If It Comes, Let It Rain Down Easy

Today, I woke up thinking about not only the weather forecast in my area, but an accompanying song to go along with it. The song is “Let It Rain” which was written and recorded by Eric Clapton and released on his 1970 self-titled album. (Bonnie Bramlett also shares a writing credit on this one. Clapton toured with Delaney and Bonnie before striking out on his own.) Melodic is the word that I would use to describe this one.

There are a lot of well-known musicians on this track doing their respective thing(s). Apparently, Stephen Stills played the guitar solo over the bridge section. Then there are backing vocalists which not only include Bonnie Bramlett, but also Rita Coolidge…and Sonny Curtis (from The Crickets fame). Then you have Dave Mason, Leon Russell, and a bunch of other names you might recognize.

I started thinking about how Clapton and George Harrison were pals…and if Harrison had any input or influence on this track’s songwriting. The song has a certain feel that I could see/hear Harrison doing. I haven’t found anything to that effect, but I kept thinking the chord changes in the song sounded familiar. It took me a minute, but Ringo Starr’s hit “It Don’t Come Easy” shares some similarities. Harrison produced the recording sessions and it’s thought that he contributed a lot to this song, despite Starr receiving sold songwriting credit.

By the way, musicians like Gary Wright, Pete Ham & Tom Evans of Badfinger played on the track along with Beatles insider and Hamburg pal Klaus Voorman.

Here’s a demo version with Harrison singing lead. Naturally, there’s a bit of “Hare Krishna” in the backing vocals.

What do you think? It’s an interesting listening comparison to me. I dig the background vocals on all of them whether the lyrics being sung are:rain, whoo whoo, aaaah, or Hare Krishna.

The primary chords used in both songs are D, A minor, C, and G. (There’s also an F in “It Don’t Come Easy.”) You can find those chords used together in plenty of other songs like “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” and numerous others.

Any way you slice it, I’m glad we have both songs in our world — rain or shine.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

The Fixx & Steven Tyler’s Mouth

It’s that time again…my 6-month checkup at the dentist. You know… that day when you slide into the dentist’s chair and they start putting different foreign objects into your mouth. And they’re not just any old foreign objects. A suction hose, a rinsing device, and the cleaning “tool” which resembles a Klingon weapon used by Worf on Start Trek: The Next Generation. Not to mention the rope…I mean floss. My mind wanders during the cleaning procedure so I can think about anything BUT what’s happening. In any event, I escaped with zero cavities!! That means my new dental visit theme song is “Saved by Zero” by The Fixx.

I remember this song and its accompanying video from the early days of MTV. It featured The Fixx’s lead singer walking around singing with his, you know, 80s Duran-Duran-ish hair. I vaguely remembered the chorus of the song, but had no idea what it was really about. According to Wikipedia, it was inspired by a Buddhist concept called Śūnyatā. I’m going to leave the research to someone else on that one.

I had another thought while a full-grown adult had her hand spelunking in my mouth. What’s the average size of a human mouth? A quick Google search revealed it’s around 2 inches or roughly 50 millimeters. Then, I had to think about the bite radius of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

Steven Tyler seems like he’s a pretty good sport so I feel like I should share an Aerosmith song. “Kings and Queens” seems like one I haven’t heard in a while.

Did Henry VIII have a Royal Dentist? It seems like that would be a less than ideal career choice. In any event, please look for your Dental Spelunking Action Pack at retailers near you. It should include a life size replica of Steven Tyler’s mouth, a Buddha, a 45 RPM record of The Fixx, and Worf with not only his usual weapon, but some rope ( I mean floss), a hose, and a custom helmet for whatever is going on with the middle of his head.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Doomsday Dream & The Del-Vikings

Dreams are on my mind today. Why? Well I had a bizarre one last night. I think there were a couple of factors that went into its formulation. First, I went to a work event which was a couple of hours away. On the way back I got into a lengthy conversation with a new coworker. It turns out we have some mutual acquaintances from college, etc. One of them was a guy whom he described as “an oddball who should have been born twenty years before his time.” I immediately remembered him because this guy used to work at the student union’s greasy spoon. I hadn’t heard this guy’s name in years, but I remember he used to request one song regularly on our now-defunct college radio station. The song is called “Come Go with Me” by a 1950s doo-wop group called The Del-Vikings.

I never thought of The Del-Vikings as doomsday music, but I mowed the grass last night before some torrential rain, straight line winds, and Law & Order reruns. Put those together and it churned out a doomsday dream. I can’t remember everything but somehow I think I was being chased by The Ducky Boys street gang on a college campus. My old college roommate was involved and campus security was trying to quell an angry mob of parents for some reason. I think things escalated and shots were being fired. Before the dream/nightmare concluded, Lt. Anita Van Buren and Detective Lenny Briscoe from Law & Order made appearances. (I’m pretty sure it was a sequel episode like the El Camino Breaking Bad thing. Oh, then the earth had to be flooded because things just weren’t working out.)

So what is the moral of the story? I think it’s that I should avoid drinking the tasty lemon-lime soda pop Starry before bed.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

A Big Blunt Log for Viktor Krauss

I’ve been thinking about the Robert Plant song “Big Log“, which is one of those song titles that isn’t mentioned in the actual song lyrics — kind of like Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” or “Immigrant Song”. It has a catchy riff that grabs your attention and then has some killer clean tone electric guitar from the song’s cowriter Robbie Blunt. Blunt recorded and toured with Plant during the 80s. The recording and subsequent MTV video has a sort of dreamy feel to it. The video never did much for me so I’m not including it.

“Big Log” was recorded for Plant’s solo release “The Principle of Moments” (1983). Pianist Gerald “Jezz” Woodroffe also recorded and toured with Plant and shares a songwriting credit on this one. I’ve read a couple of different things about the inspiration for the title so I’ll leave it open to interpretation.

One thing I didn’t know until I started researching this song is that it was also recorded by Viktor Krauss. Krauss is not only a bass player, but also the brother of Alison Krauss. In my opinion, it’s a pretty fantastic cover.

Alison Krauss is often labelled “bluegrass”, but maybe “Americana” is a better one. I’m going to have to check out some more of her cover songs. I don’t know if it was her brother’s idea to record this song, but I think it was a great choice. Most people know that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss recorded a couple of albums together as well.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Lyrically Instrumental Train?

How many songs do you know that have been recorded both with and without lyrics? I don’t mean one which as been edited after the fact or a studio demo, but intentionally recorded one way with lyrics and another without lyrics. Case in point is the song “Night Train.” Most people would consider the version by James Brown and the Famous Flames as the definitive one.

Brown throws in some raspy yelps a bit throughout the song and does the whole “shout out” to different American cities, but the song is more or less an instrumental in the 12-bar blues structure. The original version by Jimmy Forrest is a bit mellower, but still features the saxophone.

While I was researching different versions of the song, I found an interesting one by Rod Stewart with Jools Holland. This one actually has some lyrics to go along with it. I’d say the song is pretty swingin’ !

I have to say I enjoy Rod Stewart’s take on this one. Is it schmaltzy? Yes, but I still dig it. I listened to a few others takes on “Night Train” and it sounds like Stewart may have had the Wynonie Harris version of this one in his collection.

I wonder whose idea it was to start the recording with train sounds? It looks like a pretty groovy album cover accompanied it, too.

How did I get turned on to this song? Well, I remember hearing the James Brown version during the film “Apollo 13” and then researching it. I also remember seeing a Bob Costas TV interview with John Cougar Mellencamp and they discussed JCM’s love for James Brown’s music including this one.

Hopefully this song puts some pep into your step today.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Down, Down, Down…Down, Down

I’ve had one song on my “to blog about” list for this year and today is the day to put it out there. In my mind, the definitive version of “Going Down” was recorded by blues guitarist Freddie King. (I think I really came to know King’s name when Eric Clapton covered “I’m Tore Down”). Rollicking is the word I would use to describe the feel of this song.

Another thing I noticed about this song is the chord changes are descending or “going down” as King is singing the same thing in the lyrics. I wonder if there’s a fancy musical term for that?

The song was actually written by a musician named Don Nix. From what I’ve read, Nix was born in Memphis and had ties to Stax Records. The driving piano on the Freddie King version was played by Leon Russell.

Like many listeners, I didn’t know about any other versions out there. It turns out a group named Moloch actually recorded the original one. It has a heavier feel than the blues-tastic version by King.

The beauty of this song is there are close to 80 other versions out there. Some of those include The Who, Deep Purple, Tab Benoit, and Gary Hoey. Perhaps I’ll re-blog some time.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

American Badass

It’s a sad day for the United States of America and the global martial arts community. One of the O.G., best-known, truly legit, martial arts badasses is gone. Chuck Norris lived to be 86.

I did a quick search on Google and he appeared in over 35 films, not to mention his TV show “Walker: Texas Ranger”, among numerous other shows. At some point, Chuck Norris Facts (jokes) started to take over the internet. I have seen a few interviews with Norris and he laughed about them as the host read some aloud. Things like, “When Chuck Norris does push-ups, he doesn’t push himself up, he pushes the Earth down.”

Carlos Ray Norris was born and raised in the Midwest, then joined the United States Air Force. He started training in the Korean martial art Tang Soo Do (“the way of the Tang Hand”) and earned his black belt. Later, he was stationed in California and not only started competing in martial arts tournaments, but also opening his own schools, and training celebrities.

Whether you love or hate Norris’ films or acting ability, you CANNOT deny him as a self-made success. Norris made his own way as a competitor. He went up against the best and, more often than not, beat the best. He got into Hollywood movies and even appeared in “The Way of the Dragon” with Bruce Lee.

If you’re short on motivation, I recommend researching Norris. I consider him a true pioneer who spread martial arts and fitness throughout America. He was the oldest of three brothers. His brother Wieland was killed in action during the Vietnam War, which may explain his dedication to American Veterans.

Norris earned numerous black belts in a variety of martial arts and was worth an estimated $70 million dollars. From what I saw of him in interviews, my impression of Norris was a successful guy with a great sense of humor and a positive mindset. I think his competitive drive is what really set him apart from so many others.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Buying Love w/o Amazon

I have been spending some time on the free version of the mega-music-streaming-platform Spotify recently. Unlike Neil Young, I don’t really love or hate it. One thing that’s kind of addictive about it is the ability to create playlists. If you’re a music junkie like me, it’s pretty addicting. For example, I recently listened to a couple of alternate versions of Beatles songs including “Can’t Buy Me Love.” This version is an interesting listen because of the additional background vocals from George Harrison and John Lennon.

The song was released in 1964, was included on “A Hard Day’s Night” album, and was a follow up to “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” If Lennon and Paul McCartney felt any pressure, they certainly delivered with the final version. Apparently, they wrote and started the recording process in Paris, but finished it in England.

The “alternate version” arrangement actually reminds me of some songs they recorded later on the “Revolver” album like “I’m Only Sleeping” along with “And Your Bird Can Sing” because it’s John, Paul, and George all contributing to the vocals. I think you can argue the final version is more like a solo McCartney song, which is great in its own right, but different. It’s a catchy pop song that also features that twangy guitar solo by George Harrison.

What else can you say about this song? Apparently, McCartney has opened some concerts with “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Naturally, you had Ringo Starr doing his thing on the drums.

If you’re into cover songs, there about 350 other versions out there. I haven’t really listened to them yet, but the list includes everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Blackstreet to Michael Buble to Lucinda Williams.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Pre-Spaceman and Cat

When you think about the band KISS, what is the first thing that pops to mind? Probably their makeup. Those platform boots were something else, too. I’d consider myself a legacy fan as since I listened to them back in the 70s. KISS has a pretty enormous catalog of original songs — over 100 with about 20 studio albums — which keeps it interesting for listeners. There’s always something to discover.

Case in point, is a recent demo I found via YouTube. This isn’t of the original four band members, but only lead guitarist Ace Frehley’s previous band called “Molimo.” It’s definitely a departure from the sound of KISS. You can hear some of Frehley’s guitar work starting around the 1:40 mark.

Apparently, the band Jefferson Starship’s use of both male and female lead singers was an influence. From what I’ve read, the name “Molimo” was inspired by some sort of trumpet used by African pygmies. However, looking at the PR photo, it doesn’t look like there were any pygmies in the band.

Another pre-KISS band was “Chelsea” which featured drummer/vocalist Peter Criss. I had always heard that the KISS song “Beth” was originally entitled “Beck.” Apparently, that’s true.

Criss shares songwriting credits with producer Bob Ezrin and his Chelsea bandmate Stan Penridge. Apparently, a band member’s wife named Becky used to call during practice a lot to see when her husband was coming home. It’s pretty ironic that it morphed into an enormous hit for a hard rock band. What a weird inspiration. I don’t think “Beth” is usually mentioned when the term “power ballad” comes up, but maybe it should be. It doesn’t look like there were any pygmies in Chelsea either.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Would you like more Flon with that, Flin?

In my neck of the woods, it poured down rain last night including massively loud strikes of thunder. At some point, I woke up, turned on the Tubi network and found an interesting film title — “Flin Flon.” I can’t remember the description of it, but figured I’d give it a try.

It turns out Flin Flon is the name of a city located near the provincial border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It’s a pretty unique place. A mining company rep discovered there was copper and other minerals for the taking, so things started there. The name is actually based on a character from a sci-fi publication.

As the mining operation grew, so did the city. It’s no surprise that hockey also found a home in Flin Flon, which brings me to the fabulous focus of the Flin Flon film. That’s the Flin Flon Bombers junior ice hocky team. This team has been around since the 1920’s and appear to have a lot of civic support behind them.

I’d have to say the film is a feel-good documentary. That’s not my usual thing, but director Dustin Cohen captures what makes it an interesting place to live and that’s primarily hockey. There are interviews with players, coaches, the team’s bus driver, and plenty of townsfolk who either played for the Bombers in their youth or are currently serving as host families for current players. By the way, if you thought the Detroit Red Wings tradition of throwing an octopus carcass on the ice during the playoffs is weird, Bombers fans throw a moose leg onto the ice after every victory. I’m not kidding.

It wasn’t in the film, but I felt compelled to share the song “Roller” by Canadian rock band April Wine.

What else? Well, cartoonist Al Capp was commissioned to design the 24-foot statue of “Flinty”, who is that character in the previously mentioned publication “The Sunless City” by J.E. Preston Muddock. While he’s not the focus of the film, it’s worth mentioning that Philadelphia Flyers Legend Bobby Clarke was born in Flin Flon and played for the Bombers. I’d recommend viewing this film to see it all for yourself.

Here are my alternate blog entry titles:

How much Flon could a Flin Flon, if a Flin Flon could Flin Flon?
The Legacy of Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin
Ruthless and Toothless in Manitoba
I’d like Canadian mining cities for $500 please, Alex!
Death Match: The Flin Flon Man vs. Mordecai Jones

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!