https://exchange.prx.org/p/540211
First off, I want to say congratulations to our three winners of copies of the 50th anniversary edition of Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel. Two of them, Ed Pelley of Redondo Beach, California and Travis Short of Calgary, Alberta, listen to GulchRadio online (aka KZRJ, Jerome, Arizona, while the third, Joshua Ames of East Fultonham, Ohio, catches the show on WOUB out of Athens, Ohio. All three have received their copies of the three CD set. As for this week's show, we have a mixture of some old favorites with a few tunes never played on Rockin' in the Days of Confusion before, including a track from the last Canned Heat album to be released under their original contract with Liberty Records, a classic prog-rock track from Flash and something I had forgotten even existed: a Bob Dylan instrumental.
Artist: Canned Heat
Title: Keep It Clean
Source: LP: The New Age
Writer(s): Richard Hite
Label: United Artists
Year: 1973
Although Canned Heat had originally signed with Liberty Records in 1967, by the early 1970 their albums were appearing under the United Artists imprint, as UA had shut down Liberty in 1970. Whether or not this was a factor in the band's decision to terminate their contract and switch to Atlantic is unknown, but for whatever reason the 1973 LP The New Age would be their last for UA. The band itself had undergone significant changes as well, with lead guitarist Henry Vestine leaving the group a week before they appeared at Woodstock only to rejoin after bassist Larry Taylor left the band to work with John Mayall. Joining Vestine and lead vocalist Bob Hite on The New Age was bassist Richard Hite (Bob's brother), who wrote several songs on the album, including the opening track, Keep It Clean, on which Richard played rhythm guitar. Also in the band at this time were rhythm guitarist James Shane (playing bass on Keep It Clean), keyboardist Ed Beyer and longtime drummer Adolfp de la Parra, who had been with the group since their second LP, Boogie With Canned Heat.
Artist: Fleetwood Mac
Title: Fighting For Madge
Source: CD: Then Play On
Writer(s): Mick Fleetwood
Label: Reprise
Year: 1969
A jam session is defined (by me) as what happens when two or more musicians get together and play whatever they feel like playing. Jazz, rock and blues artists in particular are prone to jamming, sometimes with recording devices running. Sometimes these jams serve as the basis for future compositions, and in some cases (the Jimi Hendrix track Voodoo Chile from side one of Electric Ladyland comes to mind) the jam session itself ends up being released in its original form. Fleetwood Mac, in 1969, included two such jams on their Then Play On LP, although one of the two (Searching For Madge) was shortened from its original 17 minutes to just under seven minutes. The other jam, heard in its entirety on the album, is called Fighting For Madge. Both tracks were named for a female acquaintance of the band, with Mick Fleetwood getting the official writing credit for Fighting and John McVie the credit for Searching, even though everyone in the band contributed equally to both jams.
Artist: Neil Young
Title: Southern Man
Source: CD: After The Gold Rush
Writer: Neil Young
Label: Reprise
Year: 1970
Neil Young stirred up a bit of controversy with the release of the album After The Gold Rush, mostly due to the inclusion of Southern Man, a scathingly critical look at racism in the American South. The song inspired the members of Lynnard Skynnard to write Sweet Home Alabama in response, although reportedly Young and the members of Skynnard actually thought highly of each other. There was even an attempt to get Young to make a surprise appearance at a Skynnard concert and sing the (modified) line "Southern Man don't need me around", but they were never able to coordinate their schedules enough to pull it off.
Artist: Focus
Title: Hocus Pocus
Source: British import CD: Spirit Of Joy (originally released on LP: Moving Waves)
Writer(s): van Leer/Akkerman
Label: Polydor UK (original US label: Sire)
Year: 1971
Although it was not a hit until 1973, Hocus Pocus, by the Dutch progressive rock band Focus, has the type of simple structure coupled with high energy that was characteristic of many of the garage bands of the mid to late 60s. The song was originally released on the band's second LP, known alternately as Focus II and Moving Waves, in 1971. Both guitarist Jan Akkerman and keyboardist/vocalist/flautist Thijs van Leer have gone on to have successful careers, with van Leer continuing to use to the Focus name as recently as 2006.
Artist: Santana
Title: No One To Depend On
Source: Mono 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Carabella/Escobida/Rolie
Label: Columbia
Year: 1971
Santana's third LP (which like their debut LP was called simply Santana), was the last by the band's original lineup. Among the better-known tracks on the LP was No One To Depend On, featuring a guitar solo by teen phenom Neal Schon (who would go on to co-found Journey). The version here is a rare mono promo pressing issued as a single in 1972. It is obviously not a true mono mix, but what is known as a "fold-down" mix, made by combining the two stereo channels into one. It sounds to me, though, like one channel (the one with Neil Schon's guitar) got shortchanged in the mix.
Artist: Bob Dylan
Title: Turkey Chase
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Year: 1973
Bob Dylan decided to try his hand at composing music for a movie soundtrack with the score for the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid. Unfortunately, both the film and the soundtrack album got less than positive reviews. In fact, the entire process led to Dylan's decision to sever ties with Columbia Records, the label he had always been on, and instead sign with David Geffen's new label, Asylum. Many of the tracks on the album were instrumentals such as Turkey Chase, that one reviewer referred to as "inept, amateurish and embarrassing". Still, the album did spawn one major hit, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, which was issued as a single in August of 1973 with Turkey Chase on the B side.
Artist: Grateful Dead
Title: Pride Of Cucamonga
Source: CD: From The Mars Hotel
Writer(s): Lesh/Petersen
Label: Rhino (original label: Grateful Dead)
Year: 1974
A Phil Lesh lead vocal is considered a rare treat by Deadheads, and the 1973 album Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel has two of them, both co-written by Lesh and poet Bobby Petersen. Neither of the two became part of the band's live repertoir at the time, and in fact the country flavored Pride Of Cucamonga is the only track on the album never to have been played in front of an audience.
Artist: Firesign Theatre
Title: Squeeze The Wheeze
Source: LP: I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus
Writer(s): Proctor/Bergman/Austin/Ossman
Label: Columbia
Year: 1971
I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus is the fourth Firesign Theatre album, released in 1971. Like it's predecessor, Don't Touch That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers, Bozos is one continuous narrative covering both sides of an LP. It tells the story of a visit to a Future Fair that somewhat resembles Disney's Tomorrowland, with various interractive educational exhibits such as the Wall Of Science. The piece was actually made up of shorter bits that the Firesign Theatre had used previously on their weekly radio show, but reworked and re-recorded for the new album. One of those bits, arbitrarily titled (by me) Squeeze The Wheeze, includes the album title itself.
Artist: Frank Zappa
Title: Stink-Foot
Source: CD: Apostrophe (')
Writer(s): Frank Zappa
Label: Zappa (original label: Discreet)
Year: 1974
Recorded at the same time as the Mothers' Over-Nite Sensation, Apostrophe (') is one of the most popular albums in the Frank Zappa catalog. Much of this popularity is attributable to a combination of Zappa's prodigious guitar work, along with his unique sense of humor, both of which are in abundance on the final track of the album, Stink-Foot.
Artist: Flash
Title: Psychosync (Escape) (Farewell Number Two) (Conclusion)
Source: LP: Music From The Mother Country (originally released on LP: Out Of Our Hands)
Writer(s): Banks/Bennett
Label: Sovereign
Year: 1973
After leaving Yes, guitarist Peter Banks formed the band Flash with vocalist Colin Carter, bassist Ray Bennett, and drummer Mike Hough, and immediately began recording their debut album, two months before their first appearance in front of an audience in January of 1972. The album sold well enough to warrant multiple North American tours (and one European one), but both internal and external problems led to the band's breakup while on tour following the release of their third LP in 1973. One of those problems stemmed from their label's decision to release that final album under the name Flash – featuring England's Peter Banks without consulting the band itself (which is ironic considering the album was titled Out Of Our Hands). One of the highlights of that album was a suite called Psychosync that consists of three parts: Escape, written by Bennett and Banks, Farewell Number Two and Conclusion, both solo compositions by Bennett.
Artist: Spirit
Title: Elijah
Source: LP: Spirit
Writer: John Locke
Label: Ode
Year: 1968
Since the mid-1960s many bands have had one long piece that they play in concert that is specifically designed to allow individual band members to strut their stuff. In a few cases, such as Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida or Lynnard Skynnard's Freebird, it becomes their best-known song. In most cases, though, a studio version of the piece gets put on an early album and never gets heard on the radio. Such is the case with Spirit's show-stopper Elijah, which was reportedly never played the same way twice. Elijah, written by keyboardist John Locke, starts with a hard-rockin' main theme that is followed by a jazzier second theme that showcases one of the lead instruments (guitar, keyboards). The piece then comes to a dead stop while one of the members has a solo section of their own devising. This is followed by the main theme, repeating several times until every member has had their own solo section. The piece ends with a return to the main theme followed by a classic power rock ending.
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