Hey Mama, Don't Rock Me. Don't Rock Me One Bit.

Have you ever heard a song so much in your life that you wished you never heard it again?  Well, as much music as I listen to it's bound to happen.  But think about this.  Have you ever heard a song so much, but it never actually heard it played on the radio?  That is something to think about it.

I go to a lot of open mic nights and local shows.  So I tend to hear a lot of the same songs.  Here's an example.  Down here in Florida you are guaranteed to hear something from Jimmy Buffett.  It's just gonna happen so get used to it. 

But something struck me kind of strange when I started going to open mics.  I kept hearing this same song that I'd never heard before.  Now admittedly, local radio here in the Tampa Bay area is notorious for only playing classic rock.  So if anything new comes out that isn't Top 40 pop or classic rock, it is lost to the bay area. 

So what is this song I kept hearing? 

It turns out that it's called "Wagon Wheel" from "Old Crow Medicine Show."

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying it's a bad song.  It's quite catchy.  But it's very odd that I seem to hear it played out so much, but not on the radio. 

And speaking of radio, it turns out that, "Old Crow Medicine Show's" Ketch Secor wrote the song with Bob Dylan, but lots of other artists have covered it.

Like Darius Rucker (Of Hootie and the Blowfish):

Even Irish singer Nathan Carter got in on the act:

Even Sheryl Crow has played the song along with many, many others.  I won't name everyone since this list will start to get quite long.

When I started writing this blog I didn't realize I wasn't alone in my thought.  My searches took me to the Wikipedia page where it seems a lot of folks agree with me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_Wheel_(song)

Bans

It has become such a popular cover song at musical gatherings, venues and events that some discourage its performance.


The article also goes on to say that it has become almost as big as "Freebird" in terms of requests at bars.  So again, it seems that I am not alone in my opinions. 

So, in the end, I will leave it at this.  Hey Mama, don't rock me.  Don't rock me at all.  I can go the rest of my life without hearing that song. 

How I Ruined That Pretenders Song For My Sister

My sister and I were both born in the 70's.  So we grew up as kids in the 80's.  And to this day we both love all sorts of 80's music.  To this day the 80's station on XM-Sirius is the default station when we are all in the car.

So she was putting together an 80's playlist for her I-Pod when she mentioned that she had an 80's playlist within her I-Pod.

She had mentioned that her I-Pod always knew what she was thinking, and would play the right song for her.  She had been working out, and her I-Pod played, "Back on the chain gang" by the Pretenders.

She liked how it was upbeat and that made it a good workout song.  I had just seen the VH-1 Storytellers of The Pretenders, and asked her, "Don't you know what that song is really about?"  I went on to tell her how lead singer Chrissie Hynde wrote the song after losing two of the four members of The Pretenders, one to drugs, and one to a car accident.  (That's the short version.)

Chrissie felt like in such a short period half her band was gone, and wrote a very sad song about it.  That's what, "Back on the chain gang" is about.

So my sister's facial expression changed drastically, and she said, "Now you've ruined this song for me!  I can't listen to it now without thinking about that!" 

Admittedly, I did feel like a bit of a dick.  I kind of thought she'd knew.  I mean the lyrics are a bit dark.

I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
What hijacked my world that night
To a place in the past
We've been cast out of? Oh oh oh oh
Now we're back in the fight
We're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh
The phone, the TV and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they've done to you
But I'll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
They'll fall to ruin one day
For making us part

I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a break in the battle was your part, oh oh oh oh
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
Now we're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

But still today I feel a bit bad for ruining this song for her.  Here's the live version from VH-1's Storytellers.

It Seems Dead Teenager Songs Were All The Rage In The 1960's

The other day as I was riding in the car I heard a song I had never heard before.  What was interesting is that, it was a song from the 1960's.  We were listening to Sirius 60's on Channel 6, and a song by the Shangri-Las came on.  They were best known for their song, "Leader of the Pack."  However, this song I had never heard before was called, "Give Us Your Blessing."

As I had never heard it I was somewhat paying attention to it.  It seemed it was a typical 1960's love song about wanting to get married to your best gal/guy and kissy, kissy stuff.  You know, the usual.

So this is how the song went.

Run, run, run
Mary, run, run, run
Jimmy, run, run, run
Mary, run, run, run

 

Mary and Jimmy were both very young
But as much in love
As two people could be
And all they wanted
Was to share that love eternally

They went to their folks they told them
That someday soon they'd be wed
Their folks just laughed
And called them kids
So Mary said

 

Give us your blessing
Please don't make us run away
Give us your blessing
Say you'll be there on our wedding day

 

They wouldn't have laughed at Mary
If they could have seen through the door
But Jimmy was waiting in the car
While Mary begged once more

Give us your blessing
Please don't make us run away
Give us your blessing
Say you'll be there on our wedding day

 

So, so far it seems pretty normal right?  Just a below average 1960's song that I described above.  That is until the next lyrics.

 

Well as they drove off they were crying
And nobody knows for sure
That, that's why they didn't see the sign
That road detour

The next day they found them
Mary and Jimmy were dead
And as their folks
Knelt beside them in the rain

 They couldn't help but hear
The last words that Mary and Jimmy had said

 

Give us your blessing
Please don't make us run away
Give us your blessing
Say you'll be there on our wedding day

 

Run, run, run
Mary, run, run, run
Jimmy, run, run, run
Mary, run, run, run

Wait, what?  Dead?  I mean, we went from wanting to get married, and now everyone is dead?  You know what this means.

 

 

So it seems I had to do a little research on this song.  It turns out that the Shangri-Las were not the first to perform this song.  That goes to Ray Peterson.  Also, he did not write it.  It seems it was written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich who I found out liked to write a lot of dead teenager songs.  The song hit #70 for Ray Peterson and #29 for the Shangri-Las. 

 

I guess every musical decade has their "thing."  In the 80's it was awesome (and some not so awesome) guitar solos.  In the 90's it was everyone trying to sound like Nirvana.  Now-a-days everything is autotuned beyond belief.  But in the 1960's it was songs about dead teenagers. 

 

So remember when they talk about the good ole' days, remember this kids.  They tend to forget the worst parts.  Yes, 1960's music was great, but not all of it was "that" great.  Remember, they tend to only play the best hits of the 60's on the radio.  You don't get the so-so ones being played that often.

 

And now, if you really want to hear the song...  (But don't say I didn't warn you.)

 

 

I Am The Table

I was looking at my "On this day" feed on Facebook.  It's this neat feature where you can see your posts on this day from previous years.  I started on Facebook back in 2010 so I have five previous years I can view. 

One of my posts from 2011 confused me.  I was wondering if I was having one of those "Adrian" type moments that I am known for.  I mean, when I confuse even me I know I am out there.  I simply wrote:

Here's something for all my bourgeois headbangers, "I AM THE TABLE!!!!!!" For the rest of you, I'll explain later.

So what the hell was I thinking.  I then looked under the comments and found this:

Go to the 2:10 mark:

Then it hit me.  It's from the song "The View," by Lou Reed and Metallica.  James Hetfield just keeps repeating over and over that he is the table.  My thoughts on this back then were this:

 I couldn't do it. I just couldn't justify paying a total of $17 for the new Lou Reed/ Metallica album. James Hetfield may be the table, but I am not an idiot.

I then went on to say:

The songs I have heard sound like two albums playing at the same time. I just don't get it.

Also, why is James the table?

I would say that James owes us a heck of an explanation.  I suspect this would be his response.

I found this video and it made a lot of sense to me.  Watch it, and I think everything will be explained.

I got to thinking about it, and there are a few things that I am okay with James Hetfield being.

1.  The Master of Puppets.
2.  The Thing That Should Not Be.
3.  The Unforgiven.
4.  The Harvester of Sorrow.
5.  I would even settle for James being Some Kind of Monster.

But I just can not accept him being "The Table."

Now that it's four years later, I wonder if I can find "Lulu" in the 99 cent bin?  Then I might be able to give the entire album a proper listen.

Now that I have bitched about this song and album, I wonder what my next Metallica song that I bitch/blog about will be?

Here's a hint:

Unwind

You may want to read this to understand this post a little better.

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-worst-ripoff-my-musical-failure.html

I've been thinking about this song I wrote this past week called, "Unwind." It's not my usual kind of song, but maybe I'm mad because it's a bit "too true" to what's been going on in my life.

Maybe I'm also mad because it actually seems to be a well crafted, and above average song to listen to. I'm just not sure I should play it out. Of course, what's the worst that could happen? People ignore it or gently clap?

I mean, I'm glad I finally wrote a song after not writing one for a long time, but this is not the song I expected to write. Maybe I just need someone to play it for. That's what was so great about Josh. He could see what was good and bad in a song. He could pick up on a song, and know where to go with it.

John C. was also like that. He was a bit more finicky, but he was kind of like my creative writing teacher, in that, he wanted to do repeated drafts, which is what you are supposed to do.

I remember reading that Professor Dumbledore once said, "People can be madder at you for being right than being wrong." Well, I think I'm madder at myself for the fact that I wrote a song calling me on all my bullshit. Which makes me think....

Lady Gaga once told Howard Stern that it was completely nerve-wracking for her to make a song public. She said (her words) that, "It was like showing my vagina to everyone." And I get that. I don't have a problem showing my giant scar on my stomach to everyone. However, showing my soul? Well, that's another story. That's a bit difficult.

Since I have been sick for the pass two months, I have basically dropped all human contact outside of the house, and that's not good for me. I don't have a realistic measuring stick of reality.
Now that I am checking this post over, I probably should have added it to my blog instead of posting here. But, oh well. It's not going to hurt anything.

Maybe I need to write a new song. The problem is I haven't been getting out, and I get my best ideas from weird things that happen to me. Maybe I need to join a support group for weird people, and ask them about things that have happened to them for song inspiration?

(Side note:  This post is kind of split into two parts.  Kind of a before and after.  What I wrote above is the "before."  And the next part is the after.)

So, I finally got to play my song "Unwind" for a person/victim. I got to play it for my friend Danielle. 

She gave me some really great feedback. Namely, people know that I do silly, "out there," songs, as well as some serious songs.

Since this is a serious song, I was not sure how it would go over. However, Danielle felt this was a personal and honest song, and she liked it better than my silly stuff.

Maybe it comes off as a more "professional" song? Maybe it "speaks" to people? Or maybe it's just honest? Either way, I'm going to have to play it out to get more feedback.

Luka

There are those times you look back in your life, and kind of laugh, but not really.  One memory that sticks out to me is the time my Dad really offended my Mom without aiming to do so.

The year was 1987, and a new artist by the name of Suzanne Vega had come out with a song called, "Luka."

My Mother had heard it before me, so the next time it came on the radio we were in her car.  She turned it up, and made sure I listened to all the words.  She wanted me to know it was about child abuse, and without saying it, I could tell this song meant a lot to her.

Now my Mother wasn't exactly treated well as a child.  It wasn't full on physical abuse, but that kind of mental abuse only a depressed parent can put on an entire family. 

Why this song really stuck out to my Mother was that, it was one of the first songs to deal with those kinds of social issues.  The 60's had plenty of social issue songs, but we are talking about 1987.  The week that "Luka" hit #8 on the Top 40 (August 1st, 1987,) it really stuck out in terms of being a social issue song.  Take for instance, some of the other songs on the top 10.  #1., Bob Segar with "Shakedown."  #2., U2 with "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."  #3., Heart with "Alone."  So you can see it was the strange (out there) song compared to the other songs that were hits that year. 

So, the next time the whole family was in the car, guess what song comes on the radio?  What I didn't know then was that, my Dad hated that song.  But the weird part was, he didn't know what it was about. 

So here's the first verse.

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes, I think you've seen me before

So my Dad sings,

My name is Luka
I sing a stupid song

And that's when my Mom came unglued.  "This songs about child abuse!!!  Why would you say that?"  Dad was like, "What???"  Mom then went on to let him know that it was all about child abuse, and that the song meant a lot to her.  She did this while fighting back tears that whole time. 

I will say this.  Dad let her have her say, and he kind of kept quiet the rest of the time.  Think of my weird family's interaction the next time you are on the 80's station, and "Luka" comes on.

Doggie

Long story short, I made a video for my friend Josh.  He has a song I've always liked called "Doggie."  So I "borrowed" my girlfriend's (and kinda mine) dog Monster. 

It was something that I enjoyed doing.  It's a fun creative process.  It just takes a while to learn all the features of the video maker.  But enough talk.  Let's go right to the video.  And one more thing.  You can find Josh's music page on Facebook.  Just look up Josh Paul in Tampa, Fl.

I hope you enjoyed it.  Take care.

Soul Asylum Vs. The Rolling Stones, Who ya got?

This is a continuing series on my blog about songs that sound the same.  This is the second blog on this subject.  Here's the first:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/08/monster-magnet-vs-cream-who-ya-got.html

I was at a few yard sales the other day.  I noticed with the invention of the Ipod, people are getting rid of their CD's.  The good news is that, they generally sell them for one dollar a piece.  I picked up a few that I had missed in the early 90's.  One of the CD's I picked up was Soul Asylum's Grave Dancers Union.  What was funny is that I had their second album, Let Your Dim Light Shine, but had never got around to getting their first album even though it was the better album.

So I'm listening to the whole album as a drive around.  I hear a song that is slightly familar.  I looked at the CD, and saw the song was called, "Without A Trace."  And then, of all the weird things, the memories came flooding back.  Grave Dancers Union was famous for three songs, 1. Somebody To Shove," "Black Gold," and "Runaway Train."  After those songs were played to death Soul Asylum released another song that didn't get much airplay.  That was "Without A Trace."

Here is was twenty years later, and there was something overly familar with the song even though I hadn't heard it for years.  Then it hit me, it was the same melody as The Rolling Stones song, "As Tears Go Buy."

Going all the way back to 1965, The Rolling Stones had a hit with their first ballad with "As Tears Go By," from the album, December's Children (And Everyone's.)

I gotta say, Soul Asylum's take on it is quite brilliant.  The melody is a bit unusual, but really stands out.  If you are going to rip off an artist (or artists,) you might as make rip off the talented ones.

Stickin In My Eye

Back in the early 90's we had a pretty cool public access station here in the Tampa Bay area.  There were a lot of music shows where guys would not only talk about national bands, but local bands as well.  You also had a lot of underground bands get shown.  You could find both videos and live performances getting played.

It just so happened I was flipping through when I saw this great song/video.  It wasn't high quality at all.  It was pretty low rent to be honest.  But the song and video were pretty funny in a punk rock way.  I had no idea who performed the song, only that it was about him having something in his eye.

I'd thought about that song over the years, even though I'd only heard it once.  Well, it occurred to me just the other day to check Youtube.  Even if it was a local band they're stuff gets posted on there as well. 

So I type in, "I've got something in my eye."  The first thing to pop up is NOFX's "Stickin In My Eye."  I thought, "NOFX?"  It couldn't have been them.  But you know what.  It was.

I remember the wild gang of fans singing in a chorus like fashion about them having something in their eye.  I'm just amazed that 20 years later I found this with help from the internet.  I'm going to have to think of other things I wondered about so many years ago.  Thanks internet.

Guitar Project #7, The Rosewood Telecaster, Part 3

For Part 1:  http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/05/guitar-project-7-rosewood-telecaster.html

For Part 2:  http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/05/guitar-project-7-rosewood-telecaster_26.html

So to make a long story short, I finally completed the Rosewood Telecaster.  I'll explain how I did it while posting pictures of my work.

First off, here's the body after routing and shaping.  I got it nice and sanded down.

Next I used Z-poxy to fill the grain.  This really helped one place on the back that had a hallow place in it.

Then I sanded down the Z-poxy.  Sidenote:  It really sands down nicely.

Then I put on the Tru Oil.

After sanding and buffing I had this:

Next, it was time to assemble the guitar. 

I had to use a different bridge pickup than I would have liked, but I will change this one out later.

Here's the shot of the back.

Overall not too bad.  There's a couple of places that I could have done better.  I am going to change the one pickup out when I have the chance/money.  Oh, I also need a strap as I have locking tuners.  So it's playable, but not completely done yet.  But I guess it's close enough for jazz.

Who The F--- Is This Guy!

The following story is absolutely true.  In fact, true stories are better than made up ones because you just can't make up the weirdness that is real life.  Right now I am writing this in the morning, and I haven't been to sleep all night.  I am too wired from the weirdness that has happened to me.  Since all this is true, I will use real names.  If anyone has a problem with it, I would like to say that telling the truth is not against the law.

It started out innocently enough.  A local singer that I like named Anna Gavin posted on Facebook that she was playing Sacred Grounds Coffee House tonight.  In fact, here is her exact post.

Anna Gavin: "So if your not doing anything tonight, you should come hear me pour my heart out on stage at Sacred Grounds Coffee shop. If you play guitar bring it and sing me a song!"

Sounds great huh?  No harm there.  Just an artist who wanted people to come out and see her perform right?  So I responded with this:

Adrian:  That's great Anna! You can do that song called "Suicide" that's not about suicide. I totally get what you mean about that "AWKWARD" feeling running into the "ex." You didn't say when you were going on. I'll definitely bring a guitar if requested. Big hugs.

She didn't get back to me, but then again I figured she was on her way to Sacred Grounds.  When I get there she is happy to see me, and gives me a hug. 

I want to say right now that Anna is an extremely kind person.  When I first started playing open mic nights, I was downright awful.  But Anna was really nice to me, and told me to keep on trying and I would get better.  She gave me great encouragement to keep playing.

Anyway, I told her that her song "Suicide" is great, and how I totally related to everything she said in that song.  It really isn't about suicide.  It's about showing up to a place where your Ex is, and how it's suicide if you go, or suicide if you stay.  In other words there's no good choice.  If you stay you will be miserable.  If you go you will have let your Ex dictate your life. 

I was hoping it would be on her reverbnation page, but I'm sure it's going to be on her new album.  That's why she doesn't have it posted yet.  But give her a listen.  She's amazing.

http://www.reverbnation.com/annagavin

Anyways, I get back to the house, flip on the computer, and see this comment under her post:

Gary Osbourne:  Who the fuck is this guy?

First I think, "He's not talking about me is he?"  Then I think, "Why would he be worried about me?"  Then I remember, that's Anna's boyfriend.  I check her regular Facebook page, and see something wrong.  She says she is single.  What?

On Thursday at 9:02PM she changed her status to "single."  As in two days ago.  This made me think, "Uh oh." 

I look at Gary's feed, and I see someone post this:

Jordan:  Hows your relationship counseling going? Lmao!

Gary's reply to that:  Suck it jordan

That conversation was on Feb. 19th.  I guess things hadn't been going so good for the not so happy couple.  So I guess what happened was this.  They broke up two days ago.  I then post that I'll be happy to come see her, bring my guitar, and that she should do her break-up song.  I can't blame Gary for being mad.  It does look rather odd even though nothing has gone on between Anna and I.  In fact, before last night, I hadn't even talked to her for months. 

I just picture Gary as an angry Jason Lee (as Brody) from Mallrats.

Any guy who does the "Who the fuck is this guy?" is great in my book.  Oh, and here's the strange thing.  Even though him and Anna are broken up, his picture on Facebook is of him and Anna together.  Awkward.

I'm Gonna Have To Step Up My Musicial Game

I had a "Dewey Cox" moment earlier this evening.  For those who don't know, I'm referring to the movie "Walk Hard, the Dewey Cox Story."  Early on in Dewey's career, he was on a tour that had a lot of musicians.  Think of it as a modern day mini Ozzfest.  Back then, they had the same format as they do today.  You would have the lesser known musicians open up, and the bigger stars would be the headliners.  And of course, the headliners go on last.  But in one weird night, Dewey Cox had something kind of strange happen to him.

Here's the youtube link.  Note: Go to the 50 second mark to see what I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llGzo9fGcdk

Due to Elvis wanting to get out of there early, the line-up order changes from The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and then Dewey Cox.  Dewey then becomes the headliner, and it puts him in a very bad prediciment.  It's called getting upstaged, and it isn't a good thing for the headliner.

Here's an example.  Motley Crue were kicked off multiple tours because they upstaged the headliners early in their career.  Now, I should point out that the official reason they were kicked off tours was that The Crue were making too much trouble and being too rowdy.  However, they were putting on a better show than the headliners, and the headliners didn't like that.

So how does this relate to Dewey Cox you ask?  Well, tonight I went to open mic night at Sacred Grounds Coffee House.  I got there a little later than most, so the sign up sheet was mostly filled up.  The earlier you show up, the earlier you can sign up, and you get to choose when you play.  I showed up later than a lot of the musicians, so I signed up at the best available spot.  In this case, every spot from 9:00 PM to 11:30 was taken.  So I signed up at 11:45. 

This is where it got weird.  At 11:00, one of the most talented musicians at Sacred Grounds, James M. (I will protect his identity here on the Internet) when on.  Then at 11:15, a wonderful songstress named Jenna when on.  Then to top it off, one of the most popular (and talented) musicians, Jonny J. went on.  Jonny does make his profile public on Reverbnation.  Here is his band:

http://www.reverbnation.com/algorhythmsky

So here I am.  It's 11:45.  I am going on after three incredible musicians.  I am Dewey Cox in this moment.  But I did the only thing I could do.  I rocked.  When I played last week, I didn't perform that well.  While the songs I performed were my own and good for a coffee shop, they were tough on my limited vocal range.  So I decided to do three of my more rocking songs that are also easier on my vocal range. 

So I cranked up my amp, and cut loose.  I'm not bragging, but I think I held my own.  In fact, I still think out of the four of us that went on that hour, I came in fourth.  But, I can at least say not by much.  Again, I think I held my own.  But I will say, I really don't want to have that kind of Dewey Cox moment for a while.