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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2015 12:20:23 GMT 1
6. T.Rex - Get It On (1971)
Marc Bolan and Co. absolutely ruled the roost in 1971. In the UK they had four songs, in the calendar year, which reached either number one or two. All of them are classics in their own way, but "Get It On" is possibly the smoothest, sexiest, greatest sound that the group ever managed. And like many of their songs it either makes reference to cars, or sex, or drugs, or in this case all three.
The song was inspired by Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie". Bolan made no secret of this at the time, and his closing line in GIO - "and meanwhile, I'm still thinking" is actually lifted straight from that 1959 record. The two songs do have some similarities, but nothing that would get the lawyers involved.
The expression "Bang A Gong" has several different meanings, some of which I could only list here after the watershed, so it is curious that the song was renamed to this for it's US release in 1972. One reason is that a different song named "Get It On" had already reached the Billboard top 30 in 1971, released by the Jazz-Funk group "Chase". Another reason is that "Get It On" is a clear sexual reference, hence the rename to something more ambiguous. Perhaps the Yanks should have just left it alone - they were never much interested in Glam Rock anyway.
Elton John appears in some videos for this song. In fact he didn't play on it - he was asked by Marc Bolan to simply mime the piano on Top Of The Pops as the two were friends at the time. Bolan was also very pally with John Peel, unfortunately that friendship ended with "Get It On" - Peel played it on Radio 1 and was very critical of it at the time, something which did not go down too well with Bolan, who could be quite difficult and egotistical.
The musicians who did play on the song are quite an impressive bunch. Derek Weaver of Amen Corner is thought to have shared piano duties with Rick Wakeman. Also appearing was King Crimson's Ian McDonald on Saxophone, and from 60's group The Turtles came Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, who were clearly happy together as they subsequently formed their own music/comedy roadshow, and in fact appeared on several T.Rex songs.
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Post by Earl Purple on Dec 27, 2015 12:35:13 GMT 1
If "Get It On" is based on "Little Queenie", what is Cigarettes And Alcohol based on? Because I assumed it was based on Get It On but maybe it goes back further...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2015 13:25:23 GMT 1
I've also seen it mentioned that "Cream" by Prince is very similar to "Get It On" in terms of structure and guitar/drum sequences.
"Cigarettes and Alcohol" is admittedly very similar also.
The people responsible for the originals should be flattered really.
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Dec 27, 2015 21:24:38 GMT 1
After playing the song on Radio 1, John Peel said "that was T Rex and their new song Get It On. Personally I couldn't wait to get it off".
I always wondered if he really disliked it that much or if he was just really pleased with that joke...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2015 21:46:38 GMT 1
After playing the song on Radio 1, John Peel said "that was T Rex and their new song Get It On. Personally I couldn't wait to get it off". I always wondered if he really disliked it that much or if he was just really pleased with that joke... The friendship between Peel and Bolan ended after this, as I mentioned in the review. Apparently they only spoke to each other one more time after this. Bolan was a very prickly, complicated person.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2015 10:00:44 GMT 1
5. Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale (1967)
Time for a bit of self-indulgence, as this was number one on the day that I was born. But that piece of trivia notwithstanding, it is a wonderful, mysterious, enigmatic and quite simply magnificent chart-topper, and even if it weren't my birthday song then it would still be this high up on my list - an all-time classic.
It is commonly thought that the backing music for AWSOP is taken from Johann Sebastian Bach, and his Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major (specifically the second movement named "Air"). More accurately, it is actually taken from a cover-version of this. A German Violinist named August Wilhelmj produced his own version of "Air" in the late 19th Century; modified it for violins, and wrote "auf der G-Saite" on the music sheet, translating to "[Air] on the G-String", a nickname which became synonymous with this music.
In 1966, Keith Reid was barely 20 years old, but was already a lyricist of some repute, and was being touted as a possible song-writer for Cream. Meanwhile, Gary Brooker was lead-singer for a generally unsuccessful group named "The Paramounts", an act who mainly sang covers and who were in dire need of a song-writer themselves. Manager Guy Stevens put the two together, but almost immediately The Paramounts split, leaving Brooker and Reid just writing as a duo.
By 1967 the pair had written several songs, with Reid usually providing the words and Brooker concentrating on the music. One of Reid's songs was named "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", a phrase that he'd heard during a conversation at a party. But there was a drawback with having so many songs; Brooker could sing them but Reid couldn't play any instruments, so a group was put together which included Ray Royer on guitar, Matthew Fisher on organ and David Knights on bass. Guy Stevens became their Manager, and it was he who gave them the name "Procol Harum".
Guy Stevens was actually a very strange character. He seemed to spend as much time in prison (usually for drugs offences) as he did on the outside, setting up music deals and putting various bands together. He did have a knack of choosing catchy group names - he would subsequently create the name "Mott The Hoople" for instance. He claimed that "Procol Harum" was the breeding name for a friends cat, but when challenged to provide proof of this he always seemed to "mislay" the breeders certificate, or produce a photograph of a different cat (one such "fake" cat was actually called "Pandora", a possible inspiration for their later hit single.)
The groups name also has vague similarities to various Latin words which roughly translate as "Beyond These Things", or "Of These Far-Off Things", and it is this enigmatic style which characterises AWSOP. Keith Reid has always said that the song was inspired by the French surrealist movies of the 1960's, and he counts Bob Dylan as a major influence. It has also been interpreted as a seduction, and the lyrical inclusion of "The Miller told his tale" was taken as a reference to Chaucer (it wasn't). Reid would later form his own management company and was actually co-writer of John Farnham's "You're The Voice".
When AWSOP was released, the group ended their relationship with Guy Stevens - he only really existed to put the group together in the first place. It became a sensation, spending six weeks at the top, but Procol Harum were already a group in transition - by the time of their follow-up single "Homburg" they had already replaced their guitarist and drummer.
And then, of course, we come to the thorny subject of royalties, but this is nothing to do with Johann Sebastian Bach. In 2005 the groups organist Matthew Fisher filed a suit against Gary Brooker, claiming that the music for AWSOP wasn't all Brooker's work - Fisher had contributed greatly and wanted a joint share. Fisher won this case the following year and was awarded a 40% share, however the royalties decision was overturned in 2008 (although Fisher remained as co-composer), so The House Of Lords made a final ruling in 2009, finding in Fisher's favour - he now receives equal credit for the music as Gary Brooker.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 28, 2015 13:10:28 GMT 1
Fisher's problem of course was he had left it too long; he gets royalties only from the 6 years before he filed his claim. No idea why musicians do that. Far from these things is "procul harum", so not far off.
I think this is even better.
The cover is a take-off of Players Navy Cut cigarettes. Not the only concept album cover of that era which was tobacco-inspired...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2015 15:06:42 GMT 1
4. The Jam - Town Called Malice (1982)
After a relatively unsuccessful 1981, The Jam started their final year with this brilliant effort, which was available on multiple formats (more on that later). It was the first single release from "The Gift" album, and was a follow-up to "Absolute Beginners", which I have always thought was the most underrated of all their singles.
Paul Weller still plays TCM at many of his gigs - he considers it one of the very best songs from The Jam - although at the time of release he was of the opinion that the song was too fast, the beat needed to perhaps be a little slower. The actual style of the song was influenced by his rapidly growing love of Motown and Stax. This type of music was often played by The Jam's DJ Adrian Croasdell, who accompanied the group during many of their tours, and it was he who introduced Weller to Northern Soul.
The song's title is of course a play on "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute, although Paul Weller had never actually read the book or seen the movie. Lyrically the song allows Weller to air his frustrations about his home town of Woking, and how it was losing it's soul and olde-worlde charm. The lines which mention "Ghost of a steam train" and "Empty Milkfloats" were from his own memories of the town. I actually lived and worked in Woking for 3 years until 2013 and it seemed nice enough.
The song was recorded at Air Studios in London in 1981, and became their second single to enter the charts at number one (q.v. #24). It was released as a double-A side with "Precious", and The Jam performed both songs on Top Of The Pops for the second of the three weeks that it topped the charts - emulating The Beatles who also did this in 1965 with "Daytripper" and "We Can Work It Out".
And then EMI opened a can of worms.
"Town Called Malice" was released in multiple formats. The two most common were the normal 7" single and a 12" which featured a live version of TCM, recorded in London, and an extended version of "Precious". EMI objected to this because the combined sales of these versions kept "Golden Brown" at number two; they insisted that only the 7" sales should be counted. They actually had two reasons for complaining because, by entering at number one, TCM had deposed another of their songs "The Model" from top spot.
The BMRB investigated and concluded that nothing was amiss here, The Jam's label Polydor was cleared of any wrong-doing. But a look at the sales figures for the two weeks when TCM was #1 and GB was #2 show that The Stranglers may well have been deprived of a week at the top. This is especially so in the first week, when TCM entered at number one. It's sales are only around 15,000 ahead of GB, and it is more than likely that the 12" version would have easily accounted for this advantage, therefore GB probably sold more 7" copies than TCM in week one.
The following week however, TCM was well-clear, outselling GB by around 50,000 copies, and then GB fell to number 6 whilst TCM continued on top for a third week; but if The Stranglers were deprived of a chart-topper then it is a shame, as their song may well have found it's way onto this thread - legitimately.
Personally I'm with the BMRB on this one. The Jam fans (me, for example) would probably have bought the single if it were only available on 7" anyway, so the sales figures would have still been more or less the same. But a week at the top for Hugh and the boys would have been nice, for their musical abilities and history.
This wasn't the first or last time that The Jam had benefitted from some curious record sales. Their songs "That's Entertainment" and "Just Who Is The Five O'clock Hero" both reached the top 30 based purely on European import sales, mainly from Germany and The Netherlands.
Many of the groups hits were re-released in early 1983, a few months after Paul Weller called it a day in order to form "The Style Council". TCM was re-released on 7" only.
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Post by suedehead on Dec 29, 2015 15:29:18 GMT 1
The song's title is of course a play on "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute, although Paul Weller had never actually read the book or seen the movie. Lyrically the song allows Weller to air his frustrations about his home town of Woking, and how it was losing it's soul and olde-worlde charm. The lines which mention "Ghost of a steam train" and "Empty Milkfloats" were from his own memories of the town. I actually lived and worked in Woking for 3 years until 2013 and it seemed nice enough.
I lived in Woking for ten years up to 1997. It would be a very different town without the railway (built because of Brookwood cemetery) which allows such a high proportion of residents to commute to London. That was the main reason I moved there when I moved out of London, and plenty of other people did the same thing.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2015 10:01:59 GMT 1
3. Wizzard - See My Baby Jive (1973)
From Glam Rock's finest year comes arguably the genre's finest chart-topper. SMBJ is a magnificent homage to Phil Spector; borne out of Roy Wood's desire to create a similar "wall of sound" effect whilst re-creating a rock 'n' roll feel from an earlier era. The result is fabulous.
As noted previously (q.v. #84), Roy Wood had been a major player in 60's group The Move, and, if anything, had become even more influential after Carl Wayne's departure in early 1970. Wood had toyed with the idea for a while about asking Idle Race's singer Jeff Lynne to join them, and to take the group into more experimental territories. Roy Wood knew that he needed this extra pair of hands to help with song-writing duties.
With Lynne on board, the plan was to dissolve The Move by the end of 1970 and to pick up again under a new name, "Electric Light Orchestra" - a name which pretty much sums up the direction that Roy Wood wanted to take. However there were contractual problems meaning that The Move could not be dissolved until 1972, therefore the two groups ran parallel for two years, with Wood and Lynne contributing to both.
In 1972, with The Move now disbanded, ELO could finally release a single in the shape of "10538 Overture", a song which was originally a Move B-side, and a title taken from random numbers on the studio mixing console. ELO, with Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood in control, also released an album, and a follow-up single "Roll Over Beethoven". However the two group leaders were often at loggerheads with each other over the precise direction that the band should take, and Wood took the decision to leave ELO in 1972 to form a new band.
Wizzard were therefore formed in 1972; Wood created the group with members of ELO, and several more from a Birmingham-based act named "Mongrel", and they debuted at Wembley Stadium in a concert with legendary rockers, including Little Richard and Chuck Berry. The group first appeared in the singles charts at the end of the year with the excellent "Ball Park Incident", and then SMBJ spent four weeks at the top the following year.
"See My Baby Jive" is a complex, multi-layered track, which Roy Wood admits was difficult to record. But it is well-worth the effort - it's simply brilliant.
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Post by Earl Purple on Dec 30, 2015 13:28:20 GMT 1
I worked in Woking from November 1998 until the beginning of May 1999. In Maybury Road to be precise so I used to walk between the station and there every day. I remember passing Stanley Road a few times too.
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Post by Earl Purple on Dec 30, 2015 13:37:03 GMT 1
I remember when I was playing random "old" charts from the 60s and 70s and at one point I played 1973 and "See My Baby Jive" was number one. Carol had never heard it but just wondered why such a "Christmassy" song would be number one in the middle of the year...
Of course, she had heard "I wish it could be Christmas everyday" loads of times. And yes there are similarities, but nowadays that's probably the only Wizzard song radio stations play (even if it's just during one month of the year).
Roy Wood also released a couple of solo songs (e.g. Dear Elaine) that sound nothing like Wizzard so maybe he and Jeff Lynne could have worked together on ELO with Roy Wood being able to do "side" projects when he had music that the rest of the band didn't want to do.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 30, 2015 13:48:13 GMT 1
Personally I'm with the BMRB on this one. The Jam fans (me, for example) would probably have bought the single if it were only available on 7" anyway, so the sales figures would have still been more or less the same. But a week at the top for Hugh and the boys would have been nice, for their musical abilities and history. But how many bought both? "5 O'Clock Hero" sold enough on import to make the top 10. There was no reason for any self-respecting Jam fan to have got it as they would have had it on The Gift, other than completionism or the b-sides. Yet they did. To me the two versions of TCM were different entities. They should have charted separately. And the BMRB's cowardice led, ultimately, to the decimation of the charts as labels played the system. No need for me to add to the love for "See My Baby Jive". Only reason why it would not make my top 5 no. 1s ever would be if I had a rule to restrict artists to 1 song each.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2015 14:05:08 GMT 1
Personally I'm with the BMRB on this one. The Jam fans (me, for example) would probably have bought the single if it were only available on 7" anyway, so the sales figures would have still been more or less the same. But a week at the top for Hugh and the boys would have been nice, for their musical abilities and history. But how many bought both? "5 O'Clock Hero" sold enough on import to make the top 10. There was no reason for any self-respecting Jam fan to have got it as they would have had it on The Gift, other than completionism or the b-sides. Yet they did. To me the two versions of TCM were different entities. They should have charted separately. And the BMRB's cowardice led, ultimately, to the decimation of the charts as labels played the system. No need for me to add to the love for "See My Baby Jive". Only reason why it would not make my top 5 no. 1s ever would be if I had a rule to restrict artists to 1 song each. Thing is, how many shops differentiated between the 7" and 12" when they gave their sales figures at the end of the week(s)? I don't know if sales figures are available for only the 7" of TCM (particularly in week 1). Would make for very interesting reading.
Also, in favour of The Stranglers, if the 7" of GB did actually outsell only the 7" copies of TCM (in week 1), and therefore GB should have been no.1 with The Jam therefore a new entry at 2, would TCM have topped the charts at all in the subsequent weeks?
My own ideal scenario would have been for both songs to be chart-toppers, as both are worthy songs; it's a simplistic view, but alas it wasn't to be.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2015 10:25:22 GMT 1
2. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
Even the appalling NHS mash-up song currently at number one cannot take anything away from this masterpiece. I have heard DJ's as knowledgeable as Fluff Freeman and Tommy Vance describe it as possibly the greatest song ever recorded. It is certainly one of the most high-profile emotional songs, and many will probably assume that it has a specific personal meaning for the duo, but in truth, it's origins lie elsewhere.
Paul Simon was inspired by two songs when writing this. "Mary Don't You Weep" was a record originally recorded during The First World War by The Fisk Jubilee Singers, and contains the line "I'll be a bridge over deep water". This song was covered in the late 50's by an American gospel act named The Swan Silvertones, and it was this particular version which Simon had in mind when borrowing the lyrics. The Silvertones lead singer was a Kentucky coal-miner named Claude Jeter, and Simon showed his gratitude by paying Jeter $1000, and allowing him to sing backing vocals on "Take Me To The Mardi Gras".
The other real inspiration (for both singers) was hearing Bill Medley sing "Ol' Man River" during his Righteous Brothers days. Most of this song is a simple vocal performance, until Phil Spector really lets it all hang out for the final few lines, bringing in the entire rhythm section and generating his famous wall of sound. And it was this kind of effect that Simon and Garfunkel wanted on BOTW.
Recording the song (indeed, the entire album) was a major factor in the downturn of the duo's relationship. Garfunkel had spent much of 1969 filming "Catch-22" in Mexico, which led Simon to write "The Only Living Boy In New York". This meant that many of the songs were rushed, indeed the pair would end up recording their vocals in New York whilst the instrumentation was being recorded in California.
Despite it's origins and inspirations, Paul Simon is given sole song-writing credit for BOTW. His idea was a basic one - it is simply a song aimed at people in need. Originally with just two verses, he wrote it as a guitar-based piece, but realised that a gospel-influence and Garfunkel's vocals would work better with piano instead. The third verse "Sail on Silver Girl" was written about Paul Simon's then-wife Peggy Harper, and this extended version was the idea of Producer Roy Halee, although Simon never actually cared much for the idea of a third verse, but it certainly adds dramatic effect to the finished song.
Paul Simon did originally record his own demo of BOTW, and played it to Garfunkel, who thought it sounded great and that Simon should actually perform vocals on the finished song. But for me this is something suited to Art Garfunkel, much better than, for example, singing about dead rabbits.
Of the numerous cover versions, the one most highly-regarded (by some) is the one recorded in 1970 by Elvis Presley, which led to Paul Simon reportedly commenting "we might as well all give up now" - he was that taken by the performance. I just hope he hasn't heard the NHS choir.
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Post by suedehead on Dec 31, 2015 11:31:04 GMT 1
I once had the misfortune to hear Frank Sinatra's version of BOTW. That remains the worst version of the song I've heard.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 31, 2015 12:31:02 GMT 1
In the same way as Vaughn Meader's career died with JFK...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 14:19:10 GMT 1
1. Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen (1982)
Kevin Rowland was forever changing the look and the sound of Dexys. It had been two years since "Geno" topped the charts (qv #33), and in the intervening time he had also changed most of the group members. Even the record label was different - the band had been in dispute with EMI in 1981, and had therefore signed with Mercury to record the "Too-Rye-Ay" album. And it was this new-look group which released my favourite chart-topper, a song which hit the top 40 just as I turned 15 - the greatest musical memories of my teenage years.
The revolving-door of group members who came and went included Kevin Archer. He had originally worked with Rowland during the 1970's in the Killjoys, and then formed Dexys Midnight Runners in 1978. Archer's tenure ended in early 1981 with him forming a new group called "The Blue Ox Babes". Despite the split, the two Kevin's remained on fairly good terms, and Archer would actually play some of his groups demo tracks to Rowland. The songs themselves were of no particular relevance, but Rowland was taken by the tempo of these demo's, and how Archer's group was using violins mixed with a Motown-style beat.
Kevin Rowland decided to try this style himself, and just needed a song to test it with. He had been working on a basic song with a chorus of "James, Stan-and-me"; James being James Brown and Stan being their in-joke nickname for Van Morrison. Rowland also came up with another in-joke, an imaginary girlfriend named "Eileen", and changed the chorus from "James, Stan-and-me" to "Come on Ei-leen" which seemed to fit nicely. The song was starting to fall into place.
At one point, Rowland played a demo to Mercury, who didn't like it much. Undeterred, he continued working on the song and came up with the "Too Ra Loo Ra Aye" melody, and knew that he was really onto something. The rest of the song came together, with the help of co-writers Jim Paterson and Billy Adams.
Kevin Archer never received any official song-writing credits for COE, but Rowland knew that he owed him a huge debt of gratitude, and for several years he did in fact hand over half of his own royalties to his former band-mate. Sadly, Archer was later diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia.
"Come On Eileen" entered the top 40 at #31. I can still vividly remember hearing this song for the very first time; the lyrics, the tempo, the video, and after the song had gone 31-9-2, I was almost willing it to the top. It was one of those rare times when you hear a song and are just absolutely taken by everything about it, I even remember being annoyed whenever a station played the shorter version (without the opening Celtic Fiddle). Brilliant times and a brilliant song.
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Post by raliverpool on Jan 1, 2016 15:02:56 GMT 1
2. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
Even the appalling NHS mash-up song currently at number one cannot take anything away from this masterpiece. I have heard DJ's as knowledgeable as Fluff Freeman and Tommy Vance describe it as possibly the greatest song ever recorded. It is certainly one of the most high-profile emotional songs, and many will probably assume that it has a specific personal meaning for the duo, but in truth, it's origins lie elsewhere.
Paul Simon was inspired by two songs when writing this. "Mary Don't You Weep" was a record originally recorded during The First World War by The Fisk Jubilee Singers, and contains the line "I'll be a bridge over deep water". This song was covered in the late 50's by an American gospel act named The Swan Silvertones, and it was this particular version which Simon had in mind when borrowing the lyrics. The Silvertones lead singer was a Kentucky coal-miner named Claude Jeter, and Simon showed his gratitude by paying Jeter $1000, and allowing him to sing backing vocals on "Take Me To The Mardi Gras".
The other real inspiration (for both singers) was hearing Bill Medley sing "Ol' Man River" during his Righteous Brothers days. Most of this song is a simple vocal performance, until Phil Spector really lets it all hang out for the final few lines, bringing in the entire rhythm section and generating his famous wall of sound. And it was this kind of effect that Simon and Garfunkel wanted on BOTW.
Recording the song (indeed, the entire album) was a major factor in the downturn of the duo's relationship. Garfunkel had spent much of 1969 filming "Catch-22" in Mexico, which led Simon to write "The Only Living Boy In New York". This meant that many of the songs were rushed, indeed the pair would end up recording their vocals in New York whilst the instrumentation was being recorded in California.
Despite it's origins and inspirations, Paul Simon is given sole song-writing credit for BOTW. His idea was a basic one - it is simply a song aimed at people in need. Originally with just two verses, he wrote it as a guitar-based piece, but realised that a gospel-influence and Garfunkel's vocals would work better with piano instead. The third verse "Sail on Silver Girl" was written about Paul Simon's then-wife Peggy Harper, and this extended version was the idea of Producer Roy Halee, although Simon never actually cared much for the idea of a third verse, but it certainly adds dramatic effect to the finished song.
Paul Simon did originally record his own demo of BOTW, and played it to Garfunkel, who thought it sounded great and that Simon should actually perform vocals on the finished song. But for me this is something suited to Art Garfunkel, much better than, for example, singing about dead rabbits.
Of the numerous cover versions, the one most highly-regarded (by some) is the one recorded in 1970 by Elvis Presley, which led to Paul Simon reportedly commenting "we might as well all give up now" - he was that taken by the performance. I just hope he hasn't heard the NHS choir. I think it is very disingenuous that you have failed to mention the fact that according to Art Garfunkel its inspiration came from John Lennon when in New York visiting Paul Simon in May 1969 playing the then aborted The Beatles "Get Back" album sessions (which took place Jan-Feb 1969) that Paul Simon was rather taken with the Paul McCartney composition "Let It Be" about a heavenly vision of Paul's Mother Mary visiting him telling him everything is going to be all right. As further empathised by Ian MacDonald's definitive "Revolution In The Head" book on the Beatles compositions, Simon and Garfunkel first performed the song live on Nov. 30, 1969 prior to recording it in December 1969. McCartney could not have heard it before the recording session on January 31 1969 (see video), as according to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn it was likely written on the night 5th/6th January 1969. The very fact that John Lennon being a total "insert rude word of choice" did a handful of interviews in 1970 promoting the "Let It Be" album, saying "Thats Paul . . I think it was inspired by Bridge Over Troubled Water. Thats my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know he wanted to write Bridge Over Troubled Water." to this day seems to be a myth that has lasted in the public domain. When that palpably was untrue, and far more likely it was a harmful deliberate vindictive lie at the start of a vicious band divorce that took 17 years to resolve (seven years after the untimely death of John Lennon). Remember during April 1970 John Lennon was arrested and released without charge for putting a brick through the window whilst shouting obscenities at the McCartney's London pad. As for the NHS Choir single, like Chris Martin, Paul Simon has waived songwriting/publishing royalties for "this very noble cause". Not least as he has long been a supporter of introducing a Public Healthcare Service in the USA, after using the NHS when he broke a toe in 1965 whilst in England during an aborted attempt to become a successful solo folk singer.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 15:50:08 GMT 1
^ To be honest, I wasn't aware of a possible link between BOTW and LIB, I didn't research the song that deeply (these are just my brief reviews remember), so it wasn't a case of being disingenuous, as that implies that I knew more than I was letting on (but chose not to mention it.) As for the NHS song, like all charidee records it's for a good cause, but this thread is a simple one - it's about whether I like the song, not the cause. And the song is terrible.
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