Some years don’t just produce great records—they redraw the map of how we listen. We dive into 1970 as a living, breathing turning point, starting with the Velvet Underground’s Loaded to George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, with detours into Derek and the Dominoes, CCR, and the Partridge Family. Stories of edits, covers, charts, lawsuits, and misheard lyrics tie together what makes songs endure.
• Velvet Underground’s Loaded, Lou Reed's last album with the band
• Who Loves the Sun, Sweet Jane, and Rock and Roll
• Phish’s Halloween cover and the life of influence
• George Harrison’s triple-album surge and wall of sound
• My Sweet Lord, What Is Life, and a-list session players
• Derek and the Dominoes, Bell Bottom Blues, and Layla
• Jim Gordon’s studio legacy and tragic downfall
• pop joy with the Partridge Family and TV-to-radio crossover
Learn Something New or
Remember Something Old
Like and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages and spread the word if you enjoy the podcast.
Contact us at musicinmyshoes@gmail.com with your own musical memories.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:34):
Hey everybody, this is Jim Boge, and you're
listening to Music in My Shoes.
That was Vic Thrill kicking offepisode 107.
As always, I'm thrilled to behere with you.
Let's learn something new orremember something old.
Jimmy, when I was a kid, therewere songs that when they came
on the radio, I stopped what Iwas doing and gave them my full
(00:58):
attention.
We've talked about this before.
Back in the day, you could not,you know, readily access music
the way that you can today.
Right.
You you relied on the radio alot to be able to hear it, or
you could buy the record, butyou couldn't buy every record.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
No, you spent some money to buy it.
SPEAKER_03 (01:17):
I was a kid.
It was very difficult, you know.
You had to lose, you know, teethfrom and get money from the
tooth fairy and birthday moneyand and and all of that to be
able to buy because I was buyingrecords young, and that's why I
said the tooth fairy, becauseyou're looking at me like No,
I'm just trying to remember if Iever bought a record with Tooth
Fairy money.
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
I'm sure I did.
SPEAKER_03 (01:38):
I did, you know.
So two of them, two of the songswere Sweet Jane and Rock and
Roll by the Velvet Underground.
Oh, really?
Really?
That's great.
So usually on the radio, LouReed's live version of Sweet
(01:58):
Jane would be played.
And that's the one where it kindof has the big guitar
introduction and so forth.
But I really like the VelvetUnderground one that came out in
1970.
And, you know, it's like I said,it's you didn't have that
instant gratification.
And I kind of liked it.
(02:19):
I gotta be honest with you.
Like today it's just so easy todo stuff.
It's easier than what it reallyshould be.
There was that liking a song orthinking you like it, and just
sitting by the radio justwaiting for it to be played
again and saying, Oh yeah, I dolike that, or uh you know what,
I don't like the middle, orwhere today you can just boo, uh
(02:41):
yeah, I don't like it.
Let me put something else on.
And and it's just it's a wholedifferent thing.
So both songs are from VelvetUnderground's 1970 album Loaded,
a really good album, a reallyinfluential album for just so
many bands to come.
And not just that album byVelvet Underground.
I mean, you know, I think thiswas their fourth album, if I'm
(03:04):
not mistaken.
SPEAKER_01 (03:05):
It was.
SPEAKER_03 (03:06):
And it they were just so influential to so many
people.
So Lou Reed wrote all the songson the album, but he only sang
lead on six out of the tensongs, and he let Doug Yule sing
lead on the others.
And Doug Yule was the bassist.
(03:26):
He did the opening track calledWho Loves the Sun?
And I'd say it's gotta be themost pop-oriented song that I
think The Velvet Underground hasdone.
You know, they're kinda like I Iconsider them art rock.
Maybe that's not the right term,but I kind of consider, you
(03:47):
know, they they did stuff withAndy Warhol down at the factory.
I think that they were like thehouse band in 66, 67, right
around there.
Yep.
And you know, to have them comeout with this song where Lou
Reed wrote and said, Yeah, I'mnot gonna sing it.
Doug, why don't you sing it?
Who loves the sun?
(04:08):
Who cares that it makes plantsgrow?
Who cares what it does since youbroke my heart?
Right.
That is not a Velvet Undergroundsong.
But it is.
SPEAKER_01 (04:20):
Well, you know, they set out in Loaded, which it the
idea was it's loaded with hitsbecause the record company
wanted hits.
And so they made this this albumthat they thought, okay, surely
we've got a hit in here.
And it turned out they didn't,and nothing really became a a
(04:40):
big time hit, and it ended upreally being kind of the end of
the band.
I mean, Doug Yule stayed on, putout another album after Lou Reed
left the band, but Loaded wasreally kind of the last real
Velvet Underground album.
SPEAKER_03 (04:55):
You know, it is everything that a hit record, a
pop hit record should be.
And you're right, it it itwasn't.
This song was not at all, but itis, you know, talking about love
and plants and flowers, and ithas those background vocals that
(05:15):
go pop pop.
SPEAKER_01 (05:17):
You know, it just sounds like a 60s pop song.
SPEAKER_03 (05:20):
It does, it just sounds like life is good, here
we go, and it didn't goanywhere.
It's just crazy.
So many good songs on the album,though.
Yeah, sweet Jane standing on thecorner, suitcase in my hand,
Jack is in his corset, Jane isin her vest, and me, I'm in a
(05:41):
rock and roll band.
I would sing that over and overthinking it was me that is in
the rock and roll band.
I kid you not.
Like that line, like I wouldlisten to Sweet Jane, and that's
the beginning of the song forthose of you that don't know,
and I would just be in heavenwhen he said that part about
(06:05):
being in a rock and roll band.
Now, I also have to tell youthat when I first heard the
song, when they would sing thechorus, Sweet Jane, for many
years I thought it was CJ.
SPEAKER_01 (06:18):
Oh, okay.
Who is CJ?
I didn't know it was bass playerfrom the Ramones.
SPEAKER_03 (06:22):
I I know.
I didn't know it was Sweet Jane.
I thought it was CJ, you know?
Like I just didn't know.
And I should have, but I didnot.
SPEAKER_01 (06:31):
There were and again, there was no way to look
up lyrics back then.
You didn't know.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (06:36):
So back in early 1989, I went to upstate New York
with some friends, and my friendSally's parents, they had a
house up there.
We went up one weekend, andsomehow we end up with her
boyfriend at the time, this guyDan, and he was playing Sweet
Jane on an acoustic guitar andsinging the verses, and Sally
(07:01):
was singing the chorus with him.
And Sally, you know, Sally, ifyou listen, I'm not saying
anything you don't know already,but not the best singer by any
means, maybe a little bit of ofa like a a yell scream into the
song.
And I wanted to do something andI didn't know what to do, and
(07:25):
there was a twister board.
We had played Twister, and Itook my hand, and on, you know,
twister is like that plasticmat.
SPEAKER_01 (07:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (07:33):
I started scratching because it's 1989, and you know,
all the songs at the time comingout, pop songs, have all kinds
of, you know, scratching, youknow, rap songs and everything.
And so I was like scratch Ithought I did a pretty good job
with it.
I gotta be honest with you.
SPEAKER_01 (07:51):
Better than she did singing, I guess, is what you're
trying to say.
SPEAKER_03 (07:53):
Yeah, maybe, maybe a little bit better.
But you know, it's one of thosememories.
I've never forgotten that.
Like it still stays with me,like I said in early 1989.
And to me, that's the power ofmusic.
You know, you're doing some Iguess at some point we played
Twister.
I don't really remember that,but I remember scratching and
(08:15):
enjoying Sweet Jane.
SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
Aaron Ross Powell That could be like a sequel to
the twist, like twist andscratch.
SPEAKER_03 (08:20):
Aaron Ross Powell Maybe I'll see about writing
that and doing spoken wordpoetry with it.
So rock and roll.
I related to the song so muchwhen I first heard it, talking
about rock radio.
Then one fine morning, she putson a New York station.
You know, she don't believe whatshe heard at all.
The connection with music Iremember feeling as a kid has
(08:43):
never left.
That, you know, I and I guessthat's why I do the podcast.
I uh, you know, I have thistremendous connection with
music, and I'm not saying myconnection is better or bigger
than anybody else's.
You know, the this episode, youknow, and and and podcast is
talking about what my journeyis.
Your shoes.
(09:04):
My shoes.
And, you know, and like Iremember putting on New York
stations because I lived in NewYork and the difference and how
it could take, you know, how Iwas feeling and just changed the
mood so quickly.
And and vice versa.
You know, all of a sudden a songcould come on that was sad, and
(09:24):
all of a sudden you're like, ohmy God, I feel worse than what I
did before.
SPEAKER_01 (09:28):
But sometimes you just need a good cry.
SPEAKER_03 (09:30):
Sometimes you you do put a little Carol King on, it's
too late.
But you know, she startedshaking to that fine, fine
music, you know her life wassaved by rock and roll.
And I think those are just suchstrong words because again, I
can relate to it, and I know Iknow a lot of people can relate
to that also.
SPEAKER_01 (09:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:51):
You know?
Side one of the record finishesup with Cool It Down and New
Age.
An incredible one side of anyrecord of all time.
That's one of the best sides.
Again, vinyl, you had sides.
You got to flip it over if youwanted to listen to it.
Side two is good with Head HeldHigh, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, I
(10:15):
Found the Reason, Train Roundthe Ben, Oh Sweet Nothing.
And I think one of the thingsabout this album is that there
are songs, there's all differenttypes of songs on it, and that
you can find something that youlike.
Again, very unvelvet undergroundy for them.
That there was, you know, youlisten to Lonesome Cowboy Bill
(10:36):
is so different than I found areason.
You know, there's ballads,there's love songs, there's rock
songs, there, you know, it'sit's all over.
And I love that, you know?
SPEAKER_01 (10:47):
And even though they were trying to make hits, they
still sounded like the VelvetUnderground.
They did.
You know, they couldn't shakethemselves.
Like it still was reallyoriginal and was really
different than what other peoplewere doing.
SPEAKER_03 (10:59):
I I agree a hundred percent.
Sterling Morrison, guitarist forthe band, and Mo Tucker, drummer
for the band, both went to thesame high school as I did.
Oh.
Division Avenue High School inLevitown, New York.
Sterling graduated in 1960 andMo in 1961.
(11:20):
Moe Tucker took a leave from theband when she became pregnant
and is not on the loaded album.
And that's one thing that I wishthat she was because she's I
guess she can kind of hear it.
SPEAKER_01 (11:32):
You can kind of tell it's more of a normal drummer.
SPEAKER_03 (11:34):
Yes, it's not the Mo style of drumming.
And I wish that she was.
And hey, you know, she waspregnant and wanted to be away
from all of that while she was.
But for such a great album, itwould have been great for her to
be part of this.
The album is ranked number 242on the 2020 version of Rolling
(11:54):
Stone 500 Greatest Albums of AllTime.
So I've mentioned before that Ithink the band Fish does the
best cover of Sweet Jane.
I think they do an incrediblejob covering the whole entire
album like they did on Halloween1998.
I've been listening to it sincethen.
(12:16):
I remember it was broadcast onradio, and I can't say it was
broadcast that Halloween, ormaybe it was New Year's Eve.
I don't know.
But at some point, 96 Rock herein Atlanta broadcast that show,
and I recorded on cassette Fishdoing Loaded.
(12:38):
Oh, cool.
And I would listen to it oncassette, and it was just
absolutely fantastic that theycould take these songs because
art rock, you know, again,loaded, they were doing a little
bit more poppy, a little bitmore hits, but that fish could
take their jam style and makethese songs work in that they
(13:02):
played it the way the VelvetUnderground played it, but then
they went into these big longguitar solos or did this or
that.
It is absolutely fantastic.
It really truly is.
I've been listening to it, likeI said, since 1998, you know,
the fish version.
I've been listening to Loadedsince the 70s, if I want to talk
(13:23):
about the Velvet Underground.
But it's really cool, you know.
If you haven't listened to it, Ireally recommend people to give
it a try, at least side one ofthe Velvet Underground.
And if you're into, you know,newer rock and and and jam bands
and everything, maybe give thefish one a go at it.
(13:45):
But I think between the two,you're gonna find something that
you really like.
SPEAKER_01 (13:49):
Yeah, a lot of really good songs in there.
And as you know, I've covered OhSweet Nothing.
Um one time.
And did you know that Lou Reedleft the band in August 1970?
And Loaded was released inNovember 1970.
So he was actually gone for afew months before it came out,
(14:10):
and he wasn't happy with themixes on the album and the that
they had resequenced the songsand put them in a different
order than he wanted.
And he wasn't happy that he waslisted third just in the list of
names of band members.
Maybe it was alphabetical orsomething.
Right, right.
Um, rather than it being madeclear that he's the guy that
(14:31):
wrote the majority of the songsand he was the leader of the
band up until he left.
And so, yeah, he had uh definitegripes with loaded after leaving
the band.
SPEAKER_03 (14:43):
I can understand that.
I definitely can.
Because I think that when youare the person that the Velvet
Underground is associated with,you know, I I mentioned, you
know, John Cale was in it.
We didn't mention him, he wasoriginally in it, you know,
before Doug Guell, and wementioned Mo Tucker and Sterling
Morrison.
But I think when people thinkVelvet Underground, the first
(15:03):
thing you think of is Lou Reed.
And you know, he wrote themajority of the songs.
He really kind of directedeverything that went on with the
band, so I can understand why hejust was like, Well, you know
what, let me go.
And then in 72, I think it wasthat's when he had uh
Transformer, the album came out.
(15:24):
And then he had um StreetHassle.
Yep.
Rock and Roll Animal, the livealbum, which he had some of the
Velvet Underground songs on, andyou know, made a kind of a name
for himself.
SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
Well, so one of the things about the Rock and Roll
Animal album and Lou playingSweet Jane live was that Lou had
written that song with a bridgein it that says Heavenly Wine
and Roses, and they edited thatpart out because according to
Doug Yule, they wanted it to bea hit and they wanted it to be a
(15:58):
simple song that didn't have awhole bunch of parts.
So here's the hook, here's thesong, it's you know, gets over
quickly.
And he says that Lou actuallyedited it out before he quit the
band.
Lou claimed that they did theedit after he left.
But when Lou would play it live,he would add that part back in.
And when Doug Yule's version ofthe band would play it live,
(16:20):
they would keep, you know, theuh the additional bridge in
there.
Then when Lou started playing alittle more like a rock and roll
version of the song, he took itback out because it didn't sound
as good in the in the moreupbeat, like heavier rocking
version of Sweet Jane.
So he went back and forthhimself.
SPEAKER_03 (16:39):
And it's funny because I think that's the one
part of the song that sounds100% old school Velvet
Underground, is when they dothat part.
SPEAKER_01 (16:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (16:49):
You know, even Lou's voice as he's singing, I think
it kind of imitates his singingabilities and style that he had.
And it's funny taking it out,putting it in.
But I could see with the rockand roll version not really
fitting as much as it did withthe way that it came out on the
album.
SPEAKER_05 (17:08):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03 (17:09):
You know what?
You just might be saved by rockand roll.
Roughly around the time theVelvet Underground were
recording loaded in New YorkCity, George Harrison and a
bunch of musicians wererecording his epic album, All
Things Must Pass, in London.
The Beatles' final album, Let ItBe, was released in May 1970.
(17:31):
George had a backlog of songsthat didn't make Beatle albums,
and he kind of was at a peaktime in his creativity.
And released on November 27,1970, All Things Must Pass was a
triple album, which was unheardof.
He was the first artist, singleartist, to release a triple
(17:53):
album.
Wow.
Yeah.
I mean, it's incredible.
And the thing is, it had so manygood songs on it.
There's not like a lot offiller.
I mean, it's a really good albumto listen to.
SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
So no one had ever released a triple album?
SPEAKER_03 (18:06):
No one had released a triple album.
A single person.
There had been triple albums fora festival or a concert, but not
a single person.
It made it to number one onBillboard 200 album chart on
January 2nd, 1971, and stayedthere for seven weeks.
Some of my favorite songs fromit are I'd have you anytime, a
(18:31):
song written with Bob Dylan.
Eric Clapton plays lead guitar,Klaus Vorman, who designed the
Beatles Revolver album cover,played bass.
He also produced a song wementioned last episode, trios,
da-da-da.
And he also did the bass line toCarly Simon You're So Vain.
(18:54):
When you listen to that, thatopening.
All right, I'm like terrible athim, but you know what I'm
trying to do.
I'm not a musician, I'm apodcaster.
SPEAKER_01 (19:02):
I know.
I'm trying to remember the bassintro to You're So Vain.
SPEAKER_03 (19:06):
If you l it's the beginning of the song.
SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (19:09):
If you listen to it, you will know right away.
Alan White on drums before hestarted his almost 50-year run
as the drummer for Yes in 1972.
I mean, that's a cast ofcharacters right there.
My Sweet Lord, released as asingle November 23rd, 1970,
(19:30):
reached number one on BillboardHot 100, December 26, 1970.
Another song when I was a kidthat I couldn't wait for it to
be played on the radio.
And it sounded like a bunch ofacoustic guitars in the
beginning because there reallywas.
George Harrison, Eric Clapton,two guys from the band
(19:51):
Badfinger, and Peter Framptonall played acoustic guitar.
And then when they overdubbed,George Harrison and Peter
Frampton then dubbed in evenmore acoustic guitars.
So when you listen to it, itsounds like it's a plethora.
And it's just a super coolsound.
It is.
Adding Phil Spector as theproducer, you know, help him
(20:13):
with the production of it, thatalso gave it that, you know,
Phil Spector sound.
SPEAKER_01 (20:18):
Wall of sound.
SPEAKER_03 (20:19):
Yeah, and it definitely sounded like a wall
of acoustic guitars.
So Gary Brooker played piano,and you may remember him as the
singer of Prokel Harem's 1967hit, A Whiter Shade of Pale,
Bobby Whitlock on Harmonium,Klaus Vorman on bass, Ringo Star
of the Beatles on drums, AlanWhite on tambourine.
(20:41):
Songs mostly played around theChristmas holidays lately, but
uh, you know, one time back inthe 70s, it was just a regular
song that they would play.
Wa, which is actually the firstsong that they recorded when
they were doing this album, andit kind of talks a little bit
about how he was tired of PaulMcCartney talking about him and
(21:02):
his guitar playing andeverything.
And I, you know, wah wah.
It's true.
Isn't it a pity?
What is life?
I love this song.
Reach number 10 on Billboard,March 1971.
What I feel, I can't say, but mylove is there for you any time
of day.
(21:22):
It has George Harrison, EricClapton, Whitlock, the whole Bad
Finger band, Carl Radel on bass,Jim Gordon on drums, Jim Price
on trumpet, and Bobby Keys onsaxophone, who both played with
the Rolling Stones for a numberof years.
Okay.
Tell me what is my life withoutyour love, and tell me who am I
(21:48):
without you by my side.
Other songs I enjoy, Beware ofDarkness, Dave Mason of Traffic,
along with Clapton, uh joinedGeorge on guitar, Gary Wright,
later of Dreamweaver fame,played the organ, A Waiting on
You All, All Things Must Pass,another song that was rejected
(22:12):
by the Beatles, and they wereyou can actually see it if you
watch the Get Back documentary.
They bring it up and try andplay it a few times, and it just
doesn't go far.
SPEAKER_01 (22:22):
Oh, I didn't notice that.
SPEAKER_03 (22:23):
Sunrise doesn't last all morning.
A cloud burst doesn't last allday.
Seems my love is up and has leftyou with no warning.
It's not always gonna be thisgray.
A great song, it really is.
Paul McCartney actually playedthis in 2002.
They did a concert for George ayear after he passed away.
(22:46):
Paul McCartney did it, and Ijust found it very ironic that
Paul did not want this song, youknow, as part of the get back
sessions and kind of dismissedit.
And here he's playing it, youknow, for George and did an
excellent job with it.
Um I think Eric Clapton playedguitar on it as well.
I dig love Art of Dying.
(23:07):
It's a really great triplealbum.
Most songs were written between68 and 70.
Uh Isn't It a Pity is from 1966.
And some of the songs that uhGeorge and Bob Dylan rode in
Woodstock, New York, when uh BobDylan was recovering from his
(23:28):
motorcycle accident and wasn'tgoing out and doing stuff.
And you know, George was hangingout with Bob Dylan and hanging
out with the band called theband, and you know, just
learning some different stuff.
And, you know, George really wasthe Beatle who achieved huge
success, you know, first, youknow, if you look at as an
(23:51):
ex-beatle, because PaulMcCartney's first album really
didn't do much at all.
John Lennon's was so so, but youknow, it just was amazing to
release this triple album of allthis work that you've had and to
have all these differentmusicians who are are, you know,
really looked at as great, youknow, great musicians, and then
(24:15):
want to work with you, and thenyou go and you release it, and
it just does fantastic.
All things must pass.
None of life's strings can last.
So I must be on my way and faceanother day.
I mentioned Eric Clapton, BobbyWhitlock, Carl Radel, and Jim
(24:35):
Gordon played on a bunch of theAll Things Must Pass songs,
along with a ton of otherpeople.
They had previously playedtogether as members of Delaney
and Bonnie and Friends, and hadappeared on Eric Clapton's first
solo record.
And in my opinion, that firstsolo record by Eric Clapton is a
(24:56):
really good record.
And I know it gets, you know,not very good press, but I think
that it's a really good one.
They formed Derek and theDominoes during the recording of
All Things Must Pass.
They toured in the UK in 1970 inthe summer of 70, and then they
(25:16):
started to record the Derek andthe Dominoes in August of 1970
in Miami.
And when they did that, DwayneAllman came into the picture
because the Allman Brothers bandwas recording in the same Miami
studio, and the same producerwas doing Derek and the Dominoes
(25:37):
and the Allman Brothers band.
Eric Clapton and the guys wentto see the Allman Brothers live.
After the show, Dwayne's like,hey, can I come to the studio
and check you out?
And you know, basically fromthat point, you know, Eric has
him come in, not just checkinghim out, but playing songs,
because Eric just loved the waythat he could play.
(25:59):
And, you know, Eric Claptonliked the name Derek and the
Dominoes because it tookpressure off of him by not
calling it Eric Clapton andwhatever, you know.
It was a band that he could dowhere they were kind of under
the radar.
It was good, but it was also acurse to have that anonymity
(26:19):
because people know who EricClapton was.
People didn't know who Derek andthe Dominoes were, you know.
And they were charging, I thinkthey were doing shows, they were
charging like a pound.
And I'm not sure what kind ofcurrency in American dollars
that is, but they were chargingcheap amounts for people to just
come see them, not knowing whothey were.
(26:41):
On its 2020 version of RollingStone, the 500 greatest albums,
it is ranked 226.
So it's relatively close towhere the Velvet Underground
loaded album is.
But I have to be honest withyou, there are only two songs on
the album that knock my socksoff.
I don't think the album is asgreat as many critics think.
(27:04):
Now, the critics didn't evenlike the album when it came out.
It just had to go through timewhere all of a sudden people
started to say this is an epicalbum.
Like I said before, I think thefirst Eric Clapton solo record
with a lot of these same peopleon it is a much better record as
a whole.
It didn't have, you know, someof the two big songs that I'm
(27:26):
about to talk about, but as awhole, I think it's a much
better album.
And they both came out in 1970.
So the first song that I thinkis a fantastic song is
Bellbottom Blues.
I've mentioned before thatGeorge Harrison of the Beatles
was married to Patty Boyd.
George and Eric Clapton werereally good friends.
Eric falls in love with Patty,and one of the many songs he
(27:48):
wrote was Bell Bottom Blues.
She had asked him to pick up apair of bell bottom blue jeans
in America for her, and he usedthat to write a whole entire
song.
It's all wrong, but it's allright.
The way that you treat me, baby,once I was strong, but I lost
the fight, you won't find abetter loser.
(28:10):
Singing from the heart, you canfeel throughout the song this
guy is in love with someone.
And you're not sure who it isuntil we learn later in life
that it's Patty Boyd.
Do you want to see me crawlacross the floor to you?
Do you want to hear me beg youto take me back?
I'd gladly do it because it wasreleased as a single in January
(28:36):
1971, and then again in 1972.
The other big song, Derek andthe Dominoes, Layla.
The album is called Layla andOther Assorted Love Songs, and
Layla, you know, is kind of thenickname for Patty Boyd.
Oh.
Okay.
I tried to give you consolationwhen your old man had let you
(28:59):
down.
Like a fool, I fell in love withyou, turned my whole world
upside down.
Originally the song was releasedas a two-minute 43-second
single, and it didn't really dothat well.
The album version was over sevenminutes.
They cut out the parts that Ilove about the song.
(29:20):
The piano outro with EricClapton and Dwayne Allman
playing the guitar and just, youknow, just it's epic.
And I think I really like thatsong because to me it was one of
those rock and roll songs that Iheard that it just wasn't rock
and roll.
You hear that piano, that's awhole different thing.
And then they take the guitarsand they make it work with it,
(29:44):
and it's just unbelievable.
And I think if I only heard, andI listened to last night just
the single version, the twominute, 43 second version, and
it doesn't do anything for me.
It's just like a regular song,nothing spectacular.
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
That's what Lou Reed thought that they did to Sweet
Jane.
SPEAKER_03 (30:03):
There you go.
It all ties back in, right?
All ties back in.
So it wasn't until a compilationalbum came out, the history of
Eric Clapton, and it wasreleased in 72, that Layla
started to get its just due, andradio was playing it in its
entirety.
You know, rock radio, FM radiowas now becoming more and more
(30:26):
of a thing.
SPEAKER_01 (30:27):
Yeah, A-O-R, they called it.
Album-oriented rock.
SPEAKER_03 (30:30):
There you go.
Layla, you've got me on myknees.
Layla, I'm begging, darling,please.
Layla, darling, won't you easemy worried mind?
So Layla was written by EricClapton and Domino's drummer Jim
Gordon.
Jim Gordon played the pianoparts.
So not only was he a drummer, hewas a piano player.
(30:53):
But it seems he got it from hisex-girlfriend, Rita Coolidge,
who sang background vocals onEric Clapton's first album.
SPEAKER_01 (31:03):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (31:03):
And she was writing a song called Time, and that was
the piano, that was the melodyof the song.
And Jim was learning how to playit and could play it.
And Eric Clapton's like, oh hey,that sounds great.
I want to put that on my album,not knowing that it was Rita's
(31:24):
song.
And Rita actually, her sisterreleased a version of Time with
Booker T.
You know, Booker T and the MGs.
And the MGs.
And when you listen to it, cameout, I think, in 1973, if I'm
not mistaken.
You listen to it, it is thatpiano throughout the entire
song, and just different words,different, you know, whole
(31:48):
different meaning to the song,though, you know, not related
whatsoever.
And it's unfortunately aforgettable song.
Oh.
But if you take that piano part,the same thing.
Because it's almost note fornote, and you put it in a song
like Layla, and then you haveEric Lampton and Dwayne Allman
(32:08):
doing their thing over it, it'smemorable, and it's one of the
greatest songs of all time.
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
Well, she made some money off it.
SPEAKER_03 (32:15):
Well, I don't think that she's credited as um one of
the writers.
She needs to be.
Yeah, really should be, butshe's not.
Unfortunately.
That's crazy.
It is.
So Jim Gordon, who played thedrums, uh he played drums on way
too many songs that we couldeven talk about.
But I'll talk about a few.
(32:46):
Crosby Still's Nash on MarrakeshExpress.
I love that song.
Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown, JimGordon was the drummer.
And he's also part of theincredible bongo band who did
Apache.
And I think everybody knows thissong, but they don't know that
they know it.
(33:06):
And this song is in the top fiveof all-time sampled songs.
So if you look at sampled songs,no matter what list you're
looking at, this song is in thetop five.
Sugarhill Gang, LL Cool J, CNCMusic Factory, Rage Against the
Machine have all used it.
(33:26):
So he plays the drums throughoutthe song, but there's kind of
like a drum solo with thebongos, you know, like in the
middle of it.
And that drum is just the basisof so many rap songs.
But just because you're a gooddrummer does not mean your life
is all glitz and glory.
In 1983, Jim Gordon attacked hismother with a hammer and then
(33:49):
stabbed her to death.
He said a voice told him to doit.
Diagnosed with schizophrenia, hedied in prison in 2023.
The Partridge family, I think Ilove you, peaked at number one
on November 21st, 1970 onBillboard Hot 100.
(34:12):
I've always liked this song.
I still do.
I was sleeping and right in themiddle of a good dream.
Like all at once, I wake up fromsomething that keeps knocking at
my brain.
I was never embarrassed to saythat I like the song.
I was never embarrassed to saythat I like the Partridge
family.
(34:32):
I just think it's super cool.
I think I love you, so what am Iso afraid of?
I'm afraid that I'm not sure ofa love there is no cure for.
I was all in.
I knew they weren't playing, Iknew they weren't doing stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (34:52):
Yeah, you were the right age for it.
SPEAKER_03 (34:54):
I was the right age.
Shirley Jones, um, she actuallycould sing, and she was actually
famous before the show.
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (35:01):
David Cassidy could sing.
SPEAKER_03 (35:03):
Right.
David Cassidy.
Um Shirley Jones played ShirleyPartridge, David Cassidy played
Keith, Susan Day played Lori.
She was in that TV show, thatlawyer show.
What was it?
LA Law.
LA Law.
SPEAKER_01 (35:17):
Danny Bonaducci played Danny Partridge.
SPEAKER_03 (35:19):
There you go.
And uh he was on the radio formany years.
SPEAKER_01 (35:23):
And who played Reuben Kincaid?
I can't remember that actor'sname off the top of my head.
SPEAKER_03 (35:28):
Dave Madden?
Yes! Dave Madden.
Yes.
Wow.
Um yeah, that I I don't know howI could remember that.
I loved Ruben.
I thought he did a great job inthe show putting up with all of
them.
SPEAKER_01 (35:44):
It was all just about Ruben being the straight
man, you know, trying to dealwith these crazy rock and roll
personalities in their in theirpainted van that they drove
around in, their school bus.
SPEAKER_03 (35:58):
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
Yeah, I think that was perfect.
Like that drew me in also.
Like the visuals.
And if you think about it, ifyou go on right now and if you
were to put in the Partridgefamily, probably they're gonna
show either the bus or they'regonna show you the little birds.
The birds, you know, or not thebus either, but a background
that's kind of painted like thebus.
SPEAKER_01 (36:20):
Like that is just kind of psychedelic.
SPEAKER_03 (36:22):
Yeah, you know.
Um and then there was Chris andTracy, and I can't remember what
their real names were.
They were like the youngest.
I think Chris played the drpretended to play the drums.
Yeah, it's very obvious thatChris was not really playing the
drums.
Tracy tambourine or keyboards orsomething.
SPEAKER_01 (36:39):
No, no, no.
Lori was keyboards.
Oh right, right.
Tracy was tambourine.
SPEAKER_03 (36:43):
It's tambourine, okay.
It premiered the TV showSeptember 25th, 1970, and it
ended on March 23rd, 1974.
It's hard to believe 55 yearsago that they hit the airwaves
on TV with a TV show, and thennot too long after, they have a
number one song.
But don't forget the theme song,Hello World, hear the song that
(37:06):
we're singing, come on, gethappy.
A whole lot of lovin' is whatwe'll be bringing will make you
happy.
I love that, Jimmy.
You know what else I love?
The fact that it's tick, tick,tick, minute with Jimmy.
SPEAKER_02 (37:21):
It's time for a minute with Jimmy, Minute with
Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy.
It's time for a minute withJimmy, Minute with Jimmy, Minute
with Jimmy.
SPEAKER_01 (37:30):
So Jim told me he was gonna be talking about 1970
in this episode, and it would bea good idea if I did an album
from 1970 for my Minute withJimmy.
So, what album did I pick?
The Velvet Underground Loaded.
So that's why I know so muchabout the Velvet Underground
Loaded in this episode, isbecause I was gonna talk about
it.
But now instead, I'm gonna talkabout the Credence Clearwater
(37:53):
Revival album, Cosmo's Factory.
Now, this album came out in1970.
It had some big credence hits onit, like uh Who'll Stop the
Rain, Up Around the Bend, IHeard It Through the Grapevine,
Run Through the Jungle, andLooking Out My Back Door.
But my favorite song isTravelin' Band.
(38:15):
And I didn't know this untilright now that Travelin' Band
was designed to be, you know, athrowback, like a lot of their
songs, to the music that theyloved from the 1950s.
And it was specifically kind ofthe Little Richard sound.
You know, he's just singing atthe top of his lungs.
Well, it turns out LittleRichard's record company that
(38:37):
owned the copyright to GoodgollyMiss Molly said, We think that
song's an infringement, and theyhad to settle out of court for
an undisclosed amount of moneybecause they agreed, yeah, I
guess it is a little bit closeto good golly, Miss Molly.
SPEAKER_03 (38:54):
I did not know that, Jimmy, but as you're talking and
I'm listening, uh, it all makessense.
It does sound, you know, the wayhe does some of the screams and
hoots and the hollers andeverything.
Without a doubt, I get it.
SPEAKER_01 (39:07):
Yeah, you never know.
I mean, a a jury would have todecide, but I guess they decided
it was better to just give alittle money to them and and
settle it out of court.
SPEAKER_03 (39:18):
Well, you know what?
To make it all full circle,George Harrison was sued, I
think, in 1976 or so, for thesong My Sweet Lord.
SPEAKER_01 (39:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (39:29):
And they said it was sounding like He's So Fine by
the Chafaur.
Oh, that's right, yeah.
And he actually lost.
But what it did for him is thatthere were people that released
songs after that sounded likeGeorge Harrison songs and took
stuff from George Harrison,including Madonna.
She took uh uh Living in theMaterial World.
(39:52):
He had a song and an albumcalled that, and she had that
song, Material World.
They worked together on somefilms.
I don't know if that was beforeor after.
I I honestly don't know.
But he made it that he was notgoing to go after people for
doing it because it was really abad taste in his mouth.
And I'll be honest with you, tothis day, I still don't hear why
(40:16):
George Harrison lost the case ofHe's So Fine by the Chiffans,
comparing it to My Sweet Lord.
You can let us know what youthink by reaching out to us at
musicinmyshoes at gmail.com.
Please like and follow the Musicin My Shoes Facebook and
Instagram pages.
That's it for episode 107 ofMusic in My Shoes.
(40:39):
I'd like to thank Jimmy Guthrie,show producer and owner of
Arcade 160 Studios, locatedright here in Atlanta, Georgia,
and Vic Grill for the podcastmusic.
This is Jim Boge, and I hope youlearned something new or
remembered something old.
We'll meet again on our nextepisode.
Until then, live life and keepthe music playing.
Hey everybody, this is Jim Boge, and you're
listening to Music in My Shoes.
That was Vic Thrill kicking offepisode 107.
As always, I'm thrilled to behere with you.
Let's learn something new orremember something old.
Jimmy, when I was a kid, therewere songs that when they came
on the radio, I stopped what Iwas doing and gave them my full
(00:58):
attention.
We've talked about this before.
Back in the day, you could not,you know, readily access music
the way that you can today.
Right.
You you relied on the radio alot to be able to hear it, or
you could buy the record, butyou couldn't buy every record.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
No, you spent some money to buy it.
SPEAKER_03 (01:17):
I was a kid.
It was very difficult, you know.
You had to lose, you know, teethfrom and get money from the
tooth fairy and birthday moneyand and and all of that to be
able to buy because I was buyingrecords young, and that's why I
said the tooth fairy, becauseyou're looking at me like No,
I'm just trying to remember if Iever bought a record with Tooth
Fairy money.
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
I'm sure I did.
SPEAKER_03 (01:38):
I did, you know.
So two of them, two of the songswere Sweet Jane and Rock and
Roll by the Velvet Underground.
Oh, really?
Really?
That's great.
So usually on the radio, LouReed's live version of Sweet
(01:58):
Jane would be played.
And that's the one where it kindof has the big guitar
introduction and so forth.
But I really like the VelvetUnderground one that came out in
1970.
And, you know, it's like I said,it's you didn't have that
instant gratification.
And I kind of liked it.
(02:19):
I gotta be honest with you.
Like today it's just so easy todo stuff.
It's easier than what it reallyshould be.
There was that liking a song orthinking you like it, and just
sitting by the radio justwaiting for it to be played
again and saying, Oh yeah, I dolike that, or uh you know what,
I don't like the middle, orwhere today you can just boo, uh
(02:41):
yeah, I don't like it.
Let me put something else on.
And and it's just it's a wholedifferent thing.
So both songs are from VelvetUnderground's 1970 album Loaded,
a really good album, a reallyinfluential album for just so
many bands to come.
And not just that album byVelvet Underground.
I mean, you know, I think thiswas their fourth album, if I'm
(03:04):
not mistaken.
SPEAKER_01 (03:05):
It was.
SPEAKER_03 (03:06):
And it they were just so influential to so many
people.
So Lou Reed wrote all the songson the album, but he only sang
lead on six out of the tensongs, and he let Doug Yule sing
lead on the others.
And Doug Yule was the bassist.
(03:26):
He did the opening track calledWho Loves the Sun?
And I'd say it's gotta be themost pop-oriented song that I
think The Velvet Underground hasdone.
You know, they're kinda like I Iconsider them art rock.
Maybe that's not the right term,but I kind of consider, you
(03:47):
know, they they did stuff withAndy Warhol down at the factory.
I think that they were like thehouse band in 66, 67, right
around there.
Yep.
And you know, to have them comeout with this song where Lou
Reed wrote and said, Yeah, I'mnot gonna sing it.
Doug, why don't you sing it?
Who loves the sun?
(04:08):
Who cares that it makes plantsgrow?
Who cares what it does since youbroke my heart?
Right.
That is not a Velvet Undergroundsong.
But it is.
SPEAKER_01 (04:20):
Well, you know, they set out in Loaded, which it the
idea was it's loaded with hitsbecause the record company
wanted hits.
And so they made this this albumthat they thought, okay, surely
we've got a hit in here.
And it turned out they didn't,and nothing really became a a
(04:40):
big time hit, and it ended upreally being kind of the end of
the band.
I mean, Doug Yule stayed on, putout another album after Lou Reed
left the band, but Loaded wasreally kind of the last real
Velvet Underground album.
SPEAKER_03 (04:55):
You know, it is everything that a hit record, a
pop hit record should be.
And you're right, it it itwasn't.
This song was not at all, but itis, you know, talking about love
and plants and flowers, and ithas those background vocals that
(05:15):
go pop pop.
SPEAKER_01 (05:17):
You know, it just sounds like a 60s pop song.
SPEAKER_03 (05:20):
It does, it just sounds like life is good, here
we go, and it didn't goanywhere.
It's just crazy.
So many good songs on the album,though.
Yeah, sweet Jane standing on thecorner, suitcase in my hand,
Jack is in his corset, Jane isin her vest, and me, I'm in a
(05:41):
rock and roll band.
I would sing that over and overthinking it was me that is in
the rock and roll band.
I kid you not.
Like that line, like I wouldlisten to Sweet Jane, and that's
the beginning of the song forthose of you that don't know,
and I would just be in heavenwhen he said that part about
(06:05):
being in a rock and roll band.
Now, I also have to tell youthat when I first heard the
song, when they would sing thechorus, Sweet Jane, for many
years I thought it was CJ.
SPEAKER_01 (06:18):
Oh, okay.
Who is CJ?
I didn't know it was bass playerfrom the Ramones.
SPEAKER_03 (06:22):
I I know.
I didn't know it was Sweet Jane.
I thought it was CJ, you know?
Like I just didn't know.
And I should have, but I didnot.
SPEAKER_01 (06:31):
There were and again, there was no way to look
up lyrics back then.
You didn't know.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (06:36):
So back in early 1989, I went to upstate New York
with some friends, and my friendSally's parents, they had a
house up there.
We went up one weekend, andsomehow we end up with her
boyfriend at the time, this guyDan, and he was playing Sweet
Jane on an acoustic guitar andsinging the verses, and Sally
(07:01):
was singing the chorus with him.
And Sally, you know, Sally, ifyou listen, I'm not saying
anything you don't know already,but not the best singer by any
means, maybe a little bit of ofa like a a yell scream into the
song.
And I wanted to do something andI didn't know what to do, and
(07:25):
there was a twister board.
We had played Twister, and Itook my hand, and on, you know,
twister is like that plasticmat.
SPEAKER_01 (07:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (07:33):
I started scratching because it's 1989, and you know,
all the songs at the time comingout, pop songs, have all kinds
of, you know, scratching, youknow, rap songs and everything.
And so I was like scratch Ithought I did a pretty good job
with it.
I gotta be honest with you.
SPEAKER_01 (07:51):
Better than she did singing, I guess, is what you're
trying to say.
SPEAKER_03 (07:53):
Yeah, maybe, maybe a little bit better.
But you know, it's one of thosememories.
I've never forgotten that.
Like it still stays with me,like I said in early 1989.
And to me, that's the power ofmusic.
You know, you're doing some Iguess at some point we played
Twister.
I don't really remember that,but I remember scratching and
(08:15):
enjoying Sweet Jane.
SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
Aaron Ross Powell That could be like a sequel to
the twist, like twist andscratch.
SPEAKER_03 (08:20):
Aaron Ross Powell Maybe I'll see about writing
that and doing spoken wordpoetry with it.
So rock and roll.
I related to the song so muchwhen I first heard it, talking
about rock radio.
Then one fine morning, she putson a New York station.
You know, she don't believe whatshe heard at all.
The connection with music Iremember feeling as a kid has
(08:43):
never left.
That, you know, I and I guessthat's why I do the podcast.
I uh, you know, I have thistremendous connection with
music, and I'm not saying myconnection is better or bigger
than anybody else's.
You know, the this episode, youknow, and and and podcast is
talking about what my journeyis.
Your shoes.
(09:04):
My shoes.
And, you know, and like Iremember putting on New York
stations because I lived in NewYork and the difference and how
it could take, you know, how Iwas feeling and just changed the
mood so quickly.
And and vice versa.
You know, all of a sudden a songcould come on that was sad, and
(09:24):
all of a sudden you're like, ohmy God, I feel worse than what I
did before.
SPEAKER_01 (09:28):
But sometimes you just need a good cry.
SPEAKER_03 (09:30):
Sometimes you you do put a little Carol King on, it's
too late.
But you know, she startedshaking to that fine, fine
music, you know her life wassaved by rock and roll.
And I think those are just suchstrong words because again, I
can relate to it, and I know Iknow a lot of people can relate
to that also.
SPEAKER_01 (09:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:51):
You know?
Side one of the record finishesup with Cool It Down and New
Age.
An incredible one side of anyrecord of all time.
That's one of the best sides.
Again, vinyl, you had sides.
You got to flip it over if youwanted to listen to it.
Side two is good with Head HeldHigh, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, I
(10:15):
Found the Reason, Train Roundthe Ben, Oh Sweet Nothing.
And I think one of the thingsabout this album is that there
are songs, there's all differenttypes of songs on it, and that
you can find something that youlike.
Again, very unvelvet undergroundy for them.
That there was, you know, youlisten to Lonesome Cowboy Bill
(10:36):
is so different than I found areason.
You know, there's ballads,there's love songs, there's rock
songs, there, you know, it'sit's all over.
And I love that, you know?
SPEAKER_01 (10:47):
And even though they were trying to make hits, they
still sounded like the VelvetUnderground.
They did.
You know, they couldn't shakethemselves.
Like it still was reallyoriginal and was really
different than what other peoplewere doing.
SPEAKER_03 (10:59):
I I agree a hundred percent.
Sterling Morrison, guitarist forthe band, and Mo Tucker, drummer
for the band, both went to thesame high school as I did.
Oh.
Division Avenue High School inLevitown, New York.
Sterling graduated in 1960 andMo in 1961.
(11:20):
Moe Tucker took a leave from theband when she became pregnant
and is not on the loaded album.
And that's one thing that I wishthat she was because she's I
guess she can kind of hear it.
SPEAKER_01 (11:32):
You can kind of tell it's more of a normal drummer.
SPEAKER_03 (11:34):
Yes, it's not the Mo style of drumming.
And I wish that she was.
And hey, you know, she waspregnant and wanted to be away
from all of that while she was.
But for such a great album, itwould have been great for her to
be part of this.
The album is ranked number 242on the 2020 version of Rolling
(11:54):
Stone 500 Greatest Albums of AllTime.
So I've mentioned before that Ithink the band Fish does the
best cover of Sweet Jane.
I think they do an incrediblejob covering the whole entire
album like they did on Halloween1998.
I've been listening to it sincethen.
(12:16):
I remember it was broadcast onradio, and I can't say it was
broadcast that Halloween, ormaybe it was New Year's Eve.
I don't know.
But at some point, 96 Rock herein Atlanta broadcast that show,
and I recorded on cassette Fishdoing Loaded.
(12:38):
Oh, cool.
And I would listen to it oncassette, and it was just
absolutely fantastic that theycould take these songs because
art rock, you know, again,loaded, they were doing a little
bit more poppy, a little bitmore hits, but that fish could
take their jam style and makethese songs work in that they
(13:02):
played it the way the VelvetUnderground played it, but then
they went into these big longguitar solos or did this or
that.
It is absolutely fantastic.
It really truly is.
I've been listening to it, likeI said, since 1998, you know,
the fish version.
I've been listening to Loadedsince the 70s, if I want to talk
(13:23):
about the Velvet Underground.
But it's really cool, you know.
If you haven't listened to it, Ireally recommend people to give
it a try, at least side one ofthe Velvet Underground.
And if you're into, you know,newer rock and and and jam bands
and everything, maybe give thefish one a go at it.
(13:45):
But I think between the two,you're gonna find something that
you really like.
SPEAKER_01 (13:49):
Yeah, a lot of really good songs in there.
And as you know, I've covered OhSweet Nothing.
Um one time.
And did you know that Lou Reedleft the band in August 1970?
And Loaded was released inNovember 1970.
So he was actually gone for afew months before it came out,
(14:10):
and he wasn't happy with themixes on the album and the that
they had resequenced the songsand put them in a different
order than he wanted.
And he wasn't happy that he waslisted third just in the list of
names of band members.
Maybe it was alphabetical orsomething.
Right, right.
Um, rather than it being madeclear that he's the guy that
(14:31):
wrote the majority of the songsand he was the leader of the
band up until he left.
And so, yeah, he had uh definitegripes with loaded after leaving
the band.
SPEAKER_03 (14:43):
I can understand that.
I definitely can.
Because I think that when youare the person that the Velvet
Underground is associated with,you know, I I mentioned, you
know, John Cale was in it.
We didn't mention him, he wasoriginally in it, you know,
before Doug Guell, and wementioned Mo Tucker and Sterling
Morrison.
But I think when people thinkVelvet Underground, the first
(15:03):
thing you think of is Lou Reed.
And you know, he wrote themajority of the songs.
He really kind of directedeverything that went on with the
band, so I can understand why hejust was like, Well, you know
what, let me go.
And then in 72, I think it wasthat's when he had uh
Transformer, the album came out.
(15:24):
And then he had um StreetHassle.
Yep.
Rock and Roll Animal, the livealbum, which he had some of the
Velvet Underground songs on, andyou know, made a kind of a name
for himself.
SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
Well, so one of the things about the Rock and Roll
Animal album and Lou playingSweet Jane live was that Lou had
written that song with a bridgein it that says Heavenly Wine
and Roses, and they edited thatpart out because according to
Doug Yule, they wanted it to bea hit and they wanted it to be a
(15:58):
simple song that didn't have awhole bunch of parts.
So here's the hook, here's thesong, it's you know, gets over
quickly.
And he says that Lou actuallyedited it out before he quit the
band.
Lou claimed that they did theedit after he left.
But when Lou would play it live,he would add that part back in.
And when Doug Yule's version ofthe band would play it live,
(16:20):
they would keep, you know, theuh the additional bridge in
there.
Then when Lou started playing alittle more like a rock and roll
version of the song, he took itback out because it didn't sound
as good in the in the moreupbeat, like heavier rocking
version of Sweet Jane.
So he went back and forthhimself.
SPEAKER_03 (16:39):
And it's funny because I think that's the one
part of the song that sounds100% old school Velvet
Underground, is when they dothat part.
SPEAKER_01 (16:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (16:49):
You know, even Lou's voice as he's singing, I think
it kind of imitates his singingabilities and style that he had.
And it's funny taking it out,putting it in.
But I could see with the rockand roll version not really
fitting as much as it did withthe way that it came out on the
album.
SPEAKER_05 (17:08):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03 (17:09):
You know what?
You just might be saved by rockand roll.
Roughly around the time theVelvet Underground were
recording loaded in New YorkCity, George Harrison and a
bunch of musicians wererecording his epic album, All
Things Must Pass, in London.
The Beatles' final album, Let ItBe, was released in May 1970.
(17:31):
George had a backlog of songsthat didn't make Beatle albums,
and he kind of was at a peaktime in his creativity.
And released on November 27,1970, All Things Must Pass was a
triple album, which was unheardof.
He was the first artist, singleartist, to release a triple
(17:53):
album.
Wow.
Yeah.
I mean, it's incredible.
And the thing is, it had so manygood songs on it.
There's not like a lot offiller.
I mean, it's a really good albumto listen to.
SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
So no one had ever released a triple album?
SPEAKER_03 (18:06):
No one had released a triple album.
A single person.
There had been triple albums fora festival or a concert, but not
a single person.
It made it to number one onBillboard 200 album chart on
January 2nd, 1971, and stayedthere for seven weeks.
Some of my favorite songs fromit are I'd have you anytime, a
(18:31):
song written with Bob Dylan.
Eric Clapton plays lead guitar,Klaus Vorman, who designed the
Beatles Revolver album cover,played bass.
He also produced a song wementioned last episode, trios,
da-da-da.
And he also did the bass line toCarly Simon You're So Vain.
(18:54):
When you listen to that, thatopening.
All right, I'm like terrible athim, but you know what I'm
trying to do.
I'm not a musician, I'm apodcaster.
SPEAKER_01 (19:02):
I know.
I'm trying to remember the bassintro to You're So Vain.
SPEAKER_03 (19:06):
If you l it's the beginning of the song.
SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (19:09):
If you listen to it, you will know right away.
Alan White on drums before hestarted his almost 50-year run
as the drummer for Yes in 1972.
I mean, that's a cast ofcharacters right there.
My Sweet Lord, released as asingle November 23rd, 1970,
(19:30):
reached number one on BillboardHot 100, December 26, 1970.
Another song when I was a kidthat I couldn't wait for it to
be played on the radio.
And it sounded like a bunch ofacoustic guitars in the
beginning because there reallywas.
George Harrison, Eric Clapton,two guys from the band
(19:51):
Badfinger, and Peter Framptonall played acoustic guitar.
And then when they overdubbed,George Harrison and Peter
Frampton then dubbed in evenmore acoustic guitars.
So when you listen to it, itsounds like it's a plethora.
And it's just a super coolsound.
It is.
Adding Phil Spector as theproducer, you know, help him
(20:13):
with the production of it, thatalso gave it that, you know,
Phil Spector sound.
SPEAKER_01 (20:18):
Wall of sound.
SPEAKER_03 (20:19):
Yeah, and it definitely sounded like a wall
of acoustic guitars.
So Gary Brooker played piano,and you may remember him as the
singer of Prokel Harem's 1967hit, A Whiter Shade of Pale,
Bobby Whitlock on Harmonium,Klaus Vorman on bass, Ringo Star
of the Beatles on drums, AlanWhite on tambourine.
(20:41):
Songs mostly played around theChristmas holidays lately, but
uh, you know, one time back inthe 70s, it was just a regular
song that they would play.
Wa, which is actually the firstsong that they recorded when
they were doing this album, andit kind of talks a little bit
about how he was tired of PaulMcCartney talking about him and
(21:02):
his guitar playing andeverything.
And I, you know, wah wah.
It's true.
Isn't it a pity?
What is life?
I love this song.
Reach number 10 on Billboard,March 1971.
What I feel, I can't say, but mylove is there for you any time
of day.
(21:22):
It has George Harrison, EricClapton, Whitlock, the whole Bad
Finger band, Carl Radel on bass,Jim Gordon on drums, Jim Price
on trumpet, and Bobby Keys onsaxophone, who both played with
the Rolling Stones for a numberof years.
Okay.
Tell me what is my life withoutyour love, and tell me who am I
(21:48):
without you by my side.
Other songs I enjoy, Beware ofDarkness, Dave Mason of Traffic,
along with Clapton, uh joinedGeorge on guitar, Gary Wright,
later of Dreamweaver fame,played the organ, A Waiting on
You All, All Things Must Pass,another song that was rejected
(22:12):
by the Beatles, and they wereyou can actually see it if you
watch the Get Back documentary.
They bring it up and try andplay it a few times, and it just
doesn't go far.
SPEAKER_01 (22:22):
Oh, I didn't notice that.
SPEAKER_03 (22:23):
Sunrise doesn't last all morning.
A cloud burst doesn't last allday.
Seems my love is up and has leftyou with no warning.
It's not always gonna be thisgray.
A great song, it really is.
Paul McCartney actually playedthis in 2002.
They did a concert for George ayear after he passed away.
(22:46):
Paul McCartney did it, and Ijust found it very ironic that
Paul did not want this song, youknow, as part of the get back
sessions and kind of dismissedit.
And here he's playing it, youknow, for George and did an
excellent job with it.
Um I think Eric Clapton playedguitar on it as well.
I dig love Art of Dying.
(23:07):
It's a really great triplealbum.
Most songs were written between68 and 70.
Uh Isn't It a Pity is from 1966.
And some of the songs that uhGeorge and Bob Dylan rode in
Woodstock, New York, when uh BobDylan was recovering from his
(23:28):
motorcycle accident and wasn'tgoing out and doing stuff.
And you know, George was hangingout with Bob Dylan and hanging
out with the band called theband, and you know, just
learning some different stuff.
And, you know, George really wasthe Beatle who achieved huge
success, you know, first, youknow, if you look at as an
(23:51):
ex-beatle, because PaulMcCartney's first album really
didn't do much at all.
John Lennon's was so so, but youknow, it just was amazing to
release this triple album of allthis work that you've had and to
have all these differentmusicians who are are, you know,
really looked at as great, youknow, great musicians, and then
(24:15):
want to work with you, and thenyou go and you release it, and
it just does fantastic.
All things must pass.
None of life's strings can last.
So I must be on my way and faceanother day.
I mentioned Eric Clapton, BobbyWhitlock, Carl Radel, and Jim
(24:35):
Gordon played on a bunch of theAll Things Must Pass songs,
along with a ton of otherpeople.
They had previously playedtogether as members of Delaney
and Bonnie and Friends, and hadappeared on Eric Clapton's first
solo record.
And in my opinion, that firstsolo record by Eric Clapton is a
(24:56):
really good record.
And I know it gets, you know,not very good press, but I think
that it's a really good one.
They formed Derek and theDominoes during the recording of
All Things Must Pass.
They toured in the UK in 1970 inthe summer of 70, and then they
(25:16):
started to record the Derek andthe Dominoes in August of 1970
in Miami.
And when they did that, DwayneAllman came into the picture
because the Allman Brothers bandwas recording in the same Miami
studio, and the same producerwas doing Derek and the Dominoes
(25:37):
and the Allman Brothers band.
Eric Clapton and the guys wentto see the Allman Brothers live.
After the show, Dwayne's like,hey, can I come to the studio
and check you out?
And you know, basically fromthat point, you know, Eric has
him come in, not just checkinghim out, but playing songs,
because Eric just loved the waythat he could play.
(25:59):
And, you know, Eric Claptonliked the name Derek and the
Dominoes because it tookpressure off of him by not
calling it Eric Clapton andwhatever, you know.
It was a band that he could dowhere they were kind of under
the radar.
It was good, but it was also acurse to have that anonymity
(26:19):
because people know who EricClapton was.
People didn't know who Derek andthe Dominoes were, you know.
And they were charging, I thinkthey were doing shows, they were
charging like a pound.
And I'm not sure what kind ofcurrency in American dollars
that is, but they were chargingcheap amounts for people to just
come see them, not knowing whothey were.
(26:41):
On its 2020 version of RollingStone, the 500 greatest albums,
it is ranked 226.
So it's relatively close towhere the Velvet Underground
loaded album is.
But I have to be honest withyou, there are only two songs on
the album that knock my socksoff.
I don't think the album is asgreat as many critics think.
(27:04):
Now, the critics didn't evenlike the album when it came out.
It just had to go through timewhere all of a sudden people
started to say this is an epicalbum.
Like I said before, I think thefirst Eric Clapton solo record
with a lot of these same peopleon it is a much better record as
a whole.
It didn't have, you know, someof the two big songs that I'm
(27:26):
about to talk about, but as awhole, I think it's a much
better album.
And they both came out in 1970.
So the first song that I thinkis a fantastic song is
Bellbottom Blues.
I've mentioned before thatGeorge Harrison of the Beatles
was married to Patty Boyd.
George and Eric Clapton werereally good friends.
Eric falls in love with Patty,and one of the many songs he
(27:48):
wrote was Bell Bottom Blues.
She had asked him to pick up apair of bell bottom blue jeans
in America for her, and he usedthat to write a whole entire
song.
It's all wrong, but it's allright.
The way that you treat me, baby,once I was strong, but I lost
the fight, you won't find abetter loser.
(28:10):
Singing from the heart, you canfeel throughout the song this
guy is in love with someone.
And you're not sure who it isuntil we learn later in life
that it's Patty Boyd.
Do you want to see me crawlacross the floor to you?
Do you want to hear me beg youto take me back?
I'd gladly do it because it wasreleased as a single in January
(28:36):
1971, and then again in 1972.
The other big song, Derek andthe Dominoes, Layla.
The album is called Layla andOther Assorted Love Songs, and
Layla, you know, is kind of thenickname for Patty Boyd.
Oh.
Okay.
I tried to give you consolationwhen your old man had let you
(28:59):
down.
Like a fool, I fell in love withyou, turned my whole world
upside down.
Originally the song was releasedas a two-minute 43-second
single, and it didn't really dothat well.
The album version was over sevenminutes.
They cut out the parts that Ilove about the song.
(29:20):
The piano outro with EricClapton and Dwayne Allman
playing the guitar and just, youknow, just it's epic.
And I think I really like thatsong because to me it was one of
those rock and roll songs that Iheard that it just wasn't rock
and roll.
You hear that piano, that's awhole different thing.
And then they take the guitarsand they make it work with it,
(29:44):
and it's just unbelievable.
And I think if I only heard, andI listened to last night just
the single version, the twominute, 43 second version, and
it doesn't do anything for me.
It's just like a regular song,nothing spectacular.
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
That's what Lou Reed thought that they did to Sweet
Jane.
SPEAKER_03 (30:03):
There you go.
It all ties back in, right?
All ties back in.
So it wasn't until a compilationalbum came out, the history of
Eric Clapton, and it wasreleased in 72, that Layla
started to get its just due, andradio was playing it in its
entirety.
You know, rock radio, FM radiowas now becoming more and more
(30:26):
of a thing.
SPEAKER_01 (30:27):
Yeah, A-O-R, they called it.
Album-oriented rock.
SPEAKER_03 (30:30):
There you go.
Layla, you've got me on myknees.
Layla, I'm begging, darling,please.
Layla, darling, won't you easemy worried mind?
So Layla was written by EricClapton and Domino's drummer Jim
Gordon.
Jim Gordon played the pianoparts.
So not only was he a drummer, hewas a piano player.
(30:53):
But it seems he got it from hisex-girlfriend, Rita Coolidge,
who sang background vocals onEric Clapton's first album.
SPEAKER_01 (31:03):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (31:03):
And she was writing a song called Time, and that was
the piano, that was the melodyof the song.
And Jim was learning how to playit and could play it.
And Eric Clapton's like, oh hey,that sounds great.
I want to put that on my album,not knowing that it was Rita's
(31:24):
song.
And Rita actually, her sisterreleased a version of Time with
Booker T.
You know, Booker T and the MGs.
And the MGs.
And when you listen to it, cameout, I think, in 1973, if I'm
not mistaken.
You listen to it, it is thatpiano throughout the entire
song, and just different words,different, you know, whole
(31:48):
different meaning to the song,though, you know, not related
whatsoever.
And it's unfortunately aforgettable song.
Oh.
But if you take that piano part,the same thing.
Because it's almost note fornote, and you put it in a song
like Layla, and then you haveEric Lampton and Dwayne Allman
(32:08):
doing their thing over it, it'smemorable, and it's one of the
greatest songs of all time.
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
Well, she made some money off it.
SPEAKER_03 (32:15):
Well, I don't think that she's credited as um one of
the writers.
She needs to be.
Yeah, really should be, butshe's not.
Unfortunately.
That's crazy.
It is.
So Jim Gordon, who played thedrums, uh he played drums on way
too many songs that we couldeven talk about.
But I'll talk about a few.
(32:46):
Crosby Still's Nash on MarrakeshExpress.
I love that song.
Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown, JimGordon was the drummer.
And he's also part of theincredible bongo band who did
Apache.
And I think everybody knows thissong, but they don't know that
they know it.
(33:06):
And this song is in the top fiveof all-time sampled songs.
So if you look at sampled songs,no matter what list you're
looking at, this song is in thetop five.
Sugarhill Gang, LL Cool J, CNCMusic Factory, Rage Against the
Machine have all used it.
(33:26):
So he plays the drums throughoutthe song, but there's kind of
like a drum solo with thebongos, you know, like in the
middle of it.
And that drum is just the basisof so many rap songs.
But just because you're a gooddrummer does not mean your life
is all glitz and glory.
In 1983, Jim Gordon attacked hismother with a hammer and then
(33:49):
stabbed her to death.
He said a voice told him to doit.
Diagnosed with schizophrenia, hedied in prison in 2023.
The Partridge family, I think Ilove you, peaked at number one
on November 21st, 1970 onBillboard Hot 100.
(34:12):
I've always liked this song.
I still do.
I was sleeping and right in themiddle of a good dream.
Like all at once, I wake up fromsomething that keeps knocking at
my brain.
I was never embarrassed to saythat I like the song.
I was never embarrassed to saythat I like the Partridge
family.
(34:32):
I just think it's super cool.
I think I love you, so what am Iso afraid of?
I'm afraid that I'm not sure ofa love there is no cure for.
I was all in.
I knew they weren't playing, Iknew they weren't doing stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (34:52):
Yeah, you were the right age for it.
SPEAKER_03 (34:54):
I was the right age.
Shirley Jones, um, she actuallycould sing, and she was actually
famous before the show.
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (35:01):
David Cassidy could sing.
SPEAKER_03 (35:03):
Right.
David Cassidy.
Um Shirley Jones played ShirleyPartridge, David Cassidy played
Keith, Susan Day played Lori.
She was in that TV show, thatlawyer show.
What was it?
LA Law.
LA Law.
SPEAKER_01 (35:17):
Danny Bonaducci played Danny Partridge.
SPEAKER_03 (35:19):
There you go.
And uh he was on the radio formany years.
SPEAKER_01 (35:23):
And who played Reuben Kincaid?
I can't remember that actor'sname off the top of my head.
SPEAKER_03 (35:28):
Dave Madden?
Yes! Dave Madden.
Yes.
Wow.
Um yeah, that I I don't know howI could remember that.
I loved Ruben.
I thought he did a great job inthe show putting up with all of
them.
SPEAKER_01 (35:44):
It was all just about Ruben being the straight
man, you know, trying to dealwith these crazy rock and roll
personalities in their in theirpainted van that they drove
around in, their school bus.
SPEAKER_03 (35:58):
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
Yeah, I think that was perfect.
Like that drew me in also.
Like the visuals.
And if you think about it, ifyou go on right now and if you
were to put in the Partridgefamily, probably they're gonna
show either the bus or they'regonna show you the little birds.
The birds, you know, or not thebus either, but a background
that's kind of painted like thebus.
SPEAKER_01 (36:20):
Like that is just kind of psychedelic.
SPEAKER_03 (36:22):
Yeah, you know.
Um and then there was Chris andTracy, and I can't remember what
their real names were.
They were like the youngest.
I think Chris played the drpretended to play the drums.
Yeah, it's very obvious thatChris was not really playing the
drums.
Tracy tambourine or keyboards orsomething.
SPEAKER_01 (36:39):
No, no, no.
Lori was keyboards.
Oh right, right.
Tracy was tambourine.
SPEAKER_03 (36:43):
It's tambourine, okay.
It premiered the TV showSeptember 25th, 1970, and it
ended on March 23rd, 1974.
It's hard to believe 55 yearsago that they hit the airwaves
on TV with a TV show, and thennot too long after, they have a
number one song.
But don't forget the theme song,Hello World, hear the song that
(37:06):
we're singing, come on, gethappy.
A whole lot of lovin' is whatwe'll be bringing will make you
happy.
I love that, Jimmy.
You know what else I love?
The fact that it's tick, tick,tick, minute with Jimmy.
SPEAKER_02 (37:21):
It's time for a minute with Jimmy, Minute with
Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy.
It's time for a minute withJimmy, Minute with Jimmy, Minute
with Jimmy.
SPEAKER_01 (37:30):
So Jim told me he was gonna be talking about 1970
in this episode, and it would bea good idea if I did an album
from 1970 for my Minute withJimmy.
So, what album did I pick?
The Velvet Underground Loaded.
So that's why I know so muchabout the Velvet Underground
Loaded in this episode, isbecause I was gonna talk about
it.
But now instead, I'm gonna talkabout the Credence Clearwater
(37:53):
Revival album, Cosmo's Factory.
Now, this album came out in1970.
It had some big credence hits onit, like uh Who'll Stop the
Rain, Up Around the Bend, IHeard It Through the Grapevine,
Run Through the Jungle, andLooking Out My Back Door.
But my favorite song isTravelin' Band.
(38:15):
And I didn't know this untilright now that Travelin' Band
was designed to be, you know, athrowback, like a lot of their
songs, to the music that theyloved from the 1950s.
And it was specifically kind ofthe Little Richard sound.
You know, he's just singing atthe top of his lungs.
Well, it turns out LittleRichard's record company that
(38:37):
owned the copyright to GoodgollyMiss Molly said, We think that
song's an infringement, and theyhad to settle out of court for
an undisclosed amount of moneybecause they agreed, yeah, I
guess it is a little bit closeto good golly, Miss Molly.
SPEAKER_03 (38:54):
I did not know that, Jimmy, but as you're talking and
I'm listening, uh, it all makessense.
It does sound, you know, the wayhe does some of the screams and
hoots and the hollers andeverything.
Without a doubt, I get it.
SPEAKER_01 (39:07):
Yeah, you never know.
I mean, a a jury would have todecide, but I guess they decided
it was better to just give alittle money to them and and
settle it out of court.
SPEAKER_03 (39:18):
Well, you know what?
To make it all full circle,George Harrison was sued, I
think, in 1976 or so, for thesong My Sweet Lord.
SPEAKER_01 (39:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (39:29):
And they said it was sounding like He's So Fine by
the Chafaur.
Oh, that's right, yeah.
And he actually lost.
But what it did for him is thatthere were people that released
songs after that sounded likeGeorge Harrison songs and took
stuff from George Harrison,including Madonna.
She took uh uh Living in theMaterial World.
(39:52):
He had a song and an albumcalled that, and she had that
song, Material World.
They worked together on somefilms.
I don't know if that was beforeor after.
I I honestly don't know.
But he made it that he was notgoing to go after people for
doing it because it was really abad taste in his mouth.
And I'll be honest with you, tothis day, I still don't hear why
(40:16):
George Harrison lost the case ofHe's So Fine by the Chiffans,
comparing it to My Sweet Lord.
You can let us know what youthink by reaching out to us at
musicinmyshoes at gmail.com.
Please like and follow the Musicin My Shoes Facebook and
Instagram pages.
That's it for episode 107 ofMusic in My Shoes.
(40:39):
I'd like to thank Jimmy Guthrie,show producer and owner of
Arcade 160 Studios, locatedright here in Atlanta, Georgia,
and Vic Grill for the podcastmusic.
This is Jim Boge, and I hope youlearned something new or
remembered something old.
We'll meet again on our nextepisode.
Until then, live life and keepthe music playing.
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