My job has been absolutely kicking my ass this past week or so. Between it and me desperately trying to find a new job, I haven’t had as much time to work on the site. But I can bang out these five songs from 1975 real quick.
Nothing much to note here, I was still two years away from being born so I have no great memories of ’75. Let’s check out the music.
Heart – Crazy On You
I’m altering the timeline again with this one. This song was released on album in 1975 – in Canada. It wasn’t released as a single or in the US until ’76, but here it is on my list for this year anyway because guess what – 1976 is when things get super crowded on these lists.
Anyway – great blast of a song here. Heart were at times part folk, part psychedelic and part heavy metal – this tune fits the first two more. Very groovy guitar and keyboard passages here and Ann Wilson gives a super smooth performance throughout. Plus a great mix of acoustic and electric guitars here, not something you get all the time, at least to this great of effect.
As we go through these, you’re going to find out that Heart is one of my favorite bands, in all their phases. We’re just getting started here.
Led Zeppelin – Kashmir
So Robert Plant drove through the desert in Morocco and was inspired to write this song about a disputed region between India and Pakistan. Regardless of the geographic blasphemy, it helped Zep record one of their most epic movements. This song is totally majestic and awe-inspiring. Not much else for me to say about it.
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
While this song is full of subtle twists, especially the full album version (which should be posted below), this one is actually pretty straightforward for a Pink Floyd track. It is a somber affair looking back on lost dreams, set against minimal acoustic passages. The song is popularly regarded as being about troubled former bandmate Syd Barrett, though Roger Waters has discounted that idea before. Regardless, it’s a masterpiece of a song.
Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion
We’ll just ignore all of the things this song could possibly be about and focus instead on how kick ass of a tune it is. Aerosmith added a few psychedelic elements to their hard rock groove and came out big winners for it. An electric jam all the way through.
What I posted is the 1991 remix video, which brought Aerosmith up straight up against grunge, and Aerosmith won that unlikely battle.
Waylon Jennings – Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?
Every genre of music has its formulas for success and acts that were herded into the spotlight, used for a hit, then discarded for the next. But no music scene had its formula down quite like Nashville and country. While that machine keeps plugging away today, it was a group of artists in the ’70’s, spearheaded by Waylon and the creative freedom afforded to him contractually, that sparked a whole new movement in country. The outlaws were riding, and they would reshape country through the decade.
Here Waylon pokes fun at the establishment and highlights how far they’ve drifted from the spiritual father of their genre, Hank Williams. It’s not a comedy tune but some of the lyrics are low key pretty funny, like the one about the five piece band looking at his backside. But the song does carry its weight and then some, directly targeting the tired old formula of Nashville and offering a refreshing change.
That’s all for 1975. Next week will be ’76 so I’ll have to pick some really patriotic stuff to celebrate the bicentennial of my great nation. I’ll get right on that.
Back again to pick songs from a year. This time it’s on to 1968, which again I’m not radically familiar with the time period. This was nine years before I was born so this is me going back to songs I’ve heard in the years since.
And as always, this is more of a “five of my favorite songs” kind of thing as opposed to “my five favorite songs” of any year. Nothing radically definitive here, just me going through stuff. Let’s get to it.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along The Watchtower
Up first is something definitive, this being the definitive cover song. Hendrix worked on this before Bob Dylan even released his version and Hendrix’s cover was out only six months after Dylan’s original. And Jon Bon Jovi’s cousin was the recording engineer in with Hendrix for long sessions of recording guitar tracks over and over again.
But in the end what came out was a masterpiece of a song. Hendrix did such wonders with the song that Dylan wound up working some of the cover into his performances. The song is a crazy, mind-melting trip through what sounds like an apocalyptic wasteland. There’s really nothing more I can say, the song is just flat out amazing.
Johnny Cash – Cocaine Blues
Another cover song here, as Cash pulled out this old time song for his famous set at Folsom Prison. A twisted tale of Willy Lee, who gets messed up on the white powder and shoots his woman for having other lovers. Lee runs off to Mexico buts gets caught and put away for life in Folsom (it was San Quentin in older versions).
This is one hell of a heavy song for a country performance, though also one fitting for the audience Cash was playing for. Cash said he almost “did himself in” playing it, it’s a pretty hard hitting tune to play out with basic country instruments. And it’s a magnificent highlight of a landmark performance.
The Beatles – Back In The USSR
For a bit of a spoiler alert – this is the only Beatles song to appear on my lists. And the one I pick is essentially a joke song, this one mocks up the Beach Boys and Chuck Berry and clowns around with their takes on the USA. And Ringo was pissed off during this time so Paul had to do the drums, or something, I’m not entirely sure.
But this is a fantastic boogie, it’s both funny and also a really good song on its own merits. And it was a great way to open an album, especially one with all the crazy shit that the White Album had on it. Paul and company took some flack for recording this back then but the song outlived the Soviet Union and it’s been a widely played and celebrated track.
Cream – White Room
One more Cream song for the list before the group bowed out. This one is another crazy psychedelic offering but was actually just about Jack Bruce’s poet friend who had just got an apartment or something. It’s also probably about drugs, I don’t know that but it has to be because these lyrics are totally crazy. Another fine jam from a group that did more than they probably want credit for to get heavy metal off and running.
Merle Haggard – Mama Tried
A little more country to wrap this one up. But this is not just a country song, Mama Tried was a huge hit for Merle and has been all over the place since its recording over 50 years ago. The song is partially a look at Merle’s own early life – he was a petty criminal growing up and wound up doing a stretch in San Quentin. A series of events with other inmates led to him turning his life around, and also he happened to catch a Johnny Cash performance while locked up.
This song is far more tragic than Merle’s own life, though. The guy here gets put away for life, even with his mother doing her damnedest to keep her son from going astray. It’s a sad, sad tale that gets to just about anyone who listens to the song. This was 18 And Life long before Skid Row was a thing.
That covers it for 1968. Just eight more of these and we’ll actually get to years that I was around for.
Speaking of years, a quick note – today marks the third anniversary of this site. I’ll have a more in-depth acknowledgment of that some time next week. Until then, enjoy your weekend.
I was talking with a buddy awhile back about canceled shows. It’s the hidden scourge of attending concerts – you show up to the venue ready to have a good time and someone’s back is out or they have the flu or a new divorce to navigate, and they aren’t playing that night. Usually these things come around in time enough to absorb, but there are times people have found out in front of the venue or even in their seats.
I’ve never personally had the worse scenario happen – I haven’t even traveled some distance only to find last-minute that the show is off. A few friends of mine have been in that predicament before, I recall many years ago texting a good friend to let him know that the band he was driving up to Kansas City to see was buried under snow in Denver. And my friend was just outside of KC, a three hour drive from here, when he found out.
But I have had a few cancellations in various circumstances. I figured I’d run through them today just for something different to do.
Megadeth
The first one is also the most recent one. Megadeth planned a huge tour with Lamb Of God, In Flames and Trivium and included little ol’ Springfield on the original routing. Well, this was early 2020 when the shows were announced, and we all know that COVID hit not long after. The tour was pushed to 2021 and Springfield was dropped entirely.
I wasn’t surprised, the show was being held in our 10,000 seat college arena and I was very skeptical that Megadeth was going to even come close to filling that. And they didn’t – tickets weren’t moving much at all, so they quietly threw our show into the bin when re-routing the tour.
And one person really made out like a bandit over it – me. I excitedly hopped on to buy tickets as soon as I could dig up a pre-sale code and I used the seat map to buy two awesome seats right on the aisle. Only problem was the seat map was oriented weird and I bought seats in the upper most row of the section instead of closest to the stage. I bought the two tickets I intended to buy so I was on the hook for four tickets at $125 a pop. When the show canceled and I got all my money back I felt a lot less stupid, I wasn’t gonna have to try and sell expensive tickets to a show people weren’t lining up to attend.
Oh, and that wasn’t all – I had bought the two closer seats under some kind of package deal involving Lamb Of God. A few months later when they released a new album, that record showed up to my doorstep, signed by the band. I can only assume that was part of the deal I bought as I didn’t order a signed record on my own. Or maybe it was a quiet kind of make-good thing after the tour got postponed and later canned. Either way, thanks.
Deicide
This goes back to 2004 and doesn’t involve a whole show cancellation but rather just one band. The tour package was Superjoint Ritual, the post-Pantera outfit of Phil Anselmo. Deicide were opening the show along with someone else. I wasn’t ever into Superjoint but I was happy for the chance to see Deicide, I do love my old school death metal.
Well, Deicide did what they often did in those years and didn’t show. I got to the front of the venue and there was a sign saying that they canceled. I hadn’t bought a ticket so I turned around and left. Deicide would jettison their troublesome members not long after and go on a run of more stability. This one didn’t really bother me too much, Deicide canceling shows was not out of the blue back then and they were the only reason I was going so it was a free evening for me.
Merle Haggard
This next one goes back to early 2016 and, if you know Merle’s life story at all, you already know the tragic reason for this one.
Merle had booked a tour with Willie Nelson, with Jamey Johnson opening. You talk about a chance to see two legends under one roof, this was it on a silver platter. And Jamey was no slouch either, he was running high around this time.
Well, sadly Merle wouldn’t make it. He came down with pneumonia and wasn’t able to shake it. He canceled his participation on the tour fairly early, and then died on April 6. This was only two days before the show was set to hit my town.
Willie and Jamey went on with their sets, both paying homage to Merle. It was a fantastic show but it’s sad that Merle passed away and couldn’t be a part of it as well. But it’s one cancellation I’d have a hard time complaining about. Totally understandable.
Slayer
These last two are inter-related. At some point in 2004, Slayer announced a tour for later in the year that was to include our humble little village. I had never seen Slayer live so I was very much looking forward to it.
Well, fast forward 20 years, and I’ve never seen Slayer live.
This one was pretty simple – just as the tour started, Tom Araya was having some kind of issues, I think with his throat but I’m not sure. The band postponed the first few shows, of which ours was one. A bit later they announced the rescheduled dates, and our show was not among the new dates. No official word was given but the rumor mill indicated that soft ticket sales were the reason.
I was disappointed by this one but not much I can really do about it. The saddest part of all is that it might have played a role in a gig we never got.
Cradle Of Filth
This final one is not an officially canceled gig. Nothing was ever booked and no tickets were sold. And all of the info I’m about to give is all second-hand information that I can’t confirm, and also it was 20 years ago so my own memory might not be the best on it all.
But the premise was this – Cradle Of Filth were looking to book US shows and somehow got in touch with a booker here. The band’s fee was huge, which is understandable as they were the most successful extreme metal band going back then. But I guess our booker was willing to play ball and everyone exchanged dates. The kink in the hose that killed the show was this – the only available date was the same night as the Slayer gig.
So we didn’t get a Cradle Of Filth show because Slayer were running town the same night. That much is understandable, as the crossover in audiences is pretty big. But, as we’ve just seen above, that Slayer gig wound up canceled. So that’s a possible double bummer, if this story is true.
I really don’t know if CoF were actually close to playing here. It’s possible that there was a low-level inquiry that didn’t pan out and then someone in the scene added a bunch of layers to the story that weren’t really there. Or it’s possible that it is all true – it’s one of life’s dumb series of coincidences that is just strange and stupid enough to happen. I kind of don’t buy it because CoF’s tour routing for the fall of ’04 doesn’t line up with Slayer’s that much but something still could have been brewing.
That about does it for the canceled shows, at least the ones I can recall. I consider myself fortunate – I never had to drive a great distance to find a show canceled at the last minute. But I’m sure many of you who read here have your own canceled gig stories, feel free to share them below. And may any future gigs go on without a hitch.
For questions, comments or concerns, either use the comment form below or head to my contact page.
A quick post today, and one to eulogize the recently passed Jimmy Buffett. For those unaware, Buffett died last Friday, September 1st at the age of 76.
Buffett was the king of a subgenre that might constitute country and yacht rock to a degree. Some called it Gulf and Western, others termed it “tropical rock.” Buffett had a number of recognizable songs, like Cheeseburger In Paradise, Why Don’t We Get Drunk, and his hit duet with Alan Jackson, It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.
But no Jimmy Buffett song is as recognizable as the strains of Margaritaville. The song is from his 1977 album Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes and the song has gone on to immorality in the decades since its release. At the time the song got to number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 13 on the Hot Country chart, and it hit number 1 on the Easy Listening chart. This was Buffett’s highest charting song overall, though It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere was a big number 1 hit on the country chart.
Jimmy Buffett would cultivate an audience through touring, gaining a fanbase known as Parrotheads who followed Buffett from town to town similar to followings like what The Grateful Dead had. He gigged pretty regularly through the years, stopping only in spots when the cancer that would eventually claim him took too much of a toll.
Margaritaville is not just a hit song, and not just a song that took on a significant cultural status – it’s also become one of the most lucrative songs of all time. It’s not the song itself that made a mint, but Buffett would extend Margaritaville branding to a chain of resorts, booze, cruises and other stuff that would net over a billion dollars.
The song Margaritaville is fairly simple in origin – one day Buffett was on the beach in Key West and wound up having a bad day – he lost a flip flop, which led to him stepping on a beer can and cutting his foot. He also lost the salt for his margaritas. He worked the incident into a song, combined with some other stuff, and Margaritaville was born.
Jimmy Buffett and Margaritaville came to exemplify the beach bum, or “island escapism” lifestyle. It became the obligation of every suburban dad in the US to plan summer trips to a beach, no matter how far. While beaches are obviously quite appealing on their own, Buffett was responsible in no small part for a boom in resort and coastline tourism through the 1980’s. The industry has only grown since then, and Buffett himself cashed in nicely on it.
Though Jimmy Buffett has now passed on, Margaritaville remains an immortal tribute to a day at the beach. I myself was never a parrothead or anything, but I can appreciate the simple joy of this song as I recall that it’s been a few decades since I’ve seen a beach or coastline. Don’t lose your salt shakers, and have one for Jimmy.
With this week’s album pick it’s time to go country. It’s the second album from a third-generation star who would begin sowing the seeds of rebellion against the Nashville establishment (especially his own record label) and those taken aback at someone going his own way as opposed to living in the shadow of his father’s and grandfather’s legacies.
Hank Williams III – Lovesick, Broke And Driftin’
Released January 29, 2002 via Curb Records
My Favorite Tracks – Cecil Brown, Mississippi Mud, One Horse Town
It took three years for Hank III to see the release of his second album. His debut Rising Outlaw was marred by Hank’s unhappiness with a sterile country sound and being largely a covers album. His second effort was recorded in a few weeks at home and is all original compositions save for the last track. This would be an album Hank could be proud of and tour behind, unlike his debut which he talked down in the music press.
The atmosphere found on this album does not invoke the kind of “country” found in a warehouse-sized bar on the suburb outskirts that plays more dance music than country. This is the backwoods, dirt road kind of country where the only civilization to be found is a shady dive bar or a nondescript liquor store. There are 13 tracks to get through on this album so let’s have at it.
7 Months, 39 Days
We begin with a bit of a trucker’s song, though this trucker booked an extended stay at the county sheriff’s hotel. It’s a fun song that sees the subject at the end of his lockup and hitting the highway to get the hell out of dodge. The upbeat tempo is slowed down at the end to give a bit of atmosphere to the number.
Broke, Lovesick And Driftin’
This song settles into a more slow and somber feel, something in abundance on this record. It’s an ode to the lonely lifestyle of a honkytonk drifter, playing tunes from town to town and not having a stable, anchored home life. While a lament, the tune doesn’t do anything to discourage said lifestyle.
Cecil Brown
This melancholy tune was written about someone Hank knew growing up in southwest Missouri (about 100 miles from where I live currently). It’s a haunting account of someone who didn’t fit in where he was and the alienation and abandonment just flow forth from the mournful song.
And I do definitely “feel” this song to a degree. I also grew up in a small Missouri town where I didn’t fit in much at all. I won’t say my childhood was bad by any stretch, but there was a lot of alienation and ultimately getting the hell out of there to find a sense of self somewhere else. It’s a song I truly do identify with.
Lovin’ And Huggin’
The tempo is back up for this fun and brief number about being in and out of love. The song is as simple as it gets but is also very fun and expertly placed in album sequence to cut the weight of the prior track.
One Horse Town
This is an old-time country tune that plods through life being down and out in nowhere. It’s the kind of song that people who don’t listen to country think country is. Even with the cliched feel the song evokes its atmosphere very well and handles traditional country expertly. It keeps things upbeat despite the low down struggle.
Mississippi Mud
This song is cited by many as their favorite from the album, it is the consensus pick for the star of the show. It’s another fun number that stays out of the city and finds fun out on the backroads. Nothing like partying out away from it all.
Whiskey, Weed And Women
Another lament about life lost to the 3 W’s, as it were. The song certainly captures that old-time feel, though it does go all-in on the country cliches. Maybe not the strongest effort around but it does flow with the rest of the album pretty well.
Trashville
The pace picks up big time here for Hank’s first open shot fired at Nashville’s establishment. For its time the song was quite the talking point to hear someone from the Williams family and a Curb Records employee going at the establishment like this. But Trashville was just a warm-up, and a few years later Hank would release a track that makes this sound downright pedestrian by comparison.
Walkin’ With Sorrow
Yet again Hank is drinking his way through loneliness and sorrow. This time he offers up a bit of yodeling to the old-time dirge, something in line with his legendary grandfather.
5 Shots Of Whiskey
Again here we are with the alcohol and loneliness. This song does feel a bit more fleshed out than the other laments that really just string a few phrases together and rely on the music to carry the tunes. There is a story to these lyrics and a reason for the depression.
Nighttime Ramblin’ Man
Turn it up to 11 for this one, this is a total barn-burner. It’s an ode to partying and raising hell and is also a sign of things to come from Hank III. While the title borrows in part from a Hank Sr song, III makes this all his own and puts his own signature on the line. Rising Outlaw may have been the name of III’s first album but this song is where the outlaw truly rises.
Callin’ Your Name
One more down in the dumps tune, this time Hank is calling out to the Lord for help and mercy. The lyrical tone is slightly different but the song doesn’t really set itself apart from the sundry other sad songs on the album.
Atlantic City
The only song not written by Hank III on the album, this Bruce Springsteen cover was previously recorded for a Springsteen tribute album and was appended to this record by the label. The cover is well done, ramping up the country feel of Springsteen’s country-adjacent effort. Note that this song isn’t available on streaming. Some versions of the album have a bit of a “hidden” song on the same track as Atlantic City, with a radio DJ announcement and another performance of Walkin’ With Sorrow.
Lovesick, Broke And Driftin’ would mark what Hank III felt was his true debut album. Almost entirely composed by him, he bucked Nashville trends and his record label’s direction to cut the album he wanted to make. He had reluctantly began a music career in country due to a legal order to come up with money, so now he was able to begin functioning on his own terms.
And yes, while the album has several highlights, some of it does get a bit derivative. Many of the slower, sad songs are really pedestrian and don’t offer a ton in the way of dynamic songwriting or structure. There still is something to them, perhaps a bit of a callback to Hank Sr. and his way with pulling at the heartstrings. The songs do work but after an album’s worth they kind of run together a bit.
For Hank III this album was really the beginning. He would wind up in court with Curb Records over his contract and desire for creative control and his next album four years later would truly cement him as his own performer and forge an insurgent outlaw country scene that would shift music’s landscape. But this album showed that Hank III knew where the music he was making came from. He would absolutely blaze his own trail and get far out of the long shadow cast by his family name, but he still knew his way around country music. With drink in hand and sorrow in heart, the party was just getting started.
The Crooked Wanderer 