That 45 has terrible sleeve art. I guess that's how you know they weren't rich yet.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:29 (ten years ago) link
xxpost so was Newman clowning ELO?
― |citation needed| (will), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:31 (ten years ago) link
i don't think that was the american sleeve. i think this was:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/Witchy_Woman.jpg
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:33 (ten years ago) link
He does on a song I can't remember the title of
― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:35 (ten years ago) link
Oh hold on, it's "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band"
― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:36 (ten years ago) link
i prefer this one:
http://img5.blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ybi/1/ae/85/xqjng092/folder/562795/img_562795_22555646_0?1329732085
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:36 (ten years ago) link
but i just liked the idea of the eagles being locked up. so i went with that.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:37 (ten years ago) link
Did you have the urge then, or sometimes now, to just crank the amps up to 11 and play rock and roll?If I thought I could do that, and weren’t so self-critical and thought I could play well enough, I’d love to do it. I’m just not the player Ry is, or (Jim) Keltner, or some of these guys. I mean, they put up with me all right because I play unconventionally and I can think of notes for everybody. But I’m a writer really. I’d love to be able to just ram around to ram around in a band, yeah, if I could feel comfortable that they wouldn’t look at me funny because I was out of time, you know? I just don’t have the rudiments of it. I have skills that are advanced in high areas of music, and yet, basic things are really hard for me sometimes, like keeping in time or playing piano. On the thing (producer) Jeff Lynne cut of mine, “Falling In Love,” we did it all in Mike Campbell’s garage, Tom Petty’s guitar player. Petty was there, and we were going to do background voices. I said, ‘I can’t really do that.’ I look at (Don) Henley or these guys doing it, and I can’t sing in tune like that. And Petty says to me, ‘No, you can do it. With Jeff, I didn’t think I could do it either, but when I did it with Jeff, we could do it.’ So I got in there, and there was Petty, and Campbell, and we were all going to make our ‘oohs.’ So I put my hand over my ears like I’d seen people do (laughs), and the thing came up, and I went, ‘Uungh,” and this went on for a while, and I saw Jeff Lynne shaking his head like he smelled something bad. And he looked over at me, and it was a look of, ‘Are you putting us on? Are you kidding?’ It had a little pity in it, but it was mainly like, ‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ So we did it again, and I went ‘Aaah,’ and apparently he had never heard anyone that bad. So he just said, ‘Maybe you better sit this one out.’ So you can’t help but getting smacked no matter how far you go.
If I thought I could do that, and weren’t so self-critical and thought I could play well enough, I’d love to do it. I’m just not the player Ry is, or (Jim) Keltner, or some of these guys. I mean, they put up with me all right because I play unconventionally and I can think of notes for everybody. But I’m a writer really. I’d love to be able to just ram around to ram around in a band, yeah, if I could feel comfortable that they wouldn’t look at me funny because I was out of time, you know? I just don’t have the rudiments of it. I have skills that are advanced in high areas of music, and yet, basic things are really hard for me sometimes, like keeping in time or playing piano. On the thing (producer) Jeff Lynne cut of mine, “Falling In Love,” we did it all in Mike Campbell’s garage, Tom Petty’s guitar player. Petty was there, and we were going to do background voices. I said, ‘I can’t really do that.’ I look at (Don) Henley or these guys doing it, and I can’t sing in tune like that. And Petty says to me, ‘No, you can do it. With Jeff, I didn’t think I could do it either, but when I did it with Jeff, we could do it.’ So I got in there, and there was Petty, and Campbell, and we were all going to make our ‘oohs.’ So I put my hand over my ears like I’d seen people do (laughs), and the thing came up, and I went, ‘Uungh,” and this went on for a while, and I saw Jeff Lynne shaking his head like he smelled something bad. And he looked over at me, and it was a look of, ‘Are you putting us on? Are you kidding?’ It had a little pity in it, but it was mainly like, ‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ So we did it again, and I went ‘Aaah,’ and apparently he had never heard anyone that bad. So he just said, ‘Maybe you better sit this one out.’ So you can’t help but getting smacked no matter how far you go.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:40 (ten years ago) link
i guess i always assumed it was coming from a place of affection, kinda like 'unseen power of the pcket fence'
― |citation needed| (will), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:45 (ten years ago) link
can I just
"It's Witch-AY Woman"
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:47 (ten years ago) link
Yeah this song sucks. Too slow and dead. But did make a good Seinfeld joke (haha xp).
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:48 (ten years ago) link
• Also they suit a loping bass, like in One Of These Nights.
If there's one thing this sudden blast of reconsideration has done is to make realize that Randy Meisner was the man on bass.
I've always thought that about him with "Hotel California" - a song from an era that he doesn't even seem to fit in. (Can you imagine the set list that has both Life in the Fast Lane and Take It to the Limit on it?)
• A mainstay of Halloween party mixtapes.
T/S "Witchy Woman" vs "Black Magic Woman"
Don't forget "Devil Woman".
• This was the song I was thinking about above when I made mention of my fear of Eagles background vocals. That bridge at 2:40 would be the perfect scene soundtrack to a character on PCP realizing too late that they've just murdered a loved one.
It's probably even happened in real life.
― pplains, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:53 (ten years ago) link
re: 'ludes discussion upthread...don't those just make you sleepy? How is that a fun recreational drug?
― Shart Week (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:55 (ten years ago) link
i love that part of the song. the bass sounds great on this song too. i really love the guitars. that's a solid heavy metal intro too. like slowed down judas priest.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:56 (ten years ago) link
tarfumes at least listen to the guitar sound on that t.v. clip i linked too. they sound so good. that's my kinda tone.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:57 (ten years ago) link
I have no personal experience, but an older friend who was an enthusiast in their heyday says that they were the loviest, huggiest drug ever. Way more than MDMA. "We would all just end up sitting in a heap on the floor, everybody with their arms around each other," that kind of thing.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 13:59 (ten years ago) link
I'm with Don and Glenn. Who needs love?
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:01 (ten years ago) link
I have a crystal clear memory of little Carl Agatha, excited to have chosen her dime store plastic witch mask and smock for Halloween, donning her costume and performing an interpretive dance routine to Witchy Woman for her long-suffering parents. This song always intrigued me when I was a kid. It sounded so mysterious! She'll rock you in the night until your skin turns red! What could that mean??!?!? Now I know what the lyrics mean and I've just heard it too many times and find it kind of blah EXCEPT for the breakdwown in the middle with the toms and Don Henley going ham on the falsetto. I still like that part.
My stepfather is a huge, HUGE fan of the Eagles. We spent an evening on the deck rocking Eagles deep cuts and drinking beer on the deck (well, he was drinking beer) when I was visiting earlier this month. Most of my experience with the band is overexposure to the hits and listening to albums cuts refracted through the lens of my stepdad's boundless enthusiasm, so this should be interesting.
Also whoever said that the Eagles and Steve Miller Band occupy the same space in his thoughts is OTM. I just had to take a second to remember which band released Time Keeps on Slippin'.
― Lawyer... SUAVE... (carl agatha), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:07 (ten years ago) link
hahahahaha OTM
Holy fuck, was there anything Christgau was right about in the '70s (or, frankly, ever)?
― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, August 21, 2013 8:37 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
The only thing i can come up with is Skynyrd, other than that, the guy sucked about as bad as you can suck.
― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:08 (ten years ago) link
Haha xp that's great. Also, the little dropped in bent guitar note at 2:46 is killing me.
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:10 (ten years ago) link
The toms on the intro make me wonder if it started out as some kind of "Cherokee Nation" thing.
This. The tom sound is such a Western movie cliche it feels kind of creepy, though the lyrics don't pick up that theme (perhaps the "til your skin turns red" line is left over from an earlier, more racist version?)
All that wooo-oooing is the best part.
― Brad C., Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:12 (ten years ago) link
As a child, I assumed that the witchy woman was staying up all night casting a spell that would cause you to get a skin ailment similar to a sunburn so that's probably what it is.
― Lawyer... SUAVE... (carl agatha), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:14 (ten years ago) link
wiki says that bernie wrote the music when he was in burrito brothers so maybe he had a western-themed thing in mind. then henley wrote his haunted flapper lyrics.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:16 (ten years ago) link
― scott seward, Wednesday, August 21, 2013 9:57 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Wow. Yeah, the guitars in that clip help the song exponentially.
― Shart Week (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:17 (ten years ago) link
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, August 21, 2013 9:59 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Ah, ok, that kinda makes sense now...my only exposure to 'ludedom was Albert Brooks in Modern Romance ("I have so many great albums!")
― Shart Week (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:18 (ten years ago) link
that cracked me up in modern romance. i could relate. i actually did that once on one of the only occasions that i did X. i just sat in a chair next to my records all night.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:20 (ten years ago) link
― Lawyer... SUAVE... (carl agatha)
http://www.stolloween.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/witches3.jpg
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:20 (ten years ago) link
Hey y'all just wanna suggest a good book to go along with this thread would be Barney Hoskyns' Hotel California, really great account of the whole scene
― usic for 18 magicians (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:36 (ten years ago) link
we talked about that book at length on the eagles thread that spawned this thread. i loved it even though it really bummed me out majorly.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:37 (ten years ago) link
Tel it to Pulaski.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:37 (ten years ago) link
i thought this and "one of these nights" were the bee gees when i was a kid
― no fomo (La Lechera), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:39 (ten years ago) link
then i realized that all the bee gees songs i disliked were actually the eagles
― no fomo (La Lechera), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
I think this is an excellent song. Agreed about the guitars.
― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
listening to this song for the first time voluntarily -- that's what's going on here, right? -- i think i am unable to separate the association of the eagles' singing/lyrics with boozy (usually old) sleazebags. i like the music ok, and the guitar solo was enjoyable, but i want don henley to stop singing every time he starts.
― no fomo (La Lechera), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:47 (ten years ago) link
i feel like eagles played every song just a little slower than anyone else would play the same song. so slow and deliberate. no wonder bluegrass people get such a thrill speeding that shit up.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:56 (ten years ago) link
Bernie Leadon was a bluegrass person!
― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 14:57 (ten years ago) link
I'm kinda surprised nobody's ever sampled the little guitar part between 0:22 and 0:29.
― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 15:28 (ten years ago) link
"Bernie Leadon was a bluegrass person!"
yah not in the eagles he wasn't. okay crazy banjo in take it easy makes me a liar but in general...
they did country/downhome but it was often way slow country/downhome. though that's why this thread is good cuz there are probably hootenanny tracks i have missed. even their rockers are often very slow rockers. it was the suitcase full of valium...
― scott seward, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 15:41 (ten years ago) link
It's really hard to play fast with one of those suitcases cuffed to your wrist.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:22 (ten years ago) link
I really dig Witchay Woman...I kinda wish they did more material with *that* kinda sound
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:43 (ten years ago) link
and let's make sure we're putting ELO's Evil Woman our Halloween playlist
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:44 (ten years ago) link
I'm still loling and agreeing with Carl about that 'rocking you in the night til your skin turns red'. I had a childhood fascination with that line too! It sounded very witchcraftian when I was a little kid, that she could turn your skin red but the rocking you was still not clear to me.
Now I'm grown up it's just like ew gross and also ow wtf
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:46 (ten years ago) link
idgi
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:58 (ten years ago) link
I assume it's just about sex now. She'll fuck you until you're... red? Maybe he means badly chafed.
― Lawyer... SUAVE... (carl agatha), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 17:04 (ten years ago) link
Yes, rubbed raw. OWWWW
― how's life, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 17:05 (ten years ago) link
that's all I can think of
who would want that, I mean
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 17:06 (ten years ago) link
Or at the very least giving you a yeast infection.
― how's life, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 17:06 (ten years ago) link
...
imagine writing about bad chafing, c'mon guys
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 17:07 (ten years ago) link