Jet Airliner
I didn’t know what a rubber was until my Freshman year at ISU. My mother, being a Registered Nurse, used only “proper” terms for “things” on or about your body, so most slang went right on by me until college. My Dad, being a Navy man, taught me other words… many of them only four letters, so I had that going for me.
Steve Miller Band’s 1977 album “Book of Dreams” was his TENTH album in as many years. It spawned a few Top 40 hits but most know “Jet Airliner” right off the bat. I immediately know if you’re listening to the album version or the single version the very first time Steve starts to sing. On the album, they left in the HUGE gulps of air Steve took before each line. On the single version these were cut out. Why the hell they were left on the album is beyond me as they stick out like sore thumbs. The other change was editing in the word “kicks” for “shit” in the lyrics. AM radio was not ready for some “funky shit” going down it seems.
****************
Am radio inhibited a lot of good songs back in the day.
Jet Airliner is a true classic and you did a great job on this strip. There were a few slang terms that even I hadn’t heard of. 
The hideous editing they did of some songs back then was a crime. I understand language, but to shorten the song by, say, 20 seconds just to make it more “attractive” in heavy rotation is pure madness.
I had fun looking up these slang words. They make sense, but I have to once again nod to our UK friends who really love to make these things up!
I thought Billy Joel summed up the crap radio did the best in his song “The Entertainer.”
You’ve heard my latest record,
It’s been on the radio.
Ah, it took me years to write it,
They were the best years of my life.
It was a beautiful song.
But it ran too long.
If you’re gonna have a hit,
You gotta make it fit–
So they cut it down to 3:05.
Now the ONE group that got it right was Three Dog Night. They did a whole new mix on some of their singles. Usually they beefed up the ending chorus by over-dubbing more vocal tracks. Their biggest single “Joy to the World” added a great guitar solo in the middle which on the album track is a simple electric keyboard riff, and then for the outro added in a ton more over-dubbed vocals. Sometimes subtle, but significant changes to the songs.
It was Three Dog Night that introduced me to the term “album version” of songs. In their case, the album versions were much weaker and a let down. I was able to get all of the single versions of their songs (after like almost 20 years) on a nice double CD set they released a while back. Now that’s what CDs are for!
Yes, yes… I like Three Dog Night. Come on…
then there’s the whole stereo vs mono thing. and with some artists, the mono version is glaringly better.
take, for example, an obscure song called “gimme gimme good lovin’” by a bubblegum songwriting duo who on this particular record called themselves Crazy Elephant. two different versions float around of this tune — the mono version and the stereo version.
the difference between them makes it seem like two different tunes altogether.
the stereo version is inferior. the guitars are way low in the mix, cheesy organ is way up front, vocals sound kinda funny, etc. it was like it was mixed by someone who really didn’t understand how to deal with stereo.
the mono version, however … was awesome. the guitars were rockin’ and right up front, the vocals could be easily heard, the drums were right there … this mix was probably designed primarily for am radio and is actually the better of the two due to the fact that the mix is spot-on with regard to, well, everything.
there are literally hundreds of examples of this phenomenon too. beatles records are the primary one people always cite and go back to.
–dee!
“Jet Airliner” was written by an obscure blind blues guy named Paul Pena. There’s very interesting Oscar-nominated documentary film about Paul later in life called “Genghis Blues”about him going to Tuva to take part in a Tuvan throat singing contest.
The Wikipedia entry on Paul gives a good rundown of his story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pena
Thanks for posting that! I did not know that! I love music trivia, so this is right up there for me!
Wow, this guy’s album is locked up in legal battles so Steve Miller at least records and makes his song a huge hit. Royalties in some fashion at least.
The music industry does not reward talent, it rewards sales. I know we live in a capitalistic society, but man, some folks just never see the light of day who have REAL talent while idiots like Paris Hilton can get an album deal because she’s rich.
Which is why I’m a cartoonist…
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by tr1guy: Feel like a little airplane ride? Better check out today’s “hump-day” 1977 the Comic! http://bit.ly/23NlXE...
It is code for “ze cahpet does not match ze drapes”
“Pilot to Co-pilot… let’s land this baby!”
Yep, all is back to normal now with Lorraine back to being a Brunette!
And she’s a brunette again! Whooo! Much better.
Yeah, too much blonde goin’ on with her blonde too. Nice balance with her back to Brunette!
I’m a Brunette fan myself… love them dark hard ladies…
Which makes my wife happy as she’s a Brunette (well, not counting the ever growing gray hairs).
“‘Cause I have pot and a guitar. Any questions?”
Pot and a BASS guitar….
We bass players need our lovin’ too you know…
*chuckle* The guy who first taught me to play bass likened the action of the strumming fingers to stroking a lady’s… um, kitten.
Dave Davis had to fly back from holiday to dub over the terrible word “Coca” in front of “Cola” because the BBC wouldn’t play it otherwise.
Oh poot,forgot to ad it was on “Lola” by the Kinks,the content passed them by but no advertizing!
Yes, it was “Lola” and the album version of the lyrics went like this:
“I met her in a club down in old Soho
where you drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca cola….”
And the single version changed “coca” to “cherry”. Yeah, couldn’t use brand names in songs like that. Editing songs for air play on the radio ruined a ton of songs.
I was living out in Hollyweird when Lola came out (appropriate phrase for that song…), and the version that was on the air – and the version on the DJ pressing Mr Davies gave me – was Coca-Cola, so I did the mother of all WTFs when I got back to London and heard the Beeb bowdlerisation. Feckers!
Another interesting release in the ’70s was the one crossover hit for bluesman Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, a song known as ‘A Real Mother For Ya’. The record company made Watson slur the chorus line so that it came out as ”cos it’s a real motherfwhyyyuh, makes ya wanna run for cover…’ No prizes for guessing what the original lyric was – or what Watson actually sang in live performances
And then there were those two Stones songs of the era: Starfucker and Bitch. It amused me hugely that radio stations often played both songs uncensored but weren’t allowed to *announce* them uncensored – so what usually happened was that Starfucker was announced as ‘Star, Star’ and Bitch was announced as ‘…and here’s the latest by the Rolling Stones…’ Go figure
Ah, “Star, Star” from the Rolling Stones. I believe on the actual label is was Star, Star but the words were Starfucker… I’d have to look that one up. But a guy in my dorm at ISU was HUGE Stones fan and made me aware of that situation. According to him, the Stones weren’t going to release the album unless Star, Star was on it… seems the record company didn’t even want to release it!
At one point, thanks to George Carlin’s “7 Words” bit, DJs could PLAY the tracks uncensored as it was “part of the artistic content” and therefore not subject to censoring, but the DJs themselves could NOT say those words. Actually, as a DJ, I could say anything I wanted, BUT if we received enough complaints to the FCC, the station could loose it’s license. So, technically, we can say anything we want, but in reality we can’t.
The one-word change “ruined” Lola?
Jeeze. What a bunch of Meldrews. if you had heard the Single version first, you’d find the “Coca” jarring (like I do). I’d hardly say the song was ruined though, especially since the point of the story had nothing to do with name brand soda.
I want an answer to the question!
The curtains NOW match the carpet. Cuffs and collar sort of thing…
Bud’s “proper” response should have been: “I don’t understand. Can you show me what you mean?”
Of course, that never worked for me, either.
It does work going the other way though. One of my brothers has very spectacular natural light-blond hair, and you’d be amazed how many birds asked him to show them if the collar and cuffs were a match. Needless to say, he happily complied
I was wondering what would make her dye her hair back…
That’s Lorraine’s pride showing… among other things….
“Big ol’ doob and lighter… don’t carry me too far away…”
I saw Roger Daltrey in concert last night! I know this has nothing to do with the comic. I just wanted to gush.
Roger is right up there as one of the most recognizable rock voices ever. His appearance on “That 70’s Show” as a music instructor was priceless…
“Who huddle!” on the Simpsons made me wet my pants…
Never heard the aviation blonde reference. It was always does the carpet match the curtains.
Kinda a UK thing I guess… was new to me too, that’s why I used it.
