https://exchange.prx.org/p/609352
Quite a few tracks we've never played on the show before this week, including a lengthy live cover of Eight Miles High and a Ron "Pigpen" McKernan live solo track. Lots of good studio stuff in here as well, including an opening track that became a movie title.
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Title: The Song Remains The Same
Source: CD: Houses Of The Holy
Writer(s): Page/Plant
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1973
The Song Remains The Same was originally meant to be an instrumental overture to open the band's fifth album, Houses Of The Holy. Vocalist Robert Plant, however, had different ideas, and added what has been called his tribute to world music, expressing a belief in music as a universal language. A couple of the track's original elements survived, however. The song still serves as the opening track for the album, and is still followed immediately by The Rain Song. The two were often performed in sequence at the band's concerts as well. The Song Remains The Same is the name of Led Zeppelin's legendary concert film as well.
Artist: Lighthouse
Title: Eight Miles High
Source: LP: Lighthouse "Live"
Writer(s): Mcguinn/Clark/Crosby
Label: Evolution
Year: 1972
Around the same time that James William Guercio and Al Kooper were (separately) working on incorporating horns into rock music, former Paupers drummer Skip Prokop, along with fellow Canadian keyboardist Paul Hoffert, were already figuring out how to take it a step further by creating a band that featured a rock rhythm section augmented by a jazz horn section and classical strings. The two of them assembled a group of friends, studio musicians, members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, along with guitarist Ralph Cole to make a demo recording under the name Lighthouse. The group soon landed a contract with RCA, but after three albums was dropped due to poor sales. They then went through a series of personnel changes, reducing their total membership from 13 to 11. Lighthouse scored their first major US hit in 1971 with One Fine Morning on the Canadian label GRT and the Evolution label in the US. Despite a hectic schedule that included recording sessions and live performances 300 days a year they managed to find time to do a collaboration with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet company, Ballet High, touring across Canada and a production of Prometheus Bound with actress Irene Worth for CBC television. In 1972 they released Lighthouse "Live", the first Canadian album to go platinum (sales of 100,000 copies). One of the highlights of that album was their thirteen and a half long cover version of the Byrds' Eight Miles High. Lighthouse continued to go through personnel changes, and finally disbanded in 1976, although there have been several reunions since then.
Artist: National Lampoon
Title: Public Disservice Message: Care Packages To Europe
Source: CD: The Best Of The National Lampoon Radio Hour, volume 3
Writer(s): group effort
Label: Rhino
Year: Recorded 1973-74, released 1996
The National Lampoon Radio Hour only ran for a little over a year, and was actually only a half hour long for most of its run. The show, created and produced by Michael O'Donoghue, featured material written by the same people who did the National Lampoon magazine, and featured an array of voice talent, including many of the performers who would later become the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players for NBC's Saturday Night Live. In 1996 Rhino Records put out a three CD box set called The Best Of The National Lampoon Radio Hour that included extensive liner notes. Unfortunately, all I have is the third CD in the set and no liner notes, thus I have no idea who the actual writers or performers were who gave us the Public Disservice Message: Care Packages To Europe. It sure sounds like the work of O'Donoghue, who went on to become head writer for Saturday Night Live for its first three seasons, making occasional on-camera appearances as bedtime storyteller Mr. Mike.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Black Night (1995 Roger Glover Mix)
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1970
Prior to 1970, Deep Purple had achieved a moderate amount of success in the US, but were pretty much ignored in the native England. That all changed, however, with the addition of two new members, lead vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. Following the experimental Concerto For Group and Orchestra, the band's new lineup released its first studio album, Deep Purple In Rock, on June 3, 1970. Two days later they released a non-album single called Black Night. The song was an instant hit, going all the way to the #2 spot on the British charts and quickly becoming part of the band's concert repertoire, usually as the first encore. A 1995 remix by Glover was released as a single on blue vinyl in 1995 for Record Store Day that runs nearly 30 seconds longer than the original 1970 US release.
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: Harvey Mandel
Title: Bradley's Barn
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 Bradley's Barn (one of the first songs to use a wah-wah pedal extensively), led to Mandel being invited to replace Henry Vestine in Canned Heat the following year.
Artist: West, Bruce & Laing
Title: Why Dontcha
Source: CD: Why Dontcha
Writer(s): West/Bruce/Laing
Label: Columbia/Windfall
Year: 1972
When Mountain's bassist/vocalist Felix Pappalardi announced, in January of 1972, that he would be leaving the band at the end of their current tour, the group's remaining two members, guitarist Leslie West and drummer Corky Laing, immediately set about looking for a replacement. From the start the choice was obvious; Pappalardi had produced all but the first album by Cream, and, as Mountain's producer, deliberately set out to model his new band on the legendary British supergroup, even to the point of developing a vocal style similar to that of Cream bassist Jack Bruce. In fact, one of Mountain's most popular songs, Theme From An Imaginary Western, was a cover of a Jack Bruce/Pete Brown composition from Bruce's first solo LP. It was quickly decided that, rather than continue on as Mountain, the band would call itself West, Bruce & Laing. They got to work on their first album, Why Dontcha, early in 1972, but, due to a combination of factors, including a schedule of live performances and a tendency to spend a lot of their off time getting high, the album was not finished until November of 1972. Although they had managed to negotiate a lucrative deal with Columbia, the label itself was not happy with the overall quality of the album and did not give it a lot of promotional support. Nonetheless, the album did fairly well, staying on the Billboard LP chart for a total of 20 weeks, peaking in the #26 spot. One of the highlights of Why Dontcha was the album's title track, which features lead vocals from Leslie West and features the kind of interplay between guitar, bass and drums that Cream was famous for.
Artist: Allman Brothers Band
Title: Hot 'Lanta
Source: LP: At Fillmore East
Writer(s): Allman/Allman/Betts/Trucks/Oakley/Johanson
Label: Mercury (original label: Capricorn)
Year: 1971
The only "new" song on the Allman Brothers' landmark album At Fillmore East was Hot 'Lanta, a piece that evolved out of a jam session and was only performed live. The melody line comes from guitarist Dickey Betts, who also contributes a solo, as do fellow guitarist Duane Allman and keyboardist Gregg Allman.
Artist: Bo Hansson
Title: Playing Downhill Into The Downs
Source: LP: Magician's Hat
Writer(s): Bo Hansson
Label: Charisma
Year: 1972
Swedish multi-instrumentalist/composer Bo Hansson released his first solo instrumental progressive rock album, Music Inspired By Lord Of The Rings, in 1970, after having read a copy of the Tolkien trilogy given to him by his girlfriend. The album, originally released in Sweden, was successful enough to be picked up for international distribution on the Charisma label in 1972. At around the same time, Hansson began work on his follow-up LP, Magician's Hat. This second effort was released in Sweden in late 1972 and once again picked up by Charisma for international release. Although not as successful as its predecessor, Magician's Hat is still quite listenable, especially on shorter tracks such as Playing Downhill Into The Downs, which clocks in at slightly over a minute and a half.
Artist: James Gang
Title: Alexis
Source: CD: Bang
Writer(s): Bolin/Cook
Label: Atco
Year: 1973
When Joe Walsh left the James Gang, many people thought it was all over for the Cleveland, Ohio band formed by drummer Jim Fox. The group recovered, though, adding two Canadians, guitarist Dominic Troiano and vocalist Roy Kenner, from the band Bush. The group recorded two more albums for ABC before Troiano left to replace Randy Bachman in the Guess Who. With their ABC Records contract now expired, the group was once again expected to ride off into the sunset, but instead added guitarist Tommy Bolin, formerly of the Boulder, Colorado band Zephyr, and signed a new contract with Atlantic's Atco label. The first album from the new lineup was 1973's Bang, considered the strongest James Gang album since Walsh's departure. Bolin, in particular, strutted his stuff, both as a guitarist and a songwriter, on several of Bang's tracks. He even took the lead vocals on Alexis, a song that I can't help but think is based on a true story.
Artist: Mahogany Rush
Title: Moonlight Lady
Source: Canadian import CD: Strange Universe
Writer(s): Frank Marino
Label: Just A Minute (original label: 20th Century)
Year: 1975
When it comes to Canadian musicians, the first names that come to mind are Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot, with the Guess Who and Rush immediately following. Often overlooked, however, is Mahogany Rush, a band that features the talented singer/songwriter Frank Marino on lead guitar. Marino has been accused of trying to rip off Jimi Hendrix, but I see it more as channeling the master guitarist rather than stealing from him. And let's face it: very few people have been able to do it better than Marino, as can be heard on Moonlight Lady, from the third Mahogany Rush album Strange Universe.
Artist: Ron McKernan
Title: Katie Mae
Source: LP: History Of The Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice)
Writer(s): Lightnin' Hopkins
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
Probably the rarest thing in the entire massive Grateful Dead catalog is a solo piece by Ron "Pigpen" McKernon. Even more rare is hearing McKernon play guitar in front of an audience. On February 14, 1970, he did just that. According to Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully "Pigpen went out on the stage and sat down in a chair ... it was the only time he ever did it. He sat down and played the bottleneck guitar. We'd been pushing him for years to do it and finally he just got loose enough and comfortable enough with the audience there at the Fillmore to go out and do it. He went out and sat down on the stage—it was Valentine's Day and he had a honey out in the crowd. He went out and played 'Katie Mae' to her." McKernan passed away while Owsley "Bear" Stanley was compiling the music for the 1973 live compilation album History Of The Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice), and Stanley deliberately chose McKernan's performance of Katie Mae to open the album.
Artist: Steely Dan
Title: Only A Fool Would Say That
Source: CD: Can't Buy A Thrill
Writer(s): Becker/Fagan
Label: MCA (original label: ABC)
Year: 1972
Steely Dan's first album, Can't Buy A Thrill, is best known for its two hit singles, Do It Again and Reeling In The Years. The LP, however, has plenty more good tracks, including Only A Fool Would Say That, which also appeared as a B side.
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