https://exchange.prx.org/p/619439
Once again it's time to recreate the excitement of early 70s rock radio with a mixture that includes half a dozen tracks never played on Rockin' in the Days of Confusion before, including our opening tune.
Artist: Joni Mitchell
Title: Raised On Robbery
Source: LP: Court And Spark
Writer(s): Joni Mitchell
Label: Asylum
Year: 1974
Following the release of For The Roses in November of1972, Joni Mitchell decided to take an entire year developing her next LP, Court And Spark. The result was an album that successfully combined folk, rock and jazz into a completely original hybrid that was an instant hit with both fans and critics. Court And Spark was voted "Best Album of the Year" in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1974 and has gone on to be certified double platinum. The first single from the album was Raised On Robbery, a song that is considered the closest to a pure rock song on the album. The track features Robbie Robertson of The Band on lead guitar.
Artist: Procol Harum
Title: Bringing Home The Bacon
Source: 45 RPM promo single
Writer: Brooker/Reid
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1973
After the departure of original lead guitarist Robin Trower, the remaining members of Procol Harum, with new guitarist Dave Ball, continued to record quality albums such as Grand Hotel, although their airplay was limited to sporadic plays on progressive FM stations. One song that probably should have gotten more attention than it did was Bringing Home The Bacon, from the aforementioned Grand Hotel album. The group would experience a brief return to top 40 radio the following year with the release of their live version of Conquistador, a track that originally appeared on the band's 1967 debut LP.
Artist: Uriah Heep
Title: Sweet Lorraine
Source: LP: The Magician's Birthday
Writer(s): Box/Byron/Thain
Label: Mercury
Year: 1972
In a sense, The Magician's Birthday can be seen as a sequel to Uriah Heep's fourth album, Demons And Wizards. Both albums have fantasy themes, augmented with cover art from Roger Dean, and feature songs from various band members. In general, however, the album was seen as a bit of a letdown after their previous efforts, although some tunes, such as Sweet Lorraine, did get a decent amount of airplay on FM rock radio.
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Title: Four Sticks
Source: CD: Led Zeppelin IV
Writer(s): Page/Plant
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1971
One of the most difficult songs to record in the Led Zeppelin catalog, Four Sticks, from the fourth Zeppelin album, did not have a name until John Bonham's final drum track was recorded. He reportedly was having such a hard time with the song that he ended up using four drumsticks, rather than the usual two (don't ask me how he held the extra pair) and beat on his drums as hard as he could, recording what he considered the perfect take in the process.
Artist: Joe Walsh
Title: Midnight Moodies/Happy Ways
Source: LP: The Smoker Your Drink, The Player You Get
Writer(s): Grace/Passarelli/Zoloth
Label: ABC/Dunhill
Year: 1973
After leaving the James Gang in late 1971, guitarist/vocalist Joe Walsh spent the next several months hibernating in Colorado, eventually forming a new band called Barnstorm. The group's second LP, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, was bannered as a Walsh solo album, which led to the band's demise. Despite this, four of the album's nine tracks were written by band members other than Walsh, including the instrumental Midnight Moodies from the band's new keyboardist, Rocke Grace, and Happy Ways, a whimsical tune co-written by Barnstorm bassist Kenny Passarelli and Buddy Zoloth, the former road manager of Blues Image.
Artist: Frank Zappa
Title: Cosmik Debris
Source: CD: Strictly Commercial (originally released on LP: Apostrophe ('))
Writer(s): Frank Zappa
Label: Ryko (original label: Discreet)
Year: 1974
One of Frank Zappa's most memorable tunes, Cosmik Debris first appeared on his Apostrophe(') album in 1974. The album itself was recorded at the same time as the Mothers' Over-Nite Sensation, and features some of the same musicians, including George Duke, Jean-Luc Ponty and Napoleon Brock. The song, like many Zappa compositions, tells a story, in this case one of a mystical con artist and Zappa's refusal to be conned. The song uses the repeated line "Look here brother. Who you jivin' with that Cosmik Debris?", and contains references to other Zappa compositions, including Camarillo Brillo (from Over-Nite Sensation). The song was originally scheduled for release as a single, but instead appeared as the B side of an edited version of Don't Eat Yellow Snow when that track began gaining popularity due to excessive airplay on FM rock radio.
Artist: ZZ Top
Title: La Grange
Source: LP: Tres Hombres
Writer(s): Gibbons/Hill/Beard
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: London)
Year: 1973
ZZ Top's first two albums went largely unnoticed outside of Texas, but that all changed with the release of the album Tres Hombres in 1973. The reason for this sudden turnaround was a song called La Grange, about a brothel in Fayette County that would later come to be known as the Chicken Ranch, the subject of the film The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. The song itself is a straight-ahead boogie done Texas style, and it connected with listeners of FM rock radio in a big way, eventually even getting some play on top 40 stations (peaking at #41). The song remains a centerpiece of ZZ Top's live performances.
Artist: Mahogany Rush
Title: All In Your Mind
Source: LP: Maxoom
Writer(s): Frank Marino
Label: 20th Century
Year: 1972
Canadian Frank Marino wrote, played guitar, sang lead vocals on and produced the first Mahogany Rush album, Maxoom...at age 17. The LP, released in 1972, was dedicated to the memory of Jimi Hendrix. Indeed, Marino's music in many ways represented possible directions that Hendrix himself may have taken had he lived past the age of 27. All In Your Mind is an example of one such direction.
Artist: Yes
Title: Starship Trooper
Source: CD: The Yes Album
Writer(s): Anderson/Squire/Howe
Label: Elektra/Rhino
Year: 1971
Although technically it was the third LP released by the band, The Yes Album was, in many ways, the true beginning of the Yes story. The Yes Album was the first to feature guitarist Steve Howe, whose contributions significantly altered the band's sound. This influence is particularly strong on the third section of Starship Trooper (subtitled Wurm), which Howe had brought with him from his previous band, Bodast. The opening section of the song, Life Seeker, as well as the title of Starship Trooper itself, was inspired in part by the Robert Heinlein novel, with Jon Anderson's lyrics centering on a search for God. The middle section, Disillusion, was provided by bassist Chris Squire, and was actually based on a section of an earlier piece called For Everyone. Starship Trooper, although never released as a single, quickly became a popular (and permanent) part of Yes's stage repertoire.
Artist: Jo Jo Gunne
Title: Run Run Run
Source: 45 RPM single (stereo promo)
Writer: Ferguson/Andes
Label: Asylum
Year: 1972
After Spirit called it quits following the disappointing sales of Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, lead vocalist Jay Ferguson and bassist Mark Andes hooked up with Andes's brother Matt and William "Curly" Smith to form Jo Jo Gunne. Their best known song was Run Run Run, which hit the British top 10 and the US top 30 in 1972, receiving considerable amount of airplay on progressive rock stations as well as being the highlight of the band's live performances.
Artist: Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen
Title: Hot Rod Lincoln
Source: 45 RPM sing;e
Writer(s): Ryan/Stevenson
Label: Paramount
Year: 1971
Years before Waylon and Willie and others established the outlaw country movement there was Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen. Formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by George Frayne IV, who took the name Commander Cody, the band relocated to Berkeley, California in 1969 and soon signed with Paramount Records on the strength of their live performances. Their most successful single was a cover of the Charlie Ryan rockabilly hit Hot Rod Lincoln that was included on their debut LP, Lost In The Ozone. The song made the top 10 in 1972.
Artist: First State Bank
Title: Mr. Sun
Source: LP: Brown Acid-The Tenth Trip (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Randy Nunnaly
Label: RidingEasy (original label: Music Mill)
Year: 1970
First State Bank was formed in Dallas in 1970 and soon released their first single, Coming Home To You/Mr. Sun, that same year. Both songs were written by lead guitarist Randy Nunnally. The band continued to gain popularity in Texas until 1975, when Nunnally was asked by Ted Nugent to join his touring band. Before he could reply, however, Nunnally was diagnosed with ALS and soon retired from playing, passing away a few years later.
Artist: James Gang
Title: Funk # 48
Source: CD: Yer Album
Writer: Walsh/Fox/Kriss
Label: MCA (original label: Bluesway)
Year: 1969
Cleveland's James Gang was one of the original power trios of the seventies. Although generally known as the starting place of guitarist/vocalist Joe Walsh, the band was actually led by Jim Fox, one of the most underrated drummers in the history of rock. Fox, who was the only member to stay with the group through its many personnel changes over the years, shares lead vocals with Walsh on Funk # 48 from the band's debut album on ABC's Bluesway label (they moved over to the parent label for subsequent releases). Yer Album, incidentally, was the only rock LP ever issued on the Bluesway label.
Artist: Spirit
Title: I Got A Line On You
Source: European import CD: Pure....Psychedelic Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single and included on LP: The Family That Plays Together)
Writer(s): Randy California
Label: Sony Music (original label: Ode)
Year: 1968
Although not an instant hit by any measure, I Got A Line On You, from Spirit's second album, The Family That Plays Together, has proven to be the band's most popular song. Released in October of 1968, the song lingered below the top 100 for several weeks before college radio stations began playing it in late November. The tune finally peaked at #25 on March 15, 1969.
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