Gil Scott Heron (1971) The Prisoner - LOST70sGEMS

 Off the legendary Pieces of a Man album, possibly the finest singer-songwriter record of all timecomes The Prisoner, a progressive song from one of the best voices in soul.

A 9 minute epic that starts ominously with the soul dampening thud of some bass drums, the eerie otherworldly scratchiness of an avant garde violin and the jangling of set of rusted chains. We are instantly thrown into a slave ship, the minimalism of those drums being struck with oppressive finality, the trembling vulnerability of Brian Jacksons' piano and Heron's iconic achingly crisp rasp. As always he is found contemplative and commenting against a smooth jazz double bass and piano combo, but the self destructive lyrics are given a new edge with the ceremonial pounding of the drums. 

Delivering images of "black babies shackled and bound" and the violence done to them is arresting in it's horror and the desensitized brutality.

Further lines such as 

"If I follow my mind, I know I'll slaughter my own" and "My woman, she don't say, but she hates to see her man chained this way...hemmed in by a suit and choked by a tie" sum up the existential jail or prison of his state of mind that so many of his songs were set in.

The clinking of the rusting chains and the continual interruption of those one two punch drums are again another brutal contrast to the endless fluid piano runs. 

The Miracles (1975) Smog - LOST70SGEMS

 A dazzling soundscape of a track by The Miracles, now pursuing the airy landscapes of their former front man Smokey Robinson, this shows off some excellent arrangment sense, reminscemnt of Norman Whitfield, Stevie Wonder and Roy Ayers.

Flowering daisies of fuzzy korg synthesizers bloom over the track representing the dense clouds if air pollution that spring up from the ground instead  of from the sky. The twangy chime of a water saw as it is scraped, adds a horror movie ambience fitting for the dangers of the inner city. The group's honeyed choral vocals loop over, Their gossamer harmonies glide over the track, softening the edges of the harsh instrumentation.

The central instrumental hook is a gargly, mewling synth hook ascending in a wah wah scale to a abrupt yelp at the end. It could represent the industrial factories in the workers in them pumping away on autopilot til the sudden blare at the end of the hook representing them burning out.

The scratchy whine of the water saw clash with the rubbery thudding clop of a pair of castanets.

The plish plosh castanets represent leaky pipes or the sparse drops of water, while the weird synths are the overworked machines from AC units to nuclear generators to the hardworking inhabitants that run til they bust.

The atonal harmonics of the nasally clavinet, plopping castanets and water saw creaks and synth shreiks make this a very Progressive in sound.

Jackson Five (1971) We've Got Blue Skies - LOST70SGEMS

This luminescent tune begins by fading in with a Theremin warmly buzzing away like a bee on sunny day. It forms the main hook of the song and intro dominating proceedings. Panned acoustic arpeggios, a sharp flute fill out the rest along with an old timey pipe organ the kind you would hear at a circus, fanfare or carnival capturing the spirit of a new relationship.

The Theremin is an oddity that makes the song memorable, it's fresh unique sound was different for a soft soul ballad. The pinging fuzz sound of the Theremin paints a picture in my mind of sunlight blazing out of a clear vibrant blue sky, partially obscured by a thin lens flare. Though a quirky sound, it works in creating a powerful sense of atmosphere like Kool and the Gang’s Summer Madness with its Dragnet style police siren hyperextended synth stings blazing a trail of fire into the stratosphere 

The song is sung from the perspective of someone who feels betrayed as his ex's once vivid declaration of love for him which suggested they had a future now plays back in his head.

"We've got blue skies, now can't you see?

There'll never ever be another love for me" 

 The statement above acts as the chorus of the song, a line that turns out to be nothing more than an empty promise that now haunts the singer. Nicely in the final verse the singer can now hear her make the same pledge being made to her new lover; a suspicious sense of deja vu for the protagonist. The fatalism of the lyrics is pretty mature for what on the surface sounds like a Strawberry Fields type of psych pop nursery ditty.

The three act structure is magical as the guy goes from initial doubts in the first verse to the strong suspicion surface in the second verse and then the humiliation, emptiness and resignment.

The duplicity of his ex girlfriend is confirmed in the last verse as she recites the perfect blue skies of commitment to her new lover. Though the clouds will soon appear on the horizon knowing her track record.

Michael's little chuckle at the end of each verse is a slightly cheesy addition, that I can only guess is him pretending to reminiscing with good spirit. However when he continues to chuckle in the coda, it starts to sound incredibly forced and awkward

Doobie Brothers (1975) Flying Cloud - LOST70sGEMS

 An instrumental credited to the band's long serving bassist Tiran Porter, it's dark mystic mood was one of the aspects of the Tom Johnson era of the band where they added a hypnotic jazzy bent to their folk/blues/southern rock sound. Opening with lapping waves and as a crystal clear acoustic progression chimes away; amidst the bucolic arpeggios, a warm heavily saturated synthesizer plays a series of honeyed sustains that sound sunny reggae organs but with smooth distorted polish. Then there is a hyperspatial Pink Floyd sounding slide guitar pinging off and around with a special polyphonic reverberation. This huge echoey slide guitar has the clean tone of Duane Allman but a spacey reverb adding yet another dimension to a track that doesn't even break the two minute barrier.  The Grande echoey guitar remind me of The Eagles' portentous Sci-Fi instrumental Journey of the Sorcerer but without the string section and extended track time, this comes off as a cool studio experiment.

The Dramatics (1977) Ocean Of Thoughts And Dreams - LOST70sGEMS

 A slick soul track from the late 70s that rides on an acoustic guitar lick based around hammer-ons and pull offs that lull you in with its ascending step by step feel. The clear acoustic guitar with tasteful kickdrum throbbing in the background dominates over the traditional sweeping strings, another notable touch is the the bubbling over wah wah watson slide guitar that ends each verse. The acoustic guitar and gospel backing harmonies along the ascending scale of the songs' main hook give the track a golden sunrise gleam while the hushed lead vocals add a soothing seductive vibe. 

The acoustic lick is the anchor that kicks off each line of the verse and runs throughout the song like motif that has more to say than the lyrics. However, the lyrics are pensive and meditative in mood, gliding along and opening up our own personal Ocean of thoughts and dreams. 

Gil Scott Heron (1977) We almost Lost Detroit - LOST70sGEMS

 Supposedly based on an incident where a local power station almost blew up half of Detroit, it is also named after a 1975 book on the same subject, it features ghostly echoed synthesizers mimicking the lead vocal with a cool, subtle spookiness that embodied most of Scott-Heron's work. His literary voice, crisply detailing some prose, very visual and tangible and earnest to the core. His melancholy always just slipping underneath the surface of every line, while he is backed by TONTO's Expanding Head Band; a duo whose multi analogue synthesizer setup was a go to for many soul artists of the mid 70s era providing unique textures for each note like an orchestra over the usual synth combo and effects patches. A stunning plea from the wrecks of a once mighty juggernaut of a city. The cold urban landscape captures in the meandering pools of Synthesizer pads and markedly captures the desolate car graveyards of Detroit, where the American Dream died. Laying on a bed of fading blues licks and muted keyboard flutters, the tone of desperation is similar to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On but is accentuated by Herons citified growl; so gentle yet unspeakably ominous and drenched in foreboding, like he is almost resigned to his fate. It reminds me of the quieter, comedown spaced out numbers of Sly Stone but arguably with more socio potency.

The Dramatics (1971) In the Rain - LOST70sGEMS

 Starting with some corny cracks of thunder from an effects library and some overused wind wailing, we get an incredible jolt as a heavily tremolo guitar rings out while a synth zaps a laser bolt like note. The enchanting flute, soothing strings and earthy vocals all combine with the guitar basic tracks to create a very evocative, humid atmosphere; it isn't helped by the corny rain sounds that keep returning. However nothing can take the shine off Wah Wah Watson's guitar work, the rattlesnake torqueage, the clangy, ramshackle chords echoing out in lopsided fashion. The dragged tremble chords act like sploshing puddles as they ripple with every disturbance of its surface while the darting Synthesizer ping; like an beaming ray gun discharge that fires off deep into the dark recesses like a shot to the heart, a zing to a string or even a massive rain drop slipping off a ledge into endless oblivion.