1974

Retro Music 26

~ beetleypete ~ 46 Comments

I was 20 in 1972, and heard a lovely song on the radio. I didn’t know the performers, an American duo called Seals and Crofts, but I bought the record. In 1974, The Isley Brothers released a cover version as a single, and I bought that too.

Even now, I am not sure which version I prefer, so I choose to like them both equally.

See the curtains hangin’ in the window
In the evenin’ on a Friday night
A little light a-shinin’ through the window
Lets me know everything’s alright

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

See the paper layin’ on the sidewalk
A little music from the house next door
So I walked on up to the doorstep
Through the screen and across the floor

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine’s in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune
And I come home from a hard day’s work
And you’re waiting there, not a care in the world

See the smile a-waitin’ in the kitchen
Food cookin’ and the plates for two
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me
In the evening when the day is through

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Writer/s: Darrell Crofts, Jimmy Seals
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Lyrically Evocative (32)

~ beetleypete ~ 38 Comments

I complain a lot, I know. The weather mostly, but other stuff too.

However, I wouldn’t want anyone to ever think that I am not thankful for what I have. A decent home, mortgage-free. A wife to share my life with, and a wonderful dog to be my companion. Enough money to get by, and even save a (little) bit. Relatively good health, even in the midst of a pandemic crisis.

I am better off than so many other people, and I am thankful for that fact.

With that in mind, I was thinking about this song today. I bought the record a long time ago now, (1974) but it often sneaks into my mind.

And never was it more relevant, than in 2021.

Here are the lyrics. I may know nothing about a ‘Gangsta lean’, but I get William’s intention.

Be Thankful for What You Got
William DeVaughn

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you got
Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin’ the scene
With a gangsta lean
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you got
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh
Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: William Devaughn
Be Thankful for What You Got lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

And here he is, singing his own song. (Not live, the original 7-inch single)

Let’s all remember to be thankful what what we have.

Great Albums: Pretzel Logic

~ beetleypete ~ 37 Comments

By the time this album was released in 1974, I already owned both the previous albums by Steely Dan. There was ‘Can’t Buy A Thrill’, containing such great tracks as ‘Dirty Work’, and ‘Reelin’ In The Years’, followed by ‘Countdown To Ecstasy’, with longer tracks like the sublime ‘My Old School’. This was one of the first American bands that really caught my attention, as I was buying a lot of Soul Music at the time, as well as records from the likes of David Bowie, and Van Morrison.

When I read that they were to release a new album, I didn’t even wait to listen to it. I ordered it in advance from my local record shop, and got it the day it came out. I was convinced that it would be up to the same standard, and that I wouldn’t be disappointed. It was, and I wasn’t.

Donald Fagen’s vocals were as perfect as ever. The unusual and original songs he wrote with Walter Becker didn’t follow any genre, or accepted construction methods. And no two songs were alike, something that had attracted me to the band in the first place.

Their sound never shouted ‘West Coast’, or for that matter ‘East Coast’. It contained songs that were often poetic in execution, with lyrics that generally meant something too. Once I had heard all the tracks, I played side one again. By the end of the day, I could sing along to almost every song, and recognise them from the opening chord. Critical reception for this new release was unlimited. The music press liked it, other recording artists loved it, and the fans were overjoyed. It had nods to almost everything anyone liked; Rock, Jazz, and Blues too.

They also enjoyed a huge hit with the most popular single released from it. One of my favourite tracks ever recorded by anyone.

Steely Dan continued their successful career, releasing six more studio albums, and two live recordings. These included ‘Katy Lied’, ‘Gaucho’, and Aja’, in addition to no less than ten compilations and greatest hits releases. I bought all of the studio albums, and carried on loving everything this band produced, including the later solo albums by Donald Fagen.

They officially split up in 1981, later getting back together in 1993, and continuing to work until Walter Becker’s death, in 2017. Since then, Donald Fagen has continued to perform.

Ambulance Stories (48)

~ beetleypete ~ 8 Comments

Nostalgia

I have just seen a link posted by a good friend who still works in the London Ambulance Service. It is to a You Tube film, a documentary from 1974. It is a serious current affairs programme from the time, probably from the BBC. I don’t recall seeing it back then, but it was broadcast five years before I applied to join. Despite that, it is incredibly familiar. Many of those featured were well-known to me later on, and I worked with some of them on occasion. It was filmed in London and Yorkshire, but predominantly set in and around North Kensington Ambulance Station, where I worked for over twenty years.

By the time I was there, nothing had changed from how it is shown in the film. I wore the same uniform, used the same equipment, and probably even drove some of the same vehicles. The emergency calls shown in the film are all genuine, and the way they are dealt with is exactly as I would have dealt with them at the start of my career. The interior of the Ambulance station was the same, and the descriptions of laundering the blankets, washing the vehicles, and even cleaning the toilets, all too familiar.

Much of the film deals with the period of transition that the Ambulance Service was going through during the mid-1970s. Where the crews had once been competent drivers, trained only in basic First Aid, they were starting to get the first items of real life-saving equipment, and beginning to be trained to become the professional service we would soon see. They still had employment issues and were receiving pitifully low pay, and these problems were causing dissent, which resulted in strike action. The film is very much on their side, showing them as ordinary people; caring individuals doing their best in the situations they encountered. It is also a wonderful fifty-minute snapshot of England in the 1970s, and makes forty-one years ago seem more like seventy. Hard to believe now, but wonderful to behold.

The uniforms have changed, the vehicles and equipment are different, and the training is in another league. But the job is still the job, and that Ambulance Station is still there, as busy as ever.

Here’s the link. If you know anyone who ever worked in any Ambulance Service, or if they are just interested in fascinating social history, please share it.

Significant Songs (14)

~ beetleypete ~ 6 Comments

 You Are So Beautiful

In 1974, I heard a song by Billy Preston, the soul singer and organ player, who had been known for collaborating with the Beatles. It was a pleasant love song, with an unusual structure, and simple lyrics. Although immediately appealing, it had a throwaway nature, and I didn’t feel the need to rush out and buy a copy. The late-night DJ gave more information after the song had finished. Apparently, it was written by Preston, and Dennis Wilson, a member of the Beach Boys. This interested me, as I was a long-time fan of the Beach Boys, and thought that they were one of the best vocal groups ever.

The following year, on a TV programme, I saw a snippet of Dennis Wilson singing the song. It was at the end of a Beach Boys concert, and he came to the stage alone, and sung the song with immense feeling, and great heart. Despite this, his solo vocal was at best average, and I was left wishing this haunting song had received better treatment. Although the actual dates are a little blurred in my memory, it was very soon after, seemingly only a few days, that I heard the song again, played on daytime radio. This time, it was sung by Joe Cocker, a British vocalist well-known for his soulful ballads, and rocking blues songs. It had been released as a single from his album, which had come out the previous year.

Suddenly, the song had new meaning. Joe Cocker belted it out as if his life depended on it, and during the quiet parts, rendered such emotion, I could literally feel it in my chest. As someone who generally prefers original versions of almost anything, I was once again forced to concede that a cover version was much better. It went further than that; the song was transformed, by the vocal talents of someone who may not have written it, but felt it. Moreover, he could make me feel it, and still does to this day, almost forty years later.

Here is that version, play it very loud. I hope it has the same effect on you.

Significant Songs (8)

~ beetleypete ~ 15 Comments

Uncle Remus

From the piano introduction, to the great guitar, this short song captured my imagination immediately, when I heard it as a track on Frank Zappa’s album ‘Apostrophe’, in 1974. (This song was actually co-written with George Duke) The lyrics are amusing, and on first hearing, the significance of the words may not be apparent. Listen a few more times, and you begin to realise that it is a song about racism in America, and resistance to that racism. I have written about Frank Zappa before, and his use of nonsense rhymes in his lyrics, as well as his use of what appear to be unrelated words, just to make those rhymes. On reflection, there is nothing nonsensical about these songs, and careful listening will reveal issues and opinions, all there to be discovered.

Although he composed many of my favourite songs of the genre, it is this track that stays with me, and is the one that I always want to hear first. I can recall the whole thing at will, from the heavy piano, to the operatic chorus. I have added the lyrics, for your perusal. Unfortunately, the long guitar solo that ends the song is only available on the original vinyl, so I cannot offer it here. This is the CD version, a studio edit of the original album. It’s still good though.

“Uncle Remus”

Wo, are we movin’ too slow?
Have you seen us,
Uncle Remus . . .
We look pretty sharp in these clothes (yes, we do)
Unless we get sprayed with a hose
It ain’t bad in the day
If they squirt it your way
‘Cept in the winter, when it’s froze
An’ it’s hard if it hits
On yer nose
On yer nose

Just keep yer nose
To the grindstone, they say
Will that redeem us,
Uncle Remus . . .
I can’t wait till my Fro is full-grown
I’ll just throw ‘way my Do-Rag at home
I’ll take a drive to BEVERLY HILLS
Just before dawn
An’ knock the little jockeys
Off the rich people’s lawn
An’ before they get up
I’ll be gone, I’ll be gone
Before they get up
I’ll be knocking the jockeys off the lawn
Down in the dew