Rockin' in the Days of Confusion # 1632 (official first episode, starts 8/10/16)

Artist:    John Lennon
Title:    God
Source:    CD: Lennon (box set) (originally released on LP: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band)
Writer(s):    John Lennon
Label:    Capitol (original label: Apple)
Year:    1970
    John Lennon wanted the world to know that he was completely done with the Beatles once the group had officially disbanded in 1970. Being John Lennon, he felt that his best way of expressing himself was through his music, and the song God, from his first solo LP, did exactly that. After a bit of personal philosophy ("God is a concept by which we measure our pain"), he goes into a litany of things he no longer believes in, including such diverse things as the Kennedys, Buddha, Elvis, and finally, the Beatles. He then renounces his role as a rock star/god with the words "I was the Walrus, but now I'm John" and concludes the track with the line "The dream is over". It struck me as an appropriate way to begin the first episode of a show that focuses on the post-Beatle era in rock music.

Artist:    Ten Years After
Title:    Speed Kills
Source:    CD: Stonedhenge
Writer(s):    Alvin Lee
Label:    Deram
Year:    1969
    Although they were generally considered part of the British blues scene of the late 1960s, Ten Years After owed as much to late 50s rock and roll artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard as to the traditional blues figures such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. As such, many of their songs had a touch of rockabilly that was absent from most of their contemporaries. A strong example of this rockabilly streak can be found in Speed Kills, the closing track of their 1969 Stonedhenge album.

Artist:    Buddy Miles
Title:    Dreams
Source:    CD: Them Changes
Writer(s):    Greg Allman
Label:    Miracle/Mercury
Year:    1970
    Drummer Buddy Miles started his career playing in his father's jazz band, but by the mid-1960s he was paying his dues as a member of various backup bands for R&B vocalists such as Wilson Pickett. In late 1966 Michael Bloomfield, who had just left the Butterfield Blues Band, asked Miles to join him in a new band that he was tentatively calling the American Music Band. The band made its debut the following year as the Electric Flag. After the demise of the Electric Flag Miles formed his own band, the Buddy Miles Express, recording two albums and making a guess appearance on the third Jimi Hendrix Experience album, Electric Ladyland. In 1969 Miles teamed up with Hendrix and bassist Billy Cox to form Band Of Gypsys, releasing a live album in early 1970. Later that year, after it became clear that Band Of Gypsys was a one-shot affair, Miles, with the help of the Electric Flag horn section, released his most successful solo album, Them Changes. Among the several tunes from the album to get progressive FM airplay was an extensively rearranged version of Greg Allman's Dreams, which had been previously recorded by the Allman Brothers Band.

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. This can be heard 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:    Edgar Winter Group
Title:    Free Ride
Source:    LP: They Only Come Out At Night
Writer(s):    Dan Hartman
Label:    Epic
Year:    1972
    Some songs released in the 1960s and 1970s were mixed differently for single release than their LP counterparts. This may have been because, until around 1978 or so, most top 40 stations operated on the AM band, which had different audio dynamics than FM radio. For instance, Free Ride, from the Edgar Winter Band's LP They Only Come Out At Night, had a significantly brighter guitar track, added harmonics, a fuzz bass added to the bridge, and other enhancements on the 45 RPM single that were not present on the original LP version of the song. The tune, written by bassist Dan Hartman, ended up being one of the band's biggest hits, so they must have been on to something.

Artist:    Emerson, Lake And Palmer
Title:    Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression
Source:    CD: Brain Salad Surgery
Writer(s):    Emerson/Lake/Sinfield
Label:    Rhino (original label: Manticore)
Year:    1973
    When Emerson, Lake And Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery was released on vinyl the fifth track on side one, Karn Evil 9: First Impression, was faded out at the end of side one of the album and faded back in at the beginning of side two. I always thought this was unnecessary, as they could have just as easily moved one or two of the earlier tracks on side one to the end of the album and put the entire thirteen-minute long First Impression on one side of the album and the other two Impressions on side two (especially since there is a break in the audio between the 1st and 2nd Impressions already). The result of this strange bit of mastering is that most classic rock stations only play the last four and a half minutes of Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, despite the fact that CD versions of the album have restored the recording to one continuous piece. Since the band obviously intended 1st Impression to be heard in its entirety, that's how it is being presented here. I actually gave some thought to included 2nd and 3rd Impression as well, but decided that, since there is dead space between the tracks on both LP and CD versions, I would treat them as separate pieces. Don't be surprised to hear 2nd or 3rd Impression as standlones sometime in the future.

Artist:    George Harrison
Title:    This Song
Source:    LP: Thirty-Three & 1/3
Writer(s):    George Harrison
Label:    Dark Horse
Year:    1976
    Once upon a time, someone noticed similarities in the melody and chord structure of two songs: He's So Fine, a hit for the Chiffons, an early 60s girl group, and George Harrison's 1970 hit My Sweet Lord. The publishers of He's So Fine then proceded to sue Harrison for copyright infringement, presenting such a convincing case that Harrison himself "started to believe that maybe they did own those notes". After losing the case Harrison wrote This Song, which takes a tongue-in-cheek view of the entire matter. To promote the song Harrison released a video that was shown on NBC's Saturday Night Live. This Song was the first single released from Harrison's 1976 LP Thirty-Three & 1/3 (the title being a double entendre referring to the standard LP speed of 33 1/3 RPM and Harrison's age at the time the record was made).

Artist:    Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Title:    Another Life
Source:    LP: Another Live
Writer(s):    Rundgren/Schuckett
Label:    Bearsville
Year:    1975
    Todd Rundgren first appeared on the national music scene as the leader of the Philadelphia-based Nazz in the late 60s. His first major success was as a solo artist in 1973, when Hello It's Me (a remake of an early Nazz tune), became a major hit. Around that same time Rundgren established himself as a record producer with Grand Funk Railroad's We're An American Band album. He sooned formed a new band, Utopia, which released its first album in 1974. The following year, using the name Todd Rundgren's Utopia, the group released Another Live, which featured three all-new tunes in addition to live versions of earlier songs. The first, and IMO best, of the new tunes was Another Life, which in a sense could be considered the title track of the album.

Artist:    Journey
Title:    Mystery Mountain
Source:    LP: Journey
Writer(s):    Rolie/Tickner/Valory
Label:    Columbia
Year:    1975
    Journey was one of the most successful American bands of the early 1980s, but on their 1975 debut album, the group had an entirely different style than the slick commercial sound they would later become famous for. In fact, the self-titled album sounds more like a Santana album than anything else, thanks in large part to the contributions of keyboardist/vocalist Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon. The album's final track, Mystery Mountain, is a good example of the kind of band Journey was in their earliest incarnation.

Artist:    Jade Warrior
Title:    Waves Part 1 (excerpt)
Source:    LP: Waves
Writer(s):    Field/Duhig
Label:    Island
Year:    1975
    Jade Warrior was a British progressive/experimental rock band that released several albums throughout the 1970s. The fifth Jade Warrior, Waves, is actually one long piece that covers both sides of the album. Much of Waves is quite relaxing to listen to, as this excerpt taken from side one of the album shows. Jade Warrior is often cited as an influence on the "New Age" music of the 1980s and beyond.