Yabba Dabba Do, the King is gone and so are you

I met George Jones once. On his tour bus.

And George was in his pajamas. His wife Nancy, famous for sobering him up, was keeping a close eye on him.

It was following a show at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA. A friend of mine who was a publicist for opening-act Tracey Lawrence was able to get us the opportunity for the brief visit.

I shook his hand and mumbled something nondescript, similar to several of my other brushes with greatness -- Miami Steve Van Zandt, Nick Lowe, Joe Ely, Townes Van Zandt, Richard Thompson, Ian Hunter and Springsteen himself.

Just wanted to get this on record before it disappears from my memory.

Everybody wants to be the man at the top

Working on America's soundtrack:
Barry Mann with Cynthia Weil and Carole King

A few kind words can be mighty inspirational.

I was on Twitter the other day, and it was suggested that I follow Mann/Weil. I clicked on the link to look at some of their tweets, and saw they send out 140-character or less missives on rock and roll history and other tidbits. I also noticed that Miami Steve Van Zandt follows them, and he has impeccable taste.

So, I clicked the follow button. Lo and behold, I get a personal note from them later that night that read:

“Hey Dennis, thnx 4 following us. I found ur blog 2 be very interesting. Hope u enjoy our tweets, song postings & snatches of R & R history.”

I (not sure which one – does it matter?) FOUND YOUR BLOG 2 BE VERY INTERESTING).

Were they just being nice? Or did they (he or she) actually take the time to read some of my musings? If they did, they surely recognized that their songs have been speaking to me since I first heard The Crystals telling us about the boy they love.

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil had a significant hand in creating what we call rock and roll. To wit, THEY WROTE THESE SONGS:

• "He's Sure the Boy I Love" - The Crystals
• "Hungry” - Paul Revere & the Raiders
• "Kicks" - Paul Revere & the Raiders
• "Make Your Own Kind of Music" - Mama Cass Elliot
• "None of Us Are Free" (Mann, Weil, Brenda Russell) - Ray Charles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Solomon Burke
• "On Broadway" - The Drifters , George Benson (written with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller)
• "Only in America" - Jay and the Americans
• "Saturday Night at the Movies" - The Drifters
• "Uptown" - The Crystals
• "Walking in the Rain" - The Ronettes
• "We Gotta Get out of This Place" - The Animals
• "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration”- The Righteous Brothers
• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin - The Righteous Brothers (written with Phil Spector)

....and dozens of others. The above are just my favorites of theirs.

So, even if Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil never look at my blog again, I am incredibly honored that they took the time to look at it once.

And it means I need to step up my game.

Because hey, you never know.

Learned more from a three-minute record...

Speaking of radio, "Little Steven's Underground Garage," which is always great and a true bright spot on the dial, was especially noteworthy last weekend. In the first of a three-part series, he and special guest Bruce Springsteen discussed their influences, along with the first records each bought.

For Little Steven, his first purchase was "Tears on My Pillow" by Little Anthony and the Imperials, while Springsteen's was a record of Dusty Rhodes (wasn't he a professional wrestler?) doing Elvis covers. "Meet the Beatles" was the first album for each.

For me, it was the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand," although as Springsteen mentioned on the show, I also was attracted to novelty records. "The Twist" and "Limbo Rock" were Top Tens for me, and I was fortunate because my 10 years-older-than-me brother had many of the most boss 45s.

When he was out of the house, I would go into his room and play some of them quietly and stare at them like they were all various pieces of the Holy Grail. I was especially enthralled by the Sun label. It's bright yellow illustration of a rooster was striking, and even more prized because of the wondrous sounds I heard when I put them on the turntable. Elvis, of course, but also Billy Lee Riley, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis.

At the time I didn't know I was holding history in my hands. But I knew these were significant; they felt real, and had some primoridal sound that suggested a larger world outside of that tiny bedroom. I played these records and looked at them for hours, and I was lucky -- my mother never told me to stop, only to be careful with them. I like to think I treated the records with the museum respect they deserved. The time spent in that room turned out to some of my most important education.

By the time "Rubber Soul" (my first album) came out, I had cajoled my parents into my little record player, on which I played my own tiny, but ever-growing, record collection until I wore out the grooves. I went to McCrory's every week with my paper-route money to check out new releases, hoping for a Beatles picture sleeve each time.

I've gone on about this before, but this is why today's music seems so disposable. It's downloaded, from somewhere in the air, and it feels like it could all go away in one quick breath, or click. And if it's new music maybe it wouldn't even matter.

A few weeks ago I was looking through my old albums that I don't really play anymore. Each jacket has a story, a memory, and sometime provokes a question: What the hell was I thinking with this Uriah Heep album?

But I can't part with them; each is a mile marker: some good, some bad, some great, some embarassing, some indispensible. When I hold my very worn copy of "Sgt. Pepper's," I'm 12 years old, listening to life-changing music while my parents are downstairs and my brother is studying across the hall.

And life is full of promise, and not so complicated.

Surprise Surprise

I thought the time of being amazed at a previously-unheard song was over.

I was wrong. And stunned that said song is get this, 43 YEARS OLD.

Look, I know the Hollies. I’ve loved many of their songs for years. “Look Through Any Window,” “Carrie-Anne," “Bus Stop.” All great.

But where have I been with “King Midas in Reverse?” Brilliant British Invasion harmonies, great lyrics, superb arrangement and hooks galore that slam me right in the gut. A three minute masterpiece, perhaps the one Springsteen is talking about in “No Surrender?”

I'm embarrassed that I've never heard this before. I think my rock and roll cred may have been seriously damaged.

How did I finally learn about this? Little Steven’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech last month for the Hollies is spot on in many areas (excuse the slightly rough language), and he mentions this song as the crowning moment in the Hollies career.

I think he’s right.

King Midas in Reverse (original single)
King Midas in Reverse (live)