"FAME" "MY LIFE" "PICK UP THE PIECES" Funky live solo guitar @ the Goose

"MY LIFE" 2:37 "PICK UP THE PIECES" 5:16
"FAME"......This song is about what it is like to be famous. Bowie gave his thoughts on the subject: "Fame itself, of course, doesn't really afford you anything more than a good seat in a restaurant. That must be pretty well known by now. I'm just amazed how fame is being posited as the be all and end all, and how many of these young kids who are being foisted on the public have been talked into this idea that anything necessary to be famous is all right. It's a sad state of affairs. However arrogant and ambitious I think we were in my generation, I think the idea was that if you do something really good, you'll become famous. The emphasis on fame itself is something new. Now it's, to be famous you should do what it takes, which is not the same thing at all. And it will leave many of them with this empty feeling.John Lennon helped write this song - he came up with the title and also sang the background "Fame" parts in the high voice. They started working on the song when Bowie invited Lennon to the studio, and Lennon played rhythm guitar on a jam session that resulted in this track. Bowie met Lennon less than a year earlier at a party thrown by Elizabeth Taylor. Lennon was one of Bowie's idols, and they became good friends.Bowie often had conversations with Lennon about how fame took away parts of their lives.
"MY LIFE".......Allegedly, the verse "closed the shop, sold the house, bought a ticket to the west coast; now he gives them a stand up routine in LA" refers to comedian Richard Lewis. Lewis is indeed native to Joel's stomping ground, born in New York City and raised in New Jersey.Phil Ramone, who produced Joel's previous album, The Stranger, also produced 52nd Street and continued working with the singer throughout the rest of the '70s and '80s. He typically got along well with Joel's band, but "My Life" marked a rare moment of conflict with drummer Liberty DeVitto."One of the few arguments I ever had with Phil occurred when we were recording 'My Life,' but it was funny, not tense," he shared in Ramone's 2007 book, Making Records: The Scenes Behind The Music. "He wanted me to play a very straight beat, and I bucked him. 'I ain't playin' that disco bulls--t!' I said. Phil got up, slammed something on the console, and scolded me like he was my father. 'You've been in this business for what, 12 minutes? And you're gonna tell me how you're gonna play? Just get the hell out there and play it the way I told you to play!'I grumbled about it then, but every time I see the gold record I received for 'My Life' on the wall, I mutter, 'F--king guy was right.'"
"PICK UP THE PIECES"......In spite of their name, AWB was that rarest of musical species: a band out of Scotland that specialized in R&B funk. This high-spirited instrumental (the only lyrics being the occasional chanting of the song's title) was their signature tune.The Average White Band formed in 1972 and released their first album, Show Your Hand, the following year. After it failed to break through, the group shortened its name to AWB and released a self-titled album in 1974. This song from that album not only broke through, but became a surprise #1 hit in the US, catapulting AWB to stardom almost overnight.Later in 1974, drummer and founding member Robbie McIntosh died of a drug overdose at a Hollywood party. After recruiting a their new drummer, AWB would have 3 more Top 40 hits in the mid-1970s (including one more Top 10 with "Cut The Cake") and eventually revert to their original, full name, but would slowly decline both creatively and commercially before disbanding in 1982. Since then, Average White Band has reunited for the occasional obscure album and/or tour. In 2005 they re-recorded "Pick Up The Pieces" along with several other of their older songs for a CD titled Greatest And Latest.
The original version of this song has been sampled by a number of rap and hip-hop artists, and has also often been played at sporting events