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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Donovan--Jennifer Juniper (1968)

     Jenny Boyd was the younger sister of Patti Boyd who was the first wife of George Harrison. She lived the life of a swinging London single. She began an on again/off again with drummer Mick Fleetwood beginning in 1965 when she was only 18, it would eventually lead to them being married, divorced and married again during the 1970's. But in 1967 she was a successful model and business woman owning a boutique called, "Juniper" in downtown London.
     Despite her success however, she felt a restlessness spiritually which had been heightened further by her experimentation with  LSD. She followed along with sister Patti and George to India to study under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was there she met a guy who had a secret crush on her.
     Donovan Leitch had become one of England's most popular folk singer who had been riding on a wave of popularity which had lasted over two years at the time he came along this trip to India. It was this trip that had substantial consequences for many. Harrison and Love began a lifelong devotion to Eastern religion. Donovan taught Paul McCartney and John Lennon several different finger picking style which included the clawhammer style which showed up in five songs on the the White Album.
Then there was, "Jennifer Juniper".
     In his autobiography, "The Hurdy Gurdy Man", Donovan denied any romance between him and Boyd, although it had been rumored for years. Either way...it made for a great song which reached number 28 on the charts in the late winter/early spring of 1968.

 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group--Rock Island Line (1956)

     Over the years, all four of the Beatles had discussed their influences. Elvis, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and so on. One name however that comes up that most in the US have never heard of was Lonnie Donegan.
     Skiffle was a type of music that drew from traditional jazz, blues and folk, and generally performed with homemade instruments. It's roots are disputed, but began to show up in recorded form in Chicago during the 1920's. It popped up from time to time over the next 20 years, but was a rural genre that never saw a lot of popularity until Lonnie Donegan led a revival of the style in the UK during the 50's.
      Donegan spent much of the 40's and early 50's playing guitar in various traditional jazz bands throughout Britain. While playing with Ken Colyer's Jazzmen, he would play a guitar and banjo during a dixieland set. This led him to join with a couple of other members to play what they called a "skiffle" break which included a washboard, a tea-chest bass and Spanish guitar. 
     This proved to be so popular that the combo recorded a version of Leadbelly's, "Rock Island Line" in the summer of 1954, which became a hit in 1956. He recorded much of the rest of the 50's, with a great deal of success. His real influence however was how, in bringing skiffle to England, he inspired many a poor and middle class boys to pick up homemade (or very low rate) instruments and start banging out, "Rock Island Line".

     

Friday, August 17, 2012

Lee Dorsey--Working in the Coal Mine (1966)

     A native of New Orleans, Lee Dorsey moved to Portland Oregon in his pre-teen years. After a stint in the Navy, he began a career as a light heavyweight boxer in the early 50's. After retiring from the sport, he moved back to his hometown and opened an auto body shop, and singing in some of the R&B clubs at night. It was working the clubs that he met up with the person that would become integral in his career.
     Allen Toussaint was just getting his career off the ground as an arranger and was attempting to start up his own record company and offered Dorsey a chance to record. The first song, "Ya Ya" was a hit on the new Fury label, reaching number 7 on the charts in the summer of 1961. A follow up, "Do-Re-Mi" also reached the top 40 later that year before the Fury label folded, which at that point, Dorsey went back to his business.
     As Toussaint went to the Amy label, he was able to work with Dorsey again in 1965. The following year, "Working in the Coal Mine", written by Allen, became another top 10 hit, and became Dorsey's signature song. Although the chart action ended by the late 60's, he recorded and toured for much of the rest of his life. He passed in December of 1986 at the age of 61. This is an interesting promo of Dorsey from England.



Monday, August 13, 2012

The Doors--Light My Fire (1967)

     It's probably sacrilege to some of our readers, but the Doors rarely do anything for me. As much potential as Jim Morrison had as a writer, his self destructive indulgence and total disregard for his audience rendered him for the most part an artist who's potential was unfulfilled. That isn't to say that he didn't have talent. On the contrary, his abilities and more importantly his charisma was the key to the success of the group.  As opposed to poetry, where the reader gets to interact with the words as opposed to the writer, rock music is an interactive pursuit where the energy between an artist and audience can make or break a performance. There probably wasn't a group that was more of a roll of the dice in that area than The Doors. When they were "on", the performances were legendary, on the other hand, they could be dull with lead singer Jim Morrison doing little more than slurring through his set, and God knows that beyond Morrison, the music wasn't enough to keep one interested.
     They were a group that could only have been a product of the 60s, where experimentation was the rule of the day. The poetry and lifestyle of the "beat" generation of the late 50's/early 60's suited Morrison to a tee, and it was that esthetic that informed much of the group's output. Looking at it over 45 years later, much of it comes across as self-indulgent yapping (admittedly, that could be said for many groups of the era) but when they were on, it ranks up there with any of the songs of it's era.
     "Light My Fire" was brought to the group through guitarist Robbie Krieger with the real hook being the opening and instrumental passage by Ray Manzarek. It was their first number one hit, and the song that defined the group. It was the song which brought them infamy through the performance on the Ed Sullivan show. On September 17, 1967, they were getting ready to take the stage when told the line, "girl, you couldn't get much higher" had to be changed because of perceived drug references. They told Sullivan officials they would do it. Of course, as the show was being done live, Morrison sang the lyrics just as he had planned without changes.

Monday, August 6, 2012

The Doobie Brothers--Listen to the Music (1972)

     The beginning of the group came about as drummer John Hartman arrived in California to work with former Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape artist Skip Spence. Things didn't work out musically between the two, but Spence introduced Hartman to singer/guitarist Tom Johnston. The duo began working together with a rotating crew of musicians under the name, "Pud" for about a year until teaming up with bassist Dave Shogren and Patrick Simmons. They changed their name to "The Doobie Brothers" and began to tour through Northern California, being especially popular with the Hell's Angels.
     They were signed to Warner Brothers and released their first album in 1971. "The Doobie Brothers" didn't make a dent on the charts, but from a listen you could see all of the elements that would come to fruition just a year later. Shogren was replaced with Tiran Porter and added a second drummer, Michael Hossack.  The addition of Porter's voice completed a three part harmony which became vital to the Doobie's sound. Pianist Bill Payne (from the group, Little Feet) contributed on the follow up recording as well.
     "Toulouse Street" added a glossier production, but not so much that it would be considered slick and that suited the sound of the band perfectly. It is a classic album of the early 70's California sound much like the Eagles, but with more jazz and r&b underpinnings. The first single, "Listen to the Music" became their first top 20 hit and would lay the foundation for the Doobie's sound for the next three years.