Archive for the ‘ Classic Rock ’ Category

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy”

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Folk,Pop

Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy

It’s kind of a shame the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is best known for an album that isn’t really theirs. Will The Circle Be Unbroken is a landmark bluegrass recording organized by the NGDB, but the main draw are performances by legends like Maybelle Carter and Earl Scruggs and the songs are mostly traditional. To get to the heart of what the real Dirt Band were all about, you have to look past the ‘tribute’ album, delving into the solid string of albums leading up to it (and beyond), especially this excellent 1970 outing released just before Circle.

Uncle Charlie is a bold mix of classic rock, country rock, audio pastiche, and traditional bluegrass – maybe one of the best country rock records this side of the Fantastic Expedition. The songs fiddle their way into your consciousness at the same non-immediate pace it takes with Dillard & Clark. But for those familiar with classic rocknroll and Americana, these finely curated tunes should get to you pretty quick. Only a few songs were actually written by members of the Dirt Band, with great contributions from Michael Nesmith, Kenny Loggins, Randy Newman, and Jerry Jeff Walker, who contributed a major gift with Mr. Bojangles (NGDB recorded a definitive version on this record). You can hear the idea forming for Circle in the banter from the band before and after ‘live’ cuts, and the recordings of old Uncle Charlie and his singing dog. A song with hit potential, Prodigal’s Return is the equal of any classic rock radio staple, but fresher and better, completely untouched by the machine of overplayed hits.

Sweeter numbers really shine on this disc, like the bare bones treatment to Randy Newman’s Livin’ Without You and Nezzy’s laid-back and easy Propinquity, though I can’t quite get a handle on House At Pooh Corner: did they sing about Christopher Robin and Owl for kids? And why do I like it so much? There’s also such a hard rocking version of Buddy Holly’s Rave On that it resembles the feel of a Roxy Music song. Let me not undermine the strength of the original songs on the album, however as Cure, Traveling Mood, and the various other snippets bring Uncle Charlie full circle, so to speak.

The early Dirt Band albums never caught on, probably because of their jug band sound – though they were one of the few bands with the skills to pull off a successful jug band rock. Their live album, Alive, is great as is the debut, Ricochet (a true lost 60s classic), and Rare Junk. But the triumvirate of Uncle Charlie, Circle, and Stars and Stripes Forever are considered their high water mark. Nitty Gritty’s the real deal.

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“Prodigal’s Return”

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“Livin’ Without You”

:D CD Reissue | 2003 | Capitol | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1970 | Liberty | search ebay ]
;) MP3 Download | buy from amazon ]

The Turtles “Present the Battle of the Bands”

| Classic Rock,Concept Albums,Garage,Pop,Sunshine

Battle of the Bands

One of their very best, the Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands was released in 1968 off the White Whale label. The concept is pretty clear for once, with the Turtles presenting a different band on each track (greasers, a country band, surf rock group, indian tribe, psychedelicists, and so forth). This makes for an eclectic listening experience for sure but somehow the band makes the album gel together quite well.

Battle of the Bands is the kind of record that would have been too eccentric for top 40 fans but not underground enough for diehard freaks. Perhaps this is why Battle of the Bands never found the audience it deserved. It’s a confusing, jarring album at first listen but eventually the band and their songs worm their way into your head like some strange, fatal disease. Elenore and You Showed Me (written by Gene Clark and Jim McGuinn) were big top 10 hits but very worthy in their own right, coloured by a sarcastic sense of humor and gorgeous harmonies. If anything, these tracks prove the Turtles had a genuine gift of melody and a knack for creating 60s commercial pop gold. Other tracks like the semi fuzz guitar instrumental Buzzsaw, the Beach Boys parody Surfer Dan, and the wild, banjo-fuelled Chicken Little Was Right are over the top quirky rockers that are muscially entertaining and overlooked highlights. Food reminds us of the Beach Boys’ Vegetables, a wacky, tuneful psychedelic track with a few primitive snyth stabs and lyrics that recite a brownie recipe. The album closes with an undisputed sunshine folk-pop classic, Earth Anthem, which stands out for its pretty horn arrangement, heavenly harmonies, and sparse accoustic guitars. Earth Anthem, also notable for its ecology theme, was supposedly recorded at 3:00 A.M. by candlelight, to capture the exact mood the Turtles wanted.

Battle of the Bands was a signpost to Flo & Eddie, and is an album where the band let loose creatively and showcased their unique brand of humor. It had all the ingredients that made the Turtles so great: lush melodies, flawless harmonies and fun, pop friendly sounds. The Turtles are one of rock’s most severely underrated groups and anyone doubting this should really consider outstanding early tracks like Grim Reaper of Love, She’ll Come Back, Wanderin’ Kind, Outside Chance, and She’s My Girl – all lost classics. Most of their catalog was reissued by Sundazed back in the early 90′s but has remained out of print for years. Original vinyl lp’s of Battle of the Bands are easy to score but a cd copy will cost you $50+.

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“Earth Anthem”

;) MP3 Album | download at amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1968 | White Whale | search ebay ]

Terry Reid (self-titled)

| Classic Rock,Pop,RnB

It’s amazing how such a perfect stroke of rock n-roll can hide in the shadows. Terry Reid’s albums are an instantly likable mix of blues, rock, and blue-eyed soul. Excellent juke box fodder, you could drop a quarter on a random song from his catalog and feel confident in any bar around. Maybe classic rock radio would give the boy a spin if he hadn’t turned down that lead-singer gig for Led Zeppelin.

I guess it’s lucky for us that Terry recommended Robert Plant for the job (he was busy opening for the Stones). Needless to say, the kid can belt. One of the great unsung voices of rock, in fact. The leadoff track on this record is an aptly titled Donovan cover, Superlungs My Supergirl. Most of the rest are fine originals, shining on the toned down folk numbers, May Fly case in point.

Another case of classic management problems, Terry would remain under the radar, unhelped by Mickie Most’s contractual obligations. Reid’s music gathered some renewed interest thanks to Rob Zombie, particularly via his ultra-horrifying film, The Devil’s Rejects, soundtracked with a bunch of classic Terry Reid joints. I can firmly agree you won’t be disappointed with any Terry Reid purchase ventured, even the confusing mix of his early albums on Astralwerks, Superlungs.

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“Superlungs My Supergirl”

I’m posting Terry’s 2nd, self-titled album above for its lovely 1969 grit, but his other albums, notably River and Seed of Memory, are every bit as essential. They take a more manicured 1970s approach, adding bass groovers and horns, with Seed of Memory approaching superfunk on side two, but damn if they won’t get ya. Here’s two from a personal favorite, River:

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“Dean”

:D CD Reissue / Download | 2005 | Astralwerks | buy from amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1969 | Epic | search ebay ]

The Rockets (self-titled)

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Pop

The Rockets

The sole release by the band that would become Crazy Horse. While it may be a bit unfocused, there’s a lot of stellar, inventive material here. Lead vocalist Danny Whitten and guitarist Leon Whitshell each wrote about half of the songs. Traces of embryonic country-rock can be heard, but they mostly cling to a tougher blues-rock sound with interesting psych touches. If anything, it certainly earns originality points for Bobby Notkoff’s innovative use of the electric violin, which ranges from traditional country breakdowns (“Hands in my Pocket”) to some intense bow-slashing that sounds something like a steel-shed being mutilated by a chainsaw. (“Let Me Go”).

The album’s highpoint is undoubtedly the melancholic tour-de-force “Won’t You Say You’ll Stay,” which may be the best song Whitten ever wrote. Unfortunately the album actually suffers because of this—no other track comes close to touching its brilliance. And at least for the sake of consistency they probably should’ve discarded the two awkward blue-eyed soul attempts for something a little heavier in tone. But there’s still some high-quality stuff left, including the snotty, Stones-like “Try My Patience” and “Shed Your Skin,” where the ever versatile Notkoff uses the violin to capture a bizarre Eastern feel.

Even with its flaws, the Rockets is an important late 60s album that seems to have been written out of the history books.

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“Wont You Say You’ll Stay”

:D CD Reissue | 2001 | Varese Sarabande | buy from amazon ]

Graham Nash “Songs For Beginners”

| Classic Rock,Folk,Pop

CSNY dismantled after 1970′s Deja Vu, to release four excellent solo albums: Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush, David Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name, Stephen Stills’ Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash’s overlooked but truly excellent Songs For Beginners.

Graham Nash began his music career penning excellent tunes for the Hollies, a lovely group whose Butterfly album is desperately missing a review on this site. His tunes for the Hollies and CSN: “Dear Eloise,” “King Midas In Reverse,” “Teach Your Children,” “Our House,” etc. were always in top form. Vocally, Nash defined the sound of CSN with a high harmony part joyfully recognizable in Beginners. The ace writing continues on this record with fine tracks like “Better Days,” “Wounded Bird,” no use listing every track as there are no dull points. The production makes very few false steps, with solid choices in the arrangement and a good comfortable sound.

Songs For Beginners has a few politically minded tunes in “Military Madness,” the album’s bouncy opener, and the anthemic “Chicago,” about the 1968 Democratic Convention. The lyrics have a bright and hopeful feeling throughout, which could work in a time like today’s. We can change the world, Graham, and that sentiment remains undated by my standards.

Fans of the CSNY family are lucky folk, with such a depth of wonderful material to dig. This album is definitely as strong as anything released at the time by Neil Young, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, or all of them together.

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“Better Days”

:D MP3 Album Download | amazon ]
:) Vinyl | search ebay ]

Leonard Cohen “New Skin For The Old Ceremony”

| Americana,Classic Rock

New Skin For The Old Ceremony

In 1974, Leonard Cohen hired producer John Lissauer to help him create the new sound for his songs. Moving away from the heavily reverberating, simplistic arrangements of Songs of Love and Hate (1971), Cohen uses large vocal ensembles, banjos, jews harp, heavy percussion, strings, and woodwinds to create a palate that is, in my opinion, finally equal to the depth of the writing itself.

The album opens with one of my favorite Cohen songs, “Is This What You Wanted.” The record is probably worth its weight in gold for the horn arrangements alone during the first verse (listen, kids, right channel). Once the chorus kicks, with the broken, funky backbeat and the monotone call and response chorus, you know you have stumbled upon something brilliant. Although Rolling Stone called this record “not one of his best,” I feel that it must be considered a classic. Coming in at track 2 is the controversial, beautiful, sex charged new york anthem, Chelsea Hotel #2. One of the few songs Cohen co-wrote, this track details the alleged sexual encounter between our Hero and the one and only Janis Joplin. Songs like “There is a War” bring out the louder, more politically charged side of this artist. While “Who by Fire” is a stunningly beautiful octave charged and simplistic male/female duet which borrows from traditional jewish prayer to ask the question of how will we all die.

Still want to listen? Good. Me too. Full of good funky 70’s folk-rock production with a knack for the depressed and the overly beautiful, this record sings about all the necessary topics you need to get you through the end of march and bursting into the spring. Also, the cover art is so awesome that Columbia refused to press it on the first release of the record. And if Angels want to screw to this music, it can’t be half bad.

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“Is This What You Wanted”

:D CD Reissue | 1995 | Sony | mp3 Download | Buy from Amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1974 | Columbia | search ebay ]

Moby Grape “69″

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Folk,Pop

69

Moby Grape ’69 found the band rebounding after the double album Wow/Grape Jam debacle. Wow is still a great but flawed record that at times recalls Buffalo Springfield’s tension filled Last Time Around. After Wow was completed, Skip Spence exited the band in pursuit of a solo career, releasing the legendary Oar. Spence’s departure was a major blow but like other great American bands of the time who lost key members, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, Moby Grape was still brimming with talent and enthusiasm.

While ’69 is not on par with Moby Grape’s self-titled debut, it’s still a great back to basics country rock record. The album only enhances the group’s legend though, including Skip Spence’s final contribution to the band, Seeing. ‘Seeing’ is undoubtedly their finest moment as a band and one of the best pieces of San Fransisco psychedelia ever waxed!

It starts out with Spence’s plaintive, apologetic vocals which give way to a hard rocking bridge with great spiraling acid leads. It’s as deranged as Syd Barrett’s swansong, Jugband Blues, and mandatory listening for anyone interested in 60′s rock. The band also rock hard with successful results on Trucking Man, Hoochie, and Going Nowhere. Trucking Man is almost a sequel of sorts to Fall On You, with some great, fat slingshot guitar riffs that hit you hard. There are also some quiet, country rock moments on the album like the majestic I Am Not Willing and the classic It’s A Beautiful Day. It’s A Beautiful Day is Moby Grape’s Ripple (Grateful Dead), a sparkling, country folk-rock gem that shines with hippy optimism.

Moby Grape ’69 proved that after all the debut related hype settled, the band was still making great music. Another late period Moby Grape title worth searching for is 20 Granite Creek which was released in 1971. Indeed one of America’s great bands.

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“It’s A Beautiful Day Today”

[ Buy From Sundazed | Finally Available @ amazon! ]

The American Dream (self-titled)

| Classic Rock,Pop

Todd Rundgren produced this lost Philadelphia band’s only album back in 1970 off the Ampex record label. The American Dream’s album blends power pop, lite psychedelia, blazing hard rockers, folk-rock and roots music effectively throughout its 12 songs (almost 50 minutes of good music!).

Key influences are not a surprise, as listeners may hear strands of Crosby Stills Nash and Young, the Nazz, and the Beatles. The playing is full of youthful energy and the band manages to balance out hard rockers with attractive folk-rock power ballads. Raspberries has a slight psychedelic hangover, as it begins with a phased drum intro and showcases some wigged out guitar playing. Other quality songs like the Other Side, Storm (full of great Beatles-like melodies), I Ain’t Searchin’ and I Am You are predominately acoustic, tastefully arranged and have some great hook laden CSNY harmonies. Good News, a song that begins with a telephone conversation, eventually segues into some pretty country-rock harmonies. It’s a typical relationship hard rocker in which the band humorously shouts out “don’t be a jerkoff” at the end of the chorus. The third track of the original lp is the real highlight of this very solid collection. Big Brother has classic late 60′s psych lyrics (“listen to the words he is saying, conjuring the games he is playing”) and intense early Who power chords (it really sounds like an excellent Nazz outtake) that make it a real killer and a treat for fans of British rock.

The American Dream stood out from the local crowd with their strong, exciting songwriting and 3 guitar lineup. From this point, my knowledge of the American Dream ends. Can anyone provide further info on this great lost American band? Were there prior or post American Dream bands and did they release any singles or albums?

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“Big Brother”

:) Original Vinyl | 1970 | Ampex | search ebay ]
[ American Dream on Myspace ]

Todd Rundgren “Something/Anything?”

| Classic Rock,Garage,Pop

Something /Anything

Released in 1972 as Todd Rundgren’s 3rd solo album, all the parts were played and produced by Runtgreen himself, excluding side 4 which was performed with a backing band. Though most of it would feel about right on Lite 97, there’s no denying the cool, and when people doubt you for throwing it on, they miss the point.

The big hits here are “I Saw The Light,” easily recognized from pop radio, and the beautiful Nazz redo, “Hello It’s Me.” Electric bass guitar, piano and electric keyboard, clean drums, a variety of percussion instruments, large-scale vocal layering comprise some elements on these familiar, warm tracks. Furthermore, some rockist yelps in “Slut” and “Piss Aaron” and straight up weird songs like “I Went To The Mirror.” It’s a long double record, so we have tracks like the vocoded “Breathless,” the Wurlitzer (?) led “Carousel Burnt Down” with its psychy meltdown. Elsewhere: bits of dialog and blubs, tricks with analog tape, all sorts of things you would do with a pet project, I guess.

This is one of those records that if trimmed from a double album to a single album would have been utterly perfect.

Todd Rundgren is a gift to the history of recorded music and we better just buckle down and get used to the record. The Beach Boys are universally cool now, so there’s no reason to deny this light pop masterpiece. Previously we covered Todd’s brilliant A Wizard, A True Star.

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“The Night The Carousel Burnt Down”

[ Purchase from Amazon | search eBay ]

Shoes “Black Vinyl Shoes”

| Classic Rock,Pop

Black Vinyl Shoes

Black Vinyl Shoes is one of the holy grails of underground power pop. This album was recorded and released in 1977 but sounds much closer to early 70′s power pop giants the Raspberries, Badfinger and Big Star.

Shoes released their solid, underproduced debut in 1975 (Un Dans Versailles) and have some earlier recordings circa 1974 reissued years later as the double As Is disc. Most people if any, remember Shoes for their great songs and lo-fi production, which I have to say sounds much more authentic than 90′s bands Guided By Voices and Sebadoh. The group hailed from Zion, Illinois and were fronted by Jeff and John Murphy. Many of their earlier albums were recorded in Murphy’s living room making the production rough and ready. Fans consider Black Vinyl Shoes to be their peak, a private press album that eventually saw a larger indie distribution due to local popularity. The fuzz guitar riffs and underproduced but smooth harmonies would resonate with 80′s rock pioneers REM and the Replacements.

Garage and psych fans will find much to love about this highly influential cult record. Many of the tracks here sport huge fuzz guitar riffs and solos (check out Tragedy and the brief Boys Don’t Lie). The band also conjures up a lean, icey hard rocking sound that fit in nicely with the punk era, as heard on Do You Wanna Get Lucky?

But when it comes down to the wire, many of these songs display a dominant Beatles influence with plenty of boy meets girl lyrics and catchy guitar hooks. One mini classic, Not Me bears this out, and is highlighted by some ghostly vocals and great surgical fuzz guitar riffs. This album is a cornerstone for early indie rock and a monster power pop album that really deserved a richer fate.

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“Not Me”

[ Buy from Amazon | How to find this on ebay? ]

Buffalo Springfield “Again”

| Classic Rock,Country Rock,Pop,Psych

Again

Buffalo Springfield recorded three albums from 1966-1968 and the first two are essentials. Again is their 2nd and affords some improvement over their near perfect debut. This is the group that launched the careers of Stephen Stills and Neil Young; Buffalo Springfield is a must for fans of Manassas, the Byrds, CS&N, Neil Young. At times, it’s almost as if they were all the same band.

Songs like Stills’ “Everydays” offer a mellow jazz feel with feedback guitar. Neil’s “Mr. Soul” is like the Byrds and the Stones with Neil Young on vocals, a great song as well as his orchestral “Expecting To Fly.” “Bluebird” sounds like a CS&N preview with its hard riffin’ acoustic guitar lead, solidified by its postscript: an acoustic ‘take two’ on the track, genius. “Hung Upside Down” is a great track that caught the attention of Colin Blunstone (check out his rendition here). “Rock and Roll Woman” is total Manassas preview material and Neil closes it up with the lovely “Broken Arrow,” maybe the nicest track (and certainly most interesting, with its sound collages) on here. There are different directions on Again, but its all still cohesive enough to contain that magic like only a classic 1967 record could.

What really drives this record for me is the rhythm section. That plucky electric bass and the punchy airless drums, it’s just the sound you want from the rhythm section on any rock record. If all you know of Buffalo Springfield is “For What It’s Worth,” get your shit together and find this record. (Don’t settle for Retrospective!)

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“Bluebird”

[ only $5 or 10 at Amazon ]