A Blast from the Past, Rarities Edition – Part 9
Nothing new from DPAA this week regarding accounting for US personnel who had previously been declared MIA/POW. So this week you’re stuck with this instead. Read on at your own risk. (smile)
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Just about done with a 4,500 mile trip well west of the Rio Grande and back. I’m at the final stop now and only have one more travel day left. And is the norm when you’re driving “sixteen hours (or so) and there’s nothing much to do”, music certainly helps pass the time.
Here are five tunes I’ve listened to on the trip that I thought readers might enjoy. The first two qualify IMO as rarities; the last three are simply fun.
For the first: remember that tune where the band Rush gave us some . . . rap? Yes, rap.
Best as I can tell, they did that on precisely one tune they ever recorded – at least for part of the song – while “having fun in the studio”. Here’s their music video for the cut; it’s from their 1991 album of the same name, Roll the Bones.
FYI: though it doesn’t sound like it, the rap segment was in fact done by Rush’s lead singer Geddy Lee. (IMO he did a fair job of it, too.) His voice was electronically processed and significantly altered for the rap segment of the tune. Reportedly the band considered having a female singer do the rap part instead, but decided that would be going the proverbial “bridge too far”.
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The second rarity is from the Who. The Who’s Pete Townsend is generally considered among the finest rock guitarists of all time. But on precisely one Who tune, he played . . . banjo. Yes, you read that correctly: banjo.
Here ya go. From their 1975 release “By Numbers”, Squeeze Box.
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OK, those are the two rarities. Here are three more tunes that are simply fun.
First, Ray Stevens presents the story of one of the strangest – and possibly most entertaining – impromptu Revivals ever:
Yeah, I’d bet that the “naming names” part indeed got a whole lot of attention. (smile)
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Second: a blast from the Big Band Era past – literally. This cut actually made the top 40 (peaking at #30 on the Billboard Top 100) in 1975, nearly 30 years after it’s original release. Here’s Benny Bell telling us about some, um, alternative uses for a popular male personal hygiene product (smile):
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And, finally: why this one wasn’t ever (to my knowledge) used in the popular TV show of the same name is beyond me – ’cause it seems to fit pretty well and predates it. From 1994, here’s Joe Diffie.
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OK, that’s all for now. One last day on the road left before home early/mid next week.
And hey: be careful out there.
Category: Pointless blather, Who knows
You can add to your list any Johnny Horton historical song. . .
“You fought all the way…”
Safe travels Hondo, hurry Home to your Squeeze Box.
” Reportedly the band considered having a female singer do the rap part instead, but decided that would be going the proverbial “bridge too far”.”
To be fair, not because of the thought of working with a Female, as they previously cut Time Stands Still with Aimee Mann in 1987, they first tried to get Cyndi Lauper and Chrissie Hynde who were not available.
Never a Rush fan… took me years to find out Geddy IS a guy.
The issue wasn’t working with a female, Olaf; sorry if I may have given that impression. After considering it, the issue was that the band felt having a female singer do the rap segment would be “too jarring” – and the rap part was already going way outside the band’s usual musical “lane”. Hence my characterization of a female singer doing the rap being the proverbial “bridge too far”.
I love listening to my Stevie Ray Vaughn tunes whether I’m on the computer or especially when running with the top down (my Ruby, not mine (grin))on a warm summer evening.
His favorite guitar was an old beat up Fender Strato (1963) that he had rebuilt a number of times because he was notoriously hard on it.
That dude could play.
Thanks Hondo and get back safe.
I remember that Shaving Cream song getting airplay in 1975. I was a Pensacola, fresh out of NROTC, was driving somewhere at night and it came on the AM rock station. (Don’t laugh – the old Pontiac only had AM!) Could not believe what I was hearing. Sadly, the third verse about the baby falling out of the window is now stuck in my head.
4,500 miles of gear jamming Hondo, I hope that white line fever didn’t get to you and a safe split shifting ride home. Give me forty acres and I’ll turn this rig around, it’s the easiest way I know how, haaaa haaaa
As someone who plays a concertina (or tries to…)
I always loved this song.
As far as SRV goes,
As Radar said, “One day. A very bad day.”
“I have a message…”