Thursday, October 26, 2017

Fats Domino - "Ain't That A Shame" (the song remains the same)

Fats Domino (aka Antoine Dominique Domino Jr.), one of the architects of the original "rock-n-roll sound", died this week.  Fats has many well-known songs, but without a doubt my favorite is "Ain't That A Shame", from his 1955 debut LP "Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino".

And while the Fats version is great and has inspired many covers (some of which I provide below), it's the Cheap Trick version (from 1979's landmark "Cheap Trick at Budokan") that is my absolute favorite version.  Cheap Trick's sound was always centered in a celebration of the origins of rock, so it makes perfect sense that they would turn in such a great cover.

Fats Domino - "Ain't That A Shame" (from a movie?)
John Lennon - "Ain't That A Shame"
Pat Boone - "Ain't That A Shame"
Hank Williams Jr. "Ain't That A Shame"
Cheap Trick -  "Ain't That A Shame" (live in Budokan, 1978), (live, 1980)





Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" (forgotten song)

After a confusing period of statements and retractions, late last night it was confirmed that Tom Petty, songwriter par excellence, had died.  A staple on AOR and then classic rock stations, Petty's extensive discography provides many songs that I could feature; just this weekend while driving to Blacksburg and back Danette and I heard many Tom Petty songs on the radio.  Unfortunately, they were mostly my least favorite of his songs, which seem to get the most airplay (many of which appear on 1989's "Full Moon Fever").  They're not necessarily bad songs, it's just that when compared to the many great songs he has, well... I just don't see the point of playing a song like "I Won't Back Down".

While searching for once popular but now obscure songs of his, I thought about "Change of Heart" or "Even the Losers", but finally decided on "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)", the second single from 1981's "Hard Promises".  Structurally similar to "Breakdown", it's a great song that received airplay back in the day but is unfortunately eclipsed today.  The final deciding point is the video which, while simple, is rather high quality compared to most videos ca. 1981. 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers -  "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)"