https://exchange.prx.org/p/549637
It's once again time for a trip through the years 1968 through 1973. From there, we linger a bit in 1975 and then finish things out in 1969.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Revolution 1
Source: LP: The Beatles
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple
Year: 1968
The Beatles' Revolution has a somewhat convoluted history. The song, as originally recorded, was over eight minutes long and included what eventually became Revolution 1 and part of Revolution 9. The song's writer, John Lennon, at some point decided to separate the sections into two distinct tracks, both of which ended up on the Beatles self-titled double LP (aka the White Album). Lennon wanted to release Revolution 1 as a single, but was voted down by both George Harrison and Paul McCartney on the grounds that the song's tempo was too slow. Lennon then came up with a faster version of the song, which ended up being released a few weeks before the album came out as the B side to the band's 1968 single Hey Jude. As a result, many of the band's fans erroneously assumed that Revolution 1 was the newer version of the song.
Artist: Steve Miller Band
Title: Just A Passin' Fancy In A Midnight Dream
Source: LP: Your Saving Grace
Writer(s): Miller/Sidran
Label: Capitol
Year: 1969
1969 was a bit of a transition year for the Steve Miller Band. Guitarist/vocalist Boz Scaggs and keyboardist Jim Peterman had both left the band, to be replaced by keyboardist Ben Sidran, along with British session whiz Nicky Hopkins on piano. Sidran, in addition to his keyboard work, was a prolific songwriter, and he and Miller wrote several songs together for the album Your Saving Grace, including the somehow creepy sounding Just A Passin' Fancy In A Midnight Dream.
Artist: Spirit
Title: Space Child/When I Touch You
Source: CD: Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus
Writer(s): Locke/Ferguson
Label: Epic/Legacy
Year: 1970
Spirit keyboardist John Locke used a combination of piano, organ and synthesizers (then a still-new technology) to set the mood for the entire Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus recording sessions with his instrumental piece Space Child. The tune starts with a rolling piano riff that gives bassist Mark Andes a rare opportunity to carry the melody line before switching to a jazzier tempo that manages to seamlessly transition from a waltz tempo to straight time without anyone noticing. After a short reprise of the tune's opening riff the track segues into Jay Ferguson's When I Touch You, a song that manages to be light and heavy at the same time.
Artist: Cheech And Chong
Title: Let's Make A Dope Deal
Source: LP: Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit (originally released on LP: Big Bambu)
Writer(s): Marin/Chong
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Ode)
Year: 1971
A frequent target of counterculture comedy acts in the 1970s was television, with parodies of shows and commercials coming from everyone from the Firesign Theatre to the Credibility Gap. As you might expect, Cheech And Chong combined such parodies with their own drug-related brand of humor on pieces like Let's Make A Dope Deal from their second LP, Big Bambu.
Artist: Black Sabbath
Title: Sweet Leaf
Source: CD: Master Of Reality
Writer(s): Iommi/Osbourne/Butler/Ward
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1971
Composed pretty much entirely in the recording studio, Sweet Leaf is Black Sabbath's unapologetic ode to marijuana. The title was inspired by writing on the inside lid of a pack of Irish cigarettes that contained the words "it's the sweetest leaf that gives you the taste". The coughing at the beginning of the track was provided by Tony Iommi, who was caught by surprise at the potency of a joint handed to him by Ozzy Osbourne. And yes, the entire band was stoned when they recorded Sweet Leaf.
Artist: Uriah Heep
Title: Easy Livin'
Source: LP: Demons And Wizards
Writer(s): Ken Hensley
Label: Mercury
Year: 1972
Uriah Heep's biggest hit. 'nuff said.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Our Lady
Source: LP: Who Do We Think We Are
Writer(s): Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
Deep Purple was the top selling artist of 1973, thanks in large part to the release of their seventh studio album, Who Do We Think We Are. It was also the final year for the band's classic Mk2 lineup, with both vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover leaving the band that summer. According to Gillan, the band had just finished 18 months of touring and every member had had some sort of major illness over that same period, yet their managers insisted that they immediately get to work on the new album, even though the band members desperately needed a break. Nonetheless the album itself is one of their strongest, in spite of the fact that, for the most part the band members weren't even on speaking terms and much of the album was recorded piecemeal, with each member adding his part at a different time. The final track on the album, Our Lady, was a return to the band's psychedelic roots, with a strong Hendrix vibe throughout the piece.
Artist: Ted Nugent
Title: Where Have You Been All My Life
Source: LP: Ted Nugent
Writer(s): Ted Nugent
Label: Epic
Year: 1975
Citing a lack of discipline among band members, Ted Nugent left the Amboy Dukes in 1975 and spent a few months away from the music business. Upon his return he formed a new band consisting of himself on lead guitar, Derek St. Holmes on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Rob Grange on bass and Cliff Davies on drums. Nugent's first solo LP was an instant hit, going into the top 30 on the album charts and eventually going triple platinum. With one exception, all of the songs on the album, including Where Have You Been All My Life, are credited solely to Nugent, although St. Holmes later claimed that all the tracks were actually written by the entire band and that Nugent had taken solo credit to avoid paying the other band members royalties. St. Holmes would end up leaving the band the following year midway through the recording of Nugent's second solo LP, Free-For-All.
Artist: Jade Warrior
Title: Caves (from Waves Part I)
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 album, Waves, is actually one long piece that covers both sides of the original LP, with sections subtitled on the innersleeve but not the label itself. Much of Waves is quite relaxing to listen to, as the final section of side one of the album, subtitled Caves, demonstrates. Jade Warrior is often cited as an influence on the "New Age" music of the 1980s and beyond.
Artist: Queen
Title: Seaside Rendezvous
Source: LP: A Night At The Opera
Writer(s): Freddie Mercury
Label: Virgin (original label: Asylum)
Year: 1975
Freddie Mercury's whimsical side is in full display on the song Seaside Rendezvous, from the fourth Queen album A Night At The Opera. The song is done in a vaudevillian style reminiscent of such Paul McCartney Beatles tracks as Honey Pie and When I'm 64. Seaside Rendezvous, however, benefits from mid-70s technology, particularly the availability of many more tracks to record on than the Beatles had in the late 60s, and Queen uses them to full advantage, with Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor performing a musical bridge entirely with their voices. The track uses several instruments not often found in rock music, including tubas, trumpets, clarinets and even a kazoo (Taylor handles the brass instruments, while Mercury provides the winds). The tap dance segment of the song is actually Mercury and Taylor wearing thimbles on their fingers and tapping on the mixing desk.
Artist: Allman Brothers Band
Title: Dreams
Source: CD: Beginnings (originally released on LP: The Allman Brothers Band)
Writer(s): Gregg Allman
Label: Polydor (original label: Atco)
Year: 1969
Although it had originally been one of the first tracks recorded by the Allman Brothers Band at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia, the final take of Gregg Allman's Dreams was the last song on the band's debut LP to be committed to tape. The problem with the previous takes was that bandleader Duane Allman was unhappy with his own guitar solo on the song. Finally, after the band finished its regular session on August 12, 1969, he asked everyone to turn off all the lights in the studio. He then tried something he hadn't done on previous takes. Using his recently adopted slide guitar technique, Duane recorded a new overdubbed solo that literally brought the entire band to tears. "It was unbelievable," recalled drummer Butch Trucks. "It was just magic. It’s always been that the greatest music we played was from out of nowhere, that it wasn’t practiced, planned, or discussed."
Artist: Taj Mahal
Title: You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond
Source: LP: Super Rock (originally released on LP: Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home)
Writer(s): Blind Willie Johnson
Label: Columbia
Year: 1969
Tracing the origins of vintage blues songs can get confusing at time. For instance, You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond was originally written and recorded in 1929 by Blind Willie Johnson under the title You'll Need Somebody On Your Bond. Johnson's retitled second version of the song was his last recording, released the following year. In 1964 singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie's recorded her own version of the song with slightly altered lyrics using the later title for her debut LP, It's My Way. Taj Mahal used Saint-Marie's arrangement of the song, mistakenly crediting her as the actual writer of the tune on his third album, Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home, in 1969. See? Confusing.
No comments:
Post a Comment