Who first recorded "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"?
It was Sex Pistols, of course. No, wait, you say, it was The Monkees. Nope, they were covering it, too. The missing link in the song chain was Paul Revere And The Raiders.
PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS -"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (1966)
The song was written by hitmakers Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, who quickly thereafter recorded it with their bread-and-butter, The Monkees, whose television show was massive and was a forerunner of MTV and music videos:
THE MONKEES -"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (1966)
But here's the UK Garage Rock band THE FLIES doing a slower, heavier take on the standard that Black Sabbath might love:
THE FLIES -"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (1966)
Here's the all-female band The Pivots, who later became The Feminine Complex.
THE PIVOTS -"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (1966)
Then of course here's the miscreants, putting the boot in to kick some life back into everything:
SEX PISTOLS -"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (1976)
Now a standard, the song has been covered by countless artists including The Trashmen, Johnny Thunders, Minor Threat, The Untouchables, and Les Thugs (France).
Here's a great track from the soundtrack of the Italian Western, PREPARATI LA BARA! (a.k.a., Django, Prepare a Coffin), in the fine style of Ennio Morricone and the Italian Western sound:
GIANFRANCO AND GIAN PIERO REVERBERI -"Nel Cimitero Di Tucson" (1968)
And, here's Danger Mouse and CeeLo Green using the melody from that score as a basis for this monster hit:
Creativity is one person who sparks another person who sparks another. This has no boundaries and unites us. Here's a music relay chain that proves it using the classic "Killing Me Softly".
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Folk singer Don McLean had a massive breakthrough in 1971 with his epic "American Pie". This song sold hugely because it chronicled the pop history and emotional arc of its generation.
On a microcosmic level, another song from that album would have the same effect more stealthily. Here's Don's confessional break-up song, "Empty Chairs", done in a reflective Renaissance folk style:
DON McLEAN -"Empty Chairs" (1971)
Folk compatriot Lori Lieberman was so personally moved by seeing him perform this that she wrote a song called "Killing Me Softly With His Blues". After she described how deeply the song had touched her to Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, they wrote the lyrics for what she first recorded in 1972:
LORI LIEBERMAN -"Killing Me Softly" (1972)
Soul singer Roberta Flack loved all forms of music; she had previously broken big with a cover of Ewan MacColl's folk song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", which she put a brilliant spin on. She brought similar magic to this song, such as in the angelic chorales, which became a classic standard forever associated with her:
ROBERTA FLACK -"Killing Me Softly" (1973)
The HipHop group The Fugees were a musical double-threat with multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean and vocalist Lauryn Hill. Lauryn's voice was often compared to the timber of Roberta's, and it should have been no surprise when the group blew up with their update:
THE FUGEES -"Killing Me Softly" (1996)
"Telling my whole life with his words/
Killing me softly with his song"
ROCK Sex Orgies are songs where everybody gets rewarded.
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Here's another example of a song giving a giant shout-out to other musicians.
The rhythm section of Talking Heads, bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, had more to say with their side project, TOM TOM CLUB. "Genius Of Love", their celebration of funk, soul, reggae, and dance heroes became a surprise dance hit in 1981 with massive influence.
Listen for the call-outs to James Brown, Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Sly and Robbie, and Kurtis Blow.
"Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins/
Raise expectations to a new intention!"
Also beloved is the graffidelic video, based on the album art of James Rizzi.
TOM TOM CLUB -"Genius Of Love" (1981)
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"We met (Grandmaster Flash) and he said to us, 'You know this is a very cool beat. You're going to be hearing a lot of this.' I said 'Oh really?' He said 'Oh definitely.'"
-Chris Franz
The song was a perfect synthesis of the early '80s New York scene, where Disco, Punk, HipHop, Dub, and noizey Jazz were intertwined in the dance clubs, vinyl stores, art galleries, and indie films. Naturally it had an immediate impact in HipHop where responses were swift.
Here's are the first two HipHop responses made:
DR. JECKYLL AND MR. HYDE -"Genius Rap" (1981)
GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE -"It's Nasty (Genius Of Love)" (1981)
From there it became one of the most sampled songs of all time, popping up in tracks by The X-Ecutioners, Redman, Cam'Ron, 2nd II None, Fresh Kid Ice, Tupac Shakur, Mark Morrison, Busta Rhymes, Ant Banks, P.M. Dawn, Annie, Menajahtwa, and Eric Sermon. It also dreamt up Mariah Carey's huge hit "Fantasy".
"Genius of Love" is a shout-out song that got plenty of amen corners itself!
"There's no beginning and there is no end/
Time isn't present in that dimension..."
Did the famous Muppets song "Mah Na Mah Na" actually come from a porno movie? Let's find out...
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In the pantheon of great Italian soundtrack composers of the '60s, Piero Umiliani was the hepcat who threw lots of Jazz and Soul and Electronics into his groovy scores.
In 1968 he did the music for SWEDEN, HEAVEN OR HELL ("Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso"). This was a tabloid-style documentary in the popular 'Mondo' genre, which titillated audiences with scandalous subjects using a journalistic lens and distinctly moralistic narration. The film toured the sexier sides of Sweden like wife-swapping, lesbian clubs, and adult films. These shockumentaries were built on 'sleaze and tease' while wearing the mantle of removed disapproval, a schizoid hypocrisy that sold tickets while evading legal censure. (Insert joke about the media or politics here.)
The memorable vocal for "Mah Na Mah Na" was sung by Alessandro Alessandroni and his wife Giulia. 'Sandro' is famous as the whistler and surf guitarist for Italian Westerns, like THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. He also led the choral group that sings all the manic chants in those films, and composed many great scores of his own.
When Sandro goes off on scat tangents, he's actually doing other melodic themes from the film score. He also "interpolates melodies from "Swedish Rhapsody"(Midsummer Vigil) by Hugo Alfvén, "Santa Lucia","Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", the jazz standard "Lullaby of Birdland" (Charlie Parker), and others." [quote: Wikipedia]
PIERO UMILIANI -"Mah Na Mah Na" (the original) (1968)
Piero also made less-famous variations of the theme...
PIERO UMILIANI -"Samba Mah Na" (1968)
PIERO UMILIANI -"Mah Na Cowboy" (1971)
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Jim Henson must've discovered it pretty soon afterward because he did a Muppet skit on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 using the song. It popped up again on "Sesame Street" in 1969, and "The Muppet Show" in 1976. It became a Top 10 single in England in 1977 after they recorded it.
THE MUPPETS -"Mah Na Mah Na" (1976)
Here's a Disco cover, with a nice break beat at 1:33...
LIPSTIQUE -"Mah Na Mah Na" (1978)
Lately it has been covered by the group Cake for a cable kids show in this rollicking version:
CAKE -"Mah Na Mah Na"
So when you tell this story, and you will, be kind: "Mah Na Mah Na" doesn't come from a porno movie, just a shockumentary. Then point people to that ultrahip Piero Umiliani...
ROCK Sex is all about spurring each other to action.
I've given many examples of how one act inspires another. One more variation of this is the Response Song or Answer Song, where a dialogue breaks out in the advent of a hit. Sometimes folks are covering the song, arguing with the song, riding its popularity, or poking fun at it. This one has all of those.
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Big Joe Turner is a king of the late '40s/early '50s Jump Blues that helped set the stage for Rock'n'Roll. Besides being the originator of "Honey Hush" and "Corrina Corrina", he broke out this crucial killer:
BIG JOE TURNER -"Shake, Rattle, And Roll" (1954)
During the same period, a Western Boogie bandleader had integrated more and more Rhythm'n'Blues into his country swing. Bill Haley And The Comets helped set the stage for Rockabilly, and Bill paid tribute to Joe with this cover:
BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS -"Shake, Rattle, And Roll" (1954)
(It should be noted that Joe's original version has a few raunchy sexual entendres that both he and Bill had to smooth over for public performance.)
The song has a decidedly macho tone, which begged for a woman's response. The Platters recorded a flipside where the great Zola Taylor stepped up and said her piece:
"You got nerve to tell me, 'Rattle those pots and pans'/
Get in the kitchen yourself and do the best with your own two hands!"
THE PLATTERS -"Bark, Battle, And Ball" (1955)
That bopping hipster Louis Prima, with help from Keely Smith and Sam Butera, mopped up the dance floor with this response. (This was later covered by Brian Setzer.):
LOUIS PRIMA -"Jump, Jive, And Wail" (1956)
With everybody getting in on it, Joe must've felt he had some more to say about it, hence this cool addition. (This was later covered by The Blues Brothers on their first album):
BIG JOE TURNER -"Flip, Flop, And Fly" (1955)
After all that shaking and wailing, it's time for a break. Here's Rockabilly swingers Sid King And The Five Strings trying to get a breath:
SID KING AND THE FIVE STRINGS -"Sag, Drag, And Fall" (1955)
ROCK Sex posts are about how everybody has a part to offer to the whole.
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Sometimes a song is a bit of an orgy of pop celebration. Meaning that it celebrates and refers to many other songs and artists in One Big Shout-Out!
Folk singer Don McLean's "American Pie" is a classic example. It's an emotional narrative spanning Rock'n'Roll from 1955 to 1970. Though the song was a full 8 minutes+, it was a huge hit because it chronicled the arc of the counterculture generation. It was also a lyrical mystery that pop fans loved to decipher.
The song's chronological narrative refers in symbolist terms to many great songs and events in the formation and arc of Rock'n'Roll.
Being a broad narrative it's open to interpretation. McLean seems to be contrasting innocent beginnings with hedonistic endings, more partial to early Rock'n'Roll and Folk, but less so to Psychedelia and lifestyle excesses. Conservatives can fold it into that shopworn narrative of dismissing the '60s generation using Altamont as an arbitrary capstone. Progressives can revel in the anarchic currents that ebb and flow amongst its creative players. Music fans can dig it for its metatext, its melody, and its sheer celebration.
Slice your own interpretation...
DON McLEAN -"American Pie" (1971)
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The Roots of American Pie
Here are songs that "American Pie" is referring to (specifically or generally) in its lyrical journey.
• "Singin', 'This'll be the day that I die...'"
n 1959, Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash, along with rockers Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. This event had a profound effect on Don McLean as a youth.
BUDDY HOLLY And The Crickets -"That'll Be the Day" (1957)
• "Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye..."
Country legend Tex Ritter was the father of actor John Ritter, and grandfather to actors Jason and Tyler Ritter.
TEX RITTER -"Rye Whiskey" (1948)
• "Did you write the book of love?"
THE MONOTONES -"The Book of Love" (1958)
• "With a pink carnation and a pickup truck..."
MARTY ROBBINS -"A White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation" (1957)
• "And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone..."
Blues giant Muddy Waters interpolated the 1920s classic "Catfish Blues" as "Rollin' Stone (Catfish Blues)", which then inspired the name for The Rolling Stones.
MUDDY WATERS -"Rollin' Stone (Catfish Blues)" (1950)
• "Helter skelter in a summer swelter"
Helter Skelter is a name used for spiraling British fairground slides. The Beatles' roaring song became a template for Heavy Metal, and was misunderstood by Charles Manson as a rallying cry when orchestrating his murder campaign.
THE BEATLES -"Helter Skelter" (1968)
• "With the jester on the sidelines in a cast..."
With his outsider pespective and barbed lyrics, Bob Dylan was the court Jester of the counterculture. In 1966, he had a motorcycle crash that laid him up and change his perspectives on how to go forward. An insightful overview of this can be seen in Martin Scorsese's documentary, "No Direction Home" (2005).
BOB DYLAN -"Highway 61 Revisited" (1966)
• "The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast..."
The Byrds combined Bob Dylan with The Beatles to create the Folk Rock movement.
THE BYRDS -"Eight Miles High" (1967)
"While sergeants played a marching tune..."
Stepping beyond formula, The Beatles opened up the full range of sonic possibility of Rock with their 1967 masterpiece.
THE BEATLES -"SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND" (1967)
• "Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space..."
The counterculture, ridiculed as a fad by the scared mainstream media (still), had the ultimate coming out party with the 1969 Woodstock Festival, with half-a-million people of all persuasions declaring their undeniable presence and unleashing a spiritual nation that continues unabated (still).
CROSBY STILLS NASH And Young -"WOODSTOCK" (1970)
• "Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend..."
In the spirit of the recent Woodstock, The Rolling Stones held a 1970 concert at Altamont Speedway in California. The naive mistake of choosing the Hells Angels motorcycle gang as security led to the stabbing death of a fan.
In its eternal zealosy to dismiss the progress and impact of the counterculture, the corporate media consistently sells the false narrative that this incident was its end. No.
THE ROLLING STONES -"Jumping Jack Flash" (1968)
• "I met a girl who sang the blues..."
JANIS JOPLIN -"Kozmic Blues" (1969)
• "The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast..."
The counterculture embraced varying forms of spirituality, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. The latter led to Gospel hits like "Oh Happy Day" and "Spirit In The Dark"; and Gospel-inspired anthems of the turn of the decade, such as "Let It Be", "Bridge Over Troubled Water"; and "Loves Me Like A Rock", and musicals like "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Godspell".
1950s Rock, B: The '70s Disciples
https://tymstevens.blogspot.com/2015/04/1950s-rock-b-70s-disciples.html
• 1950s Rock, B: The '70s Disciples, with Music Player!
"Liberation for all. Everything must be rethought." ______________
Two great things hybrid a third great thing. ROCK SEX is a metaphor for the creative connections that link our shared culture together. This Pop Culture hub explores the roots and branches of Music, Film, Art, Comics, and more. _______________
Rock'n'Soul music is a baton relayed by everyone. Learn the holistic history with the most advanced Music Playlists online!:
BLUES, MAMBO, JAZZ, ROCKABILLY, SURF, BEAT, SOUL, GARAGE, PSYCHEDELIA, FUNK, GLAM, PUNK, NEW WAVE, HIPHOP, POSTPUNK, GRUNGE, RIOT GRRRL, ELECTRO, next! _______________
This is our party and everyone is invited!
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