The Beatles-the Rubber Soul sessions

Rubber Soul was the turning point album in the Beatles catalog. Released in America and the UK on December 3, 1965 it brought them to  the point, where  it stood on it's own as a work of art, something that at this point had happened rarely in popular music. Almost all of the Beatles  previous albums were quite good, but now feeling threatened  by  Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones  and the Beach Boys,  the Beatles  started to up their game considerably.   The album  is notable for  featuring  the most accomplished set of John Lennon  songs in his recording career. It was also the first Beatles album NOT  have the group's name  on the front cover, something that also occurred on Abbey Road and the Hey Jude compilation album.

Magically, most of the songs were written and recorded in a short period of time, because the Beatles had been  too busy   to build a backlog of  songs.  The album was also  recorded over a short period of time in comparison to most of their albums, most of which took considerable studio time  over many    months (the later albums) or were recorded in quick sessions but over a few months ( their early albums). All but one of the  songs for Rubber Soul was recorded between October 12 and November 17, 1965   But  unlike other previous Beatles album the recording sessions were not  interrupted by tours, film and TV work. and the group was now allowed to stay late in the studio, a practice not allowed at Abbey Road studios before the Beatles. The album was rushed  along so as  to be in time for the critical Christmas selling period.

The group had slowly been working away from recording  covers of other artists songs  on their albums to fill up albums and had been evolving musically quickly both lyrically and musically.  Bob Dylan influenced the lyric improvement, and George Martin encouraged their musical eclecticism.

 One of the things that hadn't quite changed at this point was the brevity of their songs,   The Beatles, like all acts in the early sixties typically made of point of keeping the running time of all singles under three minutes. For some reason, American radio DJ's balked at playing songs over three minutes. It seems silly now, but this restriction on song length forced songwriters and producers to leave out extraneous stuff, and avoid too much repetition . Thus all but one song on the Beatles hits collection The Beatles 1962 -1966 is under three minutes.  With Lennon and sometimes, McCartney now trying to write intelligent lyrics this put a  premium on economical lyrics that somehow told a story quickly and succinctly.

On Rubber Soul, The group continued it's experimentation. Up to this point, Multiple lead singers, ballads alternating with  rockers; covers of old show tunes and  Motown songs had all made Beatles albums a varied experience.  George Martin, had a  classical background giving him a wide musical vocabulary and skills to draw on , and yet had recorded comedy records, and so was not a snob.  Martin was uniquely placed to take advantage of the group's willingness to experiment.  On Hard Day's Night it was the use of a classical guitar on "And I Love Her", on ?"I Feel Fine" John Lennon used  guitar feedback, on Help, they  incorporated strings and flutes.  But on Rubber Soul, multiple songs had little sound experiments.   The most notable new sound  was the sitar in "Norwegian Wood" by George Harrison.  The instrument had actually been used in  George Martin's instrumental  music for parts the Help soundtrack.  But on Rubber Soul, Harrison used the  sitar as an exotic guitar like instrument.  This was partly because Harrison  hadn't quite mastered it the sitar-but partly simply to serve the song. The Beatles generally used to exotic instruments to provide color, not to be a gimmick.  Similarly, Greek style music styles were used  in "Girl", the French language in "Michelle" and a harpsichord like sounding keyboard on "In My Life". 


As stated before, this in some ways was the zenith of Lennon' career as a Beatle.  Perhaps, on no other album, are their so many classic  Lennon compositions.  Lennon's work on  the Sgt. Pepper sessions  comes closet-on Sgt. Pepper he was responsible three great album tracks  and one classic  non-album single, but two of these four songs were co-written with McCartney.   Up through this album, Lennon had been dominant songwriter in the  Beatles.  In  all of the  five Beatles British studio albums before this , Lennon had more lead vocals, and more compositions that were predominantly written by him.  He also was the primary  lead vocalist on more Beatles singles up to this point.  This was to change- from 1966 onward, McCartney would never have fewer of his own compositions  then Lennon on  a Beatles album-and the majority  of the remaining  Beatles  A-Sides would be McCartney vehicles. 

 What happened after this point, for Lennon was three things- LSD, Yoko Ono, and McCartney finally growing and exceeding Lennon as a commercial songwriter. The group dynamic in the early part of the career was that Lennon was the leader of the group-but a leader who listened a lot to Paul McCartney. However, by late 1967, McCartney had edged ahead of Lennon to be the driving force in the group partly because Lennon could not bothered to lead  and some of the time didn't even care.

It should be explained that while "Lennon-McCartney" were a songwriting team, but a team that wrote BOTH apart and together.  Many of their early singles were written together with them sitting  eyeball to eyeball, both contributing -which is reflected in the unison vocals. Typically the primary writer of a Lennon-McCartney song sang the lead vocals.   Most of Lennon-McCartney  later songs were written  separately, but  right up to the end of the group they would    bring their  songs  to  the other partner to see how he could improve it, by adding a bridge, changing or approving of a word, and helping with a intros and structure.     Both Lennon and McCartney were good lyricists and melody writers, though Lennon was a better lyricist, and McCartney a better musician.  Working together improved their songs dramatically, because  each often writer  erased the weaknesses of the other.

LSD and other later drug use slowed Lennon's productivity, and now having conquered the world,  Lennon  no longer felt driven by commercial success  as much-it was only the competition with McCartney that kept him  on his toes.  Lennon met Yoko in 1966 and eventually saw a life outside of being a Beatle.  McCartney, of course was always doing great work-but it wasn't till 1966's Revolver album that McCartney composed  a group of songs that would be  more successful then the songs that  Lennon took the lead on. 

For Rubber Soul , John Lennon was the primary writer of  "Norwegian Wood", "Nowhere Man", "Girl" and "Run For Your Life"    Lennon got help from McCartney on "In My Life".   A non-album single- Day Tripper/We Can Work It  Out was also recorded during the Rubber Soul sessions to be a stand alone single.  "Day Tripper" was mostly written by John" and "We Can Work It Out:  was written by Paul with a bridge by John.  Finally,  there was  "What Goes On" a song written for Ringo to sing  the album that was  the work of Lennon, McCartney and Starr.  So Six of the songs Lennon worked on for these sessions are well known Beatles classics. 

For many folks, "In My Life" is the most exquisite non single in the Beatles oeuvre. Lennon  clearly wrote the direct but  meaningful lyric. It is still disputed how much McCartney helped with melody. It is understandable that each might want to claim the melody.

McCartney also did some good work on the sessions.  His "Michelle" is smarmy, but is one of the most performed and played  of the Beatles songs despite having only been released as a single outside the US and the UK.  McCartney was the primary writer  of "Drive My Car" the latest in a serious of fast, upbeat "beat music" songs that would dominate the Beatles songs up to this point, til the final one-"Paperback Writer" in 1966.  McCartney's other songs were the acoustic number -"I'm Looking Through You" the beat number "Wait" and "You Won't See Me' which later became an American hit in a what  was actually a better version by Ann Murray.

George Harrison was given space for two of his songs-the mediocre but lyrical "Think for Yourself" and the Byrd's inspired "If I Needed Someone".

In total 16 songs were finished in Rubber Soul sessions.  The song "Wait" had been started during the Help sessions, but finished during the Rubber Soul sessions.  Further more , a unfinished song called "12 bar Blues" was recorded, as well as alternative different versions of "Norwegian Wood" and "I'm Looking through You". These three rarities showed up on the second Anthology collection in 1996.

A different version of "Rubber Soul" album was released in the USA market, due to their American's label habit of having ten to twelve tracks  on a  album instead of the British standard of  fourteen songs.  Thus, between 1964 and 1966 the  US label released 12 Beatles albums instead of the 8 released by the Beatles British label.

 The US  version of Rubber Soul featured "I've Just Seen A Face" and "It's Only Love" which had been on the British version of Help. The Americans removed four songs from British version of Rubber Soul  – "Drive My Car", "Nowhere Man", "What Goes On" and "If I Needed Someone" – all of which were instead issued on the Beatles' next North American album, Yesterday and Today, in June 1966.  Still stylistically both versions are similar enough but the American version sounds   a little more  acoustic then the previous Beatles albums.

The First set of Rubber Soul sessions 

Wait                               June 17,1965,   November 11, 1965
Run For Your Life        October 12, 1965 Drive My Car                October 13, 1965
Day Tripper                 October 16, 1965
In My Life                      October 18, October 22, 1965
If I Needed Someone  October 16,  October 18, 1965

We Can Work It Out     October 20, 1965 October 29 1965
Norwegian Wood         October 21, 1965

Nowhere Man               October 21-22, 1965
The second set of Rubber Soul sessions Michelle                                                   November 3, 1965
12 Bar Original                                         November 4, 1965
What Goes On                                         November 4, 1965 The Beatles Third Christmas Record  November 8, 1965
Think For Yourself                                 November 8, 1965
The Word                                                November 10, 1965
I'm Looking Through You                     November 10-11, 1965
You Won't See Me                                November 11,1965
Girl                                                           November 11, 1965
UK EMI Parlophone LP Back Cover USA Capitol LP Back Cover with altered track listing

   Also at  Felpin´s Pond
Songs Beatles changed instruments on

Rolling Stones -Aftermath sessions

Written by J.C.Bernhardt, July 2019

Doc Martin, a franchise history.

      WARNING:This article may contain spoilers.

 Martin Clunes (playing Dr. Martin Ellingham) and Caroline Katz (playing Louisa Glasson)  with baby James

Doc Martin ran over 9 series on Britain's ITV between 2004-2019. Here we look back on what made it special. 

Doc Martin was a spinoff from the movie Saving Grace, a 2000 British drug comedy starring  Brenda Blethyn and Craig Ferguson.  In the movie, Brenda´s character finds herself having to pay off the debts of her late husband so that she can  keep her home in Cornish seaside town of Port Issac.  She ends  up growing marijuana to solve the problem.  The movie  portrays the foibles of the small town residents. How does Doctor Martin figure in this? Well, in this film, British comedy actor, Martin Clunes, plays a young, happy go lucky, town doctor named Martin Bamford.  The role is small, and there was little  of this characters' less then serious  personality that was  retained by the later TV show.  

 Saving Grace in French!

Next up , in 2001, and 2003 were two TV pilot  movies, that Martin Clunes´ production company made as spin offs of the movie.  Once again, the  the village of  Port Issac is the real star of the production. These two movies were called  Doc Martin and Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie,   These movies reboot Dr. Bamford into a  London obstetrician  who finds himself in Port Issac after learning that his wife has been cheating on him. The rest of the movie cast is jettisoned, and replaced with new townies.  This Dr. Bamford is less giggly then the Saving Grace version, but he remains somewhat personable , but over the course of two movies, he begins to become grumpier.  The biggest contrast with the later Doc Martin  TV show is that Dr. Bamford has an excellent bedside manner. The TV movie also establishes that Dr.Martin spent summers  in Port Issac as a child.  These movies feature Scottish actress Neve McIntosh as a possible love interest for Doc Martin but their relationship  is never developed .  Overall, the TV movies don't quite work as well the later series. 

The Doc Martin character was rebooted a third time for the actual TV series, that was produced for ITV in   2004.  Once again  a mostly new cast of actors was brought in to play the role of unwashed Cornish yokels. Now, Dr.Martin Bamford, was renamed Dr. Martin Ellingham. Dr. Martin is now   a socially challenged, but brilliant London surgeon who returns to the place  he summered as a boy to become a surgeon.  We soon discover that Doc Martin also has a special genius for diagnosis. The reason why this Martin has moved to the country  is because he  has developed a phobia for blood,which makes work as a surgeon all but impossible, but proves to be almost manageable as a General Practitioner. 

In  September  2004 , the Doc Martin TV show was first aired it   introduces his new love interest, in the very first scene. The lady was  a teacher named  Louisa Glasson, who seems to be the only sane person in town. The port town is now renamed Portwenn for the remaining duration of the show. And it remains the star of the show.   But Dr. Martin´s character is transformed from the minimally interesting Dr. Bamford into one of the greatest portrayal´s of social awkwardness ever presented on the small screen,  Martin now never smiles, does not engage in small talk, talks briskly and to the point. Over time we learn that Martin is emotionally scarred by unloving parents.  

We also learn that his backstory includes a time where did actually break his emotional barrier once with another doctor, Dr. Edith Montgomery played by  Lia Williams. They reunite during one of Martin´s separations from Louisa .  Dr. Montgomery is whip smart and abrasive like Martin, you see how he enjoyed being with her, yet there was also a  discomfort. The telling moment is we learn that Martin  had written her love poetry during their original time together, and that she apparently valued it so much that she couldn't remember where she put it.   Ouch. 

 In the first season, the Doc Martin character is such a fish out of water, that he attempts to adjust his attitude ever so slightly so that he does not get thrown out of town.  He makes a friend of a male music teacher (who sadly does not remain in the show). However, by the second season, Doc Martin is making no efforts to be friendly to be anybody except his Aunt Joan, who is the only adult who ever loved him as a child  and who is the only  person  he ever lets his  guard down for. For the next few seasons, the main plot line is the  futile attempts to get Doc Martin and Louisa to get together and stay together. We soon realize that both of them are sabotaging their relationship.  And while that happens we get a endless parade of hapless town villagers inflicting themselves on poor Dr. Martin. 

   Three of  the townie supporting players remain throughout the series run.    Bert Large, his son, Al  Large and Mrs. Tishell, the town pharmacist.  The remaining regulars are three characters that are replaced a few times in the show.  There are two silly policeman, two aunts and three of Doc Martin´s receptionists.  Aunt Joan (Stephanie Cole) dies of a heart attack, and is replaced by  Martin's Aunt Ruth (Dame Eileen Aitkins) who somehow makes intelligence , old age and wrinkles seem sexy.   The two trademarks of  all three receptionists is  that they wear funny clothes, and date Al Large. Elaine, the first receptionist is the least likable character to grace the show, a gum chewing, selfish mess played by  Lucy Punch. Her replacements first  Pauline, (Katherine Parkinson), and then Morwenna (Jessica Ransom), spend much of their time trying to teach Dr. Martin basic manners. 

Dame Eileen Atkins

The show  was not perfect, it repeated some situations too times.  Crazy farm dwellers would accost the doctor and in the chaos  somebody would come to harm, the ambulance would never come in time, forcing Dr. Martin to do emergency surgery out in the middle of nowhere.  Some student would have some horrible medical issue at the school, some town idiot would take meds they were not supposed to, Bert Large would  always be up to some crazy new  scheme.  Sometimes ,the repeated situations get tiresome, and the some of the story lines for the secondary characters are tedious.   It also doesn't seem realistic that Dr. Martin is the only medical professional in his surgery, let alone the whole town.

Very few characters on the show-come off smelling like roses, the writers were not afraid to make characters seem selfish and vain.  But at the same time, the characters are generally likable. Ian McNeice's Bert Large character is often  given considerable depth-you see over time how much he really loves his son, and how much    respect he has  for Louisa Glasson.   Mrs. Tishell, the character who has a unrequited obsession with Doc Martin is allowed to show that she loved her absent husband.  The put upon silly policeman are at least on a few occasions allowed to  exhibit some minimal competence.  

Most importantly, and most interestingly, Doc Martin is allowed to grow ever so slightly.  Doc Martin always hated the stray dogs that would not let him be, to the point where he was going to have one of them , a dog named Buddy put down. But instead he ends up taking the dog in for the good of his son and wife, and though he still dislikes the dog, later in the series he finds himself helping to  save the dog , when the vet who is caring for him cannot see. At the end of the episode, Martin complements the dog on his bravery in surgery, a unprecedented act of humanity for Doc Martin. 

The on again, off again romance between Martin and Louisa, becomes the featured story line in most of the shows various season finales, all of which are good.  The fifth season climax has Mrs. Tishell stealing Martin and Louisa´s baby. Mrs.  Tishell sums up all that happened between Louisa and Martin in the first five seasons.

One moment you're together,
then you're not,

then you're getting married,
then you're not, then she's gone,

then you're going, but you don't,
and then you have a baby

and you're living together
and then you're not, and

then you're going away and
I can't stand it anymore!

Eventually, after a few more seasons of this, Martin and Louisa both accept that they must do what is necessary to stay together. Each finally moderate  their personalities around each other enough so that they can be happy together.  And so in the final season, we are rewarded with them having a normal family, however,  Martin's blood phobia and poor bedside manner finally catches up with him in the final episode.  

The actual star of the show was scenery of Port Issac in Cornwall on the West Coast of Britain. 

The Keys to The White House 2020...

Who will win the White House in 2020?  Let us see what the Keys to White House tell us....  Allan Lichtman developed a method for determining who will win  the presidency in his book, The Keys to the White House.

According to the Wikipedia summary-

  "The  Keys are based on the theory that that presidential election results turn primarily on the performance of the party controlling the White House and that campaigning by challenging or incumbent-party candidates will have no impact on results. According to this theory, a pragmatic American electorate chooses a president based on the performance of the party holding the White House as measured by the consequential events and episodes of a term - economic boom and bust, foreign policy successes and failures, social unrest, scandal, and policy innovation."


So basically whatever candidates do has little effect.  The result will be the same.

The Keys are statements that favor the re election of the incumbent party. When five or fewer statements are false, the incumbent party wins. When six or more are false, the challenging party wins.  I scored here whether or not they were True or False..

1. Party Mandate: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections. FALSE , Republicans lost in the House 
2. Contest: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination. TRUE, Trump has no viable opposition.
3. Incumbency: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president. TRUE, Trump is an incumbent,
4. Third party: There is no significant third party or independent campaign.  TRUE
5. Short term economy: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign. FALSE
6. Long term economy: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms. FALSE  Growth did exceed the previous terms till recently, but it is now dropping badly 
7. Policy change: The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy.  FALSE
8. Social unrest: There is no sustained social unrest during the term. FALSE.
9. Scandal: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal. FALSE, Trump was impeached
10. Foreign/military failure: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs. TRUE
11. Foreign/military success: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs.  FALSE.
12. Incumbent charisma: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. TRUE is liked by  his base. 
13. Challenger charisma: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero. TRUE... Joe Biden  is not a national hero...

So that's how I scored it....Seven FALSE Things for President Trump. According to this model  TRUMP will  lose.  However, some of the keys are tossup.   According to Lichtmann himself, the election is still to close to call .
The model most  times is pretty clear cut.. The model  explained  why George W. Bush got reelected in 2004, and why his father, George H.W.Bush did not get reelected in 1992. Indeed the formula has predicted the popular vote for every election since 1860.

Here is an article talking about the author's feel about 2020.

https://nypost.com/2019/12/07/professor-renowned-for-predicting-elections-says-2020-too-close-to-call/

Here's a link to article in the New York Times that has more discussion of the Keys.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/despite-keys-obama-is-no-lock/

Taylor Swift Steps Out to the Combination Taco Bell/KFC/Pizza Hut!

Taylor Swift 's Cottage in L.A.

Let's look on a scene  from Taylor Swift's mansion . Taylor is talking to Bill, her new  head of security.

That's Bill-right there beyond Taylor.

"Look, Harry ..I need to talk to you! said Taylor Swift

"It's Bill, Ma'am" said her security guard.

"I am miss not a ma'am. Anyway, Bill-   I need to get out of here. I need to be alone. No guards!"

"Miss Swift, I wouldn't recommend going out alone. We wouldn't want anyone out there touching things they shouldn't be touching."

"I'll be O.K"

"Are you sure? You don't   even want to bring your squad?  I hear that Lorde is around", said Bill.

"Don't worry I will go in disquise.  I have got this covered."
 Taylor slipped away to her dressing room and was back in a flash with new makeup, new curly hair, demure dress, and an acoustic guitar."What do you think, Bill"

"I don't get it, Miss Swift."

"It's me from  my country music period."

 "Your what? "

"Bill, you  don't remember my country music period? "

"I don't follow the music scene. The agency that hired me wanted nobody who could turn out secretly to be a crazed fan."

"Well, Bill  I was really big in country music when I started.  Back then I looked like this! " Taylor dramatically  turned around in around with her made up squinty eyes and now curly hair.

 "But , Miss you still you look you."

 "Do I.   Well, of course I look like me, I'm the same  girl I used to be." She broke into song as she headed to the front door.

 "Bill, could you have somebody bring up my old beaten up Escalade. "said Taylor.

"Yes, miss.  Can you at least tell me where you are going?" said Bill.

 I'm going to  go get some KFC, they tell there is a new combination TACO Bell/KFC/Pizza Hut!.

So, the world's biggest popstar took a spin  around town to check out L.A.'s new combination KFC/Pizza Hut/Taco Bell. Taylor  was going to go inside-but at the last minute chickened out.

"Welcome to the New High Tech Pizza Bell (sic). Can I take your order?" said Alejandro-the drive through cashier.

Taylor cracked her window just a smidge and disguised her voice into a country twang.-"Yes -hon,  I would  like the 5 dollar fillup  with the free Grand opening Diet Pepsi special."

"Need any sauce with that?"

"No- just some salt."

"That will be $343.20. Pull on Up" said the Alejandro, the cashier.

"$343.20 !! Damn dude -Are you on something?" Taylor's  Southern accent was gone.

"M'aam you are  Katy Perry-the pop star are you not? "

Taylor Swift nearly died.
"Oh-no. Oh-no-no-no!" said Taylor as she shook her head.

The cashier  started talking to Juana, the manager, "Juana -didn't you say that was somebody famous in my  driveup? I think it's Katy Perry or Justin Bieber or somebody-they have a fancy truck with gold plated chrome-but I can't see who they are beneath all  the tint."

"Yes.  Alejandro that is a celebrity.  Look at your customer screen -it will tell you who it is.
Remember , our new system recognizes the customers before they come up through advanced  facial recognition."

"I'm sorry Juana, I don't get this new system.  Let me look. Oh I see it now  it  says T-a--s-w-I-f-t. What's that? I don't get it."
Taylor brook into the training session, "Look dude, could you just get the manager to come over here-!"
Juana, the manager ran over.  "Good afternoon Mrs. Swift, I'm Juana. Welcome to the new High Tech Pizza Hut/KFC/Taco Bell!"

"How is it your charging me 343.20 dollars?" asked Taylor.

"Yes that's our new California mandated  Equity pricing.  Everybody pays what they can afford.We charged you 5.00 plus 150.00 for the equity price."

"But then it should only be $155.00?  said Taylor.


Juana looked at the screen-"Yes, I see that there is also the scalper's markup that's an additional $145.00
  And ... there's the $10 dollar fee for Ticket Master, and the ten dollar facility charge.
Oh and  the $23.20 state meal tax. "Actually you made out pretty good-we just had somebody from Big Pharma in here. He had to pay over 12,000.00 dollars."

"That's outrageous.  I'm sorry I will not pay these kind of prices! I will go to McDonalds-they usually comp my meals because they know how lucky they are to have me as a customer."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Juana.

"You should be sorry" said Taylor.

Alejandro  came up and  butted his head  out of the drive through window. He shoved the classic Katy Perry CD- Teenage Dream in Miss Swifts face. "Oh by the way, Miss  Perry  can I have your autograph-it's for my ailing mother-she's been a big fan of your since "I Kissed A Girl and I Liked it".

"No-you can't have my autograph. In no universe would I ever be Katy Fucking Perry. GOODBYE!" Taylor Swift ratcheted the offending CD back through the window  and sped off.
Alejandro and Juana ducked.
Juana looked down at the customer ID screen-next up was a K.A.P.E.R.R.Y in a pink smart car.

THE END!
Originally published May 12, 2019 By J.C.Bernhardt

Classic rock acts where you can name all the members.

"It was the early '80s. I went with Pete Townshend, who always wanted to catch the first whiff of those about to unseat us, to a club in London. There they were: A young Bono -- single-handedly pioneering the Irish mullet; (laughter) the Edge -- what kind of name was that?; Adam and Larry. I was listening to the last band of whom I would be able to name all of its members. U2 had an exciting show and a big, beautiful sound. They lifted the roof. "  -Bruce Springsteen inducting U2 into the rock and roll hall of fame. 

Certainly it's true that nowadays that you usually can't name all the members of any given  band  if you are a casual fan of group.  I can name the lead singer of Coldplay, of Maroon Five, and of Imagine Dragons but I can't name any of the other  members of these bands.  I think the last recent  group  that I can name all the  members of would be the Spice Girls and they started up in the last century.

 Back in the height  of the classic rock era of the 1960's and 1970's rock fans would  be intimately familiar with all the members of a group-even for groups they didn't follow. This  started with the Beatles. The whole world can  name all the members of the Beatles.   Their producer, George Martin originally tried to pick one of the groups members to be main singer of the group-but then he realized it was impossible to  pick between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. And yet, despite having two world class talents in one band-Martin would agree to  let the two other  slightly lesser members of the band -sing lead vocals also.  The formula typicall on  British Beatles album was to let  John and Paul handle  ten of the songs, give George two songs, and let Ringo sing one song. George and eventually Ringo also wrote songs.  Musically- Paul and John were always stronger and more important-but George  and Ringo also contributed greatly to the band.  When the Beatles broke up-all the group members all four members had successful solo careers.  So this became the model for other classic rock groups .  Have some leading members but  also have a willingness to let others contribute and also a willingness to give the lesser members the spotlight on occasion.

The Rolling Stones sort of flouted this idea a little. The group's arrogant  leaders,  Keith Richards  and Mick Jagger  wouldn't encourage the other members to sing  vocal leads or write songs (partly because the others really  didn't have the talent to do so.) But even so all the  others would make key  musical contributions and on rare occasions they would even  help with songwriting (always uncredited!).

In writing this article- I was wondered  which of the group's of this era had the most equally talented band.  I think I came to the conclusion that it would be sort of tie between The Who, Led Zeppelin and Queen.  The Who's  three instrumentalists were all lead players. They had  Keith Moon, a lead drummer , John Entwhistle, a lead bassist and  Pete Townsend- a lead guitarist.  Many of the best moments on Who records came from Keith Moon's antic drumming.  Lead singer, Roger Daltry sometimes got lost in all this talent  in the early days, but he soon proved to be a virtuoso singer as well.  All four sang as well, though Moon only as a novelty singer. The only imbalance in the group was that Townsend wrote most of the group's material (occasionally spelled by Entwhistle).

Led Zeppelin also had three virtuoso instrumentalists . John Bonham was probably the best rock and roll drummer ever. Jimmy Page was one  of the best electric guitarists ever, and John Paul Jones was a solid bassist/ multi-instrumentalist/arranger. None of these three instrumentalists sang very well, so singer Robert Plant had to handle all  of lead and most of backing singing by himself-which he did quite well.  All four contributed to the songwriting with Page taking the lead musically, and Plant lyrically. Page also produced. Led Zeppelin was a well balanced band.

Queen might have been a half a step down instrumentally from Led Zeppelin, and The Who-but all four  members could write songs individually. They are the only group to  have four members individually write a US or UK number one song  for their own group.    Although lead singer, Freddie Mercury sang most of the lead vocals-Roger Taylor and Brian May also sang.  The only imbalance here is that master showman, Freddie Mercury would have stood  out  in any group of individuals regardless of how talented they were.

Many other groups of the time- had a similar democrat approach -the Moody Blues had four lead singers  and all of the members wrote  songs . The only imbalance for the Moodies  was  that Guitarist Justin Hayward's  songs were always a cut above-as were his vocals. This only became a problem  for balance in the band when keyboardist and  /singer, Mike Pinder left the band at the same time  as Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge took on a lesser role. So the band basically became a Justin Hayward/John Lodge vehicle after the 1970's.   The same problem occurred with the horn group Chicago. The classic version of this  group had three lead singers, as well as  multiple successful songwriters, but by the late 1970's one member, Peter Cetera became the group's main singer and songwriter. By the mid eighties, it had become so unbalanced that Cetera  left the band to form a solo career.

What groups could put the most lead singers on the radio?  Aside from the forementioned Beatles, the two groups that put the most solo lead  vocalists on the radio were the Beach Boys (5)   and the Eagles (4). The Beach Boys had a clear leader in the 1960's with vocalist/songwriter/bassist Brian Wilson.  But his two brothers, Carl and Dennis, his cousin, Mike Love, and family friend, Al Jardine also all sang solo lead vocals on top ten singles.  Another group member, Bruce Johnston  also sang on their hits, and Blondie Chaplin ( a later replacement member) sang lead on one  of the most notable songs, "Sail On Sailor".

The Eagles followed the  Rolling Stones model of having two dictators running the band. Founding members and so called "Gods". Glenn Frey and Don Henley had a notably bad reputation for mistreating other members-and three of the groups' ultimate total of  seven  members were run out of the band due to conflict with "The Gods".  However, unlike the Rolling Stones, the other guys and the band could not only play their instruments, but they could sing and write songs as well.  The Eagles are the only group to have seven   different members "really" co-write a top ten hit song. (Some acts give all members credit for writing a song even when they don't  play a key role in writing lyrics or melodies.)  All seven members  sang solo lead vocals on Eagles records ( though Don  Felder wasn't  a very good singer  and only sang one song). Four of the group members sang lead vocals on a top ten hit.

One other group should mentioned in this conversation. That would be the Temptations-although they were a Soul/pop group  and  not a rock  group they operated during the same era and were notable for having a number of great vocalists in their lineup.  The group had two main  lead singers in their classic 1960's  lineup -David Ruffin, and Eddie Kendricks both of whom  sang lead on many classic recordings. When Ruffin  left  the group he was replaced by a another lead singer, Dennis Edward.  When Dennis Edwards joined the group started recording a number of songs (such as "Cloud Nine)" that would feature solo spotlights for all the members of the group all on one recording-usually these recordings had Edward doing the main lead vocal.  Thus another five members of the group would end  up being heard singing solo leads on their songs throughout the seventies. Finally, a ninth member of the Temptations-Ali -Ollie Woodson would sing on two later hits. Thus the Temptations  are probably the group that had the most different vocalist sing a solo  lead on a top 40 record.

Some other groups where many people can name all the original members are the Police, Pink Floyd, CSNY, Cream, CCR, The Band, the Bee Gees,  the Mamas and the Papas, the Clash, Traffic, R.E.M, Rush, Kiss, Nirvana, Journey, Yes, The Cars, Deep Purple and Journey.


Published may 2019

FANNY- AIN'T THAT PECULIAR.

This is a 1972 BBC TV performance by the American band,  Fanny. Fanny is  said to be  the first all female rock group to hit the American Top 40. As you can see these ladies can really play-and even today rank as the one of the best female rock combos. The group's Philippine born  guitarist (June Millingon) is top notch on her instrument.  Her sister, Jean Millington played bass, Nickey Barclay played keyboards, and Alice du Buhr is in back on the drums.

Their first album came out in 1970, they had been picked up for Reprise records by renowned producer, Richard Perry, who had been looking for  a female band to produce.  He dropped the group's original  lead singer, which forced the  group to divvy up the vocals amongst all the members.  Like many other people I can't say I that ever recall having  heard of this group   before now-though perhaps I heard the name before.   Why didn't the become more renown? Well- not having a really world class singer (like say Ann Wilson of Heart) or a great songwriter (like say Joni Mitchell) in their band probably sealed their fate.  Having a stand out commercial hit song has always been the key to getting on the radio. But they never hit it big-and two groups-the Runaways and the Go-Go's generally are publicly recognized as the first major successful all female rock bands.    They may have never made it big but most of their material  is pretty solid-and I recommend checking them out.

"Charity Ball" their first hit...

A Buffalo Springfield cover.. called "Special Care"...

And this lastly, "Summer Song"

(Published March 2, 2019 by J.C.Bernhardt)

Fanny Hill, their excellent 1972 album.

Review of Fanny Hill From That Devil Music blog
Fanny rocks-official site

Originally posted March 2019 by J.C.Bernhardt

Soundalike songs- Lauren Daigle-Artists that sound similar to other acts.

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Musical artists sometimes through no fault of their own sound like other singers.  The recent hit, "You Say"  is a perfect example of the phenomena.  When your hear this song for the first time-right away you think,  "Is that a new song from Adele?"  Well no, it is the   Christian crossover artist, Lauren Daigle. The piano on the record just makes it sound  even more  like Adele-it because it sounds a  bit like the piano on Adele's "Someone Like You".

Recent  COPYCATS

A playlist of ripoffsongs...

Other copycats
When you first hear a song-you don't always know who the artist is-which makes for an interesting guessing game. The 1971 America  hit -"A Horse with No Name"  sounds a little  like Neil Young's "Heart of Gold". But it's Dewey Bunnell  of America doing the lead vocal.   The song was America's  first single-so it wasn't like  people would say, " Oh that sounds like America." Oddly enough, these two songs both hit #1 on the American charts in March 1972 one after the other.

Sometimes an artist just tries to copy an arrangement style. The most notorious  example of this is "Blurred Lines" which was a 2013 song written mostly by Pharrell Williams and performed primarily by Robin Thicke. The song is clearly inspired by Marvin Gaye's 1976 party record, "Got to Give It Up". Though to be fair, it's only the bass line and the percussion arrangement that seem to match up. But it was close  enough match that a judge awarded Gaye's estate a significant share of the profits from the song.

Here is  a TV theme inspired by the sound of  Outkast it is sung by Chaka Blackmon.
A more subtle example of the "inspired by" phenomena is Lenny Kravitz's "It Ain't Over Till It' Over". which beautifully recaptures the laid back soul  vibe of 1970's artists like Earth, Wind and Fire.

David Crosby, is a fan of Steely Dan, and his son wrote and helped him perform this perfect Steely Dan, style backing track on his 2017 song, "She's Got to Be Somewhere".

Then there is copying yourself. Using vocal devices, Lionel Ritchie recaptured his own mid 1970's Commodores  vibe  on his  1996 solo song "Don't Want To Lose You ".  John Fogarty managed  to recapture   the CCR sound with his solo record, "The Old Man Lives Down The Road". So much so that he got sued by his own (nefarious) song publisher.

During the 1960's British invasion many artists try to duplicate the Beatles vocal sound. A notable example of this is  the Dave Clark Five's "Because".

Two  final examples of the copy cat phenomena come from the 1980's.

John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown's "On the Darkside"  sounds a lot like Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band- almost  more for the imitation of Roy Bittan's bright staccato keyboard sound then for the full throated vocals. The song was released in 1983 but didn't become a hit till 1984.

Finally comes the  George Michael soundalike record, "Don't Forget Me When I Am Gone".   It was a 1986 record by the Canadian act, Glass Tiger which features the lead vocals of Alan Frew . To further confuse matters Bryan Adams also sings on the song -and apparently the song  was actually inspired by Tears for Fears, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". 

Why Lauren Daigle was inspired by Adele (People magazine).


originally posted February 2019 by J.C.Bernhardt