https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/396386-dc-2150
This week the loner lies down on his sweet head in four holes while gazing at his crystal ball and dancing with Mr. D. It must be some sort of majik.
Artist: Neil Young
Title: The Loner
Source: LP: The Big Ball (originally released on LP: Neil Young)
Writer(s): Neil Young
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1968
The Loner could easily have been passed off as a Buffalo Springfield song. In addition to singer/songwriter/guitarist Neil Young, the tune features Springfield members Jim Messina on bass and George Grantham on drums. Since Buffalo Springfield was functionally defunct by the time the song was ready for release, however, it instead became Young's first single as a solo artist. The song first appeared, in a longer form, on Young's first solo album in late 1968, with the single appearing three months later. The subject of The Loner has long been rumored to be Young's bandmate Stephen Stills, or possibly Young himself. As usual, Neil Young ain't sayin'.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Dancing With Mr. D.
Source: LP: Goat's Head Soup
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: Rolling Stones
Year: 1973
Depending on whose point of view you choose to agree with, Goat's Head Soup marked either the end of the Rolling Stones' golden age or the beginning of their mid-70s decline into rock star decadence. With a track like Dancing With Mr. D. starting off the album, I'd have to go with the former view.
Artist: David Bowie
Title: Sweet Head
Source: CD: The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (bonus track)
Writer(s): David Bowie
Label: Ryko
Year: Recorded 1972, released 1990
With the release of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie firmly established himself as the king of glam rock in 1972. Ironically the track that has been called David Bowie's "most extreme" glam rock song, Sweet Head, was left off the album and buried so deeply that even the bootleggers never heard of it until it appeared on the CD reissue of Ziggy in 1990. As Bowie says in the song itself: "Until there was rock you only had God."
Artist: Uriah Heep
Title: Crystal Ball
Source: British import CD: The Magician's Birthday (bonus track)
Writer(s): Gary Thain
Label: Sanctuary
Year: Recorded 1972, released 2003
One of the least talked about members of the infamous "27 club" is New Zealander Gary Thain, who joined Uriah Heep midway through sessions for their 1972 album Demons And Wizards. His first songwriting credits with the band appeared on Uriah Heep's next LP, The Magician's Birthday, as co-writer of the album's two singles, Sweet Lorraine and Spider Woman. His only solo composition for the album, Crystal Ball, was never completed, although several different versions have since surfaced, including this bonus track from the 2003 British reissue of The Magician's Birthday.
Artist: Black Sabbath
Title: Spiral Architect
Source: LP: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Writer(s): Iommi/Osbourne/Butler/Ward
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
The final track on Black Sabbath's fifth LP, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Spiral Architect reflects lyricist Geezer Butler's fascination with DNA and the way it interacts with one's life experiences to produce a unique individual. As Butler puts it : "I used to get very contemplative on certain substances. I still do, but without those substances."
Artist: Genesis
Title: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (opening sequence)
Source: CD: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Writer(s): Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford
Label: Rhino/Atlantic (original label: Charisma)
Year: 1974
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was released in 1974, and features lyrics written exclusively by Peter Gabriel, who would leave Genesis, the band he co-founded, following the band's 1975 tour to promote the double LP. The album was originally met with mixed reviews, but has come to be considered by many the apex of the band's existence. More than on any other Genesis album, the songs tend to flow together without a break between them. For example, the album's opening sequence of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Fly On A Windshield, Broadway Melody Of 1974, Cuckoo Cocoon and In The Cage come across as one continuous piece that takes up nearly the entire first side of the original LP.
Artist: Premiati Forneria Marconi (PFM)
Title: Four Holes In The Ground
Source: Italian import CD: The World Became The World
Writer(s): Mussida/Premoli/Pagani/Sinfield
Label: Sony Music/RCA
Year: 1974
Premiati Forneria Marconi (PFM), was, for a time, the most popular homegrown band in Italy, second in popularity only to Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who signed them to their own Manticore label for a series of English language albums. The second of these, The World Became The World, featured lyrics by Peter Sinfield, who had also provided lyrics for King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer themselves, among others. A highlight of that album was Four Holes In The Ground, which became the band's live set opener for several years.
Artist: Cat Stevens
Title: Majik Of Majiks
Source: CD: The Very Best Of Cat Stevens (originally released on LP: Numbers)
Writer(s): Cat Stevens
Label: UTV/A&M
Year: 1975
Bored with the formula that had brought him internation fame in the early 1970s, singer/songwriter wrote and produced his first concept album, Numbers, in 1975. Based on a story about the planet Polygor, whose entire purpose is to dispense the numbers 1 through 9 (but not zero) to the rest of the universe, the album was musically a major departure from Stevens's previous style, and ended up being a commercial disappointment (although eventually it did achieve gold record status). Although not released as a single, Majik Of Majiks was the only song from Numbers selected for inclusion on the 2000 CD The Very Best Of Cat Stevens.
Artist: J. Geils Band
Title: Magic's Mood
Source: Stereo 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Juke Joint Jimmy
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1976
My two favorite J. Geils Band tracks are both B sides featuring the harmonica playing of Magic Dick. Both Magic's Mood, from 1976, and 1971's Whammer Jammer are credited to Juke Joint Jimmy. Of course, this writing credit got me curious, so I did a little research and found out that Juke Joint Jimmy (sometimes spelled Jimmie) is actually a pseudonym created specifically for songs written by the entire band. So now I guess I can put Juke Joint Jimmy in the same class as Nanker Phelge and McGannahan Skjellyfetti.
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