Just about anyone from my generation who became a teenager in the 1970s is going to be extremely familiar with today’s Sunday Big Note artist. Indeed, the debut solo effort by this group – Tales of Mystery and Imagination, released in 1976 – is considered to be a classic album. Of course, I’m speaking of The Alan Parsons Project.
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Tag: classic albums
Supertramp – Crisis? What Crisis?
One of the most overlooked albums of the 1970s, in my opinion, is Supertramp‘s 1975 release ‘Crisis? What Crisis?‘ which was often relegated to the bargain bins of record stores. I’ve never understood why progressive rock fans weren’t more accepting of this album. It definitely deserves more accolades than it has received.
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Mallard on Rockpalast, 1976
In 1974, Bill Harkleroad (Zoot Horn Rollo), Mark Boston (Rockette Morton) and Art Tripp III (Ed Marimba) left Captain Beefheart‘s Magic Band to form the new band, Mallard. Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull fame), a Magic Band fan and friend of Mark Boston, financed their eponymous album, Mallard, which resulted in their signing with Virgin Records UK in 1975. A second album, In A Different Climate, was released a year later. On this second album, George Draggota took over on drums from Tripp, John Thomas took over keyboards from John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick. These two with Bill Harkleroad, Mark Boston and Sam Galpin were the band that toured Europe and performed the German TV Show ‘Rockpalast’ on September 7th, 1976.
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The Tubes, “Young and Rich” Tour, 1976
Michael Cotten, director and coordinator of The Tubes Project, has done a superb job combining still photography and the soundboard recording of The Tubes May 8th, 1976, Buffalo, New York show from their “Young and Rich” Tour.
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Gil Scott-Heron at Wolfgang’s Vault
Activist poet and musician, Gil Scott-Heron’s musical career began in the late ’60s. He quickly emerged as a sharp, intelligent critic of contemporary culture, boasting terrific jazz-styled accompaniment. By the late ’70s, Scott-Heron’s sound had adopted a bit more of a contemporary R&B aesthetic, but his jazz roots remain clear. He hasn’t released any new recorded material since 1994’s Spirits, and in the early ’00s, faced prison time for drug possession charges. He has since been released, and as of early 2009, he is working on a new record, and still makes occasional live appearances.
Playing the Madison Square Garden stage on September 23rd, 1979, taking part in the famous series of “No Nukes” concerts organized by the Musicians United for Safe Energy, he reveals not just his politics yet a driving fusion between his worlds of jazz, poetry, and R&B.
Gil Scott-Heron – vocals
Robert Gordon – bass
Tony Green – drums
Carl Cornwell – saxophone
Ed Brady – guitar
Just click here to sign up and register for a free account to listen to this and other great concerts.
As an added bonus, the two following tracks are from Gil Scott-Heron’s seminal album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974):
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/01-the-revolution-will-not-be-televised.mp3]
Home Is Where The Hatred Is
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/07-home-is-where-the-hatred-is.mp3]
John Mayall & His Bluesbreakers
Now that the weekend is here, and you’ve finally got some room to move, why not kick it off with these two live videos of John Mayall and His Bluesbreakers (probably the seminal british blues band) performing “An Eye For An Eye” and “Room To Move”. Just think of all the fantastic musicians who were Bluesbreakers at one time or other: Peter Green, Eric Clapton, John McVie, Don “Sugarcane” Harris, Aynsley Dunbar, and Mick Taylor just to name a handful. To this day, The Turning Point, John Mayall’s live album recorded at Bill Graham‘s Fillmore East on July 12, 1969, is still one of my top ten albums.
Note: In November 2008 Mayall announced on his website he was disbanding the Bluesbreakers to cut back on his heavy workload and give himself freedom to work with other musicians.
The Tubes — Poland Whole/Madam I’m Adam
In this video, The Tubes are captured performing one of their classic songs from their Young and Rich album in December, 2005, in their home base: San Francisco (While the audio quality is just above average, the energy of the band and the song still come through loud and clear). As an additional treat for Tubes fans, the following is an excerpt from their April 21st, 1977 show at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco:
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/2-11-pimp1.mp3]Jethro Tull @ Fillmore East 1970
Let’s all climb aboard the YouTube time machine and trip back to the year 1970 at the Fillmore East where Jethro Tull is captured performing two tracks from their 1969 release, Stand Up: “A New Day Yesterday” and “For A Thousand Mothers”. Got to love the energy and enthusiasm in these videos. Well worth the trip.