https://exchange.prx.org/p/580557
We're about due for a progression through the years so, following a 1976 Genesis piece, we have one running from 1968 to 1974, followed up by a pair of unlikely cover tunes.
Artist: Genesis
Title: Dance On A Volcano
Source: LP: A Trick Of The Tail
Writer(s): Rutherford/Banks/Hackett/Collins
Label: Atco
Year: 1976
Following Peter Gabriel's announcement that he would be leaving Genesis following the completion of their 1974 Lamb Lies Down On Broadway tour, the remaining members of the band decided to show that they could still write and produce quality music even without their charismatic frontman. They immediately began working up new material for their next album, A Trick Of The Tail, starting with a song called Dance On A Volcano. Meanwhile, they took out an anonymous ad in the British music newspaper Melody Maker for a "Genesis type" vocalist and got over 400 responses. Phil Collins had already done a handful of lead vocals on previous Genesis albums, and reportedly would have preferred to remain the band's full time drummer, but after recording one song, Squonk, for the new album, was chosen by the rest of the band to be the new Genesis frontman, and ended up doing the lead vocals on the entire album. Although Collins remained the drummer on all the group's recordings, he did personally pick former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford to appear on stage while Collins was singing (although Collins himself continued to play on the instrumental passages).
Artist: Savoy Brown
Title: You Need Love
Source: LP: Getting To The Point
Writer(s): Willie Dixon
Label: Parrot
Year: 1968
Savoy Brown's first LP, Shake Down, consisted mostly of blues covers and was not released in the US. Not long after its release the band underwent a major personnel shakeup, with only founder/lead guitarist Kim Simmonds left from the band's original lineup appearing on the group's second LP, Getting To The Point. Joining Simmonds were keyboardist Bob Hall (who had played on three tracks on the band's debut LP), vocalist Chris Youlden, rhythm guitarist "Lonesome" Dave Peverett, bassist Rivers Jobe and drummer Roger Earl. Unlike Shake Down, Getting To The Point was made up mostly of original material, with only two cover tunes. The second of these was Willie Dixon's You Need Love, first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962 and soon to become the inspiration for Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. Savoy Brown's version of You Need Love, at seven minutes and forty seconds, is the longest track on Getting To The Point.
Artist: Blind Faith
Title: Do What You Like
Source: CD: Blind Faith
Writer: Ginger Baker
Label: Polydor (original US label: Atco)
Year: 1969
Ginger Baker basically invented the rock drum solo, or at least was the first to record one in the studio, with the track Toad from the Fresh Cream album, released in 1966. A live version of the song was featured on the Wheels Of Fire album in 1968. The following year, recording technology had progressed to the point of allowing a true stereo mix of Baker's massive double bass drum setup for the track Do What You Like, a much more sophisticated composition than Toad. Featuring a vocal track as well as solos by all four band members, Do What You Like runs over 15 minutes in length.
Artist: Doors
Title: Build Me A Woman
Source: LP: Absolutely Live
Writer(s): The Doors
Label: Elektra
Year: 1970
Although it's generally agreed that most of the songs on the 1970 Doors album Absolutely Live suffer when compared to their original studio versions, the double-LP did have a handful of never-before heard tunes that made the album worth buying. Among those new tracks is Build Me A Woman, a song originally conceived by vocalist Jim Morrison and fleshed out by the rest of the band.
Artist: Steppenwolf
Title: For Ladies Only
Source: LP: For Ladies Only
Writer(s): Edmonton/Henry/Day/McJohn
Label: Dunhill
Year: 1971
The fifth Steppenwolf album, For Ladies Only, is probably best remembered for its gatefold cover, the center of which was a photo of a full-sized motor vehicle that looked like, well, a giant penis with European plates being pulled over by the cops on a city street. The title track, which opens the album, is a long (over nine minutes) piece with a pro-feminist message. Mixed messages? Maybe, or possibly (from a 1971 perspective) two sides of the same coin.
Artist: Steely Dan
Title: Only A Fool Would Say That
Source: CD: Can't Buy A Thrill
Writer(s): Becker/Fagan
Label: MCA (original label: ABC)
Year: 1972
Steely Dan's first album, Can't Buy A Thrill, is best known for its two hit singles, Do It Again and Reeling In The Years. The LP, however, has plenty more good tracks, including Only A Fool Would Say That, which also appeared as a B side.
Artist: Paul Simon
Title: Kodachrome
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1973
Paul Simon's Kodachrome was actually banned on some stations, but not for copyright infringement (Kodachrome being a registered trademark of Kodak). Rather, it was banned for the first line of the song: "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all." Apparently "crap" offended some programmers, to the point that one station (New York's WABC) even edited the offending line to "When I think back it's a wonder I can think at all" when they played the song. Not only does that line not make any sense, I can only imagine how that must have sounded with almost four measures edited out (but with one beat left in, just to totally throw off the rhythm of the song). Apparently, though, this kind of stuff is what used to make America great, if current political thought is to be believed.
Artist: National Lampoon
Title: Mission: Impeachable
Source: CD: Greatest Hits Of The National Lampoon (originally released on LP: The Missing White House Tapes)
Writer(s): Chevy Chase, possibly others as well
Label: Uproar (original label: Banana/Blue Thumb)
Year: 1974
The missing White House Tapes was originally released as a single on the Blue Thumb label in 1973. It was then expanded into a full-length album, featuring an array of young talent that would soon be associated with a new TV show called NBC Saturday Night (later retitled Saturday Night Live). Among those new talents was a young man named Chevy Chase, who provided several comedy bits for the album, including Mission: Impeachable.
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Title: I Put A Spell On You
Source: LP: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Writer: Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Label: Fantasy
Year: 1968
Before getting major attention for its string of top five singles (including three consecutive # 2 songs), Creedence Clearwater Revival released a pair of cover tunes in 1968: Dale Hawkins' Suzy Q and this one from an entirely different Hawkins, Screamin' Jay. Although CCR is generally known for their shorter songs and tight arrangement, their version of I Put A Spell On You (which hit the #58 spot on the Billbaord charts) is dominated by John Fogerty's blistering guitar work.
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Title: Hats Off To (Roy) Harper
Source: German import LP: Led Zeppelin III
Writer(s): Trad., arr. Charles Obscure
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1970
The final track on Led Zeppelin's third album at first sounds like a throwaway track featuring Jimmy Page noodling slide guitar and Robert Plant throwing out blues cliches. This impression is reinforced by the fact that the writing credits on the label read "Traditional, arr. Charles Obscure". The reality, though, is that Hats Off To (Roy) Harper is based on a 1937 recording of Shake 'Em On Down by delta bluesman Bukka White. The title of the Led Zeppelin version is a tribute to the band's friend Roy Harper, who would come to international prominence in 1975 as the guest lead vocalist on Pink Floyd's Have A Cigar, from their Wish You Were Here album.
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