Song Lyric Sunday/Song of the Day: Little Walter, “It’s Too Late, Brother”

This week, Jim asked us for songs with "brother, sibling, or sister" in the title, and you know I found some more blues to fill the bill.

Little Walter’s "It’s Too Late, Brother" was issued as Checker Records single #852 in late 1956, and doesn’t appear to have charted. It’s typical of a lot of his songs, a lot of tough talk to a supposed adversary.

The lyrics, courtesy of Genius.com:

Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, brother
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, man
Told you back in forty-five you had better quit that jive
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, man

Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, brother
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, man
You thought you was pretty slick, takin’ everybody’s chick
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, brother

Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, brother
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, man
You had diamonds and Cadillac cars
Tourin’ the world and settin’ up bars
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, now

Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, brother
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, man
Your money’s gone and your health is bad
All you can tell is the fun you had
Ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, now
No, ain’t no need-a goin’ no further, now

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday and Song of the Day for September 27, 2020.

I Can Barely Contain(er) Myself #socs

Source: Wikipedia

So our prompt today is "container," a rather large topic, one that might be hard to address in a five-minute writing exercise. I went to Wikipedia to look up what it had to say on the subject, and got the list above. I mean there are all kinds of containers. And I’ll bet you haven’t even thought about it, have you?

The containers that really drive me crazy are the clamshell and blister packages that a lot of computer stuff comes in. I can never seem to get them open. Of course, I have an excuse, working with one hand, but Mary has two hands and she can’t get them open without scissors. You would think with all the work that goes into designing packages like that, they’d give at least some thought to an easy way of getting it open. I picture them in meetings saying "here’s the new peripheral in its packaging," and someone asking "how do you get it open?" To which the designer says "ah, let them figure it out! HAW HAW HAW!"

That’s what I like about Amazon: they have frustration-free packaging, where they’ll take the item out of the blister pack or clamshell and put the contents into a box. Now all you have to do is pull the flap out of the box, and presto!, everything is accessible with a minimum of swearing and homicidal thoughts toward the person who came up with the package…

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you each week by Linda Hill and this station. Now a word about draft-brewed Blatz beer, Milwaukee’s favorite premium beer, now at local prices!

Bottles, cans, barrels, and kegs – all containers! Does anyone recognize the painters? I feel like I should know who they are…

Song of the Day: Steve Winwood, “Higher Love”

From his 1986 album Back In The High Life, "Higher Love" was the first single. It was his first #1 on the Hot 100, between Madonna’s "Papa Don’t Preach" and Bananarama’s "Venus," and spent four weeks at #1 on the Hot Album Tracks chart. It also reached #1 in Canada and #13 in the UK (his best chart performance there) and earned him two Grammys, for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The lovely Chaka Khan provided backup vocals and makes an appearance in the video, so be sure and look for her.

Five For Friday: Michael McDonald (Yacht Rock)

Some of you will be happy to know that this will be the last Yacht Rock post for a while. I haven’t decided what will replace it yet (and I’m open to suggestions), but I think five months is plenty of time for this. So today, we’re going to talk about the Godfather of Yacht Rock, Michael McDonald.

The first a lot of us heard of Michael was when he joined Steely Dan in 1974, providing lead and background vocals on the albums Katy Lied (1975), The Royal Scam (1975), and Aja (1977), also playing keyboards on some tracks. In 1976, he was recruited by The Doobie Brothers, at the suggestion of former Steely Dan guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, when Tom Johnston fell ill. Originally he was just going to stand in for Johnston, but he was such a good fit that they asked him to stay when Johnston returned. (I always felt that his voice and keyboard playing was such a strong influence that it was as though they had morphed into Steely Dan.) At the same time, he also worked as a backup singer, keyboard player, and songwriter on projects by Christopher Cross, Bonnie Raitt, Keny Loggins, and Toto, among other acts.

After the Doobies split up in the early ’80’s, McDonald started his solo career, releasing If That’s What It Takes in 1982. The album contained such classics as "I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near)" and "I Gotta Try" with Kenny Loggins.

  1. "I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near)": Written by McDonald and Ed Sanford. Its similarity to "I Keep Forgettin’" by Lieber and Stoller resulted in them getting writing credits as well. It reached #4 on the Hot 100 and the Cash Box Hot Singles chart, #5 in Canada, #7 on the R&B chart, and #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1982-83.
  2. "Sweet Freedom": Recorded for the soundtrack of the 1986 film Running Scared which starred Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines. It reached #7 on the Hot 100, his last single to reach the Top Ten, #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart, #8 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, #12 in the UK and #25 in Canada.
  3. "Take It To Heart": Title track from his 1990 album, it reached #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart that year.
  4. "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough": Michael recorded several albums of Motown covers, Motown (2003). Motown Two (2004), and Soul Speak (2008). "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" is from the first album; it was released as a single in 2004 and reached #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
  5. "Yah Mo B There" (with James Ingram): First appeared on Ingram’s 1983 album It’s Your Night. It was released as a single late that year, and reached #19 on the Hot 100, #5 on the R&B chart, and #44 in the UK. A remix by Jellybean Benitez the following year reached #12 in the UK. Ingram and McDonald earned the 1985 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group.
  6. "On My Own" (with Patti Labelle): Written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, this appeared on Patti’s 1986 album Winner In You. The single, released that year, was a huge hit, reaching #1 on the Hot 100, R&B and Adult Contemporary charts, #2 in the UK, #1 in Canada and The Netherlands. It was the biggest hit for both performers.

And that’s Five For Friday for September 25, 2020.