Rihanna spent ninth week at #1 with “Work”

Work Rihanna with Drake

Writer(s): Jahron Braithwaite, Matthew Samuels, Allen Ritter, Rupert Thomas, Aubrey Graham, Robyn Fenty, Monte Moir (see lyrics here) Released: January 27, 2016 First Charted: February 13, 2016 Peak: 19 US, 12 DG, 18 ST, 9 RR, 111 RB, 2 UK, 14 CN, 5 AU, 22 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.3 UK, 32.5 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1475.0 video, 1868.68 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: After her seventh album, Unapologetic (2012), Rihanna intended to take a hiatus from recording. It lasted a week and she found herself back in the studio. She released three singles in 2015 and then, at the onset of 2016, released “Work,” the lead single from her eighth album, Anti. It became her 14th #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, putting her just behind The Beatles, Mariah Carey, and Elvis Presley. WK It was also her 50th song to chart on the Hot 100 and 27th to hit the top ten. WK She also became the first artist to have #1 songs from seven consecutive studio albums. SF It was her third collaboration with Drake, following 2010’s “What’s My Name?” and 2011’s “Take Care.” SF The song was written in the summer of 2015 by a team while at Drake’s house. One of the writers, Sevn Thomas and Boi-1da, who’d previously worked with Drake, crafted the dancehall rhythm SF and then sent it to PartyNextDoor, who wrote the lyrics, which talk about working for money as well as fragile relationships. WK Drake then wrote and recorded a verse before the song was played for Rihanna. WK However, her label didn’t care for the Caribbean flavor of the song and it was nearly passed on to Alicia Keys. However, Rihanna fought to keep it, saying “this is my family’s favorite song.” SF Billboard’s Taj Ran said the song had “deep roots in Jamaica’s club scene that spun off from reggae in the 1970s.” WK Forbes’ Hugh McIntyre described the song as urban with hip hop influences and “island vibes,” WK an observation echoed by Rolling Stone’s Daniel Kreps, who said it had a “tropical house vibe.” WK Slant Magazine’s Alexa Camp called it an understated midtempo jam” which “recalls Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’s masterful production work on Janet [Jackson]’s The Velvet Rope.” WK Complex’s Zach Frydenlund said the song “is slower and very rhythmic with Rihanna showing off her vocal skills over the crafty production.” WK By contrast, The A.V. Club’s Robin Reiff said “the sheer repetition of the hook creates a built-in experiation date for when this song transitions from catchy to mildly annoying.” WK Rolling Stone called it a “barely-there tune,” but noted it was still irresistible. WK The song’s “off-kilter” nature led The Guardian to name it the best track of 2016. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/6/2021; last updated 7/29/2023.

In Concert: The Who

The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, image from chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk

Venue: Sprint Center; Kansas City, MO

The Players: Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals), Roger Daltrey (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Simon Townshend (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Pino Palladino (bass), Zak Starkey (drums), Loren Gold (keyboards, backing vocals), John Corey (keyboards, backing vocals), Frank Simes (musical director, keyboards, backing vocals, assorted instruments)

Opening Act: Slydigs

“We’re late. Thanks for waiting.” It was the perfect opening line from Pete Townshend to open the Kansas City show which had been postponed twice. Judging from the full house, no one seemed to mind the wait.

Only Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey remain from the original incarnation of the Who, although Pino Palladino and Zak Starkey have been long-time band replacements for John Entwistle and Keith Moon respectively. Daltrey doesn’t have the voice he once did, but still could hit the classic scream on “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and belted out the powerful “Love Reign O’er Me.” He and Townshend engaged the audience in plenty of stage banter and broke out their trademark moves of mike swinging and windmilling on the guitar.

My favorite moment was “The Rock,” a largely unknown instrumental accompanied by a powerful video showcasing world history moments during the history of the Who. The song was part of a trifecta of tunes from 1973’s Quadrophenia (the others being “I’m One” and “Love Reign O’er Me.” There was also a four-song set from 1969’s Tommy amongst a largely hits-based set list. See full list below.

The Set List:

1. I Can’t Explain
2. Who Are You
3. The Seeker
4. The Kids Are Alright
5. I Can See for Miles
6. My Generation
7. 5:15
8. Pictures of Lily
9. Behind Blue Eyes
10. Bargain
11. Join Together
12. You Better You Bet
13. I’m One
14. The Rock
15. Love Reign O’er Me
16. Eminence Front
17. Amazing Journey
18. Sparks
19. Pinball Wizard
20. See Me Feel Me
21. Baba O’Riley
22. Won’t Get Fooled Again

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Resources and Related Links:

• The Who’s DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry
• The Who: The Good, the Bad…and Their Top 30 Songs (6/27/12)
• Now Presenting the Half Time Show Starring the Theme Songs of CSI (2/8/10)

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K-Tel Top 100 Songs

First posted 4/27/2016; updated 8/12/2020.

K-Tel: Top 100 Songs

In 1966, K-Tel released its first compilation, 25 Country Hits. Over the next two decades, the company would release more than a hundred compilations, most focused on the pop hits of the day. A 2013 Forbes article called the company “the spotify of the 1970s.” The company was founded by Philip Kives, a business executive, entrepreneur, and marketing expert from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was born on February 12, 1929, and died at age 87 on April 27, 2016. In honor of him, the DMDB presents a list of the top 100 songs to appear on K-Tel compilations and the top 20 K-Tel compilations (see list here). Top 100 Songs: Act “Song” (Year), featured K-Tel albums 1. Bill Haley & the Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954), 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats, 25 Rock Revival Greats, Rockin’ and Rollin’, Juke Box Jive 2. Derek & the Dominos “Layla” (1971) 22 Explosive Hits, Today’s Super Greats Part 1 3. Roy Orbison “(Oh) Pretty Woman” (1964) 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats, 25 Rock Revival Greats, Rockin’ and Rollin’ 4. Abba “Dancing Queen” (1976) Music Machine, The Magic of Abba 5. Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958) 25 Rock Revival Greats, Rockin’ and Rollin’ 6. Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive” (1978) High Energy 7. Carl Perkins “Blue Suede Shoes” (1956) 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats 8. Elvis Presley “Suspicious Minds” (1969) Elvis Love Songs 9. Little Richard “Tutti Frutti” (1955) Hometown USA 10. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971) Believe in Music, Today’s Super Greats Part 2 11. Elton John “Your Song” (1970) Elton John: Milestones 12. Elvis Presley “Love Me Tender” (1956) Elvis Love Songs 13. Fats Domino “Blueberry Hill” (1956) 25 Rock Revival Greats, Rockin’ and Rollin’ 14. Creedence Clearwater Revival “Proud Mary” (1969) 20 Super Hits – The Best of CCR 15. The Penguins “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” (1954) Hometown USA 16. Blondie “Heart of Glass” (1978) High Energy 17. Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (1957) Hometown USA 18. Elvis Presley “It’s Now or Never” (1960) Elvis Love Songs 19. Del Shannon “Runaway” (1961) Juke Box Jive 20. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” (1982) Hit Explosion 21. Chic “Le Freak” (1978) High Energy 22. Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire” (1957) 25 Rock Revival Greats, Rockin’ and Rollin’ 23. The Platters “The Great Pretender” (1955) 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats 24. Debby Boone “You Light Up My Life” (1977) heartbeat of the ‘70s 25. Blondie “Call Me” (1980) Power Play, Rock 80, Women of Rock 26. Elvis Presley “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (1960) Elvis Love Songs 27. The Knack “My Sharona” (1979) Power Play, Rock 80 28. Buddy Holly “Peggy Sue” (1957) 60 Flashback Greats of the ‘60s 29. The Five Satins “In the Still of the Night” (1956) Hometown USA 30. James Taylor “Fire and Rain” (1970) 20 Dynamic Hits 31. Paul Anka “Diana” (1957) Juke Box Jive 32. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps “Be-Bop-A-Lula” (1956) 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats 33. Tony Orlando & Dawn “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” (1973) 22 Fantastic Hits, Superstars Greatest Hits 34. Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” (1983) Hot Tracks 35. Irene Cara “Flashdance...What a Feelin’” (1983) Street Beat 36. Harry Nilsson “Without You” (1971) Reflections 37. Bo Diddley “Bo Diddley” (1955) 25 Rock Revival Greats, Rockin’ and Rollin’ 38. James Brown “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (1965) 60 Flashback Greats of the ‘60s 39. Little Richard “Long Tall Sally” (1956) 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats, 25 Rock Revival Greats, Rockin’ and Rollin’, Hometown USA 40. Free “All Right Now” (1970) 20 Power Hits 41. Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (1981) Women of Rock 42. 10cc “I’m Not in Love” (1975) Music Express 43. Boston “More Than a Feeling” (1976) The Rock Album 44. Commodores “Three Times a Lady” (1978) Spotlight, Together 45. Pretenders “Brass in Pocket” (1979) Rock 80, Certified Gold 46. Isaac Hayes “Theme from Shaft” (1971) Super Bad 47. Lipps Inc. “Funkytown” (1980) Sound Waves 48. The Everly Brothers “Wake Up Little Susie” (1957) Rockin’ and Rollin’, 25 Rock Revival Greats, 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats 49. Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (1983) Women of Rock 50. The Drifters “Save the Last Dance for Me” (1960) Rock ‘N’ Roll Fever 51. The Box Tops “The Letter” (1957) 20 Explosive Hits, Today’s Super Greats Part 3 52. The Everly Brothers “Bye Bye Love” (1957) 24 Great Tear Jerkers 53. Wild Cherry “Play That Funky Music” (1976) Disco Rocket, Music Machine 54. Cream “Sunshine of Your Love” (1967) 60 Flashback Greats of the ‘60s 55. Gerry Rafferty “Baker Street” (1978) Spotlight 56. Michael Jackson “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (1979) Hitline, Wings of Sound 57. George McCrae “Rock Your Baby” (1974) 20 Dynamite Hits, Disco Mania, Souled Out 58. Diana Ross “Upside Down” (1980) Sound Waves 59. Donna Summer “I Feel Love” (1978) Disco Fire 60. Captain & Tennille “Love Will Keep Us Together” (1975) Music Express 61. Roger Miller “King of the Road” (1965) 24 Great Truck Driving Songs 62. Creedence Clearwater Revival “Fortunate Son” (1969) 20 Super Hits – The Best of CCR 63. Elton John “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (1973) Music Machine, Elton John: Milestones 64. Terry Jacks “Seasons in the Sun” (1974) 20 Dynamite Hits 65. Elton John “Bennie and the Jets” (1973) Elton John: Milestones 66. The Kingston Trio “Tom Dooley” (1958) Good Time Music 67. Creedence Clearwater Revival “Bad Moon Rising” (1969) 20 Super Hits – The Best of CCR 68. Elvis Presley “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (1961) Elvis Love Songs 69. The Orioles “Crying in the Chapel” (1953) 24 Great Tear Jerkers 70. Sister Sledge “We Are Family” (1979) Hitline 71. The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” (1965) 20 Power Hits Vol. 1 72. The Tokens “The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)” (1961) Juke Box Jive, Goofy Greats, Good Time Music 73. The Turtles “Happy Together” (1967) Rock ‘N’ Roll Feer, 60 Flashback Greats of the ‘60s 74. The Four Seasons “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (1962) The Greatest Hits of Franki Valli & the Four Seasons 75. The Platters “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1958) 24 Great Tear Jerkers 76. Elton John “Crocodile Rock” (1973) 22 Fantastic Hits, 20 Power Hits, Elton John: Milestones 77. Van McCoy “The Hustle” (1975) Disco Mania 78. Elton John & Kiki Dee “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (1976) Elton John: Milestones 79. Andy Gibb “Shadow Dancing” (1978) Starburst, Disco Nights 80. Blue Öyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (1976) The Rock Album 81. Elton John “Daniel” (1973) Right On, Elton John: Milestones 82. Dion “Runaround Sue” (1961) Hometown USA, 60 Flashback Greats of the ‘60s 83. Charlie Rich “Behind Closed Doors” (1973) Country Road 84. Tammy Wynette “Stand by Your Man” (1968) Country Road 85. Toy Orlando & Dawn “Knock Three Times” (1970) 20 Power Hits Vol. 2, Today’s Super Greats Part 2 86. Elton John “Rocket Man” (1972) 22 Fantastic Hits, 20 Power Hits, Superstar’s Greatest Hits, Elton John: Milestones 87. The Emotions “Best of My Love” (1977) Disco Fire 88. The Crystals “Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)” (1963) Rock ‘N’ Roll Fever 89. Bill Withers “Lean on Me” (1972) 22 Fantastic Hits, Super Bad Is Back, Superstars Greatest Hits 90. Tommy James & the Shondells “Crimson and Clover” (1968) Superstars Greatest Hits 91. The Four Seasons “Sherry” (1962) Greatest Hits of Franki Valli & the Four Seasons 92. Carl Douglas “Kung Fu Fighting” (1974) Disco Mania, Out of Sight 93. Bachman-Turner Overdrive “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” (1974) Out of Sight 94. The Police “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (1981) Radio Active, The Hit List 95. Wilbert Harrison “Kansas City” (1959) Juke Box Jive 96. Sonny James “Young Love” (1956) The Best of Country Music Vol. 7 97. Andy Gibb “I Just Want to Be Your Everything” (1977) Music Machine 98. Gary Numan “Cars” (1979) Rock 80 99. The Dixie Cups “Chapel of Love” (1964) 60 Flashback Greats of the ‘60s 100. Kiss “Rock and Roll All Nite” (1975) Disco Mania, Hit Machine Resources and Related Links: K-Tel Top 20 Albums

K-Tel: Top 20 Albums

First posted 4/27/2016; updated 8/12/2020.

K-Tel: Top 20 Albums

In 1966, K-Tel released its first compilation, 25 Country Hits. Over the next two decades, the company would release more than a hundred compilations, most focused on the pop hits of the day. A 2013 Forbes article called the company “the spotify of the 1970s.” The company was founded by Philip Kives, a business executive, entrepreneur, and marketing expert from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was born on February 12, 1929, and died at age 87 on April 27, 2016. In honor of him, the DMDB presents a list of the top 100 songs (see list here) to appear on K-Tel compilations and the top 20 K-Tel compilations. (years covered, year of release): 1. Rock Revival Greats (1954-65, 1972) 2. Rockin’ and Rollin’ (1954-65, 1972) 3. 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats (1954-64, 1972) 4. Hometown USA (1954-66, 1979) 5. Juke Box Jive (1954-66, 1975) 6. Elton John: Milestones (1970-79, 1980) 7. Elvis Love Songs – 16 Original Hits (1956-71, 1981) 8. Music Machine (1973-77, 1977) 9. 24 Great Tear Jerkers (1955-65, 1976) 10. 20 Super Hits – The Best of Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968-71, 1978) image from discogs.com, my first EVER album purchase! 11. High Energy (1978-79, 1979) 12. Rock 80 (1978-80, 1980) 13. Music Express (1973-75, 1975) 14. Women of Rock (1978-84, 1986) 15. Believe in Music (1971-72, 1972) 16. 20 Dynamite Hits (1972-74, 1974) 17. 60 Flashback Greats of the ‘60s (1957-70, 1972) 18. Right On (1973-76, 1976) 19. 22 Fantastic Hits (1972-73, 1973) 20. Hit Machine (1974-76, 1976) Resources and Related Links: K-Tel Top 100 Songs

Beyoncé’s Lemonade released

Lemonade Beyoncé

Released: April 23, 2016 Peak: 11 US, 110 RB, 11 UK, 11 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.4 UK, 5.9 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Pray You Catch Me Hold Up (8/16/16, 13 US, 6 RB, 11 UK, 37 CN, 25 AU, platinum single) Don’t Hurt Yourself (with Jack White) Sorry (5/3/16, 11 US, 4 RB, 33 UK, 40 CN, 74 AU, platinum single) 6 Inch (with The Weeknd) Daddy Lessons Love Drought Sandcastles Forward (with James Blake) Freedom (with Kendrick Lamar) (9/6/16, 36 US, 21 RB, 40 UK, 60 CN, 62 AU) All Night (12/6/16, 38 US, 23 RB, 60 UK, 73 CN) Formation (2/6/16, 10 US, 6 RB, 31 UK, 32 CN, 17 AU, platinum single) Total Running Time: 45:42

Rating: 4.348 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” The well-known proverb is spoken by Hattie White, Beyoncé’s grandmother-in-law, in the song “Freedom.” WK It serves as the the premise behind Beyoncé’s sixth studio album, a cathartic exploration of the emotional turmoil she endured after her husband, rapper and business mogul Jay-Z, cheated on her. In an interview with Elle magazine, she said, “Everyone experiences pain, but sometimes you need to be uncomfortable to transform.” WK She uses “her heartbreak masterpiece, Lemonade” RS500 “to demand contrition from her adulterous partner, assert her excellence, reflect upon the bonds with the men in her life, and their relationships with other women, and wonders if her trust can be earned back.” AMG She announces on the album, “Nine times out of 10 I’m in my feelings.” RS500 However, this album goes beyond the anger and hurt of a woman scorned. This is an “expansive and personal statement, tapping into marital breakdown and the state of the nation.” RS500 The song cycle explores “her husband’s infidelity in a generational and racial context.” WK “It was a different side than she’d shown before, raging over infidelity and jealousy, but reveling in the militant-feminist-funk strut of Formation.” RS500 Melina Matsoukas, who directed that song’s video, said Beyoncé “wanted to show the historical impact of slavery on black love, and what it has done to the black family, and black men and women – how we’re almost socialized not to be together.” WK Musically, Beyoncé is “claiming her place in all of America’s music traditions.” RS500 The album is rooted in R&B, but also incorporates Americana, blues, country, electronica, funk, gospel, hip-hop, reggae, rock, soul, and trap. WK She drew inspiration from female black singers including Bessie Smith, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Memphis Minnie, and Dionne Warwick. WK The album samples and interpolates a number of hip-hop and rock songs and also includes guest spots from James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, and Jack White. WK There is “an apparent disregard for appealing to commercial radio that makes Lemonade a distinct addition to her catalog.” AMG It was, in fact, dropped “as a Saturday-night surprise, knocking the world sideways.” RS500 However, the album was not only commercially successful, but the most acclaimed of her career, WK landing a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and winning for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Music Video. It was named Album of the Year by Rolling Stone and Dave’s Music Database. In 2020, Pitchfork’s Marc Hogan called oit one of the great art pop albums of the last 20 years. WK The Associated Press named it the album of the decade. WK “The cathartic and wounded moments here resonate in a manner matched by few, if any, of Beyoncé's contemporaries.” AMG “There’s more power in the few seconds she chokes back tears while singing ‘Come back’ – timed with the backing vocal in Isaac Hayes’ version of ‘Walk on By’ – than there is in most contemporary ballads.” AMG Lemonade can “be heard as the dark flipside of [previous album] Beyoncé. When ‘Dishes smashed on the counter’ is bleakly observed, just before ‘Pictures snatched out the frame/Bitch, I scratched out your name and face’ is delivered with seething wrath, it’s hard to not flash back to ‘Drunk in Love,’ in which the presumably same couple were revelrous in the same room.” AMG “She sometimes eclipses herself in terms of raw emotion, as on the throttling…Don’t Hurt Yourself,” AMG a “blues metal with Jack White.” RS500 He said, “she took just sort of a sketch of a lyrical outline and turned it into the most bodacious, vicious, incredible song.” WK The song uses an excerpt from a Malcolm X speech and samples Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks,” a song originally performed by Memphis Minnie that referenced the displacement of hundreds of thousands of African Americans during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. WK That song and Daddy Lessons, on which she goes “outlaw country,” RS500 illustrate how genres established by African Americans are now seen predominantly as white music. WK “After the first three-quarters play out in compelling if somewhat erratic fashion, Lemonade closes with a torrid stretch. Freedom is a marching anthem of resilience and preservation, produced by Just Blaze with a glowing guest verse from Kendrick Lamar.” AMG “All Night is a tangle of emotions and hints at reconciliation, facilitated by the horns from OutKast’s ‘Spottie Ottie Dopaliscious.’ And then, at last, there's the strutting ‘Formation,’ simultaneously a tack-on and an ideal finale, where Beyoncé delights in her blackness, femininity, and Southern origin with supreme wordplay.” AMG Notes: The streaming edition of the album included a demo of “Sorry.” A sixty-five minute film aired on HBO which featured 11 chapters which corresponded to the songs on the album. It was released as a second disc to Lemonade.

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Andy Kellman RS500 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 9/24/2020; last updated 4/21/2022.

50 years ago: The Rolling Stones “Under My Thumb” released

Under My Thumb The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Mick Jagger, Keith Richards (see lyrics here) Released: April 15, 1966 (album cut on Aftermath) Peak: 3 CL, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 12.2 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Rolling Stones formed in London in 1962. Over the next four years, they established themselves as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time with six #1 songs in the UK, including “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Get Off of My Cloud,” and “Paint It Black,” which hit #1 in the U.S. as well. By the release of 1966’s Aftermath, the group had released three albums in the UK and five in the U.S. The track listing for Aftermath differed between the UK and U.S. versions. For example, “Mother’s Little Helper” only appeared on the UK version while “Paint It Black” was only on the U.S. version. However, there were some songs that were featured on both versions. One of those was “Under My Thumb.” While the song was never released as a single, it was popular enough to become a mainstay on compilations and live albums from the Stones. As with most of the Stones’ songs, this one was written by singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. The song features fuzz bass lines from Bill Wyman and Brian Jones plays the song’s most prominent hook on marimba. WK Nick Reynolds, who co-produced the documentatry Rolling Stone: Life and Death of Brian Jones said “he makes the arrangement that turns this song into a timeless classic.” SF Lyrically, Jagger “celebrates the success of finally having controlled and gained leverage over a previously, pushy, dominating woman.” WK The song has been attacked as anti-feminist although Jagger has tried to downplay it as “a jokey number…a caricature.” WK Salt Lake Tribune writer Terry Orme called it the Stones “at their offensive best.” WK “Under My Thumb” also gained notoriety as the song the group was playing at the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969 when fan Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by a member of the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club who were serving as security guards. The song has been covered by Terence Trent D’Arby, Wayne Gibson (#17 UK, 1974) Susanna Hoffs, Del Shannon, Social Distortion, and Tina Turner (#80 AU, 1975). The Who recorded it in 1967 and released it as a single in support of the Stones’ being busted for drug possession. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Rolling Stones SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 3/19/2023.

Sturgill Simpson released A Sailor’s Guide to Earth

A Sailor’s Guide to Earth Sturgill Simpson

Released: April 16, 2016 Peak: 3 US, 11 CW, 43 UK, 31 CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 0.22 US Genre: country

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) Breakers Roar Keep It Between the Lines (1/30/17, --) Sea Stories In Bloom (3/24/16, 48 CW) Brace for Impact (Live a Little) (3/3/16, 23 AA) All Around You Oh Sarah Call to Arms Total Running Time: 38:54

Rating: 4.153 out of 5.00 (average of 33 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Sturgill Simpson’s debut album, 2013’s High Top Mountain, suggested his “retro sensibilities…seemed to be rooted solely in outlaw country; he swaggered like the second coming of Waylon Jennings, a man on a mission to restore muscle and drama to country music.” AMG Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, his 2014 sophomore release, “dragged ‘outlaw country’ into modern times with acid-tongued clarity and a world-weary sense of humor.” PF It “was a curve ball revealing just how unorthodox his rulebook was. Sturgill embraced indulgence, pushing new wave, psychedelia, and digital-age saturation, all in an attempt to add the cosmic back into American music.” AMG “Its perspective was so refreshing that other like-minded albums” PF such as Chris Stapleton’s Traveller took off as well. “While Simpson could have easily milked a few records out of that glum sound and guaranteed industry adulations for decades, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth represents a startling change in tone and presents a wealth of rewards for every creative risk.” PF It “is such a rearrangement of Simpson’s sonic universe that any previous categorization now seems out of date.” PF “Instead of…finding a voice in classic country – Simpson himself smirks at the notion that he is a modern Waylon Jennings…Simpson is doing something far more difficult.” PF On the previous album, he tackled a cover of the late-‘80s new wave hit “The Promise” by When in Rome. Here he performs a similarly astonishing “countrypolitan Nirvana cover” PF of In Bloom. This is “an old-fashioned concept album, one that tells a story.” AMG “Simpson draws from his time in the Navy, where he was stationed in Japan, and the record is framed as a sailor’s letter home to his wife and newborn son” PF “telling him how to become a man.” AMG “It’s a deeply personal album” PF “loosely based on a letter his grandfather wrote his grandmother” PF which “displays an artistic growth that defies any sort of easy label” PF “while establishing Simpson as the defining songwriter of his class.” PF Musically, he crafts songs “that veer closer to soul than country.” AMG Simpson is “equally attracted to the symphonic haze of progressive folk and the boundary-blurring soul of Muscle Shoals, using its thick swathes of horns and smears of slide guitar as binding agents.” AMG “The instrumentation on songs like Keep It Between the Lines – much of it provided by Sharon Jones’ backing bad, the Dap-King – is denser, bolder, and more rhythmic than anything Simpson has steered previously.” PF He also makes “room for more contemplative moments like the tender ballad Oh Sarah. On Sea Stories, Simpson shouts “‘Get high, play a little GoldenEye / That old 64!’ like he’s fondly remembering an old Cadillac—while taking a completely different journey.” PF “The result is a beautiful and earnest record.” PF

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sturgill Simpson AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine PF Pitchfork WK Wikipedia First posted 4/29/2022.