It's times and comments like this that I give reason for people to call me a curmudgeon ( noun - a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person). There was a time in music when song writing mattered . When albums mattered. Topics I will one day get into. As proof of that I keep asking people I know to name a new song writer in the last twenty years that you can put up there with Carole King , Lenon, MCcartney, Baharach and David, Pete Townsend. In terms of the album (collection of songs) . How many CDs in the last 20 years can you listen to all the way through and in their own way have the same kind of flow and story telling like your favorite movie? Not even lyrically but musically. Off the top of my head: Abbey Road, Born To Run, Synchronicity, Shoot Out The Lights, Help, Welcome to My Nightmare. Who's Next.
Look how much went into this song by James Taylor. In the so called old days, (pre MTV) so much went into every song on an album. The artist was eventually rewarded by continously being relevant despite the predominantly disposable nature of pop music. The cookie cutter crank them out nature of music as product.
Ed
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=761
Fire And Rain
by
James Taylor
Album: Sweet Baby James Released: 1970
Taylor wrote this in 1968 at 3 different times. He started it in London, where he auditioned for The Beatles' Apple Records. He later worked on it in a Manhattan Hospital, and finished it while in drug rehab at The Austin Riggs Center in Massachusetts.
This is about the high and low points of Taylor's life. He was only 20 when he wrote this, but was battling depression and drug addiction.
This was Taylor's second single and his first to chart. His first single was "Sweet Baby James."
The stark lyrics about Taylor's depression stand out on Sweet Baby James, which contains mostly lighter, uplifting songs.
The first verse is Taylor's reaction to the death of a friend. The second verse is about arriving in America and struggling with depression, the third is about his stay at the rehab center.
The line "Flying machines in pieces on the ground" is a reference to a band Taylor was in called The Flying Machine, which broke up due to his drug problems.
This was one of the first big singer-songwriter hits of the early '70s. Before this, most hits were either written by one person and performed by another, or written and performed by a group like The Beatles or Rolling Stones. Artists like Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Elton John followed the trend of writing and performing their own songs.
Taylor has never revealed the identity of Suzanne, the woman he sings about in this.
This is a deeply personal song. Taylor was surprised to find out so many people were interested in his life.
It was falsely rumored that this is about the death of Taylor's girlfriend in a plane crash. The story was that Taylor separated from his girlfriend (Suzanne) to go on tour, but when his friends arranged to fly her to see James, she died in a plane crash (flying machines in pieces on the ground). The story is not true.
The Isley Brothers recorded this on their album Givin' It Back, which contained all cover songs.
Taylor guest starred in The Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" where he performs for a space shuttle that Homer is aboard from NASA's mission control. He plays this, but after singing the line "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground," he gasps, due to the irony of that line relating to the mission, and sings it with the revised lyrics: "Sweet dreams and flying machines flying safely through the air." (thanks, Eric - Suffern, NY)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_and_Rain
"Fire and Rain" is a song written and performed by James Taylor. The signature single on his second album, Sweet Baby James, the song brought Taylor widespread attention. The album was released in December 1969, with the song being released as a single the following February. "Fire and Rain" quickly rose to the top five on the Billboard magazine charts.
Moody, introspective, and laying bare deep emotional sensitivity, "Fire and Rain" became something of a prototype for the singer-songwriter genre that would boom in the few years following its release. The sparse arrangement, centered around Taylor's ringing acoustic guitar figures, also became a signature sound for Taylor and was influential among other performers.
"Fire and Rain" is in the 227th position on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Origin of the song
Taylor has related different versions of what the song is about. In a BBC interview he stated that the song chronicled his experiences in mental institutions and the suicide of a friend. More recently, on the VH1 series Story Tellers, Taylor said that the song was, indeed, about Suzanne Schnerr, a friend of his who died suddenly while he was away from home. According to that account, he had been in a deep depression after the failure of his new band "Flying Machine" to coalesce (the lyric includes a reference to "sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground"; the reference is to the name of the band rather than a fatal plane crash, as was long rumored). As he was wondering what to do with himself, he received word of Schnerr's death, and the song explains that her death was a check for his own worries, a way of realizing the transience of life and his need to get back to his old friends. In other interviews Taylor has also indicated that a battle with drug addiction figured into the song.
In 2005, Taylor laid the rumors to rest during an interview on NPR. He explained to host Scott Simon that the song was written in three parts:[1]
The first part was indeed about Taylor's friend Suzanne, who died while Taylor was in London working on his first album after being signed to Apple Records. Friends at home, concerned that it may have distracted Taylor from his big break, kept the tragic news from him, and it was only some time later that Taylor found out.
The second part details Taylor's struggle to overcome drug addiction and depression.
The third part deals with coming to grips with fame and fortune, looking back at the road that got him there. It includes a reference to James Taylor and The Flying Machine, a band he briefly worked with before his big break with Paul McCartney, Peter Asher and Apple Records.
[edit] Rumors about the origin
According to some sources, James Taylor got his inspiration from an earlier tragic incident. Snopes.com reports and debunks the myth that "Fire and Rain" was written after Taylor's girlfriend, whom he was planning to marry, died in a plane crash ("Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.") The story is as follows:
Taylor was booked to play a gig across the country on his birthday and, secretly, his friends bought plane and concert tickets for his fiance Suzanne so she could meet him there as a surprise. However, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff after complications due to heavy rain, killing many aboard, including Suzanne. Upon receiving the news, Taylor immediately wrote "Fire and Rain" as a sign of mourning ("Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone. / Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you. / Walked out this morning, and I wrote down this song./ I just can't remember who to send it to.")
The "Fire and Rain" is said to refer to the fiery crash in the rain. However, Taylor has openly denied these allegations and explained the true inspiration behind the song.
[edit] "Fire and Rain" in popular culture
* Taylor performed "Fire and Rain" on The Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer," he awkwardly replaced the lyric "In pieces on the ground" with "Flying safely through the air" due to the fact Homer and the shuttle crew are in danger of burning up in re-entry.
* The song is featured prominently as a favorite of the family in the movie Running on Empty.
* A book from the webcomic Sluggy Freelance is named after the song.
* The song "Fire and Rain" is featured on the movie Remember the Titans.
* The song is played in the final scene of the episode in Dawson's Creek where Mitch (Dawson's dad) is buried.
* The Bacon Brothers reference the song, in their song, "Guess Again", from the album "FoRoSoCo". The song details the singer's delusions of grandeur, while he makes numerous outrageous claims. "(You know I'm not afraid of pain, and did you know that I wrote "Fire and Rain...)"
[edit] Cover versions
Many artists have recorded cover versions of "Fire and Rain" in a number of genres. A partial list includes:
* Singer / Songwriter and producer of RnB and Soul world Kenny 'Babyface' Edmunds covers this song on his upcoming album Playlist due out in the US September 18th 2007 and is the first track to be released from it.
* Country icon Willie Nelson's 1975 cover reached the top thirty on the U.S. country singles charts.
* Trumpeter Herb Alpert on his album Lost Treasures.
* Hard rock band Badlands on their album Voodoo Highway.
* Blood, Sweat & Tears on their album Blood, Sweat & Tears 3.
* Metal band [Burning Starr] on the album No Turning Back from 1986.
* Actress and singer Betty Buckley on her album Heart to Heart.
* Cher on her album Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves.
* Instrumental jazz group Common Ground on their Taylor tribute album Fire & Rain.
* Bobby Darin on his album Live! At the Desert Inn.
* Country music singer Skeeter Davis on her album Love Takes A Lot Of My Time.
* John Denver on his album Poems, Prayers, and Promises.
* Sheena Easton on her album The Lover in Me.
* Jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on his eponymous album Maynard Ferguson.
* Reggae artists The Gaylads on their album Fire and Rain.
* Folk singer Richie Havens on his album The Great Blind Degree.
* Marcia Hines on her 2001 alburm Diva.
* The Isley Brothers on their album Givin' It Back.
* Jazz singer Al Jarreau on his album Glow.
* Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett on his album Restoration Ruin.
* Ex-Monkee Davy Jones on his album Just for the Record, Vol. 2.
* Country and western singer Sammy Kershaw on his album Coverin' the Hits.
* Progressive folk rockers McKendree Spring on their second album Second Thought.
* Jazz flautist Hubert Laws on his album Afro-Classic.
* Punk music band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their album Have a Ball.
* Nana Mouskouri on her album Nana's Book of Songs.
* Anne Murray on her album Snowbird.
* Country and western singer Willie Nelson on his album Willie Nelson & Family.
* Tony Orlando on his album The Casablanca Years.
* Saxophonist Boots Randolph on his album Boots with Brass.
* Soul, jazz and blues singer Lou Rawls on his album A Man of Value.
* Cliff Richard on his album Help It Along.
* Johnny Rivers on his album Home Grown.
* Country and western singer Sammi Smith on her album Lonesome.
* Country and western singer Billie Jo Spears on the compilation album Country Ladies and Gentlemen.
* R. Dean Taylor on his album I Think, Therefore I Am.
* Folk singer Linda Thompson on her album Give Me a Sad Song.
* Jazz guitarist Phil Upchurch on his album Darkness, Darkness.
* Jazz trumpeter Frankie V on his album Ocean of Dreams.
* Progressive rock keyboard player Rick Wakeman on his album Piano Vibrations.
* Roger Whittaker on his album Fire and Rain.
* Pop singer Andy Williams on his album Love Story.
* Rhythm and blues and soul singer Bobby Womack on his album Communication.
* Jazz singer Rigmor Gustafsson on her album I Will Wait for You.
* Pop singer Dido on the album "Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project".
* Pop singer Jonatha Brooke on the album Back in the circus.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment