MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Post Your Music Trivia here!

Post Your Music Trivia here!

posted 7 months ago by GolfnGuitars (2400)
51 replies | jump to latest

Most people here know that I love music and music trivia. However, I recently heard this bit of trivia that I didn't know:

On Foreigner's renowned recording "4," all of the keyboards/synthesizers on that great recording (Including "Waiting For Girl Like You"...what a song and especially what an intro!) were played by Thomas Dolby (of "She Blinded Me With Science" fame). I did not know that.

Please post any music trivia you have here. No matter how obscure, well-known, whatever...I'd love to see it!

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Regarding the great classic Kansas song "Dust In The Wind"...it was written by band member Kerry Livgren, but the main guitar riff was originally a "warm-up exercise" that Livgren's wife overheard him playing and told him, "Hey, you ought to make that into a song." The rest is history.

Also, even though Kerry Livgren played guitar in Kansas, he was NOT the lead guitarist. Richard Williams was the lead guitarist and he was a great player..."Carry On Wayward Son" really showcases his great playing.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Stevie Ray Vaughan's great song "Cold Shot" was recorded around 4 o'clock in the morning, so that "half-awake/half-asleep" tempo that defines the song came naturally to SRV and Double Trouble in this case! 😃

[–] db20db (16222) 7 months ago

You might accurately guess early in the story, as I did, the poor boy's identity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AuU6F_VYns

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Thank you for posting that...that was great! I didn't guess Elvis...Paul Harvey was so great and I am grateful for YouTube being able to listen to things like that again. What a great story.

Regarding Elvis, I forget who it was that said it (I'm thinking it was one of The Jordanaires), but I remember reading an interview about Elvis and he said that all Elvis wanted to be was a gospel singer. He wasn't real fond of Col. Tom Parker either. Elvis' story is really something...so tragic that he was only 42 when he died.

[–] db20db (16222) 7 months ago

I started a cross-country driving job the year after he passed and visited Graceland while assigned to a trip east to Tennessee. During another trip, my route took me thru Tupelo, Mississippi, his birthplace, but it was late at night, couldn't stop, had a deadline to meet.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Awesome! I think what gets lost sometimes regarding Elvis is what an incredible singer he was. It just seemed so natural to him and he was very versatile.

[–] db20db (16222) 7 months ago

Absolutely! I grew up with him, watched his movies, have always loved his voice, especially in ballads such as this, which echo his background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ-r0bilzhU

[–] nyctc7 (41360) 7 months ago

My favorite "Paul is Dead" clue: Hold a mirror perpendicular and across the middle of the drum on Sgt. Pepper's. It says "He Die" with a diamond shape pointing to Paul.

https://www.beatlesbookstore.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/sgtp.jpg

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Awesome! I didn't know that! I am a big Beatles' fan, but there is a lot of the "Paul Is Dead" stuff I don't know. Seems like The Beatles knew what they were doing with that!

[–] DoctorThirteen (10345) 7 months ago

Who the hell discovered that?

[–] nyctc7 (41360) 7 months ago

I don't know. I can't even recall if I knew about this before or after the internet. I think before but I am not sure.

[–] samoanjoes (51152) 7 months ago

Of the 3 original members of ZZ Top, the only member who doesn't have a beard is Frank Beard.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Yes! 😃 I don't know all that much about drumming, but I've always loved his drumming on "Gimme All Your Lovin'." What a groove that is...my favorite ZZ Top song!

[–] rex (2835) 7 months ago

my aunt in Houston once worked for Frank

[–] samoanjoes (51152) 7 months ago

Roadie?

[–] AndyKing1967 (34087) 7 months ago

Groupie?

[–] samoanjoes (51152) 7 months ago

I didn't want to go that route.

[–] rex (2835) 7 months ago

she helped run his ranch while he was out touring, like an assistant or secretary

[–] samoanjoes (51152) 7 months ago

Any scandalous stories to share?

[–] rex (2835) 7 months ago

just that he was a jokester who pranked everyone that worked for him

[–] nyctc7 (41360) 7 months ago

The well-known Star Trek Theme was composed by Alexander Courage. Without Courage's knowledge, Gene Roddenberry wrote amateurish lyrics to the theme—not in the expectation that they would ever be sung, or indeed ever be made publicly available, but so that he could be officially registered as the lyricist of the theme and hence claim half the performance royalties. Although there was never any litigation, Courage stated that he considered the conduct unethical.

[–] majaplaya (922) 7 months ago

Unethical, at a minimum. Almost certainly tortious. Without access to more specific details, I wouldn't completely discount criminal either.

[–] nyctc7 (41360) 7 months ago

The great Gene Roddenberry had a dark side

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Thank you for posting...I didn't know that. I definitely see why Courage felt the way that he did!

It reminds me of a situation with Paul Simon and "Scarborough Fair." A guitarist named Martin Carthy (who I believe was part of a British act called Pentangle...they had some great guitarists) taught Simon the guitar parts in that song. Normally, Carthy would have been credited for this (which would have meant $$$)...however, he wasn't and a rift between Simon and Carthy occurred. I believe Simon and Carthy made amends some years back (Apparently, the decision not to credit Carthy was the record company's...Simon had nothing to do with it).

[–] DoctorThirteen (10345) 7 months ago

That is a POS move.

[–] robocat893 (13509) 7 months ago

Slayer's album "God Hates Us All" was released on 9/11.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Interesting...how did that affect record sales for that? My brother was a bit of a "metalhead" back in the day and listened to some Slayer. Such interesting timing for that.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

I wonder if nyctc7 has heard this one, since he's a fellow Hot Tuna/Jorma Kaukonen fan! 😃

Jefferson Airplane was recording in LA back in 1968 and Eric Clapton was in the room next door. Clapton came to see Jorma with a record in his hands and told him, "You have got to listen to THIS!" They did...and both of them just loved the recording.

The recording? "Music From Big Pink" by The Band.

[–] Nanook (1446) 7 months ago

I've always heard of them described as a "musician's band." Not saying non-musicians can't/don't like them, but any hardcore Band fan I've known has been a musician.

I'd put their first three albums up against any other bands'. Can't say they're the best three, but I couldn't say they weren't.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2400) 7 months ago

Yes. The Band was such an interesting mix...Canadians and a guy from Arkansas! 😃 Levon Helm had one of the great voices in music, IMO...he just had so much soul and emotion in his singing.

I'm not a "hardcore" fan of them, but I really love what I've heard from them. There's a real "genuineness" to their music and Robbie Robertson was such a great songwriter.