"Just Another Piece of Paper," by Glen Campbell

I'm sitting in the living room and listening to The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album (1970) on a Saturday evening. My otherwise-loving spouse selected this particular album as he knew it would annoy me to hear Campbell's cover of MacArthur Park*, which is the second song. Once we had speculated yet again over the striped pants and the very sad image of a cake left out in the rain, the mister let the rest of the side play out as he was too comfortable on the couch to get up and change the record. (Let me add that I do not care for Mr. Campbell, while the other 50% of the household likes him very much.) After MacArthur Park, I managed to tune out the next song: "As Far As I'm Concerned." However, when the fourth song started, I looked up at my husband. Music, then spoken words. We were both surprised! Glen Campbell speaks!

Once I had a piece of paper
It was supposed to mean that you were mine
It looked like any other piece of paper...

It's kind of a depressing topic for a song. The guy's getting a divorce. The pieces of paper are marriage and divorce documents, all that's left of his union. Just between you and me, it doesn't sound like he's too cut up about the whole situation. The words indicate that perhaps he is not the most introspective individual, while the music features what sounds like a sitar, of all things.

Like "MacArthur Park," which was the song that compelled us to listen to this record tonight, "Just Another Piece of Paper" was written by the prolific and fabulous Jimmy Webb. If you have not heard his interview on World Cafe, you really should queue it up sometime soon. He wrote "Up Up and Away!" (And "MacArthur Park?" AND "Just Another Piece of Paper?" Prolific, fabulous, and...varied in quality.)

*Obviously, only the Richard Harris version will ever do.

"You Never Even Call Me By My Name," by David Allen Coe

This one's a song from way back, growing up in Minnesota and spending time at Hemming Farms in scenic Bertha, MN, listening to one of the best "classic" country stations in western Minnesota, K-106 from Wadena, MN. I remember listening to hours of music like this, blaring through a single speaker over the din of a tractor's diesel engine, driving through the cloud of hay dust while towing a hay baler.

K-106 also switched formats on Saturday nights, to play a syndicated oldies program featuring hits from the late 1950s through late 1960s. Good times.

David Allen Coe was a peer of the members of The Highwaymen as an "outlaw country" performer. He has a storied life, spending 20 years as a guest of correctional institutions, lived in a hearse outside the Ryman Auditorium (home of the Grand Ole Opry), and after his house in Florida was seized by the IRS, he lived in a cave in Tennessee until he got back on his feet.

Fun fact: Mr. Coe wrote "Take This Job and Shove It," which went #1 on the country chart when performed by Johnny Paycheck.

Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song.
And he told me it was the perfect country and western song.
I wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country and western song, because he hadn't said anything at all about mama,
or trains,
or trucks,
or prison,
or gettin' drunk.
Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song
And he sent it to me,
And after reading it,
I realized that my friend had written the perfect country and western song.
And I felt obliged to include it on this album.
The last verse goes like this here: 

 

"Won't Talk About It," by Billy Bragg

I don’t remember how I found out about Billy Bragg (perhaps listening to WORT, the community-based radio station in Madison, WI), but I was hooked forever once I did. How deep did my devotion run? As a very poor grad student, I used some Borders dollars to buy four (4!) Billy Bragg CDs at half price in what was surely my CD allotment for the year. (Yes, we bought CDs back then.) Billy Bragg doesn’t have the greatest voice, he doesn’t wield an axe in the manner of guitar legends, but his songs are earnest and powerful and simple. (Don't get me wrong, he's a great guitar player, but he's no Clapton or Whit Smith.) He carries on and furthers the tradition of protest/folk music (in fact, he's known equally for his politics as his music), while also singing about romantic themes in less-than-traditional ways.

Billy Bragg was in Milwaukee on September 9, 2010 for a concert at Turner Hall, about 10 years after I first heard his music, and I was there! Super concert, but even better rally! I left feeling as though I'd just attended a revival for secular humanism!
"Won't Talk About It" is from the album Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984). Unfortunately, even though I think this song is worthy of posting on Spoken Interludes, perhaps others don't agree with me as I can't find a version of it online to share. I came up with a lame amazon sample--that's it. Buy it to hear the whole thing!

Lame amazon.com link. It's track 13.

It’s another dead evening here
It’s already midnight and I’m still so awake
I see your lights are still on
I know you’re alone
His car isn’t there
Why don’t you come over
Is it because you’re afraid of what people will say
Stepping out with someone like me
I shouldn’t care about it if I was you
I’m not the only man in town
Honey, your secret’s safe with me
I won’t talk about it…

You know, I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately
Now is just the time for us
Just the time for us to get together
You and me
Just think of it
Alone
Doesn’t matter what people say, where you come from
Where I’ve lived
Just us together
It’s hard for you to see, but…
Your secret is safe with me
I won't talk about it...

Meat Loaf, "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth"

Meat Loaf (aka Michael Lee Aday) has a long and very storied musical career spanning six decades. From his early career in the late 1960s with bands of various names including Meat Loaf Soul, Popcorn Blizzard, Floating Circus, and Stoney & Meatloaf (and touring with the likes of Janis Joplin, The Who, The Greatful Dead, Bob Seger, and Alice Cooper!). Meat Loaf joined the Los Angeles production of the musical Hair. In 1973, Mr. Loaf was also part of the stage production The Rocky Horror Show, which led to him being part of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Since going solo in 1977, he has toured essentially continuously.

Meat Loaf is an avid baseball fan and according to Wikipedia, is said to have cheated death on "numerous occasions".

Fun fact: Meat Loaf also recorded lead vocals on Ted Nugent's Free-for-All album in 1976.

"You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth" includes a great spoken prelude with a rather Twilight-esque conversation with a werewolf.

On a hot summer night.
Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?
Will he offer me his mouth?
Yes
Will he offer me his teeth?
Yes
Wlll he offer me his jaws?
Yes
Will he offer me his hunger?
Yes
Again.
Will he offer me his hunger?
Yes
And will he starve without me?
Yes
And does he love me?
Yes
Yes
On a hot summer night.
Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?
Yes
I bet you say that to all the boys.

The Moody Blues, "Nights in White Satin (Late Lament)"

Released in 1967 by The Moody Blues, Nights in White Satin is purported to be a tale of unrequited love.

Breath deep
The gathering gloom
Watch lights fade
From every room
Bedsitter people
Look back and lament
Another day's useless
Energy spent

Impassioned lovers
Wrestle as one
Lonely man cries for love
And has none
New mother picks up
And suckles her son
Senior citizens
Wish they were young

Cold hearted orb
That rules the night
Removes the colours
From our sight
Red is gray and
Yellow white
But we decide
Which is right
And
Which is an Illusion

The Shangri-Las, "Leader of the Pack"

The Shangri-Las had their biggest hit with "Leader of the Pack," which reached number one on the Billboard charts in 1964. It's the first song I remember hearing about a girl who may or may not have been a "bad" girl; she went out with the leader of a motorcycle gang! Yes, she broke up with him at her parents' behest, but how did that turn out? Broken glass and roaring out-of-control engines, that's how! I'm afraid the lesson I learned from this song was simple: be a good girl, or...someone will die. Perhaps I was a rather malleable audience for the teen tragedy genre of the pop world.

"Leader of the Pack" is a double treat. Not only is the climax of the song rendered in the form of a short speech, but the introduction is a dialogue between members of The Shangri-Las to set up the dramatic action.

Intro:
Is she really going out with him?
Well, there she is. Let's ask her.
Betty, is that Jimmy's ring you're wearing?
Mm-hmm
Gee, it must be great riding with him.
Is he picking you up after school today?
Uh-uh
By the way, where'd you meet him?

Verse:
He sort of smiled and kissed me goodbye
The tears were beginning to show
As he drove away on that rainy night
I begged him to go slow
But whether he heard, I'll never know
Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!

(Ugh. Who, besides me, wants to deck Robert Goulet?)

C.W. McCall, "Four Wheel Drive"

Bill Fries became an accidental overnight country sensation. Starting as a jingle writer at an ad agency in Omaha, Fries stumbled into a career in country music after writing songs for Metz Baking's Old Home Bread television commercials. Fries's ads became very popular in Iowa (and in fact, won a Clio award in 1974). These ads featured a hungry truck driver named C.W. McCall. Fries wrote more songs, adopted the C.W. McCall persona and began releasing records in the mid 1970s, eventually recording his most popular song and #1 hit, "Convoy" in 1976. Interesting fact: Chip Davis, later of Mannheim Steamroller, wrote music for Fries. Fries wrote his lyrics and sang on his records. Most songs meld well with the mid 1970s pop culture icons who drove truck, talked on CB radios, and had a penchant for avoiding Smokeys. From 1975's "Wolf creek Pass," here's an excerpt from a song sounding decidedly like chase music, thanks to the prominent banjo. 

Look out now, here he comes. Oh, we gonna get it on now. Don't hit that fella with the banjo. We gonna swim this here creek now, Smokey. Yard wide an' a foot deep. Nishnabotna river they call it. Might have to winch ya out. Don't do a wheelie on that there gopher mound now, Smokey. Can you dig it Smokey? Got four on the floor an' four in the air on that one, didn't we? Goodness gracious...likely bust my shocks...