Led Zeppelin  'In Through The Out Door' (1979).

In 1979 Zeppelin bounced back from the disappointing (in my opinion) 'Presence' album (1977), to release an album of (what was for Zeppelin) a good mix of old, familiar Bluesy Zeppelin (which is Zeppelin at their best, when done right... , playful, lightweight Zeppelin, and new and experimental sounds. It's an album that brings the writing talents of John Paul Jones to the fore. more than on previous Zeppelin albums: 'In Through The Out Door'. 

I know though, that this album divides opinion: some Zeppelin fans don't rate it...

I've heard too, that the recording of the album was fraught with discord (and the aftermath of personal tragedy: Robert Plant's young son had tragically passed away not long before the album was recorded. ), with Plant and Jones taking the lead - but Page and Bonham not (apparently) fully on-board...(???) 

But I like this album a lot.

The album opens promisingly, with 'In The Evening' - a track that attempts to recapture the brilliance of Bluesy Zeppelin - such as 'In My Time Of Dying' and 'Since I've Been Loving You' - and would have joined those greats, but for shoddy production, that makes Plant sound like he's singing with his head in a bucket... 

Lyrically, it might almost be described as 'Since I've Been Loving You' - the sequel: if we can imagine the forlorn character from the Led Zeppelin III classic, now moved on from his agonising failed relationship - with bitter cynicism about relationships generally:

'...So don't you let her
Oh, get under your skin
It's only bad luck and trouble
From the day that you begin...'

But still with the same human need to find a loving relate that works:

'Oh, I need your love...'

It's an emotionally delivered vocal, and a fraught, Bluesy, edgy, musical accompaniment... But it cried out for the vocals to dominate - and the music to be an emotional backdrop - when instead, the vocals are muffled, and the music seems intrusive... 

So, mixed feelings about 'In The Evening' - but only because of the production... It COULD HAVE been a Zeppelin great... 

'South Bound In Suarez' is a pacey romp through a Zeppelin take on Americana: American / Latino sounds. It works... 

It opens with a clanking, Jerry Lee Lewis style piano chords riff, which gives way to a guitar riff that is reminiscent of the riff on the track 'Houses Of The Holy', from the album 'Physical Graffiti' (1975), which then drives the track along at a frantic pace.

Lyrically, it just about good time, carefree living, Americana style:

:Baby, when you walk that sweet walk
Oh, you walk it good, yes you walk it good...

...With a little bit of concentration
And a little bit of helpin' hands, yeah
And a little bit of raving madness
You know it makes me feel, baby
Both my feet are back on the ground...'
An upbeat, good vibe song - and something a bit different from Zeppelin... 

And so to 'Fool In The Rain' - it's a seamless fusion of several styles - blended together so seamlessly, that it becomes a cohesive whole and not an obvious mish-mash that rambles incoherently.

I hear some of that Americana; the latter Beatles influence; pure Pop; a hint of Blues... 

The track opens with strolling, laid-back, Jazzy piano chords, counter-pointed by a slow, steady, but heavy drumming - to add urgency to the situation - as Plant drawls a sad tale of a guy who's trying to stay calm, but is inwardly frantic, while he realises that he's in the process of being stood-up on a date by the gal of his dreams:

'Oh baby

Well there's a light in your eye that keeps shinin'
Like a star that can't wait for night
I hate to think I been blinded baby...
...Why don't you show up and make it alright-yeah?
It's alright-right...'

The poor guy's panic takes over - and the music soars into Samba beat sounds and the vocals match that pace:

'...Oooh hand that ticks on the clock
Just don't seem to stop
When I'm thinking it over...'

But then, resigned and melancholy, the pace returns to a stroll - Page's guitar plays an appropriate Bluesy lament, and the guy's feelings are reflected in the lyrics:

'...I'm just a fool waitin' on the wrong block ohh-yeah...'

It's a very pleasing, bitter-sweet listen - in my opinion... 

Hot Dog' is perhaps a filler track - fair enough - but it's a fun piece of good ol' simple Rock-A-Billy. Maybe it's a follow-on to 'Fool In The Rain'? - Coz it's another tale of lost love: this time the gal (is it the same gal?) has run off to follow a Rock band:

'Hot dog

Well, I just got into town today
To find my girl who's gone away
She took the greyhound at the general store...'

But it's done with irony and a smile - and that simple Rock-A-Billy music that needs no description... 

'Carouselambra' is an epic length track, and is the most distinctive venture into new sounds for Zeppelin on this album. It's a quirky and adventurous use of electric keyboards, and mood and pace changes that's way off-script for Zeppelin - and refreshing for that, I think. (I've heard some condemn this track as bring more or less a sop to late 1970s Disco..! ).

It opens with an urgent, almost alarm sounding repeated electric keyboard, which quickly goes into a fast paced, dramatic (and with that strong hint of Disco! ) riff, thundered along by pounding drums in the background.

Plants vocals (like on 'In The Evening') sound a bit distant, I must say (more shoddy production?), as he races through the lyrics in an urgent style, that seems like an onlooker describing a religious ceremony:

'Sisters of the way-side bide their time in quiet peace
Await their place within the ring of calm
Still stand to turn in seconds of release
Await the call they know may never come...'

The musical urgency remains consistent, but the riff changes suddenly, to something akin to Arabian Folk, evoking images of sultry, dancers in some Bedouin tent... 

Then, just as suddenly, it returns to its previous riff, and the theme:

'Still in their bliss unchallenged mighty feast
Unending dances shadowed on the day...'

Then another change: the pace is gradually slowed right down; a picking guitar takes the fore; then a Bluesy guitar, wailing a lamenting backdrop; and the lyrics become more reflective; the vocal delivery the same:

'...Where was your word, where did you go?
Where was your helping, where was your bow? Bow
Bow...'

This style continues for several minutes, before suddenly stopping - and giving way to an upbeat electric keyboards riff that is the most discernibly 'Disco' section of this multifarious epic: seriously, it's easy to visualise John Travolta strutting to this musical background... 

The lyrics though, remain on theme, and bring the narrative to a positive conclusion. Plants
vocal delivery is almost in the style of reciting a spiritual incantation:

'...Touched by the timely coming
Roused from the keeper's sleep
Release the grip, throw down the key...

...Rest now within the peace
Take off the fruit, but guard the seed...'

'Carouselambra' is weird... Odd... Adventurous... And for me - quite brilliant... 

All Of My Love', is, for me, late-1960s 'Beatles-esque': it could be part of the early ELO project to predict the direction of Beatles music, had The Beatles stayed together. 

It uses synth keyboards to convincingly simulate a mellow chamber orchestra and a Baroque musical style - which paints a sweetly melancholy music backdrop, to a beautiful song of purest love, devotion and musing lament. (I've heard that it was Robert Plant's tribute to his late infant son, who had so tragically passed away a few years earlier. ).

'Should I fall out of love, my fire in the light
To chase a feather in the wind
Within the glow that weaves a cloak of delight
There moves a thread that has no end...
All of my love, all of my love
All of my love to you, oh
All of my love, all of my love, oh
All of my love to you...'

This really is a beautiful, sensitive track; musically, perhaps reminiscent of 'The Rain Song', from 'Houses Of The Holy' (1973), and lyrically on a level with Plant at his best. 

'I'm Gonna Crawl' closes the album; it's another weighty serving of the Bluesy Zeppelin that most Zeppelin fans love - but it takes us by surprise, by opening with more of that synth Baroque strings sound, which calmly introduces the track - but quickly gives way - and then the Blues takes over: kept simple, as it slouches casually along at a slow, swaggering pace... with maybe just a hint of cool Jazz in the mix...(???) Page picks lazily on his guitar, as Bohham keeps a steady beat - occasionally erupting into a short dramatic burst - just to keep us attentive...

Plant drawls and croons - almost Dean Martin style - the basic Bluesy lyrics, about sensual, devoted love, but a love that's on the rocks - and a guy trying to win back the love of his life:

'Oh she's my baby
Let me tell you why
Hey, she drives me crazy
She's the apple of my eye...'

The vocal delivery gets more desperate - more Bluesy - more intense, as the guy pleads his devotion:

...I don't have to go by plane
I ain't gotta go by car
I don't care just where my darling is
People, I just don't care how far...

I'm gonna crawl, now
I don't care if I got to go back home
I don't care what I got to stand again, babe...'

The way that the vocal delivery pitches and changes with the mood of the song, is reminiscent of the Zep Blues classic 'Since I've Been Loving You' (led Zeppelin III (1970)), and though 'I'm Gonna Crawl' doesn't reach that standard of excellence, it's still very, very good Blusey Zeppelin.

A word about the album packaging / art: the album came in a plain brown bag (reminiscent of the plain brown box packaging for the Alice cooper album 'Muscle Of Love' (1974) (?)), but inside the bag we got 'proper' artwork: a sepia toning, 1920s style bar room scene; and the inner sleeve had two (one on each side) magic painting (the type we use to know as kids - where a black and white picture colourised when painted with water), featuring images of an ash tray and an empty wine glass.

So there we are folks - my Led Zeppelin fan review of the album 'In Through The Out Door': an album that splits opion with Zeppelin fans, but as I said - I like it a lot...  (M).

Track Listing (my thanks to Wikipedia):

Side one

1. "In the Evening" (Led Zeppelin) 6:49
2. "South Bound Saurez" (Jones Plant) 4:13
3. "Fool in the Rain" (Led Zeppelin) 6:12
4. "Hot Dog" (Page Plant) 3:18

Side two

1. "Carouselambra" (Led Zeppelin) 10:34
2. "All My Love" (Jones Plant) 5:53
3. "I'm Gonna Crawl" (Led Zeppelin) 5:31

Textual content (album review) © Copyright MLM Arts 27. 05. 2021. Edited and re-posted: 14. 07. 2022

Genesis 'Genesis Live'. (1973).

Genesis's first three albums (From Genesis To Revelation (1969); Trepass (1970); Nursery Cryme (1971)), had failed to make any impact in the UK - their fourth, Foxtrot, charted, but only Top 20.

It's perhaps for this reason that the band's début live album was released as a budget priced album, originally - being significantly cheaper than the usual price of a single album.

The album got good reviews, which recognised the band's particular talent for live performance. As a result, 'Genesis Live' became the band's most successful album to date - making the UK Top 10 and just missing out on a US Top 100 spot (which was a real breakthrough in the USA for a very quirky, very British Prog. Rock band, which was still trying to break big even in Britain).

The set was recorded at Manchester Free Trade Hall, and Leicester De Montfort Hall, originally for a small, specialist music station in the USA, but it was reckoned that it was worth an album, such was its quality...

And that's the magic of this album - and the magic of Genesis: the only band I can think of that actually sounded better live than in the studio.... 

Genesis had the unique and indefinable quality of playing their music live in a way that is true to the album version (little or no rambling impro) - and yet sounding discernibly different - and better...  'Genesis Live' captures that.

I guess that there are obvious reasons for the 'different but better' sound of the tracks on 'Genesis Live': Steve Hackett and Phil Collins on guitar and drums added a new dimension to the epic Genesis anthem 'The Knife' (originally played by Antony Phillips and John Mayhew - both great musicians, but I think Hackett's and Collins's styles were more versatile and free flowing); and also that Peter Gabriel's vocal delivery was more expressive and theatrical live: he got 'in-character' for pieces with story telling narratives.

But aside from that, there is also a kinda Jazz like 'feel' to Genesis's live performances: the emotion of the playing comes across almost tangibly...

The album opens with one of the metaphysical exploration Prog. Rock tracks from the 'Foxtrot' album: 'Watcher of the Skies'. Tony Banks dramatic mellotron drone explodes upon the silence like a cathedral organ. The listener is immediately transported into the venue - imagines sitting in the stalls, with the house lights down, waiting for the gig to commence - and being jolted into life by this abrupt eruption of sound...

The insistent rhythmic bass line builds the drama - before Gabriel's vocals demand attention, like a Cardinal delivering a sermon with authority:

'Watcher of the skies - watcher of all..!'

The piece flows with unceasing urgency and drama, always with driving pace and beat. Each musical and vocal element clicking together perfectly, to make cohesive, coherent complex whole.

Next is another 'Foxtrot' epic, but on subject matter that couldn't be more different: social manipulation by cynical authorities and money men; the eviction of people from their homes and communities, to be rehoused in cold, sterile concrete New Towns - purely for the benefit of property developers: 'Get 'Em Out By Friday', is the song title - and the snarled opening line - barked by Gabriel, in-character as a ruthless property developer to his trouble-shooters, as his instruction to remove helpless tenants.

As one of those tenants, Gabriel assumes a tone of pathos:

'...Oh, Mary - they're asking us to leave...'

In a wheedling, 'used car salesman' London Cockney voice, Gabriel plays the 'The Winkler': the man tasked with persuading tenants to quit their homes, and quit ASAP; he is invariably successful:

'Here we are in Harlow New Town - do you recognise your block across the square ...? Sadly, since last time we spoke we've found we've had to raise the rent again...'

The track concludes with a projection into the future - where land space is optimised by imposing a four-foot restriction on human height: all those over that height must be eliminated: The stunned, but easily manipulated masses of ordinary folks are reluctantly persuaded:

'...they can fit twice as many in the same build site. They say it's alright... Beginning with the tenants in the town of Harlow, in the interest if humanity they've been told they must go...'

It's like a mini operetta, with Gabriel performing the roles of the victimised tenants; the seedy 'Winkler; the ruthless property developers; and the fake regret of the government official who announces the genocide of the height restriction law...

The music changes in pace and emotion as the drama changes and the different scenes are set - all carried off with great effect that grips the audience.

Into the album 'Nursery Cryme' for the best track - the Victorian 'ripping yarn' - for me, inspired by the sci-fi of H. G Wells and John ('Day of the Triffids') Wyndham: ' 'The Return of the Giant Hogweed' - about 6 feet tall weeds that now grow commonly in Britain, but which were imported here from Russia as specimens for Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, in West London, by Victorian adventurers, but escaped to grow wild..! Woo..!

These plants do have venomous sap excreted from hairs that cover their sterms, which can cause a nasty rash - but Genesis's imagination takes it down the Victorian sci-fi adventure route, and imagines intelligent plants, with killer stings, waging war on Victorian Britain in revenge for their removal from their Russian homeland. Woo..! LOL!

It's brilliant - gripping stuff; powered along by a musical background that has drama and tension, to match the danger; lightweight swagger, to describe the pomp and arrogance of British Victorian adventurers - and an eerie sci-fi touch, complementing the sci-fi theme of the piece: expressed in particular (I think) by Hackett's ground-breaking fretboard tapping technique.

Again, Gabriel adapts his vocal delivery to each scene - and the audience is captivated... 

Side Two opens with one of Genesis's real classics: 'The Musical Box', from 'Nursery Cryme'. In my review of 'Nursery Cryme' I described the album as 'a collection of short stories, set to music's; 'The Musical Box' is in the style of a classic Victorian ghost story: a small girl, the daughter in a wealthy Victorian family, casually murders her little boy playmate, by knocking his head off with a croquet mallet...  The crime is covered up... But soon after, the ghost of the boy appears in the girl's nursery playroom, summoned by the sound of the musical box, playing the tune 'Old King Coal'... And he's out for revenge on his murderous playmate - who stands mesmerised as he ghosts towards her, cooing:

'Play me 'Old King Coal', that I may join with you...', and musingly describing his state: 'But I am lost within this half world...'

The opening section of music is slow, acoustic, and evokes a creepy, eerie feel. Gabriel is in full acting mode, as he softly purrs and croons the words, beguiling the girl...

But as the danger rises, so does the urgency and drama of the music - with Hackett's guitar clanging out like an alarm, and the pace quickens - as the girl's nurse (we later deduce) has become alarmed by the silence from the playroom.

Again the music drops quieter, but with a brisk, urgent, soft strumming of guitars, as the boy quickens his advances and crooning narrative... But, realising that his time is short, he becomes first pleading, then angry, then demanding - and the music becomes furious... All Culminating in a crescendo, as the nurse bursts in and breaks the spell... Woo..! 

All in all a masterpiece of music, acting, and storytelling - better than the brilliant studio version, for having that live feel, which makes listening to the track seem like being at the theatre, watching a play...

'The Knife' closes the show. It's another change of subject matter: an epic tale of revolution and revolutionary leaders. It's a fast paced, high drama piece - cleverly built around a lyrical style that is slogans and rhetorical speech making - and in a vocal style that is the same:

'Tell me my life is about to begin! Tell me that I am a hero..!'

But the subject (I contend) is really not about glorifying violence and violent revolutionaries (who, by 1970, when the song was released, were becoming glamorous, romatic figures in popular youth culture), but rather showing up violent revolutionary rhetoric for the manipulative device that it is:

'Some of you are going to die [YOU do the dying]
Martyrs, of course, to the freedom that I will provide.' [I get the glory...]

'The Knife' is a very good example of what Genesis - especially Hackett and Collins - add to their music when performing live: there is some impro in the style of playing, but not rambling, impro jamming reinventions of songs. Hackett's various quirks and tweaks, like sliding the plectrum on the guitar strings, etc.; Collins's jazzy drum fills and intricate beats; Rutherford and Banks adding their twists in bass, bass pedals, keyboards and guitars; and Gabriel adding his dramatic deliveries to vocals - and flute - make for an album of familiar work - but a significantly new listening experience... 

'Genesis Live' is acknowledged now as one of the great live albums of all time... 

(M).

Textual content: ©Copyright MLM Arts 10. 11. 2017. Edited and re-posted: 08. 11. 2018. Edited and re-posted: 29. 03. 2020. Edited and re-posted: 04. 05. 2021
Track Listing:

Side One:

1. "Watcher of the Skies" 8:34
2. "Get 'Em Out by Friday" 9:14
3. "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" 8:14

Side Two:

1. "The Musical Box" 10:56
2. "The Knife" 9:47

The Moody Blues: 'Days of Future Passed'. (1967)

This album has featured in the good debates that we've had on 'Chronicles' about the development of the revolutionary music culture that happened in the 1960s and 70s, and it always gets the majority nod of acceptance as 'the first ever Prog. Rock album' / or at least, 'the first Prog. Rock concept album' - and, though I made the argument that The Beatles originated the Prog. Rock genre with their experimenting with Classical and Indian instruments (and new instruments: the mellotron and Moog synthesiser), and so Sgt. Pepper should be considered a candidate for that distinction, I was happy to concede to the consensus that 'Days of Future Passed' was, indeed, the first actual Prog. Rock album / Prog. Rock concept album release... 

It's a magnificently experimental album, which optimises Classical / Rock fusion by using a full orchestral backing, and collaboration with Classical music conductor, Peter Knight, and also (like The Beatles) has experimentation with instruments not usually associated with Rock, with use of the flute, Indian tambura and sitar, and the recently invented mellotron.

The full, lavish musical mix adapts and reinvents the R'n'B, Pop and Psychedelic Rock genres that The Moody Blues had erstwhile been known for - and blends them together in this Prog. Rock experiment and Classical / Rock fusion, woven around what was to become the Prog. Rock staple: a structured concept to songs and music, to create a 'Rock suite': emulating Classical music compositions; and a new and innovative style of music, and a new way of planning and making an album.

The story goes (and Thanks to Wiki for this pearl of wisdom!) that the band was: 'asked by their record label in September 1967 to record an adaptation of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 as a stereo demonstration record. Instead, the band chose to record an orchestral song cycle about a typical working day.'

And that's the theme: the concept. (Hmm... extended from The Beatles' 'A Day in the Life', from Sgt Pepper..? I wonder... Just a thought...) What unfolds, of course, is nothing so banal as just a descrption of the average day: it's a tour through the deeper and most poignant human emotions: which we can all relate to...

DAWN

Dawn is a feeling,
A beautiful ceiling.
The smell of grass
Just makes you pass
Into a dream.
You're here today,
No future fears...

AFTERNOON

I'm looking at myself reflections of my mind
It's just the kind of day to leave myself behind
So gently swaying through the fairyland of love
If you'll just come with me you'll see the beauty of
Tuesday afternoon
Tuesday afternoon

And culminates in that majestic Classical / Prog. Rock fusion classic:

NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN

Nights in white satin,
Never reaching the end,
Letters I've written,
Never meaning to send.

Beauty I'd always missed
With these eyes before,
Just what the truth is
I can't say anymore.

So yes, I bow to the wisdom of our 'Chronicles' community, and happily accept this work of innovative genius as 'the first ever Prog. Rock album / concept album'; that it is an all-time classic album, in any genre, was always beyond doubt... 

(M).

Textual content (excluding Wiki quote and lyrics):
© Copyright. MLM Arts 14. 03. 2016

For more on the album, here's Big D's original review, from 2012 (plus track listing):

I967, the summer of love has a plethora of artists and albums to choose from for our choice of classic albums for that year. I have chosen Days Of Future Passed, by The Moody Blues. When you mention The Moody Blues the normal reaction from people is "Oh they did Nights In White Satin, didn't they?" but the band are so much more, and they display it on this album which is a musical masterpiece. The album was in every sense of the word a concept album and was recorded at Decca Studios in London enlisting the services of The London festival Orchestra, for musical accompaniment.

As the song titles suggest the album takes us through one full day. From the majestic sound of the horn section that open the first track "The Day Begins" (which includes the Graham Edge poem 'Morning Glory') to the closing spoken word of "Late Lament" than ends the album like a haunting bedtime story. On this album The Moody Blues paint the musical canvas with flawless ease, interweaving ballads, sweeping orchestrations and psychedelic rock into one cohesive musical dream sequence. I have to mention Nights in White Satin. Quite simply it is beautiful, a mini masterpiece of unrequited love, from an era which was rich in musical inventiveness. Justin Hayward wrote the song after a friend gave him a gift of satin sheets. And it still stands the test of time.
D:)

Textual content: © Copyright. Big D 22. 08. 2012. Edited by MLM: 12. 02. 2017. Edited and re-posted: 30. 01. 2021. Edited and re-posted: 15. 03. 2022

Track listing (my thanks to Wikipedia):

Side one 1.

THE DAY BEGINS (5:45)
2. DAWN: Dawn Is a Feeling (3:50)
3. THE MORNING: Another Morning (3:40)
4. LUNCH BREAK: Peak Hour (5:21)

Side two

1. THE AFTERNOON: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?) (8:25)
2. EVENING: The Sun Set: Twilight Time (6:39)
3. THE NIGHT: Nights in White Satin (7:41)

George Harrison. 'All Things Must Pass' (1970)

(Produced by George Harrison and Phil Spector).

'All Things Must Pass' was released as a triple album box set, and was George Harrison’s first commercially released and marketed Beatles solo album post-split. (I don’t really count the soundtrack album ‘Wonderwall Music’ (1968), nor the weird, avant-garde ‘Electronic Sounds’ (released on the Apple subsidiary label, Zapple, which was set up for experimental music excursions by the band, but didn’t last long) (1969).

Many of the tracks are songs that were written for The Beatles, going back to 1966, but did were not selected for inclusion on their albums. It also contains the first Beatles solo No. 1 single: My Sweet Lord, which was a massive hit all over the world.

Although a triple album package, I, personally, am more inclined to think of it as a double - as the third album is a stand alone album of studio jams, called 'Apple Jam', which I will describe later in this review.

But the two, what I'd call 'actual', 'All Things Must Pass' albums in the set are near flawless classics.

The album opens with a song co-written with Bob Dylan - 'I'd Have You Anytime'; a lilting, crooning ballad of love and seduction. It's slow paced and emotionally well judged; the smoothly crooned verses give way to just a slightly more urgent chorus:

'All I have is yours
All you see is mine
And I'm glad to hold you in my arms
I'd have you anytime...'

The worldwide huge hit single 'My Sweet Lord' follows. It's one of many songs by George that celebrate his spirituality and religiosity - in particular his devotion to the Krishna tradition in Hindu culture and philosophy.

'Wah-Wah' is a pacey, energetic song, one of the songs on the album most recognisable as a Phil Spector production: full-on, wall-of-sound. Lyrically, and in its vocal delivery, it expresses George's very genuine search for inner peace and tranquility, and how he has come to realise that fame, fortune and glitz (wah-wah) not only will not provide that, but are diversions away from that:

'Wah-wah, you made me such a big star...
...Now I know how sweet life can be, if I keep myself free - from wah-wah...'

'Isn't it a Pity' is one of my favourite Harrison songs. It's another spiritually and emotionally insightful song, that laments how people have grown remote from each other in a spiritual and emotional sense:

'Isn't it a pity.
Now isn't it a shame.
How we break each other's hearts
snd cause each other pain...'

It's a slow and melancholy song, which features George's trademark slide guitar work, played with emotional effect.

This is the long version of this song, which has an extended fade out. Here's a bit of controversy for you, from something I heard from a buddy who had inside knowledge in the music biz: a story goes, that Paul McCartney rejected 'Isn't it a Pity' for The Beatles - but took the fade out and used it on 'Hey Jude'.

I can't confirm that this is true, but my buddy urged me to listen closely to the fade out on 'Isn't it a Pity' and I'd hear for myself. I did, and... Well, I'll you all to judge for yourselves... Listen close for the ‘Na-na-na’ in the fade out… 

Side Two opens with another big Spector sound: 'What is Life' It can be taken as a simple love song, but, I suggest, may also have a spiritual and devotional interpretation:

'Tell me, what is my life without your love?'

'If Not for You' is a beautiful, gentle cover of the Dylan classic, which George does justice to.

'Behind That Locked Door' has a soft, Country music feel to it. It's about comforting a loved one and soothing away tears. Nice, nice song... 

'Let It Down' is another great favourite of mine. It's a psychological examination of flirting, undeclared attraction, sexual chemistry, body language - and sexual tension:

'Though I'm sitting in another chair
I can feel you here
Looking like I don't care
But I do, I do...'

The song opens with a dramatic, big, brassy Jazz sounding intro, before settling down to a quiet mood - reflecting the crooned lyrics of the verses: the inner thoughts of someone whose eye has been caught by an attractive stranger:

'...I see your eyes are busy kissing mine, and I do, I do
Wondering what it is they're expecting to see
Should someone be looking at me...'

All this crackling sexual tension between the two explodes into the sudden return to the big, brash sound of the intro, as the chorus reveals their inner desire:

'Let It down, let it down!
...Let your love flow and astound me..!'

'Let It Down' is a work of genius; lyrically, it captures the whole psychology of a very simple, yet complex, human situation, which most people are familiar with - and the music is pitched and changed precisely to capture the emotion and tension involved. Brilliant track...

‘Run of the Mill’ is kinda like a gentle, persuasive, not ‘preachy’, sermon. It’s softly sung and chides us to take ownership of our behaviour – how we treat people and and how we handle life’s ups and downs:

'Everyone has choice
When to or not to raise their voices
It's you that decides...'

Nice song… 

Side Three opens with yet another of my George Harrison favourites: ‘Beware of Darkness’. It’s another quietly sung spiritually themed song, that gives advice on being cautious about material life and the people and things that try to seduce us into embracing that too closely and being corrupted by it and blinded to our true nature:

‘Take care, beware – of greedy leaders… Beware of Maya [materialist delusion]’

‘Apple Scruffs’ is a playful nod of affection to Dylan’s Folky style, with blaring harmonica, roughly strumming acoustic guitar – and narrative style vocals. It’s also an affectionate nod to the Beatles fans who hung around outside the Apple offices in London.

‘The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)’ is a dolefully sung, wonderfully quirky song, that celebrates the eccentricity and abstract wit of the 19th / 20th Century Sir Francis Crisp – the man who owned George’s Friar Park mansion home and was responsible for most of its unusual features. It seems that the zany Sir Frankie had his pearls of wit and wisdom carved into wood and stone around the mansion, and George loved it all… 

‘Awaiting On You All’ is another of my favourites. It’s another spiritually themed song, with a joyous, upbeat Spector ‘Wall of Sound’ production. It may be a bit preachy and evangelical for some tastes, but I’m a spiritual old hippie, so it works for me:

‘By chanting the names of The Lord and you’ll be free
The Lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see…’

‘All Things Must Pass’ also has a spiritual / philosophical theme (not to get too up with the good things or too down with the bad things in life, because ‘all things must pass’), but it’s also a resigned, reflective acceptance of the end of The Beatles era. It’s performed and sung in a calm, if slightly melancholy tone.

Side Four opens with ‘I Dig Love’. If I’m being honest, I’ll say that this one maybe does have a hint of ‘filler track’ about it. It’s fun, for all that, and bounces along happily with it’s very simple lyric and message about how nice love is… Ah well – why not..?

‘The Art of Dying’ changes the mood dramatically. It has an urgent, dramatic musical backdrop (a bit similar in feel to ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’), and a lyric that describes George’s innermost spiritual search and preparation for passing from material existence to the spiritual.

'... Searching for the truth among the lying
And answered when you've learned the art of dying...'

Being a spiritual old hippie, I ‘get’ this song, and it doesn’t leave me feeling excluded, or even that I’m eaves dropping on someone’s deepest thoughts – but I get the feeling that non-spiritual folks might feel something like that when listening to this one… (???) That perhaps occurred to George, as is suggested in the lyrics, when, after describing his thoughts, he asks:

‘Are you still with me..?’

‘Isn’t It A Pity (Version 2) is a slightly rearranged, shorter version of the same track listed on Side One – it’s minus that controversial fade-out. It sounds very similar.

‘Hear Me Lord’ closes the set (apart from ‘Apple Jam’). As the title suggests, it’s another spiritually themed song, and, like ‘The Art of Dying’ is another soul bearing look into George’s deep spiritual search. It is in essence a song of confession, and a plea for forgiveness for his over-indulgence in the material world and his shunning of spiritual values, prior to his discovering Krishna consciousness.

George was brought up Roman Catholic; the Krishna faith does not exclude reverence for other religiosity (George assured his mother that Krishna had not moved him away from Jesus and Mary and the Christian idea of God – but rather, had given him a closer appreciation of that), and I hear an influence from his Roman Catholicism in this:

‘Forgive me Lord, please
For the years that I ignored you…
Now won’t you please, please hear me Lord…’

Musically and vocally it’s delivered with deep emotion. it has a Soul / R’n’B feel, driven along by insistent piano chords, played forcefully (reminiscent of the keyboard work on some Procol Harum tracks, making me assume that it’s Gary Brooker who is playing on this…(???))

The third album of this triple album set is separately titled 'Apple Jam', and is an album of jams featuring Harrison and friends. That amounts to a remarkable list of artists who played on 'All Things Must Pass: Eric Clapton; Dave Mason; Klaus Voorman; Ringo Starr; Phil Collins; Gary Brooker etc., but I have to say that 'Apple Jam' wasn't a good idea, in my opinion.

It's an album that I have rarely listened to, and, I must say, I consider it to be unnecessary baggage - a bit indulgent by George and his buddies. The musicianship is, of course, excellent, and I know some people who love to tune-in to it at volume on headphones, and lose themselves in it...

Fair enough, but my thinking is this - all bands and artists will routinely jam during their time in the studio recording an album, but to tape the sessions, stick 'em on vinyl, give 'em a name - and call that an album..? Nah - I'm not comfortable with that... 

There we have it: my review of the classic album ‘All Things Must Pass’. I’m a George Harrison fanatic, as I am fond of declaring (George is the single most influential person in my life – and has been since I was an angst teenager: I affectionately refer to him as ‘my spiritual dad’  ), so my take on this album will be especially favourable. That said, I don’t think that anyone could deny that ‘All Things Must Pass’ is certainly one of the classic albums of all time… 

‘All Things Must Pass’ topped the charts in many countries and is listed in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 all-time great albums...

Textual content (album review): ©Copyright MLM Arts 05. 03. 2017. Edited and re-posted: 29. 01. 2018. Edited and re-posted: 21. 01. 2019. Edited and re-posted: 24. 02. 2020. Edited and re-posted: 19. 02. 2023

Track Listing (My thanks to Wikipedia):

Side One
1. "I'd Have You Anytime" (George Harrison, Bob Dylan) 2:56
2. "My Sweet Lord" 4:38
3. "Wah-Wah" 5:35
4. "Isn't It a Pity" 7:08

Side Two
1. "What Is Life" 4:22
2. "If Not for You" (Bob Dylan) 3:29
3. "Behind That Locked Door" 3:05
4. "Let It Down" 4:57
5. "Run of the Mill" 2:49

Side Three
1. "Beware of Darkness" 3:48
2. "Apple Scruffs" 3:04
3. "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" 3:46
4. "Awaiting on You All" 2:45
5. "All Things Must Pass" 3:44

Side Four
1. "I Dig Love" 4:55
2. "Art of Dying" 3:37
3. "Isn't It a Pity (Version 2)" 4:45
4. "Hear Me Lord" 5:46

Side Five (Apple Jam)
1. "Out of the Blue" 11:14
2. "It's Johnny's Birthday" 0:49
3. "Plug Me In" 3:18

Side Six (Apple Jam)
1. "I Remember Jeep" 8:07
2. "Thanks for the Pepperoni" 5:31

Wings. 'Band On The Run' (1973)

This is my personal favourite post-Beatles Paul McCartney album - recognising of course that it is a Wings album, and the significant contribution of Linda McCartney and Denny Laine...

I wouldn't say that the album is consistently strong throughout, with no tracks that I tend to skip, but it certainly is strong enough to be ranked a classic, and the highs points are sky high and I'd say Beatles quality.

'Band on the Run' opens with the title track, which was also a big hit single. It has an intro reminiscent of Queen's later release, 'Bohemian Rhapsody': a slow, sorrowful lament by a condemned man (making me wonder if Freddie Mercury was, perhaps, inspired by this song when writing the lyrics to the Queen classic..?) Like 'Rhapsody' it then changes pace and mood, as a desperate determination sets in - and then explodes into an upbeat Pop Rock celebration of gained liberty.

The lyrics are are quirky and fun, though perhaps perhaps a bit clunky at times:

'The rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun... The first one said to the second one there, I hope you're having fun...' 

But It's a well constructed and cleverly paced and variated song, which works well and is one of the best on the album.

'Jet' is another hit single, and another high point. It's McCartney Rockin' out, with a fast paced song that strikes the right balance between Heavy and Pop. It has a discernible support for Women's Rghts theme (very topical at the time), underlined by the 'Suffragette' reference in the lyrics.

'Bluebird' is a soft, easy listening song about love and seduction. It has a pleasant laid back Jazz feel, with just a hint of Samba. It's an easy listening, background music by candlelight kinda song, but it's one that I, personally tend to skip, as it's just not 'me'...

'Mrs Vandebilt' is my favourite McCartney song. It's a bouncy, good fun song with an abstract way of presenting the simple message 'That's Life!; Why Worry? Take life as it comes and enjoy it for what it is...' Or, as the chorus puts it with a shrug: 'Hey-ho...'

The song is driven along by a flowing bass line, which insists upon tapping feet and a feel good vibe, and the 'Ho, hey-ho!' chorus is irresistible sing-along.

'Let Me Roll It' is another of my favourite McCartney songs; It's a smouldering , Bluesy, moody love song with a lead guitar driven riff, that demonstrates (to a certain individual, perhaps???  ) that love songs needn't be 'silly', and that McCartney could write some heavy, Rock cred material just as well as... Well, as well anyone, shall we say..?

'Mumunia' is a simple, la-la-la Pop song, with just a hint of lightweight Reggae to the structure and tempo. It's a pleasant enough song, with a basic theme of 'don't complain about the weather (rain, in this case) it's all good'... I guess you could extend that to mean 'don't complain about life's ups and downs, there's some good in everything...'

But the song is let down by lyrics that are too simplistic, and unsatisfying for being so. I think about Zeppelin's 'The Rain Song', which deals with the same theme and metaphor, but does so in a deep and profound lyric and appropriately intense music that made that song a classic.

'No Words' recalls early Beatles to me; OK, I'll say early Beatles single 'B Side', so maybe not top quality, but still a good song, and that Beatles feel makes it interesting.

'Helen Wheels' (US release; and bonus track on CD releases elsewhere) is another album highlight; it's a good going back to basics Rocker, with a heavy riff powering it along. The song is about being a band on the road, and all the rough times and allthe thrills of that. It can resonate just as well with a Superstar band as with a small time wannabee band in a Transit van. Great track...

'Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five' has a surprising Soul / Funky feel, with a piano chord riff setting the pace and boogie-along vibe. Lyrically, it's in the James Brown mould of smouldering suggestive sexual theme. Great track, and something a bit different from Macca...

'Piccasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)' is an almost Dylan-like Folk Rock song, which, in a short narrative, celebrates the life and the passing of the great artist, Pablo Piccasso. It's another of my favourite tracks on this album; it's a track that better illustrates Macca's lyrical skills.

The story goes that he was visiting Dustin Hoffman, and Hoffman challenged him to write a song on the spot, about any subject he chose. He looked through a magazine and lighted on a story about Piccasso's death, and chose that as his challenge to Macca...

Hoffman was suitably impressed by Macca's response... 

Other notes about this great album that are worth mentioning are that Macca played drums on this, and Ginger Baker praised his playing; and the spot-the-celeb album cover, which has become one of the iconic album covers from this era...

Well folks, that's my take on this fine album - which stands up well beside anything that McCartney did with The Beatles, in my opinion. It's certainly well worthy of being considered a classic album...

(M).

©Copyright. MLM Arts 26. 08. 2016. Edited and re-posted 07. 09. 2017. Edited and re-posted: 17. 09. 2018. Edited and re-posted: 04. 06. 2020. Edited and re-posted: 19. 02. 2023

Barclay James Harvest. 'Time Honoured Ghosts' (1975)

This is a shockingly underrated album. I'm only a casual fan of BJH, but 'Time Honoured Ghosts', I must say, for me, is an album stands up with some of the best albums released in this era.

At one point during the 1970s, Barclay James Harvest was notoriously dubbed 'the poor man's Moody Blues', by a UK music journo (the band took that well, by actually writing and recording a track of that name... ); but that was just sloppy journalism - and a failure to fully appreciate the distinct and varied textures of music and lyrical quality that made BJH very much a band with its own sound and identity.

I've mentioned often that part of what made this era great was that it was a time of - TRULY - free thinking (not what is asserted as 'free thinking' these days: which is entrenching in a particular dogma - and 'freely thinking' what that dogma dictates... ).

Consequently, the music of the popular culture of the time was not just entertainment: it was an education - rich in philosophical, theological, religious, political, and social commentary content of all types - and expressed, not dogmatically, but openly, honestly, and in ways that encouraged free discussion and debate - and the consideration of various ideas and ideologies.

'Time Honoured Ghosts' is one of the albums from back in the day that explorers these themes, thoughtfully, widely, intelligently and, in the lyrical structure, beautifully.

The album deals with the struggles and joys of being human and getting through everyday life - and trying to understand it: both I terms of the mundane aspects of life, and the the search for deeper, spiritual answers to the questions if life that go beyond the mundane.

'In My Life', the opening track, sets the tone, by exploring  the full range of life's experiences. It opens with an urgent, swirling synth sound - which quickly develops into a brooding, dramatic musical backdrop from the whole band, as the lyrics, suggestive at first of a speaker at a political or protest rally, insistently declares the 'reality' of life's struggles:

'In my life I have seen so many things

Some were true and some were not what they seemed

In my life I've seen love and I've seen loss

There've been times when I did not count the cost

I have been to a place where chaos rules

In the caves of the talking stoned the fools

Seen the stars plant their seeds and watch them grow

Just to keep mister reap but never sow

In my life I've seen greed and I've seen hate

Seen the first to accuse the last to praise

Tried so hard to find just one saving grace...'

Then the mood and the music change - to something uplifting and spiritual / hymnal - in praise to something higher, as the narrator of this personal wisdom reveals where his understanding of life had been naive and materialistically centered:

'...But I was young did not know

Grace is for God

Greed is to know

Mister middle of the road

Reaps what you sow...'

The fade-out changes the mood again, as the narrator chants out a warning to 'Mister middle of the road': the apathetic; the shallow and materialistic:

'...Reap what you sow

Reap what you sow...'

A track with a message that's  expressed simply, yet is thought provoking - and musically and vocally, is dramatically delivered.

'Sweet Jesus' continues the theme of life's everyday struggles, and the need to sometimes halt the 'battle' - and ask for higher help:

'...Sunday morning comes I'm feeling kind of down

I can't see back to where it all began

And I know you'd help me if you only could

I don't know why or where or who I am

(Chorus)

Oh sweet Jesus hear me cry

Let me see a clearing sky

For tomorrow I may be back home again

So take the shadow from my eyes

Take the shadow from my eyes...'

'Sweet Jesus' is an innocent, pure and simple moment of calm in life's storm - a realisation that sometimes to find peace - even just for a moment - we should halt the 'battle' and  ask for help - and not try to solve the whole, insoluble question of life on our own... Or even think that we can...

'Titles' is a wonderfully clever tribute to The Beatles; it's a smoothly played, lilting ballad, lyrically built around the titles of Beatles songs,: and with musical motifs from those songs woven into the sound:

'The long and winding road that leads to your door

Here comes the sun

It's alright,

People shout for more...'

'Jonathan' is a track that's inspired by the short novel 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' ((1970), which became a cult classic among the libertarian, philosophising 1960s and 70s generations; it tells the tale of a seagull - Jonathan - that questions the necessity of living as part of a flock, and just intuitively going along with the requirements of that lifestyle; he chooses to leave and live his life independently - and experiences the isolation and social rejection - but also the sense of freedom - resulting from that decision.

The metaphor for the 1960s youth social and cultural revolution is obvious. For some, Jonathan Livingston Seagull became a symbolic literary hero.

The track opens with a Folky softly picked acoustic guitar and gently breathed vocals:

'Circles in the sky

White as paper fly

Sound of seagulls crying fills the air

High above the lonely one is there

Jonathan he cares

To feel better...'

As the song builds, and picturesque description blends into a moral message, the vocal delivery becomes slightly more assertive, and the band joins the musical backing for e more assertive sound:

'...Longing to be free

Telling you and me

Give me wings to fly

Tell me why, tell me why

The answer must be heard

And from a lonely bird

He's giving us a reason to believe...'

The theme and the sound change again, as the music has a Prog. Rock synth added, and takes on an anthemic feel; the vocals become chant-like - reciting a dreamy imagery:

'...See the painted silver sunlight on his wing

As he sails upon the wind and slowly skyward

Flying as to music you can hear him sing

Like the windsong on the breeze he seems to sigh...'

The closing instrumental passage is a drama of brooding synth and guitar sounds, with a steady beat maintained by the engine room of drums and bass.

It's a song of some complexity, yet is so skilfully and seamlessly constructed and delivered, that it plays like a relaxing, simple Folk song.

'Beyond The Grave' closes side one; it is as deep and sombre musically and lyrically as the title suggests.

A dramatic, repeated slow guitar riff and intermittent rolling drums - with eerie, whining synth in the background, intros the track; an intro that is prolonged, but builds and changes, with a church organ like sound gradually taking up the foreground... And, with almost a Gregorian chant style drama, the vocals enter and 'preach' a spiritual sermon on nature and essence of life:

'...Above the seven seas is one

The sea of life we drift upon

Our spirits living in the waves

Survive beyond the grave! ...'

Although still deep and sermon-like, the song ends in a quite uplifting and rejoicing tone.

I'll be fair and say that maybe you have to be into this kind of spiritual theme to really like this track... But I am - so I do...

Side two opens with 'Song For You'. It's a song in two sections. What's it about? What or who is meant by the  'You' - that the song is for...? That's enigmatic: it could very easily be taken as meaning the particular someone special in the life of the narrator (a lady is mentioned); or, I suggest, it could be life itself - being alive; the individual person simply knowing and understanding his or herself - better than anyone else -: and the song is for and to - the inner self...?

Interesting concept...

The song begins, and the first half continues, at an upbeat, joyous pace, and with a lightweight Prog. Rock sound - something akin to the lighter side of early  Yes.  The joyously sung lyrics speak of a new day - and old worries put aside:

'As the sounds of the morning

Roll on out of the night

The thoughts of a dreamer

Asking and telling me why

Lady awaken the morning is taking

Your bad dreams away from your eyes

Nothing's forsaken the new day is breaking

So come now it's time to arise...'

Then comes a change, in the second part of the song; a slower, more contemplative mood; a a sound that's reminiscent of The Beatles' 'Across The Universe' - with a thoughtful vocal delivery, suggesting, as I've said, inner contemplation:

'...Is it my life, is it my song

That makes me feel something's wrong?

You know me well, the tale I tell

Is only halfway there, 'cause you

You made me smile when I was down

And you made me happy, being around

So I'm always gonna sing for you...'

This is certainly a song to ponder: like 'Johnathan', it's complex, yet at the same time, simple and accessible to listen to...

'Hymn For The Children' is my favourite BJH track. Musically, it's very much Folk Rock - with a slow, gentle guitar picking riff carrying it along, with the band playing unobtrusively in the background - the percussion is subtly noticeable: almost like a Salvation Army style tambourine in the background.

The spiritual theme is obvious from the title; but it's not specifically religious: it's song about the spirituality of humanity and nature - and the equality inherent in nature:

'...Their spirits soar on high

They wing with birds that float on by

Your love and mine...

...Their spirits with the rain

That feeds the wheat and weeds the same...

...Their spirits bless the cruel

The intellectual, the fool...'

There is a message too, about the folly and arrogance of blaming God or any other external cause for things about life  that don't go the way we think they ought to.  The message is  something akin to the idea in Voltaire's 'Candide': that God created the universe - with all that is required for humanity to make the the best of it - including human intelligence, and furnished us with instructions; therefore if things don't all go well, it's down to us - humanity:

'...Time picked the words

Time picked the songs

We were the choir

But we sang them wrong

...Life is a soft lullaby

Soothing a child as it cries

But it cries in pain

Time wrote the songs

We hear the cry

And still we sing wrong.'

This is a beautiful song; itis another track with that BJH quality: simplicity of listening but with a deep thought provoking  spiritual theme.

'Moongirl' opens with a big fanfare guitar solo, with synth strings backing. This into drops down to a gentle, synthed baroque harpsichord style musical backdrop, as a dreamy, awe struck vocals croon a pagan, Wiccan themed spiritual lyrics -  to an ethereal Moongirl of the night:

'...Voices in the air, drifting from afar

Evening finds her waking, dancing with the stars

And when I'm waiting for the sun to smile upon my face Moongirl's softly sleeping, daylight dreams away...

...Movng like a butterfly, never makes a sound...

...Comes the dancing moongirl, watching over me

(Love of my life)

Moongirl shines her light on me

Moongirl, she's the one I see

Takes me to the places where I long to be

She moves me, she moves me.'

This is another calming wander into deep spiritual musing: so much a running theme in this album.

'One Night' closes the album. It's a brooding, Bluesy track, with lyrical theme that alludes to the vacuousness of loveless relationships - perhaps one night stands, perhaps liaisons with prostitutes, or perhaps every type of human relationship that lacks a bond of affection and common humanity:

'You took all my money

I gave you no name

My love and my money

Did you think I would chase it in the rain?

My eyes are now open

But what do I see?

One ride after midnight

Had I thought it would mean that much to me? ...'

There's also something akin to Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Boxer':

'...I thought it was easy

But what did I know

Of old men and first blood

Or the drunk who gets taken blow by blow? ...'

The underlying message of the song:

'...Everybody needs someone to love

Everybody needs a friend...'

It's a sobering, thoughtful song about life and what gives value to human relationships; a quiet, musing track to close an album of intelligent, thoughtful lyrics and music.

And that's 'Time Honoured Ghosts', folks - at least from my humble perspective...  It's a wonderful, no weak tracks album - by a band, Barclay James Harvest, that deserves greater recognition.  (M).

Textual content: © Copyright MLM Arts 18. 04. 2024

Track Listing (my thanks to Wikipedia):

Side One

No. Title Writer(s) Length

1. "In My Life" John Lees 4:39

2. "Sweet Jesus" Les Holroyd 3:30

3. "Titles" Traditional, arranged by John Lees 3:49

4. "Jonathan" Holroyd 4:45

5. "Beyond the Grave" Woolly Wolstenholme 4:08

Side Two

No. Title Writer(s) Length

1. "Song for You" Holroyd 5:20

2. "Hymn for the Children" Lees 3:39

3. "Moongirl" Holroyd 4:51

4. "One Night" Lees 5:21

'BAD COMPANY' Bad Company (1974)

In1974, just when many established bands and artists were becoming more and more expansive with their music - and their instrumentation (drum kits and banks of keyboards so huge they darn near required planning permission; twin neck and triple neck guitars; taped backing tracks on live shows... That kind of thing... ), along comes a British 'supergroup' that was the antidote to all that, and put out a début album of stripped-down, back to basics Bluesy Rock: the kind of music that played a huge part in launching 'The British Invasion' (the sudden and massive popularity of Britain bands and artists in North America) a decade earlier... 

Bad Company consisted of two members of Free: outstanding Bluesy vocalist, Paul Rodgers and 'Rock steady', no frills drummer, Simon Kirke; respected ex-Mottt The Hoople Rock guitarist, Mick Ralphs; and ex- King Crimson bassist, Boz Burrell: just having been in the aristocratic Rock company of Crimson is testimony to his class... 

A solid crew: intent only on playing solid, rootsy Rock and Blues... And not out to reinvent the musical wheel... 

The result, on this, their debut album, was like a breath of fresh air, to be frank: for me, anyway: I bought this album and couldn't stop playing it... 

If I have any criticism of the album, for the sake of my reviewers perspective (rather than as a fan of the album), it would be that lyrically it is kinda clichéd throughout; there's really nothing in the way of deep, creative lyricism on here; it's all pretty much basic Bluesy / Rock formulaic fair... It's something that gives a nagging feeling that the album's creditable simplicity's is also something that holds it back from being a top level all-time classic... 

(But as a fan of the album, that didn't / doesn't bother me overtly, in terms of how much I enjoy the album: it just seems consistent and complementary with the simple, stripper-down music... )

Side One opens with the hit single, 'Can't Get Enough' - Bluesy - Rock with a light touch; a simple, chunky Rock riff and a steady, toe-tapping beat. Rodgers delivers basic lyrics with a sensual, seductive gravelly purr:

'Well I take whatever I want
And baby I want you
You give me something I need
Now tell me I got something for you
Come on come on come on and do it
Come on and do what you do...'

'Rock Steady' is a slightly funky, bouncy, Bluesy track, with more simmering sexual tension, and again, uncomplicated, formulaic lyrics:

'Well when I
Want to rock steady yeah
I know I got to get ready...

...Turn on your light
And stay with me awhile
And ease your worried mind
Turn on your light now baby...'

It opens with a simple, jaunty Bluesy guitar riff, and that slightly funky bass - and junts along in that mood the throughout... 

'Ready For Love' was originally a Mick Ralphs Mott The Hoople track, from their 'All The Young Dudes'' album (1972). More Bluesy than Rock, and as with the other tracks, kept simple.

The intro is a very laid back, slow Blues slide guitar, and a steady drum beat. Rodgers' Bluesy vocal style is perfect for the song, and takes it to a level above the (non the less good) Mott original.

Lyrically, although simple, it has that 'emotional empathy' thing going for it that I always like in a song (Yusuf/ Cat Stevens and George Harrison did this so well): a connection with the listener's personal experiences:

'Walkin' down this rocky road wonderin' where my life is leading
Rollin' on to the bitter end
Finding out along the way what it takes to keep love living
You should know how it feels my friend...'

It all makes for a good, reflective, 'mood' listen... 

'Don't Let Me Down' closes the side. It's a song with a seamless mix of a hint of sentimental Country / Soul / Blues music to it - in a good way.

A melancholic piano tinkles it along (giving a smokey dive bar atmosphere), as Rodgers sings a sad lament to a troubled relationship:

'If I had a love that was so true
Then I wouldn't have to make do
With the half a love that I have found
That is tearin' me down to the ground...'

The chorus highlights the Soul aspect, with a sorrowful backing choir joining in:

'Don't let me down...'

This track is raised up a notch by the addition of some sweet, sweet sax - and by Ralphs' particular forte as a guitarists: an emotion laden solo... 

It's one of the best tracks on this 'no weak tracks' album, in my opinion.

Side Two opens with the band's smouldering, edgy signature track, 'Bad Company'. It's a track with a discernible County feel to it; a flavour of Willie Nelson about it... 

It has classic (if perhaps, also clichéd) Western movie themes: the gun totin' loner, wandering through life: 'mad, bad and dangerous to know':

'...Company, always on the run
Destiny, mmm, is a rising sun
Oh, I was born six-gun in my hand
Behind a gun, I make my final stand, hey
It's why they call me

Bad company and I can't deny
Bad company 'til the day I die
Oh, 'til the day I die
'Til the day I die...'

The song opens with a moody, slow piano chords - with a Country style guitar pining in the background, and, cleverly, Kirke overlays hissing, shimmering cymbals - giving the intro a sinister, cold, bleak feel... 

Rodgers' Bluesy vocals purr emotionally, with that quietly menacing opening verse (posted above):

''...Company, always on the run
Destiny, mmm, is a rising sun...'

and the more threateningly menacing chorus:

'Bad company and I can't deny...'

And that's how the song continues: simple, but effective - and compelling; the best tea on the album, in my opinion... 

'The Way I Choose' mixes up laid back Blues with Crooning Country - and lyrically, it mixes standard themes from those genres: free spirited, gritty, 'loner in a tough old world' independence / but clashing, it seems, with the need for the love of a particular woman:

'I live my life the way that I choose
I'm satisfied nothing to lose...

...I don't need nobody
To tell me the reason why
If I love only you, baby, oh no
I'll be satisfied...'

Musically, like lyrically, it's uncomplicated: slow, easy, laid-back Country / Bluesy backdrop; Rodgers smoothly sung verses - and slightly more angst, emotional chorus vocal delivery.

It's just a pleasing, easy on the ear listen, with that interesting mix of lyrical themes... 

'Moving On' is basic, stripped-down, good vibe lightweight Rock; simple, up-beat guitar riff, Burrell and Kirke keeping a bouncing beat, and Rodgers cheerful growling out the vocals of another familiar lyrical theme: life on the road:

'Get up in the morning and it's just another day
Pack up my belongings I got to get away
Jump into a taxi and the time is getting tight
I got to keep a moving I got a show tonight

And I'm moving on, moving on from town to town
Moving on baby never see the dirt in the ground...'

A familiar theme indeed - presented more creatively by, for example: Simon and Garfunkel with 'Homeward Bound'; The Byrds with 'So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star?', and Slade with 'The Banging Man'... But, all the same, a good, undemanding toe-tapper track... 

'Seagull' closes the album - and it's a track that's somehow frustrating... In a way, it captures an underlying frustration about the album as a whole: good, solid, stripped-down sounds; no weak tracks... But a nagging feeling that the virtue of its simplicity is also what holds the album back from being truly top, top level... 

And, as mention above, it's mainly the lyrical content that I'm referring to: great lyricism elevates a song to greatness, without the need for complicated musical backing (in fact, a great lyrical piece is often better accompanied by a discreet, uncomplicated backing track)...  Like I say, in the back of my mind I'm nagged a little by the thought that this album would have been a notch higher, if a bit more thought had gone into the lyricism... 

'Seagull' really does capture that whole feel. It's a slow, emotion, Folky acoustic track - and set up to be a thoughtful lyrically dominated piece:

'Seagull, you fly across the horizon
Into the misty morning sun
Nobody asks you where you are going,
Nobody knows where you're from

Here is a man asking the question
Is this really the end of the world?
Seagull, you must have known for a long time
The shape of things to come...'

There's an an interesting idea there; an attempt at a deep, thoughful lyrical narrative... But that's as far as it goes: very little is added to the lyrics - only a repeat of the openings verse - then the unimaginative:

'...you fly through the sky
never asking why...
...till somebody shoots you down...'

The thoughtfulness is just abandoned to trite rhymes and clichés...  (And anyhow - who the heck bothers you shoot down seagulls? They're not game birds, and not predatory threats to livestock, after all... )

With that little observation in mind, I ask you to consider the song in the context of 'Seagull' substituted for 'Eagle': I suggest that already it has more depth and emotional grab to it...  And from there, this idea of its being portentous of omens and prophecy becomes compelling and captivating... 

The fact that the music is kept low key: very cool Folky acoustic guitar picking, and lends itself to a letting the lyrics dominate, in a deep, Folk song narrative style is... frustrating... What is an (all the same) pleasant, chill-out song - could have been a real classic, if more thought and effort had gone into the lyrical content... 

So there you have it, folks: my review of what (in spite of my criticism) I do regard as most certainly a Golden Era classic album; an album that (as mentioned) I bought - and loved - and played and played and played...  (M).

Textual content (album review): © Copyright MLM Arts 15. 08. 2021. Edited and re-posted: 07. 01. 2023

Track listing (my thanks to Wikipedia):

Side One

1. "Can't Get Enough" Mick Ralphs 4:17
2. "Rock Steady" Paul Rodgers 3:47
3. "Ready for Love" Ralphs 5:03
4. "Don't Let Me Down" Rodgers, Ralphs 4:22

Side Two

5. "Bad Company" Rodgers, Simon Kirke 4:51
6. "The Way I Choose" Rodgers 5:06
7. "Movin' On" Ralphs 3:24
8. "Seagull" Rodgers, Ralphs 4:04

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1973).

This Is another album that I love; by a band that I rate very highly: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils.

With 'The Ozarks' you get a bit of Dylan; a bit of Creedence Clearwater Revival; The Carpenters, John Denver; The Eagles... and more - even a flavour of The Beatles, all mixed in with their Missouri roots, and the Bluegrass, Country, Rock, Blues, Folk - and church influenced music - that the band grew up with. 

If you like any or all of the artists or music styles mentioned above, then you can't NOT like The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - and this - their debut album - is, I think it's fair to say, their finest album, and an album that deserves a lot more acclaim than it recieved at the time of it's release - or since. Straight to the point - this is a truly great piece of work. It features one of my all time favourite songs, too: 'If You Wanna Get to Heaven'. 

Like all of the albums in this 'Hidden Treasures...' section - if you haven't given this a listen, then I very much recommend that you do! 

Side One opens with the upbeat, 'Eagles - with a hint of Dylan' track, with a Trad. Folk narrative lyric style, 'Country Girl': with a jaunty harmonica opening that jogs the track along as the tale is told:

'...A story of Reubin the cobbler
I'll tell you in this style...
How he went down the road with his load
And shouted for a thousand miles

Oh country girl
Won't you come to me tonight? ...'

It's a somewhat surreal story of an optimist, living in bleak conditions, but cheering himself up with the fantasy / hope of the woman of his dreams coming along to make him happy. But his upbeat optimism shines through, infectiously:

'...And I wonder to be there with him
In that sky of grey
We'd sit on a cloud and cry out loud
Till tomorrow is yesterday...'

All in all, a cheery, undemanding track, with a feel good vibe... 

Track two is 'Spaceship Orion' - a softly sung, gentle accoustic song. It's odd subject matter for a Country Rock song: basically, a sci-fi 'end of the world' theme:

'When the man comes to you
Tells you what you always knew was comin'
You feel it came twice as fast
You always thought the world would last way past you...'

...And now humanity's survivors board a a Spaceship Orion - hoping it'll find a new inhabitable planet:

'But now you find
There's nothin' left around you
Spaceship Orion's there
Waiting to part the air above you...'

It's similar to the theme in Bowie's 'Ziggy' track, 'Five Years': the end of the world came in your lifetime: and you weren't expecting that...! 

Yet it's played and sung so softly and gently: there's something 'Carpenters' about it, musically; it gives a passive resignation feel; a feel that there's nothing to do but accept the change:

'...But it still won't be the same
It can't be like home...'

Musically, the song smoothly, placidly plays out this this drama to that 'Carpenters' like Easy Listening backdrop... 

It's a bit of a strange one - but strangely compelling... 

Now to one of my all-time favourite tracks: 'If You Wanna Get To Heaven (You Gotta Raise A Little Hell' - what a title... 

It's wry smile, cheeky stuff from a bunch of boys from a good Christian, church going upbringing and background - and one that they clearly have fond memories of - as other tracks and musical styles on this album reveals.

'If You Wanna...' opens with one of the coolest Bluesy harmonica riffs you ever heard - chugging the intro, until the rest of the band joins in and a steady, swaggering groove struts the track along. 

The lyrical theme is a bit of fun / a bit playfully cheeky (something of early Dr. Hook about this?), as it makes the point that, in the modern world, a person can respect their Christian values at heart - but a young fella still needs to have some fun:

'...If you want to know a secret
You got to promise not to tell
If you want to get to heaven
You got to raise a little hell...' 

I love this song... 

'Chicken Train' is wonderfully weird...  It's full on Hillbilly music; opening with a riff on the Ozark Mountain mouth bow: an instrument similar in sound to the jews harp / jaw harp / aka the Ozark harp...  Twang-twang, twangity-twang it goes: having its complelling toe tapping effect... 

It's soon accompanied by more of that cool harmonica - chugging along an accompaniment; he rest of the band joins-in and completes this Hillbilly vibe, and the drawled vocals declare:

'Chicken train
Runnin' all day...
...I can't get on
I can't get off
Chicken train take your chickens away...'

What? I haven't a clue...  Nor do I have a clue about:

'...Laser beam
In my dream...
...Laser beam's like a sawed off dream...'

An instrumental interlude follows, accompanied by a background vocal chorus of... clucking chickens... ; probably the guys making chicken noised - but so darn well done as to make you wonder. LOL..! 

But somehow - all this whackiness just doesn't matter - it's all about the music - and losing yourself in your own interpretation of what's going on... 

'Chicken Train' is a short, great fun song: particularly with friends and a few (or more) beers - or Southern Comfort's (a favourite drink of mine back the day... )

'Colorado Song' has a flavour of John Denver about it, to my ears. It's a slow, soft, Country tribute to that beautiful, mountainous US State; gently strummed on acoustic guitar, and lovingly sung:

'I'm going back to Colorado
rollin' down the highway...

...I will drink from the river
that runs down from the mountain
just my life returning
I feel it in the wind
again...'

Then follows a sweet cz emotional guitar solo, and a chorused vocal fade-out of 'Aahs...'

Nice song... 

'Standing On The Rock' is a quick paced acoustic, Country / Bluesy track that, lyrically, reflects the band's warmth towards their Christian upbringing and church music; it also mingles that with the Peace and Love themes of the youth social and cultural revolution (which are much the same themes in any case):

'I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for the wind to blow...
...I been walkin' on the ground, waitin' for the guns to quit...'

and the chorus (a bit reminiscent of the back to nature theme in Joni Mitchell,'s 'Woodstock'):

'...Better get back to the country, that's where we all come from...'

The upbeat, good vibe delivery conjures up a holy roller Christian church meeting. 

The music has something of Creedence Clearwater Revival / 'Willy And The Poor Boys' album to it; there's a cool harmonica break, and in the background a frantic, but steady Hillbilly fiddle keeping the rythm going... 

A great, feel good song... 

'Road To Glory' is a slow, contemplative, Country song; in abstract language it muses (I'm suggesting...) about taking on the changes, challenges and risks in life - but always looking back down 'the road to glory': the past, and comfortable memories of simple roots:

'There's a card game in the courtyard, and the winner loses all...

...But there is a road to glory, somehow headin' in the past,
Behind the gold, behind the treasure, behind the mask...'

The track opens with an sustained, eerie, thin fiddle note - then the band joins in with a slow, Country accompaniment - including a 'sitting in the rocking chair on the porch' meditative harmonica...  And thoughtful, purred vocals... 

It's a gentle, musing sound... 

'Black Sky' changes the mood and the tone; in-keeping with the title, it's deep and contemplative.. 

The theme in the lyrics is enigmatic and thought provoking - I like my take on it (if I may make so bold? ); for me, it's about that inner, very personal side to ourselves: the part that we hide from the public; our inner moods and decision making process:

'Well I sure take it with me wherever I go
And you might like to see it but it never does show...

...It's a black sky formin' on the ridge
It's a woman waitin' standin' on the bridge
It's the price that you pay for walkin' on the ledge
It's everything you do and nothin' that you did...'

'Black Sky' opens with a moody harmonica and Bluesy slide guitar, and that sound drives the track throughout - setting and keeping the thoughtful mood.... 

It's one of my favourite tracks on the album. 

'Within Without' has a Beatles feel to it - perhaps appropriately, given the title's similarity to George Harrison's 'Witnin You Without You'. Musically and lyrically I think I detect a homage to George(?); with its slow strummed accoustic guitar, and search for inner meaning and peace:

'Now I'm lookin' out my house
and what I see doesn't please me
people goin' here, goin' there,
where's that leave me...

...how'd we get to here
from there where our lives had some meaning
and all the days weren't the same
we played no games
and we knew ourselves within
without...'

As a George Harrison fan, this kind of song pleases me a lot... 

The album closes with an uplifting, joyous homage to the band's happy Christian, mountain community upbringing: 'Beauty In The River'. It's another song that evokes a joyous church service sing-a-long:

'There's a beauty in the river
There's a beauty in the stream
There's a beauty in the forest at night
When the lonely nightbird screams...'

Musically, it's a simple, good vibe Hillbilly sound: a quick paced guitar strum, while a harmonica keeps the rythm going - but builds in its prominence as the track itself builds to a joyous chorusing of the celebration of the beauty of Creation and being part of it:

'...We must all stand in the water
We must find it when we roam
It don't matter what is said
We can wake up from the dead
And roll away the stone
We can roll away the stone!

Hallelujah!...'

It's a great, good-vibe, toe-tapping track to close a wonderful album with... 

And that's that, folks: my review of a truly great album that should be much more highly acclaimed than it was at the time or us now... In short: I love this album...  (M). paragraph