From 1972, please enjoy the late great Michael Nesmith and his fabulous psychedelic-country rock reimagining of the venerable "Bonaparte's Retreat."
The song title derives from a wordless fiddle tune dating back at least to the 1800s, although Nesmith's version is a cover of a 1949 country hit by Pee Wee King.
In any case, the Nes record is perhaps my all time favorite of his post-Monkees musical efforts. The swirling 12-string and pedal steel instrumental sections between the choruses could easily have been done by some San Francisco ballroom band of the late 60s -- Moby Grape, anyone? Whatever, it's a great performance.
And now to business. To wit:
...and the best or worst rock (or related genre) song referencing a real life person by name in the title or lyrics is...?
From his 1896 album, please enjoy friend of PowerPop (and moi) Peter Spencer and his droll and strangely touching ode to history's greatest backstreet crawler -- "Casanova's Waltz."
Last Thursday would have been Ric Ocasek's 78th birthday. In his honor, here's my second favorite song by the band he visually exemplified. (Take a guess what my first favorite is, won't you?).
Apart from the fabulous music he made, Ocasek's always been an icon for me because back in the day he was the rock star that I most often used to see on the street. In my Village period, he and his gorgeous wife Paulina were among the most recognizable denizens of the neighborhood, after Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, and Ric did it without the gimmick of wandering around in a bathrobe and slippers. Seriously, hardly a week went by when it wasn't like "Oh, there's Ric getting groceries at Jefferson Market," or "there's Ric in my local video store"; it was just one of the perks of living in the Village.
In any case, I don't have to tell you that "My Best Friend's Girl" is one of the great singles of its era. What I am here to tell you -- and I've been saying it for years -- is that (IMHO) one of these days some smart country band is gonna cover it and have a huuuuge hit.
I don't know who that band might be, but since these guys are apparently still around, and because I love this song of theirs (which has certain vague stylistic resesmblances to The Cars, again IMHO), I nominate them.
Attentive readers are aware of my enthusiasm for the series of benefit/tribute/all-star concerts sposored and performed by LA's Wild Honey Orchestra in recent years. This one in honor of the Lovin' Spoonful, for example.
But this forthcoming one -- well, words fail me. A 50th anniversary show celebrating the release of Lenny Kaye's groundbreaking 1972 double-LP anthology of 60s garage/psych/proto-punk rock Nuggets.
[Click to expand the images for more info].
I vividly recall the day the original album first crosssed my desk at the Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review; I was like a kid in a candy store, although I was surprised at how many of the songs were unfamiliar to me (i.e., apparently hadn't gotten much airplay in the NYC area). In any event, the sound (on a lot of the ones I was familiar with) was way better than I expected, and Kaye's liner notes struck just the right balance between scholarship and fan gush. Bottom line -- a great compilation, and let's face it: Nuggets is the only album in rock history that's come to represent an entire genre.
Alas, there's no way I can attend the show, but for the rest of you guys -- if you're gonna be anywhere near LA in late May, get your tickets now! It's for a good cause! One of the guitarists from the original Love is gonna be there! A bassist for both The Leaves and The Turtles too! And the lead singer of The Chocolate Watchband as well? Jeebus -- what are you waiting for?
Okay, I've posted about this song -- "Only Pretty (What a Pity)," the Lovin' Spoonful's late (1967) pop/psych masterpiece -- on a couple of occasions over the years(!), but I chanced across it the other day, and was blown away anew.
I've always liked it, of course, for lots of reasons, beginning with the fact that thematically it's an astoundingly dark and worldly wise song for a band pigeonholed as a purveyor of good time music. For another thing, it's structurally really quite clever; verse, chorus, verse, chorus, a bridge in a different tempo that seems to come out of nowhere, and then a final chorus, the kicker being that all the choruses have different lyrics and the Author's Message title phrase doesn't appear until the very end of the song. Plus it's gloriously melodic and gorgeously sung, and if you listen carefully to the very end of the fade-out, there are some really phenomenal sort of modal guitar licks being dispensed.
Eyes to look at, not to see through She never could see truth for lies With
a smile she'd win us over Face a trick to take a prize
Tickled pink the mid-aged dandy Sold his horse to buy her all The icing for
her face like candy Hung up the mirrors wall to wall
Married life was short but funny With long lost cousins dropping by Later
on her alimony Paid for young men's gentle lies
By the window hangs a mirror Where she hides her sagging chin Now sadly as
she crouches nearer Never seeing past her skin
"Mommy said, when you were younger 'The face you made would stay that way'
That's all true and if you doubt it Reflect upon yourself today"
Everyone except the baby Answers for the face they wear As a mask of pure
contentment Or a mask of pure despair
Only pretty, what a pity...
As I said, I've always liked it, and the second verse, in particular, is absolutely brilliant -- in four concise poetic lines, writers Joe Butler and Jerry Yester manage to tell you everything you need to know about the arc of the sad, spoiled life of a vain and shallow woman; you can practically see her, her foolish monied husband (the earlier chorus bit about selling his horse is especially nice), and the house they lived in (on Fifth Avenue, if I'm any judge) before she dumped him and turned into a not so gay divorcee.
I must confess, however, that I hadn't understood one crucial part of it until I read the lyrics on-line. That aforementioned bridge, where the vocal goes all robotic, is very hard to make out, but as you can see above it's the voice of Only Pretty's mirror giving her the naked truth; that sound of glass breaking at the end is her smashing it rather than confront herself.
Meanwhile, because I love you all more than food, here's a live clip of the Spoonful doing the song on the Ed Sullivan show.
I should add that I had the privilege of chatting with Joe Butler a few years ago, and he completely did not remember doing the song on TV. He did, however, confirm my suspicion that the song was written about somebody the guys in the Spoonful actually knew.
From 1967, please enjoy The Byrds performing (IMHO) David Crosby's masterpiece "Lady Friend."
That was a single in its day, and I wore out my 45 copy of it in the expectation that it would appear on the next Byrds album in stereo. Alas, that was when they kicked Crosby out of the band, and when the album -- The Notorious Byrds Brothers -- did finally come out, they omitted the single (and replaced Crosby in the album cover photo with a horse). I should add that the version heard in the video was first releaed on a 1987 comp of Byrds rarirties and remixes (Never Before), and Crosby insisted on replacing Mike Clarke's original drum part with the work of the guy in his then touring band.
But now to business. To wit...
The 1965 photo of The Byrds above represents the definitive exemplar of what a rock band should look like -- yes or no. And the absolute worst look for a rock band ever is...?
From right here right now, please enjoy "Hate Yourself," the kick-posterior new single by Nashville rockers Lost Hearts.
I haven't quite figured out exactly how to categorize these guys -- rock? punk? glam? retro '80s? some organic mix of all of the preceding? -- and whatever they're doing is not usually my cup of pekoe. But for some reason, I found the above highly entertaining, probably because I just like their attitude. Which I guess makes it rock 'n' roll, right?
I should add that I am reliably informed that the band formed when four lead guitar players got together and they flipped a coin (heh) to see who would sing and play the drums and bass. Makes sense to me!
In any case, it's a very cool single (and video -- I want the front guy's black Les Paul gold top, BTW); they don't have an album yet, but as they get closer to one I'll keep you posted.
From earlier this year at SXSW in Austin, pleae enjoy The Zombies' classic "Care of Cell 44" in a once in a lifetime performance by legendary Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone and youngsters Brian and Michael D'Addario of The Lemon Twigs.
Attentive readers are aware that I'm not completely objective about those kids, due to the fact that their parents are both musicians I've known (and occasionally worked with) since forever; their dad Ronnie, whose own music is terrific (you can hear more of it over HERE) is actually a sort of auxilliary Floor Model, fer cryin' out loud.
That said, here's the third single from their forthcoming (in May) self-produced album Harmony Forever...
...and I think you'll admit that's pretty darned impressive stuff, a certain amount of what SPY magazine referred to as "logrolling in our time" notwithstanding. (I love that 12-string solo, BTW.)
Meanwhile, you can pre-order the new album (what are you waiting for?) at Amazon HERE. And yes, there's a vinyl version.
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