This is actually billed as Paul & Linda McCartney, and you hear her singing back-up. I like them together, and will continue the discussion from yesterday on why I like Paul.
Before I cancelled the premium channels last year because, well who doesn’t get annoyed with Time Warner Cable, I saw a movie called Nowhere Boy about John Lennon’s life just prior to the Beatles, in which Paul played a pivotal role. John’s cheekiness was not so engaging as he came off as selfish and combative. And then I saw the two-part Martin Scorsese documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone even remotely interested in the Beatles. Again, Paul seemed to be the voice of reason, and George had admitted that if it wasn’t for Paul, Let it Be never would have been made because everyone else was too high.
And just recently while researching the meaning of “Hey Jude,” I read something from Julian Lennon, John’s son from his first marriage. Paul had not written the song about John and Yoko Ono, for whom John had just left his first wife, as John and many of us thought. The song was originally titled “Hey Jules,” and Paul had written it to comfort Julian, who only learned that fact decades later. Julian recalls that in those days, Paul would come to visit him and his mother out of concern, and that he saw much more of Paul than he saw of his own father. I don’t want to turn this into an ode to Paul McCartney, but I just like the guy.
Ram is now being displayed in one of the album frames I got for my birthday, but I’ll bet it comes out before we’re done with the M’s.
Had I not cheated, nor gone out on Monday and Tuesday nights, we would be completing the Paul McCartney collection rather than starting it, but I have no regrets.
I didn’t realize I was such a McCartney fan until I noticed I had three of his solo and/or Wings albums and only one album from another Beatle, even though that was the Concert for Bangladesh triple record set from George Harrison. I loved all the Beatles, of course, but Paul wasn’t my favorite. George was. But, the more I have learned about the Beatles in recent days and years, the more I like Paul McCartney as a person. As we have more Paul coming, I’ll address my reasons later.
This solo album includes the extraordinary “Maybe I’m Amazed,” of which we already heard Rod Stewart sing a live version when we were on the Faces. It’s a song that any woman would want her man to write for her. It is said that Paul wrote it for his wife Linda for helping him get through the break-up of the Beatles. Of course there is a song called “Lovely Linda.” It’s the first song on the album. As I continue to listen, I realized the whole album is an ode to her. It’s like Paul’s Layla (please refer back to Derek and the Dominos), only while Eric Clapton was obsessing over a woman he couldn’t have (yet), Paul wrote for the woman he did have. Think that maybe the title of the album – McCartney – referred to her, and not him? Or their union. Aww.
Poor Linda was accused of being instrumental in the Beatle break-up, though not as much as Yoko Ono. I never blamed Linda, nor Yoko, however, as much as I feel Yoko got a raw deal from the public, I still don’t like her, and not just because her music stinks.
But this is about Paul McCartney and his first solo album, which has just provided me with a quite decent workout. It just seems that Paul wanted to experiment with words and music and have a good time doing it, while learning to write on his own.
So I cheated. Next up should have been the first Paul McCartney solo album, but hey, how many people still have their parent’s old Mitch Miller Christmas album, and isn’t this appropriate? It is my chance to celebrate the holiday and says happy holidays to you.
Mitch Miller was a conductor and producer who had a show on when I was a mere tot. Words come with the record because how else would you sing along? On the show, you would follow the bouncing ball as it led you word by word through whichever ditty was being performed. Households throughout the nation were singing along with Mitch. Though the show featured singers like the lovely, young Leslie Uggams, this album is all the men’s chorus, which was the mainstay of the show. It also is a pretty fun album that consists only of the non-religious holiday/winter songs about Santa, Rudolph and Frosty. Does anyone even get “The Twelve Days of Christmas?” My favorite holiday song – “Winter Wonderland.” My mother’s was Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas.”
But this doesn’t so much bring back memories of Christmas for me, it reminds me of evenings sitting in the den (or the playroom as it was referred to in my house though my brother and I would soon take over much of the basement) with my brother watching television on a big old box of a black and white TV set. He’s been gone more than 28 years now, and I’ll never stop missing him and being grateful for the time we had together. Merry Christmas, Davey.
Anyway, Max got catnip for Christmas, and I treated myself to a new set of multi-colored Pilot G-2 07 pens.
I don’t usually look ahead, but I peeked at what is coming up in the M’s and have to warn you that we will probably not be done with them until the end of January. Yes, I have over a month of M’s. Shall I give you a hint? Well, you already know about Paul McCartney and Lee Michaels, and some of the albums go as far back as to my infancy, so maybe we’ll wait until I can give you young ones more details.
Back to the Mamas and the Papas. This album has an interactive cover that states it is a “Special Fun Jacket” and “Mamas & Papas Exchange Faces,” which is done by lifting the top or bottom portion of the cover photo of the four of them to mix with the photo underneath of them in a different order. It was fun back then.
This is not my fault, but this is not an easy album to work out to even though it includes the songs “Safe in My Garden,” “Twelve Thirty,” and Mama Cass’s solo on “Dream a Little Dream of Me.”
But what I best remember of the Mamas and the Papas is that they seemed to have fun while performing on the Ed Sullivan Show, which then seemed to please old Ed, and later the movie made from the Monterey Pop Festival that was organized by Papa John Phillips and others in less than two months time. The festival preceded Woodstock by two years, and a number of artists like Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix performed. There was also a performance by Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the movie focused on their lead singer Janis Joplin. There’s a shot in the movie that I remember clearly, of Cass Elliot sitting in the audience appearing awestruck at Janis. You can see Cass say “wow” at the end of one song. It was indeed a wow-worthy performance.
I am SO excited. We’ve hit the M’s. I think this will be my favorite letter of the collection. It does make sense as three of my favorite things on this earth, my three favorite things of nature are mockingbirds, marigolds and monarch butterflies. And, some of my favorite things in music (and not so favorite, but I’ll bet you all will enjoy them anyway) start with M and now start with the Mamas and the Papas.
The harmonies and beautiful voices of Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, plus the production skills of John Phillips are amazing. Not to overlook the contributions of Michelle Phillips, whose stunning good looks played off nicely against the rotund Mama Cass, who had personality galore. How appropriate to segue from the Lovin’ Spoonful to the Mamas and the Papas (see mention in Wednesday’s post). Also, this album contains a song called “Somebody Groovy” a word used in some Lovin’ Spoonful songs. I never said “groovy,” not even in jest. I was a little young though. Perhaps if I… nah.
It’s a pretty good album, just particular to that era. “Monday, Monday” and “California Dreamin'” are probably the group’s most recognizable songs, though I prefer tunes like “Got A Feelin.'” A couple of the songs are kind of stupid.
I hope this excitement raises my spirits with longer lasting impact. Got to get through the holidays, and it’s not always easy. Yes, I have been doing the workouts, but have not been eating wisely, and it seems to be on purpose. But we do have the McCartney and Lee Michaels albums coming up, plus a treat for Christmas.
Why yes, I believe my assumption was correct. Sides three and four contain more fabulous Lovin’ Spoonful songs that I know and can still sing along with than the first two sides, and adding them up would definitely spill over onto another record. Rather than list them, I’ll just say that my favorite from this disc is “You Didn’t Have to be so Nice (I would have loved you anyway).” So cute.
“You’re a Big Boy Now” was the theme song to an odd little movie of the same name with a fabulous cast including Julie Harris and Karen Black, both of whom died this past August. “Well cross my eyes and hope to die.” That was a line from another odd little movie from way back in which one of the minor characters has a Karen Black fetish. You see, Karen had a slight cross-eyed thing going on, which seemed to add to her appeal, cause there was a time when she was real popular. Both actresses will be missed. But that has nothing to do with The Lovin’ Spoonful, who also contributed to the soundtrack and made an appearance in What’s Up, Tiger Lily, one of Woody Allen’s earliest films. It was also odd. In case you haven’t noticed, I like odd. Not weird, uncomfortable or scary odd – but a respectful yet sincere odd.
You know, I just found out recently what the group’s name means after all these years. It’s semen related, and so I’ll leave it at that. I heard the explanation on my radio station 107.1 The Peak, after I believe they played a 10cc song, a later English group that took their name from the same reference.
Anyway, the Lovin’ Spoonful is a folk-rock group known for wacky onstage antics and lead singer John Sebastian’s mutton chops. They came up through the Greenwich Village scene in the mid-1960s and had strong ties to The Mamas and the Papas. This is a double album of hits, and though the memorable songs are very memorable there were only five that I counted from sides one and two. I started with side two as there is a big old scratch on it and its’ easier for me to run by the record player and give it a well-placed hit rather than get up to fix it if it got stuck. Side two started with “Summer in the City” and “Lovin’ You,” and ended with the wonderfully and overly orchestrated “Darling Be Home Soon,” which I played twice cause it’s just that good.
Side one included “Daydream” (What a day for a daydream… ) and “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind,” but for a double best-of album titled 24 Karat Hits, the other songs on sides one and two are far from gems. I wonder if there was a dispute about including one or two songs more than what would fit on one record, and as no one would give, they had to add lesser songs to justify the two-record set.
Not a bad workout though.
On Monday night, I had dinner with another of my writer friends, a good friend and fabulous writer whom I have not seen since early August. I had a totally swell time.
And then Tuesday, I got a call from another friend who had gotten last minute tickets to a Broadway show, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder. Too much fun, even though I like off-off Broadway shows, for which you sometimes find yourself sitting on a folding metal chair in the basement of a building in a neighborhood not frequented by tourists. There are some that have comfy seats in better neighborhoods for under $20. Being a New Yorker, I have much to choose from but don’t go often enough. And, when I do finish my own off-off Broadway play, and I swear I will someday in the near future, I hope you will all come and bring your seat cushions.
So no exercise on those two days, which perturbed Max, who also doesn’t like when I come home late.
And Gordon Lightfoot was the very best of folk music out of Canada. I had bought this compilation thinking that the song “If I Could” was “If You Could Read My Mind,” which unfortunately is not on this album. It’s a really good song, and so heartfelt. There’s other good stuff on the record though, including “The Last Time I Saw Her.”
I remember Gordon Lightfoot fondly, and I wish to do so based on the cover of this album. Just last week, he was one of the features on the CBS Sunday Morning program, and at 75 is still active and performing, but looking every bit of his 75 years. (Not as old looking as the Rolling Stones who are younger than him. But we will discuss them when we get there. Yes, of course I have Rolling Stones records!)
I knew the Lightfoot album would be slow for a good workout. A burst of energy prompted me to turn on the radio beforehand and I found myself silly-dancing around to various songs. Now, I never liked disco and that whole era, but a couple of songs… Like the one that encouraged the most energetic and silliest dancing – K.C. and the Sunshine Band’s “That’s the Way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I Like It (uh-huh, uh-huh).” Classic.
I needed a bit more pep in tonight’s workout, so rather than pull out Ram again, I decided to try out what I had thus far determined to be first runner up – Delaney and Bonnie. It still holds the title.
I also need to ship the bourban balls I make each holiday season off to my cousin even though they have yet to reach their full fermentation. I’m sampling way too much. I was going to make a batch of rum balls with coconut and almonds, but I’m thinking better of it.
I still regret not having the record with Bonnie Bramlett singing “That’s What My Man is For,” and I regret not having any Joe Cocker.
Additionally, I still don’t know the protocol, but I want to acknowledge those of you who are hanging out with me during this project. Your interest is encouraging. Not that I’ve thought of giving up. I’m having too much fun, most of the time, working out, listening to the music with the memories it incites, and writing. I just like knowing you’re there. I feel the support. Thanks.
The Walrus Was Paul 