The Regular Friday Post
Rando Lyrics: Never imagined I'd make it this far
Last week’s rando lyrics: The lyric, “Science in the home” is from the song "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (Ed. Didn’t see that comin’ from last week, didja?), by The Beatles. Written by Paul McCartney, (but also credited to Lennon-McCartney) it was released as Track 3 on the September 1969 album “Abbey Road”. Produced by George Martin.
Other Voices:
If you’re not already, please subscribe to/follow MusicInfluence.com - great stuff here!
This is a tragic bit of rock history:
I had read bits and pieces of this story over the years, but this post by MusicInfluence.com is (I think) the most comprehensive. Sad, dark story, but a compelling chapter in music history. Check out the link in the article to a Spotify list of songs Jim Gordon played on - amazing....
Welcome to The Regular Friday post!
News from around the “biz” for today - From Music Business World and ASCAP this week:
Live Nation & Ticketmaster Antitrust Action - the story behind this article should be of concern and interest to anyone who attends live performances…
Copyright Infringement By ISP Altice - I’m shocked (and I shouldn’t be, this goes on all the time) at how blithely the corporate “bigs” disregard copyright obligations - artists and songwriters need to see many more of these types of actions!
AI Learning and Copyrighted Works - “Teaching” AI using copyrighted works - a “big” gets caught and cries crocodile tears…
Royalties For Music Used In Advertisements
Some Stuff:
RIP Greg Kihn
Some Links For Today
I’m moving the links bits around and interspersing them by theme - the biz, etc. I think they weren’t getting much love stuck together at the bottom - I’ll do links to articles that follow a specific theme - songwriting and theory, guitars and playing techniques, recording, gigs, gear, etc each week so it’s a bit more limited
Today it’s: Gigs and Gear -
Everything is coming up Carvin today! I’m a fan, for sure - Carvin Audio has a kind of dual history. Pre-bankruptcy Carvin gear (guitars, amps, cabs, some pedals) is legendary - I own a couple of “Legacy Steve Vai” cabs and a head, and some other stuff from those days, as well as some of their new stuff. Emerging post bankruptcy, their gear is now just as great, if more modern with less of the “vintage” Carvin charm (IMHO)…. From their website (Carvin Audio):
"Carvin Audio continues our 77-year legacy by providing great sounding gear for musicians and sound professionals worldwide. The company is still owned and operated by the Kiesel Family."
In addition to selling stuff, which they’re good at, they also have a blog that I often post links to. Like today:
Gig Etiquette - Betcha didn’t know there was such a thing! Mostly it’s just common courtesy but with a “biz” flavor added…
Hear Yourself On Stage - Yeah, this is more ad than info, but if you have questions about wireless systems and gear, start here - doesn’t mean you have to buy their stuff, though I would…
Solo Gig Advice - More on the advice side than product ad (though I do own that acoustic preamp…just sayin’…)
Reduce Stage Volume For A Better Gig - yeah, I have that pedal, too….
DI Box why you need one, and yeah…..whatever…
ED. None of these result in compensation to me in any way, and I’m not endorsing (no compensation, but well, yeah, I kinda am endorsing them…. for free, though) any of them, but some of my readers may find them as interesting as I did…
For Today:
For those of you that clicked on the “Best” and “Worst” links in last week’s post…
…regarding the Beatles’ feelings about their own songs, you may have read that the others hated Paul’s “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, but mostly because he made them stay in the studio for 3 days to get it right, and that producer George Martin thought “Come Together” was their best song ever. You may have agreed or you may have disagreed. I disagreed. I always liked “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” even if it was bit of a campy one-off, and “Come Together” was, (IMHO only) always a bit oversold. Whatever, I have my own favorites (neither Maxwell’s or CT are my favorites, nor are either disliked by me) and you, faithful reader, are entitled to your own.
For today, despite “Maxwell’s…” being a thumbs down from the “Annoyed 3” of the “Fab 4”, it is a cool song, not overly difficult, and you may find it fun to play. Apparently, the song was even so hated by John Lennon that he refused to participate at all. See this great article by Neil Crossley writing for musicradar.com: Worst Track...Ever. Despite all that, I like it, so it’s this week’s…
…A Song To Play…
A pretty quick 130 BPM, 4/4 common time, Key of DMaj (Chordify somehow hears it as AMaj, but that wasn’t really tracking for me, so I looked up some further sources…it’s definitely DMajor - disregard the Key Signature below - the chords are accurate enough to play the song though).
Credit: Chordify Link: ><
Ed. In the “Some Stuff” section above you’ll see a picture of the cover of “The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook” which arrived on my doorstep from Amazon this week. None of the several Chordify charts for this song matched exactly the chords from the Songbook, which I chalk up to the Chordify AI/algorithm doing the best it can, but no match for the the charts purportedly “arranged…from the actual recordings, in the original keys” according to the author(s). As we see above from the misheard Chordify Key Signature, AI is not always reliable, although the chords in the Chordify chart are close enough to be playable, (I checked them against those in the Songbook) despite the identified Key being wrong.
Lyrics (From Genius)
Link: >Maxwell's Silver Hammer< - Ed. this entry is particularly well curated, worth a read, just click on the link and then click the “Read More” arrow.
[Verse 1]
Joan was quizzical, studied pataphysical
Science in the home
Late nights all alone with a test tube, oh, oh, oh, oh
Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine
Calls her on the phone
"Can I take you out to the pictures, Joa-oa-oa-oan?"
But as she's getting ready to go
A knock comes on the door
[Chorus]
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Clang! Clang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead
[Verse 2]
Back in school again, Maxwell plays the fool again
Teacher gets annoyed
Wishing to avoid an unpleasant sce-e-e-ene
She tells Max to stay when the class has gone away
So he waits behind
Writing fifty times "I must not be so, o, o, o"
But when she turns her back on the boy
He creeps up from behind
[Chorus]
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon her head (Do-do-do-do-do)
Clang! Clang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead (Do-do-do-do-do)
[Verse 3]
P. C. 31 said, "We caught a dirty one"
Maxwell stands alone
Painting testimonial pictures, oh, oh, oh, oh
Rose and Valerie, screaming from the gallery
Say he must go free (Maxwell must go free)
The judge does not agree and he tells them so-o-o-o
But as the words are leaving his lips
A noise comes from behind
[Chorus]
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon his head (Do-do-do-do-do)
Clang! Clang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that he was dead
[Outro]
Whoa, whoa, whoa-oa
(Do-do-do-do-do)
(Silver hammer man)
The “ME!” Section…..
What I’m Listening2: Link: >Playlist Schmaylist<
Shameless Self Promotion Section:
My song is out! Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify
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Disclaimer Section
This Substack is free, I receive no compensation of any kind from companies or products I mention. Some linked or quoted material may be copyrighted by others, and I credit them. I rely on the “Fair Use” doctrine for educational purposes (Link: Fair Use). *I do not use AI, things I link to might…
-Michael Acoustic
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This Week’s Documentary Film Recommendation:
On Amazon Prime, and possibly other streaming services as well, “The Band: The Band (Classic Albums)” - the description says it includes interviews with George Harrison and Eric Clapton - should be good, imma watch it this week.
Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!! This Week’s Conversation With Mika:
It’s that time of year again when the morning sun comes in the window above and behind where I write this at just the right angle. If I’m on my phone (I write on both my laptop and phone - gets confusing but the phone is better for links) the sunlight reflects off the phone face and drives her crazy. When the reflection ends up on that wall she jumps up on it and is frustrated that she’s unable to kill it and eat it, apparently…
Cheers and keep playing!!
Michael Acoustic
“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”
Didn't The Beatles use a studio equipment guy to bang on an anvil on "Maxwell?" I seem to recall that from The Beatles updated "Let It Be" documentary a couple of years ago.
That sad story about Clapton's drummer and co-writer for Layla is pretty interesting.
Good guitar-ish stuff Michael.
Love all the Beatle stuff.
We both have the Beatles Chord Songbook.
Didn't hear about Greg Kihn. Did you know that he wrote several popular horror novels? I didn't even know he passed away last week. The "Breakup Song" arpeggios are fun to play.