Rockin' in the Days of Confusion # 1703 (starts 1-18-17)

This week's show, although the third to be aired in 2017, is actually the first one to be recorded this year. It features 12 tracks (the most on the show so far) covering a wide range of rock genres.

Artist:    Geoff And Maria Muldaur
Title:    New Orleans Hopscop Blues
Source:    LP: The Big Ball (originally released on LP: Pottery Pie)
Writer(s):    George Thomas
Label:    Warner Brothers (original label: Reprise)
Year:    1968
    Geoff And Maria Muldaur were both members of the legendary Jim Kweskin Jug Band. In fact, Geoff Muldaur was a founding member of the group. The two of them split off from the group to record their first album, Pottery Pie, in 1968. Although the entire album was made up of cover songs, the two of them put their own stamp on everything they did, including George Thomas's New Orleans Hopscop Blues. Following the release of Pottery Pie, the couple moved up to Woodstock, NY. They separated in 1972, right after Geoff joined Paul Butterfield's Better Days. Maria, of course, went on to a successful solo career, highlighted by her hit single, Midnight At The Oasis.

Artist:    Beatles
Title:    One After 909
Source:    LP: Let It Be
Writer(s):    Lennon/McCartney
Label:    Apple
Year:    1970
    One of the earliest John Lennon compositions, One After 909 dates back to his days as a member of the Quarrymen with Paul McCartney, who helped him write the song sometime before 1960. The band tried to record the song during the mid-1960s, but were unable to produce a satisfactory take. Finally, as part of their Let It Be project, the band performed the song live on a London rooftop in January of 1969. The performance was included in the film and released on the Let It Be album in 1970. Lennon famously includes a line from the chorus of Danny Boy at the end of the tune.

Artist:    Lynyrd Skynyrd
Title:    What's Your Name
Source:    LP: Gold And Platinum (originally released on LP: Street Survivors)
Writer(s):    Rossington/Van Zant
Label:    MCA
Year:    1977
    Released just three days before the plane crash that took the lives of three of the members of the band (as well as the pilot, co-pilot and the band's assistant road manager), Lynryd Skynyrd's Street Survivors was the original band's most successful LP, going gold within two weeks of its release on October 17, 1977. The most popular song on the album, What's Your Name, is a slightly fictionalized story of an incident that happened while the band was on tour. Although the events depicted in the song actually happened, the location of the incident was not Boise, Idaho, as mentioned in the song itself. Lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, who wrote the lyrics, decided to use that location when he found out that his brother Donnie's band, 38 Special, was starting its first national tour there.

Artist:    Focus
Title:    House Of The King
Source:    Stereo 45 RPM single
Writer(s):    Jan Akkerman
Label:    Sire
Year:    1970
    Dutch band Focus released House of the King as a single in 1970, between their first and second albums. After getting considerable airplay in Europe and the UK, the song was added to later pressings of their debut LP, Focus Plays Focus (alternatively known as In And Out Of Focus). The song finally appeared on a US LP when Focus 3 was released three years later. Contrary to popular belief, the song was not re-recorded for the 1973 album.

Artist:     Blind Faith
Title:     Presence of the Lord
Source:     LP: Blind Faith
Writer:     Eric Clapton
Label:     Polydor
Year:     1969
     When the album Blind Faith first came out, several critics questioned why Steve Winwood sang lead on this track instead of songwriter Eric Clapton. Many went so far as to say Clapton should have sung the tune, but after countless subsequent recordings of Clapton singing Presence of the Lord over the years, it's kind of refreshing to go back and hear Winwood's original interpretation.

Artist:    Procol Harum
Title:    A Salty Dog
Source:    Stereo 45 RPM single B side (taken from LP: Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra)
Writer(s):    Brooker/Reid
Label:    A&M
Year:    1972
    Originally released on Procol Harum's 1969 album of the same name, A Salty Dog is better known to US audiences for its performance on the LP Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, which went to the #5 spot on the Billboard LP charts in 1972. The song itself has been cited by lyricist Keith Reid as one of his personal favorite Procol Harum songs.

Artist:    Led Zeppelin
Title:    The Battle Of Evermore
Source:    CD: Led Zeppelin IV
Writer(s):    Page/Plant
Label:    Atlantic
Year:    1971
    Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny makes a guest appearance on The Battle Of Evermore, an acoustic track from Led Zeppelin's fourth album. The song originally came about when guitarist Jimmy Page began experimenting with a mandolin owned by bassist John Paul Jones (Page had never played a mandolin before). As the song developed, Robert Plant came up with a vocal line, but felt that something more was needed. He then asked Sandy Denny, who had recently parted company with Fairport Convention, to provide a counterpoint vocal on the song, with Plant taking the part of the narrator and Denny the town crier. As was the case with many early Led Zeppelin songs, The Battle Of Evermore draws much of its imagery from J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The track is the only one in Led Zeppelin history to feature a guest vocalist.

Artist:    West, Bruce And Laing
Title:    Rock 'N' Roll Machine
Source:    LP: Whatever Turns You On
Writer(s):    West/Bruce/Laing
Label:    Columbia/Windfall
Year:    1973
    The early 1970s saw an explosion of so-called rock supergroups, made up of members of already successful bands getting together in new configurations. One of the earliest was Blind Faith, which included both Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker from Cream. The third Cream member, bassist Jack Bruce, ended up working with Mountain guitarist Leslie West and drummer Corky Laing in a group that released only two albums. The second of these, Whatever Turns You On, was a moderate success, thanks to catchy numbers like Rock 'N' Roll Machine, which describes the band's music in, er, mechanical terms.

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:    Al DiMeola
Title:    Land Of The Midnight Sun
Source:    LP: Land Of The Midnight Sun
Writer(s):    Al DiMeola
Label:    Columbia
Year:    1976
    One of the finest guitarists to emerge from the jazz-rock fusion movement of the early 1970s was Al DiMeola, who came to prominence as a member of Chick Corea's band, Return To Forever. For his first album released under his own name, DiMeola called upon fellow jazzmen Barry Miles (electric piano, Mini-Moog synthesizer) Anthony Jackson (bass),  Lenny White (drums) and  Mingo Lewis (percussion) to record Land Of The Midnight Sun. The album, released in 1976, shows DiMeola's talents as both a composer and instrumentalist, as can be plainly (and effectively) heard on the album's title track.

Artist:    Premiati Forneria Marconi (PFM)
Title:    Four Holes In The Ground
Source:    LP: Cook
Writer(s):    Mussida/Premoli/Pagani/Sinfield
Label:    Manticore
Year:    1974
    Following up on the success of the albums Photos Of Ghosts and The World Became The World (both of which featured English lyrics by Peter Sinfield), Italian prog-rockers Premiati Forneria Marconi (PFM) embarked on their first US tour.  Many of the performances were recorded live for release on the 1974 album Live In The USA (retitled Cook for US release). Four Holes In The Ground (from The World Became The World) was generally used as the band's show opener, and, appropriately, is the first track on Cook as well.

Artist:    Alice Cooper
Title:    Desperado
Source:    LP: Killer
Writer(s):    Cooper/Bruce
Label:    Warner Brothers
Year:    1971
    Alice Cooper (the singer, not the band) has made conflicting statements concerning the inspiration/subject matter of Desperado, from the Killer album. In the liner notes of Fistful Of Alice (and elsewhere) the flamboyant vocalist said the song was written about his friend Jim Morrison, who died in 1971, the same year Killer was released. However, he has also said (in a radio interview) that the song was inspired by Robert Vaughn's character in the film The Magnificent Seven. Whatever the song's origins, Desperado has proved to be one of the band's most popular numbers, appearing on various greatest hits compilations over the years.