Rock & Roll Historical Perspective

[razorbacker]

Originally Posted by norealityhere

Who is NRBQ?

I can tell you they are one fun band to watch live.

Check out the Biography of NRBQ here:

NRBQ Biography

[Google]

 

[norealityhere]

Thanks, Razor.

[razorbacker]

Rolling Stone Issue 53

Dated March 7,1970. Two unknown kids on the cover.

Random Notes

Elvis is in the midst of an extended stay at the International Hotel in Las Vegas & is tearing it up.

Richard Nixon has begun the first ever White House collection of albums. He is going to start modestly with about 2,000 titles.

Since his televised marriage to Ms. Vickie & the accompanying publicity that came with it, Tiny Tim is now able to charge $7,500 per night or $25,000 per week in performance fees. Three times the amount he was collecting prior to the wedding.

Ginger Baker’s Air Force has been grounded. Ginger is in a rest home in London recuperating from “physical exhaustion.’ The tour reported on last issue is on hold.

In a startling partnership, Johnny Cash has joined with H. Ross Perot in an attempt to get prisoners of war released in Viet Nam.

Deja’ Vu by CSN&Y is now expected to be released by the end of the week. It was delayed mostly to redo the cover which requires a heavier, almost leather feeling, type of paper.

Instant Karma by The Plastic Ono Band is being released as a single. The song was produced by Phil Specter.

Booker T. & the MG’S are off on an extended European tour.

19 members of the traveling party that is known as The Grateful Dead have been busted in New Orleans. The story is that their hotel rooms were raided while the band was performing & when they got back to the Hotel they were busted individually in separate rooms. All of them state that the stuff wasn’t theirs & that the narcs planted it while they were away. Two weeks later & the police are still not telling anybody what the actual charges are, just saying that info is “sealed.” It is estimated that legal defense will cost them $50k. Bill Graham is holding a benefit concert in SF staring The Airplane, Quicksilver, Santana & It’s a Beautiful Day.

Capitol Records is defending the price increase of their albums to $6.98, saying it is a fair price.

After an absence of almost 6 years without performing together as a unit, The Crickets are set to resume their career. After the death of Buddy Holly most of them were living in LA making it as backup musicians in bands for Ray Stevens, Roger Miller & The Everly Brothers.

Neil Diamond was performing in Portland Or., & during the finale of Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show, a man from the audience got on stage, opened up a Bible & proceeded to have a prayer session. Neil was sort of unnerved, but let him do what he wanted.

The editors are warning people that with the next issue the price will rise fro $.35 to $.50 & subscriptions are heading to $8.00. But, issue size is also increasing to 64 pages. During the past 2 years paid circulation has increased from 17,000 to 132,000.

There is a long, long piece in this issue about Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters, but I just didn’t take the time to read it.


Ads for groups or albums this issue:

Golden Earring - Eight Miles High on Atlantic Records

Roxy Music - The first album on Elektra…at this time though the band was billed as just Roxy.

Jeffrey Comanor - Sure Hope You Like It on A&M… he wrote Stone Cold Picnic for the Fifth Dimension.

Frank Zappa - Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Van Morrison - Moondance

James Taylor - Sweet Baby James

Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky (the previous 4 are all on Warner / Reprise)

Chicago - on Columbia Records



Album Reviews:

Diana Ross Presents the Jackson Five
Michael Jackson, the magnificent lead singer, is a scant 10 years old. Supplied with some good arrangements & instrumental backing from the Motown assembly line, the boys from Gary, Indiana, perform with an exuberance & flair which many of the older groups on the same label rarely achieve these days. Given any kind of decent material the J5 should be able to give us many years of good tight music. Who’s this Diana Ross anyway?…Langdon Winner

Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
This recording brings together a set of mostly little known talents that whale the tar out of every other informal “jam” album released in Rock the past two years. If Hot Rats is any indication of where Zappa is headed , we are in for some fiendish rides indeed….Lester Bangs


Other albums reviewed:

Small Faces - The Autumn Stone

Keef Hartley Band - The Battle of Northwest Six

Sir Douglas Quintet - Together After Five

Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery

Gary Burton - Throb

Joe South - Don’t it Make You want to Go Home

[razorbacker]

I just pulled out my vinyl copy of Sweet Baby James & was struck by some of the greats that played on this album. Just a few of them are:

Piano Carole King
Who was a legendary songwriter long before this album came out. Her list of songwriting accomplishments goes on forever & would eventually even include JT’s first #1 hit You’ve Got A Friend.

Drummer Russ Kunkel
A partial listing of artists he has drummed with or produced gives a flavor of his versatility and includes Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, J.J. Cale, Tracy Chapman, Crosby Stills & Nash, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Dan Fogelberg, Don Henley, Elton John, B.B. King, Lyle Lovett, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt, Seals & Crofts, Bob Segart, Steppenwolf, Derek Trucks Band, Uncle Kracker, Steve Winwood, Neil Young and Warren Zevon.

Guitar Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar
Danny was a long time backup musician for Carole King before he sat in on this album. He is also known for playing on records by Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, Harry Nilsson and Jackson Browne. In 1982 he co-wrote a number of tracks on Don Henley's solo debut I Can't Stand Still, most notably the smash "Dirty Laundry";
He also has some production credits on recordings from Neil Young, Jon Bon Jovi and Billy Joel. And he moved into the 90’s by producing the Spin Doctors.

Bass Randy Meisner
Of course Randy is best known as the original Bass player for The Eagles. The Eagles were formed when Meisner, Bernine Leadon, Glenn Frey & Don Henley left Linda Rondstadt to form their own band after a 2 month stint on the road as her backup band. But, here is an interesting bit of trivia. Randy also played bass for Poco. When he left Poco to join Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band he was replaced in Poco by Timothy B. Schmidt. When he left The Eagles to go solo, he was once again replaced by Timothy B. Schmidt.

The Rock Family Tree in it’s earliest stages.

[AJane]

Diana Ross Presents the Jackson Five
Michael Jackson, the magnificent lead singer, is a scant 10 years old. Supplied with some good arrangements & instrumental backing from the Motown assembly line, the boys from Gary, Indiana, perform with an exuberance & flair which many of the older groups on the same label rarely achieve these days. Given any kind of decent material the J5 should be able to give us many years of good tight music. Who’s this Diana Ross anyway?…Langdon Winner

The most prescient review I've read so far. I don't have clear memories of 1970 but I sure can remember Michael Jackson as the mini-phenom.

Did you pay that exhorbitant $6.98 for your James Taylor album, razor?

[Blues Songstres]

$6.98 for an album? Those were the days.

I absolutely love "Sweet Baby James", though I didn't realize it had such an all-star cast. Impressive.

I always though "Stoned Soul Picnic" was written by Laura Nyro. Shows how much I know!

Who could have known what Michael Jackson would turn out to be? But he certainly was cute and talented then.

[myrosiedog]

Wow, 1970 was a big year.

I love Sweet Baby James too. We used to play that for my daughter when she was a baby and it would always put her to sleep.

But Roxy Music, Golden Earring, CSN&Y Deja Vu, Moondance. Lots of great music talked about in that issue. And the Jackson 5 wow! I remember seeing them on television when they first came out and everyone just thought that Michael was darling.

[razorbacker]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

Wow, 1970 was a big year.

I love Sweet Baby James too. We used to play that for my daughter when she was a baby and it would always put her to sleep.

But Roxy Music, Golden Earring, CSN&Y Deja Vu, Moondance. Lots of great music talked about in that issue. And the Jackson 5 wow! I remember seeing them on television when they first came out and everyone just thought that Michael was darling.

It seems as though each issue now has more & more great albums coming our way ( I have made it a policy that when an album gets either reviewd or advertised for the first time, that I am going to dig out my old vinyl copy & play it again for nostalgic purposes. Unfortunately that also leads me to such lousy offerings as Screaming Lord Sutch & his Friends from a couple of issues back.) Just think this issue was just March.

I'll be honest & say that I had no idea the Roxy Music & Golden Earring went back that far.

[myrosiedog]

Originally Posted by razorbacker

It seems as though each issue now has more & more great albums coming our way ( I have made it a policy that when an album gets either reviewd or advertised for the first time, that I am going to dig out my old vinyl copy & play it again for nostalgic purposes. Unfortunately that also leads me to such lousy offerings as Screaming Lord Sutch & his Friends from a couple of issues back.) Just think this issue was just March.

I'll be honest & say that I had no idea the Roxy Music & Golden Earring went back that far.

Roxy Music I knew about not Golden Earring. I was surprised too. As great as the 60's were for music, especially all the new acts, I think the 70's surpasses the 60's for the shear numbers of just really GREAT albums.

[norealityhere]

Sweet Baby James is one of my alltime favorites.
I remember seeing the Jackson 5 at a dept. store downtown at around that time. My friend was so excited that she almost fell down the escalator trying to get near them.