Posted on 05/17/2014 7:05:45 PM PDT by re_nortex
FR indeed is a grand place. OT, but here are some interesting trailways that occurred over the last 45 minutes starting with your thread here.
1. In #21, Yardstick wrote “The minor feel and thrummy spaghetti western guitar are reminding me of Yardbirds’ Heart Full of Soul (1965).” Haven’t heard that in years, either, so listened to that on YouTube.
2. While listening up to Heart Full of Soul, I began reading up on the Yardbirds (one of my favorite bands as I was starting high school) and suddenly remembered the band had Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton in it during my high school years.
3. Then listened to Yardbirds cover of “I’m a Man,” a song written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1955. That got me to wondering why the lyrics and sound by the Yardbirds were so different from what was recorded by The Spencer Davis Group in 1967.
4. So I listened to “I’m a Man” by The Spencer Davis Group (what a great opening to the song!) and Wikipedia then reminded me that Chicago Transit Authority did a cover of it on their debut album in 1969 (I’m a high school senior now) which I really enjoyed, so I listened to that. Reading up on CTA, I had forgotten that the bluesy guitar playing of Terry Kath is what infused the group with such a signature jazz/blues sound that I loved.
5. Chicago’s Kath accidentally killed himself in 1978, one week short of his 32nd birthday.
6. Kath’s widow, Camelia Emily Ortiz, was married to actor Kiefer Sutherland from 1987 to 1990.
7. Finally, last week I started watching the new “24” series “Live Another Day” starring none other than Kiefer Sutherland.
So my musical journey tonight started with your post and brings me directly to 24 on my Tivo tonight!
In the summer of 1964, it got a lot of airplay on KRLA, one of Southern California's two AM rock blasters, and it probably got played a lot on KFWB, its rival, which I didn't listen to as much. However, I don't think the recording was released as a single, because it didn't chart.
In the Beatles Song "Let'em In", the verse - "Sister Suzie, Brother John, Martin Luther, Phil and Don, Brother Michael, Auntie Gin Open the door, let 'em in... - refers to Phil and Don Everly who were guests of Paul McCartney when the song was written.
Now that you mentioned Terry Kath accidentally killing himself when he was around 32 years old in 1978, that’s eerie! The one-time lead singer of The Yardbirds-Keith Relf, was also accidentally killed by electric shock while trying out some new music at his home!
Apparently his guitar amp. was not grounded right, and it electrocuted him. He too, was in his early 30’s and it happened a few years earlier than the fellow you wrote about in your post! The Yardbirds had disbanded several years before, of course, and Jimmy Page started up Led Zeppelin right after.
Keith Relf had formed/helped form a number of short-lived groups between that time. One (Renaissance) included the Yardbirds’ drummer, Jim McCarty and Keith’s sister Jane. They were starting a new group with a few others when the accident happened.
The Yardbirds, incidentally, formed a new version of the old group. It’s still called “The Yardbirds”, and had two of the original members (Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja, who learned how to play bass from J. Page when he joined) and a few younger fellows who joined up over the years since they reformed, and they still tour for nostalgia-type concert shows. They still do some of their classics and have done a few new ones they’ve written and recorded!
I wasn’t yet born when The Beatles first became popular. My earliest musical memories are fairly saturated with their music, though. It’s difficult to dislike them and I don’t, but I’ve heard nearly all of it so many times. There’s very little from any of their albums that I couldn’t identify from the first few chords. My parents listened to The Beatles.
So, I’m coming at it from a different perspective. I’d have to say, of the earlier Beatles tunes, the simpler, sweeter more lyrically straightforward songs, “In My Life” has to be the most beautiful and affecting.
The Beatles were brilliant composers.
If you want to listen to a 2 1/2 minute song played on for 3 or 4 hours.
Gets old quick.
I like the early Beatles the best.
>>>I wonder what it says if you play it backwards.<<<
The things we said yesterday . . .
In his last tour Paul McCartney included “The Night Before” and “Drive my car” in the line up.
It was great.
George Harrison believed in reincarnation . . . I understand he came back as a beetle.
"Let 'Em In" was by Wings.
ff
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