I was looking for something to write about for the week between Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Christmas season, which I still think of as 1 December. (I’ve mentioned before that I have two adult children whose birthday is 30 November. I promised them when they were kids that I wouldn’t start Christmas decorating until after their birthday. They are twins.)
 
Keeping in mind the birthdays at the end of the month, (I also have a student with a birthday toward the end on November.) I started looking at celebrity birthdays, and I found it! Randy Newman turns 70 on 28 November. Yup, Randy Newman. 
 
Randy Newman’s Awards 
Randy Newman is a singer/songwriter. What has he written? Everything.He is probably best known for Short People and the scores for the Toy Story movies as well as the Princess and the Frog. He has written for dozens of Disney/Pixar movies, and was proclaimed a Disney Legend in 2007. Until 2001, he held the record for most Oscar nominations with no wins and 15 nominations. He broke his losing streak that year with“If I Didn’t Have You” from Monsters, Inc, beating out even Paul McCartney! To date, he has been nominated 20 times for Best Score or Best Original Song with 2 wins; the other win was for “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3. He’s won 3 Emmys and 7 Grammys. In 2002, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2013, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
 
Randy Newman’s Music and “Mama Told me Not to Come”  
When I decided to write about Newman, “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” was one of the songs I considered highlighting. Then, in my research, I found out that as a young songwriter, he had sold ALL the rights to the song. This means that even though it is possibly his most covered song, he gets nothing in royalties. Nada. Zilch. So, I decided not to write about that song.
 
Randy Newman always knew he was going to go into music. While his father was a doctor, he had three uncles: Alfred, Lionel and Emil, all famous soundtrack composers with 10 Oscars between them. For him, going to the piano is like going to work. He sits down and writes music. 
 
Many song writers talk about how their music is autobiographical. Newman is not one of those writers. He likes to take on a character and write from that point of view. Many of his songs are satirical: Short People’s “I Love L.A.” for example. The song that I’m going to highlight is his first big hit. Not that it was a hit when he recorded it. It wasn’t even a hit for any of the subsequent first versions recorded by anyone else. Nope. It was the second of many, many versions that became a hit:

Newman is writing from the point of view of “a guy going to a party, and he’s a little scared.” There are a few drug references here. Whiskey. (Yes, alcohol is a drug.) “Sugar in your tea” is probably an LSD reference—drops of the drug would be placed on sugar cubes. The cigarette may be a joint. 

The first recorded version was in 1966 by Eric Burdon of the Animals of House of the Rising Sun fame. The album, Here Is Eric, was his first solo outing even though it is credited to Eric Burdon and the Animals—his backing band was not the Animals, but The Horace Ott and Benny Golson Orchestras. (Maybe that explains the odd harpsichord opening.) There are actually three Randy Newman songs on the album: “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today,” and “Wait Till Next Year.” I guess that Burdon started the trend of ignoring the actual music in this song. He tends to speak the verses with the instruments playing the chords behind him. He even makes the chorus his own: going up when the music has him going down, that type of thing.
 
When Three Dog Night got the song, they took it to Number 1 in 1970. The other members of the band were not in favor of recording the song, but Cory Wells, who sings lead on the song, pushed for it. Cory liked to claim that this was the first ever rap song. It was included in their 4thalbum, It Ain’t Easy, and includes two songs by Newman, “Mama Told Me,” and “Cowboy.” This album also includes “Your Song,” by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.  
 
Three Dog Night was an interesting band. I always loved their sound. Though highly polished, their music still had an almost garage-band energy to it. Toto, for example, is so polished that there isn’t a rough edge anywhere. Not a lot of energy, either.
 
Breaking Down “Mama Told Me Not to Come” and Its Iterations 
 
Listening to the myriad version of this song and looking at the sheet music, (of course I have the music for it!) I have discovered a few things. First off, let’s talk about the rhythms that Newman uses. They are weird. Randy Newman loves to utilize the off-beats. If you are tapping your foot in time to the music, a lot of music will have important words falling on the beat (when your foot is touching the floor). Newman likes the up-beat. That is when your foot is at the top, just getting ready to descend back to the floor. This can make things sound a little off kilter, which in this song works really well.
 
1970 was a busy year for “Mama Told Me Not to Come.” Not only did Three Dog Night make a hit of the song, but several other versions came out that year. The Jackson Five (featuring a very young Michael Jackson) recorded it. Let me just say that is three minutes and 10 seconds that I will never get back. 
Paul Frees recorded an odd version with The Animals backing him up. (Presumably without Eric Burdon!) Paul Frees was a voice-over artist. Along with Mel Blanc, he was the Man of a Thousand Voices (think of the Rankin/Bass Christmas and Easter cartoons). He voiced numerous characters in them, as well as just about every cartoon in the 1960s through the 1980s. I was surprised to discover some other voices he did in the course of a long career. In the 1959 classic movie, Some Like It Hot, Frees supplied much of the falsetto voice for Tony Curtis when his character was portraying a woman. In Humphrey Bogart’s last film, The Harder They Fall, Bogart’s voice was suffering. He would later be diagnosed with esophageal cancer. So, Frees was called in to dub some of Bogart’s lines. Wow. Anyway, in 1970, he recorded an interesting version as W.C. Fields. Unlike a lot of the versions, this is less of a cover and adds some funny bits to an already fun song.
 
That same year, Randy Newman recorded his own song. You have to get past his voice to enjoy it. Perhaps his voice is an acquired taste. I have not acquired it. But, he does follow his own music, unlike just about everyone else. Although, with the way he sings, it is a bit hard to tell that he’s singing and not talking. Coming in at two minutes and one second, this is also one of the shortest versions of the song. It’s just Newman and a piano. This is his preferred style of performance.
 
There are a lot of versions of this song! I’m going to jump ahead to 1998 and Lou Rawls. Rawls sang the songs for the early Garfield specials, if that helps you to figure out who he was. He did so much more. His version of the song is quite different from the others. He sings the verses, but much more smoothly than Newman does. It has a slight R&B slant to it. I think it’s a little bland, but that’s my taste.

A couple of years after Lou Rawls, in 2000, Tom Jones collaborated with the Welsh group The Stereophonics on a cover of the Three Dog Night version of our song. 
 
Tom Jones has been around forever, it seems. He started in the early 1960s and at 78 is still performing. He said in an interview a few years ago, that women still throw their panties on the stage, it’s just that now the panties are a bit bigger. According to Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks, after civilization is destroyed, Tom Jones will be left still singing, performing for the surviving animals.
 
In 2006, Yo La Tengo, aka YLT, an American indie band, did a great version of our song from their album Yo La Tengo is Murdering the Classics. This album is especially interesting because it is made up of covers that were part of a charity fundraiser. The station, WFMU, ran an annual fundraiser, and YLT would come. People could call in and for a pledge, YLT would attempt to play any song that was requested. The album is their more successful covers from an eight-year span. They add in bits and pieces from another Three Dog Night song: “One Is the Loneliest Number.” It’s another fun take on the song.
 
Three Dog Night’s version has been in three different movies: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, G.I. Jane, and The Sweetest Thing. It was sung by members of the cast in the 2015 movie Joy. That version gives us a Latin feel with the instrumentation. It’s really cool.
 
Just this past August, Randy Newman took to the stage of the Hollywood Bowl, and with the full orchestra behind him performed songs from his 50 years of composing. “Mama Told Me Not to Come” was in the playlist. Conducting the orchestra was his cousin, David Newman. Music does seem to run in that family. Kind of like the Force.
 
Why, after all this time are people still singing this song? It could be considered something of a novelty song, but I think that it hits a chord in all of us. Who hasn’t gone somewhere, possibly a party, and felt completely out of their depth? I don’t think anyone is so cool that they haven’t felt out of place at least once. I think the reason the drug references are so oblique is because that may not be the only reason for feeling out of place, for realizing that Mama told you not to go.
 
I’ll be posting some versions of this song every day on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so visit there to hear them! If you have any stories about “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” or favorite versions, let me know in the comments section, I’d love to hear from you.
 
I’ll be posting roughly once a week with a new song. I’m trying to make the songs seasonal, but I can make exceptions. So, if there’s a song that you’d like some background on, or questions about what it means, let me know.
 
Thanks for reading! Until next time!

“Alice’s Restaurant” is a changeable song. The original version, which is the one I’m going to focus on, was the title track of Arlo Guthrie’s first album. It tells the story of Arlo getting arrested for littering on Thanksgiving Day in 1965 and later being declared too immoral to be drafted because of his littering conviction.

Arlo Guthrie
Guthrie is a consummate story teller. I think it runs in his blood. The son of Woody Guthrie, he grew up surrounded by the folk music scene. Who is Woody Guthrie, you ask? Whoo boy. I barely know where to start. Woody Guthrie was a major influence for Bruce Springsteen and Nobel Laureate (I love saying that!) Bob Dylanto name just two in a very, very long list. Possibly his most well-known song is “This Land Is Your Land,” which he wrote because he was sick of hearing Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on the radio.
Anyway, that was Arlo’s dad. Arlo was himself also very influential in the folk music, counter-culture scene of the 1960s. He was just 18 when the story that became Alice’s Restaurant Massacree began. 

Behind the Song 
Normally, I would give you the lyrics of the song in the course of this blog. Today, I won’t. The song runs a whopping 18 minutes and 34 seconds. Guthrie likes to say that this is the same length of the missing Watergate tapes. Coincidence? 

Apparently, the word Massacree that Arlo uses in the title, is a word used in the Ozark mountains. It describes "an event so wildly and improbably and baroquely messed up that the results are almost impossible to believe." It is a corruption of the word massacre (itself of French origin, possibly from the now nearly extinct Missouri French dialect) but carries a much lighter and more sarcastic connotation, never being used to describe anything involving actual death.

Anyway, while some things have been embellished for dramatic effect, the story that he tells is true. It begins on Thanksgiving Day in 1965. Arlo and a friend, Richard, were having dinner with Alice and Ray. Alice owned a restaurant, although it was not open that day. They were living in an old church and had a lot of garbage around. Arlo and Richard volunteered to clean it up and take the load to the dump. Unfortunately, the dump was not open on Thanksgiving. So, they found a place nearby and dumped the stuff. Also, unfortunately, it was private property. The gentleman called the local police who then had to go through everything to try and discover whose trash it was. They found an envelope with Ray’s name on it. Not long after, Arlo was arrested for littering.

A court date was set, and the arresting officer had a set of carefully detailed pictures showing the scene of the crime. When the judge came in with a seeing-eye dog, the officer knew that all the work that had gone into the pictures had been a colossal waste of time. Arlo was tasked with cleaning up the mess.

Time passes. How much? No idea. The Vietnam War is in full swing, and Arlo is called up by the draft. He goes to the draft board hungover, hoping that would make him look too sickly to go. No help. He goes to the appointed psychiatrist and tells them how much he wants to kill people. They tell him that he is just the type of person that they are looking for and pass him along to the next office.

This is where things come to a screeching halt: his criminal record is discovered. It had never occurred to him that an arrest for littering could prevent him from going to Vietnam. But this apparently proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he was too immoral to go and fight in the war.

Does the song really have anything to do with Alice’s Restaurant? Nope. Does Alice really have that much to do with the song? Nope. But the chorus makes for nice bumpers to the anti-stupidity story that he tells. Originally, the opening line of the chorus was “You can hide from Obenhein at Alice’s Restaurant.” Obenhein was the Officer Obie in the story—the arresting officer.

A few years after the song came out, there was a movie of the same name. I’ve seen it. It is not terribly memorable. But I do remember seeing it, which puts it ahead of a lot of movies that I’ve seen but do not remember. (Often someone will mention a movie, and I’ll say that we should see it as my husband  shakes his head and tells me that we already have.)

Arlo and the Song Now
As the years have passed, Arlo has come out with new versions of the song for different occasions. Since this is more a story than a song, he can put almost anything in there, so long as he keeps the chorus the same. He stopped performing it live first in the 1970s. Then he began performing it on anniversary years. In 2015, he toured performing the song for it’s 50thanniversary. At the moment, he has no plans for a 60thanniversary tour—not sure he’ll still be around or able to play come 2025.

I’ll be posting some versions of this song every day on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so visit there to hear them! If you have any stories about “Alice’s Restaurant,” or favorite versions, let me know in the comments section, I’d love to hear from you.

I’ll be posting roughly once a week with a new song. I’m trying to make the songs seasonal, but I can make exceptions. So, if there’s a song that you’d like some background on, or questions about what it means, let me know.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

​Why are there so few Thanksgiving songs?

We have a lot of songs that are suitable for Halloween: “Monster Mash,” “Purple People Eater,” “Season of the Witch,” anything from Rocky Horror and Little Shop of Horrors, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” and of course, “Thriller.” Those are just a few from off the top of my head. I stopped because I didn’t want to overburden my point. 

And do we even need to mention the thousands of Christmas songs? Even if you decide to only do secular holiday music, there are still hundreds of choices. 

But, Thanksgiving. . . hmm. . . “Over the River and Through the Woods.” Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant.” Yes, “Alice’s Restaurant.” It starts on Thanksgiving. I can pull out a few songs that are sacred: “All Good Gifts” from Godspell, “Give Thanks,” “We Gather Together,” “Come Ye Thankful People,” “Come.”  I know that there are a few others; a quick search pulls up “Thanksgiving Song,” and “Thanksgiving Prayer.” But, there really aren’t that many.

It used to be that Thanksgiving was a big deal, with a full week off from school, decorations—the whole shebang. And the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was the beginning of the Christmas season. Now, the schools in my area get 3 days off. Decorations are spare, and the Christmas season is starting earlier and earlier. There is a radio station that starts playing nothing but Christmas music on 1 November! I know people who put up their tree the same day that station starts up. Where is the space for Thanksgiving in the midst of all that?

I even feel the pressure. Years ago, I promised my older kids, who happen to be twins, that I would not put up the Christmas décor until after their birthday, which is 30 November. Even though they are adults and not living with me anymore, I still feel bound by that promise. But, I have students who come in looking for the Christmas stuff right after Thanksgiving. My compromise is to put the tree up right after Thanksgiving, but I wait to put the decorations on it until 1 December. The cats need time to adjust to the tree anyway.

Of course, just like Columbus Day is now becoming Indigenous Peoples’ Day, there is a movement to do away with Thanksgiving. Most of what we learned about it in school is just plain wrong. There probably was a cross-cultural harvest feast, but who was there and what was eaten are more than likely far different from what we were taught. There are some who are calling for a national Day of Atonement for what we Europeans did to the Native populations.  While I can’t say that I blame them, I doubt that Thanksgiving is going anywhere anytime soon. Can’t you just hear the complaints about the “War on Thanksgiving?”

But, this still doesn’t address the dearth of Thanksgiving Day music. I’m looking for songs that revel in the food and the family fights. We are fortunate, in that in the immediate family, we are all on the same political spectrum, but I have friends for whom the day is fraught with peril.  

What is your favorite Thanksgiving song? I will admit, I am torn between “All Good Gifts” from Godspelland “Alice’s Restaurant.” Let me know what songs make your mouth water in anticipation.

I’ll be posting roughly once a week with a new song. I’m trying to make the songs seasonal, but I can make exceptions. So, if there’s a song that you’d like some background on, or questions about what it means, let me know.
​
Thanks for reading! Until next time!

Dia de los Muertos was just last week. I live in New Mexico, so this is an important part of the local scene. A few months ago, I saw the Disney/Pixar movie, Coco, which is about a Day of the Dead celebration. Sugar skulls and that type of decoration are becoming popular, but not everyone knows what they are really for. To many, this is a high holy day. The song Remember Mefrom Cocoreally shows the true intent of the day. Although, saying ‘day’ is a bit of a misnomer, as the celebration takes up several days. 

Dia de los Muertos 
First off, let’s talk about the Dias de los Muertos. November 1 is called Día de los Inocentes ("Day of the Innocents") and Día de los Angelitos ("Day of the Little Angels"). This is dedicated to the souls of children who have died. November 2 is the Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead and is dedicated to the adults who have died. Families make and decorate altars to the souls of their loved ones that include flowers and candles as well as the favorite foods and drinks of the dead. They gather together and tell stories about their loved ones and say prayers for their souls. I know to many this may sound morbid, but the celebration is a happy one. Often the graves are visited and decorated. 

Remember Me
If you haven’t seen the movie Coco, you really should. It is such a beautiful movie. The explanation of Dias de los Muertos is touching and happy at the same time. I do warn you, there will be tears. Lots of them. There will be spoilers in this blog. Also, if you follow the links to the different versions of the song, there will be tears. At least three hankies are needed, so read at your own risk!

The song, Remember Me, comes into the story in three ways. It is a lullaby that a father sings to his young daughter when he has to go away for work. It is a grand Hollywood spectacular, and it is a song that a boy sings to reconnect with his great-grandmother who suffers from dementia. (And an argument could be made for a fourth version, the duet over the closing credits, which has more of a pop feel.) 

The song writers, the husband-wife team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, were very aware of the requirements of the song. They studied Mexican music to learn how Mariachi/Rancherasongs were composed. And they also looked at some of the greatest ballads out there, keeping Yesterday by Paul McCartney in mind. The song’s Wikipedia page says that: “The song seems to be inspired from Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude, Op 28, No. 15.” (I’m already not thrilled with this statement. It should read “inspired BY” not “inspired FROM.”) But, just to check, I listened to both and looked at the sheet music for both. I can sort of see where the author of the article was coming from… if I squint just right. The opening phrase “Remember me” is very close to a recurring phrase in the Prelude, but that was about all I could find. I will admit, I did not examine the chord structure of the Chopin very closely. It’s a dense piece, and my mind quickly boggled.
Let’s look at the four versions of the song, starting with the lullaby:

Remember me, though I have to say goodbye.
Remember me, don't let it make you cry.
For even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart.
I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart.
Remember me, though I have to travel far.
Remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar,
Know that I’m with you the only way that I can be,
Until you’re in my arms again, remember me

The character Hector sings this song to his little girl, Coco, when he has to leave her to go on the road. Such is the life of a professional musician. Kristen Anderson-Lopez said in an interview that the line about singing a secret songhas a particular meaning to her. She and her daughters have all sorts of secret songs that they sing, that only they know about. She sings them when she misses her girls while she is across the country working. This version made me cry thinking about my own deceased father and the bond that we shared as well as the secret songs that my now-grown kids and I shared. (First hankie moment.)

Then we have the grand Hollywood musical moment. This is sung by Ernesto do la Cruz, a larger-than-life (or larger-than-death!) Mexican movie star. He takes the same lyrics and turns them on their respective heads. I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart. In this version those words become filled with double entendre. And instead of a soft, tender ending, we are treated to bombastic high notes.

The Importance of Softness 
One of the hardest things for young singers to realize is the importance of softness. And I say this as someone who always wanted higher and louder when I was younger. But, eventually, I learned that higher is not necessarily better. And if everything is loud, it begins to be like hitting the audience over the head with a sledgehammer. With this version of the song, the poignancy of the lyrics is lost. I’m not saying that it’s bad, I’m just saying that it is very different, which was the whole point.

The last version in the movie proper comes at the end when Miguel sings it to his great-grandmother who has dementia. As he sings softly to her, strumming his guitar, (and let me say, I was impressed with the guitar-playing animation! He changed chords! They may even have been right) she begins to tap along with the rhythm. And by the end, she is singing along with Miguel. 

Music has been shown to aid Alzheimer and dementia patients. It can help with memory and mood. Many studies have suggested learning a musical instrument as a way to boost brain power in the elderly. So, for Coco to respond to the song that her Papa used to sing to her is completely believable. (It was also the second hankie moment.)

Then we have the pop version that comes over the closing credits. This is a lovely duet that gives us the lyrics in English and Spanish. It is very up-beat and danceable. We also get more lyrics than the earlier versions of the song:

Remember me, though I have to say goodbye
Remember me, don't let it make you cry
For even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart
I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart
Remember me, though I have to travel far
Remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar
Know that I’m with you the only way that I can be
Until you’re in my arms again, remember me

Que nuestra canción no deje de latir
Sólo con tu amor yo puedo existir
Recuérdame
Que nuestra canción no deje de latir
Sólo con tu amor yo puedo existir

Recuérdame, si en tu mente vivo estoy
Recuérdame, mis sueños yo te doy
Te llevo en mi corazón y te acompañaré
Unidos en nuestra canción, contigo ahí estaré
Recuérdame, si sola crees estar
Recuérdame, y mi cantar te irá a abrazar
Aún en la distancia nunca vayas a olvidar
Que yo contigo siempre voy, recuérdame

If you close your eyes and let the music play
Keep our love alive, I'll never fade away
If you close your eyes and let the music play
Keep our love alive, I'll never fade away
If you close your eyes and let the music play
Keep our love alive, I'll never fade away

Remember me, for I will soon be gone
Remember me, and let the love we have live on
And know that I'm with you the only way that I can be
So, until you're in my arms again, remember me

Que nuestra canción no deje de latir
Sólo con tu amor yo puedo existir
Remember me
Que nuestra canción no deje de latir
Sólo con tu amor yo puedo existir
Remember me

The movie Coco has been praised for its depiction of Mexican culture. (Although Disney tried to trademarkthe words Dia de los Muertos, they withdrew the request after the huge public backlash.) And the movie has been used to help young children understand the death of loved ones. In one instance, a little boy was serenading the altar to his deceased baby sister. (Third hankie moment.)

This is a lovely song that has won many awards, including the Oscar for best original song. It has depth and yet is very simple: Remember me.

I’ll be posting some versions of this song every day on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so visit there to hear them! If you have any stories about Remember Me, or favorite versions, let me know in the comments section—I’d love to hear from you!

I’ll be posting roughly once a week with a new song. I’m trying to make the songs seasonal, but I can make exceptions. So, if there’s a song that you’d like some background on, or questions about what it means, let me know.
​
Thanks for reading! Hasta luego!