[QUOTE=Sampiro]
Herman’s Hermits two biggest hits were both accidental. …
The other time he needed a short song to fill some vinyl he reverted to a silly ditty he and his band used to sing whenever they played a teenaged girl’s birthday or batmitzvah or graduation party or whatever, “Mrs. [hostess’s surname] You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”. (On an interview program he talked about how hard it was when the girl was named something really long like Shostakovich or whatever, but they did it.) He went with “Brown” because it was generic and he had friends named Brown and never expected anybody to like the song anyway but it way outsold the expected hits.
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Well, maybe. But when I first read this it sounded as if they had written the song. They didn’t.
Absolutely not. Mrs. Brown came out before Henry the Eighth, which was included on their next album as a true music hall song to respond to the 14 million copies Mrs. Brown sold.
And for the trivia, who was Mrs. Brown’s daughter in the movie version?
Sarah Caldwell.
Hah. The trivia mavens amongst you probably thought I was going to say a greyhound because the movie was about a racing dog. But the dog’s name was Mrs. Brown. Sarah Caldwell played girl-next-door Judy Brown, daughter of Mona Washbourne who played Mrs. George Brown.
Don’t worry, sampiro. If you remember 60s trivia correctly, you weren’t really there.
[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
“Elton” comes from saxophone player Elton Dean, who played with Soft Machine and other British groups. “John” is from Long John Baldry, a British blues singer.
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[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus]
Well here is a link that supports what I said.
But apart from an actual quote from one of the bandmembers, it is hard to say whther this is urban legend or not.
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Yep - my Googling supports your statement. I read what I countered with in a music magazine way back in '93 when Pablo Honey came out, so can’t come back with a counter-cite…
The Beatles appeared on an episode of Dr. Who (“The Chase” with the First Doctor). It was taken from one of their other BBC appearances and written into the story: Vicki sees the performance and says she really doesn’t like classical music.
The Mothers added “of Invention” to their name on the insistance of the record company. Hot Tuna also changed their name; they originally called themselves “Hot Shit.”
Singer-songwriter Janis Ian is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and has at least seven stories published in pro anthologies.
More Dolly & Porter trivia: When Wagoner was in his 70’s, he was so in debt he was literally impoverished. Parton bought the whole Porter Wagoner songbook for a couple of million, mainly to ensure that he wasn’t destitute in his old age.
The first time Hank Williams sung at the Grand Ol’ Opry he did seven encores with only one song-- “Hey Good Lookin’.”
Bonnie Owens was married to both Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Although she had lived in Missouri since the 70’s, she died only weeks after Buck Owens did.
Rose Maddox started singing with The Maddox Bros and Rose at the age of 11. The radio station wouldn’t hire The Maddox Brothers without a girl singer, so despite her only knowing the lyrics of three songs, Rose was drafted.
Three of the founding members of the Turtles (treacly sweet “Happy Together”) joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. They were contractually prohibited from using the name “The Turtles” so they referred to themselves as “Flo and Eddie.”
…
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“Flo and Eddie” sing backing vocals on the Bruce Springsteen song “Hungry Heart”.
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph]
“Flo and Eddie” sing backing vocals on the Bruce Springsteen song “Hungry Heart”.
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… as well as on the Psychedelic Furs’Love My Way.
In the movie To Have and To Have Not, nineteen year old Lauren BaCall sings a song while standing at a piano played by Hoagy Carmichael. Her voice was dubbed by another teenager – Andy Williams.
Liz Phair sings backup on Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun.”
Sting sings backup on Dire Strait’s “Money for Nothing.”
Laurie Anderson’s “Excellent Birds” with Peter Gabriel became Peter Gabriel’s “This Is The Picture” with Laurie Anderson.
Brigitte Bardot’s then-husband Gunter Sachs (who has made some news recently with “scientific” studies of astrology) forbid her from singing with Serge Gainsbourg on his song “Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus.” She was replaced by his lover, Jane Birkin.
One of the pretty girls that joins him is Kathryn Grant who soon became Mrs. Bing Crosby.
Another that he recorded, “All By Myself,” was written by Eric Carmen with a great deal of assistance from Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto.
Much of the old standard “Moonlight in Vermont” by John Blackburn is made up of haiku. For example:
[QUOTE=Zoe]
…
Another that he recorded, “All By Myself,” was written by Eric Carmen with a great deal of assistance from Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto.
…:
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Are you sure Manilow recorded this? The only version I am aware of is the one recorded by Carmen himself.
[QUOTE=Zoe]
In the movie To Have and To Have Not, nineteen year old Lauren BaCall sings a song while standing at a piano played by Hoagy Carmichael. Her voice was dubbed by another teenager – Andy Williams.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Zoe]
Much of the old standard “Moonlight in Vermont” by John Blackburn is made up of haiku.
[/QUOTE]
That’s nuthin’—the entire song “Bob” by Weird Al Yankovic is made up of palindromes.
John Prine wrote a song titled “Goof Old World” which had as its working title “if the whole world was as flat as an oyster, everyone would be happy as a clam.” The song’s lyric are almost all cliches.
Young-Holt Unlimited had a big hit in the late 60’s with the instumental “Soulful Strut”. The exact tune, with vocals added, was previously a hit for Barbara Acklin as “Am I the Same Girl” (later covered by Swing out Sister).
[QUOTE=WordMan]
Yep - my Googling supports your statement. I read what I countered with in a music magazine way back in '93 when Pablo Honey came out, so can’t come back with a counter-cite…
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For what it’s worth…I remember seeing a television interview with Thom Yorke from back when Pablo Honey came out, and he told a story that was pretty much the same as the one you referenced. Jonny had a habit of checking that his guitar was live by making that “ka-chunk” sound. They thought it was a cool sound and decided to put it on the record.
Dunno if it’s really true, but I definitely remember hearing the story.
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=Ceejaytee]
Billy Joel’s “This Night” is based on Beethoven’s “Pathetique.” Beethoven even got a songwriting credit for it.
Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic” is based on Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor (Opus 28, No. 20).
[/QUOTE]
The Beatles’ “Because” is, more or less, based on the chords of Moonlight Sonata played backwards.
