edna Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 "River" Joni Mitchell Written by Joni Mitchell. Released as a track of her album "blue" in June 1971, it wasn't released as a single but it's considered as one of the best Joni Mitchell's songs and one of the most famous as well. It's a song about Christmas and being far from home, having had a breakup with her lover and longing for Canada, where the river would be covered with ice instead of the warm Californian weather she's experiencing. Her mood and her state of mind is rather a Canadian/cold one... rather than a sunny Christmas by the beach. You can hear a tune similar to "Jingle Bells" through the song among the arrangements and at the beginning of the song as well. The song has become a modern Christmas classic and there is a very large list of performers who have covered the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 "A Song For You" Leon Russell Written by Leon Russell. A song from his album "Leon Russell". It was his debut solo album and it was released in May 1970 by Shelter records, his own label that he founded himself. The line-up is formed by many of his friends: George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voorman. The song wasn't released as a single but it's one of his most famous songs and also considered as one of his best ones. The song was covered by many artists, Andy Williams, Herbie Hancock with Christina Aguilera or Ray Charles among them. A slow, pained plea for forgiveness from an estranged lover, the tune is one of Russell's best-known songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I Fought the Law has a songfact for its original version by Bobby Fuller Four, which mentions the Clash cover. Taken from the Songfact: "The Clash recorded this in 1979 after they heard Fuller's version on a jukebox. They changed the line "I left my baby" to "I killed my baby." Their version hit #22 in the UK." It was released as a single in the US on July 26th, 1979, with "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" as the B-side. Also a track from their EP, "The Cost of Living", released in may 1979. In the US it was a track of their album "The Clash", from the same year. This cover opened the American market for The Clash. They also played a plive version at the Lyceum Theatre, London on 28 December 1978, which is featured as the ending of "Rude Boy", the 1980 film by Jack Hazan and David Mingay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_M Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I Fought the Law has a songfact for its original version by Bobby Fuller Four, which mentions the Clash cover. Taken from the Songfact: "The Clash recorded this in 1979 after they heard Fuller's version on a jukebox. They changed the line "I left my baby" to "I killed my baby." Their version hit #22 in the UK." I originally didn't post any facts for this song because I only have chart positions and no additional info, but I guess I'll add them now. The last part of that SongFact about The Clash's version of the song reaching #22 in the UK is an incorrect fact entered in the SongFacts database. (I guess Carl will have to get this corrected.) I also noticed that the Wikipedia page for the song states the same, but that is incorrect info, too. It was The Clash's EP, 'The Cost Of Living' that reached #22 in the UK in May 1979, not a single of the song. The EP includes the song "I Fought The Law", plus a few more songs. Here is the correct chart position for The Clash's cover of the song in the UK (their version didn't chart in the U.S.): #29 on the UK singles chart in Mar. 1988. It should be noted that while the song was originally released in 1979 on their EP, 'The Cost Of Living', it took until 1988, when their record company issued an actual single of the song, that it hit the UK Singles chart. On an additional side note not associated with our page: The wikipedia page also states that "Fuller's version had not been a hit single in the UK, that inspired The Clash to record a cover version of the song in 1978." The above statement is also not true. The fact: Bobby Fuller Four's cover version of the song peaked at #33 on the UK Singles chart in April 1966. Another example of incorrect info that can be found on Wikipedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Thank you, Brad... That's why I check the info from other sites and also books I have before accepting wikipedia's facts... yet I still have to take my info from it, as there's not always much other information... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_M Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I hear ya, Edna. While mostly correct, Wikipedia sometimes gets people posting things that they haven't thoroughly verified. I guess we do have to rely on it sometimes and hope that it is correct if we can't find more info to verify it. I've even seen some comments that came with a citation but were incorrect because the poster didn't thoroughly read the info they cited. Unfortunately, some facts on our site weren't thoroughly verified before they were posted, either. I've found a few incorrect entries in our database in the past and notified Carl and he corrected them. I guess it happens, but together, you, me and all of the SongFacts community can keep the site full of facts, Edna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lea Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Good work you guys. A lot of good facts thanks for putting in so much time on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lea Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #253 This week there are three songs needing facts. Delta Lady - Joe Cocker (1969) Mother Goose - Jethro Tull (1971) I Want to Take You Higher – Sly & The Family Stone (1969) 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 :guitar: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowsnow Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Delta Lady – Joe Cocker Written by Leon Russell (dedicated to Rita Coolidge) The song was first released on the studio album "Joe Cocker!" which came out in November 1969. A live version is included on "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" (1970). A new recording of the song appeared on Cocker’s 1996 studio album "Organic". According to Wiki the following musicians played on the 1969 studio album version: • Joe Cocker – vocals • Chris Stainton – piano, organ, guitar • Alan Spenner – bass • Bruce Rowland – drums • Henry McCullough – guitar • Leon Russell – piano, organ, guitar • Milt Holland – percussion • Sneaky Pete Kleinow – guitar • Clarence White – guitar • Paul Humphries – drums • Merry Clayton, Bonnie Bramlett, Rita Coolidge, Patrice Holloway, Sherlie Matthews – background vocals • Steve Winwood – claims unspecified contributions on his official website One of Leon Russell's greatest songwriting creations, "Delta Lady" is also one of Joe Cocker's defining moments. Using gospel and funky R&B as a base for the entire song, the record is a virtual mini-suite and is easily the most ambitious song Cocker ever cut. An ascending piano riff introduces the down-home, swampy groove -- the first part climbs and falls with a subtle and dramatic grace. A gorgeous, pop bridge introduces an element of Broadway-inspired pop, which alone is unique for a Russell or Cocker recording. The verses are a full-blown three-chord rock blowout, featuring a fabulous performance from both Cocker and the background vocalists. A very odd but effective, neo-classical bridge breaks the song up in the middle with great drama before returning to the gospel and rock & roll of the final, bone-crunching verse and chorus. Lyrically, it's a love song that was purportedly inspired by Russell's then-girlfriend, Rita Coolidge. As tight and great as this studio version is, the extended live version from Mad Dogs and Englishmen may even be more effective. Russell also cut a great version himself on his Leon Russell album in 1970, and this is worth seeking out. It was also released as a single in September of 1969. The highest charts positions were #69 in the US and #10 in Great Britain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 "I Want to Take You Higher" Sly & The Family Stone Written by SYlvester "Sly Stone" Stewart. A track of their 1969 album "Stand!" Released as a single in 1969, it was the B-side to the song "Stand!", a hit that charted in the Top. In 1970, it made the Top 40. Soon after, Ike and Tina Turner released their cover. Both Sly & the family Stone and Ike&Tine Turner versions made the Top 40, though the Turners' cover charted higher than the original. The song is actually a remake of another song, "Higher", a track from their previous album released in 1968, "Dance To The Music". "Higher" was in fact the result of an arrangement of "Advice", a song co-written by Sly Stone with Billy Preston for Preston's album "The Wildest Organ In Town", recorded and released in 1966. It's considered as one of the most upbeat recordings in the Family Stone canon "I Wanna Take You Higher" was performed at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and earned a lot of popularity for the band. The audience was dancing and shouting "Higher!" along with Sly Stone during the show. Combining a fabulous electric guitar riff, frantic gospel-inspired vocals, and one of the finest rhythm sections tracks of the period -- as well as a timely message -- "I Want to Take You Higher" may just be one of the great late-'60s rock moments. Beyond that, it's also perhaps one of the finest Sly & the Family Stone tracks. A blues harmonica and relentless beat (another of Sly's disco "blueprints"), it grooves from start to finish. Also, the song contains yet another of the band's great, wordless vocal hooks. This song, with its universal message of unity through music, brought the Woodstock crowd to its feet, as well as the radio audience. Definitive late-'60s record and song? No doubt about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindCrime Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 One note about a song that made the 10 that already has a Songfact page. Laid by James is listed under the category Songs with titles that are not part of the lyrics, despite the last two words being sung are Laid in a long stretchy falsetto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 "Mother Goose" Jethro Tull Written by Ian Anderson. A track of their fourth studio album, "Aqualung", from 1971. The song was recorded between December 1970 and February 1971 at Island Studios, in London. The single was released on March 19th, along with the album. It's an almost all-acoustic song and it was inspired by a walk through Hampstead Heath. Ian Anderson gathered the thoughts and images that came to his mind while he was walking and the result was this song, "an old English flavoured song, cutely phrased and unusually delivered" , according Sound Magazine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lea Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 Thank you Edna, Yellow, and MC I will get those boxed and sent right off The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #253 This week there are four songs needing facts. Watching The River Run - Loggins & Messina (1973) Country Girl - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young(1970) Girls Talk - Dave Edmunds (1979) Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown – Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1975 / recorded live 1970) 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 :guitar: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 "Girls Talk" Dave Edmunds Written by Elvis Costello. Recorded in 1979. It was a track he released as the B-side to his single "I Can't Stan Up For falling", in 1980. Dave Edmunds covered it as a track for his 1979 album "Repeat When Necessary". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 "Country Girl" Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Written by Neil Young. A track of their first album, "Déjà Vu", released i 1970, on March 11th. It was recorded between July and December 1969. Neil Young played guitar, harmonica and organ, and sang lead vocals. Graham Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills on guitar and vocals. Greg Reeves on bass. Dallas Taylor on drums. again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 "Country Girl" Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Written by Neil Young. A track of their first album, "Déjà Vu", released i 1970, on March 11th. It was recorded between July and December 1969. Neil Young played guitar, harmonica and organ, and sang lead vocals. Graham Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills on guitar and vocals. Greg Reeves on bass. Dallas Taylor on drums. "Country Girl" was the most unusual song on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's chart-topping 1970 album Deja Vu. Most of that record was chipper romanticism or reflections on the counterculture. By contrast, "Country Girl" was, like many Neil Young compositions, opaque and inscrutable, though comfortably melodic enough for it to fit onto the album without jarring the listener. Of the relatively few songs Young has written specifically for CSNY, it's the one that gives greatest vent to his eccentricity -- a big part of his solo work, but one that was toned down for his work within CSNY. "Country Girl" is an achingly pretty, brooding minor-key ballad, though one that CSNY are able to make their own distinctive contributions to via their block harmonies. A doomy, classical-tinged piano and shimmering vibes dominates the first part of the arrangement. Suddenly a phantom-of-the-opera organ joins in, just after which CSNY add their trademark harmonies. "Country Girl" is in fact divided into a three-part suite titled "Whiskey Boot Hill," "Down Down Down," and "County Girl (I Think You're Pretty)," with "Down Down Down" marking a more uplifting and harmonized section. The orchestral density of the arrangement really explodes when it reaches the third and final part, which is basically just an anthemic repetition based around the song's title, as if sunlight has suddenly emerged over the hill to brighten Young's heart. It's an impressive suite-like production, but like many Young songs, its surface appeal hides enigmatic lyrics that are hard to make heads or tails of. The first parts of the tune are unrelated if evocative images that seem suffused with nostalgic lament and regret. The last part, "Country Girl (I Think You're Pretty)," is by contrast a relatively straightforward romantic plea for the girl to let him be her country man. When you get down to it the song makes little sense, but no matter: it's very pretty, perhaps in an indefinable way similar to that of the country girl Young evidently admires. About 35 years later, it emerged that an earlier version of the "Down Down Down" part of the song, with a sparser folk-rock arrangement, had actually been recorded by Buffalo Springfield way back in September 1966; it surfaced on the 2001 Buffalo Springfield box set. It should also be pointed out that part of the "Down Down Down" melody would be recycled for the much more famous Young composition "Broken Arrow," recorded by Buffalo Springfield on their second album. Finally, it can also be noted that a very good solo acoustic guitar version of "Country Girl" appears on the Neil Young bootleg Trail of the Buffalo, recorded in concert in December 1969. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown" Neil Young & Crazy Horse Song written by Danny Whitten and Neil Young, though in this album it's credited to Danny Whitten only. It was released on November 14th, 2006, in the album "Live At The Fillmore East". Made with the live performances from the non-acoustic sets, from March 6 & 7 1970. There's only previously unreleased material, some are live and some from studio sessions. Released in 2006 as a CD and also as a DVD. The song was first a track of Crazy Horses' debut solo album . The band, who bas Neil Young's backing band, was formed by Danny Whitten, Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina and Jack Nietzche. Nils Lofgren and Ry Cooder also played on the album. It was recorded in 1970 and released in 1971. It was also played on the tour Neil Young & Crazy Horse did to promote the album "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", in the beginning of 1970. Danny Whitten was the guitar player of the band and this was going to be his last tour with them. He was kicked off the band due to drug issues and he died in 1972. In 1975, Neil Young released his album "Tonight's the Night" including a version of this song performed by Danny Whitten. Neil Young reffered to this album as a "mammoth box set, each one as a chronicle of a different time in his career" ...it's not a complete representation of a 1970 show. During this tour, Neil opened with an acoustic set and then had Crazy Horse come out for an electric set; the acoustic is not here, but most of the electric is, with only "Cinnamon Girl" absent -- and it's absent because there was not existing high-quality tape for it, unlike the rest of music that's featured here. So, it comes down to a matter of taste: for hardcore fans used to bootleg quality, they may lament the lack of a full show, but for those who want the best of this legendary stay at the Fillmore East in the best possible audio quality (including a DVD of the show, where the main program plays to photos of the band from the tour), that's what this set gives you. And in doing so, it gives a good indication that as Neil slowly rolls out the archives, he'll emphasize quality over completeness for better and for worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 "Watching The River Run" Loggins & Messina Written by Jim Messina and Kenny Loggins. A track of their 1973 album, "Full Sail". Also released as the second single from the album in 1974. It reached #71 in the Billboard Hot 100. It was later included in many other compilations and live recordings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lea Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 That you very much edna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lea Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #255 This week there are four songs needing facts. Who Do You Love? - George Thorogood (1978) Baby, Please Don't Go - Them (1965 ) Pieces Of April ~ Three Dog Night (1973 Roller ~ April Wine (1979) 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 :guitar: :rock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 "Who Do You Love?" George Throrogood Written by Bo Diddley in 1956. His version was released in 1957 and since then it's been a classic, covered by more than 40 artists. Among them, The Rolling Stones, Patti Smith, The Yardbirds, Bob Seger, Santana or Quicksilver Messenger Service. George Thorogood made his version in 1978. A track of his album "Move It On Over", released also in 1978 by George Thorogood & The Destroyers, their second album. The song has been a classic of AOR music and classic rock radio. It was used in the commercials for Samuel Adams beer. The song was ranked at #132 by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2004 as one of the biggest 500 all time songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 "Baby, Please Don't Go" Them A song written by Big Joe Williams in 1935. He performed and released the original version. A classic of rock&blues, it has been covered by many performers (among them: Tampa Kid, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith or AC/DC) In November 6th 1964, Van Morrison and Them released a single with the song. It immediately went on to the UK charts, reaching #10 and becoming Them's first hit. Jimmy Page played rythm-guitar on this track. It wasn't included on an album, except for compilations. Van Morrison left Them in 1966. The B-side of the single, "Gloria", a song written by Van Morrison, also became a classic of rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 ...any further info will be very appreciated... Thank you!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 "Pieces Of April" Three Dog Night Written by Dave Loggins as a track of his 1972 debut album, "Personal Belongings". Three Dog Night recorded their version as a track of their eight album studio, "Seven Separate Fools", released in July 1972. Yet, Dave Loggins wrote the song for Three Dog Night. It was also released as a single, reaching #19 in the Billboard Hot 100 by November 18th. It stood there for 14 weeks. It was also included in their ninth album, "Around The world With Three Dog night", issued on February 1973. The double live LP was recorded during a 1972 tour in which the band was supporting their album "Seven Separate Fools". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 "Roller" April Wine Written by Myles Goodwyn. Recorded by the Canadian group in 1978 for their seventh stuido LP, "First Glance", released in December 1978. "Roller" was also released as a single -the third from the album- and became a very popular song and an international hit as well. Though the critics didn't like at all the song and qualified it as "much too commercial", it was their first hit in the US. It became a top request song by radio listeners in Flint Michigan. It was widely broadcasted and entered the charts in 1979, getting to #34 in the US and #24 in the Canadian charts. Roller stood on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart for 11 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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