https://exchange.prx.org/p/584675
This week's show is semi-free-form. What do I mean by that? Well, it's basically a free-form show, yet there is a continuity to it, albeit a somewhat obscure one that only an abstute observer might recognize. And I'm gonna leave it at that. Enjoy the baker's dozen!
Artist: Brewer And Shipley
Title: One Toke Over The Line
Source: Stereo 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Brewer/Shipley
Label: Kama Sutra
Year: 1971
Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley might be considered the link between the folk-rock of the late 1960s and the singer-songwriter movement of the early 1970s. The two of them had met on more than one occasion in the mid 1960s, doing coffeehouse gigs across the midwest, until both decided to settle down in Los Angeles and start writing songs together in 1968. After recording two albums together, the duo relocated to Kansas City in 1969, spending much of the next two years on the road, playing small towns such as Tarkio, Missouri, which in turn inspired the title for their third album, Tarkio. That album, released in 1971, included what was to be their biggest hit. One Toke Over The Line went to the #10 spot on the charts (#5 in Canada) and prompted the Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew, to denounce the song as "blatant drug-culture propaganda". Concerning the origin of the song itself, Mike Brewer had this to say: "One day we were pretty much stoned and all and Tom says, “Man, I’m one toke over the line tonight.” I liked the way that sounded and so I wrote a song around it." He said it was written as a joke as the duo was setting up for a gig.
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: Fusion
Title: Time Of The Ostrich Head
Source: LP: Border Town
Writer(s): Luther/Gibson
Label: Atco
Year: 1969
Originally known as the Jazz Folk, L.A.'s Fusion recorded only one album, and Border Town, released in 1969, certainly lives up to its name. The five-man band consisted of Bill Wolff, who had played lead guitar on the second Peanut Butter Conspiracy album, former Rising Sons bassist Gary "Magic" Marker, saxophonist Harvey Lane, drummer Richard Matzkin, and multi-instrumentalist Rick Luther. Also appearing on the album as a guest musician was Marker's former bandmate Ry Cooder, whose slide guitar can be heard on several tracks. The band called itself Fusion because it combined latin jazz and even funk with blues-based rock to produce a unique sound, as can be heard on the socially aware track Time Of The Ostrich Head.
Artist: Canned Heat
Title: Sandy's Blues
Source: British import CD: Living The Blues
Writer(s): Bob Hite
Label: BGO (original US label: Liberty)
Year: 1968
Generally considered the high point of Canned Heat's career, the 1968 double-LP Living The Blues is best known for the inclusion of Refried Boogie, the centerpiece of the band's live performances. In addition to the 41-minute track, that takes up two entire sides of the album, there were several studio tracks as well, such as Sandy's Blues, a traditional slow blues progression, complete with spoken word section, written by vocalist Robert (the Bear) Hite.
Artist: Neil Young/Crazy Horse
Title: Cinnamon Girl
Source: CD: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Writer(s): Neil Young
Label: Reprise
Year: 1969
My favorite Neil Young song has always been Cinnamon Girl. I suspect this is because the band I was in the summer after I graduated from high school used an amped-up version of the song as our show opener (imagine Cinnamon Girl played like I Can See For Miles and you get a general idea of how it sounded). If we had ever recorded an album, we probably would have used that arrangement as our first single. I finally got to see Neil Young perform the song live (from the 16th row even) with Booker T. and the MGs as his stage band in the mid-1990s. It was worth the wait.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Midnight Rambler (live)
Source: LP: Get Yer Ya-Yas Out
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: London
Year: 1970
In December 1966, London Records released a US-only LP called Got Live If You Want It! The album was made up of various live recordings made earlier that year, along with a couple of previously unreleased studio tracks with fake audience sounds added. London wanted to milk the band's popularity following the release of the Aftermath album and the Stones' subsequent summer tour of the US, but the band was still working on Between The Buttons and did not want to release any new material. The live tracks on Got Live If You Want It suffered from the limitations of mid-60s live recording technology combined with the tendency of audiences to scream throughout the entire performances, and the band quickly made their disapproval of the album known. Three years later an audience member used a shotgun microphone and a small reel to reel machine to make a recording of the band's live performance at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California, and released it the following month as Live'r Than You'll Ever Be, one of the first bootleg albums of a rock band. The band itself responded with their own "official" live album, Get Yet Ya-Yas Out, the following year. One of the highlights of the new live album was a version of Midnight Rambler that has become more popular than the original 1969 studio track. The Stones now consider Get Yer Ya-Yas Out to be their first real live album.
Artist: Pink Floyd
Title: Biding My Time
Source: CD: Relics
Writer(s): Roger Waters
Label: Capitol (original label: Harvest)
Year: 1971
Although it was originally recorded during sessions for the Ummagumma album and performed live as part of a concept piece called The Man And The Journey, the studio version of Roger Waters's Biding My Time was held back for two years, finally seeing the light of day in 1971 as the only previously unreleased track on Pink Floyd's Relics album. Along with David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Roger Waters on their usual instruments, keyboardist Richard Wright plays trombone, as well as piano and organ, on the track.
Artist: Cheech & Chong
Title: Sister Mary Elephant
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Marin/Chong
Label: Ode
Year: 1972
SHADDUP!!
Artist: Mothers
Title: Dirty Love
Source: CD: Strictly Commercial (originally released on LP: Over-Nite Sensation)
Writer(s): Frank Zappa
Label: Zappa (original label: Discreet)
Year: 1973
After a series of experimental and jazz-oriented albums, Frank Zappa returned to rock with a pair of albums that defined the direction his live performances would take in the 1970s and beyond. The first, Over-Nite Sensation, was credited to the Mothers of Invention, and was released in 1973. The second was Apostrophe('), which, although recorded at the same time as Over-Nite Sensation, was released as a Frank Zappa solo album the following year. Both albums combine superb musicianship from the likes of George Clinton and Jean-Luc Ponty with Zappa's unique brand of satiric humor, and are among Zappa's most popular releases. One of the highlights of Over-Nite Sensation, Dirty Love, contains the repeated phrase "The poodle bites, the poodle chews it", which also shows up in a track from the Apostrophe(') album, albeit in a different form. In both cases the refrain is sung by the Ikettes, who were, at Ike Turner's insistence, excluded from the album's musician credits, although they did get paid for their work (but, again at Turner's insistence, at the minimum allowable wage rate, or so Turner was led to believe).
Artist: Wings
Title: Give Ireland Back To The Irish (version)
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Paul & Linda McCartney
Label: Apple
Year: 1972
Apparently the A side of this one was a big hit in the UK, despite it being banned by the BBC. As to the B side, it's an instrumental version of the same song. Why it's subtitled just "version" though is beyond me. Maybe it's a British thing?
Artist: New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Title: Garden Of Eden
Source: European import CD: Pure...Psychedelic Rock (originally released on LP: New Riders Of The Purple Sage)
Writer(s): John Dawson
Label: Sony Music (original label: Columbia)
Year: 1971
The first New Riders Of The Purple Sage album is, arguably, their best; it's also one of the best country-rock albums ever released. The band itself, closely associated with the Grateful Dead, consisted of guitarist John Dawson, who also wrote every song on the album (including Garden Of Eden), guitarist David Nelson, bassist Dave Torbert, pedal steel guitarist Jerry Garcia and drummer Spencer Dryden, although Garcia only appeared on the first NRPS LP. Stylistically, the album fits well with such Dead classics as Workingman's Dead and American Beauty and LPs such as the Byrds' Sweetheart Of The Rodeo and Poco's early work.
Artist: Hot Tuna
Title: Keep On Truckin'
Source: LP: Final Vinyl (originally released on LP: Burgers)
Writer(s): Fulton Allen
Label: Grunt
Year: 1972
After releasing two albums that were recorded live, Hot Tuna finally made their studio recording debut in 1972 with the album Burgers. Mixed in with originals by guitarist/vocalist Jorma Kaukonen were covers of classic folk tunes such as Keep On Truckin'. The song, originally titled Truckin' My Blues Away, was first recorded in 1936 by Fulton Allen, better known as Blind Boy Fuller.
Artist: Hot Tuna
Title: Water Song
Source: LP: Final Vinyl (originally released on LP: Burgers)
Writer(s): Jorma Kaukonen
Label: Grunt
Year: 1972
Hot Tuna was originally formed as a side project by Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady in 1969, while Grace Slick was recovering from surgery and was unable to perform. By late 1971 Hot Tuna was a fully functional band that included violinist Papa John Creach (who was also a member of the Airplane) and drummer Sammy Piazza. Although they had already released a pair of live albums, Burgers was the group's first studio effort. The instrumental Water Song, was written by Kaukonen specifically for the album, and has gone on to become one of Hot Tuna's most popular numbers.
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