https://exchange.prx.org/p/595241
This time around we work our way down from 1974 to 1969 before ending with a 1971 set. To set the stage, however, we have a classic from Marvin Gaye.
Artist: Marvin Gaye
Title: Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
Source: Mono 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Marvin Gaye
Label: Tamla
Year: 1971
Released as the second single from the 1971 LP What's Going On, Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) is considered one of Marvin Gaye's greatest songs and an anthem of the environmental movement.
Artist: Mahogany Rush
Title: Changing
Source: LP: Child Of The Novelty
Writer(s): Frank Marino
Label: 20th Century
Year: 1974
The second Mahogany Rush album saw the addition of keyboardist Phil Bech (who had played on one track on the band's first LP) as an official member. Still, the band mostly functioned as a power trio in the mold of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as can be heard on tracks like Changing.
Artist: Styx
Title: Little Fugue in G/ Father O.S.A
Source: LP: Styx II
Writer(s): Bach/DeYoung
Label: Wooden Nickel
Year: 1973
Chicago's Styx released four albums on the local Wooden Nickel label before gaining national success after switching to the A&M label in 1974. The second of these, appropriately titled Styx II, was the most successful of these early albums, mostly due to the song Lady belatedly becoming a hit in 1975. The rest of the album has some pretty decent tracks, however, such as Dennis DeYoung's adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Little Fugue In G, which segues into a DeYoung original, Father O.S.A. Even though I've had this copy of Styx II in my collection since 1975 I still have no clue what O.S.A. stands for.
Artist: Argent
Title: Hold Your Head Up
Source: European import CD: Pure...Psychedelic Rock (originally released on LP: All Together Now)
Writer(s): Argent/White
Label: Sony Music (original US label: Epic)
Year: 1972
Following the dissolution of the Zombies, keyboardist Rod Argent went about forming a new band called, appropriately enough, Argent. The new group had its greatest success in 1972 with the song Hold Your Head Up, which went to the #5 spot on the charts in both the US and UK. The song originally appeared on the album All Together Now, with a running time of over six minutes. The first single version of the tune ran less than three minutes, but was quickly replaced with a longer edit that made the song three minutes and fifteen seconds long. In the years since, the longer LP version has come to be the most familiar one to most radio listeners.
Artist: Uriah Heep
Title: July Morning
Source: European import CD: Look At Yourself
Writer: Hensley/Byron
Label: Sanctuary/BMG (original US label: Mercury)
Year: 1971
Fans of the British rock group Uriah Heep have an ongoing argument over which is the best Heep album; Demons And Wizards, featuring the band's biggest hit single, Easy Livin', or its immediate predecessor, Look At Yourself, which includes the 10 and a half minute long classic July Morning. Both albums feature strong vocals by David Byron and songwriting by keyboardist Ken Hensley, as well as tasty guitar licks from Mick Box. Rather than take sides on this one, I'm just going to keep on playing tracks from all six early Uriah Heep albums.
Artist: Firesign Theatre
Title: Poop's Principles
Source: LP: Dear Friends
Writer(s): Proctor/Bergman/Austin/Ossman
Label: Columbia
Year: Recorded 1970, LP released 1972
In addition to their albums and live performances, the Firesign Theatre had their own nationally syndicated radio show from September 1970 through February 1971. In 1972 they released the album Dear Friends, which collected the best skits from that show, including Poop's Principles, which features the return of a character from the 1970 LP Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers.
Artist: Eric Clapton
Title: Easy Now
Source: Mono 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Eric Clapton
Label: Atco
Year: 1970
When it comes to Eric Clapton's Easy Now (from his first solo album), the word most often used by critics is "underrated". The song was never intended to be a hit single. In fact, it was released as a B side, not once but twice, in 1970 (paired with After Midnight) and 1972 (paired with Let It Rain). Nonetheless, Easy Now holds up better than most of the tracks on the album itself, and has been singled out as one of the best songs Clapton has ever written. The song was also included on the 1972 LP Eric Clapton At His Best.
Artist: King Crimson
Title: The Court Of The Crimson King
Source: LP: The Young Persons' Guide To King Crimson (originally released on LP: In The Court Of The Crimson King)
Writer: MacDonald/Sinfield
Label: Editions EG (original label: Atlantic)
Year: 1969
Perhaps the most influential progressive rock album of all time was King Crimson's debut LP, In The Court Of The Crimson King. The band, in its original incarnation, included Robert Fripp on guitar, Ian MacDonald on keyboards and woodwinds, Greg Lake on vocals and bass, David Giles on drums and Peter Sinfield as a dedicated lyricist. The title track, which takes up the second half of side two of the LP, features music composed by MacDonald, who would leave the group after their second album, later resurfacing as a founding member of Foreigner. The album's distinctive cover art came from a painting by computer programmer Barry Godber, who died of a heart attack less than a year after the album was released. According to Fripp, the artwork on the inside is a portrait of the Crimson King, whose manic smile is in direct contrast to his sad eyes. The album, song and artwork were the inspiration for Stephen King's own Crimson King, the insane antagonist of his Dark Tower saga who is out to destroy all of reality, including our own.
Artist: Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young
Title: Find The Cost Of Freedom
Source: CD: Carry On (promo excerpt disc) (originally released on LP: 4-Way Street)
Writer(s): Stephen Stills
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1971
One of the most celebrated songs in the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young catalog is Neil Young's Ohio. Written in the aftermath of the Kent State shootings, the song was quickly recorded and rush released in 1971. Often overlooked, however, is the powerful B side of the single. Find The Cost Of Freedom is a simple song by Stephen Stills, consisting of a guitar intro followed by a two-line verse, with the entire sequence repeated. Although both songs were included on the 1971 live album 4-Way Street, the studio versions remained available only on monoraul 45 RPM vinyl until the group's first greatest hits collection, So Far, was released in 1974. Since 45s in the US generally went out of print within six months of their release, Ohio/Find The Cost Of Freedom was considered a collector's item for several years.
Artist: Grand Funk Railroad
Title: Upsetter
Source: CD: Heavy Hitters! (originally released on LP: E Pluribus Funk)
Writer(s): Mark Farner
Label: Capitol
Year: 1971
Grand Funk Railroad was something of an enigma. Due to universally negative reviews in the rock press, progressive FM stations avoided them like the plague. At the same time, top 40 radio was in the process of being supplanted as the voice of the mainstream by the Adult Contemporary (A/C) format, which tended to ignore hard rock. Nonetheless Grand Funk Railroad had a following. In fact, GFR was the first band to book (and sellout) entire sports arenas, setting attendance records wherever they played. This translated into major record sales, as they became the first band to have three LPs hit the million-seller mark in the same year (1970). That year they also had their first mainstream hit with I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home). From that point on the band would continue to release singles, although most, such as Upsetter, were still ignored by A/C radio (although they did get a fair amount of airplay from the remaining "true" top 40 stations). As the group's album sales were beginning to drop off, the singles became increasingly important to the band's continued success, and from 1973 on (starting with We're An American Band ) Grand Funk became pretty much a singles-oriented group, cranking out tunes like Bad Time and Some Kind Of Wonderful.
Artist: Mountain
Title: The Animal Trainer And The Toad
Source: CD: Nantucket Sleighride
Writer(s): West/Palmer
Label: Columbia/Legacy (original label: Windfall/Bell)
Year: 1971
Mountain hit their commercial and creative peak with the 1971 album Nantucket Sleighride. The album is full of outstanding tracks, including the side two opener, The Animal Trainer And The Toad, a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the band's origins.
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