I was crying, left to die in this godforsaken place

For the last few months I have been on a Macca jag.  After years of being turned off by his creative low point in the 1980s I have finally embraced his late period renaissance.  With 2005's Chaos and Creation In The Backyard I felt that he was again at the top of his game, writing some of his most personal lyrics and lovely rainy day melodies.  That album is anything but a rock'n'roll album but I love it dearly nonethless.

His follow up release, which consisted mostly of songs started before "Creation", was Memory Almost Full.  Fellow blogger Tim mentioned to me that it is a fine album but for some reason I never jumped on board.  Until now.  I just picked up a used copy of the deluxe release.  On my way home from the record store I listened in stunned amazement.   This album rocks like nothing he has done in ages.  Why I waited seven years to dip my toe is due to a nagging fear that Paul could not keep up the high quality of it's predecessor.  Well I was wrong.

Perhaps the most Wings'ish sounding tune he has written since that band's demise is Only Mama Knows.   Not only does it rock like all get out, but it has a killer hook in the chorus, and when the harmonies kick in the last time around it sends shivers down my spine.   That a man in his sixties could write a power pop classic is a true testament to his inate sense of melody and skill at songwriting.

I just bought "New" so expect reports shortly.

You'll Shine Over Me Today

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 rocker Junior'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.

See The Light

Unbeknownst to me at the time, Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour were not the only 70's power poppers in Tulsa.  I was still in high school in Enid - 120 miles west of Tulsa - when Cargoe released their one and only studio LP on Ardent Records.  Yes, that same Memphis label that spawned Big Star.   And just like Big Star, the record company had immense distribution and financial issues before finally going down the tubes.   The Cargoe LP tanked as one might expect.  But their 1972 single Feel Alright went to #1 in Memphis and received considerable airplay in the South.

Cargoe was not so Beatles and Byrds obsessed as Big Star and their music shows a much broader range of influences.    The Wiki page for Cargoe states "Cargoe epitomized the funky Tulsa sound".   I could not agree more!  If you want to learn more there is a great write up on the band over at Bordel do Rock in which they are referred to as the "American Badfinger".  High praise indeed.

Feel Alright has so much going for it - powerful drumming, a killer jumpy jerking bass line, excellent CSN harmonies, and a complicated verse melody with hooks galore. 



Here is a smokin' live version:

Have You Seen Her Dressed In Blue?

Just because.   I am a marginal fan of the Rolling Stones, but I sure dig their Summer of Love output.  The LP Their Satanic Majesties Request and the single We Love You are quite my cup of tea.  Full flowered psychedelia with a pinch of foreboding.  Here is She's A Rainbow, with that eerie opening piano riff courtesy of Nicky Hopkins.

Ignore the year posted on the YouTube video - this was definitely from 1967.

Oh the Mysteries

In 2010 Dwight Twilley released his thirteenth (or possibly fourteenth) studio album, not counting a bunch of releases of lost recordings from throughout his career.   Green Blimp found him ratcheting up the Beatles vibe, and nowhere was that more apparent than on Me And Melanie.  The driving piano riff is punctuated by Revolver-era guitar interjections.  "We changed our style.  We've been changing for a long long while."  The chorus is infectious - "Me and Melanie, Oh the memories" - and is underpinned by some stellar production work with guitar and bass counterpoint.   Give a listen at 1:47 to the bending notes in the guitar solo - just amazing and beautiful.  Ladies and Gentlemen, this is what power pop is all about!

Six O'clock in the Morning I Finished Recording

After their 1975 hit single "I'm On Fire" the Dwight Twilley Band suffered through the collapse of their record company, the yanking of their follow-up single "Shark In the Dark" from distribution due to record company worries that it would be seen as cashing in on the new hit movie "Jaws", and the cancellation of the LP they had been recording in England while "Fire" was riding up the charts.

So in 1977, with Arista as the new distributor for Shelter Records they recorded their second LP Twilley Don't Mind.  Dwight and Phil Seymour along with their longtime guitarist Bill Pitcock IV enlisted some help from friend Tom Petty.   The resulting album was a template for what power pop could and should have been.  But Arista seemed to lose interest and radio stations ignored the LP and singles

The great and sadly departed Mr. Pitcock lays down some 12 string jangle of the highest order in That I Remember.  This video from what appears to be a children's TV show is unfortunately lip synced.  However it is great to see the band in their prime.  The chorus never fails to choke me up a bit. 

A Million Hours to Dream

Here is a little nugget of power pop heaven from 1979,  Dwight Twilley with Alone in My Room.  I tend to wax poetic when discussing my hometown rocker.  Back during his brief brush with fame in the mid-70s I would preach to the unwashed in an attempt to gain some converts.   With the benefit of hindsight I can see that his heartfelt marriage of Beatles, rockabilly, and glam was just too out of step with current trends.   However for me the joy continues, and I have discovered a fantastic back catalog of albums right up to the present day.  I hope to be posting some of those hidden gems soon.

This track kicks off with a tasty guitar riff fighting against the counterpoint of the bass line.  One of the great features of this song is the front-and-center guitar work.  But the chorus just kills me.   This should have been a GIANT hit!