♫ In The Midnight Hour ♫ (Redux)

Posted on May 15, 2023 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

For some reason, this song has been swimming around in my head tonight … first time I’ve thought of it in ages, but it just doesn’t want to leave, so … you know what that means!

The year was 1965. The artist was Wilson Pickett, and In the Midnight Hour would become his breakout hit, hitting #21 in the U.S. and #12 in the UK. He went on to become a soul music legend and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

Pickett and guitarist Steve Cropper wrote this, interestingly, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where Martin Luther King would later be assassinated in 1968. Said Cropper …

“I say in my shows that playing the guitar is real simple, you just follow the dots – the dots on neck on every guitar are in the same place. That’s how I came up with the intro for this. They go, It couldn’t be that simple,’ then all of them go home and get their guitars out and go, ‘Wow, it is!'”

According to SongFacts …

When Pickett and Booker T and the MG’s first tried to record the song, nobody liked the result – then Jerry Wexler had the idea to change the rhythm so that the teenagers could dance The Jerk, which was a big dance craze at the time. To do this, Wexler had the rhythm section stress the “two” beat, which simulated the dance. Wexler also demonstrated the dance, which the band found amusing.

Steve Cropper explained on his website: “He was pretty adamant about how Jackson and I stayed really locked in, and that was probably one of the first examples of a song that has a really delayed backbeat, and strictly in the design of the jerk dance. And Al Jackson and I had both seen that dance – I think it was in Detroit – we were playing a show out there and we were noticing these kids doing this dance a little bit different from some of the other kids that we had seen dancing, and Al Jackson picked up on that right away, so he knew immediately what Jerry Wexler was talking about when he said ‘I want that jerk beat.’ So, it worked out pretty good, and of course Wilson fell right into it being a dancer himself.”

The song charted at #12 in the UK and #21 in the U.S.

In the Midnight Hour
Wilson Pickett

I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
That’s when my love come tumbling down
I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
When there’ no one else around
I’m gonna take you, girl, and hold you
And do all things I told you, in the midnight hour

Yes I am, oh yes I am
One thing I just wanna say, right here

I’m gonna wait till the stars come out
And see that twinkle in your eyes
I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
That’s when my love begins to shine

You’re the only girl I know
Can really love me so, in the midnight hour

Oh yeah, in the midnight hour
Yeah, all right, play it for me one time, now

I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
That’s when my love come tumbling down
I’m gonna wait, way in the midnight hour
That’s when my love begin to shine, just you and I
Oh, baby, just you and I
Nobody around, baby, just you and I
Oh, right, you know what?
I’m gonna hold you in my arms, just you and I
Oh yeah, in the midnight hour
Oh, baby, in the midnight hour

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Wilson Pickett / Steve Cropper
In the Midnight Hour lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group, BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music Inc

♫ David Crosby — A Tribute ♫

Posted on January 20, 2023 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music, Tributes

I always used to equate David Crosby with the Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Sadly, David Crosby died yesterday at the age of 81. He will be missed, but he left a wonderful legacy of his work. Naturally I knew he was one of the founders of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but I did not know, until I began working on this post last night, that David Crosby helped create the Byrds! Mr. Crosby was inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as a founding member of the Byrds and as a founder of CSN&Y.

David Crosby’s history — both musical and personal — are long and filled with twists and turns, so I shan’t even begin to try to write a brief synopsis here, for I’ve read three articles about him in the last hour and cannot even get my head around it all. I’m sure you’ll be able to find tons of biographical info in these days after his death, plus he has written two autobiographies: Since Then: How I Survived Everything and Lived to Tell About It and Long Time Gone: the autobiography of David Crosby.

For today, though, I would like to just focus on his music … so here are just a few of my favourites, with links to my previous posts about each in case you’d like to learn more about the song or see the lyrics.

Marrakesh Express

Ohio

Our House

Southern Cross

Teach Your Children

♫ Bring It On Home To Me ♫ (Redux)

Posted on September 3, 2022 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

It’s been a while since I played some Sam Cooke, hasn’t it? Like a few others in my repertoire, Cooke is always good for a nice, mellow sound. I have played this one only once, almost exactly three years ago on September 4th, 2019.

This song, written by Cooke, was released on May 8, 1962 as the ‘B-side’ to Having a Party. The song was initially offered to fellow singer Dee Clark, who turned it down. It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Bring it on Home has been recorded by numerous artists in a variety of styles. Lou Rawls, who sang the background call-and-response on Cooke’s version, recorded his own in 1970. The Animals made it a UK hit 1965, Eddie Floyd’s version went to US #17 in 1968, and Mickey Gilley had a #1 Country Hit with the song in 1976. It has also been featured in a number of television series and movies … none of which I have ever seen … go figure.

I will offer up two versions tonight … my preference, always, is the Sam Cooke version, but I am also playing The Animals version for a couple of reasons. One, a number of you hail from the UK where this one was the more well-received, and two, I know that our friend rawgod is a fan of Eric Burdon and the Animals.

Bring It On Home to Me
Sam Cooke

If you ever change your mind
About leaving, leaving me behind
Oh, oh, bring it to me
Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)

I know I laughed when you left
But now I know I only hurt myself
Oh, oh, bring it to me
Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)

I’ll give you jewelry and money too
That ain’t all, that ain’t all I’ll do for you
Oh, if bring it to me
Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)

You know I’ll always be your slave
‘Till I’m buried, buried in my grave
Oh, honey bring it to me
Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)

One more thing
I tried to treat you right
But you stayed out, stayed out at night
But I forgive you, bring it to me
Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
Yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)

Songwriters: Sam Cooke
Bring It On Home to Me lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc

♫ Here Comes The Sun ♫

Posted on July 28, 2022 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

For some reason, I have been in ‘Beatles mode’ of late, and the other night, this one popped into my head unbidden. I searched the archives, found I had played it back in 2019, and decided the time is just about right for a redux!

One of the political cartoons I posted yesterday put this song into my head, and you guys know what happens when a song gets stuck in my head! It’s been bouncing around in there all day, and, as I only know bits and pieces of the lyrics, I keep making my own as I go along! Sometimes that can be rather interesting, actually.

George Harrison wrote this in Eric Clapton’s garden using one of Clapton’s acoustic guitars. When the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein died in 1967, the band had to handle more of their accounting and business affairs, which Harrison hated. He wrote this after attending a round of business meetings. This song was inspired by the long winters in England which Harrison thought went on forever.

In the documentary The Material World, Eric Clapton talked about writing this song with Harrison:

“It was one of those beautiful spring mornings. I think it was April, we were just walking around the garden with our guitars. I don’t do that, you know? This is what George brought to the situation. He was just a magical guy … we sat down at the bottom of the garden, looking gout, and the sun was shining; it was a beautiful morning, and he began to sing the opening lines and I just watched this thing come to life.”

John Lennon did not play on this. Around this time, he was making a habit of not playing on Harrison’s compositions as the two were not on the best of terms. The two eventually settled their differences as George contributed quite a bit to Lennon’s album Imagine two years later. When Harrison died in 2001, many artists performed this at their concerts as a tribute. It was played at the induction ceremonies of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the all-star jam.

Here Comes the Sun
The Beatles

Here comes the sun (doo doo doo)
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here

Here comes the sun (doo doo doo)
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Here comes the sun (doo doo doo)
Here comes the sun
It’s all right
It’s all right

Songwriters: George Harrison
Here Comes the Sun lyrics © The Bicycle Music Company

♫ Let’s Stay Together ♫ (Redux)

Posted on July 20, 2022 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

A day or two ago, one of you mentioned Al Green and so I asked around and …

… look folks, it’s our friend Al Green! What you got for us tonight Al? Ah yeah … that’s great …

Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. He was referred to on the museum’s site as being “one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music”. He has also been referred to as “The Last of the Great Soul Singers”. Green is the winner of 11 Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Let’s Stay Together … that tune turns me inside-out! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner! Thanks Al!

Al Green wrote the lyrics to this song; the music was written by Al Jackson Jr., and Willie Mitchell. Jackson is a legendary soul drummer who recorded with Booker T. & the MG’s; Mitchell was Green’s producer. Green did about 100 takes before he got one he liked, and even then he wasn’t sure the song was any good. It was Mitchell who set him straight, telling him it “had magic on it.”

According to Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 500 songs, after Willie Mitchell gave Al Green a rough mix of a tune he and drummer Al Jackson had developed, Green wrote the lyrics in 5 minutes. However, Green didn’t want to record the song and for two days he argued with Willie Mitchell before finally agreeing to cut it.

Tina Turner’s 1983 cover of this song revitalized her career, returning her to the charts in both the UK and US for the first time for over a decade. Now, I am a big Tina Turner fan, but for this song, only Al Green will do. However, since Tina Turner’s version was bigger in the UK, and I have a lot of UK friends, I will play her version too.

Barack Obama sang a couple of lines of the song during an appearance on January 19, 2012 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem for a fund-raising event. Al Green was the opening act and as the American president took to the stage, he noted the soul legend’s presence in the audience and surprised his staffers close by with an impromptu spot of crooning. “Those guys didn’t think I would do it,” he joked. “I told you I was going to do it. The Sandman did not come out.” I have included that short clip just because … I wanted to.

I used to believe that someday, some guy would sing this to me. Sigh. 🐺

Let’s Stay Together
Al Green

Let’s stay together
I, I’m I’m so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me
Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you

Let me say that since, baby, since we’ve been together
Loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me, be the one you come running to
I’ll never be untrue

Oh baby
Let’s, let’s stay together (‘gether)
Lovin’ you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad

Why, why some people break up
Then turn around and make up
I just can’t see
You’d never do that to me (would you, baby)
Staying around you is all I see
(Here’s what I want us do)

Let’s, we oughta stay together (‘gether)
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Come on
Let’s stay, (let’s stay together) let’s stay together
Loving you whether, whether times are good or bad

Songwriters: Willie Mitchell / Al Green / Al Jackson Jr
Let’s Stay Together lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

♫ The Everly Brothers — A Brief Tribute ♫

Posted on August 24, 2021 by jilldennison under music, Tributes

In my current state, it would almost certainly have escaped my notice, but for my dear friend Ellen who sent me an email to let me know that Don Everly, the older of the two Everly Brothers, had just died on Saturday at the age of 84. He was preceded in death by his brother and musical partner, Phil, who died in 2014, sixteen days before he would have turned 75.

I well remember listening to the Everly Brothers as a child and during my early teen years. They began writing and recording their own music in 1956, and their first hit song came in 1957, with Bye Bye Love, written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The song hit #2 in the spring of 1957, and additional hits would follow through 1958, many of them written by the Bryants, including Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have to Do Is Dream, and Problems. In 1960, they signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records and recorded Cathy’s Clown, written by the brothers themselves, which was their biggest selling single.

The Everly Brothers charted 31 singles on the Hot 100, including three #1s: Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have to Do Is Dream, and Cathy’s Clown. The latter was the first single to top the US and UK charts simultaneously. The Everly Brothers’ career slumped in their home country in the wake of the British Invasion in 1964. However they retained a faithful following in countries including Canada, Australia and the UK. They scored nine Top 40 hits in the UK between 1963 and 1965, including the self-penned The Price Of Love.

The Everly Brothers ended their partnership in 1973 after a gig on July 14, 1973, at Knotts Berry Farm in California, at which Phil smashed his guitar and stormed off the stage. Embarking on a solo career, Phil charted three times as a solo artist with the #37 peaking Who’s Gonna Keep Me Warm being his biggest hit. He also had a Top Ten entry in 1983 on the UK singles chart with She Means Nothing To Me, a duet with Cliff Richard. The brothers reunited in 1983, when they appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The concert spawned a well-received live LP and video.

The Everly Brothers were part of the first group of ten artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Rather than a single song and set of lyrics, I shall post a few of their most popular songs as a tribute to a fine duo whose music will live on.

All I Have to do is Dream (1958) Charted at #1 in both the U.S. and UK

Cathy’s Clown (1960) Charted at #1 in both the U.S. and UK

Wake Up Little Susie (1957) Charted at #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK

Bye Bye Love (1957) Charted at #2 in the U.S. and #6 in the UK

♫ In The Midnight Hour ♫

Posted on July 17, 2020 by jilldennison under music