Serves You Right to Suffer
I am sure just a handful of my readers will get the inference in the title of todays article. Serves you right to suffer was a blues song by John Lee Hooker recorded around 1966 for an album by the same name. Slow and brooding, it’s actually a great song but I was thing more about the J.Geils Band version from the live album “Full House”. Another great cover from one of America’s rock and roll bands.
My story today is about those hidden masterpieces that people rarely listen to but when they finally hear them, their eyes and ears are opened up to something special. My list today is just some of the songs that I think people should give a listen to and maybe they will feel the same.
We start off with “Serves you right to suffer” by J.Geils from that incredible live album, “Full House”. I have listened to this song a thousand times and can listen a thousand more and never get tired of it. From Magic Dick on his lickin stick to Peter Wolfe on guitar, the pain and anguish of love lost is real. The album is the perfect example of why the J.Geils Band is one of the great American rock and roll bands.
Next, give a listen to “Lazy” by Deep Purple. In my humble opinion it has one of the best intros ever. It showcases almost everyone in the band at some point. Starts off nice and easy as Tina Turner once said and then just takes off. The lyrics? Not really the point when you have a band as tight and focused as Deep Purple was for that short period of time. The album it comes from, “Machine Head”, should be included in every record collection. It is essential and it solidifies Deep Purples move from heavy R&B to a more heavy metal structure.
One that slipped through the cracks back in late ‘70’s was Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Blue Collar”. From the debut album “Bachman Turner Overdrive” it was a six minute story about the night shift and how no one thinks about them. Strangely enough, I was working the night shift before college and this song resonated like no other. Besides, I love Randy Bachman’s vocals on almost everything he has done, and “Blue Collar” is a prime example of how good a voice he had. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of the “BTO” stuff from back then actually stands up very well anymore but I feel this song does.
What might be my favorite undiscovered gem “Your Own Backyard” by Mott the Hoople from the “Brain Capers” album is an incredible ballad about someone beating back the demons of success and excess. The vocals by Ian Hunter are perfect as well as the music. It starts slows and builds perfectly. This is another song that I can never play too much.
While it may not technically be considered a rock song, “As” by Stevie Wonder from “Songs in The Key of Life” is a seven minute love song that never tires me out. Stevie Wonder is truly a treasure and if you look at his body of work, it is very hard to say one song or one album is better than all the others. “As” is up there but my point is more about getting songs that people may not have heard or have forgotten about and this song fits the bill. I think “Songs” is Wonder’s best, most complete album and this song stands out.
Another cover that stands out to me and got minimal airplay when it came out was Rush’s cover of Buffalo Springfields’ “Mr Soul”. From the “Feedback” album, this version of that classic is pure rock and roll and shows how musically adept Rush was. The album has several really good covers as well and is worth a listen. As a matter of fact, any album that has excellent versions of “Summertime Blues”, “Crossroads”, and “For What it’s Worth” should be worth a listen.
In the “They don’t write protest songs like this anymore” category you will have to put The Temptations “Runaway Child, Running Wild”. At ten minutes it was a rarity in the sixties and it never landed on any studio album but was a stand alone single and every member tells the story of a boy running away from home thinking there was a better world outside his bedroom and finds like many other runaways, thats far from reality. The story still holds up today and the funky beats in this song inspired more than a few artists in following decades.
Surprisingly, one of the most vanilla bands of all time came a song from “The Little River Band” called “It’s A Long Way There”. Another song that clocks in at around eight and half minutes, that shows a group of fairly talented musicians stretch it out a little. LRB hailed from Australia and had a couple of hits in the ‘70’s that were overly produced and too sappy for my taste and then I heard this song on some FM station at around 3 in the morning and I had to have it. I normally never bought an album for one song, too cheap, but I did for this one. Rarely, got radio play and still to this day, you never hear it and thats too bad because the vocals are great, the harmonies are great and the guitar work completely surprised me.
These are just a few songs that I think everyone should try out. It is by no means complete and I will in the future add to this list as time goes on. I would love to hear what you think and give me songs that I may not have heard or have forgotten about.