Tuesday Tunes 114: And On The Third Day…

Posted on by

As I was mulling over whether I should come up with a new theme for this week, I recalled that I still had quite a few day songs I wanted to play for you. So, to save myself any more brainache, I decided to go for a third time round. So here is another set of day songs for you – probably the last for now, but never say never….

I began last week with one of the five Beatles songs that I had thought of, and that seems as good a place as any to begin this week, with another of them. And for those of you expecting Day Tripper, sorry:

Eight Days A Week was released in the UK in December 1964 on the album Beatles For Sale. It was a US single in February 1965, reaching #1, as it also did in Canada, but it was never released as a single here in the UK. But we had the album to enjoy, and as usual that also got to #1. In the US it featured on the album Beatles VI, which of course was their seventh album over there (they can’t count!), and this was also a #1. Would you have expected anything else? This video is a relatively recent issue, having been published in June 2018 and has over 30m views, so for those of you who think I’m living in the past I’m clearly not alone in that!

As Monty Python would say, and now for something completely different. I’ve played several Steve Earle songs over the years, and although I could only find an audio only version of this I didn’t want to leave it out. This is especially for all of you who don’t like bluegrass music:

How could you not like a song with the line “the only promise that I didn’t break was to love you until the day I die?” This song was, as the video shows, a track on Steve’s album Transcendental Blues, which came out in June 2000. I bought the album as soon as it was released, and played it to death! It is a fantastic album, full of great tracks, including the original and by far the best version of his song Galway Girl, later covered (badly) by Mundy and not to be confused with the (in my view) inferior song of the same title by that Sheeran bloke. The album peaked at #5 in the US Country chart and got to #66 in the mainstream listings. It actually did better here in the UK, where it got to #32. I loved it then and still do, and “always remember, friends, there’s no room in vulgarity for bluegrass.”

Last week I closed with a pair of songs from John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen, two of those I think of as my ‘usual suspects.’ This week, I’m playing you a collaboration between them, which is absolutely fabulous (to coin a phrase):

Wasted Days is a track on Strictly A One-Eyed Jack, John Mellencamp’s most recent album – his twenty fourth – which came out in January of this year, and has to date managed to get to #196 in the US, though it has made #5 in their Folk albums chart and #30 in the Rock albums listing. It hasn’t made the UK chart though, perhaps rather bizarrely, it has got to #16 in Scotland. Go figure! The song is written from the perspective of an older man looking ahead, wondering how much life he has left, and urging the listener not to waste any of their days. It is a simple message, and will I am sure resonate with many. It is a beautiful song, and is their first ever time working together: they are often compared, and for someone like me who has long been a fan of them both this really is a dream come true. I hope they do more together, as I can’t watch this without a tear in my eye.

You know how sometimes we sing alternate versions of song lyrics? This next one was one of those:

Altogether now: “Those were the days my friend, The Beatles helped no end.” I’m including this one as I think it is a good counter to the previous one, and because I’ve always liked it. Mary Hopkin was one of the first to be signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records label and this, her debut single for them, was produced by Paul McCartney, as was her first album Post Card. Those Were The Days was released in August 1968 and topped the charts in the UK and across Europe. It also reached #2 for three weeks in the US, held off the top spot by Hey Jude, from some band or other. The song is actually a rewriting of a Russian song, and there are several other variants in existence. Mary had a beautiful, crystal clear voice, which was enormously attractive. I bought her debut album, which is a total delight, though we were short changed here: the US version included this song but ours didn’t, so we had to buy it separately. The album reached #3 in the UK and #28 in the US.

One of my favourite singer-songwriters hasn’t appeared here perhaps as much as he should have, so I’m redressing the balance a little with this:

Days Gone Down was the opening track on Gerry Rafferty’s third album, Night Owl, which was released in June 1979 and peaked at #9 in the UK and #29 in the US. This was released as a single in the US and reached #17 there. No chart listing is shown for it here, and I’m wondering if it wasn’t released here? Relying on my memory of 43 years ago isn’t really an option, though. It is typical of his eloquent songwriting style, and he never made a bad album. The song is a reflective piece, looking back over a love affair, and I think it is rather lovely in the hope it shares for the couple’s future. Gerry had his struggles, suffering regular bouts of alcoholism which eventually took his life – from multiple organ failure – in January 2011, at the age of just 63. He has left us a wonderful musical legacy, though.

As you may recall, I was a big fan of The Monkees back in my teens, when their tv show was the highlight of Saturday teatime viewing. They have a couple of day songs, one of which is pretty obvious, though its title includes ‘Daydream’ rather than day. So I’m going for the less obvious one, because I like it and because this video, which is typical of their tv show, is a total hoot:

This Just Doesn’t Seem To Be My Day was a track on the band’s eponymous debut album, which was released in October 1966. In those early days their record company exercised strict control over them, and didn’t allow them to perform as a band. Lead vocal on this was sung by Davy Jones and he was the only band member to feature on the recording. This also happened to most of the other tracks on the album, too, where one of the band took lead vocal and the others were reduced, at best, to backing vocal duties. This doesn’t seem to have damaged its chart chances, though: it got to #1 in the UK and spent thirteen weeks at the top of the US albums chart. It was only deposed from there by their second album, More Of The Monkees, when that came out in January 1967. For a couple of years they were hugely successful: they sold truck loads of records on the back of the tv show, which had a two season run between September 1966 and March 1968, with a total of 58 episodes. My sister and I persuaded our parents to let us watch it, and they came to enjoy it too: it was good slapstick humour, which had wide appeal. Happy days!

I said earlier that I wouldn’t be playing Day Tripper (as I don’t often include more than one song by the same band in one of these posts). It seems I lied:

You probably don’t need me to give you much detail on this, but for the record anyway: Day Tripper was released in December 1965 as a double A-side single with We Can Work It Out (which is still one of my favourite Beatles songs). It was #1 in the UK and several other countries, but in those days the US gave chart placings to both sides of the single, and whilst We Can Work It Out got to #1 over there this song only made it to #5. I’ve never really understood why they did that – it was the same piece of vinyl being purchased whichever song the customer was asking for! The tracks were recorded as part of the sessions for the Rubber Soul album, which was released at the same time, but neither was included on the album which, of course, was #1 in the US, the UK and loads of other countries. As was also the habit in those days the US record company messed around with it and only included twelve tracks, whereas the rest of the world got fourteen. Why? Just, why?

I’m closing today with a song whose title is a good summation of where I have got to with the day theme. It is a beautiful song by a tragic singer who was lost to us at a ridiculously early age, and is typical of his classy songwriting:

Nick Drake’s Day Is Done is, I think, the perfect way to leave this mini series. Utterly beautiful, and such simple but intensely meaningful lyrics, which have an especially haunting quality when you consider his history. Nick lived a troubled life: he suffered from chronic stage fright, which prevented him from playing live shows, and died in November 1974 at the age of just 26, from an overdose of prescribed antidepressants. Whether this was suicide or a tragic accident has never been resolved. He made just three albums, all of which are lovely. This was a track on his debut, Five Leaves Left, released in July 1969. None of his albums made the charts but he has since developed a very loyal following, which has sustained a total of seven compilation albums of his music. One of those, Made To Love Magic, which was released in May 2004, did make #27 in the UK albums chart and #59 in Ireland, though. This song has only appeared on one of those compilations: the last one, Family Tree, released in July 2007.

That’s it for now, and the end of this run of day songs. Often with these posts I couldn’t choose a favourite but one of this week’s selection is a clear winner for me. I wonder if you can guess which one? And while you’re sharing your guess with me, do tell me if you had one or more favourites among these. I’ll be back next Tuesday with a new theme, if I can think of one. Maybe I should take something from the current battle to be leader of the Conservatives and our new Prime Minister? Mind you, that does rather put me in mind of a US senator, whose name I can’t recall, who once remarked of a Presidential race “if God had meant us to have an election He would have given us a candidate.” Not the most inspiring of potential subjects, perhaps, but I’ll be here nevertheless and hope to see you again then. And don’t forget my new regular Sunday date as well. Have a great week and take good care 😊

38 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 114: And On The Third Day…”

  1. Pingback: Hot Days In July | Take It Easy

  2. I’m back and catching up…my favourites today as you asked are Gerry Rafferty and Nick Drake…I have never been a Mary Hopkins fan or a great Beatles fan although I like some of their tracks but Bluegrass is growing on me and I quite liked that one …I hope your having a good weekend, Clive 🙂 x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Ahhhh … I do enjoy the ‘day’ songs! Now, “Eight Days a Week” was never my favourite Beatles’ tune, but I find I liked it better tonight than I did back in my youth … something to say for maturing tastes, eh? But, I must take umbrage when you say we ‘can’t count’ over on this side of the pond. I mean … the song title itself proves that you guys can’t count, for there are only 168 hours, or 7 days at 24 hours per day in a week!

    You can keep “Until I Die” – too much like Bluegrass 🤢

    I hadn’t heard “Wasted Days” before, but I liked it, and it is relevant at this stage in my life. So thank you for that one … hopefully it moves up from #196 here.

    I definitely remember “Those Were the Days”, but somehow I had in mind a different version … but then, perhaps my memory is playing tricks, as it seems to enjoy doing these days!

    “Days Gone Down” was new to me … it was okay, but didn’t knock my socks off.

    LOVED the Monkees video! I hadn’t heard the song before, but no matter – the video gave me numerous much-needed laughs!

    “Day Tripper” … Wow … how long since I’ve heard that one! Again, not my favourite of theirs, but I definitely enjoyed hearing it tonight!

    And lastly, “Day is Done” was another new one for me, but it … I dunno … it grabbed me and I listened a second time. Perhaps it was the story of Nick Drake’s life and death that made the song reach out to me. Anyway, thank you … I liked this one, even though it made me feel a bit melancholy.

    I cannot guess your fave, but I’ll take a stab in the dark … I think “Eight Days A Week”. Oops … I just now read David’s comment and your response, so I know I am wrong, but I won’t cheat and change my answer!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Good to know you enjoyed that one. The 8 days are figurative, but how do you explain ‘Beatles VI’ being their seventh album? Not that it mattered here because it wasn’t released in that format in the UK.

      I knew you’d love the Steve Earle one 🤣

      Wasted Days is fantastic, and relevant to many of us who have followed both their careers.

      It’s funny you say that about Those Were The Days as that struck me too – I think it was a live tv performance with a slightly different arrangement.

      Days Gone Down is part of a great body of work by a singer-songwriter everybody knows for just one song!

      I still laugh when I see those Monkees videos, 55 years since they were first aired. I loved that show!

      Day Tripper had to go in, as a couple of people had mentioned it in previous weeks. Maybe not their best, but more upbeat than A Day In The Life!

      Sorry for the melancholy but I really wanted that last one to go in. So many people have never heard of him and he wrote such delicate, beautiful songs.

      And thanks for your honesty on the favourite 🤣

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Heck, most anything can make me melancholy at nearly 3:00 a.m., and I really did enjoy the music. And as for the honesty about the favourite … I was probably just too tired to change what I had already written! 🤣

        Liked by 1 person

      • I’m pleased you enjoyed it. He’s virtually unknown outside this country but deserves better.

        I don’t think I’d be capable of writing much at 3am either!

        Liked by 1 person

  6. I had never heard Day is Done before. Beautiful song! Sorry to read about the singer’s tragic passing. My other favorites were both Beatles’ tracks and the Gerry Rafferty song. I had heard this song before, but over here, he is most famous for Baker St. and Right Down the Line.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • It is, and it’s typical of his work. Try ‘Northern Sky’ as you liked this one. I think his passing is really what helped create the legend around him as he sold very few records in his lifetime.

      I had you figured for the Springsteen/Mellencamp one but it’s good to know you enjoyed others. Same here for Gerry Rafferty on ‘Baker Street,’ and also for ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ when he was in the band Stealer’s Wheel.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Yes, I would have thought the same thing about myself. 🤣 I love most of Mellencamp/Cougar’s songs, and the same is true for Springsteen. It wasn’t a terrible song, but I kept thinking, “Hmm, their voices don’t go together like I thought they would.” I’ll check out Northern Sky.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Always good to keep people on their toes, Pete! Maybe you need to hear this one a few more times: I think they go well together and I love the song.

        Hope you like the Nick Drake song, one of my all time favourites.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Yay for the Beatles! 🙂
    That last song by Nick was beautiful, hadn’t heard him before. What a sad story, 26 is wayyy too young.
    One day song that comes to my mind is called “Beautiful day” by an Irish singer. I need to find our CD to remember his name. LOL! He was new to us but we were able to see him perform a few years back and really enjoyed his music.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Can’t go wrong with the Fab Four, can you! Nick Drake still attracts a loyal following here, and has many beautiful songs in his three album repertoire. If you enjoyed that one I recommend Northern Sky – it’s wonderful.

      The only Irish singer I know of with a Beautiful Day song is Bono but I guess that isn’t who you meant!

      Like

      Reply

      • I did, but I wasn’t expecting to! It was a concert as part of a week celebrating the 50th anniversary of Island Records. The show was actually Cat Stevens but towards the end of the set by support act Baaba Maal he sang Bob Marley’s One Love, which morphed into U2’s One. A second voice started singing too, and Bono casually strolled onto the stage to sing with him. The rest of U2 then came on and they played a four song acoustic set, Beautiful Day being one of them. A fabulous evening all round.

        Liked by 1 person

      • It sure was! I was standing with a bunch of people who worked for Island and none of them knew it was coming either. One of the best concert evenings I’ve ever had, and Cat Stevens was fantastic too.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Quite a mixture there Clive. But… only Beatles and Mary Hopkin for me. Like you, I did enjoy The Monkees back then. They did some good tunes. I found a vinyl LP in a charity shop and it went down well at a party.. of 60 + year olds. 😅

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Good choices- odd that Bruce and John hit 16 in Scotland and nowhere in the rest of the UK. Mary Hopkin never floated my boat, so to speak, but my older bro loved her ‘ Temma Harbour’ for some reason. Even my stuck-in-the-Fifties tone deaf musically Dad wound up liking this song.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you. That is weird, isn’t it. The rest of us don’t usually associate Scotland with good musical taste: after all, they did inflict The Proclaimers on us! I really liked early Mary Hopkin records, though I preferred Goodbye to this one. Her first album contains several Donovan covers and they’re really lovely.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I liked Donovan, so innocent back early on, before ‘electrical bananas.’ So thanks, I’ll check out her covers. I find one of the songs I sing, gurgle gargle or hum in the shower, when I’m of an empty mind, ‘is Colours.’ Strange how some songs stick.
        Sorry, musing, rambling, much as when I’m in the shower!

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Great eclectic choice here Clive. I;d venture to say Springsteen would be your fave record from this lot. He’s a man that never set my soul in motion I’m afraid. I like Steve Earle though and John Mellencamp.
    Thanks for the soul lift my friend.
    Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks, David. Yes, the Springsteen/Mellencamp one is my favourite – a big fan of both and that is a wonderful song. I’m pleased you like Steve Earle too – the only one of this set that I’ve seen play live. I’m pleased you got a soul lift from these 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. Hard to think of John and Bruce as older men, but then again, they are around my age. They have aged well and it is such a great song. Thanks for it and all the other wonderful tunes here Hard to pick a favourite.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Bruce is 72, released his first album in 1973, John is 70 and his first was in 1976. They both have years of music under their belts. I’ve been a fan of both since their early days, and this video makes me realised I’ve aged with them. As you say, a great song and it’s a lovely video too. Glad you enjoyed them, Darlene 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Please leave a reply, I'd like to know what you think