The John Prine Smile

TOM HILL / WIREIMAGE / GETTY

A young man from a small town
With a very large imagination...

On the evening of April 7th, I knew I would be writing a John Prine blog post on the Monday following his passing. In reading the outpouring of love from his fans, journalists and artists in the music business, what could I say that already hasn't been said about one of the greatest singer-songwriters of his generation. Now John Prine's generation- being born in 1946 is a hallowed sweet spot in time, right after World War II where a mighty legion of singer-songwriters grew of age in the 1960's - 70's to carry folk into country and rock 'n' roll, and then back-to-the-future with Americana.

John Prine's 1971 self-titled first album, John Prine is a masterpiece of songwriting and I was thinking about that album this past week and thought, "did he ever write a bad song?" Then, I thought about doing a comprehensive playlist, and that would be something like 150+ songs. Or, how about doing what many of the news outlets were doing, something like a "John Prine Essentials" list that would include songs like Sam Stone, Hello in There, Angel From Montgomery, Paradise, and the epic Lake Marie.

Then I started thinking about the #hashtag James Taylor has been using in several of his recent social media posts- #SongsOfComfort based on Yo Yo Ma's call for finding songs to help people at home during this pandemic.

That is when it hit me, how about just playing some of the fun and goofy songs where John's writing is the invention of a fun puzzle, an engaging mind-game within himself... the John Prine smile. Songs like, It's A Big Ol' Goofy World and Linda Goes to Mars, where even after the first, second and countless listens, the writer's expression is received... in your smile.

So here's a few of my favorite John Prine smiles that are worthy of the tag #FunSongs, #SongsOfComfort, or songs that simply define #CreativeWriting. Please take time to read the lyrics before playing each video as John's words are a collective bond that have touched so many of us deep to our core.

It's A Big Old Goofy World

Up in the morning

Work like a dog

Is better than sitting

Like a bump on a log

Mind all your manners

Be quiet as a mouse

Some day you'll own a home

That's as big as a house

I know a fella

He eats like a horse

Knocks his old balls

Round the old golf course

You oughta see his wife

She's a cute little dish

She smokes like a chimney

And drinks like a fish

There's a big old goofy man

Dancing with a big old goofy girl

Ooh baby

It's a big old goofy world

Now Elvis had a woman

With a head like a rock

I wished I had a woman

That made my knees knock

She'd sing like an angel

And eat like a bird

And if I wrote a song

She'd know ever single word

Kiss a little baby

Give the world a smile

If you take an inch

Give 'em back a mile

Cause if you lie like a rug

And you don't give a damn

You're never gonna be

As happy as a clam

So I'm sitting in a hotel

Trying to write a song

My head is just as empty

As the day is long

Why it's clear as a bell

I should have gone to school

I'd be wise as an owl

Stead of stubborn as a mule. 

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In Spite Of Ourselves

(feat. Iris DeMent)

She don't like her eggs all runny

She thinks crossin' her legs is funny

She looks down her nose at money

She gets it on like the Easter Bunny

She's my baby I'm her honey

I'm never gonna let her go

He ain't got laid in a month of Sundays

I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies

He ain't too sharp but he gets things done

Drinks his beer like it's oxygen

He's my baby

And I'm his honey

Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves

We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow

Against all odds

Honey, we're the big door prize

We're gonna spite our noses

Right off of our faces

There won't be nothin' but big old hearts

Dancin' in our eyes.

She thinks all my jokes are corny

Convict movies make her horny

She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs

Swears like a sailor when shaves her legs

She takes a lickin'

And keeps on tickin'

I'm never gonna let her go.

He's got more balls than a big brass monkey

He's a whacked out weirdo and a lovebug junkie

Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon

Payday comes and he's howlin' at the moon

He's my baby I don't mean maybe

Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves

We'll end up a sittin' on a rainbow

Against all odds

Honey, we're the big door prize

We're gonna spite our noses

Right off of our faces

There won't be nothin' but big old hearts

Dancin' in our eyes.

There won't be nothin' but big old hearts

Dancin' in our eyes.

[Spoken:]

In spite of ourselves

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Jesus, The Missing Years

[Spoken:]

Jesus... the missing years

It was raining. It was cold

West Bethlehem was no place for a twelve year old

So he packed his bags and he headed out

To find out what the world's about

He went to France. He went to Spain

He found love. He found pain.

He found stores so he started to shop

But he had no money so he got in trouble with a cop

Kids in trouble with the cops

From Israel didn't have no home

So he cut his hair and moved to Rome

It was there he met his Irish bride

And they rented a flat on the lower east side of Rome...

Italy that is

Music publishers, book binders, Bible belters, Money Changers,

Spoon Benders and lots of pretty Italian chicks.

[Chorus:]

Charley bought some popcorn

Billy bought a car

Someone almost bought the farm

But they didn't go that far

Things shut down at midnight

At least around here they do

Cause we all reside down the block

Inside at....23 Skidoo.

Wine was flowing so were beers

So Jesus found his missing years

So He went to a dance and said "This don't move me"

He hiked up his pants and he went to a movie

On his thirteenth birthday he saw "Rebel without a Cause"

He went straight on home and invented Santa Claus

Who gave him a gift and he responded in kind

He gave the gift of love and went out of his mind

You see him and the wife wasn't getting along

So he took out his guitar and he wrote a song

Called "The Dove of Love Fell Off the Perch"

But he couldn't get divorced in the Catholic Church

At least not back then anyhow

Jesus was a good guy he didn't need this shit

So he took a pill with a bag of peanuts and

A Coca-Cola and he swallowed it.

He discovered the Beatles

And he recorded with the Stones

Once He even opened up a three-way package

In Southern California for old George Jones

[Chorus]

The years went by like sweet little days

With babies crying pork chops and beaujolais

When he woke up he was seventeen

The world was angry. The world was mean.

Why the man down the street and the kid on the stoop

All agreed that life stank. All the world smelled like poop

Baby poop that is..the worst kind

So he grew his hair long and threw away his comb

And headed back to Jerusalem to find Mom, Dad and home

But when he got there the cupboard was bare

Except for an old black man with a fishing rod

He said "Whatcha gonna be when you grow up?"

Jesus said "God"

Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into?

I'm a human corkscrew and all my wine is blood

They're gonna kill me Mama. They don't like me Bud.

So Jesus went to Heaven and he went there awful quick

All them people killed him and he wasn't even sick

So come and gather around me my contemporary peers

And I'll tell you all the story of

Jesus...The Missing Years

[Chorus]

We all reside down the block

Inside at... 23 Skidoo.

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That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round

I know a guy that's got a lot to lose.

He's a pretty nice fellow but he's kind of confused.

He's got muscles in his head that ain't never been used.

Thinks he own half of this town.

Starts drinking heavy, gets a big red nose.

Beats his old lady with a rubber hose,

Then he takes her out to dinner and buys her new clothes.

That's the way that the world goes 'round.

That's the way that the world goes 'round.

You're up one day and the next you're down.

It's half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown.

That's the way that the world goes 'round.

I was sitting in the bathtub counting my toes,

When the radiator broke, water all froze.

I got stuck in the ice without my clothes,

Naked as the eyes of a clown.

I was crying ice cubes hoping I'd croak,

When the sun come through the window, the ice all broke.

I stood up and laughed thought it was a joke

That's the way that the world goes 'round.

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Fish and Whistle Lyric Video

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Grandpa Was A Carpenter

Grandpa wore his suit to dinner

Nearly every day

No particular reason

He just dressed that way

Brown necktie and a matching vest

And both his wingtip shoes

He built a closet on our back porch

And put a penny in a burned out fuse.

[Chorus:]

Grandpa was a carpenter

He built houses stores and banks

Chain smoked Camel cigarettes

And hammered nails in planks

He was level on the level

And shaved even every door

And voted for Eisenhower

'Cause Lincoln won the war.

Well, he used to sing me

"Blood on the Saddle"

And rock me on his knee

And let me listen to radio

Before we got TV

Well, he'd drive to church on Sunday

And take me with him too!

Stained glass in every window

Hearing aids in every pew.

[Chorus]

Now my grandma was a teacher

Went to school in Bowling Green

Traded in a milking cow

For a Singer sewing machine

She called her husband "Mister"

And walked real tall and pride

And used to buy me comic books

After grandpa died.

[Chorus]

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Way Back Then

Night is falling

We're doing the things we do

You are acting just like me

I'm acting just like you

Do you remember

When you were my friend?

That's the way I'd like things

Just like way back then

Baby's sleeping

Brother is on the run

I am out undoing

All the good I've done

If you loved me

Tell you what I would do

Wrap the world in silver foil

Bring it home to you.

Lately I feel

That I can't pretend

I may never ever see

The likes of you again

I take a walk, I come back home

Then I sit a spell

Watch the ponies dance around

The empty wishing well.

Night has fallen

I've said the things I did

The only baby sleeping

Is when I was a kid

Do you remember

When you were my friend?

That's the way I'd like things

Just like way back then.

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Linda Goes To Mars

I just found out yesterday that Linda goes to Mars

Every time I sit and look at pictures of used cars

She'll turn on her radio and sit down in her chair

And look at me across the room, as if I wasn't there

[Chorus:]

Oh My stars! My Linda's gone to Mars

Well I wish she wouldn't leave me here alone

Oh My stars! My Linda's gone to Mars

Well, I wonder if she'd bring me something home.

Something, somewhere, somehow took my Linda by the hand

And secretly decoded our sacred wedding band

For when the moon shines down up on our happy, humble home

Her inner space gets tortured by some outer space unknown.

[Chorus]

Now I ain't seen no saucers 'cept the ones upon the shelf

And if I ever seen one I'd keep it to myself

For if there's life out there somewhere beyond this life on earth

Then Linda must have gone out there and got her money's worth.

[Chorus]

Yeah, I wonder if she'd bring me something home.

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Crazy As A Loon

Back before I was a movie star

Straight off of the farm

I had a picture of another man's wife

Tattooed on my arm

With a pack of Camel cigarettes

In the sleeve of my tee shirt

I'm headin' out to Hollywood

Just to have my feelings hurt

That town will make you crazy

Just give it a little time

You'll be walking 'round in circles

Down at Hollywood and Vine

You'll be waitin' on a phone call

At the wrong end of a broom

Yes, that town'll make you crazy

Crazy as a loon

So, I headed down to Nashville

To become a country star

Every night you'd find me hangin'

At every honky-tonk and bar

Pretty soon I met a woman

Pretty soon she done me wrong

Pretty soon my life got sadder

Than any country song

That town will make you crazy

Just give it a little time

You'll be walking 'round in circles

Lookin' for that country rhyme

You'll be waitin' on a phone call

At the wrong end of a broom

Yea, that town'll make you crazy

Crazy as a loon

So, I gathered up my savvy

Bought myself a business suit

I headed up to New York City

Where a man can make some loot

I got hired Monday morning

Downsized that afternoon

Overcome with grief that evening

Now I'm crazy as a loon

So I'm up here in the north woods

Just staring at a lake

Wondering just exactly how much

They think a man can take

I eat fish to pass the time away

'Neath this blue Canadian moon

This old world has made me crazy

Crazy as a loon

Lord, this world will make you crazy

Crazy as a loon

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Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

While digesting Reader's Digest

In the back of a dirty book store,

A plastic flag, with gum on the back,

Fell out on the floor.

Well, I picked it up and I ran outside

Slapped it on my window shield,

And if I could see old Betsy Ross

I'd tell her how good I feel.

[Chorus:]

But your flag decal won't get you

Into Heaven any more.

They're already overcrowded

From your dirty little war.

Now Jesus don't like killin'

No matter what the reason's for,

And your flag decal won't get you

Into Heaven any more.

Well, I went to the bank this morning

And the cashier he said to me,

"If you join the Christmas club

We'll give you ten of them flags for free."

Well, I didn't mess around a bit

I took him up on what he said.

And I stuck them stickers all over my car

And one on my wife's forehead.

[Chorus]

Well, I got my window shield so filled

With flags I couldn't see.

So, I ran the car upside a curb

And right into a tree.

By the time they got a doctor down

I was already dead.

And I'll never understand why the man

Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you

Into Heaven any more.

We're already overcrowded

From your dirty little war.

Now Jesus don't like killin'

No matter what the reason's for,

And your flag decal won't get you

Into Heaven any more."

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The Bottomless Lake

Here's the story of a man and his family

And a big trip that they took

Well, I heard all about in a restaurant

And I read it in a history book

They rented a car at the Erie Canal

But the car didn't have no brake

Said Ma to Pa "My God this car"

"Is gonna fall into the Bottomless Lake"

Well, Mama turned to Daddy with a pale face

Said "I've done something horribly wrong"

"Well, the waters still runnin' in the bathtub"

And I think I left the kitchen light on"

Then I heard a crash the car when splash

And the compass rolled around and around

Oh, for Heaven's Sake! We fell in a lake

And I think we're all gonna drown

[Chorus:]

We are falling down

Down to the bottom of a hole in the ground

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

I'm so scared I can hardly breathe

I may never see my sweetheart again

There was plenty of food in the backseat

And the windows were rolled up tight

So we all nibbled on a chicken leg

Told stories 'way thru' the night

Well, Pa told one that he told before

And the baby got a bellyache

Said Ma to Pa "My God this car"

"Falling down a Bottomless Lake"

[Chorus]

Poppa played the music on the radio

Mama rocked the baby to sleep

He said he would've taken the other road

But he didn't think the lake was that deep

Well, if the ferry been there at the end of the pier

We'd be half way to Uncle Jake's

Instead of looking at fish out the window I wish

We'd hit the bottom of the Bottomless Lake

'Stead of looking at fish out the window I wish

We'd hit the bottom of the Bottomless Lake

So if you're ever goin' on a big trip

Ya better be careful out there

Start everything on you good foot

And wear clean underwear

Take along a Bible in the backseat

Read of David and Solomon

For if you make a mistake in the Bottomless Lake

You may never see your sweetheart again

If you should make a mistake in the Bottomless Lake

You may never see your sweetheart again

If you should make a mistake in the Bottomless Lake

You may never see your sweetheart again

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Souvenirs

All the snow has turned to water

Christmas days have come and gone

Broken toys and faded colors

Are all that's left to linger on

I hate graveyards and old pawn shops

For they always bring me tears

I can't forgive the way they rob me

Of my childhood souvenirs

[Chorus:]

Memories they can't be boughten

They can't be won at carnivals for free

Well it took me years

To get those souvenirs

And I don't know how they slipped away from me

Broken hearts and dirty windows

Make life difficult to see

That's why last night and this mornin'

Always look the same to me

I hate reading old love letters

For they always bring me tears

I can't forgive the way they rob me

Of my sweetheart's souvenirs

[Chorus]

John, you're in good company

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and a last one, that maybe captures this moment...

Well, maybe one more.

For further reading, I recommend-

A couple great articles written this past week, and one almost 50 years ago about John Prine.

• Jason Isbell: John Prine Taught Me to Stay Vulnerable 
• The Zen of John Prine (In Three Lines) by Jason Wilber (thanks to Ken Forman for sharing this article)
• The October 9, 1970 Chicago Sun-Times review by Roger Ebert that changed John Prine's life - SINGING MAILMAN WHO DELIVERS A POWERFUL MESSAGE IN A FEW WORDS

The ebook, John Prine: In Spite of Himself by Eddie Huffman (2015). Here is the Kindle version for $13.99 that I just started reading yesterday and can't put down. Or, you can download an audio version from Audible (free with trial). (Again, thanks to Ken Forman for this recommendation.)

And, if you're inclined to want to take a deep dive that compares John Prine to the wit and wisdom of Mark Twain, read the 2005 Master of Arts thesis by Michael J. Ruwe,  It's a Big Old Goofy World View: John Prine as a Modern-Day Mark Twain (free pdf download).

Wishing you all the best, stay well my friends.

Peter and Gordon, Chad and Jeremy, and now Peter and Jeremy

Photo of James Taylor & Peter Asher at the

Sweet Baby James photo shoot by Henry Diltz

Several weeks ago, I wrote a blog called,  Sweet Baby James and 50 Years Down the Road. 

While writing that blog, I had also began to read a book by James Taylor's original manager and the producer of Sweet Baby James, Peter Asher.

Thanks to Paul Hobbs 

for the book loan

The book is titled, The Beatles from A to Zed and is simply a wonderful journey through the alphabet with everything Beatles, plus more interesting sidebar stories including: Peter's direct experiences with the Beatles, his days in Peter and Gordon, and life in the music business. If you're a Beatle fan, this is a must and a very fun read indeed. The book got me interested in Peter Asher and I began to look into his life and professional career as a musician and record producer.

Some early facts about Peter Asher and his one degree of separation-

• Peter's father was a doctor and his mother was a professional musician and Oboe teacher, who once taught a young lad named, George Martin (the future producer of The Beatles).
• Peter went to the prestigious Westminster School in London where he met his future band mate, Gordon Waller whose father was also a doctor.
• Peter was a child actor along with sister Jane Asher, a life-long actress. 
• At seventeen, Jane had an opportunity to interview the Beatles in April, 1963 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and began a five-year relationship with Paul McCartney. In December 1963, McCartney took up residence at Asher's family Wimpole Street town house and stayed there until the couple moved into McCartney's own home located in St John's Wood in 1966. McCartney wrote several Beatles songs inspired by her, including "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", "I'm Looking Through You", "We Can Work It Out", and "Here, There and Everywhere." Wikipedia
• At the Asher's Wimpole St. home, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the front basement room, while McCartney wrote the tune to "Yesterday" in a box room at the top of the house. Wikipedia



Paul McCartney and Jane Asher

• For two years, Peter's and Paul's bedrooms were right next to each other at the top of the house, and Peter as a young musician himself had constant direct access to one of the greatest singer-songwriter's of all-time. I guess I could go on about Jane's and Paul's access... what were her parents thinking?

Anyway, John and Paul were constantly writing new songs and always revisiting and even workshopping older songs they wrote before the Beatles formed in 1960. One such song, A World Without Love was written by Paul when he was sixteen but John could never get past the first line, Please lock me away without cracking up with laughter.

Peter Asher and Gordon Waller

As John rejected A World Without Love as a Beatles song, an astute Peter Asher asked Paul if he could have the "orphan" song for his newly signed band, Peter and Gordon. Peter even persisted Paul to write the bridge of the still uncompleted song. Paul finished the song and gave it to Peter and Gordon who took it to their first recording sessions for EMI Records. Least to say, the rest is history as the song went all the way to #1 on the UK and American Billboard Charts in 1964 and launched Peter and Gordon as a worldwide duo.

This past week, I thought the A World Without Love lyrics quite appropriate for our #StayatHome times even though they were written by a young Paul McCartney about waiting for a true love to finally show herself.

Please lock me away

And don't allow the day

Here inside where I hide

With my loneliness

I don't care what they say I won't stay

In a world without love

Now another thing that struck me when viewing the color video of A World Without Love is that Peter Asher is the spitting image model of Mike Myers' Austin Powers character. I am of course not the first to make this observation, but I want you to play the song here and pay attention as the camera zooms in on Peter at the 0:27 - 0:37 mark. You'll see exactly what I'm talking about- Peter's expression with mop top, Buddy Holly glasses and teeth... Yeah Baby!

Peter's close relationship with Paul McCartney proved invaluable as Peter and Gordon recorded several songs written by McCartney but credited to Lennon–McCartney. Those hits included "A World Without Love" (US & UK #1), "Nobody I Know" (US #12; UK #10), "I Don't Want To See You Again" (US #16, but not a hit in the UK), and "Woman." With "Woman", McCartney used the pseudonym Bernard Webb to see whether he could have a hit song without his name attached. First pressings of the US Capitol single listed the composer as "A. Smith". The song reached #14 in the US and #28 on the UK Singles Chart in 1966. Wikipedia

Phil and Don Everly

As duo groups in the 1960's started popping up such as Simon and Garfunkel, Peter and Gordon, Chad and Jeremy, not to mention such bands as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Hollies, and Bee Gees- all getting their harmonic inspiration from the well of The Everly Brothers. For Peter and Gordon, it's very interesting to hear two very different singing voices come together to make their harmony work so well. Needless to say, without the Everly Brothers, the evolution of harmony in the early to mid-sixties for singing duo's and bands just wouldn't have been the same.

Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde

Chad and Jeremy is another interesting duo from England as they too rode the British Invasion to America with a number of hits from 1962 - 1968.

The duo had a string of hits in the US, including "Willow Weep for Me", "Before and After", and their biggest hit, "A Summer Song". Wikipedia

For Peter and Gordon and Chad and Jeremy, the 60's wave ended as both groups disbanded in 1968. For Peter Asher, his life changed in 1968 as he briefly worked as the A&R (Artists & Repertoire) Director for Apple Records where he signed James Taylor to his first record contract and then moved to the United States to manage and produce James and later, Linda Ronstadt. Peter went on to produce many acts, and in 1995-2002 was Senior Vice-President for Sony Music Entertainment.

Peter and Gordon, 2005

But what attracted me to write this article and playlist this week was Peter Asher's reunion with Gordon Waller in 2005, first playing benefits, Beatlefest, and then doing clubs together. Sadly, this ended in 2009 when Gordon Waller died of a heart attack at 64 years old.

Chad and Jeremy, 2005

As for Chad and Jeremy, Chad Stuart continued to work in the music industry while Jeremy Clyde became a film and stage actor. In the early 1980s, the duo reunited to record a new album and perform concerts, including a multi-band British Invasion nostalgia tour. After another long period of separation, in the early 2000s Chad & Jeremy began performing again and developed a semi-regular schedule of touring for many years. Wikipedia

Peter and Jeremy, 2020

Incidentally, both Peter and Gordon and Chad and Jeremy often played venues together as all were life-long friends.

In 2018, Chad Stuart retired from performing and low and behold, Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde started performing together as, Peter and Jeremy. That kind of takes us full circle as I would like to present a mix playlist of Peter and Gordon, Chad and Jeremy, and Peter and Jeremy this week in both older and more recent videos. Make sure to watch the last two videos with a bit of fun commentary by Peter and Jeremy. Enjoy my friends!

Note- I also want to give a big shoutout to jarichards99youtube (subscribe here) who does a fantastic job of taking old music videos and creating a Digitally ReProcessed ReCut Video and STEREO ReMix.HiQ Hybrid = Live Video Performance PLUS Studio Quality Sound.

50 Years of Music • January - March, 1970

50 Years of Music Series • 1970

January - March | April - May

Simon and Garfunkel at the 1971 13th Annual Grammy Awards | Bettmann/Getty Images

Something old, something new... part of the good luck tradition for a bride on her wedding day. In the past several months I haven't seen any brides floating about, but thought I'd borrow the expression.

Three weeks ago, I put together a playlist of "something new" music releases from January-March, 2020 thinking that might be popular with so many people home and online. It wasn't a dud but maybe not the #ComfortSongs to go along with maybe some of the #ComfortFoods you've been wanting or having at your #StayatHome. By the way, has cooking made a comeback at your house too?

Last week, I put together the 50th anniversary of CSN&Y's Déjà vu album, and Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon, and that got a pretty good bump of blog hits coming in. With that in mind, I'll continue the "something old" theme by highlighting albums released from January - March from 1970. It's an amazing collection of albums and the number of great songs within those albums are truly impressive.

Here are a few thoughts I strung together while putting this 100+ Playlist together derived from my Wikipedia source, 1970 in music.

I'll start with the Grammy album of the year for 1970,
Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. What's not to like on this entire album. If I have to pick one to start off the playlist, I'm going with Cecilia an all-time favorite which also reminds me of a quick story growing up in a Baptist Church. I remember when Love The One You're With was a hit by Stephen Stills in late 1970 and a girl in my youth group commented to me, "I just can't stand these dirty songs like Cecilia and Love The One You're With." About a year later, I came up to her at church and said, "Guess you'll have to add Change Partners to your dirty songs list."

The Magic Christian was a February 1970 movie starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. The soundtrack, Magic Christian Music is by the band Badfinger and features their first big hit written and produced by Paul McCartney, Come and Get It. I thought this was going to be a quick skip-through album, but I kept saying to myself, "wait a minute, this one's good...this one's good" and so on. Like so many albums I discover fifty years after their release, Magic Christian Music's a gem from a truly great band as most people only know their hits.

Last week I watched a 2011 documentary about George Martin (the 5th Beatle) on Amazon Prime called, Produced by George Martin (link here) that I highly recommend. George Martin produced Ringo's first solo album, Sentimental Journey and the two make a great team doing a complete album of "standards" that had not had been attempted by any rock star until Ringo did it. Ringo has always been maligned by the press over the years, but now most critics say he's not only a great drummer but a very good singer to boot. Listen to Ringo sing Night and Day by Cole Porter.

When I was fifteen, I would have never have listened to Frank Sinatra's Watertown, much less Ringo's Sentimental Journey. In Watertown, Sinatra takes a 1970 ride on the singer-songwriter wave with a themed-based album.  All the songs were written by the same team of  Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes which is something Frank had never done before. This indeed was a risky move as Watertown was Frank's worst selling album, but the critics loved it and I think it's a wonderful album too. It's a heartbreaking tale of a wife who leaves her husband and two children searching for stardom. Make sure you listen to, The Train.

If I didn't mention the band Mountain here, I'd probably get a concerning phone call from my old friend and childhood next door neighbor Ron Zieman wondering if I lost my mind. Ron introduced me to the best "heavy" rock bands over the years starting with Cream. Felix Pappalardi who produced some of Cream's albums started Mountain with Leslie West and their first album Climbing climbed the charts with their big hit, Mississippi Queen. When the group proceeded to record "Mississippi Queen", Pappalardi insisted on numerous takes. Growing weary, Corky Laing the drummer started using the cowbell to count off the song. Pappalardi liked it so much he left it in the mix, creating the song's recognizable intro (Wikipedia). And as Christopher Walken would say, "More Cowbell."

Moondance is simply one of the greatest albums of all time. As a teenager I really didn't appreciate Van Morrison until I got to San Diego State and started rooming with my buddy Mark Hunter. Mark was from Millbrae CA, just south of San Francisco and if you're from the Bay Area you know "Van the man." Every song on this album is fantastic. In the last several years, I've really taken a deeper dive into his music and loved seeing him in Las Vegas in February. Check out Into the Mystic, this song is right up there...

The personnel on Leon Russell's debut album is largely a who's who of rock 'n' roll royalty, not to mention half of England. Again, so many great songs on this album including the all-time, "A Song for You", written by Russell, is a slow, pained plea for forgiveness and understanding from an estranged lover, the tune is one of Russell's best-known compositions. It has been performed and recorded by over 200 artists, spanning many musical genres. Elton John has called the song an American classic (Wikipedia).

I purchased Nilsson Sings Newman in a used record shop after Harry Nilsson become really famous with his 1971 album, Nilsson Schmilsson. Again, this album is filled with great songs. Both albums followed me to college and I listened to them often in my dorm room and then in a series of forgettable apartments. In fact in my first forgettable apartment, my complete stereo system was stolen (a high school graduation present) with Harry Nilsson's 1974 Pussy Cats album on the turntable. I'll never forget coming home, opening the door and seeing a large empty space where the stereo system used to be with now the Pussy Cats empty album jacket laying in its place. My first thought was F***!!!!!, then I thought, well Pussy Cats was not Harry's finest hour on vinyl. But as long as I'm talking today about great "standards" albums like Sentimental Journey and Watertown today, check out Nilsson's 1973 A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, a classic and one of Harry's finest hours.

Mary Kit says to me, "108 videos this week, man you must have some spare time..."

Déjà Vu • March, 1970

 déjà vu (from Merriam-Webster)
a: the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time

b: a feeling that one has seen or heard something before

In March 1970, I turned fifteen. This week I turn sixty-five and as my music blog is often an exercise of personal reflection, I wonder if my long-term memory is really just a mix of illusions and feelings all woven seamlessly together in my current-thinking brain.

Sometime in that spring of 1970, I'm at the house of my friend Gary Hill. Gary has just purchased Déjà Vu, the new Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Album. It has the best album cover I've ever seen.

I'm in Gary's living room looking out of his large front window and listening to the album by myself. Gary has gone outside to wash his light green family station wagon and as his custom, he dries the car by speeding off to the nearby US 101 freeway to let the wind finish the job. All alone, I listen to the album a couple of times. In fact his mom, the always smiling Madeline Hill has come home before he is back. She doesn't seem to mind that I'm alone in her house listening to a record on her stereo console. That memory is etched in my brain.

The release of Déjà vu with the addition of Neil Young to the band was a pleasant surprise to me. The album did not disappoint as the band had surpassed the first album and elevated themselves to even a higher level. As a freshman in high school, I thought it was one of the best albums ever made and nothing has changed my opinion of that music in these last 50 years.

In the ensuing years, what did change was the déjà vu-like experience of either/or David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young in never-ending breakups and makeups in just too many incarnations to describe here. As I write this, I'm currently reading Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock's Greatest Supergroup by David Browne. My friend Paul Hobbs highly recommended it to me awhile back and I pass along the same if you are a CSN&Y fan.

Paul's assessment kind of threw me back when he said, "Doug, they're all assholes."

Okay, we all know David Crosby's is the obnoxious self-indulgent asshole. He's said it about himself many times on stage and in rock documentaries, not to mention the overarching reason he was kicked out of The Byrds. Yes, Stills was always demanding to be the hard charging alpha general, Nash the very pleasant and chatty hitmaker and peacemaker with social skills, and Young the aloof alpha, the restless free agent who often took his ball and went looking for different players to play with. But all of them, assholes? Well I'm up to 1974 in David Browne's comprehensive behind the curtain book and yep, they're all assholes.

I call it the Mickey Mantle effect (my first hero). As a child or young person, you admire that person's public persona because their art or talent were truly special and influenced you. You only find out later in life that the actual person was in fact an arrogant ass, or sometimes even worse...

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Fifty by Four

In addition to David Browne's book, Paul texted me on Sunday and recommended, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Fifty by Four (linked here), a 2 hour 44 minute documentary free on Amazon Prime. I watched it last night and again Paul is spot on calling it, "a visual embodiment of the book more or less." Damn it Paul, I'm going to have to start paying you reference fees...

Okay, how about two more memories in Gary Hill's station wagon.

First, it's late May 1970 after the Kent State shootings. Gary is behind the wheel of the green station wagon. Ron Zieman is riding shotgun, and I believe Paul is with me in the backseat, but maybe it's Steve Spencer too. The radio is on and the DJ introduces Ohio, the Neil Young song by CSN&Y recorded and released in what would appropriately be, record time. Neil's and then Stephen's electric guitars start and we just all look at each other as Gary is turning up the volume.

Second, it's maybe 1970 or '71, same scenario, Gary's driving the wagon, Ron's in the front bench passenger seat, and I'm by myself in the back bench seat, left side. Gary's moving fairly fast on the back country two lane CA Route Highway 166 . We come upon a VW bug going very slow. Gary moves in the oncoming lane to pass the bug as we're approaching a crossroad. Suddenly without any form of signaling the VW suddenly makes a left turn striking a glancing blow to the right side of the station wagon as we're exactly parallel with the bug. The wagon skids sideways left across the crossroad intersection.

At that moment, I realize I don't have my seatbelt on and instinctively dive to the floor and hold on to the backside of the driver's lap seat belts bolted down to the floor directly behind the driver's seat. The wagon skids for what seems like an eternity and then stops. I sit up from the floor and look out the left window and there's no ground! I then look down and we have stopped about a foot from a 20ft steep embankment leading down to a ditch. The guy driving the VW with long black hair and beard who looks like Tommy Chong is walking towards us, and in no rush. He comes up to us as we are now out of the car and just staring down at the f***ing embankment.  In what seems like a Cheech and Chong  skit he says in perfect Tommy Chong stoner voice, "Hey man... you dudes ok?"

For CSN&Y, as strange as the band members were on and off with each other (and their many associates) for over five decades, the music on those first two albums is so very special to me and helped elevate my appreciation of top-tier rock 'n' roll in a special time and place.

I highlighted the first CSN album in a blog a while back- Crosby, Stills & Nash - Celebrating 50 Years of Their Debut Album and here, I present the entire Déjà Vu album in the following YouTube Playlist.

Now, if you go back to the first three months of music in 1970, it will blow you away. Fact be told I was preparing to write another blog this week, 50 Years of Music: January - March, 1970, but heck that's now my teaser for next week's blog. I'm already feeling somewhat guilty because Bridge Over Troubled Water was released in January, 1970 and I didn't make that a blog feature as- Simon & Garfunkel release their final album together. The title track and album stay #1 on the Billboard charts for six weeks and go on to win a record six Grammys at the 13th Grammy Awards, including "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year", and "Album of the Year." Wikipedia

Then in my Wikipedia search, I get to March 1970 and there are these two albums a couple of weeks apart, Déjà Vu and Joni Mitchell's, Lady of the Canyon.

The fact that these two albums are released in the same month is not really astonishing once you know a little about the history of Joni Mitchell with CSN&Y. Think back, we get Joni's acoustic Woodstock song version that is preceded a few weeks earlier by CSNY&Y's rocking version of Woodstock!

As I recall, I'm listening to the full Ladies of the Canyon album for the first time with Paul in his bedroom. The music business in 1970 was still as misogynistic as it could be, but here are two young teenage boys listening (and learning) to songs from a female's perspective. Back then, boys grew up listening (and learning) to songs mostly from a guy's perspective, songs like Under My Thumb by The Rolling Stones comes to mind. In the 1970's, Joni gave us all a fresh if not introspective look at relationships, now from both sides. One of my favorites songs from that album is about her soon-to-be former boyfriend, Graham Nash.

Willy

Willy is my child, he is my father

I would be his lady all my life

He says he'd love to live with me

But for an ancient injury

That has not healed

He said I feel once again

Like I gave my heart too soon

He stood looking through the lace

At the face on the conquered moon

And counting all the cars up the hill

And the stars on my window sill

There are still more reasons why I love him

Willy is my joy, he is my sorrow

Now he wants to run away and hide

He says our love cannot be real

He cannot hear the chapel's pealing silver bells

But you know it's hard to tell

When you're in the spell if it's wrong or if it's real

But you're bound to lose

If you let the blues get you scared to feel

And I feel like I'm just being born

Like a shiny light breaking in a storm

There are so many reasons why I love him

Willy is my child, he is my father

As I look back, what a pair of albums to have in your collection if not your soul for a lifetime. Here's the playlist for Ladies of the Canyon.

This blog post is dedicated to Gary "Crazy Legs" Hill. 

Rest in Peace ol' pal, your friends will never forget you.