We are really getting into British Invasion territory now. Eight songs from the Fab Four. Sums up what an influence they were on me. Slow Down’ was a cover version of Larry Williams’ 1958 song. It was their final chart hit of vintage material (for the most part).

The Stones, the Who, the Animals, the Kinks all get a listing. Two of the great Civil Rights movement anthems – Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and The Impressions “People Get Ready” are incredible powerful songs. “Cilla Black had a close working relationship with The Beatles, who helped launch her career after John Lennon introduced her to their manager, Brian Epstein”***

“Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single “As Tears Go By” ( written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham). She became one of the leading female artists of the British Invasion in the United States”.***

Beau De Glen “Mance” Lipscomb (April 9, 1895 – January 30, 1976) Although not as well known as many other Bluesmen he is a favourite of mine.

Nothing sings more of New Orleans than the great Professor Longhair. The Animals “Boom Boom” is a John Lee Hooker classic.

The Fugs were an out there band. I love the songs CIA Man. The Fugs is an American rock band formed in New York City in late 1964, by poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of the Holy Modal Rounders. Kupferberg named the band from a euphemism for fuck used in Norman Mailer‘s novel The Naked and the Dead.***

Who can kill a general in his bed?
Overthrow dictators if they’re Red?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man! (full lyrics below) PS nothing has changed much in America

Memphis Slim’s “Dedicated to Pete Johnson” (March 25, 1904 – March 23, 1967) is about his respect of the Boogie Woogie Pianist. The Georgia Satellites did a great cover of The Swinging Blue Jeans “Hippy Hippy Shake” in 1989. Jan and Dean’s “Dead Man’s Curve” as suggested by the title has some dark lyrics. Unfortunately as life sometimes imitates art, Jan Berry had a serious car crash two year later effectively ending the duos career!

Manfred Mann’s “5-4-3-2-1” were from the opening of Ready Steady Go T.V. show. The Stones’ “Not Fade Away”, was a Crickets song from1957.

The Hollies were named after Buddy Holly and led by Graeme Nash who as we know went on to Crosby, Stills Nash and Young. Chuck Berry’s “No Particular Place to Go” was written while he was in prison as was “Promised Land”!

Was there ever a brothel “House of the Rising Sun” as sung by the Animals. There is a lot of conjecture still to this day. “While a specific, definitively identified “House of the Rising Sun” brothel from the song is debated by historians, a leading theory points to a brothel at 826-830 St. Louis Street in the 1870s run by a madam named Marianne LeSoleil Levant, whose name means “Rising Sun” in French. Other theories suggest it may have been a syphilis ward for prostitutes or even a women’s prison, and some historians believe the location never actually existed as a single, verifiable place”.*** Still in is a great song.

There are two listings for the song “It’s All Over Now” and many of you will easily associate the song with the Stones however the original version (The Valentinos) was recorded two month early than the Stones version. Martha and the Vandellas “Dancin’ In the Street” has been recorded by the Grateful Dead, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Phil Collins, the Kinks and Van Halen.

Sam the Sham was Domingo Samudio, and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs were an Mexican-American band formed in 1961, and at one time included Trini Lopez.

The Skatalites instrumental “The Guns of Navarone” has an interesting background: The song “Guns of Navarone” is the theme music from the 1961 film of the same name, and its lyrics describe the plot of the film: an Allied commando mission to destroy a massive German fortress and its giant guns on the fictional Greek island of Navarone during World War II***.

So what is the “Killin’ Floor” as sung by Howlin’ Wolf: The “killing floor” in the Howlin’ Wolf song is a metaphor for being in a bad relationship, as explained by his guitarist Hubert Sumlin. While it can also refer to a slaughterhouse, Wolf used the term to describe a situation where a woman was treating him so badly it felt like he was being destroyed or “killed,” often referencing a specific incident where a woman shot at him.

The Beau Brummels “Laugh Laugh Laugh” introduced the early San Francisco sound to the world. The song is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s – “500 songs that shaped Rock ‘n’ Roll”. An interesting side note is that Sly Stone produced some of the early recordings.

One of my favourite finger pickin’ Bluesmen is The Reverend Gary Davis: Gary D. Davis (April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), known as Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Gary Davis, was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina, and blind since infancy. His influenced so many people and still does to this day: His students included Stefan Grossman, David Bromberg, Steve Katz, Roy Book Binder, Larry Johnson, Alex Shoumatoff, Nick Katzman, Dave Van Ronk, Rory Block, Ernie Hawkins, Larry Campbell, Bob Weir, Woody Mann, and Tom Winslow. He also influenced Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Wizz Jones, Jorma Kaukonen, Keb’ Mo’, Ollabelle, Resurrection Band, and John Sebastian (of the Lovin’ Spoonful). On the Roy Book Binder live album “Don’t Start Me Talkin” there is an 11 minute version of Davis’ “Candy Man” which includes a long monologue of Binder meeting the Rev.

Mississippi John Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966) is another fantastic performer who was rediscovered again in his later life: In 1952, musicologist Harry Smith included John’s version of “Frankie and Johnny” and “Spike Driver Blues” in his seminal collection The Anthology of American Folk Music which generated considerable interest in locating him. The The Lovin’ Spoonful took their name from a recurring phrase in Hurt’s song “Coffee Blues“.***

Mose Allison’s “Parchman Farm” is the Mississippi State Penitentiary. A notorious maximum security prison and a number of well known bluesmen spent time there. Among them: Bukka White R. L. Burnside, John “Big Bad Smitty” Smith, Terry “Big T” Williams, and, reportedly, Aleck “Rice” Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2), while songs with Parchman themes were recorded by Charley Patton, Wade Walton, and others.. Read more here: https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/parchman-farm

Tom Paxton was another of the Greenwich Village folkies (what an incredible breeding ground the Village was. His song “What Did You Learn in School Today? The song is likely referring to the 1964 folk song “What Did You Learn in School Today?” and was famously covered by Pete Seeger. It is a satirical song that asks the question from the perspective of a child and then provides an answer to those questions the idealized or propagandized versions of history and government often taught in schools. See below for the lyrics. The song resonates today as the American Govt. is hell bent of rewriting and sanitising its own history.

Nineteen and sixty four

(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me – Sandie Shaw
5-4-3-2-1 – Manfred Mann
A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles
A World Without Love – Peter And Gordon
All Day and All of The Night – The Kinks
All I Really Want to Do – Bob Dylan*
Anyone Who Had a Heart – Cilla Black
As Tears Go By – Marianne Faithfull
Baby I Need Your Loving – The Four Tops
Baby Let Me Take You Home – The Animals
Baby Love – The Supremes
Baby, Don’t Lay It on Me – Mance Lipscomb
Big Chief – Professor Longhair
Bits and Pieces – The Dave Clark Five
Boom Boom – The Animals
California Dreaming – The Mamas & The Papas
Chapel Of Love – The Dixie Cups*
Chimes of Freedom – Bob Dylan
CIA Man – The Fugs
Come See About Me – The Supremes
Crawling Up a Hill – John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
Dancing In the Street – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Dead Man’s Curve -Jan & Dean
Dedication to Pete Johnson – Memphis Slim
Didn’t It Rain – Sister Rosetta Tharpe**
Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann
Do You Love Me – The Dave Clark Five
Do You Want to Know A Secret – The Beatles
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – The Animals
Don’t Throw Your Love Away – The Searchers
Down Home Girl – Alvin Robinson
Downtown – Petula Clark
Every Little Bit Hurts – Brenda Holloway
Everybody Needs Somebody to Love – Solomon Burke*
Farmer John – The Premiers
Glad All Over – The Dave Clark Five
Go Now – The Moody Blues
Goin’ Out of My Head – Little Anthony & The Imperials
Going Back to Louisiana – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
Good Times – Sam Cooke
Guns Of Navarone – The Skatalites
Have I the Right – The Honeycombs
Heart Of Stone – The Rolling Stones*
Hello Dolly! – Louis Armstrong
Hey Little Bird – The Barbarians
Hi Heel Sneakers – Tommy Tucker
High on a Hill – Scott Hendricks
House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
How Do You Do It? – Gerry & The Pacemakers
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) – Marvin Gaye
I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of This Jelly Roll – Sweet Emma Barrett
I Can’t Explain – The Who*
I Feel Fine – The Beatles
I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles
I Want to Hold Your Hand -The Beatles
I Wish You Would – The Yardbirds
I’m into Something Good – Herman’s Hermits
In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett
It’s All Over Now – The Valentinos
It’s All Over Now – The Rolling Stones
Just One Look – The Hollies*
Keep On Pushing – The Impressions
Killing Floor – Howlin’ Wolf
La La La La La – The Blendells
Laugh Laugh – The Beau Brummels
Leader Of The Pack – The Shangri-Las
Lewis Boogie – Jerry Lee Lewis
Little Red Rooster – The Rolling Stones
Long Legged Baby – Graham Bond
Long Tall Sally – The Kinks
Love Me Do – The Beatles
Luci Baines – The American Four
Memphis – Johnny Rivers
Mercy, Mercy – Don Covay & The Goodtimers
Mornin’ Train – Reverend Gary Davis
Mr. Tambourine Man – The Byrds
My Baby – The Red Onion Jazz Babies
My Boy Lollipop – Millie Small
My Diary – Jimi Hendrix feat. Rosa Lee Brooks
My Generation – The Who
My Girl Sloopy – The Vibrations
My Girl – The Temptations
My Guy – Mary Wells
My Home Is in The Delta – Muddy Waters
My Time After Awhile – Buddy Guy*
Nadine (Is It You?) – Chuck Berry
Needles and Pins – The Searchers
Neighbour, Neighbour – Jimmy Hughes
No Particular Place to Go – Chuck Berry
Nobody’s Dirty Business – Mississippi John Hurt
Not Fade Away – The Rolling Stones
Oh No, Not My Baby – Maxine Brown
Oh, Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
Opportunity – The Jewels
Out Of Sight – James Brown
Parchman Farm – Mose Allison
People Get Ready – The Impressions
Pride of Man – Hamilton Camp
Promised Land – Chuck Berry
Remember (Walkin’ In the Sand) – The Shangri-Las
Slow Down – The Beatles
Soon My Work Will Be Done – Reverend Gary Davis
Steal Away – Jimmy Hughes
Stoned – The Rolling Stones
Subterranean Homesick Blues – Bob Dylan
Tell Me – The Rolling Stones
The Boy From New York City – The Ad Libs
The Hippy Hippy Shake – The Swinging Blue Jeans
The Jerk – The Larks
The Last Thing on My Mind – Tom Paxton
The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena) – Jan & Dean
The Sound of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel
The Way You Do the Things You Do – The Temptations
Time Is on My Side – Irma Thomas*
Twine Time – Alvin Cash
Twist And Shout – The Beatles
Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um – Major Lance
Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
Under the Boardwalk – The Drifters
Up On the Roof – The Drifters
Walk on By – Dionne Warwick
We’ve Gotta Get out of This Place – The Animals
What Did You Learn in School Today? – Tom Paxton
What Kind of Man Is This – Koko Taylor
Where Did Our Love Go – The Supremes
Wooly Bully – Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
Yeh-Yeh! – Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames
Yes I’m Ready – Barbara Mason
You Never Can Tell – Chuck Berry
You Really Got Me – The Kinks
You’re My World – Cilla Black
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling – The Righteous Brothers

• *Seen perform live
• ** Check this out https://youtu.be/Y9a49oFalZE?si=W_jMzVQkuf16emNl
• *** Wikipedia
   
   

C.I.A. man (The Fugs)

Who can kill a general in his bed?
Overthrow dictators if they’re Red?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who can find a counter-agent quick?
Especially the ones, themselves, of it?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who can plan a riot in Vietnam?
Who can have the troops restore the calm?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who can buy a government so cheap?
Change a cabinet without a squeak?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)

CIA Man!

Who can get a budget that’s so great?
Who will be the 51st state?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)

CIA Man!

Who has got the secret-est Service?
The one that makes the other service nervous?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)

CIA Man!

Who can cypher anything with zeros?
Not well known, but simply worth the heros.
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)

CIA Man!

Who can take the sugar from its sack
Pour in LSD and put it back?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who can squash republics like bananas?
Simply if they do not like their social manners?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who can train guerrillas by the dozens?
Send them out to kill their untrained cousins?
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who can mine the harbors Nicaragua?
Out hit all the hitmen of Chicag-ua.
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who can be so overtly covert?
Sometimes even covertly overt.
Fucking-a man!
(Fucking-A! C-I-A!)
CIA Man!

Who’s the agency well-known to God?
The one that copped his staff and copped his rod?
Fucking-a man! CIA Man!
Fucking-a man! CIA Man!
Fucking-a man! CIA Man!
CIA Man! CIA Man!
CIA Man! CIA Man!
CIA Man!
C I A

What did you learn in school today (tom paxton)

What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?

I learned that Washington never told a lie
I learned that soldiers seldom die
I learned that everybody’s free
And that’s what the teacher said to me
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school

And what did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?

I learned that policemen are my friends
I learned that justice never ends
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
Even if we make a mistake sometimes
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school

And what did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?

I learned that war is not so bad
I learned about the great ones we have had
We fought in Germany and in France
And someday I might get my chance
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school

And what did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?

I learned our government must be strong
It’s always right and never wrong
Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect them again and again
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school