Tuesday Tunes 190: How?

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Today marks the conclusion of my six week mini-series based on the Five Ws And H of journalism. It is the turn of the outlier – that H – to feature, and here is a set of songs with How in their title. This one was very difficult for me: having made a long list I whittled it down and there were still ten songs I could have played. So maybe I’ll revisit this at some point, as it would be a pity for me not to play them all. These are the ones that made the cut – for now.

I’ve played this first one before but as that was almost three years ago I think it worth dusting it off for another spin:

How Long was from Ace’s album Five-A-Side, which was released in 1974. The song was taken from it as a single, and peaked at #3 in the US (the album made #11 there). It’s funny how your memory can play tricks on you, though: I always remembered this as a huge hit here too, but it actually only reached #20. The lead singer is Paul Carrack, who has been in several bands since then, including Mike And The Mechanics: remember The Living Years? He sang it. He has also had a long solo career, and is still producing some fine albums. This was written by him about rumours that the band’s bass player, Terry Comer, had been talking to the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver about playing with them. Terry did rejoin to play on this, though, and stayed with the band until it folded in 1977, but for most people it has always been interpreted as a song to an about to be ex-lover!

If you’ve been with me for a while you may have noticed that I’m a huge admirer of Lewis Capaldi and his music. This is one of the reasons why:

I’ve featured Lewis in posts about mental health, and how he takes on his demons in his songwriting. This is one such example: the searing honesty of these lyrics is heartbreakingly beautiful. How I’m Feeling Now is a track on his second album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, which was released in May 2023, making #1 in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, achieving top ten placings across Europe, and peaking at #14 in the US. To me, those are pretty good ratings, given his well documented troubles causing him to cancel all of his shows that were intended to showcase the album, following his Glastonbury appearance. This song wasn’t an official single release but was issued as a promotional single ahead of the album, and made #24 in the UK charts on the strength of that alone. He has a new album scheduled for June this year, and I’m really hoping that he is able to meet that and promote it to the fullest possible extent: he is too talented for us not to hear more from him.

There were two versions I could have played for this next song: the original, and the one recorded by Bellowhead for the lovely movie About Time. And that’s even without the pathetic cover by the dreadful Ellie Goulding! Although it is an audio-only clip I’m going with the original, by The Waterboys:

How Long Will I Love You was a track on The Waterboys’ fifth album, Room To Roam, released in October 1990, getting to #5 in the UK, #17 in the European chart that Billboard used to issue, and #180 in the US itself. This track was the lead single from the album, but is only noted as making the charts in Ireland, where it got to #28, having not been released in either the UK or the US. Proving yet again that they have an unerring capacity for buying inferior records, the Ellie Goulding cover reached #3 here in 2013, though I think that may have had more to do with it being the official release for that year’s Children In Need appeal. It surely can’t have been for any artistic merit on her part! There is a lovely quote about this from Mike Scott of the Waterboys, who wrote the song: “She changed a couple of the lines. I’m not sure if she did it deliberately. I don’t think they’re as good as the original lines, but good for her. I do the same thing myself. I’ve changed Dylan’s words, so I can’t really complain if somebody changes mine.” And he had the boost to his bank account to console him, anyway.

I’ve played this one once before. That was back in 2014, in the earlier days of my blog, when my following and interaction was much smaller than now: that post garnered the amazing stats of one ‘like’ and zero comments, so I think I’m on safe ground in saying that you won’t have heard it here before. It is a beautiful song, though:

How Can We Hang On To A Dream was the closing track on Tim Hardin’s debut album, Tim Hardin 1, which was released in July 1966. Wikipedia doesnt give any details of chart success for Tim but the UK Official Charts Company lists a single of this song as being his only entry here: one week at #50 in January 1967. I’ve said it before, but there are some records which are simply too good for the mass market. He was appreciated by other musicians for his songwriting, though, and there have been several hit versions of others of his songs. This one was covered by many, including The Moody Blues, Cliff Richard, Françoise Hardy, Marianne Faithfull, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton, and The Nice. As far as I can tell, none of those were as singles, and I’m really not going to try very hard to find Cliff Richard’s version! Tim Hardin gave us nine albums of lovely folk music between 1966 and 1973, and a final posthumous one in 1981 after his death in December 1980 from an accidental heroin overdose, just when he was finalising that album. His beautiful songs live on.

I’m closing today with a song which has also been recorded by many, including one by one of my favourite singer-songwriters. But I’m not playing his cover – I’m going with the original, which I don’t think has ever been bettered:

How Sweet It Is was written by the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland guys, and was first recorded by Marvin Gaye. It was released as a single in September 1964, and got to #6 in the US and #49 in the UK. That cover I mentioned was by James Taylor, who included it on his album Gorilla in 1975 – the single got to #5 in the US but didn’t make the UK chart, though it has since appeared on several compilations and is well known to us. A more familiar version here was the one recorded by Jr Walker and the All Stars, which reached #18 in the US and #22 in the UK in 1965. I may not often venture into Motown music but I make exceptions for classics like this one!

That’s all for this week and, as I said at the outset, this leaves me pondering what to do with another set of five songs that I wanted to play you. Stick around – I’ll make my mind up soon! Until then, take care and have a good time 😊

62 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 190: How?”

  2. Pingback: That Was March | Take It Easy

  4. How do you like that! I knew three out of five songs today and I bet you can guess which ones; of course, Marvin Gaye and the marvelous “How Long” but I also knew “How Long Will I Love You” bc it’s from one of my all-time favorite movies – “About Time”. That’s one of a handful of movies I can watch more than once; it’s funny, touching, charming, and simply lovely. Of the remaining two, I preferred the Tim Hardin piece; what a beauty that is! Thanks for another excellent post today, Clive! Most enjoyable listening to these tracks today.
    Here’s one I like simply because it’s a Gershwin tune and Richie Sambora plays some mean licks. Bon Jovi does an ok job but I would have liked hearing someone like Joe Cocker doing this tribute to Gershwin. Anyway, here is “How Long Has This Been Going On”.

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  7. Great news about Louis Capaldi, one of my favorite performers from the last few years. My other favorite from today is the Tim Hardin tune which I found hauntingly beautiful.

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  8. Hi Clive. I enjoyed this last one of the series! Lewis Capaldi is indeed a great talent and a great character and I’ll give the new album a listen. It was nice to hear ‘How Can We Hang On To A Dream’ again. I do like the Françoise Hardy version and I have The Nice version on album somewhere (the piano playing is awesome – the singing less so). ‘How sweet is’ is is a classic and whilst that’s a good version, I prefer the James Taylor one.

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    • Hi Paul. I’m pleased you enjoyed it. Lewis’ new album is scheduled for a June release so you’ll just have the first two to listen to until then. I don’t know the Françoise Hardy version, but I quite like the Moody Blues and Fleetwood Mac covers. Much though I like James Taylor I prefer both Marvin Gaye and Jr Walker to his version – room for all tastes!

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  10. A terrific series all the way and a nice ending as well… Paul Carrack did indeed have a memorable career in so many ways…also, the song that came to mind for me was “How Long” by The Eagles, written by their longtime friend and songwriter JD Souther…it was released as a single on the very last Eagles album “Long Road Out Of Eden”…apparently the song was written in the 70’s for them but not used for decades…a terrific little rocker!

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    • Thank you, John, I’m glad you enjoyed the series. I thought about that Eagles one but it isn’t one of my favourites of theirs, so I didn’t go with it.

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    • Rod Stewart proved that Paul Carrack is a better singer than him! Tim Hardin went under the radar for most but has left a great legacy: Reason To Believe and If I Were A Carpenter are both his.

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  12. Great songs! I hadn’t heard the first one for a long time. The Marvin Gaye one always brings a smile to my face and I enjoyed the new ones. That one by Lewis Capaldi though is sad. Such a hard struggle. I wish him the best!

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  19. How Long Has this Been Going On always gives me goose bumps as it was a bit too close to home. I left my first husband in 1975 and married my now husband (of 47 years) a year later. You do the math.

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