https://exchange.prx.org/p/556990
It's another journey through the early 1970s, finally settling in for a 1971 set to finish things out.
Artist: Spirit
Title: I Got A Line On You
Source: European import CD: Pure....Psychedelic Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single and included on LP: The Family That Plays Together)
Writer(s): Randy California
Label: Sony Music (original label: Ode)
Year: 1968
Although not an instant hit by any measure, I Got A Line On You, from Spirit's second album, The Family That Plays Together, has proven to be the band's most popular song. Released in October of 1968, the song lingered below the top 100 for several weeks before college radio stations began playing it in late November. The tune finally peaked at #25 on March 15, 1969.
Artist: Wishbone Ash
Title: Phoenix
Source: CD: Wishbone Ash
Writer(s): Upton/Turner/Turner/Powell
Label: MCA (original label: Decca)
Year: 1970
The first Wishbone Ash album was characterized by the dual lead guitar work of Andy Powell and Ted Turner. This is particularly notable on the album's showcase piece, the ten and a half minute long Phoenix. Unfortunately, the lack of a powerful lead vocalist kept Wishbone Ash from becoming a first-tier band.
Artist: Climax Blues Band
Title: Reap What I've Sowed
Source: 45 RPM promo
Writer(s): Climax Blues Band
Label: Sire
Year: 1970
The Climax Chicago Blues Band was a band steeped in confusion pretty much from the start. Formed in Stafford, England in 1967, the group originally consisted of vocalist/harmonica player Colin Cooper, guitarist/vocalist Pete Haycock , guitarist Derek Holt, bassist/keyboardist Richard Jones, drummer George Newsome, and keyboardist Arthur Wood. Originally part of the British blues-rock scene of the late 1960s, the band found itself continually adapting to a changing musical landscape throughout its existence, racking up a total of 17 albums over the years. After releasing two LPs on EMI's Parlophone label, the band switched over to EMI's progressive rock oriented label, Harvest, releasing their third album, A Lot Of Bottle, in 1970. By this time there was more than a little confusion over the band's name, which, on the British release of A Lot Of Bottle, was still the Climax Chicago Blues Band. In the US, however, the name of the album itself was The Climax Blues Band. To make things even more confusing, the band's next two studio albums were credited to the Climax Blues Band in North America, but appeared under the name Climax Chicago in the rest of the world. This confusion over the band's name may be part of the reason they were never a major success, although they did manage a couple hit singles over the years (Couldn't Get It Right in 1977 and I Love You in 1981). The band's first US single, 1971's Reap What I've Sowed, was only issued to radio stations, with the notation that it was from the "forthcoming" album, The Climax Blues Band, which had actually been released the previous year in the UK. As I said, steeped in confusion.
Artist: Mark Fry
Title: The Witch
Source: British Import CD: Love, Poetry And Revolution (originally released in Italy on LP: Dreaming With Alice)
Writer(s): Mark Fry
Label: Grapefruit (original label: IT)
Year: 1972
One of the most obscure albums ever released, Dreaming With Alice is sometimes considered the ultimate example of acid folk music. Recorded in 1971 by teenaged British art student Mark Fry and released only in Italy on RCA's IT subsidiary, the album includes a track called The Witch, which is described in the book Galactic Ramble as "one of the creepiest songs you'll ever hear". Personally I don't really find anything creepy about it at all, although the track itself is quite hypnotic and highly listenable.
Artist: James Gang
Title: Alexis
Source: CD: Bang
Writer(s): Bolin/Cook
Label: Atco
Year: 1973
When Joe Walsh left the James Gang, many people thought it was all over for the Cleveland, Ohio band formed by drummer Jim Fox. The group recovered, though, adding two Canadians, guitarist Dominic Troiano and vocalist Roy Kenner, from the band Bush. The group recorded two more albums for ABC before Troiano left to replace Randy Bachman in the Guess Who. With their ABC Records contract now expired, the group was once again expected to ride off into the sunset, but instead added guitarist Tommy Bolin, formerly of the Boulder, Colorado band Zephyr, and signed a new contract with Atlantic's Atco label. The first album from the new lineup was 1973's Bang, considered the strongest James Gang album since Walsh's departure. Bolin, in particular, strutted his stuff, both as a guitarist and a songwriter, on several of Bang's tracks. He even took the lead vocals on Alexis, a standout tune that foreshadows his work as a solo artist later in the decade.
Artist: Mahogany Rush
Title: Chains Of (S) Pace
Source: LP: Child Of The Novelty
Writer(s): Frank Marino
Label: 20th Century
Year: 1974
The second Mahogany Rush album saw the addition of keyboardist Phil Bech (who had played on one track on the band's first LP) as an official member. Still, the band mostly functioned as a power trio in the mold of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as can be heard on tracks like Chains Of (S) Pace, which closes out the album.
Artist: Barclay James Harvest
Title: Mocking Bird
Source: LP: Once Again
Writer(s): John Lees
Label: Sire
Year: 1971
Although they were never as big as other prog-rock bands such as Yes or Emerson, Lake And Palmer, England's Barclay James Harvest nonetheless had a long and productive career. Formed in Oldham, England by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd, guitarist/vocalist John Lees , drummer/percussionist Mel Pritchard, and keyboardist/vocalist Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme in 1966, the band released their first single on the Parlophone label in 1968 before moving over to EMI's prog-rock label, Harvest. All of Barclay James Harvest's early albums featured a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Robert John Godfrey, which was supposed to be the "next big thing" in progressive rock, but failed to connect with either fans or critics. A dispute between the band members and Godfrey over "writing issues" on the song Mocking Bird led to Godfrey's dismissal following the release of the second Barclay James Harvest album, Once Again. Godfrey would later bring a lawsuit against the band, claiming he was owed writing credit and royalties for several of their compositions. That's what they get for using a full orchestra on a rock record.
Artist: Bloodrock
Title: Breach Of Lease
Source: LP: Bloodrock 3
Writer(s): Rutledge/Grundy/Cobb/Hill/Nitzinger
Label: Capitol
Year: 1971
For some reason lead guitarist Lee Pickens did not receive any writing credits on the third Bloodrock album, released in 1971. Everyone else in the band did, however, on the song Breach Of Lease. So did professional songwriter John Nitzinger. But not Pickens, who along with lead vocalist Jim Rutledge would leave the band the following year.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Aqualung
Source: CD: Aqualung
Writer(s): Ian & Jennie Anderson
Label: Chrysalis (original US label: Reprise)
Year: 1971
Arguably Jethro's Tull most popular song, Aqualung was the title track from the band's fourth LP and lifted the group into the ranks of rock royalty. Like nearly all of Tull's catalog, Aqualung was written by vocalist/flautist Ian Anderson, who also played acoustic guitar on the track. The lyrics of the song were inspired by photographs of homeless men taken by Anderson's then-wife Jennie, who received co-writing credits on the piece.
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