July 10, 2021 - GJ - Give and Take

Rockin’ Remnants

Rockin’ Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage, like us on Facebook, and tune in to 93.5 FM or stream the show every Saturday night from 6-9 p.m. Eastern. (Or download the WVBR+app now available for iOS and Android.)

Thanks to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!

Date:    July 10, 2021

Host:    Gregory James

Feature: Give and Take

Birthday Calendar

July 4

Bill Withers (b. 1938  d. 2020)

Alan Wilson (Canned Heat)   (b. 1943   d. 1970)

July 5

Robbie Robertson 78 years old

Huey Lewis 71 years old     

July 6

Bill Haley   (b. 1925  d. 1981)    

Gene Chandler 84 years old

Della Reese  (b. 1931  d. 2017)

July 7

Mary Ford (b. 1924  d. 1977)    

Ringo Starr 81 years old   

Linda Jansen (Angels lead singer until 1962)  (b. 1944   d. 2019)

July 8

Jai Johanny Johanson [Jaimoe]  (Allman Brothers)    77 years old

July 9

Lee Hazlewood  (b. 1929  d. 2007)   

Mitch Mitchell (b. 1946   d. 2008)

July 10

Mavis Staples  82 years old  

Arlo Guthrie 74 years old   

Rock n’ Roll Trivia

Question: What group had hits with two songs, one of whose title began with “Give” and the other with “Take?”

(scroll down to find the answer below the playlist)

Playlist

    * requested songs 

•  all chart information comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or Billboard Hot 100 (for subsequent dates) unless otherwise noted
• glossary of terms is below the playlist

6-7 pm

OPENING THEME: Good Old Rock n’ Roll—Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys (1969, #29, produced by Jimi Hendrix)

Give Me Just A Little More Time  Chairmen Of The Board  1970   #3     This was the debut single for the Chairmen. The Funk Brothers provided the instrumentation, but it was not recorded at Motown, but at the HDH Studios (short for Holland-Dozier-Holland) on the Invictus label.

Take Good Care of My Baby      Bobby Vee   1961  #1

The song was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin who added the introduction at the request of producer Snuff Garrett.

Give A Damn   Spanky and Our Gang  1968  #43

After the group performed the song on the Smothers Brothers TV show, legend has it that then-President Richard Nixon registered a complaint to CBS for its use of the word “damn.” Ironic, since he was recorded using much stronger obscenities in the White House.

Take Off        Bob and Doug McKenzie  1982  #16

So, OK these fictional Canadian brothers were played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. The singing is by Geddy Lee of Rush.

Gimme Some Lovin’ Spencer Davis Group   1967  #7   (UK version)    

This version is a little slower than the U.S. version and lacks some of the percussion. However, it is the master take of the song and includes some lyrics not heard in the U.S. release. The video below was made before music videos were even a thing.

Take It Easy Jackson Brown DNC  1973

Browne was having trouble finishing the song and his then- neighbor Glenn Frey offered to help, finishing the “Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona” lyric.

Give A Little Bit Supertramp    1977   #15

Composer Roger Hodgson says the song was inspired by “All You Need is Love.”

Take Me In Your Arms   Kim Weston 1965  #50 H100, #4 R&B

Even though Weston had been with Motown for two years, this was her first collaboration with Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Give Me Love George Harrison  1973  #1

Nicky Hopkins played the piano, which was double tracked.

Take A Letter, Maria       R. B. Greaves 1969  #2

Greaves was born on a U.S. Air Force base in Georgetown Guyana. He started his musical career in the Caribbean and the U.K. A nice surprise awaits you at the end of the video below.

Give Us Your Blessing Ray Peterson 1963  #70

This was a follow up to Peterson’s earlier teen tragedy “Tell Laura I Love Her.” Both songs were written by Jeff Barry.

Takin’ It To The Streets Doobie Brothers 1976  #13

Taken from the LP of the same name, it was the first record to feature Michael McDonald on lead vocals. He also wrote the song.

Give It To The People Righteous Bros  1974  #20

From their comeback album of the same name on the Haven label. The song has an autobiographical feel, even using the word “righteous” in the lyrics.

Take Me To The River Al Green 1974  DNC

The record did not chart, but Rolling Stone did rank the song at 117 on its list of 500 greatest songs of all time. Check out this all-star live rendition of the song.

Give Him A Great Big Kiss      Shangri Las   1965  #18

From their debut LP “Leader of the Pack” on the Red Bird label. This track gets the prize for Rockin’ Remnants lyrics of the week. The dude who is the subject of the song is “good-bad, but he’s not evil.”

Take Me For What I’m Worth Searchers  1966   #76

P.F. Sloan wrote this song.

7-8 pm

Use Me Bill Withers 1972  #2

This song might be subtitled “What I Did for Love.” It was Withers’ second biggest U.S. hit.

On the Road Again Canned Heat 1968  #16

Alan Wilson sang this song derived from delta blues via Chicago blues musician Floyd Jones.  

It Make No Difference The Band    1975   DNC  

Featuring some of Rick Danko’s most expressive singing and Robbie Robertson’s stinging guitar work, this song has been called “one of pop music’s saddest songs.” The video below has about a minute of interview before the song.

I Want a New Drug Huey Lewis and The News 1984  #6

You know that love is the drug in question, right?  Nice homage to “Purple Haze in the guitar riff fade-out. Check out the interplay between the Tower of Power and The News in this video.

Rock the Joint  Bill Haley and the Comets   1952 DNC

The track straddled the margin between rock and country swing, and reportedly it was the recording that prompted Haley to move more toward rock ‘n roll.

Groovy Situation Gene Chandler 1970   #12   

This was Chandler’s second biggest hit after “Duke of Earl.” Can you dig it?

Don’t You Know? Della Reese 1959  #2 H100  #1 R&B

Adapted from an aria in “La bohéme,” this was Della Reese’s biggest hit.

How High the Moon Les Paul and Mary Ford  1951  #1  (9 weeks)

This record spent 25 weeks on the charts, nine of them at number 1. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Oh My My Ringo Starr    1974  #5

Ringo has always had a knack for surrounding himself with great musicians—in this case Tom Scott, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann and the great Martha Reeves and Merry Clayton on backing vocals.

Till   The Angels   1961  #14    

From their LP “My Boyfriend’s Back.”  The title is spelled "Till" on the Caprice label and "Til" on the Eric label. Barbara “Bibs” Allbut died recently on July 11, 2021.

One Way Out Allman Brothers Band 1972   #86   

Written by Elmore James, the Brothers’ version was recorded at Fillmore East. After Duane Allman and Dickey Betts traded sizzling guitar solos, bassist Berry Oakley noticeably came in a beat early, but the band got the groove back almost immediately. The video below is a compilation of several of the band's concerts during that era, set to the audio released on "Eat a Peach." Worth a look to see the guys in action.

Jackson Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra   1967  #14

Billy Edd Wheeler was inspired to write the song after reading Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Jerry Lieber suggested that Wheeler put the last verse first, beginning with “We got married in a fever…”

Fire Jimi Hendrix Experience   1967  DNC  

According to Noel Redding, Jimi simply wanted to stand closer to the hearth because it was a cold night in Folkestone.  Hendrix took that experience and, in one of his early endeavors in songwriting, expanded it into its final version.

I’ll Take You There Staple Singers   1972 #1 H100   #1 R&B

The track was recorded at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, and the backing band was the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.

Highway in the Wind Arlo Guthrie 1967  NR  

From his “Alice’s Restaurant” L.P.

8-9 pm

Gimme Little Sign Brenton Wood   1967  #9

The title may have been “Give Me Little Sign,” but the lyric goes “Just give me some kind of sign…”

Take A Chance On Me     ABBA    1978  #3

A good song to sing to yourself while running.

Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones  DNC  1969

Mick Jagger has characterized the song as apocalyptic, but Keith Richards said the song was simply inspired by people literally running for shelter during a London rainstorm.

Take The Long Way Home    Supertramp        1979  #10

With all the road construction in and around Ithaca, it seems like every way is the long way home.

Gimme Three Steps Lynyrd Skynyrd DNC  1973

The band rehearsed in Jacksonville, FL (scene of the song’s biker bar) and recorded in Doravile, GA with Al Kooper producing.

*Give Peace A Chance Plastic Ono Band 1969   #14

Request from Scottie to Brooktondale Peggy and the Honey Hive Crew. This was John Lennon’s first solo single while he was still a Beatle. Tommy Smothers played acoustic guitar and Timothy Leary and Petula Clark sang backing vocals.

(Take Another Little) Piece Of My Heart Erma Franklin   1967  

#62 H100,   #10 R&B  

This was the original version of this song sung by Erma Franklin who was Aretha Franklin’s older sister.  

Take Me For A Little While Evie Sands 1965  #114   

This is a 1969 re-recording. The original recording was embroiled in some record company espionage. Although Evie Sands was the first singer to record the song on Blue Cat records, a Chess Records executive got his hands on a pre-release copy of Sands’ version and Jackie Ross’ version of the song was released first on the Chess label.  A court case ensued and Chess had to withdraw the Jackie Ross version from circulation.

Take It To The Limit Eagles 1976  #4

This song was both Randy Meisner’s shining moment and the cause of his departure from the Eagles after he declined to sing the song due to exhaustion after an 11 month concert tour.

Take Me     Brenda Lee 1967  #126

Although known primarily as a pop and country singer, on this track, Lee reaches an astonishing level of soulful intensity and passion not often heard from her.

Give Me One More Chance      Wilmer And The Dukes    1968  #80 The band got its start over in Geneva NY in 1957 where they regularly played the Club 86.

I Want to Take You Higher Sly/Family Stone   1969 #60,   1970  #38

This was the B-side to “Stand” and, as such, it charted twice, almost exactly one year apart.

Take a Giant Step (Outside Your Mind) Monkees  1966   DNC This King and Goffin composition was the B-side to “Last Train to Clarksville.”

Give Me A Reason To Be Gone Maureen McGovern  1974  #71    McGovern performed on Broadway, and you may remember her as Sister Angelina, the singing nun, in the movie “Airplane!”

CLOSING THEME: Sleep Walk – Santo and Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)

Trivia Answer: Supertramp!

“Give a Little Bit” (1977) and “Take the Long Way Home” (1979).

Congratulations to Steve from Trumansburg for correctly answering the question and winning a pair of tickets to Cinemapolis!

Glossary of Terms:

DNC = did not chart

NR = not released as a single at the time

AC = Billboard’s chart for Adult Contemporary records

BB = Billboard Magazine, publisher of the Hot 100 and other charts

H100 = Billboard Hot 100

Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top 100

CW = Billboard’s chart for country and western records

R&B = Billboard’s chart of rhythm and blues records

RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

RS 500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranking of the top 500 singles of all time.

Host July 17, 2021: Jan Hunsinger with a focus on "Soul Hits of the Early '70s."

Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to Rockin’ Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9 p.m. Eastern on WVBR (93.5 FM in Ithaca NY) or streaming on WVBR.com.

Thanks again to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!