https://exchange.prx.org/p/582271
This week we start off on a political note, then add a few tunes we've never played on the show before (including one from behind the Iron Curtain) before settling in for a set of rockers from 1973.
Artist: Chicago
Title: Prologue, August 29, 1968/Someday (August 29, 1968)
Source: LP: The Chicago Transit Authority
Writer(s): Pankow/Lamm
Label: Columbia
Year: 1969
In the months leading up to the 1968 Democratic convention the phrase "come to Chicago" was often heard among members of the counter-culture that had grown up around various anti-establishment causes. As the summer wore on it became clear that something was going to happen at the Convention that August. Sure enough, on August 29, with the crowd chanting "the whole world's watching", police began pulling demonstraters into paddy wagons, with a full-blown riot erupting the following day. Around that same time a local Chicago band calling itself the Big Thing hooked up with producer James William Guercio, who convinced them to change their name to the Chicago Transit Authority (later shortened to Chicago). It's only natural then that the band would include a song referencing the events of August 29th on their debut LP. The tracks begin with an actual recording of the chant itself, which leads into a tune written by James Pankow and Robert Lamm called Someday (August 29, 1968). The chant itself makes a short reappearance midway through the song as well.
Artist: Five Man Electrical Band
Title: Signs
Source: Mono 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Les Emerson
Label: Lionel
Year: 1971
Everybody has at least one song they have fond memories of hearing on the radio while riding around in a friend's car on a hot summer evening. Signs, from Canada's Five Man Electrical Band, is one of mine.
Artist: Focus
Title: Sylvia
Source: LP: Focus 3
Writer(s): Thijs van Leer
Label: Sire
Year: 1972
Although Focus would be virtually unknown in the US until Hocus Pocus became a belated hit in 1973, the band was quite successful in Europe and the UK. The album Focus 3, released in 1972, topped the charts in the band's native Netherlands and made the top 10 in the UK. The instrumental track Sylvia was the only single taken from the double LP, and it ended up becoming the group's biggest international hit, peaking at #4 in the UK. It even made the lower reaches of the Billboard chart in the US, peaking at #89. The song, originally titled I Thought I Could Do Everything On My Own, I Was Always Stripping The Town Alone, was written by keyboardist Thijs van Leer for vocalist Sylvia Alberts, who rejected the tune, causing van Leer to abandon the song for several years before rearranging it as an instrumental called Sylvia.
Artist: Billy Preston
Title: Blackbird
Source: Mono 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: A&M
Year: 1973
I suppose if anyone could get away with doing a funkified version of Paul McCartney's acoustic song Blackbird, it would be Billy Preston, who famously joined the Beatles on the rooftop of the building where Apple Corps had its headquarters for their final performance.
Artist: Robin Trower
Title: Little Bit Of Sympathy
Source: CD: Bridge Of Sighs
Writer(s): Robin Trower
Label: Chrysalis/Capitol
Year: 1974
Released in 1974, Bridge Of Sighs was the second solo LP by former Procol Harum guitarist Robin Trower. The album was Trower's commercial breakthrough, staying on the Billboard album charts for 31 weeks, peaking at #7. In addition to Trower, the album features James Dewar on lead vocals and bass, along with Reg Isidore on drums. The album was a staple of mid-1970s progressive rock radio, with several tunes, including album closer Little Bit Of Sympathy, becoming concert favorites.
Artist: General
Title: I Am So Lazy
Source: Polish import LP: Rockin' And Rollin'
Writer(s): Gábor/Sándor
Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
Year: 1975
Although rock 'n' roll has always been primarily a Western phenomenon, by the mid-1970s an extensive underground rock scene had developed in several Eastern bloc countries, much to the displeasure of Soviet leadership. Among these underground rock bands was General, a group from Hungary. Formed in 1971, all but one of the members of General were 20 years old, the exception being vocalist Sándor Révész, who was 18. They cut their first album in 1973, but it was their followup, Rockin' And Rollin' that got attention beyond the Iron Curtain. Recorded in Poland, Rockin' And Rollin' was successful enough in Western Europe for the band to make concert appearances in Italy and the UK. Their sound was eclectic, ranging from light pop to progressive rock. An example of the latter is I Am So Lazy.
Artist: Genesis
Title: The Battle Of Epping Forest
Source: CD: Selling England By The Pound
Writer(s): Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford
Label: Rhino/Atlantic (original label: Charisma)
Year: 1973
Although sometimes criticized for making their music overly complicated at times (such as on The Battle Of Epping Forest), there is no doubting the thought and effort (not to mention outstanding musicianship) put forth by Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett and Phil Collins on the album Selling England By The Pound. Released in 1973, the LP focuses on the loss of traditional English culture and the increasing "Americanization" of the United Kingdom in the last half of the 20th century. The Battle Of Epping Forest was actually inspired by a newspaper article about gang violence in London's East end that Gabriel had read several years earlier. When Gabriel was unable to locate a copy of the article he created new characters to populate the song (and of course the band's legendary stage show).
Artist: Peter Banks
Title: The White Horse Vale
Source: LP: Music From The Mother Country (originally released on LP: Two Sides Of Peter Banks)
Writer(s): Peter Banks
Label: Sovereign/Capitol
Year: 1973
Peter Banks was the original guitarist from Yes, but had creative disagreements with his bandmates over the use of strings on the album Time And A Word and ended up leaving the group. His next gig was replacing former Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams in Blodwyn Pig, but found his playing style to be incompatible with the rest of the band members' blues orientation. He then went on to form Flash with vocalist Colin Carter. In the midst of recording the third Flash LP, Out Of Our Hands, Banks was also travelling to a different studio to work on his first solo LP, Two Sides Of Peter Banks at night, utilizing the talents of several guest musicians. One track on the album, The White Horse Vale, is a true solo piece that runs over seven minutes and is divided into two parts: On The Hill and Lord Of The Dragon. Following the release of Two Sides of Peter Banks, the guitarist formed the group Empire, which recorded three albums that remained unreleased until the 1990s. Banks spent the next decade working as a studio musician in Los Angeles, and participated in several unrelated projects until his death from heart failure in 2013.
Artist: James Gang
Title: Rather Be Alone With You (aka Song For Dale)/From Another Time
Source: LP: Bang
Writer(s): Kenner/Bolin/Tesar
Label: Atco
Year: 1973
After Joe Walsh parted company with the James Gang, the remaining two members invited Canadians Roy Kenner and Dominic Troiano to Cleveland to take Walsh's place in the band. After a pair of commercially disappointing albums, Troiano returned to Canada to replace Randy Bachman in the Guess Who. The James Gang then recruited Tommy Bolin (formerly of Zephyr and the fusion band Energy) as their latest guitarist, keeping Kenner as lead vocalist. The first album from this lineup was Bang, released in 1973. While most of the material on the album, including From Another Time, came from Bolin, there were exceptions, such as Rather Be Alone With You (aka Song For Dale), an a cappela piece by Kenner. The two songs overlap each other on the album, which is why they are being presented on this week's show as one continuous cut.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Place In Line
Source: Japanese import CD: Who Do We Think We Are
Writer(s): Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
The final album from the second, and most popular Deep Purple lineup was 1973's Who Do We Think We Are. The album title was a direct response to critics that had voiced the opinion that the band was getting a bit too big for their britches. Despite internal problems that would lead to the departure of vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover shortly after the album's completion, Who Do We Think We Are was one of the band's most popular albums. Although Deep Purple was not usually considered a blues-rock band, the song Place In Line certainly fits in with other examples of the genre, starting off with a plodding Muddy Waters kind of beat, then transitioning to a faster boogie for the remainder of the piece.
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