This is a song to appreciate America around July 4. Listen to Paul Simon's stories of the greyhound bus trip with his longtime girlfriend Kathy.

To me the last line is the most significant -
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike they've all come to look for America
To me it expresses a longing to find America's soul - something a lot of us are trying to figure out right now in these chaotic times.


Of all bands to cover this song, Yes, a British progressive rock band did a version of America, but in a completely different style. And typical for Yes they took a 4 minute song and made it 10 minutes! Here a link.

In what has become my "song of the every couple weeks", this song comes in honor of the 50th anniversary of the release of The Who Live at Leeds. Also some time recently was Pete Townsend's 75th birthday.

This performance by The Who is considered on of rock's greatest live albums. I always liked the part about 3 minutes in where Townsend and Daltry start arguing about the price of the Magic Bus. Then they launch into a ferocious rock out through the end of the song.

Once again this week's song is a tribute to a star who passed. Little Richard, born Richard Penniman was one of the founding fathers of rock and roll. With his dynamic vocals, lightning fast piano playing, and his signature "wooooo" screams throughout his performances, Little Richard paved the way for Elvis, the Beatles, and many of the great rock acts to come in future years. The Beatles recorded their own version of Long Tall Sally, Springsteen recorded Good Golly Miss Molly and still performs it in concert. And McCartney's famous "wooooo" in She Loves You can be traced back to Little Richard.

In this clip Little Richard performs his hit from 1956 Tutti Frutti.

This week it's straight into politics which is sure to annoy all of my Trump voter fans. Roy Zimmerman's parody of the great South African folks song has garnered 6 million plays in just over 5 days.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight has its roots in the 1930s sung by those brave Africans who would hunt lions. Pete Seeger and the Weavers popularized the English version in 1948. Somehow Pete as he translated the original repeated chorus word as "Wimoweh" which was not really that close to the original but has become the refrain we know now. The song has been recorded by dozens of artists and has made appearances in many movies including the 1994 Disney classic The Lion King.

This week was another sad week as we lost the great singer/songwriter John Prine to the coronavirus. Prine left us with a slew of great songs including Angel from Montgomery (song of the week in July 2019 made famous by Bonnie Raitt). And this one.

Hello In There is a sad but poignant tale of a man, his wife Loretta, his old factory colleague Rudy, and the sadness and loneliness of growing old. The song ends with a hopeful message.

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"

We will miss you, John Prine!

This week the great Bill Withers passed away at age 81. He left us some memorable huge hits Ain't No Sunshine, Just the Two of Us, and this song - an iconic tribute to friendship, bonding together, and having each others back. We sure need that right now!

This version is performed by "Playing for Change" - a worldwide movement that seeks to inspire and connect the world through music. See more ...

Bill Withers had a very productive 14 year career scoring a number of huge hits like this one and several Grammies. Then unlike most musicians, he then just quit the music business.

This week's hook for a song comes from my work with a software developer's tool called Knack. I'm continually reminded of the group with the same namesake that burst on the scene with this #1 hit in 1979, then disappeared as a one-hit wonder.

My Sharona was written for lead singer Doug Fieger's love for high schooler Sharona Alperin. In the pattern of Eric Clapton's Layla, Fieger wrote and the group recorded the song while both were in a relationship with someone else. When the song became a hit, Sharona's life would never be the same. See the story of The Knack and Sharona here.

A number of parodies have surfaced on Youtube given the coronavirus. Click if you dare.

My Corona Viral Anthem

One Woman Band Anthem

My Corona by Chris Mann

This week with our lives in turmoil over the coronavirus I offer a hopeful song from the former Beatle who left us all too soon.

Imagine was one of the first 45s I bought growing up and always for me has been a deeply moving song. It's been covered by dozens of artists including Joan Baez, Coldplay, and Lady Gaga. We sure need some hopefulness now!

It was on March 1, 1969 that Jim Morrison and the Doors played a concert in Miami and Morrison allegedly exposed himself. He was arrested and eventually convicted of indecent exposure and he died before the appeal was ever litigated. Many years later, it's not clear that he ever did expose himself at the concert. He did, however, come onto the stage "falling down" drunk and used obscene language, and made hand gestures of masturbation. But 500 photos were obtained by the FBI and none actually showed him exposing himself.

This version of Back Door Man shows Morrison as his crazy self interacting with the audience.

As we near the end of Black History Month, I offer this wonderful song about one of the great heroins in our history, Harriet Tubman. Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet escaped to the north, then heroically went back to help hundreds of other slaves escape through a network of safehouses called "The Underground Railroad".

This song was written by African-American composer Walter Robinson and in this version sung by Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert.

Who are these children dressed in red
They must be the ones that Moses led

Harriet became known as "Moses" by the escaping slaves.

Harriet Tubman was scheduled to have her image on the $20 bill, replacing the openly racist Andrew Jackson. But in these times of Trump, it's not happening. Wonder why?

This week with the attorney general in the news and the inundation of lawyers on TV these days, I was reminded of a warning that folksinger Tom Paxton gave us in 1985.

In 10 years we're going to have 1 million lawyers
How much can a poor nation stand

For the record at last count, there are 1.35 million lawyers now in the US. Yes, this is satire and there are many great hardworking lawyers doing great work, but it has gotten out of hand.

The song Louie Louie was made famous by the Kingsmen in 1964. The lyrics are impossible to clearly identify (that's part of what makes it a fun song, it's open to interpretation). In 1964 the FBI tried to track down the original lyrics because they were rumored to be obscene even though no one could tell for sure. It was on this day in 1964 that the publisher of Louie Louie offered a $1000 reward to anyone that could definitively determine the supposed dirty lyrics.

See more about the crazy history of this song here.

This weekend I saw a show "The Simon and Garfunkel Story" where a very capable duo performed the whole catalog of songs while telling some great stories about the origins of each song.

Scarborough Fair/Canticle is one of the most innovative songs of its time where the duo weaves together a song about a fair in England in the 1600s with a fragments of a song about soldiers right in the middle of the Vietnam conflict.

Parsley sage rosemary and thyme (General order their soldiers to kill)
And gather it all in a bunch of heather (And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine

I saw a story today that back in 1978 Phil Collins would have left Genesis to become the drummer for The Who, if they'd only asked him. Kenny Jones got the job instead. You have to wonder if this song In The Air Tonight would have happened if Collins had joined The Who.

This song is a truly haunting song about the breakup of Collins' marriage. It became a monster hit for Collins as a solo artist, after reportedly he offered the song to his Genesis bandmates, and they rejected it.

In the 1985 Live-Aid events, Collins managed to perform In The Air Tonight in London, boarded a plane, and on the same day landed in the US and performed the same song at the Philadelphia event.

It was this day in 1972 the progressive band Yes released Roundabout. It received lots of radio airplay, so long as the version on the air was the 3 1/2 minute version instead of the over 8 minute version that appeared on their great LP Fragile that came out that year. Lead singer Jon Anderson later said that the radio cut was not the band's idea and musically didn't make sense, but the band was pleased naturally with the exposure they got.

As with many Yes songs, the lyrics are difficult to decipher. Anderson and Steve Howe wrote Roundabout while touring the beautiful countryside of Scotland.

In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there

Wonderful Christmastime is one of those catchy songs that radio stations pull out once a year to keep the Christmas spirit going. McCartney wrote and played all the instruments on this song. It was part of a solo project in 1979 called McCartney II. Wings members didn't participate in the recording but do appear in the video included Paul's beloved wife Linda.

Wonderful Christmastime is considered one of the worst McCartney compositions and worst Christmas songs, according to critics. This is the same guy that wrote all of those great Beatles songs and dozens of great songs with Wings and on his own. Judge for yourself. In my mind McCartney enjoyed writing simple silly songs like Let'Em In and Silly Love Songs and who can argue with his success. It's estimated that McCartney earns over $400,000 on royalties every year just from the airplay of this song.

Today is the historic day in our history (no matter which side you're on) that Donald J. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. There are a number of songs written about impeachment recently and I found this one rather catchy and memorable

When a scandal stinks
Like a whale on the beach
Maybe it's time
We should impeach

This song has a number of clever lines in it, coming from the self-described quasi intellectual existentialist cowboy Mangy Fetlocks (no I'd never heard of him either until I found this on YouTube).

Seeing the news this week (and every week it seems) I was reminded of a song by Jackson Browne about a man who's had his eyes open for too long, and has seen too much.

Despite being a very bleak song, this became Jackson Browne's first single in 1972. It did very well on the charts and has become a live show favorite for Browne. The song has been covered by a number of artists including Mary Travers and Garth Brooks.

A little stretch here - Thanksgiving week always reminds us of the story of the first Thanksgiving feast the Pilgrims had in 1621 and their bonding with Native Americans. Of course the first feast was with the Wampanoag tribe, and this song is about the Cherokee tribe.

This song became a #1 hit in 1971 for the group Paul Revere and the Raiders. Written by John D. Loudermilk, this song represents the awful plight of Native Americans as America grew throughout our history. The group's singer Mark Lindsay was part Cherokee. It's ironic that this song was made a hit by a group who takes its name from one of the white men in the American revolution

It was November 17, 1970 that Elton John played a live concert in a recording studio that was broadcast on radio station WABC-FM. The recording was never planned to be released but it quickly became popular among bootleggers, given Elton John's popularity at the time was beginning to hit its peak. A live album of the recording was released in 1971 named 17-11-70 in England, with the US title being 11-17-70.

Take Me To The Pilot is one of the great songs performed on that night, the performance Elton himself cited in several interviews as one of his best of all time.

It was this week in 1971 that Led Zeppelin released its 4th album, referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, or sometimes as Zoso. Ultimately the album had no title. IV boasts the great rock anthem Stairway to Heaven along with Black Dog and Rock and Roll which also received lots of airplay. This track is a great rocker often overlooked in the Zeppelin lineup.

Misty Mountain Hop is written about big gathering of weed smoking students in London that was broken up by police. At the end of the song the writer Robert Plant just wants to escape the city to one of his favorite spots - the Misty Mountains of Wales.

This week on October 30 Grace Slick had her 80th birthday. As one of the lead singers of the Jefferson Airplane in the late 60s, Slick became one of the faces of the San Francisco counter-culture.

White Rabbit is a song that Grace Slick derived from the children's book Alice In Wonderland where she was able to tie together the books references to drugs and hallucinations, perfect for the rebellious 60s and the summer of love. This video clip is from the Airplane's great performance at the '69 Woodstock festival.

For this week's song we have a great one for Halloween week. Frankenstein is one of the great rock songs that makes it as a totally instrumental number. It was named by the Edgar Winter Group drummer Chuck Ruff when the group was editing the song down to a 3 minute version. In the 1970s they didn't have modern editing techniques so they had to actually physically cut up tape and splice it back together. Ruff observed that as it came to together it was like a monster coming back to life - just like Frankenstein! Hence the title was born.

Happy 72nd birthday, Bob Weir. Best known as one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir's career has spanned many years after partner Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995. He continues to tour and collaborate with old Dead band members with Dead and Company.

In this clip Bob Weir teams up with Tim Flannery in a nice version of the old Dead standard Friend of the Devil.

It was this day in 1971 that Rod Stewart hit number 1 with Maggie May. In interviews years later (one at the start of this clip) Rod tells the story of how this song grew from his first sexual experience.

A lengthy song at nearly 6 minutes with a lengthy instrumental in the middle, Maggie May got surprising radio air play given the length which gave it the push to become a number 1 hit and propelled Rod Stewart to a monster solo career.

This song popped up on one of my playlists this week and I thought wow - we really need this song now. The original was released by Sly & the Family Stone in 1968 and performed at Woodstock.

The version included here was produced by collaboration of Turnaround Arts and Playing for Change, two groups committed to inspiring change through arts and music. This performance cycles through a number of famous faces like Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, Paula Abdul, and Keb 'Mo performing this timeless song with school children.

A number of other artists had hits with Everyday People including Joan Jett and Aretha Franklin. See alternative versions here.

I got to see The Who in Boston this weekend, and one of the expected numbers from The Who would be the classic Won't Get Fooled Again. It's the last song on the great album Who's Next and brought the innovative sound of the synthesizer in the early 70s. It's about a revolution that actually happens. But in the end, nothing changes.

You'd expect it to be one of their finishing songs, loud and crazy and bringing the audience into a frenzy. Instead for this tour Roger and Pete played it as an acoustic version.

In honor of Labor Day in 2019, I offer this little number about a brave woman union organizer. Written in 1940 by Woody Guthrie, this song has been sung by many folksingers since, including Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. See a few alternative recordings here.

This week I had the privilege of seeing live perhaps the greatest enduring rock bands The Rolling Stones. I consider it a great gift that the Stones are still touring and while the tour was delayed because of Mick's heart surgery, his performance didn't miss a beat. He strutted across the stage with the energy of someone half his age, considering this is the Stones' 57th year together!

Brown Sugar was one of the very first singles I bought for 77 cents back in 1971. I loved the catchy beat but never bothered to listen to the words. Now all these years later, I bothered to check out the lyrics, and oh my this song is about slave girls getting whipped and raped by their slaveowners! I wonder how many people just like this as a fun rocker even though the subject matter is so serious.

Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields
Sold in the market down in New Orleans
Scarred old slaver knows he's doin' all right
Hear him whip the women just around midnight

It was August 8, 1969 when the iconic photo of the 4 Beatles was taken on the street right outside Abbey Road Studio in London. Somehow this photo dredged up a ton of conspiracy theories that had been swirling about how "Paul is dead". For years a theory persisted about how Paul had died in a car accident and was replaced by an imposter in the group. This photo was made out to be the 4 Beatles walking in a funeral procession. And since Paul was walking barefoot and out of step with the others, it had to mean that he was already dead. Wow. I guess an imposter did a fine job all those songs that McCartney did later like Maybe I'm Amazed, Live and Let Die, and all the rest.

The song I chose from Abbey Road for this week is The End, one of the great songs from the long running 2nd side of the Abbey Road album, also symbolizing the end of the line for the Beatles.

55 years ago today the Kinks released this little 2 minute 19 second powerhouse. The song really centers on a simple but really memorable guitar riff by Dave Davies, brother of frontman Ray Davies.

More than a decade later, Van Halen put its spin on "You Really Got Me" and also made a huge hit out of it.

See full story of this song here.

It was on this day in 1987 that Billy Joel played the first of 6 shows in the Soviet Union starting in Moscow. This was a groundbreaking performance as prior to this nothing like a rock concert would be allowed in the Soviet Union. Joel's concert (later made into a live album Kohuept) was the result of a period of openness for Russia and the Soviet Union brought on by Gorbachev's glasnost. The tour was called "A Matter of Trust - The Bridge To Russia".

Joel really made a bond with the audience and gave a phenomenal performance for people who'd never seen anything like a rock concert before.

This past week my colleagues from iCivics and I spent 3 days in the city of Montgomery, Alabama. In honor of this visit I offer this wonderful song about an unhappy woman who just wants to fly off and become an angel.

Written by John Prine, this tune really has to be performed by a woman to capture the essence of the woman in the song. Bonnie Raitt is the one who brought this song to life. In addition there are versions by Susan Tedeschi, Tanya Tucker as well as a duet by John Prine and Bonnie Raitt.

Independence day. America's day. Last year's song was I Am A Patriot performed by Jackson Browne, and this year another Jackson Browne song fit the bill. Written in 1986 during the Reagan years, the lyrics have largely stood the test of time about a confused America.

By the rockets red glare
A generation's blank stare
We've got to wake her up this time

This video was put together by Eric Faw and melds together this song from the 80s and its lyrics with images all the way through to the present. Watch all the way through.

On June 25, 1967 the Beatles performed All You Need Is Love to an audience of 400 million in 25 countries. This performance was Britain's contribution to Our World, the first ever broadcast of a television show worldwide via satellite. John Lennon wrote it with purposely simplistic lyrics to appeal to the varied worldwide audience.

The broadcast at EMI studios in London had the Beatles perform with dozens of guests including Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, and plenty of other friends. The broadcast started 40 seconds before they expected, which caused producer George Martin to scramble to hide his bottle of scotch whiskey, which he'd been drinking to calm his nerves so the story goes.

Near the end of the song clips of Glenn Miller's In the Mood and Greensleeves can be heard in the arrangement of the orchestra, as well as Paul shouting out "she loves you yah yah yah" from their 1963 hit.

Today is Father's Day, and what better way to celebrate than to listen to one of the greatest father songs. The time with our children is so fleeting. Catch it while you can!

Originally written as a poem by Harry's wife Sandy, Harry put it to music after his own son Joshua was born.

The cats in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home Dad I don't know when
But we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

This week we lost Malcolm John Rebennack, the multi-talented musician from New Orleans commonly know as Dr. John. His career spanned from the late 1950s till now, and he recorded 32 studio albums and 6 live albums. In the late 1960s, he adopted the persona "Dr. John, the Night Tripper" and performed elaborate stage shows that mixed psychedelia with elaborate costumes and voodoo.

His best known song Right Place, Wrong Time reached the top 10 in 1973. This performance is from a 2012 Battle of the Blues festival. His work on the keyboards is amazing.

On June 1, 1967 a 20 year old David Bowie released his first album, titled David Bowie. It was met with little chart success and it would be several years before Bowie had real success with pieces like Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust.

Bowie was actually born David Jones, but he changed his stage name to David Bowie to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the hugely popular Monkees at the time.

This clip is from a 1974 Dick Cavett show, when prior to the performace Cavett introduces the audience to the many faces of David Bowie. The song is from a musical version of George Orwell's dystopian world, a musical that never got made but a number of songs appear on Bowie's Diamond Dogs album. 1984 is of course a warning - quite relevant to the events of today.

On May 25, 1978 The Who performed at a London film studio for the upcoming film "The Kids Are Alright". This would be the last concert for drummer Keith Moon as he died a couple weeks later.

In this version of Behind Blue Eyes, Keith Moon does a little intro of how he's going to sit out the next song as there's no drummer needed for the start of Behind Blue Eyes. But Keith Moon comes back in the last part of the song, and what a performance.

On May 19, 1979 Eric Clapton held a party at his house to celebrate his marriage to Pattie Boyd. That day was the closest we came to a reunion of the Beatles as George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr showed up to jam together.

Clapton marriage to Pattie Boyd culminated the very public love triangle with Clapton's best friend George Harrison. Harrison was inspired to write Something in 1969, now considered by some to be the greatest love song of all time. Clapton wrote Layla in 1970 about his desperate love for his best friend's wife, who years later he married.

Paul likes to play a really interesting version of Something at his concerts now where he accompanies himself on the ukulele. See this version and a couple other versions here.

Happy birthday, Eric Burdon. The lead singer of the British band The Animals, Burdon is probably best known for his vocals on The House of the Rising Sun, but his career spanned many years and many hit songs both with The Animals and later when he joined the California funk band War.

Sky Pilot is a bruising anti-war song about a military chaplain trying to comfort soldiers as they risk their lives going into battle. It was released right at the height of the Vietnam War.

Tells them its all right
He knows of their fear in the forthcoming fight
Soon there'll be blood and many will die
Mothers and fathers back home they will cry

The original version was over 7 minutes long. It got little radio play and the song had to span both the A and B side of the 45 when it was released.

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a day of celebration for our neighbors to the South. In 1975 James Taylor wrote this classic stream of consciousness song about Mexico. The original has guest vocals from David Crosby, Graham Nash, and his wife at the time Carly Simon.

Oh, Mexico
Never really been but I'd sure like to go

This song grew out of a concert James was supposed to have in Mexico that had to be cancelled because he got a nasty case of Montezuma's revenge.

It was this week in 1969 that the group Chicago Transit Authority released its self-titled first album, which included this song that basically says "Who cares what time it is!"

Written by keyboardist Robert Lamm, this song originally included a piano intro that's about 1 minute long. The record company later released this and a series of other songs chopped down to the 3 minute mark to make them radio-ready.

Another of Chicago's hits 25 or 6 to 4 is also written by Robert Lamm about the time/clock theme.

With their 2nd album, the group changed their name to just "Chicago" after being threatened legal action from the real agency that runs transit in Chicago. The group's energetic horns infused sound made them hugely successful with their roman numeral follow up albums (II, III, IV, etc). Unlike Led Zeppelin who stopped at the roman numeral thing at IV, Chicago kept going through many personnel changes and is now up to Chicago XXXVI released in 2014.

It was this week in 1971 that this 3 Dog Night song reached #1. I remember as a 12 year old this being the first week I'd listened to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 all the way through for the first time, and it was this song that come out of nowhere to reach the top spot.

Written by country singer Hoyt Axton originally for an animated TV special, it was considered as somewhat of a throwaway song when 3 Dog Night added it to their album. But when a few radio DJs started playing the song, they were flooded with calls from people requesting it.

The first lines were actually a placeholder, according to Axton.

Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine

After drinking some wine, he put together some nonsensical words that rhymed in order to finish the song, thinking he'd come up with new lyrics later on. However, Jeremiah stayed in and the rest is history.

Reference: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/three-dog-night/joy-to-the-world

It was exactly 50 years ago today that the 5th Dimension started a 6 week run at #1 with their version of Aquarius / Let The Sun Shine In. This mashup provides the beginning and ending to the famous Broadway musical "Hair", a treasure from the irreverant 1960s about the hippies breaking rules, growing their hair, and dodging the Vietnam draft.

I've included both a version by the 5th Dimension and a Broadway theater version, which you can see how the audience gets swept away by the energy of the Let The Sun Shine In finale.

It was 55 years ago today in 1964 that the Beatles held the top 5 spots on the charts. Think about that - it's an amazing feat to create a #1 song, and the Beatles had 5 - all at once. Can't Buy Me Love was #1 followed by Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Want To Hold Your Hand, and Please Please Me. Hearing about the top 5 songs on the radio is one of my earliest memories, as a 5 year old. No one at the time could appreciate how great the Beatles were and that such a feat would never be matched again.

The #1 song is the one that makes my list this week. I always liked when they'd play this one back to back with "Money" where John Lennon complains "You have have them old birds and bees, now give me Money ..."

It was March 28, 1973 that Led Zeppelin released the band's fifth album, this time with an actual name. Their first four offerings were I, II, III, and sometimes called IV. After the tremendous success of Led Zeppelin IV and the signature Stairway to Heaven, Houses of the Holy brought the band to some new styles, like the reggae sounding Dyer Maker and the eerie organ based No Quarter. And then there's the bizarre decision to leave the song Houses of the Holy off the album. It would wait until the next album to see the light of day.

The album cover caused some controversy with the nude children lying on rocks. Given the cover did not include the band's name or the album's name, the record company added a strip that wrapped around the center, strategically placed to cover up the children's buttocks. Still the album was banned or unavailable in parts of the southern US.

My favorite from this album is The Ocean. The performance in this video is from Madison Square Garden in 1973 right when it came out.

Happy 69th birthday, Carl Palmer! In 1982 the Palmer part of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer got together with King Crimson's John Wetton and Yes members Steve Howe and Geoffrey Downes to form a progressive rock supergroup called Asia. Only this group did not produce 14 minute progressive anthems but rather packaged radio-ready 3 1/2 minute songs like Heat of the Moment. It was a far cry from the band members roots, like Close to the Edge and Tarkus, tracks that took up a whole album side. But those long pieces were not having commercial success and Asia was put together for catchy tunes and video to play in the new MTV era.

I recently saw Asia as an opening band for Journey, another 80s commercially successful band. For Asia, John Wetton had passed away a year earlier and Steve Howe no longer played with them, but Carl Palmer could be seen wailing away on his drums as they played Heat of the Moment. The audience no doubt knew the song but had completely forgotten the band that made it happen.

It was this week in 1972 that Jethro Tull released the song and album Thick as a Brick. Progressive rock was taking hold on FM radio at the time with groups like Yes, ELP, and Genesis (some of my favorites!) making so-called concept albums with lengthy sprawling pieces. Jethro Tull came with this offering - a single song that spanned both sides of an album split up into Part 1 and Part 2. Front man Ian Anderson wrote the lengthy piece but as a stunt pretended that the song was a poem written by an 8 year old boy "Little Milton." The album cover showed a newspaper with the story of the boy being disqualified from a poetry competition because his poem was too controversial. I hate to admit as a teenager I actually believed the story for a little while.

This video shows Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull performing the piece at Madison Square Garden. I'd seen Tull a number of times in the 70s but had forgotten what a great performer Anderson is, singing, playing acoustic guitar, then playing the flute on one leg.

It was this week in 1966 when John Lennon's infamous interview in a London newspaper where he claimed that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. It wasn't until months later when religious leaders led a huge backlash against the Beatles and John Lennon for uttering what was probably a true statement for many young people of the time.

This song is of course the wacky story of John and Yoko the week they were married. I always wondered what connection if any John was making in the words to this song.
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me.
See my article on My Moral Compass, which is a sister site to Matt's Top 100.

This week we lost Peter Tork, one of the 4 members of the Monkees, at age 77. The Monkees were a group made for television, and between 1966 and 1968 they were everywhere - TV, radio, billboards, teen magazines. Because of their television success their songs like this one had immediate success on the music charts, but the 4 Monkees were actors, not at all writing or playing instruments on the musical recordings. By their 3rd album the group did start to record their own songs.

I heard Last Train to Clarksville a million times when I was 8 years old but it didn't dawn on me that it's about a kid who's been drafted and is going off to war in Vietnam. Also listen for the similarities to the Beatles' Paperback Writer and also Day Tripper.

On February 17, 1976 the Eagles released their Greatest Hits album which included this very successful single as well as 9 other familiar Eagles hits. This album turned out to be the first greatest hits album to reach platinum, and it remains the 2nd highest selling LP of all time behind Michael Jackson's Thriller. And this greatest hits collection didn't even include songs from Hotel California, which would be released later that year.

Take It To The Limit remains one of the Eagles concert favorites, originally sung by bassist Randy Meisner. Since Meisner left the band the vocals have been handled by various other band members but nobody sings it quite like Randy.

It was 55 years ago this week that the Beatles first landed in America and appeared on American television for the first time on the Ed Sullivan show. Their TV appearance followed landing at JFK airport and being greeted by 4000 screaming fans, a sight the Beatles would soon grow used to as the craziness of Beatlemania took hold.

It's estimated that 74 million Americans tuned in to the Sullivan show that first night, about 40% of the entire population! Not everyone was impressed, however. Ed Sullivan's musical director Ray Bloch thought the Beatles were no big deal and they'd only last a year. Not quite.

February 3, 1959 is the day the music died, according to classic hit by Don McLean which came in #2 on Matt's Top 100 countdown. Don McLean was a 13 year old paper boy in 1959 when the news broke of a plane crash that killed 3 of the biggest stars of the day - Richie Valens, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly.

American Pie isn't just about the accident, as there's references to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and many others within the 8 minute song.

See http://www.whrc-wi.org/americanpie.htm for blow by blow insights on the lyrics.

On January 26, 1970 Simon and Garfunkel released Bridge over Troubled Water and the album of the same name. One of the few songs that Garfunkel sings completely solo, this song became a huge hit on the radio despite its 5 1/2 minute length.

The album is a masterpiece as well with songs like The Boxer, Baby Driver, Cecilia and even a cover of the 1950s hit Bye Bye Love.

Janice Joplin was born on January 19, 1943 so she would have been 76 today. This performance of Piece of my Heart shows the raw power of Janice Joplin before her career was tragically cut short.

I've also included a clip of "In The Quiet Morning" a beautiful tribute to Janice Joplin written and performed by Joan Baez' late sister Mimi Farina.

On January 10, 2016 we lost one of the greats in David Bowie. Bowie's first big hit was Space Oddity, which he wrote in 1969 about a poor astronaut Major Tom who loses contact with grounds control and is left floating out in space. Years later, grounds control regains contact with Major Tom in "Ashes to Ashes" only now Major Tom is a junkie in the far reaches of space.

Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Strung out in heaven's high
Hitting an all-time low

Bowie brought so many styles and such variety to his songs throughout his great career. We miss you!

On January 6, 1973 You're So Vain by Carly Simon hit #1 in the charts. An enigmatic song about a self-absorbed lover, Simon made it a mystery about who the song is about for many years. She eventually admitted that at least part of the song is about Warren Beatty.

Taylor Swift pairs up with Carly to do a terrific intergenerational version of You're So Vain which is also included on this page.

It was this week in 1979 that Pink Floyd came out with their most ambitious work IMO, an incredibly dark view of life, later made into a movie The Wall.

Included is a very interesting take on Another Brick in the Wall by the Peanuts gang.

December 8 is my birthday and it's a day that's remembered for 2 tragic events - the day AFTER Pearl Harbor Day, and the night John Lennon was tragically murdered in 1980.

This is one of John's first solo effort where he simply lashed out at Paul McCartney after the Beatles' breakup, and was responding the McCartney's Too Many People on his first solo effort.

On December 3, 1976 a giant inflatable pig got loose from its ropes and began floating over London. It eventually crashed into a barn outside of London, but became a big part of Pink Floyd's stage show for its upcoming album Animals.

In honor of Massachusetts finally having legal weed, I offer this little number from Jonathan Edwards.

On November 18, 1971 Neil Young's band member Danny Whitton died of a drug overdose. Young had previously written this song about Whitton's herion use, and over the years this has become one of the most powerful anthems on the subject.

This is one of the great songs I had the pleasure of seeing Elton John perform on November 6, 2018.

Given this was also election night in 2018 I couldn't help but replace the lyrics in my mind - someone saved our democracy tonight.

Leading into this big election next week (VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! if you haven't already) - Alice Cooper wrote this for the 1972 election between Richard Nixon and George McGovern. Even though he considered himself completely apolitical, as a stunt Cooper announced that he was actually running for President. And he got some votes! Now every 4 years Alice makes a tradition of announcing his candidacy. In 2016 the stage show had bloodied Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton come out and fight with each other.

I'm your top prime cut of meat, I'm your choice,
I want to be elected,
I'm your Yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce,
I want to be elected,

This week in 1975 America found Bruce Springsteen on the cover of BOTH Time and Newsweek magazines. This was after releasing the album and single Born To Run.

This album is 8 songs where each one is an absolute powerhouse, creating characters and telling striking stories of the hard life in working class New Jersey, or anywhere. My favorite is Jungleland, telling a sad and poignant story of the Magic Rat and the Barefoot Girl with a lengthy instrumental section capped with an incredible sax solo performed by the great Clarence Clemons.

On October 21, 1972 the great Chuck Berry hit #1 with this silliest most ridiculous little ditty. It's hard to believe that after years of making hits like Johnny B Goode and Roll Over Beethoven, this was Chuck Berry's first number one hit.

Apologies in advance to those who heard My Ding-A-Ling as a child and now have it stuck in your head ...

This week's song is one from many years ago, in honor of the 51 Republican Senators that sold their soul to Donald Trump this week in confirming Brett Kavanaugh. In my opinion ...

See a very young Neil Young singing lead and a young Stephen Stills behind them as part of the Buffalo Springfield.

On the eve of the historic Brett Kavanaugh hearing that happens tomorrow, I tried to find a song that could speak to this moment, and here it is. From Lady Gaga

The song and the video speak for itself. This is a painful 5 minutes and 25 seconds that needs to be out there.

A song most likely totally under people's radar, written and performed by folksinger Cheryl Wheeler.

Summers are hot and winters can be brutal in New England. The words and her beautiful voice combined with this wonderful slide show make us New Englanders remember why Fall is such a nice time of year.

For those who have been reading Matt's Top 100 from the beginning you know one of the most prominent artists in my collection is Joan Baez. I had the pleasure of seeing her this past weekend for the 9th time, likely the last time as this is her farewell tour.

One of the beautiful songs she did was Deportee, a song about Mexican migrant workers, how America needs them to pick their crops but casts them off as soon as the season is over. This song tells a particularly poignant story of a group of migrants being sent back to Mexico, their plane crashes, and no one goes to the trouble of identifying them. They’re only referred to as "deportees". Joan recorded this in 2004 but the song was originally written by Woody Guthrie in 1948. The classic still relevant today song.

This page also includes videos of Joan’s acceptance speech at her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, as well as Jackson Browne’s introduction, and a very old version of Deportee by Arlo Guthrie and Hoyt Axton. No Woody Guthrie recording was present on Youtube.

I had this one queued up for a while but didn't get to posting it. In August 1971 The Who released its Who's Next album which included a number of innovative songs from Pete Townshend's overly ambitious project called "Life House" which never saw the light of day.

The origin of the title is a combination of Pete Townshend's spiritual guru Meher Baba combined with experimental composer Terry Riley. This is Townshend's image of Baba's spirit fed into the electronic music machine of the future represented by Riley. The lyrics laid on top of this wild musical ride are a completely different song about the struggles of being a teenager. How many remember the teenage years hanging with your friends, indulging in some kind of intoxication and yelling out

Teenage wasteland, it's only teenage wasteland
They're all wasted!

On August 15, 1969 the 3 day music festival in Woodstock, New York began. Country Joe McDonald and his band gave one of the most iconic performances at the show. This song is the ultimate Viet Nam protest song.

In the middle of the song Country Joe blurts out
"How do you expect to stop the war if you can't sing any better than that! There's about 300,000 of you f---ers out there."

August 8, 1974 was the day in history that Richard Nixon announced to the world that he'd be resigning the Presidency (effective at noon tomorrow). Phil Ochs started with his song about the state of Mississippi - a song he'd written years earlier about the rampant racism in the south. He then managed to adapt the lyrics to the corruption of Richard Nixon.

Today I depart from my usual menu of classic rock to bring one of the most wildly successful contemporary artists - Taylor Swift. This is in honor of the Taylor Swift show I saw this week, the 3rd consecutive sellout of Foxboro Stadium at 70,000 people per night.

Love Story is one of my favorites is from her early days as a teenager in 2008. Imagine a story about Romeo and Juliet that actually ends up with a happy ending.

Last night I had the privilege of seeing the 2018 version of the Eagles, and it was so inspriring to see Deacon Frey perform and honor his father Glenn Frey who we lost in 2016.

This is one of the earliest Eagles hits that was one of my favorites growing up. We all could use a little "Peaceful Easy Feeling".

This week's song is in honor of a memory I have from high school seeing Rick Derringer at the Brave Bull Cafe in South Winsor, CT with a bunch of friends. It was such a small place and the amplifiers were so loud I literally could hear for a week after.

For July 4 this year take a listen to this song. Jackson Browne covers this song written by Steven Van Zandt (Little Steven) of the E Street Band. Written in 1984 during the Reagan administration, this song is perfect for today.

I ain't no Democrat. I ain't no Republican. I only know one party, and that is freedom.

You can be a patriot and love your country and still oppose what your government is doing. In fact it's your duty as a citizen to make your leaders hear your voice and to participate in our democracy.

This week's harrowing stories of immigrant children being separated from their parents made me want to find a song to fit the news. Written in 1972 long before Donald Trump, it still rings true today.

Listen to the whole song. You can't help but be affected. After all, we are a nation of immigrants.

It was this week in 1970 when Grand Funk and its record company promoted this song by taking out a billboard in New York City's Times Square that spanned a whole city block. The song is really two songs in one and runs nearly 10 minutes, but despite the length got a good deal of radio play in the days when radio stations rarely played songs over 3 minutes.

David Crosby wrote Long Time Gone the night Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, which was 50 years ago today. Crosby, like many at the time felt Kennedy was a great leader and would have been a great president. This song expresses that anger of having this great man taken away from us.
Speak out against the madness,
You got to speak your mind, if you dare.
But don't try to get yourself elected.
If you do you had better cut your hair.

On June 1, 1967 the Beatles released the ground-breaking album Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's a great album, for sure. But perhaps the notion that it's the first "concept" album is oversold. Sargent Pepper really us a bunch of great songs by the individual members. You have John's Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, Paul's She's Leaving Home, George's Within You, Without You, and a great performance by Ringo in With a little Help From My Friends. These and more great songs are bookended by a song about a fictional band and the band is presented with the bizarre album cover.

Arguably the best and most ambitious song is A Day In The Life, where John and Paul stitched two unrelated songs together and combined it with incredible studio wizardry from George Martin.

On May 26, 1969 John Lennon began an 8 day "bed-in" with Yoko to try to promote peace. A few days into it he got a roomful of friends to record this simple yet powerful tune with a simple message - Give Peace A Chance.

The song was credited to Lennon/McCartney though Paul had nothing to do with it and John and Paul's relationship was going south at this point in time.

This week in the news the term "crossfire hurricane" came across as the FBI's Russia investigation. Many would puzzle over the term but classic rock fans know it as the opening lyric to this classic song by the Rolling Stones. Great song!

I was born in a crossfire hurricane
And I howled at the morning driving rain
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!
But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas, gas, gas!

Today is the 48th anniversary of an event that leaves a stain on our history. An anti-war protest at Kent State University in Ohio turned into tragedy as Ohio national guards fired into an unarmed crowd killing 4 students. Neil Young turned this tragedy into a blistering 3 minute powerhouse of a song.

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
4 dead in Ohio

Listen at the end for bandmate David Crosby's cries of "how many more".

On April 27, 1968 Simon and Garfunkel released Mrs. Robinson from the movie soundtrack of The Graduate. This is the classic song about the middle-aged woman Anne Bancroft seducing a young Dustin Hoffman.

Hide it in the hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret just the Robinson's affair
Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids

Today is April 20, or 420, which has the day to symbolize and celebrate "the wacky weed". There are lots of great songs on the subject, such as Jonathan Edwards' Shanty and Bob Dylan's Rainy Day Woman #12 and #35. Here is my favorite song on the subject from a duo whose main claim to fame is singing about taking one toke too many.

In honor of tax day here is one of George Harrison's best songs from the Revolver album. Nobody likes paying taxes, but in the 60s the Beatles earned enough to qualify for Britain's super 95% tax. The references to Mr. Wilson and Mr. Heath in the background vocals (suggested by John Lennon) were current and future Prime Ministers of Britain from opposing parties.

In this video George Harrison plays best friend Eric Clapton who performs a great guitar solo.

Today is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, and what better way to honor King than a song put out by an Irish band U2.

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

What would Dr. King say about what's going on today?

Continuing the Eric Clapton unplugged theme from last week, this week in 1979 Eric Clapton married Pattie Boyd, the ex-wife of George Harrison and the subject of the great rock anthem Layla. The unplugged version is so different from the classic rock version that Clapton asks the audience to see if they recognize it.

On March 20, 1991 Eric Clapton suffered the worst nightmare imaginable. He found out that his 4 year old son Conor had fallen from a 49 story apartment.

Amidst Clapton's horrifying grief of losing his son came one of the classic ballads in music history - Tears In Heaven. It really asks the question - will we ever meet again? The song won several Grammys for Clapton in 1993.

On March 15, 1975 the Doobie Brothers hit #1 for the first time with Black Water. Originally on the B side of Another Park, Another Sunday, this song picked up steam as a number of radio stations played it and it turned out to be very popular.

I love the interplay in the 2nd part with guitar and fiddle as they go into the Dixieland refrain.

For this week's song, we go deep into the archives for a song from the Zappa's We're Only In It For The Money. 50 years ago this week this album came out. Starting from the album cover, a parody on Sargent Pepper, this album made fun of everything, from the police to the hippies to corporate America in the 60s. It's really bizarre stuff, and Zappa was way ahead of his time in the way he produced sound in the studio.

From my college days, having this album was a valuable thing as it was out of print for a long time. I had a cassette tape made from the one copy of the album I could find.

On February 28, 1970 Led Zeppelin became the Nobs. In a bizarre story, Eva Von Zeppelin, a descendent of the inventor of the Zeppelin, threatened to sue the group after seeing the album cover of their album cover with the airship in flames. They decided for their show in Copenhagen that they'd become "The Nobs" for one night.

Whole Lotta Love from 1969 broke new ground in its blistering guitar and more than suggestive lyrics.

In honor of Valentine's Day this week the first thing that came to my mind was - the Love Doctor.

Barry White.

With a unique deep baritone voice and suggestive lyrics, Barry White is always the choice when you're in the mood for ... love.

A saw an excellent Simon and Garfunkel cover duo last weekend Swearingen & Kelli at our local Amazing Things Art Center - a shout out to them.

One of the most interesting songs they played was this one - a story about a subway graffiti artist. This video from 1967 has Garfunkel telling the long story of how this song came about.

Today is the 49th anniversary of the Beatles rooftop concert in 1969, so I'm taking the liberty to choose a Beatles song 2 weeks in a row.

In what ended up being the last live performance the band played together, the Beatles performed an impromptu 42 minute show on the rooftop of the Beatles record company the Apple Corporation. They ended up doing 3 takes of Get Back.

This week's song of the week was chosen by me flipping through the music library and choosing a random song. I was excited that the random selection brought me to Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. Written by John Lennon after his son Julian brought home a picture of his classmate Lucy, John worked his creative genius and weird words to create one of Sargent Pepper's masterpieces.

The song was always associated in the public eye with drugs, as the initials LSD made everyone think at the time it was some weird message about drugs. I think John enjoyed all of the intrigue and there was plenty in later years when the identity of the real Lucy was revealed.

Read the full story on Songfacts

For the 2nd song of 2018 I submit to you this timeless treasure. This is the original political wake up song. It really is the song for all times, still relevant so many years after Bob Dylan wrote it.

Come Senators, Congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he that is stalled
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'.

Listen to Peter's intro after he introduces John Sebastian. His message is - no matter what time it is, justice is not out of date.

It's a little cliche'd to use this song on January 1 - but it's a great song.

The lyrics reference the solidarity movement in Poland which ended martial law on New Year's Day, 1983. It's the first of many highly charged political statements that U2 would release over the years.

At this time of year we're all sick of Christmas music. This song, however, is the one version of a Christmas song I never get tired of hearing. For the last song of the week in 2017 here is Bruce Springsteen.

On December 20, 1974 former James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh joined the Eagles, replacing Bernie Leadon. The Eagles had previously had a softer country style sound, but with Walsh they instantly became bona fide rock group.

Life's Been Good is a series of Joe Walsh's stories of being a star, getting drunk and tearing up hotel rooms joined up with some delicious guitar work. At the end he makes the statement that's true for most of us, and certainly true for my life ---

I can't complain but sometimes I still do ...

On December 12, 1970, The Doors played what would be their last ever live show in New Orleans.

When The Music's Over is a sprawling, intense song with Jim Morrison's typical end of the world imagery, I find this one the most engaging of the Doors classics. Clocking at either 10 minutes or over 16 minutes depending on which version, this song builds to a true crescendo at the end.

On December 5, 1993 we lost Frank Zappa to cancer. Zappa was a creative genius and the guy that would simply go too far. Imagine writing one song about Eskimos and their huskies peeing in the snow. Then another about moving to Montana to raise a crop of ... dental floss.

Don't Eat The Yellow Snow was one of Zappa's few commercial successes. Zappa was always one who fought against what he considered censorship, and in the 80s he testified before Congress against a parent's group led by Tipper Gore attempting to put warning labels on explicit lyrics.

On November 28, 1970 My Sweet Lord was released and became a #1 hit for the former Beatle. The song was inspired by the traditional gospel song Oh Happy Day and represents Harrison's deep religious beliefs.

Even so, soon after its release, Harrison was sued by the publisher of "He's So Fine" a hit in 1963 because the first 3 notes sounded the same. And they do. Even though the songs are totally different, the similarities caused years of litigation and a ruling against George Harrison of subconscious plagiarism which cost $1.5 million.

The not so surprising follow-up to Neil Young's Southern Man has to be Sweet Home Alabama. In it, Lynyrd Skynyrd pokes fun at Neil Young and anyone else that thinks every southerner is a racist bigot. This song is also very timely because Alabama has been in the news lately.

Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her
Well, I heard ol' Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow

It's very true that Skynyrd and Neil Young always considered it a good natured feud and each had mutual respect and admiration for each other. Neil Young performed Sweet Home Alabama once - at the memorial for the 3 Skynyrd members who died in a plane crash in 1977.

Neil Young celebrated his 72nd birthday on November 12. Southern Man is a blistering commentary on white southern slaveowners and then on the Ku Klux Klan.

Southern change gonna come at last
Now your crosses are burning fast
...
I heard screaming and bull whips crackin'
How long how long ah ah ah ah

There are many live performances on Youtube. In this one Young is particularly passionate. It's from 1970 with the rest of the CSNY gang.

This week's song is in honor of

• The recent passing of Walter Becker, one half of Steely Dan.
• I recently saw a terrific Steely Dan cover band called No Static.
• I've recently reunited with a great group of people from my old school in Glastonbury, Connecticut.

The song is about Becker and Fagan and their days at Bard College in Annendale, NY.

The lyrics DO NOT reflect how I feel about my old school!

California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annendale
...
Well I did not think the girl could be so cruel
And I'm never going back to my old school

There are a great many Halloween songs, such as Frankenstein, Werewolves of London, and the Ghostbusters theme to name a few. But the one that stands out of me has to be the Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-kickers.

The lyrics are the story of Dr. Frankenstein, who creates a new creature in his lab but then the creature gets out of control and becomes a monster. Bobby Pickett was a nightclub performer who did a great imitation of the horror master Boris Karloff who was known for playing Frankenstein in the movies. Listen to all of the cool sound effects, like the coffin being opened and the bubbling sounds. Remember this song was recorded in 1962.

On October 23, 1965 the Byrds released Turn! Turn! Turn! which would go on to become a #1 hit. The song was written by Pete Seeger in 1959 and the words are almost entirely taken from a passage in the book of Ecclesiastes (3:1-8) in The Bible. That is, the words until the last line -

A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

On October 15, 1967 Grace Slick joined the Jefferson Airplane to replace Signe Toly Anderson, who left the band to be with her 5 month old child. Grace Slick had recorded Somebody To Love with her previous band and it never went anywhere. When it was re-recorded with the Airplane it became a huge hit and an anthem for the summer of love in 1967.

On October 12, 1965 the Beatles recorded Norwegian Wood at Abbey Road studio for their album Rubber Soul. This is an enigmatic song John Lennon write about having an affair and not wanting his wife to know. And it's the first song that George Harrison introduced the unique sound of the sitar. Check out this weird animated video of the Beatles.