Tim Hardin--Simple Song of Freedom (1969)

       As a songwriter, Tim Hardin's career was defined his first two albums in 1966 and 67. Several of his songs, "If I Were A Carpenter", "Reason to Believe" and "Hang On To A Dream" have been a part of the musical lexicon almost from the time they were first recorded. However, what has not been stressed was his abilities as an interpreter of outside material as well. The several albums he released in the early 70's showed someone who's phrasing could take a song and make it his own. His life however was also defined by heroin, which was a constant companion throughout much of his life (most seem to think he developed it during a stint in Vietnam in 1959), and would finally take it in 1980 at the age of 39.
     His only chart success was a cover of Bobby Darin's, "Simple Song of Freedom", which was ironic considering that it was Hardin's, "If I Were a Carpenter" which re-ignited Darin's career in 1967. The song reached #50 in the fall of 1969, perhaps spurred on by Hardin's performance at Woodstock just several weeks before.

 

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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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Richie Havens--Freedom (1969)/Here Comes The Sun (1971)

     Richie Havens died this past Monday (4/22) at the age of 71 of a heart attack at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. The last couple of years he had been dealing with poor health after a kidney transplant in 2010, although just retiring from performing last year. He had spent many years as an activist and educator on the subject of the environment, especially to children, but his fame was sealed due to his performance at Woodstock in 1969.
     Havens was born in Brooklyn in 1941, the oldest of nine children. Even at an early age he had an interest in the arts, having sung on many a street corner with his schoolmates hoping to be heard. In 1961, he moved to Greenwich Village to attempt to link up with others of like mind artistically. At first he wasn't inclined to perform, settling to write poetry and painting. Once he did pick up a guitar and start singing, it didn't talk long for him to be the talk of the village, which prompted Albert Grossman, who at the time was managing Bob Dylan to approach Richie about signing with him. He did, and soon had a contract with the Verve Forecast label.
     His first album, "Mixed Bag" was released in 1967 which was the first of six (!!) albums released between then and 1969. What he was becoming known for however was his spellbinding live performances. This landed him as the opening act at Woodstock in 1969.
     He certainly had enough material to perform, what was not planned however was the crowds. No one had predicted, much less planned for the tens of thousands who started showing up. This caused a massive bottleneck which caused not only delays for the concert goers, but for the performers as well who were having to be brought in by helicopter to fulfill their obligations to perform. With no other choice, Havens kept the crowds enthralled for three hours with several encores. Finally however, he was out of songs, this led him to improvise a song based on the old spiritual, "Motherless Child", what happened next was nothing short of musical magic.

      The live performance and subsequent movie catapulted his fame not only here in the US but also around the world. He actually only had one hit on the charts, and that was a cover of the George Harrison penned, "Here Comes The Sun" which reached the top 20 in 1971. Although he never stopped singing or releasing albums, Richie instead used his newly found fame to educate others about ecological issues. In the mid-70's he co-founded the Northwind Undersea Institute, an oceanographic museum for children in the Bronx. Throughout the rest of his life, he continued touring and investing his time and energy on a series of environmental pursuits.

 

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Joe Cocker--The Letter (1970)

     Joe Cocker brings a good example of what I think is a problem with oldies radio today. The two songs that you hear mostly from him is "Up Where We Belong" (1982), and "You Are So Beautiful" (1975). Both songs have their charms I suppose, but they also are the definition of "lite rock", and miss the songs that truly defined him as one of rock's distinctive voices.
     Cocker had been singing in bands from 1961 to 1968, when going solo, he covered, "With a Little Help From My Friends", which easily became one of the best Beatle covers ever. His debut album, along with a landmark gig at Woodstock pushed him to the forefront of rock's elite.
     Early in 1970, Cocker was going on a promotional tour, and gathering a group of 30 to surround him, took "The Mad Dog and Englishmen" tour on the road. Described as "one big party", the group traveled to 48 cities and over a two day set in March at the Fillmore East in New York recorded an album that would be released in August. "The Letter" would be on that album.
     The song itself had been a bit hit for The Box Tops in August 1967 (the story of that recording is one that deserves it's own blog). In this group's hands however, it became a rip roaring gospel/blues shouter propelled by the piano of Leon Russell and a devastating rhythm section. The song broke Cocker through to a much wider audience and became his first top 10 hit.
     He would have greater success, and songs with much wider appeal. But for me, this is not only his best single, but one of the best singles of all time.

   

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