A Good Day For A Pint Of Smithwick's

Good Times!

Mar 17, 2023

Last week’s Bonus Round: “"In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969.^[3] It peaked at number one in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in August and September that year.^[4] The song was written and composed by Rick Evans in 1964 and originally released on a small regional record label (Truth Records) in 1968.^[5] It was later picked up by RCA Records. Zager and Evans disbanded in 1971.

Zager and Evans were a one-hit wonder, never releasing another charting single. This occurred in both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart and as of 2022, they are the only recording artists ever to have a chart-topping number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic and never have another charting single in the US or the UK for the rest of their career. Their follow-up single on RCA Victor, "Mr. Turnkey", reached number 48^[6] in the Canadian pop charts and number 41 in the Canadian AC chart.^[7] Another single, "Listen to the People", managed to make the bottom slot of the Cashbox chart at number 100 and number 96 in Canada.^[8]

Summary

"In the Year 2525" opens with an introductory verse explaining that if mankind has survived to that point, they would witness the subsequent events in the song. The following verses jump the story approximately with 1000-year intervals, specifically 3535, 4545, 5555, 6565, 7510, 8510 and finally 9595.^[9] In each succeeding millennium, life becomes increasingly sedentary and automated: thoughts are pre-programmed into pills for people to consume, eyes, teeth, and limbs all lose their purposes due to machines replacing their functions, and marriage becomes obsolete because children are conceived in test tubes.

The song ends after 10,000 years. By that time, humans have finally become extinct. But the narrator notes that somewhere 'so very far away', possibly in an alternative universe, the scenarios told in the song have still yet to play out, as the song repeats from the top (but in the same key, tone, and speed as the previous verse) and the recording fades out.^[9]

The overriding theme, of a world doomed by its passive acquiescence to and over dependence on its own overdone technologies, struck a resonant chord in millions of people around the world in the late 1960s.^[10]

Recording

The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas.^[11]

Personnel

Denny Zager & Rick Evans – acoustic guitars & vocals
Mark Dalton – bass guitar
Dave Trupp – drums
The Odessa Symphony – additional instruments
Tommy Allsup – producer^[12]

The record had regional success so RCA Records picked it up for a national release. RCA producer Ethel Gabriel was tasked with enhancing the sound and arrangement. The track went to number 1 on the U.S. charts within three weeks of release.^[13]

Credit: Wikipedia Link: In The Year 2525

If you’ve been reading Michael Acoustic the past week or so, you’ll note this Bonus Round selection was pretty obvious, since I just bought a Zager guitar, and the Denny Zager, Sr. of Zager Guitars is also the “Zager” of Zager and Evans. The soundhole pickup I ordered for the guitar just showed up yesterday, but wretched tax preparations are keeping me from using it, hopefully by this afternoon I’ll have taxes behind me and off to my accountant (you know who you are! LOL), and I’ll be able to spend some time with it.

One note, the guitar showed up with the usual sorts of paperwork, and this additional enclosure was interesting:

Pretty cool!

So some new subscribers this week, and you know what that means! Yup! Cat pic!

She remains unimpressed, though new subscribers are a big deal to me - Thank You!!! And tell your friends!

Last night I was listening to the album “Love Is Strange” by Jackson Browne and David Lindley (Spotify link below in place of this week’s “WhatI’mListening2” playlist). Mr. Lindley passed away on March 3rd as noted in last week’s Thursday “Links” post in an “In Memorium” link. I was thinking back on all of the musical intersections that seem to lead to or through Mr. Browne. I had no idea he began his career with a short-lived stint with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band which was always one of my favorite groups, though Mr. Browne had departed the band before my favorite track from them: “Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper’s Dream)”. I still have (though I don’t remember if this is the one I originally bought, or a replacement for that one - I may have lost it somewhere “along the road”) “Running On Empty”, Mr. Browne’s 1977 album, now remastered, with the tracklist:

“Track listing

"Running on Empty" (Jackson Browne) – 5:20
- Recorded live (8/27/77), Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
"The Road" (Danny O'Keefe) – 4:50
- Recorded in room 301 (8/27/77), Cross Keys Inn, Columbia, MD (first — 2:58) and live (9/7/77), Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, New Jersey
"Rosie" (Browne, Donald Miller) – 3:37
- Recorded backstage (9/1/77) "in the big rehearsal room", Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, New York
- Doug Haywood and tour photographer Joel Bernstein sing harmony.
"You Love the Thunder" (Browne) – 3:52
- Recorded live (9/6/77), Holmdel, New Jersey
"Cocaine" (Reverend Gary Davis, additional lyrics by Browne and Glenn Frey) – 4:55
- Recorded in room 124 (8/17/77), Holiday Inn, Edwardsville, Illinois
"Shaky Town" (Danny Kortchmar) – 3:36
- Recorded in room 124 (8/18/77), Holiday Inn, Edwardsville, Illinois
- Danny Kortchmar sings harmony.
"Love Needs a Heart" (Browne, Valerie Carter, Lowell George) – 3:28
- Recorded live (9/17/77), Universal City, California
"Nothing but Time" (Browne, Howard Burke) – 3:05
- Recorded "on a bus (a Continental Silver Eagle) somewhere in New Jersey" (9/8/77)
- Russ Kunkel is credited as playing "snare, hi-hat, and cardboard box with foot pedal." The song was recorded aboard the band's Continental Silver Eagle tour bus (hence the lyrical reference to "Silver Eagle") while en route from Portland, Maine to their next gig in New Jersey. The bus's engine is audible in the background throughout, and its downshift and acceleration can be plainly heard during the bridge.
"The Load-Out" (Browne, Bryan Garofalo) – 5:38
- Recorded live (8/27/77), Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
"Stay" (Maurice Williams) – 3:28
- Recorded live (8/27/77), Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
- David Lindley and Rosemary Butler share lead vocals with Browne.

Credit: Wikipedia Link: Running On Empty

And then there’s this:

Did you know of this statue commemorating the lyrics to the Eagles hit, “Take It Easy” - written by Mr. Browne and Glenn Frey? Love it!

There are undoubtedly many other examples of collaborations that I’m unaware of, but what an influential figure in music for decades. Truly a legend.

So the point of all this fanboi is that some folks are one hit artists, but make a significant contribution to music, as is this case with Mr. Zager in both the recording he contributed to, and his more enduring contributions to the industry through the guitars his company produces. Mr. Browne is a fabulous and prolific singer/songwriter and recording artist and has an enduring legacy, but to my knowledge, does not manufacture instruments.

Where does that leave the rest of us - the independent artists, performers, songwriters and such who plug away it? My personal opinion is that anyone who contributes to the artistry of music helps create the enduring legacy and power of music, regardless of motivation or credit or reward. It’s a worthy effort, no matter the outcome.

So enough philosophizing today, time to slay the tax dragon and get back to playing and writing and such! Thanks again to all my subscribers (new and old) and readers!!

Bonus Round: The Monkees call a cab…

Cheers and keep playing!

Michael Acoustic