The Bobby
Fuller Four was one of the best American rock and roll bands from the early to
mid-Sixties-a time when good rave-up rock and roll was in short supply. The
band formed in Baytown, Texas, in 1961, with Bobby Fuller on guitar
and lead vocals. Fuller’s brother Randy served as the band’s bassist.
The band
started its recording career as a surf rock combo and had the song, “King of the
Beach” as its first single. The band found its sound with the fine hit single, “Let
Her Dance” in 1965. The band’s next single, “I Fought the Law,” was an instant
classic and stands today as one of the all-time greatest rock and roll
singles.
Both of the
aforementioned hit singles can be found on the album, “I Fought the Law”
(1966). This album and a number of compilation albums are recommended.
Bobby Fuller
was found dead in his car outside his Hollywood
home during the summer of 1966.Foul play has always been rumoured in Fuller's demise, but no solid evidence has ever come to the fore.
Randy Fuller tried to continue the band after
Bobby’s death, but ultimately failed.
Fats Domino was one of the most successful
of the founding fathers of rock and roll. Domino hailed from New Orleans and started his career as a New
Orleans R&B performer. He is forever remembered for the early rock and roll
hits, “Blueberry Hill,” “The Fat Man,” I Want to Walk You Home,” “Walking to
New Orleans,” “Ain’t it a Shame,” “Blue Monday,” and “I’m in Love Again.” The
man was one of the giants of the Fifties, scoring almost three times as many
hits as either Chuck Berry or Little Richard.
Domino was born Antoine Dominique Domino
Jr. in New Orleans,
in 1928. After spending time in the Dave Bartholomew band as pianist, he made
his first recordings in 1950 with “The Fat Man” and “Detroit City Blues.” “TheFat Man” was an important recording in the development of what was
to become rock and roll. The song was co-written, as were most of Fats' big
hits, with trumpeter, Bartholomew. The song became a huge R&B hit, and it
is one of the most successful debut singles in pop music history.
By the time rock and roll emerged in the
mid-1950s, Domino was already an established R&B star, and his transition
to rock and roll was an easy one. In 1955, he scored his first hit on the pop
charts with “Ain’t it a Shame,” the song that introduced him to white audiences
and turned him into one of the first rock and roll stars.
Domino’s best recordings can be most easily found via
compilation. Among the best Domino compilations are “Rock and Rollin’ with Fats
Domino” (1956), “Fats Domino Swings 12, 000, 000 Records” (1958), “The
Fantastic Fats Domino-20 Original Hits” (1977), and “My Blue Heaven-The Best of
Fats Domino” (1990).
Lewis’s musical journey started in his
hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana, where he was born on September
29, 1935. Lewis was a cousin of television evangelist, Jimmy Swaggart and country
singer Mickey Gilley. Lewis studied the piano from the age of ten, and his
mother enrolled him in a bible college in Texas.
According to a famous story, Lewis was thrown out of the school on his first
day for performing a raucous version of “My God Is Real”. It is stories such as
this one and Lewis’s fervent performances that earned him the moniker, “The
Killer.”
At 21, Lewis auditioned for Sun Records, and Sam Phillips signed him as soon as
he heard the tape of the audition. His first single, “Crazy Arms,” was a minor
hit, and. Phillips believed that Lewis could become another Elvis Presley.
Accordingly, Phillips poured out money for the promotion of Lewis’s follow-up,
“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”
The record was banned on many radio stations across America, but it went to be a huge
hit on the country, R&B and pop charts. His next single, “Great Balls of
Fire,” became his trademark song, and another release, “Breathless,” made for
three huge Lewis hits in a row. In the meantime, Lewis was also gaining a
reputation as a live performer unequalled in intensity.
Lewis had secretly married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown, the
daughter of his bass player and uncle, J.W. Brown. While on a trip to England, the British press found out about the
marriage and ripped him to shreads, causing Lewis to retreat to the U.S. His career
went into rapid decline as a result. Smash Records signed Lewis, and he began
recording country music in his own style, and due to the label’s bargaining
with country music disc jockeys, Lewis became a star again.
After overcoming a series of personal problems with drugs and alcohol and a
divorce from Myra Gale, Lewis became one of the first inductees to the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. In 1989, Lewis was the subject of the film, “Great
Balls of Fire,” which told his life story. Lewis re-recorded all of his old
hits for the film, and has continued to record and play live since.
Several fine compilations of Lewis’ early
hits are available, including the three-volume, “Original Golden Hits” (1969)
and “Original Sun Greatest Hits” (1983).
Singer Johnny Burnette was born in Memphis, Tennessee,
in 1934, and was a boyhood friend of Elvis Presley. Burnette and the Rock ‘n
Roll Trio is often credited as the “pioneers” of rockabilly music.
The legendary album, “Rock and Roll Trio”
(1988), is one of the finest collections of early rock and roll. The album
collects the early singles of Burnette and the Trio and contains at
least three masterpieces, “The Train Kept a-Rollin’,” “Honey Hush,” and
“Lonesome Train.” The title of the song, “Rock Billy Boogie,” is believed to be
the origin of the name given to this style of music, “rockabilly.”
Burnette scored pop hits in the Sixties without the
Rock and Roll Trio, including “You’re Sixteen,” in 1960, but his best work was
during the birth of rock and roll about five years earlier. Burnette died in a
boating accident in 1964, at the age of 30.
Among the ranks of female
singer/songwriters, no woman has equaled the artistry or output of Joni
Mitchell. Mitchell’s catalogue includes a slew of classic albums that run the
musical gamut from folk to rock to jazz.
Mitchell was born in Fort MacLeod, Alberta, Canada, in 1943. She began her
career as folk singer in her native Canada
before moving south to Los Angeles to begin her
recording career in California.
She recorded her debut album, the pleasant folk effort, “Joni Mitchell (AKA
Song to a Seagull)” in 1968. Another solid album,” Clouds” would appear the
following year.
It was her third release, “Ladies of the
Canyon” (1970) that established her as something special. The album was full of
well-written story songs which were all presented with stripped-down production
featuring just Mitchell on acoustic guitar. The album contained the first of
the songs that would make Mitchell famous, “Woodstock,” a song which would become a hit
for Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and “Big Yellow Taxi,” which would become a
minor hit for Mitchell herself.
Mitchell’s next effort, “Blue” (1971),
would be declared her first masterpiece. Blue is an often dark and emotional
exorcism on heartbreak, although it is punctuated by lighter moments. “One song
here, “This Flight Tonight,” would later become a hit for the Scottish hard
rock band, Nazareth.
In 1974, Mitchell recorded another
masterpiece, albeit a more upbeat one, “Court and Spark.” The album was
critically-acclaimed as were her previous efforts, but this album had
commercial legs that would see Mitchell establish herself as something of a pop
star. Thanks to a pair of hits, “Help Me” and “Free Man in Paris,” Mitchell’s fame spread into the
mainstream of the music-listening public. Another strong track, “Raised on
Robbery,” featured the Band’s Robbie Robertson on guitar and received significant
airplay.
Mitchell continued to record fine albums
throughout the remainder of the Seventies including, “The Hissing of Summer
Lawns” (1975), “Hejira” (1976), and collaboration with the legendary jazz
bassist and composer, Charles Mingus, “Mingus” (1979).
The Mingus album would see Mitchell delve
into jazz for a good part of the Eighties during which she acquired new fans,
but lost more of her older fans. She returned to her folkier roots in the Nineties
with the release of a couple of decent albums, “Night Ride Home” (1991) and
“Taming the Tiger” (1998).
Mitchell continues to record sparingly.
After she had announced that she was retiring completely from music, she
returned in 2007 with the album, “Shine.”
The Beach Boys were the one band that could rival the commercial and artistic greatness of the Beatles during the Sixties. The two bands would become friendly rivals in that decade, trying to outdo each other in the studio by producing the most original and epic albums possible. This rivalry would produce the best works of both bands, including the Beach Boys classic, “Pet Sounds,” which is considered by many as the greatest pop/rock album of all time.
The Beach Boys were all native Californians and they would, in their early incarnation produce music which glorified the beachside lifestyle of surfing and hot rod racing particular to their home state.
The original Beach Boys lineup consisted of the Wilsonbrothers-Brian, Carl and Dennis, with cousin, Mike Love and friend, Al Jardine. Brian Wilson was the chief songwriter and creator of the Beach Boys image, while Dennis Wilson, the drummer and part-time surfer was the real life incarnation of that image.
They formed in Hawthorne,California in 1961 under the management and tutelage of Murray Wilson, father of the three Wilson brothers. Murray Wilson was a tough task master and ruled the band with an iron fist.
Originally called the Pendeltones, the band recorded their first single, “Surfin’,” for the Candix label in late 1961. When Candix released the single they changed the groups name to Beach Boys to make the band more marketable in the emerging surf music genre. The single became a modest nation-wide hit.Based on the success of the single, Murray Wilson was able to arrange a live appearance for the band at the Ritchie Valens Memorial Dance in Long Beach, California.
By summer 1962, the band had managed to get signed to Capitol records and released their first album, “Surfin’ Safari.”Starting with this album, the band found success, scoring a string of hits including, “Surfin’ Safari,” Surfing USA,” “Surfer Girl,” “409,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” “I Get Around,” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.” The band would record sixteen hit singles in total from 1962-1965, and they become huge pop stars in America and abroad.
Along with hit records came concert tours, and the stress of touring led to an emotional breakdown for Brian Wilson and his withdrawal from live performing. Future country music star, Glen Campbell, was brought in as a replacement for several months, and then Bruce Johnson. Brian Wilson, freed from his touring duties, started to focus on his songwriting and the possibilities of the studio and record production and would begin working on music which would soon be hailed as among the greatest pop music ever recorded.
By 1964, Brian Wilson’s more adventurous compositions demanded talented studio musicians for recordings. Two songs from this period, “Help Me Rhonda” and “I Get Around,” would become the band’s first two number one hits. In 1965, Brian Wilson would begin to experiment with song structure on the “Today” album, and score hits with the unorthodox songs,“California Girls” and “The Little Girl I Once Knew.” The revolutionary use of silence, keyboards and brass on the latter tune would set the stage for the band’s next phase, one free of beach imagery and more in step with the burgeoning hippie movement.
1966 would see the Beach Boys, led by Brian Wilson; fully embrace baroque rock with the classic album, “Pet Sounds,” and the seminal single, “Good Vibrations.” Brian Wilson would employ surreal songs, classical instrumentation and complex arrangements in the production of this music.
When Brian Wilson heard the Beatles’ album,“Rubber Soul,” in late 1965, he was so impressed that he dedicated himself to outdoing them. He was impressed that Rubber Soul broke the mold of containing a few hits only to be filled out by throwaway material. Rubber Soul did not contain any filler, just great original tunes. With Rubber Soul as his inspiration, Wilsonset off to the studio with the intention of making the greatest rock album of all-time. Many claim that he succeeded in doing just that, as the resulting album, “Pet Sounds” (1966), is widely hailed as one of the greatest-ever albums of pop music.
Pet Sounds was full of sounds previously unheard on rock records before it. It featured a slew of instruments manned by the finest studio musicians in Los Angeles, complex vocal and instrumental arrangements, and more sophisticated songs from Wilson. Wilson’s muse, apparently, was partially fueled by psychedelic drugs. The album contains what is perhaps the Beach Boys’finest ever tune, “God Only Knows,” which was a hit. Other hits on the album included “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Sloop John B,” and “Caroline No.”
Wilson continued to experiment in 1966, producing the groundbreaking single, “Good Vibrations” and the legendary album, “Smile.” The lukewarm reaction of the public to Pet Sounds, drug use, and underlying mental health problems led to the Smile album being shelved by Capitol records. Some of the material appeared on the next Beach Boys release, “Smiley Smile.”
The Beach Boys would undergo several lineup changes and continue to produce music throughout the rest of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. Depending on the state of Brian Wilson’s mind, the Beach Boys’music varied from mediocre to brilliant. Among the brilliant moments were the albums, “Wild Honey” (1967), “Friends” (1968), “Surf’s Up” (1971), “Sunflower”(1970), and “Holland”(1973).
The Beach Boys on The Ed Sullivan Show-mid Sixties
Southern rock and blues rock legends The
Allman Brothers were formed in Jacksonville,
Florida, in 1969. The band was
named after brothers Greg and Duane Allman, the band’s lead singer and lead
guitarist, respectively. The Allman Brothers are perhaps the quintessential
example of “Southern Rock.”
Southern rock bands such as the Allman
Brothers, Lynyrd Skynard, and the Marshall Tucker Band all hailed from below
the Mason-Dixon Line and infused their hard
rock with elements of the blues and country music and often expressed the
conservative or “redneck” outlooks.
The Allman Brothers were perhaps the most
blues-influenced of southern rock bands. Their first two albums, “The Allman
Brothers Band” (1968) and “Idlewild South” (1970) contained several blues cover
tunes each. The ragged, soulful voice of Greg Allman and bluesy slide guitar of
Duane Allman and Dickie Betts enabled the band to produce some of the best
blues rock of the era.
The Allman Brothers Band was a tremendous
live act, and live performances allowed the band’s instrumental highlight,
Duane Allman to display his prodigious slide guitar technique. Two of the
band’s finest albums, “Live at the Fillmore East” (1971) and “Eat a Peach”
(1972) are live albums which feature long tracks which serve as vehicles for
Duane Allman’s and Dickie Betts’ impressive chops.
Duane Allman died tragically in a
motorcycle accident in 1971 at the age of 23.
Following the death of Duane Allman, Dickie
Betts became the instrumental centerpiece of the band, and the Allman Brothers
Band continued to record and tour. The band reached the height of their
commercial success with the classic album, “Brothers and Sisters” which
featured two of their best known tunes, “Ramblin’ Man” and the instrumental,
“Jessica.”
Camel is a progressive rock band from Guildford, England.
The band came together in 1971, and had guitarist Andrew Latimer, bassist Doug
Ferguson, drummer Andy Ward, and keyboardist Peter Bardens as original members.
Their first album, the fine “Camel” was
released in 1973. The debut album was a very solid example of progressive rock
with tightly performed selections relying heavily on keyboards and lengthy
tracks that allowed the musicians space to solo and improvise. “Slow Yourself
Down” and “Mystic Queen” are standout tracks from this one.
Camel’s second album, “Mirage” (1974), proved
to be the band’s masterpiece with inspired arrangements, playing and songs.
“Free Fall,” “Supertwister,” and “Lady Fantasy” are the highlights here. The
album is one of the all-time classics of progressive rock.
Camel’s next two albums, “The Snow Goose”
(1975) and “Moonmadness” (1976) were both stellar efforts, and come close to
reaching the heights achieved on Mirage. The former album is an instrumental
showcase for the more brilliant arrangements and ensemble playing, and is
conceived as a concept album about the life cycle of the snow goose. The latter
album is more keyboard-driven, but is just as memorable. Camel’s outstanding
live album, “A Live Record” (1978), with its spot on live renditions of studio
material amply demonstrated the brilliance of this band’s individual members.
After falling on hard times in the Eighties,
Camel bounced back in the Nineties with several solid albums including, “Harbor
of Tears” and “Rajaz.”
Bob Seger was
one of the most popular and mainstream of the rock singers of the Seventies.
Seger, born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1944, had, in his initial
incarnation, been a blues-rock/soul singer in a band called “The Bob Seger
System.” This band came together in 1968 and played gritty blues rock and R&B.
The band’s debut album, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” (1969), was a fine effort that
had the title track become a minor hit. The band would record two more albums
before folding in 1970.
Seger would
reemerge as a solo artist, and several early Seventies albums were released
under his name that garnered little commercial or critical attention. That
would all change with Seger’s next supporting outfit, “The Silver Bullet Band.”
Seger and his new backing band came together in 1974, and Seger would finally
find the commercial and critical success that he had long been striving for.
The first release of Seger and The Silver Bullet Band was a superb live album,
“Live Bullet,” from 1976. The album features the new band playing a number of
Seger’s older songs in inspired performances.
The band’s next
release, “Night Moves,” (1976) would be the breakthrough that would turn Seger
into an overnight success more than a decade after his career had begun. The
album consisted of hard rock gems such as “Rock and Roll Never Forgets,” “Come
to Poppa,” and “The Fire Down Below,” but it was the folk-flavoured title
track, “Night Moves,” that would become a massive hit. Another fine track,
“Mainstreet” would become a minor hit.
Seger would
follow-up one classic album with another with the release of “Stranger in Town”
(1978). Like its predecessor, this album was a huge commercial and critical
success thanks to outstanding tracks such as, “Hollywood Nights,” “Still the
Same,” “Feel Like a Number,” and the hit ballad, “We’ve Got Tonight.”
Seger would
record several more solid albums such as “Against the Wind” (1980) and “Nine
Tonight” (1981) before drifting from the spotlight.
Caravan, from Canterbury, England,
was a progressive rock band that reached the peak of its creative and
commercial success in the late Sixties and early Seventies. The band was one of
the cornerstones of the “Canterbury
scene” of English progressive rock. They produced melodic and generally upbeat
music which displayed great musicianship on songs that revealed a very active
and ribald sense of humor.
The band formed in 1968, with
guitarist/vocalist Pye Hastings and the Sinclair brothers, Dave and Richard, on
keyboards and bass, respectively. Their debut album, “Caravan” (1968), was an
auspicious start despite its psychedelic leanings that was the cliché of the
day. Their sound would change significantly in the wake of the debut. The
follow-up, “If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You” (1970),
found the band drifting away from the psychedelic sounds of the debut and toward
more fully-progressive ground.
On their third album, “The Land of Grey and
Pink” (1971), Caravan made the full transition to progressive rock material.
The album is often cited as their masterpiece, and includes a wide selection of
inspired tracks. In 1973, they produced the last of their classic albums, “For
Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night.”
Led Zeppelin was one of the first hard rock
supergroups, and a band which enjoyed unprecedented popularity in the hard rock
arena. The band came together from the ashes of the last incarnation of the
Yardbirds, which featured the young guitar hero, Jimmy Page. Page teamed up
with bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham, but the new band needed a
lead singer to round out its line-up. Terry Reid was considered at first, but
when he proved to be unavailable, Robert Plant was brought in.
The new band was initially called, “The New
Yardbirds,” but changed their name to “Led Zeppelin” as a response to one
observer who predicted their doom by stating, “They’ll go down like a lead
balloon.” Like most other early hard rock bands, Zeppelin had a solid grounding
in the electric blues of Chicago,
especially where Hubert Sumlin, Otis Rush and Howlin’ Wolf were concerned.
The band’s debut album, “Led Zeppelin”
(1968), clearly revealed that influence as the band recorded revolutionary
takes on a number of Chess standards such as “You Shook Me,” “I Can't Quit You,”
and “How Many More Times” with over-amplified bass, guitar and drums and the banshee-like
vocals of Robert Plant. The album remains today one of the all-time classics of
hard rock.
Their next effort, the superb “Led Zeppelin
2” (1969), contained fewer covers and moved more toward a mainstream hard rock
sound with classic tracks such as “Heartbreaker,” “Whole Lotta Love,” and
“Ramble On.” Their third release, “Led Zeppelin 3” (1970), was a more eclectic
affair featuring several acoustic performances by Page and the hard-driving,
“Immigrant Song.”
The band’s next release, “Led Zeppelin 4” (1971),
would ultimately become their masterpiece due in large part to the presence of
one of the most popular rock tracks ever, “Stairway to Heaven.” In addition to
this hard rock anthem, there were other gems such as the folk-rock of “The Battle
of Evermore,” featuring a vocal duet between Plant and former Fairport
Convention lead singer, Sandy Denny. This album remains one of the best-selling
and most-praised rock albums in history.
The first Led Zeppelin album to actually
bear a proper title, “Houses of the Holy” (1973), followed next. It was yet
another outstanding offering, containing the standout tracks, “The Song Remains
the Same,” and “Over the Hills and Far Away.” The double album, “Physical
Graffiti,” was next and continued Led Zeppelin’s almost unprecedented run of
fine albums. Another diverse release, the album contained the epic track, “Kashmir.”
The very solid, “Presence,” was released in
1976, followed by the somewhat disappointing, “In Through the Out Door,” in
1979. An excellent live album of material from the Seventies, “How the West was
Won,” would appear out of the blue in 2003.
In 1968,
Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman were members of the Byrds and with their band
had recorded the classic album, “Sweetheart of the Rodeo,” the first official
“country-rock” album. Parsons and Hillman left the Byrds shortly after and with
Chris Ethridge, a bassist, and “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, a steel guitar player,
formed the Flying Burrito Brothers, the band that would spread the gospel of
this new genre.
The band
would produce a brilliant debut album, a decent sophomore album and then
Parsons would be gone to pursue a solo career leaving Hillman to continue the
band without him.
In 1969,
that brilliant debut, “The Gilded Palace of Sin,” was released. The album was a
soulful synthesis of rock and country featuring aching vocal harmonies and
atmospheric pedal steel work by Pete Kleinow. The album contained the
unforgettable tracks “Christine’s Tune,” “Sin City,” “My Uncle,” and an utterly
original take on the soul classic, “Dark End of The Street.”
The next
year, 1970, saw the release of the follow-up, “Burrito Deluxe,” a solid
offering with standout tracks, “Wild Horses,” “God’s Own Singer,” and “Older
Guys.” In 1971, the Burrito Brothers, minus Parsons, released a fine album,
“The Flying Burrito Brothers” featuring a fine version of “White Line Fever”.
The band
continued to release albums throughout the Seventies with Hillman as the sole
original member, but nothing they did even came close to their great debut.
Black
Sabbath is a seminal band in the history of rock music. The band played a brand
of hard rock that would tragically spawn much of the regrettable heavy
metal/death metal music of recent years. Black Sabbath’s music in their early
years, however, was majestic hard rock rooted in the blues and played with
skill and precision.
The band,
comprised of singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tommy Iommi, bassist Geezer
Butler, and drummer Bill Ward came out of Birmingham,
England, in
1968. The band’s first four albums were outstanding efforts and all remain
classics of the hard rock genre. The band’s eponymous debut, “Black Sabbath”
(1970), was a showcase for the fine guitarist Iommi, and the haunted, intense
vocals of Osbourne. The album is spellbinding from start to finish, especially
on the title track, “Black Sabbath” and “The Wizard.”
The
band’s sophomore release, “Paranoid” (1970), was the equal to the impressive
debut and features some progressive rock influences such as the track,
“Electric Funeral.” The album’s best known track, “Iron Man,” is probably the
weakest track on the album. “Master of Reality” (1971), another classic of the
genre, followed next. It contains the classic marijuana anthem, “Sweet Leaf.”
Sabbath
next released “Volume 4” (1972), an album that is much more experimental and includes
frequent use of synthesizers. The best track here is the ballad, “Changes,”
featuring an unforgettable vocal performance by Osbourne.
Black
Sabbath would release another decent album, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (1973),
before their descent to heavy metal mediocrity and the eventual departure of
Ozzy Osbourne.
The Rolling Stones are, save the Beatles,
the most famous rock band of all time. The Stones emerged from London around
the same time that the Beatles were breaking out from their hometown,
Liverpool. While the Beatles have long ago parted, The Rolling Stones are still a
functioning rock band, although with its members now in their seventies, the
band is now only occasionally productive.
The Stones current lineup consists of Mick
Jagger on lead vocals; Keith Richards on guitar; Charlie Watts on drums; and
Ron Wood on guitar. All the current members except Wood have been with the band
from the beginning, and the band has seen limited personnel changes despite its
long run of 50 years.
The Stones started out in the early Sixties
as one of the finest white blues bands of the day, led at that time, by the
late blues guitarist, Brian Jones. In the band’s earliest incarnation, they
were a blues and R&B band, and Jones was the driving force and resident
blues expert. The band’s name came from the Muddy Waters song, “Rollin’ Stone.”
The band played their first gig at London’s Marquee Club before landing a
regular gig at the Crawdaddy Club. Former Beatles publicist, Andrew Loog Oldham
became the Stones manager around this time.
Oldham’s first act was to secure a
lucrative recording deal for his new band. Decca Records, which was still
reeling from their failure to sign the Beatles, offered Oldham a sweet deal for
the Stones. Oldham, then began to publicize the Stones as the anti-Beatles, a
band of louts who were the polar opposite of the clean and decent Beatles. In
spring 1963, Decca released the first Stones’ single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s,
“Come On.”
The Stones recorded their debut album, “The
Rolling Stones,” in 1964. The album only contained one song written by Jagger
and Richards, with the rest of the songs being blues cover songs. Oldham
encouraged Jagger and Richards to work on their songwriting, as he believed
that the band would have limited appeal if it continued to just perform songs
by “middle-aged blacks.” Two more albums relying heavily on covers of R&B
and blues, “The Rolling Stones Number 2” and “The Rolling Stones Now,” were
released in 1965. The songwriting team of Jagger and Richards were beginning to
produce results with their first self-written hit, “Heart of Stone,” appearing
in 1964.
The Stones first album with a significant
amount of original material, “Out of Our Heads,” was released in 1965. This
album contained the Stones first big international hit single, “Satisfaction,” and
the single turned the band into bona-fide pop stars. The album contained
several other excellent tracks such as, “Play with Fire” and “The Last Time.”
The Stones would continue to improve on
their next release, “Aftermath” (1966), an album of mostly original songs that
includes the early classic songs, “Mother’s Little Helper,” “Lady Jane,” and
“Under My Thumb.” The latter track riled feminists and helped to solidify the
band’s “bad boy” image.
In early 1967, the band’s next album,
“Between the Buttons,” was released. This album saw the band moving away from
the blues and R&B they had long focused on, and further into the realm of
rock and the psychedelia that was so pervasive at the time. Later in 1967, the
band would dive headlong into psychedelia with “Their Satanic Majesties Request,”
a full-blown psychedelic freak out which was panned by many critics, but is
still an interesting offering with the excellent tracks, “She’s A Rainbow” and
“2000 Light Years from Home.”
Between 1968 and 1972, the band would enjoy
a golden period that would see the band record an outstanding string of albums
which are all now considered among the very best albums of 20th
century popular music.
The first, “Beggar’s Banquet,” appeared in
1968, and featured some of the best rock and blues tracks ever recorded by a
rock band. “Sympathy for the Devil” is the most famous track on the album,
followed closely by ”Street Fighting Man.” The blues chops of the band,
especially in the case of Brian Jones, are on full display on tracks such as
“No Expectations” which features fine slide blues guitar by Jones. “Prodigal
Son” is a fine country blues cover. Brian Jones would die tragically from
drowning in his swimming pool shortly after the release of the album.
In 1969, “Let it Bleed” appeared, and like
its predecessor, it contained excellent tracks of rock and blues. Several of
the band’s most famous songs are found here such as, “You Can’t Always Get What
You Want,” “Gimme Shelter,” and the title track. The cover of Robert Johnson’s
“Love in Vain” is one of the highlights of the band’s recording career.
After a two-year hiatus from the studio,
during which time the excellent live album, “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” (1970)
appeared, another classic album, “Sticky Fingers” (1971), was released. The
album was the hardest rocking Stones album yet, and featured new guitarist,
Mick Taylor, who was brought in to replace the deceased Brian Jones. Taylor’s
presence on the album gave the band a fuller rock sound that was exploited on
the numbers, “Bitch,” “Can’t You Hear Me knocking,” and “Brown Sugar.” A fine
country-rock moment can be heard with “Wild Horses,” a song that Keith Richards
wrote with Gram Parsons of the Flying Burrito Brothers.
In 1972, the comprehensive and outstanding
double album, “Exile on Main Street,” was released, and it is considered by
many as the band’s definitive work. A slew of blues, R&B, and even gospel
tunes populate the album along side rock songs such as the hits, “Happy” and
“Tumbling Dice.”
The Stones’ work started to slide in the mid-Seventies,
with the band recording several albums which were several notches below the
superb work of the past. Keith Richard’s drug use would become an issue,
especially following his arrest at a Toronto hotel. It was not until 1978 that
the band would finally make an album worthy of their reputation. That album was
“Some Girls” (1978), featuring the stellar tracks, “Shattered” and “Beast of
Burdon.”
The band’s work from the Eighties to
present has been spotty, but there have always been fine moments such as the
album releases, “Tattoo You” (1981), “Stripped” (1995), “The Rolling Stones
Rock and Roll Circus” (1996), and “Shine a Light” (2008).
The band is still a touring unit and they
have ventured into new territory, playing concerts in Shanghai, China, in 2009.
Roy Orbison was
one of the early greats of rock and roll music who is now best remembered for
his hit song, “Pretty Woman.” In the Fifties and early Sixties, however,
Orbison had a slew of hits and was one of the most successful of the early
rockers.
Orbison was born
in Vernon, Texas, in 1936. By the late Fifties, Orbison had become a member of
Sun Records’ legendary roster of musicians which included Jerry Lee Lewis,
Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins. Sun Records had just recently lost Elvis Presley.
Like Cash and Perkins, Orbison was a rockabilly performer in his earliest
incarnation, recording the rockabilly classics, “Ooby Dooby,” “Trying to Get to
You,” and “Go! Go! Go!”
By the Sixties,
Orbison was recording for Monument and added pop ballads to his repertoire with
the hits, “Only the Lonely,” “Running Scared,” and “Crying.” In 1964, Orbison
would record his biggest hit, “Pretty Woman.”
Orbison would
continue to record singles for the remainder of the Sixties and Seventies, but
would not score another major hit. Orbison would become a member of The
Traveling Willburys in the early Eighties along with Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan,
George Harrison and Tom Petty.
Orbison’s best
albums include, “Crying” (1962), “In Dreams” (1963), “Orbisongs” (1965), “Cry
Softly Lonely One” (1967), “Roy Orbison’s Many Moods” (1969), and “Mystery
Girl” (1989).
Singer/songwriter/guitarist
Joe Walsh embarked on his solo career following the release of The James Gang’s
“Thirds” album. Walsh had led the James Gang through the initial phase of the
band’s career in which they recorded three brilliant albums with Walsh as
frontman. Clearly, Walsh had a stellar history to live up to. He came out of
the gate under the guise of “Barnstormer”, a death-defying, stunt-performing
pilot of early 20th century America. Walsh’s barnstormer persona would
be featured on the album covers of his first three solo albums.
His debut
album, “Barnstorm,” (1972) was a mix of the hard rock that Walsh had become
famous for with the James Gang, with ballads and more progressive-rockish
selections with an emphasis on keyboards. The album was a solid effort that
included the semi-hit rocker, “Turn to Stone.” Walsh’s sophomore solo effort,
“The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” (1973) was a stronger showing that
featured more of Walsh’s signature hard rock, including the big hit, “Rocky
Mountain Way,” and another fine rock gem, “Meadows.” Walsh’s third solo outing,
“So What,” was another solid hard rock collection.
In 1976,
the live album, “You Can’t Argue with a Sick Mind” was released featuring live
renditions of material from his previous three solo albums including an epic
18-minute version of Rocky Mountain Way.
By this
time, Walsh had joined the Eagles and been included on their mega-successful
“Hotel California” album. Following the release of the Hotel California album,
Walsh went back to record perhaps his best solo effort, the often comedic, “But
Seriously, Folks,” a fine collection of songs which includes some impressive
instrumentals and perhaps his best solo recording, the satirical “Life’s Been
Good.”
Otis was
one of the most important artists in R&B history. He was a bandleader,
promoter, vocalist, club owner, drummer, and producer, and he helped launch the
careers of such R&B legends as Johnny Ace, The Robins, Little Esther, Etta James
and many others. These singers recorded with his band and toured as part of his
entourage.
Most of Johnny Otis’ records were released as the “Johnny Otis Quintette” or
“The Johnny Otis Show. Otis’s biggest hit was, “Willie and the Hand Jive,” a
song which has been covered by scores of other artists.
That song
and others are best heard on the compilation albums, “The Original Johnny Otis
Show” (1978), and a number of other compilations of early rock and roll such as
the terrific compilation featuring Otis and many others, “Loud, Fast and Out of
Control: The Wild Sounds of ‘50s Rock” (1999).