Podcasts about Charlie Watts

The drummer and percussionist Billy Martin, whose name many Time Sensitive listeners may recognize—he created the Time Sensitive theme song—defies any boxed-in or limiting definitions of his work. Best known as a member of the band Medeski Martin & Wood (MMW), he's spent the past three-plus decades making experimental, boundary-pushing, and uncategorizable instrumental jazz-funk-groove music, shaping sounds that feel as expansive as they are definitive and distinctive. Across all his artistic output, Martin continually, meditatively searches for harmony. He is also a composer, a teacher, a visual artist, and a builder and craftsman. His expansive creative practice comes most alive at his home in Englewood, New Jersey, where he has cultivated a bamboo garden, crafted his own Japanese-style teahouse, and constructed a music studio. Martin is someone for whom rhythm is not just something heard, but also seen and felt.On the episode, he talks about his MMW journey at length, his concept of “rhythmic harmony,” and why he views sound creation as a sacred act.Special thanks to our Season 11 presenting sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.Show notes:Billy Martin[7:31] Medeski Martin & Wood[7:31] John Medeski[7:31] Chris Wood[7:31] “Not Not Jazz” (2024)[10:12] Iggy Pop's “Avenue B” (1999)[10:12] Don Was[11:27] “The Lover” (1995)[11:27] “Friday Afternoon in the Universe” (1995)[11:27] “Old Angel Midnight” (1973) by Jack Kerouac[13:44] Ra-Kalam Bob Moses[13:44] John Scofield[13:44] David Baker[15:57] “Shuck It Up” (1993)[15:57] “It's a Jungle in Here” (1993)[18:12] “Latin Shuffle” (1998)[18:12] “Combustication” (1998)[18:12] Frankie Malabe[18:12] Art Blakey[33:25] Thelonious Monk[33:58] “Life on Drums” (2011)[38:32] John Bonham[38:32] Charlie Watts[38:32] Stewart Copeland[38:32] Elvin Jones[38:32] Max Roach[38:32] Danny Richmond[38:32] Charles Mingus[38:32] Jack DeJohnette[38:32] Joe Morello[38:32] Roy Haynes[38:32] Stan Getz[38:32] Airto Moreira[38:32] Naná Vasconcelos[38:32] Babatunde Olatunji[39:58] Gus Johnson[39:58] “Whatever Happened to Gus” (1998)[39:58] Steve Cannon[40:54] “Chubb Sub” (1995)[40:54] ”Uncle Chubb” (1992)[46:41] “Shack-man” (1996)[47:06] “Drumming Birds” (2004)[54:48] “Bamboo Rainsticks” (1999)[54:48] Amulet Records[1:00:23] Creative Music Studio

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Mark Lo. Mark has worked on films and TV across many genres for over twenty years, first as a music agent and supervisor, collaborating with composers and artists to bring music to films, and then as an Executive Music Producer. As an Executive Music Producer, he worked on films including Todd Hayne's Carol (Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara), Paul Haggis's Third Person (Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, and James Franco), and The Railway Man (Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Stellan Skarsgard), amongst others. Mark set up the production company Asylum Giant as a creative hub to develop and produce a slate of Film and TV projects, tell stories that celebrate our humanity and create projects that deepen our relationship with the non-human world. He recently produced and directed the feature music documentary Count Me In — the focus of this episode. Count Me In takes viewers behind the kit with some of the world's most iconic drummers, featuring insightful interviews and narration from Taylor Hawkins, Stewart Copeland, Chad Smith, Emily Dolan Davies, Roger Taylor, Nick Mason, Cindy Blackman Santana, and more. In their own words, they share the passion that took them from banging on pots and pans as kids to performing on some of the world's biggest stages. Along the way, these legendary drummers discuss the dedication that fuels their craft and pay tribute to the musical icons who influenced and inspired them, including Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, Keith Moon, John Bonham, Ginger Baker and others. Count Me In is available on streaming services everywhere including Apple TV, Amazon, and Fandango at Home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send me a text and please visit www.livefrommydrumroom.com I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on my friend Malcolm Moore's excellent podcast, "Creativity Is The Cure." During the interview we covered many topics related to my life and creativity, including working in the Music Industry at Zildjian, Drum Workshop, Simmons Electronic Drums and EU Wurlitzer, friends such as Charlie Watts, Vic Firth and Steve Gadd, Mission From Gadd, my award-winning podcast, "Live From My Drum Room" and much more. I hope you enjoy it. Please subscribe!  *Special audio clip at the end of my band, Grand Theft Audio recorded live. Recorded April 2025 on the phone between Cohasset, MA and Palmdale, CA.Listen on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Buzzsprout, iHeart Radio, Spotify and YouTube! And be sure to subscribe to Malcolm's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creativity-is-the-cure/id1758452951https://livefrommydrumroom.comwww.youtube.com/c/JohnDeChristopherLiveFromMyDrumRoom

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 03:45:00 +0000 https://jungeanleger.podigee.io/2183-borsepeople-im-podcast-s18-15-veronika-korbei 786a67c4d0c2be7b86e54e6069440868 Mit Veronika Korbei, GoFundMe-Initiatorin für eine emotionale Sache, werde ich am 5.5. auf einer grossen neuen Bühne stehen. Veronika ist promovierte Kunsthistorikerin, nach der Dissertation zu den Handzeichnungen des Peter Paul Rubens arbeitete sie als Archivarin des Ernst H. Gombrich Archivs am Warburg Institute London (2008-2010) sowie für Sotheby`s. Als Eigentümerin der M2 in Hietzing rahmt sie mit ihrem Team Originale, Leinwände, Poster, Fotografien, Grafiken mit hochwertigen Materialien und säurefreien Passepartouts bzw. Klebebändern. Das Vorgespräch fand incl. Begutachtung einer mitgebrachten Mappe mit Prints von gemeinsamen Helden wie The Smiths, The Jam, Madonna, Charlie Watts oder David Bowie statt, in der Aufnahme gibt es natürlich immer wieder Referenzen dazu. Aber es geht auch um den legendären Handball Club West Wien, dem Veronika nach finanzieller Schieflage wieder auf die Beine geholfen hat. Wir sprechen über die West Wien-Legende Stefan Uher (jetzt EY), über Bernhard Krumpel, viele ehrenamtliche Helden sowie die Herzensangelegenheit Frauen-Mannschaft. Zum Abschluss hab ich einen Call to Action in Richtung Börsenotierte. https://www.m2korbei.at West Wien: https://vimeo.com/user214849586 Börsepeople Stefan Uher: https://audio-cd.at/page/podcast/5760 Börsepeople Bernhard Krumpel: https://audio-cd.at/page/podcast/4265 Börsepeople Max Pohanka: https://audio-cd.at/page/podcast/7057 The Business Athletes mit Bernhard Krumpel: https://audio-cd.at/page/podcast/7095 About: Die Serie Börsepeople des Podcasters Christian Drastil, der im Q4/24 in Frankfurt als "Finfluencer & Finanznetworker #1 Austria" ausgezeichnet wurde, findet im Rahmen von http://www.audio-cd.at und dem Podcast "Audio-CD.at Indie Podcasts" statt. Es handelt sich dabei um typische Personality- und Werdegang-Gespräche. Die Season 18 umfasst unter dem Motto „25 Börsepeople“ 25 Talks. Presenter der Season 18 ist die EVN http://www.evn.at. Welcher der meistgehörte Börsepeople Podcast ist, sieht man unter http://www.audio-cd.at/people. Der Zwischenstand des laufenden Rankings ist tagesaktuell um 12 Uhr aktualisiert. Bewertungen bei Apple (oder auch Spotify) machen mir Freude: http://www.audio-cd.at/spotify , http://www.audio-cd.at/apple . 2183 full no Christian Drastil Comm. 1515

The chocolate Easter bunny of rock and roll news in highly nutritious and digestible fragments, such as …  … the Who's very public sacking of Zak Starkey. … why no band ever wants to play quietly. … how a magazine in a shop window sparked the Neil Tennant/Mark Springer album. … Katy Perry's space ‘mission' and the trenchant observations by her and the ‘crew' – “I can't put it into words but I looked out the window and we got to see the moon!” … The Thing In The Cellar, Dogs Are Everywhere, Roadkill … Pulp song or episode of The Good Life? … the brilliant new ‘One To One: John & Yoko' documentary and how we miss the days when rock stars went on live chat shows and said the first thing that came into their heads. … why musicians are fundamentally different from other entertainers. ... perilous domestic gadgets of the ‘60s. … the allure of songs about space. … “Ray's at the controls!” When Ray Charles went walkabout on the band's private plane.  … Pete Townshend: “We need bigger weapons!” … Ben Watt DJ-ing in ear defenders. … Ray Davies, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman …? Who grew the first psychedelic moustache? Plus birthday guest Al Hearton on Kris Kristofferson, John Travolta, Bruce Dickinson, Gary Numan and the rock and roll/aviation crossover.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The chocolate Easter bunny of rock and roll news in highly nutritious and digestible fragments, such as …  … the Who's very public sacking of Zak Starkey. … why no band ever wants to play quietly. … how a magazine in a shop window sparked the Neil Tennant/Mark Springer album. … Katy Perry's space ‘mission' and the trenchant observations by her and the ‘crew' – “I can't put it into words but I looked out the window and we got to see the moon!” … The Thing In The Cellar, Dogs Are Everywhere, Roadkill … Pulp song or episode of The Good Life? … the brilliant new ‘One To One: John & Yoko' documentary and how we miss the days when rock stars went on live chat shows and said the first thing that came into their heads. … why musicians are fundamentally different from other entertainers. ... perilous domestic gadgets of the ‘60s. … the allure of songs about space. … “Ray's at the controls!” When Ray Charles went walkabout on the band's private plane.  … Pete Townshend: “We need bigger weapons!” … Ben Watt DJ-ing in ear defenders. … Ray Davies, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman …? Who grew the first psychedelic moustache? Plus birthday guest Al Hearton on Kris Kristofferson, John Travolta, Bruce Dickinson, Gary Numan and the rock and roll/aviation crossover.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The chocolate Easter bunny of rock and roll news in highly nutritious and digestible fragments, such as …  … the Who's very public sacking of Zak Starkey. … why no band ever wants to play quietly. … how a magazine in a shop window sparked the Neil Tennant/Mark Springer album. … Katy Perry's space ‘mission' and the trenchant observations by her and the ‘crew' – “I can't put it into words but I looked out the window and we got to see the moon!” … The Thing In The Cellar, Dogs Are Everywhere, Roadkill … Pulp song or episode of The Good Life? … the brilliant new ‘One To One: John & Yoko' documentary and how we miss the days when rock stars went on live chat shows and said the first thing that came into their heads. … why musicians are fundamentally different from other entertainers. ... perilous domestic gadgets of the ‘60s. … the allure of songs about space. … “Ray's at the controls!” When Ray Charles went walkabout on the band's private plane.  … Pete Townshend: “We need bigger weapons!” … Ben Watt DJ-ing in ear defenders. … Ray Davies, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman …? Who grew the first psychedelic moustache? Plus birthday guest Al Hearton on Kris Kristofferson, John Travolta, Bruce Dickinson, Gary Numan and the rock and roll/aviation crossover.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Informativo de primera hora de la mañana, en el programa El Remate de La Diez Capital Radio. Hoy se cumplen 1.145 días del cruel ataque e invasión de Rusia a Ucrania. 3 años y 50 días. Hoy es miércoles 16 de abril de 2025. Día Mundial de la Voz. El Día Mundial de la Voz se celebra el 16 de abril y fue decretado por la Federación de Sociedades de Otorrinolaringología con el objetivo de crear conciencia de la importancia que tiene la voz, así como los cuidados que se deben tener para evitar problemas relacionados con las cuerdas vocales, como la afonía y la disfonía. La voz representa el principal medio de comunicación a través del cual las personas expresan pensamientos y emociones. Es una herramienta que nos permite estar en contacto con otros y de esta forma crear relaciones personales. En el mundo agitado de hoy, muchas personas sufren de trastornos relacionados con la voz, sobre todo aquellas que tienen el hábito de fumar o que necesariamente necesitan la voz para ejercer una determinada profesión. Por esta razón, no está de más visitar al otorrino de manera preventiva para evitar daños futuros en las cuerdas vocales. 1581.- Felipe II es proclamado rey de Portugal en el monasterio de Tomar, tras su conquista por tropas españolas. 1622.- El cardenal Richelieu es nombrado primer ministro de Francia, cargo que ejerció en los reinados de Luis XIII y Luis XIV. 1910: en la ciudad de Boston (Estados Unidos) se inaugura el estadio para hockey sobre hielo, el Boston Arena; es el estadio más antiguo todavía en uso. 1912: la británica Harriet Quimby se convierte en la primera mujer que cruza en avión el canal de la Mancha. 1963: en la cárcel de Birmingham (estado de Alabama), el Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. escribe su carta desde la cárcel de Birmingham, encarcelado por protestar contra el apartheid (segregación racial) que asolará su país hasta 1967. 1990: en Estados Unidos, el médico Jack Kevorkian (el Doctor Muerte), participa en su primer suicidio asistido. Un 16 de abril de 2003 nació la Unión Europea de los 25 miembros -ahora son 27. 2012.- La presidenta argentina, Cristina Fernández, anuncia el decreto de intervención de la petrolera YPF, participada por Repsol. 2013.- La tonadillera Isabel Pantoja es condenada a dos años de prisión por blanqueo de capitales, al igual que su expareja Julián Muñoz, que fue alcalde de Marbella (Málaga). Santoral para hoy, 16 de abril: santos Engracia, Toribio de Liébana y Calixto. El presidente Trump asegura haber resuelto la inflación de EE.UU. en plena guerra comercial. Sudán cumple dos años en guerra con un sistema sanitario "colapsado" y millones de desplazados. Trump congelará 2.200 millones de dólares en subvenciones a la Universidad de Harvard. Alegría reprocha al PP que condene los ataques machistas recibidos con "peros": "No caben los titubeos". Vidal-Quadras insiste ante el juez que el régimen iraní intentó asesinarle: "Todos los indicios apuntan a ese origen". Ángel Víctor Torres suspende su agenda pública hasta que se recupere de su operación por cáncer. El ministro de Política Territorial y Memoria Democrática ha mantenido su actividad pública hasta este martes. Los sindicatos mantienen la huelga de hostelería en la provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife durante Semana Santa. El rechazo a la propuesta de la patronal turística ha sido "por unanimidad". Educación lanza una nueva convocatoria de oposiciones docentes en Canarias. La convocatoria correspondiente al año 2025 será publicada el próximo lunes en el Boletín Oficial de Canarias. El Gobierno prohíbe por ley servir bebidas azucaradas y bollería en los comedores escolares. La nueva normativa garantiza que se sirvan cinco comidas saludables a la semana en todos los colegios. La inflación encarece la sanidad pública canaria: una estancia en la UCI cuesta hoy 200 euros más que antes de la pandemia. La última actualización de precios públicos del Gobierno de Canarias contempla una subida del 1% en todos los servicios, que se suma a la del 7% del 2024. El puerto de Los Cristianos registrará esta Semana Santa 72.000 pasajeros. Se prevé que unos 20.000 vehículos circulen por el muelle sureño hasta el domingo; la Autoridad Portuaria, el Ayuntamiento de Arona y las navieras coordinan un plan para evitar el colapso. Salvamento rescata cerca de El Hierro un cayuco con 62 personas, entre ellas tres menores, que llevaban seis días en el mar. Uno de los ocupantes necesitó ser trasladado al Hospital Insular Virgen de los Reyes para su atención médica. Tal día como hoy 16 de abril de 1964, se pone a la venta el álbum debut de la banda The Rolling Stones. La banda estaba compuesta por Mick Jagger, Brian Jones (que murió en 1969), Keith Richards, Bill Wyman y Charlie Watts y todavía hoy sigue en activo.

Bienvenidos a La Diez Capital Radio! Están a punto de comenzar un nuevo episodio de nuestro Programa de Actualidad, donde la información, la formación y el entretenimiento se encuentran para ofrecerles lo mejor de las noticias y temas relevantes. Este programa, dirigido y presentado por Miguel Ángel González Suárez, es su ventana directa a los acontecimientos más importantes, así como a las historias que capturan la esencia de nuestro tiempo. A través de un enfoque dinámico y cercano, Miguel Ángel conecta con ustedes para proporcionar una experiencia informativa y envolvente. Desde análisis profundos hasta entrevistas exclusivas, cada emisión está diseñada para mantenerles al tanto, ofrecerles nuevos conocimientos y, por supuesto, entretenerles. Para más detalles sobre el programa, visiten nuestra web en www.ladiez.es. - Informativo de primera hora de la mañana, en el programa El Remate de La Diez Capital Radio. Hoy se cumplen 1.145 días del cruel ataque e invasión de Rusia a Ucrania. 3 años y 50 días. Hoy es miércoles 16 de abril de 2025. Día Mundial de la Voz. El Día Mundial de la Voz se celebra el 16 de abril y fue decretado por la Federación de Sociedades de Otorrinolaringología con el objetivo de crear conciencia de la importancia que tiene la voz, así como los cuidados que se deben tener para evitar problemas relacionados con las cuerdas vocales, como la afonía y la disfonía. La voz representa el principal medio de comunicación a través del cual las personas expresan pensamientos y emociones. Es una herramienta que nos permite estar en contacto con otros y de esta forma crear relaciones personales. En el mundo agitado de hoy, muchas personas sufren de trastornos relacionados con la voz, sobre todo aquellas que tienen el hábito de fumar o que necesariamente necesitan la voz para ejercer una determinada profesión. Por esta razón, no está de más visitar al otorrino de manera preventiva para evitar daños futuros en las cuerdas vocales. 1581.- Felipe II es proclamado rey de Portugal en el monasterio de Tomar, tras su conquista por tropas españolas. 1622.- El cardenal Richelieu es nombrado primer ministro de Francia, cargo que ejerció en los reinados de Luis XIII y Luis XIV. 1910: en la ciudad de Boston (Estados Unidos) se inaugura el estadio para hockey sobre hielo, el Boston Arena; es el estadio más antiguo todavía en uso. 1912: la británica Harriet Quimby se convierte en la primera mujer que cruza en avión el canal de la Mancha. 1963: en la cárcel de Birmingham (estado de Alabama), el Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. escribe su carta desde la cárcel de Birmingham, encarcelado por protestar contra el apartheid (segregación racial) que asolará su país hasta 1967. 1990: en Estados Unidos, el médico Jack Kevorkian (el Doctor Muerte), participa en su primer suicidio asistido. Un 16 de abril de 2003 nació la Unión Europea de los 25 miembros -ahora son 27. 2012.- La presidenta argentina, Cristina Fernández, anuncia el decreto de intervención de la petrolera YPF, participada por Repsol. 2013.- La tonadillera Isabel Pantoja es condenada a dos años de prisión por blanqueo de capitales, al igual que su expareja Julián Muñoz, que fue alcalde de Marbella (Málaga). Santoral para hoy, 16 de abril: santos Engracia, Toribio de Liébana y Calixto. El presidente Trump asegura haber resuelto la inflación de EE.UU. en plena guerra comercial. Sudán cumple dos años en guerra con un sistema sanitario "colapsado" y millones de desplazados. Trump congelará 2.200 millones de dólares en subvenciones a la Universidad de Harvard. Alegría reprocha al PP que condene los ataques machistas recibidos con "peros": "No caben los titubeos". Vidal-Quadras insiste ante el juez que el régimen iraní intentó asesinarle: "Todos los indicios apuntan a ese origen". Ángel Víctor Torres suspende su agenda pública hasta que se recupere de su operación por cáncer. El ministro de Política Territorial y Memoria Democrática ha mantenido su actividad pública hasta este martes. Los sindicatos mantienen la huelga de hostelería en la provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife durante Semana Santa. El rechazo a la propuesta de la patronal turística ha sido "por unanimidad". Educación lanza una nueva convocatoria de oposiciones docentes en Canarias. La convocatoria correspondiente al año 2025 será publicada el próximo lunes en el Boletín Oficial de Canarias. El Gobierno prohíbe por ley servir bebidas azucaradas y bollería en los comedores escolares. La nueva normativa garantiza que se sirvan cinco comidas saludables a la semana en todos los colegios. La inflación encarece la sanidad pública canaria: una estancia en la UCI cuesta hoy 200 euros más que antes de la pandemia. La última actualización de precios públicos del Gobierno de Canarias contempla una subida del 1% en todos los servicios, que se suma a la del 7% del 2024. El puerto de Los Cristianos registrará esta Semana Santa 72.000 pasajeros. Se prevé que unos 20.000 vehículos circulen por el muelle sureño hasta el domingo; la Autoridad Portuaria, el Ayuntamiento de Arona y las navieras coordinan un plan para evitar el colapso. Salvamento rescata cerca de El Hierro un cayuco con 62 personas, entre ellas tres menores, que llevaban seis días en el mar. Uno de los ocupantes necesitó ser trasladado al Hospital Insular Virgen de los Reyes para su atención médica. Tal día como hoy 16 de abril de 1964, se pone a la venta el álbum debut de la banda The Rolling Stones. La banda estaba compuesta por Mick Jagger, Brian Jones (que murió en 1969), Keith Richards, Bill Wyman y Charlie Watts y todavía hoy sigue en activo. - Sección de actualidad con mucho sentido de Humor inteligente en el programa El Remate de La Diez Capital radio con el periodista socarrón y palmero, José Juan Pérez Capote, El Nº 1. - Entrevista en La Diez Capital radio a Rosario Blanco, Pedro Yumar y Manuel Diaz, portavoces de La Coordinadora Vecinal de Afectados por el Aeropuerto de Tenerife Norte. - Entrevista en el programa El Remate de La Diez Capital Radio al empresario Juan Francisco Reverón. En una nueva edición de El Remate, hemos contado con la participación del empresario Juan Francisco Reverón, con quien abordamos una de las problemáticas más relevantes del sur de Tenerife: la situación del Puerto de Los Cristianos. Durante la entrevista, Reverón analizó en profundidad los problemas estructurales, de planificación y operatividad que afectan al puerto, señalando las consecuencias que esto tiene para el desarrollo económico, turístico y social de la zona. Desde la congestión del tráfico marítimo hasta la falta de infraestructuras adecuadas, el empresario expuso un panorama crítico que requiere soluciones urgentes. Asimismo, aportó posibles alternativas para mejorar la situación, entre ellas la descentralización de algunos servicios, la modernización de las instalaciones, así como una mejor coordinación entre las administraciones públicas y los actores económicos del territorio. “El puerto necesita una visión a largo plazo, con planificación estratégica y decisiones valientes”, afirmó. Una conversación clave para entender uno de los grandes retos de conectividad y desarrollo que enfrenta Tenerife. - Sección en La Diez Capital radio. Nos acompañan Konstantin Hinner Ivamtchev CEO de Proyectos insulares y Juan Pablo Cabrera Molina, Director Comercial. Los beneficios de las Viviendas Modulares. - Sección en el programa el Remate de La Diez Capital radio con el chef Ramón Hernández, recetas de cocina canaria sin vergüenza. Quesito de mí tía Nena. - Entrevista en el programa el Remate de La Diez Capital radio al especialista en energías, Juan Cabrera. Ofrecemos una oferta de aire acondicionado a nuestros oyentes.

Une longue émission pour couvrir les années 2002 à 2008 de la discographie du groupe.Les différentes chroniques portent sur :Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes - Live At The GreekHeather Nova - Breath And AirNeil Young - Oceanside CountrysideLarkin Poe - BloomCymande - RenascencePink Floyd Animals - livre de Philippe Gonin aux éditions Le Mot Et Le ResteRetrouvez nous sur sympathyforthedevils.com pour les infos stoniennes et sur chronicast.com pour découvrir tous nos podcasts.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

In 1976 a song came on the radio called Break Down by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and that was it I was hooked. The Drummer on that track and so many other epic songs by The Heartbreakers is Stan Lynch, One of the best rock drummers of all time. Today I sit down with Stan for a long deep dive into his amazing career. We dig into, his love of Charlie Watts, the genius of the bass playing by Howie Epstein, Working with Don Henley and even the U.S. Festival. Stan has a brand new band called The Speaker Wars and they have a record coming out May 30th 2025 that I can't recommend enough.  Thanks for tuning in and please make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel and iTunes channel for all your Let There Be Talk needs. My tour dates can be found at https://www.deandelray.com/tourdates  Join my Patreon for all kinds of Bonus episodes https://www.deandelray.com/patreon    Have a great week my friends  DDR    

Send me a text and please visit www.livefrommydrumroom.com I had the honor and pleasure of being on the other side of the camera recently, as a guest on "Drummers Eating Pizza" Podcast. DEP Host Jon Adams and his son Liam came to my Drum Room and we had a fun chat about drums, drummers and my life in the Drum Industry, followed by some delicious pizza! So come along for the ride and be sure to check out other episodes of Drummers Eating Pizza and subscribe to his channel!  @DrummersEatingPizza413  *This show was recorded on February 21, 2025. A few days later, I learned my friend and mentor Glyn Thomas, had passed away. Glyn hired me at Simmons Drums in 1985, and was largely responsible for my career in the Music Industry, as referenced in this and other interviews. This show is dedicated to Glyn Thomas. Rest in Peace, Glyn. Live From My Drum Room Hoodies are now available!    • NEW Live From My Drum Room Merch!   Made of a soft 52% cotton 48% polyester blend. Sizes: MD, LG & XL = $50 USD (including shipping) *Size 2XL = $55 USD (including shipping) * US orders only. Venmo payment only. Live From My Drum Room T-shirts are made of soft 60%cotton/40% polyester. Available in XS-2XL = $25 (including shipping) * Venmo only. 100% of the proceeds from Live From My Drum Room merchandise goes toward a Live From My Drum Room Scholarship with the Percussive Arts Society! https://pas.org/pasic/scholarships/ Payment with Venmo: @John-DeChristopher-2. Be sure to include your size and shipping address. Very important! Email: livefrommydrumroom@gmail.com. Thank you to everyone who's bought a shirt and or hoodie to help support this endeavor!    Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher! is a series of conversations with legendary drummers and Music Industry icons, hosted by drummer and music industry veteran, John DeChristopher, drawing from his five decades in the Music Industry. Created in 2020, and ranked BEST Drum Podcast, "Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher!" gives the audience an insider's view that only John can offer. And no drummers are harmed on any shows! Please subscribe!https://linktr.ee/live_from_my_drum_roomwww.youtube.com/c/JohnDeChristopherLiveFromMyDrumRoom

Send us a textEpisode 179Behind the thunder of Keith Richards' riffs and the swagger of Mick Jagger's vocals, there was always one steady, unshakable force—Charlie Watts. As the quiet heartbeat of The Rolling Stones, Watts was never the loudest member of the band, nor the most flamboyant. But without him, the world's greatest rock and roll band wouldn't have been the same.A jazz lover at heart, Watts brought a sense of swing and sophistication to rock music that set the Stones apart. His drumming wasn't about flash—it was about feel. For nearly 60 years, he kept time through eras of excess, reinvention, and legend.So how did this reserved, impeccably dressed drummer become one of the most respected musicians in history?Support the showInsta@justpassingthroughpodcastContact:justpassingthroughpodcast@gmail.com

Sticky Fingers is considered by many to be the greatest studio album the Rolling Stones ever created.  This ninth studio album represented a return to a more basic sound for the Stones after several albums with less conventional instrumentation.  It was also known for its cover artwork from Andy Warhol which featured a man in jeans with a working zipper.  The album won a Grammy for “Best Album Cover” for this innovative design.This was the first album that was released on their own label, Rolling Stones Records.  It was also the first album the group produced without Brian Jones, who had died two years earlier.  The members of the band were Charlie Watts on drums, Bill Wyman on bass, Mick Taylor on guitar, Keith Richards on guitar and backing vocals, and Mick Jagger on lead vocals and some guitar and percussion.  There were a number of session musicians and frequent collaborators involved in the album, including Bobby Keys on sax, and Billy Preston and Ian Stewart on keyboards.Sticky Fingers was the band's first album to reach number 1 on album charts in both the US and the UK.  It has since reached triple platinum status, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.    The album was also the first album to utilize the now-iconic “mouth”  for which the group would be known.Friend of the show Mike Fernandez joins us in Bruce's absence, while Rob brings us this amazing album from one of the giants of the rock world in this week's podcast. Wild HorsesThis softer song with a country bent was first released in 1970 by the Flying Burrito Brothers, and subsequently recorded by the Stones after originally thinking the demo wasn't worth recording.  It was originally recorded over a three-day period at Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama in 1969.  The lyrics are about being on the road, and not being where you really want to be.Brown SugarThe opening track to the album was also the lead single, and reached the top of the charts in the US and Canada, while reaching number 2 on the UK singles chart.  The song sounds like a strong rocking one, but the lyrics discuss slavery and rape, a much more serious topic than most realized the lyrics covered.BitchThis track which leads off side two of the album was the B-side to the single “Brown Sugar.”  It has a strong brass section — the song originated in a jam, and features Bobby Keys on sax and Jim Price on trumpet.  The lyrics are describing love as a bitch but the title probably didn't help the band in its problems with women's groups.  Can't You Hear Me KnockingThis is the longest song on the album, clocking in at over seven minutes.  The central part of the song lasts for 2:43, with an extended jam following.  The entire track was captured in one take, and the band continued with the jam, thinking that the recording was complete.   ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:One Tin Soldier (from the motion picture “Billy Jack”)This counterculture song was a prominent part of the soundtrack to the action drama "Billy Jack" a part Navajo Green Beret and Vietnam War veteran defending his Freedom School students from angry townspeople. STAFF PICKS:Get It On by ChaseWayne starts out the staff picks with a high energy song from an artist known for his jazz trumpet.  Bill Chase brought together a band including three other trumpet players, a rock rhythm section, and front man Terry Richards on lead vocals.  This jazz fusion rock piece peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.Let's Get It On by Marvin GayeLynch brings us a track that has taken on a life of its own as the ultimate romance song.  Backed by the Funk Brothers, it is the most successful song Gaye produced on Motown Records.  It reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and the US Hot Soul Singles chart.Love Her Madly by the DoorsMike features the first single from the album “L.A. Woman,” the sixth studio album from the Doors, and the final album with Jim Morrison before his untimely death.  Guitarist Robby Krieger wrote this song while experimenting with a 12-string guitar.  It Don't Come Easy by Ringo Starr Rob finishes the staff picks with a non-album single from the drummer of the recently-disbanded Beatles.  Fellow Beatle George Harrison produced the single and helped Starr write the song which peaked at number 4 on the US and UK singles charts. INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:Main Theme from the motion picture “The Summer of 42”We exit this week's podcast with the signature song from this Academy Award nominee and coming-of-age movie in the theaters in April 1971. Thanks for listening to “What the Riff?!?” NOTE: To adjust the loudness of the music or voices, you may adjust the balance on your device. VOICES are stronger in the LEFT channel, and MUSIC is stronger on the RIGHT channel.Please follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/whattheriffpodcast/, and message or email us with what you'd like to hear, what you think of the show, and any rock-worthy memes we can share.Of course we'd love for you to rate the show in your podcast platform!**NOTE: What the Riff?!? does not own the rights to any of these songs and we neither sell, nor profit from them. We share them so you can learn about them and purchase them for your own collections.

In unserer heutigen Episode befassen wir uns mit dem Schlagzeug. Erfreulicherweise gemeinsam mit jemandem, der in der absoluten Weltklasse mitspielt: Christian Eigner. Die meisten kennen ihn als Schlagzeuger von Depeche Mode. Daneben ist er aber auch seit Jahrzehnten ein international gefragter Session-Drummer, der bislang auf mehr als 1000 (!) Produktionen mitgespielt hat, und derzeit mit seinen Solo-Shows unterwegs. Im heutigen ersten Teil unseres Gesprächs geht es hauptsächlich um den Beginn von Christians Karriere und um Schlagzeug-Legenden, die ihn, uns und Tausende andere Drummer inspiriert und begeistert haben: zB Phil Rudd, Billy Cobham, Jeff Porcaro, Charlie Watts, Taylor Hawkins und Animal aus der Muppet Show. Seite A des Mixtapes: Todd Rundgren - Bang the Drum All Day Buddy Rich & Animal - Drum Battle U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (Larry Mullen Jr.) Surfaris - Wipeout (Ron Wilson) The Beatles - Come Together (Ringo Starr) Rolling Stones - Paint it Black (Charlie Watts) AC/DC - Back in Black (Phil Rudd) The Police - Message in a Bottle (Stewart Copeland) Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks (John Bonham) Billy Cobham - Red Baron (Billy Cobham) Toto - Rosanna (Jeff Porcaro) Toto - Mushanga (Jeff Porcaro) Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer (Hal Blaine) The Ronettes - Be My Baby (Hal Blaine) Foo Fighters - Rope (Taylor Hawkins)

Send us a textHappy New Year! An impromptu, freewheeling and fun episode where I discuss and demonstrate my Craviotto drums and current cymbal set up. I also discuss microphones and answer questions from the live audience. So come along for the ride and please subscribe! Tune in Mon Jan 6th at 2:30pm ET for Bill Gibson of Huey Lewis and the News! Exciting news! 100% of the proceeds from Live From My Drum Room T-shirts goes toward a newly created Live From My Drum Room Scholarship with the Percussive Arts Society! https://pas.org/pasic/scholarships/ Live From My Drum Room T-shirts are made of soft 60%cotton/40% polyester. Available in XS-2XL. $25 includes shipping in the contiguous US. Payment with Venmo: @John-DeChristopher-2. Be sure to include your size and shipping address. Email: livefrommydrumroom@gmail.com. Thank you to everyone who's bought a shirt to help support this endeavor!Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher! is a series of conversations with legendary drummers and Music Industry icons, hosted by drummer and music industry veteran, John DeChristopher, drawing from his five decades in the Music Industry. Created in 2020, and ranked BEST Drum Podcast, "Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher!" gives the audience an insider's view that only John can offer. And no drummers are harmed on any shows! Please subscribe!https://linktr.ee/live_from_my_drum_roomwww.youtube.com/c/JohnDeChristopherLiveFromMyDrumRoom

Pourquoi le dernier album de The Cure a-t-il failli changer de nom à la dernière minute ? Nicko McBrain, le célèbre batteur d'Iron Maiden, a joué ce 7 décembre son dernier concert avec le groupe à Sao Pauloet c'est le batteur Simon Dawson, (musicien de session et partenaire de de Steve Harris) qui le remplacera, à voir sur notre site. Robbie Williams a pris la défense d'Oasis à propos de la controverse sur la tarification dynamique des billets de leur tournée de 2025. Bill Wyman, ancien bassiste des Stones qui les a quittés en 1993, trouve que le groupe aurait dû arrêter après le décès du batteur (et membre fondateur) Charlie Watts. Le groupe français vient de sortir le clip officiel de son interprétation de "Mea Culpa (Ah ! Ça ira !)" avec la chanteuse d'opéra Marina Viotti. Mots-Clés : origine, Live From The Moon, raison, passion, Robert Smith, univers, l'espace, 50 ans, alunissage, réalisation, projet, anniversaire, enfant, footballeur, astronaute, monde, retraite, raisons de santé, section rythmique, bassiste, British Lion, vidéo, hommage, images, coulisses, discours, chanteur ; Bruce Dickinson, come-back, annonce, fans, Royaume-Uni, Irlande, douche froide, système, surge pricing, TicketMaster, prix, demande, frères, Gallagher, basse, charisme, type, formidable, 1963, décès, 2021, complications, opération chirurgicale, Jeux Olympiques, Paris, surprises, sport, intégralité, performance, plateforme, Conciergerie, prison, palais de justice, la Seine, fleuve, bateau, bois. --- Classic 21 vous informe des dernières actualités du rock, en Belgique et partout ailleurs. Le Journal du Rock, en direct chaque jour à 7h30 et 18h30 sur votre radio rock'n'pop. Merci pour votre écoute Plus de contenus de Classic 21 sur www.rtbf.be/classic21 Ecoutez-nous en live ici: https://www.rtbf.be/radio/liveradio/classic21 ou sur l'app Radioplayer BelgiqueRetrouvez l'ensemble des contenus de la RTBF sur notre plateforme Auvio.be Et si vous avez apprécié ce podcast, n'hésitez pas à nous donner des étoiles ou des commentaires, cela nous aide à le faire connaître plus largement. Découvrez nos autres podcasts : Le journal du Rock : https://audmns.com/VCRYfsPComic Street (BD) https://audmns.com/oIcpwibLa chronique économique : https://audmns.com/NXWNCrAHey Teacher : https://audmns.com/CIeSInQHistoires sombres du rock : https://audmns.com/ebcGgvkCollection 21 : https://audmns.com/AUdgDqHMystères et Rock'n Roll : https://audmns.com/pCrZihuLa mauvaise oreille de Freddy Tougaux : https://audmns.com/PlXQOEJRock&Sciences : https://audmns.com/lQLdKWRCook as You Are: https://audmns.com/MrmqALPNobody Knows : https://audmns.com/pnuJUlDPlein Ecran : https://audmns.com/gEmXiKzRadio Caroline : https://audmns.com/WccemSkAinsi que nos séries :Rock Icons : https://audmns.com/pcmKXZHRock'n Roll Heroes: https://audmns.com/bXtHJucFever (Erotique) : https://audmns.com/MEWEOLpEt découvrez nos animateurs dans cette série Close to You : https://audmns.com/QfFankx

Send us a textIn this episode, we discuss the second instalment in the Rolling Stones' legendary four-album run from 1968-72, that being 'Let It Bleed,' released on this day in 1969. Few albums so accurately capture the mood of their time, and even fewer hit just as close to home 55 years later as they did on release day...Support the showSubscribe to Rock Talk with Dr. Cropper +Instagram & TikTok — @rocktalk.dr.cropperTwitter — @RockTalkDrCroppFacebook, LinkedIn & YouTube — Rock Talk with Dr. CropperEmail — rocktalk.dr.cropper@gmail.com

Send us a textA special episode celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Rolling Stones 1974 masterpiece, "It's Only Rock 'n Roll." I do a track by track deep dive into this often overlooked Stones classic. So come along for the ride and please subscribe! Check out TrackTalk With Kenney Jones! https://youtu.be/nTB67_pp5tk?si=3LBDJARo1Lej4p58 and Live From My Drum Room With Kenney Jones! https://youtu.be/XmjdFIWdrrM?si=HXNnKjXtvdzBsEsr Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher! is a series of conversations with legendary drummers and Music Industry icons, hosted by drummer and music industry veteran, John DeChristopher, drawing from his five decades in the Music Industry. Created in 2020, and ranked BEST Drum Podcast, "Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher!" gives the audience an insider's view that only John can offer. And no drummers are harmed on any shows! Please subscribe!Exciting news! 100% of the proceeds from Live From My Drum Room T-shirts goes toward a newly created Live From My Drum Room Scholarship with the Percussive Arts Society! https://pas.org/pasic/scholarships/ Live From My Drum Room T-shirts are made of soft 60%cotton/40% polyester. Available in XS-2XL. $25 includes shipping in the contiguous US. Payment with Venmo: @John-DeChristopher-2. Be sure to include your size and shipping address. Email: livefrommydrumroom@gmail.com. Thank you to everyone who's bought a shirt to help support this endeavor! https://linktr.ee/live_from_my_drum_roomwww.youtube.com/c/JohnDeChristopherLiveFromMyDrumRoom

Send us a textIn this episode, we discuss the Rolling Stones' twelfth album, 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll,' in celebration of the 50th anniversary of its October 18, 1974 release. While far from their best album, it's still close enough to their creative peak that it has some great stuff on it!The speed-corrected version of "Fingerprint File," finally liberated on the 2011 Japanese CD release of the album, can be found here.Support the showSubscribe to Rock Talk with Dr. Cropper +Instagram & TikTok — @rocktalk.dr.cropperTwitter — @RockTalkDrCroppFacebook, LinkedIn & YouTube — Rock Talk with Dr. CropperEmail — rocktalk.dr.cropper@gmail.com

On the October 14 edition of the Music History Today podcast, Pearl Jam breaks a record, JoJo finally gets to release a record, & Pulp Fiction breathes life into older music. Also, happy birthday to Usher. For more music history, subscribe to my Spotify Channel or subscribe to the audio version of my music history podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts from ALL MUSIC HISTORY TODAY PODCAST NETWORK LINKS - https://allmylinks.com/musichistorytoday On this date: * In 1906, legendary entertainer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson was not allowed to play for the Rutgers University football team because their opponents that day, Washington and Lee University, refused to play against a team that had a black person on it. * In 1939, music company BMI started operations. * In 1954, the musical movie White Christmas premiered. * In 1964, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones married his wife Shirley Shepherd. * In 1966, Grace Slick first appeared with Jefferson Airplane. * In 1968, the Beatles finished work on the White Album. * In 1971, John Lennon & Yoko Ono appeared on the Dick Cavett Show. * In 1994, the movie Pulp Fiction premiered. From a musical standpoint, the movie helped revive interest in Dick Dale's music (he did the song Misirlou: the song with the crazy surf guitar & the screaming in the beginning of it). It also sparked interest in the early Kool & the Gang funk classic Jungle Boogie & Link Wray's classic Rumble. * In 2000, Pearl Jam broke a record on Billboard's albums chart when 5 of their released live albums from their European tour hit the chart in the same week. * In 2006, Rascal Flatts' opening act Eric Church was kicked off the tour after he repeatedly played over his allotted opening slot time. Apparently, that was the last straw with Rascal Flatts. Eric's replacement was a hotshot country newcomer at the time: Taylor Swift. * In 2006, singer Melina Leon married her husband Ruy Fernando Delgado. * In 2014, singer Kesha started her lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke in order to be released from her contract with him. * In 2017, country singer Kacey Musgraves married singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly. * In 2018, Steppenwolf performed in Baxter Springs, Kansas, which was their final show. * In 2023, Madonna started her Celebration tour, after having to delay it to deal with a bacterial infection which sent her to the hospital. In the world of classical music: * In 1924, the opera Die Gluckliche Hand premiered. * In 1956, the overture Robert Browning by Charles Ives premiered. In the world of theater: * In 1930, the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy premiered on Broadway & made stars out of Ginger Rogers & especially Ethel Merman. * In 1961, the Frank Loesser musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying premiered on Broadway. In award ceremonies that were held on this date: * In 1970, Merle Haggard won at the Country Music Association awards. * In 1974, Charlie Rich won at the Country Music Association awards. * In 1985, Ricky Skaggs won at the Country Music Association awards. In 2009, opera superstar Placido Domingo received the first Birgit Nilsson million dollar prize. In 2020, Post Malone & Billie Eilish were the big winners at the Billboard Music Awards. In 2022, Jefferson Airplane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musichistorytodaypodcast/support

Are you ever going to text me?This episode cannot decide if it is a riff or a lick.Jason, Jim, and Joseph take on the impossible task of listing the best opening rock and roll "guitar parts" of all time.Jim's guitar riff impressions are almost as good as his Charles Grodin impressions.Joseph likes to think of himself as the "historian" of the group, inaccuracies and all.Jason reminisces about his performance playing an Atari guitar for a talent show.We were Grunge before Grunge.We still don't know our E chord from a G chord.The riff was used to introduce Windows 95, so you know it's good.This is what a feminist sounds like.Starship Heart What famous opening riff did Jason decide could be skipped for his middle performance?What famous riff had Charlie Watts screaming at Keith to shut up?

Move aside, Mark Lewisohn. It's SPIZERTIME. That's right. At long last, the Beatles have announced a new 8 LP box set of the U.S. Beatles records they're (dubiously) calling "The Beatles: 1964 Albums in Mono". T.J.'s first phone call was to the Venture at North Ave. and Kostner to pre-order his box set. His next call was to his doctor, to address a sudden and impolite-to-discuss medical condition lasting longer than 4 hours. #ringthebonephone And his third (and arguably most important) call was to his pal Tony so they could compare their hopes and dreams for the impending November release. [Editor's note: T.J. impending release joke #REDACTED] They also cover the truly pressing questions, like:

The continuing story of Ringo and Charlie. We also discuss CCR's recent unexpected surge in popularity. Are they the Ultimate Summer Band?Peace and Love.

Still Olympic obsessed. Still Drum obsessed. We rank Charlie Watts and Ringo Star, in an attempt to get a full sense of why this drumming "pact of restraint" has yielded the two biggest bands in the universe has ever seen.SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODEhttps://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

Drum History Podcast was created in October of 2018 and has been on a journey to document the history of the drums ever since. Topics range from the very early beginnings of man's involvement with percussion up to modern day innovations that are changing the drum industry. The show has seen major growth since its launch and has become a resource for many drum historians and enthusiasts around the world. Bart van der Zee is a lifelong drummer with a deep passion for learning the full history of the drums. He has been a working musician for many years performing live and as a session drummer. Bart has worked as an audio engineer and has worked on a wide variety of projects including albums, commercials, TV and Film, and a number of podcasts. In this episode, Bart talks about:    Work / family balance    Drum History Podcast    Inspiring the next generation    The popularity of the “gear episodes”    WW2 era drum manufacturing    Meeting Charlie Watts    Creative ways to stay connected to the drumming community

Send us a Text Message.On January 23, 2024, I had the pleasure of being a guest on "Shaping Your Journey," hosted by Aldo Mazza. It was fun to be on the other side of the camera and microphone for a change. So come along for the ride and I hope you enjoy this episode. I'll be back with another episode of Live From My Drum Room soon! Thanks for watching and listening, and please subscribe! Check out "Shaping Your Journey" with Aldo Mazza and subscribe to his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@aldomazza6809 Live From My Drum Room T-shirts are available! Made of soft 60%cotton/40% polyester. Available in sizes XS-2XL. $25 including shipping in the contiguous US! Payment with Venmo: @John-DeChristopher-2. Be sure to include your size and shipping address. Email for more info: livefrommydrumroom@gmail.com. Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher! is a series of conversations with legendary drummers and Music Industry icons, hosted by drummer and music industry veteran, John DeChristopher, drawing from his five decades in the Music Industry. Created in 2020, and ranked BEST Drum Podcast, "Live From My Drum Room With John DeChristopher!" gives the audience an insider's view that only John can offer. And no drummers are harmed on any shows! Please subscribe! https://linktr.ee/live_from_my_drum_roomwww.youtube.com/c/JohnDeChristopherLiveFromMyDrumRoom

Sly Stallone is selling off his impressive watch collection! He credits Gregg Allman with starting his fascination with fine timepieces! Plus, a Seattle bar owner laments the time he wasn't at work when Charlie Watts came in for a few beers!

On this day in 1965, in a fit of nocturnal inspiration, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards wrote “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom's conversation with Mick Jagger has won gold for best interview at this year's New York Festivals Radio Awards! The Rolling Stones frontman sat down with Tom in London last year ahead of the release of “Hackney Diamonds” — the band's first album of original material in 18 years. Mick reflects on six decades of the Stones, the changing music industry, and the loss of their drummer, Charlie Watts.

Host Meg Wolitzer presents four stories in which characters shape their expectations and dreams to a manageable size in collaboration with Belletrist Book Club. So if you're “Medusa,” as in our first story, by Tania James, you try to figure out how to live in the world instead of turning it to stone. The reader is Constance Zimmer. Parents in our second story, “We Only Wanted Their Happiness,” by Alexander Weinstein, make a tactical choice about technology. It's performed by Randall Park. The narrator of Honor Levy's “Good Boys,” read by Annie Hamilton, understands that infatuation is a phase. And a man and a woman sidestep romance in “Arrangements” by Charlie Watts, performed by Laura Harrier and Will Harrison. The show was recorded at the Getty Center in Los Angeles and features commentary by Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss of Belletrist Book Club. Since 2017, Belletrist Book Club has chosen more than 75 titles for the book club and dozens more for myriad content features across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and the newsletter The Belletrist Brief. In 2019, Emma Roberts and Karah Priess spun out Belletrist Book Club into a production company called Belletrist Productions. https://www.belletrist.com/

Kenny rips through the epic tales of hitting the road with rock gods like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, not to mention laying down tracks with legends from the Rolling Stones to Jon Bon Jovi. Dive deep into the raw energy of the '90s rock scene, Kenny's relentless rhythm, and wild run-ins with icons like Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger. This is your all-access pass to the heart of rock 'n' roll, the triumphs, and the untold stories from behind the curtain. Crank it up on Kenny Aronoff's official YouTube channel for a headfirst plunge into rock lore and the beats that drive success in music and life.

For the inaugural episode of Windy City Ballyhoo, pop culture writers Rachel McPadden and Heather Drain come on the podcast to talk about the rockin' Roling Stones double of Gimme Shelter (1970) and Sympathy For the Devil (1968), which played at the Wilmette Theatre on September 15, 1972.This episode includes copious amounts of Charlie Watts love, roaming hippie hoards, Marty Balin's risque “Hearts” video, minor Jean-Luc Godard bashing, Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's, respect for Stacy Keach, and more Chicago history than you'll know what to do with.

From October 27, 2021: Anthony DeCurtis called in for a fun and lively discussion of his book THE ROLLING STONES: UNZIPPED. For almost 60 years The Rolling Stones have helped shape popular culture around the world. The Rolling Stones: Unzipped traces their impact and influence on rock music, art, design, fashion, photography, and filmmaking. Packed with evocative archival photos, artworks, outtakes, and memorabilia, this stunning visual history immerses readers in the world of the Stones. Peppered throughout with insightful new commentary by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood, this volume also features an incisive introduction by writer and music critic Anthony De Curtis, as well as interviews with Buddy Guy (on the roots of the Stones' music), Don Was (on the band's working method in the studio), Anna Sui and John Varvatos (on the evolution of the band's style), Martin Scorsese (on the band's filmed performances and videos), Shephard Fairey (on the band's art and design), and Patrick Woodroffe and Willie Williams (on the band's live shows). In addition to stills from films, videos, and documentary footage, vivid photographic sections showcase the Stones' musical instruments, their stage clothing, album cover designs, notebooks with lyrics, and tape boxes from the original recording sessions. A bold and captivating record of the "greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world," The Rolling Stones: Unzipped accompanies a blockbuster touring exhibition of the same name, scheduled to open next in late November 2021 outside Toronto, Canada.Anthony DeCurtis is an author and music critic. He has written for the New York Times, Relix, and Rolling Stone, for which he is a contributing editor.

Ein Verleger treibt KMU zur Weissglut: Anzeigenverkäuferinnen verkaufen gleich doppelt und dreifach Inserate in Magazinen und Zeitungen, so eine Insiderin. Doch neue Kunden würden ausbleiben. Ausserdem in der Sendung: Darf man laut Schlagzeug spielen in der Mietwohnung? Und: Nudelsuppen im Test. Inserate für die Katz? – Verlag bringt KMU zum Verzweifeln Ein findiger Verlagsunternehmer treibt KMU zur Weissglut: Anzeigenverkäuferinnen verkaufen gleich doppelt und dreifach Inserate in Magazinen und Zeitungen, erzählt eine Insiderin. Doch neue Kunden würden ausbleiben, beklagen sich mehrere Kleingewerbler bei «Kassensturz». Eine Recherche über unbeglaubigte Auflage- und Leserzahlen und den Frust von Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmern. Live im «Kassensturz»-Studio stellt sich Verlagsleiterin Sonja Orbke den Fragen von Moderator André Ruch. «Darf man das?» – Schlagzeuger-Karriere versus Ruhebedürfnis Muss Karl es einfach hinnehmen, dass die Nachbarstochter in der Mietwohnung nebenan tagein, tagaus auf ihrem Schlagzeug rumhämmert und von einer Schlagzeug-Karriere à la Charlie Watts oder Ringo Starr träumt und Karl damit um seinen Schlaf bringt. Das Publikum stimmt darüber ab. Und «Kassensturz»-Rechtsexpertin Gabriela Baumgartner klärt live im Studio auf, was von Gesetzes wegen zugelassen ist – und was nicht. Degustation «Nudelsuppen» – Von Hui bis Pfui Instant Noodles, Ramen, Nudelsuppen – viele Namen für das gleiche Trend-Gericht. Und vom Speiseplan Jugendlicher und Junggebliebener kaum mehr wegzudenken. Die «Kassensturz»-Degustation mit einer hochkarätigen Fach-Jury zeigt, dass die Bandbreite an Nudelsuppen überraschend gross ist. Und es gibt immense geschmackliche Unterschiede: von kartonartig und ranzig bis zu harmonisch und natürlich. Die Profi-Testerinnen und -Tester vergeben Noten von «gut» bis «schlecht».

In this episode we welcome long-time RBP contributor Ira Robbins as he celebrates the 50th anniversary of the launch of his beloved Trouser Press. Ira tells us about the musical Anglophilia that began for him with the Beatles but surged with the 1968 release of The Who Sell Out.  He then recounts the beginning of his friendship with schoolmate Dave Schulps and explains how it led to a shared obsession with the British music press. The story of the 1974 launch of Anglophile fanzine Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press, in partnership with the late Karen Rose, is accompanied by quotes from a 2001 interview Ira gave to RockCritics.com. He talks about the years that followed the dropping of the "Trans-Oceanic" prefix, and about some of the contributors – more than a few female – who made Trouser Press such essential '70s reading. After playing a clip from a 1975 audio interview Ira did with Cockney Rebel's late frontman Steve Harley – who died after this episode was recorded – we turn our attention to his more recent encounter with the rather more genial Nick Lowe. Clips from this 2007 conversation prompt a general appreciation of the Jesus of Cool's career from Kippington Lodge to Little Village via Elvis Costello and Johnny Cash. After we've paid tribute to the departed Eric Carmen – with our guest disputing that (the) Raspberries were authentically "power pop" – Mark talks us out with quotes from the pieces he's most enjoyed adding to the RBP library over the preceding fortnight. Many thanks to special guest Ira Robbins. Zip It Up! The Best of Trouser Press Magazine 1974–1984 is published by Trouser Press Books and available now via trouserpressbooks.com.  Pieces discussed: Ira Robbins articles, The Story behind Trouser Press, Ira interviewed on RockCritics.com, Steve Harley audio, The New Wave Washes Out, Nick Lowe audio, Eric Carmen: Rock's Rejuvenated Raspberry, World Party, Charlie Watts, Was (Not Was), Rhythm and Blues and Kiss.

Today we are joined by Charlie Watts, President & CEO of Aurora Federal Credit Union in Colorado. Charlie joins the Frogcast to share his career story within our industry, starting with a corporate credit union, growing through a credit union CFO position, and all the way to the top seat as CEO. Filling the top seat at a smaller credit union brings its own set of challenges, and he explains to us how he has overcome the resource realities and limitations at a CU his size. WCMS has produced so many great leaders in our industry, and Charlie drank the WCMS kool-aid because of that and it's great reputation. Charlie is certainly considered among those ranks of our alumni - listen in and hear why! Interviewers: Shonna Shearson and Nate Burns Producers: Ryan Kane and Steve Schmidle Supporting Committee members: Robert York, Ryan Olsen, Jeff Morris, and James Wileman

By 1981, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were barely talking, having differing opinions on the direction of The Rolling Stones. Making new music together seemed out of the question, but they were booked on a world tour, and needed an album to tour behind. That's when engineer Chris Kimsey stepped in to save the day, poring over forgotten outtakes from the band's previous sessions to cobble together what would become the Tattoo You album. The lead track, “Start Me Up,” was the biggest surprise to Keith Richards, who had written it as a reggae song but never liked what he heard when it was recorded. But, Kimsey found a diamond in the rough: when Richards and Charlie Watts briefly went into the rockin' version we fans have come to know in one of those forgotten sessions. That outtake, after a little polishing, became one of the biggest hits of the Stones' career, and it's a miracle it was ever found to begin with. Get into the story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By 1981, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were barely talking, having differing opinions on the direction of The Rolling Stones. Making new music together seemed out of the question, but they were booked on a world tour, and needed an album to tour behind. That's when engineer Chris Kimsey stepped in to save the day, poring over forgotten outtakes from the band's previous sessions to cobble together what would become the Tattoo You album. The lead track, “Start Me Up,” was the biggest surprise to Keith Richards, who had written it as a reggae song but never liked what he heard when it was recorded. But, Kimsey found a diamond in the rough: when Richards and Charlie Watts briefly went into the rockin' version we fans have come to know in one of those forgotten sessions. That outtake, after a little polishing, became one of the biggest hits of the Stones' career, and it's a miracle it was ever found to begin with. Get into the story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Rolling Stones are back with “Hackney Diamonds,” the band's first album of original material in 18 years. In a Canadian exclusive interview, frontman Mick Jagger talks to Tom about the record, the changing music industry, and losing their drummer Charlie Watts.

Closing out 2023 with a tour of my drum room and memorabilia. A look at my vintage drum collection, along with some background on each kit. And a look at the various memorabilia, Gold and Platinum Records and more, I've accumulated from my years working in the Drum Industry. Please excuse any audio glitches as the show was streamed live on Facebook with my iPhone. So come along for the ride and please subscribe! https://linktr.ee/live_from_my_drum_roomwww.youtube.com/c/JohnDeChristopherLiveFromMyDrumRoom

"Sailing Through Sounds: JRad's Revelations & Dylan Surprises"Larry Mishkin    discusses  JRad (Joe Russo's Almost Dead)  December 1st concert  at the Riviera nightclub in Chicago. He talks about the band's unique covers, including Grateful Dead songs, and their ability to recreate the sound of the original artists. He highlight the performance of "Foolish Heart" during a previous show, describing its musical construction and its significance in the Grateful Dead's live repertoire.Delving into the band members' backgrounds, emphasizing their musical talents and contributions to JRad. It provides detailed information about each member's musical history and collaborations, discussing Joe Russo's drumming, Marco Benevento's keyboards, Dave Drywitz's bass, Tom Hamilton's guitar, and Scott Metzger's diverse musical styles.He also reviews JRad's surprise performances, such as their rendition of Bob Dylan's "Tell Me Mama," a song exclusively performed during Dylan's 1966 world tour. Larry expresses surprise at how JRad, despite being younger and not following Dylan in 1966, managed to perform the song so well.Additionally, he briefly touches on the issue of marijuana prohibition on cruise ships, by criticizing the strict enforcement against cannabis use, considering the changing attitudes toward marijuana. The discussion also touches upon ticket availability for concerts by bands like Phish and rumors surrounding potential performances..Produced by PodConx  Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast JRADDecember 1, 2023The Riviera NightclubChicagoJoe Russo's Almost Dead Live at The Riviera on 2023-12-01 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Episode title:      JRAD Rocks The Riv in Chicago on 12.1.2023: channel Dylan and Dire Straits                                Happy Birthday Keith Richards (80!) INTRO:                  Foolish Heart                                Track #3                                5:45 – 7:17  SHOW No. 1:      Tell Me, Momma                                Track #4                                0:57 – 2:33 Tell Me, Momma is a song written by Bob Dylan and performed exclusively during his 1966 World Tour with the Band (then known as the Hawks). It was used to introduce the second half of a concert, when Dylan switched from an acoustic solo performance to an electric performance backed by a band. The song was not recorded on a studio album, nor was it ever performed again by Dylan in concert.Dylan's May 17, 1966 live performance of the song was released in 1998 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert.[1] In 2016, all Dylan's recorded live performances of "Tell Me, Momma" from 1966 were released in the 36-CD boxed set The 1966 Live Recordings, with the May 26, 1966 performance released separately on the album The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert. The boxed set contains all the live versions of "Tell Me, Momma" ever performed by Dylan and his band. SHOW No. 2:                      Fire On The Mountain                                                Track #7                                                0:30 – 2:05 SHOW No. 3:                      Before They Make Me Run                                                Keith Richards                                                ROLLING STONES: Before They Make Me Run (Promo - 7" Single Version) (youtube.com)                                                1:54 – 3:21 Today Keith turned 80.  Cannot let that milestone go unnoticed.  Richards was born in and grew up in Dartford, Kent. He studied at the Dartford Technical School and Sidcup Art College. After graduating, Richards befriended Jagger, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, and Brian Jones and joined the Rolling Stones. As a member of the Rolling Stones, Richards also sings lead on some Stones songs. Richards typically sings lead on at least one song a concert, including "Happy", "Before They Make Me Run", and "Connection". Outside of his career with the Rolling Stones, Richards has also played with his own side-project, The X-Pensive Winos. He also appeared in three Pirates of the Caribbean films as Captain Teague, father of Jack Sparrow, whose look and characterisation was inspired by Richards himself.In 1989, Richards was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2004 into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him fourth on its list of 100 best guitarists in 2011. In 2023, Rolling Stone's ranking was 15th.[1] The magazine lists fourteen songs that Richards wrote with Jagger on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.My favorite “Keith tune” in the Stone's songbook.  1978 version. "Before They Make Me Run" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones, featured on their 1978 album Some Girls.English musician, songwriter, singer and recording producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership with the band's lead vocalist Mick Jagger is one of the most successful in history. His career spans over six decades, and his guitar playing style has been a trademark of the Rolling Stones throughout the band's career. Richards gained press notoriety for his romantic involvements and illicit drug use, and he was often portrayed as a countercultural figure.Written by guitaristKeith Richards, the song is a response to his arrest for heroin possession in Toronto in February 1977. The criminal charges and prospect of a prison sentence loomed over the Some Girls recording sessions and endangered the future of the Rolling Stones.[2]In the lyrics, Richards reflects unapologetically on his lifestyle up to that point. The line "it's another goodbye to another good friend" in the first verse can be interpreted as referring to Gram Parsons, Richards's close friend who died in 1973 from a drug overdose,[3] and/or to heroin itself: Richards had sought medical treatment for heroin addiction following his arrest in Toronto, and his resolution to overcome his addiction would be a significant factor in his upcoming trial.[4]Richards recorded the song in five days without sleeping.[5] Originally entitled "Rotten Roll", the song was recorded in a Paris studio in March 1978 during one of Mick Jagger's absences from the Some Girls sessions.[6] The completed track, "a high-energy rock & roller",[7] features Richards on lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, and bass; Ronnie Wood on pedal steel guitar, slide guitar and backing vocals; Charlie Watts on drums; and Jagger on backing vocals.Richards first performed the song in concert on the New Barbarians' tour of North America in 1979; it was not until the Steel Wheels Tour in 1989 that it entered the Rolling Stones' concert repertoireSHOW No. 4:                      Romeo and Juliet                                                Track #13                                                1:54 – 3:21 "Romeo and Juliet" is a rock[1][4][5] song by the British rock band Dire Straits, written by frontman Mark Knopfler. It first appeared on the 1980 album Making Movies and was released as a single in 1981.[6] The song subsequently appeared on the Dire Straits live albums Alchemy and On the Night, and later on Knopfler's live duet album with Emmylou Harris, Real Live Roadrunning (though Harris does not perform on the track). The song itself, written by Knopfler, was inspired by his failed romance with Holly Vincent, lead singer of the short-lived band Holly and the Italians. The song speaks of a Romeo who is still very much in love with his Juliet, but she now treats him like "just another one of [her] deals". Knopfler has both stated and implied that he believes Vincent was using him to boost her career. The song's line, "Now you just say, oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him," refers to an interview with Vincent, where she says "What happened was that I had a scene with Mark Knopfler and it got to the point where he couldn't handle it and we split up.  OUTRO:                                Hard To Handle                                                Track #17                                                5:00 – 6:45 Otis Redding recorded Hard to Handle in late 1967, shortly before his death. It was released as a single in June 1968. By 1969, it was being covered by a number of people, and surprisingly, the Dead seem to have been one of the first. If anyone were to think of the least likely groups in ‘69 to cover some funky new R&B, the Dead would probably be on that list. They hadn't shown any interest in picking up new R&B covers since mid-1967, when they started doing Lovelight – since then, they had focused on their original ‘acid-rock' material. Many old covers dropped out of their setlists, and from summer '68 through winter '69, their shows were almost exclusively devoted to Anthem & Live/Dead suite material, with a few new Aoxomoxoa songs dropped in.But by March 1969, they seem to have felt the need for something new – the Live/Dead album was in the can, and their repertoire had not varied much in months. Aside from a couple sluggish, misbegotten renditions of Hey Jude that winter, Hard to Handle was their first new cover song in over a year. Over the course of the spring, they would gradually bring in more cover tunes, bringing back many songs they had stopped playing in previous years, and the shows would start to reflect a wider set of influences.Pigpen probably emulated Otis, and of course this song would have matched his strutting stage persona; it may have been his idea to cover it. The Dead must have known they could not recapture the tight, snappy Stax horn sound of Redding's original, and they didn't even try. Instead they adapted it to their loud, heavy, lumbering two-drum, two-guitar style – of course adding a big guitar solo. Pigpen had a set way of singing the song from the start, closely following Redding's phrasing, which would vary little over the next couple years; but the band would go through some dramatic changes in the way they played the song. (The next year, a bit lighter on their feet, they would also attempt James Brown's ‘Man's World' – not one of his funkiest efforts – but would only play it for about five months.) The Dead had long been fans of Otis Redding – in 1966-67, Pigpen was performing his ‘63 song ‘Pain in My Heart.' (Though the impetus to cover it may have come from the Rolling Stones' version.)Redding came to the Fillmore in December '66 – musicians were clamoring to Bill Graham that he needed to book Otis. When he came, according to Graham, “Every artist in the city asked to open for Otis. The first night, it was the Grateful Dead. Janis Joplin came at three in the afternoon the day of the first show to make sure that she'd be in front… Every musician then into music came.” *The Dead opened for Redding on 12/20/66; the next two nights, other bands opened. (The Dead went to play in Santa Clara.) Bill Graham was permanently impressed: “By far, Otis Redding was the single most extraordinary talent I had ever seen. There was no comparison, then or now... That was the best gig I ever put on in my entire life.” * Janis also mentioned that Otis was a particular inspiration to her. (I believe Ralph Gleason also wrote a review of one of the shows for the Chronicle, which I'd like to see.)When Garcia & Lesh appeared on Tom Donahue's FM show in April '67, they played Otis' cover of ‘Day Tripper' and reminisced about the show. Otis had an 18-piece band with him, and Garcia recalled that Otis did his standard show, “where the band would get up and play some numbers, and a girl singer would come up” and warm up the audience before Otis appeared.Lesh: “It was kind of scary to work with Otis… He tore it up!”Garcia: “Otis is really heavy… He tore the place apart… When he came on stage, it was like the whole place got about six times as big, and the band just got real snappy – it was so fine, and the music was really good.” The Dead debuted Hard to Handle at the Black & White Ball (Hilton Hotel, S.F.) , 3/15/69 – the very first song of the show! In their eagerness to tackle it, they perhaps neglected to rehearse it a few more times… They have trouble keeping together in the precise arrangement, and sometimes stumble around erratically before syncing up again. Garcia plays swooping slide throughout, but seems to have little idea what to do with it, so there's not much of a solo and they just sort of stagger forward aimlessly for a while. Pigpen is also a little confused about the verses. At the end the band thinks Pigpen's finished, but he continues with another verse, so they bring it to an abrupt end. Last played on December 31, 1982 at the Oakland Civic Auditorium.  Played it a total of 120 times.   Other stories:Cruise Ships have a very strict NO CANNABIS rule.  That sucksPhish tix for the Sphere are out. Did you get any?  .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

This week's show is all about the joy AND angst of gift giving, the importance of context and considering the message you want to send with your gift. Peter learns this when he gives Jason the gift of Rolling Stone's bassist, Darryl Jones-for his own- personal bass lesson, and Jason points out the problems issues he has with this incredible gift…Really, no Really! Coincidently, besides playing bass with the Stones, Miles Davis, Madonna, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock (the list goes on and on) Darryl is a burgeoning actor having played several roles in some major projects. So why not knock out two birds with one Stone (pardon the intentional pun) in exchange for his talents as a musician, Jason offers his tips and advice on being an actor. Darryl Jones was born on the south side of Chicago into a musical family. At 21, he landed a life-changing gig with the legendary jazz icon Miles Davis, with whom he would record and tour over the next five years. In 1993, Jones was chosen to replace longtime band member Bill Wyman as bassist for the Rolling Stones. Since then, he has toured the world, performed on studio and live albums, and appeared in documentary “Darryl Jones: In The Blood.”   IN THIS EPISODE: How Miles Davis mentorship changed Darryl's life. The remarkable way Mick Jagger and Keith Richards asked Darryl to audition. Pro acting tips from Jason Alexander and how his techniques could quite possibly ruin an actor. What it's like to collaborate and make music with the Stones. The unusual items on the Stones' backstage rider when they tour. Darryl reminisces about Charlie Watts, the late Stones' drummer and the quirky quality that make him irreplaceable. The best gifts ever. Googleheim: America's unwanted gift problem.   FOLLOW DARRYL JONES: Online: www.darryljones.com Instagram and Facebook: @DarrylJonesBassist   FOLLOW REALLY NO REALLY: www.reallynoreally.com Instagram YouTube TikTok Facebook Threads X (Twitter)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pat welcomes Rolling Stones "Super Fan" David Wright back to the show to check out the band's new album "Hackney Diamonds" track by track!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode 168 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “I Say a Little Prayer”, and the interaction of the sacred, political, and secular in Aretha Franklin's life and work. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-five-minute bonus episode available, on "Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by Aretha Franklin. Even splitting it into multiple parts would have required six or seven mixes. My main biographical source for Aretha Franklin is Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz, and this is where most of the quotes from musicians come from. Information on C.L. Franklin came from Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America by Nick Salvatore. Country Soul by Charles L Hughes is a great overview of the soul music made in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and Nashville in the sixties. Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom is possibly less essential, but still definitely worth reading. Information about Martin Luther King came from Martin Luther King: A Religious Life by Paul Harvey. I also referred to Burt Bacharach's autobiography Anyone Who Had a Heart, Carole King's autobiography A Natural Woman, and Soul Serenade: King Curtis and his Immortal Saxophone by Timothy R. Hoover. For information about Amazing Grace I also used Aaron Cohen's 33 1/3 book on the album. The film of the concerts is also definitely worth watching. And the Aretha Now album is available in this five-album box set for a ludicrously cheap price. But it's actually worth getting this nineteen-CD set with her first sixteen Atlantic albums and a couple of bonus discs of demos and outtakes. There's barely a duff track in the whole nineteen discs. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript A quick warning before I begin. This episode contains some moderate references to domestic abuse, death by cancer, racial violence, police violence, and political assassination. Anyone who might be upset by those subjects might want to check the transcript rather than listening to the episode. Also, as with the previous episode on Aretha Franklin, this episode presents something of a problem. Like many people in this narrative, Franklin's career was affected by personal troubles, which shaped many of her decisions. But where most of the subjects of the podcast have chosen to live their lives in public and share intimate details of every aspect of their personal lives, Franklin was an extremely private person, who chose to share only carefully sanitised versions of her life, and tried as far as possible to keep things to herself. This of course presents a dilemma for anyone who wants to tell her story -- because even though the information is out there in biographies, and even though she's dead, it's not right to disrespect someone's wish for a private life. I have therefore tried, wherever possible, to stay away from talk of her personal life except where it *absolutely* affects the work, or where other people involved have publicly shared their own stories, and even there I've tried to keep it to a minimum. This will occasionally lead to me saying less about some topics than other people might, even though the information is easily findable, because I don't think we have an absolute right to invade someone else's privacy for entertainment. When we left Aretha Franklin, she had just finally broken through into the mainstream after a decade of performing, with a version of Otis Redding's song "Respect" on which she had been backed by her sisters, Erma and Carolyn. "Respect", in Franklin's interpretation, had been turned from a rather chauvinist song about a man demanding respect from his woman into an anthem of feminism, of Black power, and of a new political awakening. For white people of a certain generation, the summer of 1967 was "the summer of love". For many Black people, it was rather different. There's a quote that goes around (I've seen it credited in reliable sources to both Ebony and Jet magazine, but not ever seen an issue cited, so I can't say for sure where it came from) saying that the summer of 67 was the summer of "'retha, Rap, and revolt", referring to the trifecta of Aretha Franklin, the Black power leader Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (who was at the time known as H. Rap Brown, a name he later disclaimed) and the rioting that broke out in several major cities, particularly in Detroit: [Excerpt: John Lee Hooker, "The Motor City is Burning"] The mid sixties were, in many ways, the high point not of Black rights in the US -- for the most part there has been a lot of progress in civil rights in the intervening decades, though not without inevitable setbacks and attacks from the far right, and as movements like the Black Lives Matter movement have shown there is still a long way to go -- but of *hope* for Black rights. The moral force of the arguments made by the civil rights movement were starting to cause real change to happen for Black people in the US for the first time since the Reconstruction nearly a century before. But those changes weren't happening fast enough, and as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", there was not only a growing unrest among Black people, but a recognition that it was actually possible for things to change. A combination of hope and frustration can be a powerful catalyst, and whether Franklin wanted it or not, she was at the centre of things, both because of her newfound prominence as a star with a hit single that couldn't be interpreted as anything other than a political statement and because of her intimate family connections to the struggle. Even the most racist of white people these days pays lip service to the memory of Dr Martin Luther King, and when they do they quote just a handful of sentences from one speech King made in 1963, as if that sums up the full theological and political philosophy of that most complex of men. And as we discussed the last time we looked at Aretha Franklin, King gave versions of that speech, the "I Have a Dream" speech, twice. The most famous version was at the March on Washington, but the first time was a few weeks earlier, at what was at the time the largest civil rights demonstration in American history, in Detroit. Aretha's family connection to that event is made clear by the very opening of King's speech: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Original 'I Have a Dream' Speech"] So as summer 1967 got into swing, and white rock music was going to San Francisco to wear flowers in its hair, Aretha Franklin was at the centre of a very different kind of youth revolution. Franklin's second Atlantic album, Aretha Arrives, brought in some new personnel to the team that had recorded Aretha's first album for Atlantic. Along with the core Muscle Shoals players Jimmy Johnson, Spooner Oldham, Tommy Cogbill and Roger Hawkins, and a horn section led by King Curtis, Wexler and Dowd also brought in guitarist Joe South. South was a white session player from Georgia, who had had a few minor hits himself in the fifties -- he'd got his start recording a cover version of "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor", the Big Bopper's B-side to "Chantilly Lace": [Excerpt: Joe South, "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"] He'd also written a few songs that had been recorded by people like Gene Vincent, but he'd mostly become a session player. He'd become a favourite musician of Bob Johnston's, and so he'd played guitar on Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme albums: [Excerpt: Simon and Garfunkel, "I am a Rock"] and bass on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, with Al Kooper particularly praising his playing on "Visions of Johanna": [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Visions of Johanna"] South would be the principal guitarist on this and Franklin's next album, before his own career took off in 1968 with "Games People Play": [Excerpt: Joe South, "Games People Play"] At this point, he had already written the other song he's best known for, "Hush", which later became a hit for Deep Purple: [Excerpt: Deep Purple, "Hush"] But he wasn't very well known, and was surprised to get the call for the Aretha Franklin session, especially because, as he put it "I was white and I was about to play behind the blackest genius since Ray Charles" But Jerry Wexler had told him that Franklin didn't care about the race of the musicians she played with, and South settled in as soon as Franklin smiled at him when he played a good guitar lick on her version of the blues standard "Going Down Slow": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Going Down Slow"] That was one of the few times Franklin smiled in those sessions though. Becoming an overnight success after years of trying and failing to make a name for herself had been a disorienting experience, and on top of that things weren't going well in her personal life. Her marriage to her manager Ted White was falling apart, and she was performing erratically thanks to the stress. In particular, at a gig in Georgia she had fallen off the stage and broken her arm. She soon returned to performing, but it meant she had problems with her right arm during the recording of the album, and didn't play as much piano as she would have previously -- on some of the faster songs she played only with her left hand. But the recording sessions had to go on, whether or not Aretha was physically capable of playing piano. As we discussed in the episode on Otis Redding, the owners of Atlantic Records were busily negotiating its sale to Warner Brothers in mid-1967. As Wexler said later “Everything in me said, Keep rolling, keep recording, keep the hits coming. She was red hot and I had no reason to believe that the streak wouldn't continue. I knew that it would be foolish—and even irresponsible—not to strike when the iron was hot. I also had personal motivation. A Wall Street financier had agreed to see what we could get for Atlantic Records. While Ahmet and Neshui had not agreed on a selling price, they had gone along with my plan to let the financier test our worth on the open market. I was always eager to pump out hits, but at this moment I was on overdrive. In this instance, I had a good partner in Ted White, who felt the same. He wanted as much product out there as possible." In truth, you can tell from Aretha Arrives that it's a record that was being thought of as "product" rather than one being made out of any kind of artistic impulse. It's a fine album -- in her ten-album run from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You through Amazing Grace there's not a bad album and barely a bad track -- but there's a lack of focus. There are only two originals on the album, neither of them written by Franklin herself, and the rest is an incoherent set of songs that show the tension between Franklin and her producers at Atlantic. Several songs are the kind of standards that Franklin had recorded for her old label Columbia, things like "You Are My Sunshine", or her version of "That's Life", which had been a hit for Frank Sinatra the previous year: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "That's Life"] But mixed in with that are songs that are clearly the choice of Wexler. As we've discussed previously in episodes on Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, at this point Atlantic had the idea that it was possible for soul artists to cross over into the white market by doing cover versions of white rock hits -- and indeed they'd had some success with that tactic. So while Franklin was suggesting Sinatra covers, Atlantic's hand is visible in the choices of songs like "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "96 Tears": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "96 Tears'] Of the two originals on the album, one, the hit single "Baby I Love You" was written by Ronnie Shannon, the Detroit songwriter who had previously written "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Baby I Love You"] As with the previous album, and several other songs on this one, that had backing vocals by Aretha's sisters, Erma and Carolyn. But the other original on the album, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)", didn't, even though it was written by Carolyn: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] To explain why, let's take a little detour and look at the co-writer of the song this episode is about, though we're not going to get to that for a little while yet. We've not talked much about Burt Bacharach in this series so far, but he's one of those figures who has come up a few times in the periphery and will come up again, so here is as good a time as any to discuss him, and bring everyone up to speed about his career up to 1967. Bacharach was one of the more privileged figures in the sixties pop music field. His father, Bert Bacharach (pronounced the same as his son, but spelled with an e rather than a u) had been a famous newspaper columnist, and his parents had bought him a Steinway grand piano to practice on -- they pushed him to learn the piano even though as a kid he wasn't interested in finger exercises and Debussy. What he was interested in, though, was jazz, and as a teenager he would often go into Manhattan and use a fake ID to see people like Dizzy Gillespie, who he idolised, and in his autobiography he talks rapturously of seeing Gillespie playing his bent trumpet -- he once saw Gillespie standing on a street corner with a pet monkey on his shoulder, and went home and tried to persuade his parents to buy him a monkey too. In particular, he talks about seeing the Count Basie band with Sonny Payne on drums as a teenager: [Excerpt: Count Basie, "Kid From Red Bank"] He saw them at Birdland, the club owned by Morris Levy where they would regularly play, and said of the performance "they were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before. What I heard in those clubs really turned my head around— it was like a big breath of fresh air when somebody throws open a window. That was when I knew for the first time how much I loved music and wanted to be connected to it in some way." Of course, there's a rather major problem with this story, as there is so often with narratives that musicians tell about their early career. In this case, Birdland didn't open until 1949, when Bacharach was twenty-one and stationed in Germany for his military service, while Sonny Payne didn't join Basie's band until 1954, when Bacharach had been a professional musician for many years. Also Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet bell only got bent on January 6, 1953. But presumably while Bacharach was conflating several memories, he did have some experience in some New York jazz club that led him to want to become a musician. Certainly there were enough great jazz musicians playing the clubs in those days. He went to McGill University to study music for two years, then went to study with Darius Milhaud, a hugely respected modernist composer. Milhaud was also one of the most important music teachers of the time -- among others he'd taught Stockhausen and Xenakkis, and would go on to teach Philip Glass and Steve Reich. This suited Bacharach, who by this point was a big fan of Schoenberg and Webern, and was trying to write atonal, difficult music. But Milhaud had also taught Dave Brubeck, and when Bacharach rather shamefacedly presented him with a composition which had an actual tune, he told Bacharach "Never be ashamed of writing a tune you can whistle". He dropped out of university and, like most men of his generation, had to serve in the armed forces. When he got out of the army, he continued his musical studies, still trying to learn to be an avant-garde composer, this time with Bohuslav Martinů and later with Henry Cowell, the experimental composer we've heard about quite a bit in previous episodes: [Excerpt: Henry Cowell, "Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance"] He was still listening to a lot of avant garde music, and would continue doing so throughout the fifties, going to see people like John Cage. But he spent much of that time working in music that was very different from the avant-garde. He got a job as the band leader for the crooner Vic Damone: [Excerpt: Vic Damone. "Ebb Tide"] He also played for the vocal group the Ames Brothers. He decided while he was working with the Ames Brothers that he could write better material than they were getting from their publishers, and that it would be better to have a job where he didn't have to travel, so he got himself a job as a staff songwriter in the Brill Building. He wrote a string of flops and nearly hits, starting with "Keep Me In Mind" for Patti Page: [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Keep Me In Mind"] From early in his career he worked with the lyricist Hal David, and the two of them together wrote two big hits, "Magic Moments" for Perry Como: [Excerpt: Perry Como, "Magic Moments"] and "The Story of My Life" for Marty Robbins: [Excerpt: "The Story of My Life"] But at that point Bacharach was still also writing with other writers, notably Hal David's brother Mack, with whom he wrote the theme tune to the film The Blob, as performed by The Five Blobs: [Excerpt: The Five Blobs, "The Blob"] But Bacharach's songwriting career wasn't taking off, and he got himself a job as musical director for Marlene Dietrich -- a job he kept even after it did start to take off.  Part of the problem was that he intuitively wrote music that didn't quite fit into standard structures -- there would be odd bars of unusual time signatures thrown in, unusual harmonies, and structural irregularities -- but then he'd take feedback from publishers and producers who would tell him the song could only be recorded if he straightened it out. He said later "The truth is that I ruined a lot of songs by not believing in myself enough to tell these guys they were wrong." He started writing songs for Scepter Records, usually with Hal David, but also with Bob Hilliard and Mack David, and started having R&B hits. One song he wrote with Mack David, "I'll Cherish You", had the lyrics rewritten by Luther Dixon to make them more harsh-sounding for a Shirelles single -- but the single was otherwise just Bacharach's demo with the vocals replaced, and you can even hear his voice briefly at the beginning: [Excerpt: The Shirelles, "Baby, It's You"] But he'd also started becoming interested in the production side of records more generally. He'd iced that some producers, when recording his songs, would change the sound for the worse -- he thought Gene McDaniels' version of "Tower of Strength", for example, was too fast. But on the other hand, other producers got a better sound than he'd heard in his head. He and Hilliard had written a song called "Please Stay", which they'd given to Leiber and Stoller to record with the Drifters, and he thought that their arrangement of the song was much better than the one he'd originally thought up: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Please Stay"] He asked Leiber and Stoller if he could attend all their New York sessions and learn about record production from them. He started doing so, and eventually they started asking him to assist them on records. He and Hilliard wrote a song called "Mexican Divorce" for the Drifters, which Leiber and Stoller were going to produce, and as he put it "they were so busy running Redbird Records that they asked me to rehearse the background singers for them in my office." [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Mexican Divorce"] The backing singers who had been brought in to augment the Drifters on that record were a group of vocalists who had started out as members of a gospel group called the Drinkard singers: [Excerpt: The Drinkard Singers, "Singing in My Soul"] The Drinkard Singers had originally been a family group, whose members included Cissy Drinkard, who joined the group aged five (and who on her marriage would become known as Cissy Houston -- her daughter Whitney would later join the family business), her aunt Lee Warrick, and Warrick's adopted daughter Judy Clay. That group were discovered by the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and spent much of the fifties performing with gospel greats including Jackson herself, Clara Ward, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. But Houston was also the musical director of a group at her church, the Gospelaires, which featured Lee Warrick's two daughters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick (for those who don't know, the Warwick sisters' birth name was Warrick, spelled with two rs. A printing error led to it being misspelled the same way as the British city on a record label, and from that point on Dionne at least pronounced the w in her misspelled name). And slowly, the Gospelaires rather than the Drinkard Singers became the focus, with a lineup of Houston, the Warwick sisters, the Warwick sisters' cousin Doris Troy, and Clay's sister Sylvia Shemwell. The real change in the group's fortunes came when, as we talked about a while back in the episode on "The Loco-Motion", the original lineup of the Cookies largely stopped working as session singers to become Ray Charles' Raelettes. As we discussed in that episode, a new lineup of Cookies formed in 1961, but it took a while for them to get started, and in the meantime the producers who had been relying on them for backing vocals were looking elsewhere, and they looked to the Gospelaires. "Mexican Divorce" was the first record to feature the group as backing vocalists -- though reports vary as to how many of them are on the record, with some saying it's only Troy and the Warwicks, others saying Houston was there, and yet others saying it was all five of them. Some of these discrepancies were because these singers were so good that many of them left to become solo singers in fairly short order. Troy was the first to do so, with her hit "Just One Look", on which the other Gospelaires sang backing vocals: [Excerpt: Doris Troy, "Just One Look"] But the next one to go solo was Dionne Warwick, and that was because she'd started working with Bacharach and Hal David as their principal demo singer. She started singing lead on their demos, and hoping that she'd get to release them on her own. One early one was "Make it Easy On Yourself", which was recorded by Jerry Butler, formerly of the Impressions. That record was produced by Bacharach, one of the first records he produced without outside supervision: [Excerpt: Jerry Butler, "Make it Easy On Yourself"] Warwick was very jealous that a song she'd sung the demo of had become a massive hit for someone else, and blamed Bacharach and David. The way she tells the story -- Bacharach always claimed this never happened, but as we've already seen he was himself not always the most reliable of narrators of his own life -- she got so angry she complained to them, and said "Don't make me over, man!" And so Bacharach and David wrote her this: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Don't Make Me Over"] Incidentally, in the UK, the hit version of that was a cover by the Swinging Blue Jeans: [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "Don't Make Me Over"] who also had a huge hit with "You're No Good": [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "You're No Good"] And *that* was originally recorded by *Dee Dee* Warwick: [Excerpt: Dee Dee Warwick, "You're No Good"] Dee Dee also had a successful solo career, but Dionne's was the real success, making the names of herself, and of Bacharach and David. The team had more than twenty top forty hits together, before Bacharach and David had a falling out in 1971 and stopped working together, and Warwick sued both of them for breach of contract as a result. But prior to that they had hit after hit, with classic records like "Anyone Who Had a Heart": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Anyone Who Had a Heart"] And "Walk On By": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Walk On By"] With Doris, Dionne, and Dee Dee all going solo, the group's membership was naturally in flux -- though the departed members would occasionally join their former bandmates for sessions, and the remaining members would sing backing vocals on their ex-members' records. By 1965 the group consisted of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, the Warwick sisters' cousin Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. The group became *the* go-to singers for soul and R&B records made in New York. They were regularly hired by Leiber and Stoller to sing on their records, and they were also the particular favourites of Bert Berns. They sang backing vocals on almost every record he produced. It's them doing the gospel wails on "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms: [Excerpt: Garnet Mimms, "Cry Baby"] And they sang backing vocals on both versions of "If You Need Me" -- Wilson Pickett's original and Solomon Burke's more successful cover version, produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "If You Need Me"] They're on such Berns records as "Show Me Your Monkey", by Kenny Hamber: [Excerpt: Kenny Hamber, "Show Me Your Monkey"] And it was a Berns production that ended up getting them to be Aretha Franklin's backing group. The group were becoming such an important part of the records that Atlantic and BANG Records, in particular, were putting out, that Jerry Wexler said "it was only a matter of common decency to put them under contract as a featured group". He signed them to Atlantic and renamed them from the Gospelaires to The Sweet Inspirations.  Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham wrote a song for the group which became their only hit under their own name: [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Sweet Inspiration"] But to start with, they released a cover of Pops Staples' civil rights song "Why (Am I treated So Bad)": [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad?)"] That hadn't charted, and meanwhile, they'd all kept doing session work. Cissy had joined Erma and Carolyn Franklin on the backing vocals for Aretha's "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You"] Shortly after that, the whole group recorded backing vocals for Erma's single "Piece of My Heart", co-written and produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Piece of My Heart"] That became a top ten record on the R&B charts, but that caused problems. Aretha Franklin had a few character flaws, and one of these was an extreme level of jealousy for any other female singer who had any level of success and came up in the business after her. She could be incredibly graceful towards anyone who had been successful before her -- she once gave one of her Grammies away to Esther Phillips, who had been up for the same award and had lost to her -- but she was terribly insecure, and saw any contemporary as a threat. She'd spent her time at Columbia Records fuming (with some justification) that Barbra Streisand was being given a much bigger marketing budget than her, and she saw Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and Dionne Warwick as rivals rather than friends. And that went doubly for her sisters, who she was convinced should be supporting her because of family loyalty. She had been infuriated at John Hammond when Columbia had signed Erma, thinking he'd gone behind her back to create competition for her. And now Erma was recording with Bert Berns. Bert Berns who had for years been a colleague of Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers at Atlantic. Aretha was convinced that Wexler had put Berns up to signing Erma as some kind of power play. There was only one problem with this -- it simply wasn't true. As Wexler later explained “Bert and I had suffered a bad falling-out, even though I had enormous respect for him. After all, he was the guy who brought over guitarist Jimmy Page from England to play on our sessions. Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, and I had started a label together—Bang!—where Bert produced Van Morrison's first album. But Bert also had a penchant for trouble. He courted the wise guys. He wanted total control over every last aspect of our business dealings. Finally it was too much, and the Erteguns and I let him go. He sued us for breach of contract and suddenly we were enemies. I felt that he signed Erma, an excellent singer, not merely for her talent but as a way to get back at me. If I could make a hit with Aretha, he'd show me up by making an even bigger hit on Erma. Because there was always an undercurrent of rivalry between the sisters, this only added to the tension.” There were two things that resulted from this paranoia on Aretha's part. The first was that she and Wexler, who had been on first-name terms up to that point, temporarily went back to being "Mr. Wexler" and "Miss Franklin" to each other. And the second was that Aretha no longer wanted Carolyn and Erma to be her main backing vocalists, though they would continue to appear on her future records on occasion. From this point on, the Sweet Inspirations would be the main backing vocalists for Aretha in the studio throughout her golden era [xxcut line (and when the Sweet Inspirations themselves weren't on the record, often it would be former members of the group taking their place)]: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] The last day of sessions for Aretha Arrives was July the twenty-third, 1967. And as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", that was the day that the Detroit riots started. To recap briefly, that was four days of rioting started because of a history of racist policing, made worse by those same racist police overreacting to the initial protests. By the end of those four days, the National Guard, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 101st Airborne from Clarksville were all called in to deal with the violence, which left forty-three dead (of whom thirty-three were Black and only one was a police officer), 1,189 people were injured, and over 7,200 arrested, almost all of them Black. Those days in July would be a turning point for almost every musician based in Detroit. In particular, the police had murdered three members of the soul group the Dramatics, in a massacre of which the author John Hersey, who had been asked by President Johnson to be part of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders but had decided that would compromise his impartiality and did an independent journalistic investigation, said "The episode contained all the mythic themes of racial strife in the United States: the arm of the law taking the law into its own hands; interracial sex; the subtle poison of racist thinking by “decent” men who deny they are racists; the societal limbo into which, ever since slavery, so many young black men have been driven by our country; ambiguous justice in the courts; and the devastation in both black and white human lives that follows in the wake of violence as surely as ruinous and indiscriminate flood after torrents" But these were also the events that radicalised the MC5 -- the group had been playing a gig as Tim Buckley's support act when the rioting started, and guitarist Wayne Kramer decided afterwards to get stoned and watch the fires burning down the city through a telescope -- which police mistook for a rifle, leading to the National Guard knocking down Kramer's door. The MC5 would later cover "The Motor City is Burning", John Lee Hooker's song about the events: [Excerpt: The MC5, "The Motor City is Burning"] It would also be a turning point for Motown, too, in ways we'll talk about in a few future episodes.  And it was a political turning point too -- Michigan Governor George Romney, a liberal Republican (at a time when such people existed) had been the favourite for the Republican Presidential candidacy when he'd entered the race in December 1966, but as racial tensions ramped up in Detroit during the early months of 1967 he'd started trailing Richard Nixon, a man who was consciously stoking racists' fears. President Johnson, the incumbent Democrat, who was at that point still considering standing for re-election, made sure to make it clear to everyone during the riots that the decision to call in the National Guard had been made at the State level, by Romney, rather than at the Federal level.  That wasn't the only thing that removed the possibility of a Romney presidency, but it was a big part of the collapse of his campaign, and the, as it turned out, irrevocable turn towards right-authoritarianism that the party took with Nixon's Southern Strategy. Of course, Aretha Franklin had little way of knowing what was to come and how the riots would change the city and the country over the following decades. What she was primarily concerned about was the safety of her father, and to a lesser extent that of her sister-in-law Earline who was staying with him. Aretha, Carolyn, and Erma all tried to keep in constant touch with their father while they were out of town, and Aretha even talked about hiring private detectives to travel to Detroit, find her father, and get him out of the city to safety. But as her brother Cecil pointed out, he was probably the single most loved man among Black people in Detroit, and was unlikely to be harmed by the rioters, while he was too famous for the police to kill with impunity. Reverend Franklin had been having a stressful time anyway -- he had recently been fined for tax evasion, an action he was convinced the IRS had taken because of his friendship with Dr King and his role in the civil rights movement -- and according to Cecil "Aretha begged Daddy to move out of the city entirely. She wanted him to find another congregation in California, where he was especially popular—or at least move out to the suburbs. But he wouldn't budge. He said that, more than ever, he was needed to point out the root causes of the riots—the economic inequality, the pervasive racism in civic institutions, the woefully inadequate schools in inner-city Detroit, and the wholesale destruction of our neighborhoods by urban renewal. Some ministers fled the city, but not our father. The horror of what happened only recommitted him. He would not abandon his political agenda." To make things worse, Aretha was worried about her father in other ways -- as her marriage to Ted White was starting to disintegrate, she was looking to her father for guidance, and actually wanted him to take over her management. Eventually, Ruth Bowen, her booking agent, persuaded her brother Cecil that this was a job he could do, and that she would teach him everything he needed to know about the music business. She started training him up while Aretha was still married to White, in the expectation that that marriage couldn't last. Jerry Wexler, who only a few months earlier had been seeing Ted White as an ally in getting "product" from Franklin, had now changed his tune -- partly because the sale of Atlantic had gone through in the meantime. He later said “Sometimes she'd call me at night, and, in that barely audible little-girl voice of hers, she'd tell me that she wasn't sure she could go on. She always spoke in generalities. She never mentioned her husband, never gave me specifics of who was doing what to whom. And of course I knew better than to ask. She just said that she was tired of dealing with so much. My heart went out to her. She was a woman who suffered silently. She held so much in. I'd tell her to take as much time off as she needed. We had a lot of songs in the can that we could release without new material. ‘Oh, no, Jerry,' she'd say. ‘I can't stop recording. I've written some new songs, Carolyn's written some new songs. We gotta get in there and cut 'em.' ‘Are you sure?' I'd ask. ‘Positive,' she'd say. I'd set up the dates and typically she wouldn't show up for the first or second sessions. Carolyn or Erma would call me to say, ‘Ree's under the weather.' That was tough because we'd have asked people like Joe South and Bobby Womack to play on the sessions. Then I'd reschedule in the hopes she'd show." That third album she recorded in 1967, Lady Soul, was possibly her greatest achievement. The opening track, and second single, "Chain of Fools", released in November, was written by Don Covay -- or at least it's credited as having been written by Covay. There's a gospel record that came out around the same time on a very small label based in Houston -- "Pains of Life" by Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio: [Excerpt: Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio, "Pains of Life"] I've seen various claims online that that record came out shortly *before* "Chain of Fools", but I can't find any definitive evidence one way or the other -- it was on such a small label that release dates aren't available anywhere. Given that the B-side, which I haven't been able to track down online, is called "Wait Until the Midnight Hour", my guess is that rather than this being a case of Don Covay stealing the melody from an obscure gospel record he'd have had little chance to hear, it's the gospel record rewriting a then-current hit to be about religion, but I thought it worth mentioning. The song was actually written by Covay after Jerry Wexler asked him to come up with some songs for Otis Redding, but Wexler, after hearing it, decided it was better suited to Franklin, who gave an astonishing performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] Arif Mardin, the arranger of the album, said of that track “I was listed as the arranger of ‘Chain of Fools,' but I can't take credit. Aretha walked into the studio with the chart fully formed inside her head. The arrangement is based around the harmony vocals provided by Carolyn and Erma. To add heft, the Sweet Inspirations joined in. The vision of the song is entirely Aretha's.” According to Wexler, that's not *quite* true -- according to him, Joe South came up with the guitar part that makes up the intro, and he also said that when he played what he thought was the finished track to Ellie Greenwich, she came up with another vocal line for the backing vocals, which she overdubbed. But the core of the record's sound is definitely pure Aretha -- and Carolyn Franklin said that there was a reason for that. As she said later “Aretha didn't write ‘Chain,' but she might as well have. It was her story. When we were in the studio putting on the backgrounds with Ree doing lead, I knew she was singing about Ted. Listen to the lyrics talking about how for five long years she thought he was her man. Then she found out she was nothing but a link in the chain. Then she sings that her father told her to come on home. Well, he did. She sings about how her doctor said to take it easy. Well, he did too. She was drinking so much we thought she was on the verge of a breakdown. The line that slew me, though, was the one that said how one of these mornings the chain is gonna break but until then she'll take all she can take. That summed it up. Ree knew damn well that this man had been doggin' her since Jump Street. But somehow she held on and pushed it to the breaking point." [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] That made number one on the R&B charts, and number two on the hot one hundred, kept from the top by "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred and his Playboy Band -- a record that very few people would say has stood the test of time as well. The other most memorable track on the album was the one chosen as the first single, released in September. As Carole King told the story, she and Gerry Goffin were feeling like their career was in a slump. While they had had a huge run of hits in the early sixties through 1965, they had only had two new hits in 1966 -- "Goin' Back" for Dusty Springfield and "Don't Bring Me Down" for the Animals, and neither of those were anything like as massive as their previous hits. And up to that point in 1967, they'd only had one -- "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for the Monkees. They had managed to place several songs on Monkees albums and the TV show as well, so they weren't going to starve, but the rise of self-contained bands that were starting to dominate the charts, and Phil Spector's temporary retirement, meant there simply wasn't the opportunity for them to place material that there had been. They were also getting sick of travelling to the West Coast all the time, because as their children were growing slightly older they didn't want to disrupt their lives in New York, and were thinking of approaching some of the New York based labels and seeing if they needed songs. They were particularly considering Atlantic, because soul was more open to outside songwriters than other genres. As it happened, though, they didn't have to approach Atlantic, because Atlantic approached them. They were walking down Broadway when a limousine pulled up, and Jerry Wexler stuck his head out of the window. He'd come up with a good title that he wanted to use for a song for Aretha, would they be interested in writing a song called "Natural Woman"? They said of course they would, and Wexler drove off. They wrote the song that night, and King recorded a demo the next morning: [Excerpt: Carole King, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (demo)"] They gave Wexler a co-writing credit because he had suggested the title.  King later wrote in her autobiography "Hearing Aretha's performance of “Natural Woman” for the first time, I experienced a rare speechless moment. To this day I can't convey how I felt in mere words. Anyone who had written a song in 1967 hoping it would be performed by a singer who could take it to the highest level of excellence, emotional connection, and public exposure would surely have wanted that singer to be Aretha Franklin." She went on to say "But a recording that moves people is never just about the artist and the songwriters. It's about people like Jerry and Ahmet, who matched the songwriters with a great title and a gifted artist; Arif Mardin, whose magnificent orchestral arrangement deserves the place it will forever occupy in popular music history; Tom Dowd, whose engineering skills captured the magic of this memorable musical moment for posterity; and the musicians in the rhythm section, the orchestral players, and the vocal contributions of the background singers—among them the unforgettable “Ah-oo!” after the first line of the verse. And the promotion and marketing people helped this song reach more people than it might have without them." And that's correct -- unlike "Chain of Fools", this time Franklin did let Arif Mardin do most of the arrangement work -- though she came up with the piano part that Spooner Oldham plays on the record. Mardin said that because of the song's hymn-like feel they wanted to go for a more traditional written arrangement. He said "She loved the song to the point where she said she wanted to concentrate on the vocal and vocal alone. I had written a string chart and horn chart to augment the chorus and hired Ralph Burns to conduct. After just a couple of takes, we had it. That's when Ralph turned to me with wonder in his eyes. Ralph was one of the most celebrated arrangers of the modern era. He had done ‘Early Autumn' for Woody Herman and Stan Getz, and ‘Georgia on My Mind' for Ray Charles. He'd worked with everyone. ‘This woman comes from another planet' was all Ralph said. ‘She's just here visiting.'” [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"] By this point there was a well-functioning team making Franklin's records -- while the production credits would vary over the years, they were all essentially co-productions by the team of Franklin, Wexler, Mardin and Dowd, all collaborating and working together with a more-or-less unified purpose, and the backing was always by the same handful of session musicians and some combination of the Sweet Inspirations and Aretha's sisters. That didn't mean that occasional guests couldn't get involved -- as we discussed in the Cream episode, Eric Clapton played guitar on "Good to Me as I am to You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Good to Me as I am to You"] Though that was one of the rare occasions on one of these records where something was overdubbed. Clapton apparently messed up the guitar part when playing behind Franklin, because he was too intimidated by playing with her, and came back the next day to redo his part without her in the studio. At this point, Aretha was at the height of her fame. Just before the final batch of album sessions began she appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and she was making regular TV appearances, like one on the Mike Douglas Show where she duetted with Frankie Valli on "That's Life": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin and Frankie Valli, "That's Life"] But also, as Wexler said “Her career was kicking into high gear. Contending and resolving both the professional and personal challenges were too much. She didn't think she could do both, and I didn't blame her. Few people could. So she let the personal slide and concentrated on the professional. " Her concert promoter Ruth Bowen said of this time "Her father and Dr. King were putting pressure on her to sing everywhere, and she felt obligated. The record company was also screaming for more product. And I had a mountain of offers on my desk that kept getting higher with every passing hour. They wanted her in Europe. They wanted her in Latin America. They wanted her in every major venue in the U.S. TV was calling. She was being asked to do guest appearances on every show from Carol Burnett to Andy Williams to the Hollywood Palace. She wanted to do them all and she wanted to do none of them. She wanted to do them all because she's an entertainer who burns with ambition. She wanted to do none of them because she was emotionally drained. She needed to go away and renew her strength. I told her that at least a dozen times. She said she would, but she didn't listen to me." The pressures from her father and Dr King are a recurring motif in interviews with people about this period. Franklin was always a very political person, and would throughout her life volunteer time and money to liberal political causes and to the Democratic Party, but this was the height of her activism -- the Civil Rights movement was trying to capitalise on the gains it had made in the previous couple of years, and celebrity fundraisers and performances at rallies were an important way to do that. And at this point there were few bigger celebrities in America than Aretha Franklin. At a concert in her home town of Detroit on February the sixteenth, 1968, the Mayor declared the day Aretha Franklin Day. At the same show, Billboard, Record World *and* Cash Box magazines all presented her with plaques for being Female Vocalist of the Year. And Dr. King travelled up to be at the show and congratulate her publicly for all her work with his organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Backstage at that show, Dr. King talked to Aretha's father, Reverend Franklin, about what he believed would be the next big battle -- a strike in Memphis: [Excerpt, Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech" -- "And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy—what is the other bread?—Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right."] The strike in question was the Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike which had started a few days before.  The struggle for Black labour rights was an integral part of the civil rights movement, and while it's not told that way in the sanitised version of the story that's made it into popular culture, the movement led by King was as much about economic justice as social justice -- King was a democratic socialist, and believed that economic oppression was both an effect of and cause of other forms of racial oppression, and that the rights of Black workers needed to be fought for. In 1967 he had set up a new organisation, the Poor People's Campaign, which was set to march on Washington to demand a program that included full employment, a guaranteed income -- King was strongly influenced in his later years by the ideas of Henry George, the proponent of a universal basic income based on land value tax -- the annual building of half a million affordable homes, and an end to the war in Vietnam. This was King's main focus in early 1968, and he saw the sanitation workers' strike as a major part of this campaign. Memphis was one of the most oppressive cities in the country, and its largely Black workforce of sanitation workers had been trying for most of the 1960s to unionise, and strike-breakers had been called in to stop them, and many of them had been fired by their white supervisors with no notice. They were working in unsafe conditions, for utterly inadequate wages, and the city government were ardent segregationists. After two workers had died on the first of February from using unsafe equipment, the union demanded changes -- safer working conditions, better wages, and recognition of the union. The city council refused, and almost all the sanitation workers stayed home and stopped work. After a few days, the council relented and agreed to their terms, but the Mayor, Henry Loeb, an ardent white supremacist who had stood on a platform of opposing desegregation, and who had previously been the Public Works Commissioner who had put these unsafe conditions in place, refused to listen. As far as he was concerned, he was the only one who could recognise the union, and he wouldn't. The workers continued their strike, marching holding signs that simply read "I am a Man": [Excerpt: Stevie Wonder, "Blowing in the Wind"] The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP had been involved in organising support for the strikes from an early stage, and King visited Memphis many times. Much of the time he spent visiting there was spent negotiating with a group of more militant activists, who called themselves The Invaders and weren't completely convinced by King's nonviolent approach -- they believed that violence and rioting got more attention than non-violent protests. King explained to them that while he had been persuaded by Gandhi's writings of the moral case for nonviolent protest, he was also persuaded that it was pragmatically necessary -- asking the young men "how many guns do we have and how many guns do they have?", and pointing out as he often did that when it comes to violence a minority can't win against an armed majority. Rev Franklin went down to Memphis on the twenty-eighth of March to speak at a rally Dr. King was holding, but as it turned out the rally was cancelled -- the pre-rally march had got out of hand, with some people smashing windows, and Memphis police had, like the police in Detroit the previous year, violently overreacted, clubbing and gassing protestors and shooting and killing one unarmed teenage boy, Larry Payne. The day after Payne's funeral, Dr King was back in Memphis, though this time Rev Franklin was not with him. On April the third, he gave a speech which became known as the "Mountaintop Speech", in which he talked about the threats that had been made to his life: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech": “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."] The next day, Martin Luther King was shot dead. James Earl Ray, a white supremacist, pled guilty to the murder, and the evidence against him seems overwhelming from what I've read, but the King family have always claimed that the murder was part of a larger conspiracy and that Ray was not the gunman. Aretha was obviously distraught, and she attended the funeral, as did almost every other prominent Black public figure. James Baldwin wrote of the funeral: "In the pew directly before me sat Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis, Eartha Kitt—covered in black, looking like a lost, ten-year-old girl—and Sidney Poitier, in the same pew, or nearby. Marlon saw me, and nodded. The atmosphere was black, with a tension indescribable—as though something, perhaps the heavens, perhaps the earth, might crack. Everyone sat very still. The actual service sort of washed over me, in waves. It wasn't that it seemed unreal; it was the most real church service I've ever sat through in my life, or ever hope to sit through; but I have a childhood hangover thing about not weeping in public, and I was concentrating on holding myself together. I did not want to weep for Martin, tears seemed futile. But I may also have been afraid, and I could not have been the only one, that if I began to weep I would not be able to stop. There was more than enough to weep for, if one was to weep—so many of us, cut down, so soon. Medgar, Malcolm, Martin: and their widows, and their children. Reverend Ralph David Abernathy asked a certain sister to sing a song which Martin had loved—“Once more,” said Ralph David, “for Martin and for me,” and he sat down." Many articles and books on Aretha Franklin say that she sang at King's funeral. In fact she didn't, but there's a simple reason for the confusion. King's favourite song was the Thomas Dorsey gospel song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", and indeed almost his last words were to ask a trumpet player, Ben Branch, if he would play the song at the rally he was going to be speaking at on the day of his death. At his request, Mahalia Jackson, his old friend, sang the song at his private funeral, which was not filmed, unlike the public part of the funeral that Baldwin described. Four months later, though, there was another public memorial for King, and Franklin did sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at that service, in front of King's weeping widow and children, and that performance *was* filmed, and gets conflated in people's memories with Jackson's unfilmed earlier performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord (at Martin Luther King Memorial)"] Four years later, she would sing that at Mahalia Jackson's funeral. Through all this, Franklin had been working on her next album, Aretha Now, the sessions for which started more or less as soon as the sessions for Lady Soul had finished. The album was, in fact, bookended by deaths that affected Aretha. Just as King died at the end of the sessions, the beginning came around the time of the death of Otis Redding -- the sessions were cancelled for a day while Wexler travelled to Georgia for Redding's funeral, which Franklin was too devastated to attend, and Wexler would later say that the extra emotion in her performances on the album came from her emotional pain at Redding's death. The lead single on the album, "Think", was written by Franklin and -- according to the credits anyway -- her husband Ted White, and is very much in the same style as "Respect", and became another of her most-loved hits: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Think"] But probably the song on Aretha Now that now resonates the most is one that Jerry Wexler tried to persuade her not to record, and was only released as a B-side. Indeed, "I Say a Little Prayer" was a song that had already once been a hit after being a reject.  Hal David, unlike Burt Bacharach, was a fairly political person and inspired by the protest song movement, and had been starting to incorporate his concerns about the political situation and the Vietnam War into his lyrics -- though as with many such writers, he did it in much less specific ways than a Phil Ochs or a Bob Dylan. This had started with "What the World Needs Now is Love", a song Bacharach and David had written for Jackie DeShannon in 1965: [Excerpt: Jackie DeShannon, "What the "World Needs Now is Love"] But he'd become much more overtly political for "The Windows of the World", a song they wrote for Dionne Warwick. Warwick has often said it's her favourite of her singles, but it wasn't a big hit -- Bacharach blamed himself for that, saying "Dionne recorded it as a single and I really blew it. I wrote a bad arrangement and the tempo was too fast, and I really regret making it the way I did because it's a good song." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "The Windows of the World"] For that album, Bacharach and David had written another track, "I Say a Little Prayer", which was not as explicitly political, but was intended by David to have an implicit anti-war message, much like other songs of the period like "Last Train to Clarksville". David had sons who were the right age to be drafted, and while it's never stated, "I Say a Little Prayer" was written from the perspective of a woman whose partner is away fighting in the war, but is still in her thoughts: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] The recording of Dionne Warwick's version was marked by stress. Bacharach had a particular way of writing music to tell the musicians the kind of feel he wanted for the part -- he'd write nonsense words above the stave, and tell the musicians to play the parts as if they were singing those words. The trumpet player hired for the session, Ernie Royal, got into a row with Bacharach about this unorthodox way of communicating musical feeling, and the track ended up taking ten takes (as opposed to the normal three for a Bacharach session), with Royal being replaced half-way through the session. Bacharach was never happy with the track even after all the work it had taken, and he fought to keep it from being released at all, saying the track was taken at too fast a tempo. It eventually came out as an album track nearly eighteen months after it was recorded -- an eternity in 1960s musical timescales -- and DJs started playing it almost as soon as it came out. Scepter records rushed out a single, over Bacharach's objections, but as he later said "One thing I love about the record business is how wrong I was. Disc jockeys all across the country started playing the track, and the song went to number four on the charts and then became the biggest hit Hal and I had ever written for Dionne." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Oddly, the B-side for Warwick's single, "Theme From the Valley of the Dolls" did even better, reaching number two. Almost as soon as the song was released as a single, Franklin started playing around with the song backstage, and in April 1968, right around the time of Dr. King's death, she recorded a version. Much as Burt Bacharach had been against releasing Dionne Warwick's version, Jerry Wexler was against Aretha even recording the song, saying later “I advised Aretha not to record it. I opposed it for two reasons. First, to cover a song only twelve weeks after the original reached the top of the charts was not smart business. You revisit such a hit eight months to a year later. That's standard practice. But more than that, Bacharach's melody, though lovely, was peculiarly suited to a lithe instrument like Dionne Warwick's—a light voice without the dark corners or emotional depths that define Aretha. Also, Hal David's lyric was also somewhat girlish and lacked the gravitas that Aretha required. “Aretha usually listened to me in the studio, but not this time. She had written a vocal arrangement for the Sweet Inspirations that was undoubtedly strong. Cissy Houston, Dionne's cousin, told me that Aretha was on the right track—she was seeing this song in a new way and had come up with a new groove. Cissy was on Aretha's side. Tommy Dowd and Arif were on Aretha's side. So I had no choice but to cave." It's quite possible that Wexler's objections made Franklin more, rather than less, determined to record the song. She regarded Warwick as a hated rival, as she did almost every prominent female singer of her generation and younger ones, and would undoubtedly have taken the implication that there was something that Warwick was simply better at than her to heart. [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Wexler realised as soon as he heard it in the studio that Franklin's version was great, and Bacharach agreed, telling Franklin's biographer David Ritz “As much as I like the original recording by Dionne, there's no doubt that Aretha's is a better record. She imbued the song with heavy soul and took it to a far deeper place. Hers is the definitive version.” -- which is surprising because Franklin's version simplifies some of Bacharach's more unusual chord voicings, something he often found extremely upsetting. Wexler still though thought there was no way the song would be a hit, and it's understandable that he thought that way. Not only had it only just been on the charts a few months earlier, but it was the kind of song that wouldn't normally be a hit at all, and certainly not in the kind of rhythmic soul music for which Franklin was known. Almost everything she ever recorded is in simple time signatures -- 4/4, waltz time, or 6/8 -- but this is a Bacharach song so it's staggeringly metrically irregular. Normally even with semi-complex things I'm usually good at figuring out how to break it down into bars, but here I actually had to purchase a copy of the sheet music in order to be sure I was right about what's going on. I'm going to count beats along with the record here so you can see what I mean. The verse has three bars of 4/4, one bar of 2/4, and three more bars of 4/4, all repeated: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] While the chorus has a bar of 4/4, a bar of 3/4 but with a chord change half way through so it sounds like it's in two if you're paying attention to the harmonic changes, two bars of 4/4, another waltz-time bar sounding like it's in two, two bars of four, another bar of three sounding in two, a bar of four, then three more bars of four but the first of those is *written* as four but played as if it's in six-eight time (but you can keep the four/four pulse going if you're counting): [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] I don't expect you to have necessarily followed that in great detail, but the point should be clear -- this was not some straightforward dance song. Incidentally, that bar played as if it's six/eight was something Aretha introduced to make the song even more irregular than how Bacharach wrote it. And on top of *that* of course the lyrics mixed the secular and the sacred, something that was still taboo in popular music at that time -- this is only a couple of years after Capitol records had been genuinely unsure about putting out the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", and Franklin's gospel-inflected vocals made the religious connection even more obvious. But Franklin was insistent that the record go out as a single, and eventually it was released as the B-side to the far less impressive "The House That Jack Built". It became a double-sided hit, with the A-side making number two on the R&B chart and number seven on the Hot One Hundred, while "I Say a Little Prayer" made number three on the R&B chart and number ten overall. In the UK, "I Say a Little Prayer" made number four and became her biggest ever solo UK hit. It's now one of her most-remembered songs, while the A-side is largely forgotten: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] For much of the

From the BBC World Service: Apple supplier Foxconn has pulled out of a $19.5bn deal with Indian mining giant Vedanta to build a chip making plant. Less than a year ago, the companies announced plans to set up the facility in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Plus, how the state of Spain’s economy is dominating the forthcoming general election. And, we take a peek inside Charlie Watts’ treasure trove. The late Rolling Stones drummer amassed a horde of collectibles, from first editions to jazz memorabilia, which will be sold off at auction later in the year.

From the BBC World Service: Apple supplier Foxconn has pulled out of a $19.5bn deal with Indian mining giant Vedanta to build a chip making plant. Less than a year ago, the companies announced plans to set up the facility in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Plus, how the state of Spain’s economy is dominating the forthcoming general election. And, we take a peek inside Charlie Watts’ treasure trove. The late Rolling Stones drummer amassed a horde of collectibles, from first editions to jazz memorabilia, which will be sold off at auction later in the year.