https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/435369-dc-2235
This week it's another one of those roller coaster shows: the first set starts off rockin', then mellows out for a while, while the second set features tracks that start out quietly but build up to a high-energy conclusion.
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Title: Tombstone Shadow
Source: LP: Green River
Writer(s): John Fogerty
Label: Fantasy
Year: 1969
Although Creedence Clearwater Revival was never known as a blues band, John Fogerty's lyrics for Tombstone Shadow, from the 1969 LP Green River, could give Willie Dixon himself
a run for his money. The music ain't half bad either.
Artist: Chicago
Title: South California Purples
Source: CD: Chicago Transit Authority
Writer(s): Robert Lamm
Label: Rhino (original label: Columbia)
Year: 1969
Chicago never considered themselves a jazz-rock band, despite all the hype from the rock press and the publicity people at Columbia Records. Rather, the defined themselves as a rock band with a horn section. Songs like Robert Lamm's South California Purples, which is basically a blues progression, lend credence to this view. The track, which showcases the guitar work of Terry Kath, was one of the most popular songs on the band's debut album and continued to be a concert staple until Kath's death in 1978.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Cross-Eyed Mary
Source: CD: Aqualung
Writer: Ian Anderson
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1971
The fortunes of Jethro Tull improved drastically with the release of the Aqualung album in 1971. The group had done well in their native UK but were still considered a second-tier band in the US. Aqualung, however, propelled the group to star status, with several tracks, such as Cross-Eyed Mary, getting heavy airplay on FM rock radio.
Artist: Elton John
Title: Friends
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): John/Taupin
Label: Uni
Year: 1971
Elton John and Bernie Taupin started work on the soundtrack for the film Friends before John hit it big in the US with Your Song, a tune from his self-titled second LP (his first to be released in the US). Although the film itself was a flop, John's album did respectively well, with the title track being released as a single in 1971. The album itself, however, is long out of print and has never been released on a CD.
Artist: Melanie
Title: The Actress
Source: Canadian import LP: Madrugada
Writer(s): Melanie Safka
Label: Neighborhood
Year: 1974
Melanie Safka expresses her feelings about her own career on The Actress, a six-minute long track from her 1974 album Madrugada. The song has a sense of weariness about it (particularly when it comes to how others perceive her songs), yet also reflects a desire to continue to write and sing for the rest of her life.
Artist: Jeff Beck
Title: Love Is Green
Source: CD: Wired
Writer(s): Narada Michael Walden
Label: Epic
Year: 1976
One of Jeff Beck's earliest releases was a cover of Paul Mauriat's Love Is Blue. The song, released as a single in 1968, ended up being a bit of an embarrassment for the guitarist, thanks in large part to producer Mickie Most's heavily orchestrated arrangement of the piece. Beck finally got the last word, however, when he recorded Love Is Green, an instrumental piece written by Narada Michael Walden (who plays piano on the track), for his 1976 album Wired.
Artist: Premiata Forneria Marconi
Title: Meridiani
Source: LP: Jet Lag
Writer(s): PFM
Label: Asylum
Year: 1977
By the late 1970s it was becoming obvious that the art-rock movement from earlier in the decade had pretty much run its course. The popularity of bands like Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer was on the decline, with fans of punk rock in particular singling them out as "dinosaurs" on the verge of extinction. Some groups managed to survive by moving in an entirely different direction. One of these was Italy's most popular "local" band, Premiata Forneria Marconi (The Award Winning Marconi Bakery), who found a niche among the jazz-rock fusion bands that were on the rise across the world. Luckily for them, their level of musicianship was such that they could easily handle to intricacies of their new style, although their later albums, such as Jet Lag, did not sell as well as their earlier art-rock material. Much of the music on Jet Lag is instrumental, such as Meridiani, arguably the most interesting track on the album.
Artist: Spirit
Title: Water Woman/The Great Canyon Fire In General
Source: LP: Spirit
Writer(s): Jay Ferguson
Label: Ode
Year: 1968
Among other things, Southern California is known for its periodic wildfires, which, fueled by hot Santa Ana winds, destroy everything in their path before they can be brought under control. In the summer of 1967, while the members of Spirit were living in L.A.'s Topanga Canyon, one of these wildfires took out about half of the canyon. Although the house the band was living in was spared, the entire area was evacuated and the members of Spirit (and their family) had to spend a week camped out at the beach. The incident inspired the band's vocalist Jay Ferguson to write The Great Canyon Fire In General for Spirit's 1968 debut LP. The tune is preceded on the album by Water Woman, another Ferguson composition that sounds like it could have been written by the demigod Pan himself but was more likely to have been conceived during the aforementioned stay at the beach.
Artist: Ten Years After
Title: My Baby Left Me
Source: CD: Watt
Writer(s): Alvin Lee
Label: Chrysalis (original US label: Deram)
Year: 1970
Although panned by the rock press, Ten Years After's sixth LP, Watt is, for my money, the last of their truly great albums, containing many tasty tunes, such as My Baby Left Me. Following the release of Watt on the Deram label, Ten Years After would switch to Columbia Records and enjoy greater commercial success. Personally, with the exception of a couple of songs, I find their Columbia material uninspired.
Artist: America
Title: Ventura Highway
Source: Stereo 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Dewey Bunnell
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1972
The first thing you need to understand about the song Ventura Highway is that there is no such road as "Ventura Highway". There is a Ventura Freeway and a Ventura Boulevard, but no Ventura Highway. So where did Dewey Bunnell of the band America get the title? According to Bunnell himself, it goes back to his childhood, when the family car had a flat tire while traveling down the Pacific Coast Highway near Lompoc, California. As Dewey and his brother waited for their dad to finish changing the tire, Dewey noticed a road sign indicating how far it was to Ventura. The rest of the song's lyrics are mostly based on Bunnell's childhood memories as well.
Artist: Lovecraft
Title: The Dawn
Source: LP: Superecord Contemporary (originally released on LP: Valley Of The Moon)
Writer(s): Grebb/Wolfson
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1970
The original H.P. Lovecraft disbanded in 1969, following the release of their second LP. Two of the band's members, singer/songwriter George Edwards and drummer Michael Tegza, then formed a new band called simply Lovecraft. This band also included members from other Chicago area bands, including Aorta (guitarist Jim Donlinger and bassist Michael Been) and the Buckinghams (keyboardist Marty Grebb). By the time their only LP, Valley Of The Moon, was released however, the band had split up following a stint touring with Boz Scaggs and Leon Russell. Grebb, who co-wrote The Dawn, went on to become a member of Bonnie Raitt's band for 25 years.
Artist: Genesis
Title: Inside And Out
Source: Canadian import 12" 45 RPM blue vinyl EP: Spot The Pigeon
Writer(s): Rutherford/Collins/Hackett/Banks
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1977
After Genesis finished recording sessions for the Wind And Wuthering album the band members realized that they had more music than they could fit on a standard LP, and three tracks were left off the album. Those three tracks, including the five and a half minute long Inside And Out, were issued in May of 1977 on an EP called Spot The Pigeon. In North America the EP was only issued in Canada, on blue 12" vinyl that played at 45 RPM. Hey, whatever it takes to get it to sell, I guess.
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