A Boy Named Shel

 

Today, Shel Silverstein would have turned 95 years old had he not passed away in 1999. I think it's the right time to remember an ever-active contemporary. Many will know his songs, which became famous through other performers. Few are likely to know that, in addition to being a songwriter and composer, he was also a cartoonist and children's book author.

During the Korea war in the early 50's he worked there as correspondent and cartoonist for an American magazine until Hugh Hefner hired him for Playboy. In addition to his work as a cartoonist, Playboy sent him on trips around the world, which he commented on in his own style. Alongside Hunter S. Thompson, he wrote some of the most exciting stories, some of which were published in the German magazine Sounds in the early 1970's.

From 1964/65 onward, he wrote A Boy Named Sue, a song that became a huge hit for Johnny Cash. Silverstein's sarcasm is rarely better expressed than in 25 Minutes To Go, which deals with the last 25 minutes in the life of a delinquent before his execution.

In 1971 he co-wrote The Taker together with Kris Kristofferson, one of the many highlights from his second album and forced his collaboration with Bobby Bare

In his next step he found Dr. Hook and his Medicine Show, a freaky country band who were able to translate his lyrics into music in a congenial way. I could take any song by them but I decided to feature this because it was filmed on Shel's houseboat and Mr. Silverstein appears on harp.

And at least one of his early songs interpreted by one of the best voices in country.

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

Another week and another foray through the releases of new songs from the last 60 years. There wasn't much of note, but enough to fill this post.

1977 - David Bowie released Low, probably his best album from this decade and Sound and Vision was one of the highlights from this album.

1958 - Doo Wop is not the thing I listen often but I like this song by The Monotones without any reason.

1980 - The Clash released Train In Vain from their epochal album London Calling. Still fascinating.

1966 - From his album Blonde On Blonde Bob Dylan released One Of Us Must Know one of the best songs from this album.

1967 - A classic pop song by The Turtles was released.

1972 - Dr. Hook appeared on the scene with a one of the best songs about lost love.

1966 - The Walker Brothers released their masterpiece. Scott Walker's voice is still thrilling.

1980 - Talking Heads released Fear Of Music and showed on this song why they were one of the best bands from this time.

Hooked

 

I am not the one that was close to country music during my lifetime but there is one band, except Gram Parson and Emmylyou Harris, that opened my ears for this kind of music. Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show appeared at a time, when casual music of the big bands turned me into boredom. With their soulful rock, pop, folk and country sound were my little heroes in the mid 70s before punk happened and pub rock wasn't gone. I loved their sound and songs, especially because of the lyrics. Sylvia's Mother is probably the most emotional song about a love gone by. Shel Silverstein wrote the lyrics for a guy who tried helpless to convince his former girlfriend not to part. This music is surely not for everyone but for me a place to come back and enjoy. In particular that I was lucky enough to see them live in 1976 on a festival in Roskilde, Denmark when they returned after a fabulous gig to encore with no clothes on. Ace.

Queen Of The Silver Dollar

I was out at the pub with my oldest friend last evening when we meet once a month having a great time talking about everything what happened to us during the last weeks. And as every time we fall back to music that we used to listen decades before. He is still a favourite to jazz-fusion and funk but we both have a covered fondness to country music. We could agree to Shel Silverstein's song he wrote and often was released by Dr. Hook. He wrote superb lyrics and poems that made him a place in musical history. It is not the music I listen to every time but every time I hear this song I feel save and warm to it.

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show - Queen Of The Silver Dollar
Emmylou Harris - Queen Of The Silver Dollar

Live Music In German Television

It is 44 years ago when country music was presented in German TV (a few years ago they showed us a 45 minutes live performance by Johnny Cash). Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show were a band a lot of folks could agree to. Not only because of the music - the lyrics often written by Shel Silversteen was also worth to listen to. Mostly humorous, satirical or just pure love songs but always funny to listen. I fell in love to this band in the early 70's when I went for the first time to Roskilde festival. The band played their set and the came back for encore totally naked and played two more songs. Dr. Hook was a band that changed between classic country and country influenced rock. And I still believe that they didn't played without booze and/or drugs and alcohol. But the audience still enjoyed what these freaks did. They are one of these reasons I turned into country music.

I still like their first album but the best one for was Bankrupt from 1975 (probably one before they turned into mainstream).

One of the reasons I like them still are verses like this:

He was a short order cook, and not too much to look at

And he traded in his foot, for a medal in the war

He loved a girl named Lila, in a bar across the highway

And you ought to see him smilin' at her comin' through the door

Lila always knew, she wasn't no ravin' beauty

She traded in her virtue to a trucker at sixteen

But she forgets to remember how he left her off in Denver

When she sees her Cooky smilin' as she opens up the screen

And he says

"Hi Lila, how about a cup of coffee?

Take a load off, take your shoes off, here's the sugar and the cream"

Cooky's been to war and Lila's been to Denver

And both of them are casualties of someone else's dream

A Boy Named Sue ... And The Rest Of The Story

A Boy Named Sue it is probably the best known song by Johnny Cash. Lyrics (and the song) was written by Shel Silversteen, an American composer, musician, writer and poet who had his big times in the late 70's/early 80's. He wrote this song for Johnny Cash and others for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. All of them are weird and funny as well. He was an acrobat on words. But the funniest moments was when he wrote a sequel about A Boy Named Sue. Not in that kind most of us though about. He showed us another way of Sue could have been. I don't mind if it is good or not - it is just another way to finish the story about Sue. I think I should give him a feature in this way because he always told stories about mostly hidden places in the US and all of them were great to listen after long long times.

This is the German version of A Boy Named Sue by an forgotten artist that was a little big in the 80's.

And one by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show:

Telephone Calls # 1

I think it's time to start a new little series. If I think exactly about it, there are many songs in their telephone calls are led or in those the phone plays an important role. Whether it is a matter now of confessing the love on the phone or whether the phone appears only as small accessories in the song - it is a matter maybe only of appreciating the medium without which there would not be this protestation at all (we exclude once the written letter from it). So be surprised what songs will appear in this series.

Let's start with maybe one of the best heartbreaking phone calls ever. There's a guy trying to call his former girlfriend before she Leaves with her new boyfriend to marry far away. Almost every time I hear Ray Sawyer still begging Sylvia's mother to pass the phone a last time to her I get goose skin because I never heard someone begging the way he did. Years later I recognized that this was an autobiographical song by Shel Silverstein another artist I should feature in the near future.

So enjoy this series as much as you can.

Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show - Sylvia's Mother

Back On The Blog

Hello comrades, I started a little break the week before because there were so many other things to do and to arrange that I wasn't able to write my daily posts. I would like to thank you all for your warm words and be sure it means a lot to me. In the last ten days I worked on our divorce, fixed the selling of our apartment, supported my former wife because she can't control and direct our son any more, had some guests in our apartment and, in addition I had a difficult and extensive job to do. Sometimes I haven't know what things should be first done or arranged. Now I hope you understand that I needed some time for a break.

Anyway, for God's sake there are some things that fetched me back on the ground again. First was watching the games of the FIFA World Championship in Brazil, playing pool with my mates and music of course. So I try to keep running this blog as you might know it. I still have some ideas for the upcoming weeks and to continue my series.

Normally my co-worker arrives almost three hours later in the office as I usually do. So I have plenty of time to play my music alongside. Last week happened that within half an hour three songs appeared by the random list with one subject. All songs trade of the fact that a man calls the person or to call tries he loves to persuade them of it as importantly it is to him that he can meet them once again.

The first one is Sylvia's Mother by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.The song is an autobiographical song in which  the author Shel Silverstein to his own unsuccessful love. Always I have loved the suffering voice of Ray Sawyer trying to get Silvia on the phone again and her mother blocked telling him him that his love moves away with an other man. I remember my hairs stood up when I first heard him begging 'Please Mrs. Avery, I got to talk to her only for a while'. I can feel the sadness when her mother said 'And Sir, won't you call back again'. And always the operator cuts in to ask for more money throughout the conversation.

Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show - Silvia's Mother

The singer doesn't really suffer but he tries to get a date over the telephone. It's the 1959 hit single from J.P. Richardson better known as The Big Bopper. He was on of the other guys who died in an airplane crash together with Buddy Holly and Richie Valance. I started reading about rock music in the early 1970s with Nic Cohn's Pop History. I will never forget what he wrote about this song: He stands in a telephone box, calls a girl and must create like mad to move them to an engagement. He sweats, he giggles, he babbles and dribbles. One feels how his fat shoulders twitch like in the delirium. His stupid suit wraps up him wei a tent, his eyes overflow and his lower lip hangs down limpy. 'Chantilly lace and a pretty face, pony tail hanging down, wiggle in her walk, giggle in her talk. Lord makes the world go round ... Makes him feel real loose, like a long-necked goose'. And all the time he melts away.
And if nothing reaches, of course not, but he does not surrender, nevertheless, and roars and shouts like a democrat from the south with an election rally. The result makes no difference anyway, but the acting achievement counts. 'Ohh Baby' he howls 'You know what I like, You know'. And at this moment he explodes, resolves.

The Big Bopper - Chantilly Lace

The last one is from a band that was famous during the German New Wave. I hate it if they are called in the same breath with bands, they've basically have produced musical garbage which achieved unfortunately commercial success. Trio aren't that way - they were more punk and radical then a lot of others. Anyway, they adapted this theme with spoken words on a simple melody. A guy calls his former girlfriend late at night (probably drunk) to get in contact again with her while he listen to their former song. I've to admit that I listened to a song that was recorded by Dombrowski as the girl speaking in this telephone call and I wasn't in the mood to convert my vinyl. So enjoy the video from German TV.

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/7791603/Trio_Sabine_Sabine_Sabine_1982

Hello, Sabine

(Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine)

er how are you 

pay attention sometimes

(Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine)

is on the radio

and er they had this music on the radio

and er there I had to think of course of you

(Sabine Sabine Sabine)

because you had said also last sometimes

I should call quietly again

(I love you I love you)

however, nevertheless, you have said, nevertheless

however, determines certainly

and then this music you know

yes, and then thought I call, nevertheless, sometimes

what, hello, hello, Sabine

I thought only

(Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine)

yes, how like how er oh

nevertheless, you know

(Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine)

this I don't see in such a way

this is not necessary 

(Sabine Sabine Sabine)

nevertheless, you know this now, nevertheless, is

nevertheless, you and I know you like last sometimes

(I love you I love you)

why? don't understand this now

last times you have spoken quite differently

so what

exactly exactly

and there you have said this would be everything smells

and this would go quietly thus and er

(Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine)

what oh hear, nevertheless, is even not true

oh god and and generally this is

(Sabine Sabine Sabine Sabine)

no if thus is then fits me also not

what

this would be clear even smells and würd me

(Sabine Sabine Sabine)

yes, or, nevertheless, what

no because, nevertheless, I mine this everything is so important not

Central issue you and I

and together and feel fine or

(I love you I love you)

cuddle, nothing with cuddle

it's finally over with cuddling

(I love you I love you)

then forget this shit

okay everything clearly everything clearly

It don't have to be

(I love you I love you)

then is clearly you call again

or ... it's all okay

(I love you I love you)

okay bye

Sharing The Night Together

Let's start the week with an old song from Arthur Alexander. He wrote a lot of songs and many of them were covered by famous bands like the early Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Ike and Tina Turner and Dusty Springfield. But it is still worth to listen to the originals. Sharing the night together was a top hit by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

Enjoy and have a good week.

Arthur Alexander - Sharing The Night Together

You Ain't Got The Right

Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show was always close to mine since I saw then on the open air in Roskilde, were they finally played naked for the last three songs. They sung about love gone waste and lover that couldn't get together. Also they made songs about losers and one that didn't made it. Sometimes they give me the feeling of not being the one that lost his basics. I remember Ray Sawyer with his tender and suffering voice that helped me often to keep on  going on. His voice shows me how a man could suffer to  someone he's lost. In his voice I can hear that he's lost his biggest love. Great at all..

Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show - Yout ain't got the right