Mike Oliver is counting down his 678 vinyl records before he dies.
This is the regular Saturday column where I showcase some of the 678 vinyl record reviews I plan to review on my website.
I’ve reviewed 151, still have 527 to go.
This is a race, you see, to get these done, reviewed and put up on my website, before my brain disease gets me.
Recenty I posted that I had decades ago lent my Deep Purple live album ‘Made In Japan’ to someone who never returned it. I said jokingly if anyone out there has it, please leave it on my porch no questions asked.
Last week AL.com cartoonist J.D. Crowe walked into the newsroom and handed me the live album plus a copy of ‘Machine Head’ in primo condition.
ADDITIONAL ADDS (SEE NOTE BELOW) Deep Purple Made in Japan Live:45/$$$$; Machine Head 4.5/$$$$; Who do we think we are — 3.5/$$$
I more or less have been untethered from the Internet, and thus my blog, for a long weekend out of state.
It was an accidental untethering. I forgot my laptop and phone charger. I really did. But it forced me to actually be more ‘there’ with family and friends. So, that was great. I highly recommend forgetfulness in certain parts of your lives, forgiveness in other parts.
Anyway, I’m working my way through the D’s and thought I’d do a three-fer. Only other time I did three artists in one post on this blog was for the Bongos, Blue Rodeo and BoDeans. If you missed those, check them out. Some good music by those groups.
This time I have three records that are widely different except that they came out in the 1970s. They come at different turning points in these bands’ careers.
Deep Purple, Stormbringer
This heavy metal band is known for giving us the most recognizable (and simplest) riff in rock and roll history. At least it’s in that conversation. That rift being the crunching seven-chord sequence opening ‘Smoke on the Water.’
The riff is so well known it’s a cliche. I’ve heard their are music stores (where they sell guitars) that have signs posted: “No Smoke on the Water allowed.”
Deep Purple has had some good musicians over the years. By the time Stormbringer rolled around, there had been several personnel changes. The album was basically the beginning of the end. The group still had (disgruntled) guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore. This was to be his last DP album before leaving and forming Rainbow. He does blister the guitar on the way out of the door though. While some fans call this an underrated album, I hear a distinct drop-off from their previous two.
For those interested in Deep Purple I would recommend a live album I no longer have (whoever borrowed it 30 years ago, please give it back, Nevermind keep it): The album is Made In Japan and is actually worth a little money if you can find it.
NOTE UPDATE: After publication of this blog, AL.com’s J.D. Crowe, our in-house cartoon drawer and illustrator surprised me with not only ‘Made In Japan,’ but also a primo version of ‘Machine Head.’ Thanks JD, that puts me into the purple.
Detective
This is the debut album of this group and one of only two studio albums. They were signed by Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. (Bad Company was also on that label).
Detective is heavily influenced by Zeppelin, probably to a fault. It’s hard to imitate the sound that Zeppelin created. To me Zeppelin teetered toward a parody of the blues, but avoided that pitfall by sheer will of outrageously creative playing and performances. In other words, they took the blues and made it their own.
It was a magical elixir that Robert Plant and company put together. I do think Detective is good and there are some rabid fans out there who say their live concerts were as good as any in the late 1970s.. To my ears, they were missing an ingredient.
What’s that ingredient?
I don’t know. That’s why it’s a magical elixir.
John Denver, Poems Prayers and Promises
OK, don’t hire a lawyer for the whiplash I am giving you right now.
John Denver after a Led Zeppelin soundalike band and the heavy guitar sounds of Deep Purple is like slamming on the rock and roll brakes.
This is not rock and roll ladies and gentlemen. This is a pleasant voiced singer-songwriter putting out his fourth album, a commercial breakthrough, which led to a meteoric rise to celebrity-hood. With his golly gee outdoorsman image and environmentally friendly folky tunes, he won over middle America before tragically dying in a glider/experimental plane crash off a cliff in California.
This album has some covers such as ‘Let it Be’ by the Beatles which is somewhat unnecessary. But it has a couple of songs that made Denver a household name: Sunshine on my Shoulders, and (Take me home) Country Roads. While I can tolerate Country Roads, Sunshine on my Shoulders makes me run screaming from the room; the only thing that could possibly be worse would be Detective trying to do ‘Stairway to Heaven.’
Still if you think you’d like Denver music, and many millions do, it’s probably best to start at one of his greatest hits albums.
