Belated Musical Gossip:
I always loved the Mamas and Papas song "I Saw Her Again Last Night" - though I was taken aback by the caddish sentiment Denny Doherty expressed ("I shouldn't string her along..." "I never think about her...").
Still, it's an absolutely great slice of mid sixties harmony pop.
I didn't realize he was singing about Michelle Phillips. His co-bandmember, and wife of the cowriter of the song, John Phillips - another bandmember.
She was kicked out of the band briefly there because she began dating Gene Clark of the Byrds (and his first solo album that we review in LiTG is supposedly a reflection of that affair), but then came back to the group.
I just can't imagine the amount of masochism it would require to come back to the group and sing that song on-stage with your ex-lover (the fuck!) and husband. Just to make the whole thing complete, Cass Elliot, the fourth member of the group had carried a torch for Doherty for years and was just as devastated by the affair.
Makes Fleetwood Mac look like pikers.
Apocryphal Gossip:
The zine Twangler once theorized that Dolly Parton's song "I Will Always Love You" was written to Merle Haggard instead of Porter Wagoner as was generally assumed.
True Gossip:
Merle married Buck Owens ex-wife (and songwriting partner) Bonnie.
Side Note:
When Michelle Phillips was kicked out of the band, she was briefly replaced by their manager Lou Adler's wife, Jill Gibson. Lou Adler later went on to produce Rocky Horror Picture Show and give Ple and Victor something to do in their teen years.
Okay I'm all done now.
Things I Noticed At Amoeba
Betsy notice:
Stephin Merritt has a collection out now titled Showtunes.
Violent Femmes have a double-disc special edition of their first album out now.
Springsteen seems to be releasing official bootlegs of some of his famous shows, starting with Hammersmith Odeon 1975. I've got the Winterland show bootleg that he did on the Darkness tour and it's easily the best Springseen record I own. So I approve of this development.
I might have to get the Devo 2.0 album. (They hired a bunch of kids to play their songs in some curious mix of School of Rock and Kidz Bop.)
I bought The M's, the new Belle and Sebastian, the Fountains of Wayne collection of b-sides and rarities and Kate Bush's Aerial. Still working through them, though B&S sounds good, as advertised.
I'm curious about the Isobel Cambell & Mark Lanegan duet album.
Yay
::notes down due date::
The new Belle and Sebastian is excellent. I need to look for the new Merritt.
I didn't realize he was singing about Michelle Phillips. His co-bandmember, and wife of the cowriter of the song, John Phillips - another bandmember.
Years ago, I saw a Behind the Music type show about the M&P where John Phillips said that he wrote the song specifically as punishment/penance for Denny and Michelle. The funny thing is that the other day I was just looking at the track list for the Harmony Cathedral Mix CD I got at your wedding, and I've always wondered if you were aware of the song's origins when you put it on the mix.
I might have to get the Devo 2.0 album. (They hired a bunch of kids to play their songs in some curious mix of School of Rock and Kidz Bop.)
Except they changed the lyrics to make them... ohhh... pointless! No "freedom from choice"; no "it's not for me". [link]
My mix is complete, but 1:05 minutes too long! Argh! now I must find a substitution.
Once I resolve the timing issue, I'll probably start uploading the mix a couple of songs a day. It takes from 30-60 minutes to upload things on my dial up, and it has to be babied, so that's probably as much as I'll have patience for.
I still have to write the liner notes.
I am probably going to send mine today or tomorrow, since the rest of the week is going to be crazy for me. Plus, I really need to stop tinkering with it.
Sue and Perkins, I'm looking forward to seeing your mixes.
Sue, you can always just designate another song as fulfilling two categories. I mean, that still entails a cut, but it might be easier than slotting something in by time and category.
Corwood, insent. (from my Hecubot address)
Sue, you can always just designate another song as fulfilling two categories. I mean, that still entails a cut, but it might be easier than slotting something in by time and category.
Oh, I have one song filling four categories. It's just that there's not another song on the mix that fufills the problematic category, and the song is 5:05 long, so I'm just going to find a shorter song.