Similar Themes, Episode 1: Mexico. Young Ladies. Rockers.

I present to you two songs with at least a couple things in common.  Perhaps they both come from a long line of tradition, but I just find the similarities to be intriguing, since they're by bands often discussed in this here Buh-log-uh.


1) What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round--The Monkees (1967)

2)Mexicali Blues--Bob Weir (Grateful Dead) (1972)


Style: TexMex. Two-step. (Which has its roots in polka, doncha know!)
Theme: Man goes down to Mexico for some fun with the ladies. Finds it, but at a price.
Structure: Verse Chorus Verse Chorus etc
Main difference between the two..: ...is pretty much the main difference between the two bands. I.E., The Monkees had to keep it clean and under 3 minutes. The Dead could afford to add more detail and color to the story. And solos (although the studio version features a Mariachi band playing the riff).

What Am I Doin' Hangin 'Round--rated PG

 

Nez kind of doing that Bob Weir neck thing (thanks to monkee-obsessed.tumblr.com/)

"What Am I Doin' Hangin' Round?" was written by Michael Martin Murphey and recorded by The Monkees for their fourth (and best?) album, Pisces Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones. Murphey was an old Texan friend of Michael Nesmith, and briefly had a band with Nesmith and John London called The Trinity River Boys. He moved from Texas to Los Angeles right around the time Nesmith did, with the same goal: make it in the music scene. He formed a band called The Lewis and Clarke Expedition, which had moderate success. But his biggest pay day came when Nesmith requested his old friend write a song for The Monkees.
"What Am I Doin' Hangin' Round?" is often wrongly thought to be a Nesmith song, since he sings it, and since it's another early slice of country rock, the likes of which Nesmith had been providing on all the other Monkees albums. Nesmith has called it a "new wave country rock song" because of a tricky chord or two that are thrown in among the otherwise predictable, traditional chord changes (a change from I major to VI minor, for you musician types..)
Nesmith is the only Monkee on the recording, singing and playing 12 string guitar. Though Peter Tork was/is an excellent banjo player, Nesmith chose to ask Doug Dillard (of The Dillards, and some others you may have heard of...) to put his magic on it. Peter does do a nice job pretending to play on it in the video below....

In any case, let's get to the story.

Just a loud mouth Yankee I went down to Mexico.
I didn't have much time to spend, about a week or so.
There I lightly took advantage of a girl who loved me so.
But I found myself a-thinkin' when the time had come to go...





The narrator, an American, takes a leisurely trip south of the border. We don't know why, but from what he's told us, part of the reason was to get with some young Mexican ladies. He "lightly took advantage" of a girl who loved him so. That he took advantage of her probably means that the word "loved" means "had sexual relations with" rather than "was in love with". Unless she loved him and he was just drunk and randy. But it all seems a bit one-night-ish. Especially, since...

CHORUS:
What am I doin' hangin' round?
I should be on that train and gone.
I should be ridin' on that train to San Antone,
What am I doin' hangin' round?

He's quite aware that things will get a bit sticky if he stays in Mexico too long. We don't need any broken hearts, or for an angry boyfriend to suddenly appear. We'll have to wait for the next song for that. So, best to split while the splittin's good.

She took me to the garden just for a little walk.
I didn't know much Spanish and there was no time for talk.
Then she told me that she loved me not with words but with a kiss.
And like a fool I kept on thinkin' of a train I could not miss...

Now we're back in our story, as he recounts his time with la Senorita. We see that the language barrier didn't make much of a difference since talking isn't what either of them had on their minds. Young ladies can be delusional, especially when making out with a groovy American rocker. And groovy American rockers think nothing of being cold and indifferent when it comes to breaking the hearts of strange girls who profess their love. So, he's all "thaaat's cute. well, hey, uh, I gotta split, um, that was fun. I'll call you."

Well it's been a year or so, and I want to go back again.
And if I get the money, well I'll ride the same old train.
But I guess your chances come but once and boy I sure missed mine.
And still I can't stop thinkin' when I hear some whistle cryin'....

Well, now we see that the Mexican girl indeed, in their brief time together, put a spell on our hero. So much so, that he wants to go back and find her. Language barrier or not. Possible jealous boyfriend or not. She has just not left his mind. Despite his resolve to go back, he also has one foot in reality, as he thinks that he missed his one chance with this love of his life. Will he be doomed to live a lonely life? Or take his heartbreak out on other unsuspecting girls as he takes them "for a little walk"?
All we can assume is that on some nights he cries like that train whistle for the one that got away.




Mexicali Blues--rated R

Bob Weir,  doing that Bob Weir thing, 1972

Bob Weir stood out in a band of misfits by appearing to be the one somewhat conventional guy in the band. He's handsome, looks like he actually looked in a mirror before going onstage (80's taste in clothes notwithstanding), and interacted with the audience while the others shoegazed/stared off into space/at each other. But conventional he is not (however much he may try). A dislexic prep-school drop out from wealthy step parents,  he more or less learned to play on the job (he was 17 when the band started) and his guitar technique was shaped by playing with bandmates who paid little heed to rock and roll tradition. Thus, even the rock and roll or country songs that Weir loved to cover were filtered through the hazy and "inbred" (Weir's word for it) lense of The Grateful Dead as a band.
From the start, Weir loved to cover country songs at the Dead's shows, and thus, until the band's demise in 1995, there was a 50% chance that the audience would be "treated" to a "Cowboy Bob Section" during the first set:  "The Race is On", "El Paso", "Mama Tried", "Me and My Uncle", "Big River" or his own "Mexicali Blues" (music by Weir, lyrics by his trusty wordsman, John Perry Barlowe), sometimes played by themselves, sometimes in a medley. After, say, 1982, these parts of the show usually found the band on autopilot.  Pretty hard to play convincing country when your guitars and keyboards are all running through MIDI processors. But otherwise, not much in the Weir canon to choose from (he and Barlowe weren't as prolific as Garcia and Hunter).
If he really was courageous, The Dead would have covered "What Am I Doin' Hangin' Round" and probably would have gotten away with it. 

So, let's cross the border again. This time, via California. And get ready for some more racy adventures....


Laid back in an old saloon, with a peso in my hand,
Watchin flies and children on the street,
And I catch a glimpse of black-eyed girls who giggle when I smile,
There's a little boy who wants to shine my feet.

Pretty good set up, nice snapshot. But of course, "...shine my feet"?? Perhaps they kept that for comic effect. Or maybe Bob's bare hippie feet are so filthy that the boy thinks he's wearing shoes.


And it's three days ride from bakersfield and I don't know why I came.
I guess I came to keep from payin dues.
So instead Ive got a bottle and a girl whos just fourteen,
And a damn good case of the mexicali blues. 

Whereas our hero in the Monkees song arrived from San Antonio, TX, in this song he's come from Bakersfield, CA (it's Mexicali, after all).
Class, take note of the rhyming of "dues" and "blues". Now, this was made illegal in 1980, along with rhyming "blues" with "choose" and especially "shoes". There's no real penalty for it, however you can be sure that there's no reward either.
And now let's get to the element of this song that gives this song its R rating. "..a bottle and a girl that's just 14". So he comes to Mexico, doesn't know why he's there, so decides to get drunk and find himself a young'n.

CHORUS: 
Is there anything a man don't stand to lose,
When the devil wants to take it all away?
Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze,
Cause thinkin and drinkin are all I have today.

Nice singalong chorus, goes to a comfortable place, musically. But lyrically, what's this "devil" he's singing about? Ain't no talk about no devil previously. Perhaps it's a sign of things to come.
Oh, and class: "booze" and "lose" are pretty close to done too. As is "thinkin"/"drinkin".
Remember, this was 1972. Only 1,500 songs had used these rhymes. Today it's up to 7,550. Please help the population growth.

She said her name was billy jean and she was fresh in town.
I didn't know a stage line ran from hell.
She had raven hair, a ruffled dress, a necklace made of gold,
All the french perfume you'd care to smell.

Some questions arise here. This 14 year old is named Billy Jean? Not very Mexican sounding. Fresh in town? From where?  Is this a 14 year old runaway he's canoodling with? Perhaps he should be calling Social Services--not passing the time with her.
In the second line: I always thought he said "state line"--like border. I don't know what a "stage line" is. But here we find that Billy Jean is the devil he speaks of. Really? A 14 year old runaway is the devil? You call yourself a man?
I do like the "raven hair" description--pretty--although a few years later, Barlowe describes a woman as "raven dressed" (in "I Need a Miracle").
And the rest of the description paints a pretty horrid picture--even our hero seems to think so. Still....

 She took me up into her room and whispered in my ear,
Go on, my friend, do anything you choose.
Now I'm payin' for those happy hours I spent there in her arms,
With a lifetimes worth of the mexicali blues.

Contrast the first line here with the start of the second verse in "What Am I Doin..."
Here, in Mexicali, these two are bypassing the garden and getting straight to business. But wait:  a 14 year old has her own room in a town she just moved to?...but how...but I thought....Ohhh.. A lady of the evening! No wonder she's inviting our hero to "do anything you choose". And he does. And he enjoys it. But now, as he tells this story, he's filled with remorse. Is it innocent heartache as described in the Monkees song? Something tells me "no".  A disease perhaps. Or a child? Let's push on and see...

And then a man rode into town, some thought he was the law.Billy jean was waitin when he came.
She told me he would take her, if I didn't use my gun,
Id have no one but myself to blame.

Ok, ok. We've seen this movie before. In fact, we've seen this in a Monkees episode before! There's one with a very similar script--A Nice Place to Visit--Davy falls in love with "Angelita" and her tough man "El Diablo" challenges him to a "dual of honor".  My step son loves this episode. Here. Dig the first two minutes. It's funny.







I went down to those dusty streets, blood was on my mind.
I guess that stranger hadnt heard the news
Cause I shot first and killed him, lord, he didn't even draw
And he made me trade the gallows for the mexicali blues.


And now the violence. This is a turn that "What Am I Doin.." doesn't dare take. First off, there's no other man in The Monkees song, so there's no one to challenge to a duel.
"News", "Blues" blah blah.
So he kills Billy Jean's boyfriend, and for what?  There's really no honor in this guy's tale. He bangs a 14 year old prostitute, kills her boyfriend and runs back home ahead of the law. Woo! Awesome! Jackass....

Catchy tune though! And you can two-step to it!

Red Letter, Black Sweater--a poem, dedicated to two songs

In summer/fall of 1990, I finally got my first CD player, and first few CDs. I was 17, senior in high school, a bit tripped out, love sick and mad for drumming.

I was fully ensconced in the alternative/college music of the day, and had been for over a year, after finally shedding my "all 1965-72" obsession. Thus, the music that appealed most to me was the stuff that did "that thing" to one's head; that thing that was ingrained in the best of the old stuff that I'd listened to. That thing that traveled the road from brain to soul and back again. And yet, made me feel that I was in the here and now. 

Two songs that I was obsessed with, and that still, to this day, can put me exactly in a certain time and place, were "Blown Away", by The Pixies (from Bossa Nova) and "Disappearer" by Sonic Youth (from Goo). I used to like listening to the two songs back to back and just get into a real deep place. This was without any external aid. Just the music.

What is it about these two songs? Each have chord progressions that invite you to hop on board, like a cosmic skateboard flying by. The songs seem to both be waking from a dream.The melodies buzz and flicker like fireflies, singing words that tell vague, dream-like tales that are open to interpretation. The lead vocals both have a distance and reverb that suggest isolation--even disembodiment. They seem to be broadcasting from another plane.

In any case, for a little while, I've been wanting to pay tribute to these two songs in a song or short story. I wanted to refer to them within a scene that somewhat captures a brief, magical time in my youth.  This morning I thought about it again and decided a poem might do it best. After all, there's no real story to tell, in these songs or in my remembrance. It's just images, distorted memories. A mindset that, 21 years later, seems mummified and encased in glass. Dead but examinable.

Thanks to Mr. Moore and Mr. Black for infiltrating my teenage mind with such magic. Who'd have thought I could now say I've played gigs with them? But that's beside the point. And kind of depressing.

So...poem.


Red Letter, Black Sweater       6 June, 2011

Who were those birds that attacked you
and sent you to my door
a quarter mile away, in tears,
heaving and birthing soggy, defenseless words
that dream of escape velocity
stumbling dazed out of your mouth
holding up pictures of lost loved ones.

If you were flightless, then I am more so
If that is impossible then I'll be the exception
just so your highness remains intact
just so the chick stays warm, doesn't crack
you're fine, so long as I crack more
A time-tested method to send you home happy

Later I'll don a sweater of yours
I should have already returned
Pack a cassette tape and a clove
someone had left on the passengers seat
Fifty eight degrees, light wind, sky sleeping grey
Trees, arthritic, spitting out the final dead leaves
Undignified, they ignored last call
Now no hope for a pretty corpse
They once spoke of martyrdom and myth

I know the hill you described.
I don't know how it feels to be bombarded
By scared, possessive mothers
I've not known that kind of dedication
I can see water towers, crows, small planes
The clove and tobacco take over smell and taste
Headphones transmit two songs I rewind
and play a few times in a row, back to back

"Blown Away" and "Disappearer"
were both fairly new
and soothed me as the dazed, tired voices
resigned in their isolated life stations
and fuzzy soundscapes
melded with the tattered black wool sleeve
I clutched in my right hand
The words were read to me, two or three times over
I inhaled my name, exhaled a handshake
and signed a contract made of smoke
A lifetime of sound, mood, weather
and detachment so apparent
A mother bird need not bother

"Ho hum. I’m as good as bunnies – and you know how good bunnies are." *

*(the author of that brilliant quote will be revealed at the end)

Are you like me? Do you wish you were playing music right now, but can't because you had a hernia operation a few days ago? I thought so. See? We're a lot alike. I knew that the minute I saw you.

These fancy-free, pain-filled days of recuperating, I have no idea how I'll feel physically when I wake up, or what will strike my fancy to while away the hours. Today, my first thought was "I feel like reading an interview with Charlie Watts".

One thing led to another and I discovered a site I never knew of before, which has a treasure trove (I've never used that term) of exclusive interviews.

Some good bits, in case you aren't recuperating from a hernia and don't have the time to wade:


Jimi Hendrix (Jan 1967): ...it’s so embarrassing, man, when America is sending over the Monkees – oh, God, that kills me! I’m so embarrassed that America could be so stupid as to make somebody like that. They could have at least done it with a group that has something to offer. They got groups in the States starving to death trying to get breaks and then these fairies come up.


(Where's That Sound note: hee hee! little did he know he'd be touring with them 6 months later!)

Jimi Hendrix (November 1967):
Q: What do you think about the commercial pop scene right now?

A: [Simulates a confused stutter] Well, have you heard the Marmalade and their record “I See the Rain”? I don’t understand why that wasn’t a hit.

(Where's that Sound Note: I don't either. But Matthew Sweet and Susannah Hoffs covered it a few years back, which was a cool thing to do. Here's the original...)








Charlie Watts (1994):  Ginger Baker was a much better drummer than John Bonham, if you really want to know about drumming. Ginger Baker is the best drummer to emigrate out of England.

and Charlie again:

(I) Can’t count, really. I must be one of the few drummers in the world who make a living at it who can’t take what’s called “fours and eights.”

(Charlie also repeatedly refers to Prince's "1999" as "1991" :) So, yes, do work on counting, Charlie. )



Lastly, speaking of rock and roll architects admitting that they're merely talentless hacks, 


Jerry Garcia (1985): 

I’ve got nothing but limitations! I mean, I’m limited by everything. I’m limited by my technique. I’m limited by my background. I’m limited by my education. I’m limited by the things I’ve heard. I’m limited by all that stuff. I’m limited by being a human being.

Q: Are you satisfied with your accomplishments and your career?

A: Not at all. No. No, no, no, no, no. I still think of myself as someone trying to learn how to play the guitar. If I learn how to play the guitar, I’ll be really happy.
 
 Q: Why do you think you’ve attracted such a loyal following?

A:  ...I blame the general low quality of life, you know.

Garcia "at his absolute nadir", Jan 1985

Note: 
The Garcia article may be the best (with him) I've ever read. Not only is he living in a friend's basement, and has cocaine dust on his tshirt (visible in the cover shot -!!-), but, unbeknownst to him, he's days away from 1) the band holding an intervention in that very house and 2) getting busted for freebasing in his BMW in Golden Gate Park.
Nontheless, the interview is fascinating, with Jerry giving his views of everyone from Django to Dire Straits to Van Halen, his personal strengths and weaknesses (mostly the latter) and lots of guitar-dork talk that means little to me.
Also, you see the charmingly self-loathing personality with the world on his shoulders that really is the perfect recipe for a bad substance abuse problem. Check it out.


* The bunny quote is from the November 1967 interview with Jimi Hendrix. Awesome. 

Reframing....The Doors. A friendly, light pop group.

I have a past with The Doors. I guess I shouldn't be ashamed, because a lot of people do, and a lot of people have never gotten over their Doors Phase. But they were my first seriously favorite band, beginning in 6th grade, when I asked for The Best of The Doors on cassette for my birthday. A year later, I had listened to everything they'd released, read two books about them,  and had a big Morrison poster greeting me when I walked into my room (and sometimes freaking me out at night). Also, I learned to play the drums by drumming on my bed along with all The Doors' albums. By the end of 8th grade I was pretty much off The Doors and onto other things.

These days, there will be maybe one or two random days per year where I'll suddenly have an inkling to listen to ten or twelve Doors songs. This year, when I was compiling a playlist from the Doors on my iTunes (and I've pretty much amassed most of the studio stuff over the last few years, via one source or another), I realized that all the songs I wanted to hear were the ballads/bubblegum/lite jazz-pop songs from each album. I thought how funny it is that so many "easy listening" songs were recorded by a band whose legacy is DEEPDARKDANGEROUS.


I thought it'd be fun to share this playlist, along with some pictures showing the band in a friendlier light.


So, let's now step into Brian's Revision Machine and check out this band called The Doors.
Have you heard them? They were like this soft pop band from LA who were pretty good, despite the somewhat cheesy sex symbol front guy, Jimmy. He was kind of like their Davy Jones, but he did write some good lyrics occasionally, when he wasn't busy getting kissed on the cheek by teeny boppers and making them scream. They broke up after 5 years when Jimmy wanted The Doors to do a semi permanent Vegas residency, a la Elvis. He figured, if Elvis could get fat and still be loved by that audience, well then, he could too. So he went solo, but was eaten by a giant lizard on his way to his first gig in Vegas. Or did he? The legend continues....

 The Doors--20 Solid Gold Smash Hits

1. Twentieth century fox--The Doors 
2. The Crystal Ship--The Doors    
3. I Looked at You--The Doors 
4. Unhappy Girl    Strange Days
5. Love Me Two Times    Strange Days
6. You're Lost Little Girl    Strange Days
7. Hello, I Love You  Waiting For The Sun
8. Love Street      Waiting For The Sun
9. Summer's Almost Gone      Waiting For The Sun
10. Wintertime Love  Waiting For The Sun
11. We Could Be So Good Together    Waiting For The Sun
12. Tell All The People       The Soft Parade
13. Touch Me      The Soft Parade
14. Wishful, Sinful     The Soft Parade
15. Blue Sunday       Morrison Hotel
16. Queen Of The Highway    Morrison Hotel
17. The Spy     Morrison Hotel
18. Love Her Madly      L.A. Woman
19. Hyacinth House      L.A. Woman
20. Riders On The Storm     L.A. Woman

We're back...It was smooth and friendly and went down easy. No?  No one's killing their father or screwing their mother, no butterflies are screaming, no horses eyes are being whipped, no one's having beer for breakfast, no one's got "the poontang blues", no one's got eyes on their nipples, no one's telling you to WAKE UP!!! and giving you a heart attack.
It's family friendly and Jimmy is a welcome guest at anyone's dinner table.
Invite him tonight!
And hide the tequila. It's against his religion.

Jerry Garcia's opinion of The Monkees--1967

A clip I put together from a 1967 interview, in which, pressed to put down The Monkees (yawn...), Jerry mans up and, like most musicians at the time, gives them props. Really, it was only journalists who hated the Monkees. Everyone from The Beatles and The Who to Buffalo Springfield and Frank Zappa gave much support to The Monkees.

Colin and Mick: The Nicer-Voiced, Hit-Writing Second Fiddles

Mick Jones

Colin Moulding

As sugar is to coffee and tonic is to vodka, so were the songs of Mick Jones and Colin Moulding to the catalogs of The Clash and XTC, respectively.

Few would argue with my stating that The Clash were largely Joe Strummer's band and XTC, Andy Partridge's. However, as forceful as Joe and Andy's voices were, or however much they owned the stage and the spotlight, each of them needed foils to sweeten their medicine.

Trivia Question: Which of the following bands did The Clash never share a bill with?
a) The Fall
b) XTC
c) The Grateful Dead

Answer: b) XTC

From today's standpoint, one might think that at some time in history, The Clash and XTC would have crossed paths. After all, they both
--toured relentlessly from 1977-82
--were increasingly fond of adding ska/reggae and disco to their initially aggressive sounds
--consistently released high quality, increasingly ambitious albums
--inched toward the mainstream with each album
--were proudly British
--had drummers named Terry with last names beginning with "Ch" (though Terry Chimes was only in for a bit and was nowhere as good as Topper Headon) (and of course, I'm joking)

However, after some light research, besides appearing on a couple of the same charity compilation albums, the two never shared a stage. In fact, it was their differences that really kept them apart.

--XTC ended up on the "New Wave" side of the fence, The Clash on the "punk" side.
--XTC were country yokels from Swindon. The Clash were hardened punks from London.
--XTC were adopted mostly by bookish types who weren't concerned with seeming "hard". The Clash got all the punks, many of whom got off on the violence that The Clash were actually against.
--In America,  The Clash attracted people like Allen Ginsburg, William Burroughs, Martin Scorsese....The Clash were exotic creatures for these accepted outcasts to check out and be photographed with and tell the world that they didn't bite and did read books. And looked CUUUTE SCOWLING AND POUTING IN LEATHER!
XTC got a tiny bit of attention from their elders (namely, Paul McCartney and Robert Plant were fans), but they didn't seem dangerous or greasy or sexy or remotely interested in the drug scene, so they weren't championed by the same types. They attracted a lot of fellow male musicians.

 XTC is to The Clash as Mike Nesmith is to Gram Parsons. There are a lot of similarities, but in the end, image and presentation wins out in the hipster history books. XTC had no image or attitude. When they tried to go with a look, they looked dorky. Whereas The Clash looked good dressed in leather, or as gangsters, or in suits, or in military duds...they were just lucky that way. And they did it up right.

1981: Nice lads. Not terribly hip. 

1981: Before you go out, do you know what you look like?
The Clash surely did. 

But all that isn't really the point of this essay. The point is to highlight the similarities in the roles played by Colin Moulding and Mick Jones in their respective bands.

Mick Jones live in 1978

Colin Moulding live in 1978

Mid 1977--early 1978
The Clash's eponymous debut and XTC's debut White Music are both released. Jones and Moulding each sing two or three songs on these albums, but stylistically, the songs sound pretty interchangeable with the songs Strummer and Partridge sing. Moulding in fact seems to be even a bit stranger and more anti-melodic than Partridge, not really yet having grasped the pop songwriting formula (oh, but very soon he would!)
Some B sides begin to show differences in style. One of these B-sides, The Clash's "The Prisoner", is one of my absolute favorite Clash songs. The guitar solo in it is noteworthy--very "out" for a Clash song.

1978--The Clash release Give 'Em Enough Rope, XTC release Go 2.
On Give 'Em Enough Rope, Mick Jones wrote and sang "Stay Free". In the context of the album, which otherwise is made up of Strummer's always excellent rants and raves about oppression and youth culture, "Stay Free" is pretty much a straight up pop song (with an F-Bomb) which is Jones' shout out to an old classmate (and count me among the many who first heard it as a love song-- in fact, its real life subject does go along with it being a platonic love song).
Meanwhile, On Go 2, Colin Moulding has an unprecedented FOUR songs, all very good. Three of them are in a row. He's slowly developing his own style--for example he's learned how to construct a melody--but still, the songs still seem to owe a debt to Andy Partridge's jagged, herky jerky quirky style.

1979--The Clash release London Calling; XTC release Drums and Wires (not a bad year for new music...)
And now we have Mick and Colin each standing confidently apart from their leaders, proudly presenting songs that are just as good and distinctive from Joe and Andy's efforts. Most importantly,  they each provided BONA FIDE HIT SONGS on these albums: "Train in Vain" and "Making Plans For Nigel", respectively. These are songs that, for all the high-minded, artistic visions that Strummer and Partridge may have had, put The Clash and XTC on the radio, on magazine covers, in department stores, school dances and housewives' kitchens. Pure, high quality sugar. The cotton at the end of the Q-tip. The gravy. You know what I'm saying. Strummer's angry bellows and Partidge's hyper barking were just not the soundtrack for a Sunday drive with Mum and Dad. These are the songs still found on New Wave Hits collections and which artists (and 80's cover bands) are still covering. More radio-friendly voices and photo-friendly mugs.

In addition, Jones has the near-hit "Lost in the Supermarket", the dance-rocker "I'm Not Down" and the indescribable, very very un-Clash sounding ( even on an album that embraces several styles), "The Card Cheat". Moulding has two ADDITIONAL songs released as singles: "Life Begins at the Hop" and "Ten Feet Tall". He also delivers what I consider to be one of the hands down coolest XTC songs, "Day In, Day Out". Partridge is beginning to grumble about his songs getting a fraction of the production time in the studio because the label sees Colin as the golden goose. Still, Partridge plays a big part in these songs--arranging them and delivering extremely innovative guitar solos.

Here are some video versions of the hit songs. Gritty bootleg clips, to keep it real.









This first taste of stardom had surprisingly predictable effects on Jones and Moulding. The rest of The Clash were no angels, but they did feel that Jones, who got into the very un-punk, very expensive, very bearded-Hollywood-type drug, cocaine, was beginning to stand apart from the band. And Moulding, while still a team-player, allowed Virgin to talk him into recording a solo single, which vanished without a trace. Frankly, the songs aren't his best by any stretch. Also, he came very close to leaving his wife and kid for an Australian groupie. But the bands were what the people wanted, so everything remained status quo.

1980--The Clash are still promoting the double LP London Calling, touring a bunch, and recording their TRIPLE LP, Sandanista. XTC record and release Black Sea, their most bombastic-sounding, yet user-friendly album yet.
On Black Sea, Moulding has two songs. "Love At First Sight" is fluff with a dated Linn Drum-driven disco beat. But his other song, "Generals and Majors" becomes another hit. With its anti-war sentiment (but no real lyrical sunstance) and ska-feel, it's sort of Clash-lite. But what XTC lacked in street punk ballsiness, they made up for with hooks galore.


1981--The Clash release the monster triple LP Sandanista!. Mick Jones' best tune on it, in my opinion, is "Somebody Got Murdered". Spooky, moody, hooky.
Meanwhile, XTC spent 1981 touring the world, making some progress in becoming as big as the band they often supported, The Police. However, again, the fact that they had no gimmick or overt sexuality, many mainstream fans just had nothing to grasp on to. Awesome music and amazing live shows just weren't enough. And this was starting to really bother Andy Partridge, who gave every show his all. XTC also recorded what would be their most ambitious album to date.

1982--XTC release the double LP English Settlement. Finally, Andy Partridge scores the biggest hit, with "Senses Working Overtime". Just in time for his panic attack breakdown which immediately put an end to their touring days, and thus, their slow rise to mainstream fame. On English Settlement, Colin has four songs, the spooky "Runaways", the sugary/somewhat political "Ball and Chain", the so-described "insect punk" "Fly on the Wall" and the Police-like "English Roundabout". None of them are hits, though "Ball and Chain" is released as a single. This pretty much ends Colin's reign of hit-making (until his 1989 lite pop "King For a Day" from Oranges and Lemons)
Meanwhile, The Clash are now pretty much accepted by the mainstream, as they open for The Who at Shea Stadium, appear on the cover of magazines which mostly ignored punk, and most importantly, Mick Jones delivers the mammoth hit, "Should I Stay or Should I Go". However, The Clash are quickly unraveling. Joe Strummer disappears, takes up running, gives up drugs and kicks Mick Jones out of the band.
Though both bands carried on for varying lengths of time, 1982 saw the last of each band's original formula. A stellar 5 year run for both of them.

So, here's a Spotify playlist paying tribute to the two alternate, more friendly voices in each band.
Of course, to start, each are adopting "the punk pose" before gradually settling into their more comfortable pop clothes.




Protex Blue    1:44    The Clash    Clash On Broadway
Cross Wires    2:07    XTC    White Music
Hate & War    2:06    The Clash    The Clash
Instant Tunes    2:31    XTC    White Music
Remote Control    3:03    The Clash    The Clash [UK]
Crowded Room    2:53    XTC    Go 2
The Prisoner    3:01    The Clash    Super Black Market Clash
I Am The Audience    3:48    XTC    Go 2
Jail Guitar Doors    3:04    The Clash    Super Black Market Clash
Making Plans For Nigel    4:14    XTC    Drums &Wires
Stay Free    3:40    The Clash    Give 'Em Enough Rope
Day In Day Out    3:08    XTC    Drums & Wires
1-2 Crush On You    2:58    The Clash    Super Black Market Clash
Life Begins At The Hop    3:49    XTC    Drums &Wires
Gates Of The West    3:27    The Clash    Super Black Market Clash
Ten Feet Tall    3:17    XTC    Drums &Wires
Lost in the Supermarket    3:47    The Clash    London Calling
Limelight    2:27    XTC    Drums &Wires (bonus track)
The Card Cheat    3:50    The Clash    London Calling
Love At First Sight    3:08    XTC    Black Sea
I'm Not Down    3:06    The Clash    London Calling
Generals And Majors    4:05    XTC    Black Sea
Train in Vain    3:10    The Clash    London Calling
Runaways    4:35    XTC    English Settlement
Somebody Got Murdered    3:35    The Clash    Sandanista!
Ball And Chain    4:33    XTC    English Settlement
Should I Stay or Should I Go    3:10    The Clash    Combat Rock
Fly On The Wall    3:19    XTC    English Settlement

Nez in Nashville, Nez in Byrdland.

“In Nashville, (the music) is straight ahead, no boogie, nothing to it at all. And I want it to be pretty to listen to when you’re loaded. Nashville country ain’t pretty to listen to when you’re loaded. I mean if you’re loaded it’s an irritant. You say, Wow, what is that? Get it off there.”
--Michael Nesmith, some time in the early 70's (the place where I found it gives no date or source.)


Many of you have probably seen this famous clip from the second-to-last episode of The Monkees (filmed in late 1967). It's 100% awesomeness, and probably the hippest thing to be found on any of the episodes.
About a minute in to the clip comes this exchange:

Zappa (as Nesmith): "You know that after I quit the show I'm going to join The Byrds, doncha?"
Nesmith (as Zappa): (genuine laughter) "No, I didn't know that"
Zappa (as Nesmith): "When you quit the Mothers, who are you gonna join?"
Nesmith (as Zappa): "I may join the Byrds too!"





Wait! DID Nesmith Join The Byrds? (Depends on what you mean by "join")

"...as far as I know, I never laid eyes on the man (Gram Parsons)...
I played with those guys a little bit, Roger and those guys, when they were doing the Sweetheart of the Rodeo tour, but that was as much interaction in the L.A. country rock music scene that I had. All my country stuff came right out of Nashville; that’s where I was doing it. I’d go to Nashville and play there."
--Michael Nesmith, from a 2006 interview

In this recent book about the Flying Burrito Brothers, there is a passage that discusses the one concert in which Nesmith did in fact sit in with the Byrds. Long time music journalist Jim Bickhart, who was working with The Byrds at the time, says he witnessed this show, and gives the date as August 3, 1968 and the place as The Berkeley Community Theater. He says he saw Nesmith "playing mostly steel and regular electric guitar, as I remember....he was having a great time". He also notes the irony of hearing the Monkee playing "So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star", the song often (wrongly) thought to be about The Monkees. Bickhart also says this was his first time seeing Clarence White with the band. Gram Parsons had left the band only weeks before. (Chris Hillman notes in the book that he has no memory of Nesmith ever playing with The Byrds.)

This would put this show somewhere between the end of filming the Monkees' movie Head and the beginning of the Monkees final tour as a quartet, where they played Japan and Australia. 

 “I played steel guitar and rhythm guitar for the Byrds at a concert in Berkeley, California. People asked me if my amps were turned on, you know? Did I really play or was it all for show? The Byrds certainly didn’t need me to stand around on stage and do nothing. Clarence White asked me not to get in the way of his solos, but the rest of time I was as audible as anyone on stage.”
--Nesmith in Folk Scene magazine in October 1975.

So was this just for fun, or sort of an audition? I do wish there were further examples of Nesmith's pedal steel playing beyond the elementary stuff he does on The Monkees' Headquarters album. Apparently, by 1968 he knew enough to play the Sweethart of the Rodeo songs.

 It's too bad they didn't throw in a Nesmith tune.
"Aunties Municipal Court" would have fit nicely...




The Scattered Legacy of a Reluctant Country Rock Pioneer

Between May 28-June 2 1968, Nesmith spent some time in Nashville, employing many of the same session guys that The Byrds (and Dylan) used on their country forays.

You can read an article about the sessions and some, er, blunt, quotes from banjo player Sonny Osborne HERE.

According to this excellent book by Andrew Sandoval, Nesmith recorded nine songs while in Nashville (and apparently took one day off to "enjoy the nightlife in NYC"--?--)

1) The Crippled Lion
2) Some of Shelly's Blues
3) Listen to the Band
4) Don't Wait For Me
5) How Insensitive
6) Propinquity
7) Hollywood
8) Good Clean Fun
9) St. Matthew

If one makes a playlist, these nine songs make a very nice, if short, collection. I'm sure no one would have me killed if we threw in

10) Carlisle Wheeling
11) Nine Times Blue
 
which were recorded two months before in Hollywood, with Chip Douglas on bass and Red Rhodes (who would play with Nesmith on and off for the next 25 years) on pedal steel. Also, it's good on these to hear Nesmith handling all the guitar work, since on the Nashville stuff, he mostly let the pros do the work.

Unfortunately, only a few of these songs were released during that time, and they were sprinkled lightly among Davy and Micky songs on The Monkees Present and Instant Replay, both released in 1969 when the Monkees were already last week's news. The rest came out on Rhino's excellent Missing Links 1-3, released in 1987, 1990 and 1994. 

I will admit to writing Andrew Sandoval and suggesting that Rhino release a collection containing only the Nashville '68 songs, and maybe, being Rhino, find some outtakes and other goodies. I never heard back. I even suggested a gimmick: release it as though it came out in 1968-69, launched Nesmith's solo career and was met by rave reviews from his peers (Parsons, McGuinn, Stills, Garcia, Neil Young, Dylan) and thus, the "hip press". By now, you know my fondness for musical historical fiction.

Well, if they won't do it, then I'll make an iTunes playlist. Dig It. Download it even.

http://c.itunes.apple.com/us/imix/nez-in-nashville-shoulda-been/id436189319