Blast From The Past – Beat Surrender

 

 

“Beat Surrender” was The Jam‘s final single released on 26 November 1982.

It became the band’s fourth #1 UK single for two weeks in December 1982. The 7″ was backed by the B-side “Shopping”.

A double 7″ ( as per sleeve above) and 12″ single version was available with additional studio cover versions of The Chi-Lites‘ “Stoned Out Of My Mind”, Curtis Mayfield‘s classic “Move On Up”, and Edwin Starr‘s “War”.

The song was a turning point for Paul Weller as he left behind his initial mod influences of The Who and Small Faces to adopt the more recognised influences of the modernists Soul and Jazz and as such hinted at the “style” to come with his  next band, The Style Council.

The decision for the Jam’s final single was between “Beat Surrender” and “A Solid Bond In Your Heart”, later a Style Council single in 1983. The Jam’s version of “A Solid Bond In Your Heart” was not released until 1992 on the Extras album, although Rick Buckler, the Jam’s drummer, claimed that the Style Council had pinched his original drum track recording.

“Beat Surrender” was previewed live on the first ever episode on The Tube, a live music show broadcast on Channel 4, on 5 November 1982.

The recording featured future Respond Records artist Tracie who featured in an earlier post click HERE

Come on boy, come on girl
Succumb to the beat surrender

All the things that I care about (are packed into one punch)
All the things that I’m not sure about (are sorted out at once)

And as it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end
That bullshit is bullshit, it just goes by different names

All the things that I shout about (but never act upon)
All the courage and the dreams that I have
(but seem to wait so long)
My doubt is cast aside, watch phonies run to hide
The dignified don’t even enter in the game

And if you feel there’s no passion
No quality sensation
Seize the young determination
Show the fakers you ain’t foolin’
You’ll see me come runnin’
To the sound of your strummin’
Fill my heart with joy and gladness
I’ve lived too long in shadows of sadness

 

Friday Fun – Toy Division

“Happy Days Toy Town” – The Small Faces

Life is just a bowl of All-Bran
You wake up every morning and it’s there
So live as only you can
It’s all about enjoy it ‘cos ever since you saw it
There aint no one can take it away.

So life is just a bowl of All-Bran – very true!
What you say has made it very clear
To be sure I’ll live as best as I can
But how can I remember to keep it all together
When half the moon is taken away?

Well, I’ve got the very thing
If you can laugh and sing
Give me those happy days toytown newspaper smiles
Clap twice, lean back, twist for a while
When you’re untogether and feeling out of tune
Sing this special song with me, don’t worry ’bout the moon
Looks after itself

[Steve:] Can I have a go?
[Ron:] Yes
[Steve:] Yeah?
[Ron:] Sing now:

Give me those happy days toytown newspaper smile
Clap twice, lean back, twist for a while
Well now you’ve got the hang of it
There’s nothing you can’t do with it
If you’re very tuned to it you can’t go wrong.

All together!

Give me those happy days toytown newspaper smile
Clap twice, lean back, twist for a while
Well now we’ve got the hang of it
There’s nothing we can’t do with it
And now we’re very into it we can’t go wrong!

[Stanley Unwin's nonsense here]

Give me those happy days toytown newspaper smile
Clap twice, lean back, twist for a while
Well now we’ve got the hang of it
There’s nothing we can’t do with it
And now we’re very into it we can’t go wrong!

// //

To buy the music of The Small Faces click HERE

P.P. Arnold

P. P. Arnold (born Patricia Ann Cole, 3 October 1946, Los Angeles, California), is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.

After several years touring the United States with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, she came to England in 1966 when the Revue toured there in support of The Rolling Stones. Impressed by her powerful and soulful voice, Mick Jagger convinced Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham to sign Arnold to a recording contract with his newly founded Immediate Records record label. Arnold quit the Turner band to remain in London and establish a solo career.

She enjoyed several major British hits on Immediate, including songs written for her by Paul Korda, who wrote “The Time Has Come.”

She recorded songs written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane from labelmates The Small Faces, who also backed her on several recordings including this track written by Marriot/Lane.

Arnold also provided backing vocals on the group’s hit “Tin Soldier” as well as touring with them during 1968.

Her first backing band, The Blue Jays, had been inherited from American soul singer Ronnie Jones. This was followed by The Nice, led by Keith Emerson on organ who had just quit from The VIP’s – later to be known as Spooky Tooth – on organ and piano, David O’List on guitar, Lee Jackson on bass and Ian Hague on drums. During this period Pat toured alongside Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Kinks, Blind Faith, David Bowie and others, and she scored several hits including a cover version of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” and “Angel of the Morning“.

After the collapse of Immediate in the late 1960s, Arnold signed a production contract with the Robert Stigwood Organisation and released two singles on the Polydor label, produced by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees, but a planned album with Gibb was never completed, though she had prevously recorded this my favourite Bee Gees song.

In 1970 she moved to the musical stage, appearing alongside P.J. Proby in the rock musical Catch My Soul. She then formed a new backing band that included the future members of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, plus Steve Howe, who would soon join Yes. During this period she contributed session musician backing vocals to many notable UK sessions (including the Nick Drake song “Poor Boy”) and she toured with Eric Clapton, who also produced a number of unreleased sessions with her.

During these sessions she met the American bassist Fuzzy Samuels of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and they subsequently married and had a son. In 1974 she sang on the Freddie King album Burglar and feeling out of place in the rapidly changing British music scene of the mid 1970s, Arnold and Samuels returned to her hometown of Los Angeles.

While living there, Arnold’s marriage to Samuels ended and just two weeks after the split, her daughter Debbie was killed in a car accident. After her daughter’s death Arnold withdrew from public life for some time, not re-emerging until 1978. At this time she was reunited with Barry Gibb, who wanted to complete the never-finished solo album for her. Again this did not materialise, but Arnold was eventually teamed up with Barry’s youngest brother Andy Gibb for a duet recording of the Carole King song “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. Arnold subsequently formed a new band, Inner Circle, but this was not successful.

In 1981 she moved to Hollywood, where she won minor roles in popular TV series including St. Elsewhere and Knots Landing. She returned to England in 1982, wishing to raise her younger son there. She soon began working with leading British reggae band Steel Pulse and returned to the charts in both the UK and Australia thanks to her unmistakable vocal contributions on the hit 1983 cover version of the Staple Singers “Respect Yourself”, recorded with British electro-pop group Kane Gang, which reached #21 in Britian and #19 in Australia.

Without a record contract and unable to play live, Arnold survived by doing sessions for advertising jingles. This eventually led to a successful collaboration with The Beatmasters on the retro-styled hip house/disco hit “Burn It Up”, which reached #14 in Britain in October ’88 and became her third hit to spend 10 weeks or more on the UK singles chart.

Little over a year later she worked with The KLF on the tracks “3 a.m. Eternal” and “Last Train to Trancentral” and Altern-8 on “Evapor 8″ (credited as Altern-8, guest vocal P.P. Arnold).

She appeared on Roger Waters‘ album, Amused to Death, in 1992, providing vocals on the song “Perfect Sense”.

Growing dissatisfied with her session singer role, she returned to the musical stage with work in a theatre workshop project.

In 1994 she joined the cast of the award-winning musical Once On This Island as Erzulie, beautiful Goddess of Love. While the production was playing in Birmingham she met leading UK band Ocean Colour Scene, one of the new wave of latter-day mod groups who (like their mentor Paul Weller), idolised The Small Faces.

Her friendship with OCS led to her singing the lead vocal, backed by Primal Scream, on a cover of The Small Faces’ “Understanding”, which was included on a successful Small Faces tribute album. She also worked extensively with Ocean Colour Scene on their 1997 album Marchin’ Already. This was followed by numerous TV appearances including Later with Jools Holland and touring with Ocean Colour Scene in 1997-98.

This success led to plans for her to record her first solo album in decades, but once again it was not completed. Deciding to put together a new band to promote her material, Arnold joined forces with Chaz Jankel, former pianist with Ian Dury and The Blockheads. This was followed by an invitation to tour widely with Roger Waters. She was a backup vocalist on his 1999–2000 tour In the Flesh, (also on the CD and DVD of the same name) as well as the 2006–2008 tour, Dark Side of the Moon Live.

In mid 2007 she released her first recorded work for several years, Five In The Afternoon. The album is a duet with the Blow Monkeys frontman Dr. Robert and has been met with critical acclaim, as have their live performances at several venues.

To buy the music of P.P. Arnold click HERE

Friday Fun

Seen It, Done It, Bought The T-Shirt!!

“Mad John” – The Small Faces

 

To buy the music of The Small Faces click HERE

Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake was a successful concept album by the British rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968 the LP became a number one hit in the UK Album Charts on 29 June where it remained for a total of six weeks.

The A-side is a mix of early heavy rock with “Song of a Baker”; psychedelic cockney knees-up songs “Lazy Sunday” and “Rene”; and the soul influenced ballad “Afterglow (Of Your Love)“.

The B-side is based on an original fairy tale about a boy called Happiness Stan, narrated in his unique ‘Unwinese’ gobbledegook by Stanley Unwin, who picked up modern slang from the band and incorporated it into the surreal narrative.

The album was featured in the book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”

The title and the design of the distinctive packaging was a parody of Ogdens’ Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tobacco which was produced in Liverpool from 1899

P. P. Arnold & Rod Stewart

I definitely seem to be in an early Rod Stewart groove so here is a duet he recorded with the great P. P. Arnold the Goffin/King song was produced by Mick Jagger and featured amongst others Keith Emerson then of The Nice.

“Come Home Baby” – P.P. Arnold & Rod Stewart

I know just how bad Ive hurt you
Oh yeah
Make it all up to you some way
What can I do just to prove I love you ?
Should I beg on my knees baby please come home ?

Come home baby
Baby just come on home
Come home baby
I need your love so bad
Come home baby
Yes I do
Come home baby

Ill be good to you, I promise
Ill do anything that you say
I want your kiss, I cant go on like this
Treat me bad if you must, baby just come home

Come home baby
Baby baby baby
Come home baby
I need your love so bad
Come home baby
Baby come on home
Baby come on home
Baby baby baby come home

What can I do just to prove I love you ?
Should I beg on my knees baby please come home ?

Come home baby
Baby just come on home
Come home baby
Any old time you wanna
Come home baby
Ill be right here, you know that, you know that
Come home baby
Come home
Come home baby
Need you right here
Come home baby
Baby come home
Come home baby
Please please come home
Come home baby
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

 

Pat Arnold (born Patricia Ann Cole, 3 October 1946, Los Angeles, California), professionally known as P.P. Arnold, is an American born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.

After several years touring the United States with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, she came to England in 1966 when the Revue toured there in support of The Rolling Stones. Impressed by her powerful and soulful voice, Mick Jagger convinced Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham to sign Arnold to a recording contract with his newly founded Immediate Records record label. Arnold quit the Turner band to remain in London and establish a solo career.

She enjoyed several major British hits on Immediate, including songs written for her by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lanefrom labelmates The Small Faces, who also backed her on several recordings. Arnold also provided backing vocals on the group’s hit “Tin Soldier as well as touring with them during 1968.

Her first backing band, The Blue Jays, had been inherited from American soul singer Ronnie Jones. This was followed by The Nice, led by Keith Emerson. During this period Pat toured alongside Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Kinks, Blind Faith, David Bowie and others, and she scored several hits including a cover version of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” and “Angel of the Morning“, plus the Marriott-Lane song “(If You Think You’re) Groovy”.

After the collapse of Immediate in the late 1960s, Arnold signed a production contract with the Robert Stigwood Organisation and released two singles on the Polydor Records label, produced by Barry Gibbof The Bee Gees, but a planned album with Gibb was never completed.

Since then she has continued to record and appear as a session singer, however, she is now perhaps best known as a touring backing singer having worked with numerous big names such as Eric Clapton and Roger Waters.

A varied career on the musical stage should not be ignored.

For more information click HERE

To buy the music of P.P. Arnold click HERE

Humble Pie…………..Eat It

I have just finished reading the Steve Marriott biography “All Too Beautiful” written by the brilliant Paulo Hewitt and John Hellier.

It was therefore no surprise that I picked up one of my favourite albums from the past at Sunday’s Record fair “Eat It”

Humble Pie were one of my early seventies introduction to “rock music” via their legendary album “Performance – Rockin’ The Fillmore”

Despite Humble Pie’s success in the US as a rock act, both with and without Peter Frampton as a guitarist, Marriott never strayed far from his R&B roots which acted as such an influence for him and the rest of the Small Faces.

The album title Eat It means ‘dig it’. Each side of this double album is different: Side 1 features Steve Marriott penned rock and roll; Side 2 has classic R&B covers; Side 3 is a collection of acoustic Steve Marriott songs; finally Side 4 features Humble Pie live in concert.

This album showcases the dynamic diversity and talent of Steve Marriott’s gritty bluesy vocals with some funky soul mixed in throughout along with straight ahead blistering rockers. The band is right on and they deliver an extremely energetic powerhouse combination on this double album that overall ranks with their best along with Smokin’ and Performance Rockin’ The Fillmore.

Eat It was the band’s seventh official album release and their fifth for A&M Records. [This was also their 3rd double LP (2-record set) within 18 months, the other 2 being 1972's Performance Rockin' The Fillmore and the late 1972 A&M compilation - Lost & Found.]

Steve Marriott produced this album and it was the first album recorded in Marriott’s newly-built home recording studio he titled Clear Sounds, in a converted barn at Beehive Cottage, Moreton, Essex.

Ray Charles was his all time favourite with “Drown In My Own Tears being played at his funeral after his life was cut short by an accidental fire in his home in 1991.

“Eat It” featured Humble Pie’s version of Ray Charles’ “I Believe To My Soul”

“I Believe To My Soul” – Humble Pie

One of these days and it won’t be long,
You’re gonna look for me and I’ll be gone
‘Cause I believe (I believe, yes I believe)
I say I believe right now (I believe, yes I believe)
Well I believe to my soul now,
Tryin’ to make a fool of me (I believe it, I believe it)

Well you’re goin’ ’round here with your head so hard,
I think I’m gonna have to use my rod
‘Cause I believe (I believe, yes I believe)
I say I believe right now (I believe, yes I believe)
Well I believe to my soul now
Tryin’ to make a fool of me (I believe it, I believe it)

Last night you were dreaming and I heard you say
“Oh, Johnny” when you know my name is Ray
That’s why I believe right now (I believe, yes I believe)
I say I believe right now (I believe, yes I believe)
Whoa I believe to my soul now
Tryin’ to make a fool of me (I believe it)

Here is a highlight from the Fillmore the brilliant “I Don’t Need No Doctor”

Finally you can find this cover of “Drown In My Own Tears” on the compilation “Natural Born Bugie – The Immediate Anthology”

“Drown In My Own Tears” – Humble Pie

To buy the music of Humble Pie click HERE

Anne Nightingale

Anne Nightingale

“Lazy Sunday” by The Small Faces  came on during a Shuffle play on the iPod and I was immediately transported back to the late 70′s when the song was used as the theme tune to Anne Nightingale’s Sunday afternoon Radio One show which was stable listening for me during enforced studying.

Anne at the time was a big fan of The Who and you could always expect a good mix of 70′s rock and new wave, next to listening to John Peel via a single earpice from a small transistor radio under the bed clothes this show was one of the few I listened to on a regular basis.

Anne is now “Annie” and is a big fan of house/dance music and has also written a good autobiography.

Annie (formerly known as Anne) Nightingale MBE is a British radio broadcaster. She was the first female presenter on BBC Radio 1 and since the death of John Peel in October 2004 has been its longest-serving presenter. Her career at the station is more than twenty years longer than that of her nearest competitor in the role, Pete Tong. This is testimony to her rare ability to move with the times and reinvent herself musically. She was known professionally as “Anne” until the early 1990s when she adopted the name “Annie”.

Nightingale was born in London in 1942.^[2] After attending Lady Eleanor Holles School, Hampton, Middlesex and the Polytechic of Central London School of Journalism, she began her career as a journalist in Brighton. Nightingale’s Radio 1 career began in 1970 with a Sunday evening show. She then hosted the singles review show “What’s New” in the early 1970s before graduating to a late-night progressive rock shows then simulcast on the Radio 2 FM frequency. During the later part of the 1970s she presented a Sunday afternoon request show, and by 1980 was presenting a Friday night show and the non-music-based Radio 1 Mailbag. In 1978, Nightingale began presenting the The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2; during her tenure, the show moved away from its progressive rock bias and embraced more modern, and popular, styles such as punk rock and new wave.

In the late 1970s her best known show – the Sunday request show – began its run. It was originally broadcast on Sunday afternoons, before moving to a slot immediately after the Top 40 in 1982. The show was one of the first on British radio to regularly play music from CDs. A gimmick was to allow the intro of the first song in the show to play uninterrupted before saying “Hi” in the very last second before the vocals started.

In 1994 Nightingale began her reinvention by ending the request show and moving to a weekend overnight dance music show, initially called “The Chill Out Zone”. She can still be heard in the early hours of Saturday mornings on BBC Radio 1. On her current show she spins breaks, often featuring major breaks DJs such as Plump DJs, Freestylers, Noisia and Meat Katie. Annie also plays live regularly at clubs and festivals around the UK and Europe.

Annie has travelled all over the world to DJ and make musical documentaries including to Russia, Romania, Iraq, Chile, The Philippines and Cuba. However, while in Havana in 1996, she was attacked in a mugging causing multiple injuries and an air-lift back to a London hospital. Since that incident she has worn the distinctive shades which are now part of her image.

She was awarded her MBE in 2002 for services to radio broadcasting. In the same year she was award the Caner Of The Year Award by Muzik Magazine, the award representing an accolade for Annie’s intensive coverage of the scene. In 2004 she was the first female DJ from Radio 1 to be inducted into the Radio Academy Hall Of Fame.

Nightingale has published two autobiographical books: Chase The Fade (1981) ISBN 0713711671 and Wicked Speed (1999) ISBN 0283061979. She has also compiled two Albums Annie On One (1996, Heavenly Recordings) and her own installment of the Breaks DJ mix series Y4K (2007, Distinctive Records).

On 30 September 2007, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 1 Annie co-hosted a special return of the Request Show with Annie Mac, featuring contributions from musicians such as Paul McCartney and Chemical Ed, excerpts from the original show and Annie’s recollections of regular contributors such as “Night Owl of Croydon”. The show featured many classic tracks which had been requested over the years and closed with one of Annie’s favourites, Cristina‘s version of “Is That All There Is?“.

“Lazy Sunday” – The Small Faces [MP3)

The great Ronnie Lane penned a track called “Annie” for the album Rough Mix which he made with Pete Townshend and whilst not about this Annie in particular it gives me a good excuse to post a Ronnie Lane track.

 ”Annie” – Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane [MP3]

This is a 1977 album by Pete Townshend of the Who and the late Ronnie Lane of the Faces. It’s a rarity in that most of it, while unquestionably rock music, is also gentle. Of its eleven songs, eight or nine are extremely beautiful, the singing is tuneful and heartfelt, the playing (lots of stars sitting in) is great, even the lyrics will grab you. (“5✭♫” series introduction here; with an explanation of why the title may look broken.)

The Context · Pete Townshend doesn’t need any further introduction; obviously he’s one of the giants of twentieth-century music (and this would be a piece of evidence I’d use to support that claim). Ronnie Lane, though, was not seen one of the big Faces forces; his artful songwriting and appealing singing on this were a surprise to me when I first ran across it. Lane was diagnosed with MS during the making of this recording; he lived for another twenty years. ¶

The Package · It looked great in the LP format and doesn’t work on CD. Pete and Ronnie have faces like two comfy old shoes, which is truth in advertising because that’s how their voices sound too. The back of the LP was covered with pictures of a zillion little tiny cards, the kind that must have come in packages of cereal or smokes or gum or whatever. ¶

The Music · The arrangements are mostly acoustic, with a sprinkling of electric guitar here and there; the band is mixed well back, leaving lots of space for the voices. Those voices: middle-aged tarnished tenors, neither conventionally beautiful, but with so much heart, and Ronnie exhibits some surprising flexibility and verve. Of the eleven songs, five are by Townshend, two by Lane, two more by Lane-and-friends, one by Townshend and Lane, and then there’s the traditional Till the Rivers All Run Dry. ¶

They mix up the vocals, singing their own songs, harmonizing, and on Townshend’s luminous Heart To Hang Onto, trading off on verse and chorus.

The liner notes say “Ron and Pete play various Acoustic & Electric guitars, mandolins & bass guitars, banjos, ukeleles & very involved mind games.” The band includes Eric Clapton, Rabbit Bundrick, and Henry Spinetti, with guest spots from Charlie Watts, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell, Gallagher & Lyle, Ian Stewart, and John Entwistle.

As for modern day radio there is very little I listen to beyond the background sound of Talk Sport, however if I am around a radio in the afternoon I really enjoy The Tom Morton Show on Radio Scotland, Tom is also a bit of a blogger and you can link here to Tom Morton’s Beatcroft

Life Is A Bowl Of All-Bran

Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane are both musical geniuses, Kenney Jones I’m afraid could not replace Keith Moon and Ian McLagen married Keith’s wife Kim and they were very happy until he tragically lost her in a car crash a year or so, “Mac” continues to carry the torch

Roots of a Song – Whole Lotta Love

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” was featured on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II.

To most non rock fans it will be best remembered as the theme music to Top of the Pops as performed by CCS who reaced No13 in the charts with their cover in 1970.

In 1962, Muddy Waters recorded “You Need Love” by peer Willie Dixon. In 1966 British soul band The Small Faces recorded the song as “You Need Loving” for their début Decca LP. Some of the lyrics of Led Zeppelin’s version were borrowed from the Willie Dixon song, a favorite of Plant’s. Plant’s phrasing is particularly similar to that of Steve Marriott‘s in the Small Faces’ version.

“You Need Love” – Muddy Waters [MP3]

“You Need Loving” – The Small Faces [MP3]

Similarities with “You Need Love” (and “Bring It On Home“) would lead to a lawsuit settled out of court in favour of Dixon in 1985.^[1] Strangely, The Small Faces were never sued by Dixon, even though “You Need Loving” still only credits Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott.

Robert Plant, a huge fan of blues and soul singers, regularly quoted other songs, especially live. The practice of borrowing others’ lyrics has long been integral to the blues style. To quote Robert Plant:

“

Page’s riff was Page’s riff. It was there before anything else. I just thought, ‘well, what am I going to sing?’ That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for. At the time, there was a lot of conversation about what to do. It was decided that it was so far away in time (it was in fact 7 years) and influence that…well, you only get caught when you’re successful. That’s the game.[2]

 

Here then is “Whole Lotta Love”