55 years ago today (January 14th), Bob Dylan began the two days of recording that would be used on his groundbreaking Bringing It All Back Home album, which included "Mr. Tambourine Man." Less than a week later, The Byrds recorded their own chart-topping version of the song. Why? If you wanted lyrics as good as Bob Dylan's, you had to record a Dylan song. Original Byrd David Crosby says there was a good reason they chose to record Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" for their first single -- and why Byrds lead singer Roger McGuinn continued to record Dylan songs throughout the band's career.
“We were into Dylan songs because they were the best songs and we didn’t know anyone else who could write words like that. We knew we wanted to play electric and Roger, who was the essence of The Byrds, had a flair for translating Dylan into something accessible and something floaty and magical. And he did it, and we sang it, and there it was. I still think that that was a milestone in terms of putting really good lyrics on popular radio.”
Steel Mill, the New Jersey club band featuring Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, Danny Federici, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez and two others, played its first West Coast show, at the Matrix in San Francisco, 50 years ago today. (January 13th). The late E Street Band organist Danny Federici thought the song Blinder By the Light was too fast for people to dance to. It was recorded for the album Greetings From Asbury Park, New Jersey It didn't even chart, though a cover by Manfred Mann's Earth Band topped the charts four years later.
Danny Federici recalled in a 1990s interview that Bruce didn't really have a band when he recorded Greetings From Asbury Park, New Jersey. When they finally took songs like "Blinded by the Light" on the road, they weren't exactly easy to play.
“Bruce had most of the songs intact on that record, he used a lot of different players. And by the time he called us back, basically, the material had been recorded and he needed people to play on tour. I always thought they were fast. ‘Blinded by the Light’ was like ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka. I don’t know, it’s kinda hard to dance to and it always seems we had to keep the tempo back or it could run away with itself. But it was exciting. It was steady jobs. We had bookings. We were, like, in the van and on the road. This is a fantastic thing, to be able to work steadily.”
Donald Fagen celebrates his 72nd birthday today (January 10th). The first Steely Dan song they actually heard on the radio, which Donald Fagen says was "definitely a mindblower." was Do It Again fro the album: Can't Buy a Thrill It made it to number-six on the Billboard Hot 100
Technically, "Do It Again" wasn't Steely Dan's first single. Before their debut album, Can't Buy a Thrill, came out they put out a 45 titled "Dallas," which sunk without a trace. But "Do It Again" was the first one off the album and even more importantly, the band's first major hit. Singer-keyboardist Donald Fagen recalls what it meant for him to hear it on the radio for the very first time.
“We were making albums more quickly then, so it was maybe four months after we had recorded it. We heard it on the radio in Los Angeles where we were living, driving down the freeway there. And it was definitely a mindblower to hear something that you’d actually created playing on the radio.”
Jimmy Page celebrates his 76th birthday today (January 9th). Led Zeppelin has been accused of stealing riffs sometimes rightfully; sometimes not. The song : "Livin' Lovin' Maid (She's Just a Woman)" was a dig at a groupie via an Eddie Cochran-inspired riff.It was on Led Zeppelin II written by Jimmy page and Robert Plant. It was the B-side of Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" single (which got to number-four on the Billboard Hot 100), it actually reached number-65 due to the amount of airplay it received on its own.
Jimmy Page says his music for "Livin' Lovin' Maid (She's Just a Woman)" was inspired by -- but not a copy of -- the song "Nervous Breakdown" by '50s rocker Eddie Cochran. He also says Zeppelin's previous "Breakdown" song -- "Communication Breakdown" -- has nothing to do with the Cochran number.
"Curiously enough, 'Livin' Lovin' Maid,' that's the one that actually came from 'Nervous Breakdown.' I loved Eddie Cochran -- 'Something Else,' 'Summertime Blues,' yeah, no -- real Eddie Cochran fan, no doubt about it. That was an initial source, it has nothing whatsoever to do with it at the end of the day. And that's how Zeppelin stuff could arrive, you know, through the ether."
AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young would have turned 67 years old today (January 6th). When Bon Scott died the band wanted a to do a tribute but many disagreed with what they came up with. The song and album was to be called "Back in Black" but guitarist Angus Young says they had to stick to their guns when it came to using "Back in Black" as a title for a song -- and an album -- that saluted their late singer Bon Scott.
“That was our way of saluting Bon’s thing. We didn’t want to drudge out a tragedy, so we figured that was the best tribute we could do. So we made it black as the mark of respect when somebody passes away. That was the idea of it. There was a lot of people, actually, at the time, when we first said what we wanted, y’know, they were all saying, ‘You can’t do that. People don’t like that. Black, it’s negative thing.’ But for us it meant something and that’s what we stuck by.
8 years ago today Van Halen announced their 2012 tour with David Lee Roth. In the song: "So This Is Love?" from "Fair Warning" there is a question mark at the end of the title. According to David Lee Roth, "When someone says, 'I love you,' that's actually a question," David Lee Roth explains (through him laughing) why the song's title ends in a question mark.
“Well, love is a collect call [laughs]. And just remember that when someone says, ‘I love you,’ that’s actually a question [laughs]. And with that firmly in mind [laughs], a lot of us arrive at some point in a relationship going, ‘So this is love?’"
David Bowie would've turned 73 today. He called his song: "Let's Dance" "a great blues song." With its Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar solo, its no wonder the late David Bowie described "Let's Dance" the way he did in this interview done shortly after he’d played a stripped-down version of it at Neil Young’s 1996 Bridge School Benefit:
“A really good blues song — that did me in. [Laughs] Funnily enough we did that at the Neil Young show, “Let’s Dance,” as a city blues, with bottle caps on the bottom of me shoes and used that as the rhythm source, like the old blues guys used to play up in Chicago. And, uh, it sounded really cool as a blues. It’s a great blues song.”
Stephen Stills celebrates his 75th birthday today (January 3rd). The first song you heard from Crosby, Stills and Nash was "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" Stills took three songs he'd just played for Crosby and Nash and put them together into a suite "on the spot." Its appearance on the first album and in the movie Woodstock helped launch the band to stardom. David Crosby recalls his reaction when Stills first played it for him, and Stills tells what happened next.
Crosby: “What would you do it somebody came up and played you that song? He played it for me and Nash and we went ‘Ah.’”
Stills: “Actually, I played you one verse of each movement of it and then said, ‘Hey guys, what if I just put them together?’ And they went, ‘What? They’re all different.’ And I said, ‘Try this, look,’ and literally did it on the spot.”
AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young would have turned 67 years old today (January 6th). When Bon Scott died the band wanted a to do a tribute but many disagreed with what they came up with. The song and album was to be called "Back in Black" but guitarist Angus Young says they had to stick to their guns when it came to using "Back in Black" as a title for a song -- and an album -- that saluted their late singer Bon Scott.
“That was our way of saluting Bon’s thing. We didn’t want to drudge out a tragedy, so we figured that was the best tribute we could do. So we made it black as the mark of respect when somebody passes away. That was the idea of it. There was a lot of people, actually, at the time, when we first said what we wanted, y’know, they were all saying, ‘You can’t do that. People don’t like that. Black, it’s negative thing.’ But for us it meant something and that’s what we stuck by.
8 years ago today Van Halen announced their 2012 tour with David Lee Roth. In the song: "So This Is Love?" from "Fair Warning" there is a question mark at the end of the title. According to David Lee Roth, "When someone says, 'I love you,' that's actually a question," David Lee Roth explains (through him laughing) why the song's title ends in a question mark.
“Well, love is a collect call [laughs]. And just remember that when someone says, ‘I love you,’ that’s actually a question [laughs]. And with that firmly in mind [laughs], a lot of us arrive at some point in a relationship going, ‘So this is love?’"
