-
Bob Dylan, Shelter From the Storm (Live)
The year was 1976, and Bob Dylan was in Colorado at Hughes Stadium singing one of his greatest songs ever, “Shelter From the Storm.” Originally from Blood on the Tracks, the song was being filmed and recorded for Bob’s live record Hard Rain. “Shelter From the Storm” is one of Bob’s most enduring poems. Its…
-
The Rolling Stones, Play With Fire
“Play With Fire,” a 1965 B-Side by the Stones, was credited to Nanker Phelge, a pseudonym the Stones used when they attributed the songwriting to all the members. Still, its mainly the work of Jagger and Richards, with Phil Spector on bass oddly enough. In fact, Mick and Keith are the only Stones to appear…
-
The Beatles, Rain
No, I’m not talking about the horrible Beatles cover band Broadway show thing, I’m talking about the 1966 B single of “Paperback Writer.” I’m posting “Rain” because I’ve met 4 people in the last two months that had NEVER heard of the song before, which to obsessed Beatle lunatics like myself, is just unfathomable. Perhaps…
-
The Jackson 5, The Love You Save
This was the third killer single (I Want You Back, ABC) from the Jackson 5 after they made their killer debut on Motown. It’s a song with a crazy soaring melody and complex vocal arrangement that came from the hit making geniuses “The Corporation,” the Los Angeles wing of Motown’s machine. This performance, from Ed…
-
The Blues Brothers, Ray Charles, Twist it (Shake Your Tail Feather)
How about that keyboard reflecting in Ray Charles’s sunglasses? That’s rock and roll, or more specifically, the blues. This legendary scene, from the “Blues Brothers” movie, is and irreplaceable document of blues rock awesomeness. The Blues Brothers were a group formed by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, two SNL geniuses who loved the blues and…
-
The Everly Brothers and John Lennon, All I Have to Do Is Dream, Cathy's Clown
Dreams are mysterious and crazy things. Sometimes you’ll have a dream and have no idea of what to make of it. Songs simply about dreams, even sort of romantic cliched ones, are sometimes enough just to trigger those feelings of the novel, the unexplained, and the otherworldly. Such is the case with the 1958 Felice…
-
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, Say Say Say, The Girl is Mine
The year was 1981. Michael Jackson was staying over Paul and Linda McCartney’s house. The pair of ultra stars were recording songs with Quincy Jones and George Martin for their respective albums. For Thriller, MJ and Macca were laying down “The Girl is Mine,” a horrendous piece of saccharine pop. For McCartney’s equally successful album…