I’m Hungry…

I am hungry, actually, which got me thinking about this old song by Paul Revere & the Raiders.  The lead singer was actually Mark Lindsay, who I think live in Portland, OR now; at least he hosts a weekly radio show from there.  While normally you think of more pop-ish stuff when you think of Paul Revere & the Raiders, Hungry is a pretty edgy song.  While I was never a huge PR fan, I do really like Hungry:

Get a load of those costumes and tricky dance moves.  I’d like to see Korn or Tool do that; they just don’t do rock & roll like this anymore. Okay, now I have to go find something to eat.  I can almost taste it …

NOTE: As the original video I had posted here was apparently pulled for “terms of use violations” I have replaced it with this boring version.  Oh well, you can hear the song, anyway.

CSN&Y: Classic Rock at its best

Of the many, many great bands of the classic rock era, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stand out.  Even though Graham Nash was British, and Neil Young was Canadian, they are still perhaps one of the most original American contributions to classic rock.  Their style is still unique: a blend of folk, country, blues and rock, plus an almost tribal approach to their arrangements and jams.

While only appearing on Neil Young’s solo album, here is the original band performing Down By the River on the Dick Cavett show in 1969:

Even though this was never a favorite song of mine, in my opinion this performance shows CSN&Y at their best.

I don’t know why, but I just love this song…

Another song that they’ve been playing on the local stations a lot lately is Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit In The Sky. I don’t know why, but I just love that song.  I don’t even feel guilty for liking it; it’s just so cool.

It first came out, of course, when the Jesus movement was taking off, about the time songs like Oh Happy Day and Put Your Hand in the Hand were making airplay, as well as George Harrison’s M Sweet Lord and The Byrds Jesus is Just Alright (the Doobie Brothers recorded it 3 years later).  Theology was not necessarily important at that time; it was just cool to sing about some kind of God.

Spirit in the Sky was not a religious song; Norman Greenbaum wrote and sung novelty songs, his prior hit being The Eggplant That Ate Chicago. Even though he sings “I’ve got a friend in Jesus,” I don’t think he meant it. He was, and is, Jewish.  According to Wikepedia, the authoritative source for all useless bits of information, the song was inspired by Norman watching Porter Waggoner sing some country gospel song on TV.

Whatever the inspiration, it’s a great, catchy tune, with clever, humorous lyrics. Personally, I don’t think it makes fun of either Jesus or Christianity, but does poke fun at some ignorant, fundamentalist types, which I’m not beyond doing myself. So, when it comes on the radio – almost daily – I turn it up, and I always smile.  Sometimes I sing along.