tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post7850725793797537764..comments2023-10-24T11:11:49.568+01:00Comments on There Are Places I Remember: Songs About Places: Driving Away From HomeGeoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-75637219167494636212016-09-27T00:27:02.841+01:002016-09-27T00:27:02.841+01:00Hi -- Are you aware that It's Immaterial are t...Hi -- Are you aware that It's Immaterial are trying to crowdfund the release of their lost third album, House For Sale? I've pledged, but am not confident that they're going to make their goal, so I'm trying to get the word out...<br /><br />http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/itsimmaterial?referrer=project_launched&utm_campaign=project14268&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pledgemusicimmaterialhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17919247665221778178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-20541890678713077912014-10-27T13:29:32.724+00:002014-10-27T13:29:32.724+00:00http://baiaboyisback.blogspot.fr/2014/10/its-immat...http://baiaboyisback.blogspot.fr/2014/10/its-immaterial-driving-away-from-home.htmlBAIABOYISBACKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10197372922647490724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-66200009685120107492010-09-28T19:40:37.876+01:002010-09-28T19:40:37.876+01:00They weren't easy to classify -probably Talkin...They weren't easy to classify -probably Talking Heads is a good comparison. They never really had their potential recognised.<br />What a great array of driving songs-thanks!Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-41223253679930345412010-09-28T18:12:27.333+01:002010-09-28T18:12:27.333+01:00I'm still struggling to really understand what...I'm still struggling to really understand what kind of music this is - or maybe I'll just have to conclude that it's a musical hybrid. First I thought it was synth-pop, then a kind of atmospheric art-rock, then maybe some kind of brand of English country music. It reminds me a little of Pete Townshend and Talking Heads. Anyway, thanks for all the fascinating choices you make Geoff - never a dull one!!!Jannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-73568952481492242342010-09-28T18:07:42.648+01:002010-09-28T18:07:42.648+01:00I loved this band when they were around - still ha...I loved this band when they were around - still have the record - somewhere - called "Space", which was quite big on late night T.V. here in Australia. Cheers Geoff!Hughnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-29100592004327293562010-09-28T18:02:38.296+01:002010-09-28T18:02:38.296+01:00I'd argue that Springsteen beats both Bob Dyla...I'd argue that Springsteen beats both Bob Dylan and the Kinks for sheer output of road/driving songs: <br /><br />"Born to Run"<br />"Cadillac Ranch"<br />"Darlington County"<br />"Further on up the Road"<br />"Highway 29"<br />"Highway Patrolman"<br />"New Jersey is My Home"<br />"Night"<br />"Open All Night"<br />"Pink Cadillac"<br />"Racing in the Street"<br />"Spirit in the Sky"<br />"State Trooper"<br />"Streets of Philadelphia"<br />"Thunder Road"<br />"Workin' on the Highway"<br />"Wreck on the Highway"<br />"Jungleland"<br />"Two For The Road"<br />"Valentine's Day"Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-60677050859433902252010-09-28T18:01:33.673+01:002010-09-28T18:01:33.673+01:00Oooh, I'm glad people are still actively posti...Oooh, I'm glad people are still actively posting today - it took me a few days to put my list together! I had to ask around, and this is the list my friends and family came up with over email!!:)<br /><br />Mick Abrahams: "Greyhound Bus"<br />Accept: "Midnight Highway"<br />Rory Block: "Gone Again"<br />Julie Lee: "Stillhouse Road"<br />The LeRoi Brothers: "Route 88"<br />Bloodwyn Pig: "Drive Me"<br />Roy Acuff "Wreck on the Highway"<br />Jay Ferguson: "Love at the Red Light"<br />The Fiery Furnaces: "Drive to Dallas"<br />Tina Adair "How Many Roads"<br />Peter Gabriel: "Mercy Street"<br />John Lennon: "Old Dirt Road"<br />ZZ Top: "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide", "Master of Sparks" and "Pan Am Highway Blues"<br />Annie Lennox: "Pavement Cracks"<br />Rory Gallagher: "Ride On Red, Ride On"<br />Bryan Adams "Open Road"<br />The Who: "Goin Mobile", "Magic Bus" and "Relay"Clairenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-11214201864421937442010-09-28T18:00:15.092+01:002010-09-28T18:00:15.092+01:00I think the Roger Waters 1984 album "The Pros...I think the Roger Waters 1984 album "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" deserves a mention here. The hitchhiking metaphor is about struggling with marriage, fidelity, aging at the height of a midlife crisis.Randynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-74741223550045004282010-09-28T17:54:38.728+01:002010-09-28T17:54:38.728+01:00As well as the Kinks, I'd argue that Bob Dylan...As well as the Kinks, I'd argue that Bob Dylan is one of the most proficient 'road song' artists. Here's the list I came up with over the past couple of days:<br /><br />Bob Dylan<br /><br />"Black Crow Blues"<br />"Dirt Road Blues"<br />"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright"<br />"Down the Highway"<br />"Endless Highway"<br />"Guess I'm Doin' Fine"<br />"Gypsy Lou"<br />"Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall"<br />"He Was a Friend of Mine"<br />"High Water (For Charley Patton)"<br />"Highway 51"<br />"Highway 61 Revisited"<br />"Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance"<br />"Motorpsycho Nightmare"<br />"Playboys and Playgirls"<br />"Rocks and Gravel"<br />"Senor"<br />"Standing on the Highway"<br />"Sugar Baby"<br />"Tangled Up in Blue"<br />"Tomorrow is a Long Time"<br />"Tough Mama"<br />"Where Are You Tonight?"Willnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-17574387812270955742010-09-28T17:51:22.844+01:002010-09-28T17:51:22.844+01:00Thank you for the fascinating column, Geoff. I thi...Thank you for the fascinating column, Geoff. I think there is probably a dual meaning in all the song lyrics about cars and roads. Our mental stream is our life and we use cars to search for relief from mental streams that are disturbing. We use cars to escape feeling imprisoned. The prison is not physical; it is our own mental prison. Thoughts and passions drive our mental life, in correspondence to cars and roads that we drive to satisfy our mental condition. I think in music, a car represents our knowledge and beliefs by which we can reason and have common sense in daily life. And then the networks of roads and highways represent the mental semantic networks of concepts and ideas that make up our knowledge and beliefs. So many of the songs about roads seem to be about searching for some kind of truth. Often, songs about driving at night, in the winter, in a storm, seem to be really about being unable to figure out whether something is true or not. Here are some of the clearer examples of this metaphor:<br /><br />Doobie Brothers<br />"Divided Highway"<br />Why must we always ride a divided highway<br />Torn in two directions; speedin' outa sight<br />Divided highway stranded at the crossroads<br />Of what's wrong and who's right<br />Divided highway cuttin' through the darkness.<br /><br />Deep Purple<br />"Drifter"<br />Drivin' on a highway going nowhere<br />Desolation destination<br />Guess I'll find it somewhere.<br />I know if there's trouble,<br />I ain't takin' the blame.<br />That's why I keep movin'<br />So nobody knows my name.<br /><br />Steve Earle<br />"Nowhere Road"<br />I been down this road just searchin' for the end<br />It don't go nowhere, it just brings you back again.Leonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-10715468988194168472010-09-28T17:47:04.476+01:002010-09-28T17:47:04.476+01:00Geoff, remembering that your first column was abou...Geoff, remembering that your first column was about the Kinks, I figured you'd enjoy the fact that they seem to be one of most prolific 'road song' bands! Here are some examples: <br /><br />The Kinks: "Aggravation"<br />Bumper to bumper in the traffic jam.<br />Clench your jaw, getting all up tight<br />Breathing fumes, stuck in a tin can,<br />Trapped, trapped.<br />Hate, frustration, no escape.<br /> <br />The Kinks: "Drivin'"<br />Drop all your work<br />Leave it behind<br />Forget all your problems<br />And get in my car<br />And take a drive with me.<br /><br />The Kinks: "Motorway"<br />Oh, that motorway livin',<br />Ain't it a thrill to be so free, yeh.<br />Riding down the motorway,<br />Got to charge up my batteries,<br />Rest my seat, rest my eyes,<br />So tired, tired of livin',<br />Tired of livin' this motorway livin'.<br /><br />The Kinks: "One of the Survivors"<br />See johnny thunder sitting on his motorbike<br />Riding along the highway,<br />Rock and roll songs from the nineteen-fifties<br />Buzzing around in his brain.<br /><br />The Kinks: "The Road"<br />Well, the road's been rocky along the way<br />It's been a long, hard haul on the motorway<br />But if it gets too smooth it's time to call it a day.<br /><br />The Kinks: "Rush Hour Blues"<br />A quick cup of coffee and a slice of<br />Toast and the star (or should we say,<br />Norman?) is off to do battle with the<br />Rush hour queues and traffic jams.Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-40058891531851973432010-09-28T17:38:57.168+01:002010-09-28T17:38:57.168+01:00I think I'm joining in a bit late, but here ar...I think I'm joining in a bit late, but here are some songs about driving that I think should be on Geoff's list: <br /><br />Janis' Joplin: Me and Bobby McGee <br />Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys: Heavy Traffic Ahead <br />Bachman Turner Overdrive: Life in the Fast Lane<br />Doobie Brothers: Rockin' Down the Highway <br />Jimi Hendrix: Cross Town Traffic <br />Grace Jones: Pull Up to the Bumper<br />Iggy Pop: The Passenger <br />Dan Seals: Big Wheels in the Moonlight <br />Melissa Etheridge: You Can Sleep While I Drive<br /><br />And let's not forget the only bus song I could think of (unlike planes, trains and automobiles), Greyhound Going Somewhere: Bobby GentryJuliannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-1663256300783530882010-09-26T19:34:51.546+01:002010-09-26T19:34:51.546+01:00Thanks for all the links to the other It's Imm...Thanks for all the links to the other It's Immaterial worksGeoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-41492177179929396482010-09-26T17:52:58.787+01:002010-09-26T17:52:58.787+01:00Fellow Itsies, all the early singles can be locate...Fellow Itsies, all the early singles can be located via this link.<br /><br />http://music-isms.blogspot.com/2007/12/its-immaterial-early-recordings-1980.html<br /><br />I'd never even heard of the first one!Noelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-1187647803006579602010-09-26T17:51:25.304+01:002010-09-26T17:51:25.304+01:00Also, don't forget that in 1981, they recorded...Also, don't forget that in 1981, they recorded four sessions for legendary John Peel. One of the songs, “A Gigantic Raft,” was featured on the soundtrack of the 2004 remake of the movie “Manchurian Candidate.”Belkysnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-43824339806962807462010-09-26T17:49:59.887+01:002010-09-26T17:49:59.887+01:00Wow, thanks Rachel! I read online that the group r...Wow, thanks Rachel! I read online that the group recorded a third full album with the working title of “House for Sale.” According to John Campbell it is finished and still in the vault. They shopped it around but could not find a label to release it. Like you said, they were told it was too “dark.” So it's great to have a snippet!Quentinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-40824873329523851062010-09-26T17:45:04.024+01:002010-09-26T17:45:04.024+01:00It's great to see some fellow aficionados of t...It's great to see some fellow aficionados of the criminally neglected It's Immaterial!<br /><br />So I thought I would pass on this gem which has surfaced on youtube. 'Just North of Here' is from their shelved 'House for Sale' album. There's more where this came from, apparently:-) <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ivUuv3D04&Landonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-12251120063090707062010-09-26T17:43:12.763+01:002010-09-26T17:43:12.763+01:00I wonder if anyone on here has heard their song &#...I wonder if anyone on here has heard their song 'Just drive'? A lovely acoustic number available via emusic or Viper Records. It's on a compilation called 'The Liverpool Acoustic Experiment' and is quite possibly their finest moment. For me, anyway.Gregnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-51548214307794081502010-09-26T17:39:12.461+01:002010-09-26T17:39:12.461+01:00Hey Geoff, just found your column, which is great!...Hey Geoff, just found your column, which is great!<br /><br />I recently stumbled across a lost lp track by It's Immaterial, which was to be called "House for Sale" and this is the track I stumbled across below. It continues the Blue Nile like low key style of the 2nd lp "Song."<br /><br />Apparently the 3rd lp was rejected for being too dark, which makes me want to hear it even more, especially if this track is any indication of what else was recorded!<br /><br />Anyway, thought you'd enjoy it. <br /><br />http://www.box.net/shared/7344fxrbivRachelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-82185029355735180462010-09-25T23:14:40.090+01:002010-09-25T23:14:40.090+01:00Yo, I'm Bad News Brown from Montreal, the very...Yo, I'm Bad News Brown from Montreal, the very first hip-hop harmonica player. Just as it was a novelty instrument in pop music, as you say, it's a novelty now in hip hop. Check out my song Reign: <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp_RklNtFeg&<br /><br />I’m known as the Hip-Hop guy who’ll take the harmonica and rip that show to shreds. Now I’m the first Hip-Hop artist to release a predominantly harmonica-driven album. Music is so fun right now... Hip hop is alive.<br /><br />Cool column, man!BAD NEWS BROWN (aka Paul Frappier)http://www.badnewsbrown.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-16070530260690928282010-09-25T23:05:55.992+01:002010-09-25T23:05:55.992+01:00Hey,thats a poignant story, Tiffanye. I hope you f...Hey,thats a poignant story, Tiffanye. I hope you find somewhere in rural Lancashire-like the Bowland Forest area-or Cumbria, like the Eden Valley.<br /><br />Thanks for the grim photo from the Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen- very evocative!Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10966328708258079467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-47416963193426720822010-09-25T23:04:24.619+01:002010-09-25T23:04:24.619+01:00Thank you for the bonus history of the Harmonica! ...Thank you for the bonus history of the Harmonica! I've always wondered about this - I remember when Little Walter & His Jukes jumped on the R&B hit list with “Juke,” reaching #1 for a solid eight weeks in 1952 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiGpv-UeiDI&), with a lot of harmonica. But I was never sure when it entered pop music.Dawnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-36451628267157506842010-09-25T22:56:09.721+01:002010-09-25T22:56:09.721+01:00You're very right Geoff about the "wistfu...You're very right Geoff about the "wistful, heartfelt sense of place" in the song - I personally find it a very tragic song in that sense (the part you mention about “When I was young we were gonna move out this way for the clean air, healthy you know”). I ended up in Birmingham for work, right after university, but always wanted to live in the countryside, somewhere further North, the Lake District, rural Lancashire. I hate the skyscrapers and blocks of flats especially. But living in a two-bedroom flat in the suburbs was the cheapest option – and the only thing we could afford. Every time when I was stuck in a traffic jam, or sitting in my office trying to decide what was worse, the noise of busy streets or the stuffy air in my office when the windows were closed, I dreamt about a cottage in the middle of nowhere, on a river; about lying on the lawn and looking at my vegetable garden or roses, with birds singing in the clean air and little butterflies joyfully dancing… When the children moved out, I decided to speak to my husband, but he still didn’t want to change anything in his life. Life in the country? Boring, he used to say. When he died, I finally decided to fulfil my dream. I sold the flat and am now looking for a small house in the country. And the day I'm finally heading there, some time soon I hope, I will play this song - Driving Away from Home - as I reach the city's outskirts and start driving North. Thank you for giving me such an appropriate anthem for the journey, Geoff.Tiffanyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01945758814187026754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-17886595428195151402010-09-25T22:38:06.919+01:002010-09-25T22:38:06.919+01:00Geoff, I love the image of you having to get your ...Geoff, I love the image of you having to get your passenger to climb out of the car and peer at the exit sign. I loved it so much that I went in search of a visual illustration. Here it is! - http://www.thelancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk/resources/images/744678/?type=display<br /><br />Grim, grim, grim!!Sam Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08523013822784596338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774690407548657707.post-9647290614500615952010-09-25T22:23:22.738+01:002010-09-25T22:23:22.738+01:00I do think the idea of "driving for the sheer...I do think the idea of "driving for the sheer fun of it" is a VERY American thing. The obsession with automobiles, California highways, the road, the Beachboys, Rambling Man, On the Road Again, it seeps out of American mythology. It's not even about the destination, it's just about going somewhere, anywhere, nowhere. I think it dates back to Manifest Destiny, the idea that a whole national identity depends on open space and conquering it. The railroad is the 19th century, the car is the 20th century - but either way it's the drive to expand and head West, the ever-expanding frontier, ever the new, ever the next, ever moving onward - there's something in there about the self-made man in the ever-expanding frontier idea too. <br /><br />Fascinating to read about an English version of this too, though, I had absolutely NO idea that the foot travel narrative existed (the Fairport Convention’s Farewell, Farewell that you mention) or the bicycle one. Or the road song even (although it's fascinating that it's s bit tongue-in-cheek and highly self-conscious about the American version of the roadtrip song). Fascinating!Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10190486337916706104noreply@blogger.com