This is Peter's first live album and finally it comes with an unambiguous title. Unlike his first four studio albums which were all titled 'Peter Gabriel' this one adds the descriptor 'Plays Live'.
Although the credits are for 4 concerts between Dec 3-7 1982 there is a note saying "additional recording" was done and "the producers" call this "cheating" (sorry for all the quotation marks, that's how it comes across.) That doesn't take away from the excitement of live recording including 'Shock the Monkey', 'Biko' and the evergreen 'Solsbury Hill'. For me, you can't go past the 1994 'Secret World Live' album for amazing concert performances and if you can find the video, even better. Watching Tony Levin in action is always mesmerizing.
Not to be confused with the soundtrack of the Blues Brothers movie, this was their debut album released 2 years before the film came out. Recorded live at the Universal Amphitheatre in L.A. in September 1978, the two "brothers" were John Belushi ("Joliet" Jake Blues) and Dan Aykroyd (Elmwood Blues) ably assisted by a host of well-known musicians including long time David Letterman band leader Paul "The Shiv" Shaffer.
Opening for Steve Martin, the Blues Brothers could have been dismissed as a novelty because of Aykroyd and Belushi, but with a quality backing and the fact that they took themselves seriously, they ended up producing an album that sold millions and became one of the highest selling blues albums ever.
I know what you're thinking - did we really need a Rod Stewart picture disc? To be honest I don't know what possessed me to buy it, but here it is in all it's glory. There was no album cover, just the disc with a card photo insert in a plastic sleeve.
Rod took a gamble with this album, taking on the disco trend and leaving his heavy rock / rock ballad style on the back burner for a while. It paid off, giving him a #1 single with the horrendously cheesy 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' and a minor hit with 'Ain't Love a Bitch' while the title track came in a distant third.
A mixed bag compilation pulling single releases from as far back as 1969 with 'Give Peace a Chance' and 'Cold Turkey' through some album tracks up to 1974 with Elton John on piano and backing vocals for 'Whatever Gets You Through the Night'.
The picks for me are 'Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)', 'Power to the People' and the aforementioned 'Whatever Gets You ...'. I recall how great it was to chant 'Give Peace a Chance' when it first came out and how 'Imagine' started as being mildly annoying and ended up as one of my least favourite songs - ever.
A word of caution. If you buy this album, make sure it's the original release. The re-issue did not include track B1, 'Alexander Beetle' and others replaced it with 'Close to it All'.
Basing the album title and opening songs on her experience at Woodstock, 'Candles in the Rain' and 'Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)' really set the scene for Melanie's style and range. I recently found this album again over 50 years after buying it for the first time. Her voice can sound odd at times. Her arrangements can sound odd at times. The album can feel odd at times - but I love every inch of it. Her covers of James Taylor's 'Carolina on my Mind' and Jagger/Richards 'Ruby Tuesday' are distinctively different and fresh in their own way and her original compositions are consistently good. For me, 'The Good Guys' and 'Lovin Baby Girl' are the cream of the crop. You also get 'What Have They Done to my Song, Ma' .. always a winner.
As a lifelong Dylan collector having this album is a no-brainer. For the casual listener though, it's not an easy addition to the playlist. For a fan like me it was a must-have, being comprised of outtakes mainly from his 'Self Portrait' and 'New Morning' releases and therefore it was material that wouldn't normally have seen the light of day. It was put out by Columbia after Dylan left them for Asylum Records, so it was a bit of an f-u to the guy, done without any involvement from Dylan himself. Almost singing as a parody of himself, Dylan still does credible versions of Jerry Jeff Walkers 'Mr. Bojangles' and Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi' comes across in the way only Dylan can.
This album is in my wife's collection and it shows. Everything that came with it is still there, including the flyer from 40 years ago advertising "merch". Maybe I'll send for a $10 T-shirt.
The 8th album by Judas Priest gave the single 'You've Got Another Thing Comin''
"If you think I'll sit around as the world goes by
You're thinkin' like a fool 'cause it's a case of do or die
Out there is a fortune waitin' to be had
You think I'll let it go you're mad
You've got another thing comin'"
This isn't about Dinah Shore, it's about the records. Today we call a single LP containing multiple tracks an 'album' but originally, albums were just that - albums. Taken from the photo album format, record sets like this were presented in book form with, in this case, 4 records with a song on each side making up an 'album' of 8 songs.
This 'album' is almost 80 years old but when I rev the turntable up to 78 rpm it plays well.
I don't know. I mean, I really don't know. I bought this album on a recent forage through the discount bins. It's new, sealed and classed as 'experimental'. I'm reluctant to unseal it.
A couple of tracks are on YouTube. 'In Loving Memory' is an instrumental. The only comment is "Most Excellent!" but that's written by John Trubee who is not only the guitarist but the driving force behind the whole production. The other is a vocal called 'Electric Love Nudity Supreme'.
One day curiosity will get the better of me and I'll open this up and play it. Stay tuned.
This was a nice recent find in a second-hand store, their self-titled debut album AND it's in red vinyl. This is the U.S. pressing so the band and the album go by the name U.K. Squeeze, as they did in some other countries. The 'U.K.' was dropped after this release. The group was founded by Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Paul Gunn and our old friend, bandleader, composer, presenter and OBE Jools Holland. Tilbrook and Difford were the writers of virtually all Squeeze's songs.
The two singles from this album were 'Take Me, I'm Yours' and 'Bang Bang'.
Squeeze can almost be passed over today as just another band that came and went and had a few good songs on the way, but they really had an influence back in the day. A version of the band is still touring.
In 1989 my future wife Tracy heard through friends in Dublin that Irish band Something Happens would be at the 'Rebel Rebel' music store on Bleeker Street in New York just prior to their first ever American show. She headed down there, introduced herself, then went to the gig at The China Club. After that, there was no going back. When I moved to the USA in 1997 to be with Tracy, she came as a package. I also got 'Something Happens'.
After releasing a live EP in 1988, their first studio album 'Been There, Seen That, Done That' was produced by Tom Erdelyi, better known professionally as Tommy Ramone, the drummer for the punk rock band the Ramones. The album contains great tracks like 'Beach', 'Forget Georgia' and 'Burn Clear'. After a few more albums - 'Stuck Together With God's Glue' in 1990, 'Bedlam A Go-Go' in '92 and 'Planet Fabulous' in '94, the big worldwide break they were waiting for just never seemed to come, despite a successful American tour with Warren Zevon.
They're still playing in and around Dublin, with a loyal following who hang on every song whenever they appear on RTE or live at Whelans.
Stevie got two #1 singles from this album, 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life' and 'Superstition'.
Originally, that song was going to go to Jeff Beck as a sort of exchange payment for playing on the album. Stevie and Jeff messed around with the song and Jeff went off with a rough version. Unfortunately he took too long to record and release it and in the meantime Stevie had a #1 hit on his hands. Jeff did finally record his version at the end of 1972 but in the words of Maxwell Smart ... "missed it by that much".
Apart from Jeff Beck, Stevie brought in others such as Ray Parker Jr., David Sanborn and Deniece Williams to round out the sound and end up with an album that crossed over the R&B and popular charts.
The original pressing of this album cover had braille lettering. The front cover had the album title and his name, the inner gatefold held a message .. "Here is my music. It is all I have to tell you how I feel. Know that your love keeps my love strong. — Stevie"
This is Dave Masons debut solo album.
Even if you think you don't know Dave Mason, you do know Dave Mason. Cast your mind back to the sixties - back to his "on again off again" romance with 'Traffic'. He was responsible for writing their 1967 psychedelic anthem 'Hole In My Shoe' as well as the magnificent 1968 'Feelin' Alright' done well by Traffic themselves but put on the map by Joe Cocker.
His solo career wasn't stellar. He had a couple of minor singles hits, one from this album 'Only You Know and I Know' and then 'We Just Disagree' seven years later.
Playing this album all I can hear is Traffic, and even though Steve Winwood took most of their leads I get his vocal influence coming through. I'd expect it to be different. Leon Russell is in the mix along with Delaney and Bonnie. Dave's old bandmate Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi sat in and gets co-writing credit on one track.
It's not a dud album, in fact it's got variety and skill, but I can't get past the feeling that it's 'Traffic Light'. Ooh, see what I did there? That's clever !!
This is UB40's 6th album and consists of mainly 'toasting' - a Jamaican style of rapping, before rapping was a thing. We got a taste for it when Astro did a toasted verse of 'Red Red Wine' on their 'Labour of Love' album.
U-Roy was a pioneer of toasting - talking or chanting over a beat or 'riddim' by a DJ. Before Blondie did their take, but after The Paragons did the original, U-Roy recorded his deejay version of 'The Tide is High' and brought toasting into the open. Even more so when he did a UK tour along with Max Romeo in '72. When Musical Youth sang 'Pass the Dutchie' in 1982 they were paraphrasing a U-Roy line "this station rules the nation with version" meaning a version of a track that a 'toaster' could use to overlay his vocal.
Along with the full 'Baggariddim' album there's a 12" 45 included in this 2-disc set. The 45 has the UB40/Chrissie Hynde version of 'I Got You Babe' along with 'Don't Break My Heart', the only 2 non-toasted songs here. The rest of the tracks feature a variety of artists putting vocals over some titles released on previous UB40 LPs. An unusual album, but for fans of UB40 (me included) it's a good addition to the collection.
This album for me is all about one song, and that song shouldn't even be here.
'Waiting On A Friend' was part of the 'Goat's Head Soup' sessions back in 1972 when Mick Taylor was in the line-up. By the time this album was released and the finished track was included, Mick Taylor was gone and Ronnie Wood was doing the honours. It took a while but Mick was eventually given credit (and royalties).
'Start Me Up' tends to be the "known" song from the album, popular when it was first released and then given new exposure when Microsoft used it for their Windows 95 marketing, but for me, 'Waiting ...' is the pick and the video clip that came out for it seals the deal. I'm sure everyone knows, but just in case .. in the video the building where Mick is waiting for Keith is 96-98 St. Marks Place in the East Village in NYC. That's the same building used to illustrate the cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Physical Graffiti' album cover.
'Tattoo You', tattoo me, it's well worth the ink.
What do Tchaikovsky, Emerson Lake & Palmer and AC/DC have in common? !CANNONS!
In 1880 Tchaikovsky put them in his 1812 Overture - in 1970 ELP used them in 'Pictures at an Exhibition' at the Isle of Wight and in 1981 Acka/Dacka blasted them in the title track from this album.
This isn't the first AC/DC album to paraphrase a saying. 'Let There Be Rock' was taken from "Let there be light" and this album was a mix of various sayings on the theme of "For those about to die .." It was further immortalised in the movie 'School of Rock' when Jack Black's character Dewy Finn inspires his band by saying "In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight... to the guitar bite... and for those about to rock... I salute you."
If you're into rock family trees, cast your mind back to The Easybeats. Scottish born Easybeats founding member and guitarist George Young was the brother of AC/DC's Angus and Malcolm Young and along with fellow Easybeat Harry Vanda went on to produce a number of AC/DC albums, but not this one unfortunately. Trivia alert: The "Guitar George" and "Harry" who are mentioned in the Dire Straits hit song "Sultans of Swing" are George Young and Harry Vanda.
AC/DC - turn the volume to 11.
"Gimme an F" ..
"gimme an I" ..
"gimme an S" ..
"gimme an H" ..
"what's that spell?"
or if you were at Woodstock
"Gimme an F" ..
"gimme a U" ..
"gimme a C" ..
"gimme a K" ..
"what's that spell?"
This album though is NOT Country Joe and the Fish, it's just Joe flying solo, recorded live at the famous NYC Bitter End where Dylan used to play pool and occasionally perform in the very early 60's. The nearest he gets to the 'FISH" cheer on this album is the first track on side 2, 'You Know What I Mean'. It's not actually a song, just a short story of the Boston police making sure they didn't call out the Woodstock version.
Joe's 'occupation' is shown as musician / political activist and that gets reflected in many of his songs. The FISH cheer started as the intro to the 1965 song 'I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag' condemning the Vietnam War and he hasn't mellowed on this album.
After a couple of startup songs, 'Entertainment is my Business' and 'Sweet Marie' he launches into a scathing attack on the army. The song title gives a clue as to the attitude he holds. It's called 'Kiss My Ass' and after a few blistering verses (with a few 4-letter words) he sings ..
"I done my duty and I fought my fight
And I thought I knew I was doing right,
But that's all over, I'm free at last,
If they want any more, they can kiss my ass."
He has a crack at environmental and life-style choices with 'Living in the Future in a Plastic Dome' then after a gentle instrumental launches into his put down of Richard Nixon, with the catchy line "He's Tricky Dicky from Yorba Linda, he's the genuine plastic man."
There's a singalong bouncy audience participation song 'Deep Down in our Hearts' where the repetitious verses just change the subject from one controversial person or thing to another, "We love the Vietcong" / "Che Guevarra" / "the Pathet Lao" / "Chairman Mao" etc., tongue in cheek with the tag "deep down in our hearts".
On a gentler note he's written earlier songs about a couple of famous ladies. At one point Janis Joplin was his girlfriend and after they split she asked him to write a song about her. 'Janis' appeared on the Country Joe and the Fish 1967 album 'I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die' and 'Grace', a tribute to Grace Slick, was on 'Electric Music for the Mind and Body' from the same year.
This isn't a great album, but it's historically significant, a sign of the times with one of the figures of the times. Cheers Joe.
This was meant to be a concept album. You know, one of those things that every group worth it's salt seemed to want to do in the 70's. Instead of the whole thing though, the "concept" was limited to the last track with the same name 'The Magician's Birthday', lasting for just over 10 minutes. The other tracks just sort of loosely fit the idea. Keyboard player Ken Hensley based the song on a fantasy novel he'd written about a pair of wizards having a battle - the usual good vs evil business. The instrumentation describes the battle using dueling guitars and drums, but the lyrics are a bit so-so.
My favourite track, and in fact the reason I bought the album in the first place, is 'Blind Eye'. Another Ken Hensley song, this one does it for me.
"Weaker than a moment And hot as any fire
Blinder than the blind eye This is man's desire
This is man's desire"
The two tracks released as singles from the album didn't really do much, 'Spider Woman' and 'Sweet Lorraine' although '... Lorraine' does get a bit of airplay now and then. Successful in terms of sales and concerts and influence they were never really a charting band. Variously described as hard rock, heavy metal and prog their popularity came from their core fans, not from mainstream exposure.
One nice bit of trivia - there's a power metal band named after one of their albums - 'Demons & Wizards'. A bit like the group named after one of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band's songs, 'Death Cab For Cutie'.
Uriah Heep are still playing and recording, albeit with only one original left, Mick Box. Over the years there's been a total of 25 members of the group including Chris Slade (AC/DC), Trevor Bolder (Spiders From Mars), John Wetton (King Crimson) and Nigel Olsson (Elton John, Spencer Davies).
Trying to find a genre for Styx seems quite easy. Take the word 'rock' and stick anything in front of it - 'pop', 'soft', 'arena', 'hard', 'art', 'prog', 'album' etc etc etc. You get the idea, they're a rock band.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am not and never was a big Styx fan. Just surface stuff, the abovementioned 'Come Sail Away' which is probably my favourite if I was to have one, and the FM radio tracks such as 'Lady', 'Babe' and 'Mr Roboto' (domo arigato anyone??). Having said that, my darling wife had a number of their albums including The Grand Illusion - used as a backdrop to today's photo.
The main reason this album became part of the collection is basically novelty value. The fact that it is a picture disc and does not have a physical cover made it hard to photograph, so it remains on the "Now Playing" plinth instead of on the turntable. There's just a clear plastic sleeve with the LP inside and a card saying "This is a numbered, Limited Edition Collectors Record of the STYX "Pieces of Eight" album." As the card also states "These records do not have sound quality equal to conventional records." and "This record is: No.045795". It seems rather unfortunate that the centre hole of the record goes into the nostril of one of the women on the disc-art. Talking of the disc-art (by Hipgnosis) did you notice all the women have Easter Island earrings?
So, keeping in mind the inferior sound quality I'm happy to report that there are still some good sounding tracks on here, despite what one critic wrote. Lester Bangs from Rolling Stone said "What's really interesting is not that such narcissistic slop should get recorded, but what must be going on in the minds of the people who support it ..." Wow, tell us what you really think Lester.
The highlight of the album for me is 'Renegade', one of those 'Gallows Pole' type songs. Definitely running behind the Led Zep track but not bad in it's own right. The other two singles from the album were 'Sing For The Day' and 'Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)'. The last track on the album is a throw-away instrumental called 'Aku-Aku' that seems totally out of place and slightly annoying, but the more you listen the more ear-wormy it gets.
An album that doesn't get played much, but I'm not embarrassed by it.
That 1973 LP got lost, waylaid or evaporated in the mists of time, but recently, when this Greatest Hits came my way, it brought back the little nuggets I'd gleaned about Seals and Crofts and took me back almost 50 years.
One thing that had always stuck in my mind was that they belonged to the Baháʼà Faith. At the time, in the 70's, that was a passing 'interesting fact' but in the early 80's a young woman who worked for me married into the faith, so it cemented that info in the recesses of my grey matter.
Before creating this successful duo both Seals and Crofts had earned their stripes. They played for a while with The Champs, but that was after The Champs had peaked with their hit instrumental 'Tequila'. Glen Campbell was also with The Champs until those three plus Jerry Cole formed Glen Campbell and the GC's.
Jim Seals wasn't the only one in the family to have a musical career. His brother Dan also had his claim to fame, but not as Dan Seals. He's better known as one half of England Dan & John Ford Coley ('I'd Really Love To See You Tonight').
These days all these guys are on regular rotation whenever you listen to SiriusXM Yacht Rock Radio - best described by announcer Adam Ritz as "a collection of your fourth and fifth favorite songs from the '70s and '80s"
Seals and Crofts did some good songs, some a bit sickly sweet but if you were around back then, they're guaranteed to transport you to a different place and a different time.
The band settled on four symbols to represent the album and because of that, the release has been given a number of unofficial names for ease of identification. Referred to as 'Four Symbols', 'Zoso' and as a logical progression from their previous three albums 'Led Zeppelin IV' or 'The Fourth Album.' In reality though it should be indexed as 'Untitled.' Even though the album shall remain nameless, the track names are forever embedded on the musical timeline.
Dropping the needle on side one track one - with high volume - has Robert Plant's unmistakable voice leading the way with 'Black Dog'.
"Hey hey mama said the way you move
Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove"
and as anyone who has ever listened to the lyrics knows, this song never mentions, nor does it have anything to do with, a black dog. The song was created while the band were at Headley Grange and there was a black Labrador roaming around. A song title was needed, the dog got the job. I'm always reminded of Fleetwood Mac's song 'Oh Well' when I hear this track and was pleased to find out that it was inspired by 'Oh Well' so I sort of feel validated.
Track two is 'Rock and Roll' which does what it says on the tin with extra accompaniment provided by an 'almost' Rolling Stone. Ian Stewart very nearly became one of the original Rolling Stones, but Andrew Loog Oldham didn't think he had the right look. He stuck around for many years as the Stones' road manager and pianist. He came to Headley Grange with the Stones' mobile recording studio and ended up playing piano boogie-woogie on this track.
Skip to track four and you get to Led Zeppelins signature song, 'Stairway to Heaven'. There's no need to write anything about this, everything has already been said and if you've read this far, you know the song well enough without hearing more from me.
If those 3 songs totaling just under 17 minutes was the whole album, it would still be well worth it. Fortunately there are 5 more tracks, including 'The Battle of Evermore' which was inspired by the Scottish Independence Wars. This song is unique because of the involvement of Sandy Denny. The Fairport Convention (Vinyl Vault 4 June 2021) lead singer duetted with Robert Plant, providing the only female voice to appear on a Led Zeppelin record.
Then to my favourite track, the gentle acoustic Joni Mitchell inspired mandolin driven 'Going to California'. Written about a guy in a bad relationship who heads off to make a fresh start in California, the song has references to the fact that Los Angeles, where Joni Mitchell lived and where they went to mix the album, was prone to earthquakes.
"The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
The children of the sun began to awake, watch out"
A classic album by a classic band - needs to be in every collection.
Just one week later a 3-day event was held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, organised by John Phillips (Mamas & Papas), record producer Lou Adler, publicist Derek Taylor (many years with The Beatles) and Alan Pariser. The artist list for this show was unbelievable and it was reflected in the ticket prices. They ranged from $3 to a massive $6.50. In fairness, that's a 2022 equivalent of $50 for the top end, but still great value for the line-up. I've linked to a video of Eric Burdon's song 'Monterey' where he mentions some of the acts and the video shows scenes from D.A. Pennebaker's movie 'Monterey Pop'.
Both of these events were the beginnings of the 'summer of love' and epitomised the flower power counter-culture. In fact John Phillips and Lou Adler used the song 'San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)' to promote the Monterey festival.
It's amazing what you learn after so many years. I always knew Scott McKenzie sang that song. What I didn't know until recently is that Papa John Phillips wrote it ! Am I the last to know?
I've mentioned that Eric Burdon was there, Canned Heat, Country Joe and Jefferson Airplane came along after appearing at Fantasy Fair the week before. Janis was there as part of Big Brother and the Holding Company and on the strength of her performance they were signed by Columbia Records. Otis Redding did a set using Booker T & The MG's as his backing group!! Sadly Otis was killed in a plane crash just six months later.
There was friendly rivalry between The Who and Jimi Hendrix because they were both totally off-centre. They tossed a coin to see who would perform first - neither wanted to be upstaged by the other. The Who ended up going on first and at the end of their set Pete Townshend smashed his guitar and Keith Moon kicked over his drums. Not to be outdone, at the end of HIS set Jimi sang ?? an almost unrecognisable feedback induced whining throbbing version of The Troggs 'Wild Thing' before he sprayed lighter fluid over his guitar and famously knelt over the fire - an image shown whenever Jimi's name comes up. Just as an aside, although he's known for doing a brilliant interpretation of Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower', during this concert Jimi covered Bob's 'Like a Rolling Stone.' Magic.
Grateful Dead, The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel - the list is seemingly never-ending. Finally, on the last day, the last act was The Mamas & The Papas with concert organiser John Phillips able to look back on a successful 3 day festival. Their selection included 'California Dreamin'' and 'Monday, Monday' along with some surprising covers. There was a nicely arranged version of The Beatles 'I Call Your Name' and the 1960 Jerry Leiber / Phil Spector classic 'Spanish Harlem'. The last song of the festival was their cover of 'Dancing in the Street' when Mama Cass told the crowd "You're on your own."
A great slice of music history. If you dig deep enough you'll find more acts from the festival on CD and vinyl, some even on the Tube of You.
For lovers of live concerts The King Biscuit Flower Hour was compulsory listening in the US for 20 years from 1973 to 1993, broadcast through the D.I.R. Radio Network and participating radio stations. Concerts were recorded using a mobile recording truck. They were mixed and edited and as technology changed the shows were sent out on reel-to-reel tape, then vinyl and lastly on CD. Their first broadcast show in 1973 had Springsteen, Blood Sweat & Tears and the jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra. What a start !!
This 'best of' really does contain some gems.
Did you get to the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975 to see Supertramp? No? Well here they are with 'Dreamer' and 'Bloody Well Right'.
Join Phil Collins in Pasadena, 1982 for a chilling performance of 'In the Air Tonight' and a bit of 'I Don't Care Anymore' - and yes, the famous drum break from 'In the Air Tonight' is just as good as the studio recording.
1985. Dallas, Texas. Robert Plant. 'In the Mood' and 'Big Log'. What could be better.
Queen, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, The Who. All live, all doing what they do best.
Finishing off the album is the DJ's friend, the track they play when they need a bathroom break or to finish a hamburger in peace. Here it is, live, over 12 minutes in length in all it's glory. 'Freebird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
This package could be written off as a novelty or overkill, but it really is a great time capsule. A selection of recordings spanning 1975-1986 from an innovative company providing access to otherwise unavailable performances.
I came across an ad from the time offering the whole lot for $19.95. Get 'em while they're hot !! Strangely the poster of the ad has the date of 1984 in the description, but some concerts are 1986 recordings and the album itself is dated 1987.
If you want an idea of how these shows unfolded, you can find some on YouTube.
This 20 track double album has something FOR everyone - written pretty much BY everyone. In fact, some of the songwriters recorded by Three Dog Night basically got their introductions from these recordings. Looking down the track listings is like a who's who of songwriting royalty. In no particular order there's ..
Eli's Coming - Laura Nyro (Vinyl Vault 3 June 2021)
One - Harry Nilsson (Vinyl Vault 7 July 2020)
Mama Told Me Not to Come - Randy Newman
An Old Fashioned Love Song - Paul Williams (Vinyl Vault 31 October 2021)
Easy to be Hard - Hair McDermot/Rado/Ragni (Vinyl Vault 7 June 2020)
Joy to the World / Never Been to Spain - Hoyt Axton
Pieces of April - Dave Loggins
Out of the tracks here, 18 had been released as singles and all of them are standards on any decent rock station. One of my favourites, 'Pieces of April' was written by Dave Loggins, brother of Kenny. Dave also wrote one of the saddest, heart-wrenching songs ever, 'Please Come to Boston.' Oh, brings tears to the eyes just thinking about it. Sadly one of my least favourites is 'One' by one of my most favourite songwriters Harry Nilsson. Go figure.
There's speculation as to where Three Dog Night got their name. There's no dispute that it refers to cold weather and how many dogs you need to sleep against to keep warm. I always thought it was from the Inuits. There seems to be equal argument for it being part of Australian Aboriginal culture, but regardless, the meaning remains the same.
In their heyday of late 60's to mid 70's they were predominately a 7-pce group with vocal duties spread between the three founder members, Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron. When the three founders first got together they called themselves Redwood and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was going to produce an album for them but after a short period they "didn't meet up to his expectations". After the Brian Wilson fiasco the three primaries gathered up some backing musicians and went from strength to strength.
Danny Hutton is still touring and recording with the band as was Cory Wells until he passed in 2015. Chuck Negron left in 1985 - in fact I think he was asked to jump before being pushed.
This is the golden years of Three Dog Night, familiar songs, no deep and buried album tracks, just well-known singalongs for children of the 70's.
In 1961 William S. Burroughs wrote “Uranian Willy the Heavy Metal Kid" and a few years later Steppenwolf put the term into music history with their track 'Born to be Wild' when Mars Bonfire wrote - "I like smoke and lightnin', heavy metal thunder". It wasn't until 1970 though that the term 'Heavy Metal' was used to describe a genre of music. Once the term was coined and accepted, bands began to be labelled retrospectively.
Top of the heap to be given that label, and touted by many to be first, were Blue Cheer. This was their debut album and the lead-off track, a cover of Eddie Cochran's 'Summertime Blues' had all the elements needed to deserve the credit. Made up of a powerhouse trio, Blue Cheers members gave no quarter. Dickie Petersons uncompromising vocals and driving bass along with Leigh Stephens playing Jimi Hendricks guitar before Jimi did were pushed along by Paul Whaley's drumming and above all it was LOUD !!!
When they appeared on the Steve Allen Show in 1968 to play 'Summertime Blues' the introduction went like this ..
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Blue Cheer. Run for your lives."
Blues aficionados can try to find something in B.B. King's 'Rock Me Baby' or a variation of Mose Allisons 'Parchman Farm' which is titled 'Parchment Farm' here. For everyone else, the best taste of what Blue Cheer is all about is to turn up the volume and be assaulted by 'Doctor Please'.
It was good to hear this album again 54 years later - I wonder how it will hold up in another 54 years time. BTW, the Band's name was also the name of a laundry detergent and an LSD variant. I'll leave you to figure out which one they had in mind.
This was where I first heard Nina Simone. 'Ain't Got No / I Got Life' was her fusion of two songs from the musical "Hair". Nina did some re-writing of the songs to create a very powerful statement. According to Daphne Brooks "She begins with the "desolation, alienation and disenfranchisement" of "Ain't Got No", then transitions to the "jubilant affirmation" of "I Got Life."" I loved the flip side of this single too, the Jimmy Webb composition 'Do What You Gotta Do'.
Both of those tracks are on this compilation, released originally in 2019 but re-released in this yellow vinyl version in 2021. The title is of course incorrect. There could never be a Nina Simone "Ultimate" collection, the amount of work is too broad and spans too many years to be contained in one, two or even three albums.
Even though this selection reaches back to 1965 for my wife's favourite track 'Feeling Good' (re-released in '94) and back to 1962 for the amazing 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' (re-released in '87), it misses others that should be integral to anything calling itself "Ultimate". Where is the 1959 live version of 'The Other Woman' from her Town Hall show? How could they not include 1964's 'Mississippi Goddam' (released as "Mississippi *@!!?*@!") her "first civil rights song" (her words). This collection does include 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free' and 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black' so there are songs that reflect her political and social stance.
Nina has her own way of interpreting other people's music and that does get showcased on this album. She takes Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne' and tears it apart, Dylan's 'Just Like a Woman' gets Nina's piano intro before wringing out even more emotion than the original. I've always loved Jerry Jeff Walker's song 'Mr. Bojangles'. I don't think I've ever heard a version I DIDN'T like. Nina sings with her own feeling for the story, her own inflection and then, right at the end, her fingers dance over the piano keys in a 5 second staccato and all you can see is Mr. Bojangles taking his final bow. Glorious.
Of course interpretation is a two-way street - just find and listen to Nina's original 1964 version of 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' alongside the 1965 version by The Animals.
Nina's private life has been the subject of books, film and theatre and there's no doubt she had a volatile side, although that was diagnosed in the 1980's as bipolar disorder. There are however quite a few instances of some outrageous behavior. In 1985 she shot at a record executive who she thought was stealing her royalties. In '95 she shot and wounded a neighbors son with an air gun. The boy's laughter was disturbing her !! .. and fellow singer/songwriter Janis Ian wrote in her autobiography that Nina once made a shoe shop assistant take back a pair of used sandals. At Gunpoint!!
Nina passed away in her sleep in her home in France in 2003 at the age of 70.
What a 70 years it was.
