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The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten Facts


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"Hush"

Joe South

Written by Joe South in 1967 for Billy Joe Royal, who had a minor hit with it. Russell Morris also covered the song n the same year. The best-known version is the one by Deep Purple in 1969.

Though Deep Purple took this title and claimed it as their own, the version by Joe South is more than brilliant, it is electric, innovative, and may have inspired more than Ritchie Blackmore's then pyschedelic metal band... Joe South's work with Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel was legend and he began 1970 with "Walk A Mile In My Shoes", so musicians were very hip to what he was up to. The songwriter produced and arranged this title for Billy Joe Royal on that singer's second disc, Billy Joe Royal (...) probably owed more to Deep Purple than to the songwriter/producer who came up with this. And that's the problem with having another group record an all-time classic of a song that itself should have been a monster smash for the guy who penned it. When Joe South sings the title/chorus (as opposed to the chorus-type intro of nah nah nah nah) it is first to a bassline before it all falls into an explosion of sound. There are hooks galore in this original, the suggestive lyrics, the scratchy guitar lines - guitar that evolves from jangles to scratches and back again - the guitar and bass having a wonderful interplay. Nothing goes to waste here, every instrument getting to shine, the drum beats manic, creative and begging repeated listens, while the tasty horns stay way in the background on this three minute and forty three second masterpiece of sound, fury and sexuality. This is a text book of songwriting, production, and pop singing that has eluded many a garage band (...) Totally amazing - and almost totally forgotten because some clever British band gave it a stunning makeover. But as stated above, if it failed to influence young emerging groups, it did catch the attention of a few major artists, one taking these ideas and himself getting a signature tune out of the deal

In 1992 the Swiss rock Band Gotthard covered the song on their debut album of the same name.

Kula Shaker, a British psychedelic rock band released "Hush" as a single in 1997 and it reached number 2 on the UK singles chart and number 19 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US, where it was included on the I Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack album.

Milli Vanilli released a cover of "Hush" on their German debut album 'All Or Nothing.' A revised edition appeared on their US release 'The Remix Album'.

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"Liar, Liar"

The Castaways

Written by James Donna and Denny Craswell.

Released in 1965, it was the only hit of this garage band from Twin Cities in Minnesota, reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Allmusic mentions the strength of its inimitable echo-drenched vocals and wheezing keyboards

The song is part of the soundtrack of "Good Morning, Vietnam" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and the band is seen playing "Liar, liar" live in "It's a Bikini World", a movie from 1967.

The song was also recorded by Debby Harry for the soundtrack of "Married With The Mob", a film by Johnattan Denme from 1988.

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"Sandman"

America

Written by Dewey Bunnel.

Recorded and released in December 1971 as a track of their debut album, "America".

The song was often played by FM radio stations;

It was believed -among the US Navy- to be about the air squadron from Rota base(Spain)VQ.2.

:help:

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"Hard to Handle"

Otis Redding

Credited to Allen Jones/Alvertis Isbell/Otis Redding.

The song was recorded in 1967 but was released after Redding's death, in June 1968.

It was also released as a single, as the B-side to "Amen" and it peaked at #38 on the R&B charts and #51 on the pop charts. It made #15 in the UK.

The song was a track of the posthumous album "The Inmortal Otis Redding"

There has been many covers of this song. The Black Crowes included it in their debut album "Shake Your Money Maker" released in 1990. The single was #1 in the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and made #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Gratefull Dead included this song in their tours for years, in the alte sixties and early seventies, in a more bluesy version sung by Ron McKernan.

The melody of the Crowes' version is taken from Buddy Guy's song 'A Man of Many Words' from the 1972 album Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Plays The Blues.

Other covers are by Tom Jones, Toots & the Maytals, Stefan Roland or even Mae West, performed in "Myra Breckinridge", the movie.

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The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #228

This week there are six songs needing facts.

Shining Star - Earth Wind & Fire (1975)

Fat Man in the Bathtub - Little Feat (1973)

Mustang Sally - Buddy Guy (1991)

Mystery Train - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)

Joe's Garage - Frank Zappa (1979)

F&*^ You - Cee Lo Green (2010)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you. smiley-music001-1.gif

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"Shining Star"

Earth Wind & Fire

Written by Maurice White, Larry Dunn and Philip Bailey for their 1975 LP "That's The Wayof the World".

It was recorded in the Autumn of 1974 and released in January 1975. The single had "Yearnin' Learnin'" as B-side.

The song was a mainstream hit, reaching #1 in the Bilboard charts and also the R&B lists. It also won a Grammy (Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals)after selling more than one million copies and certified Gold. It was the first time that a funk song was being such a hit in the US.

Earth, Wind & Fire performed Shining Star on the TV series The Midnight Special.

Samples:

- MC Lyte (on "Paper Thin")

- Public Enemy ("Prophets of Rage" from "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back")

- Sunz of Man ("Shining Star" , from "The Last Shall Be First")

- The Roots (on "The 'Notice")

"Shining Star" was featured in the soundtrack for Austin Powers in Goldmember, and it was played during the end credits of Semi-Pro, Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and Meet Dave. The song is played in Muppets from Space when Gonzo encounters the cosmic fish and later during the end credits of the film. In the movie Mr. 3000, "Shining Star" is used in the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 3. The song is also featured in The Lizzie McGuire Movie.

"Shining Star" was the song played when Elaine Benes did the infamous "little kicks" for the first time on the Seinfeld episode "The Little Kicks". The song has also been featured in the first few minutes in the Glee pilot episode, and also in the My Name is Earl episode "Stole a Badge".

It was covered by the bands Dancer and B5, by The Jerry Garcia Band, in their live 2001 cd, as well as by trumpet player Rick Braun.

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"Mustang Sally"

Buddy Guy

"Mustang Sally" was written by Mack Rice, recorded and released in 1965. The song made #15 in the charts in the same year.

Wilson Pickett covered it in 1966 and his version was a hit, reaching #6 in the R&B charts.

Buddy Guy recorded the song in 1991 for his album "Damn Right I Got The Blues".

According to music historian Tom Shannon, the song started as a joke when Della Reese's band leader wanted a new Ford Mustang. Rice called the early version "Mustang Mama," but changed the title after Aretha Franklin suggested "Mustang Sally"

Buddy Guy's bluesy, humpin' rendition of Sir Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally," popularized by Wilson Pickett, stands tall as one of the best versions of the tale of the girl who angered her man by riding around in her new Mustang all day instead of taking care of business at home. Rock guitarist Jeff Beck adds some extra hop to the rhythm, one of four guitarists on the session; Guy, Neil Hubbard, and John Porter are the other three. With bassist Greg Szab, they give the tune fret power. Southern horns are interspersed with tasty drumming to undress the blues song into something more palatable for the masses without abandoning its roots.

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"Mystery Train"

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

The song was written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. The first performers to record it were Little Junior's Blue Flames in 1953. The B-side of the single was "Love My Baby". It was released by Sun Records.

Elvis Presley covered the song in 1955.

Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Led Zepelin, Bruce Springsteen or Paul Simon are among the many artists who covered this classic.

In October 1965, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band recorded their version included in their debut album, "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band".

It is a milestone in the history of blues-rock as one of the first blues albums featuring a white singer, and anticipated the British blues-rock phenomenon.
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"Fat Man in the Bathtub"

Little Feat

Written by Lowell George.

Recorded by the end of 1972 as a track for their 1973 album "Dixie Chicken". Bonnie Bramlett, Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Jones are among the back-up singers.

Allmusic says the song is deeply soulful and funny.

:help: :help: :help:

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"Joe's Garage"

Frank Zappa

Written by Frank Zappa for his 1979 rock opera "Joe's Garage". It was also released as a single released it as a single with "Central Scrutinizer"as B-side.

"Joe's Garage" is the first real song on the 1979 album by the same title. It presents the main character's first musical experiences and his first brush with the law. Upon learning the guitar, Joe formed a typical suburban garage rock band. They got spotted by a record company executive in a go-go bar, signed a contract, failed to become stars, and broke up. This thread doesn't really fit with the rest of the song: as they play in Joe's garage, Mrs. Borg calls the police. A SWAT team surrounds the building and Joe is taken into custody. Since this is his first offense, he is well-treated and given the advice to "stick closer to church-oriented social activities" (which introduces the next song, "Catholic Girls").

"Joe's Garage" is a straightforward rock song, the typical kind of thing such a rock band would play (minus the vocal inserts and illustrative musical incidents). It is meant to be the group's hit song. Zappa actually released it as a single (b/w "Central Scrutinizer"), but it didn't chart. Live performances were often faster than the original tempo and provided a moment for inside jokes and on-the-road humor (such an example can be heard on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3). The song became a regular live feature in April 1980 and kept that status up to and including the 1988 tour. It was almost always performed along with "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?"

The album was originally issued in two parts, the first part being a single LP of Act I, and the second part being a double-LP set of Acts II & III. All three acts were later issued together as a box set, and on compact disc as a double-CD. The major themes of the story include groupie migration, mockery of Scientology, appliance fetishism, garage bands, and above all censorship of music as an artform.

Joe's Garage is particularly noteworthy for its extensive use of Zappa's xenochrony technique, in which guitar solos from older, completely unrelated recordings were extracted and overdubbed onto new songs.

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Please, feel free to add facts for the songs in case you can. My information is taken from the web (allmusic, wikipedia or others) and sometimes from old reviews from books and magazines.

Thank you!! :):)

Peachy, thank you for the facts for "F&*^ You "... :bow: :bow:

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Thank you everyone for last weeks facts you-rock.gif

The Songfactors Choice Top Ten #229

This week there are six songs needing facts.

Dialogue (Part I & II)- Chicago (1972)

Cherry Bomb - The Runaways (1976)

I'm A Man - The Yardbirds (1964)

We Gotta Get You A Woman - Todd Rundgren (with Runt) (1970)

Fortune Teller - Benny Spellman (1962)

Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees (1992)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you. cool-smiley-026.gif

Edited by Guest
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"I'm A Man"

The Yardbirds

Written by Bo Diddley in June 1955.

The Yardbirds recorded a cover of this song in October 1965 with "Still I'm Sad" as the B-side. The song reached #17 in the US charts and was also a track of their 1965 LP "Having a Rave Up". This album was a compilation and it was released only in the US.

By then, the line up-of the band was: Keith Relf on lead vocals and harmonica; Jeff Beck on lead guitar and vocals; Chris Dreja, rhythm guitar;

Paul Samwell-Smith on bass and backing vocals and Jim McCarty on drums and percussion.

The Yardbird's version is also noted for the rhythm change, when the beat speeds up, featuring some unusual percussion making clacking sounds, until it ends in a climax.

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"Dialogue (Part I & II)"

Chicago

Written by Robert Lamm.

Recorded in 1972 for their album "Chicaho V". The single was released in October of the same year with "Alma Mater" as B-side. The single version was edited as just one song lastin 7 minutes, while the album version is divided in two tracks.

It reached #24 in the Billboard Hot 100 .

In Part I, the song's lyrics are a dialogue between two young people with different views. The first person (whose lines are sung by Terry Kath) is very concerned about events of the early 1970s, such as war, starvation, and "repression... closing in around." The second person (whose lines are sung by Peter Cetera) maintains that "everything is fine." Musically, the song is also a dialogue between Terry Kath's rhythm guitar and Peter Cetera's bass, which is all the more interesting as the songwriting credit went to keyboardist Robert Lamm. As Part I comes to a close, Terry Kath's character embraces the other character's worldview, saying "you know you really eased my mind; / I was troubled by the shapes of things to come." Part II contains more optimistic lyrics sung by the whole band, including "we can make it better" and "we can change the world now." Interestingly, the song ends on an abrupt note, in the middle of the phrase "we can make it happen," suggesting that the passive approach adopted by the two characters would lead to a sudden and unpleasant end.
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"Cherry Bomb"

The Runaways

Written by Joan Jett and Kim Fowley in 1976 as a track for their debut album, "The Runnaways".

The song wasn't released as a single, yet it's considered as the signature song of the Runnaways.

VH1 rated it as #52 for their 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs list.

:help:

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"Fortune Teller"

Benny Spellman

Allen Toussaint wrote this song in the early sixties under the name of Naomi Neville.

Benny Spellman recorded the first version in 1962 as the B-side to his single "Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)", which was a hit for him.

In August 16th 1963, The Rolling Stones recorded the song. It was released on the UK album Saturday Night in Jan 1964. Then released in the US on More Hot Rocks, Dec, 1. 1972. A dubded version of the song was released on Got Live If You Want It, in December, 1966

Cover versions exist by The Rolling Stones (on their first live album, Got Live If You Want It! but overdubbed with screaming girls- the scream-free version can be found on the compilation More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) ), The Hollies, The Who (on their famous Live at Leeds), The Merseybeats, Tony Jackson, The Downliners Sect, the Hardtimes, the Stellas (stereo CBS Germany 1965 and still found on new compilations), Strawberry Alarm Clock (recording as Thee Sixpence), and many others, including more recently the October 2007 album Raising Sand, performed by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

The song was also a hit in Australia, recorded by The Throb. Rumour has it that the Australian band were played the Rolling Stones version by their studio producer before they recorded their version, to get an idea of how it should sound.

About Benny Spellman, according Wikipedia:

Benny Spellman, born December 11, 1931, was an American rhythm and blues singer. He is best known for his 1962 hit "Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)," written by Allen Toussaint and the original version of "Fortune Teller", covered by The Rolling Stones among others. "Lipstick Traces" reached #28 on the Billboard Black Singles chart and #80 on the Hot 100. He also worked with Huey Piano Smith and sang backup on Ernie K-Doe's #1 hit, "Mother in Law". He recorded a single, "Word Game", on Atlantic Records in 1965, then retired from music to work in the beer industry. In 1988, Collectables Records issued a retrospective album of 16 of Spellman's recordings from the 1960s.

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"We Gotta get You A Woman"

Todd Rundgren (Runt)

Written by Todd Rundgren in 1970.

Recorded and released in June 1970 for their first album, "Runt", and also as a single that made #20 in the US charts and was their biggest hit.

It was Todd Rundgren's first hit.

Some facts about Runt:

After leaving Nazz in 1969, Rundgren alternated production work for other groups with his career as a recording artist. In 1970 he formed the 'band' Runt, consisting of Hunt Sales on drums, his brother Tony Sales on bass (sons of slapstick US TV kiddie show pioneer Soupy Sales and future members of David Bowie's band and Tin Machine) and Rundgren himself, who wrote, produced, sang and played guitars, keyboards and other instruments. Whether Runt can really be described as a band, or simply as a pseudonym for Rundgren as a solo artist is a little cloudy: for their first album, (1970's Runt) the group seems to be a definite trio, but for their second album (1971's Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren), Hunt Sales plays only on two tracks and is replaced by N.D. Smart on the rest of the album. Furthermore, only Rundgren is pictured on the covers of both albums, and both albums have been subsequently reissued with the same titles and cover art, but bearing the artist credit "Todd Rundgren".

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"Nearly Lost You"

Screaming Trees

Written by Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Lanegan.

Released in 1992 as a single with "ESK", "Song of a Baker" and the acoustic version of "Winter Song" as the B-side.

Also a track of their album "Sweet Oblivion".

It became famous as it was part of the soundtrack of the movie "Sigles", by Cameron Crowe, also form 1992.

...also appeared on the band's 1992 breakthrough album Sweet Oblivion. It also appears on the soundtrack to the 2007 baseball video game The Bigs, and is available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series, and is in the main soundtrack of Guitar Hero 5.

The closest thing the Screaming Trees ever had to a signature song, "Nearly Lost You" appeared on their most successful album, 1992's Sweet Oblivion, but really found its audience when it was included on the massively successful Singles soundtrack a few months later. Singles essentially functioned as an encapsulation of the Seattle rock scene for a neophyte mass audience, and the Trees were there to stand up and be counted with the big boys. "Nearly Lost You" was an excellent way to do that, too, proving one of the soundtrack's highlights with its monolithic guitars and Mark Lanegan's smoky rasp. It was that rare up-tempo rocker that managed to sound wistful and reflective even as the din of guitar distortion raged in the background. With its dissonant, jangling, distorted chords and echoing, liquid solo melodies, "Nearly Lost You" kicked up quite a fury, too. Typical of the Trees' output, though, it was more of a psychedelic racket than a wallow in machismo, and that was underlined by Lanegan's sighing vocal melodies, which really helped the song stand out from the rest of the Singles pack, and on college radio. It's a shame that the band was never really able to capitalize commercially on the exposure provided by "Nearly Lost You," but at the very least, it gave them one of grunge's best overlooked singles.

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