"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released 50 years ago Monday, less than a month after Otis Redding died at the age of 26. The song was a departure for the R&B superstar — and it almost never saw the light of day."
"Otis had had a throat operation in the fall that year, and he was very worried about whether he would be able to sing again — and sing like Otis," biographer Mark Ribowsky says. "He needed to sort of make it quieter, make it more poetic. And he came up with this song."
Happy 50th Anniversary to the Graduate !
"Soldiers have their sorrow
The wretched have their rage
Pray for the aged
It's the dawn of another age
Of another age
Of another age"
"Thomas Paine and Jesse James are old friends
And Robin Hood is riding on the road again
We were born in a revolution and we died in a wasted war
It's gone that way before"
"The dogs are chasing chicken bones across the lawn
If that was an election, I'm a Viet Cong
So I pledge allegiance against the flag
And the flaw for which it stands
I'll raise it if I can"
"Even though "Convoy" is sung by a fictional character and its story is fantastic, Fries' use of trucker lingo resonated throughout popular culture — by the end of the 1970s, millions of Americans had used a CB radio. Sure, "Convoy" is a novelty song, but it topped the pop and country charts and became a phenomenon, inspiring movies and TV shows. It's also an improbable protest song — an asphalt fable of workers pushing back at a system that always seems to lean on them the hardest."
Because the 1990s weren't that long ago. Back before I had so many gray hairs.