what did you say?
Anyone who’s listened to Hicks’ improv style knows that recognizing all the songs he teases in is a challenge. A few days ago, one of our readers mentioned that he or she’s been working on identifying one particular song tease for over a year. This came up on the post discussing “Texas Flood” because the song in question was sung at the same gig where Hicks performed that. Here’s what our reader said:
Interesting info on the Texas Flood cedit mystery. I was thinking…maybe all you super researchers here can help me solve another mystery that has been on my mind for, oh, say a year or so.
I need help identifying these lyrics: ” .. and that’s why I’m gonna live in Sausalito one day…. I’ll have a house overlooking San Francisco Bay…and my driveways gonna be called Ocean Way…”
Taylor sings these lyrics in a clip form the Open Door set, mixed in with lyrics from “A Fool For You” and “Hold On To Your Love.”
Here’s the song where the tease occurred. The lyrics in question begin at about the 1:48 mark.
Hey Now > Hold on to Your Love (Open Door, 02/04)
Another reader mentioned that she’d found someone who had brought the question up with Hicks, and even he wasn’t quite sure anymore where the tease came from. You can go back and read their brief discussion here.
I thought this was an interesting enough mystery not to have it sink to the bottom of the bowels of the blog, so I’m putting it out to you here, with the music to listen to.
So, what did he sing? What do you say?
ETA(06/26): just in: proof that Hicks gave it his best shot to satisfy. Give him a hand, people. He can’t remember everything himself.
categories: music
tags: Hold on to Your Love, Sausalito, taylor hicks, Van Morrison
posted by what at 08:13 pm
Excellent! Let’s get the whole team working on this one! But I have to say, I spent a bit of time googling these lyrics again today, and I got nothing, nada, zip.
However, there is lots of interesting info about a famous recording studio in Sausalito called The Plant, and another famous recording studio in Los Angelos called Ocean Way…
So here is an idea: Could they be original lyrics? …lyrics to a song Taylor was working on, but now after all this time has forgotten?
Knowing Taylor’s way with lyrics, he may have changed them a bit. Was it Sausalito, was it San Francisco? My google search only revealed the same as for T and jam. I tried to mix up the lyrics, use parts of them, etc… Rien for me either. Maybe they did spring up from Taylor’s brain.
I’ll give you a hint. He looks like America’s Nustrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Reading the lyrics from Van Morrison’s A Night In San Francisco album (oh, I am so buying this album…)
turns up this so far:
Ray Charles said it this way:
Ya ever wake up in the mornin’
(Ya ever wake up in the mornin’)
Jus’ about the break of day?
(About the break of day?)
Reach over, feel your pillow
(Reach over, feel your pillow
Where your baby used to lay?
(Where your baby used to lay?)
Well, put on your cryin’
(Put on your cryin’)
Like you never cried before
(Like you never cried before)
You even cried so hard
(You never cried so hard)
You give-a blues to the neighbour next door
(Blues to the neigbour next door)
I’m on, I’m on, Trans Euro Train
(Trans Euro Train)
I’m on Trans, Trans Euro Train
(Trans Euro Train)
But no Sausalito or Ocean Way or house overlooking the bay…yet…!
Wow Asstral -your ‘hint’ tells me you cracked this. I am in owe. I’ve been known as the über google wizard by many and this is still evading me even now that you basically told me the artist. I can think of lots of spots where he might have stuck that line but no solid substantiation -”YET” which is of course the operative word here.
well, Meg, if you know the artist, you’re way ahead of me. Morrison is Irish, so who’s America’s NFAK? Paul Simon? Surely not Dennis Franz, afterall. But then, he only has to look like America’s NFAK, so maybe Morrisonn afterall? (don’t mind me, I got nothin’)
…but here’s a great resource, if you’re going that route: van stuff
The glossary is good tool for this stuff - I’m going after one song on the strength of the John Donne ref alone
I just wish there was a way to look up a lick.
So asstral. Time for another clue?
Sorta kinda…
http://www.songtapper.com/s/tappingmain.bin
The song is by Dennis Franz. For those who don’t know Dennis Franz often sang about San Francisco because at one point in his career I believe he was a detective there. Sometimes him and his partner Erik Estrada would even cover the sausalito crime unit.
of course: the singing detective. I don’t speak French, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t the missing clue: singing detective musical sequence
As long as we’re being curious, what I really want to know is this: who the hell names their driveway?
Master “What”?? — did you really just post the above.?? — I’d say you’ve been googling too much today. …but What do I know?
I also think Asstral needs to sing some of this for us and put it on sendspace. Dennis Franz yep that great old Jazz man himself — I should have known it was his work -Back to my research…
I too was wondering who names their driveway???
Makes me think of Gallagher questioning why we drive on a Parkway and Park in a driveway. Zen has nothing on us.
ha ha ha.
my googling is becoming desparate now…”looks like van morrison detective” “Andy Sipowicz lyrics” “Sausalito Estrada lyrics” I think I need to take a break for a while.
This has been good fun. I know more than when we started. Very cool. FYI, I’m the person you googled, Meg… the one who asked T about the lyrics…I just didn’t want to cop to having a MS, but it is kinda funny, so what the hell. And thanks so much, What, for making this blog entry. I really hope it helps to solve the mystery, but even if it doesn’t, it is fun to have ‘my’ special song featured, and it will always be special to me, ID’d or not.
I’d just like to know, you know? The lyrics remind me of the first time I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito…and turned around and looked at that view that just took my breath away, my dreams of living there someday. And then there is the fact that Taylor sang those words in a little snip of music that really touched me…as part of a whole set of music that really touched me. I mean he really kills on ‘A Fool For You’ in that clip. It makes me want to cry. I must have listened to it, and that smooth slide into the mystery lyrics, a million times. It’s just my favorite…and it’s not even a whole song. I listened the hell out of it for many months.
And I always come back to it. Makes you want to cryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yyyyy yyyyy yyyyy y like you never cried before. Cryyyyy. Shit. *wipes tear* …then mystery lyrics about Sausalito…we’re sad, but there is hope… And then the build back into HOTYL. I love it. And then at the end, after this perfect musical orgasm of an ending, some guy in the audience says, “You’re like my idol!” I can’t help but smile every time I catch that. Perfect. I’m telling you, this little clip has it all.
And asstral, you’re killing me, man. I love it. Thanks for the hints. Any time you want to drop a few more, please feel free! I’m checking back here with obsessive regularity.
I remember when we were discussing this over on the BB… and it sent me on a wild goose, or some sort of, chase.. having lived near Sausalito for years, I went out looking for Ocean Way on Mapquest, etc. etc… pretty crazy…
However, after the thread fizzled out, I forgot about it until serendipitously, I received my new Marc Broussard “S.O.S.-Save Our Soul” CD in the mail yesterday, and as is my M.O., started reading the liner notes (talking about ‘obsessive regularity’ T/J), and lo and behold, the last line of one side of the packet says that the CD was recorded in Nashville at 3 locations, one being OCEAN WAY STUDIOS…
Here’s their site:
http://www.oceanwaystudios.com/
So, now I wonder if Taylor perhaps had the occasion to visit Sausalito, then mixed it up with Ocean Way in Nashville?? or some weird variation on all that?
P.S. Since Elvis C. was mentioned a few times recently on GC before the greying out, and over on the BB’s thread about GC, check out this link on their site of recent clients:
http://www.oceanwaystudios.com/makinwaves.htm
Grammy-nom’d albums from Costello, to Etta James, to the Notorius Cherry Bombs… cool…
P.P.S. Yeah, I love the Open Door tapes… Would give almost anything to have been there when that show was recorded… Same with “One Night in Nashville”… Whew…
LaRosita, if you come back to this thread…. If love the One Night in Nashville tapes and listen to them almost every day. I haven’t heard about the Open door tapes. Where did you find those? Thanks!
mamaforpeace, you can get that set, and other goodies here:
http://www.tay-online.com/discography/Pre_AI.htm
Thank you so much, T and Jam. I guess when I go to a site, I should really look around for what’s available! Glad I came back to this thread!