Tag Archives: music trivia

♫ You Are ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, History

I have a list of songs to be played in the not-too-distant-future, but tonight … I wanted one to lift my own spirits, to bring a smile to my own face, so this one’s for me!  (Sorry, Clive … I know you don’t care for Lionel, but you’ll get Juice Newton in the next day or two!)

Lionel wrote You Are with his then-wife, Brenda Harvey Richie, and it was his second ‘solo’ after leaving the Commodores.  Truly, also released in 1982, was his first, and this was a follow-up.  There isn’t a lot of background that I could find about this song, but according to Richard Marx who sang backup on this song …

“Every session I ever did with Lionel, or for him, was a very fun atmosphere. I’ve been on so many sessions where it’s a downer, and you just try to get through it and nobody is having fun. Lionel is always having fun – no matter what.”

Lionel actually did a video for this, but MTV ignored it. The network didn’t give black artists significant airtime until Michael Jackson broke through in 1983. Later that year, Richie was welcomed on MTV with his video for All Night Long.

This one reached #4 on the U.S. charts and #5 in Canada, but only #43 in the UK — what’s with you guys in the UK that you don’t love you some Lionel???

You Are
Lionel Richie

Baby you’ll find
There’s only one love
Yours and mine
I’ve got so much love

And needing you so
My love for you
I’ll never let go
I’ve got so much love

All I want is to hold you
Let me show how much I love you baby (show you)
I don’t mind and I don’t mind (loving you)
Girl I love you
There’s no one above you

[Chorus]
You are the sun
You are the rain
That makes my life this foolish game
You need to know
I love you so
And I’d do it all again and again

Tell me it’s true
I can’t believe you do what you do
I’ve got so much love
And my love you’ll see
We’ll stay together, just you and me
I’ve got so much love

Only you (know me)
Tell me how to love you baby (show me)
I don’t mind and I don’t mind (tell me)
Girl, I love you
Always thinking of you

You are the sun
You are the rain
That makes my life this foolish game
You need to know
I love you so
And I’d do it all again and again

I know you know the way I feel
And I need your love for always
‘Cause when I’m with you
I fall in love
Again and again and again, baby.

You are the sun
You are the rain
That makes my life this foolish game
You need to know
I love you so
And I’d do it all again and again

You are the sun
You are the rain, baby
That makes my life this foolish game
You need to know
I love you so
And I’d do it all again and again

You are the sun
You are the rain
That makes my life this foolish game
You need to know
I love you so
And I’d do it all again and again

You are the sun
You are the rain
That makes my life this foolish game
You need to know
I love you so
And I’d do it all again and again

Songwriters: Brenda Harvey-Richie, Lionel Richie
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

♫ Walk, Don’t Run ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

Walk, Don’t Run was written and originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954.  Two years later it was adapted and re-recorded by Chet Atkins.  But it was in 1960 that the song received world-wide acclaim when The Ventures released their recording of it.  Ultimately, Rolling Stone magazine would name it #82 of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.

This song was The Ventures’ first national release, became a huge hit and vaulted the group to stardom. The song was recorded before the band officially had a drummer. The Ventures’ website lists the drummer on Walk, Don’t Run as Skip Moore. Moore was not interested in touring and never was a full-time member of the band. As payment for his session work, Moore was given the choice of $25 or 25% of any royalties from sales of the single. He took the $25.  Methinks he probably regretted that choice more than a few times!

Bob Bogle played the lead guitar part on this first Ventures recording of the song. The band later rerecorded the song in 1964 and became the first band to score two top ten hits with two versions of the same tune.

Walk, Don’t Run has been covered by too many artists to even list.  In the UK, it was covered by the John Barry Seven, whose version peaked at #11 … as compared to The Ventures’ version that had peaked at #8 in the UK.  And in the U.S. and elsewhere, it was covered by Count Basie, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Glen Campbell, and even Led Zeppelin!!!  For today, I shall stick with The Ventures.

This hit #2 in the U.S. and #8 in the UK.

Lyrics?  There are no lyrics … it’s an instrumental!

♪ Yesterday ♪ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music, Social commentary

Yesterday … we were young, we trusted, we believed that somehow humans were humane, that we all wanted essentially the same things, that we could … trust.  Yesterday, we believed that love could overcome all odds, that right would somehow win out over might, that good ultimately beats evil.  We wore the rosy-coloured glasses, we believed the myths and fairy tales.  Yesterday …

According to Songfacts …

This is the most covered pop song of all time, with over 3,000 versions Say WHAT??? recorded according to The Guinness Book Of World Records. For years, it was also the song with the most radio plays, but in 1999 BMI music publishing reported that You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ had passed it. Still, at any given time, some version of “Yesterday” is probably being broadcast somewhere.

Paul McCartney wrote this song and was the only Beatle to play on it. It was the first time a Beatle recorded without the others.

McCartney claimed that while The Beatles were touring in Paris, he tumbled out of bed and this tune was in his head. He thought he had heard it somewhere before, and played the melody to different people in the music industry to make sure he wasn’t stealing it. The working title was “Scrambled Eggs” until Paul could figure out lyrics.  Scrambled Eggs???  smh.

This song caused a rift between McCartney and Yoko Ono. When The Beatles Anthology album was released, McCartney asked that the writing credit on this read “McCartney/Lennon,” since he wrote it. Yoko refused, and it was listed as “Lennon/McCartney,” which is how they usually credited songs written by either Beatle.

Some of the artists who have covered this song include Boyz II Men, Ray Charles, En Vogue, Marianne Faithfull, Marvin Gaye, Tom Jones, Nana Mouskouri, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, The Supremes, The Toys, Andy Williams, and Tammy Wynette.  Tammy Wynette???  You’ve got to be kidding me!  

Okay … my curiosity piqued, I had to go listen to Tammy Wynette’s version.  For those who may not know of Wynette, she is heavy, heavy country … twang and all!  I survived a full 17 seconds before I felt ill and exited.  So now, here’s Paul …

Yesterday
The Beatles

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be
There’s a shadow hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came suddenly

Why she had to go I don’t know she wouldn’t say
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Why she had to go I don’t know she wouldn’t say
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm

Songwriters: Michel Jean Pierre Colombier / John Winston Lennon / Paul James Mccartney
Yesterday lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Walk Like A Man ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

Tuesday night, I couldn’t stay asleep for some reason.  I was trying to think of the name of a particular song to play for a friend, and while I never did come up with that one, this song, Walk Like a Man, popped into my head and refused to leave all day yesterday!  It’s not an all-time favourite, but it has a decent sound to it, so in order to exorcise it from my head, I’m sharing it here with you!  The most interesting bit of trivia is the actual recording of this song back in January, 1963, sixty years ago!

The Four Seasons were recording this at a studio in the Abbey Victoria Hotel in New York, when a fire broke out in the rooms above the studio.  As smoke began to enter the studio, producer Bob Crewe locked the studio door and was determined to get the perfect recording, no matter what!  Soon, water began dripping from the ceiling, but no matter … the recording must go on!  Ultimately, firemen broke into the studio with axes, knocking Bob Crewe to the floor in the process!

This would go on to become the third #1 hit for The Four Seasons, after Sherry and Big Girls Don’t Cry, and also made it to #1 in New Zealand, and #12 in the UK.

Walk Like A Man

The Four Seasons

Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh
Walk like a man

Oh, how you tried to cut me down to size
Tellin’ dirty lies to my friends (ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh)
But my own father said give her up, don’t bother
The world isn’t comin’ to an end
(He said)

Walk like a man, talk like a man
Walk like a man, my son
No woman’s worth crawlin’ on the earth
So walk like a man, my son

Oh wee ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee-ooh
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh

Bye, baby, I don’t-a mean maybe
Gonna get along somehow (ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh)
Soon you’ll be cryin’ on account of all your lyin’
Oh yeah, just look who’s laughin’ now
(I’m gonna)

Walk like a man, fast as I can
Walk like a man from you
I’ll tell the world, forget about it, girl
And walk like a man from you

Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee-ooh
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee-ooh

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Robert Crewe / Robert Gaudio

Walk Like A Man lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

♫ I Can’t Stop Loving You ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

This song was written and originally recorded by a country singer named Don Gibson in 1958.  Ray Charles was known as an R&B singer, but he defied convention and decided to record an album of country and western songs. His producer, Sid Feller, put together tapes containing about 150 classic country songs so Charles could choose which ones to record. Included on the tapes was I Can’t Stop Loving You, which Charles remembered from when he would listen to The Grand Ole Opry.  Funny, but I never thought of this as a country song … I always thought of it as uniquely Ray Charles, but it turns out that some 700 others have covered this song!  The 700 includes Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Jim Reeves, Duke Ellington, Ike & Tina Turner, Andy Williams, Elvis Presley, and a bunch more!

According to SongFacts …

At first, this was not released as a single, but many DJs played it from the album and it started getting popular. A white singer named Tab Hunter heard Charles’ version and recorded his own, which was rushed out as a single. This infuriated Charles, so ABC Records quickly edited down the 4-minute album version and released it as a single with lots of publicity, including a full page ad in Billboard magazine. Charles’ version became a huge hit and went to #1 on the US Pop, R&B and Easy Listening charts.

I Can’t Stop Loving You
Ray Charles

I’ve made up my mind
To live in memory of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday
(Dreams of yesterday)

Those happy hours that we once knew
Tho’ long ago, they still make me blue
They say that time heals a broken heart
But time has stood still since we’ve been apart

I’ve made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday

Those happy hours
(That we once knew)
That we once knew
(Tho’ long ago)
Tho’ long ago
(Still make me blue)
Still ma-a-a-ake me blue
(They say that time)
They say that time
(Heals a broken heart)
Heals a broken heart
(But time has stood still)
Time has stood still
(Since we’ve been apart)
Since we’ve been apart

I said I made up my mind
To live in memory of the lonesome times

It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life of dreams of yesterday
(Of yesterday)

Songwriters: Don Gibson
I Can’t Stop Loving You lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Never Gonna Give You Up ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I don’t know why this one was in my head … did someone mention it in a comment and it stuck in my head, or did my head go wandering during my sleep and stumble across it?  Who knows 🤷  At any rate, it’s in my head, and so as I usually do, I’m sharing it in hopes it will hop into one of your heads now!

Released in 1987, this is among British singer/songwriter Rick Astley’s most popular songs, going to the top of the charts in the UK and staying there for five weeks, but also peaking in the #1 spot in many other nations, including Canada, the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Zimbabwe.  Not many can claim so many #1 spots!

This song was written by the British production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. It was inspired by a woman Pete Waterman had been seeing for three years. Rick Astley was staying with Waterman at the time, and after a three-hour phone call with the woman, Astley said, “You’re never gonna give her up.” Aitken and Waterman then changed the story a bit and made him the one who was vulnerable.

Rick Astley worked in Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s studio for two years, operating tape machines, singing on recordings for other singers, learning the trade and famously making the tea before the production trio wrote and produced this song for him, which became his first hit. It was recorded in October 1986, but wasn’t released until July 1987, as the producers were waiting for the right environment to break a new artist.

The music video, directed by Simon West, finds Astley singing at various West London locales, including an empty club where he gradually inspires a bartender (played by dancer Clive Clarke of the Top of the Pops dance troupe Zoo) to bust a move. Apparently, Clarke had been nursing a serious hangover when his attempt to do a stunt flip went awry and he landed on his head. Luckily, he wasn’t injured and nailed the stunt on another take.

Astley was a very pragmatic pop star who understood that his runaway success came with an expiration date. When the hits dried up after his 1991 album Free, his ego was in check and his finances in order …

“I didn’t leave my career penniless and kind of crazy, on the verge of insanity, which is how an awful lot of people tend to end up in pop music. I got away with it really. I ended up making what I considered to be real money, keeping hold of most of it, and having a very comfortable, relatively sane, great life since. That’s not a normal story for people who got into pop music the way I did.”

Astley kept making music, but with limited release. He stayed out of the spotlight until the Rickrolling trend, when he participated in some well-paid stunts like appearing from a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in 2008, but he didn’t push any product or make any new versions of the song to capitalize on its newfound notoriety. His next album didn’t come out until 2016.

Never Gonna Give You Up

Rick Astley

We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I (do I)
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it (say it)
Inside, we both know what’s been going on (going on)
We know the game and we’re gonna play it

And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it (to say it)
Inside, we both know what’s been going on (going on)
We know the game and we’re gonna play it

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Peter Alan Waterman / Matthew James Aitken / Michael Stock

Never Gonna Give You Up lyrics © All Boys Music Ltd., Sids Songs Ltd., Mike Stock Publishing Limited

♫ Vincent ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I last played this in 2019 … it’s one of those that you don’t think about until you see it mentioned or hear it played, and then you say, “Oh yeah … I remember that one!”

Van GoghVincent by Don McLean was released in 1972.  The words and imagery of this song represent the life, work, and death of Vincent Van Gogh. The Starry Night is one of the Dutch impressionist’s most famous paintings.The lyrics, “Paint your palette blue and gray” reflect the prominent colors of the painting, and are probably a reference to Vincent’s habit of sucking on or biting his paintbrushes while he worked. The “ragged men in ragged clothes” and “how you tried to set them free” refer to Van Gogh’s humanitarian activities and love of the socially outcast as also reflected in his paintings and drawings. “They would not listen/They did not know how” refers to Van Gogh’s family and some associates who were critical of his kindness to “the wretched.”

According to McLean …

“It was inspired by a book. And it said that it was written by Vincent’s brother, Theo. And Theo also had this illness, the same one Van Gogh had. So what caused the idea to percolate in my head was, first of all, what a beautiful idea for a piece of music. Secondly, I could set the record straight, basically, he wasn’t crazy. But then I thought, well, how do you do this? Again, I wanted to have each thing be different.

I’m looking through the book and fiddling around and I saw the painting. I said, Wow, just tell the story using the color, the imagery, the movement, everything that’s in the painting. Because that’s him more than he is him.

One thing I want to say is that music is like poetry in so many ways. You have wit and drama and humor and pathos and anger and all of these things create the subtle tools that an artist, a stage artist, a good one, uses. Sadly, this has really gone out of music completely. So it makes someone like me a relic, because I am doing things and people like me are doing things that utilize all the classic means of emotional expression.”

This hit #1 in the UK, #3 in Canada, and #12 in the U.S.

Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)
Don McLean

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and grey
Look out on a summer’s day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night
You took your life, as lovers often do
But I could have told you, Vincent
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you

Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can’t forget
Like the strangers that you’ve met
The ragged men in the ragged clothes
The silver thorn, a bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they’re not listening still
Perhaps they never will

Songwriters: Don McLean
Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Paint It, Black ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I really didn’t intend to go on a Rolling Stones streak this week, but I’ve already played a couple, so I might as well go for an even three, right?

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 1966, all five band members contributed to the final arrangement.  In contrast to previous Rolling Stones singles with straightforward rock arrangements, Paint It Black has unconventional instrumentation including a prominent sitar, the Hammond organ, and castanets.  The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018, and Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 213 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

While the lyrics appear to tell the story of a girl who died …

  • “I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black” – The hearse and limos.
  • “With flowers and my love both never to come back” – The flowers from the funeral and her in the hearse. He talks about his heart being black because of his loss.
  • “I could not foresee this thing happening to you” – It was an unexpected and sudden death.
  • “If I look hard enough into the setting sun, my love will laugh with me before the morning comes” – This refers to her in an afterlife.

… when asked about the meaning, Mick Jagger replied that “It means, ‘Paint It, Black.’ ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’ means ‘I can’t get no satisfaction.’”

Inspired by more Indian and Mid-Eastern sounds, the song was written while the band was in Fiji for three days. Adding to their musical experiments, guitarist Brian Jones first introduces the sitar into the mix—and marked the first time the Stones featured the instrument in their music—and would often play the wooden instrument, sat cross-legged, during television appearances. The sitar was most likely a discovery during the band’s break in the South Pacific around a tour in Australia.  Keith Richards said …

“They make sitars and all sorts of Indian stuff. We had the sitars, we thought we’d try them out in the studio. To get the right sound on Paint It Black we found the sitar fitted perfectly. We tried a guitar but you can’t bend it enough.”

Released in the midst of the Vietnam War, the song was later used on the late 1980s TV series Tour of Duty about the ongoing war and Stanley Kubrick even used the song in closing credits of his 1983 war classic Full Metal Jacket. There were never blatant political references in the song, but nonetheless it quickly became an anthem for a very culturally conscious and dissonant youth during the war.

This hit #1 in Canada, the UK and the U.S., and either #1 or #2 in many other countries.

Paint It, Black

Rolling Stones

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a newborn baby it just happens ev’ryday

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and I must have it painted black
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts
It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I want to see your face painted black, black as night, black as coal
Don’t want to see the sun, flying high in the sky
I want to see it painted, painted, painted, painted black, yea

Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

♫ Honky Tonk Women ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, History

A few days ago when I played Get Off Of My Cloud by the Rolling Stones, this one was mentioned by a couple of you in comments, and I was rather surprised to find that I hadn’t played it here before, but according to my archives, I haven’t (sometimes those archives lie to me, though).  Funny … I always thought this was “Honky Tonk Woman”, but it’s not … it’s “Women” plural!  Learn something new every day!

This was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  According to Keith Richards, the song had its origins …

“… in Brazil. Mick and I, Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg who was pregnant with my son at the time. Which didn’t stop us going off to the Mato Grasso and living on this ranch. It’s all cowboys. It’s all horses and spurs. And Mick and I were sitting on the porch of this ranch house and I started to play, basically fooling around with an old Hank Williams idea. ‘Cause we really thought we were like real cowboys. Honky tonk women. And we were sitting in the middle of nowhere with all these horses, in a place where if you flush the john all these black frogs would fly out. It was great. The chicks loved it. Anyway, it started out a real country honk put on, a hokey thing. And then couple of months later we were writing songs and recording. And somehow by some metamorphosis it suddenly went into this little swampy, black thing, a Blues thing. Really, I can’t give you a credible reason of how it turned around from that to that. Except there’s not really a lot of difference between white country music and black country music. It’s just a matter of nuance and style. I think it has to do with the fact that we were playing a lot around with open tunings at the time. So we were trying songs out just to see if they could be played in open tuning. And that one just sunk in.”

Lead guitarist Brian Jones was a founding member of the group and was considered their leader in their early years. Unfortunately, drug abuse made him pretty much worthless by 1969, and when The Stones finished recording Honky Tonk Women on June 8, 1969, they drove to his house and fired him. The single was released July 3, 1969, the same day Jones was found dead in his swimming pool.  The single was given away to all the fans who helped clean up after The Stones free concert in Hyde Park on July 5, 1969. This was the first concert Mick Taylor played with the band. A life-size cutout of Brian Jones, who died two days earlier, was kept on stage and the show was dedicated to him.

Mick Taylor had taken over for Brian Jones on lead guitar, and this was his first appearance on a Stones recording. Taylor claims he came up with the famous guitar riff, even though Richards plays it.

This was banned in China. When the group made arrangements to play there for the first time in 2003, they had to agree not to play this, “Brown Sugar,” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” and “Beast Of Burden.” They ended up not playing because of a respiratory disease that was going around China.

This song hit #1 in both the UK and U.S., and was in the top #5 almost everywhere it played!

Honky Tonk Women

Rolling Stones

I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride
She had to heave me right across her shoulder
‘Cause I just can’t seem to drink you off my mind

It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues

I laid a divorcée in New York City
I had to put up some kind of a fight
The lady then she covered me with roses
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind

It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues

It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues

Writer/s: Keith Richards, Mick Jagger
Publisher: Abkco Music Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

♫ People ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music, Social commentary

I didn’t need to look far or long for tonight’s song … it rather fell into my lap.  People … people who need people … people who help people … people who care about people.  Maybe it’s time for this world to stop for a few minutes, to remember what it means to be a human, a ‘people’.  We’re so busy putting down others, finding fault, seeking and finding superficial reasons to hate, that we’ve forgotten our humanity.  We all need people in our lives, but in exchange, we also need to be that ‘people’ in someone else’s life.  Take a deep breath … forget about the hatred, the conflict, the evil and the battles for just a minute and let Barbra’s voice carry you away …

According to SongFacts …

Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill wrote this for the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand as real-life entertainer Fanny Brice. While some sources claim “People” was a cast-off from the 1962 animated version of A Christmas Carol (starring the nearsighted Mister Magoo), Styne biographer Theodore Taylor disputed the theory.

The songwriting duo met in Palm Beach, Florida, to hash out songs for Funny Girl. They realized they needed a tender song to reflect the complicated romance between Brice and her gambler/con artist boyfriend Nick Arnstein. Taylor described the scene in his 1979 book Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne: “Jule turned to his collaborator Bob Merrill, ‘You told me the other night to work on [the lyric] ‘a very special person.’ I think I’ve got a helluva melody for it.’…’Great,’ Merrill yelled. ‘But now it’s not gonna be just a ‘special person.’ Listen.’ Then he ad-libbed, while Jule played the melody again: ‘People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world.'”

Styne and Merrill knew they had something special when they finished the song, which took just 30 minutes to write – if only they could convince the producers, who cut the tune from early tryouts. Merrill fought to keep the song in the musical, which seemed to be a losing battle until Streisand was permitted to sing it one night and it brought the house down.

This was Streisand’s breakthrough hit and marked several firsts in her career. Not only was it her first single to land in the Top 10, it was her first one to even break the Top 40. It was also her first chart-topper on the Adult Contemporary tally. That same year, she re-recorded it for her first #1 album, People.

People
Barbra Streisand

People,
People who need people,
Are the luckiest people in the world
We’re children, needing other children
And yet letting a grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children

Lovers, very special people
They’re the luckiest people in the world
With one person (one person)
One very special person (one very special person)

A feeling deep in your soul (in your soul)
Says you were half now you’re whole
No more hunger and thirst
First be a person who needs people
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world

No more hunger or thirst
First be a person who needs people (people need people)
People who need people
Are the luckiest (luckiest) people in the world

People who need people in the world
People who need people (send them your love)
Who need people
People who need people in the world (people who need people)
Send them your love (oh those people)
People who need people in the world (people who need people)
(Send them your love)
(People who need people in the world) people who need people
(Send them your love) people
People who need people in the world

(Send them your love)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Carmine Appice / Mark Stein / Tim Bogert / Vincent Martell
People lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc