Anyhoo, every now and again you come across a song that gets even better with age--for me, one such song is this week's tune, "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders. I usually listen to a song two to three times before I write each week's Friday Night Jukebox, and the smile on my face tonight as I listened had to be worth at least a thousand words.
But you'll have to settle for this.
Released in 1979 on their debut album, entitled appropriately enough, The Pretenders (and for my money one of the best debut albums I've ever heard), "Brass in Pocket" was the third single released from the album mostly because Chrissie Hynde didn't much care for it. Despite her misgivings, it would go on to reach #14 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100--and probably remains their signature song. Sadly, original guitarist James Honeyman-Scott (who co-wrote the tune with Hynde) and original bassist Pete Farndon would both die drug related deaths by 1983. Nevertheless, the Pretenders went on to have a long and successful (and continuing) run, including being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
I can usually hear about two strums of Honeyman-Scott's guitar and recognize that the song playing is "Brass in Pocket." It's really fairly simple guitar--jangly, rhythmic, and its almost as if (much like the singer of the song ) the guitar is making a bold pronouncement. The heart and soul of "Brass in Pocket," though, is Chrissie Hynde's vocal (and it's not nearly the only Pretenders' song for which this is true). Confident, defiant, soulful, arrogant, plaintive--and still yet, a touch of vulnerability touches the listener as well. I tried hard today to think of a female rock vocalist who is better than Chrissie Hynde, and I couldn't. She's as good as I've ever heard. And on no song do her vocals shine brighter than "Brass in Pocket." As the song states, she most definitely is "so special."
For those wondering, "brass in pocket" is a British slang phrase referring to having cash on your person.
Because I live in metro Detroit, I'm going to use the line "...Been driving, uh, Detroit leaning..." for this week's lyric link....
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
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