Conquer Club

Sunny Afternoon
The Kinks

Another Canadian band I've always liked from that same era is Crowbar, featuring King Biscuit Boy (Richard Newell).

"Sunday Afternoon In The Park"
Van Halen

Saturday In The Park

CHICAGO

When CTA (Chicago Transit Authority)began in the mid-to-late 60s, lots of their songs were protest oriented. With that as a preface, my take on Saturday In the Park is this: the song is a subtle comparison between a happy Saturday in a park with rides, vendors, musicians, etc., and a sad military funeral procession complete with flag-draped casket and riderless horse.

Think of the words. The verses are light. "Every day's the Fourth of July." The verses describe a fun afternoon in a city park. Then comes the bridge and the scene changes to a cemetery park. "Slow motion rider" (the riderless horse and the funeral cortege in slow march cadence---even the drum beat changes style to accentuate this); "fly the colors of the day" (the red, white and blue covering the casket); "a bronze man still can tell stories his own way" (two possibilities here; "a bronze man" could be a statue of some military leader with the plaque telling "the story his own way", or a high-ranking officer at the funeral with lots of medals and hash marks up the sleeve; he, too, tells the story his own way); then, if you are not convinced yet, the bridge ends with "listen children all is not lost, all is not lost". If this isn't a "Peace Now" call, I don't know what one is.

by Wiyakaska

The Heart of Saturday Night
Tom Waits

Chicago's first two albums are still my favorites. Saw them perform twice about thirty years apart. The first time was their very first US tour and the second had a couple members replaced, but they hadn't lost a beat and absolutely rocked the house.

Saturday Night Special

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Its lyrics refer to the cheap handguns popularly associated with the term "Saturday Night Special", and associates them with impulsive violence; the following examples being given: a man being shot by a home intruder, a gambler shooting his gambling partners during a losing night, and accidentally shooting oneself while intoxicated. Notably, it argues that they "ain't good for nothin' / 'Cept for puttin' a man six feet in a hole."

Special Brew
Bad Manners

Strange Brew

CREAM

After the Murray "the K" Show Cream recorded a song called "Lawdy Mama" with Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Studios in New York. When Cream was working on the sessions for Disraeli Gears, producer Felix Pappalardi took the tape of "Lawdy Mama" and with help from his wife Gail Collins transformed the song into "Strange Brew" which according to Eric Clapton "created a pop song without completely destroying the original groove."

Strange Town
The Jam

"Town Called Malice"
The Jam

Small Town

John Cougar

Mellencamp wrote the song about his experiences growing up in a small town in Indiana, having been born in Seymour, Indiana, and living in Bloomington, Indiana, which, at the time of the release of the song, was much smaller. The music video has references to both towns. After that, Mellencamp has been known as champion of "small town America"

My Little Town
Simon & Garfunkel

Unfortunate as it was I think it was Gail who shot Felix
and cut his life way too short. Hard to imagine "Lawdy
Mama" turning into "Strange Brew."

This Little Light of Mine (I'm Gonna Let It Shine)
Christian People

Little Bitch
The Specials

Digital Bitch

Black Sabbath Born Again album

Born Again is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in August 1983. It is the only album the group recorded with lead vocalist Ian Gillan, best known for his work with Deep Purple.

Back to the Middle
Deerhunter

Middle of the Road
The Pretenders

"The Road"
Tenacious D

Add It Up
Violent Femmes

UP ON CRIPPLE CREEK

The Band

Red House

Jimi Hendrix

According to Noel Redding, Hendrix told him "the song was written about Hendrix's old high school girlfriend Betty Jean Morgan". Jimi's brother, Leon Hendrix, also felt that it was about Betty Jean, "with a reference to her sister Maddy". Linda Keith, Keith Richards' then-girlfriend and early Hendrix supporter, referred to her friend's Manhattan apartment, where Hendrix occasionally stayed, as the "Red House" It has been suggested that its "red velvet walls and decor influenced Jimi's writing" as well as his relationship with Keith. However, Billy Cox, who knew Hendrix since his Army days, explained, "As far as I know, 'Red House' didn't have any significance in reference to a particular person, place or thing. It was just a blues number that Jimi put together"

Even though the song credits Hendrix, I always thought of "Red House" as a cover of old twelve bar blues tunes that came before from the likes of Robert Johnson and Albert King.

The House Is A Rockin'
Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble

"House of Pain"
Van Halen