Great: The Great Pretender

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There are many notable version of The Great Pretender and it is no surprise that it was voted one of the greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine back in 2004 (Yeah, OK, in @ #360, but still...) But the song also carries on our previous mask theme, where the protagonist puts on a public face/performance that just aint true. And it would appear that this is something you just about have to do when you get up on a stage, be you Dolly Parton, Elvis, Freddy Mercury, Roy Orbison or Sam Cooke.

Way  back in  the year I was born, the story goes, a music producer named Buck Ram wrote this song in 20 minutes in a Vegas hotel washroom. At the time, he was the manager for the Platters, who recorded the song as a follow up to their first hit, Only You. When Mercury records signed them in a two-fer deal on the coat-tails of The Penguins (who, unlike the mostly unknown Platters, had a charting hit called Earth Angel), it wasn't at all clear that The Platters would go down in history. But they did- for a number of reasons - and the Penguins mostly did not. They went on to have many hits (something like 40 of them in about a 10 year span), they were like the first cross-overs from doo wop R&B to rock, they included a female in the line-up, and then they rapidly fell out of favor after they were busted.

Sam Cooke did a  version on his 1960 album Hits of the 50's

Dolly Parton covered it in 1984. Now there's someone who was well aware of the need for pretense as part of her show/pesona. Says Michelle Lindsey [link], "‘The Great Pretender’ is what she set out to be as a poor kid playing dress up, writing songs and hoping to become a star. ...  [Parton] admitted, ‘I do it because I’m a show person.’ To drop the pretence, the persona and age like a normal human being is not an option. You see this now in almost every famous person, trickling right down even to the average person in the street."

The most familiar to me is the version from the Band. I guess by that time I was consuming most of the music that was being produced and The Band, as J David recently noted was [link] hot. J David references the Stage Fright album. How appropriate! The best way to get over your stage fright? Pretend.

The version by Freddy Mercury in 1987 has a certain poignance to it in that it immediately predates his HIV public announcement, and most research indicates that he must have been aware of his health issues well before the song came out. That said, there isnt much debate about his sexual orientation at that time, and that, too, could certainly entail an element of pretense. These factors may be part of the strength of his commanding performance of the song. About Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddy's lover, Jim Hutton said "Freddie was never going to admit it publicly, because he had to carry on the charade about being straight, for his family. But we discussed it many times."

Old and In the Way also cover the song in a wonderful country style, this recording without Garcia unfortunately.

None of the above will be confused with the Foo Fighters' song similarly named The Pretender, which is a great song but doesn't pass our theme test for "great" unless you force a match like this :

Prison: Prisoners of Their Hairdos

Christine Lavin: Prisoners of Their Hairdos
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My recent run of television-related posts would suggest a discussion of The Prisoner, one of the great TV shows of the 1960s, and one of the first shows designed to blow the viewers’ minds, and I still might, but while it had a theme song (with a great credit sequence), it really wasn’t a music based show.

I’ve also recently written elsewhere about Jason Isbell’s cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak,” so that’s out. As I perused my music library, I came across this song, which I hadn’t listened to in years, and which reminded me that you don’t need to be in a cell to be a prisoner.

Christine Lavin has been on the folk scene since the 1980s, and while she has had a long, successful career as a singer-songwriter, she never had the sort of national breakout that some of her contemporaries like Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman or Shawn Colvin, although she is incredibly well respected in the folk music world. Lavin writes mostly about relationships, and while she can write seriously, she is probably best known for her sense of humor. Many of her songs are laugh out loud funny. I sometimes wonder if her lack of fame stems from the fact that women folk singers are stereotypically supposed to be sad, tortured souls, and Lavin’s humor prevents her from being taken seriously. But that’s really too bad, because she has consistently written and performed great songs, not all of which are jokey.

In addition, she has long been an incredible supporter of other musicians, playing them on the radio, and working with them. I remember listening to her as the first host of WFUV’s Sunday Breakfast, playing music by artists she liked, sometimes even unreleased tracks. Even after friend (and fellow former WPRB Program Director John Platt) took over the show, Lavin would send him music to play, and she occasionally would sub for him. As much as I loved listening to John, which I don’t get to do as much since the station, in a bad move, pushed him to Sunday evening, when sports, TV, life and dinner usually take precedence (sorry!), it was fun to hear Lavin’s unique style every once in a while.

“Prisoners of Their Hairdos” is on the funny side of Lavin’s musical spectrum, and points out that some people’s coiffures are so distinctive that:

If they changed the way they combed their hair 
They'd never be recognized anywhere 
They're prisoners 

Lavin lists Crystal Gayle, Dorothy Hamill, Don King, Lyle Lovett, Gloria Steinem, Stevie Nicks Leon Redbone, Pee Wee Herman, Tom Wolfe, Pope John Paul, Ted Koppel, and Mary Travers as hairdo prisoners, and I’m sure we could think of more recent ones, since the song was released in 1991. An amateur golfer/more amateur president comes to mind…..

The song points out that ZZ Top are, similarly, prisoners of their beards, and Dolly Parton is a prisoner of her…….wigs. But, on the other hand, the B-52’s beehives, she suggests, are prisoners of the band.

There was a time where I had a great deal of hair, but time and genetics has rendered me almost bald, and now I keep my hair short, for ease of care. Typically, when I go to the barber, she asks me, “what do you want to do?” And my response is usually, “there really isn’t much you can do.” My daughter’s father-in-law (English really needs a word like machatenester or consuegro) shaves his head daily, and has tried to convince me to do the same. I’ve declined, because I don’t want to become a prisoner of my baldness.

The Plant Kingdom: Crimson and Clover

Tommy James and the Shondells: Crimson and Clover

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Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: Crimson and Clover

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Dolly Parton: Crimson and Clover

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Jarvis Cocker: Black Magic (Crimson and Clover)

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We can call this a title in search of a song. Or maybe a singles artist in search of an album audience. Tommy James has said that this title came to him before the 1968 song itself—crimson was his favorite color, and the clover blossom his favorite flower. I'm sharing the expanded 1969 album version, with a bit of dissonance where they tried to merge new guitar solos with previously recorded vocals.

To me, this song screams late 60s pop-rock, with its tremolo'd guitar and vocals (like Autotune will remind our children of their youth in some distant future). Well, to me it also screams junior high school, which is where I was when it was released, but it may have hit you in different times of your life. Or else you might have heard one of its many hit covers, like the 1981 version by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (who keeps the "she/her" of the original, giving it an interesting twist unusual in the early 80s). Dolly Parton's 2005 take on it features Tommy James himself on vocals. Her version also mimics that tremolo with the banjo accompaniment, clever girl! Man, I love how Dolly is never afraid to tackle any genre. Even Jarvis Cocker, the vocalist of Pulp, did a Britpop song in 2006 heavily based on its riff and vocal chorus. Bet he paid royalties, is how I judge it.

Over and over and over and over and …

…what exactly is a Shondell, anyway?

Unusual Instruments: After the Gold Rush

Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris: After the Gold Rush

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...In which Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton meet Benjamin Franklin. Or, more specifically, the instrument Franklin invented in 1761 -- the glass armonica, the first instrument to be invented in Colonial America. The glass armonica comprises 37 chromatically tuned bowls, mounted on a rotating spindle. The armonicist operates the instrument with a foot pedal, and rubs the spinning glass with his fingers. The result is an ethereal, almost spooky, tone. Hearing -- but not seeing -- her husband play the instrument for the first time, Mrs. Franklin said she feared she’d died and was listening to the sound of angels.

Franklin’s invention was particularly well received in Europe. Marie Antoinette was said to have taken armonica lessons. Mozart was inspired to write two works for it. Mozart in turn introduced it to physician Franz Mesmer, who used the instrument’s dulcet tones to help, well, mesmerize his patients. The arminoca’s faint sound made it difficult to be heard in concert halls, and the prolonged exposure to the glass posed health risks to the armonicists. Soon the instrument faded away. The (seriously) glass armonica website estimates there are only a dozen glass armonica players in the world today.

One of those is a fellow named Dennis James, who plays armonica on Harris, Ronstadt and Parton’s cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush." It appears on their Trio II CD, released in 1999. (Ronstadt’s 1992 record, Winter Light, also featured James on armonica.) Even without the armonica solo, it's a strange cover -- the ladies change the lyrics a bit, and Parton later claimed none of them had any idea what the song was about. Still, the accompanying video was quite popular on VH-1 and country music video channels, in part because of the fascinating instrument that managed to one-up the trio’s angelic harmonies. (Watch a performance on David Letterman’s Late Show here; the armonica solo starts at about 3:46.)

Bible Stories: Coat of Many Colors

Dolly Parton: Coat of Many Colors

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On first listen, Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors" seems to offer an ironic twist on the tale of Joseph and his coat of many colors. In the Book of Genesis story, Joseph's coat is an object of envy. His father, Jacob, makes him the coat. His brothers take it as an indication that Joseph is the favored son. In jealousy, they capture Joseph, rip the coat from his back and sell him into slavery. The brothers take their father Joseph's bloodied cloak to fool him into thinking his son has been devoured by wild beasts.

In her Appalachian version of the tale, Parton's colored coat is viewed not with jealousy, but with scorn. The children make fun of a ragtag frock Dolly's mother has handcrafted. She tries to convince her classmates her clothes are special, but there's no indication in the narrative that her friends are swayed. Still, Parton recognizes the value of the love her mother "sewed in every stitch" and closes by saying, despite being poor, "I was rich as I could be in my coat of many colors my mama made for me."

With Parton's cheery disposition and little-girl voice, "Coat" comes off as heartwarming story of the power of maternal love. But, the backstory, which she told Chet Flippo in a 1977 interview with Rolling Stone, is darker than that.

That was a very sad and cutting memory...I remember the pain of it and the mockery. How the kids had tried to take my little coat off and I was just "sprouting"...and I didn't have a blouse on under it because I had done well just to have this little jacket to wear. So when the kids kept saying I didn't have a shirt on under it, I said I did, because I was embarrassed. So they broke the buttons off my coat. They locked me in a coat closet that day and held the door closed and it was black dark in there, and I just went into a screaming fit. I remembered all that and I was ashamed to even mention it, and for years I held it in.

"Coat of Many Colors" is testament to Parton's power as a songwriter. She's long been under-rated, despite having written one of the best-selling songs in the history of pop music ("I Will Always Love You"). "Coat of Many Colors" succeeds on many levels -- as a parable, as autobiography and as psychotherapy. And, it's a good song, too.

Acoustic Versions => Reproductions: Stairway to Heaven

Dolly Parton: Stairway to Heaven

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Of course, the original Stairway to Heaven started with a folk feel, and then erupted into rock, with Robert Plant going from his calmer lower pitch singing to the screaming almost-falsetto for which he was best known. At the same time, the acoustic guitars vanish, overwhelmed by the roar of the electric ones. Result: rock classic. Dolly Parton reimagines the whole thing, and does it entirely with acoustic instruments. Now the song begins as a bluegrass ballad, and swells with arrival of a gospel choir and some intense fiddle. Parton also adds drums for the song’s climax.

For me, these different approaches yield different meanings. The Led Zeppelin original comes off as an example of mystical seventies rock. But Dolly Parton makes the song an affirmation of faith, Southern style. For sheer volume, Zep wins hands down. But for power, my vote goes to the Parton version.

Show Tunes: I Get a Kick Out of You

Dolly Parton: I Get a Kick Out of You

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Anything Goes is a classic musical from 1934. The songs are by Cole Porter, and they include some of his best known numbers. The first song in the show is I Get a Kick Out of You. The show is a romantic farce, and a lot of fun. That sense of fun is what comes through most in Dolly Parton’s version of Kick. For the first minute, the song is an instrumental, with Chris Thile on mandolin sounding quite a bit like David Grisman. Finally, Parton enters. She doesn’t take the song too seriously, but she gives it all the fizz and sass it needs.

Poverty: Cash On the Barrelhead

Dolly Parton: Cash on the Barrelhead

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Poverty is the knowledge that people take one look at you, and decide that it’s not safe to lend you money. That is Cash on the Barrelhead in a nutshell. I found an explanation of the term on Wiki Answers, as follows:

“... Picture a sea port and a ship is delivering barrels of salt or tar or some other item. The seller and the buyer stand facing each other with a barrel between them and strike a deal. The cash is put on the barrel, the seller takes the cash and the buyer takes the barrel after he paid for it ‘on the barrel head‘.”

The song was written by Charlie Louvin, and originally recorded by the Louvin Brothers. Dolly Parton’s is the only version I’ve heard, and it’s a good one.

Cry Cry Cry: My Blue Tears

Dolly Parton: My Blue Tears

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Dolly Parton.

My first impression of her had nothing to do with music. It was the enormous breasts. Parton was the one who made sure everyone knew about them. So, she was the trashy blond who had something to do with country. Then, I heard that she had opened an amusement park named after herself. And there was the movie, 9 To 5.

I actually saw it in the theater. I don’t remember why. It was a slight comedy. The songs were my first introduction to Parton’s music, and it wasn’t even country. It was bad pop.

At the time, I was in my “cool” phase. I wasn’t about to like country music. New wave was the thing. Jazz gave me an edge. So did blues. Folk was a secret only my closest friends knew about.

But, I got older, and left the peer pressure of high school behind. A girlfriend liked going to bars to dance to local country bands, and I began to realize that, yes, it was corny, but country music had something honest to say. Still, even the idea of liking Dolly Parton was embarrassing.

Cut to 2001. Now I am married to a woman who doesn’t care for most country music. The sound of country music has changed. Line dancing is big, and the classic sound of country is becoming a distant memory. And word reaches me that Dolly Parton has made a bluegrass album! A good one, even! The idea is so weird that I have to check it out. And it really is true.

The album was Little Sparrow, and the song My Blue Tears is right there in the middle of it. Here, it is a slow ballad about the sorrow of having a lover leave. The lyrics are a plea by the wounded protagonist to a bluebird whose sad song reminds her of her loss. The song has a naive simplicity to the concept, and the listener cannot help but sympathize.

It turns out that My Blue Tears is a Parton original that has been with her for a while. She first recorded it on her album Coat of Many Colors, in a more upbeat early seventies country arrangement. There is also a beautiful duet version on Linda Ronstadt’s album Get Closer. So, maybe Parton will record the song again in the future. I’ll be keeping an ear out, to see what she does with it next.

Fathers and Fatherhood: Daddy's Working Boots

Dolly Parton: Daddy's Working Boots

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A perfect example of a good old Christian country song: an affectionate celebration of the working man, told through a focus on the trappings of the blue-collar life and the ways in which work itself can be a kind of love, complete with a confident plea for Daddy's heavenly reward. First released way back in '73, Dolly's young voice is sweet and clear, and the choir of angels that joins her for the final verse is a perfect touch.

Clothes: Coat Of Many Colors

Dolly Parton: Coat Of Many Colors

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I've always admired Dolly Parton. This song in particular gets to the core of how great a songwriter she is, because it's beautiful, simple, and tells a story, and not just any story, but a very personal story that is also inspirational.

My mother always looks a bit misty-eyed when this song is on. Being a farmer's daughter herself, and being the girl wearing the flour sack dress to school and never feeling like she fit in because of it, and now looking back on it she remembers how hard her parents worked to feed and clothe her and her many siblings, she feels sad she never appreciated when she had it. Now she appreciates the difference, the homemade cookies in her lunchbox instead of the store bought ones, the time in the kitchen with her mother, the cherry picking with her sisters, they are all now experiences that she cherishes and feels blessed to have had instead of feeling like she wishes she were like the other girls as she did back then. Dolly puts her feelings into words and we see just how important and proud an article of clothing can make us.

Work: 9 To 5

Dolly Parton: 9 To 5

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I thought I would get this one out of the way! It was bound to come up, as we all feel like this sometimes, right?

Footwear: Daddy's Workin' Boots

Dolly Parton: Daddy's Workin' Boots

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Aside from liking country music, Dolly Parton and I have nothing in common.

If the popular mythology is to be believed, she grew up in a run-down cabin the backwoods hills of East Tennessee. I grew up in suburbia. Her mama sewed colorful biblical coats out of scraps of fabric. My mom made brownies for the cub scout troop. Her daddy worked his fingers to the bone doing whatever it took to make an honest day’s pay. My dad was a dentist. Dolly’s a Hollywood star with platinum blonde hair and a giant bosom. I’m—well, never mind… You get the picture.

I have nothing in common with this lady. So I really don’t know what to make of this song. But at least it’s about footwear...