Bringing obscure songs from the 1970s such as deep album cuts, underrated cover songs and forgotten singles back on this blog. The 70s was a great time for music, possibly the best and the most diverse; that some gems that need to be rediscovered
Nestled between the old swing-around-the-maypole folk of Dancing Shoes with it's delicately plucked mandolin plus finger maracas and the deadening waltz of Loose Ends' bluesy hard rock dirge is a return to the simple country rock genre with the five minute track, Lessons Learned.
If each song on the towering Nether lands album plays our like a dance then Lessons Learned is a safe, laidback number full of floral electric piano textures and rootsy acoustic timings.
Mixing a country ballad with an upbeat romantic vibe as Dan warns of the dangers of repeating mistakes and burning bridges. The jazzy verses give way to great lines sung with a pressing urgency grabbing your attention such as; 'well aware of the consequences, should the dream fall through' or 'wanting to try something new. These insights and the whole song actually act as a warning.
The songs' soft rose tinted feel reminds me of a ranch romance, though the lyrics are intelligent rather than the schmaltz or increasing reliance on the word 'love' as would occur later on in his work; 'is the knowledge gained worth the price of the pain; are the spoils worth the cost of the hunt?!'.
A delightfully restrained change of pace from the grand orchestral arrangements, frenetic folk rock and glistening pop rock of the astonishing musical statement that is the Nether Lands..
In honour of this being the 40th anniversary of his magnus opus the Nether lands album and the fact I'm currently in the Netherlands and have been discovering this album this year it's fitting to tackle the title track. While some may see it along with False Faces for its bloated string section it creates unique atmosphere
There are trumpets, horns and war drums alongside the strings for a majestic quality with a strong regal or medieval connotation. This gives the album it's own audio stamp separate from his other releases.
Divorced from any yacht rock, folk or soul parameters the song starts with an ornate arrangement of pleasant springtime flute and strings easing us in with a little piano line.
The lyrics are simple but powerful as all Dan yearns for are the simple things like 'a lover' and 'some friends' but at the same time craves to 'do something I never have done'. It climaxes in a realisation that there are two paths your can go by in the long run, one risky and one safe, and the risky route is always the hardest but most rewarding too.
The key musical cue is the crashing drums that occur among a flurry of strings followed by the scurrying slash of violas; an immaculate if indulgent stroke of Disney-esque beauty and grandeur. After this album he could go no further his peak had been reached 'out in the Nether lands'
This is the opening track off Philly soul group Blue Magic's third album, 13 Blue Magic Lane; a more dance and RnB oriented collection full of punchy dated synthesizers, heavy funk horns and sound effects like a train whistle and a witches' cackle.
While the songs aren't as solid as their sophomore album, The Magic of the Blue or their 1974 debut the highlight tracks tend to be the early disco sounds of We're on the Right Track and The Magic of the Blue (not sure if this was left off its namesake album). These heavy synthesizer and horn dance floor fillers full of ethereal vocals may have helped with the burgeoning disco crowd but ultimately wouldn't fit with the group or audiences. That same old problem too soul for disco and too disco for soul.
They are a ballad group and although the slow, bossa nova/ upbeat funk rock of Stop And Get Ahold Yourself is well executed, their velvet harmonies didn't gel with heavy funk arrangements as well as they did on the lush, Philadelphia International produced instrumentals.
The Loneliest House on the Block is the best with its sparkling array of ringing electric sitars and keyboards as well as rasping horns, coruscating strings and glittering vibes. They all strike twice like a doorbell motif running through the song musically telling the story of a lonely man waiting for a lover to return and ring the bell to come in.
The hook of describing the house where the windows remain closed and the doors locked is a nice simple visual idea. The address of the house is the album title, 13 Blue Magic Lane; its an expressionistic touch if a little corny, that the street would be named after the group. While the fact it's No 13 displays the group's long running theme of being cursed in love that is the subject of their biggest hits Sideshow and Three Ring Circus as well as this album (check out other album highlight Born on Halloween).
The light Italian stringed Pizzicato is a beautiful and unique addition capturing the heartache exquisitely. While the weepy bridge is enlivened by Ted Mills' soaring falsetto, the tearful couplet is tight and sums up the desperation perfectly as follows;
I'll watch the street from end to end Waiting for the day to let you into
The song fades out in a wistful coda as the address is sung out against a dreamy backdrop of plucked strings, endless glissandos, Pizzicato strums and more Philly flourishes.
It's the first of many cool sonic uses of outros/ intros, a more prog or pysch rock thing to do. One example is when a short choral rendition of 'The Magic of the Blue, Captivating You', the refrain of the prior song starts off the next track, I Like You. While you can hear ghostly female vocalists and more effects like wolf cries throughout this three dimensional package; its a colourful, Pink Floyd esque effort and a heavily underrated philly styled disco album.
Power pop band Big Star' live hard rock rendition of the Flying Burrito Brother's Hot Burrito No 2 displays the tight but loose group as well as their rock chops. The soulful version displays the solid drummer and on point bassist interplay and keeps things fun.
From their 1973 reunion album, the original quintet, sought of a folk rock Rolling Stones, could never relive their special place in history in 1965, with swoopy hair, roots based music dressed on contemporary pop, shimmering harmonies and jangly guitars. They cut an impressive look with their strong Dylan lyrics backed by a mixture of commercial and edgy sounds wrapped in a teeny bopper image, what they failed to do is be as consistent as the Eagles or Buffalo Springfield in terms of albums. Here its ever present that some were better song writers and others better interpreters, Gene Clark and Chris Hillman being slightly better at song writing while McGuinn and Crosby better at the singing and recording side of things. Here in a very simple tune Clark shows off his knack for summing up sentiments in neat melodies and tight choruses, and not only possessing underrated restrained folky-soul singing. This is a perfect mix of Byrdsian pop, country rock and his confessional solo material, Hillamn has some great tunes on the reunion album too, shame they could never do another full reunion tour in the 80s, by the 90s its best member had passed on and the rift between McGuinn and Crosby has never healed nor could either be tied down to a band ever again. Shame, really
From his disco pop album Partners in Crime came the marvellous Escape (Pina Colada Song), a great calling card tune and the last no 1 of the 1970s.
All the songs have soft FM Pop sound full of lush keyboards, disco beats and a whole lot of crooning though it lacks the energy, animation and clever structure of his hit. There is a lot of dialogue and Moog keyboards to make the rest of this soft rock stand out in a genre known for very louche and bland material. So it's refreshing the sound effects and keyboard pomp of songs like Answering Machine, Drop It or Him which add almost spoken scenarios to thick guitar, synths, answering machines, telephones etc.; but this romantic pop still doesn't live up to the hard hitting sonic quality of the Pina Colada Song, such as the abrupt stop-start rhythm, the rousing chorus and the spectacular guitar solo with it's sweet over driven tone that was recently looped for an exquisite Virgin Media advert of a mammoth breaching through a sparkly azure ocean.
I think is Get Outta Yourself is melodically the best particularly the horns singing the extraordinary title, a cool complex moment. Lunch Hour is a calypso influenced pop track with a comedic bent, but the best outside of Escape is Answering Machine as it's the closest to that song's snapshot narrative sense. Starting with some very Digitised sounding dial tone mixing with a Caribbean beat, funky scratch guitars. There is even Gino Vannelli styled ARP synths punching in on the lead up to the chorus just before the we hear the tone; Homes then launches into his 30 second declaration of love before the tone cuts him off back into the verses.
Its a great and interesting idea in the Yacht Rock genre, the keypad sound thatinfiltrates the funky rhythms is great as is the inclusion of the standard answering machine message into the body of the song. The cruel twist as he sings theAnswering machine message, his voice coming out from the crackly filter of a receiver or taped message is nice and the song doesn't outstay its welcome either at 3:29minutes. It just misses the cool stop-start beat of the album's hit single..shame.
This ballad is the closer to a phenomenal album and by far my favourite Stones album 1971's Sticky Fingers. It's a beguiling track and mixes oriental, Indian and Middle Eastern scales. Like a lot of the album it follows a Zeppelin level of heaviness, who were dominating the America at the time outselling the Stones incidentally.
It starts with a lilting double stop acoustic guitar motif that is doubled by Mick Jagger vocally before the upper register piano begins chiming like a gong creating a Japanese backdrop. The ninth chord slide is a blues staple that mixes particularly well with pitched asian textures; on a sidenote BB King wailing along with an eastern backing would have been interesting to hear. A timpani drum roll ushers us into the narrative, the image of a cool wintry night with a 'head full of snow' is painted through the sparse instrumentation and one of Jaggers' most restrained performances; think a darker, more Asian version You Can't Always Get What You Want. The song picks up with the "sound of strangers sending nothing to my soul" as a string orchestra dirge heavily in a raga style along meaty hard rock guitar we learn it's "it's just another mad, mad day on the road". A mix of country blues slide guitar and tinkling psychedelic touches create a frosty, off kilter-ed tale of the road. The best line is when Jagger sings " I am sleeping under strange strange skies", a sincere moment against an epic backdrop of sweeping strings and droning horns .
The song becomes less placid and erupts into a bridge where a hard rock guitar figure strikes back and forth and is joined by the intensifying orchestra. It was this short guitar attack, striking in Asian flavoured high pitched bursts, that was written by Keith Richards as the 'Japanese Thing' snippet. But it was Mick Taylor and Mick Jagger who developed it into this composition by fleshing it out for the opening verses making it slower, melodious, and playing it acoustically; it actually sounds more Indian.
Richards' small contribution became the launching pad for the whole song. It is at heart a Jagger/Taylor tune like many from this period where Richards was taking a backseat; it was this new songwriting partnership that added the touching delicate verses and stirring hard rock hooks to the song while Richards' little jagged, swaggering guitar snippet that mimicked the sweet lilting tone of Japanese music was the catalyst for the songs rockier second half.
Mick Taylors playing is the final part of this criminally underrated gem, his taste for pentatonic blues would create juicy fretwork that would sound like fireworks; ecstatic and dexterous. Taylors' Latin and eastern based legatos were based on Jazz and would progress from one lick to another, improving or extemporising into new directions from the songs basis. It's a style that made him a showman almost working the song up into a frenzy like the rave ups of the Yardbirds. Here his sweet melodic touch creates a 'cool down' with the piano, the easing strings and even some flute producing a mystical outro reminiscent of the pastoral, folk music of the Andes.
It all finishes quietly back how it started; an acoustic hammer on piece complete with descending Japanese piano notes and even bearing a strong Rage melody in Jaggers' falsetto warbling. This eastern tinged epic bears the strings based drama of Friends off Led Zeppelin III, but a very Stonesish flavour of southern fried blues and successfully embellishing with Indian, Japanese and even Andian textures wonderful!
Their dance and funk infused The Sylvers II collection, a followup that continued the Jackson Five style bubblegum soul sound of their debut but increasingly bringing elements of their own style complete with strong layers of percussion and an edgier funk label. The material was grittier if not as well written as their debut, and the family group bubblegum act was getting old in 73 even though they were only on their second album, they needed a drastic overhaul. Thankfully their are enough songs with a maturer theme here including songs of romantic devotion to keep up with the adult sounds that were developing such as jazz fusion, there is additions of funky guitars and cocktail piano playing amongst the album tracks. The starts with a gentle vibe arrangement playing a toy music box like melody before their one of a kind harmonic abilities enter in a long with a Purdie-esque drum beat that gives off a strong proto-hip hop vibe as a lot of funk from this period would.
Definitely the most striking tune the Stones produced during the mid 70s, Memory Motel dominates the album where it is a class above the other tunes. Exceptions could be outlaw rocker Hand of Fate, one of their baddest tunes full of swagger and Black and Blue's twin ballad Fool to Cry with it's melancholic washed organs. But this Jagger Richards ballad is still the more iconic and engaging track from the forgettable 76 album as it starts off with some hesitant piano notes. I think of its minor keyed 'teardrop' progression sounding like the opening theme song to a 80s soap opera. I always imagine a graphic of crashing waves when the song plays as titles for "The Days of our Lives" dissolve in overhead shots of ocean spray as credits dissolve in and out. The cold synthesizer punches in we hear about Jaggers' lonely thoughts about a peachy kind called Hannah, the detached sentiments match the subtle almost waltz of piano and keyboard. The delicate lyrics start off with the tender descriptions of Hannah before diverging into a running commentary on his desolate surroundings. Incidentally the Memory Motel is a real motel in Montauk New York and was a stop on their tour though it still exists today the place doesn't have good reviews but has its place in Rock n Roll History.
Keith Richards' repeated bridge is the true highlight, amongst Mick' wandering observations, as he remarks on a girl who has a mind of her own and puts it to good use and is truly 'one of a kind'. Most likely referring to Hannah is off to play her song about a distant memory of love while Mick is stuck in ephemeral motels with his cohorts in an ongoing party. Hannah is free and he envies that, not too mention she could be a memory from long ago maybe the innocent romantic early days. Any way you interpret it, Keiths' simple reoccurring couplet is a moment of clarity in this heavy concoction of touching piano, metallic synthesizer and synthesised strings; the latter being used over an actual orchestra is a telling detail to keep the song enclosed and intimate.
The Sha La Las towards the end don't work for me nor the lacklustre choruses of 'you're just a memory'. But the songs power is in its subtle grooves- that's what makes the Stones former while my favourite artists Led Zep had hummable riffs the Stones sought off snuck in and grew on you and this is the best example from a low key period of the band.
From his rootsy debut album Home Free, Dan had already begun developing his mix of grande yet sensitive treatises (To the Morning) and mystique filled folk tunes (Wysteria) as well as songs with a pop rock grit like this one. Possibly the sleeper on the album as I originally discounted it with Anyway I Love You as a faithful bluegrass imitation, however this is more like The Eagles but with more authentic soul. Full of strong country roots with a country Waltz format, loud and clear pedal steel; this was 72 when his friends, the Eagles, were blowing up the charts but his brand of country, was raw and more rock and pop infused, frankly more striking.
While this is more a sparse folk album it's this country ballads that stands out on second listen. While the album is steeped in sleepy folk, this song almost has a subtle power to it mainly on the unique torn-and-frayed harmony vocals; Dan makes full potential of his thin falsetto and the crack in his voice than he ever has since. It makes me wish he enlivened his albums with more country rock over the arranged folk, pop and soft rock of his Discography; he did eventually on 1985's High Country Snows and worked well.
A sultry little number full of a watery groove complete a tricky electric organ part occasionally wincing underneath the melody as can be heard at the start of the song and later on.the song sounds incredibly clear production and has the colourful ideas of non Philly soul. The Emotions are an apt name as their singing can convey deep desires/urges particularly the desperation in the line;
"so you're gonna tell her today"
Like the Lovelites and the Three Degrees, the combined force of the ladies' seductive voices, the raw soul delivery and sparse arrangements of funky blues guitar and liquid cool electric organ creates an old school yet timeless slow jam.
A laidback slow jam from his solo album Private Eyes, his last before his death that same year, the album steeped in strong white funk moogs and virtuoso jazz guitar playing. This country tinged ballad features his usual jazzy arrangement with upbeat sax hooks and cool echoey vocal sensitive and yet detached for hazey track that stands out from the rest for it's tightness and very 70s finessed singin, restrained yet ethereal, they sure knew how to make em back then.
From Parliament offshoot Bootsy Collin's trailblazing debut album, this is a complete masterpiece of post Sly styled funk epic slow jam. The distinctive use of a melodica keyboard, sounding like a miniature church organ cutting through from the distant background, wailing like a high pitched flugelhorn. The mix of filtered, underwater wah wah/Ernie Isley style guitars with strong synth bass lines, and a captivating mix of high pitched vocals and deep lead voice all equally animated in a strong current of funk master production. The vocals are smooth, then strong choral focus before being achingly soulful; all dressed in great harmonies, cross harmonies, close singing and an all pervading sensuality. The sprinkling of tinkling vibes is the final icing on top; beautiful. It's hypnotic groove being sampled successfully a number of times in Tupac's 'Rather be your N****', NWA's 'Rather Fuck Wit You' and Adina Howard's 'Freak Like Me'
From the underrated hard rock, eastern folk tinged Beauty on Back Street, at a time in their career when arena rock was their focus; a bridge between the soulful 70s successes and the 80s new wave pop mega stardom.
Here the folk whimsy, pop rock guitars and minimal cowbell drum arrangement combine with a heavy echo drenched vocal and eastern strings to create an odd Zeppelin vibe. The insistent hard rock riffing of around the 2:10 marker is a Kashmir rip off pure and simple, however a lot of this album features remarkable songwriting if a lot of intrusive production from a producer they not surprisingly didn't get along with. The hypnotic, ethnic folk vibe is interesting with the Latin percussion at the end and the droning of the entire track sadly it is material best suited to another artists, sorry guys.
A solid funky bass line, throw some solid drumming and some electric piano chords bleating in and out with the pulsing rhythms and Tiran Porter on lead vocals gives this tune a different feel. The bets is the synthesizers that enter very low in the mix, a squelchy white funk one and a second more prominent one blasting like in laser glow flourishes.
The electric sitar solo completes the unique vibe of this song with some noodley jazz guitar notes dribbling at the end of this breezy, beat filled tune so unrecognisable i it's soft musicality from the rougher incarnation of the band's early days the biker boogie replaced with mellow jazz boogie; still a winning combination!
