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The Who released their second album on this day...."A Quick One"
Released on december 9th 1966 on Reaction label.
In the US the album was released in early 1967 with new title "Happy Jack"
The cover song "Heatwave" replaced with "Happy Jack"....their latest single.
I prefer the US version as "Happy Jack" is a great little tune.
The concept was to have each member of the band write at least two songs each
so they could all share in royalties equally....
Pete Townshend and John Entwistle had no problem coming up with songs...the others not so much.
Keith Moon wrote an instrumental, "Cobwebs and Strange" and with a lot of help
from Townshend or Entwistle he managed to write a second song, "I Need You",
which is actually quite good.
Poor Roger Daltrey had a tough time, and could only write one song, "See My Way", a bit weak ...but at least he had no help in writing it.
Pete of course came up with a few good songs, like "Run Run Run"....love the guitar tone...I think it's a Telecaster ....and "So Sad About Us" ...a very good song.
John Entwistle wrote two memorable tunes...."Whisky Man" and "Boris the Spider", really a novelty song that they would surprisingly play live off and on...for the next 15 years.
The album was still short about 10 minutes...so their producer (and manager), Kit Lambert suggested to Pete to cobble together a bunch of tunes and create a mini rock opera....
the result was "A Quick One"....just ok sounding on the album...it really took off when played live, much more energy and a bit faster too. The Who would play it live for the remainder of the 1960s,
best version is Rolling Stones "Rock n Roll Circus" december 11th 1968....honorable mention to the version recorded (and filmed) live in London on december 14th 1969.
"Fresh Cream" ...debut cream album was also released on december 9th 1966...
in direct competition with The Who album....
It was produced by Robert Stigwood, recorded in London, England.
Similar to The Who ...the album was released in early 1967 with one song replaced with the current hit single ...in this case, the cover "Spoonful" was replaced by "I Feel Free",
which improved the album but only slightly as the Cream version of "Spoonful" is a classic...influential in a way...even The Who would sneak in a bit of "Spoonful" into their live versions of "Shakin' All Over" ...itself a cover of the 1960 hit by Johnny Kid and the Pirates.
Fresh Cream was mainly bluesy with tunes like "Rolling and Tumblin'" ...and "Toad"...featuring an extended drum solo by the late great Ginger Baker.
"N.S.U."....proto metalish ...including some controlled feedback from Clapton's Les Paul. interestingly, Fresh Cream is the only Cream album to feature Clapton's famous Les Paul through Marshall sound that he perfected during his time in John Mayall's Blues Breakers.....Clapton plugged a late 50s humbucker pickups Les Paul Paul into a cranked JTM-45 Marshall combo amp
and created a muscular overdriven sound that is still the holy grail, almost 60 years later.
Clapton switched to a Gibson SG about May 1967 ....and played that for about a year...it was hand painted by "The Fool" in psychedelic colors ....Clapton then switched to playing a Gibson Firebird I .....
then in the fall of 1968 to a red Gibson ES-335...while still sometimes playing the Firebird.
With "Blind Faith" in 1969 ...he played the ES-335 and also a Telecaster....
then in 1970 at a music store in the LA area he purchased a bunch of Fender Stratocasters...
and has never played a Gibson since....too bad because his Gibson tone was fantastic...
when Cream did that 2005 reunion tour ...for old times sake, he should have played through old Marshall stacks and a Gibson Les Paul....but no...he stuck with his usual Strats and Fender amps.
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album was released on december 11th 1970.
Produced by John Lennon and Phil Spector
Released on Apple Records...I have an old vinyl copy ...the usual green apple label is "grey"
A very minimalist recording...most instruments are played by John,
with Klaus Voorman on bass ....Ringo Starr on drums.
Recorded at "Ascot Studios"....which is a code name for Lennon's home recording studio at his Tittenhurst Estate, which he sold to Ringo in 1973, two years after moving to New York, hindsight 20/20, he should have not moved from Tittenhurst Park....probably would be still alive today...
All the songs a harrowing, bare bones, intended to make the listener feel uneasy.
Recorded during a particularly trying year for John Lennon...
in january John & Yoko cut off most of their very long hair and declared it year one.
That same month Lennon's lithograph drawings displayed in a London gallery were declared obscene.
John & Yoko read a book on primal scream therapy by Arthur Janov and decided that this would good for them ...they tracked down Janov and stayed with him in California.
All the songs on this album are memorable...and it is considered by many to be his best.
"Mother"....Lennon literally screams out the lyrics....using his newly acquired primal scream technique,
John never got over the loss of his mother, killed in a hit and run by a drunk off duty police officer.
Love this song...it's so raw with emotion. He also refers to his dad, Freddy, disappearing from his life for many years later when his son became a famous Beatle.
"Hold On"
"I Found Out"....another great tune ...influenced a lot of other artists in it's hard edge punk-like gut punch sound.
"Working Class Hero"....another tough medicinie tune ...complete with f bombs.
"Isolation"
"Remember"...my fave Lennon song...love the unrelenting energy, the piano, and the final line ...
"remember the 5th of november" (Guy Fawkes Day)...ending with an explosion.
"Love" ....great touching song.
"Well Well Well"
"Look at Me"
"God"....wow....this is the song Lennon blows up all the myths ..."I don"t believe....in the Beatles"
"My Mummy's Dead"
John Lennon would never again let down his guard as much with such raw unvarnished scathing songs.
"Blood Sweat and Tears" released their second self titled album, on december 11th 1968.
This the album that briefly made "Blood Sweat and Tears" superstars...throughout 1969, when you turned on a radio ....chances are you'd hear one of the three mega hits from this album.
The three big hit singles are....
"And When I Die"
"Spinning Wheel"
"You've Made Me So Very Happy"
The secret sauce was their new Canadian lead singer.....David Clayton-Thomas...
what a voice ...unique tone....made these songs unforgetable.
The album was recorded at CBS Studios, NYC
Producer was James Guercio....the same producer who was working with another similar band at about the
same time...."Chicago Transit Authority" ...soon to be shortened to just "Chicago".
Both bands had more members than the usual 4 or 5 and they both featured brass...
rock with brass became a thing in the very late 60s / very early 70s....
rock with jazz fusion...
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band...released the ablum..."Live Peace in Toronto 1969"
Released on december 12th 1969
I have an original vinyl first pressing copy on Apple Records.
Recorded live at Varsity Stadium on september 13th 1969.
Toronto Rock n Roll Revival organizer, John Brower,
called John Lennon asking if he would like to attend and
that he would provide 8 first class plane tickets.....he was then shocked when
Lennon replied that not only would he attend ...that he and his band would play,
maybe Brower was thinking by band he meant The Beatles!
Only problem was there was very little time before the show and he didn't have a band, so he called up Klaus Voorman ....session drummer Andy White and Eric Clapton ....they all jumped at the chance....
The makeshift band rehearsed on the flight over and then were escorted to the stadium by about 70 motorcycles (from the local Vagabonds motorcycle gang) ....
John then suddenly became very nervous, threw up and said he didn't want to play ....Clapton convinced John that he should play.
On stage they warmed up by playing old rockers....Blue Suede Shoes...Money....Dizzy Miss Lizzy...
songs that Lennon could do in his sleep....
Next they played a Beatles song from the latest Beatles album (Abbey Road had not been released yet)..."Yer Blues"
Then Yoko stepped up to the microphone and stated that they would next play "the newest song that John wrote...Cold Turkey" ....John nervously had one hand clinging to the lyric sheet....
Next up ...a rousing version of "Give Peace a Chance"
Then here is where it got weird ....the band did two Yoko songs ....
Lennon introduced the next song "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)"
With John saying...."Yoko's gonna do her thing all over you...."
The final song (if you can call it that) is by far the most interesting....
"John John (Let's Hope for Peace)"......
Some bluesy slide playing Clapton and Co....then changing into pure feedback as Yoko starts to shreek into the microphone .....eventually With a nod from Lennon ...the band members place their instruments infront of their amps as the feedback builds ....leaving the stage to
Yoko and her screaming above the ominous feedback ....after about 20 minutes of this the amps were switched off by roadies...
Amazing stuff...and luckily it was pro recorded and pro filmed...I have it on video called" Sweet Toronto",interesting to watch and also listen to the album....
The Rock n Roll Revival concert had an amazing line up....
all the 50s rockers ....Chuck Berry ...Little Richard ...Jerry Lee Lewis ...Gene Vincent ...Fats Domino...
and Bo Diddley (who I met once ...a long time ago...)
And also two contemporary acts ....The Doors ....and .....Alice Cooper....
I have seen footage of Alice Cooper at this show on youtube (not sure if it's still available)....this was the infamous "chicken incident" show ....and you can actually see it happen....
someone from the audience threw a live chicken on the stage while Alice Cooper (band) was playing...
then Alice threw it back into the audience...not sure if he bit it or not ......anyway a wild set from their "Pretties for You" era...
As a side note....John Lennon arrived back in England elated that he had
performed a show without the Beatles....he felt he no longer needed to be in the Beatles ....a few days later at a meeting at Apple to sign a new contract with Allen Klein ....John announced to the other Beatles he was leaving the group...
Klein convinced Lennon to not make it public as a new Beatle album, "Abbey Road", was set to be released on septembef 26th....The Beatles were finished but the general public won't know until sone 7 months later when Paul McCartney sent out a fake interview/press release timed to the release of his first solo album in April 1970.
"Frampton Comes Alive!" album was released ....january 6th 1976
I had it on vinyl but got too scratched up and threw it away....
that album made Frampton an instant superstar...
rare for a "live" album to do that...happened again a couple of years later for "Cheap Trick"
with their "Live at the Budokan" album....
Album highlight is "Do You Feel Like We Do"....a 15 minute jam...great talk-box guitar...
sensational keyboards....and that unique Les Paul tone from Frampton's Black Beauty Custom Les Paul, sounds like he is running through a Leslie speaker.
Blue Oyster Cult debut album ....released on january 6th 1972
Blue Cheer "Vincebus Eruptum" album....released on january 6th 1968
considered to be the first "heavy metal" album...
The Doors ....debut album.....released january 4th 1967 on Elektra Records..
One of the strongest debut albums of all time.
It was recorded back in september 1966 and originally slated for a novembef 1966 release...
but was held back for a January 1967 release as Elektra wanted to invest more money into promoting it...including paying for a giant billboard sign near the Sunset Strip where The Doors were hugely popular. If they would have kept to the original release date it would have been considered to be one of the best albums of 1966...up there with Pet Sounds and Revolver,
but in 1967 there were a lot of other big albums...Sgt Pepper....Are You Exoerienced? ...Etc...
The most amazing track is "The End" ....incredible song ....over 11 minutes long....the lyrics!
the recording sound is very good too...tons of reverb on the drums...hypnotic "eastern" sounding guitar (drop D tuning I think).
Creedence Clearwater Revival ...."Bayou Country" album....released on January 5th 1969 on Fantasy Records.
Features their best known song...."Proud Mary" ....also released as a single ...reached #2 on charts...
CCR had a bunch of hits that reached #2 ...but not #1 ....like tey were jinxed....
Exact release date of the single is unknown...Fantasy Records was a tiny label...
with a shoestring promotion budget....was probably released ahead of the album...in late december 68.
John Fogerty...the main songwriter in CCR ...would later sue Fantasy Records for unpaid royalties.
Ike and Tina Turner released their version of "Proud Mary" 2 year later ...a very cool version...
with a very slow bluesy first verse then exploding with an over the top double tempo vamp.
Aerosmith debut album .....released on January 5th 1973
I had this album on vinyl but never really liked it ...it was poorly produced and I really only liked two songs on it...."Dream On" and "Somebody"....
"Dream On" ....is a classic to end all classics ...love those opening "half chord" arpeggios...and when Tylers voice almost breaks hitting those high notes....like how it builds up...great stuff. A true classic...released 3 years later as a single!
"Somebody" ....I jam on this song on guitar a lot ...it is so good...love the main riff and the chord changes. There is a very cool 1971 version on youtube...
sounds like it was recorded live a club ...cool garage rock vibe.
Van Halen releasd their iconic "1984" ....released on January 9th 1984
Produced by Ted Templeman
A huge album for the band....the last with the original line up....
Lead singer David Lee Roth left soon after for a solo career.
The album marked a huge departure from their usual guitar based sound...
Eddie Van Halen wanted to encorporate keyboards as early as 1981 but Templeman
and Roth were both against it.
"Jump" is amazing ....has that synth hook while still maintaining a hard rock sound.
Eddie recorded the synth parts at his home studio using an Oberheim X.
The song in mainly in C ...the solo section is in B flat minor, a trick that AC/DC did on a few of their songs to spice things up, they would jump up a key for Angus guitar solo...for example, the song "Problem Child" ...from A to B
Another memorable "synth" tune on the album is the more low key "I'll wait".
"Panama"....love this song...my band used to cover it ...so fun to play...it's in E (guitar/bass tuned to E flat)
love that middle section with the David Lee talking bit...features the sound of real car exhaust pipes from Roth's Lamborghini Miura ...one of the coolest cars ever made.
"Hot For Teacher" ....last single from the album released to help keep up the momentum...
it featured a memorable video....another solid rocker.
For me Van Halen was never the same after the David Lee Roth...
their best albums were the first two and 1984.
Also happy 79th birthday to Jimmy Page....born on January 9th 1944,
on his 26th birthday ...January 9th 1970 ...Led Zeppelin played Royal Albert Hall,
the concert was filmed by the BBC ....some of which is on their DVD,
great stuff from their first and secind albums!
A local classic rock station has a feature in the afternoon which includes obscure songs or something related to the date. In this case, on January 12th, 1981, Canadian band April Wine released Nature of the Beast. While the radio show played "Sign of the Gypsy Queen", which is a cover by another Canadian, I liked this one better.
Led Zeppelin released their debut album ....January 12th 1969 on Atlantic Records
I have an early copy on Atlantic "red label"....it is punchier sounding than later pressings.
The album was recorded at Olympic Studios, London...late september-early october 1968
Produced by Jimmy Page
Engineered by Glyn Johns
Jimmy Page played a Fender Telecaster given to him by Jeff Beck....
Page used a tiny Supro amplier but got a huge sound by using a close microphone next to the speaker and another microphone 20 feet away, capturing ambient sound/natural reverb.
The songs....
"Good Times Bad Times"....a rocker to kick off the album...with amazing kick drum pedal work from Bonham...and ferocious lead guitar from Page, sounds like through a Leslie Speaker, I think.
"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" ....this is the song that hooked me on Zeppelin...it has wonderfuldynamics ...light and heavy ...a style that they employ on a number of their songs.
Page played an old Joan Baez album that had her version of the song...it was written by Anne Bredon,
but not initially credited to her (something that would happen on a few Zep recordings).
"You Shook Me"...blues from the master Willie Dixon....The Jeff Beck Group had recently recorded theirversion for their "Truth" album and Page thought that Led Zeppelin take a crack at it ...heavier, with reverse echo and hammond organ.
"Dazed and Confused" ...Jimmy Page "stole it" from Jake Holmes, who wrote and recorded it in 1967,
The Yardbirds played a version of it, very similar to the Led Zeppelin version but with lyrics closer to the original Jake Holmes version. A powerhouse performance, simetimes extended to as much as 30 minutes long when played live...with Plant singing bits of other songs in the middle.
"Your Time Is Gonna Come"....Jimmy playing pedal steel guitar...great hammond organ playing fromJohn Paul Jones...he is the low key "unsung hero" of Zeppelin...a master session musician.
"Black Mountain Side" ....Page on an open tuned Danelectro guitar...heavily influenced by Bert Jansch's "Black Water Side" ...Jansch, the master acoystic guitar picker who influenced Page and Donovan.
"Communication Breakdown" ....very fast, intense rocker, almost punk rock like....
"I Can't Quit You Baby" ...another Willie Dixon tune....performed well by Zeppelin...
"How Many More Times" ....love that riff ...I play it a lot on guitar ...not sure ...I think this one goes back to later Yardbirds tours...they used to jam/improvise on the main riff...keep in mind that final Yardbirds gig was on July 5th 1968...with Led Zeppelin forming only a month later...Yardbirds bassist,
Chris Dreja was supposed to be the bassist for the new group but decided to switch to photography, leading to Page calling on his old session buddy John Paul Jones to become bassist....Chris Dreja took the photograph of Led Zeppelin on the back cover of their debut album.
They had no recording contract when the album was recorded ....Jimmy Page paid for it out of his own pocket....their manager, Peter Grant, then flew to the US to shop for a record deal,
Ahmet Ertegun, head of Atlantic Records, signed them right away, he wanted Atlantic to have potential big rock band on their roster. Atlantic Records paid a huge advance for those days...$143,000
(I've heard stories of up a quarter million)....which was big money in late 1968...well over $1 million today.
Led Zeppelin flew to Los Angeles just before Christmas to get ready for their first North American Tour..
the first cobcert being Denver on december 26th 1968....then on to Seattle dec 27th....then Vancouver,BC...
Portland, Oregon and Spokane, Washington before the end of 1968 ..then on to gigs in the Los Angeles areaat the Whisky early in the new year....on this first tour they opened for 'Vanilla Fudge" and "Iron Butterfly"..
blowing both US bands away with their brand powerful, super heavy blues based rock.
While on this tour their debut album was released on January 12th 1969...as was Iron Butterfly's new album "Ball", released on January 17th ....Zeppelin also shared the bill a few times with LA band "Spirit"...Page and Plant both became big fans of Spirit and would play a bit of "Fresh Garbage" in the middle of Dazed and Confused...also Page took note of Spirit's instrumental "Taurus"...later using a section of it for "Stairway Heaven".
A local classic rock station has a feature in the afternoon which includes obscure songs or something related to the date. In this case, on January 12th, 1981, Canadian band April Wine released Nature of the Beast. While the radio show played "Sign of the Gypsy Queen", which is a cover by another Canadian, I liked this one better.
Back in the early 80s I was in a band that covered a lot April Wine,
our band leader was nuts on April Wine, had all their albums....
we played their classic "Oowatanite" from their 1975 album "Stand Bank"...
the song features a firebell/school alarm bell ....and our drummer got one from somewhere (maybe stole it from a school?)
A killer song, one of their best ...doesn't really even sound like them...Jim Clench
wrote it and sung it (he was not there usual leader singer),
we also covered a bunch of their hits...'Drop Your Guns" ..."Could Have Been a Lady"
(which was a cover by UK group "Hot Chocolate"), and a tough one to play, "21 Century Schizoid Man" (an old King Crimson song April Wine did).
Also their late 1979 hit "I Like to Rock"...features them playing both Satisfaction and Day Tripper riffs at the same time...and some nice phase shifter guitar.
There is a cool youtube video of them playing it at LeStudio (north of Montreal),
a big studio at the time ...Rush...The Police...Cat Stevens...David Bowie and many others recorded there.
"Nature of the Beast" is a strong album...and it did well ...some really good songs,
like "Sign of Gypsy Queen" ..."Wanna Rock" ..."Future Tense"....
unfortunately it was all downhill from there ...their next album, Power Play, only had one hit "Enough is Enough"...then they faded, by the mid 80s synth pop was more in ....
Deep Purple released the album..."Who Do We Think We Are?" ....January 13th 1973
I have it on vinyl ...complete with lyric sheet.
It is last studio album by the classic Mark 2 lineup...until "Perfect Strangers" album, 11 years later.
Deep Purple Mark 2 was ....
Ritchie Blackmore....guitar
Jon Lord....keyboards
Ian Paice....drums
Ian Gillan...vocals
Roger Glover...bass
The album was mostly recorded in Germany, using a Rolling Stones Mobile recording unit,one track..."Woman From Tokyo" was recorded earlier in Italy.
Unfortunately ....a weak album from Deep Purple....
"Woman From Tokyo" ...is the outstanding track on the album....easily as good as any track they ever recorded...Ian Paice's drumming is top notch...what a great drummer he is...Blackmore is on fire too...very nice tone....and Jon Lord ...his playing really adds a lot to the song.
This song has all the components that made Deep Purple great...five stars from me.
The other songs are nowhere near as good....
I like "Mary Long" ....and also "Our Lady"...both are good but not great.
"Our Lady"....is a strange one...it almost sounds like an old Deep Purple Mark I song from the late 60s.
Apparently the band was exhausted from touring and not on speaking terms with each otherwhen they made the album...the classic Mark 2 Deep Purple plugged on touring for another 6 months,their final concert was at Osaka, Japan on June 29th 1973. There are photos on the internet of the band leaving their hotel together after that last concert....the photos say it all...
Last edited by GTB365; 01-13-2023 at 07:53 AM..
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