Day After Day #23: Intro/Sweet Jane

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Intro/Sweet Jane (1974)

Lou Reed's been gone more than a decade now, but his presence still looms large. His years with the Velvet Underground were legendary (and I'm sure they'll be discussed here in more detail at a future date), but today's entry looks at the early years of solo Lou. In the fall of 1973, Reed had just released his album Berlin, a rock opera about a doomed couple struggling with drug addiction and abuse. The critics didn't get it and the album sold poorly, leaving Reed disillusioned. 

But he put together a killer band for his European tour in late '73, featuring lead guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, and they combined Reed's newer material with classic Velvet Underground songs. Rounded out by Prakash John on bass, Pentti Glan on drums and Ray Colcord on keyboards, the band delivered stirring performances and a big rock sound. The entire backing band (minus Colcord) ended up becoming Alice Cooper's band for a few albums, thanks to the Bob Ezrin connection (he produced Berlin and a bunch of Cooper albums).

Returning to the U.S., Reed's performance from Dec. 21, 1973 at the Academy of Music in New York City was recorded for the Rock 'n' Roll Animal album. The original version of the album consists of five songs, four of which were VU originals. A remastered version released in 2000 includes two more songs, and other songs played during the concert were released in 1975 on Lou Reed Live.

The RNR Animal version of "Sweet Jane" is very different from the VU original, which is a mellower yet still potent song on the 1970 album Loaded that's probably the band's most recognized song. After Reed left the band shortly before Loaded came out, he continued to play "Sweet Jane" in concert. Many bands have covered the song, most notably the Cowboy Junkies with a slower version.

But the arrangement on RNR Animal is a majestic rocker, especially with the extended intro that features Hunter and Wagner on twin lead guitar soloing while John's nimble bass runs underneath. The intro goes on for 3:30 before Reed comes out on stage and starts singing "Sweet Jane." The song, which runs in total nearly 8 minutes, became a staple of FM rock radio, especially if the DJ needed to run out for a smoke or bathroom break. 

There's plenty of debate about what "Sweet Jane" is actually about, but one interpretation is it's a younger person looking at an older couple derisively and then realizing they're not that different after all.

"And there's even some evil mothers/They'll tell you that life is just made out of dirt/And women never really faint/That villains always blink their eyes/And that children are the only ones who blush/And life is just to die. But everyone who ever had a heart/They wouldn't turn around and break it/Anyone who played a part/They wouldn't turn around and take it."

The rocked-up version of the song rubbed some people the wrong way, with an NME writer calling the album and Lou Reed Live "the ultimate insults, Reed wrecking the rare beauty and affirmation of his greatest songs by turning them into cliche ridden hack heavy metal mutations." To which I say: Lighten up, Francis. It's a different arrangement, for sure, but there's no denying it kicks the requisite amounts of ass while still being respectful to the songs. The entire RNR Animal album, to these ears, is one of the greatest live albums ever. 'Nuff said.

Day After Day #14: Surrender

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Surrender

Growing up in the 1970s was something else, man. I'm not coming at this from some "you kids are soft" vantage point; it was just different. I'm not going to go into all the differences, but for the purposes of this post, I'm going to talk about live albums. The '70s were all about live albums and they totally made careers. 

Sure, you had the Who and the Stones releasing some of the best live albums of all time, but if you were a struggling artist, sometimes a live album was what it took to convince music fans that you were all that. KISS had a good gimmick but their first three albums were duds. It wasn't until Alive! was released in the fall of 1975 that the band broke through, even as they were savaged by critics. The album hit #9 on the Billboard 200 chart and stayed on the chart for 110 weeks. Peter Frampton had four albums under his belt and little success before he released Frampton Comes Alive! in 1976. It ended up going to #1 and becoming the best-selling album of the year, selling over 8 million copies in the U.S. alone. It has sold 20 million worldwide. 

Then there's Cheap Trick, straight outta Rockford, Illinois. Formed in 1973, the band released its self-titled debut in early 1977, chock full of excellent, hard-edged power pop, but it didn't register with fans. The band had a gimmick, namely the matinee idol good looks of singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson and the dorkier look of guitarist Rick Neilsen and perpetually smoking drummer Bun E. Carlos. Zander and Petersson would be featured on album covers while Neilsen and Carlos would be goofing off on the back covers. 

A second album, In Color, came out in September '77 and emphasized the pop side with songs like "I Want You to Want Me" and "Southern Girls" but again, it didn't meet with success in the U.S. But it was big in Japan and the band played two shows there in April 1978, just before the release of its third album, Heaven Tonight. Played in front of 12,000 screaming fans, the shows were recorded for a live album intended for a Japan-only release that fall. Cheap Trick At Budokan was later released in the U.S. in February 1979 and after the live version of "I Want You to Want Me" was released as a single, it took off. The song was everywhere that spring, hitting #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and #2 on the Canadian singles chart. The live version was fuller than the studio one, with a faster tempo and heavier guitar. The second single was a cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame," which hit #35 on the charts. 

At Budokan was a monster success, peaking at #4 on the Billboard 200 and selling over 3 million copies; it went to #1 on the Canadian album charts. Several other songs received tons of airplay on FM rock radio, most notably "Surrender," which was on Heaven Tonight. The song was a modest success when first released, hitting #62 on the Hot 100 chart. But again, the live version surpassed the studio one. The song is a classic teen anthem, contrasting the teen narrator and his parents, but then notes that "Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright/They just seem a little weird/Surrender, surrender/But don't give yourself away." Doesn't get much catchier.

The band followed up the live album with Dream Police later in '79. The title track was a big hit (and I bought it on 45) and it signaled a heavier sound for the band, who started headlining arenas. Petersson left the group but they kept going with a couple of replacements. None other than George Martin produced the next album, 1980's All Shook Up, which went gold. The first half of the '80s saw the band in a downturn, still releasing albums but having less and less success. Petersson returned in '87 and the band started working with outside writers for the 1988 release Lap of Luxury and sure enough, they scored a #1 hit with the ballad "The Flame" and also got to #4 with a cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel." 

However, the '90s were a struggle for Cheap Trick, with more lackluster albums. In 1997, they went back to basics, ditching the outside songs on their second self-titled album. It was a strong release but didn't sell much. The following year, the band released the full version of the Budokan album and re-released their first three albums, playing three-night stints in multiple cities and doing a different album front to back each night (I saw them play In Color at the Paradise on that tour). They're still going, albeit without Carlos. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

Cheap Trick headlined the first concert I ever attended, in July 1984 in my hometown at the time, Kingston, New Hampshire. They sounded great, but sadly they were an afterthought compared to the bands on the rise who opened for them: Ratt, Twisted Sister and Lita Ford. After Ratt left the stage, half the crowd left the fairgrounds. I moved up to the front and managed to get a Nielsen guitar pick (not a huge feat since he constantly flicks them into the crowd at every show). I didn't care that they weren't that popular anymore. At Budokan definitely still ruled in my mind.

Completely Conspicuous 499: Live/Dead

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's first official live album, Live/Dead. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded at CompCon world HQ
- Live/Dead was released in 1969
- There weren't a lot of live albums released then
- The band did it as a make-good to the label after some poor-selling albums
- Recorded at the Fillmore West
- Songs evolved in live setting
- At the time, it was unusual to play extended jams
- Music fans really focused on albums back in the heyday of vinyl
- The first thing you hear on the album is 23-minute "Dark Star"
- Now for the tuning section
- Phil: Have listened to 250-300 Dead bootlegs
- Bootleg tape trading was huge in the '70s and '80s
- Archive.org, Nugs.net have tons of Dead shows
- On a lot of '70s-era live albums, bands went in and re-recorded songs or parts of songs
- Some bands perfectly recreate their studio sound
- "Death Don't Have No Mercy" is reminiscent of Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You"
- When this album came out, FM radio was in a very experimental place
- Some stations would play album sides or even entire records
- "St. Stephen" is a standout
- Jay: I've been impressed so far
- Phil explains the Dead to his kids
- Seeing a dude doing coke off his dashboard at a Dead show

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.