Episode 13 focuses on “Knock On My Door” a Nickey penned tune sung by Jean, and by request from Mia, we’re talking about “Shade Me” from the first album. Alice, Kristen, and Byron are joined as usual by June and Jean Millington.
We celebrate some October birthdays in the Birthday Bakery segment as well as disclose a possible new slogan for a sticker!
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NOTE: These podcasts will be produced once every two weeks at present. A lot of work goes into these and we’re looking for feedback from the fans to drive the direction of the podcast.
Another fun podcast! I still think from the structure, melody, and subject matter “Knock On My Door” sounds like a song that would have been done by ABBA (later of course). I mean that in a totally good way!
And about Jean’s bass playing. It is fantastic. She’s a great bass player and i definitely get the Santana vibe from “Shade Me”.
Keep up the excellent work.
Cheers,
E
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the great feedback! It’s funny, Nigel (another podcast listener), said the same thing about ABBA covering “Knock On My Door.” I so agree! In addition to Annie Lennox, I also think Lenny Kravitz could nail this song.
Cheers,
Kristen
Thanks, Eric,
I know I’m a little late with this response, but it’s so nice to hear that you’re enjoying the podcasts. They’re a lot of work, but SOOOOOooooooo much fun putting together!
Best,
Alice
PS – I do love me some ABBA!
Who was that nod I saw you with last night?
Welsh Dave
Good one, Dave!
Okay, Dave,
I’m missing this one. What does your comment mean? Maybe Kristen will have to explain it to the old lady!
Best,
Alice
“To pass you with a nod on the street”. Old vaudeville joke: “Who was that lady I saw you with last night? ” “That was no lady, that was my wife!”
Welsh Dave
Another great episode.Thanks!
Thank you, Guy! š
THE GROOVE REPORT
It seems David Sedaris overestimated the American appetite for SOS (shit on shards). (sad-face emoji). But onward we go, always in hope!
DAYS OF YORE
I donāt know why but this anecdote from my Navy days was left unpublished from the last Groove Report. ĀÆ\_(“/)_/ĀÆ
Consider it a writerās vice, inserting himself between the text and the reader, a reasonable (?) toll imposed. āHere, reader! Read this bullshit first and Iāll get to something interesting later. Thank you for playing. Please insert thirty-five cents to continue. Beep.ā
Or more probably because itās dumb and I canāt resist dumb. Who really knows?
A million years ago, back in the 70s, aboard the air craft carrier USS Eisenhower (CVN-69 #IkeBites), in the Reactor Department berthing compartment where all the mechanics, electricians and reactor operators (like me) who stood watch in the propulsion plant slept, sitting around a table in the lounge while Cat from Outer Space played on the VCR, some nitwit having recorded it over Apocalypse Now which most of us had come to the lounge to watch, as we played pinocle instead, as everyone waited for a very distracted me to play the next card:
My partner across the table asks, āYou playing Jim?ā And I respond smoothly as I trump the final trick, āBeen playinā Jim all my life. No oneās caught on yet!ā
True story! Now on to the Episode!
KNOCK ON MY DOOR
To my ears, Knock On My Door has an Eleanor Rigby vibe, though it differs by the absence–not to any detriment–of Lennonās masterful cynicism. Still, itās a haunting, minor-chord shivery kind of listen. The very best kind. And though it speaks of the truth (as anything created in time must) of only one particular time, it speaks it honestly, and I feel thatās shown in how we are here talking about it these many years later. It has that genuine quality in the sense of its objective view of an extremely subjective subject.
And I also vote for Annie Lennox!
SHADE ME
In brilliant tonal contrast, and showcasing the versatility and virtuosity of Fanny, Shade Me hits like a stone groove! I imagine hearing it live would leave one either dancing madly or rooted and transfixed! Itās damn tasty and to these ears sounds like a blast to record! And, in the least surprising thing ever, Alice is a genius here! A Colossus standing astride the kit triumphantly holding aloft the scales of Groove and Chops in sweet melodic and nearly ecstatic balance!
GREAT MINDS AND ALL THAT
Alice: Yes! Dun-dun-dun-dun!! My brain heard it at the EXACT moment you said it! Brain meld! Ha!
Dr. K.: Again your academic āchopsā are so eloquently on display in your musical analysis and your Historianās approach to the subject. Thank you for sharing your brain!
Byron: As someone familiar with engine rooms that make things go, I can appreciate your wizardry to make it all happen before our very ears!
MARACAS
Sure, easy-peasy to play a maraca with some kind of high-hat pedal arrangement but overdubs are still legit!
THE RUNOUT
āAnd the Lord did grinā¦ā
As did we all! Thanks again!
https://youtu.be/xOrgLj9lOwk
Jim! Another super stellar Groove Report! Add to this a clip of Monty Python to exemplify the runout, and it’s perfect! Grateful for your insights, humor, and writing talents! Happy to share my brain and love of all-things Fanny any time. Cheers!
Dearest Jim,
And the lord sayeth, “She who counts from 3 to one, counts best.” Proverbs: Alice 1:004
Thanks again for the time you take to send in your ever-so entertaining comments. The Groove Report is a must read!
Best,
Alice
Tremendous episode…as usual. Knock On My Door is in my top 5 FANNY songs. I am NOT a wimp! LOL. As good as the total song is, June’s guitar solo sends shivers up my spine. Just an incredible solo. Shade me is almost Motown. Nickey is one of the best piano and keyboard on the planet!!! Wimps can’t appreciate these songs…I am not a wimp! I’m inspired art-wise…Gotta finish my group painting.
Hi Steve!
So glad you enjoyed the episode. And you’re definitely not a wimp, since you’re a Fanny fan. š Can’t wait to see the inspiration art-wise, as well as the group painting. Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Kristen
Steve,
We don’t know a lot of wimps in this camp! Your comments are a joy to read. Thanks for sharing, and taking to time to do so!
Best,
Alice
Another interesting and insightful episode. It’s difficult to leave a comment as everybody already said what I was thinking. Great to be among like-minded individuals! Is there a fanny songbook available anywhere? I’d love to try and learn some of those groovy baselines!
Cheers
?
Thank you so much, Brian! Cheers!
Hi Brian,
There IS a Fanny songbook that occasionally comes up on EBay, but nothing that I could put my hands on and send to you. I know they’ve been hunted pretty much to extinction, so I wish you the best of luck!
Thanks for chiming in!
Alice
Thanks Alice
I’ll keep an eye out on eBay
Cheers!
Hey it’s my turn! My birthday is in Nov, and for my fave birthday song I pick A Little While Later. It’s hard to pick a favorite but I think this is one that hasn’t been talked about yet.
Also, I was watching the movie Every Night’s A Saturday Night, about the great Bobby Keys and there was a brief clip of when he was touring with Joe Cocker, and there was Nicky, singing away. I keep wishing she’ll make a visit to the Podcast.
Hi Elizabeth!
We’ll definitely give you a Birthday Bakery shout out for November! For now, we’ve selected all the Fanny songs for the rest of the year, but we’ll definitely add your song to the queue for early 2021! Thank you so much for listening to the podcast! We are hoping Nickey will make a visit as well. We’d love it!
Kristen
Hi Elizabeth,
I do believe we’ve managed to remember your birthday, despite being of little working brain. I LOVE “A Little While Later,” and will push for it in 2021.
Thanks for listening AND writing in!
Best,
Alice
Kristen, I love how you talked over Jean’s opening bass line on “Shade Me”. You sounded like you were in a poetry jam.
Ha! Thank you Aaron…I had so fun doing it, but couldn’t have pulled it off without Byron’s magic. š
Oops! I meant to write that I had so *much* fun doing it! Blame it on not having my first cup of coffee yet. š
Aaron,
She was!
Alice
Much food for thought in this podcast.
I can’t help but think of “Knock on my Door” as a sort of update of “Brief Encounter” for the 1970s. Those sawing, gnawing strings sound as if they are leading up to a catastrophic break which will leave no one unhurt, but fortunately nobody quite ends up like Celia Johnson’s character, about to jump in front of a speeding train! The bass line is full of bent notes, like a quavering voice. In the last verse Jean’s voice soars as she sings “Knock on my door”, to be answered by the strings’ and drums’ falling cadence, “Oh, NO! NO! NO!”
Agreed, Annie Lennox could ace this song, and ABBA’s (okay, Agnetha’s) heartbreaking “The Winner Takes it All” has similar classical-sounding piano. Both are heartfelt autobiographical songs.
The bass melody of “Shade Me” with Alice’s intricate drumming can get stuck in my head for days at a time. Not complaining, oh no… I’d love to have heard The Svelts play “Gimme Some Loving”. I missed being at uni with Spencer Davis by three or four years. The original record always sounded to me like a steam-hauled freight train labouring across an endless golden prairie, the organ (whistle) echoing off grain elevators. Sorry, I just love American steam locomotives…
Byron’s deep ship’s siren (foghorn?) instantly reminded me of “Captain of Your Ship” by Reparata and the Delrons, and the difference in approach between Tin Pan Alley and Fanny. The R&D song is full of witty nautical metaphors and sound effects, but inevitably comes down to the same old shtick of following one’s heart and settling for a safe romantic option, whereas “Take a Message to the Captain” ends with a commitment to change and a new career. The captain of Nickey’s ship is neither her heart nor her soul, but her brain. I think the song may have been her way of announcing her decision to join Wild Honey/Fanny; a ship’s crew and a touring band are not all that different. The nautical elements are limited to Alice’s little snare rolls in the first verse, like wavelets breaking on a shore at irregular intervals, and a hint of hornpipe in one of the organ lines of the bridge. The final verse drumming is reminiscent of a ship under way, butting through waves.
June’s guitar sounds at times like George Harrison’s in “Something”, and I love the way it plonks decisively down on “I know what I must do.” Great track.
Looking forward avidly to Podcast 14!
Welsh Dave.
Excellent observations, Dave! The ship horn is actually from “SpongeBob Squarepants”. As you can probably tell, I love little audio cues like that. š
Thanks Dave,
I love it when our fans “get it,” and you do! Excellent comments – “wavelets” – “plonks”
LOVE it!
Alice
Knock on My Door screams ABBA! They certainly could have pulled this song off.