John Handy--Hard Work (1976)

     Not sure what it is this week, but we seem to be covering artists who are noted more for their jazz career than anything on the pop charts, but here is another example of that with John Handy and, "Hard Work".
     Handy got his start playing with the Charlie Mingus band in the 1950's. He later formed his own group in the mid-60's and recorded several landmark albums including their performance at the Monterrey Jazz Festival in 1965.
     Although he is most noted for playing the alto saxophone, the man has been known to play just about any type of reed instrument. His only placement on the pop charts was with a shortened version of this song in 1976. He continues to tour, although his last album to my knowledge was back in the late 90's. We will present the short and the long version for you listening pleasure.

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Henry Gross--Shannon (1976)

     Inspiration for songs come from a myriad of places, in the case of the song, "Shannon" it was from a dog, and not just his dog, but Carl Wilson's as well. Here, let him tell you the story.

" I was touring around the country quite a lot in 1975 promoting an album called HENRY GROSS, the one with the yellow cover on A&M Records. I had the pleasure of doing long strings of dates with The Beach Boys, a group whose music always inspired me, Carl Wilson, lead singer on God Only Knows and Good Vibrations, was warm and welcoming from the very first show I played with them. Carl invited me to his house in Los Angeles to spend a day talking guitars, cars and rock & roll. While he was preparing lunch his two Alaskan husky dogs reached up on the counter and inhaled our food. Carl was no nice he couldn't stop apologizing but I told him, while admiring the military perfection of the raid executed by his huskies, that I had an Irish Setter at home named Shannon and had seen this act many times before! He was quite moved as he told me that he had an Irish Setter named Shannon that had been killed only recently when hit by a car. We spent the rest of the day jamming and driving around Carl's world, which as a friend and to be honest, a Beach Boy's fanatic, was quite a thrill.' (courtesy of Henry Gross' website:  http://www.henrygross.com)

     His career actually is quite varied. At the age of 18, he helped form, Sha Na Na, which was a rock and roll nostalgia act (quite likely the first as well). They played Woodstock and was a surprise hit of the festival, he was the youngest participant in the concert, and it launched their careers as performers. He didn't stay there long however, as by 1971 he was working on a solo career. He had several songs in the lower rungs of the top 100 before "Shannon", and except for it's follow-up ("Springtime Mama"  #36--1976) Henry never approached those heights again. In 1980 he performed in the road company of the musical, "Pump Boys and Dinettes" with fellow musicians Johnathan Edwards and Nicolette Lawson. In the mid-80's he moved to Nashville and began focusing mostly on songwriting, although he continues performing and recording as well.

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Larry Groce--Junk Food Junkie (1976)

     Those who are listeners to NPR might recognize the name Larry Groce, or better yet the show he founded in 1983, "Mountain Stage" which is produced by West Virginia Public Radio. His first claim to fame however, was this song which reached the top 10 in the winter of 1976.
     Groce, who was born and raised in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas which has produced many musicians and songwriters, started recording in 1969 and by 1972 had been named a National Endowment for the Arts, "artist in-residence", a title which he kept until 1985. He had enjoyed writing for children and after his success on the charts, did a series of albums for Disney which netted him six gold and two platinum albums. One of those albums, "Winnie-the-Pooh for President", won a Grammy in 1976.
     His show, mentioned at the beginning of this article is one of NPR's longest running shows, having aired over 750 broadcasts and highlighting established artists as well as up and comers. You can see more about the show here:  http://www.mountainstage.org/mtnstagepodcast.aspx

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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.

 

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Firefall--You Are The Woman (1976)

     The beginnings of Firefall came about through the meeting of singer Rick Roberts and guitarist Jock Barkley. Barkley was playing in Gram Parsons backing band "The Fallen Angels", and met the singer when they were playing the same venue. Rick was impressed by the guitarist's style and after jamming a bit inquired about the possibility of forming a new group. They contacted bassist Mark Andes who had played with Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne, and Larry Burnett and shortly afterward took on the name "Firefall" in 1974. Roberts, who had previously been a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, called on another former member, Michael Clarke about taking over as drummer. During late 74 and early 75, the group played in and around Boulder and Aspen Colorado. It was also during this period they cut a few demos produced by Chris Hillman.
     The demos initially went nowhere, but Hillman was impressed enough to ask Andes, Bartley, and Roberts to join his band. It was at one of these gigs in New York City in June of 1975 that Hillman took ill, and was sick enough that he was unable to finish the tour. Burnett and Clarke were flown to finish the commitments. There were a&r men from Atlantic Records (who had heard those demos) at the NYC concert, and were impressed enough from what they heard to sign them to a multi-album deal. Just before the recording of their first album in late 1975, multi-instrumentalist David Muse was brought in.
     The first single off the album, "Livin' Ain't Livin" stalled just short of the top 40, but it was the second song, "You Are The Woman" which cracked the top 10 in 1976 and set the group up for success for the rest of the decade.
     Roberts left the group in 1981, and you can find his website here: http://www.rickrobertsmusic.com/. Barkley is still with the group and their site is here: http://www.firefall.com/

    
    

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Barry DeVorzon/Perry Botkin Jr.--Nadia's Theme (1976)

     Barry DeVorzon had a varied and successful career as a songwriter, performer, and label owner (founding Valiant Records) throughout the late 50's and 1960's. By the 70's he was composing soundtracks to movies.
     One of those movies was 1971's, "Bless the Beasts and the Children", who's title track was recorded by the Carpenters that year and both DeVorzon and Botkin won an Oscar nomination for best song.  One of the album cuts was a short piece called, "Cotton's Dream" and in 1973, CBS approached both men about it's use in a brand new soap opera called, "The Young and the Restless" that was going to debut in the spring. They did some re-arranging, and almost 40 years later it's still the theme song of the soap.
     It came to the general public's attention in 1976 as ABC began using the song in musical montages with gymnast Nadia Comaneci. Response to the song to the network inspired A&M records to re-release the album cut. It was identical to the album cut except the bridge had been repeated and an ending put to it.
     Released as, "Nadia's Theme (The Young and Restless)", it went to number 8 in the fall of 1976. Interestingly enough, DeVorzon's name was not on the original pressings for which he sued A&M and won a judgement of over 200,000 dollars.

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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

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Burton Cummings--Stand Tall (1976)

     Burton Cummings was the lead singer of The Guess Who through most of their existence. He first joined the band in 1965 as a keyboardist, but took over singing duties when Chad Allen left the band.
The Guess Who had a long stretch mainly as a single band for ten years, but in 1975, Cummings chose to head for a solo career.
     His first album reached the top 40 on the strength of, "Stand Tall". The ballad was a bit of a different sound for Cummings, and it went to number 10 on the pop charts in late 1976. His career stalled in the states not too long afterwards, but still had songs on the charts up to 1981 here in the states, and 1990 in his native Canada.
     Over the last ten years, he had reunited with his The Guess Who, formed a band with bandmate Randy Bachman for a couple of years, done some solo work, and has written a book of poetry. You can keep up with Cummings here: http://burtoncummings.net/

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Elvin Bishop--Fooled Around and Fell in Love (1976)

     Elvin Bishop was born in California, but moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of ten. He was noted in his early years not for his guitar playing, but his academics which got him a full scholarship to the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar finalist where he studied Physics.

     It was while in Chicago that he met Paul Butterfield and joined his band which is where he remained for the next 5 years. He went solo in 1968, and began touring the country playing with many of the best blues artists in the country. His first real recognition to me was in 1975, when his song, "Travelin' Shoes" was getting a lot of FM airplay. However, it was the next year that he hit big with, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love"

      Mickey Thomas was a backup singer at the time, and since Bishop didn't think his gravelly voice did the song justice, invited Thomas to sing lead. It turned out to be #3 on the charts, and eventually lead to Thomas being asked to sing with Jefferson Starship. Bishop continues to tour and record today.

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The Bellamy Brothers--Let Your Love Flow (1976)

      David and Howard Bellamy had moved back to their home base of San Antonio, Florida after tiring of doing the bar circuit in Atlanta in the early 70’s. Their music however had caught the attention of a friend of singer/comedian Jim Stafford who recorded David's, "Spiders and Snakes" which became a top 5 hit. The money he made allowed them to move to LA to pursue their own music career, and in 1976 had a number 1 hit on the hot 100. They were one of country music's top acts during the 80's. 

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Steve Miller Band--Fly Like An Eagle (1976)

     It seemed in 1976/77, you couldn't have the radio on without hearing Steve Miller. Although his breakthrough, "The Joker" was back in 73, it wasn't until "Fly Like An Eagle", and "Book of Dreams" that he fully hit his top 40 stride.

     Miller was/is first and foremost a blues player. That sensibility, informed his first few albums in the late 60's.. His biggest successes during that time was because of FM radio, which helped propel four of his first five albums into the top 40. The music itself was a mix of blues and San Francisco style rock.

      Listening to his 70's output, one can hear the development of Miller's music. The songs became more streamlined, without losing the swagger (at least lyrically) of the blues. It was a winning combination for several years. As the hits faded he has returned to the style of music that brought him to performing in the first place. 

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Stevie Wonder---I Wish (1976)

      By 1976, Stevie Wonder was on top of the pop and r&b world. The transformation that began in 1971 with the, "Where I'm Coming From" album saw him move as a teen from love song singles to a serious, socially conscious adult who could mine a serious groove. His albums from 1971-1976 are classics of the pop/rock era 

     "Songs in the Key of Life" was his reflections on his short but busy life (he was on 26 at the time of it's release), and his dissatisfaction with the US government and it's policies. Not only did it produce great singles, but the album itself have great cohesion and is one of (if not THE ) best double albums ever. There were so many songs to choose, but this one where he sings about his childhood is my favorite. Happy Sunday all.....

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Peter Allen--I Go To Rio (1976)

      Peter Allen was an Australian singer/songwriter who was discovered by Mark Herron, who was married to Judy Garland at the time. Allen would soon marry her daughter, Liza Minnelli in 1967 until 1974.

      Throughout the 70's and 80's, he would earn his reputation as a great songwriter, writing hits for Olivia Newton-John ("I Honestly Love You"), Melissa Manchester (Don't Cry Out Loud) , Rita Coolidge (I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love), among many others. In 1981 he received an Oscar for Arthur's Theme (The Best You Can Do) along with Burt Bacharach, Carol Bayer Sager, and Christopher Cross. He was a great entertainer on the stage as well. The tapes I've seen of some of them are full of humor and joy as it was hard not to at least smile at his acrobatic, over the top persona.

     Taken from his 1976 album, "Taught By Experts", "I Go To Rio" was a great encapsulation of his stage energy. It never became a hit, as none of his solo singles did, but he was a distinctive entertainer and songwriter that should not be forgotten.

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The Brothers Johnson--I'll Be Good to You" (1976)

     Happy 58th Birthday to George Johnson of The Brothers Johnson....

     George and Louis Johnson had been in bands backing The Supremes,  Bobby Womack, then full time members of Billy Preston's band. After joining Quincy Jones in the studio and then a tour of Japan, he produced, "Look Out for No.1" in 1976. The first single, "I'll be Good to You" topped out at #3 which was the first of three top 10 hits. They did even better on the R&B charts topping out at #1. In 1990, the song reached No. 1 on the R&B charts again as Chaka Khan & Ray Charles sang on Quincy Jones' album, "Back on the Block"

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Gary Wright--Dream Weaver (1976)

    Gary Wright was first known professionally as an actor. In 1954 he played Florence Henderson's son in the production of Fanny, but was focusing on music by the late 50's. Wright traveled to Europe to study, but instead became the keyboardist and singer of the British band, Spooky Tooth in 67. He recorded a couple of solo albums in 71 and 72,  but remained in the band until 1974. His big year was 1976 as he reached #2 on  the charts with "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive", after that having another half dozen singles reach the top 100. He has been seen in several incarnations of Ringo Starr's All-Star Band over the last few years. Happy 68th Birthday to the Dream Weaver....to hear more oldies like this, and more obscure one...click the banner to the right and hear the best in oldies....

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