Sunday 28 February 2016

Flying Burrito Brothers (1971) Colarado

When Rick Roberts joined  the Burritos replaced the bands founding front man, the charismatic cowboy Gram Parsons he proved he had just as much gravitas as a singer songwriter. This being the best example the tender wailing ode to the Centennial state is deeply felt thanks to his strong voice.  Sneaky Pete Kleinows pedal steel is as always a formidable presence. This ballad proved Gram wasn't the only one who could carry country heartache so vividly.



Thursday 25 February 2016

Jackson Five (1973) Reflections‏

A remake to a certain extent of The Supremes hit, The Jacksons often did new versions of Motown classics rather than their own originals possibly to introduce The Motown standards to a new generation. The original was a classic 60's soul hit invigorated by some wailing, dissonant Moogs oscillating like a Sonar signal adding a coldness to their urban soul. This song supplants this with bubbly vocal whoops, a strong rock back beat and some Arcade Machine sounding synthesizers pinging around. 

Michael's vocal wins over Jermaine's with a powerfully, clear vocal that should make his younger days seem like his vocal peak challenging the Motown older guard with his veteran inflections. This is despite being under half the age of his fellow contemporary artists and sounding utterly more convincing and soulful for someone much fresher faced; makes you wonder where did all this soul come from.




Otis Clay (1972) You Can't Keep Running From My Love

Clays strained vocal delivery and indelible melodies were simple and we're some of the best Hi Records had to offer his songs just as any of Al Greens and the difference is his Trying to Live my Life LP is stronger compositionally than any Memphis soul star.



Monday 22 February 2016

Poco (1972) I Can See Everything

'If it seems to you that I am fading' begins this incredibly soulful entry from Poco about facing up to a partner losing interest. One of Timothy B Schmidt's patented incandescent, dreamlike paens to a distant lover, part of a long line of hits like Here We Go Again and I Can't Tell You Why.  His crystalline clear high vocals perfect for Poco's country pop, this is a startling track, far more adventurous then the Standard Poco/Eagles country rock formulas this mixes Schmidt's wonderfully smooth vocals with rootsy acoustic guitars and bouncy tablas in a typical 60's blend of genres. Poco had a knack for creating songs that blurred the lines of genres and didn't deserve the country label at times, this song has more Smokey Robinson style RnB then twangy, pedal steel licks.


Styx (1977) Superstars

Tommy Shaw now in the band as a singer as well as guitarist saw him contribute this effort. A galvanising chorus mixed with resonant verses, a tribute to the girl 'of the 14th row'. It feels like a bona fide rockstar anthem with the turbo jet fuelled harmonies. The band had just started playing arenas and their mix of heavy guitar riffs, virtuoso keyboard fills, tight rhythms,  Dennis Deyoung' theatrical vocals and harmony stacks chimed with the late 70s rock scene of bands like Kansas and Journey who started in prog rock.


Sunday 21 February 2016

Medicine Head (1971) And the Pictures in the Sky‏

Built around the duo of guitarist drummer John Fiddler' and Peter Hope Evans' harmonica and Jewish harp whilst also using studio musicians,  Medicine Head come off like a blues rock Steely Dan or a 70s Black Keys. Starting with an oddly compressed kick drum beat before the standard rock n roll guitars come in. The laidback hummed vocal melody and post hippie haze made this a simple hit in the early 70s sounding a bit like T Rex stripped of the glam vocals and thick orchestra.

Sunday 14 February 2016

Eddie Hinton (1978) You Got Me Singin

 From his hidden masterpiece, Very Extremely Dangerous, Eddie Hinton's brand of Deep Soul is best displayed here on this late 70s cut. Starting as the guitarist for the classic The Swampers, house band for the famous Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama. He added creative guitar licks to many southern soul records but he also proved on his 1978 album he was just as strong as an artist in his own right. While the Memphis deep soul had slowed down by the end of the 70s as slick funk and Disco grooves took off, here he balances a mix of  Bobby Womack patented, oriental slide guitar with Stax horns and his own raspy wail. It sounds like it was an inspiration for The Eagles' Glenn Frey's first solo hit "I've Found Somebody" and clearly wasn't appreciated enough by critics, but he kept the Deep Soul alive on this record.





Saturday 13 February 2016

Bar Kays (1979) Running In And Out Of My Life

From their dance heavy 1979 LP Injoy, this pop ballad begins with a light bubblegum synthesizer before an orchestra enters. The high lead vocals communicate the song's weariness with a soulful fervour and works well with the soft rock strings flowing underneath along with punctuations of the groups' sax and horns. The strong pop feel mixes with the song's lyrics in a bittersweet melody, the lead vocalist's shrill delivery and the surging ARP keyboard solo make this a flavourful track . Starting as Otis Redding's backing band in the mid 60s they went on to become one of the toughest soul groups around, smaller than Parliament Funkadelic and Kool and the Gang and with a rawer sound than KC and the Sunshine Band.


Friday 12 February 2016

Poco (1972) A Good Feelin to Know

Aside from the Eagles,  country rock bands never took off in to mainstream popularity however this gem from their 1972 LP is one of many songs that puzzle the mind about why Poco never experienced the chart topping success of their LA contemporaries. The band was Richie Furay's peak, here the sighing drawl along with the chugging country western rhythm sounds incredibly fresh and like modern pop rock. While the very high vocals of Timothy B Schmidt singing the key word 'feeling' back and forth in the tag is a nice touch to the arrangement and puts this song over the top. It all exemplifies the exuberant joy of Poco' work compared to the dark underlying cynicism of the Eagles, you continue to wonder why they didn't chart higher.




Wednesday 10 February 2016

Eagles (1976) New Kid in Town‏

The Eagles brought the melodic seductiveness of Willie Mitchell's Memphis soul to Country Rock with the Hi Records' strong, sparse beat in Henley's drums.  Glenn Frey bringing the shimmering, layered sound, brisk pace and tender drifter vocals of Al Green and other HI Record's artists to their brand of Country, particularly in this song where his character's heartache is expressed gorgeously in his delicate vocals. It begins with a strong mix of Don Felder's  fluid guitar lines merged with Joe Walsh's organ along with Randy Meisner playing a Guittaron to give a slight Latin feel to this universal tale of being replaced.
The  'Tears on your Shoulder' bridge  and refrains of "Everybody's talkin, People started walkin" are some of the highlights of what is lyrically their greatest composition with a narrative about love with a strong message; it's all a cycle just like the circular harmonies declaring at the song's emotive coda ''There's a New Kid in Town'. It was primarily JD Southers' song but it as always was Glenn Frey's arranging that made it work with the 'Oh My My' exclamation sung with an genuine tenderness or the calls of 'I Don't Want to Hear It', a phrase I thought of when I heard of Glenn's recent passing. Arranging was his natural born talent (go back to his Longbranch Pennywhistle album from the 60s to hear his folk rock arrangement of James Taylor' Don't Talk Now) and was key to the Eagles success from the layered acoustic strum to the two part and four part harmony arrangements adding a bouncy, doo wop influenced energy to what could have been overly mellow ballads.
 This would also be their very last semi acoustic ballad and though it was a No 1 billboard hit and first chart topper with Frey, the band decided to abandon totally their successful country rock aesthetic at it's peak and with Hotel California and Joe Walsh head towards  a more college arena rock sound. In the long run the new rock direction wouldnt last, it was these Frey sung Country Rock ballads that would forever define the Eagles for many; deceptively easy going Frey always carried a weary, resignation and cynicism that was always strongly felt in their work.

Monday 8 February 2016

Earth, Wind and Fire (1979) After the Love is Gone

 One of the hit soul ensemble' greatest tracks, a change of pace it's a gentle ballad fronted by Maurice White smooth tenor that manages to also have a deep gravelly texture it eases you into the grand chorus. White's recent passing and the astonishing rate in which we are losing 70s talents seems surreal and I almost wonder who my next post will be dedicated to. All I know is each one is a deep loss to music as a lot of these 70s artists forged modern popular music and White's leadership of this vocally talented soul group was immeasurable in influencing soul artists and performers since.





Wednesday 3 February 2016

Bread (1972) Daughter

Bread are often so underrated in music, a band if studio veterans and songwriters who effectively created soft rock in the late 60s before the Eagles, Elton John etc. were around. Their pristine falsetto vocals, dreamy harmonies mixing pop with some roots ruggedness. And above all some of the slickest production heard they pioneered the adult contemporary music and the California sound. This track has exceptionally soulful falsetto vocals with band members singing advice to their daughter and has a strong 60's pop sound with the piano part; a lot of their early music featured their debt to the Beatles and George Martin productions.


Jackson Five (1974) Mirrors of My Mind

A sparkling mix of clanky harpsichords , wah wah guitars, spiralling flutes and to create a tropical disco groove. This psychedelic calypso dance number with it's hourglass marimbas and reverbed vocals creates a cacophony of sound that would be soon the criticism of non-Disco artists and while this layered track feaures a strong 60s vibe it was an edgy choice in 1974 for the Jackson Brothers.