Tres Songs

Written by Jim S.

Wherein I feature three songs I dig and play them for you like a DJ. No deep historical analysis or ME’s usual blathering on. Just tunes.Β 

In 2009, Rolling Stone said this of the band on the cover: “Kings of Leon: The God-Fearing, Booze-Swilling Rise of America’s Hottest Band.” This band of three brothers and a cousin came from a family of self-described hillbillies. (I watched an interesting documentary about them called Talihina Sky.)

In an era when rock seemed to be on the ropes, these guys came out of a strong church background and sang and played their way to fame and fortune. I dug them and thought, well, rock and roll ain’t dead. Then one day in 2011, lead singer Caleb Followill left the stage in Dallas, never to return and they canceled the rest of the tour.

I could be wrong here but it seems to me like it’s all been kinda murky ever since then. Their last album came out three years ago and I read just the other day that they fired their long-time manager. And they are doing a limited tour. So here’s hoping there’s still some fuel in the engine.

Anyway, from their 2008 album Only By the Night, here’s the naughty, naughty, “Sex On Fire:”

Spotify link

I wrote about the Red Hot Chili Peppers a while back. I’ve just always dug this band. Totally individual group. Funky rap I suppose you could call it. This has some of that great Flea bass on it. They are currently on what looks like a limited world tour.

From their 2016 album, The Getaway, “Dark Necessities:”

Spotify link

We all know Bryan Ferry from his years in Roxy Music. But he has also had quite the solo career. In 1985 he released an album called Boys and Girls and had one of his biggest hits – and one of my favorites – with a song called “Slave To Love.”

We’re too young to reason
Too grown up to dream
Now spring is turning
Your face to mine
I can hear your laughter
I can see your smile
Slave to love (na na na na, na na na na)
slave to love (No I can’t escape, i’m a slave to love)
Slave…


Spotify link

13 thoughts on “Tres Songs”

  1. Leons have a good hard sound. Sounds familiar. Don’t know where I would have heard. I’ll ask earl. Peppers always sound good to me. Lots of influences and music ideas going on. I dip into them once in awhile. Good cut and yeah the bass sounds great. I love tunes that keep the groove especially when it’s good. Little piano interlude and then back to business.
    Yup on ‘Slave To Love’. I even have the 45 for the Juke I have. Always interests me on how you (people) come up with random tunes like this. I know, you dig them.

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    1. Big Earl should know Kings of Leon. They were (and are) pretty big. One good hit or album and they’re back on track. As to the random tunes, can’t speak for anybody else but I have a document with ideas for posts. If I hear a tune I like I just jot it down and figure out later how to use it. So, series? Three-song? Post about a band? I was going to do a post about Kings but then decided to make it part of a three-fer. So I just looked through my file and out of the selection I had, found three that I thought played together nicely.

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  2. Why did that singer walk away in the middle of the show? Weird. A similar thing happened with the Turtles guitarist, Jim Tucker, in 1967. The band was in London, just after the release of “Happy Together,” and they ran into Lennon and McCartney one night at a club. Both were stoned. Tucker’s hero was Lennon, but Johnny evidently tore into Tucker for no reason. He ran out of the club, took the next plane home, and never returned.

    (By the way, I sent that Zombies essay to the ladies that run their website, who said they’d pass it on to management. But one of them told me that the Zombies did, once, destroy a hotel room…so they did earn their rock credentials!)

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    2. My guess is Lennon was shitfaced. He was a mean drunk. As to Zombies, yes destroying a hotel room is bare minimum rock star entry.

      Funny but I read not too long ago that one of the Oasis guys said that U2 did not have street cred for that very reason. Too clean-cut, not rebellious enough. I get it but kinda dumb really. I’m not going to a show to see a punch-up, just hear good music.

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      1. Yes, I’ve read that Lennon had a weak tolerance for booze. He may have been drinking, but I also read that he was dropping LSD (the incident happened about the time Pepper was released). Turtles leader Howard Kaylan wrote about the whole thing in his autobiography.

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  3. First three Kings of Leon albums are really good (particularly the first two), but I can’t listen to them after that. Dreadful. Sorry. I’m curious enough about the latest RHCP album to give it a listen, even if I think they haven’t released anything worthwhile in a while… but Bryan Ferry? Nice one.

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    1. I probably don’t know Kings early stuff as well as I should. I dunno. I think some of the stuff on that fourth album is pretty good, but, well, there it is.

      Chili Peppers haven’t done a new album since Getaway. And I’ve always liked that Ferry tune.

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      1. Early Kings of Leon is very good. Definitely likely to appeal if you like what you’ve heard of the fourth album (which is in no way their worst, but it’s marks the decline, in my opinion).

        And yeah, I still refer to yon Getaway album as their latest.

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    1. Thanks. I’m working on a piece about British music that will transport you back to your youth. Coming soon.

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