Going Down

Up all night with Freddie King
I got to tell you, poker’s his thing

Grand Funk Railroad was a joke. Hyped by radio advertising regarding their supposed success at the Atlanta Pop Festival they were the original heartland rock act, loved in the flyover states, when those still existed, abhorred on the coasts.

Until the third album, not even a year after the first, featured one of those derivative tracks, imitating the FM extended format, that somehow fit right in the pocket, proving you should always question your preconceptions, people will surprise you, the truth is over the years I’ve come to like “I’m Your Captain/Closer To Home” even more, I never switch stations on Sirius when it comes on, as for terrestrial, the track at 9:59 is just too long, then again, I haven’t listened to commercial radio in fifteen years, only the cheapest non-fans do, funny how we base the whole hit business upon the format.

But then Grand Funk went straight back into the dumper, only to emerge in the fall of ’73 with an album of gold vinyl produced by…Todd Rundgren? You’d think the wizard, the true star, would avoid this meat and potatoes act like the plague, then again, it’s hard to turn down a check, and the result was…

“We’re An American Band.”

Now back in ’73, all I had was an AM radio in my ’63 Chevy convertible, so I heard this on a regular basis, when I could get reception in the hinterlands of Vermont.

And this is a three and a half minute nugget, made for radio.

And featuring insider rock references that made you wonder…were Grand Funk HIP?

That’s right, Sweet Connie, the groupie from Little Rock.

But also, that reference to…

Freddie King.

Someone who never flew on our radar while we were listening to FM radio. The musicians, especially the English, may have been inspired by the bluesmen, but except for Bonnie Raitt, few featured them, we knew the names, but rarely, if ever, heard them.

But somehow we knew “Going Down.”

How did we?

It was a barroom staple, back when they had bands in bars, kinda like “Louie Louie” or “In The Midnight Hour,” everybody knew it. One figured it had a writer, somebody back in the fifties or even thirties, who probably was getting screwed on their royalties.

But research told me it was written by Don Nix.

Hmm… I used to see his name on Leon Russell and Shelter albums. Delaney & Bonnie. “Bangladesh.” Back when credits were our education and there was no internet to go any deeper.

And although Jeff Beck does a rollicking version of “Going Down,” the original was cut by a band called Moloch, on their 1969 album. I don’t think you’ve ever heard it, at least as evidenced by Spotify statistics, where the track has got all of 4,716 streams, and there are not many more on YouTube.

I was stunned the song was so new.

But not as much as I was stunned by Freddie King’s 1971 version, produced by Don Nix and Leon Russell.

Yes, the Master of Space & Time begins the number with a rollicking piano, as if he’s in a bar in Tulsa and no one from the coast is aware of what is happening.

And then come Freddie’s accents, his wailing, his reputation, not overplaying, not showing off, just getting right.

I’m going down
I’m going down, down, down, down, down

And he’s not oversinging either, just straight from the heart, straight from the juke joint, just for those in the room, not those at home. But then…

Yes, I’m going down, yes
I’m going down, down, down, down, down

Now he’s warming up.

Yes, I’ve got my big feet in the window
Got my head on the ground

Now his throat is involved, all his passion, this is his story, and he doesn’t care what you think of it, he’s just got to tell it.

And the solo is so soulful, you feel as if you’re playing, stepping from one foot to another as you’re whipping off the notes.

He’s going back to Chattanooga, a city those north of the Mason-Dixon Line can’t even spell, never mind been there. Via boxcar, to sleep on sister Irene’s door.

This is the blues.

This is rock.

This is the foundation.

And you’d better not listen unless you want to be infected, want to go down the rabbit hole, find out you’ve missed something and need to know more.

Now I know why Freddie King is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

What does it take to make it?

This podcast is a spoken word counterpart to the legendary AC/DC track “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll).”

That’s right, it’s harder than it looks, if your dad sells shoes, if you can’t afford the Les Paul you covet, if your link to the industry is the father of the Cowsills, a boorish drunk who’s now your manager.

His buddy Leslie West makes it, gets a record deal, after Waddy taught him licks, but Waddy’s struggling at the Blue Tooth in Warren, Vermont.

After Herbie Cohen tells him how to get out of the draft, successfully.

And while recording with Keith Olsen he’s told he’s the only real musician in the band, the only one who’s going to make it, so he fires the rest of the cats and becomes a sideman.

And that’s where you know him from, the long-haired curly guy who wails backing up the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks and Warren Zevon. That’s one of the best stories, how Waddy helps write “Werewolves Of London,” after eating at Lee Ho Fook.

You see these people on stage and you’ve got no idea who they really are, only an image. And then you meet them and they have stories!!!

I couldn’t shut Waddy down, I couldn’t have him jump ahead to save time, as a matter of fact this is the longest podcast I’ve ever done, but it could have gone LONGER!

I think you’ll love it.

Listen to Waddy Wachtel on…

TuneIn

Apple

Google Play

Stitcher

Soundcloud

Overcast

Castbox

Duchess

Speaking of stereos…

I heard “Duchess” on Deep Tracks the other day. If I hadn’t been in my car, I would have written about it right then.

And she dreamed that every time she performed
Everyone would cry for more

I’m not sure I even knew these lyrics back when, even though I had the vinyl, this was pre-internet.

I missed Genesis the first time around, I didn’t come on board until Gabriel left the group, although I did go back and buy the LPs with him on them, I love “Foxtrot,” but the truth is I was shopping in Licorice Pizza and they were playing “Wind & Wuthering” over the stereo and I bought it, this is the only time I ever did this.

I was an early Yes fan. Bought the first two Emerson, Lake and Palmer LPs, but funds were limited, I could not afford to get into Genesis or Gentle Giant, although I remember seeing the lines for Gabriel and group outside the Roxy, I’m pissed I missed that, although I did see Gabriel play a flower on “In Concert” or some other TV show, but you know TV sound, it did not register.

And I liked “Wind & Wuthering,” so when I saw “A Trick of the Tail” in the promo bin I purchased that, and it could still be my favorite Genesis album, which I know will offend purists, but come on, SQUONK?!

And then Steve Hackett left and there were three, I went to see the band at the Forum, bought my ticket before “Follow You Follow Me” got traction on the airwaves, became the band’s first hit in the U.S.

And “Seconds Live,” masterful!

But I could not remember what LP “Duchess” was on, I went to Wikipedia. For some reason, I thought “Duke” came before “…And Then There Were Three,” since it was more akin to what came before, but then I looked at the track listing…

“Duke” has “Misunderstanding,” which seemed a bit wimpy, like “Follow You Follow Me” but worse. But it also contained “Turn It On Again,” a harbinger of what was to come, when Genesis dominated MTV, albeit with clever videos.

Yes, the follow-up to “Duke,” “Abacab,” was the true commercial breakthrough, with a slimmed-down sound with synths dominant. But the definitive version is on 1982’s “Three Sides Live,” although there were four in the rest of the world.

But the take on “Three Sides Live”…

You’ve probably never heard it.

But I did, at Freddy and Demi’s apartment. Freddy Moore bought cassettes, I was still into vinyl, I’d go to their apartment and insert it into the deck, I had to hear “Abacab.”

Now “Abacab” is pretty powerful on the original LP, but the live iteration is MUSCULAR! You cranked it and the whole house shook. You were enveloped in the sound, it felt so GOOD!

And on “Three Sides Live” the opening cut is a version of “Duke”‘s “Turn It On Again.”

In the rewriting of history, subsequent to the ubiquity of Phil Collins, the post-Gabriel Genesis is seen as ersatz, a dash for cash, lightweight, BUT THIS IS UNTRUE! And “Three Sides Live” is one of the best live LPs ever cut, but you’ll never hear about it in any discussion of concert triumphs.

Now I became such a Genesis fan, I purchased Collins’ “Face Value” the day of release, I had no idea “In The Air Tonight” would become so legendary, on both black and white radio, my favorite cut in the wake of the breakup with my live-in girlfriend was “You Know What I Mean,” which segued into the exuberant “Thunder and Lightning,” and after the jaunty “I’m Not Moving” the LP became positively depressing, with “If Leaving Me Is Easy” and a droning, futuristic rendition of John Lennon’s head trip, “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

So I was all in, along for the ride when the rest of society showed up, and beware of your dream coming true, because it will end, people will turn on you, they will move on.

So I wasn’t sure which “Duchess” version I’d heard, the studio or live iteration.

So I just went to Spotify and pulled up the take off “Duke” and I’d forgotten what a long, spacy, dreamy intro the track had, it was the chorus that was implanted in my brain.

So maybe it was the live take I was remembering, with rougher edges.

But when I pulled up the live take it didn’t quite resonate either.

AND THAT’S WHEN I REALIZED IT WAS THE STEREO!

I used to come home, break the shrinkwrap, drop the needle and…

TURN IT UP!

My music was my sanctuary, a way to excise and drown out the world I was not accepted in, the world I’m still unaccepted in.

Sure, we were all addicted to the radio, but we had to OWN THIS STUFF, so we could go DEEPER, so it would be indelibly enmeshed in our DNA.

Full spectrum music does not sound good utilizing today’s playback systems. You need a multi-speaker system, with tons of power, to avoid clipping, watts are not about loudness, but avoiding distortion.

And I was disappointed until I put on headphones.

Then the sound, the experience, came back.

Times were good
She never thought about the future, she just did what she would
Oh, but she really cared
About her music, it all seemed so important then

Boy did it.

But now every time that she performed
Oh, everybody cried for more
Soon all she had to do was step into the light
For everyone to start to roar
And all the people cried, you’re the one we’ve waited for

That’s right, we were addicted, we were waiting for your new opus, and when we got it, we spun it, learned it, and then went to the show, we had to go to the show, when tickets were ten or twelve bucks, certainly under twenty.

And when Genesis would go into “Duchess,” another of their anthemic numbers, we’d stand and sway and sing along at the top of our lungs, this was a religious experience, far exceeding what we’d been exposed to in church or synagogue, we were now truly home.

That’s right, anthems.

Our listening wasn’t casual. There were no playlists, no Pandora in the background, we chose what we listened to, what we bought, our collections were expressions of our identities.

And I’m driving in my car and when the band reaches the chorus…

This was art rock, this was prog rock, “Duchess” is more than six minutes long, it was not made for Top Forty, this was before MTV, when you made music to make a statement, at the length it required, if there needed to be a multi-minute instrumental intro, SO BE IT!

And the sense of ANTICIPATION!

We knew it was coming!

And, like I said, Genesis has been forgotten, put down, the band is uncool, especially the post-Gabriel era. But some people remember. And then you put the headphones on and hear the melody…

And then there was the time that she performed
When nobody called for more

Nobody’s calling for this music.

But back then fans did, before the band had any hits. There was this weird melding of experimentation and melody, that’s what makes “Duchess” so great, along with the changes and the instrumentation, the notes, engendering the desire to sing along.

And you may not.

But if you listen to “Duchess” you’ll find it impossible to sit still, you’ll start slapping your thighs, nodding your head.

From an era when music was truly royalty.

But most of all, I wanna have some FUN!

We self-satisfied baby boomers think we know it all, lived through the best era, that nothing can compete, so we might as well just stay home and marinate in our glorious feelings.

I was literally the oldest guy there. I saw one dude who was in his fifties, but otherwise I was the odd duck, wearing sneakers. That’s right, it was like an archaeological site, with all the lost shoes in the sand.

WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?

Kaskade. Possibly America’s preeminent deejay, he had a vision, he wanted to have a BEACH PARTY!

That’s right, he may have started out in Chicago, gone to school in Utah, paid dues in SanFran, but now he lives in Santa Monica and is entranced by the lifestyle, and it took him five years to make his vision come to fruition, but last year it did in Long Beach, and earlier this year in Miami too, he wants to establish a brand, a la Lollapalooza, ultimately get to the point where it can succeed without him headlining, so everyone can have FUN!

Santa Monica said no. The NIMBYS are everywhere these days, these same baby boomers with a lot more money than sense, thank you Rod Stewart, NOT IN MY BACKYARD! And, actually the beach was in the backyard of high rises, between them and the water, and some residents were not happy, but the show ended at TEN! This was not the rave of yore, beginning long after dark and playing until the sun came up, rather Sunsoaked began at two and ended at the aforementioned ten, anybody can tolerate that for some cash for their city, RIGHT?

And Long Beach has a bad rap, as a subsidiary municipality, I haven’t been there in eons, because it’s off the beaten path, you’ve got to diverge from the 405, take the 710 to the water, where redevelopment has been done right, movie theatres, a Nike store, it looks better than it reads.

And, on the beach, 31,000 REVELERS!

Think about this, one gig and you’re set for the YEAR! Of course there are costs, but that’s a lot of paying customers, although most only paid fifty bucks, that’s the difference between this scene and the supposed mainstream, fans can get in, tickets blew out in a matter of minutes, because you’re either clued-in.

Or you’re not.

Now on the stage is a table. With speakers pointing inward at the deejay. And then a bunch of pyrotechnics, did you know there are these machines that spout fire, over and over again, they’re very hot up close. And smoke machines. And in front of the precipice, throngs of people twisting and turning, going up and down, throwing their hands up in the air!

I wanted to see what was going on, so I ventured into the crowd.

It was not crushworthy. And as you worked your way back in the horde you found giant fans spreading mist, and a humongous inflatable water slide, with a JUMP! That’s right, you climbed up nearly a hundred steps, then plopped down on the ramp and just when you were in the groove, sliding, you were thrown into the air and ultimately into a puddle.

And there was alcohol, you should have seen the lines. And food. Everything from french fries to Kogi. Food trucks along with stands. And Rockstar gave away free beverages, and damn if the watermelon no sugar can didn’t contain a satisfying elixir, this is not the horse piss of Red Bull, but I had to throw most of it out, otherwise I’d have been awake until now, that’s how much caffeine they contain.

And at Wienerschnitzel you could spin a wheel for a fridge magnet or a hat or…

And on either side of the stage there was a medical tent, but so far no one has ever had to go to the hospital.

But the stars of the show were the PEOPLE!

Your eyes would have bugged out. Girls in bikinis. Short ones, tall ones, big ones, small ones. So many fish in the sea you became inured to them. I didn’t know breasts came in that many shapes and sizes. That you could be that thin and be so naturally endowed. This is not EDC, where everybody was wearing a costume, their body was their costume, and they showed it off, this is the California of your dreams.

And an equal number of men. Some paired up with each other, some paired up with women, an endless parade, AND NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW ABOUT IT!

And everybody’s dancing to the music, thank you Sly Stone.

And then at eight, Kaskade came back on.

I wandered over to the VIP section. Which was far to the side, but elevated by six or so feet so you could see over the heads of the hoi polloi, straight to the stage. Even better, there were speakers in VIP, boy did they have it right, this is the difference between the rock festivals of yore and today, at Woodstock they were inventing it, now it’s been refined, there are enough bathrooms, free water stations, and…

Now there’s a difference beyond cost in VIP, it comes down to color.

You see California is integrated, we’re already living in the future, the rest of the country might be racist and immigrant crazy, but for sure the assembled multitude was a rainbow of colors, as many Latinos as whites, maybe more, blacks, multicultural people, if you’re afraid of beings of color, this was not the place for you.

But it was not scary, AT ALL! Bump into someone by accident and no one took offense. With that many people in attendance you could get scared, think of violence, but there was none of that, it was strangely calm.

But in VIP most of the people were white. So we’re still segregated, albeit by economic opportunity and success.

So you get to the point where all you can do is stand there and drink up the visuals, it’s astounding. The couple dancing furiously in front of me looked like they just came from overtime at the law office, she was one of the only people in pants, but she moved like a jumping bean.

And the girls behind me, on the couch, twisting and turning, prancing upright on the cushions.

And they were mouthing the words.

Strange world we live in, no one knows what’s going on. You don’t read about this music in the newspaper, it gets little attention, but these fans were fully aware, this was their soundtrack.

And then Kaskade said we’d know this one…

FUN!

I wanna go out
Dress up real nice and find someone
Who’s ready to run
But, most of all
I wanna have some fun

That’s what life is about, fun. You live a life of drudgery, in the office, at the construction site, and then you lay your money down to cut loose and smile, to have FUN! And you can’t have fun without MUSIC!

And now you’re sitting there with your arms crossed, saying how this is not real music, how it’s repetitive, made by machines, that the deejays are not musicians, and then you stand in the crowd and you find yourself…

DANCING!

It happened spontaneously. I was checking everybody out. But then the sound infected me. As if I was injected with a serum. And first I found my shoulders twisting, then my arms shaking, and then I was no longer an outsider, I’d been swallowed by the crowd, by the music, by the good time.

And you would have been TOO!