.

Next on the Chopping Block: The Cure’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.

Founding Father: Howlin' Wolf

Beginning in the late 1950s, British kids discovered American blues. The results of their discoveries are still audible today in the early recordings of some of Britain's most influential rock bands: the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Animals, Led Zeppelin, Cream. We've already discussed bluesman Muddy Waters as one of rock's Founding Fathers -- now meet another one: Howlin' Wolf.

Few men ever had a nickname that fit them better: Howlin' Wolf (born Chester Burnett) was six-foot-six and weighed nearly 300 pounds, and his voice was a powerful roar that still demands attention. Born in east Mississippi in 1910, he served in the military during World War II. Afterward, he became a popular local celebrity playing around Memphis. After scoring a hit record in 1951 with How Many More Years, he joined the great migration to Chicago, home of Chess Records, the label that issued his hit. There he formed a band with guitarist Hubert Sumlin, and also worked frequently with Willie Dixon, who wrote several blues classics that were first recorded by Wolf: Little Red Rooster, Spoonful and I Ain't Superstitious. Wolf's most famous recording is probably a song he wrote himself, Smokestack Lightning, most famously covered by the Yardbirds, but also recorded by people ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Bob Dylan to Soundgarden, and featuring one of the classic riffs of all time. One of Wolf's early hits, I Asked for Water from 1956, contains one of the greatest lyric lines in the history of the blues. It begins, "I asked her for water/She brought me gasoline."

Just as they revered Muddy Waters, British rockers of the '60s revered Howlin' Wolf. And just as they had done with Muddy Waters, they invited Wolf to record with them. The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, released in 1971, features Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ringo Starr (credited under the name "Richie"), along with Sumlin. Clapton has criticized the album in succeeding years; Wolf was ill during its recording, and it's not especially well respected among blues fans. Nevertheless, the fact that it exists in the first place, and the star-studded lineup of players on it, both indicate Wolf's importance.

Wolf didn't learn to read or write until he was in his 40s, after he'd begun his recording career. He eventually learned, though, and became successful enough (and savvy enough) to pay his musicians extremely well and keep them working for him over long years. Sumlin remained in his band from the early '50s until Wolf's death in early 1976. Wolf is buried in suburban Chicago; Clapton bought his headstone. Sun Records founder Sam Phillips said of him, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies.'"

Video Classics: 'Born to Be Wild'

Even those who aren't into classic rock could probably hum at least a few bars of this 1968 Steppenwolf hit, if only because it's been featured in so many movies (most iconically in 1969's Easy Rider) and more than a few television commercials.  Cracking the top 100 in the 1991 Firecracker 500 at #93 (and weighing in at #145 in the 1996 list), Born to Be Wild also has another noteworthy claim to fame. 

According to Wikipedia ...

The song is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song ever written and is also said to have inspired the name of the emerging heavy metal genre; although these claims are disputed, the song's second verse (which refers to "heavy metal thunder", though it is a reference to the weight of the motorcycle) contains the first recorded reference to "heavy metal."

For those who aren't Steppenwolf trivia experts, frontman John Kay was born Joachim Fritz Krauledat in East Prussia during World War II, an unlikely beginning for a man who would later spend 40 years giving energetic stage performances like the 1969 offering featured here.

After the jump, hear a cover by the memorable duo of Ozzy Osbourne and Miss Piggy.  Ozzy gets wild and Miss Piggy is, well ... Miss Piggy.

Rock Conspiracies: I Buried Paul

In the fall of 1969, it was somewhat widely believed that Paul McCartney, the ‘cute one’ among the Beatles, had been killed in a car accident back in 1966, and for publicity purposes, the Beatles hired a lookalike (by the curious name of William Shears) to show up for photos.

The first known printing of this rumor appeared in the Times-Delphic, the student newspaper of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Despite the strangeness of the claim, there was some intriguing evidence: The band had stopped touring in 1967. Revolution #9 played backwards says 'Turn me on, dead man.' The ‘28 IF’ on the license plate of the car on the cover of Abbey Road (which, conspiracy theorists suggest, represents Paul’s age, if he had lived). And, of course, the theory that what John Lennon is saying during the fadeout of Strawberry Fields Forever is ‘I buried Paul.’

But in a 1974 interview with Rolling Stone writer Paul Gambaccini, Paul McCartney/Billy Shears said:

That wasn't 'I buried Paul' at all. That was John saying 'Cranberry sauce.' That's John's humor. John would say something totally out of sync, like cranberry sauce. If you don't realize that John's apt to say cranberry sauce when he feels like it, then you start to hear a funny little word there, and you think, 'Aha!'

In a rare instance of post-breakup agreement, Lennon said much the same thing during a 1980 interview with Playboy:

I said ‘Cranberry sauce.’ That's all I said. Some people like ping-pong, other people like digging over graves. Some people will do anything rather than be here now.

Well, then. That would seem to settle it. Though why would someone say ‘cranberry sauce’ in a song about strawberry fields? On the other hand, why would John claim to have buried Paul if George is the one dressed as the gravedigger on the cover of Abbey Road? Who would want to be turned on by a dead man? And who the hell was actually worried about this when the Beatles were about to break up forever?

There are some theories out there that Lennon – always willing to test the boundaries of his group’s popularity (this was the guy who said he and his band were ‘bigger than Jesus,’ after all) – was indeed dropping aural clues in his work, just to see if listeners would notice, but when mass murderer Charles Manson claimed in court that Helter Skelter told him about an apocalyptic war between the races, he knocked it off.

It could go either way: Think ‘I buried Paul,’ and it sounds like ‘I buried Paul.’ Think ‘Cranberry Sauce’ and it sounds like ‘Cranberry Sauce. However, one thing is for certain: On the extended version of Strawberry Fields Forever, from The Beatles Anthology 2, Lennon definitely ends the song by saying ‘All right, calm down, Ringo.’

Next Big Thing: Pete Molinari

Stop what you're doing and follow these steps.

1. Click this link and listen to this guy sing.

2. Go to eMusic or Amazon and buy all his records.

3. Go to his website and learn about him.

4. Send me a comment. Tell me with a straight face this guy's not the best thing to happen to rock and roll since Bob Freaking Dylan.

5. Tell your friends.

6. Go to England, see him live.

A.M. Nuggets: iClips Has Queen, Joan Baez at Nelson Mandela's Birthday Concert

The folks at iClips have already brought us some great concert videos this year, kicking off the festival season at Langerado and then bringing some great live video from Mountain Jam, Summer Camp and Wakarusa. Tomorrow they're making the jump across the pond for a concert honoring Nelson Mandela on his 90th birthday.

Billed as "The 46664 Concert" in reference to Mandela's number during his 27 years as a political prisoner, the show is set to take over London's Hyde Park tomorrow (6/27) with coverage on iClips starting at 1:30pm EST. Will Smith headlines a long list of performers from around the world, including Joan Baez, Queen, Amy Winehouse, Annie Lennox and Josh Groban to name just a few.

The show will raise money for the 46664 Campaign, which provides assistance to many organizations working to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. Click here to find out more.

Video Classics: 'Tempted'

Not especially popular upon its release, Squeeze's 1980 song Tempted has nonetheless had long legs and remained a favorite among fans, making both the 1991 and 1996 Firecracker 500 (coming in at #143 and #102, respectively.) Wikipedia notes ...

Tempted was the second single released from Squeeze's fourth album, East Side Story. Though it failed to crack the Top 40 in the UK or the U.S., over the years Tempted has become one of Squeeze's most well known songs, especially in North America. The song's distinctive lead vocal is mainly by keyboardist Paul Carrack, though guitarist/co-composer Glenn Tilbrook and producer Elvis Costello also each get to sing lead on a few lines in the second verse.

Tempted has been covered numerous times, including versions by Sting, Richard Thompson, Joe Cocker, and Rockapella. Jools Holland also covered this song on his album Lift The Lid, which was a nod to Jools's history with the band.

In 1993, Squeeze remixed and overdubbed the original recording to create a 'new' version of the song for the soundtrack to the film Reality Bites. This version received some radio airplay and was dubbed Tempted '94.

The video features a relaxed stage performance by the band members who, like Tempted, are demonstrating considerable longevity.  Following a successful reunion tour in 2007, Squeeze has announced that they will stay together for another tour in the U.S. later this year.

Rock 101: Radio on TV

As the setting for a workplace sitcom, a radio station should be pretty fertile ground: quirky personalities, weird stunts and funny interactions with a broad spectrum of listeners. And there have been a few good ones: Frasier won more Emmys than any other sitcom; NewsRadio ran for five seasons. But Frasier was set at a talk station and NewsRadio at an all-news station. Where were the sitcoms about music stations?

The first was Good Morning World, which ran on CBS beginning in 1967. It was set at a small Los Angeles station and focused on the morning team of Lewis and Clarke. It starred Ronnie Schell, a familiar sitcom face, and a pre-Laugh In Goldie Hawn.

Despite being created by Carl Reiner and the same team that had produced The Dick Van Dyke Show, Good Morning World lasted but one season. It would be over 10 years before anybody else tried setting a sitcom in a radio station.

WKRP in Cincinnati premiered in the fall of 1978 on CBS. Set at a struggling Top-40 station, it featured a stable of indelible characters: DJs Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap, newsman Les Nessman, receptionist Jennifer Marlowe, sales manager Herb Tarlek and station manager Arthur Carlson. WKRP was nearly canceled after only eight episodes, but it was saved by two factors: a new time slot immediately following M*A*S*H and praise from real-life radio people for its authenticity. It would last four seasons in all, but have a long afterlife in syndication. It's arguable that WKRP was more popular when running on local stations in early-evening or late-night slots throughout the '80s than it had ever been on the network.