The Sunday Six

Here we are on another Sunday to explore the diversity of music six tunes at a time. Today marks the official start of summer and, boy, it’s certainly hot in my neck of the woods! But I take sun and heat over a dark and cold winter day any day. Regardless of the weather in your area and how you may feel about it, I hope you find something you enjoy among my picks for this new installment of The Sunday Six.

Jesse Colin Young/Song for Juli

Starting us off this time is a beautiful, largely instrumental track by Jesse Colin Young, co-founder and lead vocalist of The Youngbloods. When I stumbled across Song for Juli the other day, I immediately felt it would make for a nice Sunday Six opener. If you’ve read some of the weekly feature’s previous installments, you may have noticed my preference to start these posts on a softer note. After the dissolution of The Youngbloods in 1972, Jesse Colin Young (born Perry Miller) resumed his solo career he had first started in the early ’60s. That pre-Youngbloods phase had yielded two solo albums: The Soul of a City Boy (April 1964) and Young Blood (March 1965). Song for Juli is the title track of Young’s fourth solo album, a folk rock-oriented record that appeared in October 1973. The tune about his first child Juli was co-written by Young and the child’s mother Suzie Young, Young’s first wife. Young who last November turned 79 remains active and has released 13 additional albums to date. His most recent one is titled Dreamers and came out in February 2019.

The Turtles/Wanderin’ Kind

Every time I hear a song by The Turtles, I’m amazed by their great harmony singing. That being said, their biggest hit Happy Together, which I featured in a previous Sunday Six installment, is the only tune I’ve known by name, though I’ve heard some of their other songs. Well, now I can add Wanderin’ Kind, the opener of The Turtles’ debut album It Ain’t Me Babe from October 1965. The tune is one of the record’s four original tracks that were all written or co-written by the band’s lead vocalist and keyboarder Howard Kaylan. Fun fact from Wikipedia: Since at the time The Turtles recorded their first album their members were still underage, they required written permission from their parents to pursue the project. During their original five-year run from 1965 to 1970, The Turtles released six studio albums. In 1983, Kaylan and Turtles co-founder and guitarist Mark Vollman revived the band and have since toured as The Turtles…Featuring Flo and Eddie. They remain active and are planning to go on the road in the U.S. later this summer as part of the Happy Together Tour 2021.

Toto/Pamela

The other day, fellow blogger Music Enthusiast included Toto in an ’80s post, reminding me of a band I’ve listened to on and off since 1982 when they released their hugely successful fourth studio album Toto IV. Pamela is the opener of The Seventh One, which is, well, Toto’s seventh studio album that came out in March 1988. The tune was co-written by keyboarder David Paich and lead vocalist Joseph Williams. Among the features I’ve always dug about Pamela are Jeff Porcaro’s drumming and the cool breaks. Sadly, it turned out to be Porcaro’s final regular studio album with Toto. He died on August 5, 1992 at the age of 38 from a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease resulting from cocaine use. Following Toto’s second hiatus that started in October 2019 after the end of their last 40 Trips Around The Sun tour, they are back in business as of October 2020. A live album titled With a Little Help From My Friends, which captures a special lockdown performance from November 2020, is set to appear on June 25. Toto have also announced their next tour, The Dogz of Oz World Tour. Currently confirmed dates are for Europe starting in Bonn, Germany in July 2022. Paich and Williams are still part of the band’s current line-up, as is guitarist Steve Lukather, Toto’s only founding member who has continuously played in all of their incarnations.

Lord Huron/Mine Forever

Kudos to fellow blogger Angie from The Diversity of Classic Rock, who recently did a great feature on new music that includes Lord Huron, one of her picks that got my immediate attention. The indie folk rock band was initially founded in Los Angeles in 2010 as a solo project of guitarist and vocalist Ben Schneider. After recording and releasing a few EPs all by himself, Schneider started adding members for support during live shows and Lord Huron’s first full-length album Lonesome Dreams from October 2012. Apart from Schneider, the band’s current line-up features Tom Renaud (guitar), Miguel Briseño (bass, keyboards) and Mark Barry (drums, percussion). Mine Forever, written by Schneider, is a track from their new album Long Lost released on May 21. The tune perfectly illustrates what attracted me to Lord Huron, which is their amazing moody sound of layered voices, jangly guitars and expanded reverb. It has a cinematic feel to it. Check it out!

Bob Marley and the Wailers/Is This Love

The first time I heard of Bob Marley must have been on the radio during my teenage years back in Germany. I assume it was Could You Be Loved, his hit single from 1980, which got lots of play on the airways. What I remember much better is how I further got into his music. It was the excellent live album Babylon by Bus, which my best friend had gotten around the same time. Released in November 1978, the double LP captured performances by Bob Marley and the Wailers, mostly from three concerts in Paris in late June 1978. One of my favorite tracks from that album has always been Is This Love. Written by Marley, the tune first appeared on Kaya, the tenth studio album by Marley and his band, which came out in March 1978. There’s just something infectious about reggae. That groove automatically makes me move. Unfortunately, Bob Marley passed away from cancer on May 11, 1981 at the age of 36.

U2/Vertigo

The time has come again to wrap up another Sunday Six. As has kind of become tradition, I’d like to do so with a rocker: Vertigo by U2. I first got into the Irish rock band in the mid-’80s with their fourth studio album The Unforgettable Fire. From there, if I recall it correctly, I went to the live album Under a Bloody Red Sky, which in turn led me to U2’s earlier records. My favorite The Joshua Tree from March 1987 was still nearly three years away. After the follow-on Rattle and Hum, released in October 1988, I became more of a casual U2 listener. I think they have had decent songs throughout their career. Vertigo, the lead single from the band’s 11th studio album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb from November 2004, was an acquired taste. The Edge’s more straight hard rock playing was quite a departure from what I consider his signature sound on The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree album. At the same time, I respect that U2 don’t want to do the same music over and over again. While Vertigo hasn’t become my favorite U2 tune, I’ve come around and think it’s a pretty good song.

Sources: Wikipedia; The Turtles website; YouTube

My Playlist: Bob Marley

In my case, reggae is a bit like jazz: I don’t dislike it but listen to it infrequently. When I do, the artist I keep coming back to is Bob Marley. My best friend who I’m fortunate to still call that way to this day got me into Marley with Babylon by Bus. It must have been around 1980 when he bought that excellent live album by Bob Marley and the Wailers. I recorded the double-LP right away on music cassette and it quickly became a favorite. Since I didn’t throw out my MCs and don’t think I ever will, the tape must still be floating around somewhere.

Bob Marley was born as Robert Nesta Marley on the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica on February 6, 1945. While his father Norval Sinclair Marley provided financial support, Bob rarely saw him. Two years after Norval’s death, his mother Cedella Malcolm moved with then 12-year-old Bob to Trenchtown, a low-income community in the Jamaican capital of Kingston. There, Cedella had a daughter with Thadeus Livingston, the father of Neville Livingston who later became known as Bunny Wailer.

In the late 1950s, a new music genre called ska became popular in Jamaica, combining elements of Caribbean music with American jazz and R&B. By the mid-’60s, ska evolved into rock steady, the predecessor to reggae. The main characteristic feature all three music styles share is the rhythmic accentuation on the offbeat. Based on my understanding, one difference is tempo. While ska generally is fairly upbeat, rock steady has a slower beat, which tends to be further slowed down in reggae. It is that laid back groove of the latter I particularly dig.

In 1963, Bob Marley and Neville Livingston (Bunny Wailer) started taking vocal lessons with local singer Joe Higgs who introduced them to Winston Hubert McIntosh, who became known as Peter Tosh. Higgs also taught Marley how to play the guitar. The trio formed the core of what would become The Wailers. They were soon joined by Junior Braithwaite (vocals), as well as backing vocalists Cherry Smith and Beverley Kelso.

From left: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Beverley Kelso and Bunny Wailer ca. 1964

In December 1963, The Wailers released their first single Simmer Down, backed by ska group The Skatalites. By February 1964, the tune had hit no. 1 in Jamaica. The band’s debut album The Wailing Wailers appeared in late 1965. Only released on the island, it essentially was a compilation of tunes previously recorded in 1964 and 1965. The Wailers’ first album released outside of Jamaica was their sophomore Soul Rebels from December 1970.

Following the depature of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in 1974, Marley continued as Bob Marley and the Wailers, with Marley on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. The Wailers at that time featured Aston Barrett (bass), Carlton Barrett (drums, percussion), Bernard Harvey (piano, organ), Jean Roussel (keyboards) and Al Anderson (lead guitar), along with the so-called I-Threes, a backing vocal trio consisting of Marley’s wife Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths – quite an army!

In July 1977, a malignant melanoma lesion was found under one of Marley’s toe nails. Due to his Rastafari beliefs and out of concern it would disrupt touring, Marley did not follow the medical advice to have his toe amputated and instead chose less invasive treatment. Unfortunately, it is safe to assume his decision most likely cost him his life less than four years later. On May 11, 1981, Marley passed away at a U.S. hospital in Miami at the age of 36. The cancer had spread throughout his body.

Altogether, Marley released 11 studio and two live albums during his lifetime. His posthumous greatest hits compilation Legend from May 1984 became the best-selling reggae album of all time, with sales in the U.S. and worldwide exceeding 15 million and 28 million copies, respectively. At an estimated total of more than 75 million sold records, Marley also ranks as one of the best-selling artists. In 1994, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at no. 11 on their 2007 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Let’s get to some music!

I’m skipping Marley’s early stage, since I’m not well familiar with it. Instead, I’d like to kick things off with Stir It Up, a Bob Marley tune that was included on The Wailers’ fifth studio album Catch a Fire from April 1973. It proved to be a good title – together with a supporting tour of England and the U.S., the record helped put the band on the map internationally.

In October 1973, The Wailers released their sixth studio album Burnin’, the last with Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh. The lead single was the Marley-penned I Shot the Sheriff, which reached no. 67 in the UK and didn’t chart in the U.S. at all – that is until 1974, when Eric Clapton scored a major international hit with a great cover version. It topped the charts in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand, and was a top 10 in the UK and various other European countries. Similar to Cream and The Rolling Stones, who elevated African-American blues artists in the ’60s, Clapton’s cover significantly raised Marley’s international profile.

One of Marley’s best-known tunes is No Woman, No Cry, which he initially recorded for Natty Dread, the first album released as Bob Marley and the Wailers in October 1974. According to Rolling Stone, which included the song at no. 37 in their 2011 list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Marley gave the official songwriting credit to his friend Vincent Ford to help keep Ford’s Kingston soup kitchen running. The most popular version of that song appeared on Live!, the first live album by Marley and the band from December 1975, which captured a gig in London in July that year. That version also came out seperately as a single and peaked at no. 7 on the UK Singles Chart, marking the band’s first top 10 hit in Britain.

Rastaman Vibration was Bob Marley’s first album to crack the top 10 on the Billboard 200, climbing to no. 8. Released in April 1976, it reached no. 15 in the UK and no. 26 in New Zealand. Here’s the opener Positive Vibration, another tune credited to Marley’s friend Vincent Ford.

After an assassination attempt in Jamaica in December 1976, which wounded but did not kill him, Marley relocated to London where he recorded his ninth album. Exodus, released in June 1977, elevated Marley to international stardoom and received Gold certifications in the UK, U.S. and Canada. Here’s the infectious Jamming, which also became one of the album’s six singles.

Next up: A fantastic live version of Is This Love from the aforementioned Babylon by Bus, released in November 1978. Marley and his band first recorded the tune for their 10th studio album Kaya from March 1978. Similar to No Woman, No Cry, I think the live version of Is This Love is superior to the initial studio recording. It has always been one of my favorite tracks on Babylon by Bus.

At the end of 1978, Bob Marley made his first visit to Africa, including Kenya and Ethiopia, the spiritual home of Rastafari. He subsequently became a supporter of Pan-African solidarity. This is reflected on his 11th studio album Survival that came out in October 1979. One of the songs, Zimbabwe, celebrates the liberation of the country formerly called Rhodesia.

One of the grooviest Bob Marley tunes is Could You Be Loved, which blends reggae with dance music. It became one of his highest-charting singles in the UK where it peaked at no. 5. While in the U.S. it missed the Hot 100, it reached no. 6 on the Dance Clubs Songs, another Billboard chart. Could You Be Loved was included on Uprising from June 1980, the final album released during Marley’s lifetime.

I’d like to wrap up with two more tunes that came out after Marley’s death. The first is Buffalo Soldier from Confrontation, a studio album that appeared in May 1983. The record was a compilation of unreleased material and singles recorded during Marley’s lifetime. Buffalo Soldier is co-credited to Marley and Jamaican DJ, musician and reggae producer Noel George Williams, who was known as King Sporty. The tune became Marley’s highest-charting UK single peaking at no. 4. It was even more successful in New Zealand where it reached no. 3.

This bring me to the final tune and one of by favorites by Bob Marley: Iron Lion Zion. Originally, Marley wrote and first recorded that song in 1973 or 1974. But it was not released until October 1992, when it first appeared on a four-disc box set called Songs of Freedom. The version I’m featuring here is a remix that was included on Natural Mystic: The Legend Lives On, an addendum to the 1984 compilation Legend.

Sources: Wikipedia; Bob Marley website; Rolling Stone; YouTube

On This Day In Rock & Roll History: September 8

1952: Twenty-two-year-old Ray Charles, one of the greatest voices in jazz, R&B, blues and soul, recorded his first session for Atlantic Records. In June that year, the record company had bought out his contract from Swingtime for $2,500, the equivalent of approximately $23,700 today. With hits like I’ve Got A Woman, A Fool For You and What I’d Say Charles would release before he moved on to ABC-Paramount in November 1959, let’s just say Atlantic’s investment paid off handsomely. One of the four cuts Charles recorded during that first session with Atlantic was Roll With My Baby by Sam Sweet, which became his first single for the label backed by The Midnight Hour, another tune Sweet had written. Check out the great groove on this tune, which wants to make you snip along with your fingers!

1957: The infectious Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson was released for the first time. It gave “Mr. Excitement” his first solo hit, peaking at no. 6 on the U.K. Official Charts and climbing to no. 45 on the U.S. Cash Box chart, both in November that year. It would take another 29 years before the great tune, which was co-written by Berry Gordy, Gordy’s sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua, and Wilson’s cousin Roquel “Billy” Davis, would hit no. 1 in the U.K. in November 1986. Unfortunately, Wilson who passed away in January 1984, was not able to celebrate the tune’s late success. And, yes, feel free to sing along r-r-r-r-r-rolling that “r.”

1964: The Beatles performed two concerts that night at the Forum in Montreal, Canada before a crowd of 21,000 fans. At that time, Beatlemania was going on in full swing with its insanity, which for this particular event included death threats from French-Canadian separatists. The Fab Four never returned to Montreal thereafter. The two gigs that night included their standard 12-song set Twist And Shout, You Can’t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Things We Said Today, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, If I Fell, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Boys, A Hard Day’s Night and Long Tall Sally. Here’s an audio recording, which supposedly is from that show. It’s posted on The Beatles Bible, the source of the ultimate Fab Fab truth. The quality is mediocre, but hey, let’s not bitch here, it’s pop music history!

1973: Speaking of great voices, Marvin Gaye reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with the title track of his thirteenth studio album Let’s Get It On. Co-written by Gaye and Ed Townsend, the tune became his second no. 1 single in the U.S. after I Heard It Through The Grapevine from October 1968. Remarkably, Gaye would top the U.S. chart only one more time with Got To Give It Up released in March 1977. Let’s Get It On performed more moderately in the U.K., peaking at no. 31. Well, let’s get it on to a clip of the great tune!

1974: Eric Clapton topped the Billboard Hot 100 with his excellent cover of I Shot The Sheriff. Written by Bob Marley and first recorded for the sixth studio album by The Wailers Burnin’ from October 1973, the tune became Clapton’s only no. 1 single on the Hot 100. The song also appeared on his second solo album 461 Ocean Boulevard, which appeared in July 1972 and was his first record after beating a three-year heroin addiction.

Sources: Wikipedia, This Day In Music.com, This Day In Rock, The Beatles Bible, YouTube