Major Harris--Love Won't Let Me Wait (1975)

      Major Harris was born in Virginia and spent his early years singing in various groups in and around his Richmond home, most notably, The Jarmels. He was called upon to replace Randy Cain in the group The Delfonics in 1971, but they were on a downward trajectory following the departure of producer Thom Bell and after less than two years left to begin a solo career.
     His first single, "Each Morning I Wake Up" did well on the dance charts, but it was the second single, "Love Won't Let Me Wait", written by Vinnie Barrett and Bobby Eli which stormed up the charts. It was the only top ten hit for Harris on the pop charts, and was also number 1 on the R&B list. He had a couple more minor hits, but it had all but dried up by the end of 1976. With his run as a solo artist complete, he rejoined The Delfonics and toured with them up until his death in November of 2012 at the age of 65.

Read More

Hagood Hardy--The Homecoming (1975)

     As I have mentioned in previous blogs, inspiration for songs literally come from anywhere. As early as the late 60's the lines began to blur between Madison Avenue and the Hot 100. Many of you might know The Carpenters' hit, "We've Only Just Begun" started with Richard Carpenter hearing the tune used on a TV ad for a bank. Just a few years later, a Canadian composer had a hit based on a ad for tea.
     Hardy had a very successful career on the vibraphone, piano and other percussion instruments. He played in several well known bands in the early 60's behind great names such as Herbie Mann and Martin Denny. In the late 60's he began writing jingles for television and radio and soon branched out into films as well.
     The genesis of "The Homecoming" began as an ad for Salada Tea in 1972. He fleshed out the snippet used for the promotion and released the song just prior to Christmas in 1975. The song became a hit around the world, and just missed hitting the top 40 here in the states. It's easy listening style was set more for an older crowd, but it's smooth easy sound impressed many a listener. He continued recording up to his death in 1997.

Read More

Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds--Don't Pull Your Love (1971)/Falling In Love (1975)

     This trio can trace it's linage back to the mid 60s as a group called the T-Bones, which was put together to go on the road to support the single, "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In). It had been done by studio musicians previously and ended up becoming a hit.  Dan Hamilton (guitar, lead vocals), Joe Frank Carollo (bass, vocals), and Tommy Reynolds (multi-instrumentals, vocals) pattered their sound after The Venturas, which Hamilton was a part of at one time. They stayed together for a couple of years, but after succeeding recorded went nowhere, the group broke up.
     Several years later the trio reformed under the name, Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds and was signed by Dunhill Records. Their first single, "Don't Pull Your Love" became a top five hit in the summer of 1971.

     A couple more songs barely missed the top 40, but late in 1972, Reynolds left the band. Hamilton and Carollo brought in a couple more musicians and continued to tour locally, but the singles stopped after mi-72. They brought in Alan Dennison as a permanent replacement and began looking for a new record company since Dunhill had dropped them.
     Their wishes were answered in the form of Playboy Records, who would sign them on the proviso that they retained the name, Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds. The idea obviously was that a "known" name would have a better chance of having a hit. We can't be sure of that had anything to do with it, but in 1975, the song, "Fallin' In Love" climbed all the way to the number one spot. The follow up, "Winners and Losers" climbed to #21 as well.

     1976 brought several more charting song, but nothing approaching their previous successes. It also brought a name change to the more correct, "Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Dennison". The continued touring as a group until 1980 until they packed it in for good.  

    

Read More

Grand Funk Railroad--Bad Time (1975)

     Music criticism in the early 70's was beginning to come into it's own. Thanks to magazines like Rolling Stone, modern rock music was not only coming of age, but those who felt the need to become the gatekeepers of "good" rock were feeling their oats as well.There wasn't a rock group as savaged in the press during this time as Grand Funk Railroad.
     Named after the Grand Trunk Railroad, a rail line in the Detroit area, Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), and Don Brewer (drums, vocals) came from Terry Knight and the Pack with Mel Schacher (bass) coming from the group, ? and the Mysterians ("96 Tears). After hearing them in 1968, Knight agreed to become their manager and with a successful gig at the Atlanta Pop Festival in 69', were signed to Capitol Records.
     They became over the next seven years, one of the most popular bands in the US to the chagrin of the print media. Am not quite sure why they were hated, but fans across the country loved the mix of garage band sensibilities with a knack for good melodies. There were more than a few classics over the years. "I'm Your Captain", We're An American Band", and of course, "The Loco-Motion". For whatever reason though, this was my favorite. It was their last top ten hit from the album, "All the Girls in the World Beware!".

Read More

Dickie Goodman--Mr. Jaws (1975)

     The novelty record is all but gone from today's landscape. In fact, except for the work of "Weird" Al Yankovic it has all but faded from view. Back in the 50's especially there was no end to songs that could be put into this category. One particular type became known as the "cut in" record. This was the kind of disc where an "interview" would take place and the questions asked would be "answered" by snippets of popular records of the day. The first one was done in 1956 by Dickie Goodman and his partner, Bill Buchanan  called "The Flying Saucer" (Pt. 1). It was a hit, but also caused a great deal of consternation with publishing houses, ASCAP and BMI. The story about how all of that went down in the courts is recalled in a great internet article found here:  http://www.chuckthewriter.com/goodman.html 
     The two men broke up within a few years, and Goodman eventually found himself as president of  20 Century Fox's record division. But from that first disc, Goodman never stopped recording "cut in" records. His biggest hit, (and one of the last to make the charts) was a parody of the Jaws movie which had come out earlier that year.

Read More

David Geddes--Run Joey Run (1975)

     It might have just been because I grew up in the 70's, but it seems that for all of the good music that was around, there was also a high amount of musical debris floating on the landscape. This song was one of them. In pop music, there has always been a fascination with death and dying. Sometimes it would be wrapped in romance ("Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers--1964) or just a graphic description of the event (D.O.A. by Bloodrock--1971). Others were just sappy (I direct you to "Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro--1968 or to "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks in 1975...both are audio versions of a Lifetime movie).
     However, it's hard to place "Run Joey Run", but  David Geddes at least did well with the material given him. He had sung with a band in the early 70's, and also cut a few sides as a solo artist. After a sufficient amount of time, he decided to enter law school at Wayne State University in Detroit. While in school he received a call from producer Paul Vance asking him to come to New York City to record a song. It seems as if Vance heard him in a previous recording and thought the voice would work well for a song he had written.. So Geddes flew into the city and recorded, "Run Joey Run".
     The song reached number 4 on the charts, and it's follow up, "The Last Game of the Season (Blind Man in the Bleachers)" also entered the top forty. I can remember when hearing the song at the age of 14, it was difficult to figure out why Julie's (Joey's girlfriend) dad was so pissed off with Joey. As it turns out, Julie was preggy with Joey's kid. However, because of censorship issues, you just couldn't SAY that over the radio airwaves so it was framed in every way possible to let you in on the secret. Part of my confusion was the line, "Daddy please don't, it wasn't his fault...", she's pregnant...he's the dad (supposedly)...so who's fault WAS it?  So we have a song dealing with teenage pregnancy, violence, and child abuse (Julie's dad had been hitting her) all wrapped in 60's TV detective music. A true Shakespearean tragedy.....kinda.

 

Read More

Peter Frampton--Show Me The Way (1975/1976)

      "Frampton Comes Alive" was simultaneously one of the best albums of the late 70's, and also one of the most overplayed. I remember buying the album and at first loving it, but with it being played ALL the time on AM and FM radio (when they were not playing Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors"), it soon grew dust on my shelf. Although it made him into a superstar, it also pretty much summed up his career as the subsequent studio albums fell into the laid back vibe of the albums before "Comes Alive". That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but he has always been a superior performer on stage, and the his studio work never truly caught fire in the same way. On the other hand, most musicians would give a digit to have an album that sold as well.
     Peter Frampton had been a guitar wiz and singer from an early age and attracted attention as a member of The Herd as early as 1966 (at the age of 16). Three years later, he was asked by former Small Faces leader, Steve Marriott to start a new group, thus was born Humble Pie. His star in Britain continued to rise as did his popularity with other musicians as well. He was on several popular albums at the time, including George Harrison's, "All Things Must Pass" in 1970. It was during those sessions that he was introduced to the voice box, a guitar effect that would help form his signature sound.
     He left to go solo in 1971 and released his first album, "Winds of Change" in 1972. Over the next four years, he released four albums in which he began to refine his sound. All of these albums are suggested, if for no other reason than to hear the studio versions of the songs that he made famous in 1976. "Show Me the Way" was on his "Frampton" album released in 1975. Here is that version:

     One of the things that you notice in listening is that he has a very pleasurable, melodic voice, but it seemed to miss something....a "fire" if you will. This is interesting to note because at the same time, he was gaining a solid reputation for his live shows. This led A&M to take a huge risk by releasing a double live album. This from an artist who's star was rising, but was far from a solid commodity ("Frampton" had reached #35 on the album charts). The risk payed off in a huge way as it sold 6 million copies in 1976 alone. The single reached #6 on the Hot 100.

 

Read More

Foghat--Slow Ride (1975)

     From the dawn of Rock and Roll, from first base to home, sex has been a lyrical topic. In it's infancy, artists had to shroud the intent from the prying ears of the government (via the FCC) and parents. As the music became more daring in the late 60's the envelope was pushed as lyrics played more explicitly with double entendres. In the song "Slow Ride" we have not only lyrical examples of this, but musical ones as well.
    The group Foghat was formed from three members of Savoy Brown who broke away to form their own band in 1970. "Lonesome" Dave Peverett (vocals & guitar), Tony Stevens (bass), and Roger Earl (drums) were joined by Rod Price (guitar/slide guitar) late that year and the foursome began to tour and work on their first album. Their first album, "Foghat", released in 1972 failed to chart in the states, but it's follow-up, "Rock and Roll" (1973) reached the top 100 and 74's "Engergized" began a streak of seven albums in the top 40
     The blues-based band was a staple of FM-radio throughout the 70's, but "Slow Ride" was the only song to reach the top 20 on the singles charts as well. The album version clocks in at over 8 minutes, but the was shortened to just under four for AM-radio consumption.
     They fell off the chart radar quickly into the 80's, but never stopped touring or releasing albums, Roger Earl is the only one of the original band left. Their latest album, "Last Train Home" was released in 2010 and it's website can be found here: http://www.foghat.net/

Read More

Freddy Fender--Before the Next Teardrop Falls (1975)

     By 1975 Freddy Fender (originally Baldemar Huerta) was a Texas legend. Known to many in the late 50's as the "Mexican Elvis Presley" for his covers of "Don't Be Cruel" and other rockabilly songs, his early adulthood sounded like a country song. Busted for possession of marijuana, he spent two and a half years in a prison camp in Louisiana. On being released, he played beer joints and continued to record on local labels. There are many from that area that would quickly tell you that his best material were the 45's recorded BEFORE he hit it big. If you are fan of his, you would be well served to track down those discs, recorded on the regional labels, Falcon, Ideal, and Duncan.
     In 1974, he was approached by producer Huey Meaux to put vocals to an instrumental. The song was, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls", written by Vivian Keith and Ben Peters, and had already been a country hit by Linda Martell in 1969 and covered by many others. Fender recorded a verse in English and one in Spanish and thought nothing more about the gig. Meaux was impressed enough with the result that it was released first on the local Crazy Cajun label, then on nationwide distribution with ABC-Dot. It became Fender's hit and his first number 1 as well.

Read More

Fanny--Butter Boy (1975)

     It has been said that the all female rock band, Fanny was the first group of it's kind to be signed to a major label. This isn't quite true with the first two being UK's, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and Detroit's The Pleasure Seekers (featuring very young sisters Suzi and Patti Quatro). However it IS true that Fanny was the first to release an album on a major label.
     The group began as a duo. June and Jean Millington were born in the Philippines to an American Naval officer and his native wife. They moved to California in 1961 and to help relieve their homesickness began playing music together. In high school they formed a band with June on guitar, Jean on bass, and Brie Brandt (later replaced by Alice de Buhr) called The Svelts. When this group disbanded de Buhr formed a group called Wild Honey in which the Millington sisters joined.
     They moved to LA to try to make it there but after the constant struggle to get past the many barriers in a male-dominated scene, they decided to pack it in after a last open mic night at the Troubadour Club in 1969.
     It just happened that evening that producer Richard Perry was in the crowd and liked what he heard. He was looking for a female rock band to promote and produce and this filled the bill. Before going into the studio however, keyboardist Nicky Barclay was recruited and the name changed from Wild Honey to Fanny.
     Over the course of the next five years, the band released six albums and four charting singles. They band never broke through in a big way, but they were a constant presence on the charts. They did world tours opening for Slade, Jethro Tull, and Humble Pie gaining a greater popularity in the UK than at home.
    Ironically enough, the highest charting single for the band was happening as they were in the process of breaking up. "Butter Boy" was also a lot less rocking than earlier material. The remaining members of the group has continued to influence as studio musicians and producers. The real ground work for women who rock today can be found here.....

Read More

Remembering Sammy Johns (1946-2013)

This has been reprinted with alterations from The Charlotte Observer:

Sammy Johns remembered as writer of hit songs 

 by Joe DePriest

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/09/3773186/sammy-johns-remembered-as-composer.html#storylink=cpy

      Playing a string of gigs at Charlotte clubs, singer Sammy Johns had never made more than $175 a week when he tried his hand at songwriting in the early 1970s. For years, he’d admired a friend’s Chevrolet van and imagined a man riding around in it, picking up beautiful women and making love in the back.
        Johns, who died Jan. 4 at age 66, used that theme in his first song, “Chevy Van.” When the record was finally released in January 1975, it sold 3.5 million copies and made him an instant celebrity. Although Johns never wrote another blockbuster for himself, he penned No. 1 hits for such country stars as Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty and John Conlee.
      Family and friends will remember Johns’ remarkable career Wednesday at a funeral service.
“He always planned to make music his life,” said Ray Finchum, who will officiate at his uncle’s funeral. “Music was his life. Everything revolved around it.” Finchum said that on Jan. 3, family members found Johns lying on the floor of his Gastonia home, and that he may have suffered a stroke or been electrocuted while working on an old lamp. Johns died the following day at Gaston Memorial Hospital.
      Finchum said that in recent years Johns, an avid golfer, had continued writing songs while playing with local bands. Johns also performed at the Grand Ole Opry with singer John Conlee, who had a number No. 1 hit with Johns’ composition “Common Man.” “Sammy considered himself a common man,” Finchum said. “He didn’t feel like he was special.”

      Around the age of 8, Johns began doing Elvis imitations at clubhouses and schools all over Gaston County. While he was a student at Belmont High School, he joined a rock band called the Devilles, named after the Cadillac model After graduating in 1962, he made music full time, playing with the band at Charlotte clubs and lounges like the Bamboo Lounge and Pecan Grove – a venue that featured gyrating go-go girls.
     A friend suggested Johns start writing songs. “Chevy Van” took shape while he sat on the bed of his northwest Charlotte apartment: Johns recorded the song in 1973 for an Atlanta company, but it sat on the shelf until 1975 when it climbed to No. 5 on the Billboard chart. “Rolling Stone” magazine dubbed it “The Song of the Seventies.”
      In a 1991 Observer interview, Johns said that while the first record made him rich and famous, he blew the money on alcohol, drugs, houses and cars. His four marriages failed. In 1977, he spent two weeks in an Atlanta rehab center and then moved to Nashville, Tenn., where he wrote and recorded songs. His composition “Desperado Love” was a No. 1 hit for Conway Twitty and “America” went gold for Waylon Jennings.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/09/3773186/sammy-johns-remembered-as-composer.html#storylink=cpy

Read More

Reflections on Donna Summer by her former music director.

Scott Hallgren is a friend of mine who had the privilege of working with Donna Summer for seven years. Since her death, I had been hoping to get some thoughts and stories. Hope you enjoy reading them as well. His website is:  http://scootmanmusic.com/

I had the pleasure of working with Donna 1998 - 2005; all of it on keyboards, 4 of them as her pianist, 3 as her musical director. If I'd only known as an 8 year old, driving around in my Mom's Chevette, listening to Donna on AM radio...

Ahh, the stories - WAY too many to tell, whether it was:

- the Rod Stewart impersonator we sent onstage with flowers in El Paso during "Dim All The Lights" (she'd originally written the song for Rod and talked about that every show) that made her freak out and fall off her stool laughing during our 'acoustic' segment,

- performing as the 'house band' at the reception following Sony label prez Tommy Mottola's 3rd wedding (before he was legally divorced from Mariah), and having my rig directly in front of a table - at which were seated Joe Pesci, Rhea Perlman, Rosie O'Donnell, Danny DeVito, and Michael Jackson (who planned THAT table?),

- me getting to perform with my hero Elton John's band, play his piano, and accompany him and Donna on "Enough Is Enough" for the AIDS Foundation's 2003 benefit at Elton's home, then Barry Manilow get up to join them and say, "I can't believe I'm up here with Donna & Elton - this is fuckin' great! Isn't this fuckin' great?" to the horror of many glitterati,

- or the number of times something went awry during "On The Radio", where Donna would invite 3 audience members (females, for reasons you might expect) up to sing background vocals; once, in Columbus, a girl took the mic and walked out front and sang the second verse with an astonished Donna looking on; another time, at a Sony PGA Open, only 2 females were willing to come up, so the audience begged Donna to take the guy 'in the red windbreaker'... he promptly flew up the stairs, grabbed the mic, and said, "Donna, I'm not a girl, but I do have a very small penis", just as she had taken a sip of Dr. Pepper from the cup on my piano. ***It was Adam Sandler.*** (You can imagine how long it took her to stop laughing, and us to clean off the piano!)

Donna never wanted to be an 'oldies' act, and struggled with the box that many tried to put her in. She could sing ANYTHING. We used to do 'Someone To Watch Over Me' as a duet, Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams', 'Nights In White Satin', 'New York, New York'. She sounded INCREDIBLE on the 2010 David Foster & Friends show (with Seal).

None of us had any idea she was sick, and I only hope that I'll be able to attend the memorial here in Nashville - she had so many real friends I don't know where they'd put everyone. The fact that she's gone too soon makes it that much harder.

She never stopped creating, was always musical, and my life is so much better and richer for having known her.

- S

Scott Hallgren
Composer/producer/pianist

Read More

Natalie Cole--This Will Be (1975)

     Most know that Natalie Cole was the daughter of pop/jazz singer Nat King Cole, what many might not know is that her mother Maria had been a singer for the Duke Ellington Orchestra, so the musical talent ran deep from both sides of the family.
      Her initial attempts in the music business was met with some resistance because of her style. Being Nat's daughter, it was thought that her style would be smooth and poppish like his. However, she was raised to appreciate all styles of music and found herself gravitating towards r&b and rock. After meeting producers Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancey, they cut a few demos and began passing them around. It took awhile but finally Capitol records (her Dad's old record company) signed her to a contract.
      The resulting debut album, "Inseparable" shows a debt to Aretha Franklin, but shows her to be her own woman as well. It became a hit, as did the first single, "This Will Be". It would be about 25 years before she would tackle some of the work that her dad made famous, in the meantime, she defined female contemporary r&b for the next 15 years.

  

Read More

The Blackbyrds--Walking in Rhythm (1975)

     Trumpet player Donald Byrd had spent well over 20 years playing in bands. The jazz leader had a undergraduate degree from Wayne State , and then a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music. From that point on he played in various groups, and as a sideman for many of the best in the business; Coltrane, Monk, Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and Art Blakley.
      He also loved to teach, and it was during his stint at Howard University that he came up with the idea of putting together his own group, made up of the best students in his class. They were signed to Fantasy records in 1973 and just two years later hit gold with the single, "Walking in Rhythm". They stayed together as a band until 1980, and has not only been an influence on a generation of jazz-funk bands, but an early generation of hip hop artists as their music has been heavily sampled. Byrd continues to teach, most recently as an artist-in-residence at the University of Delaware.

Read More

Joan Baez--Diamonds and Rust (1975)

     Joan Baez is a treasure in the music world that should never be forgotten. Her beauty and distinctive vocal talents was accompanied with a passion for social justice that has never wavered in the over 50 years since her first album in 1960. However, it seems as if she had been overshadowed musically (at least in the decades since the 60's) by Bob Dylan, and then by other artists such as Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins.  

     In fact, it was Baez who, in covering one of Dylan/s songs brought him to prominence (they were a romantic couple for the better part of 3 years). As Dylan went way beyond traditional songs, his popularity began to soar. Joan continued to do well throughout the 60's and of course had her biggest commercial success on the charts with a cover of The Band's, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". The first time I heard Baez was in the mid-70's with this song. Her folk music might have been influential politically in the 60's, but this was one of her finest moments as a songwriter as she sings about her relationship with Dylan in the 60's. It's a clear look at a relationship in loving, but unsentimental terms.    

Read More

Maxine Nightingale--Right Back Where We Started From (1975)

     Maxine Nightingale had a good run on London's West End for several years. "Hair", "Jesus Christ Superstar", and "Godspell" among others. She had cut a few singles in the early 70's that went nowhere on the charts...and from that point made it clear she wasn't interested in recording solo again.

     It was in 1975 that Maxine went to the studio to lay backing vocals on a record for Al Matthews. The producer for the sessions, Pierre Tubbs was enamored by her voice and sought a friend, J. Vincent Edwards, to write a song for her. Edwards, who had worked with Nightingale before during the production of "Hair" convinced her to give the song a shot. It took quite a bit of convincing to bring her back, and in fact at first was insisting on being paid the normal studio rate (45.00 at the time) rather than getting a royalty. Thankfully, she was talked out of that because upon it's release, "Right Back Where We Started From" shot up the UK charts to #8, and #2 on later release in the US.

     Maxine had another top 10 hit in 1979 with, "Lead Me On", but has since spent more time with jazz oriented materials, and in the last several years, on the oldies circuit.

Read More

10cc--I'm Not In Love (1975)

    The group 10cc was an interesting lot. Two of them, Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart were more of a poppy songwriting team, while Lol Creme and Kevin Godley were more "artsy" in style, with more cinematic type writing and unusual direction. The four of them had good, if spotty success in the UK since the early 70's,.

     Stewart came up with the initial idea, but in a much different form. Creme and Godley suggested to slow it down to instead of instruments to use a wall of voices. The idea was to take their 4 voices and sing a single note in unison. Then to dub it down on a 16 track tape. That was repeated across all 16 tracks to make this lush orchestra of voices. Some of them were made into endless loops where the pitch could be changed at the mixing board to make chords.The only other instruments was a guitar which was equipped with a device that Creme and Godley had invented called the "Gizmotron" which gave it a cello-type sound.

     The woman's voice you here in the song belonged to Kathy Warren, who was the receptionist at the Strawberry Studios where the album was cut. By the way, the whispered lyric was, " Be Quiet, Big Boys Don't Cry"....

Read More

Bruce Springsteen--Born to Run (1975)

     In the grand history of rock and roll, there were probably albums that were as important, The Who's, "Who's Next", and The Rolling Stones', "Sticky Fingers" are a couple that come immediately to mind. But both bands had made their initial mark in the late 60's and will always be identified with that era. However, in my mind, the album that made the biggest impact by a 70's era act was "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen".

      His two previous albums had been very well received by critics, but hadn't really taken hold by the listening public. The next album was truly a make or break one, and it sounded like it. The sprawling production, the grand themes and the desperate optimism of the subjects in his songs came across the speakers literally bigger than life. As far as singles go, Bruce would find greater success in later years, as his music and lyrical vision sharpened is focus, but beginning with the FM crowd, the release of this album was like a bomb going off.

     Frankly, this was not only my favorite Bruce album, but I still think it's the best one he ever made. As he soon began to straddle himself between a singles machine and our generation's version of Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie, he seemed to lose me on both sides. But the sound of those opening drums still excite me and remind me that I might not have been there to see Elvis or the Beatles on TV, but I heard Bruce Springsteen's coming out party, and that's not bad at all....

Read More

Glen Campbell--Rhinestone Cowboy (1975)

     One of the things that can happen as one gets older is something I call generational arrogance. It's usually caused by an assumption that just because people of my age group knows something, that everyone (including anyone younger than us) ought to know it too. However after running into a few people who had no idea who he was, I found myself surprised that after over 250 blogs this year, that this song hadn't come up on my list of things to do. After just releasing his highly acclaimed album just a few weeks ago and heading off into retirement, it's time to remind folks that at one time, there wasn't a singer who was hotter on the pop or country charts than Glen Campbell

      I don't want to write a bio about him, but let's go over a few things that you might not know. First of all, he moved to California from Arkansas in the late 50's to be a guitar player and session man. He can first be heard on the 1959 hits, "Tequila" by the Champs. His distinctive guitar style moved him up quickly and soon became part of a group of  top session players called "The Wrecking Crew" who performed on a number of "A" list performers. He replaced Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys on the 1964/65 tour after Wilson had a nervous breakdown and retired from performing on stage. In fact, Glen was invited to join the Boys, but turned the opportunity down which eventually went to Brian Johnston.

      He had a few solo releases in the early/mid 60's, but it was his breakthrough single, "Gentle On My Mind" that put him on the map. It was his later hits, "By the Time I Get To Phoenix, Galveston, and Wichita Lineman, all written by Jimmy Webb that pushed him into superstar territory. He had his own television show for several years as well. Campbell's last burst on the pop charts was in the middle 70's, when several songs reached the top 10. The first one of those, become somewhat of a signature song.

      Larry Weiss wrote Rhinestone Cowboy and recorded it on his own album, "Black and Blue" in 1974. His version didn't make a dent, however a cover version later that year by Neil Diamond saw some action on the Adult Contemporary charts. Campbell first heard the song while on tour and was very impressed, as were the folks of Capitol. He would have another #1 within a year ("Southern Nights") and would have success on the country charts all the way up to the mid-80's.

 
   
 

Read More

Jefferson Starship--Miracles (1975)

     The Jefferson Airplane had run into the ground. With the Paul Kantner/Grace Slick songwriting axis on one side, and Kaukonen/Cassady on the other, Balin and his romantic ballads had been left out. His close friend Janis Joplin had just died and was wanting to separate himself from the drug lifestyle that the others were involved in. He finally left the group in 1970, and not long after that, the group itself ground to a halt. Jack Cassady and Jorma Kaukonen devoted themselves full time to Hot Tuna and Kantner/Grace released a series of albums. The first one, "Blows Against the Empire" was credited to Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship was the first time that name had been used (this was 1980), and formally named that in 1974. On the first album under that name, "Dragon Fly", Balin had been invited to write a song, and a year later was formally invited to the group full time.

      1975 brought Red Octopus and the best selling album in the Jefferson Starship formation. Balin contributed the song Miracles, which not only was the highest charting single before the forming of Starship, but the album went #1 as well. The song shows off Balin's romantic crooning that has always been a hallmark of his best work, but what sends it soaring was the great production by Larry Cox. This is a song that you need to hear in it's album format. It's almost 7 minutes long, but there isn't a wasted note anywhere....

Read More