“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” (1972) – The Allman Brothers Band * Written by Gregg Allman * 45: “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” / “Melissa” * LP: Eat a Peach * Produced by Tom Dowd * Label: Capricorn This contemplative Allman Brothers anthem written by Gregg Allman is loaded with contextual poignancy in that it’s the leadoff track to Eat a Peach, the band’s first album after heroin rehab (for some of the members) and after losing guitarist Duane Allman to a motorcycle accident. In Alan Paul’s One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band (2015), Gregg declares that writing this song was, in fact, his first response to losing his brother, which explains its unique balance of resignation and resolution.
“What Do I Get” (1977) – Buzzcocks * Written by Pete Shelley * 45: “What Do I Get” / “Oh Shit” * Produced by Martin Rushent * Label: United Artists * Charts: UK (#37) Self-pitying shrapnel flung out from the British punk maelstrom of 1977. Inward woes come off as outward blows. Pete Shelley’s resigned vocal atop his band’s roar can strike a listener as mockery, true pain, or anger, all three of which make for therapeutic listening if you’re feeling shafted. Here were the early stirrings of Gen-X “get” consciousness, which were what the Buzzcocks were all about, and made them seem more of a band of the future than, say, the Clash, whose bigger-picture social concerns were the last gasps of a passé school of thought.
“I’ll Be Back” (1964) – The Beatles * Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney * Produced by George Martin * LP: A Hard Day’s Night (UK), Beatles ’65 (US)
“I’ll Be Back” is one of three minor-key flamenco-flavored tracks, along with “And I Love Her” and “Things We Said Today,” that give the Beatles’ Hard Day’s Night album a dusky flavor and, seeing how it contrasted with the cheerful image their debut film reinforced, a sense of maturity. Ian MacDonald, in his Revolution in the Head, reports John Lennon crediting Del Shannon’s “Runaway” as an inspiration, but the Shadows too, who the Beatles alternately loved and loathed, had been making moody Latin sounds on British hit radio with “Apache,” “Man of Mystery” and others. Forging invention from imitation was one of the Beatles’ many gifts, and “I’ll Be Back” is a good example of this. Recognizable building blocks end up sounding quintessentially Beatle-esque. A good part of the mystique in this track (and “Things We Said Today”) is the minor key shifting to major and back again. It’s a touch of sophistication that San Francisco’s Beau Brummels would adopt for their first two singles, “Laugh Laugh and “Just a Little”—distinctive albeit clearly inspired by you-know-who. The version American listeners heard on Beatles ’65 had some of the echo added on by Capitol producer Dave Dexter Jr., an infamous move that did, however, give the track even more atmosphere. It was missing noticeably when the UK version of the Hard Day’s Night album greeted US listeners as a CD in 1987.
“Racist Friend” (1983) – The Special AKA * Written by Dick Cuthell, Jerry Dammers, and John Bradbury * 45: “Racist Friend” / “Bright Lights” * LP: In the Studio (1984) * Produced by Dick Cuthell and Jerry Dammers * Label: Two-Tone With its loping reggae stride and crystal clear message (“If you have a racist friend, now is the time for your friendship to end”), this 1983 single by the Specials’ post-Terry Hall incarnation was built for mnemonic efficiency. Contrary to songs like Wilbert Harrison’s oft-covered “Let’s Work Together,” “Racist Friend” presents an approach to social synergy that speaks to those of us who know certain levels of futility when we see them.
“The Letter” (1958) – Don and Dewey * Written by Don Harris and Dewey Taylor * 45: “Koko Joe” / “The Letter” * Label: Specialty Little Richard label mates Don and Dewey, from Pasadena, California, were apparently too cool for mass appeal, but they inspired successful admirers such as the Righteous Brothers and introduced material that became better known when sung by others (“I’m Leaving It Up to You,” “Big Boy Pete,” and “Farmer John,” to name a few.) The B-side of their Sonny Bono-penned “Koko Joe” is a Johnny Ace-flavored Dear Jane weeper they wrote themselves called “The Letter,” and it features one of the worst apologies on record: “Throw away my picture/ Darling, forgive me/ I wrecked your life/ But, then, you let me.” In return for the “Koko Joe” favor, Sonny covered “The Letter” with Cher in 1965.
“Acknowledgment” (1964) – John Coltrane * Written by John Coltrane * LP: A Love Supreme * Producer: Bob Thiele * Label: Impulse All seven-plus minutes of the opening track on John Coltrane’s heady jazz touchstone A Love Supreme sound like the prelude to something big. The album is a four-part suite, like an Indian raga. When “Acknowledgment” begins with Coltrane’s sax sounding like the calls of some mythological bird, one envisions temple gates swinging open, audiences kneeling, and presentations of floral offerings. Then Jimmy Garrison’s bass groove floats in, after which the improv gushes forth like expressions of devotion, and the “love supreme” chant brings it all to a mystical fade. It’s only the intro, but you’ll remember it as the album’s heart. (McCoy Tyner: piano; Elvin Jones: drums.)
“Farther Along” (1973) – Ellen McIlwaine * Traditional * LP: We the People * Produced by Peter K. Siegel * Label: Polydor The widely-covered “Farther Along” has the sturdy simplicity of a traditional spiritual, but its roots go back no earlier than 1911, apparently. Wikipedia tells a tidy, unsourced story about its origins and copyrighted status, but a post at David’s Hymn Blog gives a more thorough overview. Although Ellen McIlwaine’s albums all showcase her formidable slide guitar chops, this version of “Farther Along,” from her early seventies We the People album, relies on her a cappella lead vocal bolstered up by the mighty Persuasions.
“Los ejes de mi carreta” (1960) – Atahualpa Yupanqui * Written by Romildo Risso and Atahualpa Yupanqui * LP: Canto y guittara, no. 7 (Argentina) * Label: Odeon Adopting the names of two Incan kings for himself, Atahualpa Yupanqui (Hector Roberto Chavero Aramburo) was one of Argentina’s top-tier troubadours whose somewhat complicated political history never compromised his humanistic messages. “Los ejes de mi carreta” (“The Axles of My Cart”) is a poem by Uruguayan poet Romildo Risso that Yupanqui set to music. “Because I do not grease the axles I am called a fool,” go the words, taking the point of view of a wagon-toting worker. “[But] it is far too boring to follow the track with nothing to entertain me.”
“A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed” (1949) – “Little” Jimmy Dickens * Written by Luther Patrick and Happy Wilson * 78: “A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed” / “I’m in Love Up to My Ears” * Label: Columbia Little Jimmy Dickens’s first record was the #7 country hit “Take and Old Cold ‘Tater (And Wait),” a negative “company’s comin'” song, which is a country music rarity. Were there any others? Yes, in fact—Dickens’s own “A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed” from that same year, about the misery of getting bumped off your own mattress for the sake of hospitality. But the melody and subject matter perhaps inspired Jim Connor to write John Denver’s “Grandma’s Feather Bed,” a very positive “company” song that has no one sleeping on the floor. Songwriting credit for “A-Sleeping” goes to Happy Wilson and Luther Patrick, a former Alabama U.S. Representative.
“Shut Down, Part II” (1964) – The Beach Boys * Written by Carl Wilson * LP: Shut Down Volume 2 * Produced by Brian Wilson * Label: Capitol The Beach Boys circa 1963-64, with young guitar sharp David Marks on board, could showcase slick guitar instrumentals, and the title track (sorta) of the Shut Down Volume 2 album was the last of its kind in the band’s catalog. Although he was out of the band by the time of the cover shoot and although it’s not clear if he actually played on this song, Marks’s marks are all over it. The only direct similarity between “Shut Down, Part II” and “Shut Down” are the sax blasts that lead off the former but appear in the latter’s bridge.
