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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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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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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Confessor
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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 Band I 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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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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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 Confessor on Mar 28, 2024 4:27:16 GMT -5
Agreed, although I use the term Space Fantasy because that's the term Lucas used in 1976 and 77, and so too did the early Marvel comics. But same difference. It annoys me when I see SW described as sci-fi. "Sci-Fi" was lazy shorthand for anything dealing with the trappings involving the usual: future tech, robots, outer space, aliens, etc., and at first glance, the average 1977 moviegoer saw Star Wars as a "sci-fi" film, despite the major subplot of the spiritual / mystical Force and its practitioners who had a significant influence over that galaxy's history and events. Lucas emphasizing the "fantasy" description tried to keep Star Wars in the fairy tale realm, but that was a lost cause, especially after Lucas and his LFL authorized endless technical manuals and pseudo-scientific explanations for characters, vehicles, etc., which have become canon, rendering the "fantasy" part of "Science Fantasy" a quaint, short-lived view of Star Wars as a concept. I'm not sure I'd go quite as far as to say that SW as a whole is no longer Space Fantasy, but I do agree that the "Fantasy" aspect has been diminished considerably over the decades. |
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Post by Confessor on Mar 28, 2024 4:24:33 GMT -5
I like it in the pages of Strange Tales where Stan Lee clearly forgot that the FF's identities were public and had Johnny Storm desperately trying to prevent folks from learning that he was the Human Torch. For months!  That's not quite what happened. It was Larry Lieber who scripted those first few Torch stories from minimal synopses provided by Stan. Lieber, having not read the actual FF comics (few pros read their employers' output in those days), assumed that Johnny had a secret ID like every other super-dude. Stan, who trusted his baby brother's writing prowess, didn't get around to reading those early stories for several months. Once he did, he quickly instructed Larry to correct his error. I heard the Lieber brothers talk about this at a ComicCon panel 20 years or so ago. Had Stan told the anecdote, I might have doubted its veracity but Larry had a much better memory and wasn't much interested in exaggerating his role in Marvel history. Cei-U! I summon the filial faux pas!
Thanks for the correction. As ever, the truth is much more interesting than what I thought happened. |
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Post by Confessor on Mar 27, 2024 20:39:48 GMT -5
Neary's passing was mentioned in this thread back on Valentine's Day, 4-5 pages back, when it happened, but seemed ot go under the radar of most folks here. Ah, OK...I missed that. It was the same day as beloved English Radio 1 and 2 DJ Steve Wright died, which was major news in the UK. So, the announcement of Neary's death likely got overshadowed somewhat by that. I also totally missed your post about it in this thread. |
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Post by Confessor on Mar 27, 2024 20:34:57 GMT -5
I firmly place Star Wars in the science fantasy category as well, as the first movie is essentially a medieval romance with sci-fi trappings. Agreed, although I use the term Space Fantasy because that's the term Lucas used in 1976 and 77, and so too did the early Marvel comics. But same difference. It annoys me when I see SW described as sci-fi. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 27, 2024 20:30:20 GMT -5
Shame to hear that. I know of Neary from Marvel UK, where he was an artist and editor of various mags (including The Empire Strikes Back Monthly, for which he drew a few covers), and for his artwork in 2000 AD. I think he did a lot of inking on Marvel's The Ultimates too. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 27, 2024 20:21:10 GMT -5
For me the racist stereotyping wasn't the main problem - I had no trouble believing that it was inadvertent, though of course that doesn't excuse it completely. It wasn't just Jar Jar Binks that was a potentially offensive racial caricature though. Apart from the other Gungans, who were equally Caribbean/African-American stereotypes, there was also Watto, who was a blatantly anti-Semitic Jewish caricature, and the Neimodians, who were all crafty, "yellow peril" Japanese types. It was like George Lucas was wondering, "I wonder how many racially offensive stereotypes I can cram into this movie?" To be honest, it's a wonder that Disney haven't stuck a content warning onto the beginning of the film on their streaming service. |
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Post by Confessor on Mar 27, 2024 20:05:14 GMT -5
What do we call the film Krull? It's got a lot of Sword & Sorcery trappings, but equally it has plenty of sci-fi elements. Yet I'm not sure it's really Planetary Romance.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 27, 2024 19:58:35 GMT -5
I like it in the pages of Strange Tales where Stan Lee clearly forgot that the FF's identities were public and had Johnny Storm desperately trying to prevent folks from learning that he was the Human Torch. For months! |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 27, 2024 19:42:56 GMT -5
In a reprint or trade or maybe the actual issue in your collection? Sorry, I probably should've specified that it was in the UK Classic Marvel Graphic Novel Collection edition of the "Second Genesis" hardcover. No way I'd be able to afford the original issue! |
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