(Carl Smith and Raynard Miner) Copyright 1965 Chevis Publishing Corporation, USA
This episode, we travel back to Chicago, 1965 and dive into Fontella Bass‘s iconic hit, “Rescue Me.” Let’s explore this timeless track, recorded at the legendary Chess Studios, and discover the musical elements, the stellar lineup of musicians, and the story of Fontella Bass– an artist who did things her way.
“Rescue Me” (Carl Smith and Raynard Miner) Copyright 1965 Chevis Publishing Corporation, USA
TRANSCRIPT:
Well, hello. It’s good to have you back. This is the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, and I’m your host, Brad Page, coming to you on the Pantheon Podcast Network with another one of my favorite songs that we’re going to explore together on our continuing quest to understand how great songs come together. You do not have to be a musician or a musical expert to enjoy this show. All we ask is a willingness to listen, and you’ll come away from this show with a new appreciation for how great songs work.
On this episode, we’re travelling back to Chicago 1965, the famed Chess studios, and Fontella Bass with a song called “Rescue Me”.
There are many genres of popular music, but there’s one trait or trend that’s common in all of them: the “one-hit wonder”. Doesn’t matter if you’re talking about rock & roll, country music, R&B, hip-hop, rap, Top 40, they all have a history that’s littered with so-called one-hit wonders. In many cases, you can walk up to people on the street and nine out of ten of them might have heard of the song, but they couldn’t tell you who did it. But behind most of these songs are artists who worked for years before that song was a hit– and in many cases, worked for years afterwards. And this is one of those stories.
Fontella ass was born in July 1940. Her mother was a well-respected gospel singer, but Fontella made her career in the less-wholesome world of rhythm and blues. She played piano for guitarist Little Milton’s band. Here’s a song by Little Milton called “Satisfied” with Fontella on piano.
One night, Little Milton was late to the show so Fontella sang a few songs, and she did so well that they started giving her a featured vocal every night. When Milton’s bandleader, Oliver Sain, left, Fontella went with him. She eventually signed with Bobbin Records and released her first single, “I Don’t Hurt Anymore” in 1962.
Then she ended up with Ike Turner and recorded a few singles for his label, including 1964’s “Poor Little Fool”, which features Tina Turner on backing vocals.
Around this time, she met the legendary jazz trumpet player Lester Bowie, and they eventually got married. In 1965, she signed to Checker Records, a subsidiary of the great Chess Records label. Her first couple of singles for Checker were duets with singer Bobby McClure, the most successful one being a song called “Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing”.
In August 1965, Fontella was bouncing ideas around with Raynard Miner and Carl Smith, two of the producers and songwriters at Chess. Arranger Phil Wright joined in, and by the time they were done, they had written “Rescue Me”.
You would be forgiven for thinking that “Rescue Me” was a Motown song. It has all the hallmarks of a Motown classic: the four-to-the-bar snare (that insistent drumbeat with the snare on every beat), the horn section hooks, the infectious chorus. I’m sure that was intentional. The Motown sound was the new sound. Chess Records was starting to sound dated, and I think they were desperate to capture some of that Motown magic with the “Rescue Me”. They did.
According to Fontella, she was assured that she would get a writing credit for “Rescue Me”. But when the single came out, it was credited to Miner and Smith. Her name was not included. The song would go on to sell a million copies; it was Chess’ biggest hit in a decade. But Fontella didn’t get any of those songwriting royalties.
The song was performed by Raynard Miner on piano, Sonny Thompson on organ, Pete Casey and Gerald Sims on guitars, Gene Barge on tenor sax. And check this out: Louis Satterfield on bass, Charles Stepney on vibes, and Maurice White on drums. Maurice White was the man behind Earth, Wind And Fire, and both Setterfield and Stepney would be a key part of Earth, Wind And Fire. And if that wasn’t enough, on backing vocals, you’ve got the great Minnie Ripperton. Now, that is quite the band.
The song begins with the groove laid down by Louis Satterfield on bass and Maurice White on drums. Next in are the piano and a chucking guitar part. A quick drum fill by Maurice White brings in the rest of the band, including the horns. And then we’re off.
Now, that little part right there, you’ve probably heard parts like that many times, but I love that part. And it’s interesting to me because here’s why. First off, it’s descending in pitch. I mean, that’s obvious, but it is also kind of stretching in time.
Now, I know I always say we don’t get technical here, we don’t get into music theory, so don’t worry, I’m going to keep this simple. But I do want to at least scratch the surface of what’s going on here, so stick with me.
The first two notes of this section are 8th notes, hitting on the first beat of the measure. So, if you were counting it, as in “one and two and three and four and”, those first two notes would be the “one and” of this measure. But the next three notes fall in between those beats. There’s a pause or a “rest” in musical terms. So again, if you’re counting it, those notes hit on the and two and three and four. And so that leaves you with the rhythmical sensation of things slowing down. They don’t actually slow down– you can tap your foot to the beat and it stays in time. But those pauses and that shift in rhythm give the feeling of things slowing just a bit. Combine that with the notes descending in pitch, and you’ve got a very simple but very effective manipulation of your senses.
So let’s go back and hear all of that again in context.
“Rescue Me” just a great vocal performance by Fontella through the whole song. Let’s go back and focus on her vocal here.
And that brings us to the first chorus, with Fontella supported by the great Minnie Ripperton on backing vocals. It’s just an all-time classic chorus, augmented by those horns. And notice how high the horns are in the mix.
And that leads directly into the second verse. So let’s let that play through.
Now let’s go back and listen to that verse without the vocals, so we can just hear the band grooving. Couple of things to note. The bass is doing most of the heavy lifting here, but the piano is providing most of the flourishes. The rest of the instruments are playing it pretty straight. There’s a decent amount of reverb on the track, but it’s not overdone. And then, of course, there’s the ever-present tambourine, the secret weapon on many Motown tracks. So, of course, they gotta add one here, too. You can also hear some percussion on this track, probably conga drums.
Okay, here’s the second chorus.
And here comes a breakdown. Essentially the same as the intro, with everything dropping out except the bass and the drums, and then building back up. I like that descending piano part right before the vocals come back in. Let’s hear this last verse.
I like what the piano is doing here. Bring up the vocals again.
And here at the end, they break it down again, bringing it down to just the drums and percussion, bass and vocals.
And we ride out with just the bass, congas, and vocals.
“Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass.
Fontella never did get the songwriting credit she deserved. She said they kept promising her that they’d take care of it, but it never happened. When she got her first royalty check from Chess, it was so small, she tore it up and threw it back at them.
She got sick of the pop music business and did some work with her husband, Lester Bowie, performing on a couple of jazz albums with him. She released one more solo album in 1972, but then largely retired from the music business. She would release a few gospel albums down the road, but that was about it. But the one album she released for Chess in 1966 following the success of “Rescue Me”, it’s a pretty solid record. I like that album.
Around 1990, she was watching TV when she heard a voice singing “Rescue Me” in an American Express commercial. No one had asked her permission. She challenged American Express and in 1993 they settled with her for over $50,000.
Later in life, she suffered some health issues; breast cancer, a few strokes, and she had a leg amputated. She died from complications from a heart attack on December 26, the day after Christmas, 2012. She was 72 years old.
“Rescue Me” may have been her only big hit, but Fontella Bass did things her way, with integrity. She didn’t spend the rest of her life trying to find the next “Rescue Me”. I think there’s a lesson in there for other one-hit wonders.
Thank you for joining me for this search and rescue mission. We’ll be back again in about two weeks with another new episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, right here on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
If you’d like to catch up on any of our previous episodes, you’ll find them all on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or of course, you can find us in pretty much every podcast app and player that’s out there.
If you’d like to support the show, all I ask is that you share it with your friends– tell people about the show, because it’s your word-of-mouth that really helps us to grow our audience and celebrate this music that we love.
I’ll see you again in about 15 days. Thanks for listening to this episode on “Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass.
by Roger Waters - Copyright 1975 Roger Waters Overseas, Ltd
Pink Floyd has been a cornerstone of rock history, producing some of the most iconic albums ever recorded. One song that stands out in their catalog is “Have a Cigar” from the album Wish You Were Here, a track that offers a scathing critique of the music industry. In the latest episode of the podcast, we dive deep into this song, uncovering what makes “Have a Cigar” a classic.
“Have A Cigar” (Roger Waters) Copyright 1975 Roger Waters Overseas, Ltd
Take advantage of our discount code lovethatsong and save 15% off t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands at OldGlory.com!
TRANSCRIPTS:
Come on, you ravers, you seers of visions– shine on with the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, and every two weeks, we come together here on the Pantheon Podcast Network to explore a different song. Each episode, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dig into it together, uncovering all the elements that go into making a great song. You don’t have to be a musician or have any technical knowledge– this isn’t a show for just the experts, this is for anyone who just wants to listen and explore what makes a good song great.
In this episode, we’re exploring a real classic. By any measure– artistically, commercially– Pink Floyd were one of the most successful bands of all time. They created a handful of the greatest albums ever released. On this episode of the podcast, we’re exploring a song from an album that came out just about in the middle of their career, an album that represents many things for this band, and the stories of making it are the stuff of legend. From the album “Wish You Were Here”. This is a song called “Have A Cigar”.
Pink Floyd have been covered on this show before: In episode 58, we looked at “Us And Them”, and episode 114 featured “See Emily Play”. If you haven’t heard either of those episodes, go check them out. I’m not going to go over their history again, you can revisit those previous episodes if you’d like. We’re going to pick up where we left off after “Dark Side Of The Moon”.
“Dark Side Of The Moon”, of course, was their breakthrough album. I don’t need to tell you how big that album would become, but it was an important, significant record from the moment it was released. So, for Pink Floyd, the challenge was: what to do next?
The band was searching for a direction. First weeks, then months, went by with not much to show for it. Endless sessions in their rehearsal studio, trying to come up with something. Something not just good, but something to match or top “Dark Side Of The Moon”. That’s no easy task.
Compounding the problem was the fact that fractures were beginning to occur within the band. The pressure of what to do next exacerbated the disagreements between the four band members. Initially, they returned to a concept that they first explored back in 1970. It was a project called “Household Objects”, where they would forego the use of their traditional instruments and create songs using rubber bands, broomsticks, wine glasses, aerosol cans, smashed Light bulbs. They had abandoned that idea before, but now, without any better ideas, they returned to “Household Objects” and spent at least a month in 1973 trying to conjure music from kitchen appliances and hand tools. But ultimately, they abandoned the idea again.
To my knowledge, the only thing that survived from the “Household Objects” project is a two-minute recording of tuned wine glasses, and a three-minute track called “The Hard Way”. The sound of those wine glasses would be used at the beginning of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, but the rest of it all went by the wayside.
Finally, in January 1974, during one of those endless jam sessions, guitarist David Gilmour stumbled across a four-note phrase. Almost by accident, they took that idea and expanded it, pushing it in different directions and adding new elements, eventually forming it into a song called “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, a multi-part suite that would open and close their new album. They would also take the sound of those wine glasses and incorporate a little bit of that into “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”.
The subject of that song, as all Pink Floyd fans know, was their former singer, guitarist and bandleader Syd Barrett. “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is a fascinating piece of music worthy of an exploration all on its own. But not in this episode… we’re here for a different song.
So now Roger Waters, the bassist and primary lyricist, had some themes to work with: absence and the harsh realities of the music business, both of which directly related to Syd Barrett, but also extended beyond him.
The actual recording sessions for the album, which would be called “Wish You Were Here”, began at Abbey Road in January 1975, a year after they first came up with that riff that inspired the album. One of the tracks they worked on was a darkly funky track called “Have A Cigar”, a ripping takedown of the music industry, sung from the perspective of a typically greedy, self-serving record executive. It was written by Roger Waters, produced by the band, and performed by David Gilmour on guitars, Richard Wright on keyboards, bass by Roger Waters, drums by Nick Mason and vocals… well, we’ll get there in a minute.
The song begins with a riff played together on the bass and the guitar. Sounds like both the guitars and the bass have a flanger effect on them.
After a couple of playthroughs of the riff, the drums and the keyboards come in. There’s a little whoop sound in there. Let’s back it up a bit.
I like that descending guitar part that leads back into the riff. Here comes the second riff.
There are two synthesizer parts plus an electric piano, each one placed in a different spot in the stereo mix that allows each part to occupy its own space. When you add in the bass, drums and guitars– and I’m sure there’s more than one guitar track here– there’s a lot of music here, but the mix doesn’t feel cluttered at all.
That’s the first of these little guitar and keyboard fills that play off of each other, answer each other. It’s nothing fancy, but I just like the dialogue between the guitar and the piano throughout the song. Let’s pick it back up from there.
And it sounds to me like Richard Wright has also added a clavinet part now.
And here’s the first verse. But that voice doesn’t belong to anyone in Pink Floyd. When it came time to record the vocals for this track, both David Gilmour and Roger Waters took a stab at it, but neither of them were happy with their performance. Just by happenstance, a singer songwriter guitarist named Roy Harper was recording his own album next door. Roy Harper is a fairly obscure figure, certainly in the United States, he’s never had any hits here and never got much radio play. If Americans know his name at all, it’s likely from the song title of the Led Zeppelin song “Hats Off To Roy Harper”. But Roy Harper is a brilliant British folk-rock songwriter and performer who has released a number of unique, and you could say eccentric, albums. He’s a musician’s musician, a songwriter’s songwriter. And he was friendly with the guys in Pink Floyd. Since they were both working on albums at Abbey Road, they would pop in to visit each other’s sessions. He watched Pink Floyd wrestle with the vocals on this track for days and eventually, he offered to sing it for them.
Here’s a little bit of the version with Roger Waters attempt at the vocal. It’s really not that drastically different, but Roy Harper brought a wonderfully acerbic tone to the track. Roy had his share of misfortune at the hands of record companies, so he could relate to these lyrics for sure.
That’s one of the best lines in the whole Pink Floyd canon. The idea that this record company bigwig who’s trying to schmooze them doesn’t even know that there’s no one in the band actually named Pink Floyd.
I love the way he elongates the word “train” and twists his phrasing at the end.
Sounds like he’s double tracked his vocal there too.
Here comes the second verse. You know, I’ve listened to this song so many times, but I never really noticed until now just how much work the keyboards are doing here. I’m even hearing a little bit of Stevie Wonder influence in there.
Let’s bring up the vocals again. Roy Harper is just killing it here.
So that brings us to the guitar solo. It’s another classic solo by David Gilmour. And we’ll listen to that in a minute. But first I wanted to focus on the rhythm section for a bit. I think it’s fair to say that neither Nick Mason or Roger Waters are virtuosos. Nick Mason is not a flashy drummer, but he’s rock solid. And neither he or Roger Waters are exactly funky players, but they’re laying down a pretty cool groove here. So let’s just listen to that for a while.
Alright, now let’s go back and listen again with the guitar solo.
Let’s bring up that guitar.
And now, we get a change of audio perspectives, as a synthesized “whoosh” repositions us, as though were listening to the song now through an old transistor radio.
And that, of course for everyone who’s familiar with the album, leads us into the next song, “Wish You Were Here”. But that’s another story.
“Have A Cigar” by Pink Floyd. The “Wish You Were Here” album was released in September 1975 and topped the charts in the US and the UK. It is still regarded as one of Pink Floyd’s best albums. In fact, I believe it is David Gilmour’s favorite Pink Floyd album.
But it was the beginning of the end of the band. Roger Waters had taken over creative control and over time, would push the other members further away. Richard Wright was essentially fired from the band and then rehired as a session player for the group. Eventually, Roger Waters pushed himself out of the band.
But despite the personal unpleasantness, “Wish You Were Here” is a really cohesive album. Every band member contributes excellent performances, and the album flows perfectly as a whole. It’s a masterpiece.
Richard Wright died from lung cancer in September 2008. He was 65. Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roy Harper are still with us today at the time of this recording.
Thanks for being a part of this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. If you’d like to support the show, why don’t you head over to oldglory.com and buy a t-shirt or two? They have a bunch of Pink Floyd shirts in stock, along with a ton of other bands, and if you use our promo code, “LoveThatSong”, you’ll get 15% off and you’ll be supporting the show. So thanks in advance.
You can find our previous episodes on Pink Floyd, along with over 150 other songs that we’ve covered, on our website lovethatsongpodcast.com, or just look for them in your favorite podcast app. Send us an email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com or post your comments and feedback on our Facebook page. And of course, it would be great if you left us a rating or a review wherever it is that you listen to this show.
We are part of the Pantheon family of podcasts, home to a ton of other great podcasts, all featuring the music we love.
I will be back in about two weeks, so let’s meet here again. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode on Pink Floyd and “Have A Cigar”.
RESOURCES:
Pink Floyd https://www.pinkfloyd.com
Wish You Were Here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_You_Were_Here_(Pink_Floyd_album)
Dark Side of the Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon
"All I Want For Christmas Is A Go-Go Girl" - Copyright B.G. Hinds, Westex Music BMI
Welcome to our annual Bonus Holiday Episode, where I dig through my collection of Christmas & Holiday songs and pull out one of my favorites to play for you. No deep dive here, just a nice little holiday ditty to add to your playlist if you’re so inclined. Also, join me at the end as say a few “thank you’s” to friends, family, and most importantly, to you– my heartfelt thanks for spending your time with the show this year. More to come in 2025, so I hope you keep listening!
“All I Want For Christmas Is A Go-Go Girl” – Copyright B.G. Hinds, Westex Music BMI
For one hot moment, Broken Homes were the buzzed-about new band in LA, and big success was ahead. It never materialized. The band cut 3 albums for MCA, but they went nowhere. On this episode, we dig into a track from their first album, one of my favorite LP’s from the ’80’s and a real “desert island” record for me. The album never came out on CD, but if you can track down a copy on vinyl, I highly recommend it.
“An L.A. Rain” (Mike Doman) Copyright 1986
TRANSCRIPT:
The human ear is a pretty remarkable device. You can detect variations of less than 1,000,000,000th of atmospheric pressure. It can detect vibrations of your eardrum that move less than the width of one atom. Pretty incredible when you think about it. Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, where we put these amazing ears of ours to good use as we explore what goes into making a great song. You don’t need a lot of musical experience or knowledge here. You just need to use those extraordinary ears and see what we discover. I’m your host, Brad Page. We are part of the Pantheon family of podcasts, and today we’re listening to “An LA Rain” by Broken Homes.
Usually on this show, we have a lot of history to set up before we get into the song. You know, with artists that have been around for years, you have to put these songs in context. We did a Fleetwood Mac episode earlier this year that took 20 minutes of setup before we even got to the song. But on this episode, we’re talking about a band with not a lot of history to go on. In fact, there isn’t even a Wikipedia page for these guys.
Broken Homes were formed in the mid-eighties by singer Mike Doman and guitarist Craig Ross. The band got together in LA, but Mike Doman had come from the east coast–Pennsylvania, I believe– and he brought a rootsy, working class, kind of East Coast Rock and Roll sound with him. It’s very different from the hair metal bands that were big in LA in the middle of the eighties.
They recruited a drummer named Craig Aronson and started working out material. A bass player named James Ashurst was finishing up a gig one night with another band when they asked him to join the Broken Homes. They had a big gig lined up at the Roxy coming up pretty soon. They played that gig on a Friday night, and by Monday morning, they were signing a record contract with MCA Records.
Broken Homes didn’t fit in with the Sunset Strip sound at that time. Their sound was closer to bands like X or Lone Justice: straight-ahead traditional rock and roll, with a little bit of country and punk thrown in. But they became one of the hottest bands on the LA scene at the time. In 1986, they went into Ocean Way Studios, one of the greatest studios in LA and used to be known as United Western, and they recorded their first album with producer Jeff Eyrich.
The song we’re listening to here is called “An LA Rain”. It’s track number two on the album. It was written by Mike Doman. Mike is on lead vocals and probably a little guitar. Craig Ross does most of the guitar work. Jimmy Ashurst is on bass and Don Harvey is on drums. Producer Jeff Eyrich wasn’t convinced that their drummer, Craig Aronson, was up to the challenge of making this record. So, he brought in a drummer named Don Harvey, who had been playing with Charlie Sexton at the time. This had to be handled sensitively. They didn’t want to mess with the image of this being a tight knit, hard workin’ rock and roll band. I mean, all four band members names, including Craig Aronson, are, right there on the front cover of the album, even though Aronson didn’t actually play drums on the record. But if you look closely on the back cover in small print, it says “special thanks to Don Harvey, Drums”.
The song opens with what sounds to me like three guitar parts. One acoustic guitar in the center, possibly with a capo on it to raise the pitch. An electric guitar that’s panned left. Both of those are strumming chords. And another electric guitar on the right that’s playing a nice little part. Could be some chorus effect on that. Another thing to note is that most, if not all of the guitars are played in open G tuning. That’s a big part of what gives this track that blues based Americana by way of the rolling stones kind of rock and roll sound.
Now this intro will take us right into the first verse, and it’s an abrupt change. The bass, drums and vocals are all come in. The acoustic guitars are dropped, leaving one electric guitar now moved to the center. Let’s pick it back up from the top.
The bass and drums are providing a rock solid foundation here. Jimmy Ashurst’s bass is laying down a simple part that just fits perfectly. And Don Harvey’s drums are locked right into that groove. It’s a great drum sound. Probably starts with the natural room sound at Oceanway Studios, where this album was recorded, with some additional reverb added to make it sound even bigger.
Now, the story that Mike Doman is telling us here is that he’s driving down the Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible in the pouring rain, with the top down. Somehow he’s asleep at the wheel– his girl wakes him up just in tim,e as he sings “To ride a wall of water down the PCH”, and with that, we’ll ride right along with him into the chorus.
Once we hit that chorus, the sound opens up. That single electric guitar is now augmented by at least three additional guitars, left, right and center. One of the guitars is playing in a higher register, probably using that capo. It’s almost a mandolin like sound. None of the parts are particularly complex. Some of the guitars are just strumming and holding a single chord, but each one is playing in a different register, occupying its own frequency range. And each part is placed carefully in the mix, so that nothing is stepping on each other. Let’s listen to just those instrumental tracks.
When you take that and add some harmony vocals, it just makes this chorus bloom. Let’s go back and listen to this again. Listen to how when we hit this chorus, the sound just opens up. It’s like the audio equivalent of switching to widescreen. If you can listen on headphones, all the better. But you should be able to hear it bloom listening in your car or wherever it is that you’re hearing this now. This is the kind of production technique that I absolutely love.
This brings us to the second verse. And what I kind of like about this one is that, you know, usually with these songs, it’s a guy hitting on some girl, usually an underage girl. It’s always a little skeevy; but here, he’s flirting with a woman who’s a little older. Mike Doman was probably in his early twenties when he wrote this song. The woman he’s singing about has an ID that says she’s 24, but she’s really 31. But he’s into it.
Rewind and listen to the backing track here. I particularly like the Keith Richards influenced guitar that Craig Ross is laying down here.
It’s time for this second chorus. Let’s listen to just Mike Doman’s vocals first. I believe all of the parts are sung by Mike Doman.
Here’s that chorus again in the final mix. I love the drums on that part there, where they take a little pause with the tom fill and then hit hard on the second beat. Let’s play that chorus from the top again.
That transitions right into the bridge. The band pulls back a bit before it builds back up. Now, I think there might be a piano added to the mix here. Maybe an electric piano. It’s pretty low in the mix. Could be another guitar. Let’s listen to some of those instrumental tracks, see what you think.
Let’s hear all of the parts on the bridge. Now at the end, Mike is going to repeat the phrase “There was rainwater in my ears” multiple times. But each time, he sings it differently. And the more emphatically he sings it, the more it kind of makes you wonder how much he really means it. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “doth he protest too much?”
Listen to how they build the song back up. The bass and drums are doing the heavy lifting there. Let’s hear their part.
And that buildup takes us into another variation of the chorus.
Okay, first let’s go back and listen to Mike Doman’s vocals leading into the break here.
Now let’s listen to Craig Ross’s guitar part here. What he’s doing is taking his E string and detuning it. He’s not using a whammy bar, hs actually cranking his tuning peg down, turning it with his left hand while he plucks the string with his right. The string goes all the way slack. And then he cranks it back up to pitch and starts playing the riff again. Totally cool. Give it up for Craig Ross.
Let’s hear all of that together as it sounds in the final mix.
Now here comes a new part. Craig’s electric guitar is joined by an acoustic guitar. Strumming chords in the background with a very clean sounding electric guitar. Playing some simple lead lines. And listen to the drum fills here. Don Harvey is playing some simple fills, but they sound great. Just the right amount of reverb on them. This is a great drum sound.
Let’s bring up Mike’s vocals from the background there.
And there is a killer drum fill that leads us into this final chorus. So let’s check that out.
And now, as the song begins to fade out, you can hear that piano come forward a bit in the mix.
“An LA Rain” by Broken Homes.
The album was released in 1986 and big things were expected… but nothing happened. They just didn’t catch on. They toured hard as an opening act for some great bands, and certainly put in the work, but they just couldn’t seem to get any traction, and there was zero radio play.
But I love this record. Seriously. This is a Desert Island Album for me.
Broken Homes would record two more albums, a total of three albums that never went anywhere. And eventually they split up.
Who knows why some bands never take off. You could blame the record company, MCA. It’s a little tricky, I think, because MCA did stick with them for three albums, something that would never happen today—they’d be dropped after their first album. So I guess you got to give the label credit for that. But at the same time, I don’t think MCA knew how to market them. They just didn’t know what to do with this band.
Bass player Jimmy Ashurst said something very smart about this. Looking back on it years later, he said “Record companies still don’t know how to market for classic rock when it’s not yet ‘classic’, when it’s being made today; there’s no path for that.”
Jimmy Ashurst went on to play with Izzy Stradlin in the Juju Hounds and later was a member of Buckcherry. He also wrestled with heroin addiction and did some time in prison, but I believe he’s clean now.
Guitarist Craig Ross became the guitar player for Lenny Kravitz. He’s the guy with the big hair in all of those Lenny Kravitz videos, and he still works with Lenny today. Craig’s done quite well for himself.
Drummer Craig Aronson would leave the band after this first album. He was replaced by Michael Graves. Aronson would become an A&R man and was the guy who signed Jimmy Eats World and My Chemical Romance, just to name a few. Aronson died of cancer in 2014.
Michael Doman would kick around the music business for years, and would continue to be a great singer and songwriter. Unfortunately, Michael passed away in December of 2020.
I highly recommend the first two Broken Homes albums, especially this album, the debut album. It’s just called “Broken Homes”. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to find. It never came out on CD. You can find it on YouTube, but you’ve got to work a little bit to find the right Broken Homes. But it is worth it.
Thanks for listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. New episodes are released on the first and the 15th of every month, so well be back soon with another new show. Until then, you can catch up on all of our previous shows right on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. Or just search for us in your favorite podcast app: Spotify, Google, Apple, Stitcher, Amazon, you name it– you can find us on every podcast app.
Post your reviews or comments on our Facebook page, or on Podchaser, or wherever it is that you listen to the show. And if you’d like to support the show, the best thing you can do is to tell someone about it and share it with your friends, because your word-of-mouth is the most valuable resource for any podcast.
On behalf of everyone here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening to our shows, and especially for listening to this episode on Broken Homes and “An LA Rain”.
RESOURCES:
Broken Homes No direct link as there’s no Wikipedia page
Ocean Way Studios https://www.oceanwaystudios.com/
by Pete Townshend Copyright 1971 Towser Tunes, Inc., Fabulous Music Ltd. and ABKCO Music Inc.
In this epic episode, we embark on a sonic exploration of The Who‘s towering anthem “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” We explore the song that encapsulates the very essence of rock music– its intensity, grandeur, and unyielding spirit. We dive deep into the tumultuous history behind one of the most ambitious projects in rock history, The Who’s Lifehouse, and how it gave rise to an album that, despite its fraught genesis, stands as a masterpiece of the genre.
From Pete Townsend’s futuristic visions to the band’s quest for a universal musical connection, we unravel the tapestry of a song that has been both celebrated and misunderstood. With a careful ear, we dissect the iconic keyboard riff, Keith Moon’s explosive drumming, John Entwistle’s virtuosic bass lines, and Roger Daltrey’s soul-stirring vocals. This episode isn’t just a tribute to a classic track; it’s a deep dive into the heart of rock music and the relentless pursuit of artistic vision.
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” Pete Townshend Copyright 1971 Towser Tunes, Inc., Fabulous Music Ltd. and ABKCO Music Inc.
Save 15% off t-shirts & merch from The Who– and all your other favorite bands– by using our discount code lovethatsong at OldGlory.com!
PREVIEW:
TRANSCRIPT:
Time to sing your song to the wide-open spaces, and sing your heart out to the infinite sea– Because we’re back with another edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, right here on the Pantheon Podcast network. My name is Brad Page, I’m the host of the show, and each episode I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together, uncovering all the elements, those little moments that make it a great song.
We’ve looked at a lot of great songs on this podcast, many of them all time classics. But if you had to pick one song that captures everything rock music has to offer– the intensity, the grandeur, the spirit, the power… one song to represent everything that’s great about rock and roll… If you had to explain to an alien what makes rock music great, what song would you pick? For me, it might just be this song: “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who.
Today were exploring a song that’s about as iconic as a song gets. But to understand how this song came to be, we have quite a journey ahead of us. From big ideas to failed concepts, through ambition and frustration, and even suicidal thoughts, to a compromise that, in the end, produced one of the greatest albums ever made.
Our voyage begins sometime after 1969. The Who had struck gold with “Tommy”, one of the first rock operas, certainly the first one to capture the public’s attention.
So how do you follow that up? Pete Townsend, guitar player, principal songwriter, and the driving creative force behind The Who, had an idea to expand on the ideas and themes he explored in “Tommy”. “Tommy”, of course, was the story of a boy who, after a traumatic experience, psychologically made himself deaf, dumb, and blind, essentially shutting himself off from the outside world. And it’s the story of his spiritual awakening.
Well, Pete had this new vision; this science fiction tale of a future where a large percentage of the population would be shut off from the outside world. They would live their lives sealed in these experience suits, linked together by something he called “The Grid”, that would be run by autocrats. In order to maintain control over the population, music was outlawed. But some people rebelled; they created a secret place where they could create music and hack into the grid to reintroduce people to music. This secret clubhouse was called the “Lifehouse”. The goal of the Lifehouse was to bring everyone together, through music, to a universal consciousness, with everyone attaining enlightenment.
Now, let’s stop right here for a minute and think about this. Because today, you can probably wrap your head around most of that, even if the spiritual stuff isn’t your kind of thing. But remember, this was happening in 1972, decades before the internet was available to the public. There was no virtual reality. There was no network. Townsend was presenting a future where people were linked together through and controlled by a computer system and faceless corporations that controlled the population.
Now, can you imagine the blank stares Pete Townsend would get from people when he tried to explain this concept? Most people just didn’t understand it, and the few that did, it all just seemed like an improbable fantasy. But let’s give Pete Townsend some credit. In some ways, he envisioned the world that you and I are living in today.
OK, so that’s the story of “Lifehouse” in a very rough summation. I’m leaving out a lot of detail, but I think you get the gist of it. But theres a whole ‘nother aspect to this story. We talked about how the Lifehouse was a place where the music would be performed and then fed back into the grid, where it would be experienced by the population. Integrated into the grid. Well, Pete Townsend envisioned a real-life Lifehouse, a venue where The Who would play, and it would be what we would describe today as an “interactive experience” for the audience.
See, by this time, The Who had played in front of some massive crowds, like the Isle of Wight festival. And Pete was aware of the energy that could be generated between the artist and the audience. Townsend always believed in the power of rock music. He had felt it. He said, “The most precious moments of my life happened on stage” when he and the audience became one. If that energy could be channeled, what could be achieved? Maybe even enlightenment.
This tied into some spiritual ideas or concepts that Pete had been studying. The idea that at the core of everything is one vibration, one musical note. As philosopher and musicologist Inayat Kahn theorized, “Music creates a resonance which vibrates the whole being. And that sound is the force which groups all things, from atoms to worlds.”
This is what Townsend was after in the Lifehouse performances: some kind of spiritual link between the band and the audience that would attain something greater.
So, Pete would write the script and the songs; the songs would be recorded for an album; The Who would perform the songs in front of an audience, and the whole thing– the dystopian story and the concerts would be filmed and released as a movie.
The thing was that Townshend was having a hard time explaining the concepts to the band and to the other members of The Who’s organization. I don’t think the fault lies entirely with Pete or with the other band members. These were very esoteric ideas, not easy to grasp, especially in the world of 1970.
The other challenge was the live performances where The Who would conduct their experiments to find the vibrations that would unite the band and the audience and provide a key element of the film. Townsend knew that he had to find a better way to meld the band and the audience than the typical one-night-only concerts that they performed on tour. They needed a venue where they could take up residency and play to an audience over time.
They made an arrangement with a theater called the Young Vic in southeast London, where they could rehearse and perform. As the concerts and the film were described in the New Music Express magazine: “It was an experiment in relationship between the group and the audience. An attempt to create a portrait in music of The Who’s own audience. And with this in view, the cameras will follow the audience out of the theater and into their own lives.” Pretty ambitious goals.
They began rehearsing at the Young Vic in late 1970, and played their first public performance there in January 1971. At a press conference that same month, Pete explained, “We shall not be giving the usual kind of who rock show. The audience will be completely involved in the music which is designed to reflect people’s personalities. We shall try to induce mental and spiritual harmony through the medium of rock music.” That’s some vintage Townsend for you.
They announced a series of free shows at the theater. Pete hoped that pretty much the same audience would return each night and they would, over time, become more and more a part of the show. But it was never really clear exactly how the audience and the band and the overarching storyline of “Lifehouse” would all coalesce. Pete had expected that, somehow, characters would develop out of the crowd and become part of the film. But no one in the audience really understood what exactly they were expected to do. The new songs were unfamiliar to the audience, and the band weren’t quite 100% comfortable performing them yet. As a result, nobody was really happy with how the Young Vic shows turned out. After only a handful of shows, they closed up shop at the Young Vic.
Around the same time, they got the bad news that Universal pulled their funding; there would be no “Lifehouse” film.
The band did return to the Young Vic once more on April 26, 1971, for one more show, primarily to record it for posterity. Here’s a bit of a track from that show, an unreleased “Lifehouse” track called “I Don’t Even Know Myself”.
The band decided to salvage what they could, and regrouped in New York City at the Record Plant studios to record some of the new songs that they’d worked on for “Lifehouse”. But those sessions only lasted a week. Townsend was already suffering from overwork and exhaustion, putting so much time and effort and heart into “Lifehouse”, when he overheard one of his managers, Kit Lambert, being dismissive of Pete and his work. Well, that sent Townsend into an emotional tailspin. He ended up on the window ledge of his hotel room, considering whether he should jump.
The band returned to England, and in April, around the time of that final Young Vic performance, they convened with producer Glyn Johns. Glyn listened to the recordings made at the Record Plant and said that they were good, but he could do better.
Initially, they set up at Stargroves, Mick Jagger’s mansion that was often used as a place to record. They only stayed there two days, managing to record the basic tracks for only one song: “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. They reconvened at Olympic Sound Studios in southwest London and, for the next two months, laid down the tracks that would become their next album, “Who’s Next”.
The album would include quite a few songs from “Lifehouse”, but not all of them. Originally envisioned as a double album like “Tommy”, Glynn, Johns pushed them to trim it down to a single, concise LP. As a result, even though many of the songs came directly from “Lifehouse”, there is no concept or story to the “Who’s Next” album. It’s just a collection of songs. But what a collection of songs. In my opinion, it’s one of the strongest albums ever made, by anybody. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is the last song on the album, bringing the album to an epic conclusion.
By this time, Townsend was spending tons of time recording demos in his home studio, a concept pretty standard these days. But back in the late sixties, very few people had anything you could legitimately call a “home studio”. But Pete had converted two rooms of his house in Twickenham, built in 1721, into a small but very functional home studio. He had a 3M M23 eight-track tape machine, a small Neve BCM10 console, and large Lakewood Tannoy speakers, along with studio gear like limiters and reverbs, plus an array of guitars, pianos and keyboards.
At the heart of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is that iconic keyboard part, played on a Lowry Berkshire organ and fed through an EMS VCS23 synthesizer to create the filtered, pulsating sound that drives the song. Here’s Pete’s original demo, recorded in that home studio. Pete is playing all of the instruments on this demo, including the drums.
The keyboard part on the demo was so good that they would reuse it for the final version rather than re-recording it. They lifted the keyboard part off of the demo and the band built the final version around it.
That final version features Roger Daltrey on vocals, John Entwistle on bass, Keith Moon on drums, and Pete Townsend on guitars and of course, that Lowery organ part. It was produced by The Who and Glyn Johns.
This was the first song laid down for the album, and as mentioned before, it was the only track recorded during the two-day attempt at recording at Stargroves. Johns set the band up in the Stargroves reception hallway. Let’s listen to the opening of the final version.
The keyboard part sounds exactly the same, right? Same as the demo version. Of course, when Keith Moon comes in on the drums, it has a very different feel than Pete’s basic drumming on the demo. Let’s listen to a little bit of those Keith Moon drums.
And there’s a tasty little guitar lick there, right before the first verse starts. Townsend throws in a lot of nice guitar fills throughout the song.
I think what Pete’s playing during the verses is pretty interesting, so let’s bring up his guitar part.
Let’s stop and talk about the lyrics, because this song has been misunderstood since the day it was released. Many people take it as a call to revolution; it’s as much a cautionary tale about revolutions as it is a call to arms. In the context of the “Lifehouse” story, the song is about the people on the front lines who are expendable to the leaders calling the shots. It’s a call to pacifism and passive resistance. It’s about the negative effects of revolt. As Townsend once said, “The revolution is only a revolution in the long run, and a lot of people are going to get hurt.” The song is essentially dubious of the forces that cause revolution. He’s not saying revolution is inherently bad, but that there is a serious cost. And you have to weigh that against the cause., or maybe more accurately, weighed against the leaders that call for revolution. Who’s to gain? To quote Townshend again, “I’m more of a fighter than a sleeper, but there are times one should think about which path to take very, very seriously.”
Let’s listen to Roger Daltrey’s vocals on this first verse.
OK. There’s so much going on in that chorus, so much to listen to. Where to begin? Let’s listen to the one thing we haven’t highlighted yet– the absolutely incredible bass playing by John Entwistle.
And not to be outdone, let’s hear Keith Moon’s drums.
Alright, we’ll look more at the chorus coming up, but for now, let’s move on to the next verse. And this time we’ll take it all one piece at a time. First, there’s a few instrumental bars before the verse begins. So, let’s hear that, starting with that keyboard part.
The sound of that part, to me, it’s like the audio equivalent of some amorphous shape, like an amoeba that keeps shifting as it moves forward. And yet, at the same time, it’s the foundation the song is built on.
Also, there’s an acoustic guitar that plays throughout the song. It’s pretty low in the mix to the point where it’s felt more than it’s heard. And that’s a production technique that’s often used quite effectively. But let’s bring that acoustic to the front so that we can hear it clearly.
And then, of course, there’s Keith Moon wailing away at the drums.
Now let’s put all of that together with the rest of the instrumentation. Notice how the keyboards are panned to the right channel, while the acoustic, if you can hear it, is on the left.
Now here’s the second verse. Let’s start by just hearing Pete Townsend’s electric guitar. I like these little guitar stabs here.
Next, how about Roger Daltreys vocal track?
And John Entwistle’s great bass part.
Now let’s hear all of that together for the second verse change.
As we get to the second chorus, let’s look at a couple of things we passed over the previous time. There are backing vocals on the chorus by Roger and Pete, and possibly Entwistle, too. In the right channel, along with the keyboard track is a backing vocal by Pete. Let’s bring those tracks to the center and hear that.
While in the left channel, there’s a backing vocal dominated by Roger, with Peter, maybe John in there too. And what strikes me about this is, listening to it with just the acoustic guitar, is how it stands up with just the guitar and vocal. There’s an old axiom that if you can strip a song down, no matter how complex, down to just an acoustic guitar and a vocal, and it still works, that’s how you know it’s a really good song. I think that’s true here.
Let’s hear that verse all together.
I really like Townsend’s guitar fills there. Let’s go back and hear some of that for a second.
I hate to keep interrupting the song, but there’s just so many great moments. How about that walk-down on the bass there? Let’s back it up and hear that again.
And that leads us into another instrumental section, this one featuring those old favorites, you can’t go wrong with hand claps. Pete is playing power chords in that unmistakable Townsend style. You can hear after the first pass that he’s doubled the guitar in stereo. There’s also an acoustic guitar, again, lower in the mix, that’s playing a more frenetic part. Let’s hear that all together.
Listen to how Pete changes up his guitar part here. And with that Keith Moon drum fill, that takes us to the bridge.
Now let’s break this down a bit. First, let’s hear the backing vocals and some guitar, including the acoustic, which is doing some riffing in the background here.
And let’s hear the bass and the drums together. The rhythm section of John Entwistle and Keith Moon is one of the most formidable in rock history.
Awesome. Let’s pick it up at the end of the bridge into the next section.
You can hear Pete interject “Do ya”. Let’s back it up again and hear that.
Townsend’s gonna play a guitar solo. You can hear that there’s two guitar leads there, playing on top of each other. Let’s see if we can pull them apart a bit. Here’s one; this is the one that’s a little bit lower in the mix compared to the other one, along with the acoustic guitar.
And here’s the other solo. This is the one that’s a little bit more forward in the mix.
Okay, let’s go back and hear all of that together.
Then there’s kind of a break with more of those huge Townsend chords. And there’s the first of Daltrey’s big screams.
Let’s play that again. This is actually the last verse, but there’s plenty more of the song to go. Let’s start this one with just Daltrey’s vocals.
Let’s listen to just Pete’s guitar fills here.
And now, let’s go back and hear those in context.
Once again, there’s more great Keith Moon drumming all through that part. So let’s go back and hear some of that.
Let’s pick it back up again. This is an extended section of the band just jamming. Maybe we’ll highlight some of the individual instruments as we go along.
Let’s hear just the guitars and now the bass. Let’s hear a little more of the guitar again. And finally, some of Keith’s drums.
And I really like Keith Moon’s drum fills here, leading into the break. Just love the sound of those floor toms.
And that brings us to the dramatic break, a tension-building section where the song is reduced to just the keyboard part. Over the course of about a minute, that keyboard part will build in intensity, until the band comes back in, in about the most dramatic way possible. So let’s listen through this section.
If you listen closely in the left channel, you can hear that the acoustic guitar actually keeps playing on a little bit longer after the rest of the band stops. Let’s hear just that.
OK, let’s go back to the beginning of that break and hear that again. This time, listen for that acoustic guitar on the left.
And the keyboard part remains primarily in the right channel. Remember that this is the same keyboard part from Pete’s original demo. It’s amazing to think that he got this sound and performance so right, back in his little home studio. But he could envision the band relying on this track, not just for the album, but for live performances, too, which they’ve done right up until this day.
Things start to build back up with the reentrance of Keith Moon’s drums.
OK, first, let’s just hear those drums.
Come on, is there any moment in rock as powerful, as iconic as that moment right there? The keyboards have reached a crescendo, Keith Moon’s pounding away, the band comes crashing in, and Roger Daltrey lets loose one of the greatest screams in rock history. This moment is cathartic, it’s orgasmic, it’s transcendent… If Pete Townsend was looking for music that reached a higher plane, well, it’s happening right here.
Let’s listen to Townsend’s electric guitar. He’s overdubbed a couple of parts here to create those massive guitar chords. Pete was known for playing Gibson SG’s around this time, but on most of the tracks for this album, including here, he’s playing a 1959 Gretsch 6120 hollow body known as the Chet Atkins model, that was given to him by Joe Walsh.
And then there’s that scream. Theres actually two screams overdubbed. Here’s one of them. It’s so throat-shreddingly loud that you can hear it overdriving the microphone, just driving the meters way into the red.
And here’s another one, along with the acoustic guitar track, no less intense.
Let’s back it up and hear all of that all together again.
“Meet the new boss same as the old boss” — says it all right there.
Notice how he doubles the vocal on the line, “same as the old boss”.
Listen to that bass part. It’s interesting what Entwistle is doing. He’s playing octaves here.
And let’s listen to just the guitars here, both the electric and the acoustic. You can hear Townsend playing some guitar fills there. They’re pretty low in the mix, in fact, you can barely hear them at all in the final mix.
Keith does some classic Keith Moon cymbal work there, and you can hear him let out a final exclamation at the end.
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who.
“Who’s Next” went on to become one of The Who’s best-selling and highest regarded albums. But I think Townsend couldn’t shake the feeling that it was a failure… because it wasn’t “Lifehouse”, not anywhere near how he envisioned it. Over the years, he’s revisited the “Lifehouse concept”, and tons of demos and reimaginings of the project have been released. I think he’ll always be at least a little disappointed that “Who’s Next” wasn’t the album that he wanted to make, and I can understand that from his perspective. But for me, that album is a masterpiece, and one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Out of the collapse of Townsend’s most ambitious project came one of the most essential albums in the rock canon. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Well, thanks for sticking with me for this one. This has been one of our longest episodes ever on a single song, but I think this one deserves it. Research for this episode came from a few sources, including the book “Won’t Get Fooled Again: From Lifehouse to Quadrophenia” by Richie Unterberger. That’s a great book. And especially from the “Who’s Next/Lifehouse” Super Deluxe Edition box set. That is really the ultimate story of this album and the “Lifehouse” project. It ain’t cheap, but I highly recommend it.
I’ll be back in two weeks with a new episode. If you’ve missed any of our previous shows, you can find them all on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or look for them in your favorite podcast app. Share your thoughts on this song on The Who, or any music-related subject on our Facebook page, just look for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast on Facebook, or send an email to lovethatsongpodcastmail.com.
And speaking of music related subjects, there are plenty of other shows on the Pantheon Podcast network, just waiting for you to discover them, so go check those out.
And if you’d like to support this show, as I always say, the best thing you can do is to tell someone about it. Recommend this show to your friends, your family, or your coworkers, because endorsements from people like you are what keeps every podcast growing.
I’ll meet you back here again soon. Thanks for listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast on “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who.
RESOURCES:
The Who https://www.thewho.com/
Tommy https://www.allmusic.com/album/tommy-mw0000192438
No genre had greater impact of the development of Rock & Roll than the Blues. And no instrument has contributed more to Rock than the electric guitar. In this episode, I’m joined by author Pete Prown to talk about the blues guitarists who influenced the sound of Rock (and all the genres & offshoots that followed). Some of these players became icons, others were forgotten; but they are all important figures in the evolution of the Blues and Rock—and are all featured in Prown’s new book, “The Ultimate Book Of Blues Guitar Legends”, available now.
One of our greatest singer/songwriters, Matthew Sweet, suffered a stroke recently. He’s facing some tough times ahead, but this isn’t the first challenge he’s faced. Things were not going Matthew Sweet’s way in 1990; his first two albums flopped, and his marriage fell apart. His 3rd album was make-or-break, do-or-die. If this one failed, he may never get to do another record. So he & his producer went back to basics, recording a batch of guitar-oriented songs that sound both retro and refreshingly new. The album that became known as Girlfriend saved his career and has become a true classic. On this episode, we explore the album’s brilliant opener, “Divine Intervention”. Let’s hope he rebounds as well this time.
How are you? How have you been? Good to have you back with us on the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I’m Brad Page, coming to you on the Pantheon network of podcasts, with another exploration of one of my favorite songs. We keep the music theory and technical jargon to a minimum here, so whether you’re a musician, an avid listener, or just a fan of the song, everybody’s welcome here.
On this edition of the podcast, we’re delving into a song from one of the greatest albums of the 1990’s, and it still sounds as fresh today as the day it was recorded. It’s an indispensable part of my record collection. For many people, the album “Girlfriend” is Matthew Sweet’s masterpiece. Join me as we explore the song that opens this classic album, “Divine Intervention”.
Matthew Sweet was born in 1964 in Nebraska. He played in bands and was writing songs as a teenager, and when he graduated high school, he moved to Athens, Georgia for college, which also happened to be ground zero for the alternative rock scene of REM, the B-52’s, Pylon, all of those great bands. He hooked up with some local bands, and even did some gigs with Michael Stipe from REM. He spent some time playing bass for Lloyd Cole, too. He formed another duo with drummer David Pierc,e and under the name the Buzz of Delight, they released one EP which included a Christmas song that still pops up every now and then.
Columbia Records was impressed and signed him to a solo deal, and he released his first album, “Inside”. The album is very ‘80’s, heavy on the synthesizer, and suffers for the fact that it was worked on by ten different producers. Here’s a song from that album. It’s called “By Herself”.
The record did not sell, and Columbia dropped him. Three years later, he surfaced on A& M Records with a new contract and a new album, “Earth”. This album was a little more cohesive and featured more guitar, including key contributions from Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd. Here’s a song from Earth called “Wind And The Sun”.
Unfortunately, this album wasn’t any more successful than his first, and A&M dropped him too. Sweet and his wife had married young; he was 19 when they got married, but now the pressure and strain had taken its toll, and she was gone. They divorced in 1989. Having burned through two record labels and one marriage is enough to make anyone reassess their life. He regrouped, and with producer Fred Maher, they started to work on another album. And this time they stripped things back. Inspired by The Beatles’ “White Album” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”, they wanted an album that felt raw, organic, direct… not necessarily “live”, they were not trying to capture a “live in the studio” band; there are plenty of overdubs, but they were trying to catch complete performances on tape. Most overdubs were performed beginning-to-end without a lot of punch-ins, with one exception: Robert Quine’s guitar solos. Quine was so unpredictable, he never played the same thing twice. So his solos were edited together from multiple takes. But most of the performances on the new album were complete takes, start to finish. Not always perfect, but capturing the feel of a song played by real human beings.
There are two other approaches to this album that contribute to its distinctive and pretty magical sound. One is the heavy use of compression. Pretty much every instrument and vocal was subject to a significant amount of compression. Compression is electronically processing the sound to level it out, increasing the quiet sections while lowering the louder parts. This can be done subtly so that you don’t really notice it, but it results in an even, consistent sound. But you can crank up the compression, producing that distinctive sound that you hear all over this record.
The other thing that makes this album sound the way it does is reverb, or I should say, the complete lack of it. There is no reverb or echo on this album at all. Vocals, drums, instruments, none of it has any reverb at all. At a time when, in the ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, reverb was used on everything to create a big sound, especially on drums, those ridiculously huge drum sounds. This album goes in completely the other direction, avoiding the use of reverb at all. And it’s all the better for it.
“Divine Intervention” is the song that opens the album. It was written by Matthew Sweet, and before we get to the album version, let’s have a taste of the demo. This is Matthew on guitar, vocals & six string bass, and Ivan Julian on lead guitar.
Once they brought it into the studio, they gave it the full band treatment. Basic tracks were laid down with Matthew on electric guitar and Rick Menck on drums. Rick was an indie rock veteran and was playing drums for Velvet Crush. Once the drums and rhythm guitar were done, Matthew Sweet would overdub a bass guitar part vocals and lead guitar, in this case by Richard Lloyd, would come after that. The song opens with a series of short, contrasting sounds. Here’s what we’re hearing there. First, there’s a snippet of the vocals from the chorus played backwards in the right channel. That is immediately followed by a guitar chord that dissolves into feedback in the left channel. This always reminds me of the beginning of “I Feel Fine” by The Beatles.
Next you can hear Rick Menck count off the song. But that’s interrupted by a stray guitar note in the center channel. I’m guessing this is an artifact from Richard Lloyd’s overdubbed guitar. And then Matthew Sweet’s guitar in the left channel kicks off the song proper. There’s also kind of a funny little guitar sting in there from Richard Lloyd.
Let’s go back to the top and hear that whole intro all the way through. You can hear what sounds like some backwards notes in the right channel.
Let’s back it up a bit and play it through the rest of the intro. The other thing you’ve probably noticed by now is the fairly extreme panning with Sweet’s guitar all the way to the left and the drums panned hard right. This was inspired by those old Beatles records. Let’s play the first verse and listen for the stereo placement of all the instruments and the vocals.
I really like the groove laid down by the bass and drums. Simple, not busy at all. Just very straightforward. Supporting the guitars and vocals and giving them plenty of room to work with.
Let’s listen to the second verse. I always thought it was interesting that, on this album that was born out of commercial failure and the collapse of his marriage, and all the questions and soul searching that would arise out of those feelings, that he would open the album with a song about maybe the biggest question of all: is there a God? And does he really care? This song doesn’t offer any answers. How could it? But it is an honest exploration of his doubts.
Notice how on that chorus that the lead and the backing vocals intentionally don’t sync up.
Next up is a guitar solo from Richard Lloyd. We’ve talked about Richard Lloyd on this podcast a couple of times before. He was a member of the band Television, which we explored in episode #147, and we covered a song from one of Richard’s solo albums way back on episode #39. I’ve always liked Richard as a player. He can be very creative. He can play with a lot of fury and fire, and he’s not above playing like a real old-fashioned guitar hero when the moment calls for it. This solo has a little bit of all of that in it. Theres a real manic energy to this one. Just for fun, lets listen to the solo on its own and then well go back and hear it in context.
All right, now let’s go back and hear that in the final mix. First, you’ll hear Matthew sweet say the word “All right”, twice. I’m guessing one of these is on the lead vocal track and the other one is on the backing vocal track. That is a cool little bit there where for a couple of seconds they flip the tape around and play it backwards. Creative tricks like these are a great way to throw in something unexpected that shocks the listener out of complacency, breaks the predictability, and helps keep the listener engaged.
Matthew Sweet sings all of the vocals on this album, all the lead and the backing vocals. It was an intentional decision to use only Matthew’s voice on the album. That creates a sense, almost subconsciously, of the album being the singular feelings and expressions of one man. Plus, Sweet is just a great singer and is able to blend his voice together in beautiful swaths of harmony.
There’s a simple but nice little drum fill there by Rick Menck, and that brings us towards the end of the song with a bit here that I’m sure is another nod to The Beatles.
Let’s listen to just a little bit of those vocals there because it’s so great.
You might think they’re going to end it right there, but it’s just a short pause. Then there’s a drum fill and Matthew laughs. And then Richard Lloyd takes flight again. Let’s hear it. There is a simple piano part in the background played by Matthew Sweet. It’s cropped up throughout the song. You can hear it if you listen closely, here in the right channel.
The song, begins to fade out. And again, you might think this is where it all ends, but it’s a false ending. It’s going to fade back up for an encore.
They weren’t trying to be tricky here. They actually thought Richard Lloyd was on such a roll, they wanted to give us another minute or so of his brilliant guitar work.
“Divine Intervention” – Matthew Sweet
The album was released in 1991 by Zoo Entertainment, at the time, a new label formed by the former president of Island Records.
The album cover is almost as famous as the album itself. It features a photo of the actress Tuesday Weld taken sometime in the late 1950’s when she was just 14 years old. Sweet originally wanted to call the album “Nothing Lasts”, but Tuesday Weld didn’t want to be associated with that title, so they changed the name of the album to “Girlfriend”.
The record label marketed the album as if it were Matthew Sweet’s first record, which was probably smart, because this was really a fresh new start for Sweet. But the strategy worked so well that most people don’t even know or forgot that he had two previous albums before this one.
The album wasn’t a smash hit out of the gate, but it certainly wasn’t a flop either. It sold steadily and eventually went platinum. It’s Matthew Sweet’s most commercially successful album, and it’s a critics’ favorite too. It’s hard to find a bad review of this album. In my opinion, it’s a damn near perfect record.
Thanks for joining me for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. You can find all of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or look for us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. New episodes of this show come out twice a month on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so I’ll meet you back here soon.
When you have a minute, please leave a review of the show, and you can always drop me a line on Facebook or by email– lovethatsongpodcastmail.com And please support the show by telling your friends about it. Share it with your fellow music junkies.
Were part of the Pantheon Podcast Network, where you’ll find many more music-related podcasts. Check them out if you get a chance, and remember to support the artists you love by buying their music.
If you don’t already have a copy of “Girlfriend”, go buy a copy now– you won’t regret it– and crank up “Divine Intervention” by Matthew Sweet.
"I Put A Spell On You" (Words & Music by Jay Hawkins) Copyright 1956 (Renewed 1984) EMI Unart Catalog Inc.
It’s time for our occasional, somewhat-annual Halloween Spooktacular episode, where we pick a song appropriate to the season and see what terror awaits us. And what better way to get into the Halloween spirit than an examination (autopsy?) of the original “shock rock” song—“I Put A Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
“I Put A Spell On You” (Words & Music by Jay Hawkins) Copyright 1956 (Renewed 1984) EMI Unart Catalog Inc.
PREVIEW:
TRANSCRIPT:
It is time to ask the eternal question that has beguiled all of us since childhood: Trick Or Treat. That’s right, it’s time for our sort-of annual, somewhat occasional Halloween Special Edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. My name is Brad Page. I’m here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, where each episode I pick a favorite song and we deep-dive into it.
In keeping with the Halloween tradition, this time I’ve selected a seasonally appropriate track. In fact, this one is almost ground zero for over-the-top performances out of some kind of nightmare. Before there was Tobias Forge, before there was Marilyn Manson, before Alice Cooper, before Arthur Brown, there was Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and “I Put A Spell On You”.
The life of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins is one big tall tale. So much so that it’s hard to tell fact from fiction with any details of his life, at least as he told them. He made up stories about his military record; he claimed to have studied at the Ohio Conservatory of Music– there is actually no such place; and he said that he fathered 57 children, although 33 children so far have been traced back to him… so maybe that part is true.
After he was discharged from the army, where he played saxophone in the Special Services branch, he returned home to Cleveland, Ohio. He left his first wife and child– this was the first in a long line of pretty terrible treatment of women– and connected with DJ Alan Freed. From there, he hooked up with a performer named Tiny Grimes. Tiny’s schtick was to dress up like a Scottish Highlander, kilt and all. It was with Tiny Grimes that he first developed his Screamin’ Jay Hawkins personality. He eventually went solo and over time, developed the stage show that he became famous for. Leopard skin costumes, capes, voodoo imagery, carrying a skull and a stick.
He wrote and first recorded “I Put A Spell On You” in 1954, but that version wasn’t released. He did release a handful of other singles, though, but none of those were very successful. He moved from label to label, and in 1956 landed at Okeh Records, where he recorded a new version of “I Put A Spell On You”. The producer, Arnold Maxim, thought that they were playing it a little too straight, too safe, not wild enough. So he brought a few cases of beer into the studio, and when the band was suitably trashed, that’s when he pressed the record button.
The song is in 6/8 time, which you can count as two groups of three, like 123-456. And they play it with this very lumbering feel. I can picture some kind of zombie clomping out of the fog. Each footstep on the count of one and four: 123, 456.
That laugh he does there is so great.
Along with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins on vocals, the band included Mickey Baker on guitar, Ernie Hayes on piano, Al Lucas on bass, David Panama Francis on drums, Bud Johnson on baritone sax, and Sam “The Man” Taylor on tenor sax. Here’s where the sax gets to play a solo.
And there’s one more verse, and that’s it. The song is only 2 minutes and 25 seconds long. You know, back in the ‘50’s, there wasn’t a lot of time to mess around. They kept these singles real tight.
Let’s bring up his vocals here.
Now that’s an ending. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – “I Put A Spell On You”.
Initially, radio stations didn’t want to play it, probably no surprise… but over time, this song would sell a million copies and make Screamin’ Jay Hawkins the original shock-rocker. They used to call him the “Black Vincent Price”. He never really had another hit, but he milked this song for all its worth and made a whole career out of it. He performed right up until his death in February 2000 of an aneurysm.
This song has been covered over 100 times. There are many versions out there by a wide range of artists, like Credence Clearwater Revival.
That’s from their debut album back in 1968. Annie Lennox released a version in 2014.
Of course, Marilyn Manson released a version in 2005.
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown also did it back in ‘68.
Brian Ferry from Roxy Music covered it in 1993.
One of the most popular versions was by Alan Price, the keyboard player from The Animals, who went solo in 1965 and released a version of “I Put A Spell On You” in 1966 that reached number nine on the UK charts, which I believe makes it the highest charting version of this song.
My personal favorite version of the song is by Tim Curry, from “Rocky Horror” fame. He recorded a version on his 1981 album “Simplicity”.
But the most significant version, the most critically and culturally important version, was by Nina Simone. Nina was a serious artist and she brought a whole ‘nother level to this song. She released her version in 1965.
Nina Simone, one of the many versions of “I Put A Spell On You”. Thanks for being a part of this Halloween edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. Join us here on the Pantheon Podcast Network in two weeks for another new episode. Until then, you can listen to all of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or pull us up in your favorite podcast app.
Remember to support the artists that you love by buying their music, and thanks for listening to this episode on Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and “I Put A Spell On You”.
REFERENCES:
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamin%27_Jay_Hawkins
Alan Freed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Freed
"Back In The Saddle" (Steven Tyler & Joe Perry) Copyright 1977 Music Of Stage Three, All Rights Administered by Stage Three Music US Inc.
Aerosmith were at their commercial & creative peak in 1976 when they released Rocks, a high-water mark in their career. The album opens with “Back In The Saddle”, one of their hardest-rocking songs and the perfect way to kick off their heaviest album. There’s lots to uncover in this song, so join us for this episode where we explore this classic track.
“Back In The Saddle” (Steven Tyler & Joe Perry) Copyright 1977 Music Of Stage Three, All Rights Administered by Stage Three Music US Inc.
PREVIEW:
Save 15% off t-shirts & merch from Aerosmith and your favorite bands by using our discount code lovethatsong at OldGlory.com!
TRANSCRIPT:
It’s time to open up pandora’s box for another edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I am your master of ceremonies, Brad Page, and this is the Pantheon Podcast network. Each episode of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together as we continue our quest to understand what makes a song great. As always, no musical skill or expertise is needed here. This show is open to anyone willing and able to listen.
Aerosmith, one of the greatest American bands, was supposed to be on their final tour, going out in style. But singer Steven Tyler suffered a serious vocal injury last year. They had to delay the tour, rescheduling it a couple of times, but sadly, they just announced last month that they have to cancel the entire tour– Steven’s injury was just too severe. And with that, Aerosmith’s career as a live, touring band came to an abrupt end. Unfortunately, the band will not be back in the saddle again. So I thought it would be fitting to revisit this classic track from one of their greatest albums. This is Aerosmith with “Back In The Saddle”.
We’ve featured Aerosmith on this podcast before; we covered “Seasons Of Wither” back on episode 23, and “Kings and Queens” on episode 97. So, I’m not going to rehash the whole Aerosmith history here, but let’s just set the stage for this particular track.
In 1976, Aerosmith were riding high on the success of their third album, “Toys in the Attic”. They had just finished a lengthy tour supporting that album, and after a short break, they reconvened at the band’s rehearsal space.
The year before, 1975, the band was looking for a place to rehearse. Ray Tabano was originally their guitarist, but when he was replaced by Brad Whitford, he became sort of their assistant and their fan club manager. They sent Ray on a mission to find a new place for them to practice and kind of a home base for the band. Ray found an empty building on Pond Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, not far from Boston, which they leased, rewired, built a stage, and turned into their clubhouse. They called it “A Wherehouse”. The Wherehouse became their band office as well as their rehearsal space, and it was a place they all felt comfortable.
Producer Jack Douglas, who had produced their last two albums, was there with them, helping them to develop and work out new songs for their next album. They decided, rather than move everything into a formal studio, they would just record the album right there at the Wherehouse. So, Jack brought in the Record Plant’s remote recording truck, and he mic’d up the Wherehouse,m trying to capture that raw live sound. They spent about six weeks hammering out the songs and laying down the basic tracks. Then the band took the tapes into the Record Plant studio in New York to record the vocals and the guitar overdubs.
The finished album, dubbed “Rocks”, was released on May 14, 1976. It was their hardest-rocking album to date. In fact, looking back now at their entire catalog, it’s still the hardest rocking album that Aerosmith ever made. For many fans, this is their favorite Aerosmith album, and “Back In The Saddle” is the track that opens the record.
It was written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, was produced by Jack Douglas and the band, and was performed by Steven Tyler on vocals, Joey Kramer on drums, Brad Whitford on guitar, Tom Hamilton on bass, and Joe Perry on guitar and six string bass. Joe Perry had purchased a Fender Bass VI, which more or less plays like a regular guitar, but it’s tuned an octave lower, like a bass. If you’ve seen The Beatles “Get Back” documentary, then you’ve seen John Lennon play a Bass VI in that film. But Joe Perry was inspired to pick up a Bass VI because one of his guitar heroes, Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac, used to play one. In fact, back on episode 67 of this podcast, we explored the Fleetwood Mac track “The Green Manalishi” and talked about Peter Green and his six-string bass. Then here’s a little bit of Peter Green on his six-string bass.
So, inspired by Peter Green, Joe Perry got himself a six-string bass and started messing around with it. According to Joe himself, he was in his bedroom, lying on the floor on his back, wasted on heroin, when he came up with the riff for “Back In The Saddle”.
The song begins with a long, slow buildup. You can hear the sound of a horse galloping. According to legend, that’s Steven Tyler tapping two coconuts together, Monty Python style. I don’t know if that’s really true or not, but I like to picture that in my head.
And you can hear the horse winnying in the background of the right channel, and that launches us right into the chorus. It’s not exactly unusual for a song to start with the chorus, but it is a little uncommon.
Before we go further, let’s listen to Joe Perry’s six-string bass riff. That was the genesis of this song. That is one brutal riff.
For Stephen Tyler’s voice, Jack Douglas used a particular type of microphone referred to as a shotgun mic. Very unusual choice for a lead vocal mic. Shotgun mics are extremely directional and mostly used to focus on a sound that’s very far away. In this case, it really captures all of the rasp and the ragged edge of Tyler’s voice. It also sounds like Douglas used quite a bit of compression on this vocal track, which accentuates that even more.
While they were at the record plant working on overdubs, the idea of being back in the saddle came up. With a new album coming out, the band would be saddling up and hitting the road again. It reminded Jack Douglas of that old song by Gene Autry, “Back In The Saddle
For Steven Tyler, because he’s Steven Tyler, “back in the saddle” meant having sex with his girlfriend again. But he took these ideas and his notepad and went into the stairwell at the Record Plant. He liked to go there for some quiet and privacy, and that’s where he wrote the lyrics to this song.
You can hear the footsteps there of our main character, his spurs jangling. This was achieved by taping tambourines and bells to Steven Tyler’s boots and then recording him stomping on a piece of plywood.
He mentions the Crazy Horse Saloon and a woman named Suki Jones. He just made those names up. But sometimes characters take on a life of their own. Stephen Adler, the former drummer for Guns N’ Roses, loved this song so much, he named his band Suki Jones.
Throughout the song, there’s a couple of guitars, one on the left, one on the right channel, just making these wild noises, bending and pulling notes and wrangling with their whammy bars. There is also, very low in the mix, two other guitars, one electric and one acoustic– in fact, the acoustic might even be in Nashville tuning– that are hammering on this droning part in the background. Let’s listen to these guitars.
Let’s pick it back up at the second chorus.
That brings us to the second verse. Let’s look at some of the parts that make up the verse. First, let’s hear just the guitars. And this includes the six-string bass.
Then you have the rhythm section with Joey Kramer’s drums and Tom Hamilton playing the regular four-string bass.
All right, let’s hear that all together.
There are some guitar licks in the mix there. I believe those are played by Brad Whitford. Let’s go back and listen to those.
Let’s go back and hear those in context.
There are some really intense Steven Tyler vocals there, enhanced by the use of that microphone and the compression. Let’s hear just that vocal track peeling off.
Let’s go back and listen to the guitars that play under that chorus. And there are more of those clip-clopping steps that are mixed pretty tightly with the drums. You don’t really notice them in the final mix, but you’ll hear them clearly here.
We’ll back it up again and play into the next section.
This is one of my favorite parts of the song. There’s a harmony added to the lead vocal.
The six-string bass is playing another great part. And notice how they’ve added a flanger to it to give it that swirling sound.
The bass and drums are just really driving forward and the layered guitars are really adding a lot of texture. Notice when the acoustic guitar doubles that little descending part. Let’s hear that all together again.
We’re going to hear another chorus. And then there’s a guitar solo that’s off to one side and fairly low in the mix, but we’ll fade some of the other tracks in and out so that you can hear that guitar part a little clearer.
Steven Tyler actually yodels there. You can hear that in the left channel.
There’s more of that Steven Tyler nonsense. Obviously, they were having a lot of fun in the studio with this track. You can hear the sound of a whip cracking. They actually brought a bullwhip into the studio, trying to capture the sound of a real whip. But after a few hours of messing around with the whip, all they ended up with was some cuts and bruises with no usable sounds. So, Steven Tyler ended up whirling a microphone cable around, and they used a cap gun for the sound of the whip cracking. So let’s hear all of that, along with a little more of those backing guitar tracks.
And while all of that is going, on mostly in the left channel, there’s some nice guitar playing going on in the right. So let’s check that out.
Aerosmith – “Back In The Saddle”
Joe Perry and Brad Whifford would leave the band a few years later, Joe in 1979 and Brad in ‘81. But of course, they reunited in 1984, and Aerosmith went on to do the unthinkable: they became even bigger after their reunion.
Very few bands get a second chance at success. You can count on one hand the number of bands who achieved greater success the second time around. Aerosmith is one of them, and they maintained that success for a long time. Say what you will about Aerosmith, but what they’ve done is unprecedented.
The other thing, too, is that all five original members are still with us. There have been dangerous drug habits, overdoses, car accidents. Joe Perry even had a heart attack on stage a few years ago. But at the time of this recording, they’re all still alive. Just the fact that all five of them still walk the planet is some kind of miracle. If this truly is the end of the line, I’m gonna miss them. But they’ve left behind some incredible records and some of my favorite music of all time.
Thanks for listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network. You’ll find new episodes of this show on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so I’ll see you back here in about two weeks. Until then, you can catch up on all of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.
We always appreciate your reviews and your comments, and please go tell a friend about this show. Your help in spreading the word is better than any advertising we could ever pay for.
In these trying times for musicians, whether they’re legacy artists or new acts, remember to support the artists you love by buying their music. And thanks for jumping “Back In The Saddle” with Aerosmith.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Aerosmith https://www.aerosmith.com/
Toys in the Attic Album https://www.allmusic.com/album/toys-in-the-attic-mw0000192339
Rocks Album https://www.allmusic.com/album/rocks-mw0000189173
Fender Bass VI https://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-basses/other/six-string-bass/
The Beatles ‘Get Back’ Documentary https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-beatles-get-back/4SrN28ZjDLwH
On this episode, we take a journey through the rich history of Stax Records, the iconic label that defined Southern Soul music, and I play some of my favorite Stax tracks from their earliest years– 1959 to 1963.
Stax produced some of the most unforgettable songs in music history. Join us as I spin up some of my personal favorites, featuring legends like Booker T. and the MGs, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, The Mar-Keys and Carla Thomas. Learn about the unique sound of Stax, the community that fostered it, and the incredible music that continues to resonate today.
Save 15% off t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands by using our discount code lovethatsong at OldGlory.com!
TRANSCRIPT:
Hold on, I’m coming– it’s the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. My name is Brad Page, here on the Pantheon Podcast Network with another edition of the show.
If you’re familiar with this podcast, then you know what we usually do here is to take a song and examine it, looking at the structure, performance and production elements that go into making a great song. But on this episode, we’re going to do something a little different. This is something we’ve never done before.
We’ve looked at specific songs, specific artists, individual albums, and music that came out during certain key years. But this time, we’re going to take a look at the releases from one particular record label– one of the most important record labels in the history of popular music: Stax Records.
I love the music that came out on Stax Records from their humble studios in Memphis, Tennessee, in my opinion, some of the greatest music ever made. So much great music that there’s no way I could cover it all in just one episode. So, this is going to be the first in an occasional series. Well come back to it now and then over the next few years. Today, we begin our exploration of Stax with a look at my favorite Stax singles from 1959 through 1963.
I imagine most people are familiar with Motown– the “Sound of Young America”, as they used to say. It was fresh, urban; the sound coming from the black communities in the northern cities. The sound coming from Stax, well, that was different. It was more raw, more sweat, the sound of southern soul music. Where Motown aspired to be uptown, Stax was down home.
It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: This was music made primarily by, and for, Black Americans. But music this infectious, this good, couldn’t be contained. It made America a better place, and it caught the ear of people all around the world. But this is music born from segregated communities.. though it would not have been possible without black and white artists, black and white executives, working together, creating something together that was magical. But let’s be honest, it wasn’t always Kumbaya and rainbows. There were conflicts and challenges, and the limitations of integration at the time… I will leave that to the experts, the historians and the scholars. There are some fantastic books on the history of Stax, and there’s a fantastic documentary on HBO Max that I highly recommend.
The story of Stax is, like so many of our greatest stories, a story of triumph and tragedy, of serendipity and bad luck, of dreaming big and overreaching, of success and failure… and most importantly, the story of the music that has survived and outlasted it all.
And it all began in 1959 with Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton. Jim and Estelle were white, and they both worked in banking; Jim for First Tennessee, and Estelle for Union Planters Bank. But Jim’s real love was playing fiddle, which he did semi-professionally for a while. When Elvis Presley hit the big time with the records he made at Sun Studios in Memphis, well, that got Jim interested in recording. He made a few recordings, rockabilly and country stuff that didn’t really go anywhere.
But his sister Estelle mortgaged her House to buy an Ampex mono tape recorder, and she became an equal partner in the recording business. They set up their first studio, which they called “Satellite”, in Brunswick, Tennessee.
Jim Stewart didn’t really know anything about Rhythm & Blues, but somehow he got connected with a black vocal group named The Veltones, and they recorded a song at Satellite called “Fool In Love” in 1959. I don’t think it’s a particularly great song, it’s most memorable for its vibrato guitar sounds.
But that track was snatched up by Mercury Records and distributed nationally. It also brought Stewart in contact with Rufus Thomas, a singer and DJ on WDIA, the biggest black station in the area.
By now, Jim and Estelle had moved the studio into Memphis, setting up shop in an old movie theater at 926 Macklemore Avenue, in the heart of a black neighborhood. Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla Thomas came into the studio on Macklemore Ave– in fact, they were the first act to record there– and laid down the track called “Cause I Love You”. Released in August 1960, it became a hit, and set the course for the future.
“Cause I Love You” featured a 16-year-old kid named Booker T. Jones on baritone sax. Though he would soon become known as a legendary keyboard player, Booker T was part of the Stax family from the very first record cut in Memphis.
The success of “Cause I Love You” caught the attention of Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records. He reached out to Jim Stewart and made a deal for Atlantic to distribute Stax’ records. Of course, Stax wasn’t even called Stax yet; that would come later. They were still using the name Satellite.
While Jim ran the studio in the back, Estelle ran the Satellite Record Shop out front. The neighborhood kids shopped and hung out there, and Estelle would use them as a test audience for the latest single recorded out back in the studio.
With the success of “Cause I Love You, they cut a solo Carla Thomas single, a song she had written when she was 16: “Gee Whiz”.
That was the record that really put Stax (or Satellite) on the map. It reached number five on the R&B chart and number ten on the Pop chart. In retrospect, it doesn’t really sound like a Stax record. They hadn’t really discovered that sound yet. That would come about a year later with the release of an instrumental by The Mar-Keys called “Last Night”.
Released in June 1961, The Mar-Keys started out as an all white band called, ironically enough, the Royal Spades. The band included guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, trumpeter Wayne Jackson, and tenor sax player Charles “Packy” Axton, who was Estelle’s son.
When they recorded “Last Night” in the studio, they were joined by some black session players: Louis Steinberg, Curtis Green, Floyd Newman, maybe some others, making this the first integrated band at Stax. In its own way, it’s a milestone. It’s also a milestone in terms of the sound: heavy on the horns, powerful drum sound, the organ up front, and that groove.
There is no guitar on this track; Steve Cropper is actually playing keyboards along with Smoochie Smith, who takes the organ lead.
“Last Night” made it to number two on the R&B chart and number three on the Pop chart.
Around the time they were creating the sound that would become the Stax sound, they also created the Stax name. Not exactly by choice; there was another record label out in California that used the “Satellite” name first. To avoid legal trouble, they changed the name of the company. They took the first two letters from Stewart’s name (ST) and the first two letters from Estelle Axton’s last name, (AX) and created “Stax”.
One of the other producers working at Stax besides Jim Stewart was Chips Moman. He would go on to have a long, successful career as a producer, but it was these early years at Stax where he first made his mark. He signed a young singer named William Bell. Bell was also a great songwriter, and his first single for Stax was a song he wrote called “You Don’t Miss Your Water, released in November 1961. It’s a ballad in 12/8 time. If you want a deeper understanding of what 12/8 time is, go back and listen to our episode on “Somebody To Love” by Queen– we covered that time signature in detail there.
“You Don’t Miss Your Water” didn’t make much of an impact on the charts, but I think it was Stax first great soul ballad, and it’s now considered a classic.
Not every song released by Stax was a hit, and not every artist had a lasting career. Many of them, you can’t even call them “one hit wonders” because they didn’t have any hits. There were some forgettable records. Barbara Stevens recorded three singles for Stax between 1961 and 62. None of them hit, but I’ve always had a soft spot for one of them, a track called “Wait A Minute”, a fun song with a lively little vocal from Barbara. After those three singles, Barbara Stevens faded into obscurity.
Now, in 1961, Stax created a sister label, a subsidiary label called “Volt”. Radio stations could be reluctant to play too many records from one label, so it was common practice for many labels to create offshoots to get around that. So Stax had Volt. Most of the singles were released on the Stax labels, with occasional singles released on Volt. The only single released on both the Stax and the Volt labels was a little track by Booker T. And the MG’s called “Green Onions”.
One day, while waiting for another artist to show up at the studio, Booker T, Steve Cropper, Louis Steinberg, and Al Jackson Jr. started jamming on a slow blues riff, and Jim Stewart happened to record it. When they played it back, they thought it sounded pretty good. They called it “Behave Yourself” and decided it was good enough to release. Now they needed something for the other side of the single, so they took another riff that they’d been noodling around with and turned that into “Green Onions”. It was originally released August 1962 on the Volt label. Once it started selling, they reissued it on the Stax label, and it went on to hit number one on the R&B chart and number three on the Pop chart.
Booker T and his crew were really just studio cats and backing musicians, but after “Green Onions” became a smash hit, they became a band on their own. They would release several more hit records as Booker T and the MGs, as well as continue to be the backing band for many of the Stax’s artists.
Around the same time as “Green Onions” was burning up the charts, William Bell released his second single, “Any Other Way”. It never became a big hit, but stay tuned, because this song, um, will show up again on this podcast sometime next year.
Another artist who found his way to Stax in 1962 was Otis Redding. He was working with Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, and he was actually just driving Jenkins to the session at Stax– he wasn’t even supposed to sing. But when the Jenkins session hit a dead end, they let Otis sing a couple of numbers… and one of them was “These Arms Of Mine”, and they were blown away. Jim Stewart signed Otis right away, and “These Arms Of Mine” was released on Volt in October 1962.
In January of 1963, Rufus Thomas released “The Dog”. You know when you see Rufus Thomas’ name on a record, you’re in for a good time.
Deanie Parker was a local teenage girl in a band called The Valadors. When they came in first place in a Memphis talent contest, they won an audition at Stax. They didn’t have any original songs, so Deanie went home and wrote her very first song, “My Imaginary Guy”, which became her first single. Though she never had any big hits as a singer, she continued to write songs for Stax artists like William Bell, Albert King, and Carla Thomas, and remained a Stax employee all the way until the very end. Here’s Deanie with her very first song, “My Imaginary Guy”.
May 1963, guitarist and harmonica player Eddie Kirkland, who had been a member of Otis Redding’s touring band, released a single on his own called “The Hog”, featuring Kirkland on harp. For some reason, they shortened his name to Eddie Kirk for this record. But either way, this song smokes.
Booker T and the MGs continue to release instrumental singles, including one of their best– or at least it’s one of my favorites—“Chinese Checkers” in June 1963. This one features Booker T on electric piano.
In September, Rufus Thomas was back with another “dog” song. This time it’s “Walking The Dog”. This one’s an all-time classic and would go on to be covered by many artists, including Aerosmith. But here’s the original, the one and only Rufus Thomas with “Walking The Dog”.
I love that one. And as 1963 wound down in November, Carla Thomas released “Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas”, the first, but not the last, Christmas-themed single for Stax.
And that’s where we’ll leave it for this episode. But we’ll revisit Stax again next year, because I love these songs and I love the chance to share them with you.
I want to thank Rob Bowman; he’s the guy that wrote the extensive liner notes for the Stax box sets, and that was my primary source for all the information presented in this here episode. I couldn’t have done it without him. So thanks, Mr. Bowman, for your incredible work documenting this music.
I hope this episode inspires some of you to seek out these Stax artists. It’s really great stuff, and I think an important part of American history.
Thanks for joining me for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. If you’d like to support the show, why don’t you head over to oldglory.com and buy yourself a t-shirt or two? They have stock on all of our favorite artists, and when you use our discount code lovethatsong, you’ll get 15% off, and we get a little kickback. So you’ll end up with some cool merch and you’ll be supporting this show. Such a deal! That’s oldglory.com and the discount code is lovethatsong.
I’ll be back in two weeks with another new episode. In the meantime, you can catch up on all of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com and you can check in with us on Facebook. If you’d like to find more podcasts like this, be sure to check out the Pantheon Podcast Network, its home to our show and a ton of other great music-related podcasts. As always, I thank you for being part of this show and thanks for listening to this episode featuring my favorite tracks from Stax.
Click here to play the podcast