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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 28, 2024 9:56:36 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#8a - Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December
8b - Merle Haggard - Presents His 30th Album
Is this a cheat? Probably. But it's my thing so I'll make the rules. And I did this last year when Johnny Rodriguez had two albums in 1973 separated by a razor thin margin. So here we are.
Both albums are standard 70s Haggard albums...which means they are solid, but unspectacular with usually one or two really good tracks. The first one clearly has the top track of the two with the title track, "If We Make it Through December," which went to number one and was the #2 country song of the year for 1974.
Both albums had a classic lineup for The Strangers with Roy Nichols on guitar and Norm Hamlet on steel. And both are solid from start to finish with a mix of the types of songs that Hagg was writing and that reflected his influences.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 28, 2024 12:10:50 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974 #8a - Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December 8b - Merle Haggard - Presents His 30th Album
Is this a cheat? Probably. But it's my thing so I'll make the rules. And I did this last year when Johnny Rodriguez had two albums in 1973 separated by a razor thin margin. So here we are. Both albums are standard 70s Haggard albums...which means they are solid, but unspectacular with usually one or two really good tracks. The first one clearly has the top track of the two with the title track, "If We Make it Through December," which went to number one and was the #2 country song of the year for 1974. Both albums had a classic lineup for The Strangers with Roy Nichols on guitar and Norm Hamlet on steel. And both are solid from start to finish with a mix of the types of songs that Hagg was writing and that reflected his influences. Haggard was so prolific. I remember you posting some years back in this thread about him having released four albums in a single year (think it may've been 1969??). That's a lot even by 60s standards. Merle either had the most Faustian record deal in history or he just couldn't stop making music.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 28, 2024 12:18:26 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974 #8a - Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December 8b - Merle Haggard - Presents His 30th Album
Is this a cheat? Probably. But it's my thing so I'll make the rules. And I did this last year when Johnny Rodriguez had two albums in 1973 separated by a razor thin margin. So here we are. Both albums are standard 70s Haggard albums...which means they are solid, but unspectacular with usually one or two really good tracks. The first one clearly has the top track of the two with the title track, "If We Make it Through December," which went to number one and was the #2 country song of the year for 1974. Both albums had a classic lineup for The Strangers with Roy Nichols on guitar and Norm Hamlet on steel. And both are solid from start to finish with a mix of the types of songs that Hagg was writing and that reflected his influences. Haggard was so prolific. I remember you posting some years back in this thread about him having released four albums in a single year (think it may've been 1969??). That's a lot even by 60s standards. Merle either had the most Faustian record deal in history or he just couldn't stop making music. He was ludicrously prolific. It was pretty normal for country artists to release two albums a year in the 60s and 70s, but he turned it up to 11. He released his first album in 1965 and his thirtieth in 1974. Now those weren't all studio albums, there were some live ones and, I think, five instrumental albums with The Strangers. But still, that's thirty albums in ten years. And, yeah, it was 1969 that he released four albums. And two of them were stone cold classics, Okie From Muskogee, which was the live album from Muskogee, Oklahoma, and A Portrait of Merle Haggard, which had "Workin' Man Blues," "Silver Wings," and "Hungry Eyes."
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 28, 2024 13:01:47 GMT -5
More favourite albums of 1974... #8 - A New Life by The Marshall Tucker BandI bought this album from a secondhand record shop in 1991 just because I liked the cover. I think it sort of reminded me of The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo and, at the time, I was looking to explore more late '60s and early '70s country-rock, with little in the way of a road map. The contents of The Marshall Tucker Band's second album is quite different from the Honky Tonk purity of Gram Parsons and the Byrds though, being a much more eclectic mix of jazz, country, rock, and blues. The musicianship is top notch throughout, with several of the songs extending into lengthy jams that showcase the group's ensemble playing to great effect. The easy-going songs of guitarist Toy Caldwell are always the focus though, with the band always serving the melodic necessities of the material. The Marshall Tucker Band were sort of like the kid brother group to The Allman Brothers Band and were even signed to Capricorn Records like the Allmans were (ABB drummer Jaimoe even guests as a conga player on this album). Though in truth they aren't really in the same league as the Allmans, A New Life is nonetheless a fine album, with some strong songs and stellar musicianship. The title track is as good a representation as any of the appeal of this album...
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 28, 2024 13:17:38 GMT -5
More favourite albums of 1974... #8 - A New Life by The Marshall Tucker BandI bought this album from a secondhand record shop in 1991 just because I liked the cover. I think it sort of reminded me of The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo and, at the time, I was looking to explore more late '60s and early '70s country-rock, with little in the way of a road map. The contents of The Marshall Tucker Band's second album is quite different from the Honky Tonk purity of Gram Parsons and the Byrds though, being a much more eclectic mix of jazz, country, rock, and blues. The musicianship is top notch throughout, with several of the songs extending into lengthy jams that showcase the group's ensemble playing to great effect. The easy going songs of guitarist Toy Caldwell are always the focus though, with the band always serving the melodic necessities of the material. The Marshall Tucker Band were sort of like the kid brother group to The Allman Brothers Band and were even signed to Capricorn Records like the Allmans were (ABB drummer Jaimoe even guests as a conga player on this album). Though in truth they aren't really in the same league as the Allmans, A New Life is nonetheless a fine album, with some strong songs and stellar musicianship. The title track is as good a representation as any of the appeal of this album... I think the Marshall Tucker Band, especially their first four albums which are all super solid, is underappreciated...including by me. I think Blue Ridge Mountain Sky is the stand-out track for me on the album. I probably owe at least their early albums a re-listen. I do, on the other hand, feel like at some point they just kind of devolved in to an okay Southern Rock band.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Mar 28, 2024 15:00:19 GMT -5
More favourite albums of 1974... #8 - A New Life by The Marshall Tucker BandI bought this album from a secondhand record shop in 1991 just because I liked the cover. I think it sort of reminded me of The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo and, at the time, I was looking to explore more late '60s and early '70s country-rock, with little in the way of a road map. The contents of The Marshall Tucker Band's second album is quite different from the Honky Tonk purity of Gram Parsons and the Byrds though, being a much more eclectic mix of jazz, country, rock, and blues. The musicianship is top notch throughout, with several of the songs extending into lengthy jams that showcase the group's ensemble playing to great effect. The easy going songs of guitarist Toy Caldwell are always the focus though, with the band always serving the melodic necessities of the material. The Marshall Tucker Band were sort of like the kid brother group to The Allman Brothers Band and were even signed to Capricorn Records like the Allmans were (ABB drummer Jaimoe even guests as a conga player on this album). Though in truth they aren't really in the same league as the Allmans, A New Life is nonetheless a fine album, with some strong songs and stellar musicianship. The title track is as good a representation as any of the appeal of this album... I think the Marshall Tucker Band, especially their first four albums which are all super solid, is underappreciated...including by me. I think Blue Ridge Mountain Sky is the stand-out track for me on the album. I probably owe at least their early albums a re-listen. I do, on the other hand, feel like at some point they just kind of devolved in to an okay Southern Rock band. I only really know their first two albums, but other folks have also told me that the early stuff is really the best. After that, their albums sort of succumbed to the law of diminishing returns.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 28, 2024 15:13:57 GMT -5
I think the Marshall Tucker Band, especially their first four albums which are all super solid, is underappreciated...including by me. I think Blue Ridge Mountain Sky is the stand-out track for me on the album. I probably owe at least their early albums a re-listen. I do, on the other hand, feel like at some point they just kind of devolved in to an okay Southern Rock band. I only really know their first two albums, but other folks have also told me that the early stuff is really the best. After that, their albums sort of succumbed to the law of diminishing returns. I'd absolutely recommend giving 1975's Searchin' for a Rainbow a try. It's maybe just a bit slicker, but still a great album. The opener, "Fire on the Mountain" is probably my favorite single track of theirs.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 28, 2024 18:10:40 GMT -5
I only really know their first two albums, but other folks have also told me that the early stuff is really the best. After that, their albums sort of succumbed to the law of diminishing returns. I'd absolutely recommend giving 1975's Searchin' for a Rainbow a try. It's maybe just a bit slicker, but still a great album. The opener, "Fire on the Mountain" is probably my favorite single track of theirs. Oh, I recognise that song. Yeah, OK...I'll have to give Searchin' for a Rainbow a listen.
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Post by berkley on Mar 28, 2024 20:57:55 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#9-- Electric Light Orchestra -- Eldorado
I'm a huge fan of Jeff Lynne. I think he's got the magic touch when it comes to popular music, whether it be as a musician or a producer. The guy literally watched every move the Beatles made, then applied his own talents to the same formula. The end-result was ELO, with or without Roy Wood. In fact, I think it was the divergence of their musical ideas that actually made ELO more successful after Wood bowed out.
Eldorado is the fourth studio album by the group, and the one where the band would really begin to gel in concept and in their highly recognizable sonic signature. While the album is technically a concept project, several of the cuts can stand on their own without any need of knowledge of the underlying premise. In other words, the concept is loose enough that the songs can be enjoyed at face value. There's a little bit of everything here-- a nice balance of sweeping neo-classical movements, ballads, and mid-tempo electrified rockers. Although I despise the label "prog rock", this record is what I would call "completely digestible prog rock." Unlike many of its contemporaries, the record doesn't meander into endless wheedly-deedly keyboard or guitar solos, and Bev Bevan's drums and percussion are no-nonsense and rock-solid throughout.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this record is that it sounds like ELO as we came to know it throughout the '70s and early '80s-- Lynne has emerged from the musical wilderness and found his real voice as a songwriter, lyricist, composer, arranger and lead vocalist, and the strings have congealed into a solid, substantial and recognizable unit.
Eldorado is to ELO what Echos was to Pink Floyd in the post-Barrett years-- a premonition and signal of what was to come.
Who would have thought that you could have so much fun with cellos and guitars in the same room? And where else can you find a polka with a fanfare intro, which segues into an upbeat pop tune? (Boy Blue clip below). As much as I love the records that followed, I return to this album frequently, like an old friend.
This might be on my list too, I still haven't made the final cuts. I only got to know the album as a whole in the 1990s when I bought the cd, it wasn't one of the ELO records we had in our house growing up, though I did love the single, Can't Get It Out of My Head. Great tunes throughout.
I gave this a spin earlier today and I think one of the things that makes it special to e is the way Lynne handled the theme - vaguely, I think it's about a person who escapes from the stresses or perhaps just plain dullness of everyday life into a world of the imagination and romantic adventure. All the tracks are very strong but it's the slower ones that really create a deep feeling of melancholy. The melodies and string arrangements get this across in such a powerful way, I find it pretty moving.
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 28, 2024 21:27:05 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974 #8a - Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December 8b - Merle Haggard - Presents His 30th Album
Is this a cheat? Probably. But it's my thing so I'll make the rules. And I did this last year when Johnny Rodriguez had two albums in 1973 separated by a razor thin margin. So here we are. Both albums are standard 70s Haggard albums...which means they are solid, but unspectacular with usually one or two really good tracks. The first one clearly has the top track of the two with the title track, "If We Make it Through December," which went to number one and was the #2 country song of the year for 1974. Both albums had a classic lineup for The Strangers with Roy Nichols on guitar and Norm Hamlet on steel. And both are solid from start to finish with a mix of the types of songs that Hagg was writing and that reflected his influences. Very familiar with the first album, but not so much the second one. The title cut on 8a is timeless '70s classic country, and one of those tunes that will literally leave you humming it all day long thanks to the hanging vocal hook. Great picks.
And it's OK that you fudged a bit to include 8b.
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 28, 2024 21:33:52 GMT -5
More favourite albums of 1974... #8 - A New Life by The Marshall Tucker BandI bought this album from a secondhand record shop in 1991 just because I liked the cover. I think it sort of reminded me of The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo and, at the time, I was looking to explore more late '60s and early '70s country-rock, with little in the way of a road map. The contents of The Marshall Tucker Band's second album is quite different from the Honky Tonk purity of Gram Parsons and the Byrds though, being a much more eclectic mix of jazz, country, rock, and blues. The musicianship is top notch throughout, with several of the songs extending into lengthy jams that showcase the group's ensemble playing to great effect. The easy-going songs of guitarist Toy Caldwell are always the focus though, with the band always serving the melodic necessities of the material. The Marshall Tucker Band were sort of like the kid brother group to The Allman Brothers Band and were even signed to Capricorn Records like the Allmans were (ABB drummer Jaimoe even guests as a conga player on this album). Though in truth they aren't really in the same league as the Allmans, A New Life is nonetheless a fine album, with some strong songs and stellar musicianship. The title track is as good a representation as any of the appeal of this album... Although I prefer their first and fourth albums over everything else ( Take the Highway is one of the best opening cuts of a debut album, ever), I will concur with Slam_Bradley that you can't go wrong with any of the first four MT releases. My personal favorite cut off of this album is 24 Hours at a Time.
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 28, 2024 21:36:59 GMT -5
I only really know their first two albums, but other folks have also told me that the early stuff is really the best. After that, their albums sort of succumbed to the law of diminishing returns. I'd absolutely recommend giving 1975's Searchin' for a Rainbow a try. It's maybe just a bit slicker, but still a great album. The opener, "Fire on the Mountain" is probably my favorite single track of theirs.
two thumbs up here. As much as I love the storytelling aspect of the opening cut, the one that really gets me in the feels is the title cut. It's such a laid back country groove, great for driving the pickup truck with the windows down on a sunny late spring day. I particularly love the fiddle and steel breaks on Searchin' for a Rainbow.
I suppose I can relate to the song because I said "to Hell with that pot of gold" a long time ago.
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 28, 2024 21:47:15 GMT -5
This might be on my list too, I still haven't made the final cuts. I only got to know the album as a whole in the 1990s when I bought the cd, it wasn't one of the ELO records we had in our house growing up, though I did love the single, Can't Get It Out of My Head. Great tunes throughout.
I gave this a spin earlier today and I think one of the things that makes it special to e is the way Lynne handled the theme - vaguely, I think it's about a person who escapes from the stresses or perhaps just plain dullness of everyday life into a world of the imagination and romantic adventure. All the tracks are very strong but it's the slower ones that really create a deep feeling of melancholy. The melodies and string arrangements get this across in such a powerful way, I find it pretty moving.
I think we relate to this album in similar ways. I don't think that the music on Eldorado could have been pulled off with the same impact had it not been for the string arrangements. They are the foundation for everything on this album, not just window dressing.
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 28, 2024 21:51:00 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#8-- Lynyrd Skynyrd-- Second Helping
Forget the polarizing effect of this band. Forget about their previously awesome debut album (this one is their sophomore effort). Forget about the amateurish cover art. This album was the first Skynyrd record I ever bought, solely on the strength of one track (I'll get to that in a moment).
Growing up in the South means understanding southern culture, which is often difficult to explain to outsiders who haven't been immersed in it for years. Many times, the music fails to interpret the culture properly as translation is lost in the name of commercialism, save for a handful of artists. Among those, for example-- Otis Redding "got it." Patterson Hood and Dave Cooley of Drive-by Truckers "got it." Tony Joe White "got it."
And Ronnie Van Zant "got it".
I have to say that for the longest time, I took this band totally for granted, and didn't really come to appreciate them until the fateful plane crash. Myself having grown up in Alabama, their music was ubiquitous in my jr. high and high school environment, and could be found blasting from 8-track decks in just about any high school hangout, on or off campus.
While this album may be dismissed by some as just another Southern rock/boogie record, those folks haven't given it an honest listen. Yes, Second Helping contains Sweet Home Alabama. Yes, it was a monster hit in Alabama. Yes, it has been run into the ground as much as Free Bird.
But this album is so much more. I will point out two cuts in particular-- first, I Need You. This slow blues smoker is as angst-filled as a young lower-class southern boy from Florida can emote and yet still retain his man-card. It's almost painful to listen to from an emotional standpoint, because most folks have identified with the the feelings put forth in the lyrics at some point in their life, and it's not a feeling one likes to return to willingly. One thing to remember is that Skynyrd was touring constantly (well before they ever became headliners), and when they weren't touring, they were rehearsing. Constantly. The band was everything to Ronnie, and he was a harsh taskmaster. 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. It was the constant cycle of touring, even early on, that made it too much for Ed to endure, combined with the booze and drug excess that hampered members of the band, hence his early exit-- at least this is what Ed told me. In a peculiar way, I see Ed's departure from the band as a parallel to Waylon Jennings giving up his plane seat to The Big Bopper on that February day in 1959. It was providence that allowed them to survive tragedy.
Now, the second track, it's the one that led me to buy the album in the first place after I first heard this cut on a high school buddy's under-dash 8-track deck in his beat-up '65 Ford Mustang--
The Ballad of Curtis Loew-- I fell in love with this song from the moment I heard it. My love for it has never faded. This song is a true slice of "The Southern Thang". It's real. Nothing more I can say.
added bonus, a video short story behind the song-- featuring Gary Rossington, and my buddy, Ed King, who not only crafted the melody and ghost-co-wrote the song (Allen Collins came up with the concept for the song), but also played the bottleneck slide part on the recording. Not bad pickin' for a California boy who wasn't raised in the Deep South. Ed King "got it."
Miss ya, Ed. Play on, my friend.
And you folks be sure to let me know if I'm bloviating too much. I have a very personal connection to some (but not all) of these records, and my enthusiasm may tend to spill over at certain times.
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Post by berkley on Mar 28, 2024 23:52:08 GMT -5
The more bloviating the better, the way I see it. I'll try to express my feelings the best I can if I get around to doing my list - I think I have my ten albums decided, which is farther than I thought I'd get to. But I find music makes its effect felt at such a deep level it's really hard to put it into words at times.
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