Charlie Daniels - "Uneasy Rider" (forgotten song)

Charlie Daniels died earlier this week.  I've already covered that owing to the time and place of our birth, both Danette and I are big Southern rock fans, of which the Charlie Daniels Band was a central member.  Similar to how The Allman Brothers straddled Southern rock and the Grateful Dead-style jam band sound, CDB straddled Southern rock and country & outlaw country.

Of course, he'll forever be known for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", several other of his songs were radio staples growing up: "The Legend of Wooley Swamp", "In America", "The South's Gonna Do It Again" (the original name check song?), and "Long Haired Country Boy".  The thing that most of these songs have in common is that they all tell great stories.

But I'm going to choose to remember him with his first single, 1973's "Uneasy Rider", from the LP "Honey in the Rock".   You still occasionally hear it on the radio, but it's infrequent.  Not only is it a fun story, it also captures the time when Charlie Daniels was still an outlaw and not the establishment.

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a great song, but you should explore the rest of his canon as well.

Charlie Daniels - "Uneasy Rider"

Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground" (forgotten song)

The Super Bowl was last weekend, and the half time show was Bruno Mars with The Red Hot Chili Peppers guesting.  Bruno Mars did a fine job, but...  he's not really my thing.  I doubt Bruno is losing any sleep over this since, being old enough to rent a car,  I'm not his target demographic.  I also suppose that's why the Chili Peppers were brought in for a guest spot.

Sadly, they only did one song, "Give It Away", and while that is certainly their most popular song, I was hoping that Stevie Wonder would be a surprise guest...

When I recently said that "Singles -- 45s and Under" was standard issue in college, well the Chili Pepper's 1989 LP "Mother's Milk" might have been #2 on the list.  The first single from that LP, and the song that really made them popular, was a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground", which first appeared on his 1973 LP "Innervisions". 

And even if Stevie couldn't make the Super Bowl (note that he's been at the recent Grammys and the Beatle's Tribute concert), including Stevie Wonder via a cover would have better united Bruno Mars and the Chili Peppers.  In summary, not a bad half time show (although ending on a ballad was anti-climatic) but omitting "Higher Ground" felt like a missed opportunity. 

Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground", live 1974
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Higher Ground"


P.S.  Flea has admitted that, like the Broncos, they didn't really play.

Bruce Springsteen - "Blinded by the Light" (the song remains the same)

How should I observe the passing of Clarence Clemons? An obvious choice would be "Jungleland", which is often cited as having one of Clemons' best solos (it occurs ~ 4:03 in this live 1978 version). Instead, I'm going with a song most people probably don't know was written by Bruce: "Blinded by the Light", the first (and ultimately unsuccessful) single from Bruce's first LP, 1973's "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.".

"Blinded by the Light" was later made famous by Manfred Mann's Earth Band as a single from their 1976 LP "The Roaring Silence". Whereas Bruce's version was still very much in Dylan's shadow, MMEB trimmed the voluminous lyrics (original lyrics vs. MMEB's lyrics), provided a slick 70s synth sound, and added some clever counterpoint at the end. The Manfred Mann version came in two versions, both of which you still hear regularly on classic rock radio: a 7 minute LP version and a 4 minute single version. And while it very much sounds like a mid-70s song, I never tire of it (see also: "Cruel to be Kind").

The various characters in the song (the drummer, diplomat, mascot, preacher, chaperone, etc.) are partially explained in the VH1 Storytellers DVD, but the interesting explanation is cut short by the video's editors! Danette bought this as a Christmas present a few years ago precisely because she knows I'm fascinated by this song's cast of characters and she thought all would finally be explained. Unless someone has an unedited version of this performance we'll never know who all these people are (though it is clear they are all real, or at least based on real characters). I've seen various explanations on the web, but none that I'd consider canonical. And if you're only familiar with the MMEB's version, you're missing out on the those that MMEB removed: the "hazard from Harvard", the "dude" from Scotland Yard, the shooting star, and the avatar.

While "Blinded by the Light" is probably not the first song you think of when Clarence Clemons is mentioned, I will point out that it is one of only two GFAPNJ songs on which Clemons appears and as such I consider it a fitting tribute.

Bruce Springsteen: studio version, 1974 live version, 2009 live version, VH1 Storytellers version (starts at ~9:00 into the video).

Manfred Mann's Earth Band: LP version, Single version, 1975 live version.