# What's your favorite random piece of musical trivia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273 "2006-05-18T16:25:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![seoulsoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@seoulsoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seoulsoul)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/141 "2006-05-22T13:53:04Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] I also don’t understand why asking for verification is looking for a fight. I don’t in fact believe you - I think you’re simply mistaken - but you were the one who brought it up. You may be a guest, but you’ve also participated enough to know that bringing up an unsourced claim and saying, you’ll just have to trust me, is not how anything works around here. [/QUOTE] Ok, I have to say, you’re right. My apologies, the tone of my previous few posts has been out of line. I know I’m a guest, and it’s exactly because unsourced claims don’t fly here that I’ve enjoyed participating in the discussions, and find myself constantly coming back for more. Don’t know what I was thinking. :smack: [QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] What do you mean by first hand accounts? People who knew him in 1943? [/QUOTE] What I meant to say was: based on stories told by musicians very close to that particular scene, who had either played with him briefly or studied with some one who did. I know this kind of info is less then trustworthy, and I cannot provide a source. I’d like to add some more interesting information about Wes that can be substantiated in a book found [here.](http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/tra/017016.shtml) > [@](#): > > Except for occasional trips to the West Coast to work in the Mastersounds, co-led by his brothers Buddy and Monk, Wes stayed in Indianapolis, where he struggled to support his family. His exhausting routine consisted of a nonmusical day job, followed by a five-hour club date, and then an after-hours session. In 1959 Cannonball Adderley discovered him at a late-night performance and recommended him to Riverside co-owner Orrin Keepnews in New York….Promoted by a major record label for the first time at age thirty-six, Montgomery virtually exploded onto the national jazz scene and stunned listeners with his originality. He plucked notes with his thumb, rather than a pick, an unorthodox practice that produced round, soft tones and enabled him to maintain precise control. So it makes me think he used this particular technique because it best allowed him to express his musical ideas. I’m guessing, that his children and neighbors didn’t even factor into his choice. I apologize for propagating myth! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/142 "2006-05-22T14:52:37Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Then don’t leave me hanging. Please explain to me how I misinterpreted it. [/QUOTE] He is saying that said musician learned how to play at 19, had children later, at which point he developed the style for which he is famous. > [@](#): > > To the quoted paragraph directly above it. What in that paragraph are you disagreeing with? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/143 "2006-05-22T15:33:56Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I never believed the “sabotage” story w/r/t Creep - they came to hate the song, I’m sure, but they were nobodies when they recorded it and I don’t think they would have screwed up their own work. Either way, I think we can all agree it’s the coolest part of the song. 😉 [/QUOTE] It’s probably all true. Greenwood probably did regularly do that when he wanted to test his guitar/speakerswhatever. It’s probably what he reverted to when he was fed up with the song for whatever reason (supposedly becasue it was too slow). And so he did it to try and sabotage the song, or at least those takes and the band probably heard it and said, “Yeah, that works, let’s keep that.” ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/144 "2006-05-22T16:03:53Z")
Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi played air guitar for one Jethro Tull performance. After Mick Abrahams quit in 1968, and before Martin Barre joined Iommi got an invite to play with the band. You can see him “play” on Song for Jeffrey on the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus film that was released a few years back, but he’s miming along to a backing tape. The guitar player on Joe Cockers version of With a Little Help From My Friends was Jimmy Page, who was a hugely in demand session player before forming Zep. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/145 "2006-05-22T17:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=The Swan] He is saying that said musician learned how to play at 19, had children later, at which point he developed the style for which he is famous. [/quote] See the post above yours. > [@](#): > > What in that paragraph are you disagreeing with? That Henry the VIII was recorded as a lark. It was a deliberately found commercial followup to a hit song. Back to trivia. On Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow” a background voice chants “quite rightly.” That’s Paul McCartney. Donovan also wrote “Fat Angel” which has a line “fly Jefferson Airplane, they’ll get you there on time.” The Airplane loved this so much they started playing the song in concert. Now for trivia’s trivia. What is the only album after the breakup of Steely Dan in 1980 to feature both Walter Becker and Donald Fagan’s playing before they reunited in the 90s? The terrific and terrifically obscure [Zazu](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005L939/qid=1148318386/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4748366-7635906?s=music&v=glance&n=5174), by Rosie Vela. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/146 "2006-05-22T18:39:23Z")
Jonathan’s Schwart’z [opening theme song](http://www.wnyc.org/stream/ram.py?file=showthemes/schwartz_theme.rm) sup[/sup] since his start at progressive rock station WNEW-FM in 1968 through his Sinatra / Jazz programs on XM and WNYC-FM of today is a great little acapella / scat riff by done other than childhood friend; **Carly Simon**. According to his [WNYC bio page](http://www.wnyc.org/music/articles/11448): > [@](#): > > Jonathan Schwartz’s eclectic weekend mix of American Popular Standards is often rich in information, but one thing that will always remain a mystery is the identity of its opening theme. “The identity of the opening theme, which has been employed for this purpose for over 30 years, has never been revealed either on or off the air,” says Jonathan Schwartz. “I can say, however, that is from a private tape and has never been commercially issued.” sup[/sup] = Real Player link ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/147 "2006-05-22T18:43:47Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi played air guitar for one Jethro Tull performance… [/QUOTE] Black Sabbath’s “Warning”, which is incorrectly credited to Iommi/Ward/Bulter/Osbourne on their debut album; _Black Sabbath_; is in fact a cover version of an Aynsley Dunbar’s Retaliation track from 1967. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/148 "2006-05-22T19:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Now for trivia’s trivia. What is the only album after the breakup of Steely Dan in 1980 to feature both Walter Becker and Donald Fagan’s playing before they reunited in the 90s? The terrific and terrifically obscure [Zazu](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005L939/qid=1148318386/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4748366-7635906?s=music&v=glance&n=5174), by Rosie Vela. [/QUOTE] Was [Nightfly](http://www.steelydan.com/lyrnightfly.html) released “posthumously”? I thought they were still together at the time. ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/149 "2006-05-22T19:30:59Z")
Not quite musical but what the hell: [Geoffrey Hughes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0400616/)who plays Onslow on \*Keeping up Appearances \* was the voice of Paul McCartney in _Yellow Submarine_! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/150 "2006-05-22T19:32:29Z")
Elton John’s _Candle in the Wind_ is the only song in history to have charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 (Airplay or Sales) 3 times… … Each time in a different decade … Each version different than the other two … Each version more popular than the one before it It charted in 1974 (1975?) in the Airplay charts (it wasn’t released as a single) and would’ve been on the “Top 40” if the rules for “top 40” admittance were different (there’s another thread on this phenomenon). The second version was in 1987-88, was from a live recording in Australia, and featured a music video with Elton performing the song in some snazzy Mozart getup. The third version came a decade later and, at the time (and could still be, for all I know), was the biggest selling single of all time, the version he wrote for Princess Diana’s death. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/151 "2006-05-22T19:49:37Z")
“Killing Me Softly with His Song” is based on a poem about Don McLean. [Killing Me Softly with His Song - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Me_Softly_With_His_Song) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/152 "2006-05-22T20:01:19Z")
Near the end of “Long Long Long” on The Beatles’ White Album, there is a section where they stop on one sustained note, that has an odd effect in the background, as they make a crescendo of other noises. That odd noise was the sound of a wine bottle vibrating on the top of the cabinet of a Leslie organ speaker. They discovered that when a certain note was hit at a certain volume, it caused the bottle to vibrate and make a sound. So they replicated it, and used it on the record. ---
**Author:** ![Erik\_the\_Viking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Erik\_the\_Viking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erik_the_Viking)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/153 "2006-05-22T20:48:31Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Apparently, Sting (of the Police) was watching the Heads, saw how well they were going over with the audience, and feared they would overshadow his own band’s set. He went straight to the event-coordinators and demanded they pull the plug on the Talking Heads immediately, or else he would refuse to perform. [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t be surprised if this were true, based on another incident that Sting himself described in [The Police Around the World](http://http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6301383761/103-9926164-8072655?v=glance&n=404272). The last time I saw the video was 20 years ago, so I might remember the story wrong, but here’s what I remember: In the middle of a concert (in Germany, I think) Sting was rapidly losing his voice and knew there’d be no way he could hit the high notes in Roxanne. The band was afraid the crowd would riot if they didn’t close with that song so they asked the staff to pull the plug and fein a power outage. Of course after the abrupt end to the show the crowd rioted anyway, but Sting’s voice was saved. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/154 "2006-05-22T21:12:39Z")
Which lines up with a story I heard about Sting - sorry no cite: I think his first solo album came out close to the movie Spinal Tap. As all true music lovers know, that film features a bit where the the Tap’pers are doing their song “Stonehenge” and there is supposed to be an 18-foot model of the stones lowered to the stage - but their crew blew it and made an 18-inch version - and hilarity ensues. Sting had a song on that first album called “Fortress Around Your Heart.” In the spirit of Spinal Tap, on the last show of the tour, his crew build an itty-bitty fortress which they lowered onto the stage during the song. Hilarity did NOT ensue - Sting apparently threw a fit, fired the crew and swore they’d never work in music again… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/155 "2006-05-22T21:35:03Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] Was [Nightfly](http://www.steelydan.com/lyrnightfly.html) released “posthumously”? I thought they were still together at the time. [/QUOTE] The Nightfly was a Donald Fagen solo album released in 1982, two years after Gaucho. I don’t think Becker played anywhere on it. One of the great concept albums of all time, BTW. Christine Perfect was dating Spencer Davis and the two were scraping a living out playing guitars on buses when the two wandered into a pub for lunch and discovered a 15-year-old blues piano player. Davis immediately started the Spencer Davis Group with the prodigy named Stevie Winwood. Christine Perfect had to settle for being the only woman ever to win the Melody Maker Best Female Vocalist award two years in a row - both before she joined Fleetwood Mac. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/156 "2006-05-22T21:37:41Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Alan Parsons, whose Project has done very well, does not sing or play an instrument on any of the Alan Parsons Project albums. He’s the producer. [/QUOTE] He does in fact sing backup vocals, and play keyboards, on a number of the Project songs. ISTR reading that, while he’s an award-winning vocalist, he hardly ever sings. But given what he can do as a producer, both on his Projects and his later, non-Project albums, I can forgive that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/157 "2006-05-22T21:42:00Z")
[QUOTE=Max Torque] Here, this’ll ruin your enjoyment of literature some: Many of Emily Dickinson’s poems can be sung to the tune of “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” _Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me…_ [/QUOTE] That is just wonderful…This really makes me wish I knew more Emily Dickinson poems. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/158 "2006-05-22T21:44:56Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] Near the end of “Long Long Long” on The Beatles’ White Album, there is a section where they stop on one sustained note, that has an odd effect in the background, as they make a crescendo of other noises. That odd noise was the sound of a wine bottle vibrating on the top of the cabinet of a Leslie organ speaker. They discovered that when a certain note was hit at a certain volume, it caused the bottle to vibrate and make a sound. So they replicated it, and used it on the record. [/QUOTE] On the Beatles’ “A Day In the Life”, for the final sustained note (which is noted in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-held note in recorded music history), the studio speakers were turned up so loud, you can actually hear the hum of the studio’s air conditioners. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/159 "2006-05-22T21:56:24Z")
Patti Boyd had 3 of the most beautiful love songs written for her: [ol] [li] **Something** by then-husband George Harrison of the Beatles[/li][li] **Layla** by then-husband’s George Harrison of the Beatles’ best-friend and future husband Eric Clapton[/li][li] **Beautiful Tonight** by then-husband Eric Clapton[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273/160 "2006-05-22T22:01:19Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] On the Beatles’ “A Day In the Life”, for the final sustained note (which is noted in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-held note in recorded music history), the studio speakers were turned up so loud, you can actually hear the hum of the studio’s air conditioners. [/QUOTE] You can hear lots of stuff during that note - pages of sheet music being turned and falling to the floor, chairs creaking, and probably some other things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-random-piece-of-musical-trivia/357273.md?page=9)