FORTY-THREE YEARS AGO HEART RELEASED THEIR 3RD STUDIO ALBUM ‘LITTLE QUEEN’. IF THERE’S EVER ANY REASON, AND I MEAN ANY REASON TO BECOME A HEART FAN, IT’S THIS ALBUM. HERE’S MY REASONING. THE ALBUM PRODUCED A GREAT HEART SONG ‘BARRACUDA’. I LOVE THE SONG, BUT WHEN YOU HEAR THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG, YOU’LL HAVE A NEWFOUND RESPECT FOR THE WILSON SISTERS. THE SONG WAS WRITTEN BY ANN AND NANCY WILSON TOGETHER WITH GUITARIST ROGER FISHER AND DRUMMER MICHAEL DEROSIER. ACCORDING TO THE BAND, THE SONG IS ABOUT THE RECORD INDUSTRY IN GENERAL. IT WAS WRITTEN AT A TIME WHEN THERE WAS FRICTION BETWEEN THE BAND AND THEIR OLD RECORD LABEL. ‘LITTLE QUEEN’ WAS THE FIRST ALBUM HEART RELEASED FOR THE CBS-PORTRAIT LABEL. THEIR OLD LABEL, MUSHROOM RECORDS, SUED THE BAND, AND IN 1978 RELEASE ‘MAGAZINE’, AN ALBUM MADE UP OF MATERIAL HEART DID NOT WANT RELEASED. THE WILSON SISTERS REVEALED THAT THEY WROTE BARRACUDA IN ANGER AFTER MUSHROOM RECORDS PLACED AN AD IN TRADE PUBLICATIONS IMPLYING THAT THE WILSON SISTERS WERE LESBIANS HAVING AN AFFAIR ! THE SONG FOCUSES ON ANN’S RAGE TOWARDS A PROMOTER WHO CAME UP TO HER AFTER A SHOW AND ASKED HER HOW HER “LOVER” WAS. SHE INITIALLY THOUGHT HE WAS REFERRING TO HER THEN IN-BAND BOYFRIEND MICHAEL FISHER. AFTER THE PROMOTER(TOOL) REVEALED IT WAS HER SISTER NANCY, ANN GOT PISSED AND WENT TO HER HOTEL ROOM AND WROTE ‘BARRACUDA.’ RUMOR HAS IT THE ORIGINAL TITLE WAS “MOTHER F***ERS” BUT THE NEW RECORD COMPANY ASKED FOR A BETTER TITLE. NANCY SUBSEQUENTLY CHANGED IT TO ‘BARRACUDA’ COMPARING THE SLEAZY SIDE OF MUSIC TO THE DANGEROUS FISH. IT MAKES YOU WONDER, WHAT KIND OF PIECE OF SH** WOULD ACCUSE TWO SISTERS OF HAVING SEX TOGETHER TO GET EVEN IN A BUSINESS DEAL !?? GOOD ON YOU ANN AND NANCY WILSON. MAD PROPS ON GETTING EVEN AND WRITING A FANTASTIC ROCK SONG. I ONLY WISH I COULD HAVE HEARD THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF ‘MOTHER F****ER’
HERE’S HEART PERFORMING BARRACUDA IN 1977
ON THIS DATE 4 YEARS AGO, “THE KING OF BLUES” DIED IN HIS SLEEP AT THE AGE OF 89 FROM A SERIES OF SMALL STROKES CAUSED BY TYPE 2 DIABETES. WHEN KING PASSED AWAY IN 2015, IT CAN TRULY BE SAID HE INFLUENCED A GENERATION OF MUSICIANS. IN THE 1950’S KING WAS A MEMPHIS DJ AND STRUGGLING MUSICIAN. KING PLAYED A ROY HAWKINS ORIGINAL ON THE AIR. THE SONG IS ABOUT MOVING ON FROM A RELATIONSHIP. THE SONG WAS ‘THE THRILL IS GONE.’ KING HIMSELF RECORDED THE SONG SEVERAL TIMES, BUT DIDN’T LIKE ANY OF THE RESULTS. THE PRODUCER BILL SZYMCZYK (MOST FAMOUS FOR LATER PRODUCING THE EAGLES) CALLED KING AT 4 A.M. AND SUGGESTED ADDING STRINGS TO THE SONG. KING LATER SAID HE WOULD HAVE AGREED TO ALMOST ANYTHING AT THAT TIME OF THE NIGHT. THE ADDITION GAVE KING HIS FIRST MILLION SELLING RECORD (AND ENDED HIS RADIO CAREER).
THIS WAS KING’S BIGGEST SELLING HIT. COMMERCIALLY HE DIDN’T HAVE MUCH SUCCESS ON THE CHARTS, BUT HE DID BECOME A BLUES LEGEND THAT TOUCHED MILLIONS OF FANS. HERE’S THE GREAT B.B. KING PERFORMING ‘THE THRILL IS GONE’ IN 1989.
HERE’S AN AWESOME VIDEO WITH BB KING, SLASH, AND AN ALL-STAR JAM.