Tom Paxton released “The Last Thing On My Mind” in 1964 on his album, Ramblin’ Boy.” The inspiration for the song came from Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan’s versions of “He Was A Friend of Mine.” This lost love ballad became one of Paxton’s biggest hits. He is also known for his protest songs against the Vietnam War and other social injustices. (What Did You Learn In School Today?)
“The Last Thing On My Mind” was one of the first songs I learned some forty years ago when I started playing the guitar. This is the first time I’ve released my cover publicly. The themes of the song include friendship, loss, and the passage of time.
Bob Dylan recorded the first version of “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” in 1962. He didn’t release it until 1971 on his “Greatest Hits Album.” Oddly, Ian and Sylvia were the first recording artists to release the song in 1963 on their album “Four Strong Winds.”
The song is about longing for a loved one, specifically Suze Rotolo, who Dylan dated from 1961 to 1964. It is widely believed that another Dylan song, “Girl From The North Country,” is also about Rotolo.
“Girl From The North Country” is another one of those songs that popped into my head from out of nowhere. I can’t decide if it’s a message from the Beyond or just a little piece of my subconscious rising like a sunspot from the deep layers of my skin with aging. Whatever the case, “Girl From The North Country” is one of Dylan’s earliest recorded songs, written in England in 1961 and released in 1963. Listening to it now, I find the ballad enchanting.
As a young adult, I followed Dylan’s work tangentially only because it was prominent in the mainstream. Lately, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for Dylan’s music and the man himself. I’ve covered several Dylan songs in this blog, including “Mr. Tambourine Man,”“My Back Pages,” and now this one.
“Girl From The North Country” is a beautiful ballad recounting a lost love. Many believe the woman in the song is Suze Rotolo. At the time, Dylan had just dropped out of college to pursue his musical career in New York City. Rotolo had just graduated from high school and entered the Greenwich Village folk scene. Their first meeting took place at the First Riverside Church concert in New York City. Dylan described the meeting in his memoir: “Cupid’s arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit me in the heart, and the weight of it dragged me overboard.”
Eventually, the couple lived together in Greenwich Village and then grew apart when Dylan went to England, and Rotolo went to Italy to continue her education.
After some time passed, Dylan went to Italy to find Retolo. At the same time, Rotolo returned to New York City. The couple finally reunited and lived in Dylan’s apartment until their final breakup.
The album cover of Dylan’s second album, Freewheeling, features Dylan and Rotolo walking arm in arm down a Greenwich Village street.
Nanci Griffith introduced her third album with its title song, “Once in a Very Blue Moon,” on the Austin City Limits TV show in 1984. She sang to a live audience with her typically bold and beautiful voice, which continues to endear this singer/songwriter to millions of people around the world after her passing.
This poignant song could easily sound sad, but not the way Nanci performs it. With her crystal-clear voice, it actually sounds uplifting. A quality comes through Griffith’s songs. It sounds to me like “nothing will ever get me down.” I’m sure Ms. Griffith endured many hardships and obstacles in her life, but she always came out on top. I dedicate my cover to the memory of this inspiring woman.
The Incredible String Band burst onto the folk music scene in 1966 with the release of their first album, aptly named “The Incredible String Band.” As an avid lover and consumer of folk, I had never heard anything like their songs. The band started out as a trio composed of Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson, and Mike Heron. Williamson and Heron composed most of ISB’s music. Palmer eventually dropped out, replaced by other musicians and the girlfriends of Williamson and Heron.
Signed by Electra Records, the group produced seven albums for the label, most notably their first four, which included “The Five Hundred Spirits or the Layers of the Onion” and “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter.”
Through intermittent tours and appearances at prestigious venues like the Albert Hall, The Incredible String Band gained worldwide fans and international recognition from their humble beginnings in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Listen to Mike Heron’s lilting, whimsical “Painting Box” to get a sense of The Incredible String Band’s multifaceted musical range. Here’s my cover.
John Fogerty wrote this song, in part, for his son, Josh. Josh was three years old at the time, and John could barely wait for his son to hear him sing the song on the radio, especially the part that goes: “Doot doot doo lookin’ out my back door.”
In the song’s chorus, a passing parade is mentioned. Fogerty says the lyric is inspired by a Dr. Seuss book he read as a child, “To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street.”
Some people say the lyric “Won’t you take a ride on the flying spoon” is a reference to cocaine or heroin. Fogrety vehemently denies this. He discouraged drug use by any of his band members, saying drugs interfered with their music and their jobs.
Credence Clearwater Revival gained prominence in the late 1960’s. The band split up acrimoniously in 1972. John Fogerty is still performing as of this writing.
Cat Stevens ( Yusuf Islam) has never publicly said what this song is about, so we are left to offer our own interpretations.
When I read the lyrics, I get a picture of a farmer of indiscriminate age waking up at the crack of dawn and looking out through a window at his fields. At the very instant when the sun rises, there is barely sound. Our farmer reflects back on his youth and how it felt every day to awaken with a song in his heart and the dreams he envisioned to pursue.
The last refrain floated into my head from out of nowhere:
“There’ll be the evening,
In the end,
But ’till that time arrives,
You can rest your eyes,
And begin again.”
The lyrics are beautiful and express the child-like innocence found in many of Cat Stevens’ songs. I interpret this last refrain to mean: Take advantage of and be grateful for every moment you are alive.
Most of the lyrics in “Danny’s Song” were inspired by a letter Kenny Loggins’ brother, Dan, wrote to him in 1968 after Dan’s son, Colin, was born. In the letter, Dan said he planned to marry the boy’s mom, Sheila, and they planned to move to Berkley, California, even though they had no money.
Kenny Loggins wrote the song in 1970 and released it as a single. It went nowhere. Later that year, Kenny teamed up with Jim Messina and released the song on their first album, “Sittin’ In.” Again the song went nowhere. If nothing else, “Danny’s Song” showcased Loggins’ talent for capturing a feeling for a moment in time.
It was not until Anne Murray covered the song and released it as a single in 1973 that it became a hit, reaching #1 in Canada and #7 on the charts in America. The song’s success put Loggins and Messina on the map.
Back in the days when recording artists released singles, “We Can Work It Out” made its debut in 1965. The Beatle’s manager, Brian Epstein, felt that the other song on the record, “Day Tripper,” was more commercial and so, should be the lead song. Typically, the lead song of a single is recorded on the top side (A side) and the other song (B side) goes beneath it. Since both songs became hits, the record turned out to be the first double “A” single ever recorded.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song with Paul writing the optimistic verses and John writing the more pessimistic chorus, in this case, the bridge.
The song sprang from a disagreement Paul had with his then-girlfriend, actress Jane Asher. Jane and her mother, Margaret, had a powerful impact on Paul’s life. The couple stayed together for five years from 1963 to 1968.
Heart Banter by David Gittlin 