STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN - LED ZEPPELIN (1971)
Robert Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin and lyricist of arguably one of the most popular rock songs of all-time, was asked about the meaning of "Stairway" dozens of times through the years. In some interviews he simply said the song was about a woman who got everything she ever wanted without giving anything back. He claims he was in a bit of a depression one night when he sat down and started writing. The lyric "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold/And she's buying a stairway to heaven" just came to him and so began the construction of the song. Jimmy Page, the guitarist of the band, has said Led Zeppelin was keen on creating another epic song after "Dazed And Confused". He has said that "Stairway" became the best of everything the band could do as a unit. Page told journalists before it was written that the band was working on a song that could be fifteen minutes long, where John Bonham wouldn't come in on drums until about halfway through. It turned out to be 8:03, and ever-lasting genius.
- "Stairway To Heaven" was never released as a single, but it flooded radio airwaves due to the new way of playing "Album Rock" on FM.
- John Bonham's drums don't make an appearance until the 4:18 mark, a little more than halfway through.
- Popular music critic Lester Bangs' review of the song upon the album's release described "Stairway" as "a thicket of misbegotten mush".
- The song has been covered by such an array of artists as Dolly Parton, Frank Zappa, U2, The Dave Matthews Band and Those Damn Accordions, a version played entirely on accordion.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #31
BABA O'RILEY - THE WHO (1971)
Sometimes erroneously called "Teenage Wasteland", The Who's "Baba O'Riley" actually has a bit of a story behind it. Pete Townshend, the guitarist of the band, wrote nearly all of The Who's songs. At the time of this song's beginnings, Townshend was in touch with a spiritual guru named Meher Baba. He also listened to a lot of work by a composer named Terry Riley, as many of the keyboards and effects on the album Who's Next were influenced directly from Riley. The idea of the song came about when Townshend postulated about how Meher Baba would sound if his teachings were turned into music. He thought it would sound a lot like something Terry Riley would do. Hence, the title, "Baba O'Riley". The "Teenage Wasteland" part of the song was actually a different song Townshend had written, but he decided to incorporate it into "Baba O'Riley".
- Just like "Stairway To Heaven", the song was not released as a single in the US or UK, instead getting lots of play on FM Album Rock radio.
- Townshend has said the "teenage wasteland" refers to all the strung out folks at Woodstock. It was not meant to be complimentary, but the youth of the day took it that way - "We're all wasted!".
- Cover versions of the song have been done by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Nash The Slash and The Blue Man Group.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #340
SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE - CREAM (1967)
The band Cream regarded themselves as the best of the best (Cream of the crop so to speak), and, to many who heard them, they were. Probably their most famous song, "Sunshine Of Your Love", was written by someone not in the band. Pete Brown was a beat poet who was friends with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce. One night, while Brown and Bruce were trying to come up with ideas for Cream songs, Bruce got up and started playing a riff on his big stand-up bass. The riff was inspired by something he heard at a Jimi Hendrix concert. The sun was beginning to rise as Brown was looking out the window, while Bruce continued to fine tune this riff. Almost without thinking about it, Brown said "it's getting near dawn". A light bulb came on and Brown wrote most of the lyrics that morning. Bruce and Eric Clapton, the band's guitarist, came up with the rest of the sound.
- While recording the song, Booker T. and Otis Redding heard it being played and told Jack Bruce the song would be a big hit.
- When the head of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, heard the song he called it "psychedelic hogwash". He never liked the idea of Jack Bruce being the main singer for Cream, as he thought Eric
Clapton should lead the group. He relented only after Booker T. told him the song was great.
- Jimi Hendrix loved Cream and often played "Sunshine Of Your Love" at concerts, usually faster tempo.
- Artists who recorded covers of "Sunshine Of Your Love" include Hendrix, Elle Fitzgerald, Living Colour, Frank Zappa, Ozzy Osbourne, Toto and Bobby McFerrin.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #65
PURPLE HAZE - JIMI HENDRIX (1967)
Although Jimi Hendrix was known for his innovative playing of the electric guitar, he was just as well known for his extensive drug use. "Purple Haze" seems like it may have come about through one of those LSD trips Hendrix was on. But, according to him, the song came to him in a dream (possibly a drug-induced nap??). He had said he dreamt of walking under the sea, being engulfed in a purple haze which made him lose his way. He said even though he was lost for most of the dream his faith in Jesus is what ultimately saved him. In fact, an early version of the song contained the lyric "Purple haze, Jesus saves". Luckily, he changed the words before recording the song.
- Hendrix was a big fan of Science Fiction work. There is a book called Night Of Light by Philip Jose Farmer from 1966 that talks of a distant planet that is covered in a "purplish haze". Subconsciously, this may be where Hendrix first thought of the idea for the song.
- Hendrix' manager, Chas Chandler, heard the first riffs of the song and told Jimi that it would be his next single, but he had to cut it down. Jimi had pages and pages of lyrics for the song, but eventually cut it down for easy radio play.
- When "Purple Haze" was sent to it's American label, a note accompanied the recording that stated "deliberate distortion, do not correct".
- The song has been covered by the likes of The Cure, Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Zappa, The Stooges and Winger.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - # 17
GOOD VIBRATIONS - THE BEACH BOYS (1966)
Brian Wilson, the main composer of The Beach Boys' songs, said he got the idea of "Good Vibrations" from his mother. Mrs. Wilson used to talk about vibrations in the air, around people and animals. The word "vibration" used to frighten Brian, thinking about invisible forces. His mom would say dogs would be able to sense these vibrations; if a dog would bark it meant there were "bad vibrations" around a person. No barking meant "good vibrations". Wilson had many snippets of music he had written down and recorded through the years, and he decided to bring most of them together for "Good Vibrations", which he ended up referring to as a "pocket symphony". It was during the recording and prep for the song that Brian Wilson started exhibiting strange behaviour, including not leaving his bed for days and working in a sandbox. His striving for perfection with the song led to it costing more than $50,000, the most expensive recording to that time.
- The Beach Boys were out on tour when Brian Wilson, who didn't tour at the time, started to write the music for the song. As a result, no Beach Boys members recorded any instruments on the record. At least 12 different musicians recorded more than 70 hours of music over a two month period.
- Mike Love was the one who came up with most of the lyrics to the song. He described it as a kind of flowery poem. He came up with the line "I'm pickin' up good vibrations, she's giving me excitations" not knowing if "excitations" was an actual word, but it rhymed well with "vibrations".
- Capitol Records didn't want to release the song as a single, saying it's 3:35 length was too long for radio play. Wilson pleaded with them to release it, and it went straight to the top of the charts.
- The most notable cover of this song was done by Todd Rundgren which was a near exact copy of the original, but it only made it to #34 on the charts.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #6
- The Beach Boys were out on tour when Brian Wilson, who didn't tour at the time, started to write the music for the song. As a result, no Beach Boys members recorded any instruments on the record. At least 12 different musicians recorded more than 70 hours of music over a two month period.
- Mike Love was the one who came up with most of the lyrics to the song. He described it as a kind of flowery poem. He came up with the line "I'm pickin' up good vibrations, she's giving me excitations" not knowing if "excitations" was an actual word, but it rhymed well with "vibrations".
- Capitol Records didn't want to release the song as a single, saying it's 3:35 length was too long for radio play. Wilson pleaded with them to release it, and it went straight to the top of the charts.
- The most notable cover of this song was done by Todd Rundgren which was a near exact copy of the original, but it only made it to #34 on the charts.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #6
HOTEL CALIFORNIA - EAGLES (1976)
Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Don Felder wrote the song "Hotel California" about the excesses of Hollywood and fame, trying to shine a light on the dirty side of things. Henley once described it as "the dark underbelly of the American dream, and about excesses in America which is something we knew about". The song is meant to be seen from the perspective of an outsider, traveling through the desert to the bright, shining lights of the big city which would look like a bit of an oasis. Glenn Frey once compared the lyrics to an episode of "The Twilight Zone" in that the scenes jump around, not making a whole lot of sense, but can represent different experiences for different people. Don Felder once showed how "Hotel California" was the beginning of a theme to the album; first getting to L.A. to be the "New Kid In Town"; finding greater successes gave you a "Life In The Fast Lane"; and wondering if all the time you spent in seedy bars was just "Wasted Time".
- "Hotel California" was really a metaphor, but some have opined on what the actual building may refer to, including an old church taken over by devil worshipers, a psychiatric hospital, or the Playboy Mansion.
- The line "warm smell of colitas" is actually in reference to a plant that grows in the desert which blooms at night and has a pungent odour. Many thought this was a reference to marijuana.
- The song has been covered by Gipsy Kings, Wilson Phillips, Al B. Sure!, Nancy Sinatra and William Hung! (Here's the link, sorry, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlTWpDav0FM)
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #49
GREEN ONIONS - BOOKER T. AND THE MG'S (1962)
I would think many people don't know the title of the song, but I would bet you've heard it. Any Rhythm and Blues band worth their salt has played "Green Onions" at one time or another. Booker T. And The MG's were the house band for Stax Records back in the early 1960's. They played on songs recorded by Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes to name just a few. But they would record their own music during their "down" time. The band was waiting for one of these artists one day (Billy Lee Riley to be specific) and started to record one of their own songs while they waited. The owner of the studio, Jim Stewart, was engineering that day and liked what he heard. He asked what the band called the song and Booker T. said it was called "Behave Yourself". Everyone involved agreed to release "Behave Yourself" as a single, but they needed another song to record, the "B-side". Booker T. started fooling around with something he'd been messing with previously. He started playing it on the Hammond Organ that was in the studio. The band joined in and recorded a bunch of takes. At the end of the night, Stewart asked the band what they wanted to call this new song. Booker T. said "Green Onions...because that's the nastiest thing I can think of and it's something you throw away.".
- Steve Cropper, the band's guitarist, brought "Green Onions" to a DJ he knew at a radio station in Memphis the day after it was recorded. The DJ loved it and played it 5 times in a row. Subsequent pressing of the record had "Green Onions" on side-A and "Behave Yourself" on side-B.
- Booker T. Jones was only 17 years old when this song was recorded.
- The song has been used in countless TV shows and movies in the last 40 plus years including "American Graffiti", "Quadrophenia", "WKRP In Cincinnati", "Miami Vice", "Twins", "The Sandlot", "The Sopranos" and "X-Men: First Class" to name a few.
- Covers of the song have been recorded by The Ventures, Count Basie, Lightnin' Hopkins, The Blues Brothers, Tom Petty and The California Raisins.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #181
SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT - NIRVANA (1991)
Kurt Cobain was not a very happy fellow. Just about everything made him disenfranchised with what is called the "mainstream". That's where the idea for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" started. He had said he was "disgusted with my generation's apathy" which led to the lyric "Oh well, whatever, never mind". Krist Novoselic admits that Kurt "really despised the mainstream" the "mass mentality of conformity". Even though Kurt's goal was to write a catchy pop song, they never thought "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would become an anthem to an entire group of people and lead the way to the new "grunge" sound coming out of the Seattle area. The title of the song came from a drunken night with a friend of Kurt's, Kathleen Hanna, who played in a band called Bikini Kill. Kurt had just broken up with another Bikini Kill member and during this drunken night, Hanna wrote something on Kurt's bedroom door; "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit". It was meant to be a joke, like Kurt's ex stamped him with her mark, by wearing Teen Spirit deodorant. Cobain liked the way the sentence sounded, thinking of it more like a compliment, like he was someone who could inspire the youth of the day.
- Cobain wanted to use the title as a lyric in a song, but decided to use it as a title alone, as the words aren't heard in the song.
- Teen Spirit brand deodorant actually had a huge spike in sales soon after the single was released.
- The classic video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was inspired by the movie "Rock N' Roll High School" with The Ramones.
- Covers of the song have been recorded by Tori Amos, Patti Smith, Meat Puppets, The Muppets and, I swear to God, Paul Anka! Don't believe me? Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_MzRxDUeMI
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #9
LIGHT MY FIRE - THE DOORS (1967)
The Doors were a very tight-knit group. They were a band that created music together, everyone contributing to most songs. This is true for arguably their most famous song. Jim Morrison was having writer's block one day and ask guitarist Robby Krieger for some input. He asked Morrison what kind of a song to write. Morrison replied "Something universal". Krieger thought of the four elements; fire, air, earth, water. What's more universal than the elements? He settled on the element of fire, mainly because he liked the Rolling Stones' song "Play With Fire". He ended up writing most of the lyrics, based on leaving inhibitions behind in a flame of passion, but the rest of the band contributed as well. Morrison actually though of the "funeral pyre" line, one that Krieger didn't like at first, until Morrison convinced him it would be a nice contrast to the love-based lyrics. John Densmore, the band's drummer, came up with most of the rhythm and Ray Manzarek created the famous opening keyboard sound.
- It has been said, by people who knew him well, that Jim Morrison was very unhappy that "Light My Fire" became the band's biggest hit, mostly because he didn't write it himself. He hated singing it at concerts.
- "Light My Fire" runs for 6:50, much too long to play on AM radio. It was edited down to 2:52, and as a result, became a giant hit. DJ's started playing the album version after the edited version became a hit.
- A very famous story about the band singing this song on The Ed Sullivan Show; the producers asked Morrison to sing "Girl we couldn't get much better" rather than "Girl we couldn't get much higher". Morrison defiantly sang the "higher" lyric and told Ed Sullivan after the show that he was just nervous and forgot about having to change the lyric. The producers didn't believe him and The Doors never appeared on the show again.
- The song has been covered tons of times by artists including Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Al Green, UB40, Etta James, Nancy Sinatra, Booker T. And The MG's and Mae West...check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGNOwCzpq3E
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #35
LOLA - THE KINKS (1970)
Believe it or not, "Lola" was inspired by something the band witnessed one night when they we out with their manager. The story goes (and has been accentuated since) that their manager got completely wasted and danced the night away with a woman on the dance floor until the wee hours of the morning. When they went outside after the club closed, the band, and manager, saw the five o'clock shadow on the "woman" he was dancing with. "Lola" was written by Ray Davies, the band's main lyricist, not long after. Many forget that The Kinks were part of the whole British Invasion in the mid-'60's. They were trying to revive their success after not having a single on the charts for some time, their last big hit being "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966. "Lola"'s sound and suggestive lyrics were planned to make it big in the States and UK. Ray Davies has said his plan was for listeners to know it was "Lola" within "the first five seconds". I think he succeeded.
- Ray Davies knew he had a great hook with the "la-la-la-la-Lola" part of the song when he heard his 2-year old daughter constantly singing it around the house.
- Dave Davies, Ray's brother and the band's guitarist, said he deserved to have a songwriting credit on the song. Ray refused, which led to more of the brothers' famous feud with each other.
- The song was recorded with the line "tastes just like Coca-Cola". The BBC refused to play the record because of the commercial reference. Ray Davies had to fly across the ocean to record the line as "tastes just like cherry cola", which appeased the BBC, who seemed to not care about the issue of "Lola" being a man.
- Recorded covers of "Lola" were done by Madness, Robbie Williams, Bad Manners and famously satires in Weird Al Yankovic's "Yoda".
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #422
Ok, I'll prep Part 2 shortly and have it out for your viewing pleasure soon...
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