music friday: daylist

Spotify is at it again. They are offering a new, personalized playlist they call a "daylist":

Say hello to daylist, your day in a playlist. This new, one-of-a-kind playlist on Spotify ebbs and flows with unique vibes, bringing together the niche music and microgenres you usually listen to during particular moments in the day or on specific days of the week. It updates frequently between sunup and sundown with a series of highly specific playlists made for every version of you. It’s hyper-personalized, dynamic, and playful as it reflects what you want to be listening to right now.

I checked in on daylist yesterday morning, and got "50s rock n roll rockabilly early morning". Here are a few highlights.

"For Your Love" was the first hit single from The Yardbirds. Eric Clapton, the first of the three famous guitarists from the band, quit sooner after, supposedly because he didn't like their turn towards a more commercial sound. He was replaced by Jeff Beck. On "For Your Love", Clapton appeared only in the middle of the song, which was primarily lead singer Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, and session men. The key sound was provided by Brian Auger, sitting in on harpsichord. On this promotional video, the Yardbirds who didn't appear on the recording (Chris Dreja and Paul Samwell-Smith) turn up singing and playing (Dreja mimes Auger), while Jeff Beck fills in for the departed Clapton. Needless to say, this isn't actually "50s rock n roll rockabilly":

"Time Has Come Today" was a popular psychedelic soul tune from The Chambers Brothers (again, not 50s rockabilly). The Brothers recorded several versions of this ... a single version in 1966 that ran 2:37 and went nowhere, the first real breakout version in 1967 that ran 11:07 and appeared on the band's debut album The Time Has Come, and two shorter "hit" versions released in 1968. It's one of the hit versions that made the daylist:

The Ramones did a good cover in 1983. This was another case where the video features different musicians from the recording. Marky Ramone is listed on the album credits, but he wasn't on "Time Has Come Today" and was kicked out of the band due to his drinking problem. Billy Rogers drums on the record, and Richie Ramone is the drummer in the video. Regardless, it's a good one (and the video is a real favorite of mine):

Finally, one more song that has nothing to do with rockabilly, but Spotify knows I love the song (the problem with Spotify's ability to identify what we want to hear is that more often than not, that means playing us things we already know, despite the claims that this somehow expands our horizons). (This autobiographical song even has a webpage devoted to deciphering all the references.)

Comments

[Tomás]

That Ramones video is epic!! I never saw it but damn if that isn't a microcosm of the big shift that happened in the 70s--the aesthetic, the content, them playing in a church, every thing. I always struggle to explain how as a little kid (I was 7 when the year turned 1980) there was something about the 70s that was scary. THIS IS IT!

[Steven Rubio]

Just came across this on Instagram, from a woman named Simone Lazer:

We had such a great time filming the Time Has Come Today vid … the guys were awesome, kind & fun to work with … & most of us “members of the church of the Ramones” weren’t told until cast, who the band was that we’d be working with. Francis Delia directed, & lifelong friendships were made on that shoot! Yrs later when talking w/Joey about a project, Joey couldn’t believe I’d been featured in the THCT video & we shared some laughs over memories of that day in the village (which Joey remembered clearer than I did)! Joey’s sense of humor was the best, (no matter what unjust health hell he was going thru at the time) & he thought it was cool that the then 19 yr old me, boa n’all had no idea who he/or his band was … until that shoot! Of course I made it clear that I’d since come to love his/the Ramones originals! Time sure Has Come Today … for gratitude over memories of the best gig ever. I still keep Joey’s #!❤️