1960s Music

My Summer Playlist 2023

Posted on by lancelumley

Although summer is not officially on the calendar yet, I am at the part where a few friends and I start discussing our summer playlists. I have done several posts like this in the past, and always brings up great suggestions from my social media and readers on here.

A few statements to start; I am not a fan of Rap (except for a few songs like The Digital Underground’s  “The Humpty Dance,”  Rob Base’s “Joy and Pain,” some Young MC and Tone Loc, which is why I don’t mention them on my list -although these suggestions would be great for your summer parties). Also, there are so many I could name from various artists, or some great all-time classic songs that may not get mentioned here (“Dock of The Bay ” by Otis Redding comes to mind), but I am going to list some songs that will be on MY playlist this summer, and not going to say some of these are the classics like some may view. I want to educate my readers here and maybe they can discover some songs on the list they may not have before, plus music is so powerful and wonderful that we may like a song just because it is where we are at in life at this time; music takes us to places like where we were when we heard a song, who we were with, and even the situation we are at in that time ( a certain town we lived in, a person who broke our heart, or to just getting us ready for the unknown expectations of the new season in life).  Many add to summer playlists “Endless Summer Nights” by Richard Marx and Don Henley’s “Boys Of Summer” but lyrically they are both about the end of summer, so that is why I won’t mention them here (although two of my all-time favorites)

Here are  a few songs that will be on my playlist this summer (in no particular order)

1. Feels So Good -Van Halen

Sure I could have gone with the obvious “Summer Nights ” or “Cabo Wabo” but for some reason, this song gets me excited for summer with the keyboards, lyrics like “I’ll send the message in a bottle/trust in the mercy of the sea” that gives it a happy vibe for the sunny days. This just makes me feel good (no pun intended) with a rock/pop flavor and getting excited about possibly being in love. Plus having a hard rock band helps the vibes going strong.

2. Stone In Love- Journey

It may be my favorite all-time Journey song, talking about “those summer nights are calling” plus looking back on the younger years of life, but let’s face it, the song rocks out.  The quality of Steve Perry’s voice and the guitar driving parts from Neil Schon and Steve Smith’s powerful drum sound gives a great production sound without being dated. It always reminds me of hanging with my buddy’s band when I was his drum tech at times. I still can’t believe this song didn’t chart here in the U.S.

3. Cruel Summer-Taylor Swift

 The obvious choice is the song with the same title by Bananarama (which is a must-have as well),  but since the past few years I have been into Swift’s music, this would be my pick from her. The song has the pain and frustration of a summer romance that’s not perfect while having a catchy melody to it while keeping a darkness to it.

 

4. Riding in My Car-NRBQ

A band that many don’t know but this group was so talented but overlooked with this song about thinking about a girl while driving needs to be on a playlist. Written by Al Anderson, it has a mellow summer feel to it but without boring the listener.

 

5. Do It Again- The Beach Boys

There are so many songs by America’s greatest band, but this one gets overlooked at times. It’s talking about getting the gang back together for the summer and just enjoying the sun and beach. Even if there isn’t a beach around, just having a reunion with those whose lives have gone separate ways and reminiscing all with a rock beat and just over a 2-minute run time works well here.  One of my all-time favorites by the group.

 

6. Three Times In Love-Tommy James

I have mentioned many times how it baffles me that Tommy James isn’t in the Rock Hall of Fame with all of his hits (“Mony “Mony” has been a college campus frat party tune for decades), so adding this later hit of his is perfect in looking at failing at love throughout the years from the teen summer romance to growing up and being mature enough the third time. Even though it hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts in the U.S. in 1979, it still doesn’t get played much. It has a summer feel, a life lesson, and feelings of hope all rolled into one.  What’s summer without some romance?

7. The Power of Love-Huey Lewis & The News

You can’t have summer music without some movie soundtrack songs, and one has to put on the major hit from the film Back To The Future. The strong keyboards, great guitar solo, and a song people know from the opening chords are 1980s perfection.

 

8. Take My Breath Away -Berlin

Keeping with the 1980s movie themes, adding this one from Top Gun is a no-brainer. Again, this song was released in the summer of 1986, it was un-escapable (it even won an Oscar) and hit #1.  One of the greatest ballads ever in pop music.

 

9. Save It For A Rainy Day-Kenny Chesney

Adding some country music keeps everyone happy when having a summer get-together, and again, there are many from Chesney I could pick. I am more into his island-style songs, as opposed to his early country songs, and this song talks about dealing with a breakup but since the boat is ready, friends are around, and the sun is shining, the singer is going to tuck the blues and hurt away for today and enjoy life. One can’t be sad all summer long, regardless of the situation, so take a day to enjoy life. Unlike many country songs, this one gives hope, and is not all about being sad.

 

10. Tender Years -John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band

Another music soundtrack song (from Eddie & The Cruisers) this song wasn’t a shocking hit. A nice saxophone solo, strong drums, and lyrics about looking back on a summer romance (years later) are one for those that long for the “good ole days,” while having a 1960s style format to the song, but not sounding dated that it couldn’t be heard today.

 

11. Somebody’s Baby -Jackson Browne

Another soundtrack song that gives a feel-good vibe is noticing a girl while cars are cruising, looking for love, and the boy getting the courage to take a chance on this seeming girl out of his league. adds to the wonderful pop song.

 

12. Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies) and To Be With You Awhile- Alice Cooper.

The driving Rolling Stones rock guitar licks and the humor of Cooper’s lyrics about the Sunset Strip women make this a great song to rock out to or drive in your car. The song written by Cooper and his dual guitarists Ryan Roxie and Damon Johnson from Cooper’s underrated 2005 album Dirty Diamonds gives musicians the feel of hanging out in LA or just seeing a bunch of girls who are trouble reminds me of hanging out with old band members and buddies at the Youngstown Ohio night clubs in the 1990s.

“To Be With You Awhile” is from Cooper’s 2003 album, which is some of his best work since the 80s. A slow song about just wanting to be with a person and doing things like seeing old movies, driving, or telling jokes just to be around the person. No, it doesn’t mention summer, but with summer romance lurching, it’s a wonderful ballad that shows Cooper as a songwriter, and that he didn’t always use his groveling vocals (much like his ballads “I Never Cry,” “and “You And Me” from the 70s). The melodic guitar fills add to this gem of a track.

With so many others besides these, here are a few more that will be on my list(some are not the original artists, but I am adding the versions I will be playing and hopefully you’ll take a listen to them):

 

1. Fishing in The Dark-Nathan Carter

2. Dancing In The Streets-Mick Jagger and David Bowie

3. Hands on The Radio-Henry Lee Summer

4. Like The Sun- Guardian

5. You Took The Words Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) -Meatloaf

6. Xanadu- Olivia Newton-John/ELO

7. Surf City- Jan and Dean

8. Sharing The Night Together- Dr. Hook

9. Turn On The Night- KISS

10. Not Just Friends- Connell Cruise

11. Wasn’t That A Party- The Rovers

12. Guess You Had To Be There- Brian Wilson Ft. Kacey Musgraves

 

What are some suggestions on your summer playlist ?

Tribute To The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts: A Local Drummer’s Experience

Posted on by lancelumley

My musical journey with The Rolling Stones is unique to say the least. Sure, I knew their hit song, 1965’s  “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” from listening to that era’s songs as a young junior high/teenager in the 1980s, and of course at the time “Start Me Up” was big on the radio in the ’80s while blasted on MTV. Back then there was the notion that you could only be a Beatles fan or a Stones fan (which ironically I chose The Beach Boys) . Call it immaturity or whatever of that logic as music fans, especially teens, having to CHOOSE between great music; you could only like KISS or Alice Cooper. Van Halen or Rush. Barry Manilow or Tom Jones.  It wasn’t until the early 1990s when I joined my first band that I was truly introduced to the group, and especially the drumming of Charlie Watts.

            A guy who was older than me started talking to me one Spring day a few months before I was graduating high school, and mentioned he knew a guy that played guitar and we should jam sometime. This guy played bass, and I was a drummer, so we all crowded into my parents basement to play some songs. The songs we first jammed to was Webb Wilder’s “King Of The Hill,” “Waiting On The Bus” by ZZ Top, and two songs by The Tragically Hip called “She Didn’t Know” and “New Orleans Is Sinking.” Being mostly a listener of the glam “hair rock” of the time, along with the Top 40 pop acts, I never heard these songs, yet kept the solid beat. It must have been good enough because we started a band shortly after, and were playing the local clubs as a three piece, and moved our practices to the guitar player’s house.  About a year later, the guitar player met another guitar player and he joined our band to give a more fuller sound. This guy, Mike, was known throughout the Youngstown Ohio area as “Mr. Rolling Stones,” because he knew almost all the songs by them, which was his favorite rock band,  choosing the blues format of the group, even though he had long hair (I used to prank him by telling fans at our shows to ask him how much he liked the new Poison CD, which he hated that type of music). From then on, we added “Honky Tonk Women,” “Let It Bleed,” “Star Star,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (played as a slow ballad) to our list, and later, after Mike left and we brought in another guitar player, where the band focused more adult songs, we added “Waiting On A Friend.” Mike got me into the full albums of The Stones, instead of just singles. From then it was “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out “, and ” Let It Bleed” on cassette for me, and later on “Steel Wheels” and ” Bridges To Babylon” on CD (due to moving several times, I had to part ways with those titles) .

            The thing about Watts’ drumming on the studio version of “Honky Tonk Women” that appealed to me was that it kept the beat going, but other drummers I saw would play the song too fast, almost double the original beat (which tends to happen when watching a few of the Stones’ concert footage).  This second guitar player told me (along with two other guitar players in bands I was in) that he thought I did that song, along with the John Mellencamp version of “Wild Night” perfectly -not too fast and not too slow. That was a major compliment to be mentioned in staying true to Charlie’s original style. Ricky Nelson did a faster, rockier version , as opposed to the blues style, which was a favorite to play in a country band I was in years later.

            In the 1980s, where many of the major acts were about style and flash (continuing the theme set by most of the 1970 arena rock bands), being on stage with a twenty piece drum set with many cymbals (and maybe a gong or double bass drums), Watts was still playing to sold out arenas with a four piece set with maybe five cymbals at most, yet he still kept a full sound. He had a jazz style playing to him , and was hardly flashy. Yes, he may have done a stick twirl once or twice, but he was never showy like his counterparts, who may been standing on the drums, setting fire to their sets, or destroying them after each concert. He was, on record and live, living proof that not only “less is more” at times when playing, but also the notion of letting his talent and playing speak for himself.  Charlie was just sitting back keeping the time, instead of needing to have huge drum solos and special effects to bring the spotlight to him.

            After joining the first band, when CDs were still my thing (my first CD was actually The Stones’ “Tattoo You” at a Best Buy bargain bin) , I decided to buy vinyl again at a local used store. The first choice I bought was Sir Douglas Quintet’s “Mendocino” and “Goats Head Soup,” due to us playing “Star Star,” which I love that the drums and guitar carrying the opening parts before the bass slides in. The store owner since that day until they closed hated me when I would come in because I ended up buying his only copies of something, such was the case with these two titles. Whether I knew it or not, The Stones were becoming a bigger musical influence (I even missed a chance to see them live in Pittsburgh, when I was teaching at a Christian school and was forced to go on a weekend retreat with the praise band, which I was in charge of, yet never booked the band for the show, and had to pass on the free tickets a guitar player was going to give me).

            Sure Mick Jagger may be the front man, and Keith Richards was more of the rock pirate who inspired Johnny Depp,  and the legend of Ronnie Wood (who replaced Mick Taylor) from his days with Rod Stewart may be the ones people think of the band first, it has always been Charlie keeping the foundation of the band with the steadiness on songs like  “Beast of Burden,”  “Tumbling Dice,” and the dance beat of “Emotional Rescue.”

            It’s a shame that many of today’s music fans do not appreciate the subtlety of rock drummers at times. Keep in mind that Charlie was from the 1960s era, like Ringo Starr, where one didn’t have to be showy to be a solid, talented drummer. Yes, Keith Moon came along, and added flash, and Neil Peart had the technical side to drumming, but Charlie didn’t need to be Moon or Peart. Charlie was Charlie. He was like the “Quiet Stone’ (similar to George Harrison) although I always loved hearing the story about when Watts punched Jagger after being called “his drummer,” which maybe he wasn’t so quiet after all. He had his own style of drumming  with a jazz influence which one can argue if it wasn’t for Watts, we may not had a Peter Criss, who was a major Gene Krupa jazz fan. Charlie helped set the jazz flavor into rock and roll that Peter ended up bringing to a harder rock crowd. And let’s not over look the fact that Watts had a career spanning over 40 years. Today’s streaming artists can’t keep career more than five to ten at best in today’s business (who knows, maybe the Rock Hall of Fame will end up lowering the rules for induction when it gets to this era of music).

            One cannot state the influence Watts had in being a pioneer in music with the famous British Invasion, and his quietness of avoiding the spotlight. Where many bands often fought over who gets the attention, the media interviews, or the on-screen time in the videos, Charlie was just happy to play drums and avoid all of that. There may have been tensions over playing or recording songs, but it never leaked out into the public media. “Let me play, and go home” seemed to be the motto of Charlie.

            Charlie, you played , left a legacy, and now you can go home.

R.I.P.