Hello there! I apologize for the irregular timing over the past couple of weeks; the holidays have really thrown me off, but I am hoping to get back on track next week.

In yesterday’s post about Al Green, I mentioned the idea of musical easter eggs, and I decided today that rather than a single one or single song, I’d take a look at some of my favorites! Most of these are pretty well known, but maybe some will be new to you!

Hey Jude – The Beatles

Ah, The Beatles. My heroes. Their music has been listened to, dissected, listened to again, lyrics have been painstakingly poured over for hours, each member isolated vocally and musically, so it’s no surprise that there’s plenty of behind-the-scenes stuff in their mixes. In one of the Fab Four’s most beautiful and poignant songs, which is saying A LOT, there’s a hilarious and very noticeable ad-lib by (most likely) Paul, yelling “Fucking Hell!” as he makes a mistake on the piano**. John** evidently thought it was pretty damn funny and of course we all know it doesn’t matter what George and Ringo think, (sarcasm) so it was left in the mix.

Link (Fucking Hell at 2:58) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQER0A0ej0M

Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd

One of the most iconic American songs of all time, by one of my favorite bands of all time, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama actually features my favorite easter egg in music. Most people have heard it and maybe even wondered about it, but don’t know exactly what the legendary Ronnie Van Zant is actually saying. During Billy Powell’s legendary piano outro, with about 35 seconds left in the song, Ronnie makes the comment pretty loudly “My donuts! Goddamn!“. The story goes that Ronnie would get a box of donuts before every recording session, and evidently, on this particular take, somebody thought it would be funny to hide the man’s donuts and act like they got eaten. Ronnie is remembered as a sweet guy, when he was sober, but there are a few pretty famous tales about him being a violent drunk. One in particular, about him getting liquored up on a private jet and holding a touring manager halfway out of the plane 12,000 feet in the air over some dispute. I’m not touching this guy’s donuts with a 12-foot pole.

Link (Goddamn Donuts at 3:10) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-35W_FWCT9Q

Roxanne – The Police

The Police are one of my favorite bands, and I really haven’t shown them any love on the blog up to this point. I think I’d go as far as to say that they’re the greatest three-piece of all time, in my eyes. Roxanne was the first song I heard by them; without any understanding of the lyrics, I remember belting out the intro along with Sting in the shower plenty of times in my younger years, and still to this day. I had always noticed Sting’s laugh in the first ten or so seconds of the song, but upon further listening, you can pretty clearly hear some random piano keys being hit, by none other than Sting’s ass! During the recording process, Sting sat on the piano, and of course, being the chill guy that he is, just laughs it off and proceeds to lay down some of the most iconic vocals of all time.

Link (first ten seconds) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdu3a2arXdw

Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones (Merry Clayton)

I think I’ll write a post solely dedicated to Merry Clayton soon, because she deserves it, but also because I think if you were to hold a gun to my head and ask me “What is the most gut-wrenchingly powerful vocal performance of all time?” (would be a really odd situation to be in) I’d answer with Merry Clayton’s “back up” (let’s be honest, this is her song) vocals on one of the Stones’ greatest creations, “Gimme Shelter.” It’s hard for me to describe the feelings that her performance brings forth, but I’m not kidding when I tell you the hair on my arms raises up, every. single. time. I hear her wailing on those iconic runs. The fact that she literally rolled out of bed, pulled up to the studio in pajamas, pregnant as hell with curlers still in her hair, laid it DOWN, and then took her beautiful self right back to bed has got to be one of the greatest moments in all of rock n roll, no, music history.

The easter egg I wanted to point out, in the isolated vocal tracks, you can hear Mick cheering her on in astonishment and awe as her voice cracks. (I actually think she may be hitting whistle registers, but I don’t know enough about vocals to really tell). There is so much more I want to tell you all about Merry, but it’s late, and she deserves a post of her own. Something for y’all to look forward to!

Link to the isolated vocals – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fdACTl2myMA

Link to Merry and Mick talking about the song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChONufP0FEs&t=54s