Thank you. Michael, for the nice shout out. It's truly appreciated my friend!
One comment on your piece this week. Thanks for noting Glen Campbell's cover of "Gentle On My Mind." It is a lovely track ... beautifully recorded .... and a reminder of what a briliant player Campbell was.
Thanks, Brad. Just read your piece about "Guess I'm Dumb." Great stuff. Have you written before about Campbell and the other members of the Wrecking Crew doing all of the instrumentation on Pet Sounds?
Also, a quick story. I changed careers at age 46 to become a teacher. I was sent to Eastlake HS in Chula Vista, CA (just south of San Diego) to fill the requirement of student teaching a class for a semester under a master teacher to earn my credential. My master teacher was a big, affable blond guy named Gary Withem. He was about 7-8 years older than me, and I'm sure it was unusual for him to take on a 46-year-old man going for a teaching credential.
Anyway, about a week after I started, Gary asked me if I liked rock and roll. Of course, I said ... soundtrack to my life. He then asked, "do you remember a group called Gary Puckett and the Union Gap?" I replied, of course .. and rattled off a list of their hits ... "Young Girl," "Woman Woman" and "Lady Willpower." He replied, "I was their keyboardist."
I was totally blown away. My Master teacher had five Gold Records hanging in his house. And appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. He told great stories, including how he often sat in with Iron Butterfly's Ron Bushy, and even covered for Brian Wilson when he had his health problems.
I've had a few encounters with musicians, including seeing Peter Tork of the Monkees getting punched out by one of the Padres coaches in the bowels of San Diego Stadium in 1984.
As for your Gary, I notice his nickname was "Mutha"! I sang a lot of Puckett at karaoke a decade ago! Mainly "Lady Willpower"----his range was right in my sweet spot.
I changed careers, too, from radio and record biz to youth ministry and teaching. The youth ministry in the L.A. area (Cerritos and El Monte), mid-'80s to early '90s, and the teaching in Austin, TX ('90s thru a decade ago), where I'm retired now. My bro and his wife used to live Jamul, in the mountains east of San Diego. Debbie was GM of the Mission Hills and La Jolla Saks 5th Avenues in the '90s and early 2000s.
Stephen spent a couple decades in a children's music trio, The Parachute Express, and has written songs, in the late '70s with David Pomeranz and Jeff Barry (look for THAT article...a couple song demos are included of those Barry/Schwartz songs...demos produced by Barry), plus he was in two sitcoms!
Loved your "Mutha" story! I'd-a had so many questions for him!
I’ve posted Mr. Campbell’s performance of this song previously, though at a different venue. Both are superb, but you usually don’t see him with this hairstyle. That’s only relevant to me because I love to watch guitarists that are so into playing whatever they’re playing that the head movement almost becomes a part of the technique.
Adam that is such a great catch! Once I played both (in my head) in sequence you just can’t help but hear it. Imma do a bit of research on the why of that. Thanks for the unexpected, but much appreciated earworm!!
Thank you so much!! Most of the time I’ll pick a song that lets me highlight a technique or a chord progression or a theory point. For some reason the lyrics to “Gentle…” have been earworming me periodically for the last couple of weeks so I needed to let it be heard. Great song, love the backstory, and accessible (with a capo) for beginning players. Glad you enjoyed it!!
Super fun to listen to your song on Amazon Music, Mike. Amazon Music followed you with a song by Johnny Cash, nice! -- the next time I listened to your song Amazon followed it with a song from my listening habits, “Fat Billy Shouts Mine” by Big Big Train. Dave Gregory of XTC was a member of the band Big Big Train then, hence how I found it. “Fat Billy Shouts Mine” has one heck of a good singer, the late David Longdon, who sounds a lot like Michael Stipe on that track.
I’m telling ya Mike - you should be writing a Substack! You could title it “Actual Famous Artists And Actual Good Songs Heard After Listening To Michael Acoustic Songs!”
Thank you. Michael, for the nice shout out. It's truly appreciated my friend!
One comment on your piece this week. Thanks for noting Glen Campbell's cover of "Gentle On My Mind." It is a lovely track ... beautifully recorded .... and a reminder of what a briliant player Campbell was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETkzK9pXMio
The "Wow" look from the other musicians speaks volumes.
And I'm really looking forward to your upcoming piece on the Wrecking Crew.
Hey, Jim.......Just on the off chance you're not familiar with one little corner of Glen's career, here's something I wrote about a year ago: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-7-glen-campbell-wbrian Enjoy!
Thanks, Brad. Just read your piece about "Guess I'm Dumb." Great stuff. Have you written before about Campbell and the other members of the Wrecking Crew doing all of the instrumentation on Pet Sounds?
Also, a quick story. I changed careers at age 46 to become a teacher. I was sent to Eastlake HS in Chula Vista, CA (just south of San Diego) to fill the requirement of student teaching a class for a semester under a master teacher to earn my credential. My master teacher was a big, affable blond guy named Gary Withem. He was about 7-8 years older than me, and I'm sure it was unusual for him to take on a 46-year-old man going for a teaching credential.
Anyway, about a week after I started, Gary asked me if I liked rock and roll. Of course, I said ... soundtrack to my life. He then asked, "do you remember a group called Gary Puckett and the Union Gap?" I replied, of course .. and rattled off a list of their hits ... "Young Girl," "Woman Woman" and "Lady Willpower." He replied, "I was their keyboardist."
I was totally blown away. My Master teacher had five Gold Records hanging in his house. And appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. He told great stories, including how he often sat in with Iron Butterfly's Ron Bushy, and even covered for Brian Wilson when he had his health problems.
I've had a few encounters with musicians, including seeing Peter Tork of the Monkees getting punched out by one of the Padres coaches in the bowels of San Diego Stadium in 1984.
Not specifically about Glen and the WCrew. But, here's the down'n'dirty on one of my favorite Glen songs, and how it came about: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/audio-autopsy-1968-and-beyond-dreams
More Glen: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-18-lambert-and-potter
And, more Brian, but a recent one I'm really proud of: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/tina-turner-1966-phil-spectors-river
As for your Gary, I notice his nickname was "Mutha"! I sang a lot of Puckett at karaoke a decade ago! Mainly "Lady Willpower"----his range was right in my sweet spot.
I changed careers, too, from radio and record biz to youth ministry and teaching. The youth ministry in the L.A. area (Cerritos and El Monte), mid-'80s to early '90s, and the teaching in Austin, TX ('90s thru a decade ago), where I'm retired now. My bro and his wife used to live Jamul, in the mountains east of San Diego. Debbie was GM of the Mission Hills and La Jolla Saks 5th Avenues in the '90s and early 2000s.
BTW, you might find the 20 articles written for us by Stephen Michael Schwartz of interest. He recorded an album in 1974 (at age 20) for RCA Records. His story starts here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/career-chord-change-stephen-michael
Stephen spent a couple decades in a children's music trio, The Parachute Express, and has written songs, in the late '70s with David Pomeranz and Jeff Barry (look for THAT article...a couple song demos are included of those Barry/Schwartz songs...demos produced by Barry), plus he was in two sitcoms!
Loved your "Mutha" story! I'd-a had so many questions for him!
I’ve posted Mr. Campbell’s performance of this song previously, though at a different venue. Both are superb, but you usually don’t see him with this hairstyle. That’s only relevant to me because I love to watch guitarists that are so into playing whatever they’re playing that the head movement almost becomes a part of the technique.
https://youtu.be/YPJRR74a9xE?si=uXy5bCMMnWanWupC
Enjoy!!
Gentle on My Mind! What an amazing song! Has a little Everybody's Talkin' in it. Same melancholy.
Adam that is such a great catch! Once I played both (in my head) in sequence you just can’t help but hear it. Imma do a bit of research on the why of that. Thanks for the unexpected, but much appreciated earworm!!
LOVE the Glen Campbell mention. This song (like so many other songs of his) rules.
Thank you so much!! Most of the time I’ll pick a song that lets me highlight a technique or a chord progression or a theory point. For some reason the lyrics to “Gentle…” have been earworming me periodically for the last couple of weeks so I needed to let it be heard. Great song, love the backstory, and accessible (with a capo) for beginning players. Glad you enjoyed it!!
Super fun to listen to your song on Amazon Music, Mike. Amazon Music followed you with a song by Johnny Cash, nice! -- the next time I listened to your song Amazon followed it with a song from my listening habits, “Fat Billy Shouts Mine” by Big Big Train. Dave Gregory of XTC was a member of the band Big Big Train then, hence how I found it. “Fat Billy Shouts Mine” has one heck of a good singer, the late David Longdon, who sounds a lot like Michael Stipe on that track.
I’m telling ya Mike - you should be writing a Substack! You could title it “Actual Famous Artists And Actual Good Songs Heard After Listening To Michael Acoustic Songs!”
Totally Win-Win!!