https://exchange.prx.org/p/581395
Half of the tracks on this week's show are making the Rockin' in the Days of Confusion debut, as Little Feat sets the stage for us to spiral downward from 1977 to 1969, skipping only one year along the way.
Artist: Little Feat
Title: On Your Way Down
Source: CD: Dixie Chicken
Writer(s): Alan Toussaint
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
The talents of Little Feat co-founders Lowell George (guitar and vocals) and Bill Payne (piano and organ) are on display on the band's version of Alan Toussaint's On Your Way Down, one of the highlights of the 1973 album Dixie Chicken. This is some good stuff, folks.
Artist: Robin Trower
Title: Bluebird
Source: CD: Essential Robin Trower (originally released on LP: In City Dreams)
Writer(s): Dewar/Trower
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1977
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 that would continue through Trower's first seven solo albums. Dewar played bass on the first four of these, but chose to concentrate solely on vocals for Trower's fifth solo LP, In City Dreams, as can be heard on the song Bluebird. The other members of the band at that point were drummer Bill Lordan and new bassist Restee Allen.
Artist: Starcastle
Title: To The Wind/Nova
Source: LP: Starcastle (promo copy)
Writer(s): Tassler/Luttrell/Strater/Schildt/Stewart/Hagler
Label: Epic
Year: 1976
Formed in Champaign, Illinois in 1969, Starcastle was a fixture on the St. Louis music scene (including local radio stations) throughout the 1970s. They were hampered in their bid for national stardom, however, by a percieved similarity to the British band Yes. Lead vocalist Terry Luttrell in particular (who had been the original lead vocalist of REO Speedwagon) was criticized for trying to sound too much like Jon Anderson. I'll leave it to you to decide how much of this criticism is valid as you listen to the final two tracks from Starcastle's self-titled 1976 debut for the Epic label, To The Wind and Nova.
Artist: Mahogany Rush
Title: Tales Of The Spanish Warrior
Source: Canadian import CD: Strange Universe
Writer(s): Frank Marino
Label: Just A Minute (original label: 20th Century)
Year: 1975
Since the tragic death of Jimi Hendrix in 1970, there have been plenty of guitarists that have come along using a similar style to the Experienced One. Only one or two have been able to truly recreate the total Hendrix sound, however, and the most notable of these is Canadian Frank Marino, whose band, Mahogany Rush, was patterned after the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In essence, Mahogany Rush represents one of the many possible directions that Hendrix himself might have gone in had he lived past the age of 27. The album Strange Universe, released in 1975, begins with Tales Of The Spanish Warrior, which manages to capture the Hendrix sound without sounding like any particular Hendrix track.
Artist: Cheech & Chong
Title: Up His Nose
Source: CD: Los Cochinos
Writer(s): Marin/Chong
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Ode)
Year: 1973
It may come as a surprise to some of our younger listeners, but not all of Cheech & Chong's comedy bits were drug related. For example we have Up His Nose, featuring Tommy Chong as a doctor being visited by a Yiddish man with a rather unusual problem. This piece, and others like it, demonstrates the fact that, had he chosen to, Cheech Marin could have rivalled Mel Blanc as a man of a thousand voices.
Artist: Uriah Heep
Title: The Magician's Birthday
Source: European import CD: The Magician's Birthday
Writer: Hensley/Box/Kerslake
Label: Sanctuary (original US label: Mercury)
Year: 1972
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what exactly does it mean when you imitate yourself? Uriah Heep did just that in 1972 when they followed up their breakthrough Demons And Wizards album with another one in virtually the same format, even down to the 10-minute plus title track to close out side two. What was missing, however, was a single to rival Easy Livin', which had been the engine that propelled Demons and Wizards into the realm of hit albums. Still, The Magician's Birthday was a solid and commercial successfully LP, and this week we are presenting the aforementioned title track in its entirety. Enjoy!
Artist: Black Sabbath
Title: Solitude
Source: CD: Master Of Reality
Writer(s): Iommi/Osborne/Butler/Ward
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1971
I have to admit I'm a sucker for the slow, moody songs that appear as a change of pace on Black Sabbath's early albums. One of my favorites is Solitude, from the band's third LP, Master Of Reality. The song sets a mood that is in sharp contrast with the early heavy metal sound of the rest of the album. Guitarist Tony Iommi also plays piano and flute on the track.
Artist: Gypsy
Title: Dream If You Can
Source: LP: Gypsy
Writer(s): Enrico Rosenbaum
Label: Metromedia
Year: 1970
Originally formed as the Underbeats in 1962, Gypsy had its greatest success after changing their name and moving to L.A. in 1969. They became the house band at the legendary Whisky-A-Go-Go for about eight months, starting in September of 1969, and during that time signed with Metromedia Records, a company owned by what would eventually become the Fox Television Network. The band made their recording debut with a double LP that included the single Gypsy Queen. Most of the band's material was written by guitarist/vocalist Enrico Rosenbaum, includingDream If You Can. After one more LP for Metromedia, the band started going through a series of personnel changes, eventually (after Rosenbaum's departure) changing their name to the James Walsh Gypsy Band (Walsh being the keyboardist of the group). Drummer Bill Lordan, after a short stint with Sly and the Family Stone, joined up with Robin Trower, an association that lasted many years.
Artist: Ten Years After
Title: Hear Me Calling
Source: LP: Goin' Home-Ten Years After Greatest Hit (originally released on LP: Stonedhenge)
Writer(s): Alvin Lee
Label: Deram
Year: 1969
Ten Years After's third album, Stonedhenge, was the band's first real attempt to take advantage of modern studio techniques to create something other than a facsimile of their live performances. Included on the album are short solo pieces, as well as half a dozen longer tracks featuring the entire band. One of the most popular of these full-band tracks is Hear Me Calling, which finishes out side one of the original LP. The song itself follows a simple blues structure, but is augmented by dynamic changes in volume as well as dizzying stereo effects. TYA would continue to develop their studio technique on their next LP, the classic Cricklewood Green.
Artist: Rod Stewart
Title: Reason To Believe
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Tim Hardin
Label: Mercury
Year: 1969
At a time when singer/songwriters were all the rage, Rod Stewart was the exception, being instead a singer/interpreter of songs from a variety of songwriters. Among those was Tim Hardin, whose own version of Reason To Believe was recorded in 1965 and released on Hardin's 1966 debut LP. Stewart's version was only a minor hit that was quickly eclipsed when disc jockeys began flipping the single over and playing the B side, a tune called Maggie May.
No comments:
Post a Comment