It’s hard to believe that in the space of just 16 days, the world lost two of the most influential musicians. On Sunday 4th October 1970, just two weeks after Hendrix died in a London hotel, Janis Joplin was discovered by her road manager in her hotel room after an accidental heroin overdose. In both cases there are such sad similarities, including their age of course (they are probably the two best known members of the 27 Club). In marking her passing, let us remember what a truly unique woman Joplin was, a talent so raw it’s unlikely we will ever see someone match it again. Born in Texas in 1943, Joplin was a very needy child, and craved individual attention from her parents despite having two other siblings. She was an outcast at school and often bullied by her school mates for being overweight and having skin prone to very bad acne, which left her scarred for the rest of her life. However, she did find comfort in music and also painting. In her early 20s she moved back and forth from San Fransisco to Texas, often staying with her parents due to her ill health (by this time she had also gained a reputation as a drug user and heavy drinker). In 1966 she joined the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, with whom she was to have a large number of hits (Down on Me, Summertime, Piece of my Heart…). Cheap Thrills was their second and most successful album, and launched Joplin’s career. By 1969 she’d left Big Brother and had ventured into her solo career, again with a stream of successful songs (mainly covers), and backing bands including the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie. Two of her most notable performances were Woodstock (although being crippled with nerves at the size of the crowds) and Madison Square Garden, both in 1969. Despite her nervous disposition, Joplin was electrifying, both on stage and in the recording studio. In interviews you can hear her cackle like a small school girl, but knowing her difficult and slightly tortured past explains all that pain and anguish which you can hear in her voice when she sings. Pearl was to be her final solo album, which held the Number 1 spot in the States for nine weeks, despite being released three months after her death. It included songs for which she will forever be known: Cry Baby, Me and Bobby McGee, and the song I have chosen to cover, Mercedes Benz, written by Joplin along with Bob Neuwirth and Michael McClure. The song was recorded in one take, just three days before she died. I decided that in true Janis style, I too should record it in one take, completely a cappella, with no effects or tweaks (if you listen carefully you can also hear the perfectly timed car horn in the background - I so hope it was a Mercedes!). Forgive the squeaks and strains, but I hope Janis would approve.
Is it me, or is everyone turning 70?! First Ian Gillan, then Bryan Ferry and now Don McLean is celebrating the big birthday landmark.
I toyed with the idea of recording one of McLean’s lesser known songs for this blog post; the beautiful Vincent, based on Van Gogh’s painting 'The Starry Night', or perhaps Wonderful Baby, a lullaby that used to send me to sleep as a small child. But considering this is a music education blog, there was only one choice of track. The song that shot McLean into every music hall of fame (yes, all eight and a half minutes of it)… It had to be American Pie.
Where to start explaining a song like this? Personally, it has great importance to my upbringing. My mum made me a cassette compilation when I was very little, which acted almost as a musical bible to me, and I listened to it relentlessly at home with her and on long car journeys. Amongst all the tracks though, American Pie stood out to me, and I remember feeling a great sense of achievement when I finally learnt all the words (before I even hit my teens, I must point out). The lyrics painted obscure and fantastical scenes like I could never have imagined, and all in effortless rhyme.
It would take me years to relay all the ways in which the song’s lyrics have been interpreted since its release in 1971, but let’s start with the facts. “The day the music died” is 3rd February 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J P “The Big Bopper” Richardson were killed in a plane crash in Iowa. At the time, the 13 year old McLean was on his paper round when he read the shocking news on the front page. A huge Holly fan, McLean has recalled his disappointment that none of his school friends seemed to share the same upset. When it came to writing American Pie, this vivid memory was a great starting point. McLean wanted to write a political song about America, but knew he couldn’t bring out another slow song, so decided to give it its upbeat rhythm. Apparently it was the chorus that came first, then one morning he woke up and wrote all five verses (how’s that for productivity?).
McLean has never been too keen on pinning down anything other interpretations of the lyrics, favouring instead to leave it up to the listener (when asked in 1991 what American Pie means, he simply answered “It means I don’t ever have to work again if I don’t want to”). It’ll have different meaning to different people, but here are some common ideas:
The Jester - Bob Dylan. “A coat he borrowed from James Dean” - On the cover of The Freewheeling Bob Dylan, he wears a jacket similar to that of the actor’s. “And a voice that came from you and me” - A reference to the folk songs sung by Dylan. “With the jester on the sidelines in a cast” - Dylan had recently broken his leg in a motorbike accident! “And while the king was looking down the jester stole his thorny crown” - Dylan taking Elvis’ place as America’s most successful artist. The “King and Queen” could also refer to folk royalty Pete Seeger and Joan Baez. Another alternative is that the King, Queen and Jester were in fact President Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald, as Oswald was never convicted because he was murdered shortly after the assassination (“The courtroom was adjourned / No verdict was returned”).
“Helter skelter in a summer swelter” - The Charles Manson massacre of 1968.
“The birds flew off from a fallout shelter / Eight miles high and falling fast” - The Byrds’ track Eight Miles High. A “fallout shelter” was a 60s term for a drug rehabilitation facility and one band member had recently been admitted.
“And as I watched him on the stage / My hands were clenched in fists of rage / No angel born in hell / Could break that Satan spell / As the flames climbed high into the night” - The Rolling Stones’ concert at Altamonte where the security were made up of Hell’s Angels, one of which stabbed an audience member. There are many possible Rolling Stones connections in the song - “Jack Flash sat on a candle stick”, “Moss grows fat on a rolling stone”, “Fire is the devil’s only friend” - although these all carry double meanings.
“The sergeants played a marching tune” - Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band apparently had a strong influence on McLean when writing American Pie.
“I met a girl who sang the blues…” - Janis Joplin, who died of an overdose the previous year (look out for a blog post marking the occasion coming this Sunday).
“And while Lenin/Lennon read a book on Marx” - most obviously Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, but others believe this could be John Lennon and Groucho Marx!
“The quartet practiced in the park” - The Beatles’ concert at Shea Stadium.
“We sang dirges in the dark” - The 60s peace marches.
“The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost” - Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper, though of course this could be one of McLean’s references to religion, being a catholic himself.
So there you have it. Don’t tell me you haven’t learnt something new today! Enjoy showing off these fun facts and, if you’ve got the time, enjoy my rendition too...
Happy 70th Birthday to Mr Bryan Ferry! In the top five of my all time best male vocalists, Ferry has of course found fame through his solo career, but it’s Roxy Music that we all know and love him for really. Ferry started many bands in his art school years (in fact, it may have been him that once said that was the only reason anyone went to art school - I’m willing to be corrected on that!), but in November 1970 he formed Roxy Music, first with his friend Graham Simpson and then expanding to include Andy Mackay and of course Brian Eno. Apparently Ferry originally auditioned for the lead of King Crimson, and although the band members thought his voice unsuitable for them, they helped Roxy Music gain a contract with E.G. Records. The line up of Roxy Music was to change several times over the years, and it wasn’t until 1972 that they had their first hit with Virginia Plain. By the following year Ferry had also started his solo career, but that didn’t stop the hits flowing for him on both sides. The song I decided to cover for this post was Roxy Music’s most successful and most covered track, Love Is The Drug. Originally intended to be an Andy Mackay instrumental, it includes a fantastic baseline, a catchy, powerful chorus and in true Roxy Music style, sleek and sexy lyrics and vocals. It’s so popular that this track has been played at every Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music tour since it was released in 1975. Roxy Music and Bryan in particular were an influence on many, not only for their sound, but their style too. It ran through their fashion, their music videos and their promotional materials and album covers. Got to love a bit of 70s glitter, haven’t you? Ferry is still going strong and performing, both alone and in recent years as part of a reformed Roxy Music. Sharp suits, silky voice and a glamorous girl on his arm, he’s a sort of Bond of the music industry. Have a wonderful day, Bryan!
