In the latest version of “Online Time Killers,” we present you with one that tests your color perception and another one with simple black and white graphics to challenge your cycling skills.
First up is a website where you can test how well you detect colors. According to the website, “1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency.” See if you fall into one of those categories by heading over to the Online Color Challenge. The test is based on the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test, where the lower the score you get, the better you are at distinguishing colors. Unfortunately, I found out I’m not perfect.
Free Rider 3 features a challenging biking video with simple graphics. See if you can navigate the bicyclist through varied terrain, using your cursor buttons. The up button accelerates and the down button brakes, while the right and left buttons help you navigate your angle. There are various tracks designed by players, or you may design your own. On the ones I tried, I made it through some of the hurdles but have yet to make it all the way through. I just need to spend some more time on it. How did you do? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Singer-songwriter Gene Clark passed away on May 24, 1991 in Sherman Oaks, California. The cause of his death was listed as “natural causes” and a bleeding ulcer, but for much of his life he had battled alcohol addiction.
Clark, who was born on November 17, 1944 — was only 46 at the time of his death. His death came a little more than four months after appearing with The Byrds at the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Gene Clark’s Career
The Missouri-born Clark is worth remembering just for his work as a founding member of The Byrds from 1964-1966 that led to such works as “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” (later covered by Tom Petty), “She Don’t Care About Time,” and “Set You Free This Time.” But there was much more to Clark’s career.
With The Byrds, Clark’s work was at the forefront of folk, country-rock, and psychedelic rock. For example, Clark was the primary writer of “Eight Miles High.”
Yet, after Clark left The Byrds, reportedly over his fear of flying, he created substantial work as a solo artist and with others, such as with Carla Olson and with banjo player Doug Dillard. Considering his entire body of work, it is easy to see him as one of America’s under-appreciated music gems and understand why he still inspires indie musicians like Fleet Foxes.
Clark only had four major-label solo albums during his lifetime, and he never found widespread success. Rolling Stone magazine never even did an interview with him as a solo artist, although the magazine has heaped much posthumous praise upon the singer-songwriter.
Despite the alcoholism and the demons that Clark battled during many of those those years, he still made great music, including “Spanish Guitar,” which Bob Dylan has praised. His 1974 album No Other has come to be seen as a classic.
Gene Clark Live in New York City in 1985
For a taste of Clark’s post-Byrds work, we are lucky to have this 1985 performance in New York City. The video and audio quality are decent for the time period.
The concert is worth watching for a number of reasons, including the final song. It is a bittersweet reinterpretation of the Byrds’ reinterpretation of Bob Dylan’s “Tambourine Man.” Unfortunately, the entire show is no longer available on YouTube, but below is Clark’s performance of the “Full Circle Song.”
In 1955, a young Chuck Berry recorded “Maybellene” in Chicago and then went back to his construction job until the song got a boost from DJ Alan Freed.
On May 21, 1955, the relatively unknown Chuck Berry recorded “Maybellene” at Chess Records in Chicago. The 29-year-old part-time musician then returned to St. Louis and his construction job, while starting to train for a career as a hairdresser. But soon, through various circumstances, the song began climbing the charts so that Berry could pursue music full time.
Berry got the opportunity to record “Maybellene” when, during his visit to Chicago, he approached Muddy Waters after a show for an autograph and asked for career advice. Waters suggested Berry go to his label, Chess Records. Berry did.
Berry met with Leonard Chess at Chess Records and then auditioned, thinking Chess would like his blues music, and in particular his song “Wee Wee Hours.” But Leonard Chess noticed something else in Berry’s music. Chess liked Berry’s R&B version of the traditional country song “Ida Red,” which had been recorded by performers such as Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, who had recorded the song in the 1930s.
So, Chess recorded Berry’s take on “Ida Red,” although by the time Berry’s song was recorded, the song had new lyrics and a new name: “Maybellene.” Reportedly, Chess thought that Berry’s title of “Ida Mae” sounded too rural, so he found inspiration for the name from a mascara box nearby (changing the spelling of the Maybelline cosmetics to avoid a potential lawsuit).
With the new name and lyrics, the 2-minute and 18-second song was recorded, although it took 36 takes to get it right. In addition to Berry, the recording featured other musicians who would become legendary in their own right, including Johnnie Johnson on piano and Willie Dixon on bass.
Less than a year earlier in 1954, Elvis Presley similarly had recorded a Bob Willis song as one of his first recordings for Sun Studios. Presley’s version of “Blue Moon of Kentucky” kept the name and the lyrics of the original, while bringing the same rock and roll spirit that Berry brought to his interpretation of “Ida Red.”
In Berry’s version of his song, he not only added a driving R&B sound, he incorporated youthful energy in his lyrics. The lyrics captured the spirit of the emerging rock and roll music, connecting love and cars. In the song, the singer drives his V8 Ford seeking out his unfaithful girlfriend in her Cadillac Coupe DeVille (“Maybellene, why can’t you be true”).
As I was motor-vatin’ over the hill, I saw Maybellene in a Coup de Ville; A Cadillac a-rollin’ on the open road; Nothin’ will outrun my V8 Ford.
But Berry at first did not know what would become of “Maybellene,” which eventually was released in July with “Wee Wee Hours” as a B side. So Berry returned to St Louis.
In the meantime, Leonard Chess in a marketing move that was not unusual at the time, gave radio DJ Alan Freed co-songwriting credit and one-third of royalties in exchange for promoting the song. In retrospect, the deal seems unfair at the least, but assistance from the legendary DJ did not hurt.
One night on station WINS in New York, Freed played “Maybellene” for two hours straight. And the great sound of the song sent it to number ten on the pop charts and to number one on the R&B charts.
“Maybellene” helped launch the career of Chuck Berry, one of the holy creators of rock and roll along with his yellow Gibson ES-350T guitar. Below, Chuck Berry performs “Maybellene” live in 1958.
Although the song boosted Berry’s popularity, it also led to some hurdles for the young singer-songwriter. Some venues discriminated against Berry when they were surprised to find out the singer was not white. And, Berry had to fight for years to eventually get sole songwriting credit for the song in 1986.
Berry, of course, persevered with a long career and other hits. But “Maybellene” was a key turning point in the history of rock and roll. “Maybellene” is now listed as the 18th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
“L.A. Freeway” is a wonderful song about escape, but not the running-away-from-a-woman escape type of song. It is in the vein of Springsteen’s “Born to Run” about going somewhere new with someone you love. Springsteen’s song captures a young man’s joy of leaving for a new adventure and of leaving behind a “death trap, a suicide rap.” By contrast, Clark’s “L.A. Freeway” is about an older man looking forward to the escape but recognizing the bittersweet feeling of leaving something behind.
Oh Susanna, don’t you cry, babe; Love’s a gift that’s surely handmade; We’ve got something to believe in, Don’t you think it’s time we’re leaving?
I hope Clark found that joy he was searching for in the song. He certainly gave us a large catalog of great songs to help us find something to believe in. RIP.
What is your favorite Guy Clark song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Our series “3 a.m. Albums” examines albums that are perfect for those nights when you cannot sleep due to sadness, loneliness, or despair. Today we consider Elvis Presley’s “The Jungle Room Sessions” (and “Way Down in the Jungle Room”) a collection of songs from Presley’s final recording sessions.
Just for the circumstances surrounding Elvis Presley’s recording of The Jungle Room Sessions (2000), the album constitutes the perfect “3 a.m. album.” The songs on The Jungle Room Sessions come from Presley’s final two studio recording sessions on February 2-7 and on October 29-30, 1976 in the late night and early morning hours. Presley was emotionally and physically drained, no longer wanting to go outside his home at Graceland even as he worked hard to fulfill his obligations for concerts booked by Colonel Tom Parker.
Because of Presley’s reluctance to leave Graceland, RCA brought a studio to him, setting up recording equipment in Presley’s famed “Jungle Room,” the den at the back of Graceland behind the kitchen. Although the room was not built for recording, Nashville engineer Brian Christian helped figure out how to adapt the room in ways such as draping the walls with heavy blankets to dampen the acoustics. Considering the obstacles, the music that came out of these sessions sounds fantastic.
The music from these sessions may be found on two similar releases from Sony’s Follow That Dream (FTD) specialty Elvis label. The Jungle Room Sessions from 2000 features outtakes from the sessions. FTD later released Way Down in the Jungle Room in 2013 as a two-CD set that includes both the masters and various outtakes. I own and love both of these releases, which are somewhat duplicative, with some differences. Either one makes for great three a.m. listening.
The masters from these Jungle Room sessions produced the final two official albums of Elvis’s career: From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976) and Moody Blue (1977). The Jungle Room Sessions and Way Down in the Jungle Room compile unreleased songs from these recording sessions that according to Ernst Jorgensen’s Elvis Presley: A Life in Music, generally started after 9:00 p.m. and went all through the night. A more recent
And it is these gems and alternate takes — sometimes stripped down, sometimes featuring false starts and comments by Presley — where Presley through his beautiful voice sacrifices his own anguish to help heal yours. As his weakened body gives his lifeblood to each song, you find a close companion in the night. Allmusic describes the Jungle Room Sessions album as “one of the most revealing and emotionally draining releases ever issued by Elvis. Hear it and weep.”
The Jungle Room Sessions generally follows the order in which the songs were recorded, beginning with “Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall.” This recording includes some opening conversation by Elvis and two short takes before getting to the complete fifth take of the song. The missteps and chatter draw you into the sessions, so you feel you are sitting with Elvis and the band in the middle of the night in Graceland, or maybe they are with you wherever you are.
Other songs include a nice take on “The Last Farewell,” “Moody Blue,” “Danny Boy,” and “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” Another highlight is “She Thinks I Still Care,” a George Jones classic that was written by written by Dickey Lee and Steve Duffy.
The collection of songs also includes alternate takes on “Hurt,” a song where in Presley’s cries of anguish Greil Marcus found an “apocalyptic attack.” Similarly, Dave Marsh wrote, “If [Presley] felt the way he sounded, the wonder isn’t that he only had a year left to live but that he managed to survive that long.” This alternate take matches that description.
Finally, the Jungle Room Sessions album ends with the rocking “Fire Down Below.” But you no longer hear Presley on this track, except for a brief clip of Presley singing “America” after the track ends. The instrumental recording for “Fire Down Below” was made for Presley to later add his vocals. But he died before he got the chance to do that.
“Fire Down Below” is a fitting way to end the album, with the listener missing Presley, wondering what he might have done with the music, a track that sounds more like a sunrise than a 3 a.m. song.
Check out other albums in our series “3 a.m. Albums.” The Jungle Room Sessions and Way Down in the Jungle Room appeara on Graceland’s special collector label Follow That Dream and are available through Graceland’s official store. What is your favorite 3 a.m. album? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In the latest version of “Online Time Killers,” we present you with one that tests your color perception and another one with simple black and white graphics to challenge your cycling skills.
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Just for the circumstances surrounding Elvis Presley’s recording of The Jungle Room Sessions (2000), the album constitutes the perfect “3 a.m. album.” The songs on The Jungle Room Sessions come from Presley’s final two studio recording sessions on February 2-7 and on October 29-30, 1976 in the late night and early morning hours. Presley was emotionally and physically drained, no longer wanting to go outside his home at Graceland even as he worked hard to fulfill his obligations for concerts booked by 
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(1977). The Jungle Room Sessions and Way Down in the Jungle Room compile unreleased songs from these recording sessions that according to Ernst Jorgensen’s Elvis Presley: A Life in Music, generally started after 9:00 p.m. and went all through the night. A more recent