Town Mountain: I'm on Fire

I don’t remember where I first heard Town Mountain’s version of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire,” but I’m pretty sure it was on Pandora. I immediately loved it and found it on YouTube and added it to my favorite selections. They’re not your granddad’s bluegrass band, but they aren’t new grass either. One reviewer said that they were “bluegrass as it should be played.”

Featuring the traditional string instruments of guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and upright bass; Town Mountain hails from Asheville, NC – a town I had an opportunity to visit for the first time last summer. Additionally, Town Mountain was the 2013 International Bluegrass Music Association Band of the Year and their lead vocalist, Robert Greer, was named Vocalist of the Year.

Their rendition of this Springsteen classic is as authentic sounding as if it were a bluegrass ballad from the past. Check it out this track from their second CD: “Heroes and Heretics.”

The Devolution of Bob Casale - A Devo Twofer

An unfortunate event occurred yesterday. Bob Casale, one the founding members of Devo, died of heart failure in Los Angeles. Casale, a guitarist with the band, was not as visible as Mark Mothersbaugh who fronted Devo; however, he was integral to their overall sound. The band consisted of the two Mothersbaugh brothers, Mark and Bob; the two Casale brothers, Gerald and Bob (AKA Bob2); and Alan Myers who passed away in 2013.

Devo took its name from a shortened form of devolution – as the band quipped that mankind wasn’t evolving, it was devolving. In memory of Casale, we dedicate today’s Twofer Tuesday selection.

While the band only had one legitimate hit, 1980’s “Whip It,” I plan to lead with their near miss “Working in the Coal Mine.” From the movie “Heavy Metal,” “Working in the Coal Mine” was a reworking of Lee Dorsey’s Top Ten hit from 1966.

I remember this record especially well as we played it at WCIR in Beckley, WV and the record, I believe, charted locally in 1981 at #2. It was a big hit in coal mining country that didn’t translate well everywhere and nationally it peaked only at #43.

For the promotion of the record, Jay Brooks, our Elektra/Asylum regional rep out of Pittsburgh, came down to do a photo shoot with Ron Hill and me. We went into the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and took photos of the three of us holding the album, the single, and pick axes. All three of us wore miners’ helmets as well.

We also had some photos taken with a retired coal miner who served as the tour guide. Our photo appeared on the cover of Elektra/Asylum’s promotion department’s in-house magazine. Unfortunately, I have that packed away somewhere – so I can’t share it here. Parts of this song always bothered me as the abrupt rhythm changes sounded like the record was skipping. I wonder how many albums were returned because of this.

Besides their Energy Domes, Devo is best remembered for their only hit proper: “Whip It.” Released in the fall of 1980, “Whip It” was the band’s only foray into the Top 40. Peaking at #14, the single appeared on “Freedom of Choice.” Although the band had released several singles, two EPs, and two albums prior to “Freedom of Choice,” “Whip It” was the band’s introduction to the mainstream public.

Bob Casale plays bass in the official video; however, the bass parts were played on a custom Moog synthesizer. The whip sounds were also created via synthesizer. Highly memorable, the guitar parts were directly inspired by Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.” Listen hard and you’ll hear the similarities – although the phrasing is much different.

RIP Bob Casale – thanks for some very interesting music.

Episode 1400: The Beatles - Till There Was You

Today, we celebrate the 1,400th post on “Reading Between The Grooves,” but before we analyze what’s happened during the last 100 posts, we’ll also finish off our Second Week Special: “It was 50 Years ago Today.” This week in 1964, The Beatles’ first album on Capitol Records became the #1 album in the US.

“Meet The Beatles!” would stay at this slot for 11 weeks until it was unseated by “The Beatles’ Second Album.”  The titles of Capitol’s first two albums were misnomers, as they discounted Vee Jay’s release, “Introducing . . . The Beatles,” which predated “Meet The Beatles!” by ten days.

While “Meet The Beatles!” had a similar cover to the second UK release, the two albums only shared nine songs. While “With The Beatles” had six songs not penned by the band, “Meet The Beatles!” featured only one tune not written by John, Paul, or George – “Till There was You.”

Written by Meredith Wilson for “The Music Man” in 1958, Paul McCartney learned the song through Peggy Lee’s recording, and it became part of the band’s set list as early as 1962. Their version of “Till There was You” features an impressive acoustic guitar lead by George Harrison.

McCartney sang lead on the tune and had an interesting pronunciation of the word “saw,” which comes across as “sarw.” In addition, the song was the second tune played by The Beatles on their Ed Sullivan Show debut on February 9, 1964.

RBTG’s 1,400th Post Retrospect

Like I had reported with every other 100th post anniversary, I took a look backward on how we are doing visitor wise. I began this blog on September 26, 2009, but did not start monitoring the visits until October 16, 2009. Currently, we have 76 declared followers of the blog – up from 70 in September 2013. There are many others who have visited frequently without declaring themselves as followers. Since our last evaluation, Google+ has become a major source of new visitors.

The cumulative statistics for the blog are listed below:

Variable	Statistic
Unique Visitors	137,223
Times Visited	153,177
Number of Pages Viewed	221,404
People Visiting 200+ Times	2,161
People Visiting 101-200 Times	1,083
People Visiting 51-100 Times	989
People Visiting 26-50 Times	963
Number of Visitor Countries Represented	182

The Top Ten Visitor Countries

Since our 1,300th post, three new countries were added to the list: two from the Caribbean (Sint Maarten and Curaçao) and one from Africa (Somalia).

Rank	Country	Visits
1	United States	74,412
2	United Kingdom	12,774
3	Canada	8,253
4	Germany	7,154
5	France	4,952
6	Italy	3,474
7	Australia	3,306
8	Brazil	3,176
9	Spain	2,493
10	Netherlands	2,468

As always, I want to take this time to thank all of you for your support of this site and the encouragement to keep going forward. Thanks again for Reading between the Grooves.

It Was 50 Years Ago Today: Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um

One of my favorite soul records of the 1960s was Major Lance’s 1963-1964 hit “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um.” This week 50 years ago, Lance’s biggest hit of his career peaked at #5. As with a number of other songs recorded by Lance, Curtis Mayfield penned “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um.”

Released in December 1963, the single appeared on the Columbia affiliate label: OKeh Records with a bright purple label with a golden print. The single was produced by OKeh president Carl Davis who following his tenure with OKeh moved on to produce other soul artists on Brunswick. OKeh began as an independent label in 1916 and was purchased by Columbia in 1926. In 1970, the label was discontinued and would later be reactivated by Sony in 1994. Sony purchased the CBS Records division in 1988.

Lyrics

Walking through the park, it wasn't quite dark
There was a man sitting on a bench
Out of the crowd as his head lowly bowed
He just moaned and he made no sense
He'd just go
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um

I just couldn't help myself
Yes, I was born with a curious mind
I asked this man just what did he mean
When he moaned if he'd be so kind
And he'd just go
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um

Now that I've grown up
And the woman I love she has gone
Now that I'm a man, I think I understand
Sometimes everyone must sing this song
Listen to me sing
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um

Can't you hear me, now
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um

Everybody now
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um

Can't you hear me, now
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
One more time, now

It Was 50 Years Ago Today: Hey Little Cobra

Backed by the famed Wrecking Crew studio musicians, vocalists Phil Stewart and Ernie Bringas were officially The Rip Chords; however, their recordings included two unofficial members, Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher. While the surf band had five singles to chart within the Hot 100, only two made it to the Top 40: “Three Window Coupe,” charting at #28, and “Hey Little Cobra,” which peaked at #4.

In fact, “Hey Little Cobra” peaked on the charts exactly 50 years ago this week. The song champions the Shelby Cobra racing car which, at the time, was giving the Chevy Corvette a run for the money. The single was produced by Melcher and Johnston.

At the time, Melcher, the son of Doris Day, was the youngest producer at Columbia Records. His partner in crime, Bruce Johnston, would later become a member of another surf band, The Beach Boys.

Although The Rip Chords had four lead vocalists, Terry Melcher sang lead on “Hey Little Cobra” and its flip side “The Queen.” In addition, there is every indication that only Terry Melcher and Bruce Johnston appeared on this record as vocalists and the single was issued in the band’s name only even though no official member of The Rip Chords contributed to its success.

However, the corresponding LP, “Hey Little Cobra and Other Hot Rod Hits,” featured all four men on vocals. To compound the issue of the identity of the band, Phil Stewart and two other vocalists (Rich Rotkin and Arnie Marcus) represented the touring group of The Rip Chords. Despite who sang “Hey Little Cobra,” it was quite a feat for a band to make the Top Five during the height of Beatlemania.

It Was 50 Years Ago Today: She Loves You

In 1964, recordings of The Beatles were simultaneously being released by six different record labels: Capitol, Vee Jay, Tollie, ATCO, MGM, and Swan. I don’t think this has ever happened before or since 1964. It was a rare occurrence and could have contained even another label: Decca.

Two issues were present. Capitol, EMI’s American label, passed on The Beatles in 1963 and their first album, “Please Please Me” was licensed to Chicago’s Vee Jay Records who initially released the album in early 1964 as “Introducing The Beatles.” Incidentally, Vee Jay used the same tracks for a half dozen different albums with various titles.

Although not releasing the album until 1964, Vee Jay had already issued “Please Please Me” (as The Beattles) and “From Me to You” as singles in 1963. Only “From Me to You” charted with a dismal showing at #116. By 1964, several singles were culled from “Introducing the Beatles” and issued and re-issued on Vee Jay and its subsidiary Tollie Records.

In addition, several of The Beatles’ tracks (with and without Tony Sheridan as lead vocalist) owned by Polydor were licensed to MGM and ATCO and these made their way on the charts during the height of Beatlemadia as well. Decca had originally issued “My Bonnie” by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers (i.e., The Beatles) in 1962 with no success.

By September 1963, Capitol passed on another Beatles’ single – “She Loves You.” EMI licensed the record to Swan Records out of Philadelphia because Vee Jay was late in paying mechanical rights’ royalties. While “She Loves You” climbed to the top of the British charts in November 1963, Swan’s first issue of the single failed miserably.

That is until Beatlemania struck and Swan re-released “She Loves You” on January 25, 1964. By this week 50 years ago, “She Loves You” was solidly at the #3 position on the Hot 100. When “I Want to Hold Your Hand” slid back down the charts after being #1 for seven weeks, “She Loves You” replaced it as the number one American single for two weeks.

In order to capitalize on Capitol’s misfortune of passing on “She Loves You,” Swan released a promo version of the flip side, “I’ll Get You,” in April 1964; but, with radio being inundated with other Beatles’ product, the song failed to gain much airplay and “She Loves You”/“I’ll Get You” was not a double sided hit like “I Want to Hold Your Hand”/“I Saw Her Standing There.”

On May 21, 1964, Swan also released the German version of “She Loves You” titled “Sie Lieb Dicht.” Swan argued that since EMI had licensed “She Loves You” for the American release that the German version was theirs as well. EMI acquiesced. It too was backed by “I’ll Get You.” “Sie Lieb Dicht” stalled on the US charts at #97.

Although Capitol was forbidden to release “She Loves You” as a single for two years, it appeared on “The Beatles’ Second Album,” which debuted on April 11, 1964. “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” and the rest is Beatles history.

It Was 50 Years Ago Today: You Don't Own Me

She was just 17 . . . when Lesley Gore recorded her smash hit, “You Don’t Own Me.” While this early tribute to feminine independence had the potential to be a number one record, those pesky "Mop Tops" from Liverpool prevented the song from ever moving past the number two spot. She may have tried harder, but with The Beatles dominating the number one spot for fourteen weeks, it was impossibility for Ms. Gore.

“You Don’t Own Me” was written by John Madera and Dave White. The wonderful arrangement was courtesy of German musician/composer/arranger/conductor Claus Ogerman. Quincy Jones, a Mercury Records’ staffer, produced the disc. The song is noted for its two key changes in its reprise. Gore’s version of “You Don’t Own Me” has appeared in a number of movies including “The Convent,” “The Woods,” and “Hairspray.”