Sad And Lonely And Blue
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"Sad and Lonely and Blue" is a song written by
Stevie Wright Stephen Carlton Wright (20 December 1947 – 27 December 2015) was an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Called Australia's first international pop star, he is best known for being the lead singer of the Easybeats, who are widely rega ...
and George Young, recorded by their band
the Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success ...
in 1965. The song was written in response to the group being labelled as " pop musicians" from their previous singles "
She's So Fine "She's So Fine" is a song written by Stevie Wright and George Young. It was originally recorded by the Australian rock group the Easybeats in 1965, whose version reached number three in the Australian charts. Background The basic tracks to "S ...
" and
Wedding Ring A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage. In western culture, a ...
" along with their debut album ''Easy''. The song is based around a 12-string guitar riff played by guitarist
Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as Harry Vanda, is a Dutch-Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easybeats who wi ...
and sees influences in both
British rhythm and blues British rhythm and blues (or R&B) was a musical movement that developed in the United Kingdom between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, and reached a peak in the mid-1960s. It overlapped with, but was distinct from, the broader British beat ...
and
jangle pop Jangle pop is a Music subgenre, subgenre of pop rock and college rock that emphasizes jangle, jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop music, pop melodies. The "jangly" guitar sound is characterized by its clean, shimmering and Arpeggio, arpeggiated ...
. Released as a single on 4 November 1965, it was a chart failure compared to their previous releases, only reaching number 21 on the
Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...
.


Background and composition

By mid-1965,
the Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success ...
had established themselves as the most popular band in Australia, owing to their two top-ten singles "
She's So Fine "She's So Fine" is a song written by Stevie Wright and George Young. It was originally recorded by the Australian rock group the Easybeats in 1965, whose version reached number three in the Australian charts. Background The basic tracks to "S ...
" and "
Wedding Ring A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage. In western culture, a ...
", both upbeat pop songs regarding love. Their popularity in Australia was comparable to
Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...
, and the press dubbed this phenomenon as "Easyfever" in response. In September of that year, their debut album, ''Easy'' was released. Eight out of the 14 songs on the album were composed by lead vocalist
Stevie Wright Stephen Carlton Wright (20 December 1947 – 27 December 2015) was an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Called Australia's first international pop star, he is best known for being the lead singer of the Easybeats, who are widely rega ...
and rhythm guitarist George Young, also establishing them as songwriters. Most of the material on that album was upbeat pop in the vein of the aforementioned two singles, deriving inspiration primarily from
Merseybeat Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed around Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from British and American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle, tradit ...
and
British rhythm and blues British rhythm and blues (or R&B) was a musical movement that developed in the United Kingdom between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, and reached a peak in the mid-1960s. It overlapped with, but was distinct from, the broader British beat ...
. However, some band members grew dismayed over their music being labelled as pop. "Sad and Lonely and Blue" was written in an effort to steer away from this labelling, written with "complex
harmonies In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
" from Wright, Young and lead guitarist
Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as Harry Vanda, is a Dutch-Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easybeats who wi ...
, along with a catchy melody. On the song, Vanda plays a twelve-string electric guitar, giving it a distinct "
Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the sole consisten ...
-esque" feel of
jangle pop Jangle pop is a Music subgenre, subgenre of pop rock and college rock that emphasizes jangle, jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop music, pop melodies. The "jangly" guitar sound is characterized by its clean, shimmering and Arpeggio, arpeggiated ...
, while simultaneously incorporating rhythm and blues elements from their debut single " For My Woman (1965). As performed by the Easybeats, "Sad and Lonely and Blue" was written in the key of
B major B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equi ...
, characterized by Vanda's alternating guitar strokes, to which bassist
Dick Diamonde Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs (; 28 December 1947 – 18 September 2024), better known by his stage name Dick Diamonde, was an Australian bass guitarist. He was a founding mainstay member of the Easybeats. Diamonde, with the group, was ...
provides a
counter-melody In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the pri ...
in between strums. Lyrically, the song revolves around longing for a partner, complete with themes of heartbreak and loneliness, departing from the previously positive lyrics of their previous songs.


Release

"Sad and Lonely and Blue" was released as the Easybeats fourth single on 4 November 1965, backed by "Easy As Can Be", a song boasting influences from both rhythm and blues and
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
. Released through
Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, wh ...
and distributed by
Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...
, the single was what Young described as "sort of a bomb for us". At the time of the single's release, Australia did not have a unified national
record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...
and instead, every major Australian city had their own chart, which meant that airplay of the single was never concentrated across the whole country at the same time. In the estimations of David Kent's retrospective
Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...
, the song only reached number 21 nationally, as opposed to both "She's So Fine" and "Wedding Ring" which were top-10 singles. It was the Easybeats' lowest charting since their debut "For My Woman", which reached number 33, and would remain their biggest chart failure until 1967's " The Music Goes 'Round My Head". The low charting amidst the height of their popularity has sometimes been attributed to the single's overall somber mood, which resulted in Young stating that the band gave in, "giving the kids what they wanted", with the follow-up single "
Women (Make You Feel Alright) "Women (Make You Feel Alright)" is a song written by Stevie Wright and George Young. It was originally recorded by the Australian rock group the Easybeats in 1966, whose version reached #4 on the Australian charts. It was the group's debut sing ...
" (1966). "Sad and Lonely and Blue" and its
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
were included on the February 1966 EP ''Easy As Can Be'', before being included on their second studio album ''
It's 2 Easy ''It's 2 Easy'' is the second studio album by Australian rock band the Easybeats. Released on 24 March 1966, the album featured four hit singles; "Wedding Ring", "Sad and Lonely and Blue", "Women (Make Me Feel Alright)" and "Come And See Her". P ...
'' on 24 March 1966.


Charts


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * {{The Easybeats 1965 singles 1965 songs The Easybeats songs Songs written by Stevie Wright (Australian singer) Songs written by George Young (rock musician) Parlophone singles Albert Productions singles