TEMPTATIONS - All Directions 1972

As I'm going through my music and doing these reviews it seems that if I'm ever not sure of the date, just use 1972 by default. I bought a whole heap of music that year, of all types from .. as the title of this album says .. All Directions !

I know exactly why I bought this one. Track 3, almost 12 minutes. In every second of those 12 minutes every note and every beat are just where they should be. 'Papa Was a Rollin' Stone'. It's almost 4 minutes into the song before the vocal kicks in. What a brave move. Even when it was released as a single it was only cut back to 7 minutes and still had just short of a 2 minute instrumental lead-in.  

The story behind the song is a bit more fractious though. It was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for a group called 'The Undisputed Truth'. They recorded it and released it as a 3.28 single in 1972 but it didn't do much for them. Whitfield was the producer on this album so took the song and blew it out to the 12 minute version here.

The Temptations weren't happy with the amount of instrumentation the song was getting, feeling it was taking over from their vocals. Some of them also had problems with the lyrics and ultimately they weren't happy about recording it and tried not to. They were convinced that the song and the album would be a dud. As it turns out, it's one of the Temptations most popular and signature songs.

The problems didn't stop there. The second track on side one is 'Run Charlie Run'. It's basically a Black Power song about whites moving out of areas that are becoming racially diverse. The song called for them to sing the line in parenthesis in a false caucasian accent ..

"So I'ma telling you

Run, Charlie, run

Look the ni**ers are coming

(The ni**ers are coming?)"

'I Ain't Got Nothing' is a slow smooth lament - "Every road has a way (And they tell me every dog has its day)" - and it includes the fill shoutout "(Shoo-wop-shoo-wop)". Magic.

There's a few other covers on here too. Edwin Starr's 'Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On' also written by Strong and Whitfield and 'Love Woke Me Up This Morning' originally done by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, written by the amazing Ashford and Simpson.

Then, and this came as a surprise to me when I bought the album, they do a version of 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'.

I was surprised because the well known and popular Roberta Flack single had only been released a few months before. The song itself had been around for quite a while even then. It was written in 1957 by Ewan MacColl, who I just mentioned in a recent post as being not only a singer/songwriter himself but father to Kirsty MacColl.

The song had been recorded a number of times over the years, Roberta used to sing it in a club where she was resident singer. In 1969 she recorded it for her debut album. In 1971 Clint Eastwood heard it and asked to put it into his movie 'Play Misty For Me' (great movie BTW) and so her version was released as a single and became a massive hit.

It just seemed odd that the Temptations would include it here so soon.  

The last track 'Do Your Thing' was another cover, this time an Isaac Hayes song from the 'Shaft' soundtrack. 

Depending on which Temptations song you listen to dictates which Temptations you get. Over the years since around 1960 there have been about 25 members of the group. In fact 2 of them, Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, were together from the mid 50's as The Primes. Add David Ruffin to the mix as lead singer on many of their singles and what a line-up. 'My Girl', 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg', 'I Wish It Would Rain', '(I Know) I'm Losing You', 'Just My Imagination' then later teaming up with The Supremes for 'I'm Gonna Make You Love Me' the list goes on. 

They had the voices, the style and certainly they had the moves.

My Girl

 

BIG PIG - Bonk 1988

 

This isn't a review as much as a short story of an album.

In the early 90's before I ever knew her, my future Mother-in-Law owned a New York City club called Beowulf. Loud music, booze, pinball machines and pool tables, a bar that stretched for miles all ruled by the leather-jacketed mother of my future bride. Among other things, Sonic Youth used the club to film their song 'Dirty Boots'.

I was in New Zealand, my yet to be wife Tracy was in New York and we began a long distance internet relationship.

In 1996, after typing to each other for a year, I was about to fly over to the US to meet Tracy and her family. Before I left I got an urgent request. Her mother had left one of her favourite albums in the back of the car, New York had a sunny day and the vinyl became lots of different shapes, but none of them were flat. It was an album by an Australian group, hard to find in the States, could I please try and track it down and bring a replacement with me.

I've mentioned my go-to record store in Auckland, Real Groovy. I headed into the city, scoured their racks and found what I needed.

'Bonk' by Big Pig.

I was flying over 9000 miles to meet the love of my life and my most precious cargo was an 8 year old album by an obscure (in NYC terms) Australian funk pop band.

Music really is universal.

The group Big Pig did lend itself to club music though. Their line-up was distinctive in that it consisted of lots and lots of percussion, drums, vocals and some harmonica, but no guitars so the songs were heavily beat-centric. The album was released in the US and tracks appeared in various soundtracks - 'Hungry Town' was used in "Miami Vice" and the movie "Young Einstein" while 'Breakaway' was featured in the opening of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure".

Big Pig only released 2 albums, this one followed two years later by 'You Lucky People'.

If you feel like being one of those lucky people, start with 'Bonk'. 30 years on it's still worth a listen.

Hungry Town - Big Pig

Sonic Youth at Beowulf

JONA LEWIE - Heart Skips Beat 1982

 

This is my New Zealand bought copy of Jona's album and it gives me pleasure and pain in equal measure.

The pleasure is that I've got a very distinctive, definitely Kiwi version of this album. Jona recorded on the Stiff label and this pressing incorporates a map of New Zealand into the name 'Stiff'. 

The pain is because the cover states very clearly that it includes a copy of 'Kitchen at Parties' and I can't find mine anywhere. Somewhere in the past 40 years it got left behind.

Stiff Records came about in 1976 when punk began to gain momentum. They started grabbing bands and artists right left and centre, sometimes leading to success - Nick Lowe, Ian Drury, Elvis Costello, Madness etc - others fading out as quickly as they charged in - who remembers Plummet Airlines or The Feelies?

Along the way they found Jona Lewie in 1977. Although he became more well-known through his work with Stiff, Jona had been around the traps for quite a while, starting his first group in 1963 at school.

He was on TV in Europe in the late 60's early 70's as part of Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts and supported Derek and the Dominoes and Son House. He also had a #2 UK hit in '72 with 'Seaside Shuffle', a song he wrote and was released under the name Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs.

In 1980 he released the single 'You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties' (which I lost, did I mention that. It's gone.) Not surprisingly, as I bought this album there, the song achieved it's highest chart position in New Zealand, making it to #3.

I've added the video clip for 'Parties' at the end of this post, partly because it's a good song and partly because of the backup singer in the yellow dress. None other than the amazingly talented and sadly missed Kirsty MacColl.

That same year he put out 'Stop the Cavalry'. This time it not only got to #3 in NZ, but also in the UK. It made it to #1 in a couple of European countries where he was still popular from his earlier work there. 'Stop the Cavalry', unintentionally, became Jona's version of Jose Feliciano's 'Feliz Navidad'. Due to the line "wish I was at home for Christmas" it became one of the seasonal 'must-play' records on all the festive rotations, which is surprising as it started life as a protest song. Much like Feliciano though, Jona Lewie says that half his income comes from royalties for that song.

It was released as a single and didn't appear on an album until this one in 1982. 'Heart Skips Beat' also has 'I Think I'll Get My Haircut' which didn't chart anywhere but is relatively well known, especially with the synthesizer breaks played by Jona.

'Cream Jacqueline Strawberry' has Jona on the Polymoog, but also of note is Kevin Godley credited with backing vocals and toe-tapping !! along with Lol Creme also backing vocals and ukulele.

Godley and Creme, singer/songwriters and ex-members of 10c.c. were co-producers of this album, together with, mainly, Robert Hine.

As an aside, Godley and Creme put out one of the best, state-of-the-art morphing videos of the 80's for their single 'Cry'. Even today it holds up well and is worth a look.
Cry - Godley and Creme

Back to 'Heart Skips Beat'. It's not a great album, it has some unremarkable songs and slightly repetitious styles, but there are stand-outs. Obviously 'Cavalry' is at the top of the list, but personally I like 'The Seed That Always Dies' and 'Louise'. If you're in the mood for a gentle instrumental with sea effects and orchestration then the album ends on just that note with 'Rearranging The Deckchairs On The Titanic'.

I've said it a number of times but it rings true here. This is another one of those albums that falls into the category "Of It's Time'.

I don't play it often, but I'm pleased it's there.

You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

LEONARD COHEN - Various Positions 1984

 

"If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game
If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame"

Those are the opening lines of the title track 'You Want It Darker' from Leonard Cohens last album released in October 2016, just 19 days before he passed away at the age of 84. Before that he had a lifetime of novels, poetry and song with heavy influences on the three taboo subjects, sex, religion and politics. Often writing and singing about death and depression he gained the reputation of creating 'music to slash your wrists by', but he also found pleasure in romance.

I came to Leonard Cohen through various paths. Obviously Dylan was my first and major influence in the mix of poetry, symbolism, abstract thought and music but there were others. The books of Rod McKuen, some taken into spoken word albums led to listening to songs with deeper, but often darker lyrics and as I got older and more appreciative I went back to earlier catalogues and rediscovered Leonard Cohen.

His debut album 'Songs of Leonard Cohen' in 1967 came with a powerful lasting collection of titles that stayed with him throughout his career. The haunting 'Suzanne' and the lilting 'Sisters of Mercy' - 'So Long, Marianne' based on his relationship with Marianne Jensen and the soft, sad 'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye'. 

This album, 'Various Positions' came at the halfway point of his studio album output but contains one of his most well-known songs.

'Hallelujah' almost didn't make it to the album and hardly made a ripple when it was put out as a single. It didn't chart in the US or UK and only got to #17  in Canada, probably due to national pride.

Bob Dylan picked up on it early, doing it in concert in 1988, but it wasn't really until John Cale in 1991 and then the most popular version by Jeff Buckley in 1994 that it took a foothold. Since then it has been covered over 300 times and appeared in so many movies, TV shows and soundtracks it's hard to keep count.

Leonard himself is quoted in 2009 as saying perhaps there should have been a moratorium on using it, but then in 2012 he went back the other way to say he was very happy it was being sung.

There's another track on this album that I love.
'The Captain'.
It's written as a conversation between the title character and the singer, biting and sniping at each other as the Captain seemingly tries to hand over command and responsibility as the singer questions his actions. It's dark and it's harsh but it's sung to a jaunty almost bouncy sing-along backing that is at odds with the story being told.

I've never found a reliable interpretation of the true meaning of this song, so I have my own ideas and I allow my version to make sense, but probably only to me. I still have a major problem with the last verse and just can't make it fit.

"Now the Captain he was dying
But the Captain wasn't hurt
The silver bars were in my hand
I pinned them to my shirt."

On 'Various Positions' Cohen used Jennifer Warnes as backup on many of the tracks, after having her on a previous album 'Recent Songs' I used to have a Jennifer Warnes album she released in 1986 titled 'Famous Blue Raincoat' which was a tribute to Cohen and contained some of his better known songs to date.

In 2017 on the eve of the 1st anniversary of his death there was a memorial concert in Montreal to celebrate Leonards music and poetry. Sting, Elvis Costello, k.d. Lang, Courtney Love and many others perfomed. There's a video out there, I have a copy. If you can find it, take a look. It's called 'Tower of Song'.

As with some other artists, Leonard Cohen's body of work is extensive and lends itself to finding one or more comprehensive compilation albums to cover a representative range. Everybody needs 'First We Take Manhattan', 'Who By Fire' and 'Chelsea Hotel' in their collection.
"I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were talking so brave and so sweet
Giving me head on the unmade bed
While the limousines wait in the street"

The Captain

MIKE OLDFIELD - Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield 1993

Father Damien Karras: "How long are you going to stay in Regan?"

The Demon: "Until she rots in earth."

Regan MacNeil: "Mo-ther...Make it stop!"

When the opening theme to Mike Oldfield's album 'Tubular Bells' was used on the soundtrack of the 1973 film 'The Exorcist' it not only massively increased sales of the album but also put Mike Oldfield's name front and centre.

In 1971 Oldfield had created an instrumental demo called 'Opus One' but couldn't get a recording deal. He was working as a session musician and was at the Manor Studios, owned by Richard Branson.

It's now part of music history that the engineers told Branson about the demos, he was about to launch Virgin Records and so gave Oldfield a week of studio time. After Oldfield recorded 'Part One' during that week, then 'Part Two' a few months later, Branson famously released 'Tubular Bells' as the first record on the Virgin Label.

The 4:19 movie theme version of 'Tubular Bells' is on this compilation, but I prefer the longer 8 minute plus selection where the instruments are identified ..

"Grand piano

Reed and pipe organ

Glockenspiel

Bass guitar

Double-speed guitar

Two slightly distorted guitars

Mandolin

Spanish guitar and introducing acoustic guitar

Plus, tubular bells"

... so I've added a link to it at the end of this post. 

Contrary to the list of guitar types and styles on the original album sleeve, the only electric guitar used was a 1966 Fender Telecaster that was once owned by Marc Bolan. I find it fascinating that the person acting as Master of Ceremonies to announce those instruments was none other than Vivian Stanshall, musician, songwriter, poet and lead singer of the magnificent Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. When the album was re-recorded in 2003 Vivian was no longer with us, having passed away in 1995, so that narration was done by John Cleese.

'Tubular Bells' really was Mike Oldfields seminal work and something he returned to again and again, not only in other albums (Tubular Bells II, Tubular Bells III, Tubular Bells 2003, plus compilations) but also in individual tracks. 'Sentinel' released as a single in 1992 is a reworking of the Exorcist theme. He also revisited the 'Caveman' voice on a number of other albums.

There's much more to his catalogue though, with over 20 studio albums, 25 compilation and remix albums and a ton of collaborative works. When he teamed up with Maggie Reilly doing vocals it produced some minor and major charting singles - 'Five Miles Out', 'To France' and perhaps the best known 'Moonlight Shadow'.

One anecdote often repeated is when Oldfield and Virgin Records were not getting on as well as they should. At one point Virgin were insistent that he release another instrumental album and name it 'Tubular Bells 2'. Instead, Oldfield recorded 'Amarok', which was an hour long uninterrupted piece that didn't lend itself to any segment being used as a single. There was also a hidden message for Virgin in there. Oldfield offered a £1,000 prize for anyone who could find it. Turns out it was at the 48 minute mark, a morse code sequence that spelled out "FUCK OFF RB". 

This compilation covers a nice cross-section of his work, obviously only scratching the surface but giving a good range of what to expect from digging deeper into his discography. Going from the festive Christmas-y 'In Dulci Jubilo' to the traditional hornpipe of 'Portsmouth' and touching on 'Etude' from the "Killing Fields" soundtrack, it includes 4 Maggie Reilly tracks along with 'Shadow on the Wall' featuring Roger Chapman and 'Islands' with Bonnie Tyler.

There are also excerpts from 'Amarok' and 'Ommadawn'.

All in all, a good place to get a sample of the mind of Mike Oldfield.

Tubular Bells (Excerpt)

Portsmouth

Moonlight Shadow

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS - Funky Kingston 1975

 

RIP Toots Hibbert who passed away 11 Sept 2020 from Covid-19 complications.

In the David Bowie review I mentioned that he'd released two albums with the same name - 'David Bowie' - one in 1967 and the other in 1969.

Toots and the Maytals did the same with this one. 'Funky Kingston' was released in 1972 in the UK with 8 songs on board.

In 1975 another album of the same name was released in the US and other parts of the world with the same cover photo. This version had 10 tracks, only 2 of which were the same as the previous LP.

I bought my 1975 copy in New Zealand and played it till the stylus melted.

I've always loved reggae, but without Toots, we may never have had the genre and probably not the name. In 1968 he released a single, 'Do the Reggay' (yes, spelled like that), which was the first popular song to use the word reggae and attach it to the style of music. Taking over from rocksteady, based on mento, it became forever associated with Jamaica and was easily identified by the walking bass line.

If you want to get to know Toots and the Maytals, start with '54-46 (That's My Number)'. In 1966 he was arrested for possession of marijuana and got 18 months in prison. This song was written based on his experience and it has one of the best known and used bass lines in popular music. Have a listen, even if you've never heard it before, you know it well. Then find 'Monkey Man'. Basic, repetitious, addictive - all in a good way. In a great way. It's a brilliant song, so much so that people like The Specials and Amy Winehouse covered it.

By the time you get to this album you'll be ready for 'Time Tough', 'Got to be There', the title track 'Funky Kingston' and the marvelous 'Pressure Drop'. Toots explained the song as a sort of 'karmic justice', that if you do bad things to innocent people "the pressure's going to drop on you".

There's a couple of covers on this album too .. John Denver's 'Country Roads' gets a Caribbean flavour by making it more local ...

"Country roads take me home

To the place I belong

West Jamaica, my ol' mama

Take me home country roads"

... and they took on the Richard Berry song made famous by The Kingsmen, 'Louie Louie'. If you thought The Kingsmens version was undecipherable, wait till you get it in reggae !

Toots, along with the Maytals, was a founding member of a musical genre that started small but went on to enrich the world. I for one am eternally grateful.

54-46 Thats My Number

Monkey Man

DAVID BOWIE - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars 1972

 

I will need to tread very carefully. There are people out there who are as passionate about David Bowie as I am about Bob Dylan. They'll be sitting in the bushes reading this, ready to take me down with a single shot if I say one word out of place, distort one fact, misquote one lyric or disparage him in any way.

Like so many others, my first exposure to Bowie was in 1969 through 'Space Oddity'. It wasn't his first single - that happened in 1964 with 'Liza Jane' as Davie Jones and the King Bees. It wasn't on his first album - that was 'David Bowie' in 1967 (not to be confused with his 1969 album of the same name which DID include 'Space Oddity'). It was his first UK #1 hit though, but not at the time. When it was released it made it to #5. It was only when it was re-released in 1975 that it cracked the coveted #1 spot.

I had a few other Bowie albums over the years, but as a total entity this was always my favourite, followed closely by his set of covers on 'Pin-Ups'.  I think my go-to Bowie song has to be the sparse, minimalistic 'Sound and Vision'.

So, to this featured album. I love all of it, in total or in part. I can listen to it as a whole or cherry-pick songs and jump around the tracks. This belies what a lot of reviewers and critics say - that this is some form of concept album and that the character of Ziggy appears almost throughout.

'Five Years' is a dystopian song of a limited time left before the world is no more. Reviewers say that Ziggy is indirectly introduced on this track, presumably in the verse ..
"I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlor,
Drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine,
Don't think you knew you were in this song" 

The song itself starts with what has been described as a 'heartbeat' drum-beat with a controlled vocal setting the scene. By the end, Bowie is screaming out a warning, his voice breaking in panic and emotion, almost a sob in the final pleading. Amazing.

'Soul Love' is gentler, talking of love, but with an undercurrent. Don't be fooled by the pleasantry and imagery of some early verses ..
"New love, a boy and girl are talking
New words, that only they can share in
New words, a love so strong it tears their hearts
To sleep through the fleeting hours of morning"

Bowie plays a very creditable saxophone solo in the middle break. Always love a sax solo.

'Moonage Daydream' is full on Ziggy, clearly telling us in the second line with no doubt ..
"I'm the space invader, I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' bitch for you"

'Starman' is obviously a Ziggy song, a 'Starman' bringing hope to Earth through the T.V. and radio. The funny thing is though, the song nearly didn't make it on the album. The Chuck Berry cover 'Round and Round' was meant to be there but the RCA head wanted a releasable single so Bowie wrote this. I don't know how 'Round and Round' would have fitted in and more to the point how could Ziggy exist without this narrative.

Having said that, the track 'It Ain't Easy' IS a cover song, written and sung originally by Ron Davies and this song definitely, literally and unequivocally has nothing whatsoever to do with the Ziggy story. Odd.

'Lady Stardust' switches from the female 'lady' to telling us the singer was a boy in bright blue jeans and long black hair.
"People stared at the makeup on his face
Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace
The boy in the bright blue jeans
Jumped up on the stage
And lady stardust sang his songs
Of darkness and disgrace"
The popular thinking is that the song was about Bowie's contemporary, Marc Bolan, particularly as the working title was 'Song For Marc'. Pretty much confirms it really. The great Marc Bolan. LOVE Marc Bolan.

Doing a 'Readers Digest' version of the next 2 songs combined with this one, according to the biographer Nicholas Pegg, they string together " 'Lady Stardust' presents Ziggy being recalled by the audience, 'Star' shows him only singing to a mirror, and 'Hang On to Yourself' puts him in front of the crowd."

The eponymous track 'Ziggy Stardust' gives Ziggy's life story starting and ending with the same line .. "Ziggy played guitar" but in between it chronicles the size of his penis, his drug use and how he got a bit too big for his boots.
"Came on so loaded man, well hung and snow white tan"

The best thing about doing these posts isn't just recalling my impressions of an album or artist, or re-listening to the songs and getting back some of the thrill I got from first playings - it's also finding out new things. Obviously I don't know everything about everything so I do the odd bit of research here and there and I love it when I find out new things.
For instance, looking behind the scenes on this recording I discovered that Bowie wrote 'All The Young Dudes' recorded by Mott The Hoople. Apparently, he offered them the song that became the next track on this album, 'Suffragette City', but they went for 'Dudes' instead. I'm sure everybody but me already knew that, but I'm so pleased I found out.

'Rock 'n' Roll Suicide' ends the album, metaphorically and physically. Last track and the last thoughts and words of Ziggy himself.

A great album. Really, nothing short of a great album. Take it out, dust it off, let's all hope we have more than 'Five Years' left.

Five Years

LED ZEPPLIN - Led Zepplin III 1970

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a history of using some great music in their soundtracks, but they really excelled themselves just 5 minutes into 'Thor:Ragnarok' when the first guitar riff belts out and Robert Plant wails "Ah-ah, ah! Ah-ah, ah!" to open 'Immigrant Song'. Although written in 1970 during a tour of Iceland, the song almost word for word could have been composed with the 2017 movie in mind. The lyric talks about coming from a land of ice and snow with references to Valhalla and the line "The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands" along with the throbbing pulsing heart-racing music that seems faster than it is. The whole song serves to enhance two of the best scenes in the movie. Because of that line, many fans had been referring to the Led Zepplin sound as "hammer of the gods" for years, and Stephen Davis even used it as the title of his book about the band.

'Immigrant Song' was also the opening track to this featured album.

In truth, any album by Led Zepplin could have been used for this review. Tracy is the authority and collector of Zepplin in this household. My contribution was a copy of 'Houses of the Holy' from 1973, but her collection covers so much more, and each album has gems in the listings. It surprised me just how many of their songs I knew, but didn't realise I knew. I'd been singing along to 

"Hey, hey mama said the way you move

Gon' make you sweat, gon' make you groove" 

without realising it was called 'Black Dog' ! Anyway, that's another album for another time. Back to Led Zepplin III.

I picked this album because it's acknowledged to be a bit of a transition from their earlier rock to include a more acoustic form and there are some solid blues influences throughout the LP. There are also rock songs - something for everyone.

Obviously 'Immigrant Song', 'Celebration Day' and 'Out on the Tiles' are the Led Zepplin we knew, but then there's 'Gallows Pole'.

'Gallows Pole' has been around forever in various versions, sometimes about a woman, other times a man, probably starting life as an old folk song called 'The Maid Freed From the Gallows'

Leadbelly did a great frenetic version back in the 1930's but he titled his 'The Gallis Pole'. Led Zepplin based theirs on the Fred Gerlach version but the credits read "Traditional: Arranged by Page and Plant".

I love this song. It starts gently enough - acoustic guitar setting the scene and Robert Plant holding his voice in check. Then the build-up starts and at about 2 minutes the drums kick in and a banjo adds to the stressful vocals that Plant has started to scream. The whole thing descends into a loud cacophony of tension and fear and resignation. Brilliant.

'Since I've been Loving You' is blues. No embellishments, just a live studio recording but it met with mixed reviews. A Rolling Stone article said it "represents the obligatory slow and lethally dull seven-minute blues jam." Joe Satriani on the other hand thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. For me, I was going to say that some of the guitar work reminds me of Gary Moore, but realistically, he came later, so if anything, maybe he reminds me of Jimmy Page.

  

'Bron-Y-Aur Stomp' was named after a house in Wales where the band went after an American tour. The place was actually called Bron-Yr-Aur but misspelled on here. On their 1975 album 'Physical Graffiti' they did an instrumental using the correct name. This one is a jaunty clappy tub-thumping song, which, when you listen, is about a man and his dog.

'Hats Off To (Roy) Harper' is another blues song with a nod to Bukka White's 'Shake 'Em On Down'. The track is attributed to Charles Obscure. There is no such person, that's a pseudonym for Jimmy Page. Roy Harper on the other hand is a folk singer, a friend of Jimmy's and the band, a renowned musician (he sang lead vocal on Pink Floyd's 'Have a Cigar' when Roger Walter's voice wasn't working.) Jimmy Page played on one of Harper's albums, 'Stormcock' but there he was credited as S. Flavius Mercurius, so he seemed to have a habit of using odd names.

All in all, this album is a mixed bag. Certainly more hits than misses and some side streets taken instead of sticking to the highway. 

Worth a new listen or a revisit - and when you've finished, watch Thor:Ragnarok !!

Robert Plant & Jimmy Page 'Gallows Pole' - Jools Holland Show 1994

 

DON McLEAN - American Pie 1971

1971, I was in the Australian Army, they had started the withdrawal from Vietnam so there were a lot of us crowding the barracks. I was stationed at the Jungle Training Centre in Canungra, not far from the Queensland Gold Coast. A few of us got the OK to live off-base and we got flats in and around Surfers Paradise. The army almost became a 9-5 job, we'd drive in and drive home and if we had to work the weekend we got a day off in lieu. All that is background to say that that's when I bought this album.

Next to the album photo I've attached a photo of me at the time. The US Stars and Stripes influence carried through from the album cover to my clothing. 

A couple of quirky things - the inner sleeve has a poem written by McLean about William Boyd, known more as Hopalong Cassidy. The sleeve was removed from copies after about a year. The other thing is the side. Not side one, side two. Instead it's 'One Side' and 'Another Side'. As I said, quirky. On the back there is a dedication to Buddy Holly.

Everybody knows the title song, in part or in total. 8 minutes 33 seconds. DJ's play it when they have to go to the bathroom. Drunks try and sing it at parties. People either know the meaning behind it or put their own spin on the words. Don McLean himself didn't give too much away. At one point when he was asked what the song meant he said "It means I don't ever have to work again if I don't want to." 

Some bits are obvious. McLean was working his paper round aged 13 in 1959 when he saw the news about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper - 

"But February made me shiver

With every paper I'd deliver"

The phrase "the day the music died" became so fixed in the lexicon that it ended up being used to refer to that tragic plane crash.

Elvis was 'the king', Dylan was 'the jester' and the Rolling Stones get a nod towards the end with 'Jack Flash sat on the candlestick' and 'no angel born in Hell' describing the death of Meredith Hunter at the Altamont Free Concert. 

You've also got The Byrds in there, "eight miles high and falling fast", Charles Manson and The Beatles, "helter skelter in a summer swelter" and "sergeants played a marching tune". 

Did you spot Woodstock? "Oh, and there we were all in one place, a generation lost in space". 

Janis Joplin - "I met a girl who sang the blues" and then back to Buddy, Richie and Big Bopper - "And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost".

When Dylan was asked by MTV's Bill Flanagan what he thought of being referred to as the jester he replied ..

 “A jester? Sure, the jester writes songs like ‘Masters of War,’ ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,’ ‘It’s Alright, Ma’ – some jester. I have to think he’s talking about somebody else. Ask him.” Not impressed Bob.

The album does contain other songs of note, particularly 'Vincent' which was a hit in it's own right. It's sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'Starry Starry Night' because of it's opening line but whatever you call it, it made it to #1 in the UK and #2 on the US Adult Contemporary charts.

'Winterwood' is a lovely song. Peaceful and pleasant and just a plain old love song.

"No-one can take your place with me,

And time has proven that I'm right.

There's no place I'd rather be,

Than at your place for the night."

Conversely, 'Empty Chairs' is a tear-jerker.

"Empty rooms that echo as I climb the stairs

And empty clothes that drape and fall on empty chairs

And I wonder if you know

That I never understood

That although you said you'd go

Until you did I never thought you would"

Don sang 'Empty Chairs' at a concert and Lori Lieberman was in the audience. Charles Fox composed a song and Lori collaborated with Norman Gimbel to write the lyrics, inspired by watching McLean's performance. The result was 'Killing Me Softly With His Song'. Lori did a beautiful version in 1972 but it didn't get anywhere until Roberta Flack released hers in 1973.

I think my favourite Don McLean song is from his debut album 'Tapestry' in 1970. The first track is 'Castles in the Air'. It was re-recorded in 1981 and the new version was the more popular, but to me, the original is best. Faster, brighter, better.

For something a little bit different, I've linked a video of 'American Pie' sung live by Don, but used as a promo for Grand Rapids. The downtown area was shut down, 5000 people were involved and the whole thing is amazing. Enjoy.

American Pie - Grand Rapids version

Castles in the Air (original)

 

THE WHO - Who's Next 1971 ($$ 1981)

In the summer of 1964, after teddy-boys and before punks and skinheads, the two factions on the streets of England were Mods and Rockers. Mods wore suits and rode on scooters wearing parkas. Rockers wore leather jackets, boots or brothel creepers and rode motorbikes.

I was 13 going on 14. I couldn't own either a scooter or a bike, but I did have a leather jacket. I bought some silver star studs and stuck them in the back of my leather jacket to spell out ..

"Live Fast
 Love Hard
 Die Young"

I say again, I was 13 going on 14. I couldn't fight my way out of a paper bag. I walked around in a studded leather jacket wearing tight jeans and winklepickers !!

I say this to illustrate a basic conflict. By late '64 we had moved to Australia, and in 1965 when 'My Generation' dropped it was too hot for leather and I really really liked the music The Who were playing. I swapped sides. Well, maybe not swapped sides. It's very hard to make a fashion statement when you're a red-headed freckly pasty Yorkshire kid living in a mining town on the edge of the Simpson Desert with temperatures in excess of 100f for days on end. Let's just say I became more cosmopolitan in my tastes in music and clothing.

So back to the music. There was a live album released in 1970, 'Live at Leeds' but 'Who's Next' was the Who's first studio effort since 'Tommy' in 1969. Like 'Tommy' this was meant to be another rock opera by Pete Townshend with the project name 'Lifehouse'. It never happened, in a nutshell Pete's vision included all sorts of theatrics and production and in the end, after a few trial performances, the rest of the group decided against it and Pete had a nervous breakdown.The premise of the rock opera was a dystopian near future. Music is not allowed and people live indoors wearing experience suits. Bobby, a bit of a rebel, starts sending rock music into the suits.

Although the concept and project itself was effectively shelved, 'Who's Next' has 9 songs and 8 of them were originally part of 'Lifehouse'.

The difference is that once the restrains of making a rock opera out of the songs was lifted the group then were able to treat the tracks as individual compositions and create an album of cohesive, but not necessarily thematic songs. The only one not taken from the 'Lifehouse'  project was Jon Entwistle's 'My Wife'. All the rest were by Pete Townshend.

'Baba O'Riley' is so often misnamed as 'Teenage Wasteland' that it should almost be a title in parenthesis. Problem is, 'Teenage Wasteland' was the working title for 'Baba O'Riley' but eventually became a song in it's own right with different lyrics and a slower tempo. 'Baba O'Riley' came from a combination of Townshend's two mentors Meher Baba and Terry Riley. I've included a link to Pete's original demo of 'Teenage Wasteland' below.

The opening line of 'Bargain' uses one of Meher Baba's phrases, "I'd gladly lose me to find you" showing again the influence he had over Pete Townshend.

Apart from 'Baba O'Riley' the other two tracks from the album released as singles were 'Behind Blue Eyes' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again'.

The highest charting was by 'Won't Get Fooled ..', in fact the other two did nothing in England and 'Baba..' barely scratched the surface in the US. It was only later that these songs became not only extremely well received but also radio station classics.

I'm a bit of a hit and miss Who fan. I loved all their early singles .. 

'Substitute', 'Happy Jack', Pictures of Lily', 'Magic Bus', 'I Can See For Miles' .. but when it comes to albums I'm a bit ambivalent.

I just looked through some of my stuff and pulled out my copy of 'Quadrophenia'. The cover shows just a little sign of wear and tear, I've been carrying it around for 47 years !! The 22 page booklet inside is intact and the 2 vinyl albums are pristine. There's a good reason for that. I dislike the album with a passion. Hardly ever played it. Cannot find one song on there I like and 'Love, Reign O'er Me' makes me want to burst my eardrums with hot needles.

Personal taste I suppose.

In the meantime, 'Who's Next', using the cherry-pickings of a forgotten unfinished rock opera is not a bad listen. This is actually the 1981 '$uper $tars' re-issue so it was even better value for money.

Fill yer boots.

Teenage Wasteland (Pete Townshend Demo)

 

ROLLING STONES - Beggars Banquet 1968

In the late 70's I had a friend, Glenn, in New Zealand who was a total Stones disciple. He started young collecting all their vinyl. When cassettes came along he got all available releases in both formats. He corresponded by mail worldwide long before the internet and gained a reputation and recognition. He traded bootlegs and vhs tapes. He subscribed to everything.

The last I heard from him was late 80's. CD's had arrived, he couldn't stop collecting because he had to keep up, had to keep the collection as complete as possible. He was furious. He hated the Rolling Stones. He prayed they'd split up for good.

I wonder where he is now, thirty odd years on.

My first ever LP was the first Stones album (review 25 June 2020), but I didn't go overboard. I was selective, I allowed myself to dislike some stuff and not buy a new release just for the hell of it.

I was still in the market for 45's so I'd just buy the occasional single or early compilation like 'High Tide and Green Grass' and 'Flowers'. I avoided 'Their Satanic Majesties Request'. To be fair, I did like some of it, but the album was too close to 'Sgt. Pepper .. 'in attempted style and it just didn't sit right.

Then in 1968 we got 'Beggars Banquet'. This was more like it. After the pop and the psychedelia and some misguided attempts at who-knows-what, here were the Stones I knew from 1964 when I bought that first album. The edge was back along with, to use the genre titles, roots rock, blues rock and where appropriate some innovation with new instrumentation - but essentially, it was the Stones I wanted.

The opening track gave some of that experimentation.

'Sympathy For The Devil' has maracas, congas, bongos, even a cowbell in there. Mick comes in with a request .. "Please allow me to introduce myself" and his character sings to us in first person. It's a brutal song full of historic atrocities where the devil takes delight in the suffering. Then he has the nerve to tell the listener to treat him with respect. There's no real rise and fall to the music, no real change of pace, just a hypnotic repetition. Add to that the gradual increase in the disembodied chant of 'woo-woo' behind everything and you get a song of power and foreboding and menace. There's a whole story about how the 'woo-woo' came to be in the song, but Anita Pallenberg, Brian Jones' girlfriend and Marianne Faithfull, long time member of the Stones inner circle, provided the backup vocals.

Good innit !!

It was part of the song's notoriety that the Stones were playing it at Altmont in '69 when Meredith Hunter was killed by a Hell's Angel security guard, but they were playing 'Under My Thumb' at the time.

'No Expectations' is a sad, lonely refrain. Anything that starts with a train leaving a station is setting up to be a tear-jerker. Brian Jones' slide guitar gives that melancholic feel. Sometimes when I listen to this song I imagine the slide guitar part being done by a harmonica, give it almost a 1920's southern blues tone.

The very next track gives us exactly that! On 'Dear Doctor' Brian Jones puts down the guitar and picks up his blues harp. Nice one. It's a tongue-in-cheek story of a man being jilted on his wedding day and instead of being upset he is totally relieved.

'Parachute Woman' is blues - plain and simple. Mick gets into some harmonica along with Brian this time.

'Jigsaw Puzzle' has comparisons to the type of song Dylan was doing, particularly 'Stuck Inside of Mobile ..' because of the wordplay and imagery used. It's probably my second least favourite song on the album, but I'm not sure if that's why.

'Street Fighting Man' is what it is. Everybody knows it, everybody has an opinion, it's a real Stones song, best played loud as a good rock song, but surprisingly with a sitar keeping the energy going.

'Prodigal Son' is the only song on the album not written by Jagger/Richards. Instead it's a Rev. Robert Wilkins composition from the 1920's-30's. Originally called 'That's No Way to Get Along' the Stones renamed it for the album. In 1928 the Rev. Wilkins wrote a song called 'Rollin' Stone'. Funny how things work out. I think 'Prodigal Son' is probably my second favourite song on the album. 

'Stray Cat Blues' is a controversial song, dealing as it does with the singers desire to have sex with a 15 year old. Just to make it worse, Mick sometimes dropped the age to 13 when he was singing it live!

'Factory Girl'. Love it. Love it. This is my favourite. Technically it's compared to 'an Appalachian folk tune' .. but who cares. To me it's evocative of my working class roots, of back streets and simple pleasures. 

"Waiting for a girl who's got curlers in her hair

Waiting for a girl she has no money anywhere

We get buses everywhere

Waiting for a factory girl"

Although nothing like it in style or melody it always makes me think of the Ewan MacColl song 'Dirty Old Town'

"I met my love by the gas works wall

Dreamed a dream by the old canal

I kissed my girl by the factory wall

Dirty old town

Dirty old town"

As I said at the top of this review, I allow myself to dislike some stuff. I don't like 'Salt of the Earth'

This was Brian Jones' last album to be released while he was alive. Two tracks on their 'Let It Bleed' album included him playing congas and autoharp, but he was fired during the production of this album. He had already died when the album was released. (The 27 Club).

Altogether, I like this album. Play it, get back into it. If you need to know any more about it, try to find my mate Glenn from the 80's back in New Zealand. He'll tell you.

Factory Girl

 

JIMI HENDRIX - The Wind Cries Mary EP 1967

My first Hendrix record wasn't an album, it was this 4 track EP. I was in Australia and the top songs of 1967 were things like Englebert Humperdinck's 'Last Waltz', Tom Jones and his 'Green Green Grass of Home' and the Seekers 'Georgy Girl'. Then I found this. A mini masterpiece. Look at the first 3 out of 4 tracks ..

'The Wind Cries Mary'

'Purple Haze'

'Hey Joe'

.. then look closely at the last track and you have to love the typo on the cover ..

'51st Anniverary'. Priceless.

It was a game-changer, a life-changer. Obviously there was other music around, not just the middle of the road stuff I mentioned above. I've reviewed some of it already. Cream's 'Disraeli Gears', The Moody Blues 'Days of Future Passed', even 'Sgt. Pepper' came out the same year. All groundbreaking but nothing was like Jimi.

Just looking at those first 4 tracks gives a perfect introduction to Jimi's work. Three are his original compositions, one is a song from the early 60's done by others previously. 

Here's my interpretation of my first Jimi 'Experience' (see what I did there).

'The Wind Cries Mary' was said to have been written after an argument with his then girlfriend Kathy Etchinham, using her middle name 'Mary'.

(Remember how your Mum always used your full name when you were in trouble!)

The verses build a picture as the punch line changes each time to be more and more frantic and urgent .. The wind 'whispers' Mary .. then 'cries' .. then 'screams' and finally the lyrics resolve themselves and the wind again 'cries'.

'Purple Haze'. OK, before we get any further let's address the elephant in the room. Jimi, as we all know, did NOT write "S'cuse me while I kiss this guy", but it remains one of the favourite mondegreens of all time. Having said that, it is quoted on record that Jimi sometimes did substitute the words for 'kiss this guy' and other things during live performances, probably parodying the common mistakes made by others.

The track begins. That throbbing unmistakable opening - throwing you off-centre, then after two measures the distorted edgy riff that can only be Hendrix - then the vocal ..

"Purple haze all in my brain

Lately things don't seem the same

Actin' funny, but I don't know why

'Scuse me while I kiss the sky"

Is it any wonder this has always been generally thought of as a drug-induced song although most people who knew him denied that, mainly presenting it as some form of love song.

'Hey Joe' is the cover track on the EP, a song credited to Billy Roberts in the early 60's. A couple of groups recorded it, The Leaves did it in '65 and '66, very fast, very 'garage' style. Then also in '66 The Standells did their version, again, faster, with an intro that reminded me of 'Little Girl' by Syndicate of Sound (recorded with a changed title by The Divinyls as 'Hey Little Boy'.)

Jimi's version of 'Hey Joe' is slower, moodier, certainly more intimidating. An underlying talking bluesiness and lyric improv, Jimi takes this song to a place it was meant to be. The previous songs were 'pop' and meant for prime time. Jimi sang from somewhere darker and his guitar work just increased the tension.

'51st Anniversary' is a reverse breakdown of commitment. Starting out with a couple married for 50 years looking forward to 51, Jimi works backwards looking at other couples at other stages - 30 years, 20, 10, 3 and finally a 17 year old just having fun. Perversely, the shorter relationships show more cracks than the 51st anniversary of the title.

In between Jimi softens his voice and sings 'So you, you say you wanna be married' and then hits the listener with the kids and the adulterous lover in those 10 and 3 year marriages. Harsh.

Let me say again, these are my words. This is how these songs came across to me. The beauty of music is that it's personal. I don't know how they make you feel.

One of Jimi's other most famous covers is of course Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" released in 1968 from his 'Electric Ladyland' album. Dylan is quoted as saying that after hearing Jimi's version he realised that's how it always should have been done.

A year earlier Jimi was performing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and did a 'Jimi' rendition of Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone'. 

I hate to put it this way, but Jimi never thought much of himself as a singer, until his one time manager Chas Chandler told him Dylan wasn't a great singer and that boosted his confidence. Reputedly !!  

    

In the early 90's in New Zealand I was getting a lift to work and my friend, a Jimi Hendrix fan, put on a tape in the car. 'Angel' came on. I knew the song, it was on Rod Stewarts album 'Never a Dull Moment'. What I hadn't realised until that point was that it was a Jimi Hendrix composition, from his album 'The Cry of Love' released posthumously in 1971. Jimi's mother passed away when he was only 16 and the song is said to be about a dream he had of her, coming to him at his own death as an angel and taking him with her.

The 'Cry of Love' album would have been Jimi's fourth studio LP. The songs were in various stages of completion when he died. Jimi had plans for a double album but it was eventually just 10 tracks. There is still an argument as to whether this is classed as a true studio album or a compilation, because so many of the tracks were completed without Jimi's input there is no way of knowing what HIS finished album would have been. 

Jimi appeared on the original soundtrack to 'Woodstock' from 1969 where he had 3 songs included, 'Voodoo Chile', 'Star Spangled Banner' and 'Purple Haze'.

In 2019 a massive project was completed. From a multitude of sources a 38-disc box set, "Woodstock – Back to the Garden: The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive" was compiled with almost every performance, crowd noise and stage announcement. I managed to get hold of a copy and Jimi's performance takes up 2 full CD's. The only songs missing from the Hendrix set are 'Mastermind' and 'Gypsy Woman' but these were sung by guitarist Larry Lee. 

I've mentioned the '27 Club' before in relation to Janis, Amy, Jim etc., but tragically Jimi is also a member, passing away in 1970.

Hopefully, his Mothers angel was there to guide him through.

Purple Haze (live)

 

BOB DYLAN - Blood on the Tracks 1975 - Blood on the Tracks Original New York Test Pressing 2019

 I am a dyed-in-the-wool hard-core don't-get-me-started Dylan fan. Have been since I bought my first two Dylan albums in 1965 (Freewheelin' and Bringing It All Back Home). So I think I've shown great self-control to wait until now to review anything by Bob.

I could have chosen any one of his releases and been happy but I picked BOTT because it is perhaps one of his more accessible albums for casual fans. Some of his songs get more airplay, others have more cover versions, others still made it higher in the charts, but most of the tracks on BOTT are consistently known and are familiar.

'Tangled Up In Blue', 'Simple Twist of Fate', 'Idiot Wind', 'Shelter From the Storm' .. just about everybody knows all or some of those songs. The adventurous among you may have tried to interpret almost 9 minutes of 'Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts', trying to figure out who killed Big Jim with a penknife in the back. Some may have come across 'Buckets of Rain' when Bette Midler joined with Bob and did a version called 'Nuggets of Rain'.

The thing is, the album that everybody bought back in '75 was NOT the album that Bob first recorded. 

The whole album was put together in New York in September 1974. A very limited amount of test pressings of these NY sessions were circulated. The official album was due for release in January 1975 but just a few weeks before that in Dec '74 Dylan decided to head down to Minneapolis to re-record half of the songs. The end result is what everybody bought when BOTT was put out for sale.

For many years me and other Dylan fans hunted down those elusive original NY recordings. As is the nature of these things, the limited test pressing version was bootlegged and if you were clever and knew where to look and who to talk to you could get your hands on a copy.

I got my hands on a copy.

Over the years some of the NY Session songs were released when Bob authorised 'The Bootleg Series' and started releasing his own out-takes and alternate recordings officially. These releases did not include the actual tracks that were on those early test pressings though, just alternate takes. They were still the stuff of myth and legend.

Then, on Saturday 13 April 2019 for Record Store Day, 7500 exact duplicates of that limited test pressing were produced and released on vinyl to a hungry horde of Dylan disciples. To some it was like finding the holy grail.

The album has always been thought to be very personal to Dylan's life at the time, a reflection and narration of what he was going through with family and relationships. Dylan has often denied that, but at other times has almost admitted to it. His son Jakob was being interviewed and when asked about his father's music he is quoted as saying "When I’m listening to ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues,’ I’m grooving along just like you. But when I’m listening to Blood on the Tracks, that’s about my parents."

In 1994 Hootie and the Blowfish went a bit overboard in their adoration of this album and their tribute to Dylan. In their song 'Only Wanna Be With You' they not only mention him by name twice ('Put on a little Dylan' - 'Ain't Bobby so cool') and drop in the song title 'Tangled Up In Blue' but they take almost the full first verse of 'Idiot Wind' and make it word for word the bulk of the third verse of their song.

"Said, I shot a man named Gray, took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky"

Rumour has it that Bob didn't mind but his company did and got a tidy out of court settlement.

Dylan is known for his mastery of language, his poetry, the stories he weaves and the images he creates, but in the case of BOTT the words were not only on the record. They were also on the liner notes, but these were not Dylans words. NY journalist and novelist Pete Hamill wrote an essay for the back cover of the album and it was so good, so well received and so acclaimed that it won Mr. Hamill a Grammy. 

Perhaps my favourite line from the essay ...

"He was not the only one, of course; he is not the only one now. But of all the poets, Dylan is the one who has most clearly taken the rolled sea and put it in a glass." Sadly Pete Hamill passed away in August 2020.

'Blood on the Tracks' isn't my favourite Dylan album. I don't know if I could pick one.
'Tangled Up In Blue' isn't my favourite Dylan song. I don't know if I could pick one.

At last count I have 184 Dylan album titles, many of them digital and many containing multiple discs totaling 4589 tracks. It's hard to pick favourites.

In the meantime I'll revisit BOTT, both NY and commercial versions and once again try to figure out what happened when "The door to the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked"

Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

PINK FLOYD - Dark Side of the Moon 1973 (Quadraphonic version)

The most iconic, recognizable record cover in the history of EVER. Pretty much everything that could be written about this album has been written and is common knowledge for any music buff worth their salt. This post, therefore, is my personal memory of my copy of the album when it was all new in the early 70's.

Apart from my Norton 750 Commando Fastback, by 1974 I had 3 items that were the pride of my possessions. The first was a JVC 4VR-5436 Fm-Am 4 Channel Stereo Receiver. The '4 Channel' part was because this brute of a machine was capable of quadraphonic output. In laymans terms that meant that with the right turntable, stylus, cartridge and album, you got the 1974 equivalent of today's 'surround sound' systems.

For an audiophile like me it satisfied my desire to control sound. It sat resplendent with 19 switches and buttons on the front console to control speakers, mode, source, filters, balance, with signal and tuning meters, stylish green tinted wavelength display and discrete function lights. For me it wasn't only a technical marvel, it was a piece of art, an aesthetic delight and a beautiful statement. To illustrate it's function as a 4 channel amp the console had not only individual rear speakers controls but dual inputs for, believe it or not, 4 channel headphones. I had a pair. Two speakers in each side, sound distribution between front and rear, immersive and addictive.

The second item in my arsenal of equipment was a Bang & Olufsen 3000 Beogram turntable. This was a futuristic elegant masterpiece from a maker of great repute. Beautifully crafted weighted tone arm that looked to be styled after the nose of the Concord Supersonic Jet. A single selector/button to choose the size of the record you were about to place on the platter, press the button and the player selected the speed and lowered the pick-up to the groove. A teak case and clear hinged lid that could be angled or removed. Minimalistic elegance and perfection in performance.

Last but not least, in all it's glory was my Quadraphonic release of this brilliant album.

It was only fitting that I had the quad version of this LP. Pink Floyd, as early as 1967, gave the first ever surround sound live concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The control device is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Hook up the 4 speakers or plug in the quad headphones, set the amp source, select the mode, adjust the volume, balance and 5 sliding equalizers to taste, position the tone arm, press the turntable play button and prepare to experience the most unique sound the 70's ever produced.

'Dark Side of the Moon' had never sounded like this before. The original quad mix was done by Alan Parsons and although primitive and rough around the edges, there was nothing to compare. Footsteps running, clocks ticking and chiming and swirling, disembodied voices telling you they were 'not frightened of dying' and music coming from all corners and all around.

It wasn't until 2003 when SACD technology allowed a 5.1 surround mix to be produced by James Guthrie and later re-issued in 2010 on Blu-ray that a cleaner crisper version became available, but even then, the memory of my 1974 experience can never be lessened.

Quad LP's were a passing fad, a little like VHS and Betamax for video tapes. There were competing quad formats (e.g. CD-4, SQ, EV-4 etc) but unlike video tape, when the dust settled, nobody won.

Although the copy that Tracy has is the standard stereo version, it contains something mine did not. Inside, perfectly preserved and unmounted is the infrared photo poster of The Great Pyramids of Giza and the uncut Day/Night stickers.

With worldwide sales of over 45,000,000 and an amazing 950 weeks on the Billboard Charts this album could be, should be and in fact MUST be in any collection. In any format, SQ Quad, vinyl, CD, tape, 8-track, 5.1 or digital it is not just music, it is an experience.

If you haven't listened for a while, treat yourself. Listen now.

Money

 

THE SMITHS - Best I 1992 THE SMITHS - Best II 1992 MORRISSEY - Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey 1997

 

It's very difficult for me to separate The Smiths and Morrissey and my ideal LP would be a compilation of my favourite tracks from the group and solo act. Unfortunately that doesn't exist that I know of, so to get 'Girlfriend in a Coma' AND 'The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get' there's a need to gather a number of different albums.
That being the case, these 3 are a great place to start.

Forming in 1982 and disbanding in 1987 The Smiths managed to produce 4 studio albums and 22 singles. There have been re-releases and 10 compilation albums to keep the name alive - probably the most comprehensive would be the CD 'Sound of the Smiths' in 2008.
On all 4 of their albums Morrissey was the lyricist, with Johnny Marr composing the music.

There's all sorts of controversy surrounding Morrissey because of his attitudes, anti-establishment views, weird black humour and just general .. um ... oddness, but there's no denying he and Johnny wrote some great songs together. Morrisseys sexual ambiguity in his lyrics, often not being gender specific, came through in the groups 2nd single 'This Charming Man' where a cyclist with a puncture is picked up by a motorist and as they drive along they start to flirt. The song lyrics were also unusual with Morrisseys choice of language and phrase, using older terms and references.

'How Soon Is Now' covers the complex topic of an extremely shy person who seems never to be able to find anyone. The original is a seven minute song but the single that was released got cut down to less than 4 minutes and had only one verse repeated twice and a 5 line chorus. It seems longer, deeper and fuller and is a brilliant piece of music.

'Bigmouth Strikes Again' is classic Morrissey. Self-deprecating and almost .. what's the word I want .. weasely?! .. trying to fob off cutting nasty remarks by saying he was joking and then comparing himself to Joan of Arc when he's brought to task. He ends up whining about being a bigmouth with no right to take his place in the human race.

"Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking
When I said I'd like to smash every tooth
In your head
Oh oh oh"

One song sometimes overlooked is, to me, one of their best and most poignant. 'Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want' tends to appear on compilations and has also been recorded by other artists.
Dream Academy did a version in 1985 and an instrumental of it was included in the movie  "Ferris Beuller's Day Off" in 1986.
A cover by She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) was included with the original version by the Smiths on the soundtrack for the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer.
Oooh ... M. Ward. I'm going to have to review him soon!
A version was used for the famous John Lewis Christmas ad in 2011.

1987 brought the amazingly cringe-worthy startlingly horrific phenomenal single 'Girlfriend in a Coma'. There's a massive conflict going on between the man's love for his girlfriend (who, unsurprisingly, is in a coma) where he wants to see her, doesn't want to see her, says he could have killed her but then says he doesn't want anything to happen to her ..

"Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know, it's serious ...
... There were times when I could
have murdered her".

When BBC Radio 1 refused to play it, Morrissey said "You're not really supposed to like those songs. They're very depressing and not supposed to be played on radio."

After Morrissey left The Smiths in '87 he started out on a long and generally successful solo career. He almost fell foul though with his first album, 'Viva Hate' in 1988. The last track 'Margaret on the Guillotine' wishing for an end to a certain Iron Lady ended up with him being interviewed by Special Branch.

Despite all his political and personal views, the one lyric I have a problem with is from his song 'We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful' where he states ..
'And if they're Northern, that makes it even worse'.
REALLY !

In 2019 Morrissey released perhaps his most surprising album of all, 'California Son', a collection of covers from songwriters as diverse as Bob Dylan and Burt Bacharach. He does a credible version of the Roy Orbison classic 'It's Over', bursts into Laura Nyro's 'Wedding Bell Blues' and includes 'Lady Willpower' made famous by Gary Puckett.

The Smiths - and more specifically Morrissey - music to slash your wrists by.

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get

Girlfriend in a Coma