"Steamroller Blues" | |
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Song by James Taylor | |
from the album Sweet Baby James | |
Released | 1970 |
Recorded | December 1969 |
Studio | Sunset Sound |
Genre | Blues |
Length | 2:57 |
Label | Warner Bros. |
Songwriter(s) | James Taylor |
Producer(s) | Peter Asher |
"Steamroller Blues" | ||||
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Single by Elvis Presley | ||||
from the album Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite | ||||
B-side | "Fool" | |||
Released | March 4, 1973 | |||
Recorded | January 14, 1973 | |||
Venue | H.I.C. Arena, Honolulu | |||
Genre | Blues | |||
Label | RCA Victor | |||
Songwriter(s) | James Taylor | |||
Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||||
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"Steamroller Blues" (a.k.a. "Steamroller"), is a blues parody written by James Taylor, that appeared on his 1970 album Sweet Baby James . It was intended to mock the inauthentic blues bands of the day. The song later appeared on two of Taylor's compilation albums and has been recorded by a variety of other artists.
Rock journalist David Browne wrote that "[d]uring the Flying Machine days in the Village, Taylor had heard one too many pretentious white blues bands and wrote 'Steamroller' to mock them." [1] Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Mark Coleman, said Taylor's song "effectively mocks the straining pomposity of then-current white bluesmen." [2]
Taylor and Danny Kortchmar, both playing electric guitars, laid down the track in one night at Sunset Studios, the rhythm section being added later. A tight budget and production schedule forced Taylor to record the song despite suffering from a head cold. [3]
The song was included on Taylor's diamond-selling Greatest Hits 1976 compilation using a live version recorded in August 1975 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Another performance, from 1992, was included on his 1993 album (LIVE) . The profanity in the earlier release was missing from the latter. [4] [5]
"Burning Love" is a 1972 song by Elvis Presley, written by Dennis Linde, originally released by Arthur Alexander earlier in 1972. Presley found major success with the song, it becoming his final Top 10 hit in the American Hot 100 or pop charts, peaking at number 2.
"A Big Hunk o' Love" is a song originally recorded by Elvis Presley and released as a single on June 23, 1959 by RCA Victor, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.
"Fire and Rain" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, released in August 1970 by Warner Bros. Records as the second single from Taylor's second studio album, Sweet Baby James. The song follows Taylor's reaction to the suicide of Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend, and his experiences with drug addiction and fame. After its release, "Fire and Rain" peaked at number two on RPM's Canada Top Singles chart and at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Promised Land" is a song lyric written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song. The song was first recorded in this version by Berry in 1964 for his album St. Louis to Liverpool. Released in December 1964, it was Berry's fourth single issued following his prison term for a Mann Act conviction. The record peaked at #41 in the Billboard charts on January 16, 1965.
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Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden is a live album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released in late June 1972 by RCA Records. It peaked at No. 11 on the Top 200 US Billboard albums chart on September 9, 1972. Recorded at the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on Saturday June 10, 1972, the concert, and the subsequent album, were promoted as being Presley's first live concerts in the Big Apple since the 1950s.
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"Cecilia" is a song by American musical duo Simon & Garfunkel. It was released in April 1970 as the third single from the duo's fifth and final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). Written by Paul Simon, the song's origins lie in a late-night party, in which the duo and friends began banging on a piano bench. They recorded the sound with a tape recorder, employing reverb and matching the rhythm created by the machine. Simon later wrote the song's guitar line and lyrics on the subject of an untrustworthy lover.
"Hawaiian Wedding Song" originally entitled; "Ke Kali Nei Au" was adapted from a 1926 love song written by Charles E. King and originally recorded by Helen Desha Beamer in its original version but re-written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and renamed as "Hawaiian Wedding Song". The song was recorded by Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Elvis Presley.
"A Hazy Shade of Winter" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on October 22, 1966, initially as a stand-alone single, but subsequently included on the duo's album Bookends (1968). It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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"Fool" is a 1973 song by Elvis Presley. It was adapted by songwriter Carl Sigman from a composition by James Last, titled "No Words". It was released as a single with the flipside track "Steamroller Blues". and then on the 1973 album Elvis.