As Paul McCartney sang in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, “It was 20 years ago today…”. No, Sgt. Pepper is not this week’s Rockin’ Friday song, but it is kind of tangentially related. Twenty years ago today my friend Rick took me to my first Grateful Dead concert. As those in the loop would say, that’s the day I got “on the bus”.
Now two decades later the music’s never stopped for me. I’ve been to roughly 60 or 70 Dead-related shows since then. I felt it was apropos that this week’s Rockin Friday tune is one that I heard at my first show: Sugar Magnolia.
Sugar Magnolia is a great rock song about the cool things the singer’s loving girlfriend does for him. Basically he says that she is awesome and lists the reasons why. The song was inspired by guitarist Bob Weir’s then-girlfriend, Frankie.
The chorus gives a little insight into just how sweet Bob’s lady friend was:
She's got everything delightful
She's got everything I need
Takes the wheel when I'm seeing double
Pays my ticket when I speed
Sounds like a keeper to me.
Sugar Magnolia was the Dead’s second most played song in their 30-year touring career. It's an upbeat tune with fun lyrics and one that my Little Dude definitely enjoys rocking along to while we cruise down the road in my four-wheel drive SUV, (which is unfortunately not the Willys Jeep that Bob sings about).
Did you ever see the Grateful Dead live? If so, how many times?
Have any good stories to share? Leave a comment below...
This Rockin’ Friday is a special one, as one of the most important days of the year is only two days away. Mothers’ Day is this Sunday and I want to pay tribute to those wonderful women we owe our lives to with a blossoming bouquet of musical treats.
Rather than pick just one song, this week I’m going to highlight a few of my favorite songs about mothers. As I was trying to make my choice, I realized there were so many good options that it would be impossible. So like a good mother would I am recognizing a whole batch.
Without further ado, I present "The Dude’s Top 5 Mother Songs":
1)Mama Tried: This Merle Haggard classic is a tale of a young man who committed a crime despite his mother’s best efforts to keep him on the straight and narrow. He realizes that he should have listened to her, but not until after he “turned 21 in prison, doing life without parole”. Mothers are wise, people, listen to them!
2)Your Mother Should Know:Paul McCartney wrote this tribute to a mother’s wisdom for the Magical Mystery Tour album & movie. Though he basically calls her old (repeatedly), Macca suggests that we honor her by listening to a song that “your mother would know”. Even if you don’t like the song, you can honor her by dancing with her for a few minutes.
3)That Was Your Mother: Paul Simon’s tells the tale to his child about the fun he and the child’s mother had before the child was born. Apparently they spent some wild times in Louisiana dancing to zydeco music and as a result, the kid was born. They must have stopped at Pat O'Briens.
4)Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys: Ed Bruce originally sang it, butWaylon Jennings and Willie Nelson made this tale about the hard life of men in the old West famous. It is suggested that Mamas encourage their sons to become “doctors and lawyers and such” to avoid the loneliness of a life chasing cattle and horses around and wearing Levi’s. Not the worst advice I’ve heard.
5)Mama Said Knock You Out: LL Cool J’s Mama told him to “knock out” all the critics who thought his career was over. That’s why he starts the song with “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years”. His Mama believed in him all the way and he had a career renaissance after this song came out. Though he’s now on that CSI show that doesn’t look very good.
So what’s the message from all these songs? It’s pretty simple: Mothers are inherently wise. Listen to them and you will thrive. Mine suggested I start writing again, so I listened to her and here we are. I will forever be grateful.
