What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

The Next 100 Songs from 1975, aka Sanbornpalooza. #1: Black Friday (2 Viewers)

Bracie Smathers said:
Did you get to see that Little Feat show you lucky bastage?
Click to expand...
Google says that show was June 10, 1977.  While I probably saw some shows early that year, that June 10th week I think is the week I graduated from HS.  This also had several country performers and I wouldn't have gone for that.

I did buy the MS CD set several years ago. Have played it a few times trying to recall which shows I went to.   I do remember seeing KC and the Sunshne Band, Pointer Sisters, Olivia Newton John, Earth Wind and Fire at least twice.   

 
zamboni said:
Pip's Invitation said:
I told you he would show up a lot.

88. Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown -- Neil Young and Crazy Horse (from Tonight's the Night) 

Or, as @krista4 would call this, Neil minus Neil. As explained in my Neil countdown, this song was co-written by Neil and Crazy Horse's Danny Whitten and performed on Neil's 1970 tour with Crazy Horse with Whitten on lead vocals. Neil conceived Tonight's the Night, a concept album about the seedier side of the counterculture, after the heroin-overdose deaths of Whitten and CSNY roadie Bruce Berry. Berry's story is told in the title track, which appeared on Tim's list, and Whitten is represented by a live version of this song, which is about scoring heroin, from the 1970 tour. The guitars are scathing and Whitten and Neil sing with anguish. 
Click to expand...
Good job holding out on Neil until #88. :thumbup:  

Have always liked this one.
Click to expand...
Wasn't this re-recorded for the studio for Tonight's The Night? I know they played/recorded it back at the Fillmore East in 1970: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U93V_0-qX9Q

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Getzlaf15 said:
Google says that show was June 10, 1977.  While I probably saw some shows early that year, that June 10th week I think is the week I graduated from HS.  This also had several country performers and I wouldn't have gone for that.

I did buy the MS CD set several years ago. Have played it a few times trying to recall which shows I went to.   I do remember seeing KC and the Sunshne Band, Pointer Sisters, Olivia Newton John, Earth Wind and Fire at least twice.   
Click to expand...
Emmylou and Bonnie in their prime were five alarm hotties.  

You turned your nose up at seeing this because it had a country funk?

Little Feat - Dixie Chicken (with Emmylou Harris & Bonnie Raitt) Live 1977. HQ Video.

 
Pip's Invitation said:
Most of the songs in the 80s are what we now call classic rock. Starting with one not normally associated with this year.

89. Show Me the Way -- Peter Frampton (from Frampton)

This is not the version from Frampton Comes Alive that became a huge hit a year later, but it's very similar. The bass and drums are less forceful than the live version, as might be expected, but Frampton's vocal is the same, the harmonies are better, and the talkbox guitar is still doing its thing. 
Click to expand...
Outstanding. Love this album and actually prefer this recording to the massively overplayed live version.

Recorded at Clearwell Castle with Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio (LMS) parked outside. Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Queen also recorded at Clearwell.

 
86. However Much I Booze -- The Who (from The Who by Numbers)

Pete Townshend loved these guitar riffs so much that he reused some of them for "Gonna Get Ya" from his 1980 solo album Empty Glass. Keith Moon delivers an earthshaking performance on the drums as usual. But what sets this one apart are the lyrics -- Townshend was going through a sort of existential crisis around this time. He had turned 30 and was doubting whether rock and roll was for him anymore. He had dealt with this ennui by indulging in booze and drugs -- which he had vigorously renounced during the writing and recording of Tommy. "[The songs] were written with me stoned out of my brain in my living room, crying my eyes out... detached from my own work and from the whole project... I felt empty," Townshend said in 1975. 

And some of the songs reflected that, becoming the most personal tracks The Who had ever recorded. (After Moon's death, Townshend began to reserve this kind of material for his solo albums.) However Much I Booze is the most in your face about it. Over a rollicking arrangement, Townshend constantly bellows "there ain't no way out" of his doldrums and drinking and declares that he feels used. This was a new level of emotional depth for The Who's material.  

ETA: Wiki says Townshend sings lead on this because Roger Daltrey refused to, because he didn't want people to think HE was the one with the drinking problem. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
85. Sweeter than Honey -- Jefferson Starship (from Red Octopus)

As I said when Tim selected Miracles for his list, Red Octopus is a great album from start to finish. This is one of my favorite tracks. The opening, with firm bass parts by Pete Sears (who adds an awesome fill around 1:40) and fiddle flourishes by Papa John Creach, grabs your attention immediately. Marty Balin delivers one of his strongest vocals and the chorus is incredibly infectious. In the final minute, Balin, Creach, Sears (on piano; David Freiberg didn't play on this track) and Craig Chaquico on lead guitar all reach a frenzied peak. The Jefferson clan may not have been making revolutionary music anymore, but they could still kick ###. 

We'll get to Grace Slick. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
87. However Much I Booze -- The Who (from The Who by Numbers)

Pete Townshend loved these guitar riffs so much that he reused some of them for "Gonna Get Ya" from his 1980 solo album Empty Glass. Keith Moon delivers an earthshaking performance on the drums as usual. But what sets this one apart are the lyrics -- Townshend was going through a sort of existential crisis around this time. He had turned 30 and was doubting whether rock and roll was for him anymore. He had dealt with this ennui by indulging in booze and drugs -- which he had vigorously renounced during the writing and recording of Tommy. "[The songs] were written with me stoned out of my brain in my living room, crying my eyes out... detached from my own work and from the whole project... I felt empty," Townshend said in 1975. 

And some of the songs reflected that, becoming the most personal tracks The Who had ever recorded. (After Moon's death, Townshend began to reserve this kind of material for his solo albums.) However Much I Booze is the most in your face about it. Over a rollicking arrangement, Townshend constantly bellows "there ain't no way out" of his doldrums and drinking and declares that he feels used. This was a new level of emotional depth for The Who's material.  

ETA: Wiki says Townshend sings lead on this because Roger Daltrey refused to, because he didn't want people to think HE was the one with the drinking problem. 
Click to expand...
I really love this song. Didn’t think it was well known enough to make the list, but I adore it. 

 
84. Monday Morning -- Fleetwood Mac (from Fleetwood Mac)

The first track of the first album by the reconstituted Mac, this signaled that they were no longer a blues band, nor one that churned out Sentimental Lady soundalikes. Lindsey Buckingham trumpets his arrival as a great pop songwriter, giving us an infectious melody and shuffling rhythm that still sticks in the head all these years later. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
timschochet said:
I really love this song. Didn’t think it was well known enough to make the list, but I adore it. 
Click to expand...
I heard it plenty on FM radio as a teen in the '80s, but I dunno if that was a consistent thing across the country or whether the Philly DJs just liked it. 
Click to expand...
FM stations had it on their playlists, we had it on ours and it got heavy rotation.  Good song and Who By Numbers is a great album.

 
Pip's Invitation said:
85. Monday Morning -- Fleetwood Mac (from Fleetwood Mac)

The first track of the first album by the reconstituted Mac, this signaled that they were no longer a blues band, nor one that churned out Sentimental Lady soundalikes. Lindsey Buckingham trumpets his arrival as a great pop songwriter, giving us an infectious melody and shuffling rhythm that still sticks in the head all these years later. 
Click to expand...
Shocked tim didn't squeeze this one into his 100. It's totally in his wheelhouse.

 
Pip's Invitation said:
85. Monday Morning -- Fleetwood Mac (from Fleetwood Mac)

The first track of the first album by the reconstituted Mac, this signaled that they were no longer a blues band, nor one that churned out Sentimental Lady soundalikes. Lindsey Buckingham trumpets his arrival as a great pop songwriter, giving us an infectious melody and shuffling rhythm that still sticks in the head all these years later. 
Click to expand...
I always used to think that on Friday, Lindsay had traffic on his mind. Guess it comes from living around NYC.

 
Dr. Octopus said:
Shocked tim didn't squeeze this one into his 100. It's totally in his wheelhouse.
Click to expand...
Ditto. Maybe he likes Christine and Stevie better than Lindsey, as he had more of their stuff on his list. 

IMO the self-titled album is really no different in sound or in quality from Rumours. The difference is that the Rumours songs are about their dysfunctional behaviors and interpersonal relationships. 

 
83. Ballroom Blitz -- Sweet (from Desolation Boulevard (US version))

This was released as a UK single in 1973, but not in the US until 1975, so it counts. It was included on the US version of the late 1974 album Desolation Boulevard. Sweet was a glam rock outfit that was huge in the UK and had some US success as well, but were mostly forgotten on these shores by the '80s. Use of this song in Wayne's World helped rekindle the memories. Ballroom Blitz, which hit #5, very much has the glam sound of Bowie and (especially) T. Rex, with cutting riffs and vocals that alternate between smooth and campy. The song, based on an incident where they were booed offstage and pelted with bottles (probably because of their glam-rock outfits and makeup), is a very good example of "it has a good beat and you can dance to it." 

3/4 of the members are now dead, with only guitarist Andy Scott, who leads a latter-day version of the band, still alive. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
84. Ballroom Blitz -- Sweet (from Desolation Boulevard (US version))

This was released as a UK single in 1973, but not in the US until 1975, so it counts. It was included on the US version of the late 1974 album Desolation Boulevard. Sweet was a glam rock outfit that was huge in the UK and had some US success as well, but were mostly forgotten on these shores by the '80s. Use of this song in Wayne's World helped rekindle the memories. Ballroom Blitz, which hit #5, very much has the glam sound of Bowie and (especially) T. Rex, with cutting riffs and vocals that alternate between smooth and campy. The song, based on an incident where they were booed offstage and pelted with bottles (probably because of their glam-rock outfits and makeup), is a very good example of "it has a good beat and you can dance to it." 

3/4 of the members are now dead, with only guitarist Andy Scott, who leads a latter-day version of the band, still alive. 
Click to expand...
Great song.   Sweet didn’t get their due in the US.   

 
Pip's Invitation said:
84. Ballroom Blitz -- Sweet (from Desolation Boulevard (US version))

This was released as a UK single in 1973, but not in the US until 1975, so it counts. It was included on the US version of the late 1974 album Desolation Boulevard. Sweet was a glam rock outfit that was huge in the UK and had some US success as well, but were mostly forgotten on these shores by the '80s. Use of this song in Wayne's World helped rekindle the memories. Ballroom Blitz, which hit #5, very much has the glam sound of Bowie and (especially) T. Rex, with cutting riffs and vocals that alternate between smooth and campy. The song, based on an incident where they were booed offstage and pelted with bottles (probably because of their glam-rock outfits and makeup), is a very good example of "it has a good beat and you can dance to it." 

3/4 of the members are now dead, with only guitarist Andy Scott, who leads a latter-day version of the band, still alive. 
Click to expand...
Good tune indeed. I was thinking of another one by them for 1975, but we're not done yet.

Krokus did a reasonably good cover in the '80s. Pure Swiss cheese.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
DocHolliday said:
Great song.   Sweet didn’t get their due in the US.   
Click to expand...
They really didn't. They had a few pretty big singles, but their albums were all strong - yet they got almost no AOR play. 

I think it was Lester Bangs who described them as "bubblegum with teeth"

 
He's baaaaack...

82. Roll Another Number (for the Road) -- Neil Young (from Tonight's the Night)

As if I were haggard and drunk myself, I'm just gonna copy what I said in my Neil countdown:

"This is great drinking music. And not just for the listener. The Tonight's the Night sessions were notoriously conducted with everyone blasted on tequila. And the song itself is about being in an altered state -- with Neil throwing in some sentiments about wanting to ditch the hippie scene ("I'm not goin' back to Woodstock for a while"). It's basically the closest Neil ever got to composing an Irish shanty.
As you might imagine, this is a lot of fun live, and sometimes serves as a closer after everyone is spent (this occurred at my second Neil show in 1996)." 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
zamboni said:
Good tune indeed. I was thinking of another one by them for 1975, but we're not done yet.

Krokus did a reasonably good cover in the '80s. Pure Swiss cheese.
Click to expand...
The cover by Krokus was actually really good if you like that music.   

 
81. In the End -- Rush (from Fly By Night)

Rush released two albums in 1975, but unfortunately they didn't really hit their stride until the following year, and Tim took their best song from '75 (Fly by Night). But I've always liked this one. The guitar chords, first played acoustic and then electric, convey emotion in a way most of their material doesn't (I like most of the stuff in the '76-'82 period for other reasons, though), and are well-matched to the lyrics, one of Neil Peart's early forays into individualism, but with a much more human touch than what would come later. And while this is not a very showy song, there are still some killer fills from Peart. @Ghost Rider didn't have this on his top 50 list, but he didn't have Working Man on it either, so what does he know? 😉

In case you were wondering, some people swear by By-Tor and the Snow Dog, but I find it ridiculous. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
zamboni said:
Krokus did a reasonably good cover in the '80s. Pure Swiss cheese.
Click to expand...
We've spent a couple of weeks talking about Eddie van Halen's influence, and it's certainly here with Krokus' guitar player. 

The over-the-top vocals are one of the things that sell the Sweet version. That's not present here. Dude sounds like Bon Scott on ludes. I'm also not impressed with the rhythm section. This plods where the Sweet version bumps. 

 
Pip's Invitation said:
We've spent a couple of weeks talking about Eddie van Halen's influence, and it's certainly here with Krokus' guitar player. 

The over-the-top vocals are one of the things that sell the Sweet version. That's not present here. Dude sounds like Bon Scott on ludes. I'm also not impressed with the rhythm section. This plods where the Sweet version bumps. 
Click to expand...
Krokus actually preceded VH by a few years, but in the ‘80s, they like everyone else were indeed pretty much channeling Eddie. Lead singer Marc Storace definitely is a Bon Scott rip-off - even looks a bit like him.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
zamboni said:
Krokus actually preceded VH by a few years, but in the ‘80s, they like everyone else were indeed pretty much channeling Eddie. Lead singer Marc Storace definitely is a Bon Scott rip-off - even looks a bit like him.
Click to expand...
Gotcha. I remember Screamin' in the Night but I dunno if I'd ever heard anything else until now. 

 
Pip's Invitation said:
84. Ballroom Blitz -- Sweet (from Desolation Boulevard (US version))

This was released as a UK single in 1973, but not in the US until 1975, so it counts. It was included on the US version of the late 1974 album Desolation Boulevard. Sweet was a glam rock outfit that was huge in the UK and had some US success as well, but were mostly forgotten on these shores by the '80s. Use of this song in Wayne's World helped rekindle the memories. Ballroom Blitz, which hit #5, very much has the glam sound of Bowie and (especially) T. Rex, with cutting riffs and vocals that alternate between smooth and campy. The song, based on an incident where they were booed offstage and pelted with bottles (probably because of their glam-rock outfits and makeup), is a very good example of "it has a good beat and you can dance to it." 

3/4 of the members are now dead, with only guitarist Andy Scott, who leads a latter-day version of the band, still alive. 
Click to expand...
fun song, remember it well

reminds me of another band from the era, Sparks. their biggest hit was in 1974

This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us

 
Pip's Invitation said:
84. Ballroom Blitz -- Sweet (from Desolation Boulevard (US version))

This was released as a UK single in 1973, but not in the US until 1975, so it counts. It was included on the US version of the late 1974 album Desolation Boulevard. Sweet was a glam rock outfit that was huge in the UK and had some US success as well, but were mostly forgotten on these shores by the '80s. Use of this song in Wayne's World helped rekindle the memories. Ballroom Blitz, which hit #5, very much has the glam sound of Bowie and (especially) T. Rex, with cutting riffs and vocals that alternate between smooth and campy. The song, based on an incident where they were booed offstage and pelted with bottles (probably because of their glam-rock outfits and makeup), is a very good example of "it has a good beat and you can dance to it." 

3/4 of the members are now dead, with only guitarist Andy Scott, who leads a latter-day version of the band, still alive. 
Click to expand...
Great song. Sweet has a very diverse catalogue. Listen to this song, Little Willy, No You Don't and Love Is Like Oxygen for example.

 
80. Toys in the Attic -- Aerosmith (from Toys in the Attic) 

As was mentioned in Tim's thread, Toys in the Attic is Aerosmith's best album and is good all the way through. The title track, which kicks it off, is a fierce rocker that to me sounds a bit like Cheap Trick, who wouldn't come on the scene for another couple of years. There's plenty for metalheads to like, but those who like their rock more streamlined and no-nonsense can find something for them as well. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
81. Toys in the Attic -- Aerosmith (from Toys in the Attic) 

As was mentioned in Tim's thread, Toys in the Attic is Aerosmith's best album and is good all the way through. The title track, which kicks it off, is a fierce rocker that to me sounds a bit like Cheap Trick, who wouldn't come on the scene for another couple of years. There's plenty for metalheads to like, but those who like their rock more streamlined and no-nonsense can find something for them as well. 
Click to expand...
Such a tight sound on this one.

 
Here are songs that I considered but cut from the list by artists who appear in entries 89 to 80. In spoiler text for people who don't want to know what is not on the list.

New Birth:

Dream Merchant (from Blind Baby)

This soulful ballad topped the R&B charts and is VERY '70s. The strings, the reverb, the chorus that sounds like it dropped in from Hair, it's all so groovy.

Rush: 

Anthem (from Fly By Night)

Neil Peart's first foray into individualism, libertarianism or whatever you want to call it is named after one of Ayn Rand's books. The intro has some spectacular bass and drum work and the riffage is huge throughout. Warning: This has ammunition for the "Geddy Lee's voice sounds like a dentist's drill" camp. 

Lakeside Park (from Caress of Steel)

A restrained, tuneful song by early Rush standards, this has a nice melody and is based on Peart's memories of working at a carnival in the titular park. No ammunition for the dentist-drill or "their lyrics are for nerds" camps. After Peart's death, a pavilion in Lakeside Park was named after him.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
81. Toys in the Attic -- Aerosmith (from Toys in the Attic) 

As was mentioned in Tim's thread, Toys in the Attic is Aerosmith's best album and is good all the way through. The title track, which kicks it off, is a fierce rocker that to me sounds a bit like Cheap Trick, who wouldn't come on the scene for another couple of years. There's plenty for metalheads to like, but those who like their rock more streamlined and no-nonsense can find something for them as well. 
Click to expand...
I love early Aerosmith as much as I hate them for selling out in the later years.   Once Tyler realized there was a lot of money to me made putting a collection of pop songs and ballads on albums, the rocking stopped.   

Toys is my favorite tune of theirs.  

 
79. As I Come of Age -- Stephen Stills (from Stills)

As I Come of Age, a ballad with prominent harmonies, was supposed to be a focal point of the third CSN(Y) album. Stills debuted it on the 1970 CSNY tour that produced the Four Way Street live album and teased it as such. The band soon broke up, but Stills resisted putting this on any of his first four solo albums, clearly intending it for a reunion album. That looked like it would come in 1974, after CSNY reunited for a tour and then went into the studio. But infighting derailed the sessions two songs in, and everyone retreated to other projects, jaded and bitter. 

In this context, Stills must have decided no more CSN(Y) albums were forthcoming, and finally released As I Come of Age on his fifth solo album, Stills. A reflective musing akin to 4 + 20, the song makes great use of harmonies from Crosby and Nash (who had calmed down enough to help out here) and has some chilling organ passages from Stills. It's too bad this didn't get run on a more high-profile album.

However, despite the yacht rock sound of many of the tracks, Stills is actually quite a good album. It unfairly gets lumped in with his two subsequent solo albums, which are garbage, but this was his best material since the first Manassas record. My theory is that all four of C, S, N and Y upped their songwriting game in 1974 in anticipation of the reunion tour and album. The first albums they recorded after the sessions imploded -- this one, Young's Zuma and Crosby and Nash's Wind on the Water -- are all strong. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
Ha. I was just mentioning in Krista’s solo Beatles thread that I don’t like Sparks.
Click to expand...
That whole album was dreck!

:lmao:

Sister bought it, the family rule was everybody had to keep their records by the console. Yeah, the record player/tv/built-in speakers console. When dad turned the garage into the new great room, the old family room became the listening room/library started collecting dust balls.

There was ONE other good song on the album but I don’t want to unleash any repressed memories by figuring out what it was.

:lol:

 
Pip's Invitation said:
81. Toys in the Attic -- Aerosmith (from Toys in the Attic) 

As was mentioned in Tim's thread, Toys in the Attic is Aerosmith's best album and is good all the way through. The title track, which kicks it off, is a fierce rocker that to me sounds a bit like Cheap Trick, who wouldn't come on the scene for another couple of years. There's plenty for metalheads to like, but those who like their rock more streamlined and no-nonsense can find something for them as well. 
Click to expand...
Our neighbor Merrill heard us playing this one day and liked “Big Ten Inch Record”

:D

“That’s what we used to call Boogie Woogie!”

You’re old, Mr. Kern

 
Pip's Invitation said:
79. SOS -- ABBA (from ABBA)

Yep, I don't hate ABBA either, though I prefer them in small doses. The verses are nothing out of the ordinary for a standard pop ballad of the time, but the choruses are spectacular, and have an emotional and musical intensity usually missing from this kind of music. 
Click to expand...
Their vocal harmonies and keyboards are fantastic. Pop music at it's 1970s best.

 
77. Sun Goddess -- Ramsey Lewis and Earth, Wind and Fire (released as a single; live version appears on Gratitude)

Maurice White produced and co-wrote this 8-minute atmospheric jazz/soul excursion (the only vocals are wordless) but had EWF record it with jazz keyboardist Ramsey Lewis and initially release it on Lewis' late 1974 album of the same name. A shorter version was released as a single in early 1975, probably to capitalize on the success of EWF's Shining Star single (included in Tim's list). The insistent groove, syncopated rhythm and potential for theatrics meant it was a natural for EWF's stage show, so it was also included on their mostly live Gratitude double album later that year. It's one of my favorite blissed-out mid-70s jawns. 

The link above is the studio version. Here is the live Gratitude version, which grooves a bit louder and harder, especially Verdine White's bass parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NLbHcuNJg

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
78. Sun Goddess -- Ramsey Lewis and Earth, Wind and Fire (released as a single; live version appears on Gratitude)

Maurice White produced and co-wrote this 8-minute atmospheric jazz/soul excursion (the only vocals are wordless) but had EWF record it with jazz keyboardist Ramsey Lewis and initially release it on Lewis' late 1974 album of the same name. A shorter version was released as a single in early 1975, probably to capitalize on the success of EWF's Shining Star single (included in Tim's list). The insistent groove, syncopated rhythm and potential for theatrics meant it was a natural for EWF's stage show, so it was also included on their mostly live Gratitude double album later that year. It's one of my favorite blissed-out mid-70s jawns. 

The link above is the studio version. Here is the live Gratitude version, which grooves a bit louder and harder, especially Verdine White's bass parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NLbHcuNJg
Click to expand...
Great album, love this jam. So smooth.

This is the kind of LP kids find in thrift stores and are blown away when they play it at home. 

 
76. Good Lovin' Gone Bad -- Bad Company (from Straight Shooter)

This was about as gruff as AOR got. Paul Rodgers' vocal virtually growls, and Mick Ralphs' guitar riffs are equally gritty. The lyrics explain why they appear to be so pissed off. Believe it or not, this was the first single from Straight Shooter (Feel Like Makin' Love was second). 

The next four entries are songs that would all have been categorized differently when they came out, but we now call yacht rock. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pip's Invitation said:
77. Good Lovin' Gone Bad -- Bad Company (from Straight Shooter)

This was about as gruff as AOR got. Paul Rodgers' vocal virtually growls, and Mick Ralphs' guitar riffs are equally gritty. The lyrics explain why they appear to be so pissed off. Believe it or not, this was the first single from Straight Shooter (Feel Like Makin' Love was second). 

The next four entries are songs that would all have been categorized differently when they came out, but we now call yacht rock. 
Click to expand...
Bad Company was in my wheelhouse, as I was 13 years old at the time this record came out. But, even then, they pissed me off. They had talented folks in the band (there may be no more wasted talent in rock history than Paul Rodgers' voice), but they just never got above.......boring.......... to me (among 70s rock bands, only Steve Miller would put me to sleep faster). They plodded, man - like wading through knee-high sludge.

That said, I like some of their songs - like this one - if I don't have to listen to too many in a row.

And I will never forgive them for their God-awful cover of "Young Blood".

 
Pip's Invitation said:
77. Good Lovin' Gone Bad -- Bad Company (from Straight Shooter)

This was about as gruff as AOR got. Paul Rodgers' vocal virtually growls, and Mick Ralphs' guitar riffs are equally gritty. The lyrics explain why they appear to be so pissed off. Believe it or not, this was the first single from Straight Shooter (Feel Like Makin' Love was second). 

The next four entries are songs that would all have been categorized differently when they came out, but we now call yacht rock. 
Click to expand...
Paul Rodgers far from boring, great 70s guitar based group.  Nails that 70s sound.

 
Pip's Invitation said:
78. Sun Goddess -- Ramsey Lewis and Earth, Wind and Fire (released as a single; live version appears on Gratitude)

Maurice White produced and co-wrote this 8-minute atmospheric jazz/soul excursion (the only vocals are wordless) but had EWF record it with jazz keyboardist Ramsey Lewis and initially release it on Lewis' late 1974 album of the same name. A shorter version was released as a single in early 1975, probably to capitalize on the success of EWF's Shining Star single (included in Tim's list). The insistent groove, syncopated rhythm and potential for theatrics meant it was a natural for EWF's stage show, so it was also included on their mostly live Gratitude double album later that year. It's one of my favorite blissed-out mid-70s jawns. 

The link above is the studio version. Here is the live Gratitude version, which grooves a bit louder and harder, especially Verdine White's bass parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NLbHcuNJg
Click to expand...
I bought a Rhodes 88 formerly owned by Ramsey Lewis in Reno in 1987. His signature was burnt into the soundboard. I got a sense from the seller it was from his tour kit and not home/studio used, but you never know. Could that be it? Don't matter - "In Crowd" was played on it by one of the first masters of the electric piano. Gave it to my son's mother when i left Reno. I'm guessing he has it now.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

timschochet
The 100 Greatest Songs of 1974 #26. Kung Fu Fighting
8 9 10
Replies
454
Views
34K
Pip's Invitation
Pip's Invitation
timschochet
Timmy’s 53 favorite obscure tunes #1. P.F. Sloan
2 3 4
Replies
194
Views
15K
Pip's Invitation
Pip's Invitation
Psychopav
Dolly Parton Rockstar
Replies
27
Views
1K
the moops
the moops

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)
Top