Feb 022009
RIP, indeed. Billy Powell was Great.
On One From the Road, Ronnie gives up a “Billy Powell on the piano” at the beginning of the piano solo on (I think) “Call Me the Breeze.” And I’m pretty sure that he introduced Billy’s solos on more than one occasion. (I don’t recall him introducing anyone else, I wonder if that was cause for inter-band tensions.)
What I’m looking for is other shout-outs that have been captured on an official release.
Please confine the shout-out to those which take place during the song, not in between. So, Mick’s introduction of the band in between songs on Love You Live does not count.
I’ll open with what I consider to be the gold standard: “Bob Mayo… Bob Mayo on the keyboards,” from Frampton Comes Alive.
cdm, I need clarification on one issue: do shout-outs to specific band members during studio recordings qualify? Thanks.
How about, “Play it Steve”, in Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man”?
Right, Diskojoe, that’s the sort of studio recording shout-out that I trust cdm will allow. If so, I’ll add the first self-shout-out in this Last Man Standing: “Move over Rover and let Jimi take over…”
Yes, studio shout outs count, as do self referential studio shout outs.
The Replacements, “Treatment Bound.” Paul says, “Take it, Scotty!” (who?), which is then followed by the sound of empty bottles falling over.
“Come on in here, Jimmy” – Junior Brown to Jimmy Vaughn right before the solo in “You’re Wanted By the Police And My Wife Thinks You’re Dead”
I better beat Andyr to this one: Tommy Boyce calling Bobby Hart back into the next verse in “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight”: “Come on, Bobby!”
1.On a early U2 live disc (I think “under a blood red sky”)bono shouts out “our hero-the edge!” and the just mentioned edge butchers his simple 6 note “solo” I’m pretty sure he clams up every note.
One of the first in a long series of overstatements by boneheaded bono.
2. On “aint it funky now” (from the live early 70’s Paris disc) James Brown simple screams “Fred!” and Fred Wesley proceeds to blow a mindbending trombone solo.
I need a ruling on this self referential shout out because Mick doesn’t mention himself by name: Coming out of the guitar solo, going into the harmonica solo on Little By Little, Mick yells “My turn!”
Does that count?
“Mr. Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long lunar note, and let it float!” Capt. Beefheart, Big-Eyed Beans from Venus
Mick’s “My turn!” counts, I say, especially ’cause it’s such a good line.
Mavis Staples shouting out to “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…” for her daddy, Pops, to play his tasty solo in “I’ll Take You There”
We could have a whole separate thread of James Brown shout-outs. There’s definitely more than one for Fred. At the end of I Can’t Stand Myself he calls out to Tim Drummond — “Come on in here, Tim” or something like that — to signal him to walk the bass for the fadeout.
Does Iggy call out to the sax player on Funhouse – Steve somebody (I’m blanking) – by name to blow? I’m not being specific enough to qualify as Last Man Standing, but feel free to stand upon my broad shoulders.
“Rock on George, for Ringo, one time” in Honey Don’t.
What is it that Ringo says in that Beatles’ outtake, “If You Got Troubles”: “Rock on…anybody,” or something like that. Beside the fact that the song was left on the cutting-room floor, that wouldn’t count, right?
Aw Man, Mr mod stole all 3 of mine. I think for Fun House it’s “Let me in, Steve”
“No Time” – The Monkees
Neil Young in “The Losing End” and Steve Earle in “Hometown Blues” both with “Come on Wilson, pick it!”
I might have been inclined to accept the “Rock on… Anybody” but it’s been rendered moot by my Double Shot!
Aren’t double shots cause for disqualification? Minister of Fun and Games, HVB, wasn’t that your rule when we started doing Last Man Standings, one entry per comment, right? On the other hand, since it’s the same shout out, maybe we’ll let the sponsor of this Last Man Standing slide. You’re still standing, cdm. Enjoy it while it lasts!
Two-fers are in fact disqualified — unless they’re from the same song, like this one from “Havin’ a Good Time” off of Thin Lizzy’s “Chinatown” LP:
Hey Snowy White, play a bit for me
(bad solo)
That was Snowy White, he likes err… it in the night (sic)
The next to play, I must say, is Scott Gorham, and away!
(worse solo)
Pixies – Monkey’s Gone To Heaven, “Rock me, Joe”.
I agree that normally DOuble Shots should be disqualified but think this should be exempted because Steve Earle is clearly doing both a shout out and a homage to a previously recorded shout out.
I could contest HVB’s nakedly self serving position on Double Shots but in the interest of keeping things civil, I will let it slide.
“A change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band” (cue saxophone)
Everyone has skipped over one of the heavyweights of this genre, so I’ll get it out of the way now:
“DO IT, ROBBIE, DO IT!” from Roadhouse Blues.
Agreed with joeenglishband and Big Steve that James Brown was the master of intrasong shout-outs, and there could probably be a Battle Royal to determine the best of his. I have a few in reserve, I’ll own up to that now.
“C.C., pick up that guitar and talk to me.”
From Poison’s “Talk Dirty to Me.” Spoken by Bret Michaels, who is currently serving as The Worst Person in Rock.
Among the silly shout outs to guest musicians who probably didn’t play on the Bonzo Dog Band’s “The Intro and the Outro” (what’s Hitler play, vibes?…Nice.), actual Bonzo members are introduced, so I’ll count them as one collective shout out. I AM LAST MAN STANDING.
Ont that’s both completely extraneous and one of my favorite parts of the song: “Letter From An Occupant” by the New Pornographers. At the top of the final chorus, you can just hear Carl Newman tell Neko Case when to come back in: “right here.”
“Go Nigel, go!” Spinal Tap’s “Give Me Some Money”
“Big Man, Asist Me Please” Bruce Springsteen’s Growin Up (live) from live 75-85 CD
Take It Away Don Pardo” Frank Zappa’s “I’m The Slime” (Live From NY featuring Don Pardo”)My favorite Zappa BTW
Superfreak – “Temptations sing!”
beatles: for you blue…”go..johnny…go.” while lennon plays some slide git.
“That`s right, the Mascara Snake. Fast and bulbous. Tight also.” Capt. Beefheart, Ella Guru
James, maybe the ultimate screamer, calling for the man with maybe the ultimate cool name in “Cold Sweat” – “Maceo!”
This is not only a Last Man Standing entry — it would win if this were a Battle Royale in this category:
Stevie Wonder in “You Haven’t Done Nothing”:
“Jackson Five, sing along again, sing!”
In the breakdown of the Original Sins: “Turn You on,” JT sings “almost anything….Dan…” to cue organist Dan McKinney to start playing again.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Mohammed Ali” by Ween on Japanese Cowboy from the album 12 COuntry Classics.
Ali then launches into one of his trademark rants.
Don’t know if this one counts but… Big Star, “Stroke It Noel”.
“alright all you modern lovers, SING!”
And then the rest of Richman’s band does sing, in “I’m Straight.”
Stroke it Noel does count because Chilton was calling out to his father’s friend who played the cello.
Sat, he says that in Roadrunner and they chime in with “Radio On”. Does he say that in I’m Straight as well? I’ve either pince nezzed you or I’m the Last Man Standing with Roadrunner.
HVB, there’s another MORE famous Snowy shout-out reference by Stevie Wright in Women by the Easybeats, “Goey Snowy”, and a further “Cor blimey, Snow.”
I am the last man leaning.
It’s time to bring up the Home Run Derby of band shout-out songs: Dance To The Music.
Even if you disqualify Freddie, Sly and Larry Graham giving their own intros, Freddie gets to introduce the drummer, Greg Errico, and Sly calls out “Cynthia!” (“What?”) “Jerry!” (“What?”), a rare example of shout-out backtalk, before Sly asks if he can a-hear the horns blow.
I’m new here, but I think I get this one. My personal favorite is on a song “Lawd I’m Just A Country Boy” by the Sir Douglas Quintet when Doug Sahm shouts out “play it, Charlie” and “Charlie” was apparently not prepared so his “solo” is absolutely pitiful. “Play it Charlie” just draws attention to an embarrassingly bad solo. Also, and I know this is off topic a bit but I am also partial to a Mark E. Smith comment in the middle of a Fall song (I can’t remember the title). As the band begins to slightly change what it is playing, he mumbles, “Don’t start improvising”
no matter, cdm, since other entries have trumped us both, but he indeed does say it on I’m Straight…albeit very quickly.
here’s another, which i can’t believe the collective knowledge of rth has thus far missed:
iggy, on ‘no fun,’ coaxes the late great “ronnie” during his primo, end of song wank.
Great one, Alexmagic! You too, Sat.
Plasticsun, welcome aboard! You sure do get what we’re looking for. Your Mark E. Smith aside was worth it too. I’m thinking a day will come when we need to do a Last Man Standing on mumbled and shouted instructions, such as the New Pornographers example earlier in this thread and the times on Pet Sounds when you can hear Brian Wilson shouting out to the musicians when changes are coming.
I am reminded by plastcsun’s bringing up the Sir Douglas Quintet that Doug gave a shout out to Augie Meyers on She’s About a Mover, and I think Mendocino as well.
Bob Wills to Danny Alguire during My Home In San Antone “Come in, Danny, come in”
Yee Haw! I am the Last Man Standing!
Neil Young, on “Speakin’ Out” (from Tonight’s the Night), says “alright Nils” and then Nils Lofgren makes his little stratocaster talk for a while.
and by the way: saying “i am the last man standing” after posting an entry is even more gaywad-ish than chirping “hand over the belt!” during our Battle Royales, especially here in the very august halls of rocktown. out here on the perimeter (groan) no man is the last to stand, or hold the belt, for very long.
gaywadish is homophobic with or without hyphens you fucking homophobe.
so uhh…
I AM THE LAST MAN STANDING!
hand over the belt
kilroy…don’t make me go lenny bruce on your ass…i might have to french the next time i see you…ya fag.
eddie money, “take me home tonight”? Or does it not count, as Ronnie (Spector) is mentioned in the lyric, rather than a “shoutout”?
it counts!
she takes the non-solo.
maybe this do counts…and maybe it don’t not:
from the 1969 album “the velvet underground live,”
on “pale blue eyes,” lou says “linger on donnughhg”
(could he be saying “doug?” as in yule? probably not…the solo that follows would be played by sterling, yeah? so is he just saying ‘linger on darling?’ it doesn’t sound like it…).
regardless, however, practicing pc thug of record, shawnkilroy, is not the judge in this thread. that would be the setter upper of the thread, one cdm.
When Ronnie Hawkins sang Who Do You Love? at the Last Waltz concert, he changed the words to several of the verses to incorporate shoutouts to Robbie, Rick, and Garth.
Michael Penn, in his song, “Comfort”, precedes the drum entrance by muttering the drummer’s name, “Dan”.
Doesn’t matter anymore, Che is the LAST MAN STANDING!
MC5, “American Ruse”: Right before the solo, Rob Tyner either intones: “awwww knock ’em back, Sonic!” or “rock ’em back, Sonic!” to Fred “sonic” Smith.
I used to think he was saying “welcome back sonny” to the soldiers returning from vietnam.
but a close listen, and a check with the lyrics on every website i can find, confirms the shout out.
James Brown again, cheering on sax player Robert McCollough, in Super Bad: “Come on, Robert…come on, Bobby. Blow, Robert!”
I always thought it was Welcome back Sonic.
I’m very disappointed in myself for not getting that. I need to scrutinize this stuff more closely.
On the Barbarians’ nugget Moulty the background vocal gang shouts out “Moulty!” before the chorus. Moulty is the drummer/vocalist who tells his sad but uplifting story in the song.
Ballroom Blitz, by the Sweet, begins with shout outs, as the music cranks up.
On James Brown’s “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothin'” he makes probably the only recorded shout out to an engineer on record. He calls for “Mr. Engineer” to keep the tape running, then he even calls him by name, Ron, if memory serves.
I know you’re not gonna like this Sat, but I AM LAST MAN STANDING!
This whole post could be about James Brown. Is it on “I’m a Greedy Man”, that he asks if each band member is a Greedy man with great attention played to whoever “Cheese” is.
NRBQ’s Here Comes Terry consists almost entirely of shout-outs — “Here comes Terry. Here comes Tom. Here comes Joey. Here comes Al, etc.”
I can’t believe I missed that one, but anyway, Guns Of Navarone by the Specials “Mr Rico Blow”
LAST. MAN. STANDING!
Okay, this is a kind of lame one, but… Canadian pop-jazzsters, “The Philosopher Kings”. In the song “All To Myself”, the singer shouts out, “James! James!”.
to end the breakdown section of the Under a Blood Red Sky version of “Gloria,” Bono shouts “THIS IS THE EDGE!” before the Edge slashes into his guitar, and the band brings it home.
oh…wait a minute…perhaps this ^^^^ is the U2 shout out that joeenglishband was trying to describe early in the thread.
although his description is butchered so nearly as badly as he claims that the edge butchers his solo, that i didn’t recognize it as the U2 shout out i remembered this morning.
i will abide by any ruling, cdm…
Does the singing of “Ready Freddy” in “Crazy little thing called love” count?
Sat: I appreciate you coming forward like that but since you failed to declare yourself “the Last Man Standing!”, your answer unfortunately did not count anyway.
Che is the leader with “Ready Freddy”
cdm, i graciously bow to your authority multiple times in this thread (especially when others have tried to wrest that authority away from you), and *this* is how you repay me?
thanks for nothin’ pal.
: )
“ready freddy” is questionable, but whatever.
whatabout john lennon’s shout out to “dennis o’dell” in “You Know My Name, Look Up the Number?”
On Prince’s “Pretty Man,” he, too, shouts out for “Maceo!” numerous times. This counts because Maceo does indeed play thereafter.
I AM THE LAST MAN STANDING!
Morris Day and the Time, “Jungle Love.”
“…now jerome!”
Chaka Khan, I Feel For You
Zeppelin, Led: on “DVD” (an official release), Plant pleads “oh jimmy….oh JIMMY!!” before Page tears into a rather scattershot solo on “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” (from the Knebworth performance).
Since the Shea version of “I’m Down” with “Hurry up, John!” hasn’t been on an official release (has it?), I’ll go with Paul’s “Take it, Phil!” to John on the Anthology 3 version of “Two Of Us”
Good one, Alex! I think the Shea thingy HAS been released.
There’s a John Lennon “hit it bill!” to billy preston, on one of the versions of “don’t Let Me Down” from ONE of the “Get Back’s”, but it shouldn’t count as an official release, since it got pulled before hitting the streets, and has enjoyed legendary bootleg status ever since.
therefore, as i am unable to think of any other shouts at the moment, i am NOT the last man standing…Alex is!
On the Wings Over America version of “Listen to What the Man Said,” Paul says, “Ah, take it away, Thaddeus,” to sax player Thaddeus Richard before the solo.
Oh, uh, I am the LAST MAN STANDING!
Oats…were you ALSO in the coffee shop yesterday afternoon that was playing “Wings Over America?”
You’re not gonna win this war, Oats. Earlier, Mod wondered if he was citing the only shout-out to an engineer on record. On Mumbo, from Wild Life, McCartney opens with “Take it, Tony!” to his engineer, Tony Clark.
If somebody can find a “Go, Hamish, go!” moment, we may have to end this on principle.
I was not. That’s pretty bizarre.
I really wish I still had my cassette copy of McCartney’s Unplugged gig. I’m pretty sure Robbie McIntosh or Wix Wickens get shout-outs before their solos.
This is starting to get scary. I like it.
Is an actual name required? I’m thinking of Lou Reed giving an anonymous shout-out as it was meant to be given to the colored girls in Walk On The Wild Side. “And the colored girls sing….”
I guess it’s cdm’s call, but I think Lou was specific enough, especially given this month’s coming examination and bemoaning of such questionable practices.
i dunno…no name mentioned? it blurs the line…
at first, i thought the idea that “ready freddy” and “chakakhan…chakakhanchakakahn…” are shout outs was pretty bogus.
but at least those have names. and in the latter case, the reference addresses a performer directly.
but without names, what’s next?
steve marriott shouting “come on children!” in the song “understanding?” after all, it does appear to prompt the backing vocals “la la la…la la la”.
but is that really a shout out?
of course, no, it isn’t. it’s a general exhortation to audience and bandmates alike to get into the swing of things, not a recognition of a performer as he / she is about to thing his / her thing.
and besides, Lou isn’t *addressing* the “colored girls,” is he? he’s simply telling us that they sing. A shout out has to name its recipient, and be addressed to them.
that’s my humble opinion, submitted solely as fodder for cdm’s deliberating….
it’s a rather important matter and i’m sure he’ll do the right thing.
just to keep this going, and to show how much rth is slipping lately, i’ll add another to the thread, shockingly overlooked thus far:
10th Ave. Freeze out contains another of Bruce’s famous shout outs to “The Big Man,” who then blows his horn. It has not yet been named in this thread.
I will not be the last man standing for long, i am sure….
I agree with Sat. That seems to be less of a shout out and more a production choice that was added after the fact to emphasize the lyrics.
Unfortunately, Sat, your latest suggestion was already offered by none other than me. Please review 2009-01-29 @ 16:26
And in any event… Scotty on “Draw Your Brakes” from the Harder They Come soundtrack: “Play your guitar, brother!”
Good points, Sat. I glady stand corrected.
cdm, after all we’ve just gone through, is “brother” enough of a shout out? The last thing I want to do is cause trouble.
The Mod, your aversion to causing trouble is well documented within these halls.
Just so you know, I thought long and hard about it before I suggested Scotty, anticipating that someone would raise this type of concern.
Shout outs seem to fall largely into two basic categories:
1. An implied acknowledgment of a job well done (“Bob Mayo, on the keyboards”);
2. A call to step up and deliver the goods (“Maceo, come blow your horn!”)
It seems to me that Scotty was calling to someone specific even though he doesn’t call out his guitar player by name. (“Play your guitar, brother”)
Walk On The Wild Side feels like Lou had those lyrics finished and the background singers are some garnish added after the fact.
However, I’m willing to withdraw my entry in the face of a good argument to the contrary.
I’ll play my ace in the hole now, just to test the rules: Mike Nesmith on “Papa Gene’s Blues” calls out “Play, Magic Fingers!” before the solo, thus giving the only shout-out he’d be allowed to give to studio player James Burton.
David St. Hubbins: On the bass, Derrek Smalls…He wrote this.” During Jazz Oddesey recorded live at Hershey Park.
Okay, I knew I was stretching it with those – if you let it slide, though, I’ll claim it!
Anyway…. Cheap Trick at Budokan – Clock Strikes Ten – “On the drums… mister Bun E. Carlos!!”
That’s right!
This match has taken us to some dark places of the soul, which has opened the door for me to bring up the most bored intra-song shout-out of them all: Lenny Kravitz, introducing co-writer/ringer Slash on Always On The Run, by practically yawning “…Slash.”
Live version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” (on “The Hits/B-sides”) at the end of the tune, Prince just says, “Rosie Gaines”.
I am the last man bothering!
In the the Shazam song Engine Red, the singer Hans calls out for the drummer “Scott Ballew” in rock arena fashion. It’s nothing special as a fill compared to many other Moonian moments he’s had however.
I am the last nerd stumbling.