Lady London?!

[Rick5150]

In this interview with Al Jardine, the interview asks Al who he thinks is the best songwriter between him and Brian.

A: He wins, hands down. I have written some songs that are very close to his heart that he really appreciates. A couple of them that have pulled him out of a few scrapes.

He likes the one I did based on Bach. The bridge is one of his favorite musical moments. Of course he has only written some of the best bridges in the world. For me that’s quite a compliment. There are just certain things that he sees differently than most of us.

For me that was very special, that bridge. It’s called “Lady London.” That’s the name of the song.

Of course, he is referring to the song originally recorded as "Lady Lynda" then "Lady Liberty" (which was unlistenable for me as it lost all of its beauty and became tacky). Is there a third iteration of this song? I have not been able to find Lady London mentioned anywhere else. Does Al change the name of the song if they are touring London? Lady Lynda is far and away one of my favorite Al penned songs so I am curious.

[Debbie KL]

In this interview with Al Jardine, the interview asks Al who he thinks is the best songwriter between him and Brian.

A: He wins, hands down. I have written some songs that are very close to his heart that he really appreciates. A couple of them that have pulled him out of a few scrapes.

He likes the one I did based on Bach. The bridge is one of his favorite musical moments. Of course he has only written some of the best bridges in the world. For me that’s quite a compliment. There are just certain things that he sees differently than most of us.

For me that was very special, that bridge. It’s called “Lady London.” That’s the name of the song.

I saw, on his or Mary Ann's FB page (I forget which) that he said it by accident and he must have been thinking about the future UK dates.  I suggested that a really good iteration of that might be a good idea on this tour.


Of course, he is referring to the song originally recorded as "Lady Lynda" then "Lady Liberty" (which was unlistenable for me as it lost all of its beauty and became tacky). Is there a third iteration of this song? I have not been able to find Lady London mentioned anywhere else. Does Al change the name of the song if they are touring London? Lady Lynda is far and away one of my favorite Al penned songs so I am curious.

[The_Beach]

Man that song changes names alot! Now we are on the fourth title for the song! Lady London!!!!

Could he has said it because he didn't want to refer to it as Lady Lynda because of his ex wife?

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

"Q: Who do you think is the best songwriter of the two of you?" - absolutely ridiculous question!

[Rick5150]

Man that song changes names alot! Now we are on the fourth title for the song! Lady London!!!!

Haha, I had heard that it was performed as Little Lady or something but never heard that version. He should just change the spelling from "Lynda" to "Linda" and say he is singing it about some random girl along the lines of Rhonda, Wendy or Barbara Ann.

Thank you Debbie KL; I did not notice this part of the response at first:

I saw, on his or Mary Ann's FB page (I forget which) that he said it by accident and he must have been thinking about the future UK dates.  I suggested that a really good iteration of that might be a good idea on this tour.

[Gerry]

You know, I think it's a shame that Al just doesn't perform the song as originally written. I get that it's about his ex-wife but he loved her when he wrote it and he had two kids with her, but divorce happens and it's a great song. What is this, high school? Other artists have this same problem and they still perform the song. MaryAnn should just tell him "hey,  sing the song already".

[Robbie Mac]

You know, I think it's a shame that Al just doesn't perform the song as originally written. I get that it's about his ex-wife but he loved her when he wrote it and he had two kids with her, but divorce happens and it's a great song. What is this, high school? Other artists have this same problem and they still perform the song. MaryAnn should just tell him "hey,  sing the song already".

Plus it was a big hit single in the UK.

[GoodToMyBaby]

Al said on Twitter that he said Lady London by mistake.

[MikestheGreatest!!]

"Al said on Twitter that he said Lady London by mistake".  Which was the most plausible explanation all along.  Plus he's old.

We sure be hurtin' for good new topics on this board, huh?
 

 
   
 

[Debbie KL]

Man that song changes names alot! Now we are on the fourth title for the song! Lady London!!!!

Haha, I had heard that it was performed as Little Lady or something but never heard that version. He should just change the spelling from "Lynda" to "Linda" and say he is singing it about some random girl along the lines of Rhonda, Wendy or Barbara Ann.

Thank you Debbie KL; I did not notice this part of the response at first:

I saw, on his or Mary Ann's FB page (I forget which) that he said it by accident and he must have been thinking about the future UK dates.  I suggested that a really good iteration of that might be a good idea on this tour.

Sorry, I messed up that post/quote.  Hopefully, I won't do as badly on this one.

[RangeRoverA1]

You know, I think it's a shame that Al just doesn't perform the song as originally written. I get that it's about his ex-wife but he loved her when he wrote it and he had two kids with her, but divorce happens and it's a great song. What is this, high school? Other artists have this same problem and they still perform the song. MaryAnn should just tell him "hey,  sing the song already".

Agree, lyrics don't mean a thing. Who cares? It's big fan favorite, "Lady Lynda" should be a must in every subsequent show.

[Rick5150]

"Al said on Twitter that he said Lady London by mistake".  Which was the most plausible explanation all along.  Plus he's old.

We sure be hurtin' for good new topics on this board, huh?

If there was an alternate version of this terrific song by Al, I would love to hear it. That was the only intent of this thread - to discover new and/or unreleased music by my favorite band, or members of said band.

[tpesky]

Al Jardine make a mistake with words?? I'm shocked?? That's never happened!

[The_Beach]

Man that song changes names alot! Now we are on the fourth title for the song! Lady London!!!!

Haha, I had heard that it was performed as Little Lady or something but never heard that version. He should just change the spelling from "Lynda" to "Linda" and say he is singing it about some random girl along the lines of Rhonda, Wendy or Barbara Ann.

Thank you Debbie KL; I did not notice this part of the response at first:

I saw, on his or Mary Ann's FB page (I forget which) that he said it by accident and he must have been thinking about the future UK dates.  I suggested that a really good iteration of that might be a good idea on this tour.

Oh man you missed out! I had it posted on youtube until my profile got suspended! It sounds pretty good. It has the same track as lady lynda not the corny way lady Liberty was set up

[HeyJude]

Not sure any of us are qualified to tell Al there's nothing wrong with singing a love song about his ex-wife in concert.

How many people here are remarried and regularly sing a love song about your ex-spouse while on tour with your current spouse? Every scenario is going to be different depending on the people and attitudes involved.

For what it's worth, I don't think Al has displayed any aversion to talking about the song. He talked about "Lady Lynda" at some length in his old 2000 Goldmine interview. He supposedly was going to perform "Lady Lynda" in the early 2000s at the Pop Overthrow Festival before he had to cancel due to a court date or some such thing (it's obviously unknown if he planned to keep the "Lynda" part), and he signed off on including the song on the Knebworth 1980 DVD.

Having finally heard the aforementioned 1993 "Little Lady" variant recently, I have to say it was about as unobtrusive as a lyric/song title change could possibly be.

I figure Al doesn't do the song anymore at his solo shows because it's just too obscure these days (especially for US audiences, especially when doing a quickie 75-minute hits set), plus he hasn't ever toured the UK on his own where the song would presumably have some level of familiarity and, for the Brian shows, Al clearly has next to zilch in the way of setlist input.