Descending To Weirdness
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... It was an unlikely hit single. The first track on Leon Russell's 1972 album "Carney', "Tightrope" cracked the Top 15 despite Russell's quirky voice and persona. Russell, a native Oklahoman, who had headed to LA in the 60's and became a sought a...
Jun 09, 2022
Get Down, Get Funky
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... They called him the "Hardest Working Man In Show Business" and by 1972 James Brown had already released 32 albums. #33 was called "There It Is". If you only know Brown from this.... it's time to branch out.... Lots of goodness and some cloy...
Jun 08, 2022
Rock & Roll Can Accomodate....Anything
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... With all of the weird and avant-garde music that has been recorded in the last 50 years it may be hard to appreciate how really "out there" the band Roxy Music was when their debut LP came out in the spring of 1972. The band didnt even have a record ...
Jun 07, 2022
Prelude To Greatness
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... In 1972 the band was already working on what would be their masterpiece. Pink Floyd was in the studio cutting tracks that became "Dark Side of The Moon" when they were asked to score a french film called "La Vallee". The band had done music...
Jun 06, 2022
Sardonic Social Commentary
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... Before he was winning Oscars for songs in animated hit films, singer-songwriter Randy Newman was delivering satirical, sardonic insights into the human condition and answering what he saw as rampant hypocrisy in the USA. His 1972 Lp "Sail Away" was ...
Jun 02, 2022
Underrated Soul Man
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Take the grooves of Al Green...mix in the funk of James Brown....add the backing of the pros from Muscle Shoals and you have a tasty slice of Southern soul from Bobby Womack...his fourth LP, "Understanding" released in 1972. Womack maybe doesnt get t...
Jun 01, 2022
Tasty Band, Tasty Album
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Some say it's their best studio album. I like "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" more but I can understand the love for "Sailin Shoes", the second Little Feat LP which was released in 1972. Lowell George, Bill Payne and company have made a more acce...
May 31, 2022
No Sophomore Jinx
We continue our loook back at the music of 50 years ago..... The second album from musical artists who were successful with their debut records are always interesting. Can they do it again? Will they change what got them there or stay with the formula? Will success allow them to invest more time and money in the projec...
May 27, 2022
One Last Fling
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... By 1971-72 the genre of country-rock was in full swing. There wer any number of bands working the borderline between twangy country and a rock beat. It had all started years earlier mostly in Southern California when the Byrds released 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo...
May 26, 2022
An Enjoyable Aural Experience
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... This will be a new one for most of you...as it was for me when I played it for the first time last week. The 4th album from the English band Caravan was called 'Waterloo Lily and it's a joy to hear. The band is led by guitarist-vocalist Pye Hastings (has there...
May 25, 2022
An Iconic Sound Goes Through Changes
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... By 1972 the iconic sound that had been put together 10 years earlier in Torrance California was on life support. The heart & soul of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, was busy with other things and had little time to contribute to their latest record, 'Carl &a...
May 24, 2022
Turning A Corner
We contine our look back at the music of 50 years ago.... 1972 was the year it all came together for the band Uriah Heep. They had made some lineup changes, adding bassist Gary Thain and drummer Lee Kerslake to the solid core of guitarist Mick Box, Keyboard/singer Ken Hensley and lead vocalist David Byron. This group l...
May 23, 2022
When Is A Solo LP, Not A Solo LP?
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... When Warner Brothers records signed them to a new contract, one of the codicils was that the individual members of the Grateful Dead could cut solo albums. We reviewed Jerry Garcia's earlier and will get to drummer Mickey Hart's later. Today it's guitarist Bob...
May 20, 2022
High End Bubblegum
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago.... Do you remember the term "bubblegum music" . a Google search comes up with this definition.... Bubblegum pop songs hinged on upbeat melodies, simple lyrics with sing-along choruses, and danceable rhythms. The term "bubblegum rock" refers to ...
May 19, 2022
Not For Everyone
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... We have said before that the 70's explosion of "fusion jazz" was not for everyone. And today's album is a perfect example. "I Sing The Body Electric", the second LP from the group Weather Report, featured a new drummer but the same aural ex...
May 18, 2022
And The Rhythm Section Shall Lead Them
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Before joining his brothers for a nice run in the 80's and 90's, Art Neville fronted a New Orleans outfit known as The Meters. The band is credited with helping popularize funk music in the late 60's and early 70's. Their 1972 LP was called "Cabbage Alley...
May 17, 2022
Core Group Leads To Signature Sound
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... He had already released four LPs....the last two critically acclaimed and filled with great songs. But he hadn't put it all together and reached #1 in America. That would change for Elton John in 1972 with the release of Honky Chateau. This album, was the also...
May 16, 2022
Slinging The Blues
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... Most "live" albums were in-concert versions of the hits from an artists studio records...but sometimes, especially if the artist really doesnt have hits, a "live" record can be something else. Case in point..."Live In Europe" fro...
May 13, 2022
Quirky Voice But Can Really Pick It
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... He learned his licks from the legendary Rev. Gary Davis while attending Columbia University in the 60's. He played solo shows at the coffee houses of Greenwich Village but also made a name playing behind other folks on guitar, dobro, pedal steel, fiddle and ju...
May 12, 2022
Renegades Of Funk
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... The funk camp of the 70's fell into two camps....the polished sheen of Earth, Wind & Fire and that ilk...and the gritty chaos of George Clinton's P-Funk empire. In 1972, Parliament-Funkadelic had not reached it's zenith yet, but did manage to release the ...
May 11, 2022
Woefully Under-Rated
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago....... I don't know wht this band wasn't bigger. Why this, their third release, was their last until a retrospective was put out in 1993. But in 1972, "Castles" by the Northern California outfit known as Joy of Cooking was egregiously ignored. The band is...
May 10, 2022
Ax Man Spreads Out
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... 1972 saw the final album release for what was called the Jeff Beck Group. The self-titled LP was a mixture of blues-rock and the more fusion type stuff that Beck would pursue on his solo records through the rest of the 70's It was the second LP for this config...
May 09, 2022
Uplifting Message, Funky Groove
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... The crossover of secular and gospel reached an apogee in the late 60s-early 70's with the ascendency of the Staple Singers. Pops and his daughters, Mavis, Cleotha & Yvonne released the LP "BeAltitude" and it was a doozy. Backed by the Muscle Sho...
May 06, 2022
A Familiar Voice Is Not Enough
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... After a decade with folk label Vanguard, the iconic voice of Joan Baez moved to A&M Records aiming for more commercial sound. The move did not mean a change from the topical material she would record, although making the record in Nashville with all those ...
May 05, 2022
A Confident Guy
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It takes some confidence as a 21 year old member of a successful rock band to leave and strike out on your own. That's exactly what guitarist Peter Frampton did in 1971. He left Humble Pie to do his own thing and the first solo LP, "Wind Of Change" a...
May 04, 2022
Slow Jams & Pop-Funk
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... It was their last LP for Buddah before moving up to the big time on Epic records and their coming funk popularity of the mid to late 70's. In 1972 the Isley Brothers released "Brother, Brother, Brother". The album continues their trend of mixing ori...
May 03, 2022
A Remarkably High Standard
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... There have been artists that have strung together a series of records that stand out from not only the crowd, but their own stellar work. Think Dylan's mid 60's period with "Bringing It All Back Home, "Hwy 61 Revisited" and "Blonde On Blond...
May 02, 2022
Raising Up Others
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... One of the early successes of the singer-songwriter era was New Englander Tom Rush. He had a series of critically acclaimed albums in the mid to late 60's. The LPs were full of his own songs but he also became notable for cutting the songs of some of the up an...
Apr 29, 2022
More Hits
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... If you were spinning your transistor radio dial in 1972...you heard these gems emanating from the tiny little speaker....on WIFC, WRIG, WSPT...or wherever you called home. Where Is The Love-Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway.....there have been many duets sung over...
Apr 28, 2022
A Vacation To Bourbon Street
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... If you can't afford a vacation to New Orleans, put "Dr. John's Gumbo" and be transported. The 1972 album was his fifth and solidified his place as the purveyor of Bayou goodness and good-time Crescent City partying. The Dr (aka Mac Rebenack) only pen...
Apr 27, 2022
English Folk Music Hits Different
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... There is just something different about English folk music to these American ears. We have been weaned on Pete Seeger & Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan & John Prine, Joan Baez and Phil Ochs. So when you put someone like Richard Thompson on the turntable, you'...
Apr 26, 2022
The Band That Got Away
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... You can make the argument (and I will) that the parts were better than the whole when it came to supergroup Crosby, Stills Nash & Young. Neil's solo albums, the duo work of David and Graham and the solo records of Stephen were better than alot of the stuff...
Apr 25, 2022
Folkie Goes Pop
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... For every successful singer-songwriter in the 1970's, there were a dozen others trying to make it. Both newbies and vets like Buffy St. Marie who released the LP "Moonshot" in 1972. St. Marie, born to Cree parents on a reservation in Saskatchewan Can...
Apr 22, 2022
Messy End For Classic Band
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... After a bunch of hits and successful concert tours, the band Creedence Clearwater Revival were on their last legs in 1972 and it was mostly self-inflicted. Tom Fogerty had left the band and bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford had demanded more input int...
Apr 21, 2022
Street Poetry
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Is it odd that a consummate New Yorker like Lou Reed would record his first solo album in London? Is it even weirder that Reed would employ prog-rockers Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe from Yes on the record? Both are odd enough for me even though Howe adds some t...
Apr 20, 2022
A Last Gasp
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... You best know them by this.......from 1971 The trio of Tony Ashton (keyboards & vocals), Kim Gardner (bass) and Roy Dyke (drums) augmented by guitarist Mick Liber and hornmen John Mumford and Dave Caswell could not follow up that hit but did release anothe...
Apr 19, 2022
Honing Their Licks
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... One of the things about popular music of the 70's was the vast array of styles...and the fact that you knew who you were listening to within a few notes of almost any song. Case in point...that "lil ole band from Texas", ZZ Top. Their second LP, &quo...
Apr 18, 2022
Chip Off The Old Block
We continue our loook back at the music of 50 years ago..... Being a folk-singer has always been a chancy proposition. Especially since Bob Dylan appeared on the scene in the early 60's. There has always been the "next" Dylan coming. Many have been shackled with the name...some survived and prospered...some d...
Apr 15, 2022
Let's Jam
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago.... After having the biggest hit of his career in 1971 (Do You Know What I Mean?), Lee Michaels went back to what he liked best. Blues based jams on his keyboards and guitar. And this time he added talented ax-man Drake Levin to his crew along with bassist Joel Chr...
Apr 14, 2022
English To The Core
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... There are some bands that just ooze the place they come from. The Kinks are one of those bands. After the band signed with RCA Records in 1971, their old label, Reprise, hired journalist and Kinks fan John Mendelson to put together a retrospective of their wor...
Apr 13, 2022
Hippie Country Is Fine
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago.... The second album from the hippie-country rock band New Riders of The Purple Sage has some nice surprises. "Powerglide" not only delivers the steel guitar driven country sound that we heard on the band's debut...they also drop in some funky, R&B as...
Apr 12, 2022
Long Delayed "Overnight Sensation"
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago... I remember exactly where I was on the night of September 20th, 1973. We were rehearsing the Wausau East school play "The Fantastiks" at the John Muir Auditorium. The radio was playing during a break and we heard the terrible news that Jim Croce had bee...
Apr 11, 2022
Crunchy Canadian Rock
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Canada was a fertile ground for successful artists in America in the late 60's-early 1970's. Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young were among those working the singer-songwriter vein while the Guess Who led the way on the charts. You can certainly tel...
Apr 08, 2022
Leaving A Hit Machine Behind
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... In 1972 the band Blood, Sweat & Tears released one of the greatest "Greatest Hits" LPs ever. Stuffed with excellent tunes, it served as a wrap-up for the first David Clayton-Thomas era of the band as the lead vocalist of the group headed out for ...
Apr 07, 2022
A Swingin Sound
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Another LP today that was not on my radar in 1972. It didn't get radio play around here and although I might have heard "of" Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks, I had never heard their music. It's my loss. This stuff is groovy, baby. The Bay area group is...
Apr 06, 2022
With A Little Help From His Friends
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... If you listen to the "Layla" from Derek & The Dominoes you know Bobby Whitlock. His fingerprints are allo over that classic LP, writing or co-writing seven of the albums fourteen tracks and delivering his soulful keyboard work and vocals to big c...
Apr 05, 2022
Twin Guitar Goodness
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago......... Before there were the twin guitar attacks of Lynyrd Skynyrd & The Outlaws...there was Wishbone Ash. Their 1972 LP "Argus" was a magnificent example of the ringing dual lead guitars from Andy Powell and Ted Turner. Along with Martin Turner on ...
Apr 04, 2022
Power Pop Pioneers
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... How many bands do you know that have the best song they ever did be the first song on their debut record? I would imagine the list is short but would have to include the Raspberries. The Cleveland outfit debuted in April of 1972 and from the first notes of &qu...
Apr 01, 2022
Southern Fried Goodness
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... When we think of the genre of Southern Rock what springs to mind? Allman Bros, Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynrd & Charlie Daniels right? But the 1972 album Together Again (originally called Country Life) from Delaney & Bonnie & Friends was there at ...
Mar 31, 2022
An Old Dog Returns
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... When Don McLean sang in American Pie about "the day the music died" he, of course was referring to the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. But he was also referring to what, in his mind was the death of the kind o...
Mar 30, 2022
A Different Kind Of Rock
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... I'm not quite sure how to describe the 2nd Lp from the Irish trio known as Thin Lizzy. "Shades of a Blue Orphanage", which was released in 1972, really doesnt fit into any easy pigeon-holes. The songs are a melange of styles with no discernible patte...
Mar 29, 2022
The Parts As Strong As The Whole
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... You could argue that from 1968-1971 there were few bands bigger than Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Their albums sold millions...their tours sold out....they could do no wrong...until their egos decided they could not work together anymore and they went th...
Mar 28, 2022
Choosing Good Material
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... I never paid much attention to Three Dog Night outside of their radio hits. Never bought one of their albums and never dove too deep into the tunes they recorded. They seemed to me to be a bubble-gum radio band and not much more. I was wrong. I should of known...
Mar 25, 2022
Back To Basics
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It is viewed now as one of the better "live" recordings of all time. The English band Slade had a couple of hits in the US later in their career...( you are all familiar with the covers of Cum On Feel The Noize and Mama, We're All Crazee Now by Quiet...
Mar 24, 2022
A Different Side Of A Teen Idol
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... One of the biggest TV stars of the late 50's-early 60's continued his remake in 1972 as Rick Nelson released the Lp "Garden Party" with his group the Stone Canyon Band. Nelson had left his teen idol days behind with a series of seminal country-rock ...
Mar 23, 2022
The Eclectic Nature of 70's Radio Hits
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Top 40 radio in 1972 gave you the varied and sometimes clashing contrasts of popular music. Hip and Unhip alike were found on the charts and heard by millions on their transistor radios (kids ask your parents or grandparents). Here is a sampling of the radio ...
Mar 22, 2022
Aptly Titled
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It was his show now. After the departure of Peter Frampton, the leader of the band Humble Pie was unquestionably Steve Marriot. On the 1972 break-through LP Smokin', he sings, plays rhythm guitar, harmonica and keyboards, wrote 6 of the songs and produced the ...
Mar 21, 2022
Introspection Honed To A Sharp Edge
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Nobody did depression, loneliness and loss quite like Harry Chapin...and he did it right out of the chute starting with his debut LP "Heads & Tales" released in 1972. You might only know this album from the single "Taxi"...the hit that ...
Mar 18, 2022
Defying Genre
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... One of the great early, live records of the 1970s...a decade that saw everybody release double-live records, is one you might have missed...and it's a killer. The second LP from Edgar Winter's White Trash was a double live set taken from concerts at the Apollo...
Mar 17, 2022
More Than A Side Hustle
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It began as a side hustle for guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady from the regular gig with Jefferson Airplane. They had added violinist Papa John Creach and drummer Sammy Piazza to fill out the sound and had released two "live" LPs earl...
Mar 16, 2022
A Band By Any Other Name
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... When is a band no longer a band? In 1972 the LA based band Spirit had splintered. Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes had left to form Jo Jo Gunne, Randy California went off to record a solo record. So, that left drummer Ed Cassidy and keyboardist John Locke as the on...
Mar 15, 2022
Midwestern Prog
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Bill Traut was the head of Wooden Nickel Records based in Chicago. His regional label had a national distribution deal with RCA. He had been looking for a band that could tap into the current trend of what was called "progressive rock" coming out of ...
Mar 14, 2022
Shimmering Beauty
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It's hard to believe that the debut LP for Pure Prairie League didn't make them stars in early 1972. It took the aptly named "Bustin Out" with the iconic tune "Amie", later in the year to do it. But that doesn't take away from how good this...
Mar 11, 2022
Rockin' Horns
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... The second LP for the horn driven band Chase was a disappointment to the record company. Epic pressed a ton of copies thinking the band could replicate the success of the debut LP the previous year. It didn't happen. The music is good. A hard driving rock band...
Mar 10, 2022
Troubled Soul Leaves On A High Note
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... From the iconic album art to the solid music within..."Bare Trees", the sixth LP from Fleetwood Mac delivers the goods. Unfortunately it was the last album for guitarist Danny Kirwan who suffered a nervous breakdown during the subsequent tour and was...
Mar 09, 2022
A Bit Self-Indulgent But Still Good
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... It was a turning point for the 21 year old Stevie Wonder. He had a new contract with Motown that gave him total creative control on his recorded output. He had also discovered the TONTO synthesizer used by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff and he brought th...
Mar 04, 2022
The Final Testament Of A Doomed Poet
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It's an age old story...an artist is ignored during his life only to find that his work becomes more widely followed after his death. Case in point....British folk singer Nick Drake who released his final LP, Pink Moon in February of 1972. And, what's funny is...
Mar 03, 2022
A Surprise Hit
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... I jumped the queue with this one due to the death last week of Gary Brooker., the keyboard and front man for the English band Procol Harum died of cancer last week at the age of 76. In 1971 the band was invited to play a concert in Edmonton Alberta Canada with...
Mar 02, 2022
Prog-Folk? Why Not?
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... The early 70's were the hey-day for progressive rock music. Yes, ELP, King Crimson and dozens of other bands were working in the genre. Well, how about a progressive-folk-rock band? Introduce yourself to McKendree Spring. The band, founded at Adirondack Commun...
Mar 01, 2022
Adversity Leads To Classic
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... They had left England to record their next LP for tax reasons. They gathered in Montreaux Switzerland in December of 1971 with plans to record at the Montreaux Casino as it was closing for the winter. There was one last show at the venue...a matinee performanc...
Feb 28, 2022
Jerry Helps His Friends
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... I've told you that one of the joys of reviewing all of this old music is discovering albums I never listened to the first time around. Today is another one. Merl Saunders was a keyboard man who has worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra to BB King to Miles Da...
Feb 25, 2022
A Solid Side Project
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago....... In 1972 the band Traffic was on hiatus as leader Steve Winwood battled peritonitis. To fill the time band member Jim Capaldi released a solo record called "Oh, How We Danced". It was a solid solo effort backed, not only by his Traffic mates, but th...
Feb 24, 2022
The King Soldiers On
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... He was an aging superstar...once the King of rock & roll...now almost a parody of himself and filling showrooms in Vegas. Few were as unhip in the music world as Elvis in 1972...and yet he was still releasing albums including "Elvis Now" I had no...
Feb 23, 2022
LA Cool
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... In the early 70's the LA based band the Jazz Crusaders dropped the "Jazz" from their name...presumably to attract a bigger audience. They still worked in a jazz oeuvre but also incorporated elements of funk, R&B and even rock into their stuff. Be...
Feb 22, 2022
Flipping Off The Critics
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...... It was a pimp on the critics. Ian Anderson had not liked how critics had responded to Jethro Tull's last LP "Aqualung" as a "concept LP". He responded by writing and recording 'Thick As A Brick", released in 1972. The album art was de...
Feb 21, 2022
Going Solo
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... He was still a member of his band "The Youngbloods" as he recorded his first solo record in 1972. Perry Miller, known professionally as Jesse Colin Young, was a sweet voiced singer-songwriter who had performed as a solo act early in his career. He jo...
Feb 18, 2022
Born To Be Mild
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... By 1972 it became apparent that John Kay wanted to break away from his hard-rockin Steppenwolf persona. The man who had growled out The Pusher and Magic Carpet Ride and, of course, Born to Be Wild, wanted his first solo record to be a bit different. So, even t...
Feb 17, 2022
Both Weird and Mainstream At The Same Time
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago.... He's an interesting case study. A folkie who led Hoot Night at the Troubadour in the early 60's. A reluctant actor who played dumb on mid-60's TV. A pioneer in both country-rock music and video technology which eventually led to MTV. He's Michael Nesmith who, a...
Feb 16, 2022
Telling A Story
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Concept albums are a mixed bag. When they work (The Wall, 2112, The Who-Sell Out) they can be excellent...when they don't work they will sound pretentious and dull. Let's say that "Grave New World", the 1972 LP from the Strawbs falls somewhere in bet...
Feb 15, 2022
Canadian Troubadour Delivers Again
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It didn't really break any new ground but in 1972, the 8th original LP from Gordon Lightfoot, "Don Quixote", really didn't have to. Lightfoot was in strong voice and the songs were right in his wheelhouse. Songs about the pleasures of his Canadian h...
Feb 14, 2022
Lost In The 50's Tonight
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... From the black and white cover...to the choice of cover songs and even some of the originals, Burton Cummings and the Guess Who were channeling their childhoods in the 1950s with this collection of tunes. It was the last LP for guitarist Greg Leskiw who, along...
Feb 11, 2022
Spacy, Weird & Challenging
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It ain't for everybody. I realize that late 60's-early 70's fusion jazz is not everyone's cup of tea. I agree but sometimes this challenging music finds it's way onto your musical palate and the taste won't drive you away. Pianist Herbie Hanock, after leaving ...
Feb 10, 2022
Back To Basics
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... One of the surprise radio hits of 1971 was a re-make of the song 'I Hear You Knocking" by Welch guitarist Dave Edmunds. He included it on his first solo record called "Rockpile" released in early 1972. If you had heard of Dave Edmunds before it ...
Feb 09, 2022
Dredging Up Some Music History
We continue our look back at the music of 5o years ago..... Before it had a name...Americana (or roots music) if you prefer, we simply called it folk music. In 1972 noted guitarist Ry Cooder released an eclectic LP of old songs called "Into The Purple Valley" Mining the folk tradition the songs ranged from Wo...
Feb 08, 2022
Simplicity Begats A Winner
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago.... In Nashville to do the Johnny Cash TV show, Neil Young was ready to record some of the songs he's been singing in concert for a few months. He told producer Eliot Mazer all he needed were a bass player, a drummer and a pedal steel player. Most musicians were wo...
Feb 07, 2022
Wonderful Feeling
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Part of the appeal of music is how it makes you feel. You can feel joy and sadness, pathos and rage sometimes on the same record. Good music can make you think...can make you feel...can make you dance. And when you find a band that brings you joy, embrace the ...
Feb 04, 2022
Don't Buy My Record
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago... The solo career of fromer Traffic member Dave Mason took a slight detour in 1971 when he recorded an LP with pal Cass Eliott. He was prepared to make a big splash in 1972 with what he envisioned as a double LP with one record of new studio songs and one record o...
Feb 03, 2022
A Hunk Of Burning Hits
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago...and today focus on some hit singles from 1972.... Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) -Looking Glass Before it became a running gag in the Guardians of The Galaxy movie. This sparkling pop tune went to #1 for the band Looking Glass. A test pressing was put on the radio i...
Feb 02, 2022
Mellow Mood
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... He came out of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 60's. A politically aware troubadour, a contemporary of Dylan and the rest. Eric Andersen touched the edge of the musical consciousness without every really breaking through. Other, more popular arti...
Feb 01, 2022
Overreach...But Still Good
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Some two-record sets deserve the expanded format...others do not. As critically acclaimed as the Todd Rundgren Lp "Something/Anything" is, I believe it has enough fat on it that it could be edited down to one outstanding record and nobody could compl...
Jan 31, 2022
Midwestern Funk
We continue our look at the music of 50 years ago...... The music is pure 70's funk...and the album cover was something we had never seen before...and some would rather we never see it...it was the LP "Pain" from the Ohio Players released in February of 1972. Before they hit the singles charts with Fire &...
Jan 28, 2022
Short-Sighted Record Company Makes It Tough
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... It might have been different for a cover artist. Someone who didn't have to come up with another album of original songs so quickly. When Kris Kristofferson released the LP "Border Lord" in early 1972 it was his 3rd album in 20 months...and the first...
Jan 27, 2022
Sometimes It Only Takes One Cut
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Sometimes one song is enough to make an album a worthy purchase. Such is the case with the title track from Savoy Brown's 8th LP, "HellBound Train". The song chugs along with an underlying of menace. You can almost see and hear the skeletons of the d...
Jan 26, 2022
Getting Back Home
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... For those of you who only know trumpeter Hugh Masakela for instrumental covers of pop hits like "Grazing In The Grass", the 1972 LP 'Home is Where The Music Is" should be a revelation. It shows Masakela playing the bop-fusion he was comfortable ...
Jan 25, 2022
Remembering A Brother
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... There was some question after the death of Duane Allman, if the Allman Brothers Band would continue. They answered that question emphatically early in 1972 with "Eat A Peach". It was an immediate success and went to #4 on the Billboard Album charts. ...
Jan 24, 2022
Youngster On The Rise
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Word is, the 1972 release "Got To Be There" was supposed to be a Jackson Five album until Berry Gordy decided to capitalize on Michael's popularity before his voice changed and make it his first solo record. He brought all the power of Motown to bear...
Jan 21, 2022
Latino Jams
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... San Francisco was certainly a fertile ground for all kinds of music in the late 60's and early 70's. One of the bands that debuted in 1972 was Malo. They were fronted by Arcelio Garcia Jr, Richard Bean and Abel Zarate and featured Carlos Santana's brother Jorg...
Jan 20, 2022
Tasty Pickin'
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... I'm betting that many of you have heard of Leo Kottke but how many of you have listened to his records? Today we visit his 1972 release 'Greenhouse". For those of you new to the Kottke party, he is without doubt, one of the best finger picking acoustic gu...
Jan 19, 2022
The Mystery Of Songwriting
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Songwriters have always fascinated me. It's a mysterious talent that is hard to understand. The marriage of music and lyric...whether its something simple or profound...or sometimes both....is something that "I've never been able to grasp, as hard as I've...
Jan 18, 2022
Surviving Do Wah Diddy
We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago..... Moving on from the nonsense pop smash that was Do Wah Diddy, Manfred Mann' self-titled LP "Manfred Mann's Earth Band" brought the keyboardist into the realm of prog-rock and delivered a surprisingly entertaining set. One reviewer calls it " the ...
Jan 17, 2022