Episode 151: “San Francisco” by Scott McKenzie

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 151: "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie
/

The Mamas and the Papas, with Scott McKenzie peeking between Michelle and Cass

We start season four of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs with an extra-long look at “San Francisco” by Scott McKenzie, and at the Monterey Pop Festival, and the careers of the Mamas and the Papas and P.F. Sloan.  Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Up, Up, and Away” by the 5th Dimension.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Errata: An incorrect version of the file was previously uploaded, with the wrong section edited in at approximately 57 minutes. This was fixed about three hours after uploading, but some streaming services may have cached the wrong file.

Also I say that John Phillips wrote “No, No, No, No”. I got this from an interview with McKenzie, but he must have been misremembering — the song is a cover version of “La Poupee Qui Fait Non” by Michel Polnareff, with English-language lyrics by Geoff Stephens

Continue reading “Episode 151: “San Francisco” by Scott McKenzie”

PLEDGE WEEK: “Farmer John” by Don and Dewey

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
PLEDGE WEEK: "Farmer John" by Don and Dewey
/

This is a bonus episode, part of Pledge Week 2021. Patreon backers get one of these with every episode of the main podcast. If you want to get those, and to support the podcast, please visit patreon.com/andrewhickey to sign up for a dollar a month or more.

Click below for the transcript.

Continue reading “PLEDGE WEEK: “Farmer John” by Don and Dewey”

Episode 122: “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 122: "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke
/

Sam Cooke in a dinner jacket

Episode 122 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs is a double-length (over an hour) look at “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, at Cooke’s political and artistic growth, and at the circumstances around his death. This one has a long list of content warnings at the beginning of the episode, for good reason…

Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “My Guy” by Mary Wells.

 

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. For this episode, he also did the re-edit of the closing theme. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 122: “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke”

Episode 60: “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 60: "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke
/

Sam Cooke smoking a cigarette and playing a guitar

Episode sixty of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Little Darlin'” by The Gladiolas.

Also, an announcement — the book version of the first fifty episodes is now available for purchase. See the show notes, or the previous mini-episode announcing this, for details.

Continue reading “Episode 60: “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke”

Episode 54: “Keep A Knockin'” by Little Richard

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 54: "Keep A Knockin'" by Little Richard
/

Little Richard

Episode fifty-four of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Keep A Knockin'” by Little Richard, the long history of the song, and the tension between its performer’s faith and sexuality. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “At the Hop” by Danny and the Juniors.

Continue reading “Episode 54: “Keep A Knockin’” by Little Richard”

Episode 34: “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 34: "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard
/

Little Richard

Episode thirty-four of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard, and at the rather more family-unfriendly subject the song was originally about. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Also, a reminder for those who didn’t see the previous post — my patreon backers are now getting ten-minute mini-episodes every week, and the first one is up, and I guested on Jaffa Cake Jukebox this week, talking about the UK top twenty for January 18 1957.

Continue reading “Episode 34: “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard”

Episode 32: “I Got A Woman” by Ray Charles

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 32: "I Got A Woman" by Ray Charles
/

Ray Charles at a piano

Welcome to episode thirty-two of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs. This one looks at “I Got A Woman” by Ray Charles. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Continue reading “Episode 32: “I Got A Woman” by Ray Charles”