Tuesday, June 28, 2016

In Concert: The Jayhawks

image from kansascity.com

Venue: Knuckleheads Saloon; Kansas City, MO

Opening Act: Folk Uke

The Set List:

1. Waiting for the Sun 3
2. Leaving the Monsters Behind 9
3. Somewhere in Ohio 6
4. Stumbling Through the Dark 7
5. Lovers of the Sun 9
6. Save It for a Rainy Day 7
7. Pretty Roses in Your Hair 9
8. Nothing Left to Borrow 4
9. Comeback Kids 9
10. Bottomless Cup 5
11. Blue 4
12. Ace 9
13. Tampa to Tulsa 7
14. Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces 9
15. All the Right Reasons 7
16. The Devil in Her Eyes 9
17. I’d Run Away 4

Encore:

18. Settled Down Like Rain 3
19. Angelyne 7
20. I’ll Be Your Key 9
21. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me 6
22. Tailspin 7
23. Bad Time 4

The Jayhawks' Discography:

1 The Jayhawks (1986)
2 Blue Earth (1989)
3 Hollywood Town Hall (1992)
4 Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995)
5 Sound of Lies (1997)
6 Smile (2000)
7 Rainy Day Music (2003)
8 Mockingbird Time (2011)
9 Paging Mr. Prous (2016)


Monday, June 27, 2016

The Top 100 Broadway Songs

Broadway:

Top 100 Songs

Since the early part of the 20th century, musicals have fueled American music with some of its most beloved standards. In the first half of the 1900’s, many pop hits were recordings of songs which had originated on the Broadway stage. What follows is a list of the top 100 Broadway songs, as determined by an aggregate of 34 Broadway song collections and best-of lists. The show and the year of its stage premiere are listed after each song.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

1. Memory (Cats, 1981)
2. Ol’ Man River (Show Boat, 1927)
3. Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific, 1949)
4. Tonight (West Side Story, 1957)
5. If I Were a Rich Man (Fiddler on the Roof, 1964)
6. You’ll Never Walk Alone (Carousel, 1945)
7. Send in the Clowns (A Little Night Music, 1973)
8. Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ (Oklahoma!, 1943)
9. Seasons of Love (Rent, 1996)
10. What I Did for Love (A Chorus Line, 1975)

11. The Sound of Music (The Sound of Music, 1959)
12. If I Loved You (Carousel, 1945)
13. On the Street Where You Live (My Fair Lady, 1956)
14. All That Jazz (Chicago, 1975)
15. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina (Evita, 1978)
16. The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha, 1965)
17. I Don’t Know How to Love Him (Jesus Christ Superstar, 1971)
18. Aquarius (Hair, 1967)
19. I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables, 1985)
20. Tomorrow (Annie, 1977)

21. Cabaret (Cabaret, 1966)
22. Defying Gravity (Wicked, 2003)
23. Bewitched, Bothered, & Bewildered (Pal Joey, 1940)
24. The Music of the Night (The Phantom of the Opera, 1986)
25. I Could Have Danced All Night (My Fair Lady, 1956)
26. Climb Ev’ry Mountain (The Sound of Music, 1959)
27. My Favorite Things The Sound of Music, 1959)
28. Till There Was You (The Music Man, 1957)
29. My Funny Valentine (Babes in Arms, 1937)
30. Somewhere (West Side Story, 1957)

31. Oklahoma! (Oklahoma!, 1943)
32. On My Own (Les Miserables, 1985)
33. There’s No Business Like Show Business (Annie Get Your Gun, 1946)
34. I Got Rhythm (Girl Crazy, 1930)
35. Luck Be a Lady (Guys and Dolls, 1950)
36. Put on a Happy Face (Bye Bye Birdie, 1960)
37. Seventy-Six Trombones (The Music Man, 1957)
38. Getting to Know You (The King and I, 1951)
39. Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (The Lion King, 1997)
40. The Time Warp (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1973)

41. Hello, Dolly! (Hello, Dolly!, 1964)
42. Do-Re-Mi (The Sound of Music, 1959)
43. Sunrise, Sunset (Fiddler on the Roof, 1964)
44. Day by Day (Godspell, 1971)
45. Shall We Dance? (The King and I, 1951)
46. Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man (Show Boat, 1927)
47. If Ever I Would Leave You (Camelot, 1960)
48. The Party’s Over (Bells Are Ringing, 1956)
49. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Roberta, 1933)
50. As Long As He Needs Me (Oliver!, 1960)

image from the odysseyonline.com

51. All the Things You Are (Very Warm for May, 1939)
52. Summertime (Porgy and Bess, 1935)
53. Circle of Life (The Lion King, 1997)
54. Everything’s Coming Up Roses (Gypsy, 1959)
55. Written in the Stars (Aida, 1999)
56. One (Singular Sensation) (A Chorus Line, 1975)
57. Someone to Watch Over Me (Oh, Kay!, 1926)
58. You’re the Top (Anything Goes, 1934)
59. Maria (West Side Story, 1957)
60. I Love Paris (Can-Can, 1953)

61. Hello, Young Lovers (The King and I, 1951)
62. New York, New York (On the Town, 1944)
63. Almost Like Being in Love (Brigadoon, 1947)
64. I Get a Kick Out of You (Anything Goes, 1935)
65. The Lady Is a Tramp (Babes in Arms, 1937)
66. People Will Say We’re in Love (Oklahoma!, 1943)
67. Once in Love with Amy (Where’s Charley?, 1948)
68. Maybe This Time (Cabaret, 1966)
69. You Can’t Stop the Beat (Hairspray, 2002)
70. Falling in Love with Love (The Boys from Syracuse, 1938)

71. Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar, 1971)
72. Comedy Tonight (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, 1962)
73. This Is the Moment (Jekyll and Hyde, 1997)
74. People (Funny Girl, 1964)
75. The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In (Hair, 1964)
76. All I Ask of You (The Phantom of the Opera, 1986)
77. Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz, movie: 1939)
78. Edelweiss (The Sound of Music, 1959)
79. Wouldn’t It Be Loverly (My Fair Lady, 1956)
80. Try to Remember (The Fantastics, 1960)

81. Mack the Knife (The Threepenny Opera, 1928)
82. Younger Than Springtime (South Pacific, 1949)
83. Bill (Show Boat, 1927)
84. Summer Nights (Grease, 1972)
85. Hernando’s Hideaway (The Pajama Game, 1954)
86. June Is Bustin’ Out All Over (Carousel, 1945)
87. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, 1965)
88. I Enjoy Being a Girl (Flower Drum Song, 1958)
89. This Can’t Be Love (The Boys from Syracuse, 1938)
90. The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom of the Opera, 1986)

91. So in Love (Kiss Me, Kate, 1948)
92. Camelot (Camelot, 1960)
93. Where or When (Babes in Arms, 1937)
94. Close Every Door (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, 1972)
95. For Good (Wicked, 2003)
96. There’s a Small Hotel (On Your Toes, 1936)
97. Wheels of a Dream (Ragtime, 1996)
98. Springtime for Hitler (The Producers, 2001)
99. Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast, 1998)
100. It’s a Hard-Knock Life (Annie, 1977)


Resources and Related Links:

First posted 6/27/2016.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

50 years ago: The Beatles hit #1 with “Paperback Writer”

Paperback Writer

The Beatles

Writer(s): John Lennon, Paul McCartney (see lyrics here)


Released: May 30, 1966


First Charted: June 11, 1966


Peak: 12 US, 12 CB, 11 GR, 11 HR, 1 CL, 12 UK, 11 CN, 11 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)


Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 33.0 video, -- streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

At the time that “Paperback Writer” ascended to the pinnacle of the United States’ Billboard Hot 100, that chart was eighteen years old. The song leapt into the pole position from #15. The only song to make a bigger jump was the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” from #27 to #1. FB This was the Beatles’ first chart topper not about love. SF Paul’s Auntie Lil had been challenging him to “write a song that wasn’t about love.” SF

This “was a throwback to the Beatles’ early work as it is based upon their love of Chuck Berry.” KL However, the storytelling “is very much in the style that Paul McCartney was developing. It is an unusual composition” KL “sung from the perspective of an author soliciting a publisher.” SF While fictional, Paul was thinking of the beat poet Royston Ellis, who taught the Beatles how “to get high on Vick inhalers,” KL and author Martin Amis, “whom he had just developed a passion for.” SF

He was also thinking of some of his friends, including John Dunbar, who’d he’d just help set up the Indica Bookshop. It was housed in the basement of the Indica Gallery, where bandmate John Lennon would meet future wife Yoko Ono. SF Paul may have also been teasing John, who dismissed the song as “son of ‘Day Tripper.’” KL John published his own books of poetry and stories with In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. KL “Paperback Writer” became the theme song for the BBC series, Read All About It. KL

In the UK, the ad to promote the single was the infamous “butcher cover,” a shot of the Beatles holding parts of dolls covered in blood. It was used initially as the cover for the U.S. album Yesterday…and Today SF The controversial cover “caused a wave of protest and…was quickly withdrawn.” FB However, it became a collectors’ item when Capitol Records simply pasted a replacement photo over some of the original pressings. FB


Resources:

  • DMDB encyclopedia entry for the Beatles
  • FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY.
  • KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 123.
  • SF Songfacts


Related Links:


First posted 3/27/2022; last updated 7/13/2023.

Monday, June 20, 2016

50 years ago: Bob Dylan released Blonde on Blonde

Blonde on Blonde

Bob Dylan


Released: June 20, 1966


Charted: July 23, 1966


Peak: 9 US, 3 UK, 4 AU


Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.3 UK, 10.0 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: folk rock


Tracks:

Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 [4:36] (4/16/66, 2 US, 2 CB, 2 HR, 2 CL, 7 UK)
  2. Pledging My Time [3:50]
  3. Visions of Johanna [7:33] (5 CL)
  4. One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) [4:54] (4/14/66, 32 CL, 33 UK)
  5. I Want You [3:07] (7/2/66, 20 US, 25 CB, 22 HR, 9 CL, 16 UK)
  6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again [7:05] (16 CL)
  7. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat [3:58] (5/20/67, 81 US, 97 CB, 86 HR, 16 CL)
  8. Just Like a Woman [4:52] (9/10/66, 33 US, 28 CB, 26 HR, 5 CL)
  9. Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine [3:30]
  10. Temporary Like Achilles [5:02]
  11. Absolutely Sweet Marie [4:57] (21 CL)
  12. 4th Time Around [4:35]
  13. Obviously 5 Believers [3:35]
  14. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands [11:23]

All songs written by Bob Dylan.


Total Running Time: 72:57

Rating:

4.675 out of 5.00 (average of 28 ratings)


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

“In 1965 and 1966, Bob Dylan went on a creative sprint that has never been matched. Over the course of fourteen months, Dylan recorded Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited – and then capped it off with Blonde on Blonde, rock’s first significant double album.” TL “If Highway 61 Revisited played as a garage rock record…Blonde on Blonde inverted that sound, blending blues, country, rock, and folk into a wild, careening, and dense sound.” TL It “is an album of enormous depth,” AMG with “a tense, shimmering tone” TL that “reaches some of Dylan’s greatest heights – which is to say, the very pinnacle of rock.” TL Dylan himself said of the album was “‘the closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind.’” JD

It “is comprised entirely of songs driven by inventive, surreal, and witty wordplay, not only on the rockers but also on winding, moving ballads.” TL “Dylan is having fun…playing with words as much for the way they sound as for what they mean.” JD “The music matches the inventiveness of the songs, filled with cutting guitar riffs, liquid organ riffs, crisp pianos, and even woozy brass bands.” AMG It was “a brilliant tour through the music of America past, present and future, touching on everything from Chicago blues to country waltzes to New Orleans marches, all delivered with a voice that was full of rock ‘n’ roll passion, and the ferocity, scorn and lust of a man at the end of his rope.” JD In Howard Sounes’ Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan, Kooper said, “Nobody has ever captured the sound of 3 a.m. better than that album… even Sinatra, gets it as good.” JD

Dylan initially began recording in New York with his touring group, The Hawks (who later became the band). When “he couldn’t seem to find his groove” JD producer Bob Johnston suggested moving the sessions to Nashville, where Dylan assembled local session musicians along with New Yorkers Al Kooper on organ and the Hawks’ Robbie Robertson on guitar. JD Dylan was moving toward “leaving coffee bars behind forever…to bring country into rock & roll.” BL In addition, he recorded live, having musicians “record in a circle, playing off one another during a series of gloriously sloppy extended jams. Most of the 14 tracks were captured on the first or second take, shortly after Dylan finished writing them. ‘The musicians played cards, I wrote out a song, we’d do it, they'd go back to their game and I’d write out another song,’ the artist said in 1968.” JD

The album “veer[s] wildly between the silly, the serious and the surreal – sometimes all in the same song. But if there is one recurring theme at its heart, it isn't politics or spirituality (the topics the folkie purists hoped the sage would tackle), but something much more familiar yet elusive.” JD The first track, Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, “epitomizes the album” JD with its “absurdist title” JD and “a delightfully ragged march (the loose feel was achieved by forcing all of the musicians to switch off from their regular instruments).” JD “The song is at once a devilishly playful and unapologetic pro-drug anthem (one of rock’s first, and most daring for the time, with its recurring refrain of ‘Everybody must get stoned’); a sarcastic and cautionary tale of how society demonizes outsiders and rebels.” JD

“A romantic masquerading as a cynic, Dylan approaches the concept of love from several different angles, equating eroticism with spiritual transcendence in Visions of Johanna; pleading for satisfaction like a clumsy, hormone-crazed teen in I Want You; summoning his full powers of poetry as a tool for seduction in Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands (Dylanologists debate whether this one was about Joan Baez or his then-wife, Sara), and finally giving up with near-misogynistic disgust in Just Like a Woman and comic resignation in Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine.” JD

Blonde on Blonde was “the culmination of Dylan’s electric rock & roll period – he would never release a studio record that rocked this hard, or had such bizarre imagery, ever again.” AMG

Resources and Related Links:


Other Related DMDB Pages:


First posted 5/16/2013; last updated 9/5/2021.