Did You Know??? – IOTW Report

Did You Know???

Sunday, 20 December 2015, 1:24 BFH Uncategorized 45

Here’s yet another music thread, but I think you’ll like it. People can show off their “inside baseball” knowledge of music.

Be sure to drop your tidbits into the comments.

-Rick Wakeman, keyboardist for progressive rock band Yes, played mellotron on David Bowie’s Space Oddity and piano on Life on Mars. That’s also Wakeman playing piano on Cat Stevens’ Morning Has Broken and T.Rex’s Get It On.

-Only one song ever reached the billboard top 100 that has only one chord played for the entire song. Can you name it? In fact, it was #8.

-America’s Greatest Hits album cover was created by murdered comedian Phil Hartman. He also designed Poco’s Legend album cover.

– Jimmy Page plays the guitar riffs on the Herman’s Hermits hit Silhouettes.

-Tie a Yellow Ribbon was written for Ringo Starr, who thought it stunk and turned it down.

-Gerry Rafferty, famous for Baker Street and Right Down the Line, is also the lead singer for Stealers Wheel – Stuck in the Middle With You.

-Lead singer on the 70s pop tune by Ace, “How Long Has This Been Going On?,” is Paul Carrack, who also sang lead for Squeeze hit “Tempted.

– Lay Lady Lay was written by Bob Dylan for the movie Midnight Cowboy, but it was submitted too late.

– The writer of the iconic song “Wild Thing”, Chip Taylor, is conservative actor Jon Voight’s brother. Chip also wrote “Angel in the Morning” and Ace Frehley’s “Rock Soldiers.”

Chip Taylor co-owned a recording studio in North White Plains, NY with Crazy Joe Renda, who recorded the quirky hit song, (My Name is) Eugene, with Ace Frehley. The recording engineer on that song was? That’s right – Chris Cassone.

-Right Said Fred, the guy who recorded “I’m Too Sexy” was a bass player for David Bowie. He can be seen on Blue Jean

-Speaking of David Bowie, Luther Vandross was a back-up singer on Young Americans.

-The horrible drummer in the horrible band The Iguanas (who are featured on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack) is Iggy Pop.

-Paul Anka is actor Jason Bateman’s father-in-law. Bateman is married to daughter Amanda Anka.

-Musicians Jim Seals, of Seals and Crofts, and Dan Seals, of England Dan & John Ford Coley are brothers.

-Rick James was lead singer in one of Neil Young’s early bands.  <——– This is really good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

45 Comments on Did You Know???

  4. I can name a song that only uses one chord, A-flat seventh, throughout the entire song. It “reached number one on the U.S. R&B Singles chart for four non-consecutive weeks and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100”.

    It was a big hit for a famous saxophone player from Arkansas in the 1960s. Great dance tune. Pro 2A.

  5. In January 1975 Paul McCartney moved the recording of the Wings album “Venus and Mars” from Abbey Road in London to Sea Saint Studio (now known as Stray Voltage) in New Orleans. John Lennon was intending to visit the McCartneys in New Orleans, with the intention of songwriting and recording together for the first time since the Beatles had parted ways. However, Lennon returned to Yoko Ono after a separation shortly before it was due to happen. The pair never wrote or recorded together again.

  8. You do know that Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles was fired before all their success and replaced by Ringo Starr. But did you know know that he hired a voice coach to “Americanize” his Liverpool accent and later moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey? He legally changed his name to Max Weinberg and became the drummer for the E Street band and later band director on The Late Night with Conan O’Brian Show.
    A nice little tidbit you may want to share with your family over the holiday.

  16. Bob Dylan was known by some as “one-take Bob” because he always liked to record a song in one take. No do-overs with that guy, they say.

    I think Johnny Cash was trying to see if he could get Dylan to do a second take on a song in the studio by changing up the lyrics on the song, Girl From The North Country.

    In the middle of the song when both of them are supposed to be singing together, Johnny Cash sings “please say hello to the one who lives there”, at the same time that Dylan is trying to sing, “remember me to the one who lives there”. You can tell it was intentional, “please say hello” is not part of Dylan’s lyrics for that song. Cash probably had a bet with somebody that he could get One-Take Bob to do a second take. Looks like he lost the bet on that one.

    You can hear it at about 2:07 here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-PfDSQSWuGI#t=110
    //
    this is from the Nashville Skyline album.

    I believe Dylan got him back for that later on live tv when he clowned around and royally screwed up a song they were doing together.

  19. There are two versions of Let it Be (different guitar solos). They were actually played together in the studio and then made separate during the mixing of the LP/45 versions.

  29. Not only did Tom Hanks direct and co-star in the movie, “That Thing You Do,” he wrote or co-wrote 4 of the songs on the soundtrack. He performed “Lovin’ You Lots and Lots” on Saturday Night Live.

  31. Luther Vandross is more than a backup singer on Young Americans- he is the main creative force behind the song. the vocal arrangement is entirely his. bowie also rewrote one of vandross’ songs and put it on the album.
    it was producer Elvis Costello who suggested Paul Carrack (who replaced the departed Jools Holland) sing the lead on Tempted. Carrack was also once in Roxy Music.

  33. My really good buddy Caleb Quaye played all the guitar parts on that song . . . it took almost all day to record because Nilson and Perry (the producer) kept leaving the control room to snort Coke. FYI: Caleb was also the guitar player on all of Elton Johns early stuff.

  34. That album was recorded at Quad Studios, Nashville (before my time) . . . According to Grant Boatright, and a couple of other players on the session: “Most everyone was either stoned or dead tired by the time that song was cut. We were lucky to get anything down. Both Johnny and Bob just went in there and, well . . . did what you hear on the record so we could all go home.”

  35. BFH,

    A little OT.

    I recall seeing Rick Wakeman on the Mike Douglas Show in the 70s in cape with synthesizers.

    As I side note, also recall seeing Kiss on the same show before they hit it big. At the time, early 70s, probably the most bizarre act I had ever scene, and way past Alice Cooper. They came out in full gear and hissing tongues.

    What I recall is Kiss had a kissing contest where the winner won a great vacation to wherever. The promoter defaulted on the prize and the couple that won got screwed after kissing for days. Mike Douglas made good on the prize.

    I’ll never forget the winners. Out came onto the stage two hippies. The guy was bald on top, but hair on the side and beard to his ass. A true keep-on-trucking Mr. Natural.

    The women was a typical hippie girl who obviously made her own clothes and beads, and probably gagged Douglas with patchouli.

    I still remember this, so maybe I was traumatized by it.

    Also, Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay was banned on many radio stations when it came out.

    As for David Bowie, he did great work with Mott the Hoople. I love their cover of Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes” where David sings the back up vocals. Bowie was also the producer of the album

  38. Glad to know it was Wakeman on Morning Has Broken instead of Stevens.

    I heard a rumor from a friend in the industry way back that he was up on charges in the UK for underage sex then converted to the RoP. Which makes sense. Anyone else hear that’s the way it happened?

  39. I don’t know how “inside baseball” these are, they’re fairly well known, but I like them—Eric Clapton being the lead guitar (not George Harrison) on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and the fact that the same woman—Patti Boyd—is the subject of the songs “Something” by the Beatles (written and sung by George) and Layla, Clapton’s hit with Derek and the Dominoes. Eric Clapton’s also the only major rock god I can think of who ruined his own song by doing an awful acoustic version of Layla in the 90’s. Rush Limbaugh’s parody guy did a pretty good version of that one called Shalala lol.

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