Dave Van Ronk - Leave Her Johnny (1960)

Nicknamed the “Mayor of MacDougal Street,” Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) spent a large portion of his youth singing in a barbershop quartet and twice sailing with the Merchant Marine. In the mid-1950s, he desperately wanted to play with a traditional jazz band, and thus joined up with one in his native New York, playing the banjo and singing unamplified. Unfortunately, jazz had seen its day, and the outfit didn’t last very long. One day, while searching for jazz records in a music shop, Van Ronk stumbled upon blues artists like Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Lemon Jefferson. After finding this new style of music he could get into, he began to emulate the voices and styles which he heard during his own performances. And while doing so, Van Ronk continued to sing as if he was still unamplified and trying to be heard over the jazz arrangements. What resulted was a very loud, brash, and gritty style, which Van Ronk became known for, and which vastly contrasted with the other folk artists of the time who generally sang in a much more subdued style.

The song heard below was released in 1991 on the album The Folkway Years, 1959-1961. And although the specific year this song was recorded is not mentioned, the track listings for compilation albums such as these are usually listed in a sequential order. Assuming this to be true for this album, and noting that this song is smack-dab in the middle of the track listing, I'm taking the liberty of assuming it was recorded in 1960.

The song itself is a traditional sea shanty whose author or authors have been lost to time. Songs like this one were often sung by the crews of wooden ships to pass the time during the more menial tasks required to maintain a vessel. This song in particular was the song sung when a crew reached their final destination, after docking and being tied up in port, telling the everyman “Johnny” that it’s time to “leave her,” the ship.



Dave Van Ronk - Leave Her Johnny (1960)

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Lyrics:

Oh, times were hard and the wages low
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
I guess it’s time for us to go
(It’s time for us to leave her)
Beware these packet ships, I say
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
They’ll steal your stores and your clothes away
(It’s time for us to leave her)
There’s Liverpool Pat with his tarpaulin hat
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
And Yankee John, the packet rat
(It’s time for us to leave her)
She would not wear and she would not stay
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
She shipped great seas both night and day
(It’s time for us to leave her)
It’s rotten beef and waverly bread
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
It was “pump or drown,” the old man said
(It’s time for us to leave her)
The sails all furled, our work is done
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
And now ashore, we’ll take our run
(It’s time for us to leave her)
Oh, what will us poor shellbacks do?
(Leave her, Johnny, leave her)
Our money’s gone; no work to do
(It’s time for us to leave her)

Carolyn Hester - I'll Fly Away (1961)

Carolyn Hester was born on January 28th, 1937. In high school, she sang “The Kerry Dance” in a play and impressed her physical education teacher, who then introduced her to the female folk singer Susan Reed. Enthralled with folk music, she taught herself to play guitar and moved to New York in 1955 at the age of eighteen. She recorded her first album, Scarlet Ribbons, in 1957 for Coral Records and became associated with the first wave of the “folk revival” movement that included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, and many others. In 1961, she had the opportunity to join a folk trio which already included Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, but she declined. The pair eventually chose Mary Travers and the now-trio became the popular Peter, Paul, & Mary. When it came to solo female folk artists, Hester and Joan Baez were at the top. Although Baez may have had the more successful career, Hester has claimed that she and Joan never had a personal nor professional rivalry. According to her, they didn’t even know one another all that well. Although the reign of her popularity began to slow down as early as the mid-sixties, Carolyn Hester never stopped working. Even in recent years, Hester has been continuing to perform with her daughters, Amy and Karla Blume. Her most recent album, We Dream Forever, was released in 2010.

In 1961, Hester was getting ready to record her third album, later to be titled Carolyn Hester (on the Columbia label), and started accumulating musicians. From her first album, she brought the same guitarist, Bruce Langhorne. She also brought a noted bassist, Bill Lee, whose son Spike Lee would later become a famous filmmaker. Finally, Hester gave the harp position to an up and coming talent she had met, Bob Dylan. You’d think she’d have given Dylan the role of harmonica, but that spot was reserved for the person who had played harmonica for her on her first album, her father.

The song heard below is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley. Often heard at funerals, it is one of the most recorded gospel songs in history and was created with inspiration from a non-religious ballad. The version heard below was the opening track on Hester’s Carolyn Hester (Columbia) album, which featured 100% traditional songs such as this one. The harmonica on this track was played by Bob Dylan who during the sessions met John Hammond, the man who would eventually sign him to Columbia Records, starting his ascent to super-stardom. For indirectly arranging this meeting, Carolyn Hester has always received a lot of credit for bringing Dylan into the national spotlight.



Carolyn Hester - I'll Fly Away (1961)

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Lyrics:

One bright morning when this world is over
I'll fly away
To that land on God’s celestial shore
I'll fly away
Fly Away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

Just one more weary day and then
I’ll fly away
To that land where joy’s will never end
I’ll fly away
Fly away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

One bright morning when my time is nigh
I'll fly away
Like a bird, o’er these prison walls, I’ll fly
I'll fly away
Fly Away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

Fairport Convention - Reynardine (1969)

Guitarist Simon Nicol and bassist Ashley Hutchings (male) first met in 1966 while playing in the Ethnic Shuffle Orchestra in North London. They practiced together in Nicol’s father’s house, named “Fairport,” in the same part of town that The Kinks’ brothers, Ray Davies and Dave Davies, had grown up in. Soon uniting with Richard Thompson and Shaun Frater, the musicians borrowed the name of the home in which they practiced and called themselves the Fairport Convention. At their very first live performance, their drummer Frater was challenged by an audience member claiming to be able to do a better job. Martin Lamble, the accuser, permanently took Frater’s spot. With the addition of female vocalist Judy Dyble, the first solid incarnation of the band was formed. As mentioned in our previous post featuring this group, it would be unwise to try and list all the personnel changes over the coming years, as over twenty-five members’ names would need to be explained.

This song, which was released on the band’s 1969 Liege & Lief album, is a traditional English ballad. The song, dating back to before the 1800s, deals with a main character, Reynardine, who attracts beautiful women back to his castle. In 1904, a new version of the song was arranged that included a new aspect to Reynardine, the ability to transform himself into a fox. The 1904 version, now the most widely known, is commonly overlooked as a “new” version, as people generally believe, incorrectly, that the werefox aspect of Reynardine was a part of the original song. The album which this particular version of the song appears on, Liege & Lief, is disputed as one of the first in the English folk rock genre (not to be confused with the American folk rock genre started by bands such as The Byrds years prior).



Fairport Convention - Reynardine (1969)

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Lyrics:

One evening as I rambled among the leaves so green
I overheard a young woman converse with Reynardine

Her hair was black, her eyes were blue, her lips as red as wine
And he smiled to gaze upon her, did that sly, old Reynardine

She said, “Kind sir, be civil, my company forsake”
“For in my own opinion, I fear you are some rake”

“Oh, no,” he said, “no rake am I; brought up in Venus train”
“But I'm seeking for concealment all along the lonesome plain”

“Your beauty so enticed me, I could not pass it by”
“So it's with my gun I'll guard you along the mountains high”

“And if, by chance, you should look for me, perhaps you'll not me find”
“For I'll be in my castle; inquire for Reynardine”

Sun went dark, she followed him, his teeth did brightly shine
And he led her over the mountains, did that sly old Reynardine

The Graham Bond Organisation - Wade in the Water (1965)

Formed in the early ‘60s, this band was originally known as the Graham Bond Quartet. Mixing jazz with elements of rhythm & blues, the group was centered around frontman Graham Bond, a classically trained pianist who “dabbled” with the saxophone (he played it in a very avant-garde way). Not being entirely pleased with a deal they had received to sign with EMI, the band decided to sign with Decca Records in 1964. They opened for Marvin Gaye and toured the UK backing Chuck Berry, but were constantly in turmoil because of the clashing between drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce. Eventually, Graham Bond told Baker that he should ask Bruce to leave the band. When Bruce was asked to leave, he hadn’t been informed it was actually Bond’s request and thought it was merely Baker telling him to leave. Bruce felt he had just as much claim to the band as Baker did, so he kept showing up to perform at their concerts until Baker finally convinced him to quit for good at knifepoint backstage before a show in August 1965. Ironically, it was less than a year later in July 1966 when Ginger Baker quit the band and he and Bruce were reunited in the supergroup Cream with Eric Clapton. In late-1966, Graham Bond attempted to reform his band as a trio consisting of himself, original member Dick Heckstall-Smith, and newcomer Jon Hiseman; but, their commercial success was severely lacking. Although the band officially broke up in 1967, Bond would again unite with his original bandmates when he briefly played in Ginger Baker’s Air Force and toured with Jack Bruce in the 1970s. After years of substance abuse, it was reported that Bond had apparently been clean by this period, but also had a growing obsession with black magic and the occult. On May 8, 1974, Graham Bond died of an apparent suicide after lying down (or falling) in front of a train.

Released on the band’s first album, The Sound of ’65, this song is a traditional track that, for the sake of this band, was arranged by John Group and Paul Getty. Regarding the history of the song, it’s author is unknown, but it was first published in New Jubliee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers by brothers John Wesley Work, Jr. and Frederick J. Work in 1901. The song, which originally contained lyrics referencing the Bible, was a spiritual song for enslaved African Americans in the United States.



The Graham Bond Organisation - Wade in the Water (1965)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Jeff Beck - Greensleeves (1968)

Born June 24, 1944 in Surrey, England, Jeff Beck is one of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music. As a child, he sang in the church choir and was influenced by the blues. As a teenager, he was introduced to Jimmy Page by his sister. His first appearance on a record came in 1964 when he played guitar as a session musician on “I’m Not Running Away”/ “So Sweet” by a group called The Fitz and the Startz. In March 1965, Beck joined The Yardbirds as Eric Clapton’s replacement at the suggestion of Jimmy Page, who had turned down the band’s first offer. After being fired from The Yardbirds for his irritable temper and unreliability some time later, Beck recorded a single song with Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Nicky Hopkins (heard here) before forming The Jeff Beck Group in early 1967 with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Around the same time, Pink Floyd had lost their front man Syd Barrett and considered asking Beck to join their band. Nobody ever asked Beck, however, as none of them “had the nerve,” according to Pink Floyd’s drummer, Nick Mason. About two years later, just after Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones had passed away, the remaining members of The Rolling Stones talked with Beck about joining their band, but, that too never panned out as they had different interests at the time. Just before the Woodstock festival in August 1969, The Jeff Beck Group folded and had to cancel their scheduled performance at the festival.

While no author is officially known, this traditional English folk song was first registered in September of the year 1580 by “Richard Jones.” Jones registered the song under the title “A Newe Northern Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves,” while six other songs similar to it were being registered by other people throughout the next twelve months. Although an instrumental version is heard below, the song actually contains lyrics which are often disputed amongst historians. It has been covered countless times.

This cover released in August 1968 was put out by Jeff Beck on the side on a solo album while he was still working with The Jeff Beck Group. It was released on his first solo album, Truth. Featured on the album were numerous cover songs written by other musicians as well as multiple tracks credited to “Jeffrey Rod,” a writing credit given to the combined work of Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart. The track heard below was the opening track to the second side of the album.



Jeff Beck - Greensleeves (1968)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Ray Peterson - Corrina, Corrina (1960)

Ray Peterson was born in Denton, Texas 1939 and suffered from polio as a child. Managing to overcome his disease, he moved to Los Angeles, California at the age of nineteen to pursue a career in singing. After having only been there a year in 1959, Peterson released “The Wonder of You” which reached number twenty-five in the US and twenty-three in the UK. The song would later be covered by Elvis Presley. His biggest hit song came the following year, in 1960, when he released the “teenage tragedy” song titled “Tell Laura I Love Her.” Later that same year, Peterson created his own record label, Dunes Records with his manager Stan Shulman, where he hired record producer Phil Spector. He had a string of mild hits in 1961 and a couple of cooler ones in 1963 and 1964 before the British Invasion took off. After the waning of his popularity, Peterson moved to Nashville, Tennessee and became a Baptist Church minister, where he would occasionally take part in “oldies” tours that celebrated the music of the ‘50s and early ‘60s. He died from cancer in 2005 in Smyrna, Tennessee at the age of 65, leaving behind his widow and seven children.

Although this traditional song was first recorded in December 1928 by Bo Carter, the song has roots dating much farther back. Iterations of the song can be traced back to 1918 via sheet music written by Roger Graham. This particular version of the song, recorded by Peterson in 1960, was the first hit that Peterson released on his newly formed Dunes Record label. It was also his second-highest charting song, after “Tell Laura I Love Her,” reaching number nine in the US and number forty-one in the UK. Other artists to have performed the song include Big Joe Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley & His Comets, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell. The version by Bob Dylan was re-arranged to mix with Robert Johnson’s 1937 song “Stones in My Passaway” and released on his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.



Ray Peterson - Corrina, Corrina (1960)

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Lyrics:

I love Corrina,
Tell the world I do
I love Corrina
Tell the world I do
I pray every night
She'll learn to love me, too

Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
I love you so

Oh, little darling
Where you been so long?
Oh, little darlin’
Where you been so long?
I ain’t had no loving
Since you been gone

Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
I love you so

I left Corrina
Way across the sea, oh me
I left Corrina
Way across the sea
If you see Corrina
Send her home to me

Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
I love you so

Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
Corrina, Corrina
I love you so

Oh, darling, don't you know
I love you so?
Darling, don't you know?

Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar (1972)

Formed in Dublin, Ireland in December 1969, this band’s birth began when Phil Lynott and Brian Downey, who had met while still in high school, were playing a gig at a local pub. Attending the gig were two ex-members of Van Morrison’s Them, Eric Bell and Eric Wrixon. After the show, Bell and Wrixon asked Lynott and Downey if they’d like to come together as a group, and they agreed after Lynott was assured he would get to play bass and that they would record some of his original songs. Although Wrixon and Bell would eventually part ways with the group before they had released their first single and after unsuccessful records, respectively, the band would go on to great success in the early-to-mid ‘70s with songs like “The Boys Are Back in Town,” “Jailbreak,” and their first successful single heard below. They opened for many famous groups while touring, such as Queen, Aerosmith, REO Speedwagon, and Rush, all while recording new albums and having their lineup constantly rotate through new members. Finally, amid bickering and declining sales, the band called it quits in 1983. After their breakup, Lynott experienced a constantly mild solo career which was cut short after he was hospitalized for abscesses, pneumonia, and septicaemia in 1986. Caused by his drug dependency over the years, the illnesses resulted in Lynott’s death on January 4th, 1986. He was thirty-six years old.

With roots dating back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this traditional Irish folk song had been recorded by many artists, such as Burl Ives, The Seekers, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Dubliners, and others, before being recorded by this band. This version of the song, however, was immensely popular in Ireland when released in late 1972, staying at the top of the Irish charts for seventeen weeks. It also peaked at number six in in February 1973 in the UK and charted in many other countries around Europe. Released while the group was away on tour, the band had been angry that the song was released without their knowledge, feeling that it didn’t accurately represent a sound or image they wanted to be associated with. Soon after its immense success, they were happily performing it live at each of their shows.



Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar (1972)

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Lyrics:

As I was going over
The Cork and Kerry mountains
I saw Captain Farrell
And his money he was countin’
I first produced my pistol
And then produced my rapier
I said, “Stand o’er and deliver
or the Devil he may take ya”

Musha ring dum a do dum a da
Whack for my daddy, oh
Whack for my daddy, oh
There's whiskey in the jar, oh

I took all of his money
And it was a pretty penny
I took all of his money
And I brought it home to Molly
She swore that she loved me
Never would she leave me
But, the devil take that woman
For you know she tricked me easy

Musha ring dum a do dum a da
Whack for my daddy, oh
Whack for my daddy, oh
There's whiskey in the jar, oh

Bein’ drunk and weary
I went to Molly’s chamber
Takin’ my Molly with me
And I never knew the danger
For about six or maybe seven
In walked Captain Farrell
I jumped up, fired off my pistols
And I shot him with both barrels

Musha ring dum a do dum a da
Whack for my daddy, oh
Whack for my daddy, oh
There's whiskey in the jar, oh

Now some men like the fishin’
And some men like the fowlin'
And some men like to hear
The cannonball a’roarin'
Me, I like sleepin'
Especially in my Molly's chamber
But here I am in prison
Here I am with a ball and chain, yeah

Musha ring dum a do dum a da
Whack for my daddy, oh
Whack for my daddy, oh
There's whiskey in the jar, oh

I got drunk on whiskey, oh
And I loved, I loved, I loved, I loved, I loved, I loved my Molly, oh
And she’ll know we’ll never do that old dirty town
That dirty old town…

The Fentones - Simla Beat Theme (1971)

In 1970, India’s oldest cigarette company, Simla, decided to host a battle of the bands competition to gain the favor of young people in the country. The contest, which ran annually through 1972, awarded the winner of the contest with a recording session overseen by India’s veteran record producer V. P. Vendraswamiran (VPV, for short), who’s studio was an ex-British Navy minesweeper ship that had been moored in Bombay.

Many of the participants in the competition used flour to give themselves a more Western appearance, as all of them had chosen to sing in English. Many of the bands sang pop songs from the West or traditional Indian songs reinvented with electric guitars and power chords.

This band was one of the participants in the competition that took place in 1971. Their song heard below sounds like a surf song from the early ‘60s, but was apparently recorded in 1971. It was included on a compilation album put out by the cigarette company each year after the conclusion of the show.



The Fentones - Simla Beat Theme (1971)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians - Auld Lang Syne (1947)

Born Gaetano Alberto Lombardo in Ontario 1902, this Canadian-American was a largely successful bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane speedboat racer. Coming from Italian parents who had moved to Canada, Guy and his brothers had always been singing since a very young age. Guy himself put on his first vocal performance at the age of twelve, and was recording in studios by twenty-one. He formed The Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, Victor, and other friends from his hometown and led them to international success through the late ‘20s and 1930s. At the time of the band’s success, many jazz and big-band purists had found their music to corny. Fortunately for them, the general public loved it.

Lombardo and his band would also go on to be associated with New Year’s Eve, as they played on the radio (and later television) each New Year’s Eve from 1928 until 1976. This song, now associated with the New Year’s Eve celebration and New Year’s Day itself, was popularized by Lombardo and his band when they began playing it each year starting in 1929. This particular version of the song was recorded on September 29, 1947 and was published by Decca Records as a single. Although Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve would eventually become popular with younger viewers, Lombardo’s New Year’s Specials remained popular with older viewers. Traditionally, Lombardo's version of the song is the first song played after the ball has dropped on midnight in Time Square, New York.

Also, see what other New Year's Eve related music we have.



Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians - Auld Lang Syne (1947)

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Lyrics:

Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And days of lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
For auld lang syne

The Ventures - Walk, Don't Run (1960)

In 1958, Bob Bogle went looking for a new car in Seattle, Washington. At a local car lot, he met the son of an auto-dealer, Don Wilson. The two found a mutual interest in guitars and music and soon began playing at parties, in clubs, and in bars as The Versatones. Eventually renaming themselves to the moniker seen above, the group only performed instrumental songs, more often than not of the surf variety. All in all, thirty-eight of their albums charted in the US; fourteen of their singles charted (with six of them being in the Top 40); and three of their singles made it into the Top 10. They were number six in the 1960s for total number of albums sold and have the distinct honor of being the best-selling instrumental group of all time. Bob Bogle passed away in 2009 at the age of seventy-five.

Inspired by the traditional song “Softly, As in the Morning Sunrise,” this song was originally written and recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954. When recorded by this band in the fall of 1960 as a surf tune, it quickly became a hit in both the US and the UK. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later revisited by the group in 1964, calling the later version “Walk, Don’t Run ’64.” Despite more than a dozen artists covering this song, this version remains the mostly widely known.



The Ventures - Walk, Don't Run (1960)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

The Charlatans - Alabama Bound (1969)

Formed in 1964 in San Francisco, this group was the first to play the style which would eventually be known as the San Francisco Sound. By they themselves wearing Victorian and Wild West-styled clothing, they would also become highly influential in more than just a musical regard, influencing the Haight-Ashbury area’s hippie clothing style. In 1965, the group created a promotional poster for their gig in Nevada, now collectively known as “The Seed,” which would later be regarded as the first psychedelic concert poster. Despite heavily influencing the psychedelic scene in San Francisco, they ironically had more of a folk/jug-band type of sound. And although the band was very popular locally from 1965 through 1967, they weren’t able to release their only full-length album, The Charlatans, until 1969 due to internal conflicts. That long delay, unfortunately, would break the group. By the time of that album’s release, the group’s sound was considered to be outdated and the album didn’t sell as well at all.

That’s not to say, however, that the group wasn’t recording music prior to 1969. The group’s recordings from 1966 until 1968 were gathered and released on a 1996 CD titled The Amazing Charlatans. Unfortunately, it’s been said that the recordings don’t feature the same energy that their live performances showcased. This song, a traditional tune from 1909 (and inspired as far back as 1849), was released on the band’s 1969 album, The Charlatans. It was rearranged by the band, as many traditional songs are, to give it the band’s personal touch. This version has a strong psychedelic sound to it, while two alternate versions of the song released on The Amazing Charlatans were more folk sounding.



The Charlatans - Alabama Bound (1969)

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Lyrics:

Don't you leave me here
Don't you leave me here
If you must go please leave a dime for beer
Don't you leave me here
Don't you leave me here
And don't you leave me here

Don't you do like me
Don't you do like me
Drink your good cherry wine
Let that whiskey be
Let that whiskey be
And let that whiskey be

I'm Alabama bound
I'm Alabama bound
If that train don't stop and turn around
I'm Alabama bound
I'm Alabama bound
I'm Alabama bound
Yes I am

I'm Alabama bound
I'm Alabama bound
If that train don't stop and turn around
I'm Alabama bound
I'm Alabama bound
I'm Alabama bound

Yes I am, yes I am
Yes I am, yes I am
I’m Alabama bound
(Yes I am, yes I am)
I’m Alabama bound
(Yes I am, yes I am)
I’m Alabama bound
(Yes I am, yes I am)
I’m Alabama bound
(Yes I am, yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am, yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound
(Yes I am)
Alabama bound…

Big Brother and the Holding Company - Down On Me (1967)

Peter Albin had been playing with future Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Ron McKerman through whom he met Sam Andrew. The pair decided to start a band and picked up guitarist James Gurley and eventually drummer David Getz (who had replaced their first drummer, Chuck Jones). After achieving a decent amount of successs in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco, the group’s manager, Chet Helms, suggested they try a singer he knew of in Texas: Janis Joplin. After arriving, the group wasn’t thrilled with Joplin’s singing style compared to the direction they wanted to take their music, but Joplin’s style eventually won out and the group’s popularity skyrocketed.

A traditional song from the 1920s, this song was first recorded by Deacon Leon Davis and His Congregation in 1926 under the title, “Everybody’s Down On Me”. This particular recording by today’s artist was rearranged by Joplin and first released during the Summer of Love on the group’s debut self-titled album. Joplin also added new lyrics, essentially making the song her own. A live version would later be released in 1973 on the album titled Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits.



Big Brother and the Holding Company - Down On Me (1967)

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Lyrics:

Down on me
Down on me
Looks like everybody in this whole round world
They're down on me

Love in this world is so hard to find
When you've got yours and I got mine
That's why it looks like everybody in this whole round world
They're down on me

Saying they're down on me
Down on me
Looks like everybody in this whole round world
Down on me

When you see a hand that's held out toward you
Give it some love, someday it may be you
That's why it looks like everybody in this whole round world
They're down on me, yeah

Oh, Lord, they're down on me
Down on me, oh
Looks like everybody in this whole round world
Is down on me

Believe in your brother, have faith in man
Help each other, honey, if you can
Because it looks like everybody in this whole round world
Is down on me

I'm saying they're down on me
All down on me, oh
It looks like everybody in this whole round world
Down on me

The G-Clefs - I Understand (Just How You Feel) (1961)

This group, formed in Massachusetts in 1952, consisted of four brothers and one childhood friend. Growing up, the Scott brothers created their own gang, “The Band of Angels,” to guard what police referred to as “Scotty’s Alley”. The group had two moderate successes in the charts: 1956’s “Ka-Ding-Dong” and the song heard below.

This song is an amalgam of the group’s lyrics with the tune of the New Year’s traditional song, “Auld Lang Syne,” which is also sung in the background. “Auld Lang Syne” itself is the combination of a Scottish poem written in 1788 by Robert Burns and a traditional folk song. The phrase “auld lang syne” translates to “long long ago” and “for auld lang syne” therefore indicates “for old time’s sake”.



The G-Clefs - I Understand (Just How You Feel) (1961)

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Lyrics:

I understand just how you feel
(Should old acquaintance be forgot)
Your love for me; why not be mine?
(And never brought to mind?)
It's over now but it was grand
(Should old acquaintance be forgot)
I understand; I understand
(And days of auld lang syne?)

If you ever change your mind
(For auld lang syne, my dear)
Come back to me and you will find
(For auld lang syne)
Me waiting there at your command
(We’ll spill a cup of wine, my dear)
I understand; I understand
(For auld lang syne)

I miss you so
Please believe me when I tell you
I just can't stand to see you go
You know

If you ever change your mind
(Should old acquaintance be forgot)
Come back to me and you will find
(And never brought to mind?)
Me waiting there at your command
(Should old acquaintance be forgot)
I understand; I understand
(And days of auld lang syne)

I understand just how you feel. Let bygones be bygones. But always remember: I love you, I love you, I love you.

(We'll sip a cup of wine, my dear, for Auld Lang Syne)
I understand

Bob Dylan - Masters of War (1963)

One of the most influential figures in the history of popular music, this reluctant “voice of a generation” started by writing folk music centered on US civil rights and anti-war themes. His music has evolved numerous times over the past fifty years and has incorporated folk, rock, blues, country, gospel, and much more. He was a large influence on The Beatles, specifically John Lennon, and later helped create the supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys, with George Harrison. This is an artist who cannot be summed up in the space provided here.

This song comes from 1963, a time before he electrified his music and was still writing folk songs for social change. The music is based on the English folk song "Nottamun Town". Though not as popular as “Blowin’ in the Wind” or “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” this song, in a darker sense, fits to the same lyrical theme. Of the lyrics, he said he had never written about hoping anyone dead before, but he felt he “couldn’t help it with this one.”

[Note: this probably isn't the type of song you can play as “background music” and be entertained. Its strong point is its message/lyrics and is suggested to be listened to as if hearing a speech. Enjoy!]



Bob Dylan - Masters of War (1963)

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Lyrics:

Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
And then you set back and watch
While the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
While the young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn?
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I’ll follow your casket
On the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand over your grave
’Til I’m sure that you’re dead