Tune Tag #63 with Michael Elliott of "The Mixtape": Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Memphis Horns, The Flirtations, Doobie Brothers, Roxy Music, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck
Tune Tag #63 with Michael Elliott of "The Mixtape": Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Memphis Horns, The Flirtations, Doobie Brothers, Roxy Music, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck
'70s classic rock appears to rule the day, but you know Tune Tag: Just when you think you can settle into one genre or era....SURPRISE! It's Tune Tag, all the way from A to ZZ! Letter rip!
Hey, Michael! If there’s a pounce…Tag, You’re IT!
Tune Tag welcomes of The Mixtape!
Michael Elliott is a contributor to the pioneering roots music authority, No Depression. His music writing has also appeared in PopMatters, Albumism, Americana UK, and The Bitter Southerner. He’s also the author of Have A Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story (2021, Chicago Review Press).
Michael spent close to thirty years in radio as an operations manager, music director, program director, and disc jockey in a variety of formats. He has interviewed and produced profiles on musicians as diverse as Isaac Hayes, Charlie Daniels, Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, and Little Richard. He lives in Raleigh, NC, where he and his wife, Elizabeth, volunteer for the NC Reading Service, a nonprofit radio service that delivers content to the blind and visually impaired.
Last week, we had the pleasure of ’s company and his Tracks on Tracks Substack:
Next week, we’ll open the Tune Tag door for longtime FR&B friend, , of Earworms and Song Loops, for his historic 3rd ride on the Tune Tag train!
Michael’s song #1 sent to Brad: Willie Nelson, “Shotgun Willie,” 1973
Michael’s rationale: Willie Nelson was one of my first musical heroes. I discovered him at 11 years old, and I could tell even then that there was something about his voice, his guitar, and his sound – that was unlike anything I’d ever heard. It wasn’t long before I was deep-diving into his vast catalog and learning everything I could about him!
I discovered the Shotgun Willie album early on in my journey, and the fact that it was on Atlantic, the label that had all that great soul music I’d grown up listening to, as well as the likes of Led Zeppelin and Yes, was mind-blowing.
So, with that in mind, do your worst!
Brad’s response: Inspiring Willie testimonial, Michael, and I appreciate the label mention. Clearly, you know the way of the Tune Tag! Before I look, I’m going to say it was his next, Red Headed Stranger, that came out on Columbia, soon to be, essentially, his life-label. And, this was after spending the ‘60s on RCA. The man has known his majors!
This after checking: Willie spent most of the ‘60s on RCA, as well as the early-’70s (totaling a baker’s dozen albums), with only two albums on Atlantic…your Shotgun Willie and 1974’s Phases and Stages. Starting with 1975’s Red Headed Stranger, Columbia was Willie’s home for nearly 20 years and 30 albums!
Birth of The Outlaw: Willie Introduces Himself to Columbia Suits: “New York? This is Texas.”
As for his Red Headed Stranger, his Columbia debut, this from the album’s Wiki: Following the success of his recordings with Atlantic Records, coupled with the negotiating skills of his manager, Neil Reshen, Willie signed with Columbia Records, whose suits seemed happy to give him total creative control over his work.
This would be key, early:
After signing with Columbia, he decided to record “Tale of the Red Headed Stranger” (written by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz in 1953). It was recorded at low cost, and the songs on the album featured sparse arrangements, largely limited to Nelson’s guitar, piano, and drums.
Willie presented the finished material to Columbia execs, who were dubious about releasing an album they at first thought was just a demo. Willie reminded them that his contract had given him full creative control, so no further production was necessary…or added!
Four years before fellow Texans ZZ Top wrote and recorded “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” Willie began to reveal his soon-to-be-famous “outlaw” ethos. In case CBS didn’t get the drift, Willie drove it home the following year: His third album for the label was The Troublemaker, an album that was actually recorded in 2 days for Atlantic in 1973, produced by legendary producer/Atlantic exec, Arif Mardin.
Willie had refused to sign an early contract extension with RCA in 1972, and the label then decided not to release any further recordings of Willie’s. The release of the album was later cancelled by Atlantic, whose suits decided that the album was not right for the label.
All this label folderol is what led an increasingly impatient Willie to order his manager, Reshen, to wrangle for creative control in his new CBS deal.
Brad’s song #1 sent to Michael: The Memphis Horns, “High on Music,” 1976
Michael’s response: I assume you chose this because it was produced by (and written by) Stax session legend, Booker T. Jones, who was the producer on Willie’s 2 classic Columbia albums, 1978’s Stardust and his Christmas album the following year, Pretty Paper.
It’s a tune I was vaguely familiar with, being window-dressing on my memories growing up in the ‘70s, when so much (American anthology TV comedy, 1969-1974 on ABC) Love, American Style-type music was ingrained into the culture. Yet even when they’re schmaltzy, you can’t deny the greatness of sax player, Andrew Love (below, left), and Wayne Jackson on trumpet!
Brad’s rationale: The legendary Memphis Horns played on Willie’s album, and here, fully-engulfed in the disco phenomenon a mere three years after “goin’ contree” with Shotgun Willie! But, among the many incredible things the Horns have been for years, flexible and malleable have been one two of them! Booker T. Jones played organ on this danceable banger he wrote, as well as produced!
Michael’s song #2: The Doobie Brothers, “Eyes of Silver,” 1974
Brad’s response: My first thought was Michael McDonald, even though this is a couple years before he became a DooBro. I had seen his name as having written liner notes on a Memphis Horns album or something similar while finding my previous tagged tune!
But, now I’m noticing that Memphis Horn trumpet player, Wayne Jackson, not only plays on this track but arranged it! Former Harpers Bizarre member (1960s) and Warner Bros. Records A&R exec/staff producer, Ted Templeman, produced, and Tom Johnston composed.
Michael’s rationale: I had an old promo copy of The Horns’ High on Music, so I guess you could say I “cheated,” but I noticed that no less than four of the Doobie-, and Doobie-adjacent-Brothers blurbed for the Horns on the back cover. That led me back to 1974 for The Doobies’ What Once Were Vices Are Now Habits, and my favorite track from that album, “Eyes of Silver.”
According to songwriter, Johnston, “Wordwise, that one really isn’t that spectacular. I wrote them at the last minute.” U.S. record industry trade mag, Cash Box, said that it was “very similar to their smash ‘Listen To The Music,’” and “features every lick the Doobies have featured in their great patented sound.” Another trade rag, Record World, said that the group was “back into their chuggin’ folk-rock groove, fitting more easily into their ‘Listen to the Music’ bag.” “Eyes of Silver” didn’t have much success on the charts, peaking at #52.
Brad’s song #2: Tom Lum Forest, “Another Park, Another Sunday,” 2016
Michael’s response: Of course, I got the song choice right away: “Another Park” is another track from the Doobies’ Vices album. The choice of artist, however, is where Brad threw me for a loop. I’d never heard of Tom Lum Forest. Quite an interesting guy to research:
I found that he records a lot of covers of folk-influenced material and has very good taste. He also likes to point out that he’s a trombonist, having first taken up the instrument in the sixth grade. Coincidentally, I also played trombone starting in 6th grade with my middle school band. So this naturally led me to my next song....
Brad’s rationale: Probably my favorite song (again, written by Johnston) from the What Were Once Vices album, this is a 2016 turn on “Another Park, Another Sunday” by Tom Lum Forest.
A completely different feel on this folkie duet than The Doobies’ more jaunty roll👆.
Another “Another Park”: The Re-purpose
Wiki weighs in: Songwriter and vocalist Tom Johnston blamed [the song’s] relative lack of success on reaction from FM radio stations due to a certain line: “It was doing real well [in single release], and then it got yanked off the radio for the line ‘…and the radio just seems to bring me down’.”
In 1980, Pickwick International Records (budget line specializing in licensing older material) released an album, entitled Introducing The Doobie Brothers, featuring two of the band’s earliest songs which were recorded in 1970. The last song on Side Two, “I'll Keep On Giving,” is the obvious precursor to “Another Park, Another Sunday” as the melody is virtually identical:
Michael’s song #3: Trombone Shorty, “Do to Me,” 2011
Brad’s response: It didn’t take me but a few frames in to say, “Hey, that looks like New Orleans!” After I saw a Saints jersey in the crowd, that confirmed it! A couple looks at some band members’ profiles seems to verify it….they’re from N.O.! Not really heard of them and this 2011 track from Trombone Shorty’s For True album.
Michael may be doing a call-back to his “Eyes of Silver” track, and even my Doobie cover above. That’s fine, especially as the Tom Lum Forest cover had precious little available, info-wise, on the ‘net.
If all that is what turned out to be Michael’s tune-al journey, then the New Orleans visual can harken back to the Doobies, who’ve sung about the Crescent City before (as I recall), and Shorty’s trombone can link back to Wayne Jackson, who, I believe, also played ‘bone along with trumpet! Now what to send back?🤔Well, Jeff Beck and his guitar guest on this track! So….Holy “I got it, now!” Batman!
Michael’s rationale: A dirty, greasy workout featuring one of NOLA’s favorite sons teaming up with guitar god, Jeff Beck. I love how damn danceable and joyous this song is, and how Beck proves once again that he was the most open-minded and experimental of the Clapton/Page/Beck British Blues Guitar triumvirate.
Brad’s song #3: Buddy Guy feat. Jeff Beck, “Mustang Sally,” 1991
Michael’s response: I’m assuming it’s simply because of the Jeff Beck connection, but it could be because Buddy’s from Louisiana, just like Trombone Shorty, albeit from Lettsworth (pop. 202 in 2005), which is about two hours and change northwest of New Orleans.
Either way, I remember when this album (Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues…also the title of Guy’s 1999 book, eight years after the album) was released. I’d seen Buddy (who’s now 88, and an 8-time Grammy winner) at least twice a year or two before at the Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC. After this album solidified his standing as a blues legend and the accolades finally came, I’d no longer get so close to him that his sweat hit me from the stage.
Also on the Damn Right album, Buddy covered John Hiatt’s “Where is the Next One Coming From” (above, featuring Mark Knopfler on guitar). I interviewed album producer John Porter about this album (and the following one, 1993’s Feels Like Rain - another Hiatt track chosen for the title) who offered up quite a few stories about those days, and he didn’t mince words:
“As far as ‘Mustang Sally,’ yes, it’s a classic, but Buddy and Jeff’s talents could’ve been put to much better use. Why have these two legends in a room together and prod them to go for the most overplayed bar band song of all time??”
Brad’s rationale: Quite a long list of Jeff Beck guest shots available! I found two (the second, below), but this one keeps us in Louisiana, and the 1936 birth of legendary bluesman, Buddy Guy. A unique player of whom Jeff Beck became an early fan, Guy is typically lumped into the “Chicago blues scene,” but he’s too big to be contained!
Even my fellow Houston homeboy, Billy F. Gibbons, has been a longtime fan…my second choice for a Jeff Beck tag, as he adds his vocals on “Hey Mr. Millionaire”…from 1999 and the band’s XXX album; and, of course, he’s being cooperative, and keeping us in Louisiana, mentioning eating red beans and rice (but, for some reason, sidestepping a stop at Café du Monde for beignets):
My recent account of growing up about 5 miles away and 5 years apart from Billy G.:
Michael’s song #4: Roxy Music, “In Every Dream Home a Heartache,” 1973
Brad’s response: Hmmm, unless Beck made an appearance on TOGWT (not an unheard-of notion), I’m not seeing a link between the Buddy Guy “Mustang Sally” and this arresting Roxy song about a non-living doll!
Alas, the second time this Old Grey Whistle Test appearance by Bryan Ferry and company have made a Tune Tag appearance! The first time? Over a year ago, with
of Joy in the Journey:
Michael’s rationale: Speaking of John Porter (above), he led me to my next pick: He may have produced quite a few Grammy-winning blues and blues-rock releases in the ‘90s and into the 2000s (in addition to Buddy, he worked with B.B. King, Keb’ Mo’, Otis Rush, Taj Mahal, etc), he first came to prominence with Roxy Music. This has always been one of my favorite Roxy tracks…from their second album, For Your Pleasure (1973), and featuring Porter on bass, credited as “guest artist.”
Brad’s song #4: The Flirtations, “Nothing But a Heartache,” 1968
👆“This was filmed in Holland. We were invited over for a TV show [TopPop?] and they took us into this TV Studio with all the set pre-built. Great time was had by all.”—The Flirtations Official YouTube website.
Michael’s response: Brad reminded me of a song that I haven’t played since I DJ’d on an Oldies station years ago (and then only on very rare occasions). The Flirtations should’ve been so much bigger. They were tough and intense, and this song was the perfect vehicle for them. A lost classic for sure! Oh, the connection? Another heartache song? Is that it?
Brad’s rationale: “He’s got me all won, can I get him?” is supposedly the way it goes. I prefer my initial mondegreen: “He’s got me, oh why can’t I get him?” The ole unrequited love story turned on its heart. Singers always seem to be pining about the one we’d love to get, but can’t…or, haven’t yet!
“I’ve got a lot of those heartaches, I’ve got a lot of those teardrops, heartaches, teardrops, all of the way; nothing but a heartache every day!” Tell me about it!💔
A recent deep-dive into the song, the group, and its influences, before and after:
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Oh, and Brad - thanks for the info on the Balinese. What a venue! 'Fandango' is in my top two or three favorite all-time ZZ Top albums (as the retrospective I filed for Albumism back on its 45th anniversary makes clear https://albumism.com/features/zz-top-fandango-turns-45-anniversary-retrospective) so it was fascinating to get the background on that legendary place.
As always, I'm late to the party and never get the hint when it's time to leave! But I like to give these TTs the time they deserve. So here's my ten cents:
1. Great to meet you Michael! Super impressed with your background and I've been wanting to read your John Hiatt book since I heard about it! I just subscribed to The Mixtape, as what you write is "write" in my wheelhouse.
2. Love that you started with Willie Nelson. I'm currently listening to the audiobook "Willie, Waylon and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever," and it's great storytelling. I'm a huge fan of the podcast Cocaine and Rhinestones and am excited to read the book of the same title, next, as Tyler Mahan Coe is also a uniquely talented storyteller.
3. The Memphis Horns song does sound like those melted cheesy TV theme songs of the '70s! The horns do sound fantastic, but what stood out to me on that track was the bass! Holding the pocket and going off at the same time.
4. I didn't know about Booker T. Jones producing Willie (or the Horns, but that one didn't surprise me). I saw Booker T. and the MGs (not sure if any OG MGs were in the band) about 8 or 9 years ago at a small club and they blew my socks off. I've been barefoot ever since.
5. Boy do I love that early Doobies groovy sound. Yes, this one sounds quite similar to "Listen to the Music" but it feels looser, like a jam, like it was born out of them playing "Listen..." and then it turned into "Eyes of Silver" and they said, "Hey let's record this as its own song!"
6. Fun to see Trombone Shorty. As a "shorty" myself, I felt a kinship with him right away. But then I realized he's average height to tall. The name being given to him as a trombone-totin' kid playing with the big cats in the big easy.
7. Love Michael's story about Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck. I thought the same thing before reading his comments -- why such an overcovered song? -- but a great song is a great song even if overplayed.
8. I remember when Roxy Music's "IEDAH" was in TT the first time -- it's one of my all-time favorites. And a clip from I think this same video you use Brad, was included in the recent "Eno" documentary. At least the version I saw, as the doc is a randomly (mostly) chosen film, different for each screening.
9. What a fabulous song by The Flirtations! And what a strange video! Their slo-mo dancing and groovy outfits and set design transfixed me. I feel like I'm on quaaludes watching it! And it's the one drug I've never taken!
10. I don't have a tenth observation but wanted to keep this as a list of ten -- okay, this was a great way to procrastinate getting out of bed this morning! Looking forward to what you're gonna do with my rambles for next week!