Tuesday Tunes 235: Some More Silver

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A couple of weeks ago I played a set of songs with silver in their title. It seemed to go well, and I even got some suggestions for more tunes, so I thought I’d go with it again for this week: here is my second set of silver songs.

The two songs that were most suggested are where I’m starting. Both were already on my list of possibles, though somehow I don’t think this would be the version of this first one that you might be expecting:

I know that I’ve played The Fisherman’s Friends a couple of times recently, and might be running the risk of overkill, but how could I not play this version? Imelda May is fantastic in just about everything she does, and England’s best ‘buoy band’ go well with her. This is a fabulous version of Hi Ho Silver Lining, Jeff Beck’s biggest hit, and the video is typically amusing. This was part of the soundtrack to the second of their movies, Fisherman’s Friends: One And All, which came out in August 2022. It has no pretensions to being fine art, but is just a lovely feelgood movie with some great tunes. Highly recommended if you haven’t already seen it – or for a second viewing if you have.

This is the other one that a couple of you suggested. It only just missed the cut last time, so it’s good to pick it up second time round:

Silver Springs is a beautiful song which probably shows why it is rarely a good idea for band members to be in relationships with each other. The ‘pass the parcel’ nature of Fleetwood Mac nearly broke the band up on several occasions, and this is a biting commentary by Stevie Nicks on the end of her romance with Lindsey Buckingham. The song was first recorded in the sessions for the Rumours album but, despite strenuous objections from Stevie, was left off the record. It was, however, made the B-side of the single release of Go Your Own Way, a song written about the end of their affair by Lindsey. Talk about rubbing salt into a wound! Not surprisingly, that fuelled divisions and anger in the band, which lasted for many years and later led to disputes about how the song should be included on compilation albums, both by the band and Stevie. In 1997 it got a second life on the live reunion album The Dance, which is the version I’m playing. Stevie said, “The fiery take on the song that appears in The Dance was ‘for posterity… I wanted people to stand back and really watch and understand what [the relationship with Lindsey] was.” I think she made her point: just see the way she looks at him while singing it!

After the intensity of that last one I was hoping to find a little light relief. Somehow, I don’t think I’ve managed it! A sad tale of a girl whose dreams didn’t really get fulfilled, written from the perspective of the guy who pimped her. You get nothing if not variety from me!

Queen Of The Silver Dollar was released in February 1973 as a track on the second album by Dr Hook and the Medicine Show, Sloppy Seconds, which made #41 in the US, #43 in Australia, #16 in Canada and #17 in Norway, but wasn’t a hit in the UK. The album’s best known track is probably Cover Of The Rolling Stone, which as a single went to #6 in the US and #2 in Canada, but again didn’t make the UK charts. I think it deserved better, even though a critic has remarked on the ‘crude sense of humour” of some of its songs. If he had this one in mind when he wrote that it just adds to my belief that critics talk through their nether orifices – I’ve always found this a rather poignant little song, in which the protagonist is taking credit for having ‘made’ a girl’s life when he has actually destroyed it. But I’m not paid to be a critic, so what do I know!

I played Linda Ronstadt’s version of Silver Threads And Golden Needles in my first set of silver songs, but it was a hard decision as to which version to leave out. This one lost last time, but any chance to hear the wonderful Sandy Denny should be taken, so here is her take on the song. She slows it down, and gives it a very beautiful treatment:

As the clip shows, that was on Sandy’s final album, Rendezvous, which was released in May 1977. The album met with mixed reviews from critics, but anything with Sandy’s voice on it is fine by me! The horn arrangement which underpins the song is by Robert Kirby, and was played by a collective known as the Silver Band – all eight of them!

To follow one of my all-time favourite female singers I thought I’d close today with one of the best male rock vocalists there ever was:

Bad Company originally released Silver, Blue & Gold on their third album, Run With The Pack, in January 1976, which peaked at #4 in the UK and #5 in the US. As far as I can tell this wasn’t even a B-side to a single, but has become a fan favourite over the years, as Paul Rodgers remarks in his introduction. I’m not sure when that live performance took place: the video was released in February 2023 but I can find no reference to the reformed band touring any later than 2019, so I’m guessing that this was from that final tour. Paul has always had a great voice, and more than fifty years since he first sang with Free his performance still feels effortless: the mark of a great musician, in my view. It is also a lovely song with which to close today’s set.

Have a great week, and stay warm! See you again soon 😊

 

48 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 235: Some More Silver”

  1. Pingback: One Month Done | Take It Easy

  5. Other than Fisherman’s Friends, I know all the artists, but I didn’t know any of the songs. I guess that happens when I only listened to the radio and didn’t buy the albums. But I liked them! Good list today, Clive!

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  6. My two favorites today were Fleetwood Mac and Bad Company. It’s amazing how long Fleetwood Mac lasted, with all of the complicated relationship stuff they navigated. Bad Company is one of those groups many people like better than I do, but this song is marvelous.

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  9. I’m partial to Emmylou’s version of ‘Queen Of The Silver Dollar’ but Dr Hook had the hit with it. Shel Silverstein was a different songwriter, usually different in a good way. OK, ‘Sylvia’s Mother’ might have been a tad OTT.😉

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  11. What a fine song Silver Springs is, and I was completely unaware of it. It is now on a playlist. So thank-you. And you’re right, relationships in bands can be destructive, but what great songs those relationships produced.

    And I also agree about Paul Rodgers. I know Silver Blue and Gold and it is a great example how he can take a fairly ordinary song (my opinion only of course) and make it very listenable. Brilliant vocalist, one of my favourite voices ever.

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    • Good to know that you’ve added Silver Springs to your list. It’s a lovely song, and she sings it with real emotion in that performance, doesn’t she. I think Fleetwood Mac are the prime example of a band that created great music when they mostly hated each other!

      I’ve always liked that Bad Company one, and so apparently do many others of their fans. Paul Rodgers is one of the very best.

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  15. Imelda May has a sweet voice. This is the first time I’ve heard her and will have to check more of her out. Always been a big fan of Dr. Hook. Sloppy Seconds is still a great album with many good songs. And of course Bad Co. A great band to see live 2X. Enjoyable post Clive

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    • Imelda is well known here and you’ll find lots of her on YouTube, Ernie. Well worth a look. Glad you found some others you liked in there too, and I’m envious that you’ve seen Bad Company twice!

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  16. The only one I couldn’t play was the Sandy Denny one but I can look it up. I’m a huge Dr. Hook fan so was happy to see this one included. I agree, it’s a poignant little song. They were very popular in Canada, in the day.

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  17. Love that Fleetwood Mac song – Stevie is certainly glaring at Lindsay while she sings it, lol. We saw Bad Company play at Brighton on I think was the last tour before Mick Ralphs became ill. Paul Rodgers wore a rather fetching little white vest instead of the top here.

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