Money- Pink Floyd- I remember hearing this on the top 40 station when it was a hit. They would bleep out the “bullshit” vocal. How times have changed.
Ring, Ring-ABBA-As band as big as ABBA were , it was inevitable that they would become a punch line. For the longest time they were, but not anymore. I still come across detractors. What I tell them is that they need to try to look past the fact that it was so cool to dismiss them, focusing instead on the great songwriting and how immense the production was.
Red River Shore-Dylan-Great unreleased tune from the Tell Tale Signs box.
Loving You Tonight-Squeeze-Second time around with Paul Carrack, the “Some Fantastic Place” album is an underrated gem. This however, is not one of the stronger cuts off of it.
Mindless Child Of Motherhood-Kinks-Dave Davies wrote a great song here, probably my favorite one by him. Raw, unpolished vocal track. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sister Ray-Velvets-Honestly, The Velvet Underground always seemed too creepy for me. What little I had heard from them was just too dark. For the longest time I acknowledged their greatness, but worshipped from afar. Then I found a live concert from 1967 at a place in NYC called the Gymnasium, and this is what finally hooked me onto them. It sounds like there is literally no one in the audience and honestly, there probably isn’t. I think they scared them all away.
See Dawn- Bobby Jameson-A Curt Boettcher production from 1967, he was the main reason I searched this out a few years back. I did not expect it to be all that good, but it is in fact terrific. Bobby Jameson deserves a Rock NYC post just based on his own outrageous story, and he‘ll probably get one too.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas-Bob Dylan-Great way to clear the wife out of the room. Anybody else for that matter.
Joy-So Lovely-This was from a California Sunshine pop compilation that somebody made for me. Really smooth.
Elvis Presley-Only The Strong Survive-I admire Elvis and most certainly respect him, but stop short of saying I’m a fan. I’m just not familiar with enough of his stuff. I do like what I’ve heard though, this one in particular. One of these days I will jump into the Elvis pool, instead of just dipping my toe in.
Along Comes Mary-The Association- I think I posted a video of these guys on my face book page performing this live at Monterey Pop. The flute-o-phone solo is still one of the most crazy good things I’ve ever heard. You could argue that the vocals are an early form of rap. Bottom line, it’s a desert island song for me.
The Back Seat Of My Car-Paul McCartney-If you want proof of Macca’s greatness as a song writer, look no further. Conversely, if you want proof of Macca’s self absorbed penchant for not editing himself look no further than this tunes long drawn out ending.
Before And After-Chad And Jeremy-more soft pop.
Rubber Bullets- 10cc-Another band I need to get into properly by actually hearing one of their albums, start to finish. The individual songs I’ve heard I like a lot. This is no exception. Great, great tune.
Window Shopping-Hank Williams-What can I say? He’s a legend. Wrote an essay on him a while back. For being dead at 27, he left behind an astounding body of work.
Song With No Words/Tree With No Leaves-David Crosby-Amazing tune from Croz’s solo LP. Helped out by members of the Airplane and Grateful Dead. They had to go uncredited because that’s the way the biz worked back then. If you recorded for RCA, you could not appear on Columbia or any other label for that matter.
Well, Well ,Well- John Lennon-Plastic Ono Band LP is still great, although it runs a close second in my book to George’s “All Things Must Pass”. This was in the movie “The Departed” but oddly, not on the soundtrack album. Yoko probably wanted too much money for it.
Dance , Dance , Dance -Vocal Overdub Take 1-a-Beach Boys-On this outtake, you can hear Brian Wilson clowning around in the studio, singing “My cock’s really hot” instead of “This beat’s really hot”. Oh, to be young and calling the shots.