Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1985 - (page 203)

RobMCFC said:
Notes on the 1967 playlist

As @GoatersLeftShin noted in his write-up, this is such a terrific year for music. So many good songs and an explosion of creativity.

I'm not a big fan of the Sgt Pepper album, but "Strawberry Fields Forever" is such a great song - it would have improved the album if it were on it.

Elsewhere on the initial list, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" with it's tremendous organ, Jimi Hendrix ripping it up on "Purple Haze", another amazing organ performance by Ray Manzarek on The Doors' "Light My Fire" and "The Night" by The Moody Blues make this a very strong intro. Interesting to read what I knew as "Nights in White Satin" is actually part of "The Night". Also interesting to hear Justin Hayward's spoken part - reminded me of a similar part in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds that we reviewed on the album thread a while ago.

All the songs by The Doors, The Monkees, Love, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, The Spencer Davis Group were fantastic.

"Everybody's Been Burned" - The Byrds - Is this where the line in "The Only One I Know" by the Charlatans comes from?

"Matthew and Son" Yusaf Islam/Cat Stevens and "Tears of a Clown" - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - both classics and nice to hear again.

Two back-to-back trippy songs that I'd never heard before were really great: "Shifting Sands" by TheWest Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and "Slip Inside This House" by The 13th Floor Elevators.

"Ode to Billie Joe" - Bobbie Gentry - I'm sure I've heard that line about Billie Joe jumping from the bridge in a Tony Joe White Song. Anyway, this was a great song.

Well done to everybody in putting such a great list of songs together, although it was a bit too long being honest.
Click to expand...
70 odd songs is too long over one listen but perfectly pleasant over a few sessions :-)
 
RobMCFC said:
Notes on the 1967 playlist

As @GoatersLeftShin noted in his write-up, this is such a terrific year for music. So many good songs and an explosion of creativity.

I'm not a big fan of the Sgt Pepper album, but "Strawberry Fields Forever" is such a great song - it would have improved the album if it were on it.

Elsewhere on the initial list, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" with it's tremendous organ, Jimi Hendrix ripping it up on "Purple Haze", another amazing organ performance by Ray Manzarek on The Doors' "Light My Fire" and "The Night" by The Moody Blues make this a very strong intro. Interesting to read what I knew as "Nights in White Satin" is actually part of "The Night". Also interesting to hear Justin Hayward's spoken part - reminded me of a similar part in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds that we reviewed on the album thread a while ago.

All the songs by The Doors, The Monkees, Love, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, The Spencer Davis Group were fantastic.

"Everybody's Been Burned" - The Byrds - Is this where the line in "The Only One I Know" by the Charlatans comes from?

"Matthew and Son" Yusaf Islam/Cat Stevens and "Tears of a Clown" - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - both classics and nice to hear again.

Two back-to-back trippy songs that I'd never heard before were really great: "Shifting Sands" by TheWest Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and "Slip Inside This House" by The 13th Floor Elevators.

"Ode to Billie Joe" - Bobbie Gentry - I'm sure I've heard that line about Billie Joe jumping from the bridge in a Tony Joe White Song. Anyway, this was a great song.

Well done to everybody in putting such a great list of songs together, although it was a bit too long being honest.
Click to expand...
70 odd songs and still some absolute classics missing. 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' is my favourite Cream song, particularly the version on Cream Live Volume 2. It has one of the greatest breaks in rock music and Jack Bruce's vocals are spot on. I know its too late to add it but i will certainly put it on my version. Disraeli Gears is a terrific album.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
70 odd songs and still some absolute classics missing. 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' is my favourite Cream song, particularly the version on Cream Live Volume 2. It has one of the greatest breaks in rock music and Jack Bruce's vocals are spot on. I know its too late to add it but i will certainly put it on my version. Disraeli Gears is a terrific album.
Click to expand...
Interestingly Ulysses and White Room have the same descending chords and. Rhythmic structure, just slightly different melody.
 
RobMCFC said:
Notes on the 1967 playlist

As @GoatersLeftShin noted in his write-up, this is such a terrific year for music. So many good songs and an explosion of creativity.

I'm not a big fan of the Sgt Pepper album, but "Strawberry Fields Forever" is such a great song - it would have improved the album if it were on it.

Elsewhere on the initial list, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" with it's tremendous organ, Jimi Hendrix ripping it up on "Purple Haze", another amazing organ performance by Ray Manzarek on The Doors' "Light My Fire" and "The Night" by The Moody Blues make this a very strong intro. Interesting to read what I knew as "Nights in White Satin" is actually part of "The Night". Also interesting to hear Justin Hayward's spoken part - reminded me of a similar part in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds that we reviewed on the album thread a while ago.

All the songs by The Doors, The Monkees, Love, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, The Spencer Davis Group were fantastic.

"Everybody's Been Burned" - The Byrds - Is this where the line in "The Only One I Know" by the Charlatans comes from?

"Matthew and Son" Yusaf Islam/Cat Stevens and "Tears of a Clown" - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - both classics and nice to hear again.

Two back-to-back trippy songs that I'd never heard before were really great: "Shifting Sands" by TheWest Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and "Slip Inside This House" by The 13th Floor Elevators.

"Ode to Billie Joe" - Bobbie Gentry - I'm sure I've heard that line about Billie Joe jumping from the bridge in a Tony Joe White Song. Anyway, this was a great song.

Well done to everybody in putting such a great list of songs together, although it was a bit too long being honest.
Click to expand...
To do justice to each of the the next 15 years, you will need at least 70 songs in each case.

The Sunday Times did a feature on the best 25 albums of the last 25 years; I wouldn’t put one of them into the top 25 of any the three years I have coming up.
 
Bill Walker said:
Interestingly Ulysses and White Room have the same descending chords and. Rhythmic structure, just slightly different melody.
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I think you are much more expert than I at analysing music technically. I can hear the similarity between the two songs but for some reason I prefer TOBU. I will go further than that and say I far prefer the live version on Cream Live 2 to the track on Disraeli Gears. 1) its far heavier 2) Claptons guitar just weaves in and out brilliantly 3) JB's vocal is so much more dynamic particularly when he moves into the verse:
'Her name is Aphrodite and she rides a crimson shell'
Listen to the difference, its really quite profound.
4) whilst GB drums are more precise on the DG version, I prefer the cymbal work live. It better conjures the sea, the fishes..
You can tell I love this song :-)
 
Is this the greatest year for popular music? The playlist indicates it might be (although I have high hopes for 71). 69 songs of pure quality across multiple genres. Pop, Rock, Soul, Blues, Country (maybe jazz is a bit short albeit a number of the tracks are jazz influenced). It is rock that is at the forefront of inventiveness with the Beatles probably at their creative peak, The Stones song writing going from strength to strength and the Beach Boys still making heavenly music. This is the year (to me) that Prog Rock first comes to prominence through Floyd's debut, Procol Harem and the Moody Blues. That the Doors, VU, Love, Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, The Byrds, Cream and Hendrix were at their creative peak. What a list that is.
Special love for the Dusty, Nina, Otis, Smokey, Bobbie Gentry and Mama and Papas songs.

Ones I didn't know and enjoyed:
The West Coast Pop Art Experiment and 13th Floor Elevators

Thanks to everyone that contributed.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Is this the greatest year for popular music? The playlist indicates it might be (although I have high hopes for 71). 69 songs of pure quality across multiple genres. Pop, Rock, Soul, Blues, Country (maybe jazz is a bit short albeit a number of the tracks are jazz influenced). It is rock that is at the forefront of inventiveness with the Beatles probably at their creative peak, The Stones song writing going from strength to strength and the Beach Boys still making heavenly music. This is the year (to me) that Prog Rock first comes to prominence through Floyd's debut, Procol Harem and the Moody Blues. That the Doors, VU, Love, Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, The Byrds, Cream and Hendrix were at their creative peak. What a list that is.
Special love for the Dusty, Nina, Otis, Smokey, Bobbie Gentry and Mama and Papas songs.

Ones I didn't know and enjoyed:
The West Coast Pop Art Experiment and 13th Floor Elevators

Thanks to everyone that contributed.
Click to expand...
Of course, no Jazz !! What was I thinking?
No real landmark recordings but this is the year that the greatest saxophonist passed away, John Coltrane, aged 40.

Born and raised in North Carolina, after graduating from high school Coltrane moved to Philadelphia, where he studied music. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in Jazz and was one of the players at the forefront of free jazz.
He led at least fifty recording sessions and appeared on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk.

Over the course of his career, Coltrane's music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension, as exemplified on his most acclaimed album A Love Supreme 1965) and others.
Decades after his death, Coltrane remains influential, and he has received numerous posthumous awards.

This track is the last song from his last recording, Expression. Not long before his death.

Coltrane biographer J.C. Thomas wrote that Expression "has an eerie quality of finality, a carefully chosen musical refinement, that seems to sum up Coltrane's career, as if he knew that it might be one of his last recorded statements."

 
threespires said:
Though I don't dispute the importance of SPLHCB , if I could only take one album from '67 it wouldn't be that. In fact it's a good job I didn't volunteer and get this year because it's entirely possible that, despite the incredible variety and options on offer, I might have just selected 10 tracks off one album. That album being Forever Changes by Love.

An album that managed to make it all the way to #154 in the US charts that year but has subsequently come to be regarded as an absolute classic.

Delivering a series of slightly odd and sometimes unsettling songs wrapped in the sweet wrapper of Arthur Lee's vocals and a melange of mariachi driven baroque pop, folk rock. psychedelia, the occasional moment of garage rock from the prior albums, all punctuated by passages of sweeping Bacharachesque strings. Slightly odd melodies, gnomic lyrics, progressions that build the tension but then resolve in almost perversely sweet fashion. It's both very accessible and beautifully strange at the same time. In the decades since it's initial commercial failure the world and his wife have claimed it as an influence.
...

So the constant throughout then is the wayward but charismatic Arthur Lee. They say good things come to those who wait and decades after the relative failure of the album Lee was able, with the help of the much younger LA band Baby Lemonade, to not only tour the album live but to wholly do it justice with horns and strings. I was lucky enough to see the album performed a number of times on the tour. For such a compelling front man Lee didn't really say that much, but you could tell he was touched by how loved the album is over here.

Trying to pick a single track is nigh impossible so I'll start at the end.

You Set The Scene - Love
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As I noted prior, in addition to the playlist here, I was going to explore a few albums from artists I was really not familiar with, and I've been well-rewarded with hearing Forever Changes, more than a few times now, I might add.

Now I wish my parents had been more into this genre than some of the other popular artists I was familiar with that I know they liked during this timeframe, because this band and release had escaped me until now.

It really was a rewarding listen, so thanks @threespires for the excellent recommendation on this one as this track and "Alone Again Or" from the playlist and the overall album really hit on many high notes.

"A House Is Not a Motel" in the beginning sounded almost Moody Blues-like, both musically and vocally, which seemed odd to me, but Arthur Lee sounded a bit like Justin Hayward there. Maybe just me, but if I heard that song early on, I would have surely guessed The Moody Blues material from that time period.

"Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale" was another standout track taking us back to the time and place of recording of a time now passed.

"Live and Let Live" was another standout track for me with those guitars adding to the overall folk sound on the song.

I'm assuming you got to see Lee and Baby Lemonade in the early 2000's and I'm going to try to catch his concert release of the Forever Changes album in its entirety released in 2003. I'm glad the audiences that got to see him then made him appreciative of his lasting musical legacy. Well done.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
As I noted prior, in addition to the playlist here, I was going to explore a few albums from artists I was really not familiar with, and I've been well-rewarded with hearing Forever Changes, more than a few times now, I might add.

Now I wish my parents had been more into this genre than some of the other popular artists I was familiar with that I know they liked during this timeframe, because this band and release had escaped me until now.

It really was a rewarding listen, so thanks @threespires for the excellent recommendation on this one as this track and "Alone Again Or" from the playlist and the overall album really hit on many high notes.

"A House Is Not a Motel" in the beginning sounded almost Moody Blues-like, both musically and vocally, which seemed odd to me, but Arthur Lee sounded a bit like Justin Hayward there. Maybe just me, but if I heard that song early on, I would have surely guessed The Moody Blues material from that time period.

"Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale" was another standout track taking us back to the time and place of recording of a time now passed.

"Live and Let Live" was another standout track for me with those guitars adding to the overall folk sound on the song.

I'm assuming you got to see Lee and Baby Lemonade in the early 2000's and I'm going to try to catch his concert release of the Forever Changes album in its entirety released in 2003. I'm glad the audiences that got to see him then made him appreciative of his lasting musical legacy. Well done.
Click to expand...
Forever Changes is a wonderful piece of work. One of very few albums I would give 10 out of 10 to. Surprised it hasn't turned up on the album thread tbh.
I saw Arthur also backed by Baby Lemonade and even though the rumours of his guitar not being plugged in and his occasional forgetting of lyrics as a fan it was a must see.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
As I noted prior, in addition to the playlist here, I was going to explore a few albums from artists I was really not familiar with, and I've been well-rewarded with hearing Forever Changes, more than a few times now, I might add.

Now I wish my parents had been more into this genre than some of the other popular artists I was familiar with that I know they liked during this timeframe, because this band and release had escaped me until now.

It really was a rewarding listen, so thanks @threespires for the excellent recommendation on this one as this track and "Alone Again Or" from the playlist and the overall album really hit on many high notes.

"A House Is Not a Motel" in the beginning sounded almost Moody Blues-like, both musically and vocally, which seemed odd to me, but Arthur Lee sounded a bit like Justin Hayward there. Maybe just me, but if I heard that song early on, I would have surely guessed The Moody Blues material from that time period.

"Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale" was another standout track taking us back to the time and place of recording of a time now passed.

"Live and Let Live" was another standout track for me with those guitars adding to the overall folk sound on the song.

I'm assuming you got to see Lee and Baby Lemonade in the early 2000's and I'm going to try to catch his concert release of the Forever Changes album in its entirety released in 2003. I'm glad the audiences that got to see him then made him appreciative of his lasting musical legacy. Well done.
Click to expand...

I'm glad it hit the spot. The DVD of the concert is pretty good so definitely worth a watch. I was put onto Love by a Deadhead friend some time in the 90s and so was deliriously happy to be able to see the latter interation perform the songs. Saw them a few times both with and without the strings and brass. Lee should be better known than he is but he lived his life on his own terms it would seem not always to anyone's advantage by the sounds of it. Had a chat with Mike and Rusty from BL after one of the gigs and it was clear how happy they were to be playing the music.
 
Out on blue 6 said:
Forever Changes is a wonderful piece of work. One of very few albums I would give 10 out of 10 to. Surprised it hasn't turned up on the album thread tbh.
I saw Arthur also backed by Baby Lemonade and even though the rumours of his guitar not being plugged in and his occasional forgetting of lyrics as a fan it was a must see.
Click to expand...

It's crossed my mind to nominate it but it's on small list of albums I love so much that I have no desire to pick them apart, I just get eormous pleasure from listening to them.
 
I saw an interview with Steve Reich in The Guardian this week:

www.theguardian.com

Steve Reich: ‘We all wish art could counter the direction of US politics. But it can’t’

Now 88, the minimalist composer has reissued his life’s work. He answers your questions about Bowie, the Grateful Dead, spirituality – and his complicated friendship with Philip Glass
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

It's not rock n roll but his influence on tape looping and sound experimentation certainly influenced it. It's incredible to hear the music he made around the years we are at as it sounds timeless to me. Listening to Tomorrow Never Knows and For The Benefit etc that's taken straight from the likes of Reich and other pioneers of this time.

The amount of joy I get from music is incredible. I honestly think of all the art forms, it can touch the soul like nothing else. It's also incredible to think that regardless of culture, music by Bach, Beethoven etc sounds as beautiful to me as it did the those people who heard it 100s of years ago.
 
Out on blue 6 said:
Forever Changes is a wonderful piece of work. One of very few albums I would give 10 out of 10 to. Surprised it hasn't turned up on the album thread tbh.
I saw Arthur also backed by Baby Lemonade and even though the rumours of his guitar not being plugged in and his occasional forgetting of lyrics as a fan it was a must see.
Click to expand...
I love the album and it has a history with me in that me and a few muso mates used to sit on the bandstand in Hyde Park, in Hyde, on Sunday Arvos working out the chords, there was no internet then.
I'd give it 8/10.

As a song The Daily Planet sucks imo, absolute filler and the LP is a bit samey throughout. Unlike something like Sgt Pepper.
I still love it though, it's pretty timeless.
I still have my vinyl copy btw.
 
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GoatersLeftShin said:
I saw an interview with Steve Reich in The Guardian this week:

www.theguardian.com

Steve Reich: ‘We all wish art could counter the direction of US politics. But it can’t’

Now 88, the minimalist composer has reissued his life’s work. He answers your questions about Bowie, the Grateful Dead, spirituality – and his complicated friendship with Philip Glass
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

It's not rock n roll but his influence on tape looping and sound experimentation certainly influenced it. It's incredible to hear the music he made around the years we are at as it sounds timeless to me. Listening to Tomorrow Never Knows and For The Benefit etc that's taken straight from the likes of Reich and other pioneers of this time.

The amount of joy I get from music is incredible. I honestly think of all the art forms, it can touch the soul like nothing else. It's also incredible to think that regardless of culture, music by Bach, Beethoven etc sounds as beautiful to me as it did the those people who heard it 100s of years ago.
Click to expand...

Glass and Reich had a removals firm together? That's quite funny. I became familiar with Reich via the Kronos Quartet and Different Trains and then worked backwards, as you say what a pioneer. He comes across as a very engaging and enthusiastic interviewee. I think he says when he was a kid he was introduced to Stravinsky and the Bebop in the space of a few days and that's when he knew what he wanted to be.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Is this the greatest year for popular music? The playlist indicates it might be (although I have high hopes for 71). 69 songs of pure quality across multiple genres. Pop, Rock, Soul, Blues, Country (maybe jazz is a bit short albeit a number of the tracks are jazz influenced). It is rock that is at the forefront of inventiveness with the Beatles probably at their creative peak, The Stones song writing going from strength to strength and the Beach Boys still making heavenly music. This is the year (to me) that Prog Rock first comes to prominence through Floyd's debut, Procol Harem and the Moody Blues. That the Doors, VU, Love, Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, The Byrds, Cream and Hendrix were at their creative peak. What a list that is.
Special love for the Dusty, Nina, Otis, Smokey, Bobbie Gentry and Mama and Papas songs.

Ones I didn't know and enjoyed:
The West Coast Pop Art Experiment and 13th Floor Elevators

Thanks to everyone that contributed.
Click to expand...
I don’t personally think it is the greatest year for Popular music. Not sure yet if I can pick one as the greatest but I already know I prefer the three years that I am currently preparing for this thread.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
70 odd songs is too long over one listen but perfectly pleasant over a few sessions :-)
Click to expand...

I happily played all bar the first 10 songs, which I already listened to, on Friday while working.

I knew most but not quite all the tracks.

“Windy“ by The Association was new to me and I rather liked it. Ditto 13th Floor Elevators.

I didn’t know The Bonzo’s track either but it made me smile.

Leonard Cohen did have me pressing fast forward before I even realised who it was.

“Grocer Jack” brought memories flooding back.

“Tears of a Clown” has to be at least in the Top 10 Soul songs ever, probably Top 3 if you ignore Prince and Wacko Jack. “Dock of the Bay” and Heard it “Through the Grapevine” are my other picks.

Other outside the first 10 and “I Can See For Miles” that I particularly like are Van the Man’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and the Forest Gump soundtrack classic Buffalo Springfield’s “For What it’s Worth”.
 
OB1 said:
I don’t personally think it is the greatest year for Popular music. Not sure yet if I can pick one as the greatest but I already know I prefer the three years that I am currently preparing for this thread.
Click to expand...
I see the years you have and for sure there is quality in spades.
 
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