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If you like this track, check out all my other tracks at https://soundcloud.com/mobbing_it_up and https://soundcloud.com/clana_boys
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Dr Robert - Songfacts
(Lennon-McCartney, adapted lyric by Mike O’Neill   Original performance: The Beatles) 

‘Dr Robert’ was released in the UK in 1966 on The Beatles album ‘Revolver’.  I was one of the hordes of devoted Beatles fans and bought the album as soon as it came out, just as I had with all their previous albums and EPs.  I think ‘Revolver’ is perhaps one of my favourite Beatles albums because by that time I was into my teens and increasingly interested in how The Beatles (and George Martin, their producer and a major part of their creativity in the recording studio) were moving their sound forward. They were becoming ever more interested in incorporating exotic sounds and instruments into their arrangements, and Revolver was a landmark album in that respect. Dr Robert has always been a favourite of mine as although it’s not hugely experimental (apart from the double tracked and distinctive lead vocal), I just love John Lennon’s humour both in the words and in his delivery. It successfully walks the tightrope between good Beatles and (to me) Banal Beatles (Yellow Submarine, When I’m 64 etc). And it’s not a Beatles song that gets flagged up much. I love it.

Wiki has some interesting things to say about what might have led Lennon to write the song (credited to Lennon-McCartney but essentially a Lennon composition, says wiki). Paul McCartney said in 1967 that:

“There's some fellow in New York, and in the States we'd hear people say: "You can get everything off him; any pills you want." It was a big racket, but a joke too about this fellow who cured everyone of everything with all these pills and tranquilizers, injections for this and that; he just kept New York high. That's what Doctor Robert is all about, just a pill doctor who sees you all right”

And it has also been suggested that Lennon wrote it after The Rolling Stones had released ‘Mothers Little Helper’ and after Mick Jagger visited the studio while The Beatles were recording ‘Revolver’.

Dr Robert (the song) started dancing around in my head a lot during 2020, when we were all locked down with the Covid 19 pandemic and I was thinking of our health workers who were working so hard and with great risk to themselves to try and help the waves of people being struck down with the disease. I felt it might be good also to remember it was not just male doctors (or even just doctors, as in the original song) who were on the front line in this battle. And so I invented an extra character – Dr Roberts – whose name is ‘Ann’ because it rhymes with ‘can’. Simples. I also put in my own guitar solo, playing on the signature guitar riff from The Beatles 
‘Daytripper’.

Great work as ever by Paul ‘I am not Paul McCartney’ Jennings on bass. I couldn’t do half these songs without his contributions.  Hope you like it and please share with others if you do.

Mike O’Neill, 2nd August 2021

Emeralds & Pearls

Dr Robert (The Beatles - Lennon-McCartney, adapted)(The Clana Boys)

Mr Tambourine Man - Songfacts
(Writer: Bob Dylan    Original performance (this version): The Byrds 

Concluding the trio of songs recorded to celebrate the building my 12 string electric guitar, this offering is the title track of The Byrds first album and the single (both released in 1965) that went straight to No.1 in the UK charts and established The Byrds as the standout US challenge to the dominance of The Beatles since their arrival on the scene. However, to put it in perspective (source: Wiki):

“Record producer Terry Melcher felt that the band hadn't completely gelled yet musically, so he brought in a group of L.A. session musicians, later known as the Wrecking Crew, to provide the musical backing on the single. As a result, McGuinn was the only Byrd to play on "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its Clark-penned B-side, "I Knew I'd Want You". The single was released in April 1965 and was an immediate hit, reaching number 1 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart. In addition, the electric rock band treatment that the Byrds and Melcher had given "Mr. Tambourine Man" effectively created the template for the musical subgenre of folk rock”

So, single handed it seems, Roger McGuinn and his 12 string Rickenbacker defined the quintessential early sound of the Byrds as well as  creating a new folk rock template. And that’s without mentioning (woops I’m just about to!) the enormous shop window The Byrds created for ‘electric’ interpretations of Bob Dylan songs.

Mr. Tambourine Man was written by Bob Dylan and released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The song has four verses, of which the Byrds only used the second for their recording. Taking my cue from them (about changing it from the Dylan original), I decided to use three verses from the original and to shorten some of the choruses to lessen the interruptions between the verses. 

From Wiki:
“Dylan's and the Byrds' versions have appeared on various lists ranking the greatest songs of all time, including an appearance by both on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 best songs ever. Both versions received Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.”

On The Clana Boys recording, Paul ‘Hill Man’ Jennings does his usual fine work on bass: the driving bass line is an important feature of the original and how to get it right in the mix of a modern production is a challenge as you don’t want to wash the sound over with a lot of bass, but the bass needs to be very much in the driving seat.  Using a non-Rickenbacker 12 string changes the sound in some ways but works well, I think. In fact, for many reasons, producing a song in a modern digital audio studio is so different from how the original would have been recorded that it is generally best not to focus too much on how the original sounded and instead do something that remains valid even if sonically rather different from the original. 

Hope you like it and please share if you do.

Mike O’Neill, 2nd September 2022

Mr Tambourine Man (Dylan~The Byrds)(The Clana Boys)

21st Century Truck Drivin’ Man - Songfacts
(Writers: M O’Neill         Original performance: The Clana Boys) 

“It's the same the whole world over: 
It's the poor what gets the blame. 
It's the rich what gets the pleasure; 
Ain't it all a bloomin' shame.”

Which is perhaps stretching a bit when it comes to the lyric of this song. But, as the subject muses in the last verse, you could wonder whether some of the bad stuff that goes on out there in the world of work and commerce is at least partly the fault of those who set (or not) the standards which others follow.

In deciding to try and write some songs of my own, I’ve decided to just go where my pen takes me. Quite likely what I write won’t have broad appeal but hey, that’s not why I’m doing it. For me it’s just a journey into the unknown, and I’m interested to see what roads (and dead ends) I end up travelling down, and where the journey eventually ends (it might even be quite a short one).

21st Truck Century Truck Drivin’ Man takes a familiar style of music and sets a ‘social conscience’ lyric to it, pointing up how carelessness can be a life wrecking tragedy for the careless as well as those in their path. On the music front, it is intended to be a bit of easy music to be driving to: the reason so much music of this sort gets played by bored truck drivers travelling long distances etc.

Big thanks as ever to Paul ‘Yorkie Bar’ Jennings for slipping into a pair of Timberland truckers boots and laying down a mean line dancing bassline.

Hope you like this latest Clana Boys ditty and it should be out from 5th November 2022 on the main streaming channels (Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok etc etc) 

Mike O’Neill, 26th October 2022

In My Own Write

21st Century Truck Drivin' Man (M O'Neill)(The Clana Boys)

Further On Up the Road - Songfacts
(Writer: Joe Medwick Veasey  Original performance: Bobby Bland) 

Firstly, straight off, my thanks to my lovely partner Trish for flagging up Bobby Bland’s version of this song as one she loved and thought The Clana Boys should have a go at doing.  I was more than a bit apprehensive at taking on such a classic and trying to make something of it. But with (more than) a little help from my friends I think it has turned out OK. And it was a lot of fun to do. I very much prefer the Bobby Bland version to all the ‘Claptonesque‘ versions that seemed to be around in my youth.

I have to thank Paul ‘Blues Man’ Jennings for his usual fine bass work. His contribution makes this number swing. And I have to make a very special thanks to an old friend and one of the outstanding blues harp players of his generation, Steve Baker, who was happy to add a bit of his magic to the track, without which it would have been rather duller. For any readers who are not familiar with Steve, his web page at  https://www.stevebaker.de/bio_en_10.html explains his massive contribution to the world of harmonica music. For my money, Steve is about the best master of tonal and triple tonguing control (not to mention musicality) on the diatonic (blues) harp that I have ever heard

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‘ "Farther Up the Road" or "Further On Up the Road" is a blues song first recorded in 1957 by Bobby "Blue" Bland. It is an early influential Texas shuffle and features guitar playing that represents the transition from the 1940s blues style to the 1960s blues-rock style. ‘

‘The songwriting for "Farther Up the Road" is credited to Joe Medwick Veasey, a Houston-area independent songwriter/broker, and Duke Records owner Don Robey. In an interview, blues singer Johnny Copeland claimed he and Medwick wrote the song in one night; Medwick then sold it the next day to Robey, with Robey taking Copeland's songwriting credit. According to Bobby Bland, Medwick wrote the song with no involvement by Robey’

‘The song was Bland's first charting single after several years of recording for various record companies. It became a number one hit during a fourteen-week stay in 1957 in the Billboard R&B chart as well as reaching number 43 in the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. Bland enjoyed nearly uninterrupted chart success for the next twenty years’

‘Eric Clapton recorded several versions of "Farther Up the Road" over the years, usually calling it after its opening lyrics "Further On up the Road". Clapton uses the lyrics from the original, but the song is performed at a faster tempo as an unembellished shuffle. The song first appeared on his 1975 live album E. C. Was Here.’

‘In 2022, Bland's recording was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the 'Classics of Blues Recording – Singles' ‘
Source: Wiki

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Anyhoos….I hope you like this latest Clana Boys offering  and please ‘Like’ and share it if you do. Music is love…forever etc. etc. 

Mike O’Neill, 2nd December 2022

Further On Up the Road (Joe Medwick Veasey)(The Clana Boys feat Steve Baker)

I’m A Boy - Songfacts
(Writer: Pete Townsend     Original performance: The Who) 

Firstly, a big thanks to old friend and fellow musician Glen Vaal for challenging me to have a go at this song. I had a couple of songs by The Who in my last band, and they can be heard on Soundcloud at:

https://soundcloud.com/mobbing_it_up/the-kids-are-alright-pete-townsendthe-who-the-mob

https://soundcloud.com/mobbing_it_up/substitute-pete-townsendthe-mob

Glen heard those and issued his challenge, and I made a start on ‘I’m A Boy’ back in 2020 but then put it to one side as I’d too much other stuff on the go and wasn’t happy with how this one was going.  In January 2023 I dragged it out from hibernation and got to work finishing it off. The Who are always a big challenge for me, working ‘in the box’ so apart from being denied the energy that comes from a time when musicians had to play most of a song together in a recording room, I can’t really get the same sound as you get with amp and cabinet stacks in a real drum kit, all of them mic’d up in a suitably sound treated room. So I have to go my own way and try anyway to capture what I think is the essential feel / appeal of a song.  I had fun trying to put a tuba/French horn/whatever in at the appropriate place and trying to get drum sounds even close to Keith Moon’s original was a challenge. And as I got to know the song, I was struck by how it hinted at the music on ‘Tommy’, the Who’s rock opera that was released three years after ’I’m A Boy’.  And so when I read up on the song for this ‘songfacts’, I wasn’t surprised to read that:

“"I'm a Boy" is a 1966 rock song written by Pete Townshend for the Who. The song was originally intended to be a part of a rock opera called Quads, which was to be set in a future in which parents can choose the sex of their children. The idea was later scrapped, but this song survived and was later released as a single.”

Furthermore (which I would never have guessed in 1966 that the lyric was about) …..

“The song is about a family who "order" four girls, but a mistake is made and three girls and one boy are delivered instead. The boy dreams of partaking in sports and other boy-type activities, but his mother forces him to act like his sisters and refuses to believe the truth ("I'm a boy, I'm a boy, but my Ma won't admit it").”

The track was produced by Kit Lambert at IBC Studios around 31 July–1 August 1966 and released just over three weeks later on 26 August 1966, with "In the City" as the B-side. The single was successful in the British Isles, reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and Number 7 in Ireland. It failed to repeat that success in the US.

Source: Wiki

As ever, I must thank Paul ‘The Ox’ Jennings for his usual fine bass work and for helping me decide when the production was sounding good enough to put out there.  Hope you like it and please ‘Like’ and share it if you do. 

Mike O’Neill, 10th February 2023

I'm A Boy (Pete Townsend, The Who)(The Clana Boys)

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - Songfacts

Writers: Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Original performance: The Righteous Brothers 

It never occurred to me to attempt this all-time giant of a song…until my lovely partner Trish suggested it as one she liked and thought I should do. I was sceptical, with it being such a classic. But as a challenge in getting alongside Phil Spector's ‘Wall of Sound’ production, I decided it could be fun. The entry for this song in Wikipedia makes fascinating reading. Here are some extracts: 

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…first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers…….cited by some music critics as the ultimate expression and illustration of his Wall of Sound recording technique. The record was a critical and commercial success on its release, reaching number one in early February 1965 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The single ranked No. 5 in Billboard's year-end Top 100 of 1965 Hot 100 hits – based on combined airplay and sales, and not including three charted weeks in December 1964 – and has entered the UK Top Ten on an unprecedented three occasions.

Various music writers have described the Righteous Brothers version as "one of the best records ever made" and "the ultimate pop record". In 1999 the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) ranked the song as the most-played song on American radio and television in the 20th century, having accumulated more than 8 million airplays by 1999,[4] and nearly 15 million by 2011.[5] It held the distinction of being the most-played song for 22 years until 2019, when it was overtaken by "Every Breath You Take"

In 2015 the single was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

In 1964, music producer Phil Spector conducted the band at a show in San Francisco where the Righteous Brothers was also appearing, and he was impressed enough with the duo to want them to record for his own label, Philles Records…..the Righteous Brothers would be his first white vocal act

Spector commissioned Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a song for them….[they] Taking a cue from "Baby I Need Your Loving" by The Four Tops, which was then rising in the charts. Mann and Weil had problems writing the bridge and the ending and asked Spector for help. Spector experimented on the piano with a "Hang on Sloopy" riff that they then built on for the bridge
Source: Wiki
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So, no pressure then ha ha.  The Clana Boys version uses a simple guitar part and 'guide vocal', with the arrangement built around that and referencing the original recording.  I added the harmonies but in the middle section found I could split out the lead vocal/answerback scat part into the two Righteous Brothers parts and then use production techniques to makes their signatures more like two separate singers. It’s amazing what you can get up to in a modern recording studio. This 'guide' vocal was supposed to be redone after finalising the arrangement but (as can often happen) I felt that the original guide vocal had an emotional commitment I was unlikely to match, and it was also surprisingly OK on timing and delivery. 

I’m very pleased with the result. Paul ‘Motown’ Jennings does a great job on bass as ever and Trish Konarski gets joint credits (and thanks) with Paul on co-production as her ear and her patience in listening to the mixes as the song progressed were invaluable.

Hope you like it and please share if you do. I doubt I’ll try and climb production and performance heights like this again for a while!

Mike O’Neill, 18th March 2023

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (Spector-Mann-Weil)(The Clana Boys)

Pictures of Lily - Songfacts
(Writer: Pete Townsend     Original performance: The Who) 

Firstly, a big thanks again to fellow musician Glen Vaal for challenging me to have a go at The Who’s ‘I’m A Boy’, which I released on Soundcloud a few weeks ago. This exercise reminded me of what The Who meant to us 1960’s boys and resulted in me rediscovering ‘Pictures of Lily’ and being reminded what a great early ‘rock’ song it was. This is a rollicking good Who number, with Roger Daltrey’s ‘angelic’ vocal bolstered by the brash playing of Pete Townsend, John Entwhistle and Keith Moon, including a tuba solo by bassist Entwhistle that hints at the forbidden topic of the song.  Another gem from the fertile song writing mind of Pete Townsend, it rightly belongs in that collection of quintessentially British (London even) accented ‘cheeky’ songs alongside others by The Kinks, Small Faces, Beatles etc What a great time to be a teenager it was.

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"Pictures of Lily" was released in 1967 as a single, and made the top five in the UK, peaking at number four. Outside the UK, the song failed to break into the top 50 in the United States, peaking at number fifty-one. It was, however, a stronger performer in Continental Europe, where it made number 5 in Germany and the Netherlands, number 9 in Austria, number 12 in Flemish-speaking Belgium and number 6 in French-speaking Belgium.

According to Pete Townshend in the 2006 book Lyrics by Rikky Rooksby, "the idea was inspired by a picture my girlfriend had on her wall of an old Vaudeville star – Lily Bayliss [sic]. It was an old 1920s postcard, and someone had written on it 'Here's another picture of Lily – hope you haven't got this one.' It made me think that everyone has a pin-up period."

However, in his 2012 memoir Who I Am, Townshend mentioned Lillie Langtry, the music hall star and mistress of Edward VII as the inspiration for the tune. She died in the year 1929 as mentioned in the lyrics of the tune.

Source: Wiki
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Turning to The Clana Boys recording, Moonies drums were (as usual) the most challenging part to play: you definitely can’t just set up a pattern with his drumming – you have to try and get inside his head, watch how he plays, notice how he puts hits exactly where a vocal line might want it etc.  And then you must play the notes. Townsend also needs careful listening to as he doesn’t just bash the guitar as the videos of him playing might suggest: his strikes are thoughtfully placed in order not to drown the vocal. And Entwhistle’s bass playing is a huge driving force: I handed that job over to Paul ‘The Ox’ Jennings as he loves this kind of challenge and always delivers. The tuba playing is courtesy of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, who probably never imagined their tuba would be so abused when they allowed themselves to participate in the creation of a virtual orchestra plugin.

Anyhoos, hope you like it and give it a Like and Share if you do. I think it might be the best Who reimagining we’ve done to date (but then I’m biased 😉 )

Mike O’Neill, 7th April 2023

Pictures of Lily (Pete Townsend, The Who)(The Clana Boys)

Same Thing Happened To Me - Songfacts 

(Writers: John Prine, Gary Nicholson         Original performance: John Prine) 

There’s not a lot to be found about the background to this song except that Gary Nicholson appears to have collaborated with John Prine to write six numbers (including this one) for John Prine’s album ‘Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessing’. Of the album itself, Wiki says:

“Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings was produced by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein, who produced Prine's 1991 Grammy Winning comeback album The Missing Years. The album features several songs Prine co-wrote with Nashville veteran Gary Nicholson and includes contributions from guitarist Waddy Wachtel and Marianne Faithfull.”

The reason I came to do this song was that my brother Kevin over on Vancouver Island has been a lifelong fan of John Prine and had the idea that that he and me and our other two musical brothers might make a record together and that this song could be a fun and light hearted one to do. So around 3 years ago I laid down a basic backing track for us to build the various performances around, and it never got any further than that. And then we lost the most wonderful John Prine to Covid19. So I always knew I’d do something with it one day and here we are.  Brother Kev did lay down an acoustic guitar part way back then and I’ve manage to weave that into the mix. And I invited an old friend (Amanda O) who had never done any recording work before to sing the harmony parts with me in verses 2 & 4. She did a fab job despite this being a first for her. And as ever, my regular musical collaborator Paul ‘Country Boy’ Jennings brings his special magic to the bass playing. For the rest I wanted the arrangement/production to be light hearted and quirky (the clues are there anyway on the original John Prine recording). So, we’ve got rhythm guitar licks, lead guitar solo, wah wah stuff weaving in and out, acoustic slide guitar, and a Hammond organ. The ping-pong guitar synched to the beat was done much as I suspect the original was: you add a delay bus and route to it from the guitar track. You sync the delay with the beat and set it to full wet and no dry signal. And then you pan the dry guitar track fully one way (left I think) and the delay bus fully the other. Simples 😉 

Right, that’s enough of that, hope you like the track, God bless you John Prine and may you look down with approval on this modest offering, a BIG thanks to brother Kev for gifting us the idea of this song, hope listeners enjoy it and please share if you do. TTFN.

Mike O’Neill
12th May 2023

Same Thing Happened To Me (John Prine; Gary Nicholson)(The Clana Boys)

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Songfacts 
(Writer: Gordon Lightfoot         Original performance: Gordon Lightfoot) 
Gordon Lightfoot, one of Canada’s greatest songwriters, passed away on 1st May 2023. 

Where do I start with this song. I first heard it when it was released as a single in the UK in 1976. Although it was a No.1 hit in Canada and No.2 in the USA, it only made No.40 in the UK singles charts (shame on you UK, although perhaps the subject was much more in the consciousness of Canada and the USA as the Edmund Fitzgerald disaster had only happened in November 1975 and, for both countries, the Great Lakes are a major feature).  My antennae had tuned in to Gordon Lightfoot in 1974 with the release of his single ‘Sundown’, though even that had only reached No.33 in the UK charts. ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ though has no equal for me in the history of my chart listening life: it is not so much a song, or a piece of music, as the telling of a haunting tale, in a musical setting, and done so well that any listener worth their salt cannot help but be spellbound by it. That is how it was for me anyway: I never forgot it and it was irrelevant to me whether it charted well or not. I attempted to sing it (or as many of the words as I could remember) to myself and my children over the years.  And now that I am making music in a recording studio, I decided I must try and do a version of this song. I had started work on it (and indeed did an earlier simpler version back in 2018) before the death of Gordon Lightfoot was announced on 1st May 2023, but I put it out now as my tribute to a most wonderful songwriter and soul, whose work I think ought to be more widely known and appreciated worldwide than it perhaps is. For Canada, where I have many relatives, Gordon Lightfoot was (and will always be I think) a national treasure whom they regarded as capturing better than almost anyone the spirit of his countryfolk in his songs. 
 
I found this song perhaps more challenging than any I have recorded to date:  the music doesn’t really go anywhere, there’s no verse/chorus tension, no ‘middle 8’, no instrument solo etc., and there are only four chords in the song.  What any arrangement must do then to avoid being dull, is to try and support the telling of the tale as it progresses: the tale teller strums his guitar as he narrates the lyric, and the other instruments are there to embroider and add tension. The other big challenge is the absence of Gordon Lightfoot. On the original, and even though he works with great musicians, it is the unique ‘angsty’ character of his voice that strikes me as driving the telling of the tale home. The timing of his delivery is also fascinating – sort of missing the beat while being perfect for the song. As an alternative, I’ve worked on the  drama of the song, with a preface where she ship’s propellor is heard from beneath the waves as her ships horn sounds out in distress above them. 

Paul ‘Midshipman’ Jennings ably assisted on bass as usual, and I playing several guitar / slide guitar parts through various distortion and effects pedals. The 12-string acoustic guitar was given to me by an old friend whose family wanted to find a good home for it. I’m pleased it has at last found its place in this very special song.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was an ore carrier that disappeared without trace or notice with the loss of all 29 lives on 10th November 1975 in a storm on Lake Superior. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his song after reading an article, "The Cruellest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek.  The full story can be read here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

Anyhoos, hope you like it and please share if you do. Rest in peace Gordon Lightfoot, who wrote what many songwriters consider some of the finest songs they’d ever heard. 

Mike O’Neill
16th June 2023

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (G Lightfoot)(The Clana Boys)

The Pretender -  Songfacts 

(Writer: Jackson Browne         Original performance: Jackson Browne) 

Jackson Browne is I think one of the most significant songwriters of my generation. I read once that he is of the ‘confessional’ school of songwriters. Whatever! I have loved his stuff for more years than I care to remember. As well as being a great lyric writer, I love the way he delivers his songs, his distinctive voice and piano and guitar playing. He’s known by many for writing ‘Take It Easy’, a big hit for The Eagles. A few of his other songs have been covered by other artists, but in the main he delivers his songs himself, with the help of some of the best studio/session musicians in the business. And he doesn’t seek pop stardom.

‘The Pretender’ is one of JB’s  best known songs, and one I’ve played for many years just using an acoustic guitar. I set out to record it in that style but when I tried that, it just didn’t sound right and I began to feel that the playing and the arrangement on the original was part of what gave it its impact. To recreate that arrangement in the detail required was no mean feat and I abandoned my original attempt, started in 2020, only returning to it in 2023. I found also that the original key of G left me straining a bit on some of the high notes (age has taken its toll ha ha) and so I lowered the song a tone to the key of F.  Wiki has this to say of the original song:

‘In answering the question of who The Pretender is, Browne said - "...it's anybody that's sort of lost sight of some of their dreams...and is going through the motions and trying to make a stab at a certain way of life that he sees other people succeeding at. So maybe it's a lot of people of a certain generation who sort of embraced a very material lifestyle in place of dreams that they had that sort of disintegrated at some point."

Piano is in the forefront, played by Craig Doerge. Drums are played by Jeff Porcaro, bass by Leland Sklar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar are played by Fred Tackett, harmony vocals performed by David Crosby and Graham Nash and the string section was arranged by David Campbell.

"The Pretender" was only a minor hit single, reaching #58 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 5 weeks on the chart in 1977. However, it gained substantial progressive rock radio and album-oriented rock airplay and has since become a staple on many classic rock formats. It has been one of Browne's most often performed songs during his concert tours. As a result, it is one of Browne's best-known works. ‘

On The Clana Boys version, Paul ‘Session Man’ Jennings had the unenviable task of trying to walk in the footsteps of Leland Sklar, one of the best session bass players out there, and he’s pulled it off admirably. He also critiques the work and helps it to get on the right track before it gets committed to Soundcloud. So a big thumbs up as ever to him.

Anyhoos, this one was a LOT of work and I hope you like it. Please share it if you do. Jackson Browne is a song lovers’ songwriter. This is the second song of his I’ve covered, and I suspect there may be others to come.  I'd like also to dedicate this song to a friend of mine who passed away this week. He always enjoyed listening to the songs I covered and I hope he may be listening still.

Mike O’Neill
24th November 2023

The Pretender (Jackson Browne)(The Clana Boys)

Ain't Hurtin Nobody - Songfacts 
(Writer: John Prine         Original performance: John Prine) 
John Prine was one of the best songwriters of my generation, sadly taken from us in 2020 due to complications from catching Covid during the pandemic. For some years before that he had had health problems that had probably left him especially vulnerable.

I must give credit to my daughter Lucy for first persuading me to find out more about John Prine and his music. She had recorded a BBC ‘Songwriters’ compilation of sessions done for ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ , made before she was born and when I ought to have been watching OGWT more! John Prine was one of the songwriters and performed ‘Dear Abby’. Once I’d heard a couple more John Prine songs, I was hooked.

Ain’t Hurtin’ Nobody was released as one of the songs on the album Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings, produced by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein and released in 1995. The song was inspired by one of the singer's childhood trips to the beach and would be chosen to be Prine's second music video (the first having been "Picture Show") [source: Wiki]. For the rest, there’s not much to say about the song except it’s the second one from the album Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings that I have covered (the first being ‘Same Thing Happened To Me’). I saw John Prine on a Youtube recording of a live performance of the song introducing it by saying that he was awake at 4am and was expected to have a song ready to record at noon that day. Not wanting to be late delivering, he quickly wrote this song.

I recorded my version of it because Prine is just fun to do, I like the wit in songs like this, and it is not especially taxing from an arrangement and production point of view (though I will admit that getting the ‘mojo’ I was after into the song took longer than it should have – I hope I have managed it).

Fab bass work is again down to Paul ‘Family Man’ Jennings, so a big thanks to him. Hope you enjoy this simple foot tapper and please share it with others if you do.

Mike O’Neill
5th April 2024

Dr Robert (The Beatles - Lennon-McCartney, adapted)(The Clana Boys)

Hugh Boy

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