The Friday Five: Songs About Fathers

Welcome to The Friday Five! Each week, participants are given a topic and asked to choose five songs fitting that topic. This week, in honor of Father's Day, the topic is songs about fathers!

"My Father's Gun" - Elton John

When people talk about Elton John, the conversation usually turns to either (1) pop tunes like "Tiny Dancer" or "Crocodile Rock," (2) his stirring rewrite of "Candle In The Wind" for Princess Diana's funeral, or (3) his work for Disney with The Lion King. Those are all worthy subjects, but, unfortunately, that means that John's 1971 country album Tumbleweed Connection gets lost in the shuffle. That's a real shame, because it contains gems like "My Father's Gun."

"My Father's Gun" discusses the most important gift a father can bestow: his legacy. The song is sung from the point of view of a young man who's just lost his father, a Confederate soldier. At the funeral, the young man is given the gift of his father's gun. To the boy, the gun symbolizes everything his father stood for: Southern pride and a fighting spirit. The gun and what it represents prompts the boy to put on his own Confederate uniform and go on fighting, making sure his dad's death was worth something. In that way, the father continues to touch his son's life.

"A Boy Named Sue" - Johnny Cash

"A Boy Named Sue" is a song that you probably all know, so I won't write about its conception or its recording. It's probably my favorite song about fathers, and, in the next paragraph, I'd like to tell you why!

Absent fathers can leave as much of an impact on their children's lives than dads who are always there. Can that impact ever be positive, though? "A Boy Named Sue" is a song that argues, "Yes, it can!" Before the title character's dad leaves his mom, he bestows his son with one gift: the name Sue. The name becomes the bane of Sue's existence; it's a GIRL'S NAME, AFTER ALL! However, the constant torment helps Sue learn to defend himself and become self-reliant. However, Sue still hates the name, and when he finally meets his father one night, he lets dear old dad know. However, after a chat, Sue comes away with "a different point of view." Maybe ol' dad wasn't so bad after all!

"Papa Was A Rolling Stone" - The Temptations

Unfortunately, unlike Sue and his dad, a lot of children never reconcile with their absent fathers. Generally, all most children from such families know about their dads are nasty stories from family members and townsfolk and moms who cry themselves to sleep. It's not a way of life I would wish on anyone. In a way, however, even those kind of broken relationships can have a positive impact on a child in the long run. In its own subtle way, "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" is talking about just that.

It's the third of September, and an unnamed absent father has just died. Over the next couple days, the children in the family begin to ask their mom questions about their dad. They've heard hearsay about their dad: that he was a con man, a thief, a lazy bum, and a bigamist. All their mother will tell her tender children is:

"Papa was a rolling stone,

wherever he lay his hat was his home,

and when he died,

all he left us was alone."

The answer doesn't directly answer the children's questions, but the answer is implicit: all the accusations are true. The children are disappointed, but they also know that what their father did wasn't right. Again, it isn't explicitly stated, but the song implies that the children come away determined not to live as their father did. And that, in its way, is a legacy all its own.

"Walk Like A Man" - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

Okay, enough about bad fathers. Let's talk about some good ones! 

When I think about all the wonderful things my father has done for me, the thing that stands out most brightly is the advice my father has given. From how to pack a backpack for a camping trip to how to change a tire to how to treat people with respect, my dad has shaped so much of who I am. However, my dad has always given me the greatest advice about romance. My pop has always been quite the ladies' man (having had his first kiss - with Callie Cheadle - when he was eight years old) and he's been invaluable to me as I navigate my way through the dating world. One of the finest pieces of advice he's given me on the matter is the very one the father imparts in "Walk Like A Man!"

In "Walk Like A Man," the singer has just had his heart broken by his flaky girlfriend; she's been "telling dirty lies to [his] friends" and making his life miserable. The singer wants to try to make things work, but his father knows better. He gives the PERFECT advice to his son. It's the same advice my dad gave to me and the same advice I've given to others since! And it all comes from dear ol' dad!

"Color Him Father" - The Winstons

I want to end this list with a tribute to stepdads, guardians, foster fathers, and all other non-biological dads. Stepparents tend to get a bad rap in pop culture: what with Cinderella and all, steps are often seen as cruel, merciless, evil beings. What I love about The Winstons' "Color Him Father" is the fact that the stepfather in the tune is just as wonderful as the biological dad.

A young father is killed in the Vietnam War. Initially, the mother doesn't think she'll ever be able to love again, but, eventually, she marries another man. As it turns out, she chose an EXCELLENT man. The stepfather immediately takes the children under his wings, treating them with the love, care, and respect that he would have given his own children. The children come to love their stepfather immediately.

As much as I love the parts from the kids' point of view, I'm particularly moved by the parts that talk about the mom. The love that the mother has for her new husband is palpable; it's obvious that she loves him not only for what she's done for her children, but for making her life happy again. It's implied that her nights of crying are over! It's for that reason that this part of the lyric always makes me tear up:

My mother loves him, and I can tell

by the way she looks at him

when he holds my little sister Nell;

I heard her say just the other day

that if it hadn't been for him,

she couldn't have found her way

That, friends, is what being a father is all about.

James Bond Film Review Series! Installment #1: 'Dr. No'

A double-0 number. Licensed to kill. A vodka martini: shaken, not stirred. A Walther PBK. A beautiful goddess on one well-dressed arm.

Even if you hadn't read the title of this article or seen the poster above, you probably would have known that I was describing James Bond. Few fictional characters have become as iconic as 007. Bond's name means something: suave sophistication, high-tech gadgetry, smoldering charm, and cool violence.

Ian Fleming's original novels had a fairly large fan base (including John F. Kennedy), and they are important; after all, they introduced James Bond to the world. However, it's the movies that turned the character into an icon. It's hard to imagine that there was ever a time that Bond movies weren't being made; the franchise has been around for over fifty years. The series has proven to be incredibly resilient, surviving rotating actors and jarring changes in tone. On top of all that, let's not forget that the Bond franchise is the most successful in movie history, having earned over 13 billion dollars for MGM, United Artists, and Eon Productions, the company that produces the series.

What has made the Bond film franchise so iconic? We'll find out in this series! We'll take each Bond film, one by one, and dissect them, looking at each element and seeing what makes them tick. In this article, we'll delve into the film that started it all: 1962's Dr. No!

The Story

MI6's John Strangways (Timothy Moxon), just before his death.

The place: Kingston, Jamaica. John Strangways, the station chief of British Intelligence's Jamaican branch, leaves his bridge game at the Queens Club so he can make his radio appointment with his London officials. He never makes it to his meeting: he's murdered in the Queens Club parking lot by the Three Blind Mice, a team of assassins. The same assassins go to Strangways's house, where they murder Strangways's secretary. The men break into the house and go to Strangways's study. They open the file cabinet and remove two files: one marked Crab Key and the other Doctor No. (Cue dramatic music!)

Back in London, MI6 is going nuts over Strangways's disappearance. You see, Strangways was collaborating with American CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) on a major case. The U.S.'s Cape Canaveral rockets are being toppled after launch by a mysterious radio signal. Said signal seems to be coming from Jamaica. MI6 needs to find out what Strangways knew. There's only one man for such a dangerous mission...

"Bond. James Bond."

After receiving a message during his baccarat game, Bond (the great Sean Connery) leaves to report to his superior, M (Bernard Lee). (Not before he trounces and flirts with his beautiful opponent, though!) Bond leaves on the next flight to Kingston, where he's immediately placed in danger. Within seconds of his plane landed, a shady photographer snaps his photo and a mysterious chauffeur offers to give him a ride, even though no car was sent by Jamaican officials. 007 gets the drop on the chauffeur, but the chauffeur would rather commit suicide with a cyanide-laced cigarette than face his angry boss.

While searching Strangways's house, Bond discovers a photo of the dead agent posing with Quarrel (John Kitzmiller), a local charter-boat captain. 007 initially thinks Quarrel is an enemy, but it turns out that he's actually an ally; he had been collaborating with Felix Leiter and Strangways as they investigated the island of Crab Key and its mysterious owner, Dr. Julius No. Leiter, Quarrel, and Bond team up to continue the investigation.

The tremendous trio: Felix Leiter (Jack Lord), James Bond (Sean Connery), and Quarrel (John Kitzmiller).

Unfortunately, Bond's life becomes more endangered the longer he hangs around Kingston. The attempts on his life come quick on each other's heels: poisonous spiders in his bed, almost being run off a cliff-side road, and good, old-fashioned shootings. Eventually, 007 becomes tired of being a sitting duck and decides to embark for Crab Key to confront Dr. No directly. Quarrel joins him.

The morning after their arrival, Bond and Quarrel meet Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress), the first-ever Bond Girl. Whoa, Nellie.

Honey Ryder is an innocent bystander, a seashell-hunter who happened to come to Crab Key on a VERY bad day. Luckily, she's no shrinking violet; rather, she's a smart, resourceful young lady who helps lead Bond and Quarrel to Dr. No's hideout. Unfortunately, they're pursued by Dr. No's stooges. Said stooges are determined to grab the intruders and deliver them to their evil leader (Joseph Wiseman). They do. And that's where I leave you to watch the rest of the film for yourself. 

The Script

Richard Maibaum, the writer who created "Movie Bond."

Should you read Ian Fleming's original novels, you'll find that "Book Bond" is very different than "Movie Bond." Book Bond isn't particularly handsome. He's doesn't strike out with the women, but he's not Casanova. He's a perfectly nondescript man. So where did Movie Bond come from? Well, a lot of people contributed to Movie Bond's birth, but none were more influential than writer Richard Maibaum. Maibaum wrote or co-wrote 13 of the 16 Bond films released from 1962 to 1989, creating the character and his persona in the process

Obviously, Maibaum hadn't written a Bond script before Dr. No. It shows; 007's character is still vague in a lot of ways. Bond likes women, but he's not really a womanizer yet. He doesn't use any gadgets besides his gun. However, all the elements that would define Movie Bond are there in a germinal form. Think of Dr. No's 007 as proto-Movie Bond, and you'll have the right idea!

The Dr. No screenplay sticks to Fleming's novel very closely, something that would become a rarity as Maibaum tailored Movie Bond. Maybe it's lucky, however, that Maibaum stuck to Fleming's novel so closely. The movie stuck so closely to the novel that it convinced Fleming that his novels were in good hands!

The Acting

Ah, Sean Connery as James Bond. For many people (including myself), he's the definitive 007. No other Bond actor has been able to combine the womanizing and the jokes with the cool, violent side of 007 better than Connery. In Dr. No, Connery feels particularly dangerous. Sure, the charm is still there, but there's always an undercurrent of deadliness to Connery's performance. From the first moment you see him, you KNOW that 007 is a man who will not hesitate to kill all the villains he meets. And you're right.

Joseph Wiseman (with his unconvincing metal hands) as our villain, Dr. Julius No.

Unfortunately, the two other marquee performances aren't as well-executed as Connery's. Joseph Wiseman is particularly stiff as the title character, Dr. Julius No. Granted, Wiseman appears in a mere two scenes, and one of them gives him a boring, exposition-filled monologue. However, Wiseman doesn't do the material any favors with his bored performance; he sounds as if he's reading his dialogue straight off the page. Ursula Andress isn't much better as Honey Ryder, but I'm inclined to cut her a little more slack; this was only her first English-language feature film and fourth feature film overall. 

Really, the best acting in the film comes from the supporting actors, particularly Jack Lord as Felix Leiter and John Kitzmiller as Quarrel. Jack Lord plays the CIA agent with just a touch of swagger and confidence; it forms a subtle undercurrent that authentically establishes the character as American. (I'm an American, so I can say that.) John Kitzmiller is EXCELLENT as Quarrel; he almost steals the show out from under Connery, and that's saying a lot! He brings a lot of Jamaican local color and amiability to the role, and it goes a long way!

The Music

Dr. No's music is different than most Bond soundtracks in that there are more songs than there is score. That may be a good or a bad thing, depending on how much you like calypso music. I happen to love it, so the soundtrack is heavenly to me! Above, you'll find my favorite song from the film.

Interestingly, Dr. No's score was NOT written by John Barry, the famous composer who created most of the Bond soundtracks. Barry did serve as arranger, but the music was written by Monty Newman, a friend of producer Albert R. Broccoli. Most of the score is unremarkable; it just doesn't have the brassy, over-the-top vibe that Barry's Bond music would boast. The sole exception is the famous "James Bond Theme," which you can find below! (You've probably heard it before, but it's always worth listening to again!)

Final Thoughts & Rating

It's difficult to look at Dr. No objectively, especially after seeing all that the James Bond franchise would become. It's obvious that the filmmakers weren't sure how to handle the character; he was more violent and more blatantly sexual than any movie hero had been before, so the crew was treading carefully. 

I find this film a lot rougher than the Bond films to come. I don't know about you, but when I think of a 007 flick, I think of something slick and glossy, luxurious and glamorous. Dr. No isn't any of those things, and I like it for being different! 007 feels a little more deadly here, the world feels more real, and the emotional scenes are more visceral.

Is Dr. No my favorite Bond film? No, but I love it for what it is and for what it started. If you haven't seen it, please do so!

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

James Bond Will Return In 'Installment #2: From Russia With Love'

The Friday Five: Five Songs by The Temptations!

Welcome to THE FRIDAY FIVE! Each week, participants are given a topic and assigned to come up with five songs fitting that topic. This week, the topic is five songs by one artist. I chose to focus on one of my favorite groups, one that hasn't come up in my Friday Fives as of yet. That group is the fantastic Motown group The Temptations!

"My Girl"

Let me be upfront about this: "My Girl" is my all-time favorite Temptations song. In fact, it's probably one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time. It's one of the few songs that I consider absolutely PERFECT in every way. It may seem unconventional to kick things off with my all-time favorite Temptations song, but to heck with conventional wisdom!

From the moment you hear those opening base notes and guitar hook, you know you're in for something special. There's something so clean and pure about this song, and much of the credit for that has to go to Smokey Robinson's writing and production prowess. The arrangement is uncluttered, leaving plenty of room for David Ruffin's passionate lead vocal and the rest of the group's perfect harmonies. Robinson adds just a touch of echo to the music, giving the song "the same ozone-intoxicated feeling as the air just after a summer thunder shower" (to quote famed rock critic Dave Marsh). The lyrics flow off the tongue so smoothly that it's hard to believe that they were written; they're so perfect that it feels like they should have just existed, created by God. And, of course, there's the sweetly romantic vibe that the song discusses!

"It's Growing"

Smokey Robinson wrote the lyrics for "It's Growing" for The Temptations, trying to recapture the success the team had with 1964's "My Girl" (more on that song later). Robinson's skill really shows; this is just as much his song as it is David Ruffin's or any of the other Temptations'. Robinson was famous for clever wordplay and a keen sense of rhythm in his lyrics, and those skills really carry "It's Growing" to greatness. 

In "It's Growing," David Ruffin takes the lead vocal, tackling Robinson's intricate lyric lines. Each verse takes the feeling of growing affection and romance and uses long, elaborate similes to describe the feeling. This makes for some lines look unwieldy when read. When they're sung, however, the rhythm makes itself known, and the song transforms into a romantic little gem. David Ruffin nails each line perfectly. It's his vocals and Robinson's writing that make this song special!

"Get Ready"

"Get Ready" is a major hinge point in Temptations history, for this is the final time that the group collaborated with Smokey Robinson. You see, there was this young teen named Norman Whitfield who wanted to be a writer/producer. He began hanging out around Hitsville, USA (Motown Records's famous headquarters), doing odd jobs and making himself known. Motown president/founder Berry Gordy, Jr. came to like the kid and gave Whitfield jobs in Motown Records' quality control department and songwriting pool. Whitfield wanted to be a producer, though, and let Gordy know about his wishes. Gordy made a deal with Whitfield: if The Temptations' upcoming single, "Get Ready," under-performed, then Gordy would release Robinson as The Temptations' lead producer and give Whitfield the job.  

"Get Ready" only reached #29 on the Billboard charts, far below what Gordy was anticipating. True to his word, Gordy released Smokey Robinson from his position with the Temptations and filled it with Norman Whitfield. The Temptations would never sound the same again!

The above story really has no bearing on "Get Ready" itself; it's just an interesting tidbit. The behind-the-scenes dealing doesn't change the fact that "Get Ready" is a fun, fast-paced, well-written rocker of a love song. To hear it is to love it!

"I Can't Get Next To You"

Upon his arrival, Norman Whitfield immediately began taking The Temptations to bolder, funkier places. Where Smokey Robinson would tenderly touch nerves with his light, frothy lyrics, Whitfield would go directly to the heart with his extremely emotional ballads and gritty, funky uptempo numbers. The Temptations' work suddenly became dirtier and more down-to-earth, and music lovers responded positively; the group's records continued to sell well, and the Temptations became even bigger stars. Unfortunately, this led to the loss of David Ruffin; his cocaine habit and primadonna-like demands became too much for the group to take, and Ruffin was canned. To replace Ruffin, Whitfield brought in a new singer, Dennis Edwards.

Edwards turned out to be the magic ingredient that completed the Temptations' transformation. His voice has a tough, gritty, from-the-streets quality that Ruffin's voice lacked, allowing the group to tackle songs with more bravado and swagger. This is especially apparent in songs like "I Can't Get Next To You!" The lyrics revolve around a guy who can do just about anything he wants: he can travel back in time; he can make the seasons change with a wave of his hand; heck, he can even give himself immortality! He can't get with the girl he loves, though, and it's KILLING HIM! Edwards gives this song the macho swagger it needs to play well, and, brother, it DOES play well!

"Just My Imagination"

Like "Get Ready," "Just My Imagination" is another hinge point in Temptations history. While the group was appreciative of the success that Norman Whitfield had brought with his new sound, they were beginning to get tired of psychedelic, gritty numbers. Several members of the group went to Whitfield, saying that they wanted to record another romantic ballad. Whitfield initially resisted, but, eventually, he acquiesced, co-writing "Just My Imagination" with Barrett Strong. As it turned out, the song sat on the shelf several years until 1971, when Whitfield finally pulled it down. Sadly, however, this would be the final time Eddie Kendricks would lend his perfect falsetto to a Temptations release; he left the group soon after recording this tune. Just more interesting tidbits!

"Just My Imagination" isn't my favorite Temptations song (as you know), but it is the one I relate to most. The song revolves a young man who admires his crush from afar. His daydreams about her are extremely vivid, so much so that they almost seem real. The young man is very much aware that they're not, however, and it pains him. This was the story of my romantic life through my high school years, and, in some ways, it still is. This song speaks to me on a very personal level, and that's why I love it!