Song: Maggie May (1971) Artist: Rod Stewart Album: Every Picture Tells a Story (Mercury) Maggie May was Rod Stewart’s first big number one hit. Ironically, it was the B-side of the song he thought would be his breakthrough, Reason to Believe, a cover of a folk song by Tim Hardin, today a true classic in … Read more
Song: Summer of ’69 (1985) Artist: Bryan Adams Album: Reckless Bryan Adams sang about getting his first real six-string guitar, trying to start a band, contemplating forever with his teen-age girl-friend, and similar teenage dreams in 1984 on his fourth studio album, Reckless. Now, the Canadian singer-songwriter is 56 years old, having been born in November … Read more
Song: For What It’s Worth (1967) Artist: Buffalo Springfield Album: Buffalo Springfield (Atco) Buffalo Springfield has had a tremendous influence on folk-rock, and the so-called “California Sound.” Two of their members, Stephen Stills and Neil Young, are today musical icons and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Yet, … Read more
If you watched the recent Elton John biopic (if you could call it that), Rocket Man, you may have been interested to see the scene with Elton John recording the duet Don’t Go Breaking My Heart with a female singer. As I’m writing this, I can’t recall if she was ever actually identified by name … Read more
Song: Bus Stop (1966) Artist: Hollies Album: Bus Stop (Imperial) Written by Graham Gouldman, the opening lyrics of Bus Stop, are “Bus stop, wet day, she’s there, I say please share my umbrella.” The Hollies, however, were co-founded by another famous Graham, Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills and Nash, along with his friend Alan Clarke, who … Read more
Song: She’s Not There (1964) Artist: The Zombies Album: The Zombies (Parrot) Written by Rod Argent, who wrote many other classic rock songs, She’s Not There was the first hit by the Zombies. It is also one of those songs that, if you have only heard Santana’s version (1977), you should listen to the original, without … Read more
Song: Africa (1982) Artist: Toto Album: Toto IV (Columbia) The lyric “I bless the rains down in Africa” come from the band Toto’s greatest hit song, Africa, released on the album Toto IV in 1982. It is said to be misheard, sometimes, as “I left my brains down in Africa” but it is uncertain whether this particular … Read more