Places for Songplaces!!

[Shawna]

Hi ~

Carl has granted me permission to write articles for the sister site, Songplaces.com. I need some ideas!

It's all about the places that songs were written about, or maybe where a song was written that has significance, or maybe they were written about an event that happened at a particular place...

If you could give me some ideas of the songs, and then just some general stuff about the place, I can take it from there and flesh it out with some research and write the individual articles.

And example would be the restaurant where Billy Joel ordered up his "bottle of red, bottle of white" in "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." That'd be a great one, but where's the restaurant? Does anyone here know anything about that restaurant?

I know you guys are a cornucopia of ideas, and I'll be grateful for each and every one.

[Lea]

I tried to submit something Shawna but I don't think it went through. I told Carl about it like you suggested.

I wrote about the song Mykonos. I think it was the most intense thing I have ever tried to write since high school

I'm not sure if it's ok or not tho. I need to read more to get a better understanding and feel for the site. I do know the site is awesome and I think it will do really, really good once it gets out there

[edna]

I'd like to know if the people that run songplaces are he same who run songfacts... I mean, it's parto of our site? i don't know what a sister site is...

[Farin]

I'd like to know if the people that run songplaces are he same who run songfacts... I mean, it's parto of our site? i don't know what a sister site is...

Yes, it is 'sister site' basically means that it's the same people (ie Carl) running it.

If you take a look at the About Us it says:

"This site was created and maintained by the band of misfits that brought you Songfacts. When investigating songs, we found a bunch that had some association with a specific place: a flowing river, a beat up town, a luxury hotel, a beautiful island, a quirky restaurant. Some of this info appears on Songfacts, but we thought it would be fun to investigate further, digging into the stories about these places and how they found their way into the songs."

[edna]

My computer just doesn't load it. I will try later on...

Thank you, martin!!

[Dappled]

Hi ~

Carl has granted me permission to write articles for the sister site, Songplaces.com. I need some ideas!

It's all about the places that songs were written about, or maybe where a song was written that has significance, or maybe they were written about an event that happened at a particular place...

If you could give me some ideas of the songs, and then just some general stuff about the place, I can take it from there and flesh it out with some research and write the individual articles.

And example would be the restaurant where Billy Joel ordered up his "bottle of red, bottle of white" in "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." That'd be a great one, but where's the restaurant? Does anyone here know anything about that restaurant?

I know you guys are a cornucopia of ideas, and I'll be grateful for each and every one.

You mean like: "Green River" is a song that was written by John Fogerty and recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It is the title track of their #1 album with the same name. The song is about Putah Creek located near Winters, California. The song was released as a single and reached #2 on the Billboard chart.

Putah Creek is also known as the Green River due to the buildup of algae and vascular plants in the late summer. Putah Creek is the subject of the Credence Clearwater Revival song Green River and served as a vacation spot for John Fogerty.

/From Wikipedia

[Farin]

as for ideas for places:

The Clash's (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais, about a reggae concert in a famous London nighclub

David Bowie's "Heroes", about a German couple meeting at the Berlin Wall

Led Zeppelin's Kashmir (maybe interesting to note that it was written in Morocco, not Kashmir)

S&G's 59th Street Bridge Song (about the 59th Street Bridge )

Garry Rafferty's Baker Street, which is a real street in London, among others famous for the residence of Sherlock Holmes

Wings' Mull Of Kintyre, about the... well... Mull of Kintyre in Scotland

[Shawna]

You mean like: "Green River" is a song that was written by John Fogerty and recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It is the title track of their #1 album with the same name. The song is about Putah Creek located near Winters, California. The song was released as a single and reached #2 on the Billboard chart.

Putah Creek is also known as the Green River due to the buildup of algae and vascular plants in the late summer. Putah Creek is the subject of the Credence Clearwater Revival song Green River and served as a vacation spot for John Fogerty.

/From Wikipedia

that is exactly what I mean.

I can take this information and do some more research and write up an article for it for Songplaces! I need a good base of ideas to get started.

Thanks Martin! These are great starters... This is perfect, you guys. Keep it flowing.

[edna]

...oh, the ones I was going to suggest are already taken...

[bluesboy]

Corcovado - Stan Getz / Astrud Gilberto written by Antonio Carlos Jobim

The mountain above Rio de Janeiro

[_Laurie_]

Take It Easy ~ Eagles

"standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona"...was this mentioned already?

And..Seven Bridges Road The Eagles

[Dappled]

A very interesting concept, Shawna!

Blues from Laurel Canyon by John Mayall might fit into the site:

The title of the album derives from Laurel Canyon, California, USA (in the Los Angeles area) where John Mayall subsequently lived from 1969 to 1979. It forms a record of his visit there before moving to the US on a more permanent basis. The area was favoured by many musicians at the time.

The album was innovative for its time, especially by the standards of blues recordings. The first track opens with a recording of a jet airliner landing, dissolving into the driving rhythm of the song. There were no visible track divisions on the vinyl album. Some songs fade or segue into the next track, others stop on a chord which is immediately followed by the introduction of the next track. Tabla drums are used, as is the technique of hitting guitar strings with a drumstick. The final track is a short song which moves into an extended lead guitar solo underscored by Mayall's Hammond organ, fading into a simple unaccompanied guitar figure which repeats until it too fades.

The lyrics are autobiographical and refer, if obliquely, to people Mayall met on his first visit, such as Frank Zappa and Moon Unit Zappa (on 2401), the band Canned Heat (on The Bear), and famous groupie, Catherine James (on Miss James).

/From Wikipedia

[edna]

I guess Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields are taken too.

And Chelsea Hotel.

Spanish Bombs (Grenada)

[_Laurie_]

Lou Gramm was from Rochester NY..about 20 minutes from where I live...in the song "Rev On The Red Line" he mentions running all night on Lake Ave...which I'm pretty sure he means Lake Avenue in Rochester...I don't know for a fact, just that I heard a DJ mention this at one time...

[Shawna]

A very interesting concept, Shawna!

Thanks! Wish I could claim it.

Alas, it was all Carl.

[Shawna]

These ideas are great, peeps! I'll be writing them up and when they go live, I'll come back here and post links so you can go and see what your ideas have wrought.

By the way, please check Songplaces itself to make sure your ideas don't already have write-ups. It's very possible they might! But if not, then they'll be there very soon...

Grazi!!

[Farin]

Toadies' Possum Kingdom is set at the Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas

The White Stripes' Hotel Yorba is a real hotel in Detroit

There's no clear origin of The House of the Rising Sun (The Animals' or whatever version), but if there is one it's probably located in New Orleans

Green Day's Welcome to Paradise about a slum in Oakland

Frank Zappa's Valley Girl about a girl from the San Fernando Valley

The Small Faces' Itchycoo Park probably refers to the Little Ilford Park, in the London suburb of Manor Park.

Suzanne Vega's Tom's Diner is Tom's Restaurant in Manhattan

[RonJonSurfer]

China Grove, Texas...I've been there and the Doobies sang about it.

Bruce has many songs that reference NJ places. Example Highway 9, Madam Marie's on the Asbury Park boardwalk, down the shore (In Jersey Girl even though it wasn't written by bruce).

Every song on Bowie's Aladdin Sane album represents a city he visited on the Ziggy Stardust Tour. Panic in Detroit is obvious. As a matter of fact:

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.[17]

Side One:

1."Watch That Man" New York – 4:25

2."Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)" RHMS Ellinis – 5:06

3."Drive-In Saturday" Seattle–Phoenix – 4:29

4."Panic in Detroit" Detroit – 4:25

5."Cracked Actor" Los Angeles – 2:56

Side Two:

1."Time" New Orleans – 5:09

2."The Prettiest Star" Gloucester Road – 3:26

3."Let's Spend the Night Together" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:03

4."The Jean Genie" Detroit and New York – 4:02

5."Lady Grinning Soul" London – 3:46

[RonJonSurfer]

some other jersey related songs are Wildwood Days, by Bobby Rydell. Palisades Park by Freddy Cannon and written by Chuck Barris.

[Shawna]

China Grove, Texas...I've been there and the Doobies sang about it.

and that's why they sang about it. It's true. Tom Johnston told Carl so.

[bazooka]

• The Rolling Stones' instrumental 2120 South Michigan Avenue refers to the address of the Chess Records studio where it was recorded.
  
  
  
  
• The Sir Douglas Quintet song Mendocino celebrates either the Northern California coastal town or the entire County where "it is estimated that over half of the economy is based on the cultivation of marijuana".
  
  
  
  
• The Youngbloods' instrumental On Sir Francis Drake from the Elephant Mountain album no doubt references Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (They were denizens of Marin County at the time). And their more obscure song Hippie From Olema (a parody of Merle Haggard's Okie from Muskogee) pertains to another quaint California community.

[bazooka]

• The Orlons' South Street was (and is) the hotspot for Philadelphia nightlife.
  
  
  
  
• The Peppermint Twist originated in the New York nightclub The Peppermint Lounge where Joey Dee and the Starliters performed ('Meet me, baby, down on 45th Street ').
  
  
  
  
• Creeque Alley is where The Mamas & the Papas hung out in the Virgin Islands.

[Dappled]

"Bowling Green" is a 1967 single by The Everly Brothers. The song peaked at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 8, 1967. It would be the final time The Everly Brothers would crack the list. The song is about Bowling Green, Kentucky, a city approximately 60 miles from the Everly Brothers' hometown of Brownie, now part of Central City, Kentucky. /Wikipedia

[Dappled]

"Coconut Grove" is a song written by John Sebastian and recorded by The Lovin' Spoonful in 1967. It later was covered by David Lee Roth. Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has expressed a fondness for the song.

Coconut Grove is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida in Miami-Dade County, United States. The borders of the neighborhood are approximately defined as north of N. Prospect Dr, east of LeJeune Road, south of US 1, west of Rickenbacker Causeway and west of Biscayne Bay.[1] It is south of the Brickell and The Roads neighborhoods, and east of Coral Gables. The neighborhood's name has been sometimes spelled Cocoanut Grove but the definitive spelling Coconut Grove was established when the city was incorporated in 1919. /Wikipedia

[Dappled]

Aberfan (Welsh pronunciation: [ˌabɛrˈvan]) is a former coalmining village in South Wales, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Merthyr Tydfil. The Taff Trail (locally known as the Canal Bank) runs through Aberfan from Troed-y-rhiw, to Treharris. The River Taff also flows through Aberfan.

On 21 October 1966, it became known for the Aberfan disaster, when a colliery spoil heap collapsed into homes and a school, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

"New York Mining Disaster 1941" was the first song to be released by the Bee Gees in the United States, and their first song to hit the charts in the US or UK. At the time, rumours circulated that the Bee Gees were the Beatles recording under a pseudonym (the Bee Gees' name was supposedly code for "Beatles Group"), in part because the record referenced NEMS Enterprises (Brian Epstein's management agency, which had just been joined by Bee Gees' manager Robert Stigwood).

According to the liner notes for their box-set Tales from the Brothers Gibb (1990), this song was inspired by the 1966 Aberfan mining disaster in Wales. /Wikipedia