My Night with Abbey Road

“Alexa, play Abbey Road.”

Yes, the album cover is famous, it’s iconic, it is whatever you want to call it. Jesus-like John Lennon, barefoot (dead?) Paul, and George and Ringo too. How many of your friends and neighbors have used a picture of their family at a crosswalk for their Facebook cover photo or an annual holiday card? Maybe you have done it yourself (no, the Raffs have never given it a try!)

But it wasn’t for the visual effect that I asked my sound system to play the album last night. Barb was out at one of her many book clubs, I was going to do some reading, and I wanted a little background music. Background music? HAH! For the next 45 minutes or so, I didn’t read another word.

You can look up the rankings of Beatle albums (I looked at a bunch) and Abbey Road never falls below #4. But you can have your Revolver and Sgt Pepper and Rubber Soul. For my money (OK-I don’t pay for music with Alexa) there is no better Beatle listen than AR.

Let’s look at the record, as Al Smith (easy trivia) once said. What are the two most memorable George Harrison contributions to the Beatles? “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun.” Both there, and neither violating anyone else’s copyright. In need of Ringo’s second-best Beatles vocal (and his finest writing?) “Octopus’s Garden” does it for me. Want a couple of great numbers for Joe Cocker to grab? The aforementioned “Something” and side two’s “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” are both ripe for the taking.

“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is trippy and doomy with its abrupt cut-off. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is banging fun. But it is the long medley to close the album that is astounding. Pam and Mustard and The Window Girl, the sweet lullaby of “Golden Slumbers,” Paul’s variation of the Golden Rule–taking love and making love.

Finally, after that long gap, a salute to the Queen. Who would have predicted in 1969 that 50 years later we would have lost half of the Beatles, but her Majesty would still be going strong. She was a pretty nice girl, but Paul never did make her his. Oh well, he has had his loves, and she has had Phillip.

When the album concluded, I did manage to read a few pages of my latest thriller but soon fell asleep to visions of octopuses and hammers. I’ll have to ask Barb if I was singing in my sleep.

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Billy Joel’s The Stranger, the Next Album On My Favorites List

It has been a while but now it is time to add to my Favorite Album List. How many of my colleagues remember this one?

Sometimes a bad song introduces the world to a great artist and a banner album. Not often, but it happens. As an example Boomers, let’s go back to 1977. Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” is all over the radio. It’s a sappy love song, and it made him a superstar.

In the early 1970’s Joel had some moderate hits with the songs “Piano Man” and the “The Entertainer.” Some FM stations played “Captain Jack,” but that song had a not-so-family-friendly 10 letter word. Joel wasn’t singing everyday love songs, he was telling stories; his songs were like chapters in a book. If he was known at all it was as a minor artist with minor hits.

And then those lovey-dovey lyrics, that “don’t go changin’ to try to please me” croon, hit the airwaves. It was cringeworthy and so different from the Billy Joel I had heard before. But everyone else loved it (it even won a Grammy) and it led people to discover one of my favorite albums, The Stranger. It’s on that LP that the story man found his groove.

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Anthony’s Song.” Mini-epics that told stories of lives we could all relate to. Springsteenian, but ironic and with a twinge of humor. Who didn’t know a couple like Brenda and Eddie, the prom king and queen whose life peaked in high school? Or someone like poor old Anthony, working too hard for the Cadillac and life of his dreams? And there was “Vienna,” which I took as a shout out to my mother’s birthplace, Vienna, Austria.

Nothing rocked more than “Only the Good Die Young,” teenage Billy’s plea to a virginal girlfriend. Unlike young Mr. Joel, in my one experience dating a Catholic schoolgirl it was she who proved to be the more adventurous partner. Listening to “Only the Good Die Young” made me wonder if I was the one headed for an early grave.

“She’s Always a Woman” and “Get it Right the First Time” had their moments as well. And the eerie whistling intro to “The Stranger” let you know that this was a song that could haunt you, and make you think of the masks we put on and take off. A creepier prelude to Springsteen’s “Brilliant Disguise.”

A few years ago on the way to seeing Billy Joel play at Wrigley Field, I said to Barb “I wonder what kind of an audience he’ll have. Will there be anyone besides us old folk?” Barb looked at me like I was from another planet. And she was right. The sold-out stadium was packed with people of all age groups. He rocked the Friendly Confines, and by the end of the night, we were all friends. There were no strangers among us, just memories of a great night and a great album.

Thanks, Billy.

Missing politics?

Want more memories?

The above is the opinion of the author and not UroPartners, LLC.

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Neil Diamond on Broadway. Will We See You There?

Yes, there will be Neil in New York City. But he won’t be there himself. He won’t follow Bruce’s footsteps and perform a long run of concerts in a Broadway theater. And he won’t be doing a regular gig at Madison Square Garden ala Billy Joel. But just as Jersey Boys celebrates the Four Seasons and Beautiful illuminates the wonderous Carole King, Rolling Stone reports that the time has come for a Broadway-bound jukebox bioplay of the life and times of Neil Diamond.

Big names have signed on to the proposed production. Anthony McCarten, who crafted the screenplay for Bohemian Rhapsody will write the show, while Michael Mayer (no, that’s not Mike Meyers) will direct. His credits include American Idiot and Spring Awakening, so he knows his way around a musical. And of course, the music will be Neil’s own tunes. No one has been cast for the lead role just yet and the opus has no title.

But guys and gals, I have to tell you, Barb and I are way out in front of the professionals on this one. We have been planning on writing and producing Neil’s story for years! It’s all mapped out and ready to go.

Act One–The Man in Black:

Scene 1: Growing up in New York City (Brooklyn Roads)

Scene 2: The Early Bang Years (Shilo, Solitary Man, I’m a Believer)

Scene 3: Hitsville (Holly Holy, Sweet Caroline, Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show)

Act Two–Hollywood Calling

Scene 1: Jonathan Soaring (Skybird, Lonely Looking Sky, Be)

Scene 2: Lenny Crashing (I Am…I Said)

Scene 3: A Fish Out of Water (Dry Your Eyes)

Scene 3: Jesse Robin Rising (Kol Nidre, Love on the Rocks, America)

Act Three–Glitz and Glitter

Scene 1: Song-writer or Super Star? (Yesterday’s Songs, Heartlight, Headed for the Future)

Scene 2: New Directions ( White Christmas, Home Before Dark, Pretty Amazing Grace)

Scene 3: One Last Hot August Night (Cherry Cherry, Kentucky Woman, Cracklin Rosie, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, America (reprise)

Curtain Call–Sweet Caroline

OK, Mr. McCarten will have to fill in some characters and write some dialogue. But that should be easy for a pro like him.

Now let’s talk about the casting. Most of the roles, such as Neil’s family, his various wives and lovers, the multitude of agents, musicians and producers, can be filled by the usual Broadway featured artists, the ones who win all the Tonys, but whom no one in Middle America has heard of.

But what about the lead, you ask? To star as Neil, we need someone who can play of span of ages, has acting chops and can belt out a tune. With a little help from the Wardrobe and Make-Up Departments, I can see Nick Jonas doing the deed. He might even pull in some fans who have never heard of our beloved Neil but know the Jonas Brothers and Priyanka Chopra. Hey Nick, can you transition from Disney to Les Misérables to Diamond all before the age of 30?

So do we have a name for this proud piece of pop? Of course we do. With apologies to Ian Fleming, James Bond and DeBeers, just get us front row tickets to This Diamond is Forever whenever the show opens on Broadway. We’ll be there.
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Music + Lists = Satisfaction (at Number 7). Thoughts on “The 100 Absolute Best Songs in History”

the-beatles — The Beatles scored 19 hots out of the top 100.

I can’t help it. I love lists and I love music. Put them together, and you can keep me busy for hours. A stray link in a pathology listserve (yes, there are still listserves out there,) led me to The 100 Absolute Best Songs in History, a list put together by website 24/7 Wall Street based on “sales, Billboard performance, number of cover versions and recognition among music fans.” It’s a mixture of stats and opinions made to be disagreed with. I’ve reproduced the rankings below. Here are my comments on the all-time Hot 100.

Artists With Most Songs Listed

Nine acts plated more than one song. The Beatles dominated with 19 songs (20 if you coount John Lennon’s Imagine) including #1 Yesterday. Michael Jackson, Simon and Garfunkel and The Rolling Stones tied for second place with 3 apiece. The biggest surprise of the acts with 2 mentions? Bill Withers, whose pair of hits Ain’t No Sunshine and Lean on Me both cracked the Top 50. No surprise that Paul Simon, in addition to his trio of hits with Artie, also had a solo outing on the list. But 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover? That’s one he could have written on a napkin in a bar.

Female Artists

Fifteen female acts cracked the list, led by the Supremes with a double of Stop! In the Name of Love and Baby Love (no love for Love Child, though.) The songs varied in quality from Adele’s awesome Rolling in the Deep at #3 to the dreadful Brand New Key by Melanie. Girl groups The Shirelles and The Marveletes hit the chart as did mixed gender performing acts Sonny and Cher, Fleetwood Mac, Sixpence None the Richer, and Blondie. The Debbie Harry fronted band made it twice with Call Me and Heart of Glass.

Sickly Sweet

The list had its share of overwrought, tear inducing love songs. Jim Croce measured Time in a Bottle, John Denver worshipped Annie, and John Legend gave Chrissy Teigen All of Me. Olivia Newton-John represented the ladies in this category with I Honestly Love You, while the Association’s Cherish said it for the bands. Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love, blasting in at #61 would probably not qualify as a tear-jerker.

The Magic’s in the Movies

At least 13 songs had strong movie ties, from Isaac Hayes hot -buttered Theme from Shaft to The Beatles psychedelic Yellow Submarine. Lulu’s To Sir With Love made the cut as did Georgy Girl by the Seekers. Born to be Wild wasn’t a title tune, but would there have been an Easy Rider without Steppenwolf roaring through?

We’ll Never be Royal

Oh yes, we will. We have the King of Rock’n’Roll (Elvis swiveling with Can’t Help Falling in Love,) the King of Pop (Michael Jackson was crowned with Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller,) a pair of Queens (Bohemian Rhapsody and Another One Bites the Dust,) and Ben E. King asking you to Stand By Me. But the list forgot to coronate Prince. No mention of the Purple One.

One Hit Wonders-Blink and they are Gone

? and the Mysterions-96 Tears
Norman Greenbaum-Spirit in the Sky
Arthur Connely-Sweet Soul Music

Odds and Sods

Most Hated Artist: Nickelback (How You Remind Me)
Gratuitous Neil Diamond Shout Out: Writing I’m a Believer for the Monkees.
Surprise, Surprise: These Boots are Made for Walkin’-Nancy Sinatra, but nothing by Papa Frank.
Missing in Action 2: (Like a Rolling Stone-Bob Dylan)
Missing in Action 3: (Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For-U2)
Missing in Action 4: (Won’t Get Fooled Again-The Who)

What did I leave out? Lots and lots. Here’s the full list (warning, you may need to view this in landscape mode on your phone.)

What are your thoughts?

1	Yesterday	The Beatles
2	Bridge Over Trouble Waters	Simon and Garfukel
3	Rolling in the Deep	Adele
4	Hey Jude	The Beatles
5	All of Me	John Legend
6	Bad Romance	Lady Gaga
7	(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones
8	Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen
9	Let it Be	The Beatles
10	Ain’t No Sunshine	Bill Withers
11	Can’t Help Falling In Love	Elvis Presley
12	I Want to Hold Your Hand	The Beatles
13	The Sound of Silence	Simon and Garfukel
14	Happy	Pharrell Williams
15	Eleanor Rigby	The Beatles
16	Something	The Beatles
17	Help!	The Beatles
18	Stand By Me	Ben E. King
19	Wichita Lineman	Glen Campbell
20	Can’t Buy Me Love	The Beatles
21	These Boots are Made for Walkin’	Nancy Sinatra
22	Come Together	The Beatles
23	Just the Way You Are	Billy Joel
24	Time after Time	Cyndi Lauper
25	Eye of the Tiger	Survivor
26	The Letter	The Box Tops
27	Lose Yourself	Eminem
28	I Can See Clearly Now	Johny Nash
29	When a Man Loves a Woman	Percy Sledge
30	Downtown	Petula Clark
31	Imagine	John Lennon
32	Mrs. Robinson	Simon and Garfukel
33	We Can Work it Out	The Beatles
34	Oh, Pretty Woman	Roy Orbison
35	What a Wonderful World	Louis Armstrong
36	I’m a Believer	The Monkees
37	Will You Love Me Tomorrow	The Shirelles
38	Pumped up Kicks	Foster the People
39	The Rose	Bette Midler
40	Billie Jean	Michael Jackson
41	Penny Lane	The Beatles
42	King of the Road	Roger Miller
43	Honky Tonk Woman	The Rolling Stones
44	Lean on Me	Bill Withers
45	Light My Fire	The Doors
46	I Feel Fine	The Beatles
47	Yellow Submarine	The Beatles
48	Please Mr. Postman	The Marvelettes
49	A Hard Days Night	The Beatles
50	Born to Be Wild	Steppenworlf
51	Wooly Bully	Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
52	How To Save a Life	The Fray
53	Proud Mary	Creedence Clearwater Revival
54	To Sir With Love	Lulu
55	Call Me	Blondie
56	Hello	Lionel Richie
57	Annie’s Song	John Denver
58	50 Ways to Leave Your Lover	Paul Simon
59	Stop! In the Name of Love	The Supremes
60	Gold Digger	Kanye West
61	Whole Lotta Love	Led Zeppelin
62	I Get Around	The Beach Boys
63	96 Tears	? And the Mysterians
64	Nowhere Man	The Beatles
65	Heart of Glass	Blondie
66	How You Remind Me	Nickelback
67	Time in a Bottle	Jim Croce
68	And I Love Her	The Beatles
69	Heart of Gold	Neil Young
70	Let’s Dance	David Bowie
71	Georgy Girl	The Seekers
72	Beat It	Michael Jackson
73	Chain of Fools	Aretha Franklin
74	Theme From Shaft	Isaac Hayes
75	Angie	The Rolling Stones
76	Paperback Writer	The Beatles
77	Green Onions	Booker T and the MGs
78	Baby Love	The Supremes
79	Got to Get You Into My Life	The Beatles
80	Get Back	The Beatles
81	Thriller	Michael Jackson
82	Like a Virgin	Madonna
83	Another One Bites the Dust	Queen
84	Cherish	The Association
85	Fame	David Bowie
86	Crazy	Gnarls Barkley
87	I Got You Babe	Sonny and Cher
88	Dreams	Fleetwood Mac
89	My Girl	Temptations
90	Brand New Key	Melanie
91	Dizzy	Tommy Roe
92	Sweet Soul Music	Arthur Conley
93	I Honestly Love You	Olivia Newton John
94	Band of Gold	Freda Payne
95	Kiss Me	Sixpence None the Richer
96	Africa	Toto
97	Jump	Van Halen
98	Everyday People	Sly and the Family Stone
99	Spirit in the Sky	Norman Greenbaum
100	Kung Fu Fighting	Carl Douglas

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The Reason This Rocker Recalls Roy Clark

Y’all know that as far as music goes I’m a rock and roll guy. I’ve broken the pattern once or twice, with blogs on Frank Sinatra and Broadway musicals, but one thing I have never written about is country music. I’ve driven by Toby Keith’s (now closed) bar in Rosemont; I’ve enjoyed Keith Urban’s wife in a variety of movie and TV roles; I’ve seen Blake Shelton yuck it up with Adam Levine on The Voice. But I have never played a country album or listened to a country radio station, and Branson, Missouri is not on my bucket list.

So I surprised myself when I stopped browsing and read the Tribune’s obituary of Roy Clark today. He had some big country hits (the song Yesterday, When I was Young, seems familiar,) and had a reputation for being a great guitar player. But like much of America of the non-C&W persuasion, my memories of Mr. Clark were from Hee-Haw, the country-corn television show that debuted in 1969.

’69 was the Nixon Era, peace marches, men on the moon, and the best year in the history of rock music. Time Magazine called Middle Americans the “People of the Year.” For this 13-year-old city boy, Hee-Haw was something very much out of my personal lunar orbit. Yet every week I watched Mr. Clark and his buddy Buck Owens as they strummed and picked and fiddled.

If you never saw the show, imagine a mash-up of Laugh-In and A Prairie Home Companion and you’ll be on the right track. Of course, there were musical guests. Grandpa Jones and Minnie Pearl were on board. The jokes were quick and awful. And there were the Hee-Haw Honeys, though I would need to be older before I fully appreciated them.

I know my interest in the show faded after the first season. That hour of watching was too much too squeeze into my schedule or that of my city friends. I haven’t thought about the show for years. But the mention of Roy Clark brought a smile to my face and a trigger to my temporal lobe. I guess country isn’t that bad. Maybe I will head out to Branson some day. Want to join me?

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“Tapestry”: Carole King withAn Album for My Softer Side

I’ve blogged about albums from the Beatles and the Stones, Pink Floyd, Springsteen, and U2. But sometimes, Mick Jagger or Bruce can be a little harsh on the ears. At those times I can turn to mellow Crosby Stills and Nash or jazzy Steely Dan.

But a nice change of pace is to turn to albums from the fabulous female singer-songwriters of the 60’s and 70’s. The Carly Simon’ catalogue and Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark are near the top, but can anything compare to Carole King’s 1971 multi-million selling masterpiece, Tapestry?

I didn’t know who Carole King was, but when It’s Too Late first hit the radio airwaves, I was hooked. It lasted as the best break-up song from a female singer until Adelle took a different approach to the subject with Rolling in the Deep almost 40 years later.

You’ve Got a Friend, Natural Woman, Where You Lead, Will You Love me Tomorrow are all classic songs, interpreted by many different artists, but all hanging together on Tapestry to set a mood and a time. There’s lots more great material, including Smackwater Jack and So Far Away.

The album had plenty of competition for my attention that year, and I have no objections to those who say 1971 was the greatest year in rock music. But I could only listen to so much Who’s Next or Led Zeppelin IV without needing a break from the volume. Tapestry was there for me. It became the soundtrack for a summer high school romance. And as the coup de grâce, there was even a cat on the cover. What could have been more Beautiful?

As Jon Landau said in Rolling Stone in 1971:

“(Tapestry) is an album of surpassing personal-intimacy and musical accomplishment and a work infused with a sense of artistic purpose. It is also easy to listen to and easy to enjoy.”

..and since you asked, yes we did see Beautiful on Broadway a few years ago, with Jessie Mueller in her star turn as Carole King. It’s a fun biomusical, filled with many wonderful songs and King’s story of love, hurt, and competition. See it if you can.

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Mrs. Robinson, Are You Trying to Seduce Me? The Soundtrack from The Graduate Makes My All-Time Album List.

It has been a while, but it’s time to add to my compilation of all-time favorite albums. My earlier list included one soundtrack LP from the ’60’s, The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. Today I’m adding another. In 1968 I was too young to see Mike Nichols’ classic film The Graduate but old enough to catch the buzz about it. I knew my dad liked the movie and I bought the album as a Fathers Day gift for him. I don’t know how often he listened to it, but I do know that I listened to it, a lot!

Everyone associates the music from The Graduate with Simon & Garfunkel and indeed, all of the vocals are theirs. The album kicks off with their first hit, 1966’s The Sounds of Silence, but this is no S & G Greatest Hits album.

Mrs. Robinson is on board (and in bed,) but it isn’t the version of the song that gave Simon and Garfunkel their number one hit. For that, you need to grab their Bookends album. On this album, you will find Mrs. R. in an instrumental version and a short vocal variation. Other big hit songs? Nope. Instead, we have the absolutely lovely April Comes She Will, and Scarborough Fair/Canticle, with its haunting melody and counterpoint singing. There is also a little oddball number, The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine.

That is about it for Paul and Artie. The rest of the album consists of instrumental pieces by Oscar and Grammy award-winning composer/pianist Dave Grusin. I’ve been a fan of Grusin’s music for a long time. I used his theme music for the TV show St. Elsewhere as the soundtrack to the first video montage I ever created, a tribute celebrating married life up to the birth of our son Michael. Grusin’s melodies are just right on this album as well.

Interestingly, the review of this album on the AllMusic Website rips this disc as a sleazy repackaging of old material designed to sell a few new songs. In fact, it castigates the album for being

“the earliest and one of the most successful Hollywood repackagings of “found” pop songs, a formula essentially based around coercing fans to purchase soundtrack albums filled with material they already own in order to acquire the occasional new track or two.”

But I loved the album, and when I was finally old enough to see the movie, knowing the soundtrack made it all the more enjoyable. You are trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson, aren’t you?

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They Might Be Dinosaurs. Springsteen and U2, Two Decades, Two Dominating Albums

born-to-run_joshua-tree — Bruce Springsteen and U2 with classic albums

I was reminded that it has been a while since I continued my “10 Favorite Albums” list. And as usual, once I start writing about music, I can’t stop at just one album. So today — two great albums, two very different decades in my life.

We begin in the late summer of 1975 sitting in a friends apartment (his parent’s apartment to be precise.) It was a lull in time; I was done with college, medical school would be starting shortly. I had no responsibility, nothing to attend to. I don’t remember what we were talking about, maybe another bad White Sox season. And then he put a record album on the turntable, and out of nowhere, there was Bruce.

“Born to Run” was the most exciting album in years. I was instantly hooked. I had missed out on Springsteen’s first two albums, but there was no way I was going to miss this one.

With only eight songs on the album, this was no double LP monstrosity loaded with filler. The title track got most of the early attention, with its wall of sound, its glockenspiel, its lyrics yearning to be free. But I soon appreciated other standouts. The opening track, “Thunder Road,” evolved into my personal favorite while the long moan at the end of “Jungleland, ” the closing number, became a haunting echo in my head. And I can still feel the mood of anticipation in the United Center as the piano intro to “Backstreets” welcomed the band back after intermission at the only live Springsteen show I have attended, some 30 years after “Born to Run’s” release.

It was only 12 years between the release of BTR and my album of the 80’s, U2’s “The Joshua Tree,” but it was 12 years filled with lots of changes for me. I was now married with two young children, finished with medical school and residency and in practice at Holy Family Medical Center while taking night courses for an MBA. Maybe because of all going on in my life I was barely aware of the Irish band U2. That changed with the back-to-back release of the singles “With or Without You” and “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Toss in “Where the Streets Have No Name” and those first three songs from the album became an endless loop on whatever music player I was listening to through the years. Even Roy Leonard, the midday host and show-biz critic on good-old conservative WGN Radio was a fan of the band, encouraging his listeners to buy “The Joshua Tree” in order to knock The Beastie Boy’s “License to Ill” out of the top spot on the Billboard charts.

Barb and I have seen U2 many times in the last 10 years, including the 2017 “Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Tour” show at Soldier Field. I loved seeing the band perform all the songs on the album live, but I love even more hunkering down with a good set of headphones in a dark room and listening to every note.

Two great albums from a long time ago. They might be dinosaurs, but so am I!

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A reminder, please sponsor me and the UroPartners Team in the SEABlue Prostate Cancer Awareness Run this September. Here is the link!

https://ustoo.rallybound.org/seablue-prostate-walk/LesRunsforProstate

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Does Every Picture Tell a Story? It’s Next on My Top Album List.

Rod Stewart - Then and now. — Rod Stewart – Then and now.

When I say “Rod Stewart” you may think of the current creepy crooner singing American classics or the even creepier late 1970’s guy in tight Spandex (is there any other kind?) singing bad Disco (again, is there any other kind?) But when I think of Rod I try to block out all those painful visions and sounds and I concentrate on the rock and blues belter of the early 70’s. To remind me of that, my turntable is spinning the next on my list* of favorite albums, the 1971 multi-million seller Every Picture Tells a Story. It might be in my CD player as well, since it is the only recording I ever purchased as an LP, and years later, as a compact disc.

Rod, with his raspy voice and spiky hair, was everywhere back then. He sang with The Jeff Beck Group. He sang with The Faces. But it was with E.P.T.A.S., his third solo album, that he exploded onto the US music scene. The first single released from the album was “Reason to Believe,” the cover of a Tim Hardin tune. I liked it, and it got decent radio play. But there was so much more.

Surprisingly, it was the flipside of “Reason to Believe” that shot Rockin’ Rod to the top of the charts. I can still remember Casey Kasem whispering into his American Top 40 microphone that the new #1 song across the country was about “a boy… and a prostitute.” Rod Stewart and “Maggie May” were at the Top of the Pops. Over time, Ms. May has never left my heart. By my estimation, “Maggie May” is one of the two songs I have listened to the most, whether it be by album, radio, illegal download or Pandora streaming. (Dire Straits’ iconic “Sultans of Swing” shares that particular podium.)

The title cut on the album is a long, wide-ranging coming of age song, moving from the UK to the Far East, with stops in Paris and Rome along the way. The “slit-eyed lady” lyrics would definitely not be well received these days, but that lady does turn out to be the singer’s heroine. Rod even throws in a shoutout to classic British writers Dickens, Shelley, and Keats to showcase his literary chops.

There is a lot more good music on the record. “Mandolin Wind,” is a sweet love song. There’s a hidden version of “Amazing Grace” that really rasps, and covers of Dylan (“Feels Like a Long Time”) and The Temptaions (“I know I’m Losing You.”) It is almost 50 years later, and Every Picture Tells a Story is clearly Rod’s zenith.

I’ve never seen Rod Stewart in concert, and probably never will. But blow the intro to “Maggie May,” in my ear and I promise to follow you anywhere.

*Previous Albums on My Top Ten List

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When I Want to Laugh I Think of Allan Sherman

Folk singer, Celebrity, and Nut. — Allan Sherman’s greatest albums from 1962 and 1963.

Continuing on with my occasional list of albums that have had the most influence on me, I am heading back to the early 1960’s and the First King of Song Parodies, Allan Sherman. Before Steve Dahl rocked with “Ayatollah,” before Al Yankovic foisted his weirdness upon us, I was memorizing the lyrics to every song on Sherman’s three hit albums, My Son the Folk-Singer, My Son the Celebrity, and My Son the Nut.

A TV producer with a knack for putting funny words to well-known tunes, Sherman, a Chicago native, was a mega-star for a short period of time. He had a Top 40 hit with “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,” he parodied the French Revolution and Louis the 16th to the tune of “You Came a Long Way from St. Louis,” and he dipped into his own heritage with “Harvey and Sheila,” the story of a Jewish couple set to “Hava Nagila”. And yes, that is where Barb derived the name for our pond swans. More on Barb and “Hava Nagila” below.

My family had all three albums. I played them on our old mono record player incessantly, my parents allowing my 7-year-old mind to be indelibly marked. Just how permanent was the damage? Badly enough that just last month I was able to perform an acapella duet rendition of “Hungarian Goulash” while quaffing beers and eating schnitzel at a Haufbrau Haus restaurant just outside of Cincinnati.

I wasn’t the only family member with Allan Shermania. I remember my sister Linda and her friend Marilyn performing “Here’s to the Crabgrass” while rushing a high school sorority in 1965. They didn’t make it into the sorority, maybe because by then Sherman’s career was already on the wane. His health was waning as well; he died in 1973, ten days short of his 49th birthday.

And inspired by the master, I have been writing parody lyrics ever since…

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Hava Nagila: Alan Sherman parodied it; Harry Belafonte loved it. And Barb couldn’t get enough of Belafonte’s version on the incomparable (more than a year on the charts) 1959 album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall. She even asked Brett Lavender, the wacky, New-Yorky, DJ to play this version at Laury’s Bat Mitzvah. If Barb had a Top Ten list this album would rank right near #1.

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