Beech Tree News Network

This week, we’ll be going back under the covers.  First is “Back Door Man”.  I came to know this song as a Doors song.  It’s not a Doors original.  “Back Door Man” is a blues song written by American musician Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in 1960.  The song is one of several Dixon-Wolf songs that became popular among rock musicians, including the Doors, who recorded it for their 1967 self-titled debut album.  Unlike Wolf’s one-chord arrangement, the Doors utilized a different approach.  Critic Bill Janovitz described it as a “thumping rhythmic approach.  Jim Morrison also provided some of his own lyrics and only used two of Dixon’s verses from Howlin’ Wolf’s original version.  Wolfs was a b side and unreleased.  The Doors’ version was not a single.

“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” is a song written by Bernie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus for American singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone.  She recorded the first version in 1964.  The song has been covered by many artists.  Two of them were hits: the first in 1965 by the Animals, which was a blues-rock version.  It was covered in 1977 by disco group Santa Esmerelda.  A 1986 cover by new wave musician Elvis Costello found success in Britian and Ireland.  

Ott came up with the melody and chorus lyrics after a falling out with his girlfriend (and wife-to-be), Gloria Caldwell.  It was one of five songs written by Benjamin and Marcus and presented for Nina Simone’s 1964 album Broadway-Blues-Ballads.  Animals lead singer Eric Bourdon once said “it was never considered pop material, but it somehow got passed to us and we fell in love with it immediately.  They recorded the song in November 1964.  The song reached #3 on the UK singles charts, #15 on the U.S. pop singles chart and #4 in Canada.

“Tainted Love” is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964.  Renowned session musician and virtuoso guitarist Glen Campbell (yes, “Wichita Lineman” Glen Campbell) played lead guitar.  In 1981, the song attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synth-pop duo Soft Cell.  It has since been covered by numerous artists.  A version by Impedance reached #14 on the Canadian Dance charts on April 14, 1990.  Soft Cell’s version, which included a few verses of The Supremes’ 1964 hit “Where Did Our Love Go”, reached #1 on the U.K singles charts and was considered the best selling single of 1981 in the U.K.  “Tainted Love” became a major hit during the second British Invasion, spending 43 weeks in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.  It’s a cover of a 1965 Gloria Jones song of the same name.  

January 12, 1980: Rupert Holmes song “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” returned to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100(after one week) making it the second #1 song of the ‘80’s.  It’s the only song to be #1 in two different decades (December 1979 and January 1980).  The song was covered by Jack Johnson for 2012’s Secret Life of Walter Mitty movie.  It was also recorded by Sugar Ray for their 2019 album Little Yachty.  I’ll end by inviting you to listen to my podcast, Blendertainment, at the links provided: https://open.spotify.com/show/61yTPt9wXdz37DZTbPUs16?si=lw4gR-7xQ22E-zhyGDyHyg

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172