Highway 61 Revisited: 50th Anniversary

There’s only one Bob Dylan. Whether you’re a fan of his music or not, you have to admit that the man and his songs changed not only folk but the entire music industry. Up until Dylan, the 1960s' idea of what made a “pop star” was rather different. All of a sudden, there came a singer/songwriter who, to be honest, couldn't even do half of that very well, but was able to tell a story like no other. No more soppy, run-of-the-mill love songs; Dylan took the same subject matter and turned it on its head, with tales of fantastical characters from mythical times. He also brought politics into his songs, which became anthems of the era.

Without meaning to sound funny, the fact that Dylan couldn't sing paved the way for so many artists that we may have otherwise never heard of. Take Jimi Hendrix, for example. Until that point, Hendrix had been a pretty good guitarist, strumming away in backing bands for the likes of The Isley Brothers and Little Richard. Now he could step centre stage, and it didn't matter that he wasn't very melodic - his guitar could do as much talking for him as his voice did. 

I will always be grateful to my friend (and first boyfriend) Joe for bringing Bob Dylan into my musical make-up. You see, it was kind of a package deal - it would take a lot of time and commitment if you wanted to call yourself a Dylan expert, but I hope Joe won't mind if I call him, let's say, an extreme admirer. I know I've barely scratched the surface, but having an additional insight into his music opened up a whole new kind of songwriting to me. We also went together to see him live at Wembley Arena in 2007 - a night I will never forget. I couldn't tell you specifically what he played, but I'm sure Joe still has his scribbled copy of the set list somewhere.

Bob Dylan has been a musical God for over five decades now, but on this day in 1965, he released his sixth album, Highway 61 Revisited, the title making reference to the road that ran from Canada, through his hometown of Duluth, to New Orleans. With this album and the one previous, Dylan shook the music world by moving from acoustic to electric sound, and away from his political lyrics.

The opening track, and one of Dylan's most famous songs, was Like A Rolling Stone which in 2004 was crowned by Rolling Stone magazine the greatest song of all time. I'll give you a second to take in just how important a declaration that really is...

I can't quite believe I'm saying this but, hand of heart, as I type these very words, the very song has just burst onto my radio! As always with Like A Rolling Stone, I can't listen to those first chords without beaming. It's uniquely upbeat and energetic, which comes from a special combination of a rock-formation and the improvised organ riff. Apparently Columbia Records were initially hesitant to release it due to this, and also its length (imagine their faces when Dylan presented the 11-minute Desolation Row...), but the track was leaked and grew in popularity through DJs of the time. 

Before it was put to music, Like A Rolling Stone was a ten-page verse written by Dylan after his return from a tour of England, and it seems that it is the only one of his songs that has been composed in this way. It was never intended to be anything other than written word, but according to Dylan, one day at the piano one infamous lyric sang out to him: "How does it feel?"

The sound may be cheerful, but on closer inspection of the lyrics, it's in fact quite a dark and cynical song. Dylan confronts "Miss Lonely", a previously well-to-do woman who has now fallen on hard times, about how her lack of sympathy and kindness towards others has come back to bite her. "In the end it wasn't hatred," Dylan has said, "it was telling someone something they didn't know, telling them they were lucky. Revenge, that's a better word."

I tell you one thing, some may think it's easy to do a Dylan impression, but singing Like A Rolling Stone is a completely different ball game. Rapping isn't my strong point (except for when I'm a little tipsy and suddenly remember that I know all the words to Gangsta's Paradise), but I tell you, this was just as difficult an exercise - hopefully you'll enjoy my efforts!

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - 50th Anniversary

“The Beatles and The Stones” - you often hear these two bands referenced together. They’re penned as the good boys and bad boys of the 60s, but whether this was a managerial decision is hard to confirm. Mods vs Rockers, Blur vs Oasis, every decade has them, but what’s one thing that separates The Beatles and The Rolling Stones? In a word, longevity. Despite all the odds and obstacles thrown at them since they formed in 1962 (drugs, arrests, falling from coconut trees, that kind of thing...), they're still going strong. 

Some of you may be shocked when I point out that The Beatles were only active as a band for 10 years. But today, as their biggest hit turns 50 years old, The Stones have just got back from touring the States, and are preparing for their retrospective show Exhibitionism next spring. Individually, Mick’s producing TV series Vinyl with Martin Scorsese, Keith’s about to release another solo album, Ronnie’s set to reunite with The Faces for a charity gig (as well as continuing with his work as a fine artist) and Charlie… well, he’s probably still contemplating leaving, like he threatened to in 1975. 

I’ve seen The Rolling Stones live twice now, once at Twickenham in 2002 and again in 2013 at their Hyde Park gig. Each time it’s been their energy that’s brought the music to life, and encouraged strangers of all generations to dance and sing together (even after the concert, in the crush to get on the train, you’re bound to get an “Ooh oooooh” of Sympathy for the Devil, and then the whole carriage is off again). I often hear The Rolling Stones referred to as “old men” or “aaaancient”. “Aren’t they dead yet?” is another classic. Well, they may have a combined age of 285, but by God, that ain’t gonna stop ‘em. They’re here to stay, not fade away (Ah, I do love a pun, me).

In his autobiography Life, Keith Richards describes (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction as “the track that launched [The Rolling Stones] into global fame”. To this day, despite recording nearly 200 songs and among them more hits than Jagger can shake his hips at, it remains their most well-known and most popular. It’s a hit most artists would dream of… which is funny, because that’s exactly where the song began...

There are all kind of myths and fudged truths flying around the origins of the song, but this is my favourite, so I’m sticking to it. According to Keith, “I wrote Satisfaction in my sleep.” After a row with his girlfriend in her St John’s Wood flat, he went to bed, as was his ritual, with his guitar. When he woke up the next day, Keith glanced over to his cassette player and realised it was at the end of the tape. He wound it back and there it was - the bare bones of Satisfaction. Fantastical, perhaps, but as legend has it, this was how Jagger/Richards songs often came about. Keith would present the initial idea (the riff, the chords, maybe a line or two) and then Mick would flesh it out with lyrics and turn it into a recordable track. Gibson had also just sent Keith their first fuzztone box, which gave the song its famous distortion.

Satisfaction was actually released in the US in June 1965, two months before it came out in the UK, but once it hit the charts it made No. 1 on both sides of the pond, as well as in Austria, The Netherlands, France and Germany. 

In a 1995 interview, Jagger made the following observation: 

“…It captures a spirit of the times… which was alienation. Or it’s a bit more than that, maybe, but a kind of sexual alienation. Alienation’s not quite the right word, but it’s one word that would do.” 

I agree though, that there is more to it than simple alienation. There’s frustration, irritation, a sense of rebellion, and a wanting to belong but at the same time, a wanting to be your own person. Of course it’s predominantly about sexual satisfaction, but I think it relates to many more of the struggles of teenage life too.

There have been several interesting covers of Satifaction. Putting Devo and Britney aside, it’s the soul covers that I enjoy the most, and that I turned to when making my own version (Aretha, for example, really gives it a spark). Despite changing some of the words, the soul covers are far livelier with horns and trills, and it is in fact Otis Redding’s version that the Stones listened to for inspiration when reproducing Satisfaction for their own stage shows (it had previously been left off set lists).

But whether it’s Aretha or the boys, it’s that riff, “the five notes that shook the world”, and that classic double negative that will live on for generations. Happy 50th, and here’s to 50 more.

Ian Gillan, Happy 70th Birthday!

Released in 1971  

Earlier today I heard on Absolute Classic Rock Radio that Ian Gillan is celebrating his 70th birthday. So, what’s a girl to do when she finds a spare hour? Record a track for the blog, of course! I’m sorry that it’s such short notice and so this post won’t be up to the standard of the others, but I couldn’t miss an opportunity to record a Deep Purple song - who knows, it could be a while before another anniversary comes up.

Gillan joined Deep Purple in 1969, leaving his then band Episode Six and taking bassist Roger Glover with him. Although his presence has been patchy over the decades (including a year spent as the vocalist for Black Sabbath), the band are still touring regularly, with Gillan up front. As lead singer and lyricist he is mainly responsible for the band’s biggest hits, including Smoke on the Water, Child in Time, Speed King, Black Night and my favourite, Strange Kind of Woman.

It’s only now recording this song that I see its resemblance to an old folk song, a bit like Whiskey In The Jar, for example. It won’t come as a surprise that the original title for the track was Prostitute (well, the hints at Nancy’s profession aren’t subtle, are they?), but actually, this is a love story, with a tragic ending. Gillan has said in interviews that it's a story of a friend, and in other reports that Nancy is an amalgamation of many different women and experiences, but I’ve read some research that this the track is actually written about Gillan himself, who wed a lady before she passed away just three days later.

Enjoy the track, and if you’re near a glass, raise it to Ian, and to Nancy, whoever she may be...

Cilla Black, 1943-2015

Last Sunday, just minutes after finalising the title of this blog, I was informed of the passing of Priscilla Marie Veronica White, or as she was more commonly known, Ms Cilla Black. Like so many of my generation, I grew up with Cilla the TV personality, queen of Saturday nights, but of course she was far more than that. It seemed only fitting to kick off my blog with a post dedicated to one of the greatest female vocalists this country has produced.

Priscilla was born in Liverpool in 1943 and from an incredibly early age knew that she wanted to be a star, sneaking out in her lunch breaks at the hair salon to listen to bands down at the Cavern and Zodiac clubs. Growing up with the likes of The Beatles had its perks and in 1963 she was introduced to their manager, Brian Epstein, and was later signed as his only female singer. Despite being written by Lennon and McCartney, her first single Love of the Loved only made it to No. 35 in the UK charts. However, that didn’t stop Cilla Black (the name change due to a misprint in a local music paper). Underneath that girl-next-door exterior lay a feisty go-getter, and when Epstein returned from a trip to the States with a Dionne Warwick song he’d heard on the radio, she was ready to give it all she had.

Anyone Who Had A Heart is a song of pure heartache. Written by the legendary Burt Bacharach, it presents the ultimate girlfriend dilemma; do I stay with the man I love, despite the pain and anguish he causes me, because I’m scared it’ll ruin me to leave? This same problem is tackled in other hits, like Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved A Man (The Way That I Love You), for example ("My friends keep telling me that you ain't no good, but oh, they don't know, that I'd leave you if I could"), but unfortunately in neither case is a solution found, both ladies ending up just as distraught as they were at the start.

For Dionne, the single reached a rather pitiful No. 42 in the UK charts (and only No. 8 in the States) but once Cilla got her hands on it the song flew all the way to the No. 1 spot, and in its first three months it had sold nearly one million copies. Not only did Anyone Who Had A Heart catapult Cilla’s career, but it was the biggest UK chart hit by a female artist in the whole of the 1960s.

What made it so special then? Well as Bacharach described it, it was the passion that Cilla put behind the song and its lyrics: “There weren’t too many white singers around which could convey the emotion that I felt in many of the songs I wrote, but that changed with people like Cilla Black”. You could argue that praise simply doesn’t get any higher than that.

If you love the track too, why not join the thousands petitioning to get it back to No. 1? Here's the campaign's Facebook page with more details. 

Now, Liverpudlian accent I have not, but in finding that redhead Cilla was in nature a true mousey brunette, I’ve discovered a very personal bond with her that I shall hold on to in my attempts at recording a version of this song. I'd previously underestimated what a high register Cilla sings in, and being an alto girl myself, the power that she is able to give those top notes is mighty impressive. Still, that wasn't going to stop me giving it a damn good go.

So, here it is. My tribute to the one and only Cilla, an icon and national treasure. It’s sad that she’ll never get the chance to fulfill her desire to “grow old disgracefully”, but in honouring her memory, do try to remember her wish: "On my gravestone, I want 'Here lies the singer,' not 'Here lies the T.V. presenter’”.