Jackson C Frank - Blues Run The Game
I had heard Simon & Garfunkel's cover of this song which ponders catching a boat to England or maybe Spain on the 60s station several times and found it okay, but not impressive. During Season 1 of This Is Us, the song was featured twice during the season, the first time being the original by the writer Jackson C Frank. I quickly fell in love with his version and it's a regular on my playlist at all times.
Frank had a tragic childhood as he was a survivor of a furnace explosion at his school which killed 15 of his classmates, including his girlfriend. He suffered burns to more than 50% of his body and had to endure a long recovery. To keep him occupied, one of his teachers gifted him with an acoustic guitar which he taught himself to play. When he was 21, he received the payout of the settlement for injuries suffered in the explosion. He received $100k, which would be roughly $900k in today's dollars. He traveled to England in 1965 and recorded an album which Paul Simon directed. He was well received by England and had a modest hit there with this song. But he began experiencing mental issues stemming from the explosion and returned home to New York. Depression and possible schizophrenia plagued him for the rest of his life and he was homeless when he passed in 1999.
The song was featured in Robert Redford's final film, The Old Man & The Gun and is a perfect fit in the soundtrack. The movie also stars Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits and Casey Affleck. If you've not seen it yet, take my advice and watch it soon! The video below is the trailer from this move.
James Taylor - Carolina In My Mind
James Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina when his father took a position as assistant professor of medicine at UNC School of Medicine. Taylor was roughly 3 years old at the time.
In 1968, he was in England, recording his debut album for Apple and began experiencing severe homesickness. He wrote this song then and it was included on his first album. He had a very modest hit with it in England and it featured Paul McCartney on bass and backing vocals and George Harrison also on backing vocals. The song opened with hin whistling and was of a faster tempo. Record buyers in the US didn't seem to take much notice of the song, but a NC country music artist, George Hamilton IV recorded it and reached #29 on the US Country Music Charts.
Taylor did a re-recording with a slower tempo in 1976 for his Greatest Hits album and this is the version that Americans most recognize. The lyrics mention the"holy host of others standing around me" which is a reference to The Beatles who were recording The Beatles (White Album) in the same studio. When he sings that he's "still on the dark side of the moon," he is admitting his struggles with drug addiction.
The song is considered the unofficial state anthem for North Carolina as well as being the unofficial school song for UNC-Chapel Hill where it's played during every sporting event and is always sung by every graduating class.
The Beatles - Blue Jay Way
This George Harrison song from 1967's Magical Mystery Tour details George's worry about Derek Taylor, The Beatles' publicist, who was lost driving in the fog in the Los Angeles canyons while on his way to meet George and his party who were renting a house on Blue Jay Way, one of the famous Bird Streets of the Hollywood Hills.
George Harrison - Crackerbox Palace
This song was the ninth track and second single from George's 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3. I had always assumed that Crackerbox Palace was just the made up nickname for his English home, Friar Park, until I started the research for this column.
Crackerbox Palace was the name given to his home in Los Angeles by Lord Buckley who was a wildly popular stand-up comedian and recording artist in the 40s and 50s. Lord Buckley has often been cited as a huge influence on their careers by such notables as Dizzy Gillespie, Wavy Gravy, Lenny Bruce, Ken Kesey, Frank Zappa, Robin Williams, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and of course, George Harrison.
Buddy Guy - Sweet Home Chicago
This blues standard was first recorded by Robert Johnson, the Grandfather of Rock & Roll, in 1936 and has been recorded by many others in all the years since, but my personal favorite is Buddy Guy's version. Buddy puts a certain vitality into it that is seldom heard with other guitarists. Actually Buddy Guy is the guitarist most often cited by the guitar greats like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Carlos Santana, Keith Richards and others as the greatest guitarist ever. He was even hired by Jimi Hendrix's record label to help Jimi fine tune his performance technique when Jimi was coming on the scene. Buddy Guy's playing is so great, it even got Barak Obama up on his feet and singing with him. Yeah, he's that good.
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
Written by Lennon while in Ibiza filming the movie How I Won The War, this song is an ode to the Salvation Army Orphanage Home which was near John's home with Aunt Mimi in Liverpool. Paul McCartney has stated that John saw the gardens behind the walls surrounding the property as a magical place he could easily lose himself in when he was a youngster and he often slipped over the wall despite Aunt Mimi forbidding him to do so.
Now, your turn, What are some of your favorite musical places? Please share.
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