https://exchange.prx.org/p/556156
Following a couple weeks of special shows, it's time for an hour of free-form rock, starting with a classic blues cover from Cream's Wheels Of Fire album and ending with Harvey Mandel's take on a traditional African jazz standard. As for what's in between the two, read on...
Artist: Cream
Title: Born Under A Bad Sign
Source: LP: Wheels Of Fire
Writer: Jones/Bell
Label: RSO (original label: Atco)
Year: 1968
Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker were pretty much considered the cream of the crop of the British blues scene in the mid 1960s, so it came as no surprise when they decided to call their new band Cream. Although the trio would go on to record several memorable non-blues tunes such as I Feel Free and White Room, they never completely abandoned the blues. Born Under A Bad Sign, originally recorded by Albert King for the Stax label and written by labelmates William Bell and Booker T. Jones, is one of the better known tracks from Cream's double-LP Wheels Of Fire, the last album released while the band was still together.
Artist: Yes
Title: Every Little Thing
Source: CD: Yes
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Rhino/Elektra (original label: Atlantic)
Year: 1969
At first glance you'd think that the British band Yes and the San Francisco group Big Brother And The Holding Company had little in common. They did, however, have similar first experiences in a recording studio. Both bands were saddled with producers and engineers who knew virtually nothing about how a rock band should sound, and in the case of Yes, an engineer who made little effort to hide his distaste for rock music itself. In both cases the results were disappointing to the band members themselves, although the rock press, at least, had a favorable opinion of Yes. Neither album was a commercial success when originally released, yet both groups went on to become chart-toppers with their later efforts. Both albums featured a pair of cover versions of relatively obscure songs to supplement the bands' original material. Even the Beatles' song covered by Yes was one of their least popular, having originally appeared on the 1964 album Beatles For Sale, often cited as the weakest of all Beatles albums. Yes's version of Every Little Thing includes a long original intro, and even sneaks in the guitar riff from Day Tripper before getting into the song itself. Original Yes guitarist Peter Banks would find himself increasingly at odds with the band's other three members, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire and Bill Bruford, and would end up leaving Yes the following year to form his own band, Flash.
Artist: Joe Walsh
Title: Time Out (live version)
Source: LP: You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind
Writer(s): Joe Walsh
Label: ABC
Year: 1976
If there is any one song that could be called a typical example of a Joe Walsh tune, it could very well be Time Out, a song originally released on the 1974 album So What and then as a single the following year. It has all the hallmarks: a smooth guitar riff played against a background of power chords, a vocal line that starts on a high pitched note and stays there long enough to create tension before dropping down a bit, and lyrics that are suitably cryptic, yet down to earth. Although not a top 40 hit, the song got plenty of play on mid-70s FM rock radio stations, especially after being included on Walsh's 1976 live LP You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind.
Artist: Mothers
Title: Fifty-Fifty
Source: CD: Over-Nite Sensation
Writer(s): Frank Zappa
Label: Zappa (original label: Discreet)
Year: 1973
Frank Zappa was already well-established by the time he recorded Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe(') in 1973. The two albums, recorded at the same time but released months apart, were his commercial breakthrough, thanks to radio-friendly tunes like Montana and Don't Eat Yellow Snow. Both albums use the same pool of talented musicians, including keyboardist George Duke and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, both of which would go on to establish themselves as first-tier stars in the world of jazz fusion. Fifty-Fifty, from Over-Nite Sensation, features solos from Duke, Ponty and Zappa himself, with lead vocals from Ricky Lancelotti. Powerful stuff.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Smooth Dancer
Source: Japanese import CD: Who Do We Think We Are
Writer(s): Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
Deep Purple's most iconic lineup (the so-called Mark II group consisting of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice) only recorded four studio albums together before internal tensions and conflict with their own management led to the departure of Gillan and Glover. The last of these was Who Do We Think We Are, released in 1973. By this point some of the band members were not on speaking terms, and their individual parts had to be recorded at separate times. Nonetheless, the album is full of strong tracks such as Smooth Dancer, which closes out side one of the original LP. Despite all the problems getting Who Do We Think We Are recorded and the band's subsequent disintegration, Deep Purple sold more albums in the US than any other recording artist in the year 1973 (including continued strong sales of the 1972 album Machine Head and their live album Made In Japan).
Artist: Robin Trower
Title: Daydream
Source: CD: Essential Robin Trower (originally released on LP: Twice Removed From Yesterday
Writer(s): Dewar/Trower
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1973
Robin Trower's nearly six year long run with Procol Harum became increasingly frustrating for the guitarist, who felt that the band's songs, mostly written by keyboardist Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid, did not give him a lot of opportunity to express himself as a musician. So in 1971 he left the group and co-founded a group called Jude. Although this group was short-lived and made no recordings, it did serve to establish the songwriting partnership of Trower and the Scottish bassist/vocalis James Dewar. With drummer Reg Isidore they formed the Robin Trower Band in 1973, releasing their first album, Twice Removed From Yesterday, that same year. The longest track on the album was Daydream, a slow moody piece that runs in excess of six minutes.
Artist: Graham Nash
Title: Prison Song
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Graham Nash
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1973
Graham Nash's Prison Song is one of those songs that by all rights should have been a huge hit. It was by a name artist. It had a catchy opening harmonica riff and a haunting melody. I can only surmise that once again Bill Gavin (whose Gavin Report was considered by many in the industry to be the top 40 "bible") decided that the lyrics were too subversive for AM radio and had the song blacklisted, much as he had done with the Byrds Eight Miles High a few years earlier. Those lyrics center on a subject that is unfortunately still relevant today: the utter absurdity of drug laws and the disproportionate sentences for violation of those laws in various part of the United States.
Title: Down By The River
Source: CD: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Writer(s): Neil Young
Label: Reprise
Year: 1969
Down By The River is one of four songs on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere that Neil Young wrote while running a fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit (that's 39.5 degrees for people in civilized nations that use the Celsius, aka centrigrade, scale). By some strange coincidence, they are the four best songs on the album. I wish I could have been that sick in my days as a wannabe rock star.
Artist: Savoy Brown
Title: Money Can't Save Your Soul
Source: CD: Looking In
Writer(s): Simmonds/ Peverett
Label: Deram (original label: Parrott)
Year: 1970
Looking In was the sixth album by British blues-rockers Savoy Brown, and the first without original lead vocalist Chris Youlden. It was also the final outing for guitarist Dave Peverett, bassist Tone Stevens and drummer Roger Earl, who would go on to form Foghat after being dismissed by bandleader Kim Simmonds. The album was made up entirely of original compositions such as the low-key Money Can't Save Your Soul, which was written by Simmonds and Peverett, who had taken over lead vocals upon Youlden's departure. Both Foghat and a new Savoy Brown lineup would continue to have success, especially in the US, where both bands toured extensively throughout the 1970s.
Artist: Harvey Mandel
Title: Wade In The Water
Source: LP: Cristo Redentor
Writer(s): Traditional
Label: Philips
Year: 1968
Harvey Mandel first came to national attention as the guitarist on Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite's South Side Band, one of the first blues albums to be also targeted to rock listeners. One of the standout tracks on the album was Christo Redemptor, which has come to be considered Musselwhite's signature song. Not long after the album was released, Mandel moved to San Francisco, performing regularly at the Matrix club and often jamming with fellow guitarists Elvin Bishop and Jerry Garcia. A chance meeting with local disc jockey Abe "Voco" Kesh led to Mandel's first solo LP, the instrumental Cristo Redentor, released in 1968. The traditional African song Wade In The Water (attributed on the label to James Alexander and Sam Cooke) is often cited as the album's most outstanding track, and led to Mandel being invited to replace Henry Vestine in Canned Heat the following year.
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