Song Musings

I hope your week has been great thus far and would like to welcome you to the latest installment of my Wednesday feature taking a closer look at songs I’ve only mentioned in passing or haven’t covered at all to date. Today’s pick falls into the first category: Ballad of a Thin Man by Bob Dylan.

“This is a song I wrote a while back in response to people who ask me questions all the time. You just get tired of that every once in a while. You just don’t want to answer no more questions.” (Bob Dylan, March 1986)

“That is a nasty song, Bob” (drummer Bobby Gregg after listening to the playback of the recorded song, August 1965)

“Dylan was the King of the Nasty Song at that time.” (organ player Al Kooper)

So who is Mr. Jones? First things first. Bob Dylan recorded Ballad of a Thin Man on August 2, 1965 in Studio A of Columbia Records in New York City. The recording session was managed by record producer Bob Johnston and in addition to Dylan (lead vocals, piano) featured Mike Bloomfield (lead guitar), Al Kooper (organ), Harvey Brooks (bass) and Bobby Gregg (drums).

Ballad of a Thin Man first appeared on Dylan’s sixth studio album Highway 61 Revisited released on August 30, 1965. At least in the U.S., the song was an album track only, but on Discogs I found it also came out separately as a single in France in March 1966, as the B-side to Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, another album-only track in the U.S.

In the song Dylan tells the tale of Mr. Jones who encounters one strange situation after another. As an inquisitive person, he keeps asking questions to understand what is happening, but the more questions he asks, the less anything around him makes sense to him. Wikipedia notes music critic Andy Gill called Ballad of a Thin Man “one of Dylan’s most unrelenting inquisitions, a furious, sneering, dressing-down of a hapless bourgeois intruder into the hipster world of freaks and weirdoes which Dylan now inhabited.”

Here’s what the maestro has said about the mysterious Mr. Jones at different times:

“He’s a real person. You know him, but not by that name… I saw him come into the room one night and he looked like a camel. He proceeded to put his eyes in his pocket. I asked this guy who he was and he said, ‘That’s Mr. Jones.’ Then I asked this cat, ‘Doesn’t he do anything but put his eyes in his pocket?’ And he told me, ‘He puts his nose on the ground.’ It’s all there, it’s a true story.” (August 1965)

“I’m not going to tell you his first name. I’d get sued…He’s a pinboy. He also wears suspenders.” (December 1965)

“I figure a person’s life speaks for itself, right? So, every once in a while you got to do this kind of thing, you got to put somebody in their place… So this is my response to something that happened over in England. I think it was about ’63, ’64. [sic] Anyway the song still holds up. Seems to be people around still like that. So I still sing it. It’s called ‘Ballad Of A Thin Man’.” (March 1986)

“There were a lot of Mister Joneses at that time. Obviously there must have been a tremendous amount of them for me to write that particular song. It was like, ‘Oh man, here’s the thousandth Mister Jones’.” (1990)

Ballad of a Thin Man has been covered by a number of other artists. Among others, SecondHandSongs lists Golden Earring (Love Sweat, 1995), Grateful Dead (Postcards of the Hanging, 2002 – first recorded 1988) and Kula Shaker (Kollected [The Best of], 2002). One version they don’t include is the first rendition of the song I ever heard, by my longtime favorite German-singing rock band BAP who recorded it as Wat Ess? (what’s up?) for their second studio album Affjetaut (defrosted), which appeared in 1980. The only YouTube clip I could find is this live version captured in Dortmund in 1982, but it’s fun. Songwriter and band leader Wolfgang Niedecken kept the song’s theme and wrote his own lyrics, as he oftentimes does when covering songs.

Following are some additional insights from Songfacts:

Of the many references to “Ballad of a Thin Man” found throughout media are the lines “feel so suicidal, just like Dylan’s Mr. Jones” from the Beatles’ 1968 White Album track “Yer Blues.” Here are some others:

1967: “Mr. Jones won’t lend me a hand” from Country Joe And The Fish’ “Flying High.”

1981: “Mr. Jones is all of you who live inside a plan” from Mr. Jones” by The Psychedelic Furs.

1993: “I wanna be Bob Dylan, Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky” from “Mr. Jones” by Counting Crows.

1998: “Mr. Jones is a man who doesn’t know who Mr. Jones is” from “Who Is Mr. Jones?” by Momus.

While we cannot speculate on the true identity of Mr. Jones, it can be said that the name “Mr. Jones” has come to symbolize for the music world the kind of old-guard “square” who “doesn’t get it,” similar to our modern usage of the mythical “Joe Sixpack.”

There was a famous Mr. Jones in Dylan’s life at the time: Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones. During the New York City blackout on November 9, 1965, they played music together at the Warwick Hotel, with Jones on harmonica.

This is the song Bob Dylan and his band played at the Forest Hills concert of 1965 in an attempt to soothe the unruly crowd. As Al Kooper recounts in Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, “It had a quiet intro, and the kids persisted in yelling and booing all the way through it. Dylan shouted to us to ‘keep playing the intro over and over again until they shut up!’ We played it for a good five minutes – doo do da da, do da de da – over and over until they did, in fact, chill. A great piece of theater. When they were finally quiet, Dylan sang the lyrics to them.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Discogs; SecondHandSongs; YouTube

On This Day In Rock & Roll History: May 13

As we start a new week, it’s time for another post of my irregular music history feature, the blog’s longest running series I started back in July 2016. It was my seventh post, and today is the 76th installment – yes, I had to count them all. Since the feature revolves around specific dates, this still leaves me with plenty of additional posts. With that said, let’s take a look at select happenings in the world of music on May 13.

1955: A performance by Elvis Presley in Jacksonville, Fla. led to what became known as the “first Presley riot.” During the show, Elvis told the screaming girls in the audience he’d “see them backstage after the show.” Apparently, some fans took the tease a bit too literal and rushed toward the stage when the spectacle was over. Some also corned Elvis in his dressing room and tore off his clothes, hoping to grab a souvenir. Remarkably, this all happened before he had ever appeared on national TV. Also in attendance was a man who called himself Colonel Tom Parker and would become Presley’s manager after he had witnessed his potential. Here’s an interview of Presley conducted on May 13, 1995 by Mae Boren Axton, which briefly references the “riot.” It was the first time Axton met Presley, and she ended up giving him her song Heartbreak Hotel. It worked out nicely for both of them, becoming Presley’s first no.1 in the U.S. on the national pop charts

1966: The Rolling Stones released their single Paint It Black in the UK. It had first appeared in the U.S. on May 7. Credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the initial version was a much slower, conventional soul song. When during the recording session Bill Wyman started following around on an organ with a spoof of music played at Jewish weddings, Charlie Watts joined in, improvising the double-time drum pattern, echoing the rhythm heard in some Middle Eastern dances. Another notable feature of Paint It Black is the sitar played by Brian Jones, an instrument The Beatles had introduced to pop the year before on their song Norwegian Wood.

1970: Let It Be, Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s documentary about The Beatles and the making of their studio album of the same name, made its theatrical debut in New York City. The UK premiere followed a week later in London and Liverpool simultaneously. At the time, the film wasn’t particularly well received. In addition to poor technical and conceptual qualities, most of the criticism focused particularly on it as a document highlighting the fractured relationships within the band. Peter Jackson’s documentary TV series The Beatles: Get Back, which premiered in November 2021, helped update the record. It drew largely from unused footage and audio material originally captured for and recycled original footage from Hogg’s documentary. An updated version of that documentary, which was fully restored by Jackson, started streaming on Disney+ on May 8. “Let It Be is the climax of Get Back, while Get Back provides a vital missing context for Let It Be,” Jackson told Rolling Stone.

1978: Hawaiian vocalist, songwriter and actress Yvonne Elliman, who had gained initial prominence as part of the cast of Broadway musical production Jesus Chris Superstar, hit no. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 with If I Can’t Have You. Co-written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, the catchy dance song was part of Saturday Night Fever, the soundtrack from the 1977 film of the same name, starring 23-year-old John Travolta. At that time, the Bee Gees dominated the U.S. pop charts. If I Can’t Have You knocked off Night Fever, another Bee Gees song from soundtrack, from the top spot, which had been at no. 1 for eight weeks.

1985: The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) held their first meeting at a church in Washington, D.C. Co-founded by Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally Nevius, wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius, the PMRC’s goal was to increase parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes. Their influence led to a Senate hearing on September 19, during which John Denver, Frank Zappa and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister testified, opposing any kind of labeling, arguing any such regulation could lead to censorship. Two months later, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents most record companies, agreed to voluntarily place warning stickers on albums deemed offensive to avoid legislation.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts Music History Calendar; Florida History Network; Rolling Stone; YouTube

The Sunday Six

It’s Sunday again, and I’d like to invite you to accompany me on another fun music time travel trip. As always, the itinerary features six stops taking us to music with different flavors from six different decades. Come on and let’s get out of here together!

John Coltrane/Blue Train

Our little excursion today starts in January 1958 with jazz saxophone great John Coltrane, who rightfully has been called one of the most influential artists in the history of jazz. He’s credited to have helped pioneer modal jazz and been on the forefront of free jazz. During his 22-year career, Coltrane has played with the likes of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Red Garland and Paul Chambers, among many others, as you’d expect from a player of Coltrane’s caliber! This brings me to Blue Train, the title cut of his January 1958 studio album. Coltrane (tenor saxophone) was in fine company with Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Kenny Drew (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Jesse Colin Young/Ridgetop

Next let’s head to September 1973 to visit a true ’70s gem by Jesse Colin Young. The singer-songwriter first gained prominence as a co-founder of American folk rock group The Youngbloods. Among others, Young sang lead on their sole top 40 hit Get Together, a rendition of a song penned by Chet Powers, of psychedelic rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service. After the break-up of The Youngbloods in 1972 Young resumed his solo career he had first started in the early ’60s. Ridgetop, written by him, is a fantastic yacht rockish track from his fourth solo album Song For Juli. I love the horn work on this song, giving it a cool jazz vibe.

Big Head Todd and The Monsters/Bittersweet

Time to head to the ’90s with a neat track by Big Head Todd and The Monsters, which is right up my alley and hopefully yours as well. This Colorado rock band was formed in 1986. After two albums in 1989 and 1990, they hit it big in February 1993 with Sister Sweetly, which went Platinum in the U.S. and remained on the Billboard 200 for more than a year, though curiously, it only peaked at no. 117. Off that album, here’s the lead single Bittersweet. Like all other songs on Sister Sweetly, it was solely penned by the band’s vocalist, guitarist and keyboarder Todd Park Mohr. Big Head Todd and The Monsters are active to this day and are currently touring, with Mohr remaining part of the current line-up. They also have a great new single out with a cool John Hiatt vibe.

Willie Nile/This Is Our Time

Are you still with me? Coz this is our time, this is our place, this is our journey to jump to June 2013 and the eighth studio album by New York rock & roll singer-songwriter Willie Nile, American Ride. Nile’s recording career started in 1980 with his eponymous debut album. After his 1981 sophomore release Golden Brown, he was dealing with legal problems that bogged him down for the next few years, but eventually, he was able to resume his career. In addition to his solo work, Nile has performed and recorded with the likes of Ringo Starr, Tori Amos, Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams. From the aforementioned American Ride, let’s listen to This Is Our Time, written by Nile. Yeah, baby, that’s rock & roll!

Anita Baker/Sweet Love

After some blistering rock & roll, let’s take a breather with smooth and soulful vocalist Anita Baker. Sweet Love, a song I’ve always dug, is from Baker’s March 1986 breakout album Rapture, her sophomore release. The album’s first single not only became a top 10 hit on the U.S. pop chart, but also won a Grammy for Best R&B Song at the 1987 Annual Grammy Awards. Sweet Love was co-written by Baker, Louis A. Johnson and Gary Bias. Rapture ended up selling more than 8 million copies worldwide and going 5X Platinum in the U.S. alone (5 million certified sold copies), making it Baker’s biggest commercial success. Man, that’s what I call a great captivating voice!

The Rolling Stones/Under My Thumb

So, what’s missing as we once again reach our final destination? Of course, a ’60s tune – simply a decade I cannot miss. Let’s make it count with one of my longtime favorite songs by the greatest rock & roll band in the world, who just keep on going like the Energy Bunny after more than 60 years! Of course, I’m talking about The Rolling Stones. Under My Thumb, co-written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, appeared as a single in April 1966, coinciding with the release of the UK edition of the Aftermath studio album. The song, which features marimba played by the one and only Brian Jones, was also included on the record’s U.S. edition, which came out in July of the same year. Take it way, boys!

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist of the above goodies. Hope you had as much fun as I did being your conductor. See you ya!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

Happy Belated Birthday, Keef

“We age not by holding on to youth, but by letting ourselves grow and embracing whatever youthful parts remain.”
Keith Richards (as recounted by American Songwriter)

This Monday, December 18, Keith Richards turned 80. While I certainly don’t feel an obligation to cover birthdays of each music artist I dig, leaving out this one somehow felt wrong. After all, The Rolling Stones have been among my top favorite bands for 40-plus years, and the Stones simply wouldn’t have been the Stones without their riff master who was instrumental in popularizing open G guitar and other tunings!

Richards got into the guitar during his childhood, a noteworthy anecdote. One day, a guitar on a shelf caught the little boy’s interest, but it was too high to reach. It belonged to his maternal grandfather, Augustus Theodore “Gus” Dupree, who played in a jazz big band. Richards wanted to grab the guitar, so Dupree told him that if he could somehow reach it, he could have it. Richards proved to be resourceful, took a chair and stapled books and cushions on top of each other until he finally got high enough to grab the instrument.

Not only did Dupree keep his promise, but he also taught Richards the rudiments of Malagueña, his first guitar tune! Richards turned out to be an eager student, practicing the song all the time. When his grandpa noticed the boy’s enthusiasm, he allowed him to keep the guitar for good. While Richards’ father Herbert William Richards, a factory worker, disparaged his son’s musical enthusiasm, little Keef couldn’t be stopped.

Fast forward to October 1961, when 17-year-old Richards ran into his former classmate and childhood friend Mick Jagger on a Dartford Railway Station platform. When he noticed Jagger was carrying records by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters, it became evident they dug the same music. A musical partnership started shortly thereafter, which less than two years later culminated in the formation of the world’s greatest rock & roll band.

This shall suffice for general background, given there are countless biographical write-ups on Richards and the Stones. Instead, I’d like to focus on music, specifically six songs in which Richards played a significant role, either as lead vocalist and/or writer, drawing from both the Stones and his solo career. These songs will also be featured in a Spotify playlist at the end of this post, along with 14 others.

Jumpin’ Jack Flash (non-album single, May 1968)

Credited to Jagger and Richards, though Bill Wyman claimed he wrote part of it, Jumpin’ Jack Flash not only is among my all-time favorite Stones songs but also features one of Keef’s best riffs. “When you get a riff like ‘Flash,’ you get a great feeling of elation, a wicked glee,” Richards told Rolling Stone, as captured by Songfacts. “I can hear the whole band take off behind me every time I play ‘Flash’ – there’s this extra sort of turbo overdrive. You jump on the riff and it plays you. Levitation is probably the closest analogy to what I feel.”

You Got the Silver (Let It Bleed, November 1969)

While with Something Happened to Me Yesterday Keef had official lead vocal parts as early as on the Stones’ January 1967 album Between the Buttons, the band’s first song to solely feature him in this role was You Got the Silver. Credited to Jagger and Richards, the song from the Let It Bleed album was written by Richards about his then-girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg, who used to go out with Brian Jones – a situation that further estranged Jones from the band. He still played autoharp on the recording, one of his final song contributions before the Stones parted ways with him.

Before They Make Me Run (Some Girls, June 1978)

Before They Make Me Run, off the Some Girls album, is another Stones song that solely features Richards on lead vocals. He also did most of the work on the track, which was recorded while he was out of jail on bail after he had gotten arrested in Toronto for drug trafficking in 1977. He ended up with probation. “That song, which I sang on that record, was a cry from the heart,” explained Richards in his book Life (2010), as documented by Songfacts. “But it burned up the personnel like no other. I was in the studio, without leaving, for five days… I had an engineer called Dave Jordan and I had another engineer, and one of them would flop under the desk and have a few hours’ kip and I’d put the other one in and keep going. We all had black eyes by the time it was finished.”

Start Me Up (Tattoo You, August 1981)

This brings me to the final Stones track highlighted in this post. Opening with one of Keef’s trademark riffs, Start Me Up was initially recorded with a reggae beat in 1977 during the sessions for Some Girls. But the Stones didn’t like the result and shelved the track – until it reemerged for Tattoo You. “The story here is the miracle that we ever found that track,” Richards explained, according to Songfacts. “I was convinced – and I think Mick was – that it was definitely a reggae song. And we did it in 38 takes – ‘Start me up. Yeah, man, cool. You know, you know, Jah Rastafari.’ And it didn’t make it. And somewhere in the middle of a break, just to break the tension, Charlie and I hit the rock and roll version. And right after that we went straight back to reggae. And we forgot totally about this one little burst in the middle, until about five years later when somebody sifted all the way through these reggae takes. After doing about 70 takes of ‘Start Me Up’ he found that one in the middle.”

Take It So Hard (Talk Is Cheap, October 1988)

Let’s next turn to Keef’s first solo album Talk Is Cheap. By the mid-’80s, his relationship with Jagger was on the rocks. When the Stones frontman was more interested in pursuing his solo career than touring behind the group’s March 1986 album Dirty Work, Richards teamed up with Steve Jordan (who has been the Stones’ touring drummer since Charlie Watts’ death in 2021) to write songs. Richards also gathered an impressive backing band whose core members in addition to Jordan (drums) included Waddy Wachtel (guitar), Ivan Neville (piano, keyboards, backing vocals) and Charley Drayton (bass). They became known as The X-Pensive Winos. Here’s Take It So Hard, which also appeared as a single.

Crosseyed Heart (Crosseyed Heart, September 2015)

My final pick is Crosseyed Heart, an homage to one of Richards’ key influences, and the title track of his third and most recent solo album. Like Talk Is Cheap, it featured the X-Pensive Winos. “The ‘Crosseyed Heart’ one came because I wanted to start it off where basically all the music that I know and I’ve played came from,” Richards told Uncut, according to Songfacts. “One of the wellsprings was Robert Johnson, and I’ve always wanted to do something in his style, so ‘Crosseyed Heart’ came from that.”

Richards’ 80th birthday coincided with his 40th wedding anniversary. On December 18, 1983, he married then-27-year-old American model and actress Patti Hansen. They have two daughters, Theodora Dupree, born 1985 and named after Keef’s grandpa; and Alexandra Nicole, born 1986.

“About myself I have no great illusions. I know what I am. I know what I’m good at. I know what I ain’t. I’m always hoping to surprise myself. But I do have a love of music and I do love to communicate it, and that’s the best I can do, really. And I can raise a good family, too.”
Keith Richards (as recounted by American Songwriter)

Last but not least, here’s the aforementioned Spotify playlist.

Sources: Wikipedia; American Songwriter; Songfacts; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

I can’t believe it’s Sunday again and (in the U.S.) Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Before we know it, Christmas will be upon us, and another year will be over. Okay, before all of that happens, let’s explore the amazing world of music with a little trip, zig-zagging the past six decades or so, six tracks at a time. Are you in?

Freddie Hubbard/Little Sunflower

Perhaps the only thing that has become a fixture of the Sunday Six is to start our trip with jazz. For some reason, jazz and Sunday mornings are a perfect fit. Today, my proposition is American jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard who was active between 1958 and 2008, playing bebop, hard bop and post-bop styles. He started playing the mellophone (a brass instrument similar to the trumpet) and the trumpet in his high school band in Indianapolis. After moving to New York in 1958, the then-20-year-old began playing with some of the best jazz players of the era, including Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Slide Hampton, Eric Dolphy and J. J. Johnson. Following the June 1960 release of his first record as a leader, Open Sesame, Hubbard was invited to play on Ornette Coleman’s sixth album Free Jazz. As is quite common in jazz, Hubbard also served as a sideman for many other jazz greats, such as Oliver Nelson, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Little Sunflower is a Hubbard composition from his album Backlash, released in May 1967. He was backed by James Spaulding (flute, alto saxophone), Albert Dailey (piano), Bob Cunningham (bass), Otis Ray Appleton (drums) and Ray Barretto (percussion). Smooth and groovy stuff – feel free to move and snip along!

Cry Of Love/Peace Pipe

Let’s jump to the ’90s and American rock band Cry Of Love. Formed in Raleigh, N.C. in 1989 by Audley Freed (guitar), Pee Wee Watson (vocals, guitar), Robert Kearns (bass, vocals) and Jason Patterson, they released their debut album Brother in May 1993. Following a 17-month supporting tour, Kelly Holland who had become the group’s frontman in 1991 quit. Cry Of Love replaced him with Robert Mason, vocalist of hard rock band Lynch Mob, and in 1997 put out one more album, Diamonds & Debris, before calling it quits. Peace Pipe, co-written by Freed and Holland, is a tune from the above-mentioned Brother. It became their biggest hit, topping Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart in 1993 – cool rocker that reminds me a bit of Bad Company.

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band/Davy’s On the Road Again

Time to pay a visit to the ’70s and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Formed in 1971, the group is the third act by Mann who started in the ’60s with self-titled band Manfred Mann before forming the short-lived jazz fusion-inspired outfit Manfred Mann Chapter Three in 1969. Davy’s On the Road Again, from the Earth Band’s eighth studio album Watch released in February 1978, brought Manfred Mann on my radar screen. I loved that tune from the get-go and got the record on vinyl at the time, a copy I own to this day. It’s a bit worn but still plays! Manfred Mann’s Earth Band became best known with renditions of songs, especially by Bruce Springsteen (Blinded by the Light, Spirit in the Night) and Bob Dylan (Mighty Quinn). Davy’s On the Road Again was no exception. The tune was co-written by Robbie Robertson of The Band and the group’s producer John Simon. Simon first released it on his fourth solo album John Simon’s Album, which appeared in 1971. Until I did research for this post, I had no idea about this! While I like the original as well, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band really kicked it up, especially in the album live version. There’s also a shortened single edit I’m not fond of.

Sheryl Crow/Summer Day

I could easily continue visiting great tunes that came out in the last century, especially in the ’60s and ’70s, but let’s not forget the current millennium. The year is 2010. The month is July. That’s when Sheryl Crow released her eighth studio album 100 Miles From Memphis. Since she emerged in August 1993 with her great debut Tuesday Night Music Club, I’ve enjoyed listening to her music. Sadly, we likely won’t be seeing another full-length studio album from her. When Crow released her most recent one Threads in August 2019, she said it was her final such effort, citing changing music trends where listeners create their own playlists and no longer pay much attention to albums. I certainly can’t deny I like playlists myself! Anyway, the vintage R&B and Memphis soul-flavored 100 Miles from Memphis marked a departure from Crow’s country and pop rock past. Let’s listen to Summer Day, a great tune penned by Crow together with co-producers Doyle Bramhall II and Justin Stanley. It also was released separately as the album’s first single, climbing to no. 3 on the U.S. Billboard chart Adult Album Alternative. I don’t know about you, but with freezing temperatures in my neck of the woods, a tune titled Summer Day sounds like an attractive proposition!

Bangles/In a Different Light

Our next stop are the ’80s, a decade in music I really loved at the time as a teenager growing up in Germany. While nowadays from a strictly musical perspective I can no longer say this as a general statement, I will always have a soft spot for the ’80s and memories associated with many of the songs. One of the bands I dug big time and still enjoy to this day are the Bangles, except for certain completely overexposed tunes. In 1986, the largely female pop rock group from Los Angeles released their hugely successful sophomore album Different Light. Among others, it climbed to no. 2 in the U.S. and Australia, no. 3 in the UK, no. 4 in New Zealand and no. 8 in Canada. It spawned five charting singles, including two of their best-known tunes Manic Monday and Walk Like an Egyptian. Here’s one of the songs that did not become a single, In a Different Light, co-written by the band’s vocalists and guitarists Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson.

Janis Joplin/Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)

And once again, this brings us to the final stop of yet another music mini-excursion. For this one, we shall go back to September 1969 and Janis Joplin’s first album as a solo artist, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! Sadly, it was the only solo effort that appeared during her life, which was cut short in October 1970 due to a heroin overdose. It made Joplin a member of the creepy 27 Club, which among others also includes Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, who all died at age 27 between 1969 and 1971. Joplin first rose to fame in 1967 with her appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival where she fronted Big Brother and the Holding Company, a then-little-known psychedelic rock band from San Francisco. After releasing two albums with the group, Joplin departed to launch a solo career with her own backing bands, Kozmic Blues Band, followed by Full Tilt Boogie Band. Joplin’s second, final and by far most successful solo album Pearl appeared three months after her death. Here’s Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) from her solo debut. Co-written by Jerry Ragovoy and Chip Taylor, the great tune is a fantastic showcase of Joplin’s one-of-a-kind vocals and seemingly boundless energy.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist featuring the above tunes. Hope there’s something you dig.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

Another Rolling Stones Classic Hits Big Milestone

Today 50 years ago, The Rolling Stones released what many of their fans consider one of their best albums. While my no. 1 Stones album remains their 1971 predecessor Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main St. has substantially grown on me over time, and I would now put it on my top 3, together with the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!

Exile On Main St. took a significant amount of time to make. It seems to me the fact it came to fruition at all bordered on a near-miracle. Work on the album started in England in 1969 during the Sticky Fingers recording sessions. Many of the tracks were recorded at Olympic Studios in London and Mick Jagger’s country house Stargroves.

By the spring of 1971, the Stones found themselves as tax refugees from the British government. Jagger moved to Paris with his new wife Bianca, Keith Richards rented Nellcôte, a 16-room mansion on the Côte d’Azur in Southern France, while the other members of the band settled in Southern France as well. Since the Stones couldn’t find a suitable studio to continue work on the album, they ended up using Richard’s basement at Nellcôte and the group’s mobile recording truck.

The work at Nellcôte was very different compared to previous albums. Richards had begun using heroin daily, which frequently prevented him from attending sessions. Jagger and bassist Bill Wyman oftentimes were absent as well. Time and again, this forced the band to record in altered forms. In addition to Jagger, Richards and Wyman, guitarist Mick Taylor, drummer Charlie Watts, keyboarder Nicky Hopkins, saxophonist Bobby Keys and producer Jimmy Miller, a capable drummer who filled in for Watts on a couple of tunes, participated in the Nellcôte sessions.

The basic tracks that were recorded at Nellcôte were subsequently taken to Sunset Sound Recorders studio in Los Angeles where vocal and instrumental overdubs were added between December 1971 and March 1972. This second stage of the recording included keyboarders Billy Preston and Dr. John, along with top-notch session vocalists. Unlike in France where he was often MIA, Mick Jagger took charge during the LA sessions.

In spite of what looks like a chaotic process, especially during the first stage in Southern France, the outcome was pretty remarkable. I’d say it’s time for some music. In its original configuration, Exile On Main St. is a double-LP album. I’m going to feature one track from each side. A Spotify link to the entire album is included at the end of this post.

Let’s kick things off with Rip This Joint, the second track on side one. Like all other songs, the uptempo rocker is credited to Jagger and Richards. Wikipedia notes it’s one of the fastest songs in the Stones’ catalog. It became a concert staple between the early to mid-’70s before it disappeared from the Stones’ setlists completely until the mid-’90s.

And we’re on to side two and the first track Sweet Virginia, one of the Stones’ country-influenced tunes. Among others, the song features great harmonica and saxophone parts by Jagger and Keys, respectively. The backing vocalists include Dr. John. “‘Sweet Virginia’ – were held over from Sticky Fingers,” Richards said in 2003, according to Songfacts. “It was the same lineup and I’ve always felt those two albums kind of fold into each other… there was not much time between them and I think it was all flying out of the same kind of energy.”

This next tune always makes me, well, Happy. The first track on side three features Richards on lead vocals. It also was the Stones’ first such song to chart. It did best in France where it climbed to no. 5. In Canada, it reached no. 9. In the UK, it missed the charts. Perhaps folks there weren’t happy about the group’s tax refugee status. “It just came, tripping off the tongue, then and there [at Nellcôte – CMM],” Richards said per Songfacts, citing his 2010 autobiography, Life. “…There has to be some thin plot line, although in a lot of my songs you’d be very hard-pressed to find it. But here, you’re broke and it’s evening. And you want to go out, but you ain’t got s–t. I’m busted before I start. I need a love to keep me happy, because if it’s real love it will be free!” Got it? Now you know how to write a great song!

The final tune I’d like to call out is Shine a Light, the second-to-last track on side four. The song’s original lyrics date back to 1968 when Jagger wrote a song titled Get a Line On You about then-Stones guitarist Brian Jones and his drug addiction. After Jones’ untimely death in July 1969 at age 27, Jagger changed some of the tune’s lyrics and the title. Shine a Light features Billy Preston on piano and organ. It also became the name of a 2008 Stones concert documentary by Martin Scorsese.

When Exile on Main St. originally came out, critics had mixed feelings about it. But as isn’t uncommon, sentiments subsequently changed and the album has since been regarded by many critics as The Rolling Stones’ best work. I’m sometimes a bit puzzled how drastically opinions can change. Rolling Stone ranked Exile on Main St. at no. 7 on their 2003 and 2012 lists of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In the 2020 revision, the album held up pretty well at no. 14, making it the Stones’ highest-ranked album on the list. In 2012, Exile on Main St. became the fourth Stones album to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Exile on Main St. is among the Stones’ best-performing records. It topped the charts in the UK, U.S., Canada, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and climbed to no. 2 in Australia and Germany. The album also received Platinum certification in Great Britain, the US and Australia.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube; Spotify

If I Could Only Take One

Once again it’s time for tough decisions, decisions. The letter “d” in my music library revealed artists I’ve featured repeatedly here like Roger Daltrey, Dion, Deep Purple, Dire Straits and The Doors, to name some. And then there’s Donovan who by comparison I’ve covered less, so Donovan Phillips Leitch shall be the chosen one for my weekly desert island exercise.

While I can’t claim to be a Donovan expert, I can safely say I know more than two songs by the Scottish singer-songwriter, so I actually had to make a true decision which one to pick. If memory serves me right, Colours and Universal Soldier were the first two Donovan tunes I encountered. At the time, I was actively playing acoustic guitar and taking lessons. Especially Colours with its three chords was easy to learn, even if you didn’t have the skill set of a Jose Feliciano or Paul Simon – and I didn’t, not even at my best!

Back to the task at hand, which is answering the existential question, if I had to move to a desert island and could only take one Donovan song, which one would I pick? I decided to go with Sunshine Superman. I’ve always loved how this tune combines folk, blues and psychedelic music. It also turned out there’s a back story behind the song I had not been aware of.

Donovan wrote Sunshine Superman in response to the break-up with Linda Lawrence at the end of 1965. After the couple had dated for a short time, Lawrence, the former girlfriend of Rolling Stones founding member Brian Jones, ended the relationship, not wanting to repeat getting the attention of being a music artist’s girlfriend.

Sunshine Superman first appeared as a single in July 1966, leading up to Donovan’s third studio album with the same title, which was released the following month, except for the UK. The tune became his first big hit and his only song to top the Billhoard Hot 100 in the U.S. Due to a contractual dispute, the single didn’t appear in the the UK until December 1966. The album was pushed back as well until September that year. Sunshine Superman (the single) still did pretty well, climbing to no. 8 of the Offical Singles Chart. Sunshine Superman also proved to be popular in Australia (no. 4), The Netherlands (no. 2) and Germany (no. 7).

Following is how Donovan played Sunshine Superman in January 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. This is taken from a DVD, Donovan: Live in L.A. at the Kodak Theatre, which appeared in January 2008. It’s a more funky version – not bad!

What else is there to say? Let’s take a look at Songfacts:

It’s not a normal love song, the singer told Mojo magazine June 2011. “On the face of it, the song is about being with Linda again. But sunshine is a nickname for acid. The Superman is the person capable of entering higher states because it’s not easy to go into the fourth dimension and see the matrix of the universe in which everything is connected. The line, ‘everybody’s hustling’ referred to the pop scene at the time, where you could lose yourself very easily. Gyp (Mills – Donovan’s lifelong friend and tour manager) would always keep my feet on the ground; we had left home at 16 to busk so we could see fame for what it is.”

Donovan was good friends with The Beatles, and they were both making very innovative and trippy music at the time. Donovan’s producer Mickie Most told him not to play the Sunshine Superman album to Paul McCartney under any circumstances, because he knew McCartney would be tempted to do something similar.

Donovan, as pictured on his website

Donovan recalled to Uncut magazine: “My arse was being sued by Pye after Sunshine Superman so, my masterwork, sat on the shelves for seven months. If you date it, it was at least a year and a half before Sgt Pepper and I remember Mickie saying to me, ‘Don’t play it to McCartney’ but of course everybody was sharing with everyone else and nicking from each other.”

“I played it to McCartney anyway,” he continued. “But they were already there, anyway, and George Martin was doing something similar with The Beatles, working out arrangements from ideas they had in their heads. George Martin was The Beatles’ guy and John Cameron was my guy and they both had an appreciation of jazz which was key.” Originally, the “Sunshine Superman” single was subtitled “For John And Paul,” a reference to Lennon and McCartney.

A few additional tidbits:

A busy session guitarist called Jimmy Page played lead guitar on the recording of Sunshine Superman.

Sunshine Superman is considered to be among the first overtly psychedelic pop songs.

Apparently, the tune made The Beatles’ video for A Day in the Life, in which it supposedly can be seen to spin on a turntable. Of course, the nerd in me had to check it out. While there is very brief footage of a spinning record around the 4:00 minute mark, frankly, I find it impossible to name it. Perhaps you need to be on a controlled substance to see it! 🙂

The trippy clip also features other music artists like Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. At around 38 seconds, there’s a guy on the left side, who could be Donovan, though I’m not sure – again, a mind-enhancing pill might help! 🙂

The story behind Sunshine Superman had a happy end. In October 1970, Linda Lawrence became Donovan’s wife, and they remain together to this day. How many other music artists can you name, who have been married for 50-plus years?

Donovan, now 75 years old, is still active and maintains a website, where you can listen to his most recent single Gimme Some of That, which came out in October 2021.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Donovan website; YouTube

When the World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band Goes Country

With the recent passing of Charlie Watts, The Rolling Stones have been on my mind lately. When my streaming music provider served up Far Away Eyes the other day, the seed for this post was planted. In addition to rock & roll and blues, the “greatest rock & roll band in the world” has always had a thing for country, so I thought it would be fun to put together a list of country-influenced Stones songs.

“As far as country music was concerned, we used to play country songs, but we’d never record them – or we recorded them but never released them,” Mick Jagger is quoted on Songfacts. “Keith and I had been playing Johnny Cash records and listening to the Everly Brothers – who were SO country – since we were kids. I used to love country music even before I met Keith. I loved George Jones and really fast, s–t-kicking country music, though I didn’t really like the maudlin songs too much.” For all of those among us who aren’t native English speakers like myself, maudlin means “drunk enough to be emotionally silly” and “weakly and effusively sentimental,” as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

All featured tracks in this list were credited to Jagger and Keith Richards, as usual. One could argue most picks aren’t “pure” country and mix in elements from blues and other genres. While I suppose there isn’t much debate that a tune like I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry qualifies as maudlin, it’s really hard to define what is a pure country song in the first place. After all, with all the crossover action that has been going on in country for many years, I would argue the genre has become one of the broadest in music. Should we be shattered? Does it matter?

Dear Doctor – Beggars Banquet (1968)

Let’s kick off this list with Dear Doctor from Beggars Banquet. The tune featured Brian Jones on harmonica and slide guitar. Sadly, Beggars Banquet was the last Stones album that appeared during his lifetime. “The country songs, like “Factory Girl” or “Dear Doctor” on Beggars Banquet were really pastiche,” Jagger said. “There’s a sense of humor in country music, anyway, a way of looking at life in a humorous kind of way – and I think we were just acknowledging that element of the music.” The Stones clearly seemed to have fun with Dear Doctor.

Country Honk – Let It Bleed (1969)

Country Honk is the country version of Honky Tonk Women. “On Let It Bleed, we put that other version of ‘Honky Tonk Women’ on because that’s how the song was originally written, as a real Hank Williams/Jimmie Rodgers, ’30s country song,” Richards explained, as captured by Songfacts. “And it got turned around to this other song by Mick Taylor, who got into a completely different feel, throwing it off the wall completely.” Wikipedia notes the fiddle was played by Byron Berline in a park, who by his own account had been recommended for the part by Gram Parsons.

Dead Flowers – Sticky Fingers (1971)

Dead Flowers, the tune every bar band must know how to play, perhaps is the most famous country-influenced song by the Stones. I’ve really come to love it over the years. The guitar fill-ins by Richards and Taylor are among the very best the Stones have ever played, in my humble opinion. Here’s another quote from Jagger Songfacts provides in connection with this tune: “I love country music, but I find it very hard to take it seriously. I also think a lot of country music is sung with the tongue in cheek, so I do it tongue-in-cheek. The harmonic thing is very different from the blues. It doesn’t bend notes in the same way, so I suppose it’s very English, really. Even though it’s been very Americanized, it feels very close to me, to my roots, so to speak.”

Sweet Virginia – Exile on Main St. (1972)

Another country-influenced Stones gem is Sweet Virginia, off what many fans regard as the band’s best album, Exile on Main St. Among others, the track features great harmonica and saxophone parts by Jagger and Bobby Keys, respectively. The backing vocalists include Dr. John. “‘Sweet Virginia’ – were held over from Sticky Fingers,” Richards said in 2003, per Songfacts. “It was the same lineup and I’ve always felt those two albums kind of fold into each other… there was not much time between them and I think it was all flying out of the same kind of energy.” Okay, let’s scrape that s–t right off our shoes! 🙂

Far Away Eyes – Some Girls (1978)

Obviously, I can’t skip the tune that triggered the brilliant idea for this post. In addition to being included on Some Girls, Far Away Eyes became the B-side to the album’s lead single Miss You. Referring to a 1978 interview with Rolling Stone, Songfacts includes the following quote by Jagger: “You know, when you drive through Bakersfield [Calif. – CMM] on a Sunday morning or Sunday evening, all the country music radio stations start broadcasting black gospel services live from LA. And that’s what the song refers to.” During that same interview, Jagger also confirmed that the girl in the song was “a real girl.” Well, that’s a shocker!

The Worst – Voodoo Lounge (1994)

Let’s finish this post with The Worst, one of two tunes from Voodoo Lounge Keith Richards sang. Among others, the track features Chuck Leavell on piano and fiddle and flute player Frankie Gavin, a member of De Danaan, a traditional folk group from Ireland where the Stones recorded the album. “It’s funny, but a lot of these songs were written in kitchens,” said Richards in 1994, according to Songfacts. “That one I wrote in the kitchen in Barbados, and I thought, That’s a pretty melody, but what to do with it, I really didn’t know. I guess that’s where Ireland comes in, because Ireland has its own traditional music, and it’s not country music as such, but it’s the roots of it, you know? It’s that Irish feel.” Pirate laughter – okay, I made that up, but I could just picture him do it!

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube

Of Slides and Bottlenecks

The sound of a well played slide guitar is one of the coolest in music in my opinion. I’ve always loved it. It’s also one of the most challenging techniques that requires great precision and lots of feeling. You can easily be off, which to me is the equivalent of a violin player who hasn’t mastered yet how to properly use the bow or a trumpet player who is still working on their blowing technique – in other words real torture, if you miss!

I thought it would be fun putting together a post that features great slide guitarists from different eras. Before getting to some music, I’d like to give a bit of background on the technique and a very brief history. More specifically, I’m focusing on slide guitar played in the traditional position, i.e., flat against the body, as opposed to lap steel guitar where the instrument is placed in a player’s lap and played with a hand-held bar.

Slide guitar is a technique where the fret hand uses a hard object called a slide instead of the fingers to change the pitch of the strings. The slide, which oftentimes is a metal of a glass tube aka “bottle neck,” is fitted on one of the guitarist’s fingers. Holding it against the strings while moving it up and down the fretboard creates glissando or gliding effects and also offers the opportunity to play pronounced vibratos. The strings are typically plucked, not strummed with the other hand.

The technique of holding a hard object against a plucked string goes back to simple one-string African instruments. In turn, these instruments inspired the single-stringed diddley bow, which was developed as a children’s toy by Black slaves in the U.S. It was considered an entry-level instrument played by adolescent boys who once they mastered it would move on to a regular guitar.

Clockwise starting from left in upper row: Sylvester Weaver, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Brian Jones, Mike Boomfield, Muddy Waters, Duane Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder and Derek Trucks

The bottleneck slide guitar technique was popularized by blues musicians in the Mississippi Delta near the beginning of the twentieth century. Country blues pioneer Sylvester Weaver made the first known slide guitar recording in 1923. Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker, Elmore James, Muddy Waters and other blues artists popularized the use of slide guitar in the electric blues genre. In turn, they influenced the next generation of blues and rock guitarists like Mike Bloomfield (The Paul Butterfield Blues Band), Brian Jones (The Rolling Stones), Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers Band) and Ry Cooder.

Time for some music. Here’s Sylvester Weaver with the instrumental Guitar Blues, one of the earliest slide guitar recordings.

One of the masters of Delta blues who prominently used slide guitar was Robert Johnson. Here’s the amazing Cross Road Blues from 1936 from one of only two recording sessions in which Johnson participated. If you haven’t heard this version but it somehow sounds familiar, chances are you’ve listened to Cream’s cover titled Crossroads.

Are you ready to shake it? Here’s smoking hot Shake Your Money Maker written by Elmore James. James released this classic blues standard in December 1961.

The Rolling Stones were fans of the Chicago blues. One of their blues gems featuring Brian Jones on slide guitar was Little Red Rooster, which they released as a single in the UK in November 1964. It was also included on their third American studio album The Rolling Stones, Now! from February 1965. Written by Willie Dixon, the tune was first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in October 1961.

Next is Walkin’ Blues, which The Paul Butterfield Blues Band covered on their second studio album East-West from August 1966, featuring Mike Bloomfield on slide guitar. The tune was written by Delta blues artist Son House in 1930.

In May 1969, Muddy Waters released his sixth studio album After the Rain. Here’s slide guitar gem Rollin’ and Tumblin’, which was first recorded by Hambone Willie Newbern (gotta love this name!) in 1929. It’s unclear who wrote the tune.

Here’s one of the greatest slide guitarists of all time: Duane Allman with The Allman Brothers Band and One Way Out. This amazing rendition appeared on an expanded version of At Fillmore East released in October 1992. The original edition appeared in July 1971, three months prior to Duane’ deadly motorcycle accident. Co-written by Marshall Sehorn and Elmore James, the tune was first recorded and released in the early to mid-’60s by Sonny Boy Williamson II and James.

A post about slide guitar wouldn’t be complete without the amazing Bonnie Raitt, an artist I’ve dug for many years. Here’s Sugar Mama, a song co-written by Delbert McClinton and Glen Clark, which she recorded for her fifth studio album Home Plate from 1975.

Let’s do two more tracks performed by two additional must-include slide guitar masters. First up is Ry Cooder with Feelin’ Bad Blues, a tune Cooder wrote for the soundtrack of the 1986 picture Crossroads, which was inspired by the life of Robert Johnson. This is a true slide beauty!

Last but not least, here’s Derek Trucks who is considered to be one of the best contemporary slide guitarists. Trucks is best known as an official member of the Allmans from 1999-2014 and as co-founder of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, which he formed together with his wife Susan Tedeschi in 2010. Here’s a great live performance of Desdemona by The Allman Brothers, featuring some amazing slide guitar playing by Trucks. Co-written by Gregg Allman and Warren Haynes, the tune was included on the band’s final studio album Hittin’ the Note that came out in March 2003.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

My Ten Desert Island Albums

Inspired by Hans Postcard’s fun 2020 album draft, where 10 participants pick albums in 10 rounds for a total of 100, I decided to put together my list of 10 albums I would take on a desert island. Essentially, I already came up with such a collection in May 2018, but some things have changed in the meantime and this list features five new picks, including three different artists.

While each of the albums are longtime favorites, I still can’t exclude the possibility that my picks might be different in a month or two. Since I couldn’t figure out how to rank my selections, I ingeniously decided to put them in chronological order. Conveniently, this means kicking things off with my favorite band of all time.

The Beatles/Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (May 1967)

While I dig all albums by the Fab Four, on most days, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is my favorite. The innovative use of recording technology, the cover art and the combination of different music styles like vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde and traditional Indian music with pop and rock make Sgt. Pepper a true masterpiece. The first album after The Beatles had stopped touring was influenced by The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, which Brian Wilson had created in response to Revolver, as well as Freak Out! by the Mothers of Invention. Had it not been because of silly pressure from EMI to issue Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane as a single, Sgt. Pepper hands-down would have been the strongest Beatles album. Still, with tunes like the title track, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Within You Without You and the magnificent A Day in the Life, there’s lots of great music.

Carole King/Tapestry (February 1971)

Carole King’s Tapestry perhaps is the ultimate singer-songwriter album. Her sophomore release from 1971 featured 10 new tunes and two reinterpretations of songs King had written together with her former husband and lyricist Jerry Goffin in the ’60s. Like many of their other songs, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman became hits, in these cases by The Shirelles and Aretha Franklin, respectively. There’s really no weak tune on Tapestry and I could have selected any. It’s Too Late has always been one of my favorites.

The Rolling Stones/Sticky Fingers (April 1971)

I know many fans of The Rolling Stones consider Exile on Main St. or Some Girls as their best albums. While I can’t claim to know all of their records in detail, my favorite is Sticky Fingers. This was the second full-length record with Mick Taylor who had replaced Brian Jones in June 1969. Between Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, Bitch, Sister Morphine and Dead Flowers, there are so many classics on this album. I just think the Stones never sounded better. And interestingly, it’s the country-influenced Dead Flowers that has become one of my favorite Stones tunes. I just love the guitar work!

Marvin Gaye/What’s Going On (May 1971)

I think Marvin Gaye had one of the most beautiful soulful voices I know. This artist was a smooth operator, even when he sang about serious issues like on this album. …(Oh, crime is increasin’) Oh, woo/Trigger happy policin’/panic is spreadin’/God knows where we’re headin’/Oh baby/Make me wanna holler/They don’t understand/Make me wanna holler/They don’t understand…It’s remarkable these lyrics were written almost 50 years, yet they sound frighteningly relevant in America in the year 2020.

Neil Young/Harvest (February 1972)

I dig a good number of Neil Young songs and feel his first compilation Decade is one of the best greatest hits collections I can think of. When it comes to his albums, my favorites are Harvest from 1972 and Harvest Moon from 1992. While I think the title track of the latter is among Young’s best tunes, I have a slight preference for Harvest from an overall album perspective. Featuring David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt as guests, it became Young’s most successful record and the best-selling album in the U.S. in 1972 – in part thanks to Heart of Gold, which remains Young’s only no. 1 song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 to this day. There are many other gems on the record, including The Needle and the Damage Done.

Deep Purple/Machine Head (March 1972)

I don’t listen to hard rock a lot these days, but when I do, Deep Purple remain my favorite choice, especially their sixth studio album Machine Head from March 1972. I’ve always thought one of the cool things about this band are the equal roles the guitar and the keyboards play as solo instruments. Jon Lord was a true master of the Hammond organ who skillfully blended blues, hard rock and jazz with elements of classical music. Lazy is one of the tracks on which Lord shines in particular.

Pink Floyd/The Dark Side of the Moon (March 1973)

First, I was going to pick Meddle, Pink Floyd’s sixth studio album from October 1971. With the great Echoes, it foreshadowed the band’s classic mid-’70s sound on The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. All three albums are among my favorite Floyd records. Eventually, I settled on The Dark Side of the Moon. It’s a perfect album for headphones, and I’ve listened to it countless times at night in bed. The sound is just phenomenal. One of the standout tracks is The Great Gig In the Sky and the amazing vocal performance by British singer Clare Torry.

Bruce Springsteen/Born to Run (August 1975)

Bruce Springsteen entered my radar screen in 1984 with the Born in the U.S.A. album. While I’m still fond of that record, I subsequently explored and came to appreciate his earlier work. To me, Born to Run turned out to be Springsteen’s Mount Rushmore. After two albums that were critically acclaimed but not successful from a commercial perspective, he really needed a hit. Born to Run would turn out to be exactly that and catapult Springsteen to fame beyond the U.S. Apart from the title song, my favorite tracks on the album include Thunder Road, Backstreets, Jungleland and the beautiful soul-oriented Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.

Stevie Wonder/Songs in the Key of Life (September 1976)

Stevie Wonder has been one of my favorite artists for 40 years. I dig many of his songs starting from when he was known as Little Stevie Wonder. But it’s his classic period in the ’70s I like the most, especially the albums Talking Book (October 1972), Innervisions (August 1973) and Songs in the Key of Life (September 1976). The latter became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Wonder’s long career. Here’s his beautiful tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington who had passed away in May 1974.

Steely Dan/Aja (September 1977)

I’m wrapping up this list with Steely Dan. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen made many great records, but it’s this gem from September 1977 that’s my favorite: Aja. As usual, Becker and Fagen assembled top-notch session musicians to record the album. There were also prominent guests, including Michael McDonald and Timothy B. Schmit. All of the tracks on this album are great. Deacon Blues is my favorite Steely Dan song, but since I previously featured it more than once, I’m going with the closer Josie.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube