HOTELS AND MOTELS : HOTEL C*********

(Sorry, but someone had to, from the ridiculous to the sublime...........)

Alabama 3     

Max Romeo

Nancy Sinatra

Tangerine Dream

The Cat Empire

and, of course, The Gypsy Kings

I'm clearly not busy enough at work today.........

(Actually, rather than assuming this a knock against the song and it's originators, I find myself still loving it. Along with similar staples, like Freebird and Stairway to Heaven, all overplayed and overknown to buggery, I still get that hit as the opening bars unfold, singing along with all the words and all the chords from beginning to end. I even went, just last month, to see the History of the Eagles show here, as it rolls slowly and expensively around the world, enjoying the earlier part of the show, with Bernie Leadon's participation more than the later stuff. But I had to applaud and stand from my dampening seat as this song, their obvious encore, rang out. In the hardly unsurprising absence of Don Felder, a Steuart Smith was note perfect, on the expected double necked guitar, with Joe Walsh foiling the 2nd guitar admirably. I'm no fan of the Eagles and what they stand for, but, for that moment, hell, yes I was!)

Footwear: These Boots Are Made For Walking

Nancy Sinatra: These Boots Are Made For Walkin´

[purchase]

Operation Ivy: One Of These Days

[purchase]

"Are you ready boots? Start walking..." Lee Hazlewood´s ´66 composition for the daughter of ol´ blue eyes remains a pop classic. Everything fits, from the trademark sliding bass line to Nancy´s Lolita vocals to Lee´s clever wordplay. "You keep lying when you oughta be truthin', and you keep losin' when you oughta not bet. You keep samin' when you oughta be changin', now what's right is right, but you ain't been right yet."

It´s funny to notice that Bay Area ska punks Operation Ivy give their hiccupping cover ("pick it up pick it up!") a different title, leave out most of the lyrics and don´t credit a composer either. To them it´s a traditional. Very subversive, gentlemen...

As for the boots pictured above, these were made for scoring goals of course. Go Holland!

 

2:42 - Bang Bang

Nancy Sinatra: Bang Bang

[purchase]

This is such a heartbreaking song, about childhood sweethearts who grow up in love, yet she marries someone else when he leaves inexplicably. As each verse goes by, the chorus becomes more and more cruel—at first "Bang bang, you shot me down / Bang bang, I hit the ground" refers to toddlers playing Cowboys & Indians; then a nostalgic conversation between two lovers; and finally the lament of a woman left behind.

And let's talk about that guitar! It's the only instrument in the song, though the track hardly has the feel of a folk tune. The ringing tremelo carries as much of the emotional burden as Sinatra's vocal delivery. The words "bang bang" wouldn't have the same impact without those two low notes from the guitar. Speaking of how to write a great rock song, this track is a lesson of its own—how to write a perfect song with as few elements as possible.