Monday, May 5, 2014

#749: I remember....

A billion years ago back in the '70s, one of the British music-weekly tabloids (MELODY MAKER or NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS, can't remember which) used to have a weekly column called "I Remember," in which their writers/critics or prominent members of the pop scene would write briefly about usually-overlooked music or overlooked performers who left a mark on their lives.
I only caught a couple of these, but in a way I've been mimicking them ever since....
I remember....
* The 16th-Century wind-up-toy-band sound of Gryphon, with their recorders, flutes and krumhorns tootling away until you just couldn't take it no more. As the folk-classical-rock band went through the early to mid '70s they slowly added more electric instruments and more muscle, so that by the time of their last album, 1977's TREASON, they sort of sounded like a kinder, gentler Jethro Tull. Their best work is 1974's all-instrumental RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE, with long, upbeat, spritely, energetic renaissance-dance-style numbers, and one long three-part haunter called "Lament." Nobody else sounded like them. Never boring.
* The bubbling keyboards of Dave Sinclair, playing on his Davoli synthesizer and other keybs on Caravan's first half-dozen albums. Displayed best on 1973's FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT, where every fizzy, giddy keyboard fill keeps the upbeat, bouncy, optimistic music rolling on. Best on "Memory Lain/Hugh/Headloss," "The Dog, the Dog, He's at it Again," "A Hunting We Shall Go...," and dozens of other pieces on other Caravan LP's -- "Place of My Own," "Nine Feet Underground," "Virgin on the Ridiculous," "For Richard," "And I Wish I Were Stoned," "The Dabsong Conshirtoe," etc. No other keyboard-player sounds like him -- not Rick Wakeman, not Keith Emerson....
* The pastel, fairy-tale-like songs of middle-period Genesis, as found on A TRICK OF THE TAIL, WIND AND WUTHERING and AND THEN THERE WERE THREE. These aren't rock songs, more like fables -- full of ghostly guitars and keyboards and sweet choir-boy vocals. Easy to see why they didn't make much money at this -- they needed to up the funk and commercial factors. But in their approach and instrumental attack, the gentle impact of these songs sounds like no one else. And some of the love songs are gorgeous ("Afterglow," "Your Own Special Way," "Undertow"). And let's not forget funny ("Robbery, Assault and Battery," "Down and Out"). WIND and THREE got knocked in some quarters, but the good stuff was so good, even some of the outtakes are amazing ("Inside and Out," "Vancouver"). Looking back, these songs sound naive and starry-eyed, which might be why I still love them.
* Elton John's guitarist Davey Johnstone, Elton's "secret weapon" through a string of early '70s albums. Though at his best, Elton often had great songs, great band backing-vocals, great production, over the years I've come more and more to hear the guitar. Johnstone's little fills and adds are always a delight to hear, and always keep the music charging forward, especially on stuff like "Love Lies Bleeding" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting." Perfect music for cranking up LOUD and screaming out the window to as you drive around. And I'll bet you can name a ton more if you think about it....
* Queen. Like they need any help from me. Jeez, Freddy Mercury was a musical genius. And Brian May -- what a guitarist. And the songwriting! Forget all the stuff you've heard WAY too many times, the stuff that wore out for you by 1982. How 'bout the amazing space-age folksong "'39," or the creepy "Prophet's Song," or that great heavy-metal ballad "It's Late." And the VOCALS! Even their "later" stuff is pretty great -- try the dramatic "The Show Must Go On" or "I'm Going Slightly Mad."
* Renaissance's "Rajah Khan." Yeah, they were prissy and stuck-up and too convinced about their own unique talent. They were also pretty great. And this long, loud, swirling, Middle-Eastern-style psychedelic freakout off of their 1972 album PROLOGUE is the craziest, wildest, greatest thing they ever did. They should have turned it up like this WAY more often. Whoever stand-in electric guitarist Rob Hendry was, they sure missed him after he left.
* '70s Paul McCartney. Yeah, I know. I owe my old buddy Jeff Mann on this one. As with Elton, Jeff inflicted early-'70s Paul McCartney and Wings on me during late-night drives around the Boise area. And as with Elton, I wasn't always sure of what I was hearing. Some of this stuff I've been tracking down for years. I know I heard bits and pieces off of Sir Paul's RAM and MCCARTNEY, and possibly some stuff off of later albums that were even MORE critically-slammed. It all sounded pretty good to me -- at least with all the filler taken out. The thing that's stayed with me longest is something called "Dear Boy." But "Monkberry Moon Delight" and "Smile Away" have their own trashy charm....
To be continued....

1 comment:

R S Crabb said...

Radio has forever ruined Bohemian Rhapsody and Killer Queen, I skip over them but they do show why people love them. I actually tolerated them more slightly but they'll have a place in my heart for 39, one of the best songs radio never plays and I'm good with that.

Elton John was the main singers I grew up with and I have just about everything he put out on single including the overplayed (insert song here) Davey Johnstone brought out the rocker in EJ but credit must be given to Dee Murray and Nigel Olssen, his trusty rhythm section. While there's unprecedented love for Goodybe Yellow Brick Road, my fave remains Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player (with the bonus B sides that sound better here than on GYBR). His band was a very good live band (See Here And There) but once EJ went into a different direction something was lost although Rock Of The Westies is underrated with his new band. The wheels fell off on the overwhelming Blue Moves and worse A Single Guy. Over time Davey, Dee and Nigel would return in the 80s (Dee passed away years ago). And their presence would help later efforts like Too Low For Zero, Breaking Hearts and even Songs From The West Coast. EJ's last CD was so so but I never count him out, especially if Nigel or Davey plays on it.