Great, Michael! Loving the Mika pic, but I also have always dug America, and "Sister Golden Hair." I also enjoyed early Jackson Browne, and was particularly taken by his near-constant verbalizing of crying (mostly his own)! He emotionally exposed himself repeatedly, and for a guy, it was quite engaging to appreciate back in the day!
Gals could warm up, of course, to that cuddly side of him (it helped that he wasn't exactly ugly), and guys, I'm guessing, felt a little more OK about *gasp!* maybe shedding a tear when she walks out the door, etc! One (or both) of us should do an exposé of sorts on his use of "the crying verb" in his lyrics. One of my faves of his is from "Doctor My Eyes":
"Doctor, my eyes
Cannot see the sky;
Is this the prize
For having learned how not to cry?"
Even in admitting he's yet another man who's taught himself the annoying (and so overdone, and pointless) machismo, he STILL uses the word. So many other men didn't/couldn't!
Hey Brad - interesting question in the comments below from Nic Briscoe - “What is the “LA approach”?” to songwriting? In the Sister Golden Hair Wikipedia article it was mentioned and seemed to be connected (maybe) to Jackson Browne. Seems to be: “observational rather stripped down to essentials” but without context that lacks meaning. Could it be a sort of “inside baseball” shorthand? I can’t find a reference elsewhere.
Wow, great question, Michael! First, I absolutely thought nothing of it when I read Nic's comment....in other words, I knew exactly what he meant! Can I verbalize it? Possibly, if not probably.
But, secondly, why don't we (meaning you!) throw it up to a thread on your "Michael Acoustic" (where I think it would righteously belong and flourish!) and get people (namely us and whomever!) to discuss exactly that!!! Your reply above would be the perfect intro, mainly (and especially) because it provides no "official" definition!
But, I'd love to give the def a stab, but would rather it be "for all the marbles" on a thread where it can be debated! I mean, imagine Stephen's contributions to the topic! Thoughts?
Great! Stephen's experiences will definitely add some insight! He was a singer/songwriter/guitarist in the Hollywood record biz '70s! Plus, he'd be jazzed to be asked! This story alone puts him there! I know you know this one, Michael....this is for your readers for whom this might be new: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/schwartz-stories-2-jackson-joni-and
I’m loving this. For me L.A. / California songwriting is a vast topic, and one I’d like to get to grips with, however where to start? This is a topic for a series of books... It covers so many genres, from so many decades, so many artists, so many bands, so many great songs, great recording studios, great producers, great sound-engineers... and so many scenes, and all so influential... just where to begin?
Here’s my top ten L.A. linked songs mix-tape playlist (songs I associate with L.A.), straight off the bat, no thought...
1. Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
2. Hotel California (Eagles)
3. Colours (Ice-T)
4. Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
5. God Only Knows (Brian Wilson)
6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Neil Young)
7. Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
8. The Pretender (Jackson Browne)
9. Your Power (Billie Eilish)
10. Girls Girls Girls (Mötley Crüe)
Most influential scene? Laurel Canyon Folk from late 60s / early 70s?
Quick update: in this playlist above I didn't even mention any songs by... The Doors, Cher, Frank Zappa, Elise Trouw, The Mamas & The Papas, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Carole King, James Taylor, David Crosby, N.W.A, Dr. Dre et al, Maroon 5, Janis Joplin... and of course the song often most synonymous with L.A. 'White Lines' by Melle Mel with Grandmaster Flash.
See....this would be great on a thread, so more folks can respond, reflect, agree, debate, add their own, etc! Here's one, Nic, ICYMI: "Dreams," Stevie tells us, was influenced by disco (I brought the receipts!) https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/earthquake-1977-fleetwood-macs-1
As for your last question/assertion....I'd guess that, too....but, a spirited and knowledgeable debate awaits!
BTW, Monday at 7am CT, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE will drop the goods on 81-year-old Graham Nash's new album, "Now," just released this past Friday! Hear it all, and we'll celebrate Graham's classic rock hits, too! Thanks, Nic!
Interesting! I’ll confess I didn’t think of the lyrics in that manner, or at least I don’t remember doing so. I suppose I thought of it more as “putting up with the world by turning off my emotions” Now, years later, I confess to an even bleaker assessment at least in one sense - “Heartbreak songs sell!” and good ones sell even more!! It would be interesting to know whether personal experiences or his involvement in the music industry drove the lyrics. The Wikipedia article indicates it was even more bleak to begin with (“the lost 3rd verse!”), but changed dramatically in the recording studio. I hate to be too cynical - but I’m also glad to be far away from the centers of “the biz”…
Well, FWIW, I've famously been one, that throughout my life, have never paid much attention to lyrics or meanings! I just didn't care...I was all about the music, melody, harmonies...the lyrics were nothing more or other, for me, than something for me to sing along to the music!
Ex: I'm a non-smoker (of anything) in high school in the early '70s, and it never occurred to me that Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" could've been about mara-hoochie! Again, I didn't care! The sonic bombast was all I was about! Other long-hairs of the day...their ONLY take away from that anvil-heavy song was "Oh, wow, they're singin' about weed, man!" *YAWN*
Now you know why Dylan meant absolutely nothing to or for me! So, for me to pick out Browne's "cry"-leaning is A) pretty momentous for me in the first place and B) seemed to stick out for me back then as being rather odd for otherwise macho male singers in the day (regardless of how he meant to use them....hey, it was enough for me to HEAR them....you couldn't have expected me, back then, to decipher his actual meanings of one or more words put together!!!)
This post caught my eye / ear because one of my all time favourite songs is 'Horse With No Name' and embarrassed as I am to admit it I don't really know any other songs by America, however this song 'Sister Golden Hair' is very cool, and I agree it's a great one for a road-trip playlist. The recording quality is phenomenal. The opening vocal melody and chordal harmony of the verse immediately reminded me of Elton John's 'Crocodile Rock', and the link with Jackson Browne and this phrase you use, Michael, "the L.A. approach", what exactly do you mean by this? I'm a Brit, so I don't immediately get what this reference means. Do you mean something like the writing approach of the Laurel Canyon Scene (Joni Mitchel, Neil Young, David Crosby etc) or it means something else?
Nic - really great question - the brief synopses in my posts about the songs/backstories in the Friday Bonus Round and the Thursday Odds and Ends sections are usually entirely quotes from Wikipedia and I try to be diligent about crediting the articles with a link. I suspect without knowing the “LA Approach” reference is some sort of shorthand that writers in the Jackson Browne “sphere” might understand - whether he was the actual center or more of an overlarge gravitational attractor, hard to say - I’ve just noticed he seems to always appear at some point and in some fashion in a the background of a lot of songs of that era. I searched for the term, unsuccessfully - I kinda think it might be more of an insider term. I’m not sure what “observational vs stripped down to essentials” means in context. I’m going to share your question with Brad Kyle of Front Row and Backstage - he and some of the contacts he maintains may have a better answer! I suspect there is some connection to the legendary Laurel Canyon era - but I really don’t know - I’ll try to get an answer!
As a request, if you feel like, it would be great if you put some words to the acoustic version of Eagles’ “Hotel California”, the one in the Album “Hell Freezes Over”. The acoustic guitars in there are just amazing.
Nice analysis, Michael. For me, “Sister Golden Hair” cannot be missing in a playlist for a road trip. It is the perfect segue to Lynyrd Skykyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and Doobie Brother’s “Long Train Runnin” (probably, I would sort them first S.H.A., followed by S.G.H., followed by L.T.R.). Songs that inspire movement, outward journeys, return trips.
That would be a great playlist! It’s kind of odd in a good way to think in terms of those days as “playlists” - for me that was usually whatever the DJs played on AM radio, and maybe I’d by an album, but much of my time by the late 70s/80s involved driving around a lot late at night - sometimes I ended up within range of a smaller private college and they had the coolest music on the low watt college station, but you had to be within a mile or two of the campus or it would fade.
I grew up in the mixtapes era, when at first we used to record directly from the radio station when an interesting song was played. Artifacts and DJ’s intros and outros were frequently included. It followed with recordings from original tapes first and from CD’s later, which significantly improved the quality of the mixes. I used to make them fir my father, who had to travel frequently for work and he really enjoyed them, or at least that is what he said. I still make playlists, have a lot of fun with them.
Great, Michael! Loving the Mika pic, but I also have always dug America, and "Sister Golden Hair." I also enjoyed early Jackson Browne, and was particularly taken by his near-constant verbalizing of crying (mostly his own)! He emotionally exposed himself repeatedly, and for a guy, it was quite engaging to appreciate back in the day!
Gals could warm up, of course, to that cuddly side of him (it helped that he wasn't exactly ugly), and guys, I'm guessing, felt a little more OK about *gasp!* maybe shedding a tear when she walks out the door, etc! One (or both) of us should do an exposé of sorts on his use of "the crying verb" in his lyrics. One of my faves of his is from "Doctor My Eyes":
"Doctor, my eyes
Cannot see the sky;
Is this the prize
For having learned how not to cry?"
Even in admitting he's yet another man who's taught himself the annoying (and so overdone, and pointless) machismo, he STILL uses the word. So many other men didn't/couldn't!
Hey Brad - interesting question in the comments below from Nic Briscoe - “What is the “LA approach”?” to songwriting? In the Sister Golden Hair Wikipedia article it was mentioned and seemed to be connected (maybe) to Jackson Browne. Seems to be: “observational rather stripped down to essentials” but without context that lacks meaning. Could it be a sort of “inside baseball” shorthand? I can’t find a reference elsewhere.
Wow, great question, Michael! First, I absolutely thought nothing of it when I read Nic's comment....in other words, I knew exactly what he meant! Can I verbalize it? Possibly, if not probably.
But, secondly, why don't we (meaning you!) throw it up to a thread on your "Michael Acoustic" (where I think it would righteously belong and flourish!) and get people (namely us and whomever!) to discuss exactly that!!! Your reply above would be the perfect intro, mainly (and especially) because it provides no "official" definition!
But, I'd love to give the def a stab, but would rather it be "for all the marbles" on a thread where it can be debated! I mean, imagine Stephen's contributions to the topic! Thoughts?
That may be exactly the right approach - especially if Stephen’s experiences might lend some insight.
Great! Stephen's experiences will definitely add some insight! He was a singer/songwriter/guitarist in the Hollywood record biz '70s! Plus, he'd be jazzed to be asked! This story alone puts him there! I know you know this one, Michael....this is for your readers for whom this might be new: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/schwartz-stories-2-jackson-joni-and
I’m loving this. For me L.A. / California songwriting is a vast topic, and one I’d like to get to grips with, however where to start? This is a topic for a series of books... It covers so many genres, from so many decades, so many artists, so many bands, so many great songs, great recording studios, great producers, great sound-engineers... and so many scenes, and all so influential... just where to begin?
Here’s my top ten L.A. linked songs mix-tape playlist (songs I associate with L.A.), straight off the bat, no thought...
1. Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
2. Hotel California (Eagles)
3. Colours (Ice-T)
4. Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
5. God Only Knows (Brian Wilson)
6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Neil Young)
7. Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
8. The Pretender (Jackson Browne)
9. Your Power (Billie Eilish)
10. Girls Girls Girls (Mötley Crüe)
Most influential scene? Laurel Canyon Folk from late 60s / early 70s?
Quick update: in this playlist above I didn't even mention any songs by... The Doors, Cher, Frank Zappa, Elise Trouw, The Mamas & The Papas, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Carole King, James Taylor, David Crosby, N.W.A, Dr. Dre et al, Maroon 5, Janis Joplin... and of course the song often most synonymous with L.A. 'White Lines' by Melle Mel with Grandmaster Flash.
See....this would be great on a thread, so more folks can respond, reflect, agree, debate, add their own, etc! Here's one, Nic, ICYMI: "Dreams," Stevie tells us, was influenced by disco (I brought the receipts!) https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/earthquake-1977-fleetwood-macs-1
As for your last question/assertion....I'd guess that, too....but, a spirited and knowledgeable debate awaits!
BTW, Monday at 7am CT, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE will drop the goods on 81-year-old Graham Nash's new album, "Now," just released this past Friday! Hear it all, and we'll celebrate Graham's classic rock hits, too! Thanks, Nic!
Interesting! I’ll confess I didn’t think of the lyrics in that manner, or at least I don’t remember doing so. I suppose I thought of it more as “putting up with the world by turning off my emotions” Now, years later, I confess to an even bleaker assessment at least in one sense - “Heartbreak songs sell!” and good ones sell even more!! It would be interesting to know whether personal experiences or his involvement in the music industry drove the lyrics. The Wikipedia article indicates it was even more bleak to begin with (“the lost 3rd verse!”), but changed dramatically in the recording studio. I hate to be too cynical - but I’m also glad to be far away from the centers of “the biz”…
Well, FWIW, I've famously been one, that throughout my life, have never paid much attention to lyrics or meanings! I just didn't care...I was all about the music, melody, harmonies...the lyrics were nothing more or other, for me, than something for me to sing along to the music!
Ex: I'm a non-smoker (of anything) in high school in the early '70s, and it never occurred to me that Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" could've been about mara-hoochie! Again, I didn't care! The sonic bombast was all I was about! Other long-hairs of the day...their ONLY take away from that anvil-heavy song was "Oh, wow, they're singin' about weed, man!" *YAWN*
Now you know why Dylan meant absolutely nothing to or for me! So, for me to pick out Browne's "cry"-leaning is A) pretty momentous for me in the first place and B) seemed to stick out for me back then as being rather odd for otherwise macho male singers in the day (regardless of how he meant to use them....hey, it was enough for me to HEAR them....you couldn't have expected me, back then, to decipher his actual meanings of one or more words put together!!!)
This post caught my eye / ear because one of my all time favourite songs is 'Horse With No Name' and embarrassed as I am to admit it I don't really know any other songs by America, however this song 'Sister Golden Hair' is very cool, and I agree it's a great one for a road-trip playlist. The recording quality is phenomenal. The opening vocal melody and chordal harmony of the verse immediately reminded me of Elton John's 'Crocodile Rock', and the link with Jackson Browne and this phrase you use, Michael, "the L.A. approach", what exactly do you mean by this? I'm a Brit, so I don't immediately get what this reference means. Do you mean something like the writing approach of the Laurel Canyon Scene (Joni Mitchel, Neil Young, David Crosby etc) or it means something else?
Nic - really great question - the brief synopses in my posts about the songs/backstories in the Friday Bonus Round and the Thursday Odds and Ends sections are usually entirely quotes from Wikipedia and I try to be diligent about crediting the articles with a link. I suspect without knowing the “LA Approach” reference is some sort of shorthand that writers in the Jackson Browne “sphere” might understand - whether he was the actual center or more of an overlarge gravitational attractor, hard to say - I’ve just noticed he seems to always appear at some point and in some fashion in a the background of a lot of songs of that era. I searched for the term, unsuccessfully - I kinda think it might be more of an insider term. I’m not sure what “observational vs stripped down to essentials” means in context. I’m going to share your question with Brad Kyle of Front Row and Backstage - he and some of the contacts he maintains may have a better answer! I suspect there is some connection to the legendary Laurel Canyon era - but I really don’t know - I’ll try to get an answer!
As a request, if you feel like, it would be great if you put some words to the acoustic version of Eagles’ “Hotel California”, the one in the Album “Hell Freezes Over”. The acoustic guitars in there are just amazing.
Nice analysis, Michael. For me, “Sister Golden Hair” cannot be missing in a playlist for a road trip. It is the perfect segue to Lynyrd Skykyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and Doobie Brother’s “Long Train Runnin” (probably, I would sort them first S.H.A., followed by S.G.H., followed by L.T.R.). Songs that inspire movement, outward journeys, return trips.
That would be a great playlist! It’s kind of odd in a good way to think in terms of those days as “playlists” - for me that was usually whatever the DJs played on AM radio, and maybe I’d by an album, but much of my time by the late 70s/80s involved driving around a lot late at night - sometimes I ended up within range of a smaller private college and they had the coolest music on the low watt college station, but you had to be within a mile or two of the campus or it would fade.
I grew up in the mixtapes era, when at first we used to record directly from the radio station when an interesting song was played. Artifacts and DJ’s intros and outros were frequently included. It followed with recordings from original tapes first and from CD’s later, which significantly improved the quality of the mixes. I used to make them fir my father, who had to travel frequently for work and he really enjoyed them, or at least that is what he said. I still make playlists, have a lot of fun with them.