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Music et al, Music of the 60s

Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay

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Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay

Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay

Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay

Monterey

The Monterey International Pop Festival. Jimi Hendrix had exploded on that scene, but Otis Redding’s appearance on the second night had also placed him high up on the list of amazing performances.

Likely Redding’s set was as good as every one of his: outstanding. This time, though, it meant more white kids saw where that sound they all loved so much came from. The rhythm and blues style around for so long and influencing so many, was finally blossoming into the main stream.

…just one more time…

Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay

R & R

Basking in the glow of that success, Redding retreated to a rented houseboat in Sausalito. The setting was perfect. Neverending.

Sittin’ in the morning sun I’ll be sittin’ when the evening comes

And so began Redding’s best-known song. One he would never know reached such success.

Artistic freedom

The 60s allowed and encouraged musicians to look inward. Was where they were where they wanted to be? Where they wanted to stay? Redding was listening to Bob Dylan, and like so many other artists was struck by Dylan’s independence and individual path.

Slow to germinate

The song stayed a summer seed slowly germinating. Famed sessions guitarist Steve Cropper (also well known from Booker T & the MGs and the Blues Brothers movie) helped Redding finish the song. He and Redding knew they had something special.

The Stax Records suits were not enthusiastic. Jim Stewart, its President, felt the song was too much of a departure from Redding’s previous successes.

Re-recorded

Redding recorded “Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay” one more time before going on the road in December 1967. That day’s recording went on to be his #1 hit, a million-seller, winning Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song.

Tragedy

On December 10, while touring and flying in a small plane to his next gig, the plane crashed. Redding and four members of his band, the Bar-Kays, [Jimmy King, Phalon Jones, Ronnie Caldwell, and Carl Cunningham], a valet, Matthew Kelly, and the pilot, Richard Fraser, died. Ben Cauley, a trumpet player in the band, survived.

Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay
Anniversary, Music et al, Music of the 60s, Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Incredible String Band

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Incredible String Band

The first album by…
The Incredible String Band
Recorded May 22, 1966
Released in September 1966 (UK); April 1967 (US)
Mike Heron’s “How Happy I Am”

By June 1966, British influence on American pop musical tastes was firmly established and record labels had opened their recording studio doors to much more creativity.

The Incredible String Band was not the typical British Invasion band. In 1966 American radio stations were playing #1 songs by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Petula Clark, and the Troggs. Even the New Vaudeville Band’s “Winchester Cathedral” tickled our organs of Corti.

ISB, consisting originally of Mike Heron, Robin Williamson, and Clive Palmer, had recorded the album only the month before. Their style was acoustic and British folk.

Folk-rock > Psychedelic-folk

In the US, though folk music no longer enjoyed its heyday, the Byrds had become popular and their style had created the new rock genre:  “folk-rock.”

ISB planted their sound’s seeds in that soil.

Compared to their later albums (minus Palmer who left after the first album), Incredible String Band is simple. In fact, most of the songs are played solo by the person who wrote them. Palmer had only written one of the songs and thus minimized his presence: five by Williamson, three by Heron and the one by Palmer.

ISB would later compose more elaborate  songs resulting in yet another media label:  psychedelic folk. #ahwell

Heron & Williamson

It would be those more intricate pieces that attracted the band (now only Heron and Williamson with occasional others) to American FM alternate stations.

And it was that attraction that likely brought the band to the attention of Woodstock Ventures who booked them for the Festival on May 28, 1969 for $4,500.

Album

Here are the tracks for the album:

Side 1

  1. Maybe Someday
  2. October Song
  3. When the Music Starts to Play
  4. Schaeffer’s Jig
  5. Womankind
  6. the Tree
  7. Whistle Tune
  8. Dandelion Blues

Side 2

  1. How Happy I Am
  2. Empty Pocket Blues
  3. Smoke Shovelling Song
  4. Can’t Keep Me Here
  5. Good as Gone
  6. Footsteps on the Heron
  7. Niggertown
  8. Everything’s Fine Right Now

Music et al, Music of the 60s

Stones Come On Chuck Berry

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Stones Come On Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

“Come On” is a straight-forward tune written by the straightforward rock n’ roll icon Chuck Berry. The Rolling Stones were searching for the “right” first song to release as a single and “Come On” met the criteria.

Chuck Berry, one of their favorite composers and one of British youths favorites as well. It’s about frustrated love, broken cars, and wrong numbers. A fine recipe.              

Stones Come On Chuck Berry

June 7, 1963

The Stones released their inaugural song on June 7, 1963, nine months after their friends, The Beatles, had released their inaugural single, “Love Me Do,” on October 5 , 1962 [a song without cars, phone calls, or by Chuck Berry, but it did have frustrated love].

Stones Come On Chuck Berry

Not quite Chuck

According to an All Music review, the  Stones’s song differs from Berry original in several ways:

  1. the Rolling Stones quickened the tempo
  2. they put more emphasis on off-beat guitar chording and wailing harmonica
  3.  the rhythm came close to reggae
  4. on the chorus, Mick Jagger was backed up by high harmonies
  5. they changed one of the lyrics substituting “some stupid guy” for the “some stupid jerk”
  6. an upward key change was thrown in for the last verse.

I would have never noticed, but some do and find the differences important. You can listen and decide for yourself.

Stones Come On Chuck Berry

Can you tell the difference?

Willie Dixon

The Stones’ B-side of “Come On” was “I Want to Be Loved” by Willie Dixon.  It was written in 1955 and reflects the Rolling Stones’s love of American blues roots.

Here’s their version:

This song’s theme has frustrated love, frustrated dancing, and frustrated attention.

The single did well, but did not catapult them into stardom.

1963 touring

In July, they played their first gig away from London in Middlesbrough, England. They shared the bill with The Hollies.

In the autumn of 1963, they toured the United Kingdom and opened for Little Richard, Bo Diddley and The Everly Brothers.

Second single

They also released their second single, “I Wanna Be Your Man.” The title may sound familiar and it should. The song was written by those upcoming Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The single reached #12 on the UK singles chart.
Stones Come On Chuck Berry