Fleetwood Mac – “Sara”

"Sara" Words & Music by Stevie Nicks, Copyright 1979 Welsh Witch Music (administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing)

Following the unprecedented success of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac found themselves at a crossroads: deliver a safe sequel or redefine their sound. Driven by Lindsey Buckingham’s obsession with the burgeoning punk and New Wave scenes, the band spent a then-unheard-of $1.4 million to create Tusk, a lo-fi, experimental double album recorded in upgraded studios and tiled bathrooms alike. While the industry initially labeled the project a failure compared to its predecessor, time has vindicated the record as a brave artistic pivot. At the heart of this transition stands “Sara.”

We’ll peel back the layers of the track’s amalgamation of inspirations. The episode investigates the delicate, sweeping drum patterns of Mick Fleetwood, the “Ice Cream Changes” chord structure, and the deeply private stories buried in the mix—including Stevie Nicks’ complicated fallout with her best friend and her secret history with the Eagles’ Don Henley. By isolating vocal tracks and exploring the instrumental performances, this episode demonstrates how Fleetwood Mac turned personal turmoil into a song that continues to strike a heartbeat in millions of listeners.

“Sara” (Words & Music by Stevie Nicks, Copyright 1979 Welsh Witch Music, administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing)

TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, hey, welcome back to the I’m in Love with that Song podcast. We are part of the Pantheon Media Network; this is where fans belong. My name is Brad Page, I’m the host of this show, and each episode here, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dig into it together to try to understand why it’s such a great song. You don’t have to be a musician or know anything about music theory to enjoy this show. We don’t get super technical; all you need is a little curiosity about what makes a song work.

This episode, we’re exploring a song by one of the biggest bands in history, a song from their most polarizing album. Some people love this record, some don’t, but this song was a top ten hit for them back in 1979, 1980, and it has quite an interesting backstory. So, let’s get into it. This is Fleetwood Mac and “Sara.”

[“Sara” excerpt]

The history of Fleetwood Mac is long and pretty convoluted. We told that story on this podcast a while back on episode 122, where we examined the song “You Make Loving Fun” and the career of the late Christine McVie. You can re-listen to that episode on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or find it back in our feed in your podcast app.

That episode catches you up on the band right up to the Rumours album. This time, we’re picking up with the album that followed: Tusk. Rumours was, of course, one of the most commercially successful albums of all time. It sold tens of millions of copies and generated a bunch of massive hits. The album was a cultural phenomenon. It also shone a spotlight on the messy interpersonal relationships within the band; everybody knew their business now.

And I’m sure it doesn’t need to be said that that kind of success brings a lot of pressure. The fans, the music business, radio, and especially the band’s record label, Warner Brothers, were all waiting for the band to produce a sequel—Rumours 2, if you will. But the driving force behind the new album was guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham. And Lindsey was determined to pivot away from the breezy California rock of their last two albums. He was inspired by the burgeoning punk and New Wave sounds, and he was afraid that the band would become artistically irrelevant if they didn’t change.

To Warner Brothers, Fleetwood Mac was a cash cow, a revenue machine, and they wanted more of the same. But to Lindsey, that path led to stagnation. And as the architect of this new album, he wasn’t having it. This led to a lot of push and pull with the record’s producers, Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat, and with the other band members, too. Lindsey wanted to strip away the lush harmonies, the polished reverbs and EQs of the previous albums and capture more of a raw, DIY sound and feel.

And it’s always seemed pretty funny to me that in search of this raw, stripped-down, lo-fi sound, the band would end up spending $1.4 million to make this record. At the time, it was the most expensive record ever made. That’s the equivalent of spending like $6 million today. Not exactly a DIY budget.

The album was primarily recorded at the Village Recorder studios in LA. They spent a lot of that budget on modifying and upgrading Studio D at Village Recorders, including installing a new SSL 4000 series console. But Lindsey also did a lot of recording at home using his tiled bathroom, which he affectionately referred to as “Studio B.” He would speed up or slow down the tapes. He had a microphone placed on the tiled floor, then he positioned himself over it like he was doing push-ups and belted out the vocals for the song “Not That Funny.”

[“Not That Funny” excerpt]

There’s even a story that he had the band slap around some raw pork chops for a percussion effect. At this point, I think it’s fair to acknowledge that there was an ungodly amount of cocaine consumed by everyone making this record. But I think it’s unfair to laugh off this creativity and sometimes crazy experimentation as just drug-fueled madness. Regardless of how successful you think this experimentation was, there’s no question Lindsey Buckingham is a creative genius, with or without the drugs.

But let’s not forget that there were three songwriters in Fleetwood Mac. Of the 20 songs on the Tusk album, nine were written by Lindsey Buckingham, six were written by Christine McVie, and five were by Stevie Nicks. Stevie was the breakout star of Fleetwood Mac. People were beginning to cotton on to the fact that Lindsey was the creative architect of the band, and Christine wrote many of their biggest hits—and I still think she was the most under-appreciated member of the band. But it was Stevie Nicks who captured the public’s imagination. People weren’t showing up to Fleetwood Mac’s concerts dressed like Christine or Lindsey, but women were coming to shows in droves in Stevie’s image.

Of the three songwriters in the band, Stevie was always the most enigmatic lyricist. She had described the song “Sara” as her most personal song, but even here, her lyrics are not a straight narrative and they’re not exactly telling a story. And this is where it gets tricky for this show, because the whole purpose of this podcast is to get a better understanding of the song: how it came to be, what it’s about, and what it’s trying to tell us about the world outside and the artists themselves. But some songwriters cloak their songs in mystery; some leave it up to us to decide what the song is about. We get to decide. And some songwriters leave the specifics vague because they want to express their pain, but they want to keep some private things private.

So, I don’t want to put words in any artist’s mouth, and I don’t want to misinterpret the writer’s intention. So, here with “Sara,” we’re going to try to tread softly. There are facts that we can consider and make some connections, but in a case like this, we can never be 100% sure of the artist’s intentions. So let’s try to keep that in mind as we move forward.

The Tusk album is a sprawling double album: 20 songs across four sides, a total of almost 74 minutes long. “Sara” was nestled as the last song on side one. There were six songs from the album released as singles around the world, including the title track, but “Sara” was the most successful. The album version of the song runs 6 minutes and 26 seconds; it’s the longest song on the album. For the single release, the song was edited down to 4 minutes and 37 seconds.

6.5 minutes may seem long, but when Stevie Nicks originally wrote and demoed the song, it ran 16 minutes. As I understand it—and I could be wrong—the original 16-minute version was just Stevie’s vocal and piano. I’ve been trying to find a copy of that demo to play a little bit of it here, but no luck yet. Maybe somebody out there has it; it’s never been officially released. I’m sure somebody out there has a copy.

When Tusk was remastered and reissued, they did include a longer version of “Sara,” clocking in at over eight minutes. But that is still only half the length of the original demo. Here’s a bit of that eight-minute version, sometimes referred to as the “Cleaning Lady” version because of a bit at the beginning where Stevie mentions that.

[“Sara” (Long Version) plays]

In the end, they would cut out nine verses from the original version to get the song down to 6 minutes and 26 seconds. And as I said before, for the single, they cut it down even further to 4 minutes and 37 seconds, which frankly, I think takes some of the heart and soul right out of the song. It just cuts too much. For this episode, we’re going to be listening to the original album version, the one that runs 6 minutes and 26 seconds.

[“Sara” intro plays]

The recording started with a basic track of Stevie singing and playing piano. Stevie was playing what they call a tack piano. That’s a regular piano with thumb tacks—literally tacks stuck into the felt hammers—which produces a sharp metallic attack when each note is struck. It’s the sound you think of when you picture a honky-tonk piano.

Now, Stevie insisted on recording her vocal while she was playing the piano, which immediately caused a problem because the piano sound bled into the vocal mic, and her vocals were also picked up by the piano mic. That meant that you couldn’t separate the two. And also, Stevie wasn’t playing to a click track, so her timing would naturally waver, speed up or slow down a bit. And that meant that overdubbing the other instruments, that was going to be a challenge too, because they had to match up to Stevie’s inconsistent timing. In the intro, you can hear two piano parts: one panned right, one left. One is played by Stevie, the other by Christine McVie.

[“Sara” plays]

Now, with current technology, we can do something that they could not do then: we can isolate her vocal from the piano and all the other instruments. So, let’s listen to her vocal here, and notice how much echo is on this vocal track.

[Isolated Vocals: “Wait a minute, baby / Stay with me a while / Said you’d give me light / But you never told me about the fire.”]

That’s where the rest of the band comes in, led by Mick Fleetwood’s sensitive drumming. He knew he had to do something delicate that would ebb and flow with Stevie’s timing variations. Story goes that he spent 24 hours in the studio working with the track, dropping in phrases that gelled perfectly with Stevie’s tracks, creating the groove for the rest of the band to follow. Rather than use typical drumsticks, Fleetwood used wire brushes playing a continuous sweeping pattern on the snare drum.

[“Sara” plays]

“Drowning in a sea of love where everyone would love to drown.” That line seems pretty simple, almost like a throwaway line really, maybe even a little clunky. But let’s think about that for a minute. Drowning is death, right? And it doesn’t seem like a particularly pleasant way to go. But drowning in love where everyone would love to drown speaks to the irresistible call of love. You’re drawn to it, sometimes against your better judgment; you just can’t help it. Like one of those horror movie scenes where someone steps willingly into death because they’re hypnotized or whatever. I’m not going to go so far as to say that this line is profound, but it articulates a deep idea in just a few words, and that… that’s great songwriting. It also speaks to Stevie’s emotional state at the time and sets the stage for the rest of the song.

[“Sara” plays]

Mick Fleetwood comes in here with a more driving drumbeat, adding in some toms. Let’s listen to what he’s playing along with John McVie’s bass part.

[Isolated Drums and Bass plays]

Stevie and Lindsey Buckingham broke up at the start of making the Rumours album, and many of their songs on that album are about that—pretty much everybody knows that, it was common knowledge at the time. But what most people didn’t know was that Stevie and drummer Mick Fleetwood started an affair during the Rumours tour in 1977. Fleetwood was married at the time and Stevie was in an emotional place; this was just a bad idea at the time. And while I don’t think the affair lasted long, it could have easily destroyed the band. So they ended it, but the fallout can be felt here. The next line in this song, “He was just like a great dark wing,” that is about Mick Fleetwood.

[“Sara”: “And he was just like a great dark wing / Within the wings of a storm / I think I had met my match.”]

This next bit, I think is the most sensuous line in the song: “He was singing and undoing, and undoing the laces, undoing the laces.” The way she sings that, she stretches just those few words out over half a minute. That is an eternity in a pop song. Listen to how she works that line for all it’s worth.

[“Sara”: “He was singing / And undoing / And undoing the laces / Undoing the laces…”]

There’s also some great backing vocal work in there by Lindsey, along with Christine McVie. Let’s keep rolling.

[“Sara” continues]

Here we have our first mention of Sara. Who is Sara? What’s her place in this song? Sara Recor was one of Stevie Nicks’ best friends. According to one story, she was actually present in the room when Stevie recorded that original 16-minute demo of this song. They were very close. But after Stevie and Mick Fleetwood ended their affair, Sara started seeing Fleetwood. He was still married, of course, and Sara was married too. She left her husband and moved in with Mick, and they eventually got married in 1988. But back in 1978, the wounds were still fresh. And for Stevie, the fact that her best friend was having a fling with her former lover and bandmate, it was devastating. Stevie wouldn’t speak to Mick for months, and her relationship with Sara was never the same.

[“Sara”: “Said Sara / You’re the poet in my heart / Never change / Never stop.”]

Those lines, “Now it’s gone, it doesn’t matter what for, but when you build your house, then call me home.” That appears four times in this song; we’ve already heard it once before. As it appears here, it could relate to the turn of her relationship with Sara, but there’s another person who plays a part in this story.

After the end of her affair with Fleetwood, Stevie started a relationship with Don Henley of the Eagles. They met when the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac toured together in 1976. And think about that bill for a minute. That’s like the ultimate ’70s classic rock tour. Can you imagine how much tickets to that show would go for today? Anyway, I think that relationship had ended by this time, but those emotions were still raw. At the time, Don Henley was building a big mansion on Mulholland Drive in LA. So when Stevie refers to “when you build your house,” that could very easily be directed at Henley.

[“Sara”: “But now it’s gone / It doesn’t matter what for / But when you build your house / Then please call me home.”]

I think, though, that it’s not meant literally, more like she’s speaking metaphorically. Not so much about a physical house, but the idea that when you’re settled, when you’ve got yourself together, then I’ll come to you. And so that could be Henley, it could be Sara Recor, it could be anybody, really. It’s the idea of something being painfully lost but having some hope for the future.

[“Sara” continues]

One of the great things about this song is the way the intensity of it rises up and falls back throughout the song, all of it in support of Stevie’s vocal performance. It kind of reminds me of sitting on the shore watching the waves roll in and then pulling back out; there’s something very hypnotic about this song. And that arrangement is a big part of it. Let’s just go back and listen to that section again, just the instruments without the vocals, to hear those dynamics, that rise and fall. And pay particular note to all the little stuff that Lindsey Buckingham is adding in there, overdubbing multiple guitars. None of that is a core part of the song; it’s all filigree, ornamentation, but that’s a big part of what makes the song sparkle.

[“Sara” instrumental section plays]

This song doesn’t really have fixed verses or choruses. There are a few different musical motifs, sets of chord changes that appear throughout the song. This next section is the most simple of them. It’s just switching between F and G chords. But with all the flourishes from the guitars and piano, plus Stevie’s free-flowing vocal, you’d think there’s a lot more going on. Beneath it all, it’s the bass guitar that holds it all together by not straying far from the basic F and G notes.

[“Sara” F to G section plays]

Next, the song returns to its main musical refrain. This is a common chord progression that’s been used literally thousands of times. It’s the 1-6-4-5 chord change. That’s often referred to as the “fifties progression,” the “ice cream changes,” or the “doo-wop progression.” You hear it in tons of songs, like “Stand by Me” or “Earth Angel.”

[Snippet of“Earth Angel” plays]

What Fleetwood Mac has done here is take a familiar chord change and do their own thing with it. With the arrangement and especially with Stevie’s vocal melody on top that takes it to someplace completely different. They’ve created a part that sounds natural, lived-in, but also fresh and unique. Here, Stevie brings back a line from earlier in the song before returning to Sara.

[“Sara” continues]

In 1986, when Stevie checked into the Betty Ford Clinic to deal with her cocaine addiction, she signed in using the alias “Sara.” She would later write a song called “Welcome to the Room Sara” about that experience. That song’s on the Tango in the Night album. Sara was an alter ego for Stevie. This song is as much about Stevie as it is about Sara Recor or anyone else. She’s singing about herself, to herself.

[“Sara” continues]

There is one more part to this story, an uncomfortable one, so I’m going to try to tread lightly. Back in 1991, Don Henley did an interview with GQ magazine where he revealed that he had gotten Stevie pregnant back in the ’70s and that she decided not to have that baby. And that this song was written for the child that never was.

Of course, Stevie was furious that Henley would share this without her permission. It’s an incredibly private thing and it really is a violation. She denied it for a while, but eventually she did confirm it in a 2014 interview with Billboard magazine. She said if she had married Don Henley and if they had the baby and if it had been a girl, she would have named it Sara.

There’s a line right at the end of this song, buried in the mix, where she sings, “There’s a heartbeat and it never really dies.” Is that about the pregnancy that she terminated? That is not for me to say. It may be part of the story, but it’s not the whole story. “Sara” is an amalgamation. It’s not about one person or one experience. In one sense, this is an extremely personal song, yet it has struck a chord with literally millions of people. It’s connected with people in a really meaningful way. For many people, this is their favorite Stevie Nicks song, it’s their favorite Fleetwood Mac song. As I’ve often said on this show, this is the magic of music.

[“Sara” outro plays]

Fleetwood Mac. “Sara.” I imagine by now even the casual fan knows the story of the Tusk album. The record was released in October of 1979. It reached number four on the Billboard chart and number one in the UK. But for the industry and for Warner Brothers, it was considered a failure. It sold four million copies, but Rumours had sold ten times as many.

There was plenty of blame to spread around, including Warner Brothers themselves, who had decided to price the album at $15.98. That was a high price at the time, three bucks more than the usual price for a double album. But Lindsey Buckingham took the brunt of the criticism. But as things often do over time, opinions on this album have changed and it’s now considered as a brave, brilliant move. It set a precedent for indie bands and lo-fi artists to follow in the decades to come.

I will admit that personally I don’t love this album. There are some great songs on it, but I don’t love all of it. But that’s okay. I appreciate more what this record represents: that a band that’s at the peak of their success can take chances, can go out on a limb and not play it safe.

Thanks for listening to this edition of the I’m in Love with that Song podcast. I just want to take a minute to talk about this show. I’ve been doing this podcast for almost nine years now. In that time, it seems like everybody started a podcast: every celebrity, every wannabe celebrity, every has-been celebrity. They all have a show; every influencer. Of course, they have whole teams: they have marketing people, they have agents, they have producers and editors. Well, this show is just me. It’s always been just me: writing, recording, editing, it’s all me.

And most importantly, I choose all the music and topics for this show. Yes, we’re part of a network, Pantheon Media, but the guys at Pantheon have always been hands-off; nobody tells me what to do and what not to do. I’m just saying this because this show, it’s a lot of work for one person to do, and I really appreciate everyone who listens, because you all make it worth it.

Unlike a lot of podcasts, this show has never been about making money. I don’t get paid here; whatever little bit of money comes in goes right back into the show. This show has always been about the mission—if I can be pretentious enough to say that—the mission, which is to keep these songs alive. To document the creativity and the genius behind this music. To remind some people of these great songs and to expose some new listeners, maybe even some young people, to this incredible music for the first time. Nothing makes me happier than to get an email or a message from someone saying that they discovered a song or went out and bought an album because they heard it on this podcast.

So, that is a long-winded way of me saying thank you for listening. And if you love these songs, if you believe in the mission to keep this music around, then please support this show by spreading the word. Share it with your friends and family, email it to your friends, share the link on social media, make your kids listen to it when you’re in the car. Let’s grow this audience and keep this music—real music, not AI-generated crap—let’s keep these great songs alive.

Alright, I will be back in two weeks with another new episode. You can catch up on all of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. You can send an email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com, or find the I’m in Love with that Song podcast on Facebook and post there. Thank you once again for listening to this episode on Fleetwood Mac and “Sara.”

RESOURCES:

Artists & Bands:

Record Labels & Studios:

References & Publications:

Podcast Information:

Foghat – “Fool For The City”

Words & Music by Lonesome Dave Peverett Copyright 1975 Kohaw Music o/b/o Knee Trembler Music (ASCAP) c/o The Bicycle Music Company

In this episode, we’ll explore the story and sonic architecture behind Foghat’s 1975 arena rock anthem, “Fool for the City“. Tracing the band’s roots back to British blues rockers Savoy Brown, we dive into how Foghat solidified their heavy boogie sound and retreated to a remote studio in Vermont to record their breakthrough platinum album. And we’ll take a tour through the song’s isolated instrumental tracks, uncovering the characteristically dry 1970’s drum mix, producer Nick Jameson’s funky bass contributions, the one-of-a-kind voice of Lonesome Dave Peverett, and Rod Price’s classic guitar work.

Words & Music by Lonesome Dave Peverett Copyright 1975 Kohaw Music o/b/o Knee Trembler Music (ASCAP) c/o The Bicycle Music Company

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello once again, and welcome back to the “I’m in Love With That Song” podcast, beamed directly into your earholes courtesy of the Pantheon Podcast Network. As always, I’m your host, Brad Page, and each edition of this podcast, I pick a song from my library of favorites, and we explore it together, trying to get a better understanding of what makes a song work. Why do I love this song? We limit the technical jargon here and keep the music theory to a minimum. This is a show for anyone who loves music. You don’t have to be a musical expert to enjoy this show.

On this episode, we’ll continue our exploration of bands that have been featured on this podcast once before, as we revisit Foghat, one of the bands that defined the sound of 1970s arena rock. This time, we’re going straight to their most popular studio album and digging into the title cut. That’s right– this is Foghat with “Fool for the City”.

Back on episode 78, we explored Foghat’s take on “Honey Hush”. I did a quick overview of their career on that show, but it’s been a while, so let’s go over those details again.

By the mid to late 1960s, it seemed like London was overrun by young British musicians obsessed with American blues; Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, Howlin’ Wolf… these British kids couldn’t get enough of this music, whether it was Delta Blues or Chicago Blues or anything in between. Sure, there was an element of fetishization about it, but these kids genuinely loved this music, and they appreciated it a lot more than American white kids did at this time.

One of the premier British blues bands was Savoy Brown, led by guitarist Kim Simmons. Savoy Brown seemed to churn through members, but for a time, the band settled around six members. Along with Simmons were Chris Youlden on vocals, Bob Hall on piano, Tony Stevens on bass, Roger Earl on drums, and Lonesome Dave Peverett on rhythm guitar and occasional vocals.

This lineup of Savoy Brown released a handful of albums: Blue Matter and A Step Further both came out in 1969, and then Raw Sienna in 1970. At that point, Chris Youlden and Bob Hall had left the band, and Lonesome Dave took over the lead vocals for their next album Looking In.

After that album, Lonesome Dave Peverett, Roger Earl, and Tony Stevens all left the band to start their own group. Simmons was pushing the band in a jazzier direction, while the rest of the guys wanted to pursue a heavier boogie sound. “Boogie” was a straightforward, visceral sound, with the swing of the blues melded with the aggression of rock. Things came to a head in December 1970, when Simmons fired Stevens and put additional demands on Peverett and Earl. They decided to quit, and the three of them got together to start their own group.

What they needed now was a new lead guitarist, and they found just the guy in Rod Price. Price had been playing with Black Cat Bones, and his brilliant slide guitar playing earned him the nickname the bottle. His addition to the band transformed their sound. His searing slide guitar leads delivered the sound that gave the band its heavy edge.
So, the band had their lead guitarist and their sound nailed down. Now all they needed was a name. It was Peverett who provided Foghat.

The name Foghat was a meaningless word that Peverett made up during a game of Scrabble he played with his brother when they were kids. I guess the word stuck around, but it literally doesn’t mean anything.

The band met with quite a few record labels but found no takers until they met with Albert Grossman, who signed them to his Bearsville record label. Soon, they would relocate to New York.

They released their first album, self-titled, in 1972. It was produced by Dave Edmunds and featured their version of Muddy Waters’ “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, which became a staple of their live shows. It set the template for the Foghat sound. Take a classic blues tune, ramp it up, crank up the guitars, and belt out the vocals in Lonesome Dave’s distinctive style.

Three more albums followed, and though a big hit eluded them, the band built an audience, focusing on the US, growing a fan base through relentless touring. But that pace was grueling, and it took its toll. By 1975, Tony Stevens had enough and left the band. Now they were missing a bass player just as they were about to record their most ambitious album to date.

Nick Jameson had produced their previous album, Rock and Roll Outlaws, and he was lined up to produce this new record. Rather than audition a bunch of new bass players, the band turned to Nick Jameson and asked him to play bass on the album.  Nick was a guitarist and a keyboard player, but not an experienced bass player, but he took on the job and became their de facto bassist for this new album.

The band decided to decamp to a small studio in Vermont called Suntreader. Located in Sharon, Vermont, it was about as removed from the city as you could get. This allowed the band to focus on the music, but you gotta wonder how that influenced this title cut.

“Fool for the City” was written by Dave Peverett. It’s performed by Peverett on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Rod Price on lead and slide guitar, Roger Earl on drums, and Nick Jameson on bass. It was produced by Jameson.

The song begins with a quick flam, probably on a floor tom, and then we’re into the opening riff.

The first thing I notice on this track is that the drums are pretty dry. I’m not really hearing any reverb. That’s pretty standard for a 1970s recording. It wasn’t until the 1980s that they started putting tons of reverb on the drums to the point where the drum sounds got kind of ridiculous, at least in my opinion. But this dry drum sound is pretty typical of the 1970s. Let’s bring up the drums and listen to that for a bit.

Now let’s go back and play the intro through to the first verse.

That first verse pretty much lays out the thesis for this song. Not a lot of subtext here. “The country sure is pretty, but I’ll leave it all behind.” Let’s bring up that vocal track by Lonesome Dave Peverett.

There’s the chorus, classic gang vocals on the chorus there, and definitely plenty of reverb on the vocals. Let’s bring that up in the mix.

Now, before they start the second verse, there’s a short bit with some harmonized guitar parts. Let’s bring that forward a bit.

I like that because it serves as a transition from the chorus to the verse, and it gives you something new to keep things fresh.

Let’s go back and hear just the instrumental track for the verse to hear what’s going on underneath the vocals.

And back to the chorus.

And that brings us to the bridge. There are two distinct parts to the bridge. Let’s tackle the first part.

First, we’ll hear the instrumental track without the vocals. Like most of the song, there are at least two guitars panned left and right, but in this section, there’s another guitar in there right in the middle. It sounds like there’s some phasing or flanging on that guitar as well.

Okay, let’s hear that with the vocals now.

The vocals are doubled there. Another thing that I’m noticing is that the vocals are mixed pretty low throughout this song. Sometimes the guitars almost drown them out. Dave Peverett has a great voice, but Foghat was definitely a guitar band.

Let’s move on to the second part of the bridge, and things get funky here. It was Nick Jameson who came up with this idea, and it really adds a whole new element to the song.

All right, let’s dissect this part. First, let’s just hear Dave’s vocal. It’s pretty much a spoken word part.

And now the instrumental parts. Some interesting things happening here. There’s an acoustic guitar playing that country blues riff. It’s the first time we’ve heard an acoustic guitar in this song. And Nick Jameson is playing some slap bass that’s kind of a counterpart to that acoustic guitar. I like the way those two play off of each other. And then there are some electric guitars that come up in the left and right channel, both with an envelope filter or auto-wah effect on them. It’s a very specific kind of sound. All these parts work together in a pretty interesting way. Let’s hear all of that.

And that leads right into a guitar solo, giving Rod Price a moment to shine. Rod was mostly known for his slide playing, but he’s not using any slide here.

Now, listen to how Rod Price incorporates some of the vocal melody into his solo here. And they’ve also added some backing vocals, but they’re doing something different than what they do during the other choruses. It’s all kind of clever.

And that leads right into a reprise of the bridge.

This time around, Lonesome Dave uses more of his singing voice than the spoken word. Let’s hear that in the final mix and listen to Jameson’s funky bass part here.

That time around, there’s no acoustic guitar part there, which leaves room for Jameson’s bass to really jump out of the mix. And notice how the band builds up out of that section into these final choruses. It’s a really nice way to create some excitement leading into the finale.

As Dave Peverett ad-libs his vocals over the top, Nick Jameson’s bass and Roger Earl’s drums get a little more frantic, busier, driving the song to its conclusion.

And now Rod Price has overdubbed some more guitar licks, adding even more energy to the track.

Foghat – “Fool for the City”

Besides the title cut, the album also includes “Slow Ride”, their biggest hit. The album would become their first platinum album. And in 1977, they released their live album, Foghat Live, which would become their biggest-selling album.

But by 1979, trends changed and new sounds were capturing the attention of the general public, and Foghat fell out of fashion. They continued to release albums into the 1980s with diminishing returns.

Rod Price left the band in 1980, and they continued on for a while with a guitarist named Erik Cartwright, but they eventually split around 1984. There were a number of reunions with various lineups, but I don’t think anything captured the highlights of their 1970s peak.

Lonesome Dave Peverett, one of the most distinctive singers of his era, died in February 2000 from kidney cancer. He was 56. Rod Price was living in Wilton, New Hampshire, not far from where I lived, when he suffered a heart attack and fell down a flight of stairs. He was 57.

But at the time of this recording, Nick Jameson and Roger Earl are still with us, and Earl still tours with a version of Foghat.

Thanks for joining me for this edition of the “I’m in Love With That Song” podcast. I will be back in two weeks with another new episode. If for some unexplainable reason you just can’t bear to wait two weeks, you can relisten to all of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com.

You can support the show by going to oldglory.com and buying some merch from your favorite artists. They even have a Fool for the City T-shirt that you can buy. And if you use our discount code, lovethatsong, you’ll save 15% and you’ll be helping to support this show. That’s oldglory.com with the discount code, lovethatsong.

Thank you for being part of this show here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, where fans belong. Now let’s turn up the volume and crank up “Fool for the City” by Foghat.

RESOURCES & LINKS:

  • Foghat: Visit their Official Website for current tour dates, official merchandise, and their latest music releases.
  • Savoy Brown: The Official Savoy Brown Website features news and details on founder Kim Simmonds’ autobiography, which chronicles his six-decade journey in blues-rock.
  • Muddy Waters: The Muddy Waters Foundation is dedicated to preserving the history of the blues and supporting emerging blues musicians.
  • Howlin’ Wolf: The Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Site offers detailed biographical insights, rare photographs, and stories covering his incredible life and legacy.
  • Lonesome Dave Peverett: His Concord Music Publishing profile highlights his massive impact as the founding member of Foghat and the writer behind defining hits like “Slow Ride” and “Fool For The City”.
  • Nick Jameson: His Discogs Profile outlines his eclectic and prolific career as a producer, engineer, voice actor, and multi-instrumentalist.
  • Rod Price obituary: https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/rod-price-530402.html

Record Labels & Studios:

  • Bearsville Records: You can explore the ongoing legacy of Albert Grossman’s iconic label and its artists at the Bearsville Center. For a complete visual history of their original album art, catalog numbers, and tracklists, the Bearsville Discogs page is an invaluable database.
  • Suntreader Studios: The Suntreader Studios Discogs page catalogs the various releases cut at this remote Sharon, Vermont location, including Foghat’s platinum milestone.

Merchandise Sponsor: oldglory.com (Use code Lovethatsong for 15% off)

Podcast Network: Pantheon Podcast Network

Blue Oyster Cult – “Transmaniacon MC”

"Transmaniacon MC" - Sandy Pearlman, Albert Bouchard, Donald Roeser, Eric Bloom Copyright 1972 Sony/ATV Tunes, LLC

Dive into the world of Blue Oyster Cult with our latest episode, where we explore their fan-favorite track, “Transmaniacon MC” from their debut album. Discover the band’s history, the creative minds behind their lyrics, and the unique sound that defined them as the “Thinking Man’s Heavy Metal Band.” Curious about the story behind their enigmatic lyrics? Tune in now.

“Transmaniacon MC” – Sandy Pearlman, Albert Bouchard, Donald Roeser, Eric Bloom Copyright 1972 Sony/ATV Tunes, LLC

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome back, all you veterans of the Psychic Wars, this is the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast and I’m your host, Brad Page. Thanks for joining me here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, where each episode, I pick a song from my extensive library of favorites and we listen to it together, listening for all the little moments, those special touches that make it a great song. No musical knowledge or experience is ever required here. This is a show for everybody– all you need is a love for music and you’ll be right at home here.

On this edition of the podcast, we’re gonna climb into our hard-rockin’ Wayback Machine and set the dial for 1972, and explore a track from the debut album of the band that was known as the “Thinking Man’s Heavy Metal Band.” This is Blue Oyster Cult with “Transmaniacon MC.”

This is our second time visiting Blue Oyster Cult; we covered their classic track “Don’t Fear the Reaper” on one of our Halloween episodes a while back, I believe that was episode number 90. It’s one of my favorite episodes of the podcast, actually, so if you haven’t heard that one, go back and listen to it. It’s a good one.

The band that would become Blue Oyster Cult came together in New York in the late 60’s. Albert Bouchard was a multi-instrumentalist, but it was as a drummer that he first hooked up with a guitarist named Donald Roeser. They formed a band called Soft White Underbelly. Soon after, Alan Lanier joined them on Keyboards, and they also made two other key connections, Sandy Perlman and Richard Meltzer. Meltzer was a music critic and a writer who would write lyrics and poems that would become some of the classic Blue Oyster Cult songs. Perlman also wrote a ton of lyrics for the band, and he would also become their manager and record producer.

Along with Meltzer and Perlman, other literary figures would contribute lyrics, including Michael Moorcock and the great Patti Smith. It’s the contribution of these writers that earned Blue Oyster Cult the reputation as the “Thinking Man’s Metal Band”. Of course, at this point, they weren’t quite Blue Oyster Cult just yet.

Still working under the name Soft White Underbelly, with bassist Andy Winters and a lead vocalist named Les Bronstein, they recorded an album for Elektra Records. But that album was never released. Eventually, Eric Bloom was brought in to replace Bronstein on vocals and guitar. And the final piece of the puzzle came into place when Albert’s brother Joe Bouchard replaced Winters on bass.

A few more band name changes happened too. They were the Stock Forest Group for a while, and the Santos Sisters… and another recording session took place again for Elektra Records, but that also failed to be released. This was a band that was at a dead end.

Up until this time, their sound was more of a jammy, psychedelic, San Francisco, almost Grateful Dead kind of thing. But by 1971, change was necessary.

Murray Krugman was a project manager and an A & R guy at Columbia Records. Capitol Records was having success with Grand Funk Railroad, and Black Sabbath was making a lot of waves over at Warner Bros. And Columbia, well, they wanted a piece of that action. They were looking for a band that would be Columbia’s answer to Black Sabbath.

Murray Krugman told the band, if they could work up some new material that was dark and mysterious and heavy, then he could get them a record deal at Columbia. So, along with another name change– Perlman was the one who came up with the name Blue Oyster Cult– they retooled their sound into a harder rock sound. Really, it’s not nearly as heavy as Black Sabbath, but it rocked hard enough. And with their enigmatic foreboding lyrics, Columbia Records signed them up.

The first Blue Oyster Cult album, simply titled “Blue Oyster Cult”, was released in January 1972. It was produced by Sandy Pearlman, Murray Krugman and David Lucas.

“Transmaniacon MC” would be the first sound the world would ever hear from Blue Oyster Cult. It’s the song that opens the the album: Side one, track one. It features Donald Roeser on lead guitar; Perlman would give Roser the nickname “Buck Dharma”, and that nickname has stuck right up till today. Alan Lanier is on keyboards, Albert Bouchard on drums, Joe Bouchard on bass, and Eric Bloom on rhythm guitar and lead vocal. The song was written by Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Donald Roser and Sandy Perlman.

The lyrics are pretty much all Perlman. It’s one of his sci fi conspiracy epics. He loved that kind of thing. He envisioned a story where the disastrous Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California in 1969 was masterminded by a secretive evil motorcycle club called the “Transmaniacon MC”.  MC stood for Motorcycle club. In Perlman’s story, the Transmaniacon MC were behind the violence and murder at that show. And this song was supposed to be their theme song. It was their club song, the song that they would sing before they rode off to create more chaos and terror.

Like all great hard rock songs, the track kicks off with a great guitar riff. Let’s hear the guitar and the bass.

Notice on the second half of the riff that the bass doubles the guitar part. After playing that riff twice, they launch into the verse riff.

Let’s go back to the top and play it through.

Here’s where Eric Bloom comes in with the first verse. His voice is kind of punky here. As time went on, he developed a lot as a vocalist, but here he still got some of that garage-rock edge.

You can hear the reference to Altamont there as Sandy. Pearlman’s lyrics paint the picture of this fictional motorcycle gang out for violence. Remember that this track was released in January ’72, recorded sometime in 1971; the Altamont concert was in December of ‘69. So the memory of this tragedy was still fresh when the song was written and recorded.

They return to that chromatic riff and then begin the second verse. Let’s listen to what Alan Lanier is doing on the keyboards here underneath this verse. It’s mixed fairly low in the final mix, but he’s got both an organ part and a piano part going on here. So let’s hear some of that.

Okay, now let’s go back and hear that in context of the full second verse.

I want to go back and listen to what the Bouchard brothers, Joe on bass and Albert on drums, are playing during the chorus.

After the chorus, they return to the riff. And then there’s a guitar break courtesy of Buck Dharma.

Nice little bass guitar fill there from Joe Bouchard. Let’s pick it up. Leading into the third verse.

Here, they’re going to pull back, bring the dynamics down before the big conclusion.

Let’s go back and listen to Alan Lanier’s piano part in the right channel.

And now let’s back it up and hear that again in the mix.

And they return to the intro riff.

What’s Eric Bloom saying? There’s well, I can isolate it for you, but I’m not sure it’s gonna make much more sense. Something about a “wheelie”, I guess. Let’s play it through to the end.

Blue Oyster Cult – “Transmaniacon MC”

This was the first of a long run of Blue Oyster Cult albums, and of course they evolved over the years. For some fans, those first three albums are considered their best. Of those three, my personal favorite is the third album, “Secret Treaties”. But I also like a lot of their mid-period stuff and it’s hard to deny how great the “Agents of Fortune” album is; that’s one of my favorites.

Alan Lanier passed away in 2013, but at the time of this recording, the other original members are still with us, and there’s a version of Blue Oyster Cult that’s still out on the road today.

Thanks for hanging in there with me for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. New episodes of this show come out on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so I’ll meet you back here soon. You can catch up on all the previous episodes of this show on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or listen to them on your favorite podcast app. We’re on Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, PocketCast, iHeartRadio… ou can listen to us everywhere fine podcasts can be found.  And while you’re there, please leave us a nice review.

If you’d like to support this show, please spread the word about it and share it with your friends and family, because recommendations from listeners like you are the number one way podcasts like this grow.

You can also support this show by buying a T shirt or some band merch from oldglory.com. They carry official band merch from all your favorite artists, and if you use our discount code lovethatsong, you’re going to save 15% and you’ll be helping to support this podcast. That’s oldglory.com with the discount code LoveThatSong. Thanks.

 Once again. I am Brad Page, and this is the Pantheon Podcast Network where fans belong. Now go explore that great catalog of Blue Oyster Cult, and join us again next time here on the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast.

J. Geils Band – “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party”

"(Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party" - Dal Sharh & Joseph Thomas Copyright 1967 Clairlyn - Dandelion Music BMI

Join us as we kick off 2026 with a celebration of one of America’s most electrifying party bands, The J. Geils Band! This episode dives deep into the infectious “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party,” a party anthem that perfectly encapsulates the essence of a good time. We explore the band’s origins, looking at how the J. Geils Band blended classic R&B with Rock, creating a legacy that resonates through their catalog. We’ll reflect on the band’s rise to fame, and the bittersweet nature of their journey, culminating in their eventual split after achieving commercial success. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or new to the band, this episode is a perfect way to celebrate the spirit of the J. Geils Band and the joy of their music.

“(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party” – Dal Sharh & Joseph Thomas Copyright 1967 Clairlyn – Dandelion Music BMI

TRANSCRIPT:

Whether you’re doing the Southside Shuffle or the Detroit Breakdown, you’ve danced your way right into the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, and right here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, each episode of this show I pick one of my favorite songs and we look at it from top to bottom, right to left and inside out, as we try to get a better understanding of what makes a great song work. No musical expertise required here– all you gotta do is listen.

This is our first episode of 2026, so what better way to ring in the new year than with a party? A house party to be exact. And what better way to do that than with America’s all-time greatest party band, the legendary J. Geils Band with “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party.”

John Warren Geils Jr. Was born in New York City in February 1946. He grew up in New Jersey and eventually landed at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, studying mechanical engineering. But he was already playing plenty of guitar by then. He played trumpet as a kid, but eventually switched to guitar, inspired by the Butterfield Blues Band, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. In Worcester, he met Danny Klein, a bass player, and a harmonica player named Richard Salwitz, who became better known as “Magic Dick”. They dropped out of college in 1967 and moved to Boston.

Another New York transplant was Peter Wolf. Peter Walter Blankfield was born in New York in March of 1946, attended the High School of Music and Art, and then moved to Boston to attend the School of the Museum of Fine arts. In 1964, he founded a band called The Hallucinations, which included Stephen Jo Bladd on drums. Wolf also had a gig on a local FM radio station, WBCN; If you grew up around Boston, or anywhere in New England, you know those call letters. Well, that’s where Wolf worked the all-night shift as a DJ, where he called himself “Woofa Goofa”.

Eventually, Wolf and Bladd joined with Geils, Klein and Magic Dick. And then, when keyboardist Seth Justman joined the band, that was the final piece to fall into place, and the new J. Geils Band became one of the hottest tickets in town. They signed with Atlantic Records in 1970 and released their first album, self-titled, that same year.

That album was followed by “The Morning After” in 1971. That record includes their version of “Looking For A Love”, which was originally recorded by The Valentines featuring Bobby Womack.

This was the magic of the J. Geils Band: They played classic R&B, but with a rockin’ edge that made these songs their own. Many kids growing up in this era didn’t even know that these were covers; their first exposure to these songs was from the J. Geils versions. They opened a lot of doors and a lot of ears.

This was also a bit of a problem though, because by the mid-70s, radio– which was still the number one way fans discovered new music– radio was becoming tightly formatted, and the J Geils Band was sometimes considered “too white for the black kids” and “too black for the white kids”. So stupid, but that’s how radio could be.

In 1972, they released their first live album, a killer single disc live record called “Live – Full House” that, though it only peaked at number 54 on the charts, it is one of the greatest live records of all time. The band is on fire here, tearing through a brilliant set of some of their best tunes, including Magic Dick’s harmonica horkout, “Whamma Jamma” and a smoking version of “First I Look At The Purse”.

Then in 1973, they released their third studio album, “Bloodshot”, which includes a number of J. Geils classics, including “Give It To Me”. It was their first single to crack the top 20, and it made “Bloodshot” their breakthrough album.

“Bloodshot” also included a little song called “Ain’t Nothing But A) House Party”. And that’s the track we’re gonna be looking at today.  It’s the song that opens the album– side one, track one. And it really gets things started.

The song was written by Del Shah and Joseph Thomas, and originally released as a single by The showstoppers in 1969. Here’s a little bit of that version.

The J. Geils version begins with J. Geils’ guitar part, doubled and panned hard left and right. A cow bell also joins in in the right channel.

The band joins in with Stephen Jo Bladd on drums, Danny Klein on bass and Seth Justman on the organ. And you can hear Seth Justman has added a piano part in the right channel. Peter Wolf comes in with the lead vocals for the first verse. And you can hear Magic Dick playing a simple, sparse harmonica part in the left channel.

Stepen Jo Bladd plays the first part of the verse with a beat on the tom toms. Let’s listen to that, along with Danny Klein’s bass.

For the next part of the verse, he shifts to the snare and hi-hat.

As they hit the chorus, Magic Dick is blowing long sustained notes on his harp in the right channel.

Let’s bring up Peter Wolf’s vocals for the second verse.

I believe it’s Seth Justman joining him on vocals here.

And now it’s time for Magic Dick to really play that harp. And he’s good. His harmonica sound and style was a big part of the J Geils’ sound, a critical element.

Seth Justman is doubling the harmonica part on the organ.

Now it’s J Geils turn. Big guitar solos weren’t really a huge part of the J Geils Band. You kinda get the feeling that Geils himself was pretty content to just lay back and be part of the band. But he would step up front and take a solo now and then.

Before we move on, let’s go back and listen to what the bass and the drums were doing, because this is a pretty great groove here.

And that brings us to a shortened third verse.

And now there’s a little bit of a breakdown here, It’s a classic move.  Primarily bass and drums, with Seth Justman adding some low notes on the piano.

And of course you gotta have a cowbell in there.

Sounds to me like they’ve added some conga drums in there.

They are really building up the energy to a frenetic level here.

That is a really great scream from Peter Wolf there. Let’s see where we can bring that up in the mix.

The J. Geils Band – “(Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party

The J. Geils Band would continue to make some great records; “Nightmares…”, “Hotline”, “Sanctuary” and “Love Stinks” are particular favorites of mine. And then, in 1981, they released “Freeze Frame”, and that album was a smash.

Finally, with their tenth studio album, they had their first number one album. They finally reached the top… and then they split up. Peter Wolf was gone and the band limped on with one more album, and then they were gone.

This is one of those things that always baffles me– how a band can slog it out, year after year, through all the hard times, and then as soon as they make it, they fall apart. Whether it’s egos or whatever, you would think that it’s in everyone’s best interest to hold it together for at least another couple of years, or records. But nope. All that hard work, years of logging the miles, and as soon as they make it to the top, they self-destruct.

But the J. Geils Band gave us a dozen albums; many of them are quite good, and a few are true classics. That will have to be enough.

J. Geils passed away in 2017. He was 71 at the time he died. He was living in Groton, Massachusetts… that’s the town that I went to high school in.

The rest of the members of the band are still with us today. Peter Wolf has put out some really good solo records, and last year, he released his autobiography, which is a good read. I recommend it.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the podcast. We’ll be back in two weeks with another new episode. ‘Till then, you can get caught up with all of our previous episodes on our website lovethatsongpodcast.com or just find the show on your favorite podcast app.

If you’d like to support the show, the best thing you can do is to just tell a friend about the show. Share this podcast with your friends and family, because that helps us to grow the audience.

You can also support the show by going to oldglory.com and buying some band merch, like, a cool T-shirt. They have a ton of great stuff there, and if you use our discount code LoveThatSong, you’ll save 15% while you’re helping to support this podcast. So please, that’s oldglory.com with the discount code LoveThatSong. Take advantage of it. Thanks.

That’ll wrap up this episode. On behalf of everyone here on the Pantheon Podcast Network– where fans belong– I thank you for listening. Now, go dig out all your old J. Geils albums and crank ‘em up, starting with “(Ain’t Nothing But A) House Party”.

RESOURCES:

J. Geils Band
Official Website

Peter Wolf
Official Website

The Butterfield Blues Band
Wikipedia

Muddy Waters
Wikipedia

Buddy Guy
Official Website

The Showstoppers
Wikipedia

Seth Justman
Wikipedia

Magic Dick
Wikipedia

Bloodshot (Album)
Wikipedia

BONUS HOLIDAY EPISODE: Doug Powell – “God Bless Us All”

"God Bless Us All" Doug Powell - Copyright 2006 Muse Sickle Productions

Our special Bonus Holiday Episode for 2025 features a song that should be a Christmas staple– a brilliant power-pop gem from Doug Powell called “God Bless Us All“. Originally written for Ringo Starr’s 1999 Christmas album but didn’t make the cut, this is a lost Christmas classic that deserves to be a holiday favorite.

“God Bless Us All” Doug Powell – Copyright 2006 Muse Sickle Productions

Tom Petty – The Life And Music with special guest Gillian Gaar

In this episode, we welcome back author Gillian Garr to discuss her new book, “Tom Petty: The Life and Music“. We’ll take a look at the fascinating career of one of rock’s most beloved figures. From Petty’s early encounter with Elvis Presley to the eventual rise of The Heartbreakers, this episode is packed with anecdotes and insights that shed light on Petty’s enduring legacy.

Gillian shares stories about Petty’s struggles with record labels, his creative partnerships, and the pivotal moments that defined his career. We discuss the making of iconic albums like “Damn The Torpedoes” and “Wildflowers”, as well as the challenges he faced, including battles with addiction and the pressures of fame. With a mix of nostalgia and admiration, this episode is a heartfelt tribute to Tom Petty’s music and the impact he had on fans and fellow musicians alike.

Pick up Gillian’s book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Petty-Gillian-G-Gaar/dp/0760392617?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sSMDZ2nyWs0gpB0yuP2v6Mjkn97tu_S03lVOo0xw6HyK7xc_hcyMVZz00r6IZ2gz_Kfg4GFr7Ue45quOg_yQNF9MCNKCrQvdP-zElIVtDFcGyk3owjVKmtHbO2B1wbtnge_CeNcejGJGMmO135gXF4H5Uw0kiPqXmaRrcqgE6xcCmNUyayv7iHqt9UJQEN7p71-p9SK3-X1uxQehhLGnylfjrI-gx3m2brIh_BuG4gw.-2wrdeMXlOF1Yh5Bx-rTUtLGDzzi-SXEhdrzuZR9W9g&dib_tag=se&keywords=tom+petty+the+life+and+music&qid=1779056611&sr=8-1

TRANSCRIPT:

Greetings, all you rebels, refugees and heartbreakers. Thanks for joining me for another episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, coming to you on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m your host, Brad Page.

Tom Petty is a big favorite here on the show– in fact, we first covered him way back on Episode 2 of this podcast. I’m a big fan of Tom, and the Heartbreakers too, as a band. Mike Campbell is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. So, when I heard that author Gillian Gaar has a new book out, celebrating the life and music of Tom Petty, I wanted to get her back on the show to talk about Tom and his remarkable career. You may remember Gillian from her appearance on this podcast, about eight months ago, when she joined me to talk about the 50th anniversary of Queen’s “Night at the Opera” album. It’s a pleasure to have her back this time to talk about the late, great Tom Petty.

Here’s my conversation with Gillian Gaar:

Brad Page: Well, Gillian Gaar, thanks for coming back on the podcast. And you’ve got a brand new book that’s out now. It’s out for the holidays– Hint, hint, folks, go pick it up. Perfect Christmas gift for any Tom Petty fan out there. This is a great package, great new book, “Tom Petty: The Life and Music”. And Gillian’s here to talk with me about the fascinating career of Tom Petty. He’s one of my favorite songwriters. There’s really great stuff in here of the whole band, the Heartbreakers, as well as Tom. I just had a great time reading the book.

Gillian Gaar: Oh, good.

Brad Page: Yeah. So, let’s start talking about Tom Petty. One of the most formative things about him, which I don’t know that I knew this before I read the book, is that Tom had actually seen Elvis Presley at a very young age, and that kind of set the stage for him for his future career in a lot of ways.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, I had no idea he had a close encounter with Elvis either. And I’ve written a lot about Elvis, so that was interesting. And, yeah, it came before Tom was really that interested in rock music as well. I mean, what’s interesting about that encounter is that it wasn’t a concert; he was watching Elvis on a film set. But he was just kind of dazzled by, I suppose you’d say, the accoutrements of show business and what that was like. Elvis had come back from the army and was focusing on making films. And his film “Follow That Dream”, which is about a family of homesteaders, was set in Florida. And one of Tom’s relatives worked as local crew on film shoots. So he was working on this film shooting, so he asked Tom, who’s, you know, like 10, would he want to come and meet Elvis? And he said,  “well, sure”. And so he was, he was brought to the film set, they were filming on location. So then all the Cadillacs pull up with his entourage, the Memphis Mafia guys, and the anticipation’s building, and then Elvis comes and yeah, he was just really impressed by that moment of the girls shrieking and waving their album covers that they want to get signed.

Brad Page: Right.

Gillian Gaar: And fans would break past the barricades and you know, in and try and hug Elvis. So, oh, shop ruined, got to do it again. And Tom was just dazzled by this whole experience. And yeah, he talked a bit to Elvis, got to shake his hand and all that. And when he gets home that night, his friend who lives next door just wants to know all that information, every bit of detail, you know, about what happened. And Tom ended up trading a slingshot to his friend for a box of 45s, which included some Elvis 45s.

Brad Page: And then of course, like so many people of that era, kind of the next big thing was seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. And that was a life-changing experience for him.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, I mean I was watching too… though I didn’t, you know, end up in a rock band later.  But we were all one of those 73 million people watching that night.

Gillian Gaar: It’s almost a universal thing for a whole generation of– and more– of musicians, that launching off spot. And Tom was one of them.

Gillian Gaar: I thought, though, in Tom’s case, you know, there he is watching the Beatles at 13 or so and just think, if you could have told him that in 20-some years he was going to be making a record with George Harrison, think how flabbergasted he would have been.

Brad Page: I know, right?

Gillian Gaar: He wouldn’t have believed you.

Brad Page: It’s incredible, I mean, how many of those 73 million that watched that show got that to that point? It’s really something.

So he forms– he has a couple of bands, but the first one that really kind of comes together and does anything is a band called Mudcrutch. And that’s where Tom meets Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, who become kind of his left- and right-hands through the rest of his career.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah, Mike Campbell in particular was always brought on with every project, solo as well as the band projects.

Brad Page: And Mudcrutch has some success. They go out to California, they get signed to Shelter Records. But it kind of falls apart, right?

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, it fell apart pretty quickly. They had all the Hollywood dreams, but I mean admittedly the single they put out was not that strong, either. I mean, I think it got some okay reviews in Billboard, but it didn’t take off. And the record label seemed to lose interest in them pretty quickly. Well, they dropped them– except for Tom. They hung onto to Tom because they recognized that he had the talent. He should probably be the main focus.

Brad Page: Right. They could see the potential. And he was actually doing some work as a songwriter; I think you mention in the book that he had a very short period where they were teaming him up with some LA studio musicians, and that really didn’t work for him. He’s a band guy and so he ends up kind of slowly but surely bringing in the members of the Heartbreakers, including those guys that came from Mudcrutch and they form this new band, The Heartbreakers.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, and you think about Mudcrutch, that was just the band named Mudcrutch, it was not Tom Petty and the Mudcrutchers or something. And his subsequent band, he thought of in those terms as well. They weren’t going to name it Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or Tom Petty and the such and such, but, one, it made sense. He was the one that had the contract with the record company.

Brad Page: Mhm.

Gillian Gaar: So he was kind of bringing them on as sort of his side musicians, except he wanted them to be a band and not just side musicians. So yeah, I think it was also at the label’s instigation that it became Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

Brad Page: So Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers officially make their first album, and it comes out to, you know, it got some good reviews but it didn’t really do very much. And this is another thing I always thought was a really fascinating little aspect of the Tom Petty story, is that there’s this one guy, a promotions guy named John Scott, who almost single-handedly breaks the song “Breakdown” as a single. And it just shows you that there’s always these unsung heroes behind the scenes. John Scott really was an important figure in getting the Heartbreakers really going, getting their career going.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, it’s interesting to think about what if he hadn’t been there.

Brad Page: Right.

Gillian Gaar: You know, then maybe we wouldn’t have heard of the Heartbreakers. Because, as you say, the album got some good reviews, but it didn’t zoom up the charts and sell a million copies or anything. So, you know, kind of a lukewarm success, and they might not have progressed further.

Brad Page: John Scott heard something in the song “Breakdown” and started to get it on the radio. And before you know it, it’s a, it’s a minor hit, but it gets them going.

Brad Page: And then their second record, “You’re Gonna Get It”, which is, I think, a much stronger record than the first one, has some great tracks on it. “Listen to Her Heart”’s one of my favorites.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah. That’s the one with the cocaine line in it, isn’t it?  Right, yeah, that. got him in a bit of trouble because he referenced cocaine, even though it wasn’t really a positive reference. It’s more of a bribe than anything.

Brad Page: It sort of sets a precedent for Tom, that he would not change it. He was not going to budge on that. And that remained an element of his personality and his career through the rest of his life.

Gillian Gaar: That’s true, that’s true. Very much so.

Gillian Gaar: I remember he said they wanted him to change to champagne, and his argument was, you know, you can get cheap champagne in the store. That’s not much of a special thing to offer someone. Well, logically, that makes sense.

Brad Page: And then as they go into their third album,  and it’s a convoluted story, but Shelter Records was distributed by ABC, or a subsidiary of ABC Records, and ABC Records gets purchased by MCA at the time, one of the large record conglomerates. And Tom doesn’t like the fact that his contract is essentially, he’s sort of owned by people that he never signed a deal with.

Gillian Gaar: Right, right.

Brad Page: And so he’s fighting against this contract, and eventually to get out of it, he declares bankruptcy.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, that was a pretty clever move.

Brad Page: On his part it was, but incredibly risky, too. And you know, in the meantime, he’s not getting paid, and the band’s not getting paid. And you know, they’re trying to get this third record off the ground.

Your first two records could be so-so, but by the time you get to the third record, you really, it was kind of a make-or-break kind of thing, and you got to start having legitimate hits if your career is going to continue. And so he’s in this very precarious place, where the first two records, they did okay, but nobody was beating down the doors to release Tom Petty records. And now he’s in a contractual dispute with his record label. Usually you almost always lose when you’re an artist in that perspective. Somehow, he’s obstinate and persistent enough that he pulls it out.

And so, amongst all of this precarious situation, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers end up releasing their third album, “Damn The Torpedoes”, which still to this day is my favorite Tom Petty record. I think this is a fantastic record. It’s as close to a perfect record as Tom Petty ever got. I think it’s so great.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, that’s a record, you just, you remembered seeing it everywhere. Not just hearing it everywhere, but yeah, I remember Tower Records and they would have the, those huge blow ups of the album covers, and that was there. I mean, that was probably the first Tom Petty record I really noticed. Because of that, because of seeing that everywhere.

Brad Page: Yeah, it was, it was exactly what he needed. It was a big hit record. It had a number of singles on it.

Just so many great songs on this record. I’m a huge fan. And that’s 1979, Tom Petty and “Damn The Torpedoes”.

That’s followed up by a record called “Hard Promises”. And we’re smack-dab into another controversy, because the record label, now having had a big success with “Damn The Torpedoes”, decides that they want to release this new album at a brand-new price point of $9.98. And Tom will not have it.

The average record price at the time was $8.98. And so he goes into a whole big fight with the record company about not releasing this record at a dollar more. It’s gotta be $8.98, to the point where he was almost gonna name the album “$8.98”.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. They called that “superstar pricing”. That was the surge pricing of its day.

Brad Page: Yes. Yeah. And it’s fascinating that, you know, he went from struggling with those first two records, had one big record, and suddenly now he’s a superstar, right? And they think they can charge a dollar more per record, which, you know, in those days, it was a big deal. $9.98 was a lot of money for a record back then.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah.

Brad Page: Of course, now we pay literally four times that for vinyl these days. But, yeah. And a number of great songs on the “Hard Promises” record. “The Waiting” is probably my favorite track from that one.

Brad Page: And then Tom seems to be everywhere, because he has this huge hit with Stevie Nick, “Stop Dragging My Heart Around”. And he just seemed to be, like, on the radio all the time. Between his solo career and this song with Stevie, it was, you could almost guarantee: turn on the radio and there’ll be something by Tom Petty on.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. It did seem like that kind of a third little golden era for him. I think it kind of harmed radio play in some instances, though, you know. Well, we got the Stevie Nicks song on. Why Do we need to play the Heartbreakers kind of thing.

Brad Page: Yeah. And I think “Hard Promises” did have a dip in sales compared to “Damn The Torpedoes”. And you could chalk some of that up to a little bit of over-saturation, maybe? And the fact that he’s almost competing with himself by having this song out with Stevie, because that was technically a Stevie Nicks song.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Yeah. It wasn’t on their on his album.

Brad Page: Correct, yeah. 1982, they released their fifth album, “Long After Dark”, which features another huge Tom Pety hit, “You Got Lucky”. That’s such a great song.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah.

Brad Page: I mean, he’s just racking up the hits at this point. And this is kind of a decisive moment for the Heartbreakers, because this is the last album for a while that they record with bass player Ron Blair. He was one of the original members, and he kind of gets fed up with the whole thing, and he leaves the band. So The Heartbreakers suffer their first casualty at this point, and they bring in a guy named Howie Epstein to play bass for them.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, it’s interesting that sometimes when they get their big break and they’re famous now, that it doesn’t always sit well with everyone. You think it would. You think, “Oh, yes, this is what we’ve been striving for”. And the musician themselves probably thought that, too. But then the constant touring… there are different kinds of pressures when you’re a success than when you’re trying to be a success. But then he missed the band and came back later. Seems like he was able to do that.

Brad Page: Right? Well, we’ll get to that, too. But, Mike Campbell talks about this in his book, that at some point early on, the management or whatever came to them and basically said in, you know, in no uncertain terms, that Tom is the star and you guys are hired hands, and it’s not an equal split. So, “We love you guys, you’re a great band. But make no mistake, Tom is where the money is.” And the guys in the band kind of had to live with that. And Mike Campbell seems to have rolled with those punches, but I think that’s when things started chafing with Stan Lynch, who was the drummer.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Yeah. I think also, as The Heartbreaker’s career progresses, they’re working with Tom, but then there are longer breaks between the albums, and those other players like Mike Campbell, they go off and they work with other performers, too. So they’re developing kind of their own identity and their own career as well. In addition, you know, Tom’s the focus, The Heartbreakers are the focus. But then they start adding other things in there themselves, and I think that helped. But Mike, he seems to have been the savviest in learning how to negotiate that. I think he’s told this, yeah, you’re the side man, but he thinks, “Okay, how can I use this to my best advantage? How do I make this really work for me?” I think that’s the attitude he took.

Brad Page: Right.

Gillian Gaar: And I think that explains a lot to how Tom always turned to him when he was doing new projects. Sometimes, in starting an album, Mike would be the only person he’d bring in at first.

Brad Page: Right, right.

In 1985, they make this– to me, it’s sort of the odd album in Tom’s whole career– the “Southern Accents” record. Not my personal favorite record, but it’s a really interesting record, just because it’s a real departure, I think.

Gillian Gaar: Well, that’s one where he starts working with Dave Stewart.

Brad Page: Yes.

Gillian Gaar: So, see, it starts off as more of a Southern accent, and then Dave Stewart gets in there, so it’s kind of less of an accent. And there are some songs that were going to be on the album that were dropped, and they appear as B sides and, oh, they’ve come out on probably some of the many box sets they’ve done. And really, those songs would have fit better with the whole “Southern Accents” theme.

Brad Page: Yeah, it’s kind of a schizophrenic record because, like you said, he has this idea of kind of revisiting his– because, you know, he grew up in Florida, and he kind of wants to revisit his Southern roots. And so he starts heading down that vein and they cut a bunch of tracks, and then he starts to work with Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics, who is not Southern at all, and takes the rest of the record in a whole different direction. And you get things like, you know, “Don’t Come Around Here No More”, which was a big hit, but that sounds nothing like any connection to Southern rock or whatever. It’s a strange record.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. I mean, I think some of his bandmates were frustrated with that, too, and not that keen on working with Dave Stewart at first, though obviously, they got over that and produced a, you know, ended up turning out a good album.

Brad Page: It was a really successful record, but still, you know, when I look back at his records, this one always seems to me to be the odd one out. But people do love that record.

We start to see him get involved in, well, he does Live Aid, but he also gets involved in Farm Aid, the initial launch of Farm Aid. He and The Heartbreakers, they tour as Bob Dylan’s backup band, essentially, which was pretty fascinating.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Oh, they really liked doing that. I mean, again, that generational thing. Bob had a huge influence on people, but yeah, through their work on Live Aid. You know, I love how it came together.

Brad Page: Yeah, you tell the story in the book how they didn’t really even know what they were getting into. Their manager, it seems like essentially just booked them for Live Aid and they said, “Okay”. And they were halfway across the country or whatever. And it was, “All right, you guys, you got to get up and get on this plane and fly to Pennsylvania” or whatever. “We’ll do this gig”. And then they show up and it’s Live Aid, and they’re like, wow!

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, there’s this massive audience and oh, by the way, you’ve got like a worldwide audience of so many millions.

Brad Page: Right. Not only a stadium packed full, but you’re being literally broadcast around the world. So, you know, “better be good”

Gillian Gaar: “ Relax. Have a good time.” “Oh, okay.”

Brad Page: And so, yeah, working with Dylan, of course, that sets us up for some things that come down the road. But almost immediate impact from that is they work on their next record, which is “Let Me Up, I’ve Had Enough”, comes out in 1987 and that features at least one co-write with Bob Dylan.

Brad Page: So there was a lasting relationship established between Tom and Dylan. I think “Let Me Up, I’ve Had Enough” is an underappreciated Heartbreakers record. It’s one of my favorites. I think this record deserves a little bit more love than it typically gets.

Gillian Gaar: Well, it’s got a great title for one thing. I’ve always liked that aspect about it.

Brad Page: Right.

Gillian Gaar: But then, you know, that’s kind of the problem when you put out a lot of albums.

Brad Page: There’s an ebb and flow of everyone’s career, right? There was certainly more to come from Tom Petty, but the same year, 1987, just a really frightening experience: his house burns down. Luckily, his instruments are safe. But you know, he and his, not just him, but I mean, he’s married with two daughters. I think he had both of his daughters at this point, right?

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, but one of them was at a friend’s home. So it was only one daughter that had to go through that. But, you know, they lost all their stuff, and think how traumatizing that would be.

Brad Page: All your photo albums, I mean all of that kind of stuff goes up in flames, literally. And then it turns out to be a case of arson, which is even more frightening. It wasn’t accidental, somebody set his house on fire.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. And it’s still unsolved to this day, so we don’t know who it was or why they did it. So, you know, he had to live with that for the rest of his life.

Brad Page: Yes. And he’s a public figure, and you can only imagine, like, the thoughts that go through your head now, you know, that it becomes very real, the danger of being a public figure. And now you’re out on the road, literally in front of the thousands of people every night, and what could happen. Scary.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Page: Talk about the downsides of fame that you don’t think about when you’re coming up and you’re just, you’re dying to be a rock star, and then you get there and you realize there’s a whole dark underside of it. And Tom certainly lived through some of that.

A year later– the Traveling Wilburys, which is the supergroup of all supergroups, right?

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Oh, I think so.

Brad Page: And it all starts because George Harrison basically needs a B-side, which is the most throwaway beginning to one of the most incredible supergroups of all time! And George Harrison writes this song, “Handle With Care”, that is tailor-made for, it ust shows what a great songwriter George Harrison was. Because there’s a moment in that song for each of those vocalists to kind of do what they do best. Of course, the record company heard it and said, “oh, this is way too good for a B-side!”

And Tom follows that up with the “Full Moon Fever” album in 1989, his first solo album, produced by Jeff Lynne, so that relationship continues out of the Traveling Wilburys. It’s a hugely successful record. Big hits off this record. And of course, Mike Campbell is there through the whole thing. Still his right hand man. Indispensable, I think.

Gillian Gaar: Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. That was such a partnership. I think about how Mike just must still miss him so much.

Brad Page: I know. What a team. Just great songwriters. And Mike Campbell is one of my all-time favorite guitar players, because he always plays the right thing– the exact right thing that’s necessary, even if it’s only one note. He never overplays. He always finds something interesting to play. Just a great, great player and a great songwriter. And yeah, one of my favorite musicians, Mike Campbell.

Gillian Gaar: But that’s the one that the record company didn’t like initially, isn’t it?

Brad Page: Which surprised me because it was such a huge record!

Brad Page: “We don’t hear any hits.”

Gillian Gaar: Right. And literally half the record was hits! You know sometimes record companies, they don’t know anything more than we do. Nobody really knows what makes a hit.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. If they did know, then every record put out there would be a hit, right?

Brad Page: Yeah. Jeff Lynne also produces the next Heartbreakers record, which is “Into the Great Wide Open” in 1991.

Brad Page: And now, when did Stan lynch, the drummer, leave the band?

Gillian Gaar: It was when they were recording the tracks for the “Greatest Hits” album. That was the last session he did with them. He just, he always comes across as a kind of prickly character. He was the one who seemed the most resentful about, you know, this whole sideman thing and that Tom would go off and work on his solo things and “Who’s this Dave Stewart guy”, etc. And yeah, he was unhappy during the recording of the new songs for “Greatest Hits” and that was just kind of it for him. He didn’t, he seemed to feel that he wasn’t being appreciated enough, so he just left.

Brad Page: Interestingly, Stan was replaced by a drummer named Steve Ferrone, who was a journeyman player, but I grew to love him from his work in the Average White Band, which is a band that I am really fond of. I love the Average White Band and he’s a really funky drummer, very different kind of drummer than Stan, but seemed to fit right in with the Heartbreakers and was a mainstay of the band, right up until the end. Steve Ferrone.

And Tom, in 1994, releases his second solo album, “Wildflowers”, which has gone on to be a big fan favorite. A real classic record. They released that deluxe box set version of it.

Gillian Gaar: The band members that worked on that album consider it a highlight of Tom’s career, he did himself. And, it was natural it would get this sort of deluxe box treatment. I don’t know if any other album in his catalog has received that, you know, because they put out a lot of extra stuff, here have been other box sets…

Brad Page: Yeah, it was like a 5 LP set, I believe.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, just on the one album.

Brad Page: It does have a more intimate feel than you get from a typical Heartbreakers record.

Brad Page: 1996. This is another kind of oddball record in their catalog, a soundtrack album called “She’s The One”, which the movie didn’t really do anything, and I think the record really didn’t do too much.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, Tom seemed to have pretty mixed feelings about it, ultimately. One thing that definitely harmed the record’s chances was that it’s all completed, but then they decide to delay the release of the movie, but for some reason they don’t delay the release of the soundtrack. So they put the soundtrack out months before the movie, which makes no sense to me. Yeah, you know, they put it in the soundtrack section, which was not where a Tom Petty fan is necessarily going to look for the latest Tom Petty album.

Brad Page: Yeah, exactly.

Gillian Gaar: And he himself seemed to feel conflicted about even working on the project. Like, he agreed and then I think he regretted it. First it said it was going to have other musicians doing their own tracks, but then he would have to reach out to them, and he didn’t like doing that. So then he would write everything, and that just became a hassle, too. So, not one of his most best-realized projects, though they did revamp it somewhat. I think it was recorded around “Wildflowers”, but he didn’t really want to mix it up too much. So some of those songs ended up on the “Wildflowers” reissue. And they reworked the soundtrack completely and I think even gave it a new title.

Brad Page: Uh, and this is also, it gets into a pretty uncomfortable time for him that he really didn’t like talking about very much… but he had a serious drug addiction at that time.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Not just drugs, but heroin. And I don’t think I knew this until researching and reading about him for this. Well, of course, he kept it under wraps, and he wasn’t collapsing in public or anything like that. But, you know, even his friends were surprised.

Brad Page: Right.

Gillian Gaar: To hear that. “Heroin? You’re using heroin?” I mean, if he’d, say, become a drunk or something…

Brad Page: Like heroin, that can kill you pretty quickly. Luckily, he pulled himself together, but you get the feeling it was a really, really rough time for him. Of course, he was going through a divorce at that time, too, right.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Yeah, and not an entirely amicable divorce.  So you have that weighing on you as well. I remember this friend of mine in an obituary she was writing for Lane Staley, she said, “No one starts using heroin thinking they’re going to be an addict.”

Brad Page: Right.

Gillian Gaar: And, you know, they generally end up that way. “Oh, I can handle this”. Well, then six months later, “Oh, gee, I guess I was wrong about that.” And I could see also for someone in his case, or his situation rather, that it would be easy to fall into because he’s not going to have the problems of someone that doesn’t have the money. He does. You know, he doesn’t have to go out and break into people’s homes to steal their stereos and computers to get money for his habit, right? He could take care of that easily. And so I think that, you know, that’s another barrier removed.

Brad Page: Yeah. It becomes too easy.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. And, well, if you know, the music industry, it’s kind of full of leeches, too. There’s more than enough people that are happy to provide you with whatever you might think you want.

Brad Page: Sure.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. I was surprised to learn about that. But, you know, good on him for getting out of it. Not everyone does.

Brad Page: And I’m sure it was… again, he didn’t really like talking about it, because I don’t think he wanted to glamorize it. He was, I think, ashamed.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, you definitely get that sense. A lot of shame. But I think his story with it is a cautionary tale.

Brad Page: Yes.

Gillian Gaar: I don’t see how anyone could read what he went through and think that sounded at all glamorous, because it doesn’t. You know, he was just isolated in this new home, in a kind of rural setting, and not doing anything except taking drugs and nodding off. Oh, yeah, that sounds like fun, doesn’t it? So, yeah, I definitely think it’s more of a cautionary tale and not glamorous at all.

Brad Page: I do respect the fact that he wasn’t trying to cash in on it in any way. I think it would have been probably beneficial for some people for him to maybe have talked a little bit more openly about it, but at the same time, he didn’t make a spectacle of himself about it and hang his dirty laundry out for everyone to see. But, you know, these are such personal things you can’t fault anyone for however they feel like they have to deal with it. The reality is, thank God, he did deal with it, and by 1999, he was pretty much cleaned up.

The Heartbreakers release a new album called “Echo” in 1999. Produced by Rick Rubin, right?

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Page: That seems to have been a very difficult record to make. I think they had, again, working with an outside producer, there’s pluses and minuses to that. I think towards the end, Tom wasn’t super happy with Rick Rubin. I guess he left at the end to go work on a Red Hot Chili Peppers record, and kind of left Tom drifting in the wind there to finish up the record. But I think this probably started when he was, either still had his drug issues or he was working hard to get out of it, but that all was part of it, right? And made for kind of a difficult recording of that record.

And it’s the last record they make with bass player Howie Epstein, because Howie also had a serious drug problem, and they ended up having to let him go.

Gillian Gaar: And then he died not long after that.

Brad Page: Right, right. So, I mean, on one hand you have Tom, who’s able to make it through, and his fellow bandmate, who’s not so lucky.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah.

Brad Page: And it could have gone either way, really.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. That must have been quite a sobering moment for him. You know, “there but for the grace of God go I” type of thing.

Brad Page: Yeah. We do have some great songs on that “Echo” record, though. I’m a big fan of the song “Swingin’”.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Page: Ron Blair, the original bass player, he comes back. You know, it’s getting the old gang back together again. He could have probably had any bass player he wanted, but he brings in Ron Blair.

Gillian Gaar: Well, you mentioned earlier about how Tom liked working with these musicians regularly, even on solo projects, because it was a comfort level type of thing. And I think that’s one reason that Ron was able to be integrated back into the band so readily. Because, yeah, they had to get a new bass player and you could see that’s always a bit of a hassle. And so when they knew he was interested, I mean, it must have seemed perfect because here’s a guy who worked with them and up to a certain point, you know, was familiar with everything the Heartbreakers had done. Hadn’t played on the recent stuff, but he was a guy who I think they saw, he can get back in the groove pretty quickly.

Brad Page: Talk about “The Last DJ” album, which comes out in 2002. That’s the record that Ron Blair returns for. And that’s kind of a concept album, which is another interesting turn for Tom. But he was just so frustrated with the state of commercial radio that he just comes up with this whole concept record, basically lambasting the radio biz.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, it’s like this attack on consumerism that I enjoy quite a lot.

Brad Page: Yeah, I like that record a lot. And of course, you know, there were radio stations that refused to play it, and real petty stuff– no pun intended– real petty behavior. But I think it’s a strong record and, I mean, he makes his case pretty well.

Brad Page: 2006, Tom records his third and final solo album, a record called “Highway Companion”. And to me, this is the really forgotten or overlooked record in his career. It wasn’t as popular as the other records. It’s probably one of the least selling– I’m guessing, but I think it’s probably one of the lowest-selling records of the career.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, you know, I’m looking, certainly among the solo albums; the other two solo albums went platinum, but “Highway Companion” just went gold, so yeah, that means lower sales.

Brad Page: Yeah, I’m not sure why that is. I think it’s a perfectly fine record. There’s quite a bit of stuff on that that I like. Maybe the solo thing just kind of ran its course, I don’t know. But it always seems to be the record that people forget about.

Brad Page: 2007. A real left turn: He reassembles Mudcrutch. And they put out an album. And he plays bass, because that was his original role in the band; he was the bass player, not the guitar player. And you just get the feeling that he just, on a whim, just said, you know what, I want to get the old guys, the really old guys, back together and just have some fun.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, that really came out of left field.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Gillian Gaar: If you were trying to predict what Tom Petty was going to do next in his career, bringing back Mudcrutch to not only play some shows, but release an album…

Brad Page: They ended up releasing two albums, actually. Yeah.

Gillian Gaar: Two! Well, again, that’s just his love of music there. It is kind of like a Wilburys type of thing.

Brad Page: That’s a level of fame– where you can go back to your high school band, get them back together and actually get records put out. Not everyone can do that.

Gillian Gaar: Yes.

Brad Page: Also in 2007, we finally get an officially released documentary, the Running Down a Dream documentary, which is like three hours long.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Brad Page: Well worth watching. One of my favorite rock docs.

Gillian Gaar: And you know, Peter Bogdanovich, too, a noted film director, not known for putting out musical films. Kind of unusual choice.

Brad Page: I got the feeling from reading your book that he didn’t even really know much about Tom Petty.

Gillian Gaar: No, that’s also another interesting aspect about that. I mean, he came from a very different world, the film world. Best known for his work in the 70s, I think, with the  Last Picture Show, and Paper Moon and what’s Up Doc. Yeah, so, that just shows it’s an interesting choice. I think at first he was even a little surprised, like, “Why do you want me?” But then he got to know Tom and liked him quite a bit.

Brad Page: Yeah, yeah. He comes out of it being a Tom Petty fan, but he didn’t go into it that way. But I think that lends a certain, um, maybe an objectivity to that documentary? And a curiosity, kind of a mix of both of those things, right? That he’s not smitten, like a fan film.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah.

Brad Page: But he’s also, there’s a curiosity about it that if you knew everything there was to know about Tom Petty, a die-hard fan, you might not ask some of those questions.

In 2010, The Heartbreakers released the “Mojo” album, which is one of my favorite records of their later period. Post 1990’s records, that’s my favorite. There’s some really hard rocking tracks on that record; there’s one track where I think they give Led Zeppelin a run for their money.

Gillian Gaar: That’s one thing about the whole breadth of his music. Just the sort of range in styles. I mean, they were always a rock band, but they really did seem to have the most fun when they were rocking out like that.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Gillian Gaar: And they probably didn’t do it often enough.

Brad Page: And that was followed in 2014 by “Hypnotic Eye”, which would turn out to be the last Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers album.

Gillian Gaar: And that was his first number one album, which is, you know, kind of surprising.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Gillian Gaar I guess his only number one album certainly during his lifetime.

Brad Page: Which is an odd fact for someone that successful, right? You would have thought they would have had number one albums. He’s had, of course, big hits, but the albums always fell a little short of hitting number one, until “Hypnotic Eye” all the way in 2014.

Gillian Gaar: Like “Mojo” and “Damn The Torpedoes”, they both reached number two, but yeah, not quite the peak.

Brad Page: Yep. I remember “Hypnotic Eye” getting a lot of really great reviews. So right up until the end, critics loved him; obviously, fans loved him, because it hit number one. But if you gotta go, going out on a high point like that, it says something.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah.

Brad Page: They performed their last show on September 25, 2017.  During that tour, Tom had had an injury.

Brad Page: At least the account I had read was that he fell and he had a hairline fracture and he thought he could just deal with it later. But over time, you know, it became more of a full-on break.

Brad Page: Yeah, because he’s on stage, he’s on the road and you know, he’s a trooper. He doesn’t want to cancel the shows, he wants to go out and play and do his thing, do what he does best. And so he stupidly, really– but we’re all prone to these kind of things– he decides just to grin and bear it. And he’s going on stage every night, which is a physical thing, you know, you’re on stage, you’re stomping around, you can’t help but rock out, right?

Gillian Gaar: Yeah.

Brad Page: He’s putting more and more pressure on that hip. He’s not a young man anymore. And it keeps getting worse and worse. And so he starts self-medicating, always a dangerous thing to do when you’re, you have a history of addiction, because again, like you were saying, no one goes into taking heroin thinking that they want to be an addict. I’m sure he’s going into this thinking, “I’m just trying to take care of this pain. I can handle it. Hell, I kicked heroin, I can do it.”

Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah.

Brad Page: And ends up just a couple of weeks after the Tour’s over, on October 2, 2017, he just takes the wrong mix of medications… and he’s gone.

Gillian Gaar: When they released the toxicology report, he was taking prescription fentanyl, but he was also taking non-prescription fentanyl. And you were saying self-medication is a dangerous thing, and I mean, it’s kind of doubly dangerous if you’re taking prescribed drugs too.

Brad Page: Right?

Gillian Gaar: You’re taking prescribed drugs, you’re adding things on top of that. And if your doctor doesn’t know that you’re doing that, that can set up a lot of dangerous interactions. So I mean, clearly he was doing that to deal with the pain. When you’re taking all these different kind of substances, then, yeah, it’s like a roll of the dice every time you do that. It’s a gamble, it’s a roll of the dice. And he unfortunately lost that day.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Gillian Gaar: I gotta say, I gotta say the one thing that’s kind of doubly frustrating is that the issue was not that serious. And of course, in retrospect, we say, “Well, he should have canceled the tour. The fans would certainly have come to see him after recovery.” But you know, he needed hip surgery. And, yes, there’s a risk with every surgery, but it’s very common and the risk is relatively low. So, it was just a relatively simple thing to take care of. So that’s, I must admit, as I’m writing that part, I’m thinking, why didn’t you just have the hip surgery?

Brad Page: I know you just think, “Oh, Tom, why were you so stupid?” But you get the feeling he was, obviously, he was a stubborn guy, for better or worse. It served him well in his career. Until it didn’t.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. I mean, it was sad to read things from his bandmates on that last tour who would kind of help him get on stage and could see that he was in a lot of pain.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Gillian Gaar: Uh, and saying, “Are you going to be okay?” And he’d say, “Just get me on that stage.”

Brad Page: Yeah. And it’s the “show must go on” mentality that so many artists have. And it’s an admirable thing, but all things being said, I think we would all rather still have Tom Petty today.

Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Page: But, yeah, And I remember hearing the news and what a shock it was.

Gillian Gaar: Well, yeah, that was another thing that just seemed to come out of nowhere.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Gillian Gaar: Because, you know, there was no serious illness. There wasn’t any obvious drug problem. And he just finished this successful tour that had gotten the usual strong reviews. And then I think it was just about a week, two weeks later, “Oh, he died”.

Brad Page: Yeah.

Gillian Gaar: “What? Something’s wrong with this picture.”

Brad Page: Yeah,  it’s one of the… you just don’t, you don’t believe it. It’s so hard to fathom. Such a shame. A huge loss for the music business.

It’s an incredible catalog of music. I’m a huge fan of so much of it. I really enjoyed the book, Gillian, you did a great job of putting this story, just telling this story. It’s just a fun read. And the photos are great, the layout of the book is great, the package is great. They did another great job with the slipcover and everything on this book. It’s beautiful.

Like I said at the beginning, if you’re a Tom Petty fan, or if someone in your life is a Tom Petty fan, and you’re looking for a Christmas gift, look no further. This book is great. It’s an excellent gift. It’s going right up on my shelf with my collection of books. I’m happy to have it.

Gillian, thanks so much for joining me again on another episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. Always a pleasure to have you on.

Gillian Gaar: Well, it’s fun to be here.

Brad Page: Well, thanks again, Gillian. I appreciate it. Always a pleasure. Have a great holiday.

Gillian Gaar: You too. And everyone listening!

Brad Page: And that’s a wrap on this episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. Thanks so much for joining us. Just a few notes before I sign off:

#1: Don’t forget to subscribe or follow the show so that you never miss an episode. And please share the show with your family and friends.

#2: Share your thoughts and your opinions on our Facebook page. Just look for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, you’ll find us there. Or you can send an email to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com

#3: If you’d like to support the show, head on over to oldglory.com and buy a T-shirt or some merch from your favorite bands. They have tons of stuff in stock, including some Tom Petty stuff. And you can use our discount code lovethatsong to get 15% off. That’s oldglory.com with the discount code lovethatsong .

And finally, #4, pick up a copy of Gillian’s book. It’s called “Tom Petty: the Life and Music”, and it can be found on Amazon or fine bookstores anywhere. Go get it. You won’t regret it.

Thanks for listening. Hope to see you again on the next episode.

RESOURCES:

Gillian Garr
https://www.quarto.com/authors/Gillian-G.-Gaar/

Tom Petty
https://www.tompetty.com

Traveling Wilburys
https://www.travelingwilburys.com

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Petty_and_the_Heartbreakers_(album)

You’re Gonna Get It! (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_Gonna_Get_It!

Damn the Torpedoes (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damn_the_Torpedoes_(album)

Hard Promises (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Promises

Long After Dark (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_After_Dark

Southern Accents (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Accents

Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Me_Up_(I%27ve_Had_Enough)

Into The Great Wide Open (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Great_Wide_Open

Greatest Hits (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Hits_(Tom_Petty_album)

Wildflowers (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildflowers_(Tom_Petty_album)

She’s The One (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_and_Music_from_%22She%27s_the_One%22

Echo (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_(Tom_Petty_and_the_Heartbreakers_album)

The Last DJ (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_DJ

Highway Companion (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Companion

Mudcrutch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudcrutch

Mojo (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojo_(Tom_Petty_and_the_Heartbreakers_album)

Hypnotic Eye (album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnotic_Eye

with Stevie Nicks: Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Draggin%27_My_Heart_Around

Humble Pie – “Stone Cold Fever”

Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley - Copyright 1971 Unart Music Corp (BMI), UMG Recordings, Inc.

Humble Pie is often overshadowed by bands like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Queen, but they were a considered a “supergroup” when they formed in 1969– fronted by Steve Marriott from the Small Faces and Peter Frampton from The Herd. Their first 2 albums are a mixed bag, but by the time they signed with A&M Records in 1970 they had refined their style down to a bluesy, hard-rockin’ sound. Rock On (1971) was their most successful album to date and features “Stone Cold Fever“, which is itself a stone-cold classic.

“Stone Cold Fever” (Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley) Copyright 1971 Unart Music Corp (BMI), UMG Recordings, Inc.

Visit OldGlory.com and pick up some t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands– and use our discount code lovethatsong to save 15% off!

TRANSCRIPT:

I’ve got a Stone Cold Fever, but I don’t need no doctor!  Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song”  Podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page. In each episode of the show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together, looking at it from every angle, trying to get a handle on what makes the song work, and why do I like it so much? Musical knowledge or experience is not a prerequisite here. We don’t get technical. This show is for anyone who loves music.

This episode, we’re taking another look at one of the best hard rocking bands from the 1970’s, a band that’s kind of overlooked now. They’ve been overshadowed by groups like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Queen… those all became iconic bands, but for a while there, Humble Pie was right up there with them. This time out, we’re digging into a song that’s one of their classics, from a pivotal album in their career. This is “Stone Cold Fever” by Humble Pie.

Humble Pie were somewhat of a supergroup when they formed in 1969. Steve Marriott had been the front man for the Small Faces, and Peter Frampton was the breakout star from a Band called The Herd. They got together and formed a new band with Greg Ridley on bass– He’d been playing with Spooky Tooth– and a young drummer named Jerry Shirley. He was only about 17 when he joined Humble Pie.

Now we’ve discussed Humble Pie, and the Small Faces. on this show before, so I’m not going to rehash everything again, you can go back and listen to those episodes. But essentially, both Marriott and Frampton wanted to be taken more seriously as musicians. They were tired of being perceived as pop stars, so Humble Pie was their shot at credibility.

They signed with Immediate Records and released their first album, “As Safe As Yesterday Is”, in August 1969. Interestingly, one of the earliest uses of the term “heavy metal” appears in a review for this album. I don’t think anybody today would describe this album as anything close to “heavy metal”. In reality, this record is kind of a mixed bag with some rockers, but also some bluesy numbers, acousticy folk, and even a touch of post-psychedelic rock.

Their second album, “Town And Country”, was released just a few months later, in November 1969. This one was more acoustic than the first album, but Immediate Records was in financial trouble and they quickly went bankrupt. So this album, “Town And Country”, was never even released in the US at the time.

After the collapse of Immediate Records, they signed a new deal with A&M Records, and the band refocused. Most of the acoustic stuff was gone. They developed a harder, heavier sound and they concentrated on the American market, determined to break through here. Their first album for A&M, which most people in America thought was their first album period, was just called “Humble Pie” and came out in July 1970. It features a great version of the Muddy Waters classic “I’m Ready”.

They continued to refine their sound, and in March 1971, they released their strongest, most successful album yet, “Rock On”. There’s a half-dozen rock-solid songs on this album, including “Stone Cold Fever”. Most of the tracks on “Rock On” had been part of their live set for a while, so they’d worked out all of the kinks and they were well rehearsed by the time they hit the studio to record this album.

The album was produced by the band along with Glynn Johns. All four band members share songwriting credit on “Stone Cold Fever”. The song was performed by Peter Frampton on guitar and backing vocals, Greg Ridley on bass and backing vocals, Jerry Shirley on drums and Steve Marriott on guitar, harmonica, keyboards and lead vocals. The track begins with the guitar riff– and what a great guitar riff this is. It’s played by Peter Frampton in the left channel.

After two times around, the rest of the band starts coming in, including Steve Marriott’s guitar in the right channel.

They add these little trills to the guitar riff. Marriott does it first in the right channel, and then Frampton adds a harmony to it.

Let’s back it up a bit and we’ll play into the first verse. It’s an interesting vocal sound on this track. I used to think that they just used some heavy slapback echo on the vocal to get that sound, but now, listening to it more closely, I think that Steve Marriott actually double-tracked his vocal; he sang it twice. So, the natural inconsistencies in any human performance keep the tracks from sounding 100% identical, which produces the sound we hear on the final mix.

So, let’s try to isolate each one of these vocal performances. Here’s the first one.

And here’s the second vocal.

Now, they sound pretty much the same when you listen to them in isolation, but if we can combine them together, you can hear how those slight differences between the two tracks provide the sound we hear in the final mix.

All right, let’s go back, put that all together, and hear that verse again in the final mix.

That leads us into a new riff. The first time through, Marriott and Frampton play it in unison. The second time around, Frampton plays a harmony which climbs with each cycle.

Next is a short harmonica solo played by Steve Marriott over the main riff. Also notice Jerry Shirley’s banging on a cowbell in the background.

Let’s go back and listen to the two guitars during that verse. They’re essentially playing the main riff, but each of them are playing it pretty loosely, improvising around it as they go along. They’re not trying to play it exactly or perfectly, and they’re not trying to match each other. This gives the recording a spontaneous live feel. Again, its Frampton in the left channel, Marriott in the right.

And that brings us to the second riff with the harmonica.

After that nice drum fill by Jerry Shirley– and remember, he was only about 19 when they made this record– that fill takes us into a jazzy section featuring a fantastic guitar solo by Peter Frampton. Frampton’s name doesn’t often come up when listing the great guitarists, but I absolutely think he’s one of the best. So, let’s hear just his guitar first.

Frampton is an incredibly tasteful player, and his jazz-influenced licks are really distinctive. There’s no one else who really plays quite like him. Now let’s hear how that solo works in the final mix.

Then we get a short harmonica break before the guitarists return with another riff.

The next riff is accentuated with some backing vocals. Let’s hear those backing vocals first.

And now let’s hear that in context.

“Stone Cold Fever” by Humble Pie.

“Rock On” was their best-selling album up until this point, but Peter Frampton was feeling frustrated. He was fine with the harder rocking material, but he wanted more than that, too. And he wanted to be more than just the guitar player; he wanted more opportunity to write and sing. And let’s face it, Steve Marriott was not the easiest guy to deal with. So later in 1971, just after they had recorded a live album, “Rockin’ The Fillmore”, Frampton left to pursue a solo career.

When “Rockin’ The Fillmore” was released, it became a big hit. It’s still the album that Humble Pie is most remembered for, and as Frampton watched his former band’s album climb the charts while he struggled to get his solo career off the ground, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made a big mistake. But things worked out for him a few years later, though. That’s a topic for another podcast.

As we’ve mentioned on previous podcasts, Steve Marriott died tragically in a fire, in April 1991, age 44. One of the greatest vocalists of his generation.

Greg Ridley died in November 2003 from complications from pneumonia. He was 56.

Peter Frampton suffers from a somewhat rare progressive muscular disorder called Inclusion Body Mitosis. He initially announced his retirement from music, but he’s still been able to play, so he’s kept going. Above all, he is a true guitar player at heart, and he’ll play for as long as he can.

Jerry Shirley is still with us, and thankfully, as far as I know, he’s still healthy and still playing drums today.

Thanks for joining me here on the Pantheon Podcast network for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. If you’d like to support the show, and I hope you do, zip on over to oldglory.com and buy a t-shirt or two. They carry shirts and merchandise from all of our favorite bands, and if you’re like me, you can never have too many t-shirts. So support your favorite artists, wear their shirts with pride. And when you use our discount code, “lovethatsong”, you’ll get a nice discount and you’ll be helping out this show. That website is oldglory.com and the discount code is lovethatsong. Thanks in advance.

I’ll be back in about two weeks with a new episode, so I’ll see you then. In the meantime, catch up on all of our previous episodes– there’s over 180 of them now– on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or find us in your favorite Podcast app.

Now go dig out some Humble Pie records and rock on with “Stone Cold Fever”.

RESOURCES:

Humble Pie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Pie

Peter Frampton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Frampton

Steve Marriott
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Marriott

Rock On album
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_On_(Humble_Pie_album)

Glynn Johns
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyn_Johns

Rockin’ the Fillmore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_Rockin%27_the_Fillmore

Inclusion body myositis
https://www.mda.org/disease/inclusion-body-myositis

Immediate Records
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immediate_Records

A&M Records
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26M_Records

Small Faces
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Faces

The Herd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Herd_(UK_band)

Spooky Tooth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spooky_Tooth

The Plimsouls – “A Million Miles Away”

"A Million Miles Away" (P. Case, J. Alkes, C. Fradkin) Copyright 1982 Baby Oh Yeah Music BMI/Nineties Music BMI

The Plimsouls, led by guitarist/singer/songwriter Peter Case, released a couple of terrific albums in the early ‘80’s, fusing power pop, punk and R&B into their own unique blend. “A Million Miles Away” was featured in the film Valley Girl, and should’ve catapulted The Plimsouls onto greater fame, but their career stalled and the band split up by the mid-’80’s. To some, this song marks The Plimsouls as One-Hit-Wonders, but their albums are chock-a-block with great songs. Still, there’s no denying the brilliance of “A Million Miles Away” and on this episode, we take a close look at this timeless classic.

“A Million Miles Away” (P. Case, J. Alkes, C. Fradkin) Copyright 1982 Baby Oh Yeah Music BMI/Nineties Music BMI

TRANSCRIPT:

String theory is the theoretical concept that all of reality is made up of these infinitesimally small vibrating strings. Smaller than atoms, smaller than electrons and protons, smaller than quarks, vibrating at different frequencies. And what is a guitar, or a violin, or a piano, but a bunch of vibrating strings? The whole universe is just one big song. Welcome to the Pantheon Podcast Network and the “I’m In love With That Song” podcast.

My name is Brad Page, and each edition of this podcast, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dig deep into it. Maybe not down to the level of quarks or electrons, but we go deep enough to examine all the elements that make it a great song. So you don’t have to be a scientist or a musical expert to enjoy this show. Just a little curiosity is all that’s required.

On this episode, we’re exploring a classic power pop band from the early ‘80’s that still sounds as fresh and vital today. This is The Plimsouls and “A Million Miles Away”.

Peter Case was a member of The Nerves, a band that straddled the line between punk and power pop in the mid-seventies. Along with Jack Lee and Paul Collins, they released one four-song EP in 1976 and then broke up. But those four songs were great, including the classic “Hanging On The Telephone”.

Of course, that track was later covered by Blondie, and they had a big hit with it.

Peter Case then put together The Plimsouls, named after a type of shoe, I believe. Initially they were a three piece with Peter Case on guitars and vocals, Dave Pahoa on bass and Lou Ramirez on drums. A little later, Eddie Munoz came on board on lead guitar. They released a five-song EP called “Zero Hour” in 1980.

They became pretty popular around LA and signed a deal with Planet Records, and released their first full album, self-titled, in 1981.

That first self-titled album is a great album, but it didn’t really sell, and they ended up parting ways with Planet Records. Then they independently released “A Million Miles Away” as a single. And that song ended up in the movie “Valley Girls”. In fact, the band is actually featured in that film. That got them some attention. They ended up getting signed by Geffen Records and released their second album, “Everywhere At Once”, in 1983. That album features a re-recorded version of “A Million Miles Away”.

The song was performed by Peter Case on lead vocals and twelve string guitar, Eddie Munoz on lead guitar, Dave Pahoa on bass, and Lou Ramirez on drums and percussion. It was produced by Jeff Eyrich.

The song kicks off with a flam on the snare drum and a great guitar riff. Sounds to me like that riff is played on the twelve string. Let’s hear just the guitars.

The bass and drums have a great groove going on too. Let’s go back and listen to those two together. We’ll pick it back up from that part of the verse.

They repeat that riff twice there. And then we get a new section, essentially a pre chorus. The chords here are a little dreamier, a little spacier, with lyrics to match: “I started drifting to a different place I realized I was falling off the face of the world and there was nothing left to bring me back:

There’s really great guitar accompaniment on this pre-chorus. This is definitely played on the twelve-string. Let’s go back and hear that.

And that pulls us right into the first chorus. Let’s listen to that all the way through. Let’s hear the whole band underneath the vocals. The guitars really work well together here. And there’s more cool riffing on the twelve-string.

All right, let’s back it up a bit and then play through the end of the chorus. Let’s pull up the vocals for this second verse.

Sounds like he’s doubling the vocals. Let’s pick it up at the next pre-chorus.

And let’s bring the vocals up again for this chorus.

Listen for the echoes on this next line.

Next up, Eddie Muniz lets loose with a pretty tasty guitar solo. There’s some more tasty playing going on behind the vocals there, so let’s go back and just listen to this section without the vocals.

Let’s bring it back in for the last chorus. Here comes the echoes on the vocals again.

The Plimsouls “A Million Miles Away”

The Plimsouls would break up after this album. Peter Case has continued to write and record. He’s released plenty of solo albums, and he’s still out there. A pioneer and founding father of indie rock, The Plimsouls have reunited a few times and they got one more album in 1998 called “Cool Trash”. I recommend all of their albums. They’re all worth seeking out.

Thanks for checking out this edition of the “I’m In love With That Song” podcast. New episodes of this show are released into the wild on the first and the 15th of every month, so I’ll be back soon. If you can’t bear to wait for the next episode, you can catch up on all of our previous shows. There’s over 150 of them on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com or look for us on your favorite podcast app. And of course, there’s plenty of other shows on the Pantheon Podcast Network, so check some of those out too.

Please leave a review of the show wherever it is that you listen that helps, and share the show with your friends, family and neighbors. Your word-of-mouth support is the best advertising we can get, so thanks for that. And thanks for listening to this episode on “A Million Miles Away” by The Plimsouls.

RESOURCES:

The Plimsouls
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plimsouls

Peter Case
http://petercase.com/

The Nerves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nerves

Blondie
https://www.blondie.net/

Valley Girl (film)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086525/

Geffen Records
https://www.geffen.com/

Grand Funk Railroad – “Footstompin’ Music”/”Rock ‘N Roll Soul”

"Footstompin' Music" (Mark Farner) Copyright 1971 Storybook Music - BMI; "Rock 'N Roll Soul" (Mark Farner) Copyright 1972 Cram Renraff Co. - BMI

Imagine a time when a band could sell out Shea Stadium faster than The Beatles, without the support of radio airplay or the blessing of music critics– and no social media. Grand Funk Railroad did just that, and in this episode, we’re back with another look at the high-octane world of live rock concerts. Discover how Grand Funk Railroad became a music phenomenon, becoming one of the biggest bands of the ’70’s. We’re delving into a live album where the opening tracks weren’t just songs but declarations of a rock and roll manifesto. From the adrenaline rush of “Footstompin’ Music” to the soulful grooves of “Rock ‘N Roll Soul,” this episode isn’t just a history lesson– it’s a backstage pass to one of the greatest shows on earth.

“Footstompin’ Music” (Mark Farner) Copyright 1971 Storybook Music – BMI
“Rock ‘N Roll Soul” (Mark Farner) Copyright 1972 Cram Renraff Co. – BMI

Take advantage of our discount code lovethatsong and save 15% off t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands at OldGlory.com!

TRANSCRIPT:

We’re coming to your town, we’ll help you party it down– we’re the Pantheon Podcast Network, and this is the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page– I’ve got the whole show, that’s a natural fact. In this episode here, we explore one of my favorite songs, getting a deeper understanding of what makes them tick, what makes them a great song.

On the last few episodes, we’ve been looking specifically at live recordings, how a song can come to life when played by a real band in front of a real audience. We’ve been looking at some of the different aspects of live music, how a song can be reinterpreted live, how a band can really take flight live and just play.

And one of the other aspects is the full concert experience itself, from the opening number to the final encore, how a show is built and paced. Some of my favorite moments on live albums are the first tracks; the show openers — from the way deep purple tear into “Highway Star” on their classic “Made In Japan” album; Cheap Trick, kicking off “At Budokan” with “Hello There”, the perfect opening track; when Paul McCartney and Wings open the “Wings Over America” live album with the medley of “Venus and Mars” into “Rock Show” into “Jet”– It’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard.

Another one of my favorite one-two punch opening numbers is when Grand Funk Railroad opens their live album, “Caught In The Act” with two back-to-back tracks that set the tone for a rock and roll celebration. So this time, on this episode, we’re going to be listening to not one, but two songs. So let’s get this party started with “Footstompin’ Music” and “Rock ,N Roll Soul” by Grand Funk Railroad.

You may think I’m exaggerating when I say that for a time, Grand Funk Railroad was the biggest rock band in the world. But in the early seventies, they were bigger than Black Sabbath or Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin. They had at least six platinum-selling albums in a row and sold out Shea Stadium in 72 hours– that was faster than the Beatles did. And they did this with virtually no help from the critics or the radio. The critics hated them, and they got almost no airplay on the radio until their 7th album. But let’s start at the beginning.

Terry Knight was a local DJ in Flint, Michigan and a Grade A hustler. He formed a band called Terry Knight and The Pack, which included a drummer named Don Brewer and a bass player named Mark Farner. The Pack never had much success, though they released two albums and some singles and gigged around a lot. Eventually, Terry Knight left the band to start a solo career in New York and ended up as a producer. Meanwhile, Brewer and Farner carried on with The Pack, but eventually they hit rock bottom. Stranded on Cape Cod in Massachusetts in February, in the middle of a blizzard, with no gig and no money, they returned home to Flint and contacted Terry Knight because they knew he had contacts.

Knight agreed to manage them, but at a cost: he wanted complete control as manager and producer. But with no other options, they agreed. By now, Mark Farner had switched to playing guitar, so the first thing they did was recruit a bass player, Mel Schacher, who had been playing with Question Mark and The Mysterians.

The next thing they did was change their name. Terry Knight rechristened them Grand Funk Railroad. It’s kind of a pun, based on the Grand Trunk and Western Railroad, which ran through the Midwest.

Their first big break came when they were able to get on the bill at the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1969. They weren’t even paid for the gig, but they made the most of it by playing their asses off and earning a standing ovation. They went over so well that they were invited back the next day, and the day after that. By the end of the festival, they were the hot new thing and immediately signed to Capitol Records.

Their first album, “On Time”, came out in August 1969. In December, only four months later, they released their second album. It’s just called “Grand Funk”, but fans like to refer to it as “the Red Album”.

They steamrolled across the country, selling out shows, some concerts ending in riots. They released their third album, “Closer To Home” in March. That’s three albums in less than a year. But they were actually getting better. This was their strongest album yet.

Terry Knight celebrated their success by erecting a 60-foot-high billboard in Times Square to promote the “Closer To Home” album. Terry Knight kept up the hype, and he kept the boys busy by constantly being on the road… and away from their books. Knight was taking a big cut of their royalties and performance fees. Mark, Don and Mel were essentially just employees of Grand Funk Railroad enterprises. Terry had all the control.

By now, the band were selling out shows not just in the US, but in the UK and Japan. It was in July 1971 when they sold out Shea Stadium faster than The Beatles. More records followed, including “E Pluribus Funk”, in my opinion, the best of their early albums.

But trouble was brewing. The band was chafing under Knight’s control, and they started wondering, “where’s all the money?” A bitter dispute followed. They sued Knight, and he sued them back. This legal battle went on for two years, and in the end, Knight ended up with a big load of cash and the rights to all their recordings and their songwriting royalties. All the band was left with was the rights to the name Grand Funk Railroad.  Ironically, if they had just waited three more months instead of suing, that contract would have expired.

In 1972, they brought in a fourth member, keyboard player Craig Frost, and they released album number six, “Phoenix”. This is kind of a dividing line for fans, from “Phoenix” on. They embraced their R&B roots more, and their sound got just a little more melodic, more hooks. To some fans, this is where they get off the Grand Funk train. But for me, this is where the records get better.

It’s certainly where the records get more popular. In 1973, they bring in Todd Rundgren to produce their next album, “We’re An American Band”, and the title cut is their first number one hit.

They bring Todd Rundgren back to produce their next album, “Shining On”, in 1974, which includes their hit version of “The Locomotion” and the title cut, “Shining On”.

By December of 74, they release another album, “All The Girls In The World Beware”, which featured two big hits: “Some Kind Of Wonderful” and “Bad Time”.

They toured in ‘74 and ‘75 and then released their second live album. They had released a previous live album in 1970, simply called “Live Album”. This second live album is called “Caught In The Act”, and it features all the hits, plus a ton of great album cuts. The band, Mark Farner on vocals, guitar and occasionally keyboards; Craig Frost on keyboards; Mel Schacher on bass; and Don Brewer on vocals and drums, are augmented on this tour by The Funkettes, two backing vocalists named Lorraine Featherson and Jana Giglio.

The original album opens with a long introduction. The sound of the crowd and fireworks going off. That lasts almost three minutes. When the album was issued on CD, they cut most of that out, fading up the crowd just before the band kicks off their opening number “Footstompin’ Music”.

Don and Mel laying down the groove. So there’s Don on drums, Mel on bass and two keyboard parts, because both Mark and Craig are playing organ here. Mark’s keyboard is in the right channel, Craig is in the left. Sounds like Craig maybe switched to playing a clavinet while Mark stays on the organ. Let’s hear just those keyboard parts for a bit.

That’s Don Brewer with the ad libs there. It’s Mark handling the lead vocal.

Let’s focus on just the bass and the drums here, especially that great walking bass part that Mel Schacher is playing.

There’s some great dueling organ swirls there. Let’s just listen to that.

Now Mark is going to step away from the organ and do some good old-fashioned rock and roll preaching.

Now, Mark has had his guitar on this whole time, but he hasn’t played a note on it until now. On this tour, Mark was playing a Valeno 72 Standard. It’s a pretty unusual guitar; it’s made of aluminum. Mark has a fairly unique guitar tone all through this album, but how much of that is strictly due to this guitar? I don’t know.

Let’s bring up this guitar solo in the mix.

And Mark is going to switch back to the organ here.

Let’s bring those vocals to the front.

Let’s go back and just hear that drum fill.

Alright, here comes the big finale. And listen to Mel Shocker’s bass in particular; he is riffing like a madman.

Here’s another great drum fill by Don Brewer.

So “Footstompin’ Music” ends right there. But the party is just getting started. They pause for just a few seconds and then they count right into the next number. “Rock ‘N Roll Soul”.  I really dig this whole introduction.

So right there, Mark says “we done this song a long time ago”. This concert was recorded in 1975; the song originally appeared on the “Phoenix” album in 1972. So I don’t know, three years doesn’t seem like a long time ago to me. But I suppose when you’re still in your twenties, releasing two to three albums a year and living at the pace these guys were, three years maybe seems like an awful long time.

I love that transition into the actual song.

Let’s bring up the vocals.

Notice how they change up the groove on this section, especially on the drums. Don Brewer is going to take over the vocals for this section. And I really like what Craig Frost is doing on the keyboards in the left channel. It’s very simple, but I love how it plays off the rhythm of the guitar and the drums.

Mark Farner takes another guitar solo. But first I want to hear what the bass and drums are doing under this section.

Okay, let’s go back and hear that with the guitar solo. More guitar. Now he’s got a flanger on his guitar.

The base goes wild again.

“Footstompin’ Music” and Rock ‘N Roll Soul” by Grand Funky Railroad.

This would be the peak for Grand Funk Railroad. They would release a couple more albums, but sales were declining, and there was tension building within the band… and by 1976, they split.

Mark Farner released a couple of solo albums and Frost, Brewer and Schacher soldiered on, releasing one album under the name “Flint”. They got back together a few times, starting in 1981, and released a couple more albums. In my opinion, those records don’t really hold up.

For quite a while, both Brewer and Frost joined Bob Seeger’s Silver Bullet Band. In fact, Frost still plays with Bob Seeger today. Mel Schacher left the music biz for a while, but he and Brewer have toured versions of Grand Funk Railroad since the late nineties. Mark Farner does his own thing with Mark Farner’s American Band.

Grand Funk can sometimes be a punchline today. They are, after all, Homer Simpson’s favorite band.

But they’re no joke to me. Yes, it’s meat and potatoes rock, but there is some great stuff in their catalog, and I legitimately love this album. As a teenager, I played it over and over, and spent many an hour playing air guitar to this record.

Thanks for joining me here on the Pantheon Podcast Network for another edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. We’ll be back in about two weeks with another new episodes, so join me again then. All of our previous shows, and there’s over 160 of them, can be found on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or find them in your favorite podcast app. Just look for us. You’ll find us in there.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook or send me an email– Lovethatsongpodcastmail.com is the address.  And if you’d like to support the show, all I ask is that you tell a friend about it because your recommendation is worth more than any advertising.

I thank you again for listening to this episode. Now go find yourself a copy of “Caught In The Act” by Grand Funk Railroad; put it on your turntable and crank up those first two tracks, “Footstompin’ Music” and “Rock ‘N Roll Soul”.

RESOURCES:

Grand Funk Railroad
https://www.grandfunkrailroad.com/

Shea Stadium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shea_Stadium

Terry Knight and the Pack
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Knight_and_the_Pack

Mark Farner
http://www.markfarner.com/

Don Brewer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Brewer

Mel Schacher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Schacher

Bob Seger’s Silver Bullet Band
https://www.bobseger.com/

Mark Farner’s American Band
http://www.markfarner.com/

Caught in the Act (album by Grand Funk Railroad)
https://www.discogs.com/Grand-Funk-Railroad-Caught-In-The-Act/master/99202

Elvin Bishop – “Calling All Cows”

 Click here to play the podcast
by Earley Dranne - Copyright Excellorec Music Co. BMI 

Strap in for a wild ride with Elvin Bishop and his fiery ensemble as they tear through the raucous track “Calling All Cows“, from the rollicking 1977 live album Raisin’ Hell. We dig into this electrifying live performance that showcases a band at the top of their game. A prime example of the musicianship that made the ’70s a golden era for live albums; Elvin Bishop’s Raisin Hell stands out as a testament to that time.

For those who have never heard Elvin’s work, this episode is a perfect introduction. And for long-time fans, it’s a chance to fall in love with his music all over again. 

“Calling All Cows” (Earley Dranne) Copyright Excellorec Music Co. BMI 

Take advantage of our discount code lovethatsong and save 15% off t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands at OldGlory.com!

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. You are listening to us on the Pantheon Podcast Network, and I am your host, Brad Page. And each episode of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dive into it together, listening for all of those little moments, the special touches that make it a great song. No musical skill or knowledge is required here– all you need is a love for music, and you’re going to fit right in here.

Now, usually on this show we focus on studio recordings, looking at how songs were put together in the recording studio. But on this batch of episodes, we’re focusing on live recordings, tracks from some of my favorite, and kind of lesser-known, live albums. On this episode, we’re going to listen to a track by Elvin Bishop from his 1977 live album “Raisin’ Hell”, featuring his smokin’ hot band, showing just how exciting it can be when a really tight group of musicians cut loose and play. This song is six minutes of pure fun. It’s called “Calling All Cows”.

Elvin Bishop’s image has always been as a country boy, a real hayseed. But as is often the case, the truth, it’s a little bit more nuanced than that. He was born in Glendale, California, in 1942, but he grew up on a farm in Iowa with no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing. His family moved to Oklahoma when he was ten, but he was a smart kid. He graduated from high school as a National Merit scholar, earning him a full scholarship to the University of Chicago. Ostensibly, he went there to major in physics, but not coincidentally, it just happened to bring him closer to the blues and R&B music that he loved.

While at the University of Chicago, he met a harmonica player named Paul Butterfield, and they would visit the Chicago clubs, learn from the blues greats, people like Otis Rush, Hound Dog Taylor, Buddy Guy. They formed the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1963. Though Bishop was the original guitarist in the band, he was largely overshadowed by Mike Bloomfield, who joined in 1965. That’s not surprising, as Bloomfield was one of the greatest guitar players of his generation. Almost anyone would have taken second fiddle to him, but Elvin was no second-rate guitarist.

The Butterfield Blues Band released their first album in 1965 and about a year, later cut their second album called “East West”. “East West” is one of the most influential albums of the 1960’s. Along with a selection of typical blues covers, the album features two lengthy instrumental tracks which let the band cut loose, experiment with jazz and elements of Indian ragas. One of the first albums to incorporate these exotic elements in a rock and blues context.

Mike Bloomfield quit the Butterfield band after “East West”. Elvin Bishop would hang on for two more albums, and then he left, too, to start his solo career in 1968. The first Elvin Bishop group album was released in 1969, and over the course of four or five more albums, Elvin built a band around him of tasteful, flexible players who could really jam.

Donnie Baldwin on drums. Michael “Fly” Brooks on bass, Johnny Vernazza on second guitar. These guys were tight, but these albums were all largely under the radar; none of them were close to breaking any sales records.

A singer named Mickey Thomas had been singing background vocals on the last few Elvin Bishop group albums. But on their 6th album, “Strutting My Stuff”, in 1975, Mickey was promoted to full-time band member and got to sing lead vocals on a few tracks, including a little number called “Fooled Around And Fell In Love”.

That was it. That was the secret sauce. The band needed a group of super-tight players who could really hit the groove. Elvin’s guitar out front and Mickey Thomas’ vocals on top. They had a bona fide hit.

They followed the “Strutting My Stuff” album with their next record, “Hometown Boy Makes Good”, and then in 1977 released a live album called “Raisin’ Hell – Elvin Bishop Live”.

1977 was peak Live Album era; everyone was releasing live albums. Many of them became big hits. This is a pretty typical live album of the period. It’s a double album offering a nice retrospective of Elvin’s solo career with a few surprises thrown in. Robert Christgau, the “Dean of American rock critics”, actually gave this album an A minus. So that’s at least one thumbs up. But I really like this album a lot. It’s a selection of tracks recorded across five shows, from March 1976 through February 1977. This particular track, “Calling All Cows”, was recorded at the February 1977 show at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. “Calling All Cows” originally appeared on the “Juke Joint Jump” album from 1975. Here it’s expanded a bit to really let the band play. And this was a big band. There’s a lot of players on that stage. Of course, you have Elvin Bishop on lead guitar and lead vocal on this track. Mickey Thomas on backing vocals. Johnny Vernazza on guitar. Melvin Seals on keyboards. Don Baldwin on drums. Michael “Fly” Brooks on bass. Billy Slais on saxophone and keyboards, Renee Slais and Debbie Cathey on backing vocals. And Chuck Brooke, Bob Claire, Dave Grover and Bill Lamb on horns. The album was produced by Alan Blazek.

The song kicks off with a drum fill, and it sounds like there’s some percussion, conga drums maybe in there, too. Then the bass and synthesizer play a funky little riff together.

Elvin’s telling someone to wait a minute, I don’t know if he’s talking to the band or the audience, but this song isn’t stopping for anyone.

I love that bass part right there. They’re hitting such a great groove already. Listen to how the horns punch up certain little bits throughout the song. It’s classic.

And now we got a twin guitar part. Elvin and Johnny V playing in harmony. They’re both playing slide guitar here.

Let’s hear just the bass and the drums. Listen to that groove they’re laying down. Here comes the first verse sung by Elvin with, I think, Johnny V singing along with him.

“We’re gonna have a little milk we’re gonna have a little cream, we’re gonna have a little butter, a little margarine”. I mean, come on, is that great or what? I love this song.

There’s a great little lick in there in the left channel. I think it’s played by Johnny V on guitar. But then again, it could be Melvin Seals on keyboards. Let’s back it up a bit and play into that second verse.

Listen to those horn accents and the way they’re locked right in with the drums. This band is tight.

Let’s bring up those twin guitars. Notice how the guitar solo takes a break for the horns to do their thing, before we go back to the guitars. This isn’t just a free form jam. There’s an arrangement here. It feels like they’re just jamming, but there’s a structure behind it all.

Elvin is going to play a little solo. Listen to how the horns are building things up behind the solo, and then they bring it down to just the groove.

The keyboards get a few licks in here. And now another taste of those twin harmony guitars by Elvin and Johnny V. Another crescendo from the horns and back to the twin guitar riff.

And then the last verse. Let’s back off the vocals and just listen to the groove the band is laying down behind them.

Let’s bring the vocals back up now. Here comes a new little piece with some tasty guitar work. On the studio version of this track, the song just fades out at some point. They added this section, and this is actually where they would end the song live, right there. But by this time, they had added the horn section. And here they let the horns pick it back up right at the break and lead the band into an extended finale. It’s an example of how a song can evolve and grow as it’s performed live.

Listen to the bass and drums build the tension here. And then how the whole band just hits this riff. Listen to that bass.

We continue to build to a big finale. They are not done yet. They are going to squeeze every little bit out of this big ending.

The Elvin Bishop Group, “Calling All Cows”.

Commercial success was fleeting for Elvin Bishop. “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” was his one and only hit. But he’s kept making records and touring. He’s a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame, and he’s been nominated for a Grammy for Best Blues Album quite a few times, though he hasn’t won yet. At 83 years old, he’s still playing, still got a shot at that Grammy. Hope he gets one. He deserves it.

Mickey Thomas would leave the Elvin Bishop Group after this live album, and not long after that, he joined Jefferson Starship. I love Mickey Thomas’ voice, and I expect we’ll hear from him on this show again sometime.

You know, Elvin has always portrayed himself as a fun-loving, good time boy, but there’s more to his life than just that image. Honestly, I kind of hesitate to bring this up because I don’t like to sensationalize things, but Elvin has suffered real tragedy and pain in his life. In August of 2000, both Elvin’s wife and his daughter were murdered. I can only imagine the toll that that must have taken on him. And again, I don’t want to play up anyone’s suffering for the sake of a podcast, but I think it’s important to acknowledge Elvin Bishop as a full person and respect what he’s been through and his ability to carry on.

Thanks as always for being a part of this episode. I’ll be back in about two weeks with another new show. Who knows what we’ll be talking about then, but I hope you join us. If you missed any of our previous episodes, you can catch up on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com or find us wherever you listen to podcasts. We’re on iTunes and Spotify and YouTube and pretty much everywhere you can listen to podcasts.

If you’d like to support the show– and I hope you do– he first thing you can do is to just tell someone about the show, share it with your friends or family, because it’s recommendations by smart, knowledgeable people like you that really help us out.

On behalf of all the shows here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening. Go out and find yourself a copy of Elvin Bishop’s “Raisin’ Hell” album. Crank it up and listen to this version of “Calling All Cows”.

RESOURCES:

Elvin Bishop
https://www.elvinbishopmusic.com

Raisin Hell Album
Raisin’ Hell – Elvin Bishop | Album | AllMusic

Paul Butterfield Blues Band
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-butterfield-blues-band-mn0000019552

East West Album
East-West (The Butterfield Blues Band album) – Wikipedia

Jefferson Starship
https://jeffersonstarship.com

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
https://www.rockhall.com

Blues Hall of Fame
https://blues.org/blues_hall_of_fame/