Kentucky-born country singer Chris Stapleton continues to impress us with his talent with the recent release of his video for “Fly Away,” a song he co-wrote with Danny Green that appeared on Stapleton’s debut solo album Traveler (2015). The video documents the challenges facing a couple as a woman struggles with mental illness. The video ends with a link to The Campaign to Change Direction, an organization that works “to change the culture in America about mental health, mental illness, and wellness.”
It is great that Stapleton is helping a worthy cause, but the video and song are outstanding too. The song is a haunting ballad that hints at the subject matter without being an explicit story: “Your love might be my damnation / But I’ll cry to my grave.” Meanwhile, the video does tell a heartbreaking story, with the help from actors Ben Foster (Lone Survivor (2013)) and Margarita Levieva (TV series such as The Blacklist and Revenge).
Although Traveler was Stapleton’s debut solo album, he has been around awhile in different bands like The Steeldrivers and as a songwriter (i.e., Josh Turner’s “Your Man”). Still, like his performance at the Country Music Association Awards show with Justin Timberlake, this album continues to be a breakout project for him, winning him two Grammy Awards: Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance.
In our series “3 a.m. Albums,” we look at albums that are perfect for those nights when you cannot sleep due to sadness, loneliness, despair, or other reasons. This post in the series considers Sam Cooke’s twelfth album, Night Beat, released in August 1963.
When you think of singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, who was born on January 22, 1931, you probably first think of the singles and his wonderful tracks like “You Send Me,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and “Twistin’ the Night Away.” But if you ask a Sam Cooke fan to name their favorite album by the R&B singer, chances are they will name an album without any of his most recognizable hits: Night Beat.
The Recording and “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”
Early in 1963, less than two years before Cooke’s tragic death, he went into the studio for some late night recording sessions with talented musicians such as pianist Ray Johnson (piano), the sixteen-year-old Billy Preston (organ); Barney Kessell (guitar), Hal Blaine (drums), Ed Hall (drums), Cliff Hils (bass), Clif White (bass), and René Hall (rhythm guitar). During those nights, they created a moody masterpiece for late-night listening.
The opening track on side one of the album creates the mood with Cooke singing an old spiritual, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” While the singer tells us about his lonely troubles, Cooke adds a layer of rhythm and blues that both provides comfort to the troubled and offers a little bit of hope.
Cooke’s Originals on the Album
Night Beat includes some Cooke originals, like “Mean Old World,” a song Cooke had recorded with the Soul Stirrers six years earlier. The other songs written by Cooke were “Laughin’ and Clownin'” and “You Gotta Move.”
Below is “You Gotta Move.”
An Uplifting Coda
Most of the songs were written by other artists, including classics like the blues song “Little Red Rooster.” Indeed, many of the songs are steeped in the blues, with many of the songs reflecting themes of heartbreak.
The one song, however, that stands out as an uplifting coda is the closing track on side two, Cooke’s version of “Shake, Rattle, and Roll.” It is as if after sorting through the heartbreak, he wants to remind us that after you get through it all you will find pure joy once again.
So, after reflecting on your misery, “Get out of that bed, go wash your face and hands.”
The Song That Sums Up the Album
According to Peter Guralnick’s excellent biography of the singer, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke (2005), the song that best summed up the mood of the album was recorded at the end of an evening, “Lost and Lookin’.” Cooke’s voice in the minor-key number faces the world alone, accompanied only by bass and the cymbals on the drum set.
According to Guralnick, “Lost and Lookin'” “showed off every one of Sam’s characteristic vocal effects.” But it did so “without in any way suggesting, either to the listener or himself, that they were effects, so intrinsic were they to his feeling for the music, to the feelings he wanted to express.”
An Album To Get You Through the Night
The album is a wonderful friend to have late at night. Allmusic explains, “The songs are intimate blues, most taken at the pace of a late-night stroll, but despite the dark shading and heart-rending tempos, Cooke’s voice is so transcendent it’s difficult to become depressed while listening.”
So, the next late night where you need some company to help get you through until sunrise, put on Sam Cooke’s Night Beat.
What is your favorite 3 a.m. album? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Willie Nelson’s upcoming album pays homage to the songwriting brothers George and Ira Gershwin. Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (2016) reminds us that Nelson’s acoustic guitar Trigger and his voice are two of the best friends a music standard can have.
In 1978, Willie Nelson surprised many with his album devoted to the Great American Songbook, Stardust. But nowadays, nobody is really surprised when Nelson ventures outside classic country music in areas such as reggae, jazz, or blues.
On songs such as “Summertime,” Willie Nelson proves he is still one of our great song interpreters with his version of the often-covered “Summertime.” Check out Willie and Trigger on “Summertime” below.
The album features such classics as “I Got Rhythm” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” Below, is his new version of “Someone to Watch Over Me,” which he had previously covered with a different arrangement for Stardust.
A few other singers join Nelson on a couple of the tracks. Cyndi Lauper joins Nelson on a playful “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off.” And Sheryl Crow helps out on “Embraceable You.” For a limited time, you may listen to songs from the album on NPR.
Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin hits stores and the Internet on February 26, 2016. What is your favorite Willie Nelson cover of an American standard? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Bonnie Raitt is releasing a new album this month, Dig in Deep. The new album is a follow-up to 2012’s Slipstream, which was the first CD released on Raitt’s own Redwing Records label. The new album includes three songs she wrote plus two songs she co-wrote.
American Songwriter notes that Raitt still seeks “words and music that resonate with the emotional puzzles she’s trying to solve in her own heart.” But as the 66-year-old singer has aged, those puzzles and the way she sings about them have changed too.
The first single from Raitt’s new album is “Gypsy in Me.” The song takes the typical story of a man seeking the open road and changes it around. In Raitt’s telling, the woman is the one telling her “honey” goodbye as she heads out for the road: “But I’m like the wind and I just keep blowing free / Must be the gypsy in me, yeah.” Check it out.
Dig in Deep hits stores and the Internet on February 26, 2016.
What is your favorite Bonnie Raitt song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
During Bruce Springsteen‘s current The River tour with the E Street Band, Springsteen celebrates the 1980 album each night by playing all of the songs from the album in order. While one may debate which song on The River is the best, it is hard to dismiss the popularity of Springsteen’s first top-ten hit, “Hungry Heart,” which went to number five on the Billboard charts at the time of its release.
The current tour also promotes the new release of The River along with outtakes and the album Springsteen almost released instead of The River in 1979. The box set The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (2015) is a fun exploration of a road not taken even as it affirms The Boss for the most part made the correct choices.
“Hungry Heart” always has been one of my favorite Springsteen songs, even though its production — including speeded up lead vocals — sounds different from many of the other E Street Band songs I love. The original also features amazing backing vocals from Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (aka Flo & Eddie) of The Turtles.
Perhaps another reason “Hungry Heart” sounds a little different from other Springsteen songs is that Springsteen initially wrote the song for The Ramones. But after writing the song, Springsteen decided to keep it. Joey Ramone explains the genesis of the song in this video, and Springsteen more recently told the story to Jimmy Fallon too.
Another way the song is somewhat unusual is the uplifting music combined with what otherwise would be a depressing tale of heartbreak. The song begins with the singer telling us he left his wife and kids in Baltimore. Similarly, in Arizona, I once met a man who had run away from his wife and kids back East somewhere to start a new life. I always recall him being from Baltimore, but I suspect I conflated his story with the song. Anyway, he did not seem to regret his choice at the time we spoke, but I later heard that he eventually went back East.
The singer in “Hungry Heart,” however, makes no return. He keeps looking for home and a place to rest, similar to the hero in the poem that inspired the title of the song: Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Ulysses” (“For always roaming with a hungry heart / Much have I seen and known”).
Yet, despite the sad story of the lyrics, “Hungry Heart” is still a joyous song. Like Bob Dylan’s great “Like a Rolling Stone,” Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” gains a new meaning from the band. The uplifting music and the singer’s joy in singing about his quest defines the song. Although the singer never finds a new family or enduring love, his recognition that we are all looking for the same thing provides some comfort.
The singer never declares he is alone with his hungry heart, and the chorus does not exclaim “I’ve got a hungry heart.” Through his travels he joyously realizes that while in many ways each person must walk one’s life alone, we are bound to all other humans who also must do the same. Everybody’s got a hungry heart.
I like the following recent E Street Band performance of “Hungry Heart” that took place in Toronto on February 2, 2016. It is a nice quality fan video, and I love how Jake Clemons (Clarence’s nephew) is able to keep playing his saxophone as he helps the crowd-surfing Springsteen back to his feet. Check it out.
Bruce Springsteen has yet to have a number one song on the Billboard charts, but he did surpass the number five position achieved by “Hungry Heart” four years later. In 1984, another song about loneliness, “Dancing in the Dark” went to number two on the charts.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’ We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. — Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses”
In our series “
, released in August 1963.
(2005), the song that best summed up the mood of the album was recorded at the end of an evening, “Lost and Lookin’.” Cooke’s voice in the minor-key number faces the world alone, accompanied only by bass and the cymbals on the drum set.
hits stores and the Internet on February 26, 2016.
(2015) is a fun exploration of a road not taken even as it affirms The Boss for the most part made the correct choices.