The Band – “Life Is A Carnival”

"Life Is A Carnival" Words & Music by Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm & Rick Danko copyright 1971 WC Music Corp and Canaan Music, Inc. All rights administered by WC Music Corp

By 1971, The Band was one of the most influential forces in rock music, having steered the genre away from psychedelic excess toward a more rustic, roots-based sound. However, the recording of their fourth album, Cahoots, was a period of high tension within the group.  Despite these fractures, the album’s opening track, “Life is a Carnival,” stands out as a masterpiece of groove and atmosphere, drawing on Robertson’s real-life experiences working in a traveling circus to paint a vivid picture of life as a relentless “hustle.”

Let’s dive inside the track to examine the individual elements that make it work: the interplay between Levon Helm’s “behind the beat” drumming, Rick Danko’s fretless bass, Robbie Robertson’s funky guitar work, and the “calliope” atmosphere created by Garth Hudson’s Lowrey organ. And a major highlight is Allen Toussaint’s contribution; the New Orleans legend’s horn arrangements were written specifically to weave around Robertson’s existing guitar solo, resulting in a rhythmic conversation that remains irresistible decades later. This episode is a tribute not just to a great song, but to the enduring legacy of five musicians who changed the landscape of American music.

“Life Is A Carnival” Words & Music by Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm & Rick Danko copyright 1971 WC Music Corp and Canaan Music, Inc. All rights administered by WC Music Corp

TRANSCRIPT:

Take a load off, because it’s time for another episode of the I’m in Love with That Song podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, coming to you courtesy of the Pantheon Podcast Network, where fans belong. Each episode of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we take a look at it together as we try to get a better understanding of what makes a song work. We’ll dig into all those little elements, those small decisions and choices that add up to making a great song. No musical knowledge or experience is required here; we don’t get too technical. This podcast is for anyone who loves music and is curious about what makes a song great.

This time around, we’re revisiting one of the most important bands that came out of the late 1960s, and they had a huge impact on the direction of rock music. We’re talking about The Band. We’ve covered The Band once before—that was way back on Episode 17, with a song from their second album. This time, we’ll explore a song from their fourth album, released in 1971. This is a great song called “Life is a Carnival.”

(Music: “Life is a Carnival” by The Band)

In the late 1950s, a singer named Ronnie Hawkins had a backing band called The Hawks. The Hawks included four Canadians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson both on keyboards, and one American: a drummer named Levon Helm. Hawkins built up quite a following in the Ontario area, but eventually, The Hawks outgrew working with Ronnie and split off on their own. In 1965, Bob Dylan hired them to be his band for his 1965-66 tours, and suddenly, The Hawks were thrust into the big time. They became known as simply The Band, and after working with Dylan on what became known as The Basement Tapes, they got their own record deal and released their first album, Music from Big Pink.

(Music: “The Weight” by The Band)

To say that that album was influential would be a huge understatement. It changed the landscape, the whole direction of rock music. Suddenly, the trippy excesses of psychedelic rock were out, and the rustic, return-to-roots sound that The Band exemplified became the hot new thing. But by the turn of the 1970s, the pressure of their own myth was clearly having an effect. When they recorded their first album in 1968, they were as tight as a band could get, practically telepathic in their musical communication—it was a shared communal experience. But when they headed into the studio to make their fourth album, Cahoots, in 1971, their brotherhood was being fractured by fame, substance abuse, and creative stagnation.

Probably the biggest casualty by this time was pianist and singer Richard Manuel. On their first album, he was a key ingredient of their creative stew, contributing a number of that record’s best tracks. But by the fourth album, his creative output had evaporated; he contributed no new material for this album. Drummer and singer Levon Helm’s creative input had also diminished, though he did remain their primary vocalist. That left Robbie Robertson as the driving force for getting this new album together. So then, of course, that imbalance of songwriting led to resentment from the other members. From his perspective, Robertson felt abandoned by the others and forced into taking the role of the leader. And the rest of the band, particularly Levon Helm, would become bitter about the songwriting credits and the lack of royalty payments that followed.

The studio situation just made things worse. Albert Grossman, the band’s manager and also founder of the Bearsville record label, had built Bearsville Sound Studios in Woodstock, New York. It was designed to be a state-of-the-art studio, but when The Band entered it in 1971, the studio wasn’t finished yet, and there were a lot of technical issues that just hadn’t been fixed. And the band were used to working in more natural environments. This new studio felt sterile to them—too bright, too cold. And the album that resulted, Cahoots, is often described as sounding muddy and murky.

Cahoots isn’t a concept or thematic album by design, but there is a thread that runs through the record. Maybe unintentionally, but it’s there. Most of the songs deal with obsolescence: the vanishing of trades and traditions, the extinction of animals like the buffalo and the bald eagle. You could pretty easily extrapolate these themes as representing The Band itself at this time. But we’re still talking about The Band here; even at their lowest points, they were still capable of brilliance. There are a few moments like these on the album, especially the song that opens the record, “Life is a Carnival.”

Interestingly, “Life is a Carnival” is the only song on the album where band members besides Robertson share credit. The song is credited to Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Robbie Robertson. It features Levon Helm on drums, Rick Danko on fretless bass, Robbie Robertson on guitar, Richard Manuel on piano, and Garth Hudson on a Lowrey organ. The vocals are delivered by both Rick Danko and Levon Helm. The track opens with a single kick drum hit, then the bass, guitar, and the drums and percussion come in for four measures.

(Music: Intro to “Life is a Carnival”)

Okay, a couple of things here. First, I’m hearing a lot of noise in the left channel. I imagine you can hear it too, even on this podcast MP3 file. Now, I’m using the original CD of this album released in 2000 for this breakdown. This album was remixed and remastered in 2021, but I didn’t want to use that version because it’s significantly different than the original album, and I just wanted to stick with the original mix for better or worse. I did go back and listen to my vinyl copy of this album, and other than the typical surface noise from an old record, I didn’t really hear as much noise on the vinyl as I do on this CD. So I don’t know if this is something unique to this particular copy of the CD, but there’s definitely some distracting noise in that left channel. I could run some software to clean it up, but I’m not going to do that; I don’t want to mess with the original track. So we’ll leave it, noise and all.

Okay, so now let’s go back and listen to this intro, this time just the drums and the bass. This is quite a funky little groove that Levon and Rick are laying down. Remember that Rick is playing a fretless bass—it’s actually an Ampeg AMUB-1. We discussed these bases a little bit a few episodes ago on Episode 200 about the history of the electric bass. Let’s hear that intro.

(Music: Isolated bass and drums)

And now, let’s bring up Robbie Robertson’s guitar to see what he’s playing in counterpoint to that groove. Notice how Robbie’s guitar has a tremolo effect on it.

(Music: Isolated guitar with tremolo)

All right, now let’s put that back together and we’ll listen to the first four measures of this intro.

(Music: Reassembled intro)

And here, starting with the next measure, the horns come in. And from my money, the horns are the most exciting part of this song. They were arranged by Allen Toussaint, an absolute legend. Based in New Orleans, Allen Toussaint produced literally hundreds of recordings. He wrote a number of classic songs, he’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in 2013. There’s a street named after him in New Orleans; he even had his own postage stamp issued last year. His horn arrangement on this track is so great.

(Music: Intro with horn section)

A couple more things to note here: the stereo placement of the horns—some on the left, some on the right—really accentuates the way the different horns bounce off of each other in a funky conversation. Also, notice that there’s an acoustic guitar that’s been added, somewhat low in the mix, adding another percussive rhythm.

(Music: Intro with acoustic guitar detail)

That brings us to the first verse, where the vocals come in. The song is sung as a duet between Rick Danko, taking the high parts, and Levon Helm, with Richard Manuel providing backup on the choruses.

(Music: Verse 1 vocals)

That leads us into the second part of the verse and a couple of my favorite lines in the song. It’s a great example of how Robbie Robertson’s songwriting could really paint a visual picture. First, let’s bring up the vocals.

(Music: Verse 1 continued vocals)

You can really picture this guy peddling watches on the street. That’s the hustle, right? The hustle of this carnival called life. Let’s hear that verse in the final mix.

(Music: Verse 1 final mix)

And that brings us to the first chorus. Garth Hudson’s Lowrey organ is heard more prominently here.

(Music: Chorus 1)

The intro riff returns here for a few measures.

(Music: Interlude)

Here comes the second verse, which tells of a man with “a jinx in the third degree” from dealing with people “he can’t see”. This is the most enigmatic line in the song; there’s a few ways you could interpret that. One thing we should probably mention here is that Robbie Robertson actually spent time working in a carnival. When he was 14, he worked at a traveling circus and freak show outside of Toronto. I think the things he saw and experienced there were life lessons that he carried with him—a certain perspective on human nature, which I think informs this song.

(Music: Verse 2)

Before we move on, I want to go back and listen to that verse without the vocals, just to appreciate this performance. Everything about it is great. Levon Helm’s drums are played perfectly laid-back, behind the beat. He’s avoiding the typical clichés and playing around the beat. Rick Danko’s also playing bits that slide around the beat, often avoiding the ‘one’ and playing in between the beats. Robbie Robertson’s laying down an acoustic guitar track that almost functions more as a percussion instrument than a melodic one. And then there’s those horns: sharp, rhythmic stabs bouncing off of each other and the rest of the band. The playing between Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and that brass section creates this push-pull rhythm that is absolutely irresistible.

(Music: Instrumental track of Verse 2)

And the last half of this verse really gets to the crux of the song. “We’re all in the same boat ready to float off the edge of the world; the street is a sideshow, from the peddler to the corner girl. Life is a carnival, it’s in the book. Life is a carnival, take another look.”

(Music: Verse 2 conclusion and Chorus)

Next up is a guitar solo from Robbie Robertson. And what I love about this solo is the way it bobs and weaves around the other parts. But it wasn’t constructed that way; the solo was actually recorded before the brass section was arranged and recorded. Allen Toussaint received a rough mix of the song with the guitar solo already there and wrote the horn parts around the existing solo. Listen to how all of these parts—the solo, the rhythm section, and the horns—interact with each other.

(Music: Guitar solo with horn interaction)

And that brings us to a reprise of the line about the guy hawking watches before one final chorus. But before we get there, I want to listen to just the rhythm section one more time, especially to Rick Danko on fretless bass.

(Music: Rhythm section isolated)

Let’s bring the other instruments back in.

(Music: Instrumental build-up)

All right, now let’s go back, add the vocals back in, and listen to the final mix. This time, listen for Robertson’s funky guitar part and how Garth Hudson’s organ recreates the atmosphere of a circus calliope on the chorus.

(Music: Final Verse and Chorus)

And they’re going to ride out on this great groove into the fade.

(Music: Fade out)

“Life is a Carnival” by The Band.

When Cahoots was released in September 1971, it met with reviews that ranged from mediocre to downright hostile. That was something The Band wasn’t used to; they’d been critical darlings up until that point. The reaction stung, so much so that it would be four years before they released another album of new material. They followed Cahoots with a live album, Rock of Ages, that featured a horn section all arranged by Allen Toussaint. And then, an album of all cover songs called Moondog Matinee. They didn’t release an album of new original songs until Northern Lights-Southern Cross in 1975. By 1978, they called it quits and celebrated with The Last Waltz. They would later reform, but without Robbie Robertson.

All the members of The Band are gone now. Richard Manuel took his own life in March 1986. After a gig in Florida, he hung himself in the hotel bathroom. He was 42 years old.

Rick Danko passed away from heart failure at his home in December 1999. He was 55.

Levon Helm survived a bout with throat cancer in the 1990s that left him unable to sing for years. Eventually, he started singing again in 2004, but it was never really the same. The cancer returned, and after years of a valiant fight, Levon Helm died in April 2012. He was 71.

Robbie Robertson died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles from prostate cancer.

And the last surviving member, Garth Hudson, died in his sleep at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York, on January 21, 2025. He was 87 years old.

The music lives on, though—that’s a cliché to say, but it’s true. They were one of the most influential groups ever, whether people realize it or not, and that music continues to inspire and influence artists upcoming today.

Thanks for checking out this edition of the I’m in Love with That Song podcast. New episodes of this show come out on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so stay tuned for more. You can catch up on or revisit any of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. Keep up with us on Facebook—just look for the I’m in Love with That Song podcast, you’ll find us there—or send email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com.

You can support the show by going to oldglory.com and buying a t-shirt or some band merch. Use our discount code “lovethatsong” to get 15% off.

And please, share the show with the other music lovers in your life—your friends, your family. Please spread the word about this podcast, because that’s what keeps us going.

On behalf of everyone here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening. And remember– life is a carnival.

(Music: “Life is a Carnival” reprise)

RESOURCES & REFERENCES:

The Beastie Boys – “So What’cha Want” & “Gratitude”

“So What’cha Want” - Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP). “Gratitude” - Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch & Tom Cushman Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP) and PolyGram International Music Publishing, Inc.

The Beastie Boys’ trajectory is one of the most unique in music history, moving from underground punk, to the “frat-rap” superstardom of Licensed to Ill, to socially-conscious stars of both hip-hop and alternative rock. In this episode, we explore the pivotal moment when the band faced an artistic crisis following the commercial failure of Paul’s Boutique. Severing ties with Def Jam and moving to Los Angeles, the trio—Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock—found absolute creative freedom in their own L.A. studio. With the help of Mario Caldato Jr. and Money Mark, they began to blend their hip-hop roots with live funk, punk, and rock, resulting in the 1992 triumph, Check Your Head.

We’ll do a track-by-track breakdown of “So What’cha Want” and “Gratitude,” revealing the secrets behind their signature sounds. We’ll see how the Hammond organ and distorted karaoke vocals created the atmosphere of “So What’cha Want,” and how Adam Yauch’s (MCA) spiritual journey influenced the heavy, fuzz-drenched riff of “Gratitude.” The episode concludes with a poignant look at the band’s legacy following Yauch’s passing in 2012, celebrating a group that proved innovation often comes from looking back at your roots while moving fearlessly forward.

“So What’cha Want” – Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP).

“Gratitude” – Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch & Tom Cushman Copyright 1992 Brooklyn Dust Music (ASCAP) and PolyGram International Music Publishing, Inc.

TRANSCRIPT:

You have found your way to the I’m in Love with that Song podcast, one of the many shows in the Pantheon family of podcasts. My name is Brad Page, and on each edition of the show, I pick a song and we examine it together, exploring the twists and turns that make it a great song. I want this show to be accessible to everyone, so we don’t get super technical or get deep into music theory. This is a show for anyone who loves music.

Now, I usually keep the personal stuff to a minimum on this show, but my wife, Heidi, has a birthday coming up this month—June of 2026. I’m not going to tell you how old she is, that wouldn’t be polite, but suffice to say it’s a milestone birthday. So, I thought this time we’ll tackle one of her favorite bands—and I like these guys, too. And few bands in history have had the trajectory of these guys; from punks to party-boy rappers to socially conscious artists, and along the way, absolute innovators in the use of sampling and video. This time out, we’re taking a look at the Beastie Boys, and not one, but two great songs: “So What’cha Want” and “Gratitude.”


The story of the Beastie Boys begins in New York City in 1979 with a punk band called The Young Aborigines, which included a drummer named Mike Diamond and a young woman, Kate Schellenbach, on percussion. They banged around New York City playing in the underground scene to moderate success. A friend of theirs, Adam Yauch, was learning to play bass and he would show up at their rehearsals just to hang out. When The Young Aborigines’ bass player left in 1981, Adam Yauch joined the band as his replacement. Mike Diamond also moved to the front as vocalist, and Kate Schellenbach became the drummer, and the band rebranded themselves as the Beastie Boys.

Not long after renaming themselves Beastie Boys, their guitar player left, and he was replaced by Adam Horovitz. They also grew enamored of the new sound of hip-hop and rap coming out of the city, and they started integrating more and more of that sound into what they were doing. That resulted in the release of their single in 1983 called “Cooky Puss,” which is essentially a novelty song.

[Music: “Cooky Puss“]

And the move towards hip-hop meant a bigger reliance on drum machines. That, and their new “frat-rap” image, didn’t leave much room for Kate Schellenbach, and she was squeezed out of the group. But that established the Beastie Boys trio that would go on to bigger and better things: Mike Diamond, or Mike D; Adam Yauch, who picked up the moniker MCA; and Adam, Ad-Rock, Horovitz.

By 1984, the trio had hooked up with two names who would play a big part in launching them into stardom: Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, the men behind Def Jam Records. Working with Rick Rubin in his NYU dorm room throughout 1986, they crafted their debut album, Licensed to Ill, released in November 1986. It was a smash hit. It was the first rap album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, and it held that spot for seven weeks. It was one of Columbia Records’ fastest-selling debut albums.

But that success brought with it some issues to grapple with. First, looking back on it today, it does raise some eyebrows when you consider that the first number-one rap album was made by some affluent white kids. You can’t get around it; there certainly are elements of cultural appropriation and white privilege that have to be wrestled with. And then there were unintended consequences at the time that had an effect on the band. Their frat-rap image was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but a big part of their audience took it more seriously. Sure, it might have been ironic misogyny, but it was misogyny nonetheless, and that really started bothering the three of them.

Eventually, the relationship between the Beastie Boys and Rubin and Simmons soured, and they severed ties with them and the record label and moved to Los Angeles. They signed a new contract with Capitol Records with the hopes of growing past their obnoxious image. They began working with the production team known as The Dust Brothers on what would become Paul’s Boutique, their second album and an absolute masterpiece of the genre.

[Music: “Shake Your Rump“]

This was in the days before legal restrictions on sampling and copyright enforcement, and it was an absolute free-for-all for the Beasties and The Dust Brothers. This album is incredibly dense with samples—some authorized, many not. It’s a mind-blowing technical achievement, and it’s considered by many to be the absolute peak of sample-based production.

[Music: “Hey Ladies“]

Unfortunately, the album was a commercial failure—a flop. The record company was not happy, and after a series of high-profile lawsuits that resulted in restraints and high costs for clearing samples, it meant that densely layered samples in productions like Paul’s Boutique were just no longer legally or financially viable. So, the Beastie Boys faced an existential and artistic crisis. And after the commercial failure of Paul’s Boutique, it seemed like Capitol Records couldn’t care less about the Beastie Boys. At first, that was depressing, but the guys discovered that the label’s lack of interest actually gave them almost complete creative freedom.

Without unlimited samples to rely on, the Beastie Boys reverted back to their roots and focused on playing their instruments. They built their own little studio in L.A. and brought in Mario Caldato Jr. as their engineer and producer. The band would spend many an afternoon record shopping and crate digging with Caldato, and then they’d spend all night listening to those records, soaking in the grooves and the rhythms of James Brown, Sly Stone, The Meters, and many others. They would jam for hours, putting those late-night listening sessions into action. And the final piece of the puzzle fell into place when they were joined by Mark Ramos Nishita, known as Money Mark, whose clavinet and Hammond organ playing added whole new textures to their jams.

The combination of their performances with selectively, carefully chosen samples resulted in their third album, Check Your Head, released on April 21, 1991. It was a genre-defying mix of hip-hop, alternative rock, and funk. The album generated five big singles and sold double-platinum. It was a commercial and critical triumph and resurrected the Beastie Boys’ career.

We’re going to take a closer look at two songs from this album, which represent both of their approaches to their sound and production: on one, their judicious use of sampling technology, and on the other, their proficiency at creating killer tracks using their own instruments. First, we’ll take a look at track seven on the album, “So What’cha Want,” a song built off a sample from a 1973 song, “I’ve Been Watching You,” by a Chicago band called Southside Movement.

[Music: “I’ve Been Watching You“]

They originally planned to use a sample of this song’s groove, probably something like this:

[Music: Clean groove loop]

But after working on it for a while, they decided to ditch the sample and recreate the groove with their own instruments. So most of what you’re hearing is the Beastie Boys’ own performance. The song opens with some noise and maybe some studio chatter. Then Money Mark kicks things off with some Hammond organ licks played through a Leslie rotating speaker; that’s what gives the organ its shimmering, watery sound.

That leads right into the first verse. Each of the Beastie Boys takes a turn at the mic, starting with Ad-Rock handling the first four lines. Another one of the interesting things about this track was the way the vocals were recorded. Rather than use your typical expensive studio mics, they recorded their vocals using cheap karaoke microphones. These mics were lo-fi, and they drove them far into the red, creating a heavily distorted sound that really accentuated their aggressive vocal delivery. Let’s isolate Ad-Rock’s vocal take to hear just how trashy these vocals sound—and I mean trashy in the best possible way.

Mike D takes the mic for the next four lines. And then MCA steps up to the mic for the last four lines before the chorus. There’s a couple of driving chords underneath there—I’m assuming that’s a heavily distorted organ. That takes us into the first chorus, which is led by Ad-Rock with MCA and Mike D backing him up.

Couple of things on this next section: Ad-Rock has overdubbed a nasty little guitar part. There’s nothing fancy here; this is all attitude. Then there’s a vocal sample—this is a Biz Markie line sampled from the song “Just Rhymin’ with Biz” by Big Daddy Kane. So let’s hear that section.

And that brings us to the next verse. Mike D starts us off this time. Before we continue with the verses, let’s focus on the instrumentation for a minute. Let’s start with Mike D’s drums. These drums sound like they were recorded pretty simply—I’m guessing just a few mics—but they sound big and aggressive. Now let’s hear the bass and the guitar together. Both of these tracks, guitar and bass, are heavily overdriven, distorted.

All right, let’s pick up that verse where MCA comes in. You probably noticed that Ad-Rock has added something a little extra to his guitar part there. Let’s get back to the verse as Ad-Rock takes over the mic. The next lines are back to Mike D. Let’s hear a bit of his vocal track. That squeal there is actually from the guitar. After that short break, we hear the Biz Markie sample one more time.

Let’s go back and bring up the organ part. And you can also hear another part in there, kind of a drone or pedal tone that swells up—it might even be played backwards. I’m not sure, but that’s always an effective way to get that kind of sound. After that comes a short section where they’re mixing in some of their own samples. Let’s just hear that sample track for a second.

All right, let’s pick it back up. And that will take us into another verse, starting with MCA. And here comes Ad-Rock. And one more verse from Mike D. And then we get one final verse from MCA, which has my favorite line in the song: “I’m as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce.” It’s pretty good. Let’s hear MCA’s vocal.

There’s another instrumental section here. This time let’s bring up Money Mark’s Hammond organ again.

That’s the Beastie Boys with “So What’cha Want.” But we’re not done yet. Let’s pause for a quick breather here and then we’ll be right back with more Beastie Boys.

Let’s take a look at another track from the same album, Check Your Head. Track number four on this album is a song called “Gratitude.” It was released as a single in October of 1992, and it was primarily targeted at modern rock or alternative rock radio. And it’s one of the best examples of the Beastie Boys playing as a band. There’s no significant samples; it’s not based on any pre-existing track. It’s just the boys showing that they can rock hard.

Lyrically, the song shows the band’s move towards more socially conscious themes. The lyrics were inspired by Buddhist philosophy: mindfulness, being present, and the daily practice of gratitude. MCA, Adam Yauch, was a practicing Buddhist by this time. So, though the song is actually sung by Ad-Rock, Adam Horovitz, I would bet that MCA was a driving force behind this song. His bass playing is certainly a driving force in this track. It’s the lynchpin; it’s the riff that carries this song forward and sonically overwhelms this track in a good way. The song begins with the sound of what I think is a detuned bass before that fuzzed-out bass part kicks off.

At the core of that bass sound is a fuzz box. There seems to be a little bit of debate around which fuzz pedal he used. If the video for the song is to be believed, MCA is playing a Fender Precision Bass—and for everything you ever wanted to know about the Fender P-Bass, go back a few episodes and listen to our special episode dedicated to that specific instrument. In the video, he’s playing a Precision with a pick through a Univox Super-Fuzz pedal. Most people seem to think that’s right, but I’ve seen other people say that they’ve had better luck duplicating that sound using other pedals. But either way, this is one of the gnarliest bass tones you are ever going to hear.

I love the crack of that snare drum there. Once again, Mike D is playing a simple but rock-solid drumbeat, with the drums miked up and recorded to sound very live. Let’s listen to his drum track for a bit. Let’s back it up and play it through to the first verse. You’ll also hear some conga drums on this song; those were played by James Bradley Jr.

Okay, so Ad-Rock comes in with his guitar and his vocal on the first verse. First, let’s hear that guitar part. And now let’s hear Ad-Rock’s vocal. “Good times gone and you miss them / What’s gone wrong in your system?” He’s double-tracked his vocals here.

Ad-Rock is going to play what is basically a two-note guitar solo. Can’t get much simpler than that, but you add that wah-wah pedal in and it’s pretty funky. Second verse—there’s only two verses in this song—and this one has the line that really cuts to the chase: “What you think that the world owes you?” and that’s followed by “What’s going to set you free? Look inside and you’ll see.” Let’s hear that vocal track.

The guitar is going to lay out for the rest of the song, and Money Mark’s going to take over on the organ. But first, let’s hear a little of those congas. All right, let’s go back to the final mix. Now here comes an organ break by Money Mark. Let’s solo that organ part for a little bit. Now let’s go back and hear that in the final mix, and then we’ll play it through to the end of the song. And there’s some cowbell in there now, too.

“Gratitude” by the Beastie Boys.

After the success of Check Your Head, the band had a long run of commercial success and critical acclaim. The follow-up album, Ill Communication, sold even better and contained one of their biggest songs, “Sabotage.” More albums followed, as did their social activism. Adam Yauch in particular was deeply committed to his causes, including human rights and Tibetan freedom.

But in 2009, Yauch was diagnosed with cancer. He fought the good fight but lost his battle with cancer on May 4, 2012. He was 47 years old. Mike D and Ad-Rock confirmed the end of the Beastie Boys and have stated unequivocally that they would never perform or record as the Beastie Boys again out of respect for their fallen bandmate.

But as we’ve said so often on this show, all of this music is still out there, still there to be appreciated and discovered. It’s up to us to keep the music alive.

As for Kate Schellenbach, though she got the short end of the stick when she was squeezed out of the band, she became the drummer for Luscious Jackson, who the Beastie Boys would sign to their label. So they did her right in the end.

I want to thank you for taking part in this episode and for joining me to wish a happy birthday to my wife, Heidi, who’s really the one that makes this whole show possible. I’ll be back here in two weeks with another new episode. Remember to subscribe or follow the show so you never miss an episode. And if you’d like to catch up on any of our previous episodes, they can all be found on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. Keep in touch with me and your fellow listeners on our Facebook page—just search for the I’m in Love with that Song podcast, you’ll find us there. Or you can send an email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com. We are part of the Pantheon Podcast Network, home to a ton of other music-related podcasts, so be sure to check out some of the other shows. That is it for this episode. Happy birthday, Heidi, and I will see the rest of you next time.

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