I keep wasting my chance with you

Roy Wood is a real enigma to me.  He wrote some of the finest Beatle-ish pop singles ever for this band The Move, founded the Electric Light Orchestra with Jeff Lynne, released two amazing and critically respected solo albums, and hit the top of the UK charts multiple times with his 50's sax and rock band Wizzard.   From about 1966 until 1973 he was consistently on the British charts, and more importantly, writing challenging pop music in a variety of styles.   And then.... nothing.   Well not exactly nothing, he had a few released under his own names as well as the Wizzard successor "Wizzo", but clearly the times had changed and he was running out of steam.

For a time in the early 70s after Jeff Lynne joined The Move, Roy and Jeff were being touted as the logical extension of the defunct Beatles.   Why these two had a falling out we may never know.   Roy moved in a radically different direction with Wizzard from The Move and his solo work.  His new band was truly a two headed monster.  On one hand they released killer Spector-ish 50s/early 60s pastiches, but then put out one of the hardest, heaviest, most speaker-killing albums ever recorded with "Wizzard's Brew".   For me, I love it all and appreciate the wide range of his musical compositions.   If you get bored with one style, just wait a few minutes for the track.   I am eternally grateful that Mr. Wood was around during a time when such daring musical styles were accepted by the record buying public - at least in the UK.   I do not fault him for stopping when he did.   It was a great run and my vinyl and CD collection is better off for it.

The following tune was one of the singles released from his second solo album "Mustard".  Do not be fooled by the somewhat dated arrangement, for under the covers is one of the loveliest melodies he ever wrote, and the harmony work throughout is a combination of the Beach Boys and the Ronettes!  Here is what Geoge Starostin has to say about Any Old Time Will Do over at his old website - "will hardly be appreciated on first listen, but on subsequent ones the way Wood constructs his harmonies - from caring and tender falsettoto bitter and desperate tenor - will definitely win your heart over (if you have a heart, that is)"

Now and then I look out my window
But my only world is songs that I still can hear
Though I wait for you
My hours are few
I keep wasting my chance with you
So any old time will do

The Nights Go On and On

In the vein of great riff-based songs such as Pleasant Valley Sunday and Day Tripper, here is a tasty nugget from the Raspberries final LP Starting Over.   Play On has all the requisite components of a great power pop song - riff, a driving beat, and heavenly vocal harmonies in the chorus.   This is the one song on the LP that is a throwback to their early hits.   This album has always been way up there on my list of favorites, and is the most consistent long player released by the Raspberries.  That they came apart soon afterwards is a real shame.

Guide Me With Your Body Light

From the opening other-worldly guitar chords and drumming salvo, No One Knows announces that Badfinger ain't some Beatles-lite band riding on the Apple wagon.   From their second Warner Brothers LP Wish You Were Here, genius popmeister Pete Hamm provided perhaps the finest power pop ever produced by a band that already had a fine track record in that genre.  The story behind the album and its limited release is part of a story too sad for me to tell here.  Look up the details in Wikipedia if you are not already familiar.   Today I just want to bask in the glory of this amazing tune and the super album from which it comes.

Producer Chris Thomas helped the band achieve a mature sound - that along with the stellar songwriting - makes this record their finest long play issue.  He was initially brought in to salvage their last Apple release, Ass, then stayed on for their first two Warner's releases.  From start to finish this is a fine piece of work.  All four members contributed songwriting chores.

As for No One Knows, the guitar chords that I mentioned up top are difficult to describe.   Rhythmically widely spaced, they ring out and barely fade before the next one comes.  A piano riff comes in then the drums build as the chords repeat.   Leading directly to that glorious chorus with the slow guitar arpeggios injecting their counterpoint.

"No one knows how good I feel, when you let it glow"

The middle eight uses the opening mega-chords to punctuate Pete's glorious happy vocal.

"Come in closer with each sigh,
Knowing soon that we will fly"

Even the odd Japanese soliloquy over the instrumental version of the chorus seems just right.  Then those great Badfinger harmonies join in for another pass through the middle eight.

Power Pop does not get any better than this.

Because of All Their Tears, Their Eyes Can't Hope to See

I have been down the rabbit hole of Beatles' blogs of late, and as a result have spent undue time thinking about all sorts of FabFour related items.   One thing that has really taken me aback is the plethora of George Harrison songs that were rejected by John, Paul, and George Martin for inclusion on Beatles' LPs.  Perhaps the most shocking example is the song presented here today - Isn't It A Pity.   Written in 1966, George proposed it as a track for Revolver according to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, or possibly Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band per EMI engineer Geoff Emerick.  Not only was it rejected at that time, but was put down a second time in 1969 when George brought it up again during the Get Back sessions.   For me that was a stupendously bad decision by John and Paul.  It is one of George's most stunningly beautiful and deep compositions and could have been the best song on the LP that was eventually released as Let It Be.

George had so many pent-up songs in his side bag that when the group finally fell apart, his first solo release was chock full of tasty nuggets and he shot out of the gate ahead of his former band mates during the early solo years.

The version of Isn't It A Pity presented here is the most popular version, which appeared on the B-side of the My Sweet Lord single as well as the album.  There is a quieter reprise version at the end of the studio portion of All Things Must Pass.

The quality of George's songs was definitely on the ascent as the Beatles were coming apart at the seams.  The "what if" game in my head keeps playing through the options.   Clearly John was going to leave from the moment Yoko came on the scene, it was just a matter of time.  But could the other three have soldiered on without him?  I believe that they could have.  George was ready to step up to the plate, so to speak, but the management issues at Apple Corp. and the battle over who should manage it split Paul from the other three and doomed them from continuing as a recording entity.  In the short term it may have been a boon to George's career, but I cannot help but believe that even a few more years of McCartney and Harrison song-filled albums could have left us with even greater treasures.   Alas it was not to be.

You Just Ain't Been Tryin'

The songs on Big Star's "#1 Record" are evenly distributed by the two principal songwriters, Chris Bell and Alex Chilton.   The first song out of the gate is Chris Bell's Feel.   The intro chugs along for a few bars before his vocal line enters, almost pulling off a Robert Plant moment:

Girlfriend, what are you doing?
You're driving me to ruin.

Then for the chorus the melody drops down into a lower range with Beatle-ish harmonies:

I feel like I'm dying
I'm never gonna live again
You just ain't been trying
Getting very near the end

Followed by a saxophone frenzy.  Rinse and repeat.  All done with an elan totally unexpected of a rock band just getting out of the gate for the first time.

It's Gonna Be Alright Now

Last week I caught the new Big Star documentary "Nothing Can Hurt Me" at our wonderful old restored Hollywood Theater movie house.   First let me say there were moments in this film where I found myself quivering and on the verge of tears.   Seeing all of the archive footage of a band that I have worshiped for 40 years was like finding the Holy Grail.  Considering that it was nearly impossible to find their official vinyl releases back in the day I was amazed at the amount of material still available. 

As much as I loved the movie and was eager to soak up every last word, there were some interviews that did not really shed any new light on the band and their music.   Interestingly enough it was the interviews with the family and friends of Chris Bell that had the greatest impact for me.   I was aware of his status as co-leader of the band on the first LP "#1 Record" but had no idea just how depressed and sad he was as a result of their chart failure, as well as his feelings of being usurped by Alex Chilton.

The musical fragments presented in the film left a lot to be desired.  First of all, nothing was played in its entirety.  And then some major songs were completely left out, such as Back of a Car from "Radio City" which for me is the ultimate power pop song of all time.   For a long time fan like me it was not such a problem, but for someone just learning about the band I am afraid it might leave them wondering what all the fuss was about.

That said, I intend to makeup for my paltry postings for this band - only one in six years - and today want to start with one of my favorite tunes from #1 Record - Alex Chilton's Give Me Another Chance.   This song is so hauntingly beautiful in every little detail, from the opening verse melody and gentle acoustic strumming to the delicate harmonies surrounding these lines:

    I'm gonna be alright now, be OK.

    You know I just woke up and I see the way
    Don't give up on me so fast
    I see it's me that's wrong at last
    Give me another chance

And then the middle eight comes in and I just come apart:

    Its so hard, just to stay alive each day, I really can't go on this way, oh no, oh no.

This film reawakened my love this band and reminds me just how powerfully their music has affected me over the years.

A Winter's tune for a Summer Day

This is a shout out to fellow blogger and all around good guy Who Am Us Anyway?.   Thanks for checking in on me via this blog over the last few months.  My health issue has improved greatly, and although I must be vigilant from here on out, I am pretty much back to living a normal life.  Having never had any serious health problem until last year - not even a broken bone - this has all been quite humbling.  But life is good and I am out to make the best of it.

Today's gem is a lost pysch classic from 1968 by the studio assemblage known as Sagittarius, led by producer/song writer Gary Usher.  He collaborated with Brian Wilson during the early years of the Beach Boys, penning the lyrics for 409 and In My Room.   When released as a single in 1968, today's tune My World Fell Down bumped its way up to #70 in the US charts.   None other than Glen Campbell provided the lead vocal, and another Beach Boy touring member Bruce Johnston added backing vocals.   A few months later when the record company demanded a full LP, the song was cut to remove the musique concrete middle section.

From the opening piano diddle I was hooked the first time I heard this.  The delicacy of the verse melody is contrasted with the Beach Boy-like chorus, and then the chamber pop section blows right into the found audio section.   It's all a bit silly and yet the overall effect is quite stunning.   Yet another attempt at a little pop symphony.