Hi, Danny O'Toole here.
If you've already picked up Honeymoon in Overdrive I'd love to hear that you couldn’t put it down … which is how you found yourself at the appendix page entitled “Wait, there’s more!” where I baited you into coming to this website to “dig all sixty-one highway hits that revisit the groovy days of the Crown Vic’s Town and Country radio”—referring to 61 songs that in some way influenced corresponding passages in my story.
Congratulations, diehard reader, you have arrived at the list of 61—a significant number, as you will discover. (And if you have yet to read Honeymoon In Overdrive, a look through this might get you going!)
While Honeymoon In Overdrive involved a lively imagination, one of the truisms is that Angela and I really did meet in a guitar class. (Eat your hearts out, guys.) Music has always been a big part of our lives, before and after we met, and this is the list of the songs that somehow found their way into my story, however obliquely. How many did you spy? Find out below.
My one caveat: since the story takes place in the three years 1969 through 1971, I confined myself to songs from that era or before.
Here they are—title, corresponding story excerpt, and arbitrary tidbits—in order of appearance in the story (well, most of the time):
0. “Reveille” / reveille
Story excerpt: … he still had to hustle his AWOL-weekend butt from her Minnesota bed back to his Illinois base before Monday’s heartless reveille.
Tidbits: If you were in the military, chances are this little number equates to zero on your list too. In use since at least 1644 (how could Wikipedia be wrong?), it is the staccato bugle call that wrenched you out of sleep's reverie every morning at the crack of dawn if you were in basic training or lived on base. Even for those out of earshot it became the generic term for duty’s wakeup call. So if you risked a weekend dalliance that lured you more than 50 miles from base—technically AWOL—you sure as shootin' better beat it back. For you whippersnappers who never experienced the draft, try to imagine when every able-bodied young male was subject to having their name drawn for a one-way trip to some godforsaken rice paddy. This is the period background (heavy, man) that underlies the tongue-in-cheek comic relief of “Honeymoon In Overdrive.” Many young lovers were torn from each other's arms in those days, not of their own choosing—awakening every morning to the stark reality of reveille.
1. “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day”
Robert Johnson 1936. Based on “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” Hambone Willie Newbern 1929; Johnny Winter rolled out a rousing electric slide version in 1968 that he credits to McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters), which goes to show how this song has gotten around.
Story excerpt: He had rolled in at dawn to get his biscuit rolling done, and—to his ever-rolling dismay—would have to roll back out tomorrow night.
Tidbits: Johnson’s classic is one of the better known examples of many blues tunes (such as “Biscuit Roller Blues” Kokomo Arnold 1935) that use the term “biscuit rolling” or “biscuit roller,” an early gender-unbiased term for serving that nice, hot treat with a generous portion of jelly—hence the alternate term “jelly roll.” But don't get me going on suggestive blues terms, or we'll never get on to the next suggestive song.
2. “Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor”
Mississippi John Hurt 1928, Tom Rush 1963, and many others.
Story excerpt: But every grueling mile to and from the proverbial pallet she had made for him on the floor was worth it to pull off a bonus-filled weekend she would never forget.
Tidbits: One of life’s greatest lessons—a simple pallet on a nice hard floor beats the finest nocturnal appurtenances of royalty, any night. Or day.
3. “Vincent”
Don McLean, released October 24, 1971.
Story excerpt: He whisked her off to its inspiring overlook on a magical December eve—a deep winter’s faerie faerie night that turned breath to faerie frost and snow to faerie sparkles.
Tidbits: “Starry, starry night” waxes so poetic, and the melody is so memorable (including my fond recollection of a live guitar instrumental solo by Chet Atkins), that this story scene called out for a parallel.
4. “Come On in My Kitchen”
Robert Johnson 1936. Covered by many artists over the decades, including a curious un-listed excerpt sung by David Crosby and snuck into the eponymous first album of Crosby, Stills, and Nash (deleted on the reissue).
Story excerpt: They both knew he could come on in her kitchen anytime to hot biscuit with honey all a-drizzle—
Tidbits: A slow song, actually written as poignant rather than suggestive; an example of Johnson's remarkable versatility.
5. “Heartbreak Hotel”
Tommy Durden and Mae Boren Axton 1955, released by Elvis Presley 1956.
Story excerpt: Forget Heartbreak Hotel. He found an even cheaper place to dwell, down at Motel Masochism.
Tidbits: The song that inspired me (along with a somewhat older guy named George Harrison) to first go looking for a guitar. Check out the grim but fascinating background of the lyrics online.
6. “Tom Dooley”
Traditional, popularized by the Kingston Trio 1958.
Story excerpt: He wallowed in one pitiful self-pity pit after another, seeking perverse solace in songs of lovers stabbed through the heart—usually by way of the back.
Tidbits: While there are seemingly countless ballads of lovers stabbed, bludgeoned, drowned, or otherwise summarily dispensed with, this is the one generally credited with starting the “top 40” period of the “American folk music revival” known as the “folk boom” (or as many self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek musicians refer to it, “the folk scare”) that frequently populated the charts until the Beatles landed in 1964. While this brief, light-hearted, moment in the sun is a testament to the fickleness of commercial popularity, folk music has enjoyed an avid following for centuries and will continue to do so long after most so-called—and clearly inferior!—musical "tastes” are suitably forgotten.
7. “Dream Lover”
Bobby Darin 1959.
Story excerpts:
• “Just remembering when a doe-eyed Dream Girl first bewitched me here.”
• “Mmmmmmm,” intoned Dream Girl, licking her Dreamsicle lips.
Tidbits: Played on the radio a gazillion times, this song had a way of stirring the dreams of a teenager entering puberty.
7-ish. “I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues”
Elton John, released April 1983.
Story excerpt: Class note: must be why they call it the blues.
Tidbits: Not included in the official “61” count since it was released after the December 1971 end date of the story, but obviously an irresistible influence by the time I sat down to write … so I slip it in here anyway.
7-ish#2. “March of the Swiss Soldiers”
Finale to the Overture to the opera Guillaume Tell (William Tell), Gioachino Rossini 1829. Inseparably associated with The Lone Ranger on radio and TV 1933-1957, but also employed by the sterling likes of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig—not to mention its role in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. (Gawd, you've gotta love Wikipedia.)
Story excerpts:
• Angela’s voice and snapping fingers returned him from the thrilling days of yesteryear— to the one he had planned for today.
• “Hey, just call ‘High-Low Silver’ and your Lone Danger will be there.”
• “I’m sure. Speaking of silver tongue, did mining my tonsils convince you I’d like to open the other present?”
• “Easy, Big Fellow!” Daniel muttered.
Tidbits: Some lines just write themselves. (But another selection excluded from the official "61" count; it didn't seem fair that I left out Tonto. Now, if Scout was a "she" I could've easily worked her in!)
8. “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life”
Victor Herbert 1910.
Story excerpts:
• Burning questions like, ‘What is the Sweet Mystery of Life? And will I ever find it?’
• She went at him as if aware of his imminence, of Life’s Sweet Mystery itself, her breathing ever faster.
Tidbits: From the operetta Naughty Marietta. Made popular in the 1935 film version starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Their films hold a timeless appeal for us lovey-dovey O’Tooles.
9. The Weatherball jingle
Dick Stebbins 1949.
Story excerpt: “When Miss Weatherball is glowing red, warmer weather’s just ahead.”
Tidbits: The Weatherball sat atop the Northwestern National Bank Building in downtown Minneapolis from 1949 until the building burned down in 1982. I drove past it every day in my freshman-commuting year and always looked up to see what was in store. For a time starting in 1950 there actually was a Mr. Weatherball, a factoid which I was delighted to discover on the Internet and morph into my story. For a trip down memory lane, see and hear the jingle (courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society and Wells Fargo Bank) at
http://www.mnhs.org/exhibits/weather/web_assets/Jingle.mov
10. “Hootchie Cootchie Man”
Willie Dixon 1954, released by Muddy Waters 1954. Or you could go with “Black Cat Bone” Johnny Winter 1968.
11. “Got My Mojo Working”
Preston Foster 1957, popularized by Muddy Waters 1957.
Story excerpt: A babe that remained innocent even as she rocked their black cat bones all night long, her scorching little axe working its mojo overtime.
Tidbits: Two of the numerous blues songs that incorporate one or both of the traditional terms “black cat bone” and “mojo.” If you didn’t know those terms, by the way, you might need to be informed that “axe” refers to a guitar, although—yes—the context conveniently suggests another apropos asset as well, thank you for noticing.
12. “Angel of the Morning”
Chip Taylor, recorded by Merrilee Rush 1968.
Story excerpts:
• —all the while thinking himself the rascal who would worm his way around the tête-à-tête, ‘ere the parlor’s dawn awakened his angel of the morning.
• His angel of the morning, noon, and night.
Tidbits: The classic song that suggested the daring notion of a voluntary one-night stand from the perspective of a liberated girl (though of course written by a guy) who “wants it now” and is willing to “face the dawn.” The songwriter is quoted as saying the words just poured out in twenty minutes “like magic”; he didn’t know where they came from or even what they meant as they came. Trivia notes: Chip Taylor is the younger brother of actor Jon Voight and uncle of Angelina Jolie. He also wrote the hip grinder “Wild Thing,” and in fact says that a slow rendition of that song led directly to “Angel of the Morning.” Hmmm. Better get out the axe and woodshed those chops.
13. “Sunshine of Your Love”
Jack Bruce, Pete Brown, Eric Clapton, released by Cream 1967.
Story excerpts:
• “Sweet Aphrodite, so this is how you find religion.”
• “Her shrewd eyes flicked over him and she appeared to marshal herself for one last Aphroditean effort.”
Tidbits: Was there ever such an anthem to pure hedonism? But leave it to the Brits to reference classical literature in the process—including Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. Naturally, Adonis was her lover (as in, “Even when his Adonis hazel eyes summarily dispatched her clothes”).
14. “Salty Dog Blues”
Traditional, early 1900s, with renditions by many folk, country, and blues artists, including Mississippi John Hurt 1928, 1965.
Story excerpt: Where had this cad slithered from? This scumbag. This salty dog.
Tidbits: Wikipedia cuts to the chase (so to speak) on this one: "Honey, let me be your salty dog" translates to "Let me be your sexual partner."
15. “Sympathy for the Devil”
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, recorded by the Rolling Stones 1968.
16. “Kind Hearted Woman Blues”
Robert Johnson 1936, yet again.
Story excerpt: Were there sympathy for that devil he could make a kind-hearted woman study evil all the time and a young girl weep to be his savior.
Tidbits: Nothing like the combined forces of Jagger and Johnson to convey the mood of a young college male after too many months hitting only on the books.
17. “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”
Leo Friedman and Beth Slater Whitson 1910, as performed by Lawrence Welk 1962.
Story excerpt: More woozy-headedness, plus his innards swooping into a Welkonian waltz.
Tidbits: An apt example of the “champagne music” on the Lawrence Welk show that my dear grandma tuned in faithfully every week when we lived down on the farm.
18. “Love Potion No. 9”
Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, 1959 single by The Clovers.
Story excerpt: He wheeled above the clouds, a total goner on Love Potion Number One.
Tidbits: Turns out, these guys were onto something. Science has since deduced that people mate pretty successfully by scent—which makes that Love Potion No. 1 in my book.
19a. “Four Strong Winds”
Ian Tyson 1963, recorded by Ian and Sylvia and many others.
19b. “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”
Pete Seeger (first three verses 1955) and Joe Hickerson (rounding it out, 1960). Popularized by The Kingston Trio 1961 and Peter, Paul, and Mary 1962.
19c. “The Cruel War”
Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey 1962. Another song on Peter, Paul, and Mary’s eponymous debut album, which hit the charts as Number One album for over a month in 1962. Ah, those halcyon days—PPM on juke boxes everywhere!
19d. “Until It’s Time for You to Go”
Buffy St. Marie 1965.
Story excerpt: “What songs do you know? ‘Four Strong Winds’? Hey, me too. What key? G? I play it in C. No problem, I’ll capo at the seventh fret.” Yeah, this duet definitely had potential. The evening flew. Her roommate—zikes, her older sister, this could be tricky—kept breezing by to check on them. Song after melancholy song, their mood poured out. “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “The Cruel War,” “Until It’s Time for You to Go.” Damn, what was this?
Tidbits: Four of the many songs that express the angst of the times, when blossoming relationships were even more tenuous than usual due to the ever-present threat of the draft and mounting casualties of Vietnam. This sentiment was paramount among ROTC students, who faced the certainty of some involvement in the war the minute they graduated. Armed in the meantime with guitars, banjos, and plaintive voices—like the other kids across campus during the hootenanny era—their every get-together was filled with the strains of these and similar mournful tunes. Songbooks were passed around when needed, but everyone knew the words to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”—the anthem of war’s circular futility.
20. “Leaving on a Jet Plane”
John Denver 1966, becoming a hit by Peter, Paul, and Mary in 1969.
Story excerpt: “As in ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane,’ except we both get it on, er, get on it.”
Tidbits: This hit filled the airwaves just as I had to abruptly depart for active duty, two days after rushing bleary-eyed through my grad school oral. The song title says it all, though I actually reported to Scott Air Force Base by driving (all night, in a 1937 Ford Tudor—my other car, which had even more headroom than the 1956 Ford co-starring in my story).
21. Walt Disney
A couple of my Disney influences. Either of these alone seemed a bit of a stretch for this list, so here they are as a team:
21a. “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)”
Al Hoffman, Mack David, and Jerry Livingston 1948. Featured in the 1950 movie Cinderella.
Story excerpt: “Special military charter, New York to London. Coach.” He stressed the last word and imagined waving a star-trailing wand as his glittering, glass-slippered bride ascended a flower-strewn staircase to her regal perch.
21b. “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”
Frank Churchill and Ann Ronell. Featured in 1933’s The Three Little Pigs.
Story excerpt: “My big bad wolf won’t have to grapple with those little dread riding hoods much longer.”
Tidbits: What “fairytale romance” is complete without classic Disney? (From back when kindly old Walt himself was at the helm.) It’s not for nothing that wedding plans still conjure up RKO replays.
22. “Women Be Wise”
Sippie Wallace 1966. One of Bonnie Raitt’s favorite concert numbers, and featured on her 1971debut album.
Story excerpt: Meanwhile she had heeded her wise sister’s observant tip—“Don’t advertise your man”— and gotten him to switch from light cotton pants to dark blue jeans “for less conspicuous happiness.”
Tidbits: A droll song written by and for female blues singers. We first heard Bonnie do this one in the Whole Coffeehouse at the University of Minnesota (the venue for our first date also, to see Minneapolis legend-to-be Leo Kottke), and later with Sippie at the Cocoanut Grove in L.A. Bonnie recorded this and the other tunes for her first album on Enchanted Island near Minneapolis, backed by various “old-timer” Minneapolis musicians and engineered by the incomparable Dave “Snaker” Ray.
22. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
Bob Dylan 1962. A 1963 hit by Peter, Paul, and Mary, and covered by many others.
Story excerpt: “Don’t worry, how could Ferdie not make it by the Twentieth?” he said, and launched into a take on their warmup song. “It ain’t no use to stew and ponder why, babe,” he sang with gusto and a flurry of riffs on his D-18.
Tidbits: An ideal song for the touch of dismissiveness needed to wrap up Part I.
24. “Key to the Highway”
Traditional, first recorded 1940. We associate it most with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee; we saw them live several times, and it was always a staple in their set list.
Story excerpt: Angela sighed, ripped into the bass run of “Key to the Highway,” and belted out, “Ferdie’s gonna roam this highway, until the day we die …”
Tidbits: Another classic, and the perfect foreshadowing setup for Part II.
25. “Dazed and Confused”
Led Zeppelin, recorded 1968 and released January 12,1969—nearly to the day (quite fittingly) that Daniel first laid eyes on Angela. Based on a 1967 song of the same name by Jake Holmes, but with lyrics rewritten and melody altered by Jimmy Page.
Story excerpt: SO HERE THEY WERE in the middle of the night, Ferdie crawling along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in fog worthy of a Led Zeppelin concert. Daniel strained over the steering wheel to follow the shoulder of the road, it’s ghostly white line clueing him onward. Mile. By. Dazed and Confused. Mile.
Tidbits: We saw Zep live in about 1975, complete with loop-less Theremin, bowed guitar, and dense stage fog. "Dazed and Confused" is the song we associate with all this, but according to Wiki "No Quarter" was actually the eery and foggy song. Regardless, it's all classic Page!
26. “Desolation Row”
Bob Dylan 1965.
Story excerpt: He knew that off in the blackness to the side awaited a rollover ditch and desolation row of one frozen field after another.
Tidbits: Dylan’s imagery is so powerful and pervasive that often all you need is a word or two (in this case the title) to convey a desired image in a totally different context. As an added bonus, this song appears on his album Highway 61 Revisited, discussed further below.
27. “No Particular Place to Go”
Chuck Berry 1964.
Story excerpt: No more stealing a feel in your automobile, your baby beside you at the wheel?
Tidbits: Who but Chuck Berry, master of quintessential road songs.
28. “Come Together”
Lennon-McCartney 1969.
Story excerpt: What would it take to top your hotrod, an arm around your girl, the two of you coming together on a nice long ride?
Tidbits: Such a sensuous song, Abbey Road on Capitol 7-inch tape played from Teac reel-to-reel deck through Kenwood receiver to AR-5 speakers, pulsating the pallet on the floor.
29-39. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Two of this 1963 album's songs are already included elsewhere on my list, a testament to the influence of our fellow Minnesotan. Dylan was first drilled into my head when I returned again and again to see the mesmerizing 1967 films Don’t Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker) and Festival! (Murray Lerner)—both "must-haves," now awaiting you on DVD! They screened at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown on the same block as Gray’s Campus Drug where Dylan had lived upstairs, and a block from the old Scholar Coffeehouse where he performed on occasion before embarking to New York.
29. “Blowin' In the Wind”
59. (Details below) “Girl from the North Country”
30. “Masters Of War”
31. “Down the Highway”
32. “Bob Dylan's Blues”
33. “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall”
26. (Details above) “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
34. “Bob Dylan's Dream”
35. “Oxford Town”
36. “Talkin' World War III Blues”
37. “Corrina, Corrina”
38. “Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance”
39. “I Shall Be Free”
Story excerpt: Who was that delicious dolloped doll on the free-wheeling dessert cart?
Tidbits: Such time-changing songs—clearly this entire album merits inclusion in my list.
40. “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)”
Scott McKenzie 1967.
Story excerpt: Its simple daisy print suggested Haight-Ashbury, her springy curls the flowers in her hair.
Tidbits: Short lived as it was, there was something to be said for that time of open mindedness and peace signs everywhere. Not to mention the long hair, short skirts, and bra burning!
41. “Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)”
Paul Evans 1959.
Story excerpt: He hummed a ditty about keeping his mind, hands, and snoopy eyes on anything except that naughty little scamp of a dress scampering from her calendar girl figure.
Tidbits: One of those tunes that gets into your head and won’t leave. Nicely expresses the natural frustration (of the driver, no less) at “look, but try your hardest not to touch.”
42. “Travelling Riverside Blues”
Robert Johnson 1937. A borrowed line also runs down through Led Zeppelin's “The Lemon Song” 1969.
43. “Sitting on Top of the World”
Sam Chatmon and Walter Vinson (The Mississippi Sheiks) 1930. My favorite among many country and blues covers is the 1964 fingerpicking tour de force by Doc Watson, known mostly as a flatpicker.
Story excerpt: “Hmmmm, lover boy?” she said, fingerstrolling into his orchard to squeeze some lemons and shake the peach tree.
Tidbits: Two juicy songs that really bear fruit.
44. “Sugar Babe”
Mance Lipscomb, recorded 1960 but learned as early as 1919. Covers include Tom Rush, 1966.
45. “Candy Man”
Both "Candy Man Blues" (Mississippi John Hurt, released 1966) and "Candy Man" (Reverend Gary Davis, released 1964, traditional c.1905) were very popular in the Sixties, although totally different songs. Hurt's offered the most ribald lyrics and a nifty up-the-neck guitar break.
Story excerpt: Then you had the nerve to accuse me of being forward, as if some magic Calendar Calendar On The Wall— Miss February perhaps?— should’ve alerted me that it was Valentine’s Day, not some sugar-babe come-on. That you really were a wide-eyed innocent, sashaying hither and yon, mostly hither, your sweet behind so roundly conveying, ‘Be mine, Candy Man!’
Tidbits: When the Scholar Coffeehouse in Minneapolis—original home to Bob Dylan, Leo Kottke, and so many other greats, known and unknown— finally succumbed to the waning days of the glorious coffeehouse era, the owner, Mike Justen, morphed it for a time into the Oblivion Records shop. Besides being the label for Leo's first (and I would vote best, paired with his famous "Armadillo" album) record, "12-String Blues," it was also a retail haven for obscure blues and folk records at the bargain price of $2 each. It is there that I began to spend every spare dollar on those old blues greats: Lipscomb, Son House, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jeffererson, Blind Willie McTell, Charlie Patton, the Yazoo reissues, etc.—along with their young, white, worshiping tribute-bearers, Tom Rush, Dave Van Ronk, Dave Ray (Koerner, Ray, and Glover), Bonnie Raitt, Larry Johnson, Geoff Muldaur, Patrick Sky, Eric Von Schmidt, … Not to mention Kottke and Fahey, a subject unto themselves.
46. “Summertime”
George Gershwin’s aria for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. Our personal favorite cover is the duet by Doc Watson and his son Merle, as heard in about 1975 at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. (Several Watson recordings feature solo and duet arrangements.)
Story excerpt: She hummed “Summertime” and toiled at the other stocking.
Tidbits: Slow, easy, and oh so sultry.
47. “My Black Mama”
Son House 1930.
Story excerpts:
• A spirited young thing kicking the stable down to experience the huge, vigorous, and copious appreciation of a victor who could measure up to her panoramic dreams.
• His marvelous stable-kicking mare, poised, postured, and oh-so-very primed for his victory mount.
Tidbits: Original lyrics call for a mule, but it’s a free country. One of our prize possessions is the Son House concert poster that he signed for Angela at his 1970 Whole Coffeehouse appearance. (Her short dress and flutter-eyed request likely giving him a big kick.)
48. “Roll Me Over in the Clover”
Traditional, popularized in England during World War II.
Story excerpt: This wasn’t occasion for a roll in the field.
Tidbits: I first encountered this randy little number when it burned my innocent ears at a high school cast party following our final go at The Merchant of Venice. (I still remember my lowly lines as a messenger, delivered woodenly after kicking a set piece across the stage in my Shakespearian tights, thereby incurring the guffaws of my gun club buddies ensconced front row center: “The four strangers seek you, madam, to take their leave, and there is a forerunner come from a fifth, the Prince of Morocco, who brings word the—gasp for air—Prince his master will be here tonight.” And, no, I did not cheat and look anything up, so if I got it wrong I don’t want to hear about it. But I digress.) It was the most ribald thing I had every heard, but joined boisterously in—along with my buddy, the minister’s son. If anything bears perpetuating, this masterpiece does. And guess what, lucky you, I still remember it as well! So all together now, boys and girls, one, two, three, “Roll me over, in the clover, roll me over, lay me down, and do it again.”
… or it could just be about avoiding a car crash.
49. “Take Her Out of Pity”
The Kingston Trio 1961; based on "The Old Maid's Song" Traditional
Story excerpt: Desperation that seemed wrenched from the ballad that begs him to take her out of pity.
Tidbits: The ultimate over-the-top male chauvinist oink oink pig song—hence extremely popular among college folkies of both sexes, who got the coy insinuation of which party was actually the most pitiful! (Although Angela doesn't like it anyway. She can’t believe I put it in my story … but, hey, that’s why it's called fiction, is it not?!)
∞ “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
Ewan MacColl 1957. Unfortunately most people know this eloquent song via Roberta Flack's soporific 1972 pop version, which is so not our style. To be fair, even we prefer Flack's torpid yawner to the fingernails-on-blackboard rendition by Peggy Seeger, despite the song being written by Seeger's lover (and future hubby) for her! But instead of suffering through either travesty, check out Peter, Paul, and Mary (See What Tomorrow Brings 1965) for their matchless harmonies and exquisite fingerstyle guitar duet, and Gordon Lightfoot (Lightfoot! 1966) for his sonorous vocal and uptempo riff. Best of all—if only he had recorded it—was Leo Kottke's haunting arrangement in open C on his old Gibson 12-string during his Scholar Coffeehouse days on West Bank in Minneapolis, before John Fahey catapulted him onto the world stage.
Story excerpt (caption beneath the Acknowledgments photo): My Love ‘til the end of time.
Tidbits: This is Our Song. So much so that "TIL THE END OF TIME MY LOVE" rounds out the engraving inside our wedding rings—a sentiment which merits infinity in this song list rather than just any ordinary, finite number. Speaking of sentimental, those funky little padded plastic boxes in the photo are indeed the Art Carved originals for our timeworn gold rings.
50. “Keep on chooglin’”
J.C. Fogerty 1968, released January 1969 by Creedence Clearwater Revival on Bayou Country along with the bigger hits “Born on the Bayou” and “Proud Mary.”
Story excerpt (caption beneath the photo of the radio at “Wait, There’s More!”): Keep on chooglin’
Tidbits: A requisite nod to CCR, the ultimate jukebox band—tops in eardrum ruination to swill beer by while snarfing down tubs of free, salt-loaded popcorn. Thirsty deafened swillers punched the Rock Ola buttons for everything from “Susie Q” to “Fortunate Son.” Musicologists now marvel at CCR’s universal appeal across political persuasions.
51-58. The Progressive Blues Experiment
Johnny Winter’s debut album, 1968
1. (Details above) “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” McKinley Morganfield
51. “Tribute to Muddy” Johnny Winter
52. “I Got Love If You Want It” James Moore
53. “Bad Luck and Trouble” Johnny Winter (or check out “Born Under a Bad Sign” as interpreted by the inimitable Homer Simpson 1990)
54. “Help Me” Ralph Bass, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson
55. “Mean Town Blues” Johnny Winter
56. “Broke Down Engine” Andy Fernbach
10. (Details above) “Black Cat Bone” Johnny Winter
57. “It’s My Own Fault” B.B. King
58. Forty-Four” Chester Burnett
Story excerpt (caption beneath photo of Danny): The author reflects on Angela’s 1928 National slide guitar, her “Janey Winter Special.”
Tidbits: Danny’s photo mimics the album cover, on which Johnny is mirrored in his tri-cone metal body National guitar. (Johnny wears a spiffy white shirt. Danny wears his scruffy college karate gi, inspiring some ideas for an intrepid sequel.) Johnny burst on the scene by storm with his astounding command of blues licks, including searing slide work in open tunings. This is another album that merits full inclusion in my list, with its sizzling mix of electric and National acoustic. We first saw him live when he dropped in on the 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival and was persuaded to jam with some of the other blues greats. (Also appearing was the instructor of the blues class in which we had met … and in which the only tangible instructional reference was the album How to Play Blues Guitar, shown in the photo above. Son House concluded the event. And now I'm free-associating again.)
59. “Girl from the North Country”
Bob Dylan 1963.
Story excerpt (caption for photo of Angela’s stunners): North Country Fare
Tidbits: One of Angela’s favorites. Dylan likely wrote it for a girl he left behind in Minnesota, so it was doubly poignant to us. Listen to it to fully appreciate my ever-so-clever—he admits modestly—twist on the lyric. (And, yes—lucky, lucky me—those really are Angela’s legs!)
60. “The Weight”
Robbie Robertson 1968. First recorded by The Band, and later by about every guitar player who ever lived. Note, for example, the “three generations” of Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White in the 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud. My personal favorite cover is an acoustic rendition by the late, great Isaac Guillory.
Story excerpt (caption for photo of our Martin guitars): Pulling into Nazareth
(One might also argue for the story's reference to “Annie the Acrobat” and/or "Fanny the Fish," since the song’s line “take a load off fanny” has been famously misconstrued as “take a load off Annie.”)
Tidbits: This song—replete with religious nuance—is every guitar aficionado’s ode to classic Martin guitars, crafted for most of the company’s history in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. (Ironically, Angela’s 0-16, while built in Nazareth, was named the “New Yorker” because it was styled as a retro tribute to the earliest days of Martin in New York City.)
61. “Highway 61 Revisited”
Bob Dylan 1965. My favorite cover is the 1969 soaring slide arrangement by Johnny Winter on Second Winter. For best results, set loudness at 11.
Story excerpt (caption above the photo of the radio at “Wait, There’s More!”): For openers, did you dig all sixty-one highway hits that revisit the groovy days of the Crown Vic’s Town and Country radio?
Tidbits: Well, OK, it took a bit of gerrymandering, but you will kindly note the fitting conclusion to this meandering song list. Highway 61, of course, led Dylan out of Hibbing's confines in northern Minnesota to points south and ultimately to his “Sir Bob” world. As for the Town and Country radio, it was a premium electro-mechanical marvel that scanned for strong (Town) or weak (Country) AM signals with a push of the warranted button. Suddenly—to the labored rrrrrrrr of the little-motor-that-could—obedient ferromagnetic tuning coil slugs foraged through the wavelengths, while the tag-along station knob and indicator took on lives of their own. At a fingertip's touch it was Topper behind the wheel, George Kerby riding shotgun. Then there was the infamous pair of CONELRAD markers on your Cold War dial—silent sentinels vigilantly awaiting the inevitable Doomsday broadcast that would instruct you on when to duck and cover beneath the durable Detroit dash of your thermonuclear-impervious 1956 Ford Crown Vic.
And so you conclude your long and winding (oops, it seems I can't help myself) journey down my 61 highway hits, excerpts, and shamelessly-random tidbits. I hope you’ve enjoyed your glimpse into the wide-ranging music that prompted me along as wrote my story of the times. Many other tunes and artists have gone unmentioned, not because Angela or I value them less, but because—tempting as they were—I actually managed to resist contriving the story just to incorporate favorite tunes. The ones I included simply presented themselves as I put fingers to keyboard. (Although, as you may have detected, I did weasel a few extra favorites into my tidbits above.)
In any case—given the right occasion—I recommend them all!
Danny O, signing off for now. Until next time, don't forget:
