"Tomorrow Is a Long Time"

Elvis Presley - "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" (1966)

From the soundtrack album Spinout, where Elvis plays a part time rock band leader and part time race car driver. Three different women want to marry him. It couldn't be more of a Marty Stu movie if it tried.



This song's got a convoluted recording history. Let's break it down. Originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan in 1962 as a demo, that version was only available on bootleg and didn't get released until 2010. A bootlegged live version, recorded in April 1963 in New York was the most commonly heard version of the song for years, by Dylan at least. This version that played over the Walking Dead season one finale is now the only version by Dylan easily available on line. I think it's the 1963 live version, but I can't promise. Anyway, back to the brief story of the Elvis version. In August of 1963 Bob Dylan played at the Civil Rights march in Washington DC along with many others. One of those was Black folk singer Odetta. in January of 1965 Odetta released an album called Odetta sings Dylan that included her take on the song. Now Elvis didn't need Odetta's version to record Dylan, he was a fan, and covered at least a couple more Dylan tunes during his later career, mostly informal never released stuff, but still; he knew the guy. So why is the Odetta version an important step? It's clearly the version Elvis, his producer Felton Jarvis, and his musicians based their version on.

I'm hearing two acoustic guitars, one playing an almost slide-like wailing occasional lead. The other playing chords. The only real percussion is a tambourine doing just about the most laid back tambourine I've ever heard. I really like the walking bass on this track. It's a great sound and not overly loud or brash. Actually that bass is just about all that keeps the instruments on this song from being an old folk recording, it's too clear and was obviously done in a studio. Elvis gets forgotten a lot in today's fast paced musical world, but his voice here is not to be denied.

"Cyprus Avenue"

Van Morrison - "Cyprus Avenue" (1968)

"It's too late to stop now!"



This is a stream of consciousness style vocal over blues chords. So in that way it's like a Dylan tune. But then we've got flute, violin, and harpsichord. At that point it sort of crosses into chamber or baroque pop. It's hard to imagine a song with a harpsichord playing blues. It's like a electric blues rocker from the same time period, except instead of electric guitar it's got a violin. Instead of a harmonica it's got a flue. Instead of Hammond organ it's got a harpsichord and instead of electric bass it's got an upright bass. It's really long and rambling, so how does this all work? Well, Van Morrison is Northern Irish. So he's got the folk in his blood. And the rambling story thing is pure Irish as well.

Apparently this was a regular closing song for Van Morrison on the road. He would play it as an encore and his wild performances and interaction with the fans and the band were seen as influenced by James Brown, and in turn influencing on Bruce Springsteen. The song always got wild in concert and was so popular that he named his 1974 live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, the line he always used to close the song, and the whole set.

"Is It Because I'm Black"

Syl Johnson - "Is It Because I'm Black" (1969)

 Short answer: Yes.



This is Chicago blues, an electrified, amplified version of the original Delta blues. That added electric bass also puts it squarely in the Chicago sub-category. Not every Black artist recorded a message song in the late 60s, and not every song that Syl Johnson recorded was a message song, but this was definitely his take on what the Black experience was like. Born in Mississippi, he moved at age 14 to Chicago with his family, following the path of the Great Migration like millions of other African American families. Instead of better times, many found just a different kind of hardship in the inner city. It is from this place that Johnson writes. Syl Johnson always claimed that he wrote the song in response to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The song keeps grooving, with the soon to be better known Hodges Brothers playing guitar, bass and organ on the track. About a year after this track was cut, a musician named Willie Mitchell was put in charge of Hi records. He brought The Hodges Brothers, as well as Johnson to work for him on his label. The Hodges Brothers became the backbone of the Hi Rhythm Section that was the house band for the company throughout the 70s, performing with Al Green, Ann Peebles, and other acts. The song lives on today, in November of 2000, the Wu Tang Clan released their third studio album. The third track was called "Hollow Bones", a name taken from the second line of this track, and also the primary sample used on the song. It was sped up, but undeniably harrowing.

"I Put a Spell on You"

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You (1956)

"I don't even remember making the record. Before, I was just a normal blues singer. I was just Jay Hawkins. It all sort of just fell in place. I found out I could do more destroying a song and screaming it to death."

Alto and Baritone Saxophone for sure. Let's assume a Tenor as well. In between the chromatic reeds runs you can hear the drums better. It's mostly brushes on snare drum, tapped instead of stirred. Also a banjo. Possibly a guitar, but I think it's a banjo. The sax solo around 1:15 really wails. It's so short, in concert that would have gone on for two minutes by itself. Instead, the whole track is only 2:30. The vocals are what made the song famous. He screams and moans and grunts through the number. In its day, it was banned and called "cannibalistic". Hawkins maintained that he never meant the song to sound like that, but that producer Arnold Maxin brought in food and liquor to the recording studio, and they had a party. He claims that he blacked out and doesn't remember recording the song, and in fact had to learn how to sing it in the style of the record, from the record, so that he could tour with it. An entire act was built around the song, and the scary voodoo man who sang it, predating Alice Cooper, Kiss, and other 'shock-rock' stars by 20 years.

"Sister Morphine"

Marianne Faithfull - Sister Morphine (1969)

Best I can tell, this is the original 1969 single version mentioned in the book.

Written by Faithfull, Richards and Jagger, at least according to the credits; but Keith doesn't play on this version, so I wonder if he really wrote it at all. Best I can figure it, on the Faithfull single, they were all three credited, but only Mick and Marianne really wrote it. Richards and Jagger were almost always credited together in those days, just like Lennon/McCartney. The single was pulled when the big wigs at Decca figured out that the song was about a man who was begging for relief as he lay dying in hospital from a car accident. The single died of course without support from the record company. Later, The Rolling Stones recorded the song for their 1971 classic album Sticky Fingers. Keith Richards played guitar on that version, and he and Jagger were the only credited songwriters on the album version. People claim that they were protective of royalties, others claim that they were trying to keep Faithfull's manager from getting any money, but payed Marianne on the sly. Richards was instrumental (according to Faithfull's autobiography as well as his own) in getting her the credit for the song that she deserved.

Musically the song is a organ heavy blues. Jagger is playing acoustic guitar, and Ry Cooder adds the slide guitar that makes it sound so country blues. The drums are really understated, (that's a Charlie Watts trademark) letting the rest of the instruments shine. Faithfull's voice here is unlike everything she was known for in the late 60s. She always sang quiet safe and melodic tunes. This would have really broken her out of that label had it ever really seen the light. The most crazy messed up couplet in the song: What am I doing in this place? Why does the doctor have no face?

"Amandrai"

Ali Farka Touré - Amandrai (1987)

I think this is the version talked about in the book. 7 minutes and 20 seconds long and just a man and his guitar. Also, the book spelled the name of the song wrong at the top of the page; but correctly in the article.

Mali, a landlocked Western African nation is often mentioned when people talk about where the Blues came from. This performer certainly gives some credence to that school of thought. You are either going to love this song and sit in wonder while it plays, or you aren't going to get it. I can't sway you.

"Back Door Man"

Howlin' Wolf - Back Door Man (1961)

Early electric guitar driven blues. We've got rolling piano, simple timekeeping drums and very basic bass. The guitar is also very functional here as well, pretty much only the piano gets a little showy besides the vocals. Howlin' Wolf's vocals are so gruff here. He would have been in his early 50's, and I think the recording captures that time, when a man has lived a lot of life, and may be beaten down a bit, but he's got plenty left in him if the reward is a fine woman. He sounds like he's issuing a challenge:

*I am a back door man. Once you go to sleep, I am going to sneak into your house and have sex with your wives. They will love me more than you, and in fact even if you catch me they will beg you to let me go free. Later, after I have had sex with them again, I will proceed to eat more than you possibly could, just to one up you in another way.*

He had some brass ones I tell you what.

"When the Levee Breaks"

Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks (1971)

Played on the news whenever flood waters threaten the heartland, including just a few months ago, the original version of this song was written in 1929 to commemorate the 1927 Mississippi flood. According to many historians, the flood was responsible for the second great wave of Southern African Americans leaving and heading for Northern cities; as well as the election of Herbert Hoover, and part of why African Americans left "The Party of Lincoln" and shifted to the Democrats. But this is a music blog, and I'm not "Weasel", so back to it.

Hell of an intro right? Reverberating drums, a backward echo harmonica part, and one of the most famous guitar riffs ever recorded. The whole seven minute song never lets up, and never lets you go. I love the beginning of the bridge, it gets lighter for just a few seconds, makes you think the storm is over, and then CRASH; right back in the thick of it. Everything is echo and reverb and frankly, if you have crappy tinny little speakers, this song must sound awful. Put some headphones on, some big over the ear jobbies. Or put in on your home entertainment center if you want to shake the house down.

"Heartbreak Hotel"

Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel (1956)



Elvis had some help on this record. In addition to his regular backing trio, pianist Floyd Cramer and guitarist Chet Atkins played. I specifically looked that up because the piano in particular is stunning on this track. It's like a waterfall, dancing over the right and "wrong" notes until finally settling in. So I looked it up and found Mr. Cramer, who it is said popularized the "slip note" style so different than his contemporaries. Well let me tell you, this is one of the songs that popularized it. Elvis' voice is almost mesmerizing, a real downer of a song that really resonated with the kids. Don't let anybody tell you that "Emo" is a new thing, or that kids listening to depressing music is one of the signs of the end of days.