The Beach Bums - The Yellow Beret (1966) Did you know Bob Seger was such a right-wing nut job? The song is a parody of The Ballad Of The Green Berets by Barry Sadler, a huge hit in February 1966, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cashbox, and Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, as well as #2 on the Country charts. It sold over two million copies in just the first two weeks. This song is a stark contrast to Seger's better-known ANTI-Viet Nam song, "2 + 2 + ? " released just 2 years later. As you know, Seger finally hit the big time with Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man in 1969, but what you might NOT know is that future Eagle Glenn Frey played acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals on Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man. Bob Seger - The Famous Final Scene (1977) My favorite song of his. Wings - Give Ireland Back To The Irish (1972) John Lennon - The Luck Of The Irish (1972) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Photograph (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Give Me Love (2017) Johnny "Guitar" Watson - I Wanna Ta Ta You, Baby (1976) Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Superman Lover (1976) Zappa on Watson: "Watson, he's the original minimalist guitar player. The solo on "Lonely Nights," the one-note guitar solo? Says it all! Gets the point across. I can remember guitar players in high school learning that solo and just going, "But how does he get it to sound that way?" It really was one note. If you can play that note against those chord changes and derive the same emotional impact that he got from playing that note, then you're onto something. He can make that one be so nasty. You know, like, "What's behind that note? What is the mode? Why are you continuing to play the tonic when the dominant chord comes around? Are you goin' like this [gestures with his middle finger in the F-you" position] with your playing or what?" You have to learn how to do that. (...)generally the people who write about music don't know music. Anybody can tell whether these four notes are faster than these four notes. But what does it take to listen to Johnny Guitar Watson's one note, and know that he's doin' that? Did you ever point that out to a reader? Did you ever get across that there's something more to it than rilly-rilly-ree?" Johnny "Guitar" Watson - It's All About the Dollar Bill (1977) "Distributed by Amherst Records, 355 Harlem Road, Buffalo (West Seneca, really), NY, 14224" which was about .25 miles from where I grew up. They would occasionally have cut-out sales in that warehouse. I bought an American "Greatest Hits" album by The Move, but it was so cheaply packaged and sounded terrible. Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - This Guy's In Love In With Guy (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Come Sail Away (2017) O C Smith - La La Peace Song (1974) The Equals - Black Skinned, Blue-Eyed Boys (1970) Written by Eddie Grant of "Electric Avenue" fame. The Revox Singers - The Woodstock Message (1969?) An anti-war single from around that time. I think it was a song-poem. In other words, someone sent a poem to a "boutique" record company (in this case, Aladdin Records out of Chicago) and they wrote accompaniment. Percy Mayfield - Walking On A Tightrope (1969) Percy Mayfield - I Don't Want To Be President (1974) Discogs: US R&B vocalist and composer (b. August 12, 1920, Minden, Louisiana, d. August 11, 1984, Los Angeles, CA) Though maybe mostly known for penning the classic "Hit the Road, Jack", Mayfield himself was a major performer for the Specialty label in the first half of the 50s delivering slow blues ballads with his smoky voice reminiscent of Charles Brown. His biggest hit was the 1950 "Please Send Me Someone to Love", an R&B standard covered by many singers since then. The good-looking Mayfield was nearly killed in a 1952 car accident that left his face severely scarred and may have had a limiting effect on his career as a performer. In 1961 Ray Charles made his "Hit The Road, Jack" a major hit, and Mayfield was subsequently hired by Charles's Tangerine Records as a songwriter. After a decade in the background, Mayfield had a comeback and released several albums late 60s to early 70s on Tangerine and RCA. On these albums, Mayfield's smoky baritone voice is often heard accompained by top jazz session-players of the era. Percy Mayfield - Right On, Young Americans (1972) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Show Me The Way (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Miracles (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Fooled Around In Love (2017) I chose some lesser-known songs from Chuck Berry's post-heyday. Some of the songs on these records are great stories like the great man could do effortlessly. Chuck Berry - Ma Dear (1965) Chuck Berry - Bio (1973) Chuck Berry - My Dream (1971)
