APPEARS ONLet It Be (1970); Past Masters, Vol. 2 (1988) Let It Be...Naked (2003)
John Lennon never liked "Let It Be," the Beatles great song of consolation. He said that he couldn't hear the Beatles in it and guessed that Paul McCartney wanted to write a version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," which he didn't intend as a compliment. Lennon was partly right about his first contention and all wrong about the second: McCartney wrote "Let It Be" before "Bridge."
"Let It Be" is an atypical Beatles song, in that it is constructed around the introductory piano chords instead of the guitar chords that informed most of their music. But McCartney knew what he was doing: The piano lends a degree of intimacy that he probably couldn't have found in a guitar. Billy Preston's organ enters, quietly at first, to add a gospel element, then Ringo Starr's drums slowly add rock to the mixture. George Harrison adds an anthemic guitar solo and suddenly we do have a Beatles song: A sampling of styles and influences that cohere into an organic whole, perfectly summoning forth the spirit of maternal warmth and consolation at the heart of the song.
And that's what "Let It Be" is about: As troubles mount, set them aside and take perspective. How bad are they, really?
PERFORMED BY The Temptations, The Undisputed Truth
APPEARS ON Sky’s the Limit (1971), The Undisputed Truth (1971)
I thought about this song after watching some of the discussion on health care and the vote on Senator Baucus’ version of the reform bill on Tuesday. For the last few weeks I backed away from most of the coverage because the rhetoric got a little over the top for me but I have been keeping track of what’s going on. It appears to me that there has been a lot of lies and misinformation from every side designed to throw off the American public from the real issues. The worst part about that is that it’s been done by the people of their own political party. Some Republicans tell their supporters they are fighting for their civil liberties and freedoms and at the same time lobbyists for insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies line their pockets and dictate their actions. Some Democrats are doing the exact same thing except they have to fool their constituents by introducing bills for reform that are missing the key elements to keeping insurance companies honest. In the end we will have both groups together shaking hands on Capital Hill in harmony because big business got what they wanted.
That leads me to the song “Smiling Faces”. It was original recorded by The Temptations in 1971 and then by the Undisputed Truth Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1971(I know most of the songs I write about were recorded before I was born but I can’t help it), Smiling Faces speaks about how some people can appear to be your friend and have your best interest at heart but really have the wrong intentions. I’m sure when Whitfield and Strong wrote the song they were thinking about it from a more personal angle. Fortunately for me I don’t have personal references to go on for this song. In a broader sense I can relate well to the message in the song. Living in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina has opened my eyes and taught me valuable lessons about how some people can appear to be supportive and understanding of your needs and issues one minute and then turn around and plot ways to take advantage of your vulnerable state the next. You have to be careful not to judge too quickly and paint anyone in a positive or negative light.
The Temptations version is over 11 minutes long and features Eddie Kendricks on lead vocals. It was going to be edited down for a single release but he left the group before that could happen. This may be the one instance where I prefer another version of a song over a Temptations’ version because I personally prefer the Undisputed Truth’s version. This song was their shining moment and their only top 40 hit. Both versions sound similar but you can tell the difference in them. Norman Whitfield made a good living recording the same song with different artists at Motown. He wrote “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” that was recorded by The Miracles, Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight and The Pips. He also wrote “War” that was recorded by The Temptations and Edwin Starr. I guess if you have a hit then you need to get everything you can out of it.
Lyrics: Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes They don't tell the truth uh Smiling faces, smiling faces Tell lies and I got proof
The truth is in the eyes Cause the eyes don't lie, amen Remember a smile is just A frown turned upside down My friend let me tell you Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes They don't tell the truth, uh Smiling faces, smiling faces Tell lies and I got proof Beware, beware of the handshake That hides the snake I'm telling you beware Beware of the pat on the back It just might hold you back Jealousy (jealousy) Misery (misery) Envy
I tell you, you can't see behind smiling faces Smiling faces sometimes they don't tell the truth Smiling faces, smiling faces Tell lies and I got proof
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes They don't tell the truth Smiling faces, smiling faces Tell lies and I got proof (Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes) (Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes) I'm telling you beware, beware of the handshake That hides the snake Listen to me now, beware Beware of that pat on the back It just might hold you back Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes They don't tell the truth Smiling faces, smiling faces Tell lies and I got proof
Your enemy won't do you no harm Cause you'll know where he's coming from Don't let the handshake and the smile fool ya Take my advice I'm only try' to school ya
APPEARS ONRumor and Sigh (1991); Watching the Dark (1993)
Richard Thompson's triple-threat combination of literate songwriting, expert guitar playing, and impassioned singing have made him one of rock's most respected performers. Though his melodies are rooted in English folk music, Thompson's lyrics often reflect modern conflicts and existentialist dilemmas. Other songs, such as his masterpiece "From Galway to Graceland," grace us with exquisite simplicity and tenderness.
A great breakup song, "Keep Your Distance" combines highly literate lyrics ("sweeping out the footprints where I strayed") with terrific folk-rock hooks to look back on relationship that imploded under the pressures of its own intensity. The singer fears any contact with a former lover because involvement with that person cost both of them "our souls, our lives," far too great a price in Thompson's estimation. Love, after all, should lead to one's best self, not consign it to oblivion ("what can I do but fall").
But what of the enigmatic final line: "With us it must be all or none at all." While the thrust of the song leads to the conclusion that "none at all" is preferable, Thompson remains tempted and intrigued by the possibilities of "all." Even though he knows that that is a "desperate game," the chance that he might succumb to its lures are enough to warn his lover to "keep your distance." Because in the end, he knows that -- if she doesn't -- he will fall. Which raises the question: Why is the onus on her to keep distance between them? Maybe because he knows that he's incapable of doing so on his own.
LYRICS
If I cross your path again
Who know where? Who knows when?
On some morning without number
On some highway without end
Don't grasp my hand and say
"Fate has brought you here today"
Fate is only fooling with us, friend
Keep your distance, oh, keep your distance
When I feel you close to me what can I do but fall?
Keep your distance, keep your distance
With us it must be all or none at all
It's a desperate game we play
Throw our souls, our lives, away
Wounds that can't be mended
And debts that can't be paid
Oh I played and I got stung
Now I'm biting back my tongue
And sweeping out the footprints where I strayed
Keep your distance, oh, keep your distance
When I feel you close to me what can I do but fall?
Keep your distance, keep your distance
With us it must be all or none at all
Keep your distance, oh, keep your distance
When I feel you close to me what can I do but fall?
Keep your distance, keep your distance
With us it must be all or none at all
With us it must be all or none at all
With us it must be all or none at all
Note: That's Shawn Colvin on backing vocals and rhythm guitar. Also, the hum fades out as soon as the music starts.
APPEARS ON Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World (1968); Eva Cassidy - Live at Blues Alley (1996)
This is one of my favorite songs, but although I like the original Louis Armstrong version, the one that has a special place in my heart is the version by Eva Cassidy. We'll get to that in due time, though. Let's talk about the song itself first, though.
Bob Thiele was a record producer who produced recordings for John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Archie Shepp, and the like when he was head of Impulse! Records. In 1968 he and veteran songwriter George David Weiss wrote this song for Louis Armstrong for a project Thiele and Armstrong were working on. 1968 (for those of you who weren't around yet then) was a pretty tumultuous year; both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated in that year, and protest demonstrations pressing the issues those two were famous for - civil rights and an end to the war in Vietnam. Satchmo wanted a song that would promote positive feelings in the midst of all this strife, and Thiele and Weiss came up with just the right song. It has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future, with reference to babies being born into the world and having much to look forward to. Satch loved it.
Unfortunately, ABC Records, to whom Armstrong was under contract, didn't like it. In fact, Thiele had to lock ABC sales executive Larry Newton out of the recording session because Newton hated the song and wanted to abort the session. Needless to say, ABC didn't promote the record (first released as a single), and at first it didn't get much play in the US. But it took off in the United Kingdom, where it hit #1 on the singles chart and was the biggest-selling single of 1968.
ABC Records' European distributor EMI forced ABC Records to put out a What a Wonderful World album in 1968, but again, it flopped in the US because it wasn't promoted, while it did well in the UK. Despite ABC's dislike of the song, it gained a measure of popularity because Armstrong sang it every opportunity he got, especially on TV appearances. People loved the song, and loved Satchmo singing it. After his death in 1971 it was rereleased, and from that point on it became a hit and the much-loved standard we've all listened to. It especially became attached to Christmas for some reason; I think Satch sang it on one of Perry Como's Christmas specials, and the image stuck.
So what was all the fuss about with Larry Newton and the other bigwigs at ABC Records? Here are the lyrics; maybe you can figure it out!
Lyrics:
I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them blue, for me and you. And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white, The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky, Also the faces of people going by. I see friends shaking hands, say how do you do? They're really saying, I love you.
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow, They'll learn much more than I'll ever know. And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.
Yes I think to myself... what a wonderful world.
Still confused? Yeah, me too! Unless ABC thought it was too sappy for the likes of the great Louis Armstrong. Unless they just didn't like the message. Hmmmm... Anyhow, here's the original recording of "What a Wonderful World" by Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong.
And now to my favorite version. If you've been reading this blog for a while now, you've seen mr write about Eva Cassidy before. She had the voice of an angel, great chops on both guitar and piano, and an exquisite, finely tuned sense of musical taste. And she was taken from us far too soon: melanoma killed her in November of 1996. You can read more about her in my post about "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", of which Eva did the most haunting arrangement, and which became her signature tune.
Today I uploaded a slideshow video I'd been working on for a while to YouTube. It's called "Wonderful World", and it consists of nature shots taken in and around Newport, RI, and backed by Eva Cassidy's studio version of "What a Wonderful World" (you can check it out here, if you like). It got me to thinking about the song itself, and inspired me to write this post. It also got me to looking for my favorite video of Eva performing this song live at Blues Alley in January of 1996. Found it!
PERFORMED BY Marianne Faithfull; Waylon Jennings; Cowboy Junkies; ... amongst many others.
APPEARS ON "Faithless" (1978); "Dreaming My Dreams With You" (2001); "Trinity Sessions" (1988); ... amongst many others.
"Dreaming My Dreams With You" is a gorgeous song written by singer-songwriter Allen Reynolds who, although having written some fine songs, is probably more famous for his production work with artists of very varied quality! Reynolds is perhaps best known for producing nigh on every Garth Brooks LP. However, he's also produced albums for artists of far better quality such as, amongst others, Kathy Mattea, Hal Ketchum, Crystal Gayle and Emmylou Harris.
An array of artists have covered this classic. Most of them very badly! I was looking for our favourite version - the beautiful fragile Cowboy Junkies version from the mighty "Trinity Sessions" LP - but couldn't find a vid. So instead here's Waylon's decent interpretation of the song (from the 2001 album of the same name) and, perhaps even better, the lovely version by Marianne Faithfull (about whom the song could easily have been written!) from her excellent 1978 comeback album "Faithless".
"Dreaming My Dreams With You" is a complex, beautiful, bijou song of heart-wrenching regret and loneliness, but also too a song affirming the power of love, even in wretched circumstance.
It's a tale of anguished separation from a special loved one lost through the protagonist's unstated weakness. It's a recurring weakness from which he hopes "that I've learned this time."
The haunting refrain of "I'll always miss dreaming my dreams with you" highlights the essence of his longing for those long lost moments of true love. He dreams that the pain will eventually end and that "Someday I'll get over you."
Despite this agony, he still strongly believes in, and affirms, the concept of love ("I won't let it change me. Not if I can. I'd rather believe in love.") However, it may be an idyllic, perhaps over-idealised, concept of love to which he aspires ("I hope that I find what I'm reaching for. The way that it is in my mind.") And that may be his real tragedy.
PERFORMED BY: Skip James—also Rory Block, Beck, John Cephas et al.
APPEARS ON: Skip James: The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James (Yazoo), Rory Block: Gone Woman Blues (Rounder), etc.
The old blues often isn’t “easy” music—if we listen to the lyrics of many of these tunes, we encounter violence, both random & that spurred by powerful negative emotions, particularly sexual jealousy, & often violence against women—this can arise in songs by even relatively affable singers such as Mississippi John Hurt; while his later version of the song “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” is quite mild, his 1926 version is quite violent. Singers such as Robert Johnson seem to celebrate murder & beating (“32-20 Blues” & “Me & the Devil”) & Skip James—the great bluesman we’re considering here today—wrote the musically great but lyrically disturbing song “Crow Jane,” in which the singer apparently shots Crow Jane simply because she held her “head up high.” Those of us who like to listen to traditional music really are bound (my opinion) to come to terms with this; & those, like myself, who play & perform this music have to come to terms with it in different & perhaps more exacting ways.
Skip James was almost certainly a musical genius, if the term means anything at all. His fingerstyle blues—quite a bit different in technique from contemporaries such as Robert Johnson & Son House from the same Mississippi Delta region—involved guitar playing of a very high order. It’s been said that his 1930s version of “I’m So Glad” (musically quite different from Cream’s later cover) is as fine a piece of fingerstyle guitar as you can hear. In some cases—as in the song under consideration, “Devil Got My Woman”—James used an innovative tuning which made the guitar’s unfretted strings play an E minor chord; this tuning is sometimes called “Bentonia tuning” after James’ hometown, or “Cross Tuning,” a term, as I understand, coined by James himself. A lot of people write about this tune as accentuating the “minor” or mournful character of the songs, & there’s certainly truth in this. On the other hand—& to be technical for a moment—the difference between a major & minor chord is one tone—the third tone of a given scale. So for instance an E major chord contains the notes E, G# & B; an E minor chord contains the notes E, G natural & B. Much of blues playing involves a play between those two forms of the third tone—in E, for instance, a rocking back & forth between G# & G natural. This produces a very characteristic sound. However, if you look at James’ Cross Tuning, you’ll notice that the G natural appears on an open string only once: the tuning goes E, B, E, G, B, E. Because of this, the guitar player is able to limit the use of the third tone, making the song in a sense more eerie, because for stretches of time it doesn’t resolve to either major or minor, but exists in a sort of nether world between.
But what about the lyrical material? “Devil Got My Woman” is a landscape of betrayal—the woman betrays the singer, the singer betrays his friend, & at least in some sense, the friend also betrays the singer. This song is generally considered to be inspired by James’ own broken marriage. However, the motivations behind all these betrayals aren’t understood in terms of human impulses: sexual desire, anger, disappointment, jealousy. They are explicitly understood in a frame of reference of demonic possession. James himself said:
You can lay down happy at night, you and your companion... and in harmony. Everything goin' well. Satan'll creep in the house overnight... next mornin' you cannot get a good word out of her. Why? Because Satan has got the bill of sale over her. He done crept in overnight...
James was, like Son House, a mass of contradictions when it came to religion. He was an ordained Baptist preacher who reportedly believed in Voodoo practices, & also was reputed to be a compulsive womanizer & gambler. He claimed to always carry a gun, & said, “I never draw a gun unless I pull the trigger.” These contradictions certainly come out in his music. For a compelling account of James, you might look at The Haunting of Skip James on the Fascinating People blog.
There are two versions of this song in circulation—one is James’ 1930s version, which only contains three verses, & I must say I find the condensed form very effective. The other version is typified by John Cephas’ cover in the video below; while Cephas is a very gifted singer & guitar player, I find this version a bit more unfocused. I’d also commend Rory Block’s version (as “Devil Got My Man”). Ms Block is a favorite artist of mine—someone who has the rare gift of being able to play old-time blues very close to the source & yet at the same time make the music seem completely her own.
Finally—& to return at last to my original point—I’m aware that this song is sometimes considered misogynist for the line “I’d rather be the devil than to be that woman’s man.” Comparing this with “Crow Jane,” for example (you can see the lyrics for "Crow Jane" here)—a song I can appreciate musically but wouldn’t perform—it seems that the landscape is much more complicated, involving demonically-inspired betrayal, & a sense that relationships exist in a place where human agency only has a limited influence.
I’d be interested to hear what others think of these songs along these lines.
Devil Got My Woman
I'd rather be the devil, to be that woman’s man I'd rather be the devil, to be that woman’s man Aw, nothin' but the devil, changed my baby's mind Was nothin' but the devil, changed my baby's mind
I laid down last night, laid down last night I laid down last night, tried to take my rest My mind got to ramblin', like a wild geese From the west, from the west
The woman I love, woman that I loved Woman I loved, took her from my best friend But he got lucky, stoled her back again And he got lucky, stoled her back again
APPEARS ONHank Williams: The Unreleased Recordings (2009)
Hank Williams knew a terrible secret, and he revealed it in his songs and performances. He knew that humans have a core of fear where love is a fleeting and treacherous thing, where redemption lies in death, and where loneliness and isolation is the human fate. His performance of "Cool Water," Bob Nolan's campfire classic about a man and a mirage,, fearlessly explores this core, leading us on the harrowing journey that ultimately claimed Williams' life.
Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, a fiddle, and the occasional whisper of a pedal steel guitar, Hank’s deliberate phrasing summons a paradoxical sense of inevitability. It’s a bravura performance, arguably Williams’ finest vocal. That a simple ballad like "Cool Water" can evoke this illuminates the mysterious alchemy that occurs when a great artist perceives something in a song that no one else -- not even the song's writer -- senses.
For Williams turns “Cool Water” into a Conradian odyssey, a tale of a parched soul pleading for deliverance only to find that redemption is a mirage. Through this performance, Williams reveals his ultimate fear: That the journey is not the reward, but just another part of the horror. So, while he expresses faith that "He'll hear our prayer and show us where there's water," it's not entirely clear that he believes what he's saying. Williams drives this point home in the final verse, where he discloses that what he really desires is release from the "quest for water." His fear -- and ours -- is that there is no water, merely an endless spiritual search that leads only to disillusion. Better, he thinks, to be released from the search than to discover that it is all a mirage.
LYRICS
All day I face the barren waste without a taste of water
Cool water
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry and souls that cry for water
Cool water
The nights are cool and I'm a fool, each star's a pool of water
Cool water
But with the dawn I'll wake and yawn and carry on to water
Cool water
Keep a-movin' Dan
Don't you listen to him Dan
He's a devil not a man
And he spreads the burning sand with water
Dan can't you see
That big green tree
Where the water's runnin' free
And it's waiting there for me and you
Cool water
The shadows sway and seem to say tonight we pray for water
Cool water
And way up there He'll hear our prayer and show us where there's water
Cool water
Dan's feet are sore, he yearning for just one thing more than water
Cool water
Like me, I guess, he'd like to rest where there's no quest for water
Cool water
Here's a link to a video of Hank's brilliant performance of "Cool Water." It's blurry and the synching is off, but his desperation comes through anyway. It's that powerful a performance.
After a hiatus, I want to revive Just A Song. My move east has exposed me to all kinds of new (to me) talent who have inspired me to take pen in hand. As always, all entries will include the name of the artist and song, the albums it appears on, miscellaneous notes, the lyrics, and an audio and/or video of the song. Some entries will also feature annotations and/or a brief essay about the song. I'll also include links to official web sites and reviews.
SONG Let It Be
