Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 0:54:06 GMT -5
I find music makes its effect felt at such a deep level it's really hard to put it into words at times. I like the old music journalist adage: "trying to write about music is like trying to dance about architecture."
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 1:30:18 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#8-- Lynyrd Skynyrd-- Second Helping I don't know any of Skynyrd's actual albums, but I do own a compilation CD of the band, which includes "Swamp Music" and the overplayed "Sweet Home Alabama" from this album. I have to say, despite its ubiquitousness on oldies radio and the cover band circuit, "Sweet Home Alabama" is just a killer song. Its status as an all-time classic is well deserved. Over here in the UK, it's an almost universally loved song and is always guaranteed to go down well when it's played. However, I find that almost nobody on this side of the Atlantic really understands the lyrics. The specific pop culture and socio-political subjects the words address -- such as Creedence Clearwater's song "Proud Mary", Neil Young's "Southern Man", Alabama governor George Wallace, Watergate, and the Swampers backing group from Muscle Shoals studio -- go right over the heads of most listeners here. I wonder if it's different in the States? I will point out two cuts in particular-- first, I Need You.Nice song. Never heard it before, but I like it. The chorus in particular is strong and the rhythm guitar has that lovely Telecaster "crunch" (maybe it's a Strat, but it sure sounds Telecastery). I say this from a third-person perspective of having been personal friends with Ed King in his later years when he lived not too far from me, long after he had departed the band. Wow! That's very cool that you became friends with him. Skynyrd aren't actually my favourite band that Ed was in. Prior to joining them he'd been in L.A. psych pop-meisters Strawberry Alarm Clock of "Incense and Peppermints" fame. Though they are largely remembered for that era-defining slice of psychedelic pop perfection, if you dig a little deeper there was some great acid rock on their albums, with King playing some very good psychedelic lead guitar.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 29, 2024 9:33:08 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#8-- Lynyrd Skynyrd-- Second Helping I don't know any of Skynyrd's actual albums, but I do own a compilation CD of the band, which includes "Swamp Music" and the overplayed "Sweet Home Alabama" from this album. I have to say, despite its ubiquitousness on oldies radio and the cover band circuit, "Sweet Home Alabama" is just a killer song. Its status as an all-time classic is well deserved. Over here in the UK, it's an almost universally loved song and is always guaranteed to go down well when it's played. However, I find that almost nobody on this side of the Atlantic really understands the lyrics. The specific pop culture and socio-political subjects the words address -- such as Creedence Clearwater's song "Proud Mary", Neil Young's "Southern Man", Alabama governor George Wallace, Watergate, and the Swampers backing group from Muscle Shoals studio -- go right over the heads of most listeners here. I wonder if it's different in the States?I would say that it probably didn't go over heads at the time, but it absolutely does now. But I also find that people, in general, just don't listen to or understand song lyrics. I'll just say that Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of those bands that I've heard far too often and am mightily sick of.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 29, 2024 10:51:46 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#7 - James Cotton – 100% Cotton
Just a great album by the Chicago harp master. Add in some typically amazing side-work (and some songwriting) by Matt "Guitar" Murphy and you have the blues album of the year for 1974. This is just a super solid album from start to finish. A number of solid songs written by Cotton, a couple of strong cuts written by Murphy and two solid covers, "Rocket 88" and "Fever." Definitely the strongest of Cotton's early albums.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 12:09:18 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974 #7 - James Cotton – 100% Cotton
Just a great album by the Chicago harp master. Add in some typically amazing side-work (and some songwriting) by Matt "Guitar" Murphy and you have the blues album of the year for 1974. This is just a super solid album from start to finish. A number of solid songs written by Cotton, a couple of strong cuts written by Murphy and two solid covers, "Rocket 88" and "Fever." Definitely the strongest of Cotton's early albums. ^^ That's a great song and performance! I only vaugly know of James Cotton from his time as a Sun Records recording artist in the 1950s (I have a track of his on a Sun Records box set that I own). I think I need to check out some of his later stuff.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 29, 2024 12:14:05 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974 #7 - James Cotton – 100% Cotton
Just a great album by the Chicago harp master. Add in some typically amazing side-work (and some songwriting) by Matt "Guitar" Murphy and you have the blues album of the year for 1974. This is just a super solid album from start to finish. A number of solid songs written by Cotton, a couple of strong cuts written by Murphy and two solid covers, "Rocket 88" and "Fever." Definitely the strongest of Cotton's early albums. ^^ That's a great song and performance! I only vaugly know of James Cotton from his time as a Sun Records recording artist in the 1950s (I have a track of his on a Sun Records box set that I own). I think I need to check out some of his later stuff. This is by far his best early album. From there you can go to 1984's "High Compression" (foreshadowing). He had a number of solid albums in the 90s as well.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 12:30:08 GMT -5
On with more top albums of 1974... #7 - No Other by Gene ClarkNo Other is the fourth solo album by Gene Clark, who was The Byrds' one-time principal songwriter. Clark worked on the production and writing of this album like he'd never worked on any other, pouring his heart and soul into it and ramping up colossal (for the time) production costs of more than $100,000. Sadly, the album was ignored by the record buying public and hated by the critics. Clark's confidence in his music and his desire to play the record company game never recovered. Today though, No Other is widely regarded by those who are aware of Gene Clark as his masterpiece. The songs are a glorious mix of folk-rock, country, and gospel, with Clark's inventive, minor-laden chord progressions backing his mellifluous vocals, as they snake around sublime melodies and unabashedly poetic lyrics. The songs are mostly concerned with spirituality and humankind's quest for higher consciousness, set against the lurid and decadent backdrop of '70s Southern California. Really, I could pretty much pick any track to showcase this album, but I'm gonna go with the understated "Silver Raven", which is just beautiful…
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 29, 2024 15:06:56 GMT -5
On with more top albums of 1974... #7 - No Other by Gene ClarkNo Other is the fourth solo album by The Byrds' one-time principal songwriter. Clark worked on the production and writing of this album like he'd never worked on any other, pouring his heart and soul into it and ramping up colossal (for the time) production costs of more than $100,000. Sadly, the album was ignored by the record buying public and hated by the critics. Clark's confidence in his music and his desire to play the record company game never recovered. Today though, No Other is widely regarded by those who are aware of Gene Clark as his masterpiece. The songs are a glorious mix of folk-rock, country, and gospel, with Clark's inventive, minor-laden chord progressions backing his mellifluous vocals, as they snake around sublime melodies and unabashedly poetic lyrics. The songs are mostly concerned with spirituality and humankind's quest for higher consciousness, set against the lurid and decadent backdrop of '70s Southern California. Really, I could pretty much pick any track to showcase this album, but I'm gonna go with the understated "Silver Raven", which is just beautiful… This is literally the first time I've ever heard of this album. I'll try to find time to give it a listen.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 29, 2024 15:58:03 GMT -5
On with more top albums of 1974... #7 - No Other by Gene ClarkNo Other is the fourth solo album by The Byrds' one-time principal songwriter. Clark worked on the production and writing of this album like he'd never worked on any other, pouring his heart and soul into it and ramping up colossal (for the time) production costs of more than $100,000. Sadly, the album was ignored by the record buying public and hated by the critics. Clark's confidence in his music and his desire to play the record company game never recovered. Today though, No Other is widely regarded by those who are aware of Gene Clark as his masterpiece. The songs are a glorious mix of folk-rock, country, and gospel, with Clark's inventive, minor-laden chord progressions backing his mellifluous vocals, as they snake around sublime melodies and unabashedly poetic lyrics. The songs are mostly concerned with spirituality and humankind's quest for higher consciousness, set against the lurid and decadent backdrop of '70s Southern California. Really, I could pretty much pick any track to showcase this album, but I'm gonna go with the understated "Silver Raven", which is just beautiful… This is literally the first time I've ever heard of this album. I'll try to find time to give it a listen. And I listened to that track (it's all I've had time for). That's good stuff.
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Post by berkley on Mar 29, 2024 17:16:08 GMT -5
On with more top albums of 1974... #7 - No Other by Gene ClarkNo Other is the fourth solo album by The Byrds' one-time principal songwriter. Clark worked on the production and writing of this album like he'd never worked on any other, pouring his heart and soul into it and ramping up colossal (for the time) production costs of more than $100,000. Sadly, the album was ignored by the record buying public and hated by the critics. Clark's confidence in his music and his desire to play the record company game never recovered. Today though, No Other is widely regarded by those who are aware of Gene Clark as his masterpiece. The songs are a glorious mix of folk-rock, country, and gospel, with Clark's inventive, minor-laden chord progressions backing his mellifluous vocals, as they snake around sublime melodies and unabashedly poetic lyrics. The songs are mostly concerned with spirituality and humankind's quest for higher consciousness, set against the lurid and decadent backdrop of '70s Southern California. Really, I could pretty much pick any track to showcase this album, but I'm gonna go with the understated "Silver Raven", which is just beautiful… This is literally the first time I've ever heard of this album. I'll try to find time to give it a listen.
Same here. That is a really nice track though. I'll probably have a look for the cd.
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 29, 2024 22:19:43 GMT -5
Favorite Albums of 1974
#7-- Can't Get Enough-- Barry White
What can I say about "The Walrus of Love?" This was Mr. White's third studio album, hot on the heels of Stone Gon', released roughly 10 months prior. Can't Get Enough rocketed quickly through the charts to reach #1 on the Billboard pop charts and R&B charts, carried primarily by two #1 singles, which we'll get to momentarily.
I think the thing I've always liked the most about Barry White is that he is one of those artists that is a complete package. Writer, vocalist, producer, arranger, and A&R man all wrapped up in one neat king-sized polyester suit. The only other R&B artist that I can think of that encompassed all aspects of the record business is Isaac Hayes.
This album is strictly a mood record-- chill atmosphere, dim-lights, brandy snifter in hand, intimate setting, you get the picture. The string arrangements are of course, Barry's Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece outfit that over the years has included some stellar members, among them, Wah Wah Watson, Lee Ritenour, Ernie Watts, Ray Parker Jr. and a very young Kenny G., none of which are necessarily individual favorites of mine, but all extremely competent musicians.
Folks in my neck of the woods generally refer to Barry White's solo output as "baby-makin' music", and it's not difficult to see why. I had a friend in high school (the same one with the '65 Mustang mentioned in my last post) who said that if he came home from school and there was a Barry White record playing on the stereo, that was a cue for the kids to leave the house for the evening-- as it meant "adult time" was on the menu for his parents that night. I suppose there are worse ways to get the message across that mom and dad want some "alone time", but as teenagers it kind of nervously creeped us out... you mean parents actually do that sort of thing?
I didn't get my copy of the album until I was a Junior in High School, which was about 4 years after it was released. I bought the vinyl copy, but still lived with my parents, so I didn't get to test the aphrodisiac properties of the album until I got to college. If I had been smart, I would have sprung for the more portable 8-track version as well, for obvious reasons.
Here are the two singles that took this record to the top... the rest of the record is more of the same.
You're the First, the Last, My Everything-- (1974 live performance right after the album was released)
Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe-- (footage is from the same performance, but studio recording has been mixed in)
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 30, 2024 13:56:21 GMT -5
I hope it's not a faux pas to post this before Slam, but I'm just about to go out to play a gig and won't be back til the early hours, when I'll likely be too tired to check in on the forum. So, I'm just gonna dump today's 1974 pick now. #6 - Radio City by Big StarToday's choice is another album that sold almost nothing in its day, but which has since become revered as a key power pop record. Big Star are one of those cult bands who sold very few records, but who ended up influencing lots of far more successful acts, like Kiss, R.E.M., The Bangles, Teenage Fanclub, and Primal Scream, to name just a few. Radio City is the band's second album and, while it doesn't quite reach the sublime heights of the previous year's #1 Record, it's really good nonetheless. Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, the band really wear their Beatles/Stones/Byrds influences on their sleeve, while adding in a dash of blue-eyed Memphis soul grit. The band's main songwriter Alex Chilton (formerly of the Box Tops, who had a hit with "The Letter") is probably among the most gifted pop-rock composers of his era, though he was not recognised as such at all in the early '70s. Standout tracks from Radio City include "Mod Lang", Way Out West", "I'm in Love with a Girl", and the sublime power pop anthem "September Gurls" (which I first heard via the Bangles' very good cover in the mid-80s). This latter track is the one that I've chosen to showcase. It's just a great song – all ramshackle crunchy guitars and swaggering, Beatle-esque melody, with bittersweet lyrics about lost or unrequited love. I have no idea what a September girl is or what the line "December boys got it bad" means, but I sure feel it when they sing it…
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 30, 2024 15:28:35 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#6 - Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
The album that changed Gordon Lightfoot from a successful songwriter in to a star. The album went to number one. The title track topped the charts and "Carefree Highway" went to number 10 on the pop chart and topped the AC chart.
I spent a lot of years not caring a bit about Lightfoot (other than The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I always loved that song). But his work has grown on me more and more and this is just a super solid album. It was the pinnacle of his singer-songwriter period before he started using more electric instruments. And the album is really more than the two big hits. "High and Dry," "Somewhere in the U.S.A.," and "Circles of Steel" are solid, catchy folk-rock tunes.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 30, 2024 15:31:40 GMT -5
I hope it's not a faux pas to post this before Slam, but I'm just about to go out to play a gig and won't be back til the early hours, when I'll likely be too tired to check in on the forum. So, I'm just gonna dump today's 1974 pick now. #6 - Radio City by Big StarToday's choice is another album that sold almost nothing in its day, but which has since become revered as a key power pop record. Big Star are one of those cult bands who sold very few records, but who ended up influencing lots of far more successful acts, like Kiss, R.E.M., The Bangles, Teenage Fanclub, and Primal Scream, to name just a few. Radio City is the band's second album and, while it doesn't quite reach the sublime heights of the previous year's #1 Record, it's really good nonetheless. Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, the band really wear their Beatles/Stones/Byrds influences on their sleeve, while adding in a dash of blue-eyed Memphis soul grit. The band's main songwriter Alex Chilton (formerly of the Box Tops, who had a hit with "The Letter") is probably among the most gifted pop-rock composers of his era, though he was not recognised as such at all in the early '70s. Standout tracks from Radio City include "Mod Lang", Way Out West", "I'm in Love with a Girl", and the sublime power pop anthem "September Gurls" (which I first heard via the Bangles' very good cover in the mid-80s). This latter track is the one that I've chosen to showcase. It's just a great song – all ramshackle crunchy guitars and swaggering, Beatle-esque melody, with bittersweet lyrics about lost or unrequited love. I have no idea what a September girl is or what the line "December boys got it bad" means, but I sure feel it when they sing it… Not a problem at all. I don't get on the internet a super lot on the weekends. And another album with which I'm completely unfamiliar. Though looking at the folk it influenced...that's not so surprising.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 30, 2024 15:32:55 GMT -5
Favorite Albums of 1974
#7-- Can't Get Enough-- Barry White
What can I say about "The Walrus of Love?" This was Mr. White's third studio album, hot on the heels of Stone Gon', released roughly 10 months prior. Can't Get Enough rocketed quickly through the charts to reach #1 on the Billboard pop charts and R&B charts, carried primarily by two #1 singles, which we'll get to momentarily.
I think the thing I've always liked the most about Barry White is that he is one of those artists that is a complete package. Writer, vocalist, producer, arranger, and A&R man all wrapped up in one neat king-sized polyester suit. The only other R&B artist that I can think of that encompassed all aspects of the record business is Isaac Hayes.
This album is strictly a mood record-- chill atmosphere, dim-lights, brandy snifter in hand, intimate setting, you get the picture. The string arrangements are of course, Barry's Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece outfit that over the years has included some stellar members, among them, Wah Wah Watson, Lee Ritenour, Ernie Watts, Ray Parker Jr. and a very young Kenny G., none of which are necessarily individual favorites of mine, but all extremely competent musicians.
Folks in my neck of the woods generally refer to Barry White's solo output as "baby-makin' music", and it's not difficult to see why. I had a friend in high school (the same one with the '65 Mustang mentioned in my last post) who said that if he came home from school and there was a Barry White record playing on the stereo, that was a cue for the kids to leave the house for the evening-- as it meant "adult time" was on the menu for his parents that night. I suppose there are worse ways to get the message across that mom and dad want some "alone time", but as teenagers it kind of nervously creeped us out... you mean parents actually do that sort of thing?
I didn't get my copy of the album until I was a Junior in High School, which was about 4 years after it was released. I bought the vinyl copy, but still lived with my parents, so I didn't get to test the aphrodisiac properties of the album until I got to college. If I had been smart, I would have sprung for the more portable 8-track version as well, for obvious reasons.
Here are the two singles that took this record to the top... the rest of the record is more of the same.
You're the First, the Last, My Everything-- (1974 live performance right after the album was released)
Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe-- (footage is from the same performance, but studio recording has been mixed in)
I do love me some Barry White when I get around to thinking about him. I just don't seem to think about him that much. That's some sexy music though.
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