Rock and Roll Road Trips: Lyrical Landmarks
Famous places mentioned in oldies songs, and where to find them
By Robert Fontenot, About.com Guide
The Chelsea Drugstore in the Seventies
source: rbkc.gov.ukLittle Ilford Park, 135 Gainsborough Ave, Stratford, Greater London E12 6, UK Map
"Over bridge of sighs to rest my eyes in shades of green. Under dreamin' spires, to Itchycoo Park, that's where I've been."
The Faces' big American hit was indeed about a park band members once played hookey in -- but there's some dispute over which, exactly. Ronnie Lane himself places the address of the park in Ilford, so this is the most likely choice. (The "Itchycoo" was a Brit nickname for stinging nettles often found in parks.) However, the "dreaming spires" and "bridge of sighs" in the lyrics both refer to Oxford University, and there's a park on the campus, so the song can also be seen as a invitation to their students to "miss out school (won't that be cool?)"
Alice's Restaurant
Arlo Guthrie (1967)Guthrie Center, 4 Van Deusenville Rd, Great Barrington, MA Map
"...two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower... they got a lot of room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin' all that room, seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage for a long time."
As folk singer Arlo himself noted in the intro to this sidelong live wonder, the true incidents he recalls began at the church down the street from the restaurant, not the restaurant itself. The church has since been taken over and renamed by the singer who made it famous!
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
Otis Redding (1968)Waldo Pier, Sausalito, CA Map
"Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away. I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time..."
There are a number of houseboats on the Waldo Pier in Sausalito, and it was one just such one that Otis wrote his biggest hit. Although the "Frisco Bay" is mentioned in the lyrics, that was a reference by co-writer Steve Cropper to Otis' recent gig at Monterey, which inspired the singer to come up with this ballad as a way of solidifying his newfound pop base.
You Can't Always Get What You Want
The Rolling Stones (1969)49 Kings Road, London SW3 Map
"I went down to the Chelsea drugstore to get your prescription filled. I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy, and man, did he look pretty ill."
Jagger did indeed go to this then-trendy drugstore -- which featured a delivery service made up of a squad of catsuited girls on motorbikes! -- to get a prescription for then-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull. The "Mr. Jimmy," who was indeed under the weather, refers to producer Jimmy Miller; Jagger sang the new song to him, and he pronounced it "dead," band slang at the time for "cool."
Take It Easy
Jackson Browne (1972), The Eagles (1973)E Second St & Kinsley Ave, Winslow, AZ Map
"Well, I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see... It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin' down to take a look at me."
No one's sure if this is the exact corner Jackson Browne wrote about, but the city council picked it to immortalize, and there aren't that many corners in Winslow to begin with, so... this corner has been turned into an entire park of sorts where a commemorative festival is held every year.
Smoke On The Water
Deep Purple (1972)
Casino Barrière de Montreux
Rue du Théâtre 9, 1820 Montreux, Switzerland Website
"We all came out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline, to make records with a mobile, we didn't have much time."
While Deep Purple attempted to record their breakthrough Machine Head album on the Rolling Stones mobile truck while staying at this Swiss Casino, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were performing; "some stupid with a flare gun" shot it off during the show, forcing the evacuation of the casino, which was a total loss. The gambling house was reborn better than ever; the band moved to the nearby Grand Hotel and recorded there.
Gimme Three Steps
Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973)
Pastime (The West Tavern), 5301 Lenox Ave, Jacksonville, FL Map
"I was cuttin' a rug, down at a place called 'The Jug'..."
Though Bowling Green, KY local legend holds that this true incident -- in which lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt barely escaped death after dancing with the wrong girl -- happened at their bar The Little Brown Jug, it appears to have actually occurred in the band's hometown instead, at a place called the West Tavern. Chances are Ronnie used yet another nearby bar called the Little Brown Jug for rhyming purposes only. (Named after a popular drinking song, the name Little Brown Jug was not uncommon in bars across America at the time.)
Crossroads (Cross Road Blues)
Robert Johnson (1937), Cream (1968)
Old Highway 8 at Dockery Rd, Dockery, MS Map
"I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees, asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please."
Legend has it that Robert Johnson, humiliated by his idol Son House for not being able to play, took the locals up on a legend and ventured to the meeting of Highways 49 and 61, where he sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar. As with so many legends, this one fudges most of the facts; it was an unrelated bluesman, Tommy Johnson, who claimed to have made such a deal, while the actual crossroads of legend wasn't in Clarksdale at all but near Dockery Farms, where Robert worked. As a matter of fact, Robert's famous song mentions nothing about any such deal -- the singer is merely trying to hitch a ride to nearby Rosedale to meet a woman, and is running out of time as the sun goes down. For a black man in that place and time, getting caught alone after dark could lead to the chain gang or worse. (Old Highway 8 is down Dockery Rd, directly south of the current Highway 8.)
Wolverton Mountain
Claude King (1962)
Woolverton Mountain Rd., Austin, AR Map
"They say don't go on Wolverton Mountain, if you're looking for a wife. 'Cause Clifton Clowers has a pretty young daughter, and he's mighty handy with a gun and a knife."
Merle Kilgore wrote this song about a real person, the real Clifton Clowers, and everything in it is true, except that Woolverton Mountain actually has an extra O in it. Go up this road to the mountain, and you'll see the cemetery were Clowers, who lived to 103, is buried.
La Grange
ZZ Top (1973)
Rocky Creek Road, La Grange, TX Map
"Rumor spreadin' around in that Texas town 'bout that shack outside La Grange. You know what I'm talkin about. Just let me know if you wanna go to that home out on the range. They got a lot of nice girls."
A local investigative reporter snooped around until he got the authorities to close down The Chicken Ranch, the legendary whorehouse immortalized in this song and in the play/movie The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, and right around the time ZZ Top released this song, to boot. Though the building stands no more, a trip down Rocky Creek Road until it meets the Colorado River will reveal the cow pasture where it once stood.
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