Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From '' Eleanor Rigby / Charleston ''
Label: Wing And A Prayer – HS-104
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1976
Tracklist
A Eleanor Rigby
Written-By – Paul McCartney & John Lennon
B Charleston
Written-By – Cecil Mack, James Price Johnson
Producer – Harold Wheeler, Stephen Y. Scheaffer
------------------------
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver.
It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with "Yellow Submarine".
Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney later disputed primary authorship.
Eyewitness testimony from several independent sources, including George Martin and Pete Shotton, supports McCartney's claim to authorship.
"Eleanor Rigby" continued the transformation of the Beatles from a mainly rock and roll- and pop-oriented act to a more experimental, studio-based band, with a double string quartet arrangement by George Martin and lyrics providing a narrative on loneliness.
It broke sharply with popular music conventions, both musically and lyrically.
The song topped singles charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, and New Zealand.
Background and inspiration
Paul McCartney came up with the melody for "Eleanor Rigby" as he experimented on his piano.
Donovan recalled hearing McCartney play an early version of the song on guitar, where the character was named Ola Na Tungee. At this point, the song reflected an Indian musical influence and its lyrics alluded to drug use, with references to "blowing his mind in the dark" and "a pipe full of clay".
The name of the protagonist that McCartney initially chose was not Eleanor Rigby, but Miss Daisy Hawkins.
In 1966, McCartney told Sunday Times journalist Hunter Davies how he got the idea for his song:
The first few bars just came to me. And I got this name in my head – "Daisy Hawkins picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been." I don't know why ... I couldn't think of much more so I put it away for a day. Then the name "Father McCartney" came to me – and "all the lonely people". But I thought people would think it was supposed to be my dad, sitting knitting his socks. Dad's a happy lad. So I went through the telephone book and I got the name McKenzie.
McCartney said that the idea to call his character "Eleanor" was possibly because of Eleanor Bron, the actress who starred with the Beatles in their 1965 film Help! "Rigby" came from the name of a store in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd. McCartney noticed the store while visiting his girlfriend of the time, actress Jane Asher, during her run in the Bristol Old Vic's production of The Happiest Days of Your Life in January 1966.
He recalled in 1984: "I just liked the name. I was looking for a name that sounded natural. 'Eleanor Rigby' sounded natural."
In an October 2021 article in The New Yorker, McCartney wrote that his inspiration for "Eleanor Rigby" was an old lady who lived alone and whom he got to know very well. He would go shopping for her and sit in her kitchen listening to stories and her crystal radio set. McCartney said, "just hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write."
more info here:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Rigby
#discocover
#discomusic
From '' Eleanor Rigby / Charleston ''
Label: Wing And A Prayer – HS-104
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1976
Tracklist
A Eleanor Rigby
Written-By – Paul McCartney & John Lennon
B Charleston
Written-By – Cecil Mack, James Price Johnson
Producer – Harold Wheeler, Stephen Y. Scheaffer
------------------------
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver.
It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with "Yellow Submarine".
Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney later disputed primary authorship.
Eyewitness testimony from several independent sources, including George Martin and Pete Shotton, supports McCartney's claim to authorship.
"Eleanor Rigby" continued the transformation of the Beatles from a mainly rock and roll- and pop-oriented act to a more experimental, studio-based band, with a double string quartet arrangement by George Martin and lyrics providing a narrative on loneliness.
It broke sharply with popular music conventions, both musically and lyrically.
The song topped singles charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, and New Zealand.
Background and inspiration
Paul McCartney came up with the melody for "Eleanor Rigby" as he experimented on his piano.
Donovan recalled hearing McCartney play an early version of the song on guitar, where the character was named Ola Na Tungee. At this point, the song reflected an Indian musical influence and its lyrics alluded to drug use, with references to "blowing his mind in the dark" and "a pipe full of clay".
The name of the protagonist that McCartney initially chose was not Eleanor Rigby, but Miss Daisy Hawkins.
In 1966, McCartney told Sunday Times journalist Hunter Davies how he got the idea for his song:
The first few bars just came to me. And I got this name in my head – "Daisy Hawkins picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been." I don't know why ... I couldn't think of much more so I put it away for a day. Then the name "Father McCartney" came to me – and "all the lonely people". But I thought people would think it was supposed to be my dad, sitting knitting his socks. Dad's a happy lad. So I went through the telephone book and I got the name McKenzie.
McCartney said that the idea to call his character "Eleanor" was possibly because of Eleanor Bron, the actress who starred with the Beatles in their 1965 film Help! "Rigby" came from the name of a store in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd. McCartney noticed the store while visiting his girlfriend of the time, actress Jane Asher, during her run in the Bristol Old Vic's production of The Happiest Days of Your Life in January 1966.
He recalled in 1984: "I just liked the name. I was looking for a name that sounded natural. 'Eleanor Rigby' sounded natural."
In an October 2021 article in The New Yorker, McCartney wrote that his inspiration for "Eleanor Rigby" was an old lady who lived alone and whom he got to know very well. He would go shopping for her and sit in her kitchen listening to stories and her crystal radio set. McCartney said, "just hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write."
more info here:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Rigby
#discocover
#discomusic
![Harold Ousley - At Last (Hard Bop/Soul-Jazz, Harry Warren - Sun Valley Serenade)
From Tenor Sax
Label: Bethlehem Records – BCP 6059 / 6059
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1961
Tracklist
A1 Paris Sunday
Written-By – Harold Ousley
A2 Devachan
Written-By – Harold Ousley
A3 At Last
Written-By – Harry Warren, Mack Gordon
A4 Lush Life
Written-By – Billy Strayhorn
B1 Struttin To Truckin
Written-By – Harold Ousley
B2 Dell-A-Vonn
Written-By – Harold Ousley
B3 Porters Groove
Written-By – Harold Ousley
Tenor Saxophone – Harold Ousley
Baritone Saxophone – Charles Davis
Trombone – Julian Priester
Piano – Phil Wright
Drums – Walter Perkins
Bass – Tommy Williams
Producer – Teddy Charles
Manufactured By – Bethlehem Music Corp.
Notes
Red silver box label w/ deep groove on both sides.
The album has been reissued in 1987 on Fresh Sound Records (Spain, FSR-2027)
and on Mar 13, 2013 on Solid Records (Japan, CDSOL-6048) for the Bethlehem Album Collection 1000 Series (No. 48)
🎵 [SONG INFO]
At Last is a song written by Mack Gordon (lyrics) and Harry Warren (music) for the musical film Sun Valley Serenade (1941).
Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded the tune several times, with a 1942 version reaching number two on the US Billboard pop music chart.
In 1960, rhythm and blues singer Etta James recorded an arrangement by Riley Hampton that improvised on Warrens original melody.
Etta Jamess rendition was the title track on her debut album At Last! (1960) and was eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Most recently, Celine Dion and Beyoncé have also had chart successes with the song.
Glenn Miller original renditions
Prior to release of Sun Valley Serenade, At Last was performed in the film by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, with vocals by John Payne and Lynn Bari, dubbed by Pat Friday. Studio head Darryl Zanuck reportedly said: There are too many big ones in this. Lets save one for the next. The At Last vocal by Payne and Bari was thus deleted from the film, although instrumental versions remained, including in the Black Ice Ballet finale.
The vocal version was included in the movie Orchestra Wives (1942), which also featured the Glenn Miller orchestra. It was sung by Ray Eberle and Bari, again dubbed by Friday.
Unreleased recordings of the song were made in 1941 by Glenn Miller.
A new version was recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in Hollywood on May 20, 1942, and released by RCA Victor Records as a 78 single, backed with the A-side (Ive Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo.
The song entered the US Billboard pop music chart (called Songs with the Most Radio Plugs at the time) on August 1, 1942, at number 17 and peaked at number two on August 29, 1942.
It spent a total of 17 weeks on the chart and later became a musical standard.
The personnel on the 1942 studio recording of At Last: Ray Eberle (vocals), Billy May, John Best, Steve Lipkins, R.D. McMickle (trumpet), Glenn Miller, Jim Priddy, Paul Tanner, Frank DAnnolfo (trombone), Lloyd Skip Martin, Wilbur Schwartz (clarinet, alto saxophone), Tex Beneke, Al Klink (tenor saxophone), Ernie Caceres (baritone saxophone), Chummy MacGregor (piano), Bobby Hackett (guitar), Edward Doc Goldberg (string bass), and Maurice Purtill (drums). The arrangement was by Jerry Gray and Bill Finegan.
When RCA Victor issued two 10-inch LP soundtracks to Sun Valley Serenade and Orchestra Wives in 1954, to coincide with the theatrical reissue of the two films, the outtake version of At Last from Sun Valley Serenade was included, heard for the first time, but the version in Orchestra Wives was not. This latter rendition was eventually on LP in 1958, in the 20th-Fox double-disc (TCF-100-2) Glenn Miller Compilation of His Original Film Soundtracks.
Wartime release
The 1942 RCA Victor studio recording of At Last by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra featuring Ray Eberle on vocals was released as a U.S. Army V-Disc or Victory Disc by the U.S. War Department during World War II in October 1943 as No. 12A.
V-Discs were sent to American soldiers and military personnel overseas.
Later versions
At Last has been recorded by many other artists since its original 1940s renditions.
Former Glenn Miller Orchestra trumpeter Ray Anthony had the highest charting recording of the song in the U.S. on the pop charts in 1952, peaking at number two on the Billboard pop singles chart and number 20 on the Cashbox chart.
A recording by Gene Watson peaked at number 61 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1991.
In 2012, Christina Aguilera was invited by Etta James family to sing At Last at James funeral.
At the funeral, Aguilera stated that James was her idol and inspiration, and that in honour of James, she performs At Last at every concert.
Aguilera also recorded a studio version of the song, and it is registered with American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), but the cover remains unreleased.
~more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Last Harold Ousley - At Last (Hard Bop/Soul-Jazz, Harry Warren - Sun Valley Serenade)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QI9VoPc-Prk/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Hebe Geebees - Night Fever (Punk, Bee Gees Cover)
From Saturday Night Pogo
Label: Rhino Records – RNLP 003
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Dark Blue Sleeve
Country: US
Released: 1978
Tracklist
A1 The Winos - Beauty Queen
Written By – Pique
Written-By – Harold Bronson
A2 The Berlin Brats - Tropically Hot
Written-By – Jonathan Haft, Rick Wilder
A3 The Droogs - Set My Love On You
Written-By – Ric Albin, Roger Clay
A4 Needles & Pins - I Wanna Play With Guns
Written-By – Page Porrazzo
A5 The Motels - Counting
Written-By – Martha Davis
A6 Vom - Im In Love With Your Mom
Written-By – Gregg Turner, Mike Saunders, Richard Meltzer
A7 The Low Numbers - Belsen Was A Gas
Written-By – Johnny Rotten, Paul Cook, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones
B1 The Dils - Mr. Big
Written-By – Chip Kinman, Tony Kinman
B2 Daddy Maxfield - Wheel Of Fortune
Written-By – Graham Daddy, Louis Maxfield
B3 The Young Republicans - Guardian Angel
Written By – Van Leevwen
Written-By – Steve Hufsteter
B4 Backstage Pass - Legend (Come On Up To Me)
Written By – Popkin
B5 The Dogs - Younger Point Of View
Written-By – Loren Molinare
B6 Chainsaw - Polaride Pictures
Written-By – Donald Alvarado, Mr. Twister (Kurt Ingham)
B7 The Hebe Geebees - Night Fever
Written-By – Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb & Maurice Gibb
Art Direction, Graphics, Photography By [Front Cover] – Heather Harris
Producer – Harold Bronson
Executive-Producer – Richard Foos
Copyright © – Rhino Records Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Rhino Records
🎵 [SONG INFO]
Night Fever is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees.
It first appeared on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever on RSO Records.
Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film Saturday Night, but singer Robin Gibb expressed hesitation at the title.
Stigwood liked the title Night Fever but was wary of marketing a movie with that name.
The song bounded up the Billboard charts while the Bee Gees’ two previous hits from Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (How Deep is Your Love and Stayin Alive) were still in the top ten.
The record debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at no.76, then leaped up 44 positions to no.32. It then moved: 32–17–8–5–2–1. It remained at no.1 for eight weeks (the most for any single that year), and ultimately spent 13 weeks in the top 10.
For the first five weeks that Night Fever was at no.1, Stayin Alive was at no.2.
Also, for one week in March, Bee Gees related songs held five of the top positions on the Hot 100 chart, and four of the top five positions, with Night Fever at the top of the list. The B-side of Night Fever was a live version of Down the Road taken from the Bee Gees 1977 album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live.
Inspiration and writing
When Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood was producing a movie about a New York disco scene, the working title for the film at that time was Saturday Night. Stigwood asked the group to write a song using that name as a title, but the Bee Gees disliked it. They had already written a song called Night Fever, so the group convinced Stigwood to use that and change the film to Saturday Night Fever.
The string intro of Night Fever was inspired by Theme from A Summer Place by Percy Faith, according to keyboardist Blue Weaver when he was performing it one morning at the sessions and Barry Gibb walked in and heard the new idea for this song.
As Weaver explains the history behind this song:
...Night Fever started off because Barry walked in one morning when I was trying to work out something. I always wanted to do a disco version of Theme from A Summer Place by the Percy Faith Orchestra or something - it was a big hit in the Sixties. I was playing that, and Barry said, What was that? and I said, Theme from A Summer Place, and Barry said, No, it wasnt. It was new. Barry heard the idea - I was playing it on a string synthesizer and sang the riff over it.
— Blue Weaver
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb completed the lyrics for Night Fever sitting on a staircase (reminiscent of their first international hit New York Mining Disaster 1941, which was written also in a staircase back in 1967).
Recording
The Bee Gees began recording this song by April 1977 in France and finishing it in September the same year.
A demo of Night Fever with some instrumental and vocals heard exists and was available to download on Rhino Records website.
Legacy
It also replaced Andy Gibbs Love Is Thicker Than Water at number one and was in turn replaced by Yvonne Ellimans If I Cant Have You—all of which were written and produced by the Gibb brothers. It would be the third of six consecutive US no.1s for the band, tying the Beatles for the record for most consecutive no.1 singles.
Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1978, behind Andy Gibbs Shadow Dancing.
Night Fever topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, their third UK number-one, and in the US it remained the number-one Billboard Hot 100 single for over two months in 1978.
#thehebegeebees
#nightfever
#punk
#beegeescover The Hebe Geebees - Night Fever (Punk, Bee Gees Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QMzGSNVVFh8/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Ron Scott Combo - Caravan (Duke Ellington)
From Jungle Love / Caravan
Label: Pentagon Records – 101, 831W-101
Format: Vinyl, 7, 45 RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1966
Tracklist
A Jungle Love
B Caravan
Notes
Live Recording
A Side Matrix: TK4M-6383-1
B Side Matrix: TK4M-6382-1
🎵 [SONG INFO]
Caravan is an American jazz standard by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington, first performed by Ellington in 1936.
Irving Mills wrote lyrics, but they are rarely sung.
Original recording
The first version of the song was recorded in Hollywood in 1936 and performed as an instrumental by Barney Bigard and His Jazzopators. Two takes were recorded for Variety label, of which the first was issued as a 78 record (Variety VA-515-1) in 1937.
The band members were:
Cootie Williams – Trumpet
Juan Tizol – Trombone
Barney Bigard – Clarinet
Harry Carney – Baritone Saxophone
Duke Ellington – Piano
Billy Taylor – Double Bass
Sonny Greer – Drums
The musicians were members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which often split into smaller combinations to record songs under different band names.
For this recording, which included Ellington and Tizol as performers, the nominal session band leader was Bigard.
As of 2024 this is the most covered song in history, with over 500 versions published.
Other versions
The sound of Caravan appealed to exotica musicians; Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Gordon Jenkins all covered it.
The Mills Brothers recorded an a cappella version of the song.
Duke Ellington – New York, May 14, 1937
Valaida Snow – Valaida Snow (vocal and trumpet) and her Orchestra, 1939, Sonora
Art Tatum – Los Angeles, April–July 1940
Billy Eckstine - 1949
Dizzy Gillespie – October 25, 1951
Roy Clark – Third episode of Hee Haw, 1969
Chet Atkins - A Session with Chet Atkins, 1954
Thelonious Monk – Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, Hackensack, New Jersey, July 27, 1955
Nat King Cole – After Midnight, Los Angeles, September 14, 1956
Santo & Johnnys – Santo & Johnny (1959), peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
Shirley Scott on Queen of the Organ: Memorial Album 2003 (Compilation)
Bobby Darin on This is Darin 1959 (rec) 1960 (rel)
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – Caravan, New York, October 23, 1962
Wes Montgomery – Movin Wes, New York, November 16, 1964
The Ventures - Live in Japan 65, Tokyo, March 5, 1965 (released May 30, 1995)
Gene Krupa – Live at the New School, New York, April 17, 1973 (released 1999)
Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson – Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie, London, November 28–29, 1974
Les Paul & Chet Atkins – Chester and Lester, May 6–7, 1975
Art Pepper – Friday Night at the Village Vanguard, New York, July 29, 1977
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, a live version (credited as From the motion picture Men Without Women ), B-side of the Forever single, 1982
Wynton Marsalis – Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. I, New York, May 29–30, 1986 and September 24–25, 1986
Medeski Martin & Wood – Notes from the Underground, New York, December 15–16, 1991
Michel Camilo – Rendezvous, New York, January 18–20, 1993
Chicago on their 1995 album Night & Day: Big Band
Dee Dee Bridgewater – Prelude To A Kiss: The Duke Ellington Album, a 1996 vocal rendition of the song, with a Mideastern and African percussion setting
Fanfare Ciocărlia - Gili Garabdi, 2005
Hiromis Sonicbloom - Beyond Standard, 2008
In popular culture
Woody Allen used the song in two of his films, Alice and Sweet and Lowdown.
An arrangement of the song for big band features in the soundtrack of the 2014 film Whiplash, as an important plot element.
The song is featured on Rachel Portman’s soundtrack for the 2000 film Chocolat.
Steven Soderbergh used the Lyman version in his 2001 film Oceans Eleven.
A horn sample from the Romanian cover version by Fanfare Ciocărlia was used in the song We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool.
Wu Bai used aspects of the song in his Crush on You (煞到妳).
The Brian Setzer Orchestra version was used in The Sopranos episode The Second Coming.
The track Youre Probably Wondering Why Im Here, from the Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention debut album Freak Out!, features the comedic line: I wanna hear Caravan with a drum solo!
The track ROBBERY by ASAP Rocky featuring Doechii from the album Dont Be Dumb samples the song.
#theronscottcombo
#caravan
#dukeellington
#juantizol The Ron Scott Combo - Caravan (Duke Ellington)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QPHMwT6bHUM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Souls Of The Slain - 7 And 7 Is (Love Cover)
From 7 And 7 Is / Cant Go On
Label: Rickshaw – 101
Format: Vinyl, 7, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: Nov 1967
tracklist
A 7 And 7 Is
Written-By – Arthur Lee
B Cant Go On
Written-By – Billy Klause, Jim Hutchison, Memise Danielson
7 and 7 Is is a song written by Arthur Lee and recorded by his band Love on June 17 and 20, 1966, at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood.
It was produced by Jac Holzman and engineered by Bruce Botnick.
The song was released as the A-side of Elektra single 45605 in July, 1966. The B-side was No. Fourteen, an outtake from the bands earlier recordings.
7 and 7 Is made the Billboard Pop Singles chart on July 30, 1966, peaking at number 33 during a ten-week chart run and becoming the bands highest-charting hit single. The recording was featured on the bands second album, Da Capo.
Background and development
Arthur Lee wrote 7 and 7 Is at the Colonial Apartments on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.
The song was inspired by his high school girlfriend Anita Pretty Billings, with whom he shared a birthday of March 7.
Describing how the song came to him, Lee stated: I was living on Sunset and woke up early one morning. The whole band was asleep. I went in the bathroom, and I wrote those words. My songs used to come to me just before dawn, I would hear them in dreams, but if I didnt get up and write them down, or if I didnt have a tape recorder to hum into, I was through. If I took for granted that I could remember it the next day—boink, it was gone.
The lyrics describe Lees frustration at teenage life—the reference to in my lonely room Id sit, my mind in an ice cream cone being to wearing (in reality or metaphorically) a dunces cap.
Lees original version of the song was a slow folk song in the style of Bob Dylan.
Its arrangement developed as the band experimented in the studio.
Bassist Ken Forssi had received a bass fuzz effect unit from an endorsement deal the band had signed with Vox, and Lee suggested Forssi use it on 7 and 7 Is.
Lead guitarist Johnny Echols recalled: We started playing [with it] and at first it sounded strange, but Kenny started doing this sliding bass thing with it. As we played it we could hear that this was something different, something new.
Recording
Love recorded 7 and 7 Is on June 17 and 20, 1966, at Sunset Sound Recorders, with Jac Holzman producing and Bruce Botnick engineering.
The fuzz bass was ultimately abandoned as it overpowered the other instruments, but Forssi was able to achieve a similar sound with the feedback caused by his semi-acoustic Eko bass. Echols also used feedback, as well as extensive reverb and tremolo, saying he had wanted to use a surf guitar effect in a different context.
The sessions were tumultuous due to the songs fast and intense drum part, with Lee and drummer Alban Snoopy Pfisterer taking turns trying to accomplish it. Pfisterer later said: The session was a nightmare ... I had blisters on my fingers. I dont know how many times I tried to play that damn thing and it just wasnt coming out. Arthur would try it; then Id try it. Finally I got it. He couldnt do it. Echols praised it as Pfisterers best performance. Estimates in the number of takes the song required range from 20 to 60; however, most of these were only false starts.
The song took 4 hours to record according to Echols, who also claimed that the session took longer due to Holzman and Botnick objecting to the bands experimentation: they kept stopping us, saying, Its feeding back! Wed say, Its supposed to feed back.
In what has been called a flirtation with musique concrète, the track climaxes with the sound of an atomic explosion before a peaceful conclusion, in a blues form, which then fades out. Botnick said the explosion was taken from a sound effects record and may have been a gunshot slowed down. During live performances, Echols would recreate the sound by kicking his amplifier with the reverb turned all the way up.
Release and reception
Elektra Records issued 7 and 7 Is in July 1966, backed with No. Fourteen, an outtake from Loves debut album.
It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on July 30 and spent 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 33 on September 24.
It was the highest-charting single of the bands career.
Elektra released the bands second album, Da Capo, in November, with 7 and 7 Is sequenced as the fourth track, between ¡Que Vida! and The Castle.
Cash Box described the song as a pulsating, rhythmic extremely danceable blueser with a clever gimmick wind-up.
Covers
Described as garage rock, proto-punk and folk rock, the song was later covered by numerous bands, most notably Ramones, Alice Cooper, Jared Louche and The Aliens, The Electric Prunes, Billy Bragg, The Sidewinders, The Fuzztones, Robert Plant, Rush, Alice Bag, The Weirdos, The Bangles, Deep Purple, and Hollywood Vampires as well as a re-recording by Lee himself.
#garagerock
#fuzzrock Souls Of The Slain - 7 And 7 Is (Love Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QU4eLf2TZBI/mqdefault.jpg)

![Group Axis - Smokestack Lightning (Garage Psych, Howlin Wolf Cover)
From Smokestack Lightning
Label: ATCO Records – 45-6642
Format: Vinyl, 7
Country: US
Released: Jan 1969
Tracklist
A Smokestack Lightning
Written-By – Charles Hardin (Buddy Holly), Norman Petty
B Not Fade Away
Written-By – Chester Burnett (Howlin Wolf)
Producer – Norman Petty
🎵 [SONG INFO]
Smokestack Lightning (also Smoke Stack Lightning or Smokestack Lightnin) is a blues song recorded by Howlin Wolf in 1956. It became one of his most popular and influential songs. It is based on earlier blues songs, and numerous artists later interpreted it.
Background
Wolf had performed Smokestack Lightning in one form or another at least by the early 1930s, when he was performing with Charley Patton in small Delta communities. The song, described as a hypnotic one-chord drone piece, draws on earlier blues, such as Tommy Johnsons Big Road Blues, the Mississippi Sheiks Stop and Listen Blues, and Charley Pattons Moon Going Down. Wolf said the song was inspired by watching trains in the night: We used to sit out in the country and see the trains go by, watch the sparks come out of the smokestack. That was smokestack lightning. In 1951, he recorded the song as Crying at Daybreak. It contains the line O-oh smokestack lightnin, shinin, just like gold, oh dont you hear me cryin, similar to the Mississippi Sheiks lyric A-ah, smokestack lightnin, that bell shine just like gold, now dont you hear me talkin.
Original song
At Chess studio in Chicago in January 1956, Howlin Wolf recorded Smokestack Lightning. The song takes the form of a propulsive, one-chord vamp, nominally in E major but with the flatted blue notes that make it sound like E minor, and lyrically it is a pastiche of ancient blues lines and train references, timeless and evocative. Longtime Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin is credited with the distinctive guitar line. Howlin Wolf sang and played harmonica, backed by pianist Hosea Lee Kennard, guitarists Willie Johnson and Hubert Sumlin, bassist Willie Dixon, and drummer Earl Phillips.
In 1956, Smokestack Lightning reached number 11 on the Billboard R&B chart. As the UK experienced an R&B boom in the early 1960s, British R&B groups regularly covered Smokestack Lightning in their live acts. Due to the songs renewed popularity, Pye International Records issued it in the UK on a moderately successful EP in late 1963 and then on a single the following year, where it peaked at number 42 in the singles chart. It was later included on the albums Moanin in the Moonlight and The Howlin Wolf Album.
Recognition
In a song review for AllMusic, Bill Janovitz described Smokestack Lightning as almost like a distillation of the essence of the blues ... a pleasingly primitive and raw representation of the blues, pure and chant-like. Wolf truly sounds like a man in otherwise inexpressible agony, flailing for words.
In 1999, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, honoring its lasting historical significance.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 291 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it in its list of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
In 1985, the song was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the Classics of Blues Recordings category and, in 2009, it was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress.
Janovitz also identifies Smokestack Lightning as a blues standard open to varied interpretation, covered by artists ranging from the Yardbirds to Soundgarden, all stamping their personal imprint on the song.
Clapton identifies the Yardbirds performances of the song as the groups most popular live number. They played it almost every show, and sometimes it could last up to 30 minutes. One version lasting 5 mins and 35 secs is included on the Yardbirds UK debut album, Five Live Yardbirds (1964) and the US split studio/live album Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds (1965). Howlin Wolf reportedly referred to the groups interpretation as the definitive version of his song.
Other versions
Smokestack Lightning has been interpreted numerous times by a variety of artists.
In the early to mid 1960s, it became a live staple of British beat groups, including:
The Yardbirds,
Manfred Mann,
The Animals,
The Groundhogs
and The Who
as well as American groups:
Grateful Dead,
Quicksilver Messenger Service,
The Electric Prunes
and The Wailers.
The song has also been performed and/or recorded by:
Muddy Waters,
Jimmy Rogers,
Fenton Robinson,
Lucky Peterson,
John Lee Hooker,
John Mayer,
Bob Dylan,
Soundgarden,
Widespread Panic,
moe.,
Govt Mule,
Lester Butler,
George Thorogood,
Aerosmith
and Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
#howlinwolf
#garagepsych
#smokestacklighting
#groupaxis Group Axis - Smokestack Lightning (Garage Psych, Howlin Wolf Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qo9BBL_8eVo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Hexedene w/ Jude Graham - You Never Can Tell (Chuck Berry Cover)
From CyberPunk Fiction - A Synthcore Soundtrack
Label: Re-constriction Records – REC-031
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1998
Tracklist
1.1. No Artist - CyberPumpkin And Energizer Honey Bunny
Voice [Cyberpumpkin] – Kyle Cottengim
Voice [Energizer Honey Bunny] – Kait Ellen Cottengim
1.2. Tinfed - Misirlou
Written-By – Fred Wise, José C. Piña, Milton Leeds, Nicholas Roubanis, Sidney Keith Russell
2. No Artist - Electro Body Music
Voice [Jules Win-chen] – Roman Greene
Voice [Tetsuo Vega] – Dave Creadeau
3. Killing Floor w/ Arjan McNamara - Jungle Boogie
Effects [Tones] – Scott Mickelson
Engineer – Arjan McNamara
Percussion, Effects [Loops] – Lynn Farmer
Producer – Arjan McNamara, Killing Floor
Turntables [Dexterity] – Jack Dangers
Written-By – Claydes Smith, Dennis D.T. Thomas, Don Boyce, George Brown, Richard Westfield, Robert Kool Bell, Robert Spike Mickens, Ronald Bell
4. Christ Analogue - Lets Stay Together
Written-By – Al Green, Al Jackson Jr., Willie Mitchell
5. Society Burning - Bustin Surfboards
Written-By – Gerald Sanders, Jesse Sanders, Leonard Delaney, Norman Sanders
6. Collide - Son Of A Preacher Man
Written-By – John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins
7.1. No Artist - Chemlabs Dead, Baby
Voice [Box] – DJ Twitch
Voice [Cassiopia] – D.V.S. Twitch
7.2. Society Burning - Bullwinkle Part II
Written-By – Dennis Rose, Ernie Furrow
8. No Artist - Mos Eisley Download Contest
Voice [Akira Wallace] – Kari Beth Hodson
Voice [Mos] – Dave Creadeau
9. Hotbox - You Never Can Tell
Written-By – Chuck Berry
10. Nimpf - Lonesome Town
Written-By – Baker Knight
11. Purr Machine - Girl, Youll Be A Woman Soon
Written-By – Neil Diamond
12. Society Burning - If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags)
Written-By – Maria McKee
13.1. No Artist - Bring Out The Hack
Voice [Francis] – John Holder
Voice [Logan] – Satan Ferrell
13.2. Society Burning - Comanche
Written-By – Robert John Hafner
14. Non-Aggression Pact - Flowers On The Wall
Written-By – Lewis De Witt
15. No Artist - User Friendliness Goes A Long Way
Voice [Jules Win-chen] – Roman Greene
Voice [Tetsuo Vega] – Dave Creadeau
16. Society Burning - Surf Rider
Written-By – Don Wilson, Nokie Edwards, Robert Lenard Bogle
17. No Artist - FAQ 25.17
Voice [Jules Win-chen] – Roman Greene
Bonus Versions
18. 16 Volt - Girl, Youll Be A Woman Soon
Written-By – Neil Diamond
19. Hexedene w/ Jude Graham - You Never Can Tell
Vocals – Jude Graham
Written-By – Chuck Berry
20. Society Burning - Flowers On The Wall
Written-By – Lewis De Witt
Concept By – Chase
Script By – Chase, Dave Creadeau, John Holder
Cover – Kevin Marburg
Mastered By – Josquin Turenne Des Prés, Scott Gorham
Notes
Cover of the entire Pulp Fiction motion picture soundtrack including parodies of the dialogue excerpts on tracks 1, 2, 7, 8, 13, 15 and 17.
💿 [SONG INFO]
You Never Can Tell, also known as Cest La Vie or Teenage Wedding, is a song written by Chuck Berry.
It was composed in the early 1960s while Berry was in federal prison for violating the Mann Act. Released in 1964 on the album St. Louis to Liverpool and the follow-up single to Berrys final Top Ten hit of the 1960s: No Particular Place to Go, You Never Can Tell reached number 14, becoming Berrys final Top 40 hit until My Ding-a-Ling, a number 1 in October 1972.
The song performed slightly better in Canada, and also reached the Top 40 in the United Kingdom.
Berrys recording features an iconic piano hook played by Johnnie Johnson.
Description
The song tells of the wedding of two teenagers and their lifestyle afterward.
Living in a modest apartment furnished with items bought on sale at Sears, Roebuck, and Co., including a Coolerator brand refrigerator, the young man finds work and they begin to enjoy relative prosperity. Eventually, they purchase a souped-up jitney and travel to New Orleans, where their wedding had taken place, to celebrate their anniversary.
Each verse ends with the refrain, Cest la vie, say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell. The piano melody was influenced by Mitchell Toroks 1953 hit Caribbean.
Pulp Fiction
The song became popular again after the 1994 release of the film Pulp Fiction, directed and co-written by Quentin Tarantino.
The music was played for a Twist contest in which Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) competed (and were the only contestants shown in the film).
Other versions
1975 John Prine
1975 Loggins and Messina
1977 Emmylou Harris
1980 Daddy Cool
1993 Aaron Neville
1994 Bob Seger
2019 Jerry Garcia Band
The song has also been recorded or performed by Chely Wright, New Riders of the Purple Sage, the Jerry Garcia Band, Bruce Springsteen, the Mavericks, Coldplay and Buster Shuffle.
🔗 [LINKS]
http://www.ssmodk.com/recon/index2.htm
#industrialmusic
#electro
#electrocover Hexedene w/ Jude Graham - You Never Can Tell (Chuck Berry Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QpUc22xs7Z8/mqdefault.jpg)
![Frosty - Mongoloid (Devo Cover)
From Harry Pussy And Frosty
Label: Menlo Park Recordings – MPK 7010
Format: Vinyl, 7, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1997
Tracklist
A1 Harry Pussy - Ice Cream Man
A2 Harry Pussy - Stop
A3 Harry Pussy - Smash In The Mirror
A4 Harry Pussy - Drop The Bomb
B1 Frosty - Mongoloid
Producer – Tom Smith
Notes
Mastered At – Europadisk – 22364
Direct Metal Mastering.
🎵 [SONG INFO]
Mongoloid is the first single released by Devo in 1977, on the Booji Boy label.
It was backed with the song Jocko Homo.
Mongoloid had one of the first music videos made using collage.
The song would later be re-recorded by Devo and appear on the album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! in 1978.
It is also a staple of Devos live shows.
Song description
Mongoloid, like many of Devos early songs, was built on a motorik beat.
The song opens with a 4/4 electric bass line, which is then joined by drums, and electric guitar. Over this, a swooping synthesizer line is played on Minimoog, using the pitch bend to create a spooky effect. The synth is not used as a lead instrument during the song, but only the opening and closing. The vocals of the song are sung as a duet by Gerald V. Casale and Bob 1 (Bob Mothersbaugh). On the original single, the vocals are deliberately sung in a nasal fashion.
The lyrics discuss an individual afflicted with Down Syndrome, formerly known as Mongolism. Despite his affliction, he is able to live a normal life so that nobody knows of his extra chromosome. Despite being a positive song, it has received much criticism due to its controversial title.
Music video
Mongoloid was Devos second music video, after The Truth About De-Evolution.
It was not actually made by the band, but by experimental filmmaker Bruce Conner. Conner combined 1950s television advertisements, science fiction film clips (Including a scene from It Came From Outer Space!), and scientific documentaries with abstract animation and original film work. Devo marketed the film as A documentary film exploring the manner in which a determined young man overcame a basic mental defect and became a useful member of society. Insightful editing techniques reveal the dreams, ideals and problems that face a large segment of the American male population. Educational. Background music written and performed by the DEVO orchestra.
Mongoloid appears as a bonus feature on The Complete Truth About Devolution DVD.
Discography
Mongoloid was originally recorded as a single released on the Booji Boy Records imprint of Man-Ray Music in 1977. The original single was a triple gatefold, held together with stickers. The inside of the gatefold displayed the lyrics of the two songs in either blue or black ink, depending on the pressing. The back cover of the single was an image of Booji Boy with the text Were all Devo! Booji Boy XO.
As Devo gained fame, Stiff Records in the UK agreed to release the single on their label. There were several pressings of the Mongoloid single with varying packages, ranging from a full triple gatefold, to a simple picture sleeve, to a generic Stiff Records paper sleeve. The Stiff Records releases are marked by the Stiff logo in the lower left hand corner of the front cover.
Other versions
For Devos debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, Mongoloid was re-recorded. This version contains much more involved synthesizer playing throughout the song rather than during the opening and closing.
An E-Z Listening version of Mongoloid was made for playing before concerts and appears in the 1987 E-Z Listening Disc.
In 2002, Devo performed a techno version of the song at a special show for the writers and producers of the cartoon Rugrats (whose theme song Mark Mothersbaugh composed).
It has more recently been sampled by electronic outfit Layo & Bushwacka, on the track titled Love Story which was rather successful in Europe and Australia.
Australian ska band the Porkers also covered this song for their 1994 album, Grunt!
There is also a bluegrass version of the song, recorded in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Hotfoot Quartet in 1980 and released as a 45 rpm single on the Black Snake label.
A choral version of the song, both a cappella and with instrumental accompaniment, was released by the German band Popchor Berlin in 2002 on their EP-1 album.
Power Metal group Demolition Hammer also covers the song on their 1994 album Timebomb.
#alternativerock
#noise Frosty - Mongoloid (Devo Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RUFo68HcBNo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble - A Hard Days Night (The Beatles Cover)
From Soleado
Label: Odeon – 3C 064 - 18037 / 3 C064-18037
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Italy
Released: 1974
Tracklist
A1 Ballero
Written-By – Jerry Goldstein
A2 Soleado
Written-By – Zacar
A3 Autunno
Written-By – Ciro Dammicco
A4 A Hard Days Night
Written-By – Lennon-McCartney
A5 Sangriando
Written-By – Savino Grieco, Zacar
A6 Per Elisa
Arranged By [Rielab.] – Zacar
Written-By – Ludwig van Beethoven
B1 Working In The Hacienda
Written-By – Zacar
B2 Corazon
Written-By – Carole King
B3 Un Sospero
Written-By – Bruno Santori, Zacar
B4 I Dont Know How To Love Him
Written-By – Andrew Lloyd Webber And Tim Rice
B5 Junk
Written-By – Paul McCartney
B6 Abra - Kad - Abra
Written-By – Umberto Decimo
A Hard Days Night is a song by the English rock band the Beatles.
Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was primarily written by John Lennon, with some minor collaboration from Paul McCartney.
It was released on the soundtrack album A Hard Days Night in 1964.
It was also released as a single in the UK (with Things We Said Today as its B-side), and in the US (with I Should Have Known Better as its B-side.)
The song featured prominently in the Beatles first feature film, A Hard Days Night.
The song topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and United States when it was released as a single.
The American and British singles of A Hard Days Night, as well as both the American and British albums of the same title, held the top position in their respective charts simultaneously for a couple of weeks in August 1964, the first time any artist had accomplished this feat.
Title
The songs title originated from something said by Ringo Starr. Starr described it this way in an interview with disc jockey Dave Hull in 1964: We went to do a job, and wed worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day I suppose, and I said, Its been a hard day … and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, … night! So we came to A Hard Days Night.
Release and reception
A Hard Days Night was first released to the United States, coming out on 26 June 1964 on the album A Hard Days Night, the soundtrack to the film, and released by United Artists.
The United Kingdom first heard A Hard Days Night when it was released there on 10 July 1964, both on the album A Hard Days Night, and as a single, backed with Things We Said Today on the B-side. Both the album and single were released by Parlophone Records. The single began charting on 18 July 1964, a week later ousting the Rolling Stones Its All Over Now from the top spot on the British charts on 25 July 1964, coincidentally the day when both the American and British albums too hit the peak of their respective charts. The single stayed on top for three weeks, and lasted another nine weeks in the charts afterwards.
The American single on 1 August started a two-week-long run at the top, setting a new record – nobody before had ever held the number one position on both the album and singles charts in the United Kingdom and the United States at the same time. The Beatles were the only ones who had done this until 1970 when Simon and Garfunkel achieved the same feat with their album Bridge over Troubled Water and its title track.
The song was the fifth of seven songs by the Beatles to hit number 1 in a one-year period, an all-time record on the US charts. In order, these were I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Cant Buy Me Love, Love Me Do, A Hard Days Night, I Feel Fine and Eight Days a Week. It was also the sixth of seven songs written by Lennon-McCartney to hit number 1 in 1964, an all-time record on the US charts for writing the most songs to hit number 1 in the same calendar year.
The songs opening chord and closing arpeggios were highly influential on the Byrds. After watching the film A Hard Days Night and seeing Harrisons choice of guitar, Roger McGuinn adopted the Rickenbacker as his and the Byrds signature instrument.
In this way, according to author Andrew Grant Jackson, A Hard Days Night birthed the folk-rock sound that the Byrds popularised in 1965.
That same year, A Hard Days Night won the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group.
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at number 153 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In 2000, the 1964 recording of A Hard Days Night on the United Artists label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble - A Hard Days Night (The Beatles Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RZHirdgscb0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ornament & Verbrechen - Pablo Picasso (Art Punk/Avantgarde/Post-Punk, The Modern Lovers Cover)
From Live In Paradise DDR
Label: Good Noise – VGNS 2028
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: Germany
Released: 1985
Tracklist
A1 Happy Straps - Live In Paradise
A2 Aufruhr Zur Liebe - Side F
A3 Ornament & Verbrechen & Aufruhr Zur Liebe - Damned
A4 Happy Straps - Steal Myself
A5 Happy Straps - Regentag/ On Waves Of Love
B1 Der Demokratische Konsum - Sturm Im Gepäck
B2 Ornament & Verbrechen - Pablo Picasso
B3 Aufruhr Zur Liebe & Ornament & Verbrechen - Energy
B4 Aufruhr Zur Liebe - Berlin Rain
Notes
Philips Tonstudio - 7m unter der Hauptstadt der DDR
Cover Art von HEBERLEIN
Danke an Mary, Barkasse und Steuermann, Die Mütter, S.C.P.A., Phi KO
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Zickzack
Copyright © – Zickzack
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Goethe-Institut
Copyright © – Goethe-Institut
🎵 [SONG INFO]
Pablo Picasso is a song written by Jonathan Richman for the proto punk group the Modern Lovers.
The song was recorded in 1972 at Whitney Studios in Los Angeles, and produced by John Cale, but was not released until 1976, on the Modern Lovers self-titled debut album.
The recording featured Richman (lead guitar, vocals), Ernie Brooks (second guitar), Jerry Harrison (bass) and David Robinson (drums), with Cale playing the repetitive hammered piano part.
The central character of the song is the charismatic 20th century artist Pablo Picasso.
With dry wit, the lyrics suggest that women never rejected Picassos romantic advances, despite his short stature.
Well he was only five foot three but girls could not resist his stare / Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole / Not in New York.
In a 1980 interview, Richman stated that the song was inspired by his own adolescent self-consciousness with women.
Cover versions
On recordings
1975
John Cale, on his album Helen of Troy (released before the original version)
1979
Catholic Discipline on album Underground Babylon a collection of live recordings.
1984
Burning Sensations on the Repo Man soundtrack
1991
Phrancs version of the song substitutes Gertrude Stein as the central character; it appears on her album Positively Phranc
1998
Television Personalities on Dont Cry Baby... Its Only a Movie
1999
The Mentally Ill on the album Strike the Bottom Red
2003
David Bowie, on his album Reality; a live version recorded at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London on 8 September 2003 was released on the Tour Edition of Reality
2007
Blue Peter, on their album Burning Bridges, recorded live in 1980
Four Year Beard on the album Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
2012
The Tellers on the album A Tribute to Repo Man
2018
Jack White for a live Spotify Singles release
2024
Chatterbox on the album When the Creatures Crawl
Live performances
1976
Talking Heads live at Maxs Kansas City.
1998
Siouxsie - the Creatures with John Cale during their 1998 US double bill tour.
🔗 [LINKS]
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063503350460
#ornamentandverbrechen
#pablopicasso
#artpunk
#avantgardemusic
#themodernlovers Ornament & Verbrechen - Pablo Picasso (Art Punk/Avantgarde/Post-Punk, The Modern Lovers Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RzKHFvRWf14/mqdefault.jpg)
![The J Ann C Trio - Jambalaya (Hank Williams Cover)
From At Tan-Tar-A
Label: Burdland Records – LP 3300, 695-B-5926, 695B-5926
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1966
Tracklist
A1 Jambalaya
A2 Night Train
A3 More
A4 Hey Bo Diddely
A5 If I Had A Hammer
A6 Voo Doo Doll
B1 Cheatin Heart
B2 Cherry Pink
B3 Girl From Ipanema
B4 The Tide
B5 Funnel Of Love
B6 Moon River
Vocals, Bass – Ann Delrene
Guitar – Carl Russell
Drums – Jerry Dugan
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
© 2021 Modern Harmonic
℗ 2021 Modern Harmonic
🎵 [SONG INFO]
Jambalaya (On the Bayou) is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in July 1952.
It is Williams most recorded song.
Named for a Creole and Cajun dish, jambalaya, it spawned numerous recordings and has since achieved popularity in several different music genres.
In 2002, the 1952 Hank Williams recording of the song on MGM Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Composition
Williams began writing the song while listening to the Cajuns talk about food on the Hadacol Caravan bus.
With a melody based on the Cajun song Grand Texas, some sources, including AllMusic, claim that the song was co-written by Williams and Moon Mullican, with Williams credited as sole author and Mullican receiving ongoing royalties.
Williams biographer Colin Escott speculates that it is likely Mullican wrote at least some of the song and Hanks music publisher Fred Rose paid him surreptitiously so that he wouldnt have to split the publishing with Moons label King Records.
Williams song resembles Grand Texas in melody only.
Grand Texas is a song about a lost love, a woman who left the singer to go with another man to Big Texas; Jambalaya, while maintaining a Cajun theme, is about life, parties and stereotypical food of Cajun cuisine.
The narrator leaves to pole a pirogue down the shallow water of the bayou, to attend a party with his girlfriend Yvonne and her family. At the feast they have Cajun cuisine, notably Jambalaya, crawfish pie and filé gumbo, and drink liquor from fruit jars. Yvonne is his [ma] chère amie, which is Cajun French for my dear (female) friend or more likely to mean my girlfriend.
Recording and release
Williams recorded the song on June 13, 1952, his first recording session in six months, at Castle Studio in Nashville with backing provided by Jerry Rivers (fiddle), Don Helms (steel guitar), Chet Atkins (lead guitar), Chuck Wright (bass) and probably Ernie Newton (bass).
The recording Williams made differs significantly from Mullicans, which was released in the same month as Williams version but with a different order of verses and extra rhyming couplets.
Since the original melody of the song was from Grand Texas, the song is a staple of Cajun culture. However, although Williams kept a Louisiana theme, the song is not a true cajun song, which helped the song gain widespread popularity:
Ethnic music is usually unpalatable for a mass market unless it is diluted in some way (Harry Belafontes calypsos, Paul Simons Graceland... the list is endless). The broader audience related to Jambalaya in a way that it could never relate to a true cajun two-step led by an asthmatic accordion and sung in patois.
Released in July 1952, it reached number one on the U.S. country charts for fourteen non-consecutive weeks.
Williams performed Jambalaya at the Louisiana Hayride as part of his homecoming in fall, 1952 (after being fired from the Grand Ole Opry).
A live recording released as part of a series of Hayride performances includes outbursts of applause.
Another unreleased version is included in the 2017 CD set, At the Louisiana Hayride Tonight.
After Williams released his version, Cajuns recorded the song again using Cajun instruments. However, they used Williams lyrics translated into the Cajun French language. Jambalaya remains one of Hank Williams most popular songs today. International, translated or derived versions exist at least in Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, Italian, Polish, German, Spanish, Estonian and Swedish.
A demo version of Williams singing Jambalaya (On the Bayou) with just his guitar, likely recorded in 1951, is also available.
Williams composed a sequel to the song from the female perspective, Im Yvonne (Of the Bayou), recorded by Goldie Hill.
It was not as popular.
As with Jambalaya there is speculation that Williams may have written this song with Mullican and their friend Jimmy Rule.
Other versions
Jo Stafford in 1952, reaching number 3 on the Billboard pop charts.
Brenda Lee performed the song in 1956 for Decca Records at the age of eleven.
Fats Domino released the song in late 1961.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
John Fogerty hit number 16 in 1973 under the name of the Blue Ridge Rangers, and reached number 5 in Canada.
The Carpenters featured the song on their 1973 album Now & Then.
🔗 [LINKS]
Available on bandcamp:
https://thejannctrio.bandcamp.com/album/at-tan-tar-a The J Ann C Trio - Jambalaya (Hank Williams Cover)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S-vGIBdxgp0/mqdefault.jpg)