That's happened to me more times than I can count. Having grown up in an era in which a white, male perspective dominated popular music, as a mixed-race female, I felt like an outsider more than once. Add to that a propensity for partnership that seems hard-wired and independent of my socio-political affiliations, and you have me -- a fish out of water when it comes to the lyrics of popular songs.
Oh, but the music.
Let's take this song as an example. I suppose a lot of women would find this tale of a lovestruck, former rounder to be wildly romantic. I do not. What has me swooning is every note of music and the surprising cast of characters behind it.
Can we talk, first of all, of how utterly perfect this song would have been for Ray Charles (He was still living; I wonder why he never recorded it)? There's country (Good God, y'all -- that piano, that "pedal steel"). There's blues, there's gospel, there's blue-eyed soul. You wanna know what rock and roll is? That's rock and roll.
Who's behind this musical ecstasy? Let's start with the front man who isn't a front man: Elvin Bishop on lead guitar, who is so incredibly savvy that he underplays his solo, just to let the song (which he co-wrote) speak for itself.
That's pretty cool, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. Take a look at the Elvin Bishop Wikipedia entry for the whole story on this truly-extraordinary musician.
No, that's not Bishop on lead vocals. It's Mickey Thomas, later of Jefferson Starship, who studied with gospel singer, Gideon Daniels. How odd is it that someone who delivered just about the most perfect vocal performance of the 1970s would go on to sing one of the most reviled songs of the 1980s? Trust me; I lived through the 80s. There were worse songs -- far worse.
Then, there's keyboardist, Philip Aaberg. How on earth does a guy get a music degree from Harvard, co-write this song, and then go on to record some of the best music ever released by ... Windham Hill? Side note: If that's your thing -- even a little bit -- you must track down Aaberg's superb sophomore effort, Out Of the Frame.
As if that weren't enough, there's the "pedal steel" which is certainly not an actual pedal steel guitar, but most likely played on synthesizer by guest musician, Bill Slais. It's like he has steel guitar chops without ever having been a guitarist!
While we're at it, let's not count out Bishop's long-time, crackerjack rhythm players, Michael Brooks on bass and Donny Baldwin on drums. They keep this thing cooking, give the others room to explore. So good.
That's the strange, wonderful story of the music and musicians behind this tear-soaked, gin-milled, country soul, rock and roll classic. It's Elvin Bishop (and friends) with "Fooled Around and Fell In Love".
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