Grand Funk Railroad – We’re An American Band

The title song from their 1973 album. The song reached number one on Billboards Hot 100 chart in 1973. For some reason, I had never heard this song until the 1980s. Of course, I had heard other Grand Funk Railroad songs but not this one. Oh, Happy 4th of July.

From songfacts.

We were touring, supporting The Phoenix Album, we were going from town to town, there were lawsuits flying all over the place, it was a very tumultuous time period. I remember lots of discussions in the back of cars going, ‘What are we going to do next?’ Our manager kept saying, ‘Why don’t you just write songs about what you do: you’re out here on the road, you’re going to this hotel, you go to different places, there’s people, you come into town…’

So the thought came into my mind, ‘We’re coming to your town, we’ll help you party it down.’ That’s really what we were doing – we were coming into town and we were the party. That’s where the line came from, and the next thought I had was, ‘We’re an American band.’ It wasn’t to wave the flag or anything, it was just simply what we were. It was a true description and it kind of rolled off my mind. I went home and worked on the concept for a while and picked up a guitar; I’m not really a great guitar player, I can play tow-finger chords and that kind of stuff. I worked out the chord structure and I brought it in to rehearsal one day and there you go – we just let it go from there. It had a mind of its own.”

The lyrics are about little things that were going on on the road during the Phoenix tour. All of them are true. Don explains the line, “Up all night with Freddie King, I’ve got to tell you, poker’s his thing”:

“Freddie King was the opening act for us, the great Blues guitar player from Texas. It always struck me as funny that he would make his band play poker with him every night. We used to sit in on some of the poker games, and that’s where that line came from. His band, he’d pay them, and then he’d go win all the money back so they were broke and they’d have to keep playing for him – it was a great deal. A lot of people don’t understand the Freddie King part because they don’t know who Freddie King is. Anybody who knows about Freddie King immediately picks it up. People who don’t say, ‘What are you saying, that Focus can’t sing?'”

Regarding the line, “four young chiquitas in Omaha,” Don Brewer told us that it came from a situation where they checked into a hotel in Omaha, Nebraska. “There were four groupies in the lobby waiting to see the band,” he said. “‘Four young chiquitas’ sounded a lot better than ‘four young groupies’ or ‘four young girls.'”

The line, “Sweet Sweet Connie was doing her act” is about Connie Hamzy, a famous groupie known as “Sweet Connie.” Some of her rumored conquests include Brewer, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Huey Lewis, Peter Criss, and Bill Clinton 9when he was governor of Arkansas). This song made her famous, and in 2010 VH1 ran a special about her life. According to Hamzy, she didn’t have “the whole band,” as stated in the lyrics, but she came pretty close – Mark Farner was a holdout.

Brewer sang lead on this. Grand Funk guitarist Mark Farner sang most of their songs, but Don was the lead vocal on songs like “Shinin’ On,” “Walk Like A Man” and “Gimme Shelter.” He and Mark shared vocals on “Some Kind Of Wonderful.”

Todd Rundgren produced the We’re An American Band album. He is an accomplished musician who produced albums for Badfinger and The New York Dolls before working with Grand Funk. He has played on albums by Joan Jett, Cheap Trick and Hall & Oates, and had success as a solo artist with the hit “Hello It’s Me.”

We’re An American Band

Out on the road for forty days
Last night in Little Rock put me in a haze
Sweet, sweet Connie, doin’ her act
She had the whole show and that’s a natural fact
Up all night with Freddie King
I got to tell you, poker’s his thing
Booze and ladies, keep me right
As long as we can make it to the show tonight

We’re an American band
We’re an American band
We’re comin’ to your town
We’ll help you party it down
We’re an American band

Four young chiquitas in Omaha
Waitin’ for the band to return from the show
Feelin’ good, feelin’ right, it’s Saturday night
The hotel detective, he was outta sight
Now these fine ladies, they had a plan
They was out to meet the boys in the band
They said, come on dudes, let’s get it on
And we proceeded to tear that hotel down

We’re an American band
We’re an American band
We’re comin’ to your town
We’ll help you party it down
We’re an American band

We’re an American band, wooo
We’re an American band, wooo
We’re an American band, wooo

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Don Brewer

The Black Keys – Sit Around And Miss You

I ran across this song the other day on Youtube It’s from their new album Let’s Rock. It’s very 70’s sounding. No doubt Dan Auerbach was influenced by George Harrison especially the guitar sound. Some people on Youtube claims Dan sounds like Gerry Rafferty or Paul Simon. They recreated the old Freedom Rock commercial for the video.

Sit Around And Miss You

We used to play pretend
You and me thought it might never end
Now I wonder where you’ve been
I sit around and miss you

[Verse 2]
The fireflies went dark
Turning all the darkness to the shore
Oh, what made us let it go?
I sit around and miss you

[Chorus]
I miss you awful bad now
I miss the friend I had now
I miss you

[Verse 3]
Now when it’s getting dark
I walk outside, I go stand in the park
Always sure we’d leave our mark
I sit around and miss you

[Chorus]
I miss you awful bad now
I miss the friend I had now
I miss you
I sit around and miss you

Leroy Pullins or Roger Miller? – I’m A Nut

This may be one of the best hoaxes perpetrated on the American people. In 1966 an unknown country singer named Leroy Pullins reached number 18 on Billboards country chart and number 57 on Billboards Hot 100 chart with the song I’m A Nut. The thing is he sounds just like Roger Miller. There are only 3 or 4 photo’s of Leroy Pullins that I can find on Google and all are from the album covers. There are no live shots of Mr. Pullins playing in front of a band. I checked IMDB to see if he ever appeared on any TV show and he never did.

From allmusic

Leroy Pullins is pretty much the definition of a novelty one-hit wonder — a singer who patterned himself after Roger Miller, a move that resulted in one moderately big country hit, “I’m a Nut,” in 1966, and a host of other, similar tunes in the next few years, but few other hits. Not much is known of Leroy Pullins’ life and career — all information comes from Colin Escott’s liner notes for Bear Family’s 2007 CD I’m a Nut, a collection that contains all existing Pullins sides and credits a 1984 obituary written by Valarie Honeycutt for the Lexington Herald Leader. Pullins was born Carl Leroy Pullins on May 12, 1940, in Berea, KY. He began pursuing a musical career in his teens, assembling a rock & roll band called the LeSabres when he was 19. Once the group fell apart, Pullins moved to Nashville, where he was signed to Kapp Records, a subsidiary of Decca, in 1966. He was signed with the idea that he would capitalize on Roger Miller‘s success, which he did quite successfully with his first single, “I’m a Nut,” an original tune that went all the way to 18 on the country charts. A full album also arrived in 1966, with a second arriving the next year, but that album and its accompanying singles went nowhere. As success started to dry up, so did Pullins’ writing, so he decided to retire from the music business, moving back to his hometown of Berea where he became a fireman. He stayed there until his death from a heart attack in May 1984 at the age of 44. A few months later, Bear Family issued an LP called I’m a Nut (this was not a deliberately posthumous release; it was planned before his death), and that was the only Pullins release in circulation for years until Bear Family issued a different compilation, also called I’m A Nut.

Either Roger Miller perpetrated one of the biggest hoaxes of all time or I am completely wrong? I believe the photos are of Roger Miller made up to be Leroy Pullins.

I’m A Nut

Beedle-dee-bah, beedle-dee-bah, beedle-dee-ree-pa-dom…

I’m a nut, I’m a nut
My life don’t ever get in a rut, whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop
The head on my shoulders is sorta loose
And I ain’t got the sense God gave a goose
Lord, I ain’t crazy, but …I’m a nut

Is is wetter under water, if you’re there when it rains?
Is it shorter to New York, than it is by a plane?
Between myself and I, I wonder who’s the dumber
Is it hotter down south, than it is in the summer?

I drove my Cadillac to Vegas to satisfy my lust
Wheelin’, dealin’, left ol’ Vegas on a Greyhound bus
I shouldn’t have set the woods on fire while I was there
But remember only forest fires prevent bears

The poverty war will be over, when I begin to fight
If it took a dime to go ’round the world
I couldn’t get out of sight
I don’t mind to take the girls out
If they don’t mind to go Dutch
Makes me feel like a million dollars
And I bet I ain’t worth half that much

Oh, crazy man! I’m a nut!
Oh, Lordy, Lordy Lordy, Lordy
I’m crazy, I’m a nut!

Son Volt – Drown

From their 1995 album Trace, Drown Was a minor college radio hit. It reached number 10 on Billboards Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart and number 25 on Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was also played on the local rock station. A very odd band. I own the Trace CD and it’s part rock and part country. I loved it from the first hear. The guitar grabs you from the beginning and it never stops.

Drown

Sky cracks open, walls falling to the floor
Just as well to keep it, a guessing game in store
You’re with me now, will be again
All other points in between

And the cruel, cruel mornings
Have turned to days of swim or sink
If living right is easy, what goes wrong
You’re causing it to drown

Didn’t want to turn that way
You’re causing it to drown
Doesn’t make a difference now
You’re causing it to drown

Silence knows, can’t drown a heart
Happenstance is falling through the cracks each day
Too close now to change it
Fool’s gold is lighter anyway

When in doubt, move on, no need to sort it out
You’re with me now, will be again
All other points in between
And I want to find the right side of you

If living right is easy, what goes wrong
You’re causing it to drown
Didn’t want to turn that way
You’re causing it to drown

Doesn’t make a difference now
You’re causing it to drown
Silence knows, can’t drown a heart
When in doubt, move on, no need to sort it out

You’re with me now, will be again
All other points in between
And I want to find the right side of you
If living right is easy, what goes wrong

You’re causing it to drown
Didn’t want to turn that way
You’re causing it to drown
Doesn’t make a difference now

You’re causing it to drown
Silence knows, can’t drown a heart

Songwriters: Jay Farrar

Hootie & The Blowfish – Let Her Cry

From their 1994 album Cracked Rear View the song reached number nine on Billboards Hot 100 chart and number two on Billboards Pop songs chart in 1995. Until recently I never really listened to the words. It’s about a girl who is an addict/alcoholic and her boyfriend that wants to leave her but can’t and the torment and struggle he is going through.

From songfacts.

This was the follow up Hootie & the Blowfish’s debut single “Hold My Hand,” and it also scored great success. The song is about a man struggling to cope with his alcoholic wife, something covered the same year in the motion picture When A Man Loves A Woman. Frontman Darius Rucker stated in numerous interviews that he wrote the song based on his past, but with the genders reversed – he was the irresponsible drunk whose long-suffering girlfriend tried to keep things together.

From Wikipedia.

In 2008, lead singer Darius Rucker stated that he had just listened to the song “She Talks to Angels” by The Black Crowes for the first time and was listening to a record by blues singer Bonnie Raitt and “in one stream of consciousness” wrote the lyrics to the song.

The song also received the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1996.

Let Her Cry

She sits alone by a lamp post
Tryin’ to find the thought that’s escaped her mind
She says, “Dad’s the one I love the most
But Stipe’s not far behind”

She never lets me in, only tells me where she’s been
When she’s had too much to drink
I say that I don’t care, I just run my hands through her dark hair
Then I pray to God you gotta help me fly away

And just let her cry if the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing if it eases all her pain
Let her go, let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow, let her be, let her be

This morning I woke up alone, found a note standing by the phone
Sayin’, “Maybe, maybe I’ll be back someday”
I wanted to look for you
You walked in, I didn’t know just what I should do
So I sat back down and had a beer and felt sorry for myself

Sayin’ let her cry if the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing if it eases all her pain
Let her go, let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow, let her be, let her be
No, no, no, no

Let her cry let her cry if the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing if it eases all her pain
Let her go, let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow, let her be, ah

Last night I tried to leave, cried so much I could not believe
She was the same girl I fell in love with long ago
She went in the back to get high
I sat down on my couch and cried, yellin’
“Oh, mama, please help me”
Won’t you hold my hand and

Let her cry if the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing if it eases all her pain
Let her go, let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow, let her be

Let her cry, if the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing, if it eases all her pain
Let her go, let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow, let her be
Ah, let her be

Songwriters: Darius Rucker / Dean Felber / Jim Sonefeld / Mark Bryan

World Party – Put The Message In The Box

From their 1990 album Goodbye Jumbo. The song reached number 8 on Billboards Alternative song chart in 1990. The song is really catchy and I liked it the first time I heard it.

Shawn Mullins – Lullaby

From the album Soul’s Core the song reached number seven on Billboards Hot 100 chart and reached number one on Billboards Adult Top 40 in 1998. The song is part talking and part singing with a very catchy chorus.

From Songfacts.

This is an ironic yet touching song about the glamorous but empty, phony life in Los Angeles (particularly Hollywood). The heroine is a wealthy, unfulfilled girl caught up in a life she alternately enjoys and hates, but never really understands. >>
This song was inspired by a woman who approached Mullins in 1997 after his gig at the Los Angeles restaurant Genghis Cohen. They had a few drinks, and she proceeded to tell him her life story, which he used as the basis for the lyric. “She kind of blew my mind with her crazy childhood and teenage years,” he told Songfacts. “It was really cool.”

He added: “There were certain details, like Sonny & Cher and Bob Seger, things in it that were real. But there’s also certain things about her character in the song that aren’t really like her. The person in the song took a sadder turn. The actual girl really had her act together and she was very smiley. Her smile was incredible.”

Lullaby

She grew up with
The children of the stars
In the Hollywood hills and the boulevard
Her parents threw big parties
Everyone was there
They hung out with folks like
Dennis hopper, Bob Seeger, sonny and Cher
Now, she feels safe
In this bar on Fairfax
And from the stage I can tell that
She can’t let go and she can’t relax
And just before
She hangs her head to cry
I sing to her a lullaby, I sing
Everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye
Everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye
Rockabye
She still lives with her mom
Outside the city
Down that street about a half a mile
And all her friends tell her
She’s so pretty
But she’d be a whole lot prettier
If she smiled once in a while
`cause even her smile
Looks like a frown
She’s seen her share of devils
In this angel town
But, everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye
Everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye
Rockabye
I told her I ain’t so sure
About this place
It’s hard to play a gig in this town
And keep a straight face
Seems like everyone here’s got a plan
It’s kind of like Nashville with a tan, but,
Everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye
Everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye
Everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye
Everything’s gonna be all right
Rockabye, rockabye, rockabye, bye, bye
Bye, bye
Songwriters: Shawn Mullins

The Dead Daisies – Song And A Prayer

From their 2016 album Make Some Noise that reached number 11 on Billboards hard rock album chart. The song is about a war veteran that has a drinking problem and a teenage runaway.

From Wikipedia.

The Dead Daisies were formed by Jon Stevens and David Lowy in 2013. The singer-songwriter and guitarist got together after David Edwards, ex-manager of INXS, reintroduced them.
The band’s self-titled debut album was recorded in two weeks at Wishbone Studios in Los Angeles in 2013 with American producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist John Fields. The album was released in North America on 9 August 2013 through Caroline/Universal, and later released in the United Kingdom in mid-November 2013. “Lock N’ Load”, their first single, was co-written by Slash, who also played guitar on the track. The song was a Rolling Stone magazine Daily Download on 25 July 2013[6] and was also available on the website of BBC Radio 2. The song’s music video appeared on more than 20 outlets including Much Music. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2013.
The band toured in 2013, including opening for ZZ Top and joining Aerosmith on their Australian and New Zealand tour. This was followed by the 25-date Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival in August and September 2013 (with Jane’s Addiction and Alice in Chains, among others). These shows were performed by the first full lineup of the band, which consisted of Lowy and Stevens along with drummer Frank Ferrer, guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake/Thin Lizzy), and pianist Dizzy Reed (from Guns N’ Roses). Lead singer Stevens performed for a while with casts on his hand and leg as a result of an injury sustained when escaping from a crocodile on a fishing excursion in Australia.
In the fall of 2013, The Dead Daisies played 18 shows in the United Kingdom with the Black Star Riders. On 20 November, they played the Underworld rock club in Camden, their first UK show as headliners. The band finished off their touring schedule in 2013 with a gig at The Barby in Tel Aviv, Israel. By this time the band consisted of Lowy, Stevens, Fortus, and Reed, along with new recruits Charley Drayton on drums and Darryl Jones on bass.

On 28 January 2016 it was announced that Richard Fortus (2013–2016) and Dizzy Reed (2013–2016) would be taking part in the massive Guns N’ Roses “Not in This Lifetime… Tour” and that Doug Aldrich – Lead Guitar (2016–present) would be joining the band. With Aldrich, the band recorded their new album Make Some Noise in Nashville with producer Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Gavin Rossdale, Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry) during February & March 2016. Make Some Noise was released globally on SPV Records on 5 August.

Song And A Prayer

He was a tough kid, high school quitter, from a broken home
Just a Midwest boy, with a dream and a heart of gold
For a steady pay he signed it all on the dotted line
They gave him a gun, said have your fun
and sent him off to die
I got a song and a prayer for the dying
Wherever you go, whatever you do
You gotta be strong, you gotta keep trying
I got a song and a prayer for you
She was a high school prom queen, hiding secrets with her smile
She ran away from home, yeah she ran about a million miles
The man told the girl he would put her on the silver screen
She’s never been found, she’s the talk of the town, on the cover of a magazine
I got a song and a prayer for the dying
Wherever you go, whatever you do
You gotta be strong, you gotta keep trying
I got a song and a prayer for you
I got a song and a prayer for the dying
Wherever you go, whatever you do
You gotta be strong, you gotta keep trying
I got a song and a prayer for you…
I got a song and a prayer for you…

Johnny Rivers – Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancing)

The song was released in 1977 and reached #10 on Billboards Hot 100 chart. The song was written by Jack Tempchin from the band The Funky Kings. They had a minor hit with the song a year earlier.

From Wikipedia.

Rivers recording of the song originally known as “Slow Dancing” was the first release on Rivers’s own Soul City label following the label’s reactivation in June 1977. The track was issued under the title “Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancin’)” to avoid confusion with the current single release “Slow Dancing Don’t Turn Me On” by the Addrisi Brothers.

The first version of the song was made on the self-titled 1976 album by the Funky Kings whose membership included its composer Jack Tempchin: entitled “Slow Dancing”, the track was issued as a single reaching #13 on the Easy Listening chart in Billboard crossing over to #61 on the Billboard Hot 100. Olivia Newton-John recorded “Slow Dancing” for her 1977 album release Making a Good Thing Better, with the lyrics changed from “my girl” to “my guy.” A version of the song also appeared on the 1977 album release One More Tomorrow by the group Unicorn, fronted by Muff Winwood. The Unicorn version was issued as a single in 1977, with a 1978 re-release. “Slow Dancing” was also a single release for Lorna Wright in the summer of 1977.

The first video is Johnny Rivers singing it live on the Midnight Special. The second video is a video someone made to the studio version of the song.

Swayin’ To the Music (Slow Dancin’)

It’s late at night and we’re all alone
Just the music on the radio
No one’s comin’, no one’s gonna telephone
Just me and you and the lights down low

And we’re slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
Slow dancin’, just me and my girl
Slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
No one else in the whole wide world just you, girl

And we just flow together when the lights are low
Shadows dancin’ all across the wall
Music’s playin’ so soft and slow
Rest of the world so far away and small

When we’re slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
Slow dancin’, just me and my girl
Slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
No one else in the whole wide world

Hold me, oh, oh, oh, hold me
No never let me go

As we dance together in the dark
So much love in this heart of mine
You whisper to me, hold you tight
You’re the one I thought I’d never find

Now we’re slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
Slow dancin’, just me and my girl
Slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
No one else in the whole wide world

Slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
Slow dancin’, just me and my girl
Slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music
No one else in the whole wide world
Whole wide world

Eagles – Please Come Home for Christmas

The song peaked at #18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. I had no idea it was a cover originally recorded by blues singer Charles Brown in 1960. It peaked at #76 on Billboards Hot 100 chart in 1961. It appeared on the Christmas Singles chart for nine seasons, hitting #1 in 1972.

Please Come Home For Christmas

Bells will be ringing this sad sad news
Oh what a Christmas to have the blues
My baby’s gone I have no friends
To wish me greetings once again

Choirs will be singing “Silent Night”
Christmas carols by candlelight
Please come home for Christmas
Please come home for Christmas

If not for Christmas by New Years night
Friends and relations send salutations
Sure as the stars shine above
But this is Christmas yes Christmas my dear

The time of year to be with the ones you love
So won’t you tell me you’ll never more roam
Christmas and new Years will find you home
There’ll be no more sorrow no grief and pain

And I’ll be happy, happy once again
Oh there’ll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain
And I’ll be happy, Christmas once again

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