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Post by Ginnie on Aug 11, 2008 20:04:42 GMT -4
Or should I say, that I forgot, or never heard in the first place.
Lately I've been listening to music from the Sixties that I never heard much of when I was growing up. It's amazing how much 'unknown' (to me) music there is! Here's a sampling:
The Pretty Things - no doubt you Brits will be more familiar with this band. I remember Bowie recording a couple of their songs on 'Pinups' - Rosalyn and Here Comes the Night. But I hadn't heard anything actually from the group. I listened to their album S.F. Sorrow (1968) - probably the first true rock opera, and it is excellent. Sound quality is good too.
The Kinks - yeah, I was familiar with some of their hits like everyone else, but had never heard a full Kinks album till 1974. But going back to 'The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society' (1968) was a bit of a revelation. Just shows that the Beatles et al. weren't the only bands writing great songs in the sixties.
Spirit - I've seen this band mentioned time after time in rock publications, and finally gave them a listen. Good music.
Moby Grape - again, saw their name in print many times but never listened to them until now. Not as good as the above bands, but well worth a listen or two.
Traffic - everyone's heard Mr. Fantasy and Feelin' Alright, but their other material is very good also. Steve Winwood was also in the Spencer Davis Group (Gimme Gimme Good Lovin').
Country Joe and the Fish - besides their Woodstock performance, I was totally ignorant of their (his) work. They have a very psychedelic album 'Electric Music for the Mind' that has been voted by someone as the best psychedelic album of all time. It's still good.
Quicksilver Messenger Service - not as good as their reputation in my opinion, but can't knock them too much - still sounds better than most of the stuff I hear on the radio today.
There is a few more I haven't gotten to - Vanilla Fudge, Insect Trust and a few more. It is so great to find some great music again!
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Post by echnaton on Aug 11, 2008 20:43:42 GMT -4
I used to have a reel to reel tape of Moby Grape. I agree it was worth a listen.
Quicksilver was spotty but had some great songs. I saw Dino Valenti years ago touring as Quicksilver with some band that didn't include David Freeburg or any other members of the old band. He put on a great show. It was worth it just to hear him sing What About Me.
"I'm a fugitive from injustice But I'm goin' to be free. Cause your rules and regulations They dont do the thing for me"
Still totally imbued with sixties revolutionary spirit.
Traffic's Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is an all time favorite.
My pick for a great sixties band that many have not heard of is Buffalo Springfield. The band launching the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Later work by Stills and Young overshadowed the Buffalo Springfield but they put out some great songs in their three albums.
"Sit Down I Think I Love You" (Stills) "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" (Young) "Mr. Soul" (Young) "Bluebird" (Stills) "Rock & Roll Woman" (Stills/Crosby[uncredited]) "Broken Arrow" (Young)
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Post by echnaton on Aug 11, 2008 20:51:52 GMT -4
Another great sixties act that you don't hear much of today is Sly and the Family Stone. Great R&B and funk music. If you have never heard them go here to listen to a concert recorded in 1968 at the Filmore East in New York. The sixties was a very fertile period for music.
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Post by Ginnie on Aug 11, 2008 21:09:11 GMT -4
I love Sly and the Family Stone. I don't like disco, but I love funk - go figure. Thus I like Sly, Rare Earth, some of George Clinton/Funkadelic, James Brown, War, even a lit bit of Earth, Wind and Fire. The rhythym is so cool, and as a bass player myself, I find funky bass irresistable and mesmerizing at times. I have 'Sly and the Family Stone Greatest Hits', but I plan to get a few of his regular albums, especially 'Stand'.
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Post by Ginnie on Aug 11, 2008 21:16:25 GMT -4
You're talking to the converted on this band my boy! I'm a huge Neil Young fan - CSN&Y too. I just have their first album 'Buffalo Springfield' at home. It's funny that Neil had Richie Furay sing his songs until he got enough confidence in his voice to sing them himself. Indeed, Richie was miffed when Neil decided to sing his own songs. I've read that The Byrds were the American Beatles and that Buffalo Springfield were the American Rolling Stones, but I don't think that's a good comparison. Too bad Neil couldn't get along better in a regular band... And its interesting that during Monterey Pop David Crosby filled in for Neil when he was having one of his hissy fits. ;D
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Post by Ginnie on Aug 11, 2008 21:44:28 GMT -4
Speaking of Traffic, is there any song that has inspired such great redos than 'Feelin Alright'? (other than maybe 'All Along the Watchtower). What's funny is that I hadn't heard the original from Traffic until last week! Joe Cocker, Grand Funk, Rare Earth and Three Dog Night all recorded it.
Now I know that 'Yesterday' has been covered by 1,000 artists...but I'm talkin' good covers...
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Post by gillianren on Aug 11, 2008 22:28:52 GMT -4
Seventies not Sixties, but Isaac Hayes just died. That Isaac Hayes was one bad mother.
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Post by Ginnie on Aug 11, 2008 22:54:50 GMT -4
Seventies not Sixties, but Isaac Hayes just died. That Isaac Hayes was one bad mother. Sorry to hear that. Now, that another to add to my must hear list. I've heard Shaft of course, but nothing else by him. And Isaac did start in the sixties - he was a session player on Sam and Dave's 'Soul Man'. So I'm thinking I have to hear 'Hot Buttered Soul' - wikepedia says it was a milestone, so it demands listening...
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Post by echnaton on Aug 11, 2008 23:40:32 GMT -4
Neil had Richie Furay sing his songs until he got enough confidence in his voice to sing them himself.
I'd never heard that but it makes sense. Young's voice is very personal.
Too bad Neil couldn't get along better in a regular band... And its interesting that during Monterey Pop David Crosby filled in for Neil when he was having one of his hissy fits. ;D
Young has always walked his own road. Its been worth the winding trip for music fans.
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Post by BertL on Aug 12, 2008 4:29:30 GMT -4
I actually have a Traffic - Best Of album. They have some very good music (I especially like Freedom Rider). I also have a "100 forgotten Sixties hits", but that album isn't so good. I love a lot of music from the (late) sixties; a LOT of my the music on my computer is from that era.
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Post by echnaton on Aug 12, 2008 10:59:56 GMT -4
Another sixties band that I like is the Grass Roots. They were a group put together by producers to capitalize on the folk rock trend of the era. There were numerous personnel changes but because the producers were in charge the sound stayed consistent. The band had a slew of top forty hits in the sixties and seventies and several number one songs. I saw them in the early eighties. with two of the main band members from the big hit days still on board. They were a pop band that had consistent song writing and a distinctive sound. The low point of their career was recording "Feelings."
"LET'S LIVE FOR TODAY" "MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS" "SOONER OR LATER" "TEMPTATION EYES" "I'D WAIT A MILLION YEARS" "TWO DIVIDED BY LOVE" "THE RIVER IS WIDE" "THE RUNAWAY" "THINGS I SHOULD HAVE SAID" "BELLA LINDA" "BABY HOLD ON" "GLORY BOUND" "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU" "HEAVEN KNOWS"
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Post by BertL on Aug 12, 2008 12:40:36 GMT -4
Another band I like is Jefferson Airplane. I kind of like it when bands are all trippy and stuff. Though I was kind of freaked out when I heard them (apparently) singing about polygamy and inflatable dolls.
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Post by echnaton on Aug 12, 2008 14:34:51 GMT -4
That would be David Crosby's song "Triad" and Ballin's "Plastic Fantastic Lover."
Have you ever heard the song "Silver Spoon," from Kantner and Slick's Sunfighter album? Its about cannibalism. I'll spare you a quote of the lyrics. Great song though. Grace sang with such a great and menacing pleasure in her voice. The band lineup on the album was a step toward the formation of Jefferson Starship including an explosive John Barbata on drums.
On a side note, I listened to a CSNY recording where just before singing Triad, Crosby explains that he was thrown out of several schools for immoral behavior.
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Post by Ginnie on Aug 12, 2008 16:24:09 GMT -4
Neil had Richie Furay sing his songs until he got enough confidence in his voice to sing them himself.I'd never heard that but it makes sense. Young's voice is very personal. . I just looked up the Richie Fury thing. He was "bitterly dissapointed" about not singing the lead vocal on the Neil Young song 'Burned' on their first album. Neil had just been singing background harmonies up to that point. Neil justified singing it himself, saying "I wrote the song and nobody else can sing it". When the single failed to chart, some people blamed it on Neil's voice!
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Post by Ginnie on Aug 12, 2008 16:37:16 GMT -4
Too bad Neil couldn't get along better in a regular band... And its interesting that during Monterey Pop David Crosby filled in for Neil when he was having one of his hissy fits. ;DYoung has always walked his own road. Its been worth the winding trip for music fans. Indeed. He could be brutal with people at times. Pissed a lot of his band mates off. He walked out on Stills before they were to tour saying, "Eat a Peach..." Once, CSN dropped by when he was recording. Things went so well that they thought they would put out a CSN&Y album. But at the last minute, Neil wiped out the background vocals and put it out solo. Funnily enough, one of the songs was "Through My Sails", which is on the Zuma album - and Neil mistakingly gave the record company the take that still had CSN on it. If you listen to it, you'll notice the difference in texture compared with the rest of the songs on 'Zuma'. But I must admit to wasting a few dollars on some of his recordings that I didn't like - 'Everybody's Rockin', 'Reactor', 'Life', 'Landing on Water', 'Silver and Gold', 'Trans'... That's the equivalent to about $100 right there. I have 28 Neil Young CD's (including CSN&Y, Buffalo Springfield). If I had my vinyl back, it would be around 35. I sure wasn't going to buy his mediocre material again on CD.
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