“Almost Cut My Hair”

(Wikipedia)Almost Cut My Hair” is a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, originally released on the band’s 1970 album Déjà Vu. It was recorded at Wally Heider Studios on January 9, 1970.

The song describes a real-life dilemma faced by many hippies: whether to cut one’s hair to a more practical length, or leave it long as a symbol of rebellion.[3] It was written by David Crosby, and features solo vocals by Crosby, with the rest of the band joining in on instruments rather than on vocal harmony, as in many of their other songs. […] It was one of only two songs from the album that Neil Young joined in on, despite not writing.

Although the notion of long hair as a “freak flag” appeared earlier, notably in a 1967 Jimi Hendrix song “If 6 Was 9”, Crosby’s song has been credited with popularizing the idea of long hair as a deliberate and visible symbol of the wearer’s affiliation with the counterculture, and opposition to establishment values. The song also evokes the singer’s “paranoia” at seeing the police; James Perone writes that, “more than any other song of the entire era”, it “captures the extent to which the divisiveness in American society … had boiled over into violence and terror”.

It became one of Crosby’s signature songs, and “probably his most important political song”.Crosby himself stated “It was the most juvenile set of lyrics I’ve ever written … but it has a certain emotional impact, there’s no question about that.”

Dancing and Singing at the Towne Grill

When I arrived at the Towne Grill at 1:30 p.m. they were cleaning up in preparation for closing at two o’clock. But the made me a grilled cheese sandwich (Best in Town) and since I was the only customer, they kept on closing up while somebody’s phone (?) was streaming music at volume.

Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al came up and I heard someone back by the grill singing along. Then the two servers who were sweeping up started singing along, putting a little boogie into the brooms. Next I heard the guy in the back washing dishes. And John (the owner) was right there with them.

It was like something from a Spike Lee musical (did he do musicals?). Everybody having a great time. I thought about grabbing some video but didn’t want to break the spell. You just had to be there. And I was.

Turns out there’s a pretty good story behind the official video.

The video became quite famous and features a comedic performance by Paul Simon and Chevy Chase. Here are some key details about the music video:

Initially, Paul Simon didn’t like the original music video for the song, which was simply a performance he gave during the monologue when he hosted Saturday Night Live[2]. A replacement video was then created, which became the widely known and popular version.

The replacement video was directed by Gary Weis and was partly conceived by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels[. This video features:

– Chevy Chase lip-syncing to Paul Simon’s vocals
– Paul Simon lip-syncing to the backing vocals
– Simon miming various instruments as they appear in the song

The video plays on the significant height difference between the 6’4″ (193 cm) Chevy Chase and the 5’3″ (160 cm) Paul Simon, creating a comical visual juxtaposition[2].

The music video for “You Can Call Me Al” became one of Paul Simon’s most recognizable and popular videos. It helped boost the song’s popularity, contributing to its commercial success. The song, initially released in July 1986, experienced a resurgence in sales and airplay after the album Graceland won Album of the Year at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards in February 1987[2].

 

 

Hotel California guitar solo

Chen is one of the daughters in a “family band” from the Philippines. She —and what I assume are her two sisters and father— perform amazing covers of hit songs. The still to the right is from a 2 1/2 minute video of her playing the guitar solo from The Eagles’ Hotel California. A couple of things about this short video grabbed me. Her obvious proficiency with this guitar solo but even more was the blissed out concentration that you see in the faces of the best guitar players. In the zone?

A couple of questions popped into my head: How long did it take her to master this iconic solo… followed by, Who wrote and first performed it. I went to Perplexity for the following, including reference sources:

According to interviews and accounts from Don Felder and others involved, the iconic guitar solos and dueling guitar parts on “Hotel California” by the Eagles came together in the following way:

  • Don Felder originally composed the music and recorded a demo for “Hotel California” at his home studio in Malibu in 1976. On this demo, he improvised and recorded sample guitar solos and parts that he envisioned for himself and Joe Walsh to play on the final recording.
  • When it came time to record the guitar solos and leads in the studio in Miami, Felder and Walsh initially started improvising new parts together. However, Don Henley stopped them and insisted they learn and play Felder’s original demo solo parts note-for-note.
  • The problem was Felder didn’t have the original demo tape with him in Miami. He had to call his housekeeper back in Malibu, have her find the cassette, play it over the phone, and Felder re-learned and transcribed his own improvised guitar parts from the demo.
  • Felder estimates that over half of the iconic guitar solos and dueling parts on the final “Hotel California” recording came directly from the original demo he recorded at home, with him and Walsh splitting up and learning those parts.
  • Specifically, Felder played the first half of the ending guitar solo, while Walsh played the second half. They then combined for the harmonized finale section.

So in summary, while Felder and Walsh did collaborate and split the guitar solos, a significant portion was actually Felder improvising alone on his original demo, which Henley insisted they recreate faithfully in the studio.

Sheryl Crow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction

“I don’t feel like I’ve been doing this that long. It’s gone so fast. I really didn’t see this coming”

On November 3rd (2023) hometown girl Sheryl Crow will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside George Michael, Missy Elliott, Rage Against The Machine, Willie Nelson, the Spinners, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, DJ Kool Herc, Al Kooper, Bernie Taupin, and Don Cornelius. From the Rolling Stone interview:

I could not have predicted it if I tried, especially in the early days of my career, coming from a town with three stoplights. Having grown up listening to Willie on my radio station, I just couldn’t have predicted it. There’s no way.

First and foremost, Willie Nelson is my favorite person to sing with in the universe. But if I get to stand and sing with Chaka Khan, I’m afraid I will lose my shit. [Laughs] She’s one of the greatest singers of all time and just a badass.

When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opened up in Cleveland in 1995 with a massive stadium concert featuring Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, and countless other rock veterans, Sheryl Crow was one of the youngest artists on the bill.