One of the comments on last week’s Tuesday Tunes post made a reference to nature as a theme for these. I’ve done several over the years about various aspects of nature and the environment but that got me thinking that maybe it was time for another. So here we are. One of the most vital elements in our lives and in the natural world is water, so it seems a good place to look. And I found quite a few songs with water in their title: more than enough for one post, so you have been warned! As usual, these are a bit of a mixed bag, so I hope there is something in here for everyone.
Let’s get off to a rousing start, shall we, with one of the most recognisable guitar riffs in all of rock music:
That was Deep Purple playing Smoke on the Water in 2007, around forty years after the band started, and they still had it! This was originally a track on their sixth album, Machine Head, which was released in March 1972 and reached #1 in the UK, Australia, and in several European countries, whilst peaking at #7 in the US. The song is based around a real life event: the band were in Montreux, Switzerland, to record the album using a mobile recording studio (rented from the Rolling Stones and referred to as the “Rolling truck Stones thing” and “a mobile” in the lyrics) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as “the gambling house” in the song lyric). The final event at the complex before it was due to close for the winter, leaving it free for Deep Purple, was a concert by Frank Zappa during which someone fired a flare gun into the roof, causing a fire which burned down the entire complex, and forced the band to find another location. The lyric that gave the song its title was the result of a dream by bass player Roger Glover, describing what the band saw from their hotel across Lake Geneva while the fire was raging. Other lyrics in the song also refer to that: “some stupid with a flare gun,” for example. It wasn’t released as a single until more than a year later, in May 1973, when it got to #4 in the US and #2 in Canada: it didn’t make the UK charts, as I think we all had the album by then!
I’ve played this next one before, but as this is one of my favourite bands and the song is great I trust you’ll excuse my self-indulgence:
Diamonds on The Water was an album released by Oysterband in 2014, and this was its title track. The previous time I played this, back in May 2021, I gave you a fairly new video of a boat gliding through water, but thought I’d play the official studio version this time. The whole album is fantastic, if you want to check it out. They aren’t a big selling chart band: their strength is in live performance. I can vouch for that, having seen them twice, and they put on a fantastic show. Whilst they have never had any chart success of their own, two of the original members who started the band in 1976 were also with Fiddlers Dram, who had the surprise novelty chart hit The Day We Went To Bangor (a UK #3 in 1980.) The two bands were running in parallel at the time, and shared several core members, three of whom are still with the Oysters to this day. I’ve been a fan for many years!
As this next one crams two of the natural elements into its title I couldn’t really leave it out, could I:
This the title track of Free’s Fire And Water album which came out in June 1970. It was the band’s third album, and although they had enjoyed some chart success with the previous two this is the one which really made them big stars, getting to #2 in the UK and #17 in the US. It is a superb album and one which I still play a lot today: if blues rock is your thing I can’t recommend it highly enough. All Right Now was released as a single a month ahead of the album and gave them their first hit, driving the album’s sales upwards: it got to #4 in the US and #2 in the UK, spending six weeks in that position stuck behind Mungo Bloody Jerry and In The Summertime. Guess which I preferred? That song and this album were the soundtrack to that summer for me: I had my motor scooter which gave me all sorts of freedom, and I spent most evenings at the local youth centre, having loads of fun. One of my best summers ever!
I have played this next one before too, back in late 2021 as part of an Under The Covers post. It is exceptionally good, so I think it well worthy of a second airing:
This was released in 2015 by the all-female band I’m With Her. As you can see from the video there are three members – Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan – and they have made some lovely music together whilst pursuing separate careers as well. This was actually a cover version of a song which has a tragic background story. Crossing Muddy Waters is the title track of an album John Hiatt released in September 2000. Before you heard it your first thought might have been that it was about upsetting an old blues musician, but the real story is much sadder. It is about John’s first wife, Isabella, who struggled with mental health issues. They were estranged at the time when, sadly, she committed suicide. The ‘baby daughter’ in the song is Lilly Hiatt, now a well-respected singer-songwriter in her own right. Knowing that background, some of the lyrics are heartbreaking.
I’m guessing that for many I have so far got an even 2-2 split of the familiar and less familiar. Time to go for an out and out winner to tip the balance, I think. But you may not know this version. The song is a little ditty by the name of Bridge Over Troubled Water, but this is a cover version, a rather special one:
Simon And Garfunkel originally released Bridge Over Troubled Water as the title track of their final album in January 1970. It topped the charts just about everywhere and sold more than 25m copies. The track was also a #1 single hit. I hadn’t planned on playing two heartbreakers to close today’s set, but this one somehow just seemed right. For those outside the UK who may not be aware of the background, on 14 June 2017 a fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. Seventy-two people died in the fire, two others later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escaping. The fire spread extremely quickly, due to the nature of the cladding used in the building’s construction, and to this day we have yet to get definitive answers on how and why this could have been allowed to happen. There have been several investigations and reports, and it is to be hoped that the final one, due this autumn, will provide those answers. In April this year a group of 22 organisations, including the cladding company, Arconic, and several government bodies, reached a civil settlement with 900 people affected by the fire. It is to be hoped that if the final report identifies cause for criminal charges that these will be brought: the fire and its aftermath have had a significant impact on building in this country, not to mention on so many lives. To raise money for the families of victims of the fire Simon Cowell arranged the recording and release of this charity single on June 21, 2017. It reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart just a few days later, and was certified gold on January 31, 2020. The artists were awarded with the Power of Music Award at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards, and I’m playing this version as a reminder of the good that music can do. If you’re curious to know who all of those performers were, they are listed here on the Wikipedia page for the song – just scroll down until you get there.
That’s all for this week, and I hope I’m leaving you uplifted by the power of music, as well as perhaps with a tear in your eye. I’ll see you again in a couple of days with a non-music post (shock! horror!). Until then, keep well and happy 😊
Take It Easy 