Can't You See That She's Mine - The Dave Clark Five

Can't You See That She's Mine - The Dave Clark Five

2:22

The Dave Clark Five Return!, 1964

Written by Dave Clark, Mike Smith, & Ron Ryan

This week is all about 1964!

More British Invasion blues-based rock with honking, buzzy sax work, including a fairly long sax solo.  Seems like it's heavily influenced by "I Saw Here Standing There."  And Wikipedia tells us that one line ("People talk, try to break us up") was taken directly from the Ray Charles song "Sticks And Stones."  Well, it's a pretty common sentiment.  With the backbone of a jaunty organ riff and the throaty, exuberant singing, this is a rattling train of a 60s rock song, very much of its era.

Oh Well Oh Well - The Three Sounds

Oh Well Oh Well - The Three Sounds

3:43

Black Orchid, 1964

Written by Gene Harris

This week is all about 1964!

Uptempo, swinging piano jazz.  Just terrific musicianship on display.  The interplay between Harris' piano and the bass and drums is effortless.  I've never heard of this group, but they're just my style.  Sometimes I find the intense, 13-minute bebop horn-based stuff a little much.  Coltrane is great, but maybe not for this particular project.  This is perfect cocktail party jazz.  It's cool, it swings, it's got a piano virtuoso at the helm.  

Don't Ask Me What I Say - Manfred Mann

Don't Ask Me What I Say - Manfred Mann

3:01

The Five Faces Of Manfred Mann, 1964

Written by Paul Jones

This week is all about 1964!

British Invasion blues-influenced rock, with a snazzy sax adding some groovy licks.  This is a song sung by a dumped guy.  "I gave you all of my lovin' / Everything I could / Now you say you don't love me / Well there's no reason why you should."  You know what he thinks about that?  It was a low-down trick.  Easily as good as anything the Stones put out around this era, it's all buzzy and garage-style.  The lead vocals have just as much, if not more, strut, than Mick's.  These guys probably should have been bigger.

Banks Of the Roses [live] - the Dubliners

Banks Of the Roses [live] - the Dubliners

2:12

The Dubliners, 1964

traditional

This week is all about 1964!

This song dates to the 18th century.  It is sometimes conflated with another traditional tune called "Banks of the Primroses," which is quite different.  This one is about a lad named Johnny who leaves his love because his father doesn't approve.  There is another version in which Johnny kills the girl and buries her on the bank.  In this one the Dubliners sing on their live debut, he just goes on his merry way and imagines marrying another girl.  "The man that doesn't like me / Can leave his daughter at home."  That's cold, Johnny.  Anyway, I've been listening to the Dubliners all my life.  There is no better traditional Irish band.

Talking About My Baby - The Impressions

Talking About My Baby - The Impressions

2:34

Keep On Pushing, 1964

Written by Curtis Mayfield

This week is all about 1964!

A love song.  The narrator is smitten.  When she walks that walk and talks that talk, he can't quite explain how he feels.  He just knows she drives him crazy and she's his everything.  Soul music and vocal music does this kind of anthem to an adored subject so well, in a way that rock doesn't.  The perfect doo-wop harmonies elevate the clichéd lyrics and simple chorus.  Probably the greatest vocal group.  The album this song is on is one of only a few displayed on the cover of Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home.  I love the machine gun drum fill at the start.

Good Times - Sam Cooke

Good Times - Sam Cooke

2:28

Ain't That Good News, 1964

Written by Sam Cooke

This week is all about 1964!

For the second day in a row during this 1964 week, we have a song that's a little wistful, a little nostalgic, a little hedonistic, a little carpe diem.  "Ain't felt this good since I don't know when / And I might not feel this good again."  Maybe that was a common vibe in 1964 music.  The singer doesn't know what time it is and he doesn't care.  He's just going to let the good times roll.  I have heard this song before, but Aretha Franklin's version.  To me, Sam Cooke is the main man, the genius, the velvet voice.  This is the superior rendition.

All Summer Long - The Beach Boys

All Summer Long - The Beach Boys

2:09

All Summer Long, 1964

Written by Brian Wilson & Mike Love

This week is all about 1964!

I'm a fan of the Beach Boys, but I'd say mostly I only know the hits.  Granted, there are a lot of hits.  So this is a popular song, but I'm not overly familiar with it.  Just what the name implies, it's an ode to all things summer if you're a California youth: cut-off, T-shirts, miniature golf, horse riding, Hondas.  The vocals are beautiful, over swinging piano and marimba.  So breezy!  Oh, and Kid Rock is a moronic, creepy, talentless loser.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Louis Armstrong

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Louis Armstrong

2:22

Disney Songs the Satchmo Way, 1968

Written by Ray Gilbert & Allie Wrubel

This album marks the last recordings of Armstrong on trumpet.  Apparently, Walt Disney himself requested that Satchmo record this album, and he did, even though he was in ill health.  (Sad to think how just four short years before he was at the top of the charts with the perfect album Hello, Dolly!.)  You wouldn't know he was ailing, however, from listening to this song or its album.  His joyful vocals and bright trumpet make this already Oscar-winning song lively and fun.

Yawn, Yawn, Yawn - Les Savy Fav

Yawn, Yawn, Yawn - Les Savy Fav

2:56

single, 2003

Written by Les Savy Fav, I guess?

I had never heard of this art-rock clanging-guitar-punk post-hardcore bearded madmen, but saw their name, in connection with the Hold Steady somehow, and was intrigued.  The dreamscape lyrics seem to describe two members of a conflict, facing impending doom;  Maybe a carpe diem cri de coeur ("If we get lucky, we'll be dead by dawn / So let's get-get-get-get-get-get-get-get-get it on!").  Lead singer Tim Harrington shouts his heart out, like a less hoarse Patrick Stickles.

Willie And the Hand Jive - The Johnny Otis Show

Willie And the Hand Jive - The Johnny Otis Show

2:35

single, 1958

Written by Johnny Otis

I had only ever heard the Eric Clapton version before; this is the original.  Otis is an interesting guy; born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes to Greek parents, as a youth he decided to identify as a black man.  The song is about a man named Rockin' Willie who became famous doing a mysterious dance with his hands which is never described.  (However, according to Wikipedia, "The dance consisted of clapping two fists together one on top of the other, followed by rolling the arms around each other.")  I personally always wondered if the song was a double entendre about masturbation.  I mean, it seems like it is, but that doesn't fit the lyrics that well.  Sure, there's the hand jive being disapproved of by his father.  But then why would Willie do it on TV?  Why would the grandmother give the sister a dime to do it again?  What would that mean??  But the music.  It's a jump blues shuffle, a Bo Diddley beat, it's got handclaps.  Great stuff.