Roy Buchanan: Wayfaring Pilgrim

In 1973, the late Roy Buchanan released his “Second Album,” which featured his instrumental treatment based on the spiritual “Wayfaring Stranger.” Roy titled his instrumental as “Wayfaring Pilgrim.” We don’t usually play instrumentals on our Spiritual Sunday feature, but this one fits. I have included a live version from German TV’s “Rockpalast.” A studio version from the “Second Album” is also provided for continuity’s sake.

Elliot Easton of The Cars placed Buchanan’s “Second Album” at number 9 on his top 12 most influential guitar recordings of all time. Others on his list include The Beatles; Les Paul and Mary Ford; Charlie Christian; Taj Mahal; John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton; Bloomfield, Kooper, and Stills; The Jimi Hendrix Experience; Robert Johnson; Wes Montgomery; and others. Easton’s opinion of the “Second Album” is summed in the following statement: “As a fan of what can be done with the Telecaster, this album pretty much shows you all you need to know. It’s a hair-raising record.”

Donovan: Riki Tiki Tavi

Donovan’s “Riki Tiki Tavi,” our bubbling under song from 1970, was one I remember hearing quite a bit on Pittsburgh’s KQV radio during that year. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard it anywhere else – but that was back in the days before radio became akin to McDonalds and Wal-Mart’s mission of one size fits all. This is certainly how radio developed from the late 1970s onward. I liked the old days, as there was more variety.

“Riki Tiki Tavi” charted at #55 and was on his “Open Road” LP, which featured the band of the same name that included Mike Thompson on bass, Mike O’Neill on keyboards, and John Carr on drums.

It is also the first album that Donovan produced. His previous recordings were produced by Mickie Most. Most produced a host of 60s & 70s musicians such as The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Jeff Beck, and Suzi Quatro.

The Beatles: You Can't Do That

Today’s Friday flipside, “You Can’t Do That,” was scheduled to be released as The Beatles’ March 1964 “A” side that is until they recorded “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which EMI released as the single.

“You Can’t Do That” was relegated to the flip side, and although not the “A” side, it generated enough airplay to chart at #33 in Canada and #48 in the US. Of course, “Can’t Buy Me Love” was a number one record in the US, the UK, Australia, The Netherlands, and Sweden. In Canada, it placed in the top five peaking at #3.

While “You Can’t Do That” appeared on the “Hard Day’s Night” soundtrack in the UK, it was on “The Beatles’ Second Album” here in the US. The song was the second recorded with the electric 12-string Rickenbacker guitar given to George Harrison by the manufacturer in 1964.

It was second model built by the company and George’s use in “Hard Day’s Night” had a profound effect on Roger (Jim) McGuinn of the Byrds. McGuinn would become the best known owner of the instrument. McGuinn influenced others including Tom Petty to play the 12-string Rickenbacker. The gift valued at $900 in 1964 paid off in greater dividends for the company.

George Harrison’s 12-string Rick was actually first used on “Can’t Buy Me Love,” but it was buried in the mix and not easily heard; however, you can hear it on “You Can’t Do That.” John Lennon, who sang the tune, also played the lead guitar on “You Can’t Do That.” Ringo’s cowbell adds to the tune’s overall charisma.

Hard Day’s Night Outtake

Originally scheduled to appear in the film “Hard Day’s Night,” the video was cut from the film, but later was played on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Live Version

Two Rickenbacker guitars, a Hofner bass, Ludwig drums, Vox Amps, and Sennheiser mikes – You can’t get better than that.

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.