Season 272 - Like it was, Charley

The Whitlams are an Australian band that I've covered a few times on the Seasons. In 1996, their bass player, Anthony Hayes (AKA Stevie Plunder) was found at the bottom of a waterfall, having apparently committed suicide. The next year, the Whitlams released what I think is their best album, which they dedicated to his memory. In particular, they wrote 3 songs about Anthony, which they called the "Charlie Trilogy" having changed the name of the subject of the songs to Charlie. I was really hoping to do the whole set this week, but I think I'll be lucky if I get 2 of them done, so here is Charlie No. 2. This was the most well-known of the 3, and it was number 37 on Triple J's hottest 100 of 1998. With a bit of luck I'll manage number 3 later in the week.

This is one of those Coming Of Age/Right of Passage songs. I have always loved this song, and the sun is out here in Yorkshire so my plan was to walk up on a nearby hill overlooking our village, sit in the sun and play. It was a bit blustery when I got up there though, useless for recording ( well, with the set up I have anyway) so I had to bail. Sorry . Anyway, I know just four Bobby Goldsboro songs, the really sad one, the Coca Cola one, the other one that Dave Berry had a hit with here in the UK and this one. I had to re record a couple of times after singing "she slipped on a julep" by mistake. This was supposed to be On Days Like These, the beautiful Matt Monroe song from The Italian Job, but while I was working out the chords it somehow morphed into a Bobby Goldsboro song so I just went with it. It's a bit high key wise for me but you'll get the gist of it.

Popular song favoured by trad Jazz bands first published in 1925

Hi, Ylle ... a song about times past and times now.

This song was originally recorded as a mayoral campaign song for Progressive Party candidate Walter A.O'Brien. A version of the song with the candidate's name changed became a 1959 hit when recorded and released by the Kingston Trio.The song's lyric tells of Charlie, a man who boards an MTA subway car, but then cannot get off because he does not have enough money for new "exit fares". These additional charges had just been established to collect an increased fare without replacing existing fare collection equipment. The song, based on a much older version called "The Ship That Never Returned" O'Brien remembered the song sung by the Almanac Singers, (Millard Lampell,Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie). and he enlisted Bess Lomax Hawes, (Daughter of John Lomax), to write a song for his election campaign. Walter A. O'Brien, a Progressive Party candidate for Boston mayor. O'Brien was unable to afford radio advertisements, so he enlisted local folk singers to write and sing songs from a touring truck with a loudspeaker (he was later fined $10 for "disturbing the peace").


Recorded on May 3, 2017 to commemorate the 98th anniversary of Pete Seeger's Birth, (May 3,1919 – January 27, 2014). We miss you Pete! Power To thePeople!

A "Like it was" Song.

Graeme Miles was born in Kent but when he was six months old, his family moved to Teesside. He started writing songs at the age of 15 and during the 1950s and 60s was a prolific songwriter, documenting the area in song, both the industrial heritage of Teesside and the wild beauty of the nearby North York Moors. I met him once; he was a quiet modest man who simply wanted his songs to be sung. Shortly before his death in 2013, he was awarded the gold medal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society and a bursary has been established in his name to support young folk musicians.

Thank you, Seasonistas, for your fine submissions and comments in YT! We have on playlists currently 48 songs from 28 Seasonistas. Participating in the Seasons is fun, and hosting is even more fun - now I can see it myself. Thank you, or "kiitos" as the Finns say.

Hello!!

My entry is a song by the great Ray Charles. I hope this fits in the theme of the 272 season. Thanks Ylle for hosting!

A big Hug

Sara

Here's another for the 'Like it Was' playlist.

I'm not really old enough know whether things were better back in the day, so I've chosen to go with songs about individuals looking back on their lives instead. This song's subject is not someone I share experiences with admittedly but any chance to show case Alex Turner's turn of phrase is a welcome one. I particularly like the line "is that a Mecca dauber or a betting pencil?"

I'd had a couple glasses of wine at this point and for added effect I was taking a swig at the start of each take.... this song has tongue twisty lyrics and a bit of chord melody so it took a few takes. Then like a madman I decided in this take to play the chord melody while singing the section that has a slightly different tempo despite not doing that in any of my previous run throughs of the song.

I'm off for a lie down.

Here my "Charlie" song about the past Ylle. A beautiful Charles Aznevour song, "Hier Encore".

Ok....This is my first video ever, and I find this quite scary, as corny as that sounds. But you seem like very nice people here who have a lot of fun with this, so here it is......

A "like it was" song.

welcome to the party, recovering bassist!!!!!!!!!!


big thanks to keith for this song idea, with *gasps in amazement* a marc bolan song i had NOT heard before

"charlie"



THANK YOU KEITH!!!!! :cheers:

House at Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins, / Loggins & Messina / Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

This song brings back fond and wistful memories - and is about fond and wistful memories - on so many levels.

First off, what English-speaking former child doesn't have fond memories of Winnie the Pooh? I still have A. A. Milne's poetry books, "When We Were Very Young" and "Now We Are Six", which I continued reading long past the age they were written for.

The book "The House at Pooh Corner" itself, on which this song is based and whose name it shares, ends with Christopher Robin growing up and going off to school, leaving Pooh and the others behind, longing for the return of their dear friend and their early days together when they were the center of his world. [Yeah ... "Toy Story".....]

I also have fond childhood memories of this song, which was on the radio when I was probably still reading Pooh. And became a favorite again about 20 years ago when I joined a singalong group that loved to sing it together.

The song itself is all about that nostalgic looking-back-at-childhood aspect of Pooh. Amazingly, Kenny Loggins wrote it when he himself was just a 17-year-old high school senior - looking at his adult life before him, and wistfully remembering the childhood he was about to leave.

Even more amazing ... he met another not-yet-known group of musicians, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who fell in love with his song and asked to record it. Loggins, of course, was thrilled - still a teenager, and about to have his first song recorded! Until ... the Winnie the Pooh TV cartoon was about to come out ... and Disney would not allow the song to be released.

More amazing still ... Kenny complains to his girlfriend (as one would) ... who says, "I'll talk to Daddy". In a truth-is-stranger-than fiction moment, it turns out Kenny's girlfriend's daddy is non other than the CEO of Disney!

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band records the song in 1970, followed by Loggins & Messina in 1971 (this is the version I remember), and I suppose, in true Disney fashion, they all live happily ever after.

And finally - one more layer of looking back ....
Over a decade later, Loggins, about to have his fourth child, writes a third verse about sharing Pooh with his son, and records the updated version as "Return to Pooh Corner".

[I just learned all that tonight, from this terrific interview with Kenny Loggins about the song.]

And now, my "Like It Was" version, for your listening (hopefully) pleasure, of "House at Pooh Corner":



On top of all that, this appears to be a banner Season for the return of missing Seasonistas - so happy to see Lynda back, and Ryan, and others I didn't even know were missing. And thanks, Ylle, for pulling me back in as well! I've had such a lovely time this week learning this sweet song.

Recovering Bassist said:

Ok....This is my first video ever, and I find this quite scary, as corny as that sounds. But you seem like very nice people here who have a lot of fun with this, so here it is......

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Welcome, Recovering Bassist! The people here are great indeed. Glad that you joined us.

UkeCan1 said:

And now, my "Like It Was" version, for your listening (hopefully) pleasure, of "House at Pooh Corner":

On top of all that, this appears to be a banner Season for the return of missing Seasonistas - so happy to see Lynda back, and Ryan, and others I didn't even know were missing. And thanks, Ylle, for pulling me back in as well! I've had such a lovely time this week learning this sweet song.

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Great to see you, Wendy!

This Harry Nilsson number should fit nicely into the "Like It Was" category.

Here's another "those were the days" song. Before You Came Along by Kasey Chambers. No F word.

UkeCan1 said:

On top of all that, this appears to be a banner Season for the return of missing Seasonistas - so happy to see Lynda back, and Ryan, and others I didn't even know were missing. And thanks, Ylle, for pulling me back in as well! I've had such a lovely time this week learning this sweet song.

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Great to see you back too! And great performance and back story!

Great to see returning Seasonistas, & newbie Seasonistas - you're getting yourself a fab first Season, Ylle.

(I'm sorry but my harmonicas just seem to have a hold on me lately. )