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Artists Acknowledge Artists


Tybalt

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Hearing Van Morrison's Jackie Wilson Said brought this to mind:

Songs lyrics that mention other artists and/or other songs.

Some examples are:

Sweet Soul Music by Arthur Conley. He lists Lou Rawls, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, James Brown)

In A Simple Desultory Philippic (or Etc.) Simon and Garfunkel are Barry Sadlered, Rolling Stoned & Beatled ('til I'm blind), Mick Jaggered. [The song also mentions Dylan, Phil Spector and other producers, various political figures, and Lenny Bruce]

I'm Gonna Fight for You J.B. by John Mayall is a eulogy of J.B. Lenoir. In The Laws Must Change from the same album (Turning Point) Mayall also mentions Lenny Bruce.

Anybody got more?

[Didn't David Bowie refer to T.Rex in a song? I thought it was Changes but couldn't find it in the lyrics.]

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Upon further recollection, my thoughts are that no other song quite matched this one so far as aknowledgments:

Reunion

-Life is a Rock-

(but the radio rolled me)

B.B. Bumble and the Stingers

Mott the Hoople, Ray Charles Singers

Lonnie Mack and Twangin' Eddy

Here's my ring we're going steady

Take it easy, take me higher

Liar, liar house on fire

Locomotion, Poco passion

Deeper purple, Satisfaction

Baby, baby, gotta, gotta

Gimmee, gimmee, gettin' hotter

Sammy's cookin', Leslie's Gorey

Richie Valens end of story

Maha Vishnu, Fujiama

Kama Sutra, Rama Lama

Richard Perry, Spector Barry

Righteous, Archies, Nilsson Harry

Shimmy, Shimmy, Koko Boppin'

Fats is back and finger poppin'

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me

Gotta turn it up louder

So my DJ told me

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me

At the end of my rainbow

Lies a golden oldie

FM, AM hits are clickin'

While the clock is tocking, ticking

Friends and Romans, salutations

Brenda and the Tabulations

Carly Simon, I behold her

Rolling Stones center folder

Johnny Cash and Johnny Rivers

Can't stop now I've got the shivers

Mungo Jerry, Peter Peter, Paul Paul and Mary Mary

Dr. John, the nightly tripper

Doris Day and Jack the Ripper

Got to go sir, got to swelter

Leon Russell, Gimme Shelter

Miracles in Smokey places

Slide guitarists and Fender basses

Mushroom omelet, Bonnie Bramlett

Wilson Pickett, stomp and kick it

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me

Gotta turn it up louder

So my DJ told me

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me

At the end of my rainbow

Lies a golden oldie

Arthur Janoff, Primal screamin'

Hawkins J. and Dale and Ronnie

Kukla Fran and Norman Okla

Denver John and Osmond Donny

J.J. Cale and ZZ Top

And L.L. Bean and Dee Dee Dinah

David Bowie, Steely Dan

And sing me proud oh C.C. Rider

Edgar Winters, Joanie Summers

Ides of March and Johnny Thunder

Eric Clapton, pedal wah-wah

Stephen Foster, ooo-dah, ooo-dah

Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda

Surfer Girl and Little Honda

Tighter, Tighter, Honey, Honey

Sugar, Sugar, Yummy, Yummy

C.B.S. and Warner Brothers

R.C.A. and all the others

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me

Gotta turn it up louder

So my DJ told me

Life is a rock but the radio rolled me

At the end of my rainbow

Lies a golden oldie

(Listen...they're playing our song)

Rock it, sock it, Alan Freed me

Murray Kaufman tried to lead me

Fish are swimmin', Boston Monkey

Make it bad and play it funky

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R.O.C.K. in the USA by John Mellencamp mentions a bunch of 50's and 60's artists (Jackie Wilson, Shangri-Las, Young Rascals)

Night Shift by the Commodores sort of eulogized Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson

Mr. Jones by Counting Crows has a line "I want to be Bob Dylan"

I'm sure there's tons more, but that's three off the top of my head

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... Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd feud

Sweet Home Alabama

Good one, MuzikTyme.

Mentioning Neil Young made me think about his My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) or is it Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) which "is the story of Johnny Rotten".

Then, that made me think about Paul Simon's The Late Great Johnny Ace (with the real? Johnny Ace, John Lennon, "It was the year of the Beatles. It was the year of the Stones").

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[Didn't David Bowie refer to T.Rex in a song? I thought it was Changes but couldn't find it in the lyrics.]

That is "All the Young Dudes" by Mott the Hoople and yep, written by Bowie.

Deep Purple mentions 'Frank Zappa and the Mothers' in "Smoke on the Water." Peeps would also say the Rolling Stones but (DP) only mention the mobile recording unit that's owned (or was owned but retains the name) by them... But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside...

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One of my favorite punk/LA hardcore bands from the 80's( who is still playing together, BTW!) ,X, mentions several other local bands in their song "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts." It is on the album "More Fun In The New World" The song laments, among other things, how their kind of music is not played on the major radio stations in favor of AOR.

The lyrics are:

"..The facts we hate, youll never hear us! I hear the radio its finally gonna play new music, you know... the British invasion.... but what about the Minutemen, Fleasheaters, D.O.A., Big Boys and the Black Flag? Will the last American bands to get played on the radio, please bring the flag? Please bring the flag!

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  • 2 weeks later...

And that Mama's and Papa's song they sing about themselves, though I can't remember the title.

Creeque Alley is the Mamas and Papas song about how the group got started.

creequealley.com is an entire website devoted to study, analysis and discussion of the song, and Mamas and Papas fandom.

(Roger) McGuinn, (Barry) McGuire, Zal (Yanovsky), (John) Sebastian, (Lovin') Spoonful, Mugwumps and, of course, John, Michelle, Denny and Mama Cass all turn up in the lyrics.

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  • 2 weeks later...

From Do You Remember? by The Beach Boys:

Little Richard sang it

And [bleep] Clark brought it to life

Danny & The Juniors hit a groove

Stuck it sharp as a knife

Well now do you remember

All the guys that gave us Rock 'n' Roll

Chuck Berry's got to be

The greatest thing that came along ...

Elvis Presley is The King

He's the giant of the day

Paved the way for the Rock 'n' Roll Star

The critics kept a knockin'

But the Stars kept on rockin'

and the choppin' didn't get very far

Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire ...

They gave us Rock 'n' Roll

They gave us Rock 'n' Roll

They gave us Rock 'n' Roll

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I'm surprised American Pie by Don McLean hasn't been mentioned in this thread.

A long, long time ago,

I can still remember

How that music used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my chance,

That I could make those people dance

And maybe they'd be happy for a while

But February made me shiver,

With every paper I'd deliver

Bad news on the doorstep,

I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside

The day the music died

*Chorus*

So bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinking whiskey in Rye

Singing this will be the day that I die,

This will be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love

And do you have faith in God above,

If the Bible tells you so?

Now, do you believe in rock and roll

Can music save your mortal soul

And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him

'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym

You both kicked off your shoes,

Man, I dig those rhythm and blues!

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck

With a pink carnation and a pickup truck

But I knew that I was out of luck

The day the music died

I started singing

*Chorus*

Now for ten years we've been on our own,

And moss grows fat on a Rolling Stone

But that's not how it used to be

When The Jester sang for The King and Queen

In a coat he borrowed from James Dean

In a voice that came from you and me

And while The King was looking down,

The Jester stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned,

No verdict was returned

And while Lennon read a book on Marx,

The quartet practiced in the park

And we sang dirges in the dark

The day the music died

We were singing

*Chorus*

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter

The Byrds flew off with a fall out shelter

Eight miles high and falling fast

It landed foul on the grass

The players tried for a forward pass

With The Jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now, the halftime air was sweet perfume

While The Sargeants played a marching tune

We all got up to dance,

Oh, but we never got the chance

'Cause the players tried to take the field

The marching band refused to yield!

Do you recall what was revealed

The day the music died?

We started singing

*Chorus*

Oh, and there we were all in one place

A generation lost in space

With no time left to start again

So come on Jack be nimble,

Jack be quick

Jack Flash sat on a candle stick

Because fire is the devil's only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage

My hands were clenched in fists of rage

No angel born in Hell

Could break that Satan's spell

And as the flames climbed high into the night

To light the sacrificial rite

I saw Satan laughing with delight

The day the music died

He was singing

*Chorus*

I met a girl who sang the blues

And I asked her for some happy news...

But she just smiled and turned away

I went down to the sacred store

Where I'd heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets the children screamed

The lovers cried and the poets dreamed

But not a word was spoken

The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most

The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost

They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died

And they were singing

Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinking whiskey in Rye

Singin' this will be the day that I die

This'll be the day that I die

They were singin'

Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinking whiskey in Rye

Singing this will be the day that I die...

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  • 3 months later...

Good thread to bump! I immediately thought of Susan Tedeschi's "Friar's Point."

Just past Friar's Point, all the way across those lanes

Just past Friar's Point, all the way across those lanes

I was walking by the cotton fields, and I swear I heard Robert Johnson play

Down in New Orleans, preaching in the Lion's Den

Down in New Orleans, preaching in the Lion's Den

You can hear Irma Thomas, take you right back to church again

We got the blues now, surely ain't got a thing to lose

Oh we got the blues, surely don't have a thing to lose

Oh darling it's them blues that really make them move

Oh do they hang on Beale Street, music blasting out of every door

Oh do they hang on Beale Street, music pouring out of every pore

Rocking the house at BB's, your feet they never touch the floor

Oh south side of Chicago, oh all the way where Magic Sam used to play

Oh south side of Chicago, over at the Checkerboard Lounge

You can still hear Muddy Waters, playing that song "Slow Down"

Oh we got the blues time, sure don't have a thing to lose

Oh we got the blues time, surely don't have a thing to lose

And these are the people all ready to make a move

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"Surrender" by Cheap Trick. He comes home and finds his parents "Got my Kiss records on."

Sometimes when a band covers a song, they'll slip in a shout out to the original artist. Anthony Keidis says something about Stevie Wonder on "Higher Ground," and Whitney Houston created the term "Shout Out" when she wailed "Chaka" on "I'm Every Woman."

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