PROUD MARY - CCR (1969)
The first idea for "Proud Mary" had nothing to do with the riverboat in the song. Proud Mary was a woman, a maid for the rich, stepping off a bus and going to work in the big city. The bassist for the band, Stu Cook, was watching a TV show one night that had a riverboat in it. He yelled out "Hey riverboat, blow your bell". John Fogerty, the band's leader and writer of songs, immediately pictured Proud Mary as a riverboat instead of a woman and began constructing the song out of bits and pieces of ideas he kept in a notebook. Within the notebook, written down ideas included "Proud Mary" and "Rolling On The River". Piecing these ideas together Fogerty came up with the song we all love today.
- "Proud Mary" became the first of five #2 songs by CCR. They never got to number one.
- The opening guitar riff came from John Fogerty messing around with the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. He wanted to create something that was as recognizable.
- The song has been covered dozens of times, most notably by Tina and Ike Turner. Others to record the song include Solomon Burke, Tom Jones, Status Quo, George Jones, The Ohio Players and Leonard Nimoy! Check out Spock's version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGvompB8Ol0
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #155
BILLIE JEAN - MICHAEL JACKSON (1982)
In 1982 there was nobody bigger than Michael Jackson; The President, The Pope, God, nobody stood a chance. "Billie Jean" was the reason he became such a superstar, and it was actually based on some true events. Jackson had himself a stalker in the early '80's that would sometimes show up at his house, in the pool area, relaxing in a bikini. She claimed that Jackson was the father of her baby. Jackson, already a huge name in the entertainment field, rarely spoke about the strange encounters with the woman, instead he wrote it in a song. The producer of the song, Quincy Jones, has said the woman was so batty that she claimed one of her twins were fathered by Jackson, just one of them. Michael Jackson would tell people who interviewed him that "Billie Jean" was based on the groupies that used to hang around his concerts, and the concerts of the Jackson 5. But the experience of this one woman weighed heavy on Jackson and was one of the reasons he became such a recluse.
- Quincy Jones wanted to call the song "Not My Lover" just in case the public related "Billie Jean" to the tennis star Billie Jean King. Jackson stuck to his guns, thank goodness.
- It has been said Michael Jackson took one take to lay the vocals. He came up with the intro on a toy drum machine at his house.
- Even though this was the second Top 10 song off of the album Thriller (the first being "The Girl Is Mine", playing on the popularity of Paul McCartney), the song got heavy rotation on radio stations and MTV. Jackson shot to superstardom as a result.
- The song has been covered by many people, but not by a lot of "named" artists with the exception of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #58
LIKE A ROLLING STONE - BOB DYLAN (1965)
It must feel awesome to create a song, something that comes out of your brain, and heart. "Like A Rolling Stone" has to be the epitome of that feeling. Bob Dylan, popular at the time but not huge, came at this song when he was in a dark place. He was becoming disenfranchised with the music industry. But he had tons of prose written down that needed a vehicle. "Like A Rolling Stone" was created from a ten page poem Dylan had worked on for years. Nobody really knows where his inspiration for the song came from but Dylan has said he got the idea after listening to a Hank Williams song named "Lost Highway" which contains a line "I'm a rolling stone, I'm alone and lost". The song has been described as a tale of a debutante who falls by the wayside and becomes a loner. This description led to rumours that the song was about Edie Sedgwick, a young woman that fell into the biggest group in the world at the time, Andy Warhol's gang. When Warhol was done with her, she was booted to the curb, so to speak, and became a "nothing" quite quickly. Wherever the inspiration came from, it is hard to deny the fabulous construction of this song.
- The song runs 6:13 which was about three minutes too long to play on the radio, but it was played a lot, becoming a rarity on radio where lyrical content became more important than the music.
- Jimi Hendrix always considered himself a guitar player. After hearing this song he realized he could sing his songs without being a great vocalist, that it was all about the content. Hendrix would play "Like A Rolling Stone" a lot in concert, and famously covered another Dylan song, "All Along The Watchtower".
- Some folks think The Rolling Stones got their name from this song (even though it came out after the Stones became a hit ?!?). The title was referencing the idiom "a rolling stone gathers no moss". Strangely enough, the magazine Rolling Stone did come from the song, sort of. Rolling Stone was created, in part, by writer Ralph Gleason who wrote an article based on the song called "Like A Rolling Stone", and named his new magazine based on the article.
- The Rolling Stones did cover the song, making the above point hard to believe for some conspiracy folks.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #1
WHAT'S GOING ON - MARVIN GAYE (1971)
Marvin Gaye was, rightfully so, one of the biggest names in music, working for the Motown label. His duets with Tammi Terrell, Diana Ross and Mary Wells garnered huge hits for the label in the 1960's. But the world was very different in the early part of the next decade. Terrell had passed away at the tender age of 24 from a brain tumour; Gaye's marriage was falling apart; people were dying fighting in the Viet Nam war. Gaye wanted to infuse his songs with social commentary and took more of a role in the writing of his songs. "What's Going On" came about when his brother Frankie came back from Viet Nam, telling stories of the fighting he was involved with. Gaye thought a strong message in a soft song would make it easier for people to think about what he was saying. This was a time when political leaders were being killed (Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy) and Gaye felt strongly that he had enough influence to make folks stop and look around them. The message is as powerful today as it was back then.
- Gaye wrote the song with his golfing buddies; Al Cleveland and Renaldo Benson. Gaye wanted the song to be recorded by the group The Originals, but Cleveland and Benson convinced Gaye to record it himself.
- There was a rumour for many years that the head of Motown Records, Barry Gordy, hated this song and tried to stop it's release. His opinion softened after the single quickly sold over 100,000 copies.
- This was one of the first Motown songs to contain a social message rather than a pop hook. Stevie Wonder and The Temptations were also experimenting with social justice songs at the time as well.
- The song has been covered by the likes of Quincy Jones, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Michael McDonald, John Legend, Seal and Los Lobos.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #4
SUMMERTIME BLUES - EDDIE COCHRAN (1958)
Eddie Cochran was a known musician before writing the biggest hit of his career. He was marketed a young crooner for his teenaged fans. He wrote this song when he was just 19 with the help of his good friend Jerry Capehart. They were trying to come up with a different take of all the "summer" songs that were being released at the time. They thought singing about the hardships of summer might ring true for the teenagers that were looking for a new type of music, one called rock n' roll. When "Summertime Blues" was released, Cochran's image immediately became that of the rebel rocker with a guitar. The song was an immediate hit, but only got to #8 on the Billboard charts. Cochran's new found fame would only last a couple of years as he died in a motor accident at the tender age of 21.
- Originally, "Summertime Blues" was recorded as a B-side to the song "Love Again". After hearing the song the record company knew it would be a bigger hit and put "Love Again" on the B-side.
- Beatle George Harrison was a big fan of the song. He carried a picture of Cochran around with him when he was young.
- The song has been covered by scores of artists, many who wanted to represent a "rebel image". The Who famously sang the song in their concerts of the 1970's and released a live version single that was a hit, the first hit that wasn't written by Pete Townshend.
- Other artists that cover the song include Blue Cheer (which I think is the best one), Rush, Alan Jackson, T. Rex, Brian Setzer, The Beach Boys, James Taylor, Ritchie Havens, Motorhead, The Guess Who and Olivia Newton-John (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvdbWo4IEYY)
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #73
SMOKE ON THE WATER - DEEP PURPLE (1972)
Well, there's not much I could tell you about this song as it tells a very vivid story about what actually happened in Montreux, Switzerland on December 4, 1971. Deep Purple were in a casino showroom, watching Frank Zappa perform, when a fan shot two flares from a flare gun into the ceiling. The venue immediately caught fire and everybody ran. Some members of the band convened in a nearby restaurant and watch the fire from afar. As the fire raged, a good amount of smoke could be seen on Lake Geneva. The band's bassist, Roger Glover, came up with a title to their as yet unwritten song, "Smoke On The Water". Lead singer and lyricist, Ian Gillan, began writing out what they had just witnessed, and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore came up with one of the most familiar openings of any rock song. The band were there to record their fabulous record, Machine Head, and laid down this new song within days.
- Roger Glover, who came up with the title before the song was written, had some misgivings about using the title. He was afraid that people would think it was referring to drugs, like "smoking on the water".
- The band rarely played the song in concert after it was recorded for Machine Head. They never thought it would be a big hit. Glover has said it's a boring song to play live, and nobody ever knew if Blackmore wanted to play it. After it's single release, they didn't have much of a choice.
- A survey conducted in London in 2008 asked music students to list their favourite rock guitar riff. "Smoke On The Water" ended up in first place, followed by "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Walk This Way".
- The song has been covered by Carlos Santana, The Flaming Lips, Nash The Slash, Dread Zeppelin and most apologetically by Pat Boone. Ugh (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFDIrwOUdrw)
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #426
LAYLA - DEREK AND THE DOMINOS (1970)
One of the most famous love songs in rock history, "Layla" was written for Pattie Boyd, wife of George Harrison at the time. Eric Clapton had read a story by poet Nizami called "Layla And Majnun". It was a story of unrequited love, a woman who cannot be with the one she loves because of her parents' objections. The story rang true to Clapton, at the time having an affair with Boyd. Unfortunately, when you're Eric Clapton, everybody knows whats going on in your "private" life. Boyd and Harrison's marriage was on the rocks and it's said that Harrison gave his blessing for Boyd and Clapton to be together. The two divorced and Boyd married Clapton. Well, the chase seemed to be more exciting than the catch, and Clapton and Boyd divorced after just a few years. But, lucky for us, one of the best guitar riffs and songs from the '70's developed because of that strange love triangle.
- Pattie Boyd was both incredibly flattered and perturbed when the song was revealed to her. Even though her marriage was falling apart, she didn't think the whole world needed to know about. Clapton understood and wrote another song for his new wife, "Wonderful Tonight".
- The familiar riff in the song was brought about by Duane Allman. He sped up a riff he knew by Albert King ("As The Years Go Passing By) and was asked to play on the recording of "Layla".
- When the song was originally released it was an edited length of 2:43 for radio play. That version tanked and sent Clapton into a drug-infused depression. A year later the unedited version, which ran 7:10, became a huge hit.
- One of the best uses of the song appears in the movie "Goodfellas". Go see it.
- Covers of the song were recorded by The Charlie Daniels Band, Molly Hatchet (live), and about a million kids learning to play guitar.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #27
WHAT'D I SAY - RAY CHARLES (1959)
Ray Charles wasn't a huge star in the late 1950's, but he was surely known around clubs in the States. In December of 1958 he was playing a club in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He had a very limited repertoire of songs and, after playing everything he knew, still had 12 minutes of time before he could leave the stage. He went to his musicians and told them to follow his lead. Then he went to his backup singers and told them to repeat what he said. The "call and answer" format was popular in the churches Charles went to as a kid. He started to play and "What'd I Say" was born. The crowd loved it and asked what the name of the song was and if they could buy it at the record store. The song was recorded and officially released very soon after. As a result of the success of this single, Ray Charles became an A-list star and has gone down as one of the best musicians of our time.
- Charles has said the song was supposed to mimic the "sweet sounds of love".
- The song was quite long when it was recorded, but engineer Tom Dowd, who would later work with Aretha Franklin, The Allman Brothers and Derek And The Dominos to name a few, edited it down to six and a half minutes.
- Some artists had some success covering the song. Jerry Lee Lewis made it to #30 on the charts in 1961; Bobby Darin made it to #24 with his version in 1962: Elvis Presley's 1964 version made it to #21.
- Others to record the song include Rare Earth, John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers, Cliff Richard, Gerry And The Pacemakers, Solomon Burke, Johnny Cash and Nancy Sinatra.
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #10
ZIGGY STARDUST - DAVID BOWIE (1972)
David Bowie was on the verge of super stardom in the early 1970's. He was part of the fashion scene, the music scene, and any other popular scene at the time. With the help of his then-wife, Angela, Bowie came up with a character of a musician that let fame go to his head. Ziggy Stardust was born out of this and the character's rise and decent are what the song "Ziggy Stardust" is all about. Bowie has said it is about "the ultimate rock superstar destroyed by the fanaticism he creates". He would get a lot of play out of the character, which some say introduced and popularized the Glam Rock scene of the 1970's. Eventually, as the song suggests, Stardust's band, The Spiders From Mars, were planning to sabotage their egotistical leader: "so we bitched about his fans, and should we crush his sweet hands?".
- There was much speculation about where Bowie came up with Ziggy. Was it in reference to his friend and sometimes writing partner Iggy Pop? (Just add the 'Z'). Was it about Marc Bolan, the lead singer of the glam band T. Rex? Maybe it was about Lou Reed, then the leader of The Velvet Underground? Or Jimi Hendrix..."he played it left hand"? Bowie has said the character was actually referencing an British singer by the name of Vince Taylor who, after gaining some fame with his band The Playboys, changed his name to Mateus and declared himself the son of God.
- Bowie once said in an interview, as he was dressed as Ziggy, that he was gay. This added to the mystery and androgynous persona Bowie exuded in the '70's.
- Bowie has said it was very hard to let go of the Ziggy Stardust character through the years. He said "It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity".
- Other artists to cover this song include Bauhaus, Def Leppard, T. Rex, and The Vitamin String Quartet on an album dedicated to the songs of David Bowie. Take a listen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnykJPTnJw8
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - #277
THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN - THE ANIMALS (1964)
One of the most famous songs in rock history, "The House Of The Rising Sun" is of unknown origin. Sometimes called "The Rising Sun Blues", the song was a staple of churches all the way back to the early 1900's. There are couple of ideas about what the song is actually about. One version, the one I agree with, is about a house of ill repute in the city of New Orleans that was run by Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant (meaning "rising sun" in French) that was open for business in 1862. The other version revolves around a women's prison in New Orleans named Orleans Parish which had a design of a rising run on their entrance gate. The lyrics of "ball and chain" seem to represent this prison version. In any case, nobody who sang this song would have the unbelievable success that The Animals had recording it in 1964. The band would play this song while touring the U.K. and fans loved it. They did it so often that, when it came time to record it, it was infamously done in one take! The sound engineer, Mickie Most, said that from set up to finish, was 15 minutes. Pretty soon it was the #1 song all around the world, including America, where it knocked The Beatles off of the #1 spot.
- This was the first folk song recorded with an electric rock sound. It was released just before Bob Dylan went electric. Dylan actually recorded the song on his first album in 1962, but The Animals beat him to the punch when it came to electrifying it.
- Incredibly, this was the first #1 song in America for two straight years that wasn't written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
- Alan Price, the band member who plays the organ on the song, was the only one with an arrangement credit on the track. As a result, he gets almost all the royalties from the song.
- There have been literally hundreds of versions of the song and, just so you can hear how others recorded it, I'll list links below:
Ledbelly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5tOpyipNJs
Nina Simone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-ypPToy1ag
Tom Ashley & Gwen Foster - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=147kS8O59Qs
Frijid Pink - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40INnb6DnY
The White Buffalo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOqm0qGJhpw
The Supremes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWvtIISxjBw
Geordie (Brian Johnson's old band) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPab0qMd-V4
Anyway, you get the idea...
Rolling Stone's Top 500 - 122
Well, that's 20 songs in total (Part I you can get to here: http://bobsteinberg.blogspot.ca/2017/04/where-did-it-come-from-part-1.html)
Hope you enjoyed, and let me know if you want to see more.
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