Charlie Watts' Golden

Overheard:

The key to Led Zeppelin is that somebody is always playing a counter point. You can hear that. ~Jimmy Page

I know that Page was talking musically, but the phrase popped into my head as I began write a tribute to Charlie Watts who will celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary in October.

Through all those years of temptation, one guy stays true and faithful. That's sort of a "counter point" isn't it?

I always thought Charlie Watts' rock drumming was deceptively simple. It wasn't hard to copy. His jazz drumming is another story. You can tell he's an old school drummer by the way he holds his sticks: traditional grip.

Here's Johnny Depp narrating Keith Richards' version of the time Charlie Watts slugged Mick Jagger.  [skip to 3min 43sec for the violent part, but watch the whole thing for context]:

Changing Of The Guards (2007)

Another Dylan cover:

On The Roof (1986)

I know
I said you can't (even) fly
On your way
I hope you'll be OK

Stop for a while
Talk about it
For a while

From now on
Sooner or later
Sing a new song
Call me when you're better

Stop for a while
Talk about it
For a while

In a while
In a while
For a while
For a while

I Believe In You (2008)

This is a cover of a Bob Dylan song from his 1979 album "Slow Train Coming"

Her cover version retains the same words and lyrics of Dylan's orginal but taken out of context of Dylan's album, she could be singing about faith in another person.

I saw Cat Power perform this song at San Diego's "Street Scenes" music festival a few years ago. Here are links to that which I want to watch later on. link  Her guitar player was a guy named Judah Bauer who played in the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts (1975)

Pere Ubu, Final Solution (1976)

A proto-angst ridden number from the past with direct links to bands like Sonic Youth in the future. I don't think Pere Ubu ever had a commercial success, but that doesn't matter, they're still great. They're still around too.

Divide And Conquer

Strangely prophetic for 1985:

Well they divided up all the land

And we've got states and cities

Cities have their neighborhoods

And more subdivisions

There's countries divided by walls

Oceans and latitudes

And longitude, longing to find out

Just what they're missing

They're lots of area codes

And nine digit zip codes

Secret decoder ring codes

Arteries, shopping nodes

We'll invent some new computers

Link up the global village

And get AP, UPI, and Reuters

To tell everybody the newest news

We'll be one happy neighborhood

Spread out across the world

But who's going to stop that burglar

From breaking in my house

If he lives that far away

We'll be just like old friends

No means to your ends

The police state is too busy

And the neighborhood's getting out of hand

Big Brother on every wall

Muzak plays in all the halls

Empires see the rise and fall

They divide, conquer

It's not about my politics

Something happened way too quick

A bunch of men who played it sick

They divide, conquer

It's all here before your eyes

Safety is a big disguise

That hides among the other lies

They divide, conquer

Well I expect I won't be heard

Because my silence is assured

Never a discouraging word

They divide, conquer

They divide and conquer

Easy To Be Hard

Remembering Elizabeth Reed Redux

I ran across an excellent YouTube video of the classic Fillmore East live version of the Allman Brother's "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed." It's actually video footage of another night overlayed on the original sound track. There is no extant footage of that live version that I know of.  I am in love with this song, having written about it at length once before: link It haunts me somehow.

Duane Allman introduces the song, snapping his fingers to mark time (you can clearly hear this in the remastered CD version). Duane was a dirty hippy but there is something very southern gentleman in his voice: "A song Dickey Betts wrote from our second album....uh, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed...ready gentlemen? 1..2..3..."

Space Station #5 (1973)

I always thought that song was eminently crank-worthy. But geez, what a horrific story about his suicide (link).  Don't look if you can't undo such knowledge.

Stop Making Sense (1984)

From Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense (1984):

I adore the floorlamp stage prop. And who among us didn't fall in love with Tina Weymouth?

Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me around
I feel numb, born with a weak heart
Guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground, head in the sky
It's okay, I know nothing's wrong, nothing
I got plenty of time
You got light in your eyes
And you're standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money, always for love
Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight 

Home, is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home, she lifted up her wings
I guess that this must be the place
I can't tell one from another
Did I find you, or you find me?
There was a time before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I'll be, where I'll be
We drift in and out
Sing into my mouth
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I'm just an animal looking for a home
And share the same space for a minute or two
And you love me till my heart stops
Love me till I'm dead
Eyes that light up
Eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head

Play Me (1972)

I can't find my concert ticket stub from his show in Madison in the mid to late 70's but I was there.

Need You Now (2010)

There's Always Room For Jello Biafra

Are The Good Times Really Over For Good?

It's Only Life

What does it mean what can you do about it, what can you say you don't even know about it, nobody talks nobody listens well, look around yeah look out your window they're, having a ball having a party well, come inside you can do what you like well, it's a nightmare it's all negative nothing matters and what if it did you could, lock your doors close all your windows and hide away, hide away it's only life it's only life only life

A Pogue-a-Palooza Paddy's Day

I may as well just link their whole album called "Rum, Sodomy and The Lash." My favorite is the raucous "Sick Bed of Cúchulainn" (1985):

Another favorite is "I'm A Man You Don't Meet Everyday," a traditional Irish folk song. That is Cait O'Riordan singing (and biting Shane MacGowan on the shoulder below).  She married Elvis Costello and left the band--not sure in which order:

The Pogues' best known song, "Fairytale Of New York" (1988), is a duet originally intended for MacGowan and O'Riordan, but Kirsty MacColl (Ewan MacColl's daughter) immortalized it instead:

Dirty Old Town

I was originally going to post the Pogues' version of this song but this version from the songwriter presented instead. I wrongly had thought that the song was about Dublin but of course it's about Manchester, England. I like the juxtaposition of optimistic love and grimy realism:

All The Young Dudes

More hair-band than glam-rockers, "Mott The Hoople" had a brief shining moment thanks to David Bowie. The lyrics of the previous post reminded me of them:

Man On The Moon

Mott the Hoople and the game of Life (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Monopoly, Twenty-one, Checkers, and Chess (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Let's play Twister, let's play Risk (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
See you heaven if you make the list (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Now, Andy did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Andy are you goofing on Elvis? [Hey, baby]
Are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve, then nothing is cool
Moses went walking with the staff of wood (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Newton got beaned by the apple good (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Now Andy did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey, Andy are you goofing on Elvis? [Hey, baby]
Are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve, then nothing is cool

Here's a little agit [legend?] for the never-believer (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Here's a little ghost for the offering (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Here's a truck stop instead of Saint Peter's (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mister Andy Kaufman's gone wrestling (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Now Andy did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy are you goofing on Elvis, hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve, then nothing is cool
(Buck, Mills, Stipe)