It Ain't Easy (Baldry album)
Encyclopedia
It Ain't Easy is a 1971 album
by Long John Baldry
.
According to extensive notes about Long John Baldry's career in the re-release 2005 CD, Rod Stewart
was brought on board to produce It Ain't Easy for Warner Brothers. Soon after in 1970, Stewart met Elton John
at a party and the piano
player joined on, too. Stewart and John each produced half of this blues
y album, with John contributing much of the piano work. Stewart brought in mate Ronnie Wood to play guitar
, as well as many others who would appear on Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story
, released later in 1971.
The Baldry album features his biggest U.S. hit, "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll." In the liner notes
, Baldry notes how Stewart's loose and late-night recording sessions affected the tracks, "especially those recorded on my thirtieth birthday when he showed up with cases of Remy Martin cognac and several measures of good quality champagne!" Baldry points out that "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of the Rock and Roll" was recorded "whilst laying on the floor."
The 1971 release also features "Black Girl," the centuries-old American folk song
most associated with Lead Belly, though covered by the likes of Bob Dylan
, the Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton
and Nirvana
. Baldry does an impressive version singing with Maggie Bell
, who also appeared on Every Picture Tells a Story.
It Ain't Easy also includes Willie Dixon
's classic "I'm Ready" and an Elton John-Bernie Taupin
song, "Rock Me When He's Gone". The story goes that John, a budding star in the early 1970s, took his last name from Long John Baldry.
2005 Re-Issue Bonus Tracks:
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Long John Baldry
Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...
.
According to extensive notes about Long John Baldry's career in the re-release 2005 CD, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
was brought on board to produce It Ain't Easy for Warner Brothers. Soon after in 1970, Stewart met Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
at a party and the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
player joined on, too. Stewart and John each produced half of this blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
y album, with John contributing much of the piano work. Stewart brought in mate Ronnie Wood to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, as well as many others who would appear on Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story
Every Picture Tells a Story
Every Picture Tells a Story is the third album by Rod Stewart, released in the middle of 1971. It went to number one on both the UK and U.S. charts and finished third in the Pazz & Jop critics' poll for best album of 1971...
, released later in 1971.
The Baldry album features his biggest U.S. hit, "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll." In the liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
, Baldry notes how Stewart's loose and late-night recording sessions affected the tracks, "especially those recorded on my thirtieth birthday when he showed up with cases of Remy Martin cognac and several measures of good quality champagne!" Baldry points out that "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of the Rock and Roll" was recorded "whilst laying on the floor."
The 1971 release also features "Black Girl," the centuries-old American folk song
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
most associated with Lead Belly, though covered by the likes of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, the Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
and Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
. Baldry does an impressive version singing with Maggie Bell
Maggie Bell
Maggie Bell is a Scottish rock and blues-rock singer, regarded by some as Britain's answer to Janis Joplin.-Career:...
, who also appeared on Every Picture Tells a Story.
It Ain't Easy also includes Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
's classic "I'm Ready" and an Elton John-Bernie Taupin
Bernie Taupin
Bernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...
song, "Rock Me When He's Gone". The story goes that John, a budding star in the early 1970s, took his last name from Long John Baldry.
Track listing
- "Intro: Conditional Discharge" (Long John Baldry, Ian Armitt)
- "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock & Roll" (Jeff Thomas)
- "Black GirlWhere Did You Sleep Last Night"In the Pines", also known as "Black Girl" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", is a traditional American folk song which dates back to at least the 1870s, and is believed to be Southern Appalachian in origin. The identity of the song's author is unknown, but it has been recorded by many artists...
" (Traditional, LeadbellyLeadbellyHuddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
) - "It Ain't EasyIt Ain't Easy (song)"It Ain't Easy" is a song written and originally recorded by Ron Davies. Davies recorded the song on his 1970 album Silent Song Through the Land...
" (Ron Davies) - "Morning, Morning" (Tuli KupferbergTuli KupferbergNaphtali "Tuli" Kupferberg was an American counterculture poet, author, cartoonist, pacifist anarchist, publisher and co-founder of the band The Fugs.-Biography:...
) - "I'm Ready" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) - "Let's Burn Down the Cornfield" (Randy NewmanRandy NewmanRandall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
) - "Mr. Rubin" (Lesley DuncanLesley DuncanLesley Duncan was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received a lot of airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved great commercial success.Duncan was born in Stockton-on-Tees...
) - "Rock Me When He's Gone" (Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Bernie TaupinBernie TaupinBernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...
) - "Flying" (Ronnie Wood, Rod StewartRod StewartRoderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, Ronnie LaneRonnie LaneRonald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
)
2005 Re-Issue Bonus Tracks:
- "Goin' Down Slow"
- "Blues (Corn Bread, Meat, and Molasses)"
- "Love In Vain"
- "Midnight Hour Blues"
- "Black Girl" (alternate take)
- "It Ain't Easy" (alternate take)
- "I'm Ready' (alternate take)
Personnel
- Long John Baldry - vocals, 12-string guitar
- Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
- organ, piano - Alan SkidmoreAlan SkidmoreAlan Skidmore is a tenor saxophonist of jazz and blues music, son of the saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore.-As a sideman:...
- tenor sax - Lesley DuncanLesley DuncanLesley Duncan was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received a lot of airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved great commercial success.Duncan was born in Stockton-on-Tees...
- background vocals - Tony HazzardTony HazzardTony Hazzard is an English singer and songwriter. He has written songs for The Hollies , Manfred Mann , "Me, The Peaceful Heart" for Lulu, The Yardbirds , Herman's Hermits , Peter Noone Tony Hazzard (born Anthony Hazzard, 31 October 1943, Liverpool) is an English singer and songwriter. He has...
- background vocals - Sam Mitchell - dobro, guitar, slide guitar
- Doris TroyDoris TroyDoris Troy was an American R&B singer, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul".She was born as Doris Higginson in The Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir...
- background vocals - Ian Armitt - piano
- Tony BurrowsTony BurrowsAnthony "Tony" Burrows is a British session singer. He has been credited with singing lead on hit singles for more groups than any other recording artist, both on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S...
- background vocals - Kay Garner - background vocals
- Dave Glover - bass
- Roger Pope - drums
- Caleb QuayeCaleb QuayeCaleb Quaye , is an English Afro-European rock guitarist and studio musician best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with Elton John, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney and Hall & Oates...
- organ, guitar - Liza Strike - background vocals