Showing posts with label Paul Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Williams. Show all posts

Friday, December 18, 2015

50 years ago: The Beatles “Day Tripper” hit #1 in UK

Day Tripper

The Beatles

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

Released: December 3, 1965

First Charted: December 11, 1965

Peak: 5 US, 10 CB, 12 HR, 2 CL, 15 UK, 17 AU (Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 15.2 video, -- streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

In the UK, “We Can Work It Out” and “Day Tripper” were released as a double-A-sided, stand-alone single in the UK, where it hit #1. In the United States, the songs were treated separately. John Lennon wanted his song, “Day Tripper,” to be the A-side, but “We Can Work It Out” was pegged as “the safer, friendlier song” SG with more commercial appeal. The former was a chart-topper in the U.S., but “Day Tripper” fared just fine, reaching #5. Both songs were then released on the U.S.-only album Yesterday…and Today in June 1966.

As was often the case, Paul McCartney wrote “We Can Work It Out” with more focus on the melody while “the Lennon-written ripper ‘Day Tripper’” SG is an example of what John called “straight, shouting rock ‘n’ roll.” FB The song “rocks harder, playing around with the ferocity that the Beatles’ new competitors the Rolling Stones were bringing” SG although there’s still “there’s a neatness, a pertness about this band on this record.” FT

In addition to the “big, heavy riff” SG the song also represented one of the band’s “creative attempts to smuggle drugs and sex into their songs…’She’s a big teaser, she’s a day tripper,’ subtle stuff there lads! The song’s a frustrated goodbye, but who’d really blame a girl for having fun with boys whose eagerness to please is so apparent?” FT

While John wrote the song, it was sung jointly by him and Paul. The “arrangement is a homage to Stax Records.” KL Interestingly, Otis Redding covered that song as well as the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” telling friends (falsely) that he wrote both songs. KL

Resources:

  • DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Beatles
  • DMDB page for “We Can Work It Out”
  • FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 191.
  • FT FreakyTrigger.co.uk (5/17/2005). “Popular (UK #1 Singles)” by Tom Ewing
  • KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh. (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits. Omnibus Press: London, UK. Pages 116-7.
  • SG Stereogum (8/24/2018). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan

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First posted 6/23/2022.

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Friday, March 6, 2015

50 years ago: The Temptations hit #1 with “My Girl”

My Girl

The Temptations

Writer(s): William “Smokey” Robinson/Ronnie White (see lyrics here)

Released: December 21, 1964

First Charted: January 9, 1965

Peak: 11 US, 2 CB, 5 GR, 3 HR, 27 AC, 16 RB, 2 UK, 8 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.6 UK, 2.6 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 101.68 video, 685.02 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Smokey Robinson’s body of work is impressive enough to have earned him praise from Bob Dylan as one of “America’s greatest living poets.” FB With his group, the Miracles, Smokey gifted the world with such iconic hits as “Shop Around,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” and “The Tears of a Clown.” However, some of his biggest hits were for other Motown acts, including Mary Wells’ #1 “My Guy” and the Temptations’ “My Girl.”

Smokey wrote the latter about his wife, Claudette, SF with Ronald White. All three were members of the Miracles and naturally Smokey intended his group to record it. When the Temptations heard it, though, they begged Robinson for the song. RS500

He relented, having already been looking for something for the Temptations’ “throaty tenor David Ruffin” RS500 to “belt out” WK that was also “melodic and sweet.” WK Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks had assumed lead vocal duties for the group; Kendricks even sang lead on the Smokey Robinson-penned “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” However, when Smokey saw the Temps perform as part of a collective tour of the Motown roster, he determined Ruffin was the group’s “sleeping giant.” WK

Robinson’s hunch proved right. Not only did “My Girl” become a #1 in the hands of David Ruffin, but it gave the Temptations their signature song. Ruffin stepped out front as the primary lead singer after that. SF The song is so tied to the Temptations that the group evoked boos from their audiences when they tried cutting it from their set. NPR

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First posted 3/6/2013; last updated 2/3/2023.

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

DJ Alan Freed hosted the first rock ‘n’ roll show: March 21, 1952





The first Moondog Coronation Ball was held in Cleveland. The event is generally considered the first rock ‘n’ roll show in the U.S. Featured acts included a mix of black and white performers intended to attract a racially mixed audience. Among the acts were Paul Williams’ Hucklebuckers, Tiny Grimes’ Rockin’ Highlanders (featuring Screamin’ Jay Hawkins), The Dominoes, and Danny Cobb. At the time, nearly all performances, radio stations, and record labels were racially segregated.



DJ Alan Freed, who conceived and promoted the event, is credited with coining the term “rock and roll.” The event took its name from “Moondoggers” – the nickname he gave his listeners. Freed came to Cleveland’s WXEL-TV in April 1950 and began his late-night, rock-n-roll-themed Moondog show on WJW radio in July 1951. He went to New York in 1954 and left the business in 1959 after involvement in a payola scandal. He died in 1965 at age 43.





The event, held at the Cleveland Arena, proved a bit of a fiasco as promoters continued selling tickets long after they’d reached the venue’s roughly-10,000 seat capacity. At least some of the additional tickets have been attributed to counterfeiting. It was estimated that 20,000 fans showed up. When they couldn’t get in, the crowd broke down the doors to storm the arena. Local authorities shut down the concert after the first song for fear of rioting.

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Wednesday, December 1, 1993

Paul Williams Rock and Roll: The 100 Best Singles

Paul Williams:

Rock and Roll: The 100 Best Singles

Paul Williams, the founder of American rock music magazine Crawdaddy!, picks what he considers the 100 best singles of rock and roll. Instead of being ranked, the songs are presented in chronological order.

Click here to see other lists from critics and individuals and here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations.

  1. Robert Johnson “Terraplane Blues” (1936)
  2. Muddy Waters “Rollin’ Stone” (1950)
  3. Little Richard “Tutti Frutti” (1955)
  4. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
  5. Little Willie John “Fever” (1956)
  6. The Five Satins “In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember)” (1956)
  7. Bo Diddley “Mona” (1957)
  8. Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (1957)
  9. Buddy Holly & the Crickets “Peggy Sue” (1957)
  10. Danny & the Juniors “At the Hop” (1957)

  11. Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)
  12. The Everly Brothers “All I Have to Do Is Dream” (1958)
  13. The Bell Notes “I’ve Had It” (1959)
  14. Johnny & the Hurricanes “Crossfire” (1959)
  15. Chuck Berry “Memphis, Tennessee” (1959)
  16. Del Shannon “Runaway” (1961)
  17. Ben E. King “Stand by Me” (1961)
  18. The Miracles “I’ll Try Something New” (1962)
  19. The Duprees “You Belong to Me” (1962)
  20. The Beatles “Please Please Me” (1963)

  21. The Jaynetts “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” (1963)
  22. The Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (1963)
  23. The Beach Boys “Fun, Fun, Fun” (1964)
  24. The Beach Boys “I Get Around” / “Don’t Worry Baby” (1964)
  25. Martha & the Vandellas “Dancing in the Street” (1964)
  26. The Kinks “You Really Got Me” (1964)
  27. Them “Gloria” / “Baby Please Don’t Go” (1964)
  28. Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come” (1964)
  29. The Who “I Can’t Explain” (1965)
  30. The Rolling Stones “The Last Time” (1965)

  31. Bob Dylan “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (1965)
  32. The Beatles “Ticket to Ride” (1965)
  33. The Byrds “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)
  34. The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)
  35. Wilson Picket “In the Midnight Hour” (1965)
  36. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
  37. The Beatles “Day Tripper” (1965)
  38. The Miracles “Going to a Go-Go” (1965)
  39. Shades of Blue “Oh How Happy” (1966)
  40. Ike & Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” (1966)

  41. The Four Tops “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (1966)
  42. Eddie Floyd “Knock on Wood” (1966)
  43. The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” (1966)
  44. Spencer Davis Group “Gimme Some Lovin’” (1966)
  45. Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth” (1967)
  46. Aretha Franklin “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You” (1967)
  47. The Miracles “The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage” (1967)
  48. The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” (1967)
  49. The Doors “The Crystal Ship” (1967)
  50. The Beach Boys “Heroes and Villains” (1967)

  51. Van Morrison “Brown-Eyed Girl” (1967)
  52. Jackie Wilson “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher” (1967)
  53. The Who “I Can See for Miles” (1967)
  54. Otis Redding “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” (1968)
  55. The Who “Magic Bus” (1968)
  56. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)
  57. The Grateful Dead “Dark Star” (1968)
  58. The Beatles “Hey Jude” (1968)
  59. Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
  60. The Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women” / “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (1969)

  61. Creedence Clearwater Revival “Green River” (1969)
  62. The Velvet Underground “Foggy Notion” (1969)
  63. Sly & the Family Stone “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin” (1969)
  64. James Brown “Get Up, I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine” (1970)
  65. Joe Simon “Drowning in the Sea of Love” (1971)
  66. The Rolling Stones “All Down the Line” (1972)
  67. Bob Dylan “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (1973)
  68. Bachman-Turner Overdrive “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (1974)
  69. Bob Marley & the Wailers “No Woman, No Cry” (1974)
  70. Bob Dylan “Hurricane” (1975)

  71. Patti Smith “Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)” (1976)
  72. Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976)
  73. Television “Marquee Moon” (1977)
  74. James Taylor “Handy Man” (1977)
  75. The Modern Lovers “Roadrunner” (1977)
  76. Sex Pistols “Holidays in the Sun” (1977)
  77. Queen “We Will Rock You” / “We Are the Champions” (1977)
  78. The Only Ones “Another Girl, Another Planet” (1978)
  79. Talking Heads “Take Me to the River” (1978)
  80. Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing” (1978)

  81. Anita Ward “Ring My Bell” (1979)
  82. Lipps Inc. “Funkytown” (1979)
  83. Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (1980)
  84. Yoko Ono “Walking on Thin Ice” (1981)
  85. R.E.M. “Radio Free Europe” (1981)
  86. Prince “When You Were Mine” (1981)
  87. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five “The Message” (1982)
  88. Modern English “I Melt with You” (1982)
  89. U2 “New Year’s Day” (1983)

  90. George Clinton “Atomic Dog” (1983)
  91. Pretenders “Middle of the Road’ (1983)
  92. Prince “When Doves Cry” (1984)
  93. U2 “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (1984)
  94. Tears for Fears “Shout” (1984)
  95. Tramaine “Fall Down” (1985)
  96. Peter Gabriel “Sledgehammer” (19866)
  97. R.E.M. “The One I Love” (1987)
  98. The Waterboys “Fisherman’s Blues” (1988)
  99. Neil Young “Rockin’ in the Free World” (1989)
  100. Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)

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First posted 4/1/2021; last updated 3/26/2023.

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Saturday, September 23, 1989

Neil Young “Rockin’ in the Free World” charted

Rockin’ in the Free World

Neil Young

Writer(s): Neil Young (see lyrics here)

Released: November 14, 1989

First Charted: September 23, 1989

Peak: 2 AR, 39 CN, 5 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): --

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.6 video, -- streaming

Awards (Neil Young):

Click on award for more details.

Awards (Pearl Jam):

Click on award for more details.

Awards (Indigo Girls):

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Some music fans don’t want to see politics in rock ‘n’ roll, but “artists like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have woven politics seamlessly into the fabric of their music, chronicling the American condition over decades. And anger has always been part of the backbone of rock music, whether the singer’s angry at the government, another man, or a girl who’s done him wrong.” UCR

“When the result is a barnburner like Neil Young ‘Rockin’ in the Free World,’ it’s hard to deny the value of self-righteous rage when it comes to penning a classic tune.” UCR “Young captured that anger perfectly with ‘Ohio’ in the wake of the Kent State shootings in 1970, and he did it again in 1989.” UCR “There may be no better explosion of rage on record than ‘Rockin’ in the Free World.’” UCR “It feels like decades of rage over every betrayal of the American promise, spitting out line by line and lick by lick over three and a half minutes.” UCR

“Whatever your political leanings, there’s plenty to love about this track, not least of which is the simple gut-punch riff that churns throughout the tune. Young shreds away at his guitar with the ferocity of a pissed-off teenager in his garage, spitting out words that were a scathing indictment of America under George H.W. Bush, but seem timeless decades years later, especially when his attention turns to a baby in the arms of a poor drug addict living on the streets: ‘There’s one more kid / That will never go to school / Never get to fall in love / Never get to be cool.’” UCR

The song has been widely covered by other artists including the Alarm, Pearl Jam, Indigo Girls, and Bon Jovi. On my personal charts, Pearl Jam and Indigo Girls each got to #1 with their versions.

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First posted 7/31/2022.

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