https://exchange.prx.org/p/588990
We've got a lot of stuff from vinyl sources this week, some of it a bit scratchy. But considering that there is still a lot of music out there that has never been issued on CD, sometimes ya just gotta go with what ya got.
Artist: Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina
Title: Your Mama Don't Dance
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Loggins/Messina
Label: Columbia
Year: 1972
Kenny Loggins was just 20 years old when he released the first of three singles for Snuff Garrett's Viva label in 1968. This led to a brief stint as guitarist for the "new, improved" Electric Prunes in 1969 before forming the band Gator Creek with fellow guitarist Mike Deasy, releasing one album on the Mercury label. In 1970 he met up with Jim Messina, who had become an independent record producer following his runs with Buffalo Springfield and Poco. The two of them began recording some of Loggin's tunes for a proposed Loggins solo LP that eventually turned into the first Loggins and Messina LP, officially titled Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin' In. The two began touring together to promote the album and soon decided to officially become a duo, releasing the album Loggins And Messina in 1972. The album included Your Mama Don't Dance, a tune that they wrote together that became their biggest hit single, going into the top 5 in early 1973.
Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: Little Wing
Source: CD: The Ultimate Experience (originally released on LP: Axis: Bold As Love)
Writer(s): Jimi Hendrix
Label: MCA (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1967
Although it didn't have any hit singles on it, Axis: Bold As Love, the second album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was full of memorable tunes, including one of Hendrix's most covered songs, Little Wing. The album itself is a showcase for Hendrix's rapidly developing skills, both as a songwriter and in the studio. The actual production of the album was a true collaborative effort, combining Hendrix's creativity, engineer Eddie Kramer's expertise and producer Chas Chandler's strong sense of how a record should sound, acquired through years of recording experience as a member of the Animals.
Artist: Kinks
Title: Preservation
Source: 45 RPM single (promo)
Writer(s): Ray Davies
Label: Reprise
Year: 1974
The Kinks' Preservation was a song that served as a summation of the band's 1974 concept album, Preservation-Act 1. Oddly enough, the song itself was not included on either that album or its followup, Preservation-Act 2, instead being released as a non-album single in 1974. There were two versions of the song, the longer of which is heard here. My copy is a bit on the scratchy side, but given the fact that the single failed to chart, I consider myself lucky to have a copy of it at all.
Artist: Monty Python's Flying Circus
Title: First World War Noises (excerpt)
Source: LP: Matching Tie And Handkerchief
Writer(s): Monty Python's Flying Circus
Label: Arista
Year: 1973
By the 1970s listening booths had all but disappeared in the US, but could still be found in Europe and the UK. In 1973 Monty Python's Flying Circus included a bit that took place in a store with listening booths, which was probably baffling to the younger members of their US audience. The gist of the bit was that midway through whatever was being listened to, in this case something called First World War Noises, the record would get stuck playing the same groove over and over, forcing the customer to leave the booth and ask for help. Presented here is just a short segment of First World War Noises itself, featuring a rather strange conversation between a British officer and a Sergeant stuck in a foxhole together. Of course the record gets stuck/gets stuck/gets stuck/gets stuck.....
Artist: Genesis
Title: Time Table
Source: CD: Foxtrot
Writer(s): Tony Banks
Label: Atlantic/Rhino (original label: Charisma)
Year: 1972
Although most Genesis songs from the early 1970s are collaborative efforts by the entire group, Time Table is an exception. The song, which appears on the 1972 album Foxtrot, was written by keyboardist Tony Banks and presented to the rest of the group to be recorded. It has been called one of the most overlooked over the early Genesis songs and in many ways presages the direction the band's music would take later in the decade.
Artist: Yes
Title: Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Praematuris)
Source: CD: Fragile
Writer(s): Anderson/Squire
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1971
The fourth Yes album, Fragile, introduced the "classic" Yes lineup of John Anderson (vocals), Bill Bruford (drums), Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass) and Rick Wakemen (keyboards), and features some of the band's best known songs. Among the most popular is Long Distance Runaround, which was also released as the B side of the hit single Roundabout. Anderson's lyrics express his disillusionment with "the craziness of religion" and intolerance of other viewpoints in general, including opposition to the war in Vietnam. On the album, the song segues directly into The Fish (Schindleria Praematuris), a mostly instrumental piece written by Squire, with a vocal refrain by Anderson repeating the name of a species of prehistoric fish toward the end of the track.
Artist: Moody Blues
Title: Question
Source: 45 RPM single (promo)
Writer(s): Justin Hayward
Label: Threshold
Year: 1970
By 1970 the Moody Blues had developed their own unique brand of orchestral rock, and had even started their own label, Threshold (inspired by their 1969 LP On The Threshold Of A Dream). Due to the complexity of their songs, however, they were having difficulty making them sound right when performed live. In an effort to remedy the problem they tried a more stripped-down approach with their 1970 single, Question, and the subsequent LP A Question Of Balance. It worked, too, as Question became their second biggest hit single in the UK, going all the way to the #2 spot. In the long run, the band realized that their best approach was to perform with a full orchestra, which they have been doing regularly since the early 1970s.
Artist: The Golden Earring
Title: Song Of A Devil's Servant
Source: LP: Eight Miles High
Writer(s): George Kooymans
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1969
Golden Earring burst upon the music scene in 1973 with their smash hit Radar Love. Well, not exactly. The actual story of Golden Earring starts in 1961 in The Hague, Netherlands, when 13-year-old George Kooymans and his 15-year-old neighbor, Rinus Gerritsen, formed a band called the Tornados. It wasn't long, however, before they discovered that there was already a band called the Tornados. It was actually a pretty easy discovery to make, since the British Tornados had a worldwide #1 hit in 1962 with an instrumental called Telstar. Not wanting to be entirely original, Kooymans and Gerritsen soon came up with a new name, this one taken from a 1961 instrumental called Golden Earrings by a British band known as the Hunters that Kooymans and company had opened for while still calling themselves the Tornados (and just to add to the confusion there was also a Dutch band calling itself the Hunters that included a 15-year-old Jan Akkerman, later to found the band Focus). The Golden Earrings cut their first single in 1965, a song called Please Go that made the top 10 on the Dutch charts. Several more hit singles followed, and by 1969 they had dropped the final 's' from their name to become The Golden Earring. That same year they released their fifth studio album, Eight Miles High, their first to be issued in the US. Released on the Atlantic label the LP included the six-minute long Song Of A Devil's Servant, but failed to make an impression with American audiences. Eight Miles High would be Golden Earring's last US appearance on a major label until 1973's Moontan album, featuring Radar Love.
Artist: Harvey Mandel
Title: Snake
Source: LP: Cristo Redentor
Writer(s): Harvey Mandel
Label: Philips
Year: 1968
Harvey Mandel first came to national attention as the guitarist on Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite's South Side Band, one of the first blues albums to be also targeted to rock listeners. One of the standout tracks on the album was Christo Redemptor, which has come to be considered Musselwhite's signature song. Not long after the album was released, Mandel moved to San Francisco, performing regularly at the Matrix club and often jamming with fellow guitarists Elvin Bishop and Jerry Garcia. A chance meeting with local disc jockey Abe "Voco" Kesh led to Mandel's first solo LP, released in 1968. The album, made up entirely of instrumentals like Mandel's self-penned Snake, led to Mandel being invited to replace Henry Vestine in Canned Heat the following year.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: April
Source: LP: Deep Purple
Writer(s): Blackmore/Lord
Label: Tetragrammaton
Year: 1969
The most ambitious track on the third Deep Purple album was a piece called April. The track, which runs over twelve minutes in length, is divided into three sections. The first is an instrumental featuring keyboardist Jon Lord and guitarist Richie Blackmore, the writers of the piece. This leads into an orchestral section featuring strings and woodwinds. The final section of April features the entire band, including vocalist Rod Evans, who would be asked to leave Deep Purple shortly after the album was released.
Artist: Derek And The Dominos
Title: Anyday
Source: CD: Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
Writer(s): Clapton/Whitlock
Label: Polydor (original label: Atco)
Year: 1970
Derek And The Dominos was originally an attempt by Eric Clapton to remove himself from the solo spotlight and work in a larger group setting than he had with his previous bands, Cream and Blind Faith. Such was Clapton's stature, however, that even among talents like Jim Gordon, Carl Radle and Bobby Whitlock, Clapton was still the star. However, there was one unofficial member of the group whose own star was in ascendancy. Duane Allman, who had chosen to stick with his own group the Allman Brothers Band, nonetheless played on eleven of the fourteen tracks on Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs. His slide guitar work is especially noticeable on the title track and on the song Anyday, which remains one of the most popular songs on the album.
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