10 SONGS: 8/25/2022: In The SOUL PIT!

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1143: The 11th Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT!

AL GREEN: I Want To Hold Your Hand

Yeah, we got the feelin' now! For this year's edition of the Soul Pit, Dana wanted to focus on soul and R & B covers of classics from the Beatles' songbook.  With that goal in mind, the obvious choice to open The 11th Annual Dana's Funky Soul Pit had to be the Reverend Al Green's cover of the Fab Four's breakthrough American hit  "I Want To Hold Your Hand." If the good Reverend's winning groove on this track isn't our single most-played Beatles cover over the course of TIRnRR's long and storied tenure, I can't imagine what else could possibly hold that distinction. An absolutely fabulous record. I think you understand.

BILLY PRESTON: Blackbird

Everyone who watched the Beatles documentary Get Back witnessed irrefutable evidence of Billy Preston as a de facto Fifth Beatle. Preston's entry into the disjointed, chaotic mess that had characterized the Get Back sessions up to that point brought sudden life and redemption to the project, energized the Beatles, and (if you will) took a sad song and made it better. Preston is also, I think, the only Apple Records recording artist to appear on this week's playlist.

And Preston appears twice. Preston's "Eight Days A Week" opens our second set, and his "Blackbird" follows Al Green's "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and Aretha Franklin's "Eleanor Rigby" to form the show's introductory triptych.

Paul McCartney has claimed that he wrote "Blackbird" as a song of solidarity for the civil rights movement. I'm not convinced that our Macca didn't maybe apply that motivation retroactively, but what do I know? The lyrics do fit Paul's stated intent. I confess I don't love the Beatles' version quite as much as I did when I got my first copy of the White Album in 1977. Preston's rendition still sounds fresh to my ears.

MARTHA REEVES AND THE VANDELLAS: Something

Much has been written about George Harrison's presumed frustration as a songwriter stuck in a group with a couple of other prolific songwriters. Perhaps the Quiet One had the last laugh, as "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun," his two contributions to the Beatles' final album Abbey Road, were the highlights on one of rockin' pops all-time greatest LPs. I mean, John Lennon and Paul McCartney also brought A-level material to Abbey Road, and Ringo Starr turned in "Octopus's Garden" (which maybe isn't quite A-level, but is way preferable to Paul's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"), but George's songs steal the show.

(And how mixed must George's feelings have been when none other than Frank Sinatra performed "Something" in concert, but referred to it as his favorite Lennon-McCartney song? Ouch, Mr. Blue Eyes.)

"Something" does lend itself to interpretations across styles. I don't think a metal or punk version would work as anything beyond pointless parody, but the song fits Sinatra, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas make it sound like a natural-born Motown hit. Something in the way they move.

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS: A Hard Day's Night

Much of the appeal of a show like this year's Soul Pit is the thrill of hearing familiar songs in unfamiliar and novel versions. Prior to hearing Dana's selections, I wouldn't have even imagined manic "I Put A Spell On You" auteur Screamin' Jay Hawkins attempting a Beatles cover. But he did! And it's friggin' GREAT! I don't think ol' Screamin' had any real affinity for the song, and I wouldn't be shocked to find out it wasn't his idea to record it. Nonetheless...that growl! That SCREAM! Yeah yeah YEAH!!

THE SUPREMES: A World Without Love

Never recorded by the Beatles, "A World Without Love" is a song Lennon and McCarney gave away. They just GAVE it away! And then collected royalties on Peter and Gordon's hit version. After Peter and Gordon were done with it, I guess the Supremes picked it up second-hand. One group's trash, another group's treasure. From the Supremes' British Evasion LP A Bit Of Liverpool.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Got To Get You Into My Life

A superb track from a shitty movie.

I'm one of the many dozens of people who saw Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in a theater at the time of its release in 1978. Ask me why, I'll say...I dunno. My tastes ran to punk, power pop, and '60s rock 'n' roll, certainly not the disco sounds of the film's stars the Bee Gees, nor really the AM/FM fare offered by its other star Peter Frampton. I was sufficiently open to Aerosmith to allow their version of "Come Together" (but agreed with a contemporary film reviewer who said a punk band like the Dead Boys would have been a more appropriate choice to play the dangerous 'n' evil rock band). Otherwise? Not even the presence of Steve Martin and Alice Cooper could redeem this cinematic disaster.

I didn't appreciate Earth, Wind and Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" until much, much later. At the time, I was enough of a Beatles purist to be shocked--SHOCKED!--that any act would have the gall to rearrange a Beatles song to suit their own style. Imagine!

Now? I prefer Earth, Wind and Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" to the Beatles' original, and I do still like the Beatles' original. The song was not my gateway into embracing EWF's music; that entry came via Brenda, a girl I met at school later that same Sgt. Pepper year of '78. 

Brenda loved Earth, Wind and Fire; over time, I gave EWF a fair listen, and eventually realized I love 'em, too. Brenda, in turn, gave the Ramones and the Kinks--and the Beatles!--a fair listen, and she became interested in them as well. New 1978 Girlfriend Brenda has been Lovely Wife Brenda since 1984. I was alone, I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there.

Last week, Brenda and I saw Earth, Wind and Fire in concert, on a bill with Santana (another of Brenda's favorites). It was our first time seeing Santana, our second time seeing EWF. What a great, great band, both live and on record. "Got To Get You Into My Life" isn't my # 1 favorite EWF track--that would be either "Let's Groove," "Boogie Wonderland," or "September," followed by "After The Love Has Gone"--but it's one of my favorites, it's fantastic to hear in concert, and it's one of but a handful of Beatles covers I think surpasses the original. 

Thank you, Brenda, for turning me on to Earth, Wind and Fire. The music and the love continue. Got to get you into my life, into my life.

LITTLE RICHARD: Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey (Goin' Back To Birmingham)

For the final set of 2022's Soul Pit, Dana turned from soul and R & B covers of the Beatles to a few of the soul and R & B legends who inspired the young Beatles in the first place. As an unknown act playing dives (and worse), the early Beatles wanted to be a soul group. Little Richard provided one of their biggest influences, a flamboyant explosion of WOW! emanating with incendiary intent outta Macon, Georgia. 

Little Richard taught Paul McCartney how to scream. Perhaps more than any other among the many acts the Beatles wanted to copy, Little Richard gave John, Paul, and George (and, one presumes, Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best) a working model of dynamism, of rock 'n' roll assault with intent to thrill. 

The Beatles were a great cover band. A great, great cover band. Most of the covers the Beatles recorded improved on the originals. 

Not even the Beatles could improve upon Little Richard.

CHUCK BERRY: Rock And Roll Music

Just let me hear some more of that rock 'n' roll music.

If we try to assess the overall impact of individual rock 'n' roll performers, two names stand high above all others: Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. No one else comes close to the importance of Elvis and Chuck; the Beatles were immensely important, but there wouldn't have been a Beatles if both the brown-eyed handsome man and the King hadn't made rock 'n' roll rock in the first place. Rock 'n' roll predates the debuts of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. Without Chuck and Elvis, we're not still talkin' about rock 'n' roll all these decades on.

John Lennon named Elvis as his own prime inspiration. But Chuck Berry's influence is easier to hear within the Beatles' work, not just in the Berry covers the Fabs did, but in wordplay, in groove, and in playin' guitars just like a-ringin' a bell. And in "Back In The USSR." King Elvis I made the Beatles want to become the Beatles. Chuck Berry showed 'em how it's done.

The Beatles introduced me to Chuck Berry, just like they introduced me to Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Larry Williams, and more. I didn't hear any version of "Roll Over Beethoven" until much later; The Beatles' Second Album wasn't one of the LPs I heard in my formative years, but Beatles '65 was, and its scorchin' rendition of "Rock And Roll Music" remains my # 1 Chuck Berry cover. It's the only Chuck Berry cover I prefer to the original.

THE MARVELETTES: Please Mr. Postman

The Beatles also loved the girl group sound. They covered the Shirelles, the Cookies, and the Donays, and the above-cited record The Beatles' Second Album (or With The Beatles in the UK) gave us their version of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman." 

The Beatles own the song. Own it. But the Marvelettes did record something else that is The Greatest Record Ever Made!

ARTHUR ALEXANDER: A Shot Of Rhythm & Blues

Yep. The Beatles wanted to be a soul group. Specifically, Paul McCartney said that the Beatles wanted to be like Arthur Alexander. The late, great Arthur Alexander didn't enjoy much chart success--only 1962's "You Better Move On" breached Billboard's Top 20, and only "Anna (Go To Him)" was a real success on the soul chart (# 10, also in '62)--but he had fans. 

Fans like the Beatles. Fans like the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, and many more. Though not a musician himself, Alexander wrote a number of his songs, and he could likewise make a song written by someone else into something uniquely Arthur Alexander. He was an incredible talent, and it's unfortunate that most who do know his works know them via better-known covers by those Beatles, Stones, Dylan, and others.

But without those covers, maybe we wouldn't know Alexander at all. Alexander's versions are nearly always the superior; about the only exception I can think of is Elvis Presley's "Burning Love," which Alexander didn't write but did record first. Alexander's disciples spread his Gospel as best they could. "Anna" was the only Alexander cover the Beatles released in a finished studio recording, but "A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues" and "Soldier Of Love" were staples of their early, pre-fame live shows, and their renditions survive in tapes of BBC radio performances.

The Beatles wanted to be like Arthur Alexander. That was a pretty high goal, and it was a goal they could not achieve. But they did pretty well for themselves, didn't they? And that means we all owe Arthur Alexander a huge debt of gratitude. 

We can start to repay that by playing his records. If you don't know Arthur Alexander, man, it is waaay past time you fixed that. Get a shot of rhythm and blues, and just a little rock 'n' roll on the side. Just for good measure. It was good enough for the Beatles. 

So here's the thing that you should do...

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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl

10 SONGS: 11/4/2021

10 Songs is a weekly list of ten songs that happen to be on my mind at the moment. The lists are usually dominated by songs played on the previous Sunday night's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. The idea was inspired by Don Valentine of the essential blog I Don't Hear A Single.

This week's edition of 10 Songs draws exclusively from the playlist for This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1101.

DOLPH CHANEY: This Halloween

Even though this week's show fell on October 31st, I wasn't all that interested in playing many Halloween songs. I'm not opposed to Halloween at all, but nowadays I'm largely (and benignly) indifferent to its celebration. I buy candy to give out to the few kids who ring my doorbell, and I do still dig that part of Halloween; but, with one exception (which we'll get to in a couple of paragraphs), I didn't care to program much in the way of All Hallows' Eve tunes this year. There would be no Monster Mashing in this show.

However, we certainly couldn't pass up an opportunity to play a new gem from TIRnRR hitmaker Dolph Chaney. Dolph's new Big Stir Records digital single "This Halloween" was the precise no-trick treat we needed to kick off a quick three-song half-set of Halloween songs. And that led into the one Halloween track I will never, ever tire of hearing....

BARON DAEMON AND THE VAMPIRES: The Transylvania Twist

The Greatest Record Ever Made! Grab a hold of your baby, and hold her tight.

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS: I Put A Spell On You

Other than the above classic by the Baron and his Bloody Buddies, there aren't a lot of songs I'm moved to play for Halloween. I could make a case for the Lollipop Shoppe's incredible '60s side "You Must Be A Witch," or Tegan and Sara's irresistible "Walking With A Ghost," and I guess a number of tracks by KISS or Alice Cooper would qualify by default. There are a few other viable choices, but I've gotta give it up for Dana's selection of "I Put A Spell On You" by the maniacal Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Man, this is great stuff, and it's a track I don't think I've appreciated as much as I shoulda in previous spins. Something about it clicked for me this year like never before. Because you're MINE...! BWAAH-HA-HA-HAAAA! 

THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: Hush

One Sunday a few weeks back, two shows here on the mighty SPARK! Syracuse--This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio and Rich Firestone's Radio Deer Camp (the latter heard every Sunday from 5 to 7 pm Eastern at your familiar http://sparksyracuse.org/)--both played different tracks from the Cocktail Slippers' new album Shout It Out Loud!  TIRnRR opted for "Be The One," and Reechie played the group's cover of the Billy Joe Royal/Deep Purple perennial "Hush." This week, we got around to playin "Hush." Your move, Reechie!

(Or not. Rich programs his show just fine without our input.)

LEE HARRINGTON AND LYNDA MANDOLIN: Sweet Child

Generally speaking, any Red On Red Records single is pretty damned likely to get at least one spin on TIRnRR. Among the label's releases so far, just about all of them have been prime examples of radio-ready rockin' pop, and the only reason we don't play more of them more often is because we only have a three-hour radio show. I'm thinking we should do a Red On Red feature on some future show, similar to a Big Stir Records feature we did earlier this year, and I'm waiting for one specific Red On Red release before we look into doing that. In the mean time: MORE RED ON RED! Lee Harrington and Lynda Mandolin's "Sweet Child" maintains Red On Red's above-cited string o' radio-ready reliables, and so does a new single by the Chelsea Curve that we'll be hearing on next week's show. We're all ready for more Red On Red.

KID GULLIVER: You'll Never Know

Speaking of Red On Red, Kid Gulliver's Kismet was the label's first full-length album release, and (I think) the first Red On Red physical media product. HuzZAH! Of course I bought it; I'm a fan! We've played a number of Kismet's tracks as digital singles--"Forget About Him" has earned particular distinction as an all-time TIRnRR Fave Rave--and now we add "You'll Never Know" to our Kid Gulliver parade of hits.

THE MONKEES: Love To Love

In 1967, when the members of the Monkees tried to assert some measure of control and/or participation in the making of records that bore their brand name, golden-eared (but shortsighted) musical supervisor Don Kirshner resisted the change. Seeking to maintain his preferred status quo, Kirshner snuck Davy Jones into the studio to record lead vocals for a trio of tracks prepared the old-fashioned way: Kirshner-controlled, with the Monkees only singing and never frickin' playing, ever. Two of the tracks, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" and "She Hangs Out," were issued as a single in Canada, an action that infuriated higher-ups in the Monkee machinery and resulted in Kirshner being shown the door into summer instead.

The Canadian single was withdrawn, and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" was issued as a U.S. 45, paired with a track sung and played by the Monkees, a Michael Nesmith song called "The Girl I Knew Somewhere." The Monkees later remade "She Hangs Out" for their album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. 

"Love To Love" was the third of those three final Kirshner tracks, and it remained in the vault for more than a decade. It first surfaced (in lo-fi form) on an Australian compilation called Monkeemania around 1979, and it was subsequently exhumed by Rhino Records in better-sounding state for some Monkees repackages. Like "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," and like earlier Monkees releases "I'm A Believer" and "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow," "Love To Love" was written by Neil Diamond. It was remixed and tweaked (with new backing vocals by Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork) for the Monkees' triumphant 2016 album Good Times! No offense to "I'm A Believer," but "Love To Love" is my favorite Monkees performance of a Neil Diamond song, and possibly my single favorite Davy Jones vocal.  

MANDY MOORE: I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week

Although my daughter was a Radio Disney listener in the Y2K decade, and I heard my share of Britney Spears and the like because of that, I completely missed Mandy Moore's teen pop offerings. Which is just as well, since it turned out that I didn't like 'em anyway. I do recall sampling (and buying) Moore's versions of XTC's "Senses Working Overtime" and Joan Armatrading's "Drop The Pilot," prompted by my friend John Borack's recommendation of her 2003 covers album Coverage. The production on Coverage is too slick for my taste, but Moore's performances are good, and you can see some stripped-down live performances on YouTube that provide a better showcase of her talent (and a glimpse of what the album could have been).

Her 2009 album Amanda Leigh gave us "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week," a perfect pop song co-written by Moore and the Candy Butchers' Mike Viola (the voice of the Wonders!). My wife and I recently started watching the TV series This Is Us for the first time, bingeing episodes from the first and second seasons (and counting); Moore is one of the ensemble drama's co-stars, and that was sufficient motivation for "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week" to make its return to the TIRnRR playlist.

QUINT: Good Morning London

We're gonna need a bigger boat. Our pal Robbie Rist didn't realize we've played his ace British punk pastiche "Good Morning London" a time or three on TIRnRR. But we have, and rightly so. Recorded under the nom du chomp Quint for the epic Sharknado film franchise, "Good Morning London" is...well, I was gonna say it's Jawsome, but that would be beneath even my lenient humor standards. Nonetheless, the song fits (wait for it!) swimmingly with whatever the hell it is we do on this show, so of course we played it again. Can't resist a sequel, right?

MILLIE SMALL: Killer Joe

Like "The Transylvania Twist," the great Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" is slated for individual attention in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). In prepping to write that chapter, I figured I oughtta immerse myself in a little more of Small's work, so I snagged a nice 2-CD set called The Best Of Millie Small. One of its highlights is our Millie's take on the Rocky Fellers's "Killer Joe," flipping the gender POV from the original's fretting about his girl Marie dancing with that lothario Killer Joe to Millie Small lamenting as her guy Joe trips the light fantastic with that tramp Marie. It's Roshomon with a beat! Listen, kids: just ditch faithless Joe and Marie, and try a dance with each other instead. Hmmm. Wonder if Marie's boy might be named "Lollipop."

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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

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