The Name Game

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The Real Women Behind The Names Of The Song. Here's Some Fun Facts And A Fun Trivia Game To Play
Last week, Neil Diamond finally revealed who "Sweet Caroline," is. Turns out she is none other than Caroline Kennedy. He wanted to reveal this long time secret in time for Caroline's 50th birthday.

But what about all these other songs named after women?

Let's start with 'My Sharona.' (Sharona Alperin)
Knack frontman Doug Fieger was a twentysomething rock journeyman with a dirty-old-man streak when he met 16-year-old Sharona, who would give him his place in rock history. Fieger threw caution -- and age-of-consent laws -- to the wind and wooed Sharona, who inspired the song that bears her name, and she ended up posing for the single's picture sleeve. They remained a couple for four years, leaving Fieger as one of rock's great one-hit wonders and Sharona one of L.A.'s more successful real estate agents.

Jenny Boyd
From Donovan's 'Jennifer Juniper' (1968)

Fashion models often captivate rock stars, but even by the standards of that profession, Jenny Boyd had a special magic. The teenage waif proved equally enraptured with folkie Donovan, who serenaded her with this guileless song. Their romance would prove short-lived, and Jenny went on to marry and divorce Mick Fleetwood -- twice! -- before earning her psychology degree. Coincidentally, Jenny's older sister Patti -- married to George Harrison but in love with Eric Clapton -- was the inspiration for 'Layla.'

Sara Recor
From Fleetwood Mac's 'Sara' (1979)
Anyone who thinks Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a tough game should try a round of with Sara Recor -- the subject of this airily pretty radio staple. Sara, a good pal of Stevie Nicks, actually helped write her own serenade -- a pretty gutsy move since she was on the verge of stealing Nicks' boyfriend, Mick Fleetwood. Recor and the drummer later married and divorced, but her relationship with Nicks survived -- long enough, at least, for Stevie to "borrow" Recor's first name for this song about Nicks' stint in rehab.


Rosanna Arquette
From Toto's 'Rosanna' (1982)

Ah, Hollywood. The Rosanna in question is surnamed Arquette -- yes, of 'Desperately Seeking Susan' fame -- and she happened to be the muse/lover of Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro. Ironically, Porcaro neither sang the song -- that would be frontman Bobby Kimball -- nor wrote it. The author was David Paich, who -- in a rare example of rock brotherhood -- penned the song to celebrate the love between his bandmate and Arquette, not to try to win her away from Porcaro.

Okay. This one is a pretty well known fact.

Judy Collins
From Crosby, Stills & Nash's 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' (1969)

Written by a man on the verge of a catastrophic breakup, this Stephen Stills composition chronicles his love for his longtime girlfriend, folk singer Judy Collins, and the differences that were driving them apart. The last verse of 'Judy Blue Eyes,' sung in Spanish, has absolutely nothing to do with Collins and instead focuses on an unfulfilled desire to take a trip to Cuba. We're presuming there's a veiled reference to Gloria Estefan in there someplace, but our language skills are a little rusty.

Here's an oldie but a goodie, not to mention not a well known fact.

Peggy Sue Gerron
From Buddy Holly's 'Peggy Sue' (1957)

Holly wrote some lovely songs for his wife, Maria Elena, but his best-known hit was actually inspired by the woman who would later become his drummer's wife. Peggy Sue was a classmate of Holly's at Texas' Lubbock High when the song -- which the singer flirted with re-titling 'Cindy Lou' -- topped the charts. She's currently working on an autobiography titled 'Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?

The information on the above songs/women came from Spinner.com.

A few more I can think of that actually have the name of a real woman in the title:
The Lovely Linda--By Paul McCartney for his beloved, Linda Eastman McCartney
Oh Yoko and Dear Yoko-John Lennon for his partner, Yoko Ono.
Oh Carol. Written by Neil Sedaka for Carole King (even though her name has an "e" on the end, he chose to write the title without it)
Shannon-Henry Gross. Okay. Shannon was a dog, but they're the best people I know. (The dog in the song was actually about Carl Wilson's dog--true story--read about it at HenryGross.com)
Maggie May-Rod Stewart. He said she was indeed a real, older woman he got involved with.
My Lady D'Arbanville-Cat Stevens for his then girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville, who was married to Don Johnson.

Can you name any songs not listed that were written about real women with their name in the title? Songs like 'Wonderful Tonight' or 'Something' don't count, even though we all know they were written for Patti Boyd. Neither song has "Patti" in the title.

I almost used 'Hey Carrie-Anne,' by The Hollies, but that would have been cheating. It was written for Marianne Faithfull, so close, but no cigar.

I couldn't find any "real" women for songs like 'Wake Up Little Susie,' 'Susie Q,' 'Jessie's Girl,' Roxanne' etc.

Okay. It's your turn!

Posted by Sharon Cobb on Monday, November 26, 2007 at 4:44 AM

http://sharoncobb.blogspot.com/2007/...ong-heres.html