Sounds Of Sanity; Washington
"I had a bunch of musicians around me who were very inspiring, principally Jeff Porcaro, who became a great friend, and Ray Parker Jr., a great classic Motown guitarist from Stevie Wonder's band," he said. "We start talking about favorite songs. Jeff and I phoned each other in the morning. I said, 'Have you heard this f--king song on the radio: Shirley & Company, 'Shame, Shame, Shame.' So he stopped by Tower Records on the way to the studio and we put it on the player and we said, 'F--k, man, what a groove!'
And then a break comes and Jeff starts playing the groove of that record and I start singing. And Ray is playing the guitar groove although he's reinvented it and he's playing this pluck thing on his Les Paul. And I'm just jamming along. And [producer] Richard Perry is in the studio. So he rushed to the tape machine, threw the tape on and started recording us. And a few days later, he said, 'That is the hit. That is the most exciting thing I've ever heard. That is a crossover.'"
Personal Note;
Johnny has made his way to this blog post for our ride to the airport we discussed Johnny, his death, and Howie Epstein, bass guitarist for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, and fiance to Johnny's daughter. Our trip found ourselves wrapped in Tom Petty music always finding it on the radio, or getting caught in some back-to-back playlist where they favored him. I remember driving towards Mount Rainer and stopping at a little coffee drive-thru, they have them everywhere out there and they're all the size of a little highway toll booth. It was comforting that in a place so great, wide and open (...) that Tom was still momentously loved.
Now the song itself, "Cocaine Blues" came into my peripheral back when the film Walk The Line came out, but it meant nothing to me until more recently when it became one of my most streamed songs.
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The Song
I strung these two songs together for a specific reason. With this said, I will not be going into the history of both "Cocaine Blues" and "Hey Joe", but rather explain the similarities that I hope you find as fascinating as I do.
Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues" is as fast as a dose of cocaine could make one feel. The lyrics never repeat itself. It's a story of a man, Willy Lee who, after enduring in both whiskey and cocaine, got the courage to shoot his girlfriend - Little Sadie?
Here's were music history gets really interesting.
Looking at the history of this song, the version Cash sang is a T.J Red Arnall rewrite of a traditional folk song about a not so faithful woman called "Little Sadie". This song is also known as "Bad Lee Brown" for another character. When I read that I thought of Jim Croce's "Bad Leroy Brown" - so we quickly jump into this theory that maybe Bad Leroy Brown is a character inspired by "Little Sadie". Perhaps, "Little Sadie" held a lot more power in rock'n'roll and pop than it is given.
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Now, we quickly jump back to the original story of Little Sadie, Willy Lee and Bad Lee Brown, because Croce's song has nothing to do with this. Just a similar name, BUT HOW COOL WOULD IT OF BEEN IF IT DID.
But hold on just one minute. Stick around a little longer and you'll see what song Cocaine Blues really correlates with.
Back to our origin story. "Little Sadie" dates back to Joplin, Missouri in 1922.
Last night I was a-makin' my rounds,
Met my old woman an' I blowed her down,
I went on home to go to bed,
Put my old cannon right under my head.
Jury says murder in the first degree,
I says oh Lord, have mercy on me!
Old Judge White picks up his pen,
Says you'll never kill no woman ag'in.
Ozark Folksong Vol. II
Late in 1929 the song would portray Sadie as a prostitue;
The buggies and the hacks all formed in line,
The gents and the gamblers all standing around,
They're gonna take Sadie to the burying ground.
Clarence Ashley
Decades flew by and now we stand in the 1960s when two songs are released. One by Johnny Cash in 1968 and the other by Jimi Hendrix in 1967.
Shot her down because she made me sore
I thought I was her daddy but she had five more
Johnny Cash
________
Yes, I did. I shot her
You know I caught her messin’ round town
Jimi Hendrix
__________
Made a good run but I ran too slow
They overtook me down in Juarez, Mexico
Johnny Cash
__________
Well, dig
I’m goin’ way down south
Way down to Mexico way
Jimi Hendrix.
Both "Cocaine Blues" and "Hey Joe" appear on records within a year of each other. Both songs paying homage to "Little Sadie".
These two forces in the industry have more similarities than just recording songs of the same origin. They both have mugshots and have been arrested multiple times but neither Johnny Cash nor Jimi Hendrix served more than a night in prison. Though avoiding prison suits and guard, the pair were suited up in uniform to guard the United States as Johnny Cash served in the Air Force and Jimi in the army. Although never working together, Johnny Cash and Jimi Hendrix may have had a chemistry that we'll never see.
4. Chicken Fat (The Youth Fitness Test) - Preformed by Robert Preston
Personal Note; Lauren's a weirdo. That's all.
History;
The year was 1962 on the Warner Brothers Pictures lot. What was going to become a sensational
adaptation of the 1957 play, The Music Man, was underway as Robert Preston, the main actor, occupied the sound-stage. The Music Man
covers all things of love, music, and manipulation. It isis essentially a story of a fraud, with the
main character Professor Harold Hill conning his way through town to town claiming he is a
Professor of Music. It was in the 1950s that america was seen to be frauds when competing
against other nations. America could talk the talk, especially a decade after World War II ending
and continuing to live as a free nation. However, America couldn’t walk the walk leading to a
disgusted President Eisenhower whom began to share a passion for getting American children
in shape. For the full story, please read this article. It dives into exactly how The Presidential Fitness Test became part of the stitches in our flag.
Essentially two fitness lovers, Dr. Hans Kraus and Bonnie Prudden created a fitness test, with
help of Sonja Weber to gauge the physical fitness of children. In doing so they tested ones
flexibility, strengths within sit ups, leg raises, and breathing exercises by distributing what would
be called the Kraus-Weber test to children around the world. What was to be revealed by this
showcased that freedom also lead to laziness and gluttony, resulting in American children only
being 43% successful whereas Swedish and European children were 97%.
"Chicken Fat '' was created and distributed under the administration of John F Kennedy, the
president of campaign songs I’m coming to realize. It was recorded by Capitol records and handed
out for free to children and schools nationwide in 1961. However, it was once again under
Eisenhower in 1957 that The Presidential Fitness Test became encouraged. But the Presidential
Fitness test was nothing like Kraus-Weber’s test. The song itself showcases that as it has an
almost military beat to it. The test would grow and be manipulated by changes as toe touches and
situps were nothing compared to the pull ups and dashes influenced by World War II soldier training
. To excite children about doing the test President Kennedy had wrote an essay for Sports Illustrated called “The Soft American” where he wrote,
For the physical vigor of our citizens is one of America’s most precious resources. If we waste and neglect this resource, if we allow it to dwindle and grow soft then we will destroy much of our ability to meet the great and vital challenges which confront our people. We will be unable to realize our full potential as a nation.
The president also promised carrots to student whom passed.
Although the test itself hasn’t been practiced in years, “Chicken Fat” still provides for the starvingmedia and continues to promote athleticism in a 2014 Apple commercial.
5. Traveling Mood - Dr. John
Personal Note; Dr. John is the only prescribe and prescription I need.
On our drive from Port Angeles to Seattle Airport it rained. We had clear, beautiful weather the entire trip and were blessed to only get dark clouds on our 3 hour car ride to the airport. Our time in the car was usually that long. It didn't seem like we did a lot of driving in comparison to the amount of exploring we did, but the rides were long but they were never quiet. The radio would bump in and out, I in the passenger seat had grown accustomed to channels 92.5 and 102.7, I believe they were. Just classic rock station. Stations that played a lot of Tom Petty, Beatles Brunches, Aerosmith and Journey. My aunt and I discussed our distaste for journey. When the radio seized to exist as our car was swallowed by trees and mountains bigger than my imagination could grasp, my aunt, sister and I would bust into song. A favorite of mine was "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen or Meatloafs "Paradise By the Dashboard light". But that was all heading to adventures to get lost in nature. Dr. John came into our trip as we were told to "get lost" and fly back home to Boston.
I dint remember the song he sang on the radio. I remember stopping mid conversation somewhere between Brementon and a gas station to turn up the radio and audible say "Hey, Dr. John?". I chose "Traveling Mood" for this post because I can kind of manipulate it. Yes we were traveling in the physical aspect. However, Dr. John sings about traveling on a mental trip.
History;
Its not a song about packing your bag and going on a vacation, it is in fact perhaps the opposite. It is a song about your significant other packing their bags and leaving and you're in search to go find them. Willing to travel anywhere to be with them again. A lot of songs have that theme. Girl runs away, what does the guy do? Chase them. You can see this concept play out in The Coasters "Searchin'" or J. Geils Band's "Gotta Have Your Love". So as a female interpretting all of these songs, I just ask the question why?
Feeling' kinda sad and lonelywhy? The song continues,
Lost my sweet one at home
Gonna find my baby
I don't mean maybe
Gon' find her
Said that she'd never leave me
Now she's gone away to grieve me
I was fast asleep, when she begun her midnight creep
Gon' find her
Why? are we chasing her. She One, lied stating that she'd never leave but now shes sneaking off. I may wonder if he was the manipulative one and she was promising him so he would be happy.
Dr. John's narrator for the song starts mentioning all the places he'd travel to find her- all United States territory. If I were her I would have crossed the border. He's not looking for me there!
The song comes from the 1973 album In The Right Place, Dr. John's highest ranked album reaching Top 10 in the US and Canada. Not to mention it features Allen Toussaint, which is an accomplishment in its own right.
And that is all I have for this Sounds of Sanity. No Bonus tracks, just easing my way back into it all. Edits to this post will be done at a later date, for now enjoy it in its raw madness (new formats are messing with font and sizing) I hope to continue sharing further down the road. More life updates and articles to come.
Forever yours,
L
