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Thread: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

  1. #11
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    Cool Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    Glad we got that straight.

    Now, what is the "Pompitice" of love?

  2. #12
    Border Desperado
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    Default Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    from Steve Miller interview with Dan Rather

    https://youtu.be/GR2mTr_BLYo

  3. #13
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    Cool Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    OK - I watched the interview, and have concluded that the true meaning of the term "pompitiss" is:

    BBRRRRUUUCE!

    Speaking of interviews… sometimes it's best NOT to interview an artist: they can be tremendous songwriters and not be able to explain anything they've written (or maybe just don't want to).

    In The Eagles, Bernie Leadon seemed to be allergic to interviewers - at least back in the early '70s - unless the person doing the interview actually knew guitars, or dobros, or folk music, or gospel, or something that the average shmoe from the local newspaper wouldn't. If you knew who, say, Clarence White or Chris Hillman was, then he was fine.

    And then there are songwriters who just can't quite explain what they're doing, no matter how knowledgeable the reporter.

    For instance: I watched Robert Hilburn attempt to interview Van Morrison backstage at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Hilburn knew his stuff - he was the longtime music critic for the Los Angeles Times - but he got nowhere with Van the Man.

    The questions Hilburn asked were coherent, but Morrison's answers were not. Long, elliptic sentences that made you think he'd been drinking the punch backstage at a Grateful Dead show. HE knew what he was talking about, but no one else, including me, had a clue. But sometimes the music says it all; you make of it what you will.

  4. #14
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    Quote Originally Posted by peneumbra View Post
    Back in the Good Old Days (like before the electric lightbulb), it sometimes happened that the lyrics to some Eagles songs were changed during performance. Mostly, this was the work of Glenn Frey, who had a profound talent for creative mayhem. Such was the case when the band performed "Desperado" live.

    Already mentioned someplace here was the "I was headed for Oklahoma, in a '56 Chevrolet," line from "Outlaw Man." But there was more:

    From "Tequila Sunrise;"

    "Take another shot of porridge
    Wonder why the dry goods never come…"

    And this, from "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night," the achingly beautiful ballad, sung by Randy Meisner:

    "She said 'Tell me, oh tell me,
    Did I miss my flight…' "

    And there was this bit of wisdom, from "Bitter Creek:"

    "An old man told me
    Tryin' to scold me
    'Oh, son don't wash your feet
    In Bitter Creek…' "

    Then to top it all, there was a deranged take on "Doolin' Dalton." I can't list the lyrics here because the vast majority of them were obscene, but here's the opening line:

    "They were droolin'
    Droolin' Dalton
    High and stoned
    They baked their brains…"

    Well, I'm sure you get the idea. Being out on an extended tour can make anybody a bit crazy, which is why band members do things like throw tvs out the windows of their 11th floor hotel rooms and ride mini-bikes up and down the halls...
    I can see them doing those kind of joke lyrics in rehearsals and sound checks.

    Trivia: The "56 Chevrolet" line was actually David Blue's original line (Blue is the songwriter). Glenn changed it to "I was ridin' night and day" to fit the Desperado cowboy theme, but I guess he decided that live he'd go back to Blue. I had no idea about this until I heard David Blue's original and he sang the line which I had previously attributed to Glenn's ingenuity.

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  5. #15
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    Default Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    I don't wish too keep the thread sidetracked for too much longer. I'd just like to add to the ELO comments that the "GROOSSSS" (don't remember how man O's and S's it has) was in the lyric sheet that came with the album, so it was never a mystery if one bought the album and read the lyric sheet.

    I love it when artists make fun of their own lyrics. I can't imagine Eagles doing something like that later on. I mentioned Moodies and ELO. When Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin started touring as ARW (now "Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman"), Wakeman gave Rabin a different word to sing every evening - word or a sentence. Rabin was supposed to slip the word/sentence into a lyric at some point in the evening. I think it was Rabin's choice where to sing it.

    So I love that kind of stuff, but I was surprised to learn that the Eagles have done that. I can imagine that at soundchecks, yes, but in front of an audience? Felder complained in his book that they weren't allowed to have any spontaneous fun onstage in the 70's. Not those exact words, but that's basically what he was saying.
    Last edited by chaim; 02-06-2018 at 08:59 AM.

  6. #16
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    Well, Felder might complain, but I could see why they might have a problem with that kind of spontaneity. Glenn was doing a "circle of fear" to ensure everyone had their harmonies down tight... is he supposed to smile and laugh while everyone blows off said harmonies to insert their own joke lyrics?

    Randy's "was I all right" lyric that peneumbra gives above was sung in harmony with the other guys and his change to "did I miss my flight" would clash with everyone else. It would just sound like a big screw up to the audience.

    Again, I could see it in a sound check or something, though.

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  7. #17
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    Default Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    If they did sing those lines even at concerts, they were...a bit more loose onstage in the early days.

    Yeah, it's hard to imagine Randy changing a lyric when the others were singing too, unless all of them sang it. Or perhaps Randy was indeed messing around with it during a soundcheck or rehearsals?

  8. #18
    Border Desperado FannyBeTender's Avatar
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    Default Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    Quote Originally Posted by East Texas Girl View Post
    Lol...count me in the "Bruce" camp...

    Me too!

    LOL.

    A little peace of mind is all I'm looking for....

  9. #19
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    Default Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    I was thinking too, Soda and chaim. So, peneumbra – Are you saying here that you witnessed the band singing these lyrics in live concerts or is this second hand information? I know the band was a bit looser on stage in the early days and did change a word or line from time to time in live performances, but, frankly some of these lyrics where pretty much the entire song is rewritten would really surprise me. They never seemed to be that loose. Do you have these lyrics recorded or are you going only by your recollection?

    While your posts are interesting, I would personally find it helpful if you could give us more background info to support your experiences with the band.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

  10. #20
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    Cool Re: Lyrics You Might Have Missed

    Most of the… modifications I remember took place during rehearsals and sound checks; every now and then, some little zinger would get thrown into the live show.

    Most of this frivolity took place when the band was touring behind Desperado. During the time of the first album, everyone was concerned with getting the thing across, getting ESTABLISHED as a major act.

    By the time Desperado dropped, it seemed (to me, anyway) that the members had relaxed a bit: I don't have to go back to having a regular job, I don't have to be a session guy for the rest of my life… and then, by On The Border, it got way serious again. The Eagles were a big time national act, and the time for being frivolous had passed.

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