https://exchange.prx.org/p/533830
This week's show actually started out being about something. We started with five consecutive tunes that have never been played on Rockin' in the Days of Confusion before, fully intending on keeping it up for an entire hour. But, as usual, the show itself kept making suggestions and we ended up going free-form for the rest of the hour without any interruptions. One more never-played before track did slip in, however: a classic Monty Python bit performed live at a theatre (it was an English theatre, so I spelled it that way).
Artist: Doobie Brothers
Title: Listen To The Music
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Tom Johnston
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1972
Although the first Doobie Brothers album didn't generate a whole lot of interest, the second one, Toulouse Street, contained the breakout hit Listen To The Music, establishing the Doobie as one of the premier bands of the mid-1970s. Vocalist/guitarist Tom Johnston would go on to write several more hits for the band before health issues forced his temporary retirement in 1977
Artist: Johnny Winter
Title: Funky Music
Source: European import CD: Johnny Winter And
Writer(s): Rick Derringer
Label: Columbia
Year: 1970
After three albums' worth of what Johnny Winter called "progressive blues", the Texas guitarist used an entirely different lineup for his 1970 album Johnny Winter And. The new band included guitarist Rick Derringer, bassist Randy Hobbs and drummer Randy Z, all of who had all been members of the McCoys, known for the 1965 hit single Hang On Sloopy (even though only Derringer had actually played and sung on the record). The music of Johnny Winter And reflected a subtle shift in emphasis from rock-flavored blues to blues-favored rock. This shift was particularly noticable on the handful of songs written by Derringer, such as Funky Music, which closes out the original LP.
Artist: Eric Clapton
Title: Next Time You See Her
Source: 45 RPM single B side (taken from LP: Slowhand)
Writer(s): Eric Clapton
Label: RSO
Year: 1977
Eric Clapton's interpretation of the blues takes a darker turn with Next Time You See Her, from his 1977 album Slowhand. Beyond that, I'm not sayin' a thing.
Artist: Grateful Dead
Title: Black Peter
Source: LP: Workingman's Dead
Writer(s): Hunter/Garcia
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1970
After spending nearly five years and four albums establishing their improvisational abilities, the members of the Grateful Dead decided in 1970 that it was time to concentrate on songwriting. With the more or less permanent addition of poet Robert Hunter as the band's lyricist, working with guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia, they managed to record the album Workingman's Dead in just three weeks (compared to their previous studio album, Aoxomoxoa, which took over six months to finish). One of the more overlooked songs on the album is Black Peter, a song that has been interpreted as being either about dying or about making others believe you are about to die.
Artist: Van Morrison
Title: Slim Slow Rider
Source: LP: The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook (originally released on LP: Astral Weeks)
Writer(s): Van Morrison
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1969
After leaving his band Them to embark on a solo career, singer/songwriter Van Morrison signed a contract with Bert Berns's Bang Records that saw him moving away from his "angry young man" sound into pop star territory. This direction, however, didn't sit well with Morrison himself, who wanted to freedom to explore other areas of music. He and Berns were in constant conflict over the matter, and when Berns suffered a fatal heart attack in late 1967, Ilene Berns, who took over the company, blamed Morrison for her husband's death. She even tried to have him deported after discovering her husband had not filed the paperwork required to keep Morrison in New York. Unable to find work in the Big Apple due to Berns's influence (not to mention rumored underworld connections), Morrison married American Janet Rigsbee and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he began to develop a more acoustically-oriented style. Playing at a club called the Catacombs, Morrison gradually built up a following, attracting the attention of executives from Warner Brothers Records. Despite still being under contract to Bang, Morrison signed with Warner Brothers and began working on what would become the album Astral Weeks. He managed to get out of his contract with Bang by agreeing to submit three original compositions per month to Berns's publishing company for a year as well as assigning them half the copyright on any singles released during that time. He fulfilled the first part by recording 31 one-minute songs in a single session (adding five previous recordings) and Warner Brothers took care of the second part by not releasing any singles from Astral Weeks. There were other conditions that had to be met as well (including one involving the delivery of $20,000 in unmarked to bills to four guys in an abandoned warehouse) but eventually Morrison was free of Bang Records for good. Things were not perfect with Warner Brothers either, however. The initial sessions for Astral Weeks featured Morrison on vocals and guitar, accompanied by bass, guitar, vibes, flute and drums played by musicians in a separate room. The problems came when the producer decided to "sweeten" the recordings with strings and horns without Morrison's knowledge or permission. Morrison said later "They ruined it. They added strings. I didn't want the strings. And they sent it to me, it was all changed. That's not 'Astral Weeks'". The only track not to have strings and horns overdubbed was Slim Slow Rider, about a woman slowly dying from a heroin habit. Although Warner Brothers did not promote Astral Weeks (possibly fearing repercussions from Berns) Slim Slow Rider did get included on the label's first Loss Leaders album, the 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook.
Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: May This Be Love
Source: LP: Are You Experienced?
Writer(s): Jimi Hendrix
Label: Reprise
Year: 1967
The original UK version of Are You Experienced featured May This Be Love as the opening track of side two of the album. In the US, the UK single The Wind Cries Mary was substituted for it, with May This Be Love buried deep on side one.
Artist: Sly And The Family Stone
Title: Family Affair
Source: CD: Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits-1970 (originally released as 45 RPM single and on LP: There's A Riot Goin' On)
Writer(s): Sylvester Stewart
Label: Rhino (original label: Epic)
Year: 1971
Although credited to Sly And The Family Stone, Family Affair was actually almost a solo effort by the the group's leader, Sly Stone, who played keyboards, guitar and bass on the track, with his friend Billy Preston providing additional keyboards. The song is one of the first uses of a drum machine (then known as a rhythm box), which was programmed by Stone himself. Sly provided lead vocals on the track, backed up by his sister Rose. He initially did not consider the song strong enough to be released as a single, but as it turned out, Family Affair was the biggest hit of his career, becoming his final #1 hit on both the pop and soul charts.
Artist: Edgar Winter Group
Title: Frankenstein (second single version)
Source: LP: Vintage Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Edgar Winter
Label: Epic
Year: 1973
In the late 1960s, while playing with his brother Johnny in Texas, Edgar Winter came up with a riff designed to showcase his abilities as an instrumentalist. That riff soon became the basis for a jam known simply as "the instrumental" that became a staple of the band's live performances. After Edgar formed his own band in the early 1970s, the same instrumental was used as a daily warm up in the studio when working on the album They Only Come Out At Night. Producer Rick Derringer convinced Winter to flesh out the tune for possible inclusion on the album itself, and soon they were working on editing together pieces of several session tapes into a usable track. When drummer Chuck Ruff heard an early mix of the various edits he said "Wow, man, it's like Frankenstein." Winter thought that would be a perfect title for what eventually became the most popular track on the album. Initially the band considered the track a throwaway and almost left it off the album altogether. A couple of months after the album was released, a severely edited version of Frankenstein appeared as the B side of the album's opening track, Hangin' Around. The single went nowhere until a few disc jockey's decided to play the flip side instead. A month later a second edited version of Frankenstein was released as a single, this time as the A side. The song went all the way to the top of the charts in the US and Canada and made the top 40 in several other countries as well.
Artist: Ten Years After
Title: I'm Coming On
Source: CD: Watt
Writer(s): Alvin Lee
Label: Chrysalis (original label: Deram)
Year: 1970
The rock press had generally unfavorable things to say about the 1970 Ten Years After album Watt. Personally, I liked the album from the first time I played it. I suspect that the critics' negative reaction had more to do with their own changing tastes and expectations than with the actual quality of the album itself. I'm Coming On, the LP's opening track, is a solid rocker with a catchy opening riff. Granted, the lyrics are not particularly memorable, but then, Alvin Lee was basically a guitarist first and vocalist second, so it only stands to reason that his compositions would favor the musical side of things over the lyrics. Hey, if you want poetry, check out Bob Dylan, right?
Artist: Monty Python's Flying Circus
Title: Pet Shop
Source: LP: Instant Record Collection
Writer(s): Cleese/Chapman
Label: Arista
Year: 1981
First performed in 1969 on the first season of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the Pet Shop sketch, also known as the Dead Parrot sketch, went on to become a staple of live Monty Python shows, and was even voted best alternative comedy sketch by readers of the British magazine Radio Times. The sketch itself, written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman, was performed by Cleese (as the customer trying to return the dead parrot) and Michael Palin (as the shopkeeper trying to convince Cleese's character that the parrot isn't really dead).
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: I Don't Know Why aka Don't Know Why I Love You
Source: CD: Singles Collection-The London Years (originally released on LP: Metamorphosis and as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Wonder/Riser/Hunter/Hardaway
Label: Abkco
Year: 1969
In 1969 Stevie Wonder released a single called Don't Know Why I Love You. Before the record could take off, however, several radio stations decided to instead play the B side of the record, a balled called My Cherie Amour. My Cherie Amour soon became the biggest hit of Wonder's career up to that point, and Don't Know Why I Love You quietly faded off into obscurity. Or rather it would have, if not for the fact that the Rolling Stones recorded their own version of the tune (retitling it I Don't Know Why) on the night they learned of the death of founding member Brian Jones, who had been fired from the band less than a month before. The Stones, however, did not release the recording immediately. In fact, by the time the song was released (in 1975, on the LP Metamorphosis), the band was no longer associated with either London Records, which issued the recording, or Allen Klein, who had managed to gain control of all of the Stones' 1960s recordings. The Stones themselves never authorized the recording to be released, which of course did not stop Klein from releasing it anyway, both as an album track and as a single on Klein's own Abkco label.
Artist: Paul Simon
Title: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
Source: 45 RPM single (reissue)
Writer(s): Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1975
Sometime in the early 1970s singer/songwriter Paul Simon picked up the nickname Rhymin' Simon and decided to run with it. He took it to its logical extreme with the 1975 hit 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, his only single to hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. After a short introductory verse the song goes into its chorus, where each line ends with two words that rhyme, with the second one being a proper noun, e.g. "back, Jack or "plan, Stan". This actually set off a trend among comedians, who would try to outdo each other coming up with new rhymes for the chorus.
Artist: Rory Gallagher
Title: Can't Believe It's True
Source: British import CD: Spirit Of Joy (originally released on LP: Rory Gallagher)
Writer(s): Rory Gallagher
Label: Polydor (original label: Atco)
Year: 1971
In addition to his obvious prowess on guitar, Rory Gallagher was an accomplished saxophonist (although he largely abandoned the instrument in the mid-1970s). Excellent examples of both his guitar and saxophone work can be found on Can't Believe It's True, the final and longest track on Gallagher's first solo album, recorded in 1971. Accompanying Gallagher on the album were drummer Wilgar Campbell and bass guitarist Gerry McAvoy. Gallagher had set up practice sessions with Campbell and McAvoy, as well as former Jimi Hendrix Experience members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding following the breakup of his original band, Taste, but ultimately decided to form a power trio with the two Belfast natives for his solo debut.
Artist: Randy California
Title: Day Tripper
Source: European import CD: Pure...Psychedelic Rock (originally released on LP: Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds)
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Sony Music (original US label: Epic)
Year: 1972
In 1972, with his band Spirit having fallen apart (temporarily as it turned out), guitarist Randy California released his first solo LP, Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds, on which he also sang lead vocals. The album contained a mix of original tunes and covers, of which Day Tripper was the most recognizable. Indeed, one of the primary criticisms of the album was the fact that most of the cover songs sounded like jams on the songs' main riffs rather than actual arrangements.
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