Fleetwood Mac was another ‘soundtrack-of-high-school record for me, it was 1977 andI I was 17. The girls liked this record because it was relationship oriented, albeit, broken ones. And it was melodic. The boys loved it because Stevie Nicks was a good looking, sultry singer. And the band could rock. In other you wouldn’t go wrong on date night with t is cassette. Unless you listen too closely to the words, but most didn’t do that, it seems.
I have two of their albums on vinyl. The world renowned ‘Rumours’ and the lesser known ‘Mystery to Me,’ an album before the arrival of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. I am told by purists that the older Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green was the best, but I’m not familiar with it. I have seen Green on best guitarists lists over the years.
On ‘Mystery’ there’s a song called ‘Hypnotized’ that people I’ve played it for fall in love with upon first listen. But few can guess that it’s Fleetwood Mac. The ethereal song summons a semi-tropical hazy glaze. It’s the best thing on this album other than the wild cover art featuring a baboon -like creature painting his lips with coconut oil? Dunno, but it fits the hypnotic vibe. As for Rumours what can you say. An album in the realm of classic like Carol King’s ‘Tapestry’ or Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’
Mike Oliver | moliver@al.com
Practically every song is a hit and high quality and man I got tired of hearing them on every single radio station all day and all night back in the late 1970’s.
With the Flash and the Pan post this morning, I am at number 485.
That’s how far I have to go (484 more actually.)
That’s the number of posts I have left to fulfill the vow of reviewing or writing about the 678 vinyl records I collected, mostly in my teens or 20s (1970s, 1980’s). Although I do have some newer vinyl, which sounds very good I must say. And I have a little bit from the ’50s and ’60s.
I’m doing it with diminishing brain function. I have Lewy body dementia and am trying to raise awareness to this misunderstood and little known disease which affects more than a million people. Please read up on this by going back through my blog, and reading about my thoughts and experience. Also go to the Lewy Body Dementia Association website at LBDA.org
So let’s do the math on My Vinyl Countdown. From 678. Counting backwards I am on 485. (This is the number that appears at the top of each blog spot next to the artists’ name I am reviewing.)
So 678-485 = 193. I have reviewed and written about 193 albums right now.
That is 193/11 (months) = 17.5. That’s how many I have been doing per month.
So 485/17.5 = 28. That’s how many more months I have if I keep at this pace. Two years and four months.
I have vowed to live long enough to do this, but I am compelled to chug through this to complete the task. I was diagnosed two years ago. On the high end, survival after diagnosis averages 7 years. I’ve done 2 so that gives me 5 years left of life.
PREDICTION:
I’ll complete this in 30 months, with 30 months to spare on my life span.
ALBUMS: Flash and the Pan (1978); Lights in the Night (1980)
MVC Rating: Flash: 4.0/$$$; Lights: 3.5/$$
This is an odd group with an odd, albeit catchy, style. It was essentially Harry Vanda and George Young, former members of the breakout Australian group -the-Friday-on-my-mind-band, the Easybeats.
Vanda and Young went on to manage and produce songs for AC/DC, for whom Young’s younger brother played.
But between the soaring and crashing of the Easybeats and world domination of AC/DC was Flash and the Pan.
I plucked their self-titled 1978 debut from a bin at WUXTRY in Athens, Ga.
Their hypnotic studio sound was a little like nothing you’d heard. Although I heard some people describe them as quirky, otherworldly in a 10cc way.
I think the members of 10cc were more clever songwriters. But Flash and the Pan certainly had the stranger sound, starting with their vocals. The lead vocals delivered usually in a talk/sing style sounded as if it were filtered by a toy megaphone. I guess you could say it sounded like a voice that could have been used on 10cc’s prison riot hoedown, Rubber Bullets, The sing-song semi-electronic groove would then explode into a catchy chorus, that across the two albums I have starts sounding a little formulaic.
Best songs on first album: ‘Hey St. Peter,’ ‘Walking in the Rain’ (covered by Grace Jones, and ‘Down Among the Dead Men,’ a song about the sinking of the Titanic. On the second “Headhunter’ ‘Make Your Own Cross’ and ‘Calling Atlantis are interesting.
They barely dented US charts, but the second album, Lights in the Night, was No. 1 in Sweden.
The American cover of the debut album (shown at top) is as odd as the sound. People sitting on the beach with Frisbees flying all around them. In the distance is a mushroom cloud. On the back cover, the people are all gone but not the chairs and Frisbees. Hey St. Peter take me home.
I was graduating from high school when this came out. Talk about retro.. This group was like something out of 1966. They cover ‘Paint it Black’ on this album like it was a new song.
‘There’s a Place’ cover sounds like the 1960’s prom band checking in on the Beatles.
All this came to me in the early 1980s.
I discovered this Flamin’ Groovies in a strange way. I was at the Birmingham public library doing some research and they had vinyl records that you could check out, like a book, and return later. This would have been mid-1980s.
I picked up a Flamin’ Groovies album called Groovies Greatest Grooves. It had the song ‘Shake Some Action,’which blew me away. It’s the sense of discovery that you live for as a record collector. Again I was looking for tunes not rare artifacts and that song was one good song. Cracker later recorded it and it was featured in a movie, all much later.
I made a cassette tape out of it that I have no idea whether I have or not.
The thing that made the Groovies groove work was that they played essentially covers or originals that sounded so close to their heroes, early Beatles, Stones, and Who. — with no irony. That’s what makes it great. Just a few guys from San Francisco playing songs they love from another era.
So, it wasn’t surprising to see that this 1978 album, a comeback of sorts, was produced by retro-man Dave Edmunds. “Yeah My Baby” written by Edmunds, and band members Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson sounds like a long lost classic. Or long lost classic B-side.
The sound seems like it was coming through a B&W TV set.
This was a solo effort; I think his best, although I’d have to admit I haven’t kept up with him in recent years.
He was lead singer for Roxy Music. Roxy’s the High Road, a live EP contains another amazing couple of covers (Neil Young’s ‘Like a Hurricane’ and John Lennon’s ‘Jealous Guy.’) Roxy Music’s Avalon is another favorite album of mine. I’ll review Roxy Music when I get to the R’s.
For now I get to dust off this one which has been fun listening to.
Standout covers include: the opening track, Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall;’ ‘Tracks of my Tears,’ famously sung by Smokey Robinson; and ‘You Won’t See Me,’ a version which I think I like more than Beatles’ version. I know, heresy.
The Stones’ cover, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ was an ambitious challenge but a failed one in my estimation. It’s one of those where the original artists can’t be beat so why try. I say this, though, I was recently blown away by Pink singing ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ – a song which I felt Janis Joplin’s cover of the Kris Kristofferson song was the definitive take.It still is but Pink slams the song home. Alhough it really is a close impression of Joplin’s version, who would of thunk Pink could channel that tricky song the way she did.
Speaking of Janis, Ferry does an interesting version of ‘Piece of My Heart’ that turns it inside out showing the incredible subtleties in Ferry’s croonful (my word) voice.
Those of you reading my blog know by now, I wasn’t a collector of records for value’s sake. In other words I wasn’t looking for rare; I was looking for cheap.
To this end I went down various paths in my musical tastes and purchases. I am most of the time a fan of ‘best-of’ or ‘greatest hits’ collections. Most ‘real’ collectors are not. I used greatest hits to learn about an artist that I didn’t know too well and see if it led me to a whole new avenue of music. The Kinks were a band like that, I think my first Kinks record was a Pye label greatest hits. I went ‘wow’ and have since collected about 8 or 10 Kinks records, many cut-outs and bargain bin material (Soap Opera anyone?)
This is true with Fairport Convention, in a way.
I knew virtually nothing about the 1960s and 1970s English folk rock group when I bought Chronicles, a wonderful compilation that sounds like a very well done studio album.
The album led me to other artists and other purchases: the amazing guitarist Richard Thompson and his solo work; the super great vocalist (and Richard’s ex-wife) Linda Thompson; the early folk-rock-jazz groups, Pentangle and the Strawbs; and the angelic vocalist Sandy Denny.
One of the best dark albums of all time is Richard and Linda Thompson’s ‘Shoot out the Lights,’ with songs such as ‘Wall of Death’ and ‘Did She Jump or was She Pushed.’ They recorded it while breaking up and it is heart rendering.
On Fairport Convention, there is a lilting quality of sadness lurking. Sadly Beautiful, to borrow from a Replacements song.
Songs like: ‘Who knows Where the Time Goes;’ ‘Meet on the Ledge;’ Dylan cover ‘Percy’s Song;’ ‘Fotheringay’; ‘Sloth’; ‘Genesis Hall; and ‘Farewell, Farewell,’ come together and set a lost, lonely, ethereal atmosphere that alternately may touch your heart or punch you in the gut.
Let me preface this by saying the Small Faces evolved into Faces after Steve Marriott left. Rod Stewart then hopped on board. They always seemed like they were having a real good time and seemed to be shit-faced half the time.
Put this one on and bring the pub to our home.
Feet sticking to the floor. Band so bad it’s the best; Chuck Berry chords. Dancing. Here hold my beer!
You either love Rod Stewart or you don’t. No?
I think he’s great. His distinct voice always seemingly on the verge of laryngitis, his vocal skills, timing. his rock and roll sensibilities. Even his highly commercial Top 40 years and brief fling (like the Stones and Bowie, TinaTurner, etc.) with disco. I took heat from my peers about having too much Rod Stewart in my collection. But these uninformed critics (my HS, college buddies) didn’t know the early stuff which was raucous rock and roll. He went commercial, sure, with his eye on mass consumption. But come on, the guy is only ranked 23rd on the rock star net worth charts at $235 million.
I mean Stewart is a guy who can sing ballads with feeling, belt the blues rock songs and do a standard that brings grandmas running to the stage. It Had to be You ,,,,
Here though it is mostly rock and blues.
He’s been successful for decades. This Faces record is a best-of one of his early bands, the Faces. It doesn’t feel like a compilation, however. as the party songs flow and nearly every song has that famous Small Faces/Faces live sound. It’s roots music, especially as influenced by the wonderful Ronnie Lane, before they called it roots music.
Favorite lines from Miss Judy’s Farm:
Miss Judy she could have me Any hour of the working day She’d send me in the corn field mid-afternoon Said son it’s all part of your job
Miss Judy had a cross-eyed poodle That I would kick if I was given the chance
Best known song here, probably ‘Stay with Me’ which feels like the prequel to his later smash, ‘Maggie May.’ Although ‘Ooh La La’ has had some staying power over the years.
Strange command in the ‘Stay with Me’ song: Sit down, get up, get out.
All right, already. Make up your mind you sexist pig.
Lot of things going on here. Josh Tillman aka Father John Misty is a smart guy. I think he knows it.
Pure Comedy is a song that is near brilliant.
Tillman’s story in one sentence: The drummer of folk rock group Fleet Foxes took some psilocybin mushrooms a few years ago, became enlightened, started using a pseudonym, and began wearing better clothes.
Couple of anomalies to clear up before I go forward. The usual My Vinyl Countdown records are ones I picked in the 1970’s and 1980’s. I’ve been counting them down, 678 in all, to raise awareness of Lewy body dementia, which I have. I have about 500 records to go .
Pure Comedy breaks the mode a bit in that this is a 2017 vinyl recording that I received from family members who want to extend my life under the theory that the more I have the more time I have to live. And it is true that this disease shortens lifespans but that I have vowed to finish the reviews, which on my current pace will be about 2 or more years from now unless I accelerate.
So, anomaly one, this is contemporary. Not my golden 1980s — stop-making-synth records. I will review and countdown new vinyl, when I get it and have done so at least two other times with Joseph Arthur and Max DeMarco.
I have some more coming up, including, I believe, the Fleet Foxes which connects to the Misty record here.
And, anomaly two, this double record set came with two of the same records – I got two side 3’s and side 4s. I did not get a side 1 and 2. What the hell? It’s a factory packaging mistake that in no way makes it more valuable. So, I filled in the rest of this record by going on YouTube to listen to the songs I was missing, especially the title track, a key song here.
Opening line is one strong couplet, foreshadowing and outlining the album’s life-is-so-bad-it’s-funny themes. The comedy of it all. The divine comedy of it all. Star.
The comedy of man starts like this; our brains are way too big for our mother’s hips.
But the album itself cannot stay at that high level and sinks slowly back into the primordial pool. To make this totally work, you would have to love the words so much to hang with this singer who is not working much in traditional pop structures. Dylan could be like that – so could early Billy Joel who went 180 degrees the other way later toward more formulaic derivative pop.
Would it be fair to say Tillman is somewhere between Billy Joel and Bob Dylan? Probably not. More like a day-glo Randy Newman.
But Tillman started something, by starting the album in this way. He caused me to be on alert for a real honest-to-God trailblazing singer-songwriter. The rest of the album didn’t tip me over though. So he is still on my ‘watch’ list. Update: I just watched/saw Misty’s ‘God’s Favorite Customer’ on YouTube. Excellent. Beautiful. I’m starting to tip. Then I watched ‘Mr. Tillman video. Wow. Now I have to get this on vinyl and put the new one on my countdown.
Back to Pure Comedy, here’s the opening that says it all and forecasts more:
The comedy of man starts like this; our brains are way too big for our mother’s hips.
And so nature, she divines this alternative:
We emerge half-formed and hope whoever greets us on the other end
Is kind enough to fill us in
And babies, that’s pretty much how it’s been ever since
Those are the highlights. Never really liked the Eurythmics much. I always thought Annie could sing, but I thought she thought she could sing better than she can sing. I bought this on the singular best song and overplayed song she and Dave Stewart have ever done: ‘Sweet Dreams.’ (Which to me sounded like a great Madonna song.)
So I guess I’m realizing this 30 years too late. But I bought the wrong record..
ALBUMS: Emerson Lake and Palmer (1970); Works Vol. 2 (1977)
When it comes to Emerson, Lake and Palmer I find myself feeling inadequate.
I loved ‘Lucky Man,’ when I was 13 or so (actually still do) so I got that album.
But that was written by Greg Lake when he was 12! OMG.
The classically influenced forays by Emerson and gang are labeled pretentious by some critics.
I don’t mind saying, I don’t find them pretentious. They are sometimes beautiful to my ears and sometimes they are over my ears and over my head.
ELP was no obscure Soft Machine here (see my home page graphic).
ELP sold about 50 million records worldwide.
When I posted on my Van Cliburn albums, I wondered in the column if Emerson could have beaten Van Cliburn in the International Tchaikovsky Competition. Well I didn’t wonder so overtly but I did set up ‘dueling’ videos.
I don’t know what’s going on when someone sounds like they have three hands on the piano. I can never break this down like altrockchick.com, a multi-instrumentalist, multilingual and probably one of the most insightful rock critics I’ve read of late.
. Read a snippet from her review of ELP’s Trilogy:
Here Keith Emerson demonstrates his dynamic flexibility on the piano, quieting detractors with a delicately played and beautifully phrased sequence. His return to percussive piano chords signals the intro to Part 2, a passage with tiny hints of Copland, foreshadowing the later track, “Hoedown.” Greg Lake then returns to sing the enigmatic closing verses.
I cannot write that. But I believe she knows it based on her other writings and the authority with which she writes.
Now my mentor and adversary (he has no idea who I am, of course), Robert Christgau, the grand poo-bah of acerbic crank, famously panned ELP, and said the fans are as pretentious as the band, or something like that.
Uh oh. I recently sat listening to ELP with my daughter, late 20s, and we thoroughly enjoyed Works Vol. 2 and their self-entitled debut album. Emily would read a bit during the contemplative pieces and perk up and grab the album cover on some of the more brazen ones. She is the least pretentious person I know. (She likes Dixie Chicks, who can also play their instruments.)
And I can listen to a master pianist, Emerson, play Scott Joplin all day.
Now I’m digging through my box ‘o cassette tapes because I remember I had Tarkus in that format.
I sold my Insect Trust .45 Saturday so Tarkus might be a good replacement in my rotation.
ALBUMS: Emerson Lake and Palmer (1970); Works Vol. 2 (1977)