THE SATURDAY SONG

[Ruby]

Sorry for neglecting this thread. There have been several bumps in the road - unexpected happenings, some good, some not so good, and this song seems the most appropriate to kick it off again - 20 Million Things ... 

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^^
hope all those bumps have levelled out flat again Ruby and everything is back to normal?!

nice song.

[Ruby]

^Not sure what normal is anymore?? It seems to change as we go along.  But getting there - thanks. 

Picking up this thread again with the song that made J.J. Cale famous. He first recorded it as a single, in 1966, and it didn't really go anywhere. Along came Eric Clapton who heard something that struck a chord for him - he released it on his debut solo album, and voila – attention was paid to the songwriter. J.J. Cale only found out that Clapton had used his song when he heard it on the radio, and he was pretty happy about the royalties. Cale later recorded a much slower version, in what I know to be his typically laidback style, for his OWN debut album, Naturally. I prefer the latter rendition to either of the earlier offerings, and this week, I am just in the mood for his sounds …

“After Midnight” …

[Music Head]

i always preferred John over J.J.

[Ruby]

I saw that Mavis Staples just released a new album this week and that made think of this great song. There's a very fab write up on it by Aimee Ferrier for Far Out Magazine which I'm copying and pasting here - https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-story-b...he-weight/ 

"Despite the popularity of The Band‘s signature song ‘The Weight’, it actually only charted at number 63 in the United States. Yet, these days, the track is recognised as one of the most iconic recordings of the 1960s, often celebrated as one of the best songs of the decade.

‘The Weight’ appeared on The Band’s 1968 debut album, Music from Big Pink, and uses a storytelling structure to depict the travels of a man through Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The song is rich with biblical language, with the first verse mirroring Mary and Joseph’s attempt to find a place to stay before the birth of Jesus.
 
As the track progresses, with both Levon Helm and Rock Danko alternating between lead vocals, the listener is introduced to a collection of unique characters, all inspired by people Robbie Robertson had met in real life. These bizarre figures give the song its unique charm, with Helm explaining the backstory in his autobiography, This Wheel’s On Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of The Band.
 
He wrote: “The song was full of our favourite characters. ‘Luke’ was Jimmy Ray Paulman. ‘Young Anna Lee’ was Anna Lee Williams from Turkey Scratch. ‘Crazy Chester’ was a guy we all knew from Fayetteville who came into town on Saturdays wearing a full set of cap guns on his hips and kinda walked around town to help keep the peace, if you follow me.”
 
Helm added: “We recorded the song maybe four times. We weren’t really sure it was going to be on the album, but people really liked it. Rick, Richard, and I would switch the verses around among us, and we all sang the chorus: Put the load right on me!”
 
The song is credited to Robertson, although Helm argues that the other members of The Band contributed a significant chunk of the lyrics. However, the song’s beginnings can be traced back to Robertson, who started writing it while jamming on his guitar. He noticed that the inside of his instrument contained a manufacturing label stating that it was made in Nazareth. From there, he began penning lyrics with the place in mind, drawing from various cinematic influences.
 
While living at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, Robertson became acquainted with Gotham Book Mart, where he would read film scripts. “The bookshop was a dusty, funky place owned by Fanny Steloff that sold used and new books,” he explained in an interview. “After looking around, I found that the store also stocked movie scripts. I loved film, and had long wondered how plot elements in a film fit together. These scripts were like blueprints”.
 
Alongside Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, Robertson was also enamoured by the work of Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel, best known for directing films such as Un Chien Andalou and Belle de Jour. “Luis Buñuel’s scripts for Nazarín and Viridiana, which examine the impossibility of sainthood, also captivated me,” he said. Thus, seeing the word ‘Nazareth’ inside his guitar “unlocked a lot of stuff in my head from Nazarin and those other film scripts”.
 
Robertson once explained in detail how Buñuel’s films connected with ‘The Weight’, stating: “People trying to be good in Viridiana and Nazarín, people trying to do their thing. In ‘The Weight’, it’s the same thing. People like Buñuel would make films that had these religious connotations to them, but it wasn’t necessarily a religious meaning. In Buñuel, there were these people trying to be good and it’s impossible to be good.”
 
He continued: “In ‘The Weight’ it was this very simple thing. Someone says, ‘Listen, would you do me this favour? When you get there will you say ‘hello’ to somebody or will you give somebody this or will you pick up one of these for me? Oh? You’re going to Nazareth, that’s where the Martin guitar factory is. Do me a favour when you’re there.’ This is what it’s all about. So the guy goes and one thing leads to another and it’s like ‘Holy shit, what’s this turned into? I’ve only come here to say ‘hello’ for somebody and I’ve got myself in this incredible predicament.’ It was very Buñuelish to me at the time.”
 
Thanks to its idiosyncratic lyrics and beautiful melodies, the song is now one of The Band’s most beloved. It was featured in Dennis Hopper’s 1969 American classic Easy Rider and was even covered by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations, helping to boost the song’s status as a classic even further."

[CRAZY-HORSE]

thanks for the heads up about new Mavis Staples' album, i'll give it a listen.

"music from big pink" has to be one of the great debut albums albums ever.

[Ruby]

^Did you listen to the Mavis Staples CH? I did. Curious to know what you think. 

I meant to post this last Saturday but stuff got in the way and I missed the window of opportunity! It's one of my best things ever, regrettable grammar and all - in fact that part is one I listen out for, LOL. One of those perfect little self-contained montages that would be lovely in a frame on the wall, if that were possible, which of course, it's not! Just fabulous ... no narrative needed - I think most of us would understand - to one degree or another ... and I love the photo of the pooch at the monitor ... 

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^^
Ooops, sorry, i forgot, i'll give it a listen tomorrow Ruby. i promise LOL

[Ruby]

No pressure CH! Just thought you might have given it a whirl.

[Ruby]

O frabjous day! My vintage B&O setup is back from the hands of the electronics wiz who got it working again – thank you Eric! It went on the fritz some time back and it’s hard to find someone to look at these ancient wonders – it's 60+ years old. Heaven forfend I should ever need a new stylus – prohibitively pricey if you can find them at all. I know, I know, digital is so much easier and the sound more precise, etc., etc., but there is something about playing LP’s that is immensely pleasing and a distinct warmth of tone that’s missing in other modes. Not that I’m a vinyl purist – I just like the records and their covers, firstly, and then the whole ritual of actually spinning them – the little accompanying actions – it is so satisfying, albeit a bit weird not punching a remote! I’m not at the voice instruction stage yet – lagging behind – LOL!

First out of the drawer today was Kayak’s Seventeen. I hope my neighbours enjoyed it as much as I did! There’s a lot to listen to on this album - some really beautiful work generally, they are (or were) such a sincere bunch, but I think the choice for standout of my week simply has to be “Ripples on the Water”. It’s an instrumental track with guitars by Andrew Latimer – acoustic for the first bit with an electric solo towards the end that speaks for itself. Ton Scherpenzeel said that this track epitomises what he knows of Latimer as a ‘feeling’ artist. Gorgeous.