La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Is That a Derringer in Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Glad to See Me?" Edition

Okay, apologies for the lame title joke.

But in my defense, I got a little freaked out when I heard the recent news of Rick Derringer's passing.

The short version is that back in my teenage years I was a huge fan of The McCoys. And one of the reasons was that front-guy/fab guitarist Derringer was pretty much exactly my age, which I thought was incredibly cool and inspirational.

Needless to say, having him now die at my age is, shall we say, somewhat less thrilling. 😎

Oh well, in any case, I've posted this song before (in 2021), but I absolutely adore it, so cut me some slack. It's from 1967, and it was basically only a minor hit at the time, but it remains one of my favorite things Derringer ever did. I mean seriously -- between the brilliant lead vocal and that fabulous Wes Montgomery-inspired guitar solo (which was major league hip at the time, and still is) Rick would deserve to be immortal if he had never achieved anything else.

And yes, I owned the 45 version.

All of which, to nobody's surprise, leads us inexorably to today's business.

To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) guitar solo on a pop/rock/country/soul single of the Sixties is...???

No arbitrary rules whatsoever. Oh wait, there is one -- nothing by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band need apply in either category. Sorry, I love Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop, but they do tend to go on longer than the rest of the stuff that I hope is gonna get nominated. In other words, I'm prejudiced in favor of more concise stuff, and since it's my blog...😎😎

Alrighty then..."Beat the Clock" is obviously my pick for fave. So what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

The Masses Are Clamoring For More Weasels Music, Comrades!!!

So speaking as we were the other day of my old garage band chums The Weasels, please enjoy their sublimely Fountains-of-Wayne-before-their-time-ish "Silent Treatment."

Cool song, no?

And therein lies a tale and an opportunity.

The short version: "Silent Treatment" was recorded in the Weasels 4-track basement studio in sylvan Teaneck, NJ, and originally saw the light of day on their extremely limited edition (three copies?) album Pop Go the Weasels in 1984. The song was written by my colleague Glenn Leeds (who contributes keyboards), and the remaining credits are Dave (Jai Guru Dave) Hawxwell on vocals and rhythm guitar, Allan Weissman on bass, and Mike "The Drummer" Sorrentino on drums (heh).

As you may have noticed, I did not contribute to the production (I was on hiatus from the band, for reasons too complicated and silly to get into here); nevertheless, the guys left a hole in the track -- an instrumental interlude beginning around the 2:16 minute mark and ending, before the return of the last verse/chorus, at approximately 2:40 -- for me to add one of my characteristically mediocre guitar solos. Which I never did.

That being the case, we have decided to do something about it after all these years.

To wit: THE WEASELS ADD A SOLO CONTEST!!!!!

That's right, kids -- you too can be a Weasel, at least if you have access (as I suspect many of you do) to a home recording facility. All you've got to do is take the track and dub a guitar solo of your own in the hole discussed above. It can be any style whatsoever -- imitate George Harrison, Tom Verlaine, that guy from Boston (the band), Chet Atkins, Nigel Tufnel, anybody; just mix it in with the track and send it (preferably in flac or wav. format) to my e-mail -- ssimels@gmail.com.

And then we'll all have a good laugh at your expense.😎

No, actually you'll be proclaimed an honorary Weasel, and we'll post your efforts here for the adoration of a waiting world.

We will also gift you with a copy of the Weasels fabulous 2016 greatest hits CD, the aptly titled Crimes Against Humanity.

And what could be more of a motivator than that? 😎😎

In all seriousness, I think this could be a lot of fun, and I'm willing to bet somebody out there has a really great solo in them.

I'll keep you posted on how this thing develops, for good or evil.

[h/t Steve Schwartz]

Wednesday's Cartoon Chuckle

Heh. 😎

Actual music posting resumes on the morrow, of course.

Publicity Photos of the Gods: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

My old garage band chums The Weasels (and me) in our Teaneck NJ basement studio/sanctuary some time in the mid-70s. To the best of our recollection, no drugs were consumed during the production of that photo.

It suddenly occurs to me that I have no idea which one of our friends actually shot that; I'm gonna have to do the research. 😎

Oh, and BTW, the reason I posted it is as a teaser.

Because sometime later this week, I'm gonna be putting up a Bandcamp link (utilizing that picture as the art) to an mp3 of an absolutely fabulous -- and actually power pop(!) -- song by the Weasels. And there's gonna be some possibly VERY interesting potential for reader participation (hint: it involves those of you who are guitarists) as a result.

As I'm fond of saying -- could be a hot one!!! 😎😎

Memorial Day 2025

Okay, this seems appropriate.

The above is, of course, from Bruce's show in England the other week -- the one that drove our batshit insane president even a little crazier than normal, threatening criminal investigations against Bruce, plus Beyonce, Oprah and Bono (who, of course, is not even an American citizen.)

In any case, Springsteen and the band have always done Dylan's song quite splendidly, and this version (just released in a shall we say well-timed CD edition) is no exception.

I should should add that Bruce, pointedly, changes a word in my 2nd favorite line of the song -- "and for each unharmful gentle soul displaced inside a jail."

It was "misplaced" in the original; Bruce's substitution seems poignantly pertinent given that we're stripping people, who are in this country legally, of their habeas corpus rights and then sending them off to hellish foreign gulags for such heinous crimes as writing OP-EDs in their collge paper.

Oh, well -- enjoy your holiday, everybody!!! 😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Timing is Everything" Edition

Okay, by way of introduction, please enjoy latter-day folk-rockers Dawes and their transplendent 2015 gift to the world "All Your Favorite Bands."

I think we can all agree that's one of the loveliest and most generous of spirit songs ever heard by sentient mammalian ears. But its implicit message raises some interesting contradictions, and that -- as you may have suspected -- leads us inexorably to the theme of the day's business.

To wit:

There are bands who fell apart, due to lack of commercial success or other factors, and thus never fulfilled their artistic potential, and there are bands who overstayed their welcome long after they had exhausted theirs. Name your favorite example in either category.

Discuss.

Self-explanatory, I think, and no arbitrary rules whatsoever, so have at it.

I should add, however, that my nominee in the second category is -- and I say this with no happiness at all -- The Youngbloods.

The short version: Their first three albums on RCA, with the Lennon and McCartney-esque team of front people Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbitt, are masterpieces. Their later albums (on Warner Bros. and their own Raccoon label), after the departure of Corbitt, are IMHO completely unmemorable and a real slog to get through.

As for the first category, don't even get me started. 😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Thursday’s Cartoon Chuckle

Okay -- not the greatest one ever. 😎

My apologies -- I am feeling extremely lousy, physically, today. I won't bore you with the details, but just consider yourself lucky you're not having the same problem.

An actual fab Weekend Listomania goes up tomorrow -- no fooling!!! 😎😎😎

I'm Sorry, I Just Couldn't Resist

Jeez, I don't even want to think what they would have done to Sinatra when he styled himself Chairman of the Board. Or Elvis as The King.

In all seriousness, when somebody sent me the above, I actually wasted time searching the internet to see if it was real. I mean -- Fox News? Seemed credible to me.

The bottom line, of course, is that when we can't tell actual news from parody, we're in serious trouble.

More conventionally music-themed posting resumes on the morrow.

Your Tuesday Moment of Words Fail Me

From 1969 (well, actually, the video is from 1970) behold The Dave Clark Five -- yes, them -- and their gorgeous a-hit-in-Britain version of "Get Together."

I had absolutely no idea that these had guys covered the song, let alone that it went to Number 8 in the UK, deservedly. I should also add that fabulous DC5 lead singer Mike Smith is without a doubt the most underrated vocalist of the Brit Invasion. Seriously, he's just great on this -- soulful, inspirational, and damn.

Oh, and also -- speaking of things I didn't know, please ponder this, which I found at Wikipedia yesterday.

[Dave] Clark was a close friend of Freddie Mercury, whom he had known since 1976. He was by Mercury's bedside when the Queen singer died on 24 November 1991.

Have I mentioned that words fail me?

Monday's Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Heh. 😎

Also hah. 😎😎

Regular -- and very cool -- music posting resumes tomorrow.