Canned Heat: Let's Work Together

Last week, I noticed the new Blackberry Playbook commercial on TV and was surprised and elated to hear Canned Heat’s “Let’s Work Together” as the ad’s bed. The song was written by Wilbert Harrison (of “Kansas City” fame) and was a reworking of his 1962 single, “Let’s Stick Together.” When Harrison released “Let’s Work Together” in 1969, it was a mid charting hit. Harrison was billed as Wilbert Harrison One Man Band. The song peaked in 1970 at #32.

Upon hearing Harrison’s version, Canned Heat recorded their now classic cover of Harrison’s original. It featured Bob “The Bear” Hite on lead vocals and Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson on slide guitar. Liberty Records released it as a single and the Canned Heat version did slightly better than Harrison’s original by charting at #26. Like other Canned Heat recordings, it’s a gem from one of America’s premier white blues bands. “Let’s Work Together” appeared on their fifth LP "Future Blues."

Canned Heat: Studio Version

Canned Heat: Live Version

Dig the crazy Orange brand amps & cabinets from England. I always wanted one, but alas – I probably will never own one and really no need to have one.

In 2001, they introduced a practice model called “the Orange Crush,” the smaller “Tiny Terror,” and an even smaller “Micro Crush.” All in their signature orange Tolex – very cool indeed.

Wilbert Harrison: “Let’s Work Together” 1969

Wilbert Harrison: “Let’s Stick Together” 1962

And don't forget to boogie, boogie.

Roger Daltrey: Without Your Love

With The Who, Roger Daltrey sang on a number of hit singles. Sixteen of The Who’s singles charted within the Top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100 and include the following:

• “Happy Jack,” #24
• “I Can See For Miles,” #9
• “Call Me Lightning,” #40
• “Magic Bus,” #25
• “Pinball Wizard,” #19
• “I’m Free,” #37
• “Summertime Blues,” #27
• “See Me, Feel Me,” #12
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” #15
• “Behind Blue Eyes,” #34
• “Join Together,” “#17
• “Relay,” #39
• “Squeeze Box,” #16
• “Who Are You,” #14
• “You Better You Bet,” #18
• “Athena,” #28

Even though Daltry had these hits under his belt, he only had one hit under his own name. Released in 1980 and from the “McVicar” soundtrack, “Without Your Love” was Daltrey’s one-hit wonder charting at 20. The song was a bigger hit in The Netherlands where it charted at #2.

In addition to singing on the soundtrack, Roger Daltrey played the lead role of English bank robber John McVicar in the movie. One thing I liked about this tune is the mandolin. I played this tune at WAMX in Ashland, Kentucky and it reminds me of my last year at that particular station.

John Dawson Read: A Friend Of Mine Is Going Blind

I was home on Christmas break during the winter of 1975 and John Dawson Read’s “A Friend of Mine is Going Blind” was being played quite a bit on a station that I discovered while home – WYEP-FM, Listener Supported Radio. There was something about this sad tune that touched me – as many sad songs do.

There are other songs in this same vein that have had a similar effect upon me. To name some, the song “Real People” on Mac McAnally’s debut album that spoke about a school aged boy named John with a brain tumor. Another is Don McLean’s ballad about the self inflicted torture of Vincent Van Gogh that was simply titled “Vincent.” I wrote a college English essay on Van Gogh and that song. Even the internal conflict found in The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” made it my favorite song from their “Who’s Next” LP.

I don’t know why I’ve been drawn to these songs over the years, but there is probably something deep in my psyche that causes me to relate. Neither am I depressed or despondent, but perhaps I rid myself of these negative vibes through the music of others via sublimation.

While Read’s album failed to chart, amazingly the single did at #72 on the Hot 100. I bought the album for myself that Christmas. See if you find a touch of pathos in John Dawson Read’s song about his friend, Tommy Davidson, who was suffering from Muscular Dystrophy which began to manifest itself in the form of blindness . . . “but through the dimness, he sees so much better than me.”

Live Version

Lyrics

While the lyrics on this song are beautiful, there are several occasions that will make the grammar police wince. In order to make the rhyme, John Dawson Reed is forced into using the subjective "I" when the objective "me" is the correct form. Just pretend that when he sings "so much better than I" that a "do" follows and everything will be ducky as they say.

A friend of mine is going blind, but through the dimness
He sees so much better than me
And how he cherishes each new thing that he sees
They are locked in his head, he will save them for when
He's in darkness again

He can't read books and he can't paint pretty pictures
But he understands so much clearer than I
For he knows that all he's missing with his eyes
Is more vivid in the mind of the man who's going blind
And that's why he doesn't mind

Won't you sing Tommy Davidson of things that you have seen
Sing of winter's bite and summer nights
And places you have been
Of dew drops and forget-me-nots and silver silky sheen
Lain across the morning meadow on the hillside

And this friend of mine, he plays guitar and sings his song so well
And he sings so much better than I
He can sing you any pictures in your mind
He will sketch them out in rhyme, draw the details in the lines
And he'll colour it in time

And oh how he loves his guitar, and it loves him
And they play so much sweeter than me
As if to say that come the day that he can't see
He will have at his command so much beauty in his hands
That the loss won't come so hard

Won't you sing Tommy Davidson of things that you have done
Sing of silver seagulls sailing into evening's golden sun
Sing of city streets and villages and people on the run
Tell the people how you know it Tommy Davidson

A friend of mine is going blind but through the dimness
He sees so much better than me
And how he cherishes each new thing that he sees
They are locked in his head, he will save them for when
He's in darkness again.

King Crimson: Epitaph

Ah, yes. I was debating what to feature on this Mélange Monday, and I turned to an old standby – one of the first progressive rock albums I owned. I can remember listening to this album for hours on end while wearing headphones - in solitary confinement of my bedroom. What a grand album that is a cataclysm of sound like no one else, saving the Moody Blues, had attempted by 1969.

While the Moodies were more commercial and melodic – and which I liked very much, there is something more of an experimental nature to King Crimson – that progressively pushed the envelope with each successive album release. For many, “The Court of the Crimson King” is the only King Crimson album they own. While I’ve featured “I Talk to the Wind” in the past and posted today’s song as an example of the use of the Mellotron, I have never featured “Epitaph” in its own right.

This is my absolutely favorite song on the album and it closes out side one of the LP. It showcases the great vocals of Greg Lake and the multi-talented Ian McDonald on keyboards and bassoon and oboe. I often what King Crimson would have done had they not the ability to overdub all of those parts that Ian McDonald contributed to this recording. By the way, Robert Fripp ain’t too bad on guitar either.

This song has such an impact upon me that I even quoted it in my doctoral dissertation – see the opening of Chapter 9. I can’t name anyone else who has “Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield, 1969” as part of their bibliography. It’s a great tune for a Monday that reminds me of my late teenage years.

Dan Peek: Lonely People

On Thursday, I mentioned the death of Dan Peek formerly of the band America. He died in his sleep last Sunday. After the release of America’s “Harbor” LP in 1977, Dan left the band to pursue a successful solo career as a contemporary Christian artist.

His first solo LP was “All Things Are Possible”; the single of the same title stayed at the #1 slot on the CCM charts for 13 weeks. It also received a Grammy nomination. In 1986, Peek released his fourth solo LP – “Electro Voice.” On this album, he remade his old America hit, but Christianized the vocals. The single charted at #2 on the CCM charts. It is my pleasure to provide both versions – the first being our Spiritual Sunday selection.

Original America Release

Of the songs that Dan Peek sang lead with America, “Lonely People” charted the highest at #5. His other singles were “Today’s the Day” at #23, “Don’t Cross the River” at #35, and “Woman Tonight” that peaked at #44. “Lonely People” also charted at #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

The song was from America’s 1974 album “Holiday.” In an Circus magazine interview Peek said the song was based on the thought of “what would it be like to wake up and not know anybody.” “Holiday” was their first album that employed the famed George Martin as producer. “Tin Man” was the other single from this album.

Doucette: Mama Let Him Play

Back in 1978, I remember hearing [Jerry] Doucette on the radio quite a bit with the title cut from his album “Mama Let Him Play.” A Canadian by birth, Doucette recorded for the Mushroom Records label out of Vancouver, British Columbia. This was the same label that launched the career of Heart two years earlier.

Unfortunately, Doucette never caught on in the US; however, for an unknown his debut chart positions did better than most new artists. Doucette’s “Mama Let Him Play” was a true bubbling under hit with a position on the Hot 100 charts at #72. The album’s 159 ranking on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums charts did well for a first time artist as well; however, Doucette was never ever able to repeat his semi-success in the US.

I never bought either the single or album, as other recordings caught my ear. It reminds me of the music of 1978 – a state of styles in flux. The new wave sound is said to have edged Doucette out of the running for a major hit. Perhaps if this record had been released two or three years earlier it would have performed better. Be that as it may, here’s Doucette with “Mama Let Him Play.”

Iron Butterfly: Iron Butterfly Theme

Anyone who experienced the psychedelic sixties will remember the classic anthem of the era: “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” – the slurred title of a jam that was recorded serendipitously by Iron Butterfly as a studio sound check. The original title was to be “In the Garden of Eden”; however, it was written down as Doug Ingle who, in a stupor, relayed the title as “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The rest is history. This classic single, which clocked in at 17:05 minutes on the album of the same name, was edited down to 2:52 for the single. It charted in the US at 30 on the Hot 100.

The flipside came from the band’s debut album “Heavy” and this instrumental was titled “Iron Butterfly Theme.” This is a very interesting album that I procured from my brother in the early seventies. I loved the cover especially Doug Ingle’s floating keyboard in front of the giant ear. The album was released in early 1968 and charted at #78.

While this is the LP version of the tune at 4:34, the single edit was at 3:25, but it is unfortunately not available presently on YouTube. Wow man, enjoy.