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The THIRD 100 from 1971. #1: Echoes (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Pip's Invitation
- Start date
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
81. Sweet Touch of Love -- Alain Toussaint (from Toussaint)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evcnzFe17FQ
The New Orleans legend Toussaint was best known for writing, producing and arranging for others. He released his first solo album in 1959 and did not get around to doing another until 1971 (!). Some of the songs on Toussaint were hits for other artists, but this version of Sweet Touch of Love is the definitive one. It swings, it bounces and pervades every wave of sound with joy.
I was also fortunate to see Toussaint perform live with Elvis Costello in 2006.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evcnzFe17FQ
The New Orleans legend Toussaint was best known for writing, producing and arranging for others. He released his first solo album in 1959 and did not get around to doing another until 1971 (!). Some of the songs on Toussaint were hits for other artists, but this version of Sweet Touch of Love is the definitive one. It swings, it bounces and pervades every wave of sound with joy.
I was also fortunate to see Toussaint perform live with Elvis Costello in 2006.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
80. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Leon Russell (from Leon Russell and the Shelter People)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iL5aOJ7LR8
Like Allen Toussaint, Leon Russell may be better known for the work he did for other artists -- in his case, as a writer, producer, session musician and label executive (he co-founded Shelter Records) -- than for his own output. But his early '70s albums have quite a few gems on them, and this tune with an emotive vocal and a gospel-influenced arrangement is one of the best of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iL5aOJ7LR8
Like Allen Toussaint, Leon Russell may be better known for the work he did for other artists -- in his case, as a writer, producer, session musician and label executive (he co-founded Shelter Records) -- than for his own output. But his early '70s albums have quite a few gems on them, and this tune with an emotive vocal and a gospel-influenced arrangement is one of the best of them.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
79. Truck Stop Girl -- Little Feat (from Little Feat)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WMY7F8nc-4
Little Feat's Lowell George was a gifted songwriter with a hearty appetite for ... everything, which led to his premature death. Even before Little Feat's debut album came out, George's songs were attracting notice, and the Byrds covered Truck Stop Girl, co-written with Little Feat's Bill Payne, on the studio half of their 1970 album Untitled. (They also recorded a version of Willin', the Little Feat version of which appeared on Tim's list, at those sessions.) Set to a compelling country rock arrangement, in less than 3 minutes Truck Stop Girl tells a devastating tale of what happens to a young trucker after the truck stop worker he's in love with rejects him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WMY7F8nc-4
Little Feat's Lowell George was a gifted songwriter with a hearty appetite for ... everything, which led to his premature death. Even before Little Feat's debut album came out, George's songs were attracting notice, and the Byrds covered Truck Stop Girl, co-written with Little Feat's Bill Payne, on the studio half of their 1970 album Untitled. (They also recorded a version of Willin', the Little Feat version of which appeared on Tim's list, at those sessions.) Set to a compelling country rock arrangement, in less than 3 minutes Truck Stop Girl tells a devastating tale of what happens to a young trucker after the truck stop worker he's in love with rejects him.
rockaction
Footballguy
I just listened. Why can't she see him anymore? Did she get engaged or just cut him off and out of her life? I'm slightly confused.
Also, never hang your hat on a bartender's love. That'll get you in weird places.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
my McCartney. while learning the biz, one of my company's bands opened for Feat for an arc of northeastern college dates and, tagging along, i learned that Lowell pretty much didnt sleep on tour, just wanted to hang & talk & jam (with the aid of accelerative tinctures which eventuallly killed him). it was still a fresh enough phenomenon for all of us to indulge him, which was good cuz his band (specially Billy Payne) was kinda past it. i was mesmerized - couldnt jam but i could joke with anybody and was found useful and allowed to stay close to the creative cloud. never believed in God but believed there was mor'n'this ever since. Lowell, though thoroughly modest & regular, was always kinda half with ya and half elsewhere, and the elements he would drag down from the ether made for song & conversational fragments that each were as evocative as you observe about this piece. we should have recorded him & never stopped, cuz he'd like sing the name "Shirley" and form the essence of her story in a couplet and there'd be a beginning, middle & end before the moist particles of note ejection had completely dried and we'd never visit her again. been chasing that cloud ever since, maaaan....
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Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
rockaction
Footballguy
Engagement to another man or pain from longing. I'm going with another man. She can't be tempted by the trucking stranger that stops through town regularly enough, but never long enough to stay and forge a love affair in her environs. Better to settle for what she's got, which might not be the best, but what happens when the luster of love wears off the trucking stranger and they actually have to settle down like she sort of already has? That'd be heartbreak when he fell out of love with her and his wanderlust that led him to trucking kicked in. Given that she represents something else to him, mainly stability and a sense of home, that'd be the crushing blow when he left. He's really seeking adventure while looking for a warm place to stay in between.
So she won't consummate the feelings they have for each other.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
78. Famous Blue Raincoat -- Leonard Cohen (from Songs of Love and Hate)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohk3DP5fMCg
@krista4may be happy that this entry features Cohen instead of prog. This song, one of his best-known compositions, is in the form of a letter written by the narrator to the man who forms a love triangle with him and a woman named Jane.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way
If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Well, your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free
Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried
Part of the melody is very familiar -- it was nicked for Leo Sayer's "When I Need You," over which Cohen and his publishers sued and won an out-of-court settlement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohk3DP5fMCg
@krista4may be happy that this entry features Cohen instead of prog. This song, one of his best-known compositions, is in the form of a letter written by the narrator to the man who forms a love triangle with him and a woman named Jane.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way
If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Well, your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free
Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried
Part of the melody is very familiar -- it was nicked for Leo Sayer's "When I Need You," over which Cohen and his publishers sued and won an out-of-court settlement.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
77. Right Off -- Miles Davis (from Jack Johnson aka A Tribute to Jack Johnson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U_jem9q_mg
Jack Johnson is one of many of Miles' forays into jazz-rock fusion, but is the most overtly rock of them, especially Right Off, which takes up all of side 1. Composed for a documentary on the life of the boxer Johnson, Right Off puts rock rhythms in the forefront, especially in its first half, and nods to the hard-edged funk that was making a splash at the time; Sly and the Family Stone's Sing a Simple Song is teased a little more than halfway through. The band included jazz and fusion titans Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin. If you are intimidated or bored by fusion songs that have too much going on, you won't be frustrated on that front here -- everyone kicks and swings together and it's easy to keep track of what all the players are doing.
I have a ton of long songs on this countdown (not just the prog ones!), including quite a few that take up an entire album side or close to it, but I believe this one is the longest at 26:53.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U_jem9q_mg
Jack Johnson is one of many of Miles' forays into jazz-rock fusion, but is the most overtly rock of them, especially Right Off, which takes up all of side 1. Composed for a documentary on the life of the boxer Johnson, Right Off puts rock rhythms in the forefront, especially in its first half, and nods to the hard-edged funk that was making a splash at the time; Sly and the Family Stone's Sing a Simple Song is teased a little more than halfway through. The band included jazz and fusion titans Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin. If you are intimidated or bored by fusion songs that have too much going on, you won't be frustrated on that front here -- everyone kicks and swings together and it's easy to keep track of what all the players are doing.
I have a ton of long songs on this countdown (not just the prog ones!), including quite a few that take up an entire album side or close to it, but I believe this one is the longest at 26:53.
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krista4
Footballguy
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
76. All I Want -- Joni Mitchell (from Blue)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6NZ_2TuLf8
We go from a 27-minute song with all the horsepower jazz/rock fusion can throw at us to a 3.5-minute song whose lead instrument is dulcimer.
Blue is another album from 1971 that frequently shows up on "greatest of all time" lists, and for good reason. Not surprisingly, Tim and Bracie already plucked a bunch of songs from it. But they left opener All I Want, one of my favorites. It's one of the many songs on the album in which Joni wears her emotions on her sleeve. And here, the emotions are all over the place. We go from
Do you want, do you want, do you wanna dance with me baby?
Do you wanna take a chance on
Maybe finding some sweet romance with me, baby? Well come on
to:
Do you see, do you see, do you see how you hurt me, baby?
So I hurt you too
Then we both get so blue
But what's always hooked me is the melody, which I think is one of her best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6NZ_2TuLf8
We go from a 27-minute song with all the horsepower jazz/rock fusion can throw at us to a 3.5-minute song whose lead instrument is dulcimer.
Blue is another album from 1971 that frequently shows up on "greatest of all time" lists, and for good reason. Not surprisingly, Tim and Bracie already plucked a bunch of songs from it. But they left opener All I Want, one of my favorites. It's one of the many songs on the album in which Joni wears her emotions on her sleeve. And here, the emotions are all over the place. We go from
Do you want, do you want, do you wanna dance with me baby?
Do you wanna take a chance on
Maybe finding some sweet romance with me, baby? Well come on
to:
Do you see, do you see, do you see how you hurt me, baby?
So I hurt you too
Then we both get so blue
But what's always hooked me is the melody, which I think is one of her best.
zamboni
Footballguy
Reminds me that that I have to get Blue on vinyl. Bought an old turntable recently and spun Court and Spark this weekend - man that sounded good.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
75. Sister Anne -- MC5 (from High Time)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pSIswytZeY
While Kick Out the Jams and Back in the USA get more attention, my favorite MC5 album is their third and last, High Time. No longer under the influence of svengali managers and producers, the band was free to explore their own musical urges and did so astonishingly well. The best tracks combine the wild, chaotic sound of Kick Out the Jams with the controlled fury of Back in the USA. Sister Anne, the album opener, is a 7.5-minute opus about a horny nun that takes us through amped-up Chuck Berry-isms and harmonica duels before exploding in a cacophanous coda (that morphs into marching band music for some reason). Wild stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pSIswytZeY
While Kick Out the Jams and Back in the USA get more attention, my favorite MC5 album is their third and last, High Time. No longer under the influence of svengali managers and producers, the band was free to explore their own musical urges and did so astonishingly well. The best tracks combine the wild, chaotic sound of Kick Out the Jams with the controlled fury of Back in the USA. Sister Anne, the album opener, is a 7.5-minute opus about a horny nun that takes us through amped-up Chuck Berry-isms and harmonica duels before exploding in a cacophanous coda (that morphs into marching band music for some reason). Wild stuff.
rockaction
Footballguy
One of the most interesting bands ever. Rob Tyner belts it out. Brother Wayne Kramer slick with the licks. A brief but accurate band primer: https://www.thisisdig.com/feature/rob-tyner-mc5-singer-life-influence-legacy/
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
74. Statesboro Blues -- The Allman Brothers Band (from At Fillmore East)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnk0jijQVK4
I am hard-pressed to name a better live album than At Fillmore East, in which every second melts your face. The Allmans reinvent a variety of originals and covers with dazzling virtuosity and passion. Its track that has gotten the most radio play over the years is their cover of Statesboro Blues, which was written by Blind Willie McTell in 1928 and attracted the interest of the blues-rock scene when Taj Mahal released a modernized version of it in 1968; that arrangement provided the template for the Allmans' version. The slide guitar work by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts is ridiculous. If you care about "Rolling Stone garbage lists," as krista calls them, they ranked this #9 on their 2008 list of "greatest guitar songs of all time."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnk0jijQVK4
I am hard-pressed to name a better live album than At Fillmore East, in which every second melts your face. The Allmans reinvent a variety of originals and covers with dazzling virtuosity and passion. Its track that has gotten the most radio play over the years is their cover of Statesboro Blues, which was written by Blind Willie McTell in 1928 and attracted the interest of the blues-rock scene when Taj Mahal released a modernized version of it in 1968; that arrangement provided the template for the Allmans' version. The slide guitar work by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts is ridiculous. If you care about "Rolling Stone garbage lists," as krista calls them, they ranked this #9 on their 2008 list of "greatest guitar songs of all time."
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
73. No One to Depend On -- Santana (from Santana III)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyRmZe_9Z3I
Santana III, their last album featuring all of the original lineup, which marked the debut of a 16-year-old guitarist named Neal Schon, is every bit as good as their first two records but doesn't get quite as much attention. One of its best tunes is No One to Depend On, which is based on Willie Bobo's Spanish Grease and is guided by infectious drum and percussion motifs punctuated by stinging guitar solos from Santana and Schon. It's an enticing mixture of blues, rock and Latin music and made regular appearances on FM radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyRmZe_9Z3I
Santana III, their last album featuring all of the original lineup, which marked the debut of a 16-year-old guitarist named Neal Schon, is every bit as good as their first two records but doesn't get quite as much attention. One of its best tunes is No One to Depend On, which is based on Willie Bobo's Spanish Grease and is guided by infectious drum and percussion motifs punctuated by stinging guitar solos from Santana and Schon. It's an enticing mixture of blues, rock and Latin music and made regular appearances on FM radio.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
Pip's Invitation said:
i spent the entirety of 1971 without an address as a runaway, so i enjoyed its musical bounty by proxy. car radios, flops, communes, my longest residence was a church in Carmel CA turned into an experimental theater where i built props in exchange for sleeping backstage. everybody had record players but, because of the circumstances they were as likely to be portables on the coffee table or floor as cool stereo equipment on snazzy cinderblock shelves. such a gas that you could hear Emerson, Lake & Palmer, James Taylor, Santana, early Elton and Mahavishnu Orchestra in succession from student types diggin off a HowdyDoody turntable.
but the record that made them gather 'round, stop what they were doing and make a circle or whatever, was Blue. boy/girl. black/white, rich/poor, genius/dummy - this was the sound that had us all in common. never forget it...
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Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
72. The Musical Box -- Genesis (from Nursery Cryme)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4going_cOo
Nursery Cryme was the first Genesis album to feature Phil Collins and Steve Hackett, and they both make their presence felt on its opening and best track. The dynamics shift all over the place on this one, treating us to sections of pensive folk, raging rock and many things in between. This was also the song that inspired Peter Gabriel to start wearing costumes onstage -- he would change into them during the instrumental breaks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4going_cOo
Nursery Cryme was the first Genesis album to feature Phil Collins and Steve Hackett, and they both make their presence felt on its opening and best track. The dynamics shift all over the place on this one, treating us to sections of pensive folk, raging rock and many things in between. This was also the song that inspired Peter Gabriel to start wearing costumes onstage -- he would change into them during the instrumental breaks.
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wikkidpissah
Footballguy
my #1. not then, but NOW..NOW..NOW.NOW..NOW!!!!!.
when my baby sister visits, she & me 96yo Da request that i not sing along to the "NOW" song during prime viewing hours, cuz i apparently cant hold back. masterpiece - top 5 thing i've seen live (was at their first American concert, Brandeis College, early '72?)
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
I was less than 1 year old in early '72 so I had to settle for 1987 and 1992 at Veterans Stadium.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
71. Ezy Ryder -- Jimi Hendrix (from The Cry of Love)
The Hendrix estate hates Youtube so here's a link on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7ykAHaoptbCYaO0HAjpgcL?highlight=spotify:track:11t59LqOhOEG40yqALXZon
When Hendrix died in the fall of 1970, he was working on a double album with the working title First Rays of the New Rising Sun. 1971 saw the release of two separate albums of songs from those sessions, The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge. Ezy Rider is my favorite from that batch, and is one of the few studio recordings of the Band of Gypsys -- Hendrix, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. They had even played it at some of the shows from which their live album was taken. The song is much funkier than Hendrix' studio work had been up to that point, while still rocking the hell out, and suggests boundless possibilities for him to progress had he lived. The harmonies toward the end of the song are from Steve Winwood and his Traffic bandmate Chris Wood.
The Hendrix estate hates Youtube so here's a link on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7ykAHaoptbCYaO0HAjpgcL?highlight=spotify:track:11t59LqOhOEG40yqALXZon
When Hendrix died in the fall of 1970, he was working on a double album with the working title First Rays of the New Rising Sun. 1971 saw the release of two separate albums of songs from those sessions, The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge. Ezy Rider is my favorite from that batch, and is one of the few studio recordings of the Band of Gypsys -- Hendrix, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. They had even played it at some of the shows from which their live album was taken. The song is much funkier than Hendrix' studio work had been up to that point, while still rocking the hell out, and suggests boundless possibilities for him to progress had he lived. The harmonies toward the end of the song are from Steve Winwood and his Traffic bandmate Chris Wood.
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
love it! and a portion of those open licks reminded me of the opening of "Open My Eyes" by the Nazz.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
I knew there was a reason why I liked that track the best.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
70. Life Is a Carnival -- The Band (from Cahoots)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PuC7xyJsBQ
Cahoots was a major step down from The Band's first three albums and mostly feels sluggish. But its opening track bounces with excitement. It has a distinctly New Orleans feel in part due to horn arrangements by Alain Toussaint, and was the only track from the album featured in The Last Waltz (for which Toussaint also did the horn arrangements). It is also unusual in that writing credits for most originals after their first album went solely to Robbie Robertson, but this one is also credited to Levon Helm and Rick Danko, who share the lead vocal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PuC7xyJsBQ
Cahoots was a major step down from The Band's first three albums and mostly feels sluggish. But its opening track bounces with excitement. It has a distinctly New Orleans feel in part due to horn arrangements by Alain Toussaint, and was the only track from the album featured in The Last Waltz (for which Toussaint also did the horn arrangements). It is also unusual in that writing credits for most originals after their first album went solely to Robbie Robertson, but this one is also credited to Levon Helm and Rick Danko, who share the lead vocal.
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wikkidpissah
Footballguy
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
two of my first purchases when i finally had a room w a stereo again, early in '72. i had run away from home a few days after Hendrix died and i made the decision to split in the 48-hour acid haze by which i had mourned his passing. wanted to commune with his essence so badly, but few i visited in my travels had either of the albums.
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Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
69. Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants) -- James Brown (from Hot Pants)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWVWqIQgrf8
James Brown was still doing James Brown things in 1971. I like how the horns seem to be conversing with Brown on this one. The song may seem like it's objectifying, but it's not:
If you're thinkin' of losin' that feelin'
Then don't, ha
'Cause a woman got to use what she got
To get just what she wants hey!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWVWqIQgrf8
James Brown was still doing James Brown things in 1971. I like how the horns seem to be conversing with Brown on this one. The song may seem like it's objectifying, but it's not:
If you're thinkin' of losin' that feelin'
Then don't, ha
'Cause a woman got to use what she got
To get just what she wants hey!
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
68. Mandrill -- Mandrill (from Mandrill)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqqRwFaedlo
67. Melting Pot -- Booker T. and the MGs (from Melting Pot)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5oOQgiIwXI
These are two of the best instrumentals from 1971, from one brand-new band and another that had been around for a while.
Mandrill joins Talk Talk and a very few others among bands who named an album AND a song from it after themselves. The self-titled track that kicks off their self-titled debut album is a scorcher than combines rock, R&B and Latin elements, reminiscent of the stuff Santana had been putting out but quite distinct from it. It heralded a career of eclectic, compelling music from the talented outfit led by the three (later four) Wilson brothers.
Booker T. and the MGs had defined the Stax sound for years, but by 1971 they were tired of it and the Stax label itself. Changes at the Stax corporate office had disillusioned Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper to the point where they refused to record in Memphis and instead cut Melting Pot in NYC between tours; it would be the last record featuring the core foursome of Jones, Cropper, Duck Dunn and Al Jackson. The opening 8-minute title track, a shorter version of which was released as a single, is as funky as anything they ever did, but is more loose and adventurous than their best-known '60s material. It is a thrilling ride from start to finish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqqRwFaedlo
67. Melting Pot -- Booker T. and the MGs (from Melting Pot)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5oOQgiIwXI
These are two of the best instrumentals from 1971, from one brand-new band and another that had been around for a while.
Mandrill joins Talk Talk and a very few others among bands who named an album AND a song from it after themselves. The self-titled track that kicks off their self-titled debut album is a scorcher than combines rock, R&B and Latin elements, reminiscent of the stuff Santana had been putting out but quite distinct from it. It heralded a career of eclectic, compelling music from the talented outfit led by the three (later four) Wilson brothers.
Booker T. and the MGs had defined the Stax sound for years, but by 1971 they were tired of it and the Stax label itself. Changes at the Stax corporate office had disillusioned Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper to the point where they refused to record in Memphis and instead cut Melting Pot in NYC between tours; it would be the last record featuring the core foursome of Jones, Cropper, Duck Dunn and Al Jackson. The opening 8-minute title track, a shorter version of which was released as a single, is as funky as anything they ever did, but is more loose and adventurous than their best-known '60s material. It is a thrilling ride from start to finish.
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Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
66. Heart of the Sunrise -- Yes (from Fragile)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5XWOOOCg-U
As I said in the first post, 1971 was one of the peak years for prog, and there is no better example of that than Yes. In the early 70s they released three straight albums that were massively popular -- and remain so today -- and are considered some of the best that prog had to offer. The first two, The Yes Album and Fragile, came out in '71, but they were ignored on the previous two lists except for their most popular songs, I've Seen All Good People and Roundabout, respectively. So there's gonna be some Yes representation on this list.
Fragile's closer Heart of the Sunrise is at first propelled by a thunderous bass riff from Chris Squire but then drifts in and out of various motifs and time signatures; some of these motifs appear more than once throughout the 10-plus minutes of the track. It's a great example of what the band could do at the height of their powers before their heads got a little too far into the clouds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5XWOOOCg-U
As I said in the first post, 1971 was one of the peak years for prog, and there is no better example of that than Yes. In the early 70s they released three straight albums that were massively popular -- and remain so today -- and are considered some of the best that prog had to offer. The first two, The Yes Album and Fragile, came out in '71, but they were ignored on the previous two lists except for their most popular songs, I've Seen All Good People and Roundabout, respectively. So there's gonna be some Yes representation on this list.
Fragile's closer Heart of the Sunrise is at first propelled by a thunderous bass riff from Chris Squire but then drifts in and out of various motifs and time signatures; some of these motifs appear more than once throughout the 10-plus minutes of the track. It's a great example of what the band could do at the height of their powers before their heads got a little too far into the clouds.
Grace Under Pressure
Footballguy
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
The song I remember most from the only time I saw them (2003). Chris Squire's Rickenbacker bass shook the entire building.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
65. Man in Black -- Johnny Cash (from Man in Black)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il05Ovy5d1I
One of Johnny Cash's signature songs is a statement of purpose that crafted the image he purveyed for the rest of his career. It's a laundry list of sympathy for people without money, food, freedom and other essentials of life. "With the Vietnam War as painful in my mind as it was in most other Americans, I wore it 'in mourning' for the lives that could have been'," Cash said. "Apart from the Vietnam War being over, I don't see much reason to change my position ... The old are still neglected, the poor are still poor, the young are still dying before their time, and we're not making many moves to make things right. There's still plenty of darkness to carry off."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il05Ovy5d1I
One of Johnny Cash's signature songs is a statement of purpose that crafted the image he purveyed for the rest of his career. It's a laundry list of sympathy for people without money, food, freedom and other essentials of life. "With the Vietnam War as painful in my mind as it was in most other Americans, I wore it 'in mourning' for the lives that could have been'," Cash said. "Apart from the Vietnam War being over, I don't see much reason to change my position ... The old are still neglected, the poor are still poor, the young are still dying before their time, and we're not making many moves to make things right. There's still plenty of darkness to carry off."
zamboni
Footballguy
Might be Squire's best bass work, which is saying a ton. Basically serves a lead instrument.The song I remember most from the only time I saw them (2003). Chris Squire's Rickenbacker bass shook the entire building.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
i likes my music bigger than me, and i'm a pretty big dood. the 9th, St John's Passion, A-Train, Day in the Life, Meeting of the Spirits, Kashmir. Nobody made it bigger better than Yes.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
64. Monkberry Moon Delight -- Paul and Linda McCartney (from Ram)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I__NoPWSeFI
This is the most unhinged track on Ram, but I love it so. Paul sings like a constipated Little Richard, but his approach perfectly matches the all-over-the-place arrangement and wacky lyrics. And yet the melody is jaunty and memorable, as Paul tended to do. I said in the most recent Beatles countdown thread that one of the reasons this song appeals to me is that it would have made a GREAT Beatles song. It would have fit perfectly on the White Album. And just imagine how much better it would have sounded if John did the second vocal instead of Linda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I__NoPWSeFI
This is the most unhinged track on Ram, but I love it so. Paul sings like a constipated Little Richard, but his approach perfectly matches the all-over-the-place arrangement and wacky lyrics. And yet the melody is jaunty and memorable, as Paul tended to do. I said in the most recent Beatles countdown thread that one of the reasons this song appeals to me is that it would have made a GREAT Beatles song. It would have fit perfectly on the White Album. And just imagine how much better it would have sounded if John did the second vocal instead of Linda.
krista4
Footballguy
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63. Life's a Gas -- T. Rex (from Electric Warrior)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn6A5guR7bg
This is just as good an example of the appeals of Electric Warrior as the hits Bang a Gong (Get It On) and Jeepster, which appeared on Tim's list. The interspersing of gritty electric guitar with laid-back acoustic guitar and loping rhythm does a great job of conveying a blissed-out vibe that isn't too sugarcoated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn6A5guR7bg
This is just as good an example of the appeals of Electric Warrior as the hits Bang a Gong (Get It On) and Jeepster, which appeared on Tim's list. The interspersing of gritty electric guitar with laid-back acoustic guitar and loping rhythm does a great job of conveying a blissed-out vibe that isn't too sugarcoated.
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Also on the subject of The Beatles, as he played with John and George in the early '70s. He started really young and was "only" 72 at his death.
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60. Cowboy Movie -- David Crosby (from If I Could Only Remember My Name)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeZS3gpk2aI
61. Change Partners -- Stephen Stills (from Stephen Stills 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQLJveyV41k
62. Chicago -- Graham Nash (from Songs for Beginners)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxsQrZsqX0c
CSNY broke up in 1970 for a variety of ego-fueled reasons, including that Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were both in love with Rita Coolidge. While Neil was holed up with his back problems, C, S, and N all got busy with making solo albums that came out in '71 (the prolific Stills had already put one out in '70).
These are the best songs from each of those albums, and in "I can't quit you" fashion, their lyrics all refer to the other members of CSN(Y).
David Crosby's Cowboy Movie is a stinging, rustic tale of cowboys whose bond is broken by an "Indian Girl." It is in fact a thinly veiled metaphor for Coolidge's impact on CSNY. No matter how you want to characterize the imagery, what makes this song stand out is the spectacular lead guitar work of Jerry Garcia (he, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart from The Grateful Dead were the backing band on this track.)
Stills' Change Partners merges a graceful country rock backing track with lyrics that are again couched in metaphors. "It was about growing up in the south, attending the debutante balls, but Graham likes to refer to it as the Crosby, Stills & Nash theme song, which I suppose it is," Stills said, referring to the regular breakups, reunions and side projects in various combinations that occurred until their final breakup in 2016. Jerry Garcia surfaces again, this time on pedal steel guitar, and Crosby and Nash contribute backing vocals, because they probably knew this song was about them, didn't they, didn't they.
Nash's Chicago was his take on the turbulence of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and the subsequent trial of the Chicago Eight (later Seven). "Won't you please come to Chicago just to sing," however, is a refrain aimed at Stills and Young. Nash and Crosby had agreed to play a benefit concert for Chicago Eight defense fund, but Stills and Young did not want to join them, and the song is in part about Nash's attempts to convince them. Jerry Garcia does not appear on the uplifting, gospel-infused studio version, but Rita Coolidge does. And so we come full circle.
1971 also saw the release of the CSNY live album Four Way Street, recorded in 1970 just before their (first) breakup. It includes an anguished piano-ballad version of Chicago that I like better than the studio version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeZS3gpk2aI
61. Change Partners -- Stephen Stills (from Stephen Stills 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQLJveyV41k
62. Chicago -- Graham Nash (from Songs for Beginners)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxsQrZsqX0c
CSNY broke up in 1970 for a variety of ego-fueled reasons, including that Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were both in love with Rita Coolidge. While Neil was holed up with his back problems, C, S, and N all got busy with making solo albums that came out in '71 (the prolific Stills had already put one out in '70).
These are the best songs from each of those albums, and in "I can't quit you" fashion, their lyrics all refer to the other members of CSN(Y).
David Crosby's Cowboy Movie is a stinging, rustic tale of cowboys whose bond is broken by an "Indian Girl." It is in fact a thinly veiled metaphor for Coolidge's impact on CSNY. No matter how you want to characterize the imagery, what makes this song stand out is the spectacular lead guitar work of Jerry Garcia (he, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart from The Grateful Dead were the backing band on this track.)
Stills' Change Partners merges a graceful country rock backing track with lyrics that are again couched in metaphors. "It was about growing up in the south, attending the debutante balls, but Graham likes to refer to it as the Crosby, Stills & Nash theme song, which I suppose it is," Stills said, referring to the regular breakups, reunions and side projects in various combinations that occurred until their final breakup in 2016. Jerry Garcia surfaces again, this time on pedal steel guitar, and Crosby and Nash contribute backing vocals, because they probably knew this song was about them, didn't they, didn't they.
Nash's Chicago was his take on the turbulence of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and the subsequent trial of the Chicago Eight (later Seven). "Won't you please come to Chicago just to sing," however, is a refrain aimed at Stills and Young. Nash and Crosby had agreed to play a benefit concert for Chicago Eight defense fund, but Stills and Young did not want to join them, and the song is in part about Nash's attempts to convince them. Jerry Garcia does not appear on the uplifting, gospel-infused studio version, but Rita Coolidge does. And so we come full circle.
1971 also saw the release of the CSNY live album Four Way Street, recorded in 1970 just before their (first) breakup. It includes an anguished piano-ballad version of Chicago that I like better than the studio version.
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Also of note, while Rita Coolidge does not appear on Stephen Stills 2 (she had left Stills for Nash by the time of its recording), its second-best song, Sugar Babe, is about her.
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
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59. Free -- Chicago (from Chicago III)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VK77V4hWTo
Chicago III, like its two predecessors, was a double album. While their first two albums have experimental tracks, III has a bunch of them, and not too many ready-made singles. In fact, during 1971 the band's label reissued a couple of songs from Chicago Transit Authority as singles -- these appeared on Bracie's list. But Chicago III did yield a (just barely) top 20 single of its own in Free. It's a ball of fire that bursts forth for 2:18, combining the energies of jazz, rock and gospel.
I saw Chicago in 1995 on a double bill with CSN. This was the only song from III that they played.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VK77V4hWTo
Chicago III, like its two predecessors, was a double album. While their first two albums have experimental tracks, III has a bunch of them, and not too many ready-made singles. In fact, during 1971 the band's label reissued a couple of songs from Chicago Transit Authority as singles -- these appeared on Bracie's list. But Chicago III did yield a (just barely) top 20 single of its own in Free. It's a ball of fire that bursts forth for 2:18, combining the energies of jazz, rock and gospel.
I saw Chicago in 1995 on a double bill with CSN. This was the only song from III that they played.
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Footballguy
58. Light Up or Leave Me Alone -- Traffic (from The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-QKduja9wk
Traffic is primarily thought of as Steve Winwood's vehicle, but this track was written and sung by Jim Capaldi, and it's a barnburner. It's rocking and funky, and offers some great guitar licks from Winwood, especially in the instrumental coda that takes up most of the second half of the song.
When I saw Traffic on their 1994 reunion tour, Capaldi came out front to sing this and Rock and Roll Stew, his other lead vocal on Low Spark, which appeared on Bracie's list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-QKduja9wk
Traffic is primarily thought of as Steve Winwood's vehicle, but this track was written and sung by Jim Capaldi, and it's a barnburner. It's rocking and funky, and offers some great guitar licks from Winwood, especially in the instrumental coda that takes up most of the second half of the song.
When I saw Traffic on their 1994 reunion tour, Capaldi came out front to sing this and Rock and Roll Stew, his other lead vocal on Low Spark, which appeared on Bracie's list.
zamboni
Footballguy
The only traffic worth sitting in. I could look it up, but how many songs off Low Spark were drafted in the previous 1971 countdowns?
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
i hope i can do this caricature justice. there was this greasy loser dood in my school, using the fact that he was largely unsupervised at home (space to makeout with your chick - we werent old enuff to drive yet - or enjoy some contraband was rare in those days) to glomm onto a lot of social scenes. apparently, after i ran away, some drug dealers used his place for a deal and somehow it all went hinky and this kid ended up with a pile of drugs with no one left to contend its ownership. guy was soooo stoopit that having the perfect cover at home no longer worked for him and he quit school and used his bounty to rent a floor of an abandoned warehouse and turn it into his Factory. when i returned home, everybody kept tellin me i had to check out Skinner's crash down on Water St. of course, i'd been out in the widewildworld, so my bar was a little higher, but it was little more than loosely-cordoned, springbare couches & mattresses, lotsa losers lookin for someone to cut and an actual reason why, large amounts of drugs that had been stepped on more than a nerd's face and the VIP Room - more couches with black&white stag films running constantly and this Skinner kid presiding over it all. apparently, he'd decided that Marc Bolan was the epitome of personhood and gone glam as a result. iirc, there was even an accent involved. cant hear a TRex song without flashing back to 40s porn clattering on a 16mm projector, the stench of ditchweed and and a skeezix in robes & a Patton helmet as HippieKing of Beverly.Pip's Invitation said:
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