Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1984 - (page 198)

Another absolute gem of a song from 1975 is the legendary Roy Harpers 'When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease' from his album HQ which has guest appearances from Dave Gilmour and John Paul Jones. I've met Roy on numerous occasions and he was the inspiration for me to pick up a guitar abd begin to play after watching one of his many performances in small venues for small crowds. It's somewhat perplexing therefore to find Roys last couple of tours being played to full houses at the Bridgewater Hall and again this coming September.

One of the greatest singer songwriters to come from these shores, from Rusholme Manchester, he wore a pair of city socks on the cover of his album Flashes From the Archives of Oblivion (1974) and remains a City fan to this day Roy has been celebrated by the likes of Pete Townsend, Dave Gilmour, Kate Bush, Ian Anderson and Led Zeppelin no less who also wrote and named a song to him 'Hats Off to Roy Harper' on their 3rd album. He also appeared on Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here providing lead vocals to the track Have a Cigar.

Have a Cigar and When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease for the playlist surely.

Here he is at 84 yrs of age playing When an Old cricketer Leaves the Crease alongside the beautiful guitar work of Matt Churchill at Glastonbury last weekend.

 
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Blue2112 said:
My choice for 1975 is the excellent 'Pavlovs Dog' and their debut album 'Pampered Menial'. I first came across this in the mid 80's taking a punt on unknown bands or bands id seen their name associated with in magazine articles or even if they just had interesting covers and I've done that many times and its proved successful.

So where do Pavlovs Dog sit in a particular genre, rock, hard rock, classic rock, prog rock, neo prog rock even. Truth be told they're a mix of all the above and much more, a very unique band mixing David Hamilton and Doug Rayburns keyboards and mellotron and if you add Sigfried Carver's talent with violin and viola, you've got a special band. The drums and Guitar by Mick Safron and Steve Scorfina are not spectacular but blend into the bands overall sound perfectly. And then we have the vocals of David Surkamp once heard never forgotten. The best description I've come across is that listening to him sounds very much like Geddy Lee (Rush) on helium.

Pampered Menial has a beautiful cover in black and white of the 1829 Oil painting Low Life and High Life by British artist Edwin Landseer. It depicts the contrasting lifestyles of two dogs in pre-Victorian England. Differing  breeds, on the front cover one of which is shown in a clearly working class setting while on the back of the album the other is set in an  upper background. It is part of a long tradition using contrasting images to illustrate class divides in art. The album mixes melodic ballads, folk, flashes of hard rock, psych guitar all wove together around complex notes but the musicians don't compete to be heard as an individual but instead play together as one for the band. Ultimately you will either love or hate them for Surkamp's vocals but I urge you to stick with him as he proves to be as good a vocalist in the genre of prog rock as any other. It's an album you won't forget and hopefully fall in love with as I have for the past 40 plus years.

The opening track of Pampered Menial is a beautiful rock ballad entitled 'Juila' and my choice for the playlist.

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Beautiful album, I've been a fan of it since it came out. Unusual vocals but once you get used to that it's wonderful.
 
There goes Rhymin’ OB1, another fantastic write up and some great choices.As we’ve already had nominations for my favourite albums of this year BTR and BOTT I won’t add any more.

Gotta have an Ian Hunter track though ,from his debut solo album, I’m going for the epic ‘BOY’ reputedly about Bowie.I’ve met Ian a number of times lovely bloke along with the late Mick Ronson who I’m also going to nominate as he was a great sideman for Ian and Bowie but never really made it on his own. ‘PLAY DON’T WORRY’

The next track was a big hit and I had the single but never listened to the album its nearly all keyboards but stills sounds great today,
Gary Wright ‘DREAM WEAVER’

Last but definitely not least ,an artist who I would’ve never listened to back then but got into much later when I fell in love with Americana.Like Townes Van Zandt he was a mentor for Steve Earle and a brilliant story telling songwriter.His debut album ‘Old No 1 was released this year and contains some of his best and well known songs.The late Guy Clark ‘LA FREEWAY’

It could’ve been worse I was going to nominate a track from Lou Reed’s
‘Metal Machine Music’ but as each track is over 16 minutes I don’t think Rob or anyone else would’ve approved !
 
RobMCFC said:
I can't find that album on Spotify. You're not on a different version of Spotify to the rest of us are you? :)
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from google:

  • Budgie: The original band, Budgie, has limited albums available on Spotify. Their debut album and Squawk are available, but most others, including "Bandoliers," are not.
 
Mancitydoogle said:
There goes Rhymin’ OB1, another fantastic write up and some great choices.As we’ve already had nominations for my favourite albums of this year BTR and BOTT I won’t add any more.
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#1 and #3 on the top albums of 1975, can't go wrong there!

For the record, my like above wasn't because you didn't nominate a Lou Reed track, but it was because you included this classic that will surely make some list of mine when this is done:
Mancitydoogle said:
The next track was a big hit and I had the single but never listened to the album its nearly all keyboards but stills sounds great today,
Gary Wright ‘DREAM WEAVER’
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I loved the keyboards and synths on that song at the time, probably one of the first heavy synths songs I remember listening to at the time from the radio. More earlier releases from other artists would come later on, but this song was distinct for me for its uniqueness from what I was hearing at the time on the FM dial.

Adventures with Wayne and Garth in later years didn't hurt this track either. ;-)
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
#1 and #3 on the top albums of 1975, can't go wrong there!

For the record, my like above wasn't because you didn't nominate a Lou Reed track, but it was because you included this classic that will surely make some list of mine when this is done:

I loved the keyboards and synths on that song at the time, probably one of the first heavy synths songs I remember listening to at the time from the radio. More earlier releases from other artists would come later on, but this song was distinct for me for its uniqueness from what I was hearing at the time on the FM dial.

Adventures with Wayne and Garth in later years didn't hurt this track either. ;-)
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Yeah, I love that Dream Weaver track too. I first heard I think when Gary supported Peter Frampton on his first major UK tour back in 1976 I think it was. Also, a friend had the album, which I do have now on cd.
 
I’ve added more “optional” listening to the end of the playlist.

War - Low Rider
KC & the Sunshine Band - That’s the Way I Like it
Foghat - Slow Ride
Ram Jam - Black Betty
Led Zep - Sick Again
 
Blue2112 said:
Another absolute gem of a song from 1975 is the legendary Roy Harpers 'When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease' from his album HQ which has guest appearances from Dave Gilmour and John Paul Jones. I've met Roy on numerous occasions and he was the inspiration for me to pick up a guitar abd begin to play after watching one of his many performances in small venues for small crowds. It's somewhat perplexing therefore to find Roys last couple of tours being played to full houses at the Bridgewater Hall and again this coming September.

One of the greatest singer songwriters to come from these shores, from Rusholme Manchester, he wore a pair of city socks on the cover of his album Flashes From the Archives of Oblivion (1974) and remains a City fan to this day Roy has been celebrated by the likes of Pete Townsend, Dave Gilmour, Kate Bush, Ian Anderson and Led Zeppelin no less who also wrote and named a song to him 'Hats Off to Roy Harper' on their 3rd album. He also appeared on Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here providing lead vocals to the track Have a Cigar.

Have a Cigar and When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease for the playlist surely.

Here he is at 84 yrs of age playing When an Old cricketer Leaves the Crease alongside the beautiful guitar work of Matt Churchill at Glastonbury last weekend.

Click to expand...

Lovely song.

I do have the album on cd but not played it many times so I would never have thought of this. Great choice.
 
OB1 said:
Yeah, I love that Dream Weaver track too. I first heard I think when Gary supported Peter Frampton on his first major UK tour back in 1976 I think it was. Also, a friend had the album, which I do have now on cd.
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I was at that gig at Belle Vue , forgot GW was the support.
 
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When this song was recorded over 50 years ago, it marked the final appearance of original band guitarist John Curulewski, who left the band due to conflicts with the other members and to spend time with his family. An up and coming guitarist from Alabama who had recently been playing in Chicago and got noticed would do just fine on later albums, but more on that later...

I think the writing artist and band lead singer who put this song together during that upcoming American 1976 Bicentenial celebration said it best, so I'll let him describe what this song is about.

I will only note that as today on the 4th of July we in the US hit the eve of the 250th celebration next year, the sentiment found within this song and urgency for citizens' self reflection and awareness is probably even more pronounced based on what is currently "going on".

But first, the great Dennis DeYoung:

“It was the Bi-Centennial and as it was coming up you started seeing commercials for the Bi-Centennial mug and the Bi-Centennial panties and all of that. The 200th anniversary of America was being totally taken over by commercialization in a rather unceremonious fashion. I had a moment of reflection. I had grown up in the so called glory days of the United States of America, which was post World War II until 1970. To live in this country at that time was really the golden age. The fallibility of the United States was something that struck me and that set the tone for this song. Maybe I was fearful of being literal – I think I probably was.

Take Bruce Springsteen for example, in his early work he is very literal in his storytelling and there is not a great deal of mysticism. I was still being influenced, lyrically, by art rock bands. I really love Yes as a band in their early years but to this day I still don’t understand any of their songs. I have no idea what any of those songs are lyrically about. That is mysticism to the extreme. This song is somewhere in-between.”

Suite Madame Blue - Styx

Red, white, and blue
The future is all but past
So lift up your heart
Make a new start
And lead us away from here
 
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Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
When this song was recorded over 50 years ago, it marked the final appearance of original band guitarist John Curulewski, who left the band due to conflicts with the other members and to spend time with his family. An up and coming guitarist from Alabama who had recently been playing in Chicago and got noticed would do just fine on later albums, but more on that later...

I think the writing artist and band lead singer who put this song together during that upcoming American 1976 Bicentenial celebration said it best, so I'll let him describe what this song is about.

I will only note that as today on the 4th of July we in the US hit the eve of the 250th celebration next year, the sentiment found within this song and urgency for citizens' self reflection and awareness is probably even more pronounced based on what is currently "going on".

But first, the great Dennis DeYoung:

“It was the Bi-Centennial and as it was coming up you started seeing commercials for the Bi-Centennial mug and the Bi-Centennial panties and all of that. The 200th anniversary of America was being totally taken over by commercialization in a rather unceremonious fashion. I had a moment of reflection. I had grown up in the so called glory days of the United States of America, which was post World War II until 1970. To live in this country at that time was really the golden age. The fallibility of the United States was something that struck me and that set the tone for this song. Maybe I was fearful of being literal – I think I probably was.

Take Bruce Springsteen for example, in his early work he is very literal in his storytelling and there is not a great deal of mysticism. I was still being influenced, lyrically, by art rock bands. I really love Yes as a band in their early years but to this day I still don’t understand any of their songs. I have no idea what any of those songs are lyrically about. That is mysticism to the extreme. This song is somewhere in-between.”

Suite Madame Blue - Styx

Red, white, and blue
The future is all but past
So lift up your heart
Make a new start
And lead us away from here
Click to expand...
Didn’t see that coming.

Happy Traitors Day ;-)
 
More additions to the tail end of the list:

Jefferson Starship - Miracles
Steely Dan - Bad Sneakers
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile
Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Saturday Night Special
Led Zep - In my Time of Dying
 
OB1 said:
More additions to the tail end of the list:

Jefferson Starship - Miracles
Steely Dan - Bad Sneakers
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile
Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Saturday Night Special
Led Zep - In my Time of Dying
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This is turning into your list which kind of defeats the object of the thread.
 
At the risk of getting another potential selection relegated to the end of the list like "Miracles" was, I'm going to complete my selections now.

Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
#1 and #3 on the top albums of 1975, can't go wrong there!
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And #2 would be off of this album with the same title. Without @PragueBlue to potentially nominate this one, I certainly will for needed representation. Lead singer and producer Maurice White really shines on this song that I remember enjoying on the radio during the hot summer of 1975.

I'll let Stephen Curwood of the Boston Globe describe this best: "The title cut comes into your consciousness the way a cool air-conditioned breeze rushes over your face when you've been out in the sticky heat. Sometimes the cool goes too dry for our taste, but then, that's a form of sophistication."

"That's the Way of the World" - Earth, Wind & Fire

And given Rob and I have been enjoying watching Wimbledon this past week, 1975 could not pass without the great Elton John contribution of this song honouring his friend and pioneer of women's tennis, BIllie Jean King, who was part of the Philadelphia Freedoms professional tennis team. The song was a singles and radio hit in 1975 but wouldn't be released on an album until 1977's Greatest Hits Volume II release.

When John asked songwriter Bernie Taupin to write a song for King, Taupin said, "I can't write a song about tennis" - and he didn't. The lyrics bear no relation to tennis, Philadelphia soul, or even flag-waving patriotism. Nonetheless, in the US, the lyrics have been interpreted as patriotic and uplifting ("from the day that I was born, I've waved the flag"). Given the timing of the release, ironically a year before the bicentennial celebration, that's how it was received by the masses.

Growing up during that time near Philly and in hearing this all over the various stations that it was played on (rock, pop... you name it), that's certainly how I looked at this song. The orchestral arrangement by Gene Page that includes those distinctive flutes, horns and strings was always the part of the song that really would make me smile when I heard it come on for instant recognition.

"Philadelphia Freedom" - Elton John
 
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