RockyRaccoon Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 "Queen Bitch" From the wiki of pedia's: "Queen Bitch" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. Bowie was a great Velvet Underground fan and wrote the song in tribute to the band and Lou Reed. He recorded a cover of "I'm Waiting for the Man" in 1967 (which remains unissued), as well as live versions on Bowie at the Beeb and the radio-recording of the live at Nassau Coliseum concert that follow "Queen Bitch". It starts with Bowie counting down to his acoustic guitar before Mick Ronson's thrashy guitar riff enters. The song's arrangement, featuring a melodic bass line, a tight drum pattern, choppy distorted guitar chords, and an understated vocal performance by Bowie, provided the template for the glam rock style which features prominently on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, his seminal 1972 follow-up to Hunky Dory. While the main riff is similar to the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane", it is actually lifted from Eddie Cochran's "Three Steps to Heaven". (a posthumous #1 hit single in the UK in 1960). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 "Queen Bitch" From the wiki of pedia's: One thing not well-known about David Bowie is that he's probably the original British Velvet Underground fan, thanks to his manager getting a hold of acetates back in 1966 and sharing them with his young charge. He went on to actually record a cover of "Waiting for the Man" back then that's still remained unissued, but five years later he finally got his love for Lou Reed fully out in the open with the snarling, snappy glam classic "Queen Bitch." Even his friend and rival Marc Bolan hadn't come up with something so literally bitchy quite yet, as Bowie fused (to quote the Hunky Dory album sleeve) "some V.U. white light" with his own pop senses. Counted off and led into first Bowie's acoustic guitar, then a wonderfully recorded Mick Ronson riff that couldn't be any more gloriously trashy if it tried, "Queen Bitch" out-Reeds Reed, hard as that may be to believe. Or at least, if Reed could write the lines, it's doubtful he could sing them with such gleeful squeals as Bowie does when he goes "She's so swishy in her satin and tat" or "For she's a queen, and such are queens." Energy mixed with seediness and just the right amount of star power -- one couldn't ask for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Thank you, Rocky!! I just added the allmusic review... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 We still need facts for some other songs: Smoke Stack Lightning - Howlin' Wolf Maybe - Janis Joplin Please, Come to Boston- Dave Loggins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 "Smoke Stack Lightning" Howlin' Wolf Written by Chester Burnett (a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf) in 1956 and released as a single by Chess Records in March the same year with "You Can't Be Beat" as the B-side. Also a track of his 1959 LP "Moanin' in the Moonlight" . According wikipedia, the song is a blues "based on one riff and no chord changes." Based on "Crying at Daybreak", another earlier recorded song by Wolf which was based on "Moon Going Down" by Charley Patton. Wolf said the song was inspired by watching trains in the night: "We used to sit out in the country and see the trains go by, watch the sparks come out of the smokestack. That was smokestack lightning." In Britain in 1964, Pye International Records issued "Smokestack Lightning" as a single and it reached the Top 50. In 1999, the song was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award honoring its lasting historical significance. The song is ranked #285 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 1985, the song was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame "Classics of Blues Recordings" category. "Smokestack Lightning" is also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". With original compositions like "I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" and "Smokestack Lightning," Howlin' Wolf was one of the main links between the older, mostly acoustic strain of the Mississippi Delta blues and the more urbane and contemporary version that Willie Dixon spearheaded, composing, performing, and producing for Chess Records in the 1950s and '60s. Howlin' Wolf was already a middle-aged blues star with his own radio program down South by the time he moved to Chicago, lured by Chess in 1953. Soon enough he would begin collaborating with Dixon, the label's main creative force, but when he first arrived and began recording, it was with material that he penned himself. "Smokestack Lightning" seems almost like a distillation of the essence of the blues; it is almost all one riff, with no chord changes, with Wolf growling and, yes, howling in a falsetto. Recorded in 1956, the swampy atmospheric track features Hosea Lee Kennard on piano; Willie Johnson and stalwart Wolf sideman Hubert Sumlin on guitars; Earl Phillips on drums; Dixon on upright bass; and Wolf playing harp and singing. The original single recording was made available on the 1966 collection Real Folk Blues. It is a pleasingly primitive and raw representation of the blues, pure and chant-like. Wolf truly sounds like a man in otherwise inexpressible agony, flailing for words, bawling, "Smokestack lightning/Shining like gold/Oh, don't you hear me crying?/Tell me baby/Where did you stay last night?/Woah stop your train/Oh let a hobo ride/Oh fare thee well/I don't want to see you no more/Oh, don't you hear me crying?" Wolf's delivery here is directly influential to more modern blues singers like Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits, two artists who appreciate Wolf's disjointed, linear approach to the song. He shows the sort of ear that writers like Dixon and Chuck Berry show for the musical quality in the sounds of words themselves. Recounting his writing of the song's characteristic bending riff, Sumlin explained to Ted Drozdowski for Guitar.com, "Wolf made my ass come up with that *******. Hell, I had to play to God! He always used to put me down: 'You ain't doing this! You ain't got that right!' I said, 'F--- it, who you think you are? Some f---in' state trooper?' For 'Smokestack Lightning,' Wolf wrote it, and then he made me come up with that part." "Smokestack Lightning" has become a blues standard, open to varied interpretation, covered by artists ranging from the Yardbirds to Soundgarden, all stamping their personal imprint on the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 "Maybe" Janis Joplin Written by Richard Barrett and released originally by The Chantels on October 16, 1957. Janis Joplin covered this song and it was included in her album "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!", the first solo album by Joplin, in September 1969. It was a Gold Record for two months after its release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Thanks everybody who contribues to our song facts ...including Yellowstone, who's also wishing to help and knows a lot... If any of you have more facts, please, add them. I couldn't find much about Janis Joplin's cover of "Maybe" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowsnow Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 On "Maybe," which was a big doo-wop hit for the Chantels during the late fifties, Janis gives a smooth performance that showed a new maturity. ^^I really like my new name Edna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 a) thank you, Yellowsnow... sorry about your new name, I was maybe thinking about pinkstones, whom I forgot to thank too.... ...thank you too, pinkstones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Sorry, "Please Come To Boston" has already been songfacted by pinkstones... I tried to delete it from my first post with the three songs but it' s already late... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 "Please Come To Boston" Dave Loggins Dave Loggins is also of course, Kenny Loggins' cousin. I'm adding this: ...a serviceable and sentimental soft rock gem from his second album, Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop). Part of the lexicon of harmless '70s singer/songwriters like Dan Fogelberg and James Taylor, Dave Loggins never again regained the momentum spawned by that track, but its appearance on nearly every AM pop compilation illuminates the tune's timelessness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Thank you to ALL of you who so faithfully submit facts each and every week (or even once in a while). The facts are hugely important to the Top Ten, increasing the # of songs in the site's database tremendously. I don't think anyone would be terribly upset with me if I said extra special thanks to both Lea and edna .... you ladies rock, y'know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowsnow Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 I don't think anyone would be terribly upset with me if I said extra special thanks to both Lea and edna .... you ladies rock, y'know? Truer words have never been spoken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesboy Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 I concur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 ...thank you so much and thank you too for letting us be helpfull... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lea Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Thank you to all who gathered facts for last weeks list. You all rock :rock: :rock: The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #236 This week there are seven songs needing facts. I've Been Lonely too Long - The Rascals (1967) This Magic Moment - Jay and the Americans (1968) God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You - Argent (1973) Look Through Any Window - The Hollies (1965) I'm Not Like Everybody Else - The Kinks (1966) Only You Know And I Know - Delaney and Bonnie & Friends (1970) Mama Said - The Shirelles (1961) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowsnow Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Mama Said "Mama Said" is a song performed by The Shirelles. It became a top ten hit, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100, when it was released as a single in 1961. It has been covered by American Spring, Dusty Springfield, Van Morrison, Stereos and Dionne Bromfield. It was also performed as a cover by a young Dionne Bromfield, who is Amy Winehouse's God Daughter and she is signed up to Amy's Lioness Records. The B-side was "Blue Holiday". It was written by Luther Dixon and Willie Denson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 "I've Been Lonely too Long" The Rascals Written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati. Released as a single on January 16th, 1967, with "If You Knew" as the B-side. It made #16 in Billboard Singles charts and #17 on the Cashbox list. It was included in their second album, "Collections" released on January 9, 1967. Another excellent example of the early Rascals songwriting and record-making abilities, "I've Been Lonely too Long" was somewhat of a quantum leap for the group. In terms of feel, it's loosely based on the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." The Beatles-inspired, graceful lyric is both easy to relate to and intriguing as well. All of this added up to another Top 20 hit for the band, and deservedly so. It's a mini-masterpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 "This Magic Moment" Jay and the Americans Written by Doc Pomus (lyrics) and Mort Shuman (music) , it's one of the most famous songs credited to them and also one of their biggest hits. Ben E. King & The Drifters recorded the original version (it got to #16 in the charts)in 1960. Jay and the Americans covered the song in 1968 and released the single in 1969, reaching #6 in the lists in January. After selling more than one million copies it became a Golden Record awarded by the R.I.A.A. in May 1969. It was also a track of their album "Sands Of Times",a compilation of their favorite oldies. But "This Magic Moment" was also their last Top ten hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 "Only You Know And I Know" Delaney and Bonnie & Friends Written by Dave Mason. Delaney and Bonnie recorded this song for their 1972 LP, "DB Together", which was their last album with new songs (they divorced soon after) "Only You Know and I Know," , where Dave Mason plays guitar, was recorded in 1969 and issued in 1971, before the album was released. The song is recorded in studio for the first time in this album as they used to play it a lot on tours with Delaney &Bonnie and friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" The Kinks Written by Ray Davies. Recorded on May 12th, 1966, at Pye Studios, London. It was released on June 3rd 1966 with "Sunny Afternoon" as the B side. The song is also a track of their album "Sunny Afternoon" album in 1967. The song soon became one of their favorite songs and they played live on most of their tours; (Ray Davies still performs it, and it's been the opening number in his live solo-concerts by the end on 2000. The song neatly sums up (and simultaneously laments) the philosophy that has driven his long musical career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkstones Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Since I nominated it.... "Look Through Any Window" The Hollies "Look Through Any Window" is the first American Top-40 hit for the British Invasion band The Hollies, peaking at #32 in January 1966. It reached #4 in their homeland. Written by professional songwriter Graham Gouldman and Charles Siverman, its distinctive 12-string riff, along with soaring harmonies and Bobby Elliott's explosive drumming, make it one of the Hollies' and the British Invasion's finest moments. They also recorded a version in French. It became their opening title for the 1965 album Hollies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 God Gave Rock and Roll to You" is a 1973 song by British band Argent. It has been covered by many artists, including Petra, Midtown, The Truth, and Bride. The song was remade by Kiss as "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" for the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey in 1991. It was later covered by Unrest on the "Buy This Used CD" compilation CD in 1993. The song was writen by Argent bassist Russ Ballard. (Wikipedia) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 "Only You Know And I Know" Delaney and Bonnie & Friends Written by Dave Mason. Delaney and Bonnie recorded this song for their 1972 LP, "DB Together", which was their last album with new songs (they divorced soon after) "Only You Know and I Know," , where Dave Mason plays guitar, was recorded in 1969 and issued in 1971, before the album was released. The song is recorded in studio for the first time in this album as they used to play it a lot on tours with Delaney &Bonnie and friends. I hate to correct you edna, but "Only You Know and I Know" was actually first released in 1970 on the album titled "On Tour With Eric Clapton" in 1970. It was then released a second time in '72 on "D & B Together". The only reason I knew was that I had that album, where I first learned the song. Allmusic goes on to say: One of the finest examples of rock and gospel to ever come out of the 1969-1970 period is indeed from this Dave Mason classic. Mason himself, of course, hit Top 40 gold with his original, but Delaney & Bonnie's version is perhaps more wildly known as a FM radio staple. A galloping tempo that surrounds a series of very, very simple folk-rock chords is the basis for the song. Lyrically, there is a certain loving cynicism to it, as written by a man who has gone through love's fire and disappointment while still retaining his sense of humor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 Thank you, Lucky!!! If not for your reading twice we would have false facts in the data base... ...and we're here to make something together... Too good you're correcting me, sometimes I fail, you know... ? Plus you're the expert in Mason or Delaney&Bonnie... thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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