In 1973-74, Paul McCartney and his band Wings were on fire. Singles Live and Let Die and Helen Wheels got the ball rolling, followed by the Band On The Run LP and two singles spawned from that triple platinum album, then Paul's great rockerJunior's Farm. Also during this time Paul produced and co-wrote the music for his brother Mike McGear's 1974 eponymous LP. And his band Wings came along with the deal, so for all intents and purposes this is a Wings LP with Mike McGear singing lead vocals.
I bought this LP when it came out based on a glowing review in Stereo Review magazine. IMHO this album was better than the next Wings LP Venus and Mars. In fact it is somewhat of a lost treasure. That said, there are some odd tracks that were clearly more musically risky than anything Paul was willing to commit to on an official Wings' album, but for me that only adds to the charm. Rainbow Lady might not be the deepest or most expansive track, but it has the effortless Macca tunefulness mixed with some lovely harmony work.
In light of the recent announcement of the next two archive releases from Paul McCartney and Wings, here is the white hot live-in-the-studio version of Soily from the One Hand Clapping film. I have never understood why a studio version of this song was never released. A fine live version appeared on the Maybe I'm Amazed (live) 45 b-side, but this OHC version just smokes it. Apparently Paul intended it to be part of the planned two-record release of Red Rose Speedway but that was cut to a single LP before release.
Every time I watch and listen to this performance on the Band on the Run archive release DVD I contemplate what an album full of stompers like this might have done for Wing's image back in the day. Along with Junior's Farm, this is as heavy as McCartney ever got outside of the Beatles. Anyway, I just love this song to death. Also dig Linda jigging about in the background, looking too cool for school. Big time Linda fan here!
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.
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.
I know the biggest question in the back of you mind is "what is Mr. Pleasant's favorite John Lennon song not written by John Lennon?" And the answer is a doozey because frankly it is a song forgotten by everyone in the universe.
Well, before I tell you who and what, let me just say that you really have to give this a listen before you make a judgement. The song is a beautiful amalgamation of Imagine-period melodiousness merged with Help-period group harmonies. And shades of "We Can Work It Out" - it even has a harmonium!
So here is the deal. The recording artists had a short-lived TV variety show back in the mid 70s, and one of the members was married to Goldie Hawn for a period of time. Of course I a referring to the Hudson Brothers and their one and only top 40 hit - So You Are A Star. Apparently the brothers had a real penchant for Beatles-ish power pop, but were never given a chance on their insipid TV program to show what they could really do. So the only evidence is this one song, but it is truly gorgeous, and clearly a loving tribute to Mr. Lennon. It just makes me swoon every time I hear it.
I am not about to harsh anyone's mellow with today's post. Back in the summer of 1974 I was between my college freshman and sophomore year, living on my own, and hanging with a new crop of friends. On occasion we would boogie up US 81 to Wichita to hit the bars and spend Sunday afternoons at the city park along the Little Arkansas River.
David was one of my buddies and he drove a hot orange muscle car. I vividly remember one Sunday afternoon on a return trip home. He had his swanky car stereo radio tuned to a top 40 station and three songs by female vocalists were played consecutively. All three were to be big hits. In the case of today's tune, it was that artist's biggest radio hit.
So what were the songs? I love them all but fully expect some groans related to at least one. First was Anne Murray's version of the Beatle's You Won't See Me. Believe it or not I was unfamiliar with that great McCartney tune from Rubber Soul. Ms. Murray's version pales in comparison, but the arrangement really isn't too bad and she had a nice voice that suited it well. Next up was Maria Muldaur and Midnight At the Oasis. The lyrics are as corny as all get-out but I have a real soft spot for this song. Maria has an unmistakable voice and her odd phrasing is frankly quite sexy. Plus the short guitar solo is quite tasty.
So my favorite of the batch? Hands down - Help Me by Joni Mitchell. Joni was entering a very jazz-inflected phase and the amazing procession of odd tunings and 11th chords ushered this song right up into the top ten. This was my introduction to her work and soon afterwards I had worked my way back through her catalog. Certainly not the Canadian folky sound of her earlier work, but it was a breath of fresh air in that summer of '74 and still brings a big smile to my face whenever I listen to it.
Opinions vary on the genuineness of David Bowie as a rock'n'roller. For me it is not so much a question of his theatrics. Nor is it a matter of his chameleon like qualities, shifting from the long haired hippy in a man-dress to an alien rocker to the thin white duke, etc. It all comes down to the music. There are big swaths of his career that lay outside my area of interest, but from 1970 to 1980 he turned out a string of songs - both for himself and for others - that I believe are essential listening.
In 1974 he released Rebel Rebel as a single from the upcoming Diamond Dogs LP. In the spirt of the Kink's Lola, it is a real gender bender - "You've got your mother in a whirl, cause she's not sure if you are a boy or a girl". In the USA the 45rpm release was a completely different production than on the album and on the UK single. The tempo is a bit faster, there are wonderful phased vocal harmonies, the run time is 1:20 shorter, and the mix is absolutely on fire. The US single version is very hard to find. My brother bought the single back in the day, and I finally found it on the Sounds & Vision box set. Some obliging soul has put it up on YouTube, so I suggest you give it a listen. It really rocks my sock off.
And a favorite memory from the olden days - I saw a punk band from Pine Bluff, Arkansas perform this song at the Blue Grotto club on S. Main in uptown Tulsa in 1980. Priceless!
Back Of A Car is perhaps the quintessential power pop song. Frequent commenter and fellow blogger Who Am Us Anyway recently had a post about Memphis. It made me realize I have never written about Big Star. I am still reeling at the death of Alex Chilton earlier this year. There are no words I could write that would express my deep admiration and appreciation for the short but unique legacy left by that band.
I promise not to write much as the music speaks for itself, but I want to mention that Back Of A Car proves that counterpoint (that amazing guitar work) is just as necessary in rock as it was to 17th century baroque music.
There is a quote attributed to John Lennon regarding an appearance by Sparks on British TV in 1974. "It's Hitler on the telly" was his supposed response the Ron Mael'stoothbrush moustache. I remember watching the band on "In Concert" in that same year. My dad - a blue collar guy if there ever was one - walked into the living room and amazed my brother and me by watching all of their performance. He still mentions it occasionally.
I have no doubt that the Mael brothers were using every trick in the book to get noticed. After all this was their shot at the big time. They had two big hit singles in the UK earlier in the year and their offbeat stage personas had worked well amongst the oddities of UK pop music at that time. Glam glitter and gold lame were all the rage. Ron sat behind the electronic keyboard like Charlie Chaplin on tranquilizers while pouty-lipped brother Russell pranced around the stage with his poodle dog haircut bouncing in rhythm to the beat. Needless to say the effect did not translate to sales or radio play in the USA.
For me their first two Island albums are little treasures of pop depravity. The excellent lead guitarist and talented bassist from Kimono My House were jettisoned when their suggestions for a musical direction threatened the Mael's stranglehold on the band. Waiting in the wings was Trevor White, perhaps my favorite glam-era guitarists ever. His work throughout Propagandais full of pyrotechnicalsomersaults, and the producer put that sound front-and-center in a way that was never allowed again on a Sparks recording.
Reinforcements consists of a verse melody that could have been composed by Kurt Weill and a rock chorus that is driven by an insistent guitar chord. The double entendre of the lyrics are a hoot, with comparisons of the sexual appetite of the singer's girlfriend Denise to the lexicon of armies going to war. At 2:04 the chorus repeats, each time building with more energy until the guitar nearly explodes, then at 2:36 the bottom drops out. What comes next is one of those unexpectedly divine moments that pop music can sometimes deliver. The verse harmony recurs, but instead of lyrics it is accompanied by a softly sung vocalise, a lovely guitar counterpoint, and a background chorus. Then on the second time through it is joined by the guitar and even more counter vocal lines. And then it repeats just enough times to linger in my head for hours afterwards. Imagine God Only Knows mutated into a twisted glam cacophony.
Recently over at Clicks And Pops Alex Stein discussed one of his guilty pleasures, a holiday tune by the glam metal band Angel. The ugly beyond-belief album cover brought back memories for me of purchasing the first New York Dolls album. In the wheat country of Northwest Oklahoma in 1973 there was good reason to fear reaction of the locals to this photo of the boys dressed up in provocative derelict drag. I had read about the Dolls in various rock magazines and decided I had to hear it for myself.
I went to the local 5&10 cent store to buy it, expecting.. I'm not sure what.. but the fears were real in my mind. Amazingly they had the record in stock, and I bought several other LPs in hopes it would blend in with the crowd, so to speak. My fears turned out to be unnecessary as the big haired clerk rang up my purchases without blinking an eye. I took it home, placed the vinyl on my turntable, and about two seconds into Personality Crisis I was hooked. None of my college friends had much to say about it. To this day I may be the only Dolls fan who ever lived in Enid.
Generally the US rock press originally either ignored or dismissed the band, but now bestows honors upon them as if they had been in their corner all along. In a way I am happy to see them reincarnated and receiving the accolades they deserve, but then again would I have such a passion for them if they had met the same success in the early 70's that David Bowie encountered in the UK? Perhaps I enjoy the drama of a contender that never makes it to the big time. And certainly there was a thrill and daring for me in that LP cover that was taboo in the vast farmlands of middle America.
Recently there has been a wealth of live videos surfacing of the original New York Dolls in their prime. Few of these videos would have been allowed on broadcast TV back in the day. Here is Chatterbox off of their second LP In Too Much Too Soon. David Johansen struts across the stage in a killer cocktail dress while Silvain Silvain lays down majestic riffs and Johnny Thunders sings and coaxes devil sounds out of his guitar.
Preservation Act 2 really gets down to the nitty gritty of the story of the two principal characters Flash and Mr. Black in Ray Davies epic saga. Act 1 is stronger in terms of the tunes, but the drama really hits hard in this follow-up. Overall I find the first two sides of this double LP very strong, and side four really pulls out all the stops. There is a definite Weill/Brecht feeling throughout, with the magnificent horn oompahs and woodwind runs in the verse parts of Second-Hand Car Spiv sounding as if they came from a lost manuscript for A Threepenny Opera.
Reviewers back in the day considered the live road show version to be superior to the recordings. Having seen it then, I would agree that the combination of the expanded forces on the stage, projected images and a reduced, concise song lineup made for excellent theater. But the records really do hold their own, even with the spoken "announcements" in Act 2 which help to flesh out the story with a news announcer censoring the proceedings according to the wishes of Mr. Black's dictatorship.
It is weird and wonderful to hear female voices on a Kinks record, and especially the ladies-only Scrapheap City. I also picked up a 70s glam vibe on parts of Artificial Man and Salvation Road that I don't believe I ever noticed before - shades of Mott the Hoople! Some of the most heart-rending moments for me include the final lines in Nothing Lasts Forever - "Your love will fade but mine will last forever". This song would be a great companion to The Party's Over and the arrangement reminds me of a broken-heart love song in a big 50's musical. And Flash's plea for acceptance in Scum Of The Earth - "Before you condemn me my friends, I suggest that you look deep inside you" - he's not about to apologize for being human.
It may be the oddest combination of rock, musical theater, and political commentary ever produced. It is a very long way from Face to Face. Those Kinks no longer exist by this juncture. At the time I fought with myself on whether I would continue to follow them into their new world. I would like to think that as I grew older, I became wiser and more open to something different. Listening again after so many years I find Preservation to be refreshing and extremely current to today's world.
Who else was this musically adventurous in the mid 1970s? Preservation is one of Ray Davies' crowning moments.
Borrowed from Merriam-Webster - marked by flawless craftsmanship, or by beautiful, ingenious, delicate, or elaborate execution
For me no power pop song brings this to fruition better than The Raspberries 1974 Overnight Sensation. It was somewhat of a flop upon release - I recall that it barely dented the top 20. Then the band broke up shortly thereafter. We have seen this before. Here is the drill - group hits its stride, produces their best work, then disbands as record sales fizzle. For instance, the Zombies and their magnum opus Odessey and Oracle, all of Big Star's 70s studio albums. Regardless of what should have been, this song lives on in my Power Pop hall of fame.
Opening with perhaps the finest piano riff in pop history
0:38 the first appearance of the chorus "(I just ) Want a Hit Record". Just gorgeous.
0:56 the middle eight "well the program director don't pull it..."
1:21 Wally Bryson's guitar is on fire
1:30 as the verse returns, stabbing guitar power chords barely registering in the background
2:08 saxophone solo on a par with anything on a Bruce Springsteen album
2:32 middle eight returns
2:56 "while in my head I hear the record play, hear it play..."
3:05 the bottom drops out and a very tinny mono version appears - a great tribute to the bygone era of listening to the hit parade on a transistor-radio
3:15 gradually the modern stereo version overtakes the mono
3:58 back to the intro piano riff and Eric Carmen's McCartney-esque vocalizations, which fades and fades
by 4:18 the sound has dwindled down to just the piano gently rolling through the opening chords
4:24 - bam - fireworks from the drummer, then multi-tracked vocals, guitar pyrotechnics, the overload trailing off in the final for-real fade out
Mr. McCartney took his lumps after the Beatles split, and some of the reasoning behind it is valid. Without John to prod him, he could be a lazy lyricist, and the fill factor on his albums is often too high. And My Love ranks with the worst of 70s radio. But consider these observations about his songwriting:
His average number of songs on a Beatle's record was five or six.
His best songs were recorded methodically over a period of time. Unlike Lennon, he was not well-suited to off-the-cuff recordings.
He was in a deep depression in 1969/1970 over the breakup of the Beatles
It took some time to find his "solo" voice. John had a head start, as he was releasing solo records before the split.
Call me a McCartney apologist, but I believe that his overall track record up to 1975 (ed. previously stated 1980) was successful, and that his catalog has a few masterpieces. Ram is a sleeper, and my appraisal of it has only increased over the years. Band On The Run is considered overrated by some, but recent listenings tell me that it was the pinnacle of his post-Beatles work. The singles that came just before and after it are some of his finest rockers. Before BOTR
Hi Hi Hi - chunky rocker with lyrics that dared radio stations to ban it
Live And Let Die - absolutely the best Bond theme song evah!
Helen Wheels - chunky rocker #2 with a thudding bass that rocks the planet
After BOTR
Junior's Farm - chunky rocker #4 (Jet from BOTR would be #3); perhaps his finest single, and it contains a phenomenal coda with soaring harmonies and Jimmy McCullough's white hot guitar work.
Mention Wings and expect to get some laughs, or rolling of the eyes. But once the group found its legs, they created a recognizable sound apart from that of the Beatles. Nowhere nearly as good for sure, but certainly acceptable and with a few gems to remember them by.
