Steve Forbert: Romeo's Tune

For one hit wonder Wednesday, we take you back to the beginning of 1980 with Steve Forbert’s only Top 40 hit – “Romeo’s Tune.” When this song was popular, people often compared Forbert as being the next Dylan. Forbert tried to shun all of the comparisons to folk-rock’s iconic songwriter.

I remember playing this tune at WAMX in Ashland, Kentucky where I worked two Saturday shifts. The single charted at #11 and was from Forbert’s second LP, “Jack Rabbit Slim.” While some of his later recordings were critically acclaimed, he never managed to repeat the success of “Romeo’s Tune.”

Live Version

Lyrics

Meet me in the middle of the day
Let me hear you say everything's okay
Bring me southern kisses from your room

Meet me in the middle of the night
Let me hear you say everything's alright
Let me smell the moon in your perfume

Oh, Gods and years will rise and fall
And there's always something more
Lost in talk, I waste my time
And it's all been said before
While further down behind the masquerade
The tears are there
I don't ask for all that much
I just want someone to care

Answer right now

Meet me in the middle of the day
Let me hear you say, everything's okay
Come on out beneath the shining sun

Meet me in the middle of the night
Let me hear you say, everything's alright
Sneak on out beneath the stars and run, yeah

Oh, yeah, yes
Oh, yes


It's king and queen and we must go down round
Behind the chandelier
Where I won't have to speak my mind
And you won't have to hear
Shreds of news and afterthoughts
And complicated scenes
We'll weather down behind the light
And fade like magazines

Meet me in the middle of the day
Let me hear you say, everything's okay
Bring me southern kisses from your room
Hey, hey
Meet me in the middle of the night
Let me hear you say, everything's alright
Let me smell the moon in your perfume
Oh, no
Meet me in the middle of the day
Let me hear you say everything's okay
Let me see you smiling back at me
Heeeey
Meet me in the middle of the night
Let me hear you say, everything's alright
Hold me tight and lovin' love is free
Whoa-oh
OK

It's A Beautiful Day: Don and Dewey

Well it’s definitely not a traditional song, but the violin is a traditional instrument – and it can rock in the hands of David LaFlamme and “It’s a Beautiful Day.” Since it’s not a traditional song, I’m cooking up a new Tuesday feature called “Tasty Licks Tuesday” as of today.

I’ve been doing the Traditional Tuesday feature for over two years and it is time to retire this trusted friend and try something that’s different. The generic nature of the title will allow for traditional tunes as well as any other genre with “tasty licks” to be served up as appetizer for the rest of your day.

Today’s song was named in honor of fiddler Don “Sugarcane” Harris and his partner Dewey Terry – collectively known as “Don and Dewey” – like the song’s title. Actually parts of this tune sound more like Don and John rather than Don and Dewey. The harmonica is reminiscent of one of Sugarcane Harris’ other collaborators:  John Mayall. Mayall's Bluesbreakers was the venue where I first heard of Harris. LaFlamme’s style on this cut is quite similar to Harris - not quite, but very, very close.

The cut opens their second LP “Marrying Maiden” and It’s a Beautiful Day made no bones about it that they stole the tune from a Deep Purple recording of “Wring that Neck” – a payback to the band since Deep Purple stole their composition “Bombay Calling” for the song “Child in Time” from “Deep Purple in Rock.” “Wring that Neck” came from Purple’s second LP – “The Book of Taliesyn.” Here’s DP’s original.

Spirit: Fresh Garbage

Mélange Monday gives me the opportunity to find music that doesn’t fit any of the predetermined categories for the rest of the week. I thought I’d dip into the well of great 60s album rock with a cut from one of my favorite, but little played bands: Spirit.

The lead cut from the band’s debut LP on Lew Adler’s Ode records was the tune “Fresh Garbage.” I love this tune especially John Locke’s jazz influenced keyboard leads. This band was way ahead of the times in 1968 – very fusion oriented. The song was penned by Jay Ferguson and features he and Randy California on guitars, Mark Andes on bass, and the old man of the band Ed Cassidy on drums. Cassidy was Randy California’s step-father.

The cover of the album was a montage of the five members of the band into one persona – quite “Fresh . . . fresh . . . fresh.”

Michael Omartian: Take Me Down

It’s been a several weeks since I had a spiritual Sunday selection and today’s song takes me back to my first radio gig at WKCC in Grayson, KY in 1974. It was the training ground for a career that lasted 20 years from Grayson to Huntington, WV/Ashland, KY (WEMM, WMUL-FM, & WAMX) to finally Beckley/Oak Hill, WV (WCIR, WOAY, & WWNR). In my current employ, I had the opportunity to host a couple of radio shows for the University on WJLS-AM from 1995-1997 and 2003-2005.

It was an interesting career and small market radio was very, very good to me. Do I miss it, not really – but I frequently dream about it – nightmares of “dead air” actually. In 1974, session musician and producer Michael Omartian released his debut contemporary Christian album “White Horse.”

The album was originally released on ABC-Dunhill; however, when ABC bought out the controlling interest in Word Records in Waco, TX. Omartian’s LP was rereleased on Word’s contemporary label – Myrrh Records. The album we received at the station was on ABC-Dunhill and the single they were pushing was on Myrrh. I don’t remember which cut they were pushing – I think it was either “White Horse” or “Jeremiah,” but “Take Me Down” was the album cut I remember playing.

It is a great album and the production is great, but it does sound like the music of the period – which is not a bad thing. I think that was the main attraction for this particular album – as it fit well with everything that was on the radio in the mid 70s. Omartian’s keyboard work is stellar and he could make a monophonic synthesizer talk. One of the reasons this album sounds great is a number of top studio musicians were on it. “White Horse” features a wonderful solo by guitarist Larry Carlton. Wilton Felder and David Hungate provide the bass. Concert master Sid Sharp does the strings.

I’m not sure I even have a copy of the album. I think I do – but with 15,000 LPs, I cannot say for sure. One of these days, I am going to catalog my collection in my free time. With 20 years in radio, you tend to get a lot of free albums and perhaps when I get some free time I’ll do this – right.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Crosstown Traffic

It’s been a while since I’ve featured any Hendrix and it seems like the perfect morning to feature a little Jimi James sans the Flames. From the classic “Electric Ladyland” album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Crosstown Traffic” was a song directed to a young lady that Hendrix was trying to blow off, but she wasn’t getting the message. The lines “You're just like crosstown traffic – so hard to get through to you” speak volumes.

“Crosstown Traffic” was the second US single Reprise released from “Electric Ladyland,” the first being “All Along the Watchtower,” which peaked at #20. “Crosstown Traffic” only charted in the US at #52 and did better in the UK as the third British single charting at #37. I bought my copy (a promotional one at that) at a flea market in 1971 and got the album later in the mid seventies.

Personnel on this recording include the entire Experience with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell who do not appear on the entire album. Each provides backing vocals with the high parts added by Dave Mason who also played 12-string guitar on “All Along the Watchtower.” In addition to Mason, Steve Winwood and Chris Wood from Traffic each play on cuts from this album. To get the unique guitar lead sound, Hendrix used a makeshift kazoo made from a comb and wax paper.

Lyrics

You jump in front of my car when you,
You know all the time that
Ninety miles an hour, girl, is the speed I drive
You tell me it's alright, you don't mind a little pain
You say you just want me to take you for a ride

You're just like crosstown traffic
So hard to get through to you
Crosstown traffic
I don't need to run over you
Crosstown traffic
All you do is slow me down
And I'm tryin' to get on the other side of town

I'm not the only soul who's accused of hit and run
Tire tracks all across your back
I can see you had your fun
But darlin' can't you see my signals turn from green to red
And with you I can see a traffic jam straight up ahead

You're just like crosstown traffic
So hard to get through to you
Crosstown traffic
I don't need to run over you
Crosstown traffic
All you do is slow me down
And I got better things on the other side of town

The Dropkick Murphys: The Green Fields of France

It was the 11th hour of the eleventh day of the 11th month when the Armistice was signed between the Allies and the Central Powers – specifically Germany – ending World War I. That was 1918 and it was the “war to end all wars.” Unfortunately, that was not the case. World War I resulted in World War II and other conflicts – such as issues in the Middle East can be attributed to the carving of the former Ottoman Empire into the countries of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan (then Trans Jordan), Palestine (now Israel), and Turkey.

In addition, the war created Yugoslavia which was fraught with problems and eventually disbanded amidst wars and violence. Germany’s surrender of its colonial holdings gave Japan a foothold in the Mariana Islands when it received Saipan as a spoil of war – leading to a base of operations closer to Pearl Harbor.

In fact most of the problems in the world post 1918 can be indirectly traced to the hand of one man, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, who fired the shot which killed Austro-Hungarian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand – an action that caused the beginning of World War I or as it was known then, the Great War. In 1999, Time magazine called Princip “the trigger of the 20th century.”

In a blog about music, it is difficult to find a song that deals with the topic of World War I. It is even more difficult to find one to fit our Friday Flipside feature as one. Since I couldn’t I am going to utilize a song by Boston’s Celtic-Punk band – the Dropkick Murphys. In 2005, the band recorded their rendition of Eric Bogle’s “The Green Fields of France” for the LP “The Warrior’s Code.” Bogle was inspired to write the song when traveling across France and seeing the cemeteries dotted with crosses in memory of the war dead. One caught Bogle’s attention, the stone of Irishman Willie McBride of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. McBride died in 1916 at age 19.

The song has been recorded under three different titles by a wide variety of artists. Besides being known as “The Green Fields of France,” it is also called “Willie McBride” and “No Man’s Land.” Although this particular song has anti-war sentiments, many times in duty to country and honor men and women have gone to war risking their lives for a conflict in which they did not particularly support; however, duty called and they responded. In honor of all the veterans – thanks for your service.

The Ramsey Lewis Trio: The "In" Crowd

Well, I spoke to my good friend Ken Miller on the phone yesterday and he asked the question, “What happened, did you quit doing the blog?” Well, I will have to be honest that I’ve been very busy and the blog took a back seat to other priorities in my life. With the gentle prodding from my friend, I felt I needed to get on the stick and write something – and soon. October was pretty much a wash for me, so now that I am (hopefully) back on target, I think I will motivate myself to try and keep up.

It’s TV Thursday and I noticed that one of the Nikon commercials that featured Ashton Kutcher of late featured a hit instrumental from the Ramsey Lewis Trio. “The ‘In’ Crowd” was a top five American hit during the height of Beatlemania and the British Invasion of 1965. The LP of the same name peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart.

The trio featured Ramsey Lewis on piano, bassist Eldee Young, and drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt. Young and Holt left Lewis in 1966 and formed Young-Holt Trio with Don Walker on piano. When Walker was replaced by Ken Chaney, they changed their name to Young-Holt Unlimited and had a #3 hit instrumental in 1968 with “Soulful Strut.”

Lewis’ version was a higher charting cover of Dobie Gray’s hit from the same year. Gray’s original version charted at #13, while The Ramsey Lewis Trio hit #5. It also won the Grammy for the best jazz performance by a small group. The single and album were originally issued on Chess Records’ imprint – “Argo Records.”

Although Chess had used the name for ten years, they changed the label’s identity in 1965 because of a competing label in the United Kingdom had already used the Argo brand. Later pressings of the album and single were released in 1965 under Cadet Records. The Cadet imprint was suspended in 1974 and later reissues were issued on Chess Records.

The inspiration for their jazzy rendition is credited to a suggestion by a coffee shop waitress that the trio should record the song. If this is true, then the rest is history about this classic jazzy hit.

Nikon Coolpix Commercial