June | 2021 | Every Moment Has A Song

Songs You May Have Missed #701

28 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: dollar store, walker hayes

Walker Hayes: “Dollar Store” (2017)

Ironic and sad that in our previous post of a Walker Hayes song (the brilliant “You Broke Up with Me”) we singled out for praise an uncommon lyrical freshness that went counter to the prevailing trend in contemporary country of piling cliche on cliche to make the same song again and again, year after year.

Perusing Hayes’ website for news of a follow-up to 2017’s Boom, I came across a new song (“Country Stuff”) which is probably the tallest stinkin’ pile of…uh, cliche on record.

In other words, this guy went from being (in this writer’s opinion) the Great Hope for the genre finding its way out of its current (un)creative mire to authoring possibly the genre’s most monumental exercise in banal formula.

So we went back to 2017 and “Dollar Store” to show you how brilliant and witty Hayes can be.

But we include the link to “Country Stuff” for perspective’s sake. Compare it lyrically to both “Dollar Store” and “You Broke Up with Me” (also linked below) and you’ll see a stark contrast between county as it could be and country as it unfortunately too often is.

Dollar Store

Saw a penny picked it up
Lady be a little luck
Stuck it in my pocket, hey
Wasn’t earned but it’s saved
50 cents in the console… cha ching
39 on the floor… bada bing
10 more till we got it made, babe, in the cash shade
Shopping time there’s a dime in the ashtray

Uh, woohoo
Mama let my money say I love you
We takin’ you and this GW
Down to the dollar store
Buy you whatever you holla for
Uh, woohoo
Baby I’m a million bucks from rich
But I can grant you a discount wish
Down at the dollar store
Buy you whatever you holla for

Baby, It’s your birthday I’mma be your sugar dad
Don’t even think about checkin’ one price tag
Whatch you want, flips flops?
Toothbrush, Clorox
Shasta, pop rocks
EPT… hope not!
Paper plates saying’ happy Halloween
Candles smellin’ like cookies & cream
St. Patrick’s day party hat with elastic strings
Girl you look fine in green

Girl, they got silly string, travel Scope
Knock off cereal
Ketchup, picture frames
Flash light, key chains
Paddle ball, Tylenol, Mardi Gras confetti
Drop it in the cart, watch me roll it to regi’

Uh, woohoo
I’mma let my money say I love you
We takin’ you and this GW
Down to the dollar store
Buy you whatever you holla for
Uh, woohoo
Baby I’m a million bucks from rich
But I can grant you a discount wish
Down at the dollar store
Buy you whatever you holla for

Songs You May Have Missed #700

26 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ballet for a girl in buchannon, chicago, colour my world, make me smile

Chicago: “Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon” (1970)

Chicago represents different things to different fans.

If you came to this band in the post-Terry Kath 1980’s you might think sappy ballads were their forte. And you wouldn’t be wrong.

But long before that time, boys and girls, there was a time when heavy rock, complex jazz and a diversity of musical styles were more their calling card.

And from that time of their “beginnings”–from their second album, to be exact–comes thie classically-inspired 13-minute progressive-jazz-and-pop masterwork.

Trombonist James Pankow wrote the suite originally as an attempt to win back his ex-fiancee who was attending West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia. I for one am glad he didn’t get the girl, ’cause as a result we got the song.

The 7-part epic song cycle includes two songs–“Make Me Smile” and “Colour My World”–that became top ten pop hits.

But those hits are framed wondrously by authentic jazz and jazz-rock sections sewn together to form a whole that calls to mind progressive rock suites such as Yes’ “Close to the Edge” or side two of Abbey Road.

This is rock from a time of remarkable ambition. And few bands exhibited more creative fertility than Chicago in their heyday.

“Make Me Smile” (Lead vocals by Terry Kath)
“So Much to Say, So Much to Give” (Lead vocals by Robert Lamm)
“Anxiety’s Moment” (Instrumental)
“West Virginia Fantasies” (Instrumental)
“Colour My World” (Vocals by Terry Kath)
“To Be Free” (Instrumental)
“Now More Than Ever” (Lead vocals by Terry Kath)

See also: Songs You May Have Missed #161 | Every Moment Has A Song (edcyphers.com)

On a Lighter Note…

26 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in On a Lighter Note

Video of the Week: The Most Complex Pop Song of All Time

24 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Video of the Week Tags: never gonna let you go, sergio mendes

Video of the Week: The Rolling Stones Without Music

24 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in On a Lighter Note, Video of the Week Tags: rolling stones

Songs You May Have Missed #699

24 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: chapel

Chapel: “First Love” (2021)

Whoever Chapel is, even their record label’s site has no bio or other info. But they do have this t-shirt for sale:

Quora: Why has Paul McCartney never performed ‘Oh! Darling’ live?

24 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: beatles, oh darling, paul mccartney

Answer by Peter Levy:

To record the vocal for this song, Paul went into the studio each day for a week and recorded exactly one take of the lead vocal. It’s such a strenuous song to sing that he couldn’t try two times in the same day.

He also said at the time (when he was in his mid-twenties) that he could have nailed the vocal five years earlier. So he’s had trouble with the vocal from the very start.

I think that’s why he didn’t sing it in concert – it’s too hard.

These days he has trouble with a lot of vocals that he used to easily perform in concert, so it’s fair to say that he never will perform “Oh! Darling,” unless he changes the arrangement so it fits his range.

Answer by Jay Snead:

t’s a killer song to sing the way it was sung on the album. This was really hard for Paul to record even when he was 27 and on the top of his game.

If he did it early in a set, it would ruin his voice for the rest of the show. if he sang it last, he might not have the voice to pull it off.

He has an enormous repertoire and can afford to leave Oh! Darling alone.

Answer by John Nowman:

Paul went into the studio every day – over days and days in order to get his vocals sounding hoarse, which is the effect he wanted and had to nail the vocals, when finally put down, quickly before his voice let him down due to strain and effort. Lennon had similar vocal problems with Twist and Shout early in their career, as the track was left until the end of the recording session, where he had to produce the vocals in one go to prevent damage to his his vocal chords, He did it in 1 and 1/2 takes, I believe. Listen to the track and see how hoarse his voice actually was after a full day recording vocals for the LP they were working on – at this moment early in their career time and money were not a luxury then. On Revolution Lennon lay on his back for hours prior to singing the vocals allowing fluid to enter his lungs for the right sound effect. Hope this helps.