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Genesis: Selling England By the Pound, The Who: Quadrophenia, and much, much more; Fifty Year Friday: October 1973

Genesis: Selling England By the Pound

Released on either September 29, 1973, or more likely October 5, 1973, “Selling England by The Pound” stands as one of the finest progressive rock albums of the 1970s. The sound is superior to that of their previous album, “Foxtrot,” and the music maintains the same level of excellence. It adeptly balances instrumental passages with vocal sections, blending humor (seen in tracks like “The Battle of Epping Forest” and “Aisle of Plenty”) with more serious compositions.

“Firth of Fifth” (note the humor in the title, which is a reference to Firth of Forth , the fjord of the Forth river, in Scotland, north and northwest of Edinburgh) is my favorite track, particularly due to is introductory theme on piano, later reprised by the group, but there is not a single weak moment on the entire album — and quite an album it is, with seven perfectly realized tracks totaling over fifty-eight minutes of magnificent music.

The Who: Quadrophenia

Released on October 19, 1973, this is the Who’s masterpiece about teenage alienation, angst, attitude, and the multiple personalities vying for integration into the evolving identity of an individual. It also addresses the weaknesses within the UK social system and the moments of solace that British youth of the 1960s sought and found in music and by the seaside. Moreover, this work is an astounding musical achievement, characterized by skillful thematic reiteration. Its musical content can be enjoyed both on a visceral level and intellectually, making it enduringly captivating upon repeated listens. Notably, the lyrics were deftly incorporated into music that was apparently written first, and Townshend has delivered exceptionally well-crafted lyrics that serve as the narrative backbone.

Effectively, this is a rock opera set in 1965, centering around a singular British youth, inspired by conversations Pete Townshend had with early fans of The Who. A significant distinction is that, unlike “Tommy,” which featured two songs by John Entwistle, one by Keith Moon, and a reworking of a Sonny Boy Williamson tune, all the original material here is authored by Pete Townshend. The emphasis is on “initial”, since Townshend intentionally provided a framework of lyrics, melody and chords that would develop into final arrangements through Townshend’s working with the band and the studio equipment to achieve the final product. So though Townshend deserves appropriate credit here for the authorship of this impressive work, it is The Who, as a band, that must be recognized for making this an enduring classic.

For those interested in additional information on this great album, please check out this track-by-track review by Caryn Rose written back in 2013 for Quadrophenia‘s 40th anniversary: Track-By-Track Review

Return to Forever: Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy

Released sometime in October 1973, this third album from Return to Forever magically and masterfully weaves together elements of jazz, fusion and progressive rock. Chick Corea dazzling keyboards and his other worldly — no, make that other galactic — compositions just radiate throughout this album. Fellow band members, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Bill Connors are equally up to the challenge, with Mr. Clark providing a wonderfully radiant composition of his own, “After the Cosmic Rain” and exhibiting Olympic-level mastery on electric bass. The coup de grâce is the last track, “The Game Maker”, breathtakingly piloting us over intricate, wondrously, shifting musical landscapes.

Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The one obstacle that prevented The Who’s Quadrophenia ever getting to the number one album spot in the UK or in the US, was the multi-million-sales avalanche of Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, released on October 5, 1973, almost two weeks before Quadrophenia. Of the slightly over one hundred million copies of albums Elton has sold, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road accounts for over thirty-one million, and continues to sell in substantial quantities to new Elton John fans today.

Rather than compose music and then fit lyrics into the music, Elton John’s method in the 1970’s, like that of many songwriters, was to take already written lyrics, in Elton’s case partnering with Bernie Taupin, and then create music too complement those lyrics. Considering the nature of many of Taupin’s lyrics, it is rather incredible that Elton created so many highly popular and widely-appealing songs from the initial material. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, in a sense a loose or partial concept album, provides insight into Elton’s range of compositional skills, with the initial track, “Funeral For A Friend:, being one of his rare instrumentals, providing a glimpse into the depth of his creativity when not bound by lyrics. This instrumental introduction is effectively paired with “Love Lies Bleeding” providing an almost progressive-rock opening for the album.

Overall the album is quite good and along with his two albums from 1970 (Elton John and Tumbleweed Connection) and his live album from that period (17-11-70) are a set of his works I hold in high esteem. Now, though the first side and last side of the original 2 LP “GYBR” is indispensable, as is the first track of side two, and the last track of side three, the material in between could be omitted, to get a very fine single LP album, at a total length of around 45 minutes. Now some may wish to further add another track like “The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909–34)” resulting in an album that still comfortably adheres to standard LP limits. That said, the CD, containing over 76 minutes of the original material, is now sold at roughly the same price as other Elton John albums from the early seventies — so even though a slimmer, arguably better album could be achieved, what’s the point — given how effortless it is to replay favored tracks on a CD or to skip those not currently of interest.

Billy Cobham: Spectrum

Spectrum, Billy Cobham’s first album as a leader, released October, 1, 1973, is as impressive and important as any fusion album of 1973. The combination of Cobham and Jan Hammer dominate the album, and the supporting resources, particularly Tommy Bolin who is present on over half of the musical material, round out this excellent work. Album includes duets between Cobham and Hammer, Hammer soloing on acoustic piano on the beautiful ballad, “To the Woman but it is the longer tracks, and several lengthier tracks including the opening track, “Quadrant 4” full of energy and purpose, “Stratus” with remarkable bass work from Leland Sklar, and the fast-paced, electrically-charged title track, “Spectrum” with Joe Farrell on sax and flute, and Jimmy Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn.

Gryphon: Gryphon

Gryphon’s first album is a unique blend of folk and rock, incorporating both modern elements (guitar, bass, bassoon, trombone, drums) and earlier musical instrumentation (mandolin, recorder, crumhorn) into a successful set of songs. In late 1973, there were several folk rock groups, such as Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and Pentangle, but Gryphon, with two of the group members—Brian Gulland and Richard Harvey, both graduates of London’s Royal College of Music—distinguish themselves through a level of originality that transcends replicating traditional Celtic folk harmonies and melodies. Their occasional use of late 19th-century and 20th-century dissonance, not found in traditional English, Irish, Scottish, or Welsh music, coupled with their colorful and sometimes unconventional instrumentation, creates a new sound that effectively captures and maintains the listener’s attention. Later, the group would develop a more progressive-rock sound, but this first album is a fine one, deserving to be enjoyed and appreciated on its own terms.

Renaissance: Ashes are Burning

Renaissance’s fourth album, “Ashes are Burning,” was released on October 10, 1973. The album opens with full intensity, featuring the instrumental introduction of “Can You Understand?” This segues into the introspective acoustic main section, accompanied by some orchestration, showcasing Annie Haslam’s spellbinding vocals. The introductory material returns to conclude the piece. Such artistry and high-quality musical content are defining characteristics of this album, effectively blending classical, folk, and rock elements. The album concludes with the majestically crafted and musically uplifting “Ashes are Burning,” providing an emotionally captivating ending to a highly enjoyable album.

Herbie Hancock: Head Hunters

Released on October 26, 1973, and recorded the previous month, this landmark album signifies a conscious shift in direction for Mr. Hancock. It departs from his previous, more progressive and adventurous modal-based music, embracing a solidly tonal funky style of jazz. For this endeavor, he replaced all the members of his previous sextet except for himself and the talented Bennie Maupin on reeds. Remarkably, this jazz album achieved significant commercial success, foreshadowing George Benson’s stunning commercial breakthrough three years later.

The album starts off with “Chameleon,” featuring its initial foundation of two relentlessly repeated bass figures. However, the music is far from stagnant; it organically develops as it progresses, with the bass occasionally taking a secondary role but always remaining fundamental to the overall forward motion. The improvisation, while solidly jazz-based, aligns with a generally funky mood. Toward the end of “Chameleon,” we encounter sparkling chord changes reminiscent of a chameleon changing its exterior color, yet it retains its essential nature—similar to the music—concluding with a more static, funky ending. This is followed by an abstracted, funky rendition of Hancock’s classic, “Watermelon Man,” creatively presented to sound fresh, innovative, and slightly futuristic.

Side two starts with “Sly,” a vibrant homage to Sly Stone that includes some wild, abandoned, but clearly intricate interplay between Maupin’s sax and Hancock’s keyboards. This dynamic exchange offers all the excitement and vigor of the free jazz of the era, yet within a tonal, structured framework—making it accessible to a wide range of listeners. The album concludes with the reflective jazz tone poem, “Vein Melter,” seemingly representing the impact of heroin. The sense of time is significantly slowed by the floating, detached music, free from earthly worries or concerns. Notice the slow beat that initiates, persists, and concludes the track, possibly symbolizing the futility of the heroin experience. This second side, featuring “Sly” and “Vein Melter,” stands as one of the best single LP sides of any album from the 1970s.

Kraftwerk: Ralf und Florian

Released sometime in October1973, Ralf und Florian is the third studio album by the soon-to-be influential German electronic music pioneers, Kraftwerk. At this time there group is just the two former students of Düsseldorf’s Robert Schumann Conservatorium, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider The album is influenced heavily by “classical” or conservatory/university ideas about electronic music, but it is clear that a more accessible element is added into their works. This is far from their pop-flavored, and very influential, fourth album, but it still holds a special place in the band’s discography, marking that important transitional phase between their early “experimental” electronic work and the groundbreaking sound they would later be known for. The most intriguing work on the colorfully diverse side one is the pattern-based “Kristallo.” The second side open with “Tanzmusik”, which comes the closest to the music of their next album, with its lighthearted texture, vocoder-enhanced vocals and relentless drive. The album concludes strongly with the longest track, the relatively accessible “Ananas Symphonie” (“Pineapples Symphony”) with the vocoder, this time, used to modulate their voices to sound detached and machine-like. Ironically, though, the piece also creates a relaxing, mediative soundscape reminiscent of a tropical island — pineapples and traces of seashore sounds included.

Caravan: For Girls That Grow Plump in the Night; Lou Reed: Berlin

With changes to their lineup, the loss of bassist Richard Sinclair and keyboardist Steve Miller and the addition of Richard’s cousin, Dave Sinclair on keyboards, and Geoff Richardson on viola, Caravan moves away from the more progressive, jazz-infused sound of their previous album, to a less progressive sound infused with some pop elements of the late sixties The highlight of this fifth studio album, released on October 5th, 1973, is the medley on the last track, “L’Auberge Du Sanglier / A Hunting We Shall Go / Pengola / Backwards / A Hunting We Shall Go – Reprise”, which includes strong guitar work from Pye Hastings, impressive electric viola and cello from Richardson and Paul Buckmaster, respectively, some sensitive acoustic piano from Dave Sinclair and a solid orchestral arrangement from John Bell and Martyn Ford.

Also, on October 5, 1973, Lou Reed releases his poignant concept album, Berlin. Though not as melodically memorable as his previous album, and with some musical content from earlier works recycled or redeployed, the album is still deserving of attention. The last track, in particular, provides an affecting and fitting conclusion to the work.

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Album review, Fifty Year Friday, Folk Rock, Funk, Fusion Jazz, Hard Rock, jazz, Jazz Rock, Music, Progressive Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: September 1973

Gentle Giant: In a Glass House

With one good debut album and three excellent albums that followed, Gentle Giant released their fifth album in the UK on the 21st of September, 1973. One of the key band members, Phil Shulman, who had provided both lead and backing vocals, sax, and even some trumpet and clarinet, as well as being a significant contributor of the music and lyrics, determined that touring and other hardships were not for him and his family — and so left the band. With his absence, the group forged a slightly new direction into generally a heavier prog-rock sound with Derek Shulman taking on more lead vocals and Kerry Minnear and Ray Shulman making a greater contribution musically. The result was another excellent album, and for many, their best album yet. Unfortunately, Columbia records, which had released Octopus inin the states, didn’t much care for the music and passed on releasing it to the U.S. market. Certainly a bad decision for both Columbia and the band, as the album did relatively well in the UK, and due to its heavier sound and preference for electric instruments over acoustic would have been a more accessible album for the American public. In fact, although not available as an American release, the import of the UK album ended up becoming one of the best selling imports, selling over 150,000 copies despite the difficulties consumers had in obtaining a copy. Ultimately, the music found its way on to an American release in CD format many years later..

The album is a loose concept album more or less covering the fragility of the human psyche with a general progression from the more degraded states (criminal, psychotic) to more common/normal/prevalent states. The metaphor conveyed in the album’s title is that we live in a glass house, fragile and assailable. The music effectively complements the lyrics resulting in the prog-rock equivalent of a 19th century song-cycle — comprising a collection of interconnected songs, six in this instance. Each song delves into a different aspect of our delicate existence, with the implicit analogy being that, to some extent, we reside in a fragile state, much like an occupant in a glass house. The album begins with the shattering, terrifying, possibly panic-inducing sound of breaking glass, that condenses into a repeated loop in 5/4 time, representing a sort of PTSD-burdened recovery that moves forward, obstinately, enduringly, into the vacillating stream of precarious living. The music that follows is uninhibited and infectious — almost celebratory of the flight of the runaway described in “and free is his future”, yet there is no joy, for “all thoughts are scarred” and hopes are “stained with strange regret”; his dreams are dreams that “he cannot get.”

Next we have a passage of that wonderful Gentle Giant “stride” style (see Fifty Year Friday: July 1971 with additional examples mentioned in Fifty Year Friday: December 1972, Fifty Year Friday: April 1972, Fifty Year Friday: November 1970) followed by a sharp, brittle-ish marimba solo and some moog, haunting vocals, another brief dash of moog and the return of the main theme with final lyrics reminding us of the elusiveness of long-dreamed-for, long-desired freedom: “Senses like sharpened sword, guards for the shadow on his tail.”

While the first track, “The Runaway”, nicely covers “imprisonment escaped yet freedom unachieved”, the second track, “An Inmate’s Lullaby” explores further degradation of the human state where the subject, an insane asylum patient, hopelessly and pathologically absorbed in an opaque internal reality doesn’t have awareness of his own imprisonment..

Gentle Giant’s and Minnear’s unique approach to repetition saturates the musical essence that supports the lyrics. The track opens with celeste, vibraphone, and glockenspiel, accompanied by overlapping vocals from Derek and Kerry, as well as more vibraphone and marimba. The music is disjointed and eerie at times, reminiscent of a diseased mind. The mallet and celeste work by Minnear is generally simple but highly effective, supported nicely by Weathers’ appropriately-timed rhythmic interjections.

The third track, “Way of Life,” which is the last on side one, begins as a musical whirlwind — energetic and occasionally more raw and relaxed, but with interjected, repeated, pointillistic musical cells. The second theme contrasts as a beautiful ballad sung by Minnear, evoking reflection and wistfulness. It’s restated at a higher volume instrumentally, followed by a dramatic transitional passage that guides us into a brief reprise of the first theme. This is then succeeded by an organ-dominated reiteration of the second theme, featuring a yearning repeated organ passage that concludes side one, repeating until it gradually fades away.

Side Two opens up with “Experience” which starts out reflecting on the selfishness of youth, music nicely supporting the character’s musings: “Once I was a boy, and innocent to life and my role in it.” This is interspersed with instrumental commentary, repetition-based, and exquisitely layered with multiple instruments. Included is a subtle motific reference (unveiled to the listener by Phil on bass) to the later hard-rock chorus-like section. But before this “chorus” section, we have a new section with organ and discant recorder presenting a new theme, reflecting the view of maturity, “Now I am a man, I realize my unwordly sins pained many lives.” Included in this is multiple reiterations of the bass-line motif until it explodes into the next section, the loud volume hard-rock chorus with Derek on vocals thunderously proclaiming “I’ve mastered inner voices (for?, of?) making any choices.” Next is a short instrumental section, trademark Gentle Giant repetition, with a stretto-like tail, followed by a short reference to earlier material with bass motif intact, and then a repetition of the chorus with additional electric guitar material from Gary Green. Next is a brief reprise of the opening material with a coda based on earlier material, repeated to the close of the track. All in all, this track offers a truly musical experience, featuring multiple musically diverse yet seemingly related sections, and multiple time signatures that seamlessly work together to form a unified whole.

The fifth track of the album, “A Reunion, is the shortest (two minutes, eleven seconds) and most beautiful section of the album with Phil and Kerry providing string accompaniment (Phil on violin, Kerry on cello) accompanied with acoustic guitar. While the lyrics start off as the innocuous and tender, sentimental reflection of the past spurred by a chance meeting of former partners (lovers, business partners, band members, etc.), the relation of this song to the “glass house” concept is soon revealed: “Sharing thoughts and deeds, simple harmony, plans and hopes erased in our maturity. Now, tomorrow’s dreams are now yesterday” — making this beautiful ballad notably bitter-sweet.

The album ends with the title track, a summation, with very dark lyrics, but very upbeat, exciting music. Much that we identify as classic, post-Octopus, Gentle Giant is included here, the compact phrase-based repetition, instrumental interplay and imitation, Derek’s intense, assertive vocals, multiple time signatures, what I call the Gentle Giant “stride-style” (at the 3:03 mark), and overall infectious music that (depending on the listener) results in listener euphoria. This amazing album then ends with a short unlisted track that is a concatenation of short samples of each track.

Like many long-time Gentle Giant fans, I cannot readily answer what my favorite album is; each is distinct, and even the multiple weaker albums that follow the 1975 Free Hand album have some indispensable material. My best reply to any query about my favorite GG album, is to reference my personal list of Must Listen to Music.

Eloy: Inside

Eloy’s second album, Inside, is a bleak and dense offering, a dark blend of intricate musical craftsmanship. The centerpiece instrument is the electric organ, the sole keyboard used throughout the album. The thick textures are unusually mesmerizing without ever risking tediousness or monotony, and over the course of the album, they provide an overarching binding element.

Such is the consistency of the bleakness that even toward the end of the first track, during a section of repeated triad-based arpeggios—a typical prog technique often bringing a sense of elation and energy—this passage remains dimly shaded due to the music’s minor tonal center.

A notable point to mention is that the second track bears a recognizable similarity to the musical style of Jethro Tull’s Aqualung. This similarity led to substantial FM radio airplay, which, in turn, contributed to bolstering the American sales of Inside.

Faust: Faust IV


With their fourth studio album, released on September 21, 1973, Faust delivers an exemplary masterclass in German Progressive Rock. The first track, appropriately titled “Krautrock,” stands out as the highlight of the album, providing a perfect example of the driving, hypnotic style of “Kosmische Musik” that would soon become the signature of groups like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. The second track, “The Sad Skinhead” mixes reggae and punk elements to provide appropriate musical support for commentary on the ethical character of the second iteration of the skinhead — not the relatively harmless skinhead of the sixties, but the fascist-leaning, violent skinhead that would gain numbers in the late seventies. The lyrics reflect this shift: “Apart from all the bad times you gave me, I always felt good with you. Going places, smashing faces, what else could we do? What else could we do?

The remainder of the album continues with a diversity of German Progressive Rock substyles. The third track, “Jennifer”, starts off with a portentous bass that soon provides the foundation for lighter, more dreamy music with repetitive lyrics, followed by a storm of electronic effects and then some rag-tag, saloon piano to finish off the first side of the LP. The second side is also adventurous with five diverse compositions including “Just a Second” with its repetitive bass and expressive electric guitar that gives way to a Stockhausen-like “electroacoustic music” second section, “”Giggy Smile” in 13/8. The final track “It’s a Bit of a Pain”, opens up acoustically, and serenely, eventually followed by strategically placed electronic effects providing the appropriate musical irritation.

Frank Zappa and the Mothers: Over-Nite Sensation

Released on September 7, 1973, and recorded at the same time as Zappa’s “Apostrophe” solo album, this work artfully brings together rock, progressive rock, jazz-rock, and R&B elements (with uncredited backup vocals provided by Tina Turner and the Ikettes). Though progressive and musically innovative, it is still easily accessible to a wide range of listeners. One may possibly find the often sexually-focused lyrics clever, witty, and sardonic, providing an often detached, dry-humored commentary—or perhaps one will perceive them as waywardly placed in the deeper recesses of the gutter. However, the music itself is generally elevated, showcasing outstanding solo work, including saxophone (Ian Underwood, of course), keyboards (George Duke), and guitar (Zappa), complemented by some excellent mallet work from Ruth Underwood. The music is inherently entertaining, and I believe that it likely had a strong influence on the San Francisco-based Tubes, who began releasing albums in 1975.

Art Blakey: Anthenagin

Including remaining tracks from the same March 26-29 sessions used for the Buhaina album, Anthenagin is a particularly enjoyable album with Woody Shaw’s brilliant trumpet radiantly shining during his various solos. Cedar Walton is mostly on electric piano except for the introduction of “Without A Song” and for the entirety of Walton’s “Fantasy in D”, the latter being my favorite track on the album. And though my preference would be to have Walton play piano for all the tracks, his electric piano is crucial to the overall impact of another one of his compositions on the album, the title track, “Anthenagin.” This album, sadly, appears to have never been released on CD, but is available on streaming services and on the original Prestige LPs.

Vangelis: Earth

Earth, Vangelis first official solo studio album, stands as a testament to Vangelis’s pioneering spirit and creative prowess, marking his inaugural foray into the realm of official studio albums. Within this musical odyssey, Vangelis reveals not only his compositional finesse but also his remarkable aptitude for arrangement and his astute selection of instruments. While certain moments of the album’s foundational melodic and harmonic material are less than notable , it’s through Vangelis’s virtuosic touch that these seemingly straightforward elements metamorphose into a tapestry of captivating sonic storytelling.

Vangelis’s deliberate curation of instruments becomes a central pillar of the album’s enchantment. His choices encompass a diverse array of sonic colors, each instrument meticulously positioned to weave its own narrative thread. Through this meticulous crafting, the album transcends its individual components, elevating them to become harmonious voices within a grand symphony of sound. Vangelis’s ability to orchestrate these instruments with precision and sensitivity results in a truly immersive experience, where listeners are invited to traverse the intricate landscapes he has diligently designed.

Osanna: Palepoli

Episodic with a few rough edges, Osanna’s 1973 album provides a great immersive listening experience from its relaxed unhurried world-music opening that breaks unabashedly into a passage of celebratory, Italian folk-based dance music until it closes with a mysterious coda based on the opening of Stravinsksy’s The Firebird. This isn’t just Italian Progressive Rock, this is Neapolitan Progressive Rock at its best — uninhibitedly creative and reveling in musical freedom!

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Album review, Fifty Year Friday, Gentle Giant, jazz, Progressive Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: February 1973

Camel: Camel

As progressive rock continued to gain traction and garner more and more fans in the UK , The U.S and throughout Europe, Camel released their very first effort, a fine self-titled album, at the end of February 1973.

The album starts relatively conventional with the vocal section of “Slow Yourself Down”, which shifts into a less conventional instrumental section including some notably strong guitar. The second track, “Mystic Queen” is a good representation of the mellow, more reflective nature of Camel’s recognizable style with a pleasant balance of the electric and the acoustic and with some pleasant acoustic guitar and flute. This album continues with the instrumental, “Six Ate”, a bit uneven in places, and the upbeat “Separation”, with nicely mixers vocals with instrumentals including the final stand out instrumental passage, possibly influenced by Genesis’s “The Return of the Giant Hogweed”. “Never Let Go” is Camel at what they do best, mellow, flute-infused instrumentation — music that is spaced, properly paced, and slightly spacey. The same can be said of the next track, “Curiosity”, which nicely blends the delicate and expressive. The final instrumental, “Arubaluba” ends the album containing some strong drumming by Andy Ward. All in all a strong first album.

Blue Öyster Cult: Tyranny and Mutation

Blue Öyster Cult first album cover was an unique black and white cover, and they followed this up with another mostly black and white cover but adding a tasteful amount of red, as shown above, to further enhance this memorable album cover. Similarly, with Tyranny and Mutation, released on February 11, 1973, Blue Öyster Cult further enhanced their musical style from that first album, becoming more innovative, distinctive, and even exotic, broadening their sound and extending their range of expressiveness. And in spite of the interesting, one-of-a-kind approach, perhaps one could correctly claim that it is this group as captured in this album, and not the even more idiosyncratic Black Sabbath or the more foundational Led Zeppelin, that truly provides the template of the unashamedly, and unrelentingly aggressive heavy metal sound for the rest of the 1970s and the 1980s.

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Album review, Fifty Year Friday, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: December 1972

Gentle Giant: Octopus

Fifty years ago, 1972 was coming to a close with the usual releases of albums in November and December coinciding with the holidays. One of the best out of the very best of those albums, was Gentle Giant’s fourth album, Octopus, named for the eight “opuses” included in the album. Appropriate, for sure, as all eight tracks are worthy of bearing that often historically and musically important designation. The instrumentation is richly diverse with Gary Green providing his usual impressive electric guitar work, Welsh drummer John Weathers replacing the injured Malcom Mortimore, on drums, and providing bongos, varispeed cymbals, and some enduringly memorable xylophone, Kerry Minnear on acoustic piano, electric piano, the renaissance-era regal (organ), electric organ, moog, mellotron, clavinet, vibraphone, other percussion, cello and, of course, lead and backing vocals, Ray Shulman on bass guitar, acoustic violin and viola, electric violin, acoustic guitar, percussion, and vocals, Derek Shulman on sax and lead vocals, and Phil Shulman. in his last studio appearance with his brothers, on tenor and baritone sax, trumpet, mellophone and lead and backing vocals.

The album opens up softly and intimately with Kerry Minnear’s “The Advent of Panurge” with interlaced vocals (I believe Minnear and Phil Shulman) followed by a hard-rock interlude that includes the classical technique (Haydn, Beethoven) of compacting a repeated motif to create heightened tension and energy leading into a temporary vocal handoff to the more dramatic Derek Shulman, then vocals becoming intimate again with Phil, then a short mystical section, returning to the opening melody with the stretto-like compressive technique followed with a strong ending with Derek again on vocals.

The second track, Minnear’s “Raconteur Troubadour” takes us back to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, before exploring an Elgar-like melody, that moves into a more twentieth century feel with trumpet before another verse and chorus of the main melody ending with a repeated motif slowly unwinding the work to a stop.

Ray Shulman’s “A Cry for Everyone”, takes us into harder progressive rock mode, with Derek on vocals, and some brief flamboyant moog garnishes followed by some more instrumental including that unique Gentle Giant “stride” style (see Fifty Year Friday: July 1971), interrupted with some more moog flourishes, returning to a third verse of the main melody, and concluding with a brief coda.

The first side ends with Minnear’s contrapuntally clever “Knots”, which sets excerpts from R.D. Laing’s psychological-themed poetry of the same name. Besides a mix of Renaissance and prog imitative counterpoint, hocketing, and some additional madrigal-like Renaissance handling of the words and musical material there is a contrasting, more contemporary, prog-rock, second theme, Weathers mirthful xylophone interlude, an instrumental transformation of the earlier material prepping for and then interlaced with the return of the original material followed by a repeat of the secondary theme ending the piece. Whew! What an exciting four minutes of music seemingly covering as much ground as covered by some lesser prog-rocks groups on much lengthier tracks!

Side two is equally strong, opening with Ray Shulman’s instrumental “The Boys in the Band” reminiscent of Frank Zappa’s best material of the early seventies. The next track is Minnear’s Renaissance-like “Dog’s Life, “a backhanded tribute” to the band’s roadies with the regal providing a shawm-sounding whine, complemented nicely by Ray’s and Kerry’s string playing. The third track on the album is Minnear’s beautifully sensitive and reflective “Think of Me with Kindness” as good as any ballad ever penned in the 1970s. The second side ends strongly with Ray Shulman’s epic “River”. which while under six minutes, is much like “Knots” in that it seems to cover enough musical ground for take up the better part of a single side of an LP.

The production, for 1972, is good enough to differentiate the various parts and provide a crisp, relatively undistorted listening experience, the performances are energetic and expressive, and the music itself is unusually distinctive with compelling melodies and motives that have a level of adventurousness, playfulness, and durability that creates a substantial listening experience the very first time or even after a dozen. Impressively, this was a group that could deliver this material live very effectively, with all the studio wizardry translating without any loss of intensity into live performances. Though most rock critics at the time couldn’t or wouldn’t even try to appreciate the singular music on this album, the music still lives on, embraced generation after generation by music lovers the world over.

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso: Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso

Influenced by the emergence of a multitude of English Progressive rock groups, a number of talented musicians came together in various locations throughout Italy to provide their own contributions to the ever increasing riches of the progressive rock canon. In Rome, classical trained pianist Vittorio Nocenzio, having studied composition, organ performance, and ethnomusicology, and written songs for Italian folk singer Gabriella Ferri, formed Banco Del Mutuo Soccorse (Bank of Mutual Assistance) in 1969 with his brother, Gianni, also skilled on keyboards, and former members of two other rock bands, Fiori Di Campo and Le Esperienze including the vocally captivating tenor, Francesco Di Giacomo, who would provide a Puccini-like drama and intensity to the band’s recordings and concerts. The talented group played festivals before recording their first album, a particularly strong debut that incorporates stylistic elements from both progressive rock and early twentieth century classical music.

Despite the multitude if influences, the material is identifiably Italian, especially in some of the melodic phrases and in the character of their exuberant playing. Particularly impressive are the second track, “R.I.P. (Requiescant in Pace)”, and the fourth track “Metamorfosi.” Side two includes the 18 minute “Il Giardino del Mago” and ends with an animated tarantella-like piece simply titled “Traccia” (track.)

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso: Darwin

Banco’s second album, released near the end of 1972, builds on the excellence exhibited in their first album, improving on it with a cohesiveness and establishment of a consistency of style. The album starts off with the magnificent opening of L’Evoluzione, a dramatic 14 minute work rich, beautiful, and epic in impact that effectively sets the tone for this concept album. The second track, “La Conquista Della Posizione Eretta” (‘The Attainment Of The Standing Position”) begins with a extended and compelling instrumental section that brings to mind the survival struggles of prehistoric life including growls that settles into a reflective lyrical section narrating the advantages of standing upright.


The second side opens up with the casual, jazzy “Danza Dei Grandi Rettili”. The next track, “Cento Mani E Cento Occhi” opens up in frenzied contrast to the cooler preceding track, not only making use of some of the musical language elements of Ginastera and Bartok, but covering a wide range of progressive rock musical expressiveness in unremittent 4/4 time with the appropriate use of accents for inescapable forward momentum. The third track, “750,000 Anni Fa … L’Amore?” seemingly channels Puccini for its amorous expressiveness achieved with a expressive piano accompaniment to Giacomo passionate vocals and as well utilizing the moog synthesizer for a dramatic middle section. “Misere Alla Historia” (badly translated as “History’s Lament”) provides musical reflection on the lost/dead civilizations with the warning/observation of “Ma… Quanta vita ha ancora il tuo intelletto se dietro a te scompare la tua razza” “But… How much life does your intellect still have if your people disappear behind you.” The album ends with additional reflection, ironically set in 3/4 time, “Ed ora io domando tempo al tempo ed egli mi risponde…non ne ho!” (“And Now I Ask Time for More Time and He Answers Me…I Don’t Have Any!”) bringing the album to an indisputable close, fully covering the saga of human evolution from early, undeveloped life to its apparent, overwrought and unavoidable finish.

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Album review, Gentle Giant, Progressive Rock, Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: November 1972

STEELY DAN: CAN’T BUY A THRILL

Released in November of 1972, this is the first of Donald Fagen’s and Walter Becker’s string of excellent albums. The music ranges from pop to rock to folk-rock to jazz-based rock with engaging and intelligent chord progressions and a healthy use of minor seventh and ninth chords.

THE EDGAR WINTER GROUP: THEY ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT

Skillfully produced by Rick Derringer, this is Edgar Winter’s most solid album with a number of songs that for the rest of 1972 and early into 1973 found a prominent place on AM radio, FM radio, at high school parties, or in the repertoire of high school dance bands. “Hangin’ Around”, “Free Ride”, “We All Had a Real Good Time” and the instrumental “Frankenstein” are hard rock classics that have effectively captured and preserved the spirit of early seventies hard rock, providing, today, an effortless means for us to travel back in time fifty years ago.

LOU REED: TRANSFORMER

Released on November 8, 1972, Lou Reed’s Transformer excels at creating a level of nonchalance and casualness that was more reminiscent of the beat movement of the 1950s than typical of an early 70’s rock album. Aided by David Bowie, Mick Ronson and Trever Bolder and elegantly produced by Bowie and Ronson, this album, along with the success of its glam, transexual and sometimes banned single, “Walk on the Wild Side”, brought Lou Reed out of the shadows of the Underground and into the commercial spotlight. The album is considered a classic by many and has had substantial influence on many Indie Rock artists that came later.

WAR: THE WORLD IS A GHETTO

War’s fifth studio album, released around November of 1972, opens with the once relentlessly-played AM single, “Cisco Kid”, which though annoying for those of us that heard it in spring of 1973 played through third-rate speakers of a school bus for multiple weeks almost every morning on our ride to school, was a welcome relief from the equally often-played, but far less bearable “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ol’ Oak Tree.” That said, now hearing “Cisco Kid” on a first-class audio set up almost fifty years later, the quality of performance and the arrangement almost make up for the melodic and harmonic mediocrity of the track. More importantly though, the rest of the album is quite good, starting with the infectious, funky “Where was You At” and the effervescent jazz-infused 13 1/2 minute “City Country City” instrumental on side one and the three tracks on side two including the soulfully reflective “Four Cornered Room”, and the beautifully funk-infused, “The World is a Ghetto.” This was not only War’s most commercially successful album, but the best selling album for the year 1973 holding the number one position for two weeks in February 1973 and staying on the Billboard 200 for a total of 68 weeks.

JONI MITCHELL: FOR THE ROSES

Released in November of 1972 between two of her most artistically and commercially successful albums, 1971’s Blue and 1974’s Spark and Court, the excellent For the Roses brims over with wonderful melodic phrases, remarkable piano lines, and beautiful acoustic guitar and an appropriate amount of harmonica, bass, percussion, winds and strings — always at the right places!

CAN: EGE BAMYASI

Can’s highly influential album, Ege Bamyasi, with the name apparently inspired from the label of a container of canned okra of Turkish origin also meant for German consumption of these “okra pods”, takes a detour from the previous no-holds-barred and even more influential Tago Mago, with an often more structured (via editing in some cases) and relatively more contained set of compositions. Not readily available in the US, I purchased this album in a German record store in 1978, and listened to it once before shelving it for several decades. It’s great to come back and revisit it and find there is much more here than I thought — and to discover the influence it has had on music since my original purchase, with Stephen Malkmus of Pavement, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and the band Spoon all having been much more serious fans of the album and reaping music influences from it. Truly fortunate to revisit the album and able to enjoy it on a much better audio set up than I had in 1978.

Uriah Heep, Moody Blues, Carly Simon, Hawkwind, and Barclay James Harvest

Other notable albums from November 1972 include Uriah Heep’s semi-progressive Magician’s Birthday with a memorable Moog synthesizer solo from Ken Hensley on “Sweet Loraine” (reaching the 91st spot on the Billboard Hot 100) and a more expansive title track concluding the album, Hawkwind’s third studio album, Doremi Fasol Latido, stylistic different than their previous albums but still quality, engaging space-rock, Carly Simon’s No Secrets with two well-known tracks, the number one hit “You’re So Vain”, and less commercially successful but equally appealing “The Right Thing to Do”, the richly arranged, orchestrated Barclay James Harvest, Baby James Harvest, a mix of straight rock (“Thank You”) and more progressive tracks (“Summer Soldier”, “Moonwater”), and Moody Blues’ eighth album (last of the highly regarded string of seven classic album) which had two commercially successful singles, “Isn’t Life Strange” and “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)”, which spurred increased interest in their previous work resulting in the re-release of the beautifully haunting single version of the “The Night”, titled “Nights in White Satin”, which did much better the second time around, getting more attention and airplay than any of the music on the Seventh Sojourn album.

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Album review, Fifty Year Friday, Folk Rock, Fusion Jazz, Hard Rock, Jazz Rock, Music, Progressive Rock, Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: August 1972

Annette Peacock: I’m the One

Missed mentioning this earlier this year, but better late than never! Released around January 1972, this incredible album combines jazz, pop and rock elements in an invigorating blend with effective use of synthesizers. Annette’s vocals may have influenced David Bowie’s vocal approach starting with Ziggy Stardust. This is one of the great albums of 1972!

McCoy Tyner: Sahara

Also missed this fine album last month! Recorded in January 1972, and released around July 1972, the album covers fusion-like territory but with all acoustic instruments. Tyner is a tsunami on piano and the first track is one of the finest of 1972. This first track then is followed by a mesmerizing, technically incredible piano solo and an adventurous, sometimes sizzling, sometimes reflective Japanese-flavored work where Tyner exchanges keyboards for koto, Sonny Fortune exchanges saxophone for flute, and bassist Calvin Hill appears to play an eastern flute-like instrument. The next track, “Rebirth”, explodes with a drum solo and then Tyner’s steamrolling piano taking no prisoners, with Fortune unleashing a blistering, often high-register alto sax solo — incredible execution nearly beyond belief. Side Two is taken up with the title track, Sahara, not my favorite of the album, perhaps because of some shrillness from the eastern reed instruments, yet it attempts to encompass epic scope and has some incredible passages.

Julius Hemphill: Dogon A.D.

Named after the Dogon in West Africa, recorded in St. Louis in February 1972 and released in limited quantities on Julian Hemphill’s own Mbari label and later made more widely available, this was Hemphill’s first commercial recording. Though labelled as “three lengthy avant-garde explorations” the music is structured and accessible with musical influences from the African continent.

The Kinks: Everybody’s in Show-biz

This two LP set includes studio material from spring of 1972 on the first two sides and live material from Carnegie Hall recorded on March 2nd and 3rd. Ray Davies continues his deviation from standard rock with strong influence from the Neo-music-hall material of twentieth-century London. The first LP loosely addresses the concept of show-biz fame and touring with the upbeat “Here Comes Yet Another Day” energetically opening up side one. The album closes with “Celluloid Heroes” (which got significant airplay on FM radio) with Ray Davies’ thoughtful and well-crafted lyrics providing a wistful close to that first LP.

Gil Scott-Heron: Free Will

Though not as strong as Gil Scott Heron’s previous (second) album, this album has more historical importance. His first album (recorded in a studio with a live audience) is sometimes referred to as proto-rap, but more accurately it is emotive, fairly well-written poetry read to sparse musical accompaniment, not so different than beat-era poetry readings, with some differences in rhythmic elements as well as subject matter and vocabulary. It is the second side of this third album, Free Will, that more clearly anticipates rap music with Heron providing better rehearsed and more effective, more rhythmically-enhanced delivery of his poetry. For stronger music, refer to his second album, Pieces of a Man, but if the object of exploring is to hunt for what may be the first traces of rap on LP, start here.

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Album review, Fifty Year Friday, Free Jazz, Fusion Jazz, jazz, Jazz Rock, Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: June 1972

David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

At some point in the summer of 1972, one of the album-oriented FM radio stations I regularly listened to began to play “Suffragette City” from the newly released David Bowie album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. That was more than enough inducement for me to seek out the album, take it home, take the appallingly thin and flimsy RCA Dynaflex-branded vinyl out of its paper sleeve, place it on the turntable and, though, not truly complying with the instructions on the back of the LP, “TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME”, still play it louder than I would have if anyone else had been home. Though puzzled by the general fuzziness in the overall coherence of the narrative, the music itself was crystalline clear — hard rock, but clear concise execution — and well-recorded, orderly, and musically transparent. The arrangements and production promoted a distinction between individual parts, with each standing out clearly and effectively.

The melodies and music were instantly accessible and captivating and repeated listenings of the album only marginally enhanced one’s fondness for the music which was figuratively (though not literally) off the charts from the first encounter. I was only disappointed by one song, the cover of “It Ain’t Easy”, which I was familiar with from the Three Dog’s Night version, and the disappointment was due to the mediocrity of the song itself, as opposed the to superior performance of the number, recorded during the Honky Dory sessions in June of 1971. Putting that one non-Bowie composition aside, the rest of the album is not only uniformly excellent, but magnificent! Each deserved both FM and AM airplay, but though some would get FM airplay, nothing to my knowledge ever was played on AM.

Yet, my expectation was that this album would catch fire with a mass audience: due to the remarkable accessibility of the songs and their immediate emotional pull, I considered it certain that Ziggy would become popular by the end of the summer and be one of the best selling albums of 1972. Of course, that didn’t happen, and Bowie’s claims to the higher levels of fame would be delayed until 1973.

Aphrodite’s Child: 666

This was an album I didn’t discover until the mid 1970s, after Vangelis had released several solo albums. 666 is the last of three albums from Aphrodite’s Child, with Vangelis primarily responsible for the compositions, with lyrics provided by Costas Ferris based on the Book of Revelations. This is a wonderful mixture of styles, Vangelis showing off his musical versatility with a range of styles and inclusion of elements of Greek folk music.

Leon Russell: Carney

Though nothing on Carney equals the simple beauty of “A Song for You” on Leon Russell’s 1970 album, this album contains two classic Russell songs, “Tight Rope” and “The Masquerade”, the latter of which was successfully covered by George Benson in 1976. Side two has been criticized by some critics for its psychedelic leanings, but it deserves praise and not criticism — in fact the entire album is a keeper!

Jethro Tull: Living In the Past

Usually I don’t reminisce on compilation albums, but much of this was new material to those of us in the states in 1972 including gems like “Christmas Song”, “Life’s a Long Song”, and “Living in the Past” which received significant airplay later on in 1972. Quite a treat!

Roxy Music: Roxy Music; Alice Cooper: School’s Out; Pink Floyd Obscured By Clouds

A couple of notable, although somewhat uneven works released in May of 1972, included Roxy Music’s first album, which effectively mixed glam, rock and pop elements to create a compelling semi-progressive set of tunes as well as a notable album by Alice Cooper, which brilliantly identified an untapped commercially-potent topic, “School’s Out” — and brilliantly created an iconic hard-rock anthem for that topic, along with two other strong hard rock songs and some semi-progressive moments rising above mere album filler.

Also uneven, but essential for Floyd fans and well worth listening to for everyone else, is Pink Floyd’s Obscured by Clouds, which was put together rather hurriedly, around the same time work was being done on the classic and much better, Dark Side of the Moon. That said, this album belongs to that next phase in Floyd’s always exploratory musical journey. Some of the melodies for the songs are less than impressive, but the guitar work, instrumental passages, and overall impact make this an enjoyable album on first and repeated listenings.

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Album review, Fifty Year Friday, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: May 1972

1972 was the year I started taking piano lessons in order to be able to write down all the original tunes that had started popping into my head around 1970. I never developed an ear good enough to play either my tunes or other people’s melodies impromptu, but it did give me enough foundation so I could pick out melodies after some work. It also gave me a greater appreciation of the great spectrum of music, current and past, available to people like me living in an industrialized, freedom-tolerant country with access to the variety of record stores, concerts and radio stations present in 1972 Southern California.

Uriah Heep: Demons and Wizards; Elton John: Honky Chateau

Two of the many albums released in May 1972, which I purchased shortly after their release included Uriah Heep’s Demons and Wizards and Elton John’s Honky Chateau. I recorded both on a portable battery-powered tape recorder to have music for the immediately upcoming summer vacation trips, but never much took a liking to Honky Chateau (resulting in me not purchasing Elton’s next album.) Demon and Wizards was better musically, and though not as notably baroque in feel as their previous album, there was still some impressive keyboard work and invigorating instrumental passages.

Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street

Since I could now drive, I started going to school dances, and was exposed to some of the classic dance numbers on the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, which was recorded in sessions from 1970, 1971 and 1972 and released on May 12, 1972. I never considered myself much of a Stones fan, but I loved dancing to “Tumbling Dice”, and particularly “Happy”, when some local band would play them (along with Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”) at either our own high school gymnasium or at the college across the street or our local junior college. Exile is doted on by rock critics, and though it is a pretty good album, maybe the Stone’s best album next to “Between the Buttons”, and though we have Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston on keyboards and the creative magic of Mick Taylor and Keith Richards, this is an album more suited for secondary listening, such as driving or party music, as opposed to serious, concentrated listening as appropriate to the very best Yes, Jethro Tull, Genesis or Gentle Giant albums.

Caravan: Water Lily; Wishbone Ash: Argus

In terms of rock albums that do compel serious, concentrated listening, two releases from May 1972 fall into this category: Wishbone’s Ash’s Argus, which peaked near the end of May at number 3 in the UK top ten albums, and Caravan’s Waterloo Lily.

Ornette Coleman: Science Fiction, Skies Of America

My first exposure to Ornette Coleman was from the Columbia Records 2 LP “The Progressives” album, made available around 1973 as one of several give-a-way selections (something like 5 or 10 records for $1) to join the Columbia House Columbia Records Club. This was also my first exposure to Weather Report, Soft Machine, Charles Mingus, Don Ellis, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans (with George Russell), Matching Mole, and Gentle Giant. Gentle Giant garnered the plurality of my attention, mandating me to immediately purchase their 1972 Octopus album, but the Ornette Coleman track was a bit beyond my reach and my reality. However, around 1976, when Columbia Records issued a 2 for 1 (two for the price of one) LP of Coleman’s Science Fiction album and Skies of America album and at a price of $3.99, I considered that enticing price enough incentive to start my jazz record library, and I got my first in-depth experience with free-jazz, though I was well-prepared with the amount of twentieth century classical music I had been exposed to as a music major in college. After navigating through Xenakis, Stockhausen and Boulez, music by Ornette Coleman was now more accessible.

Science Fiction was recorded in 1971 and released in 1972 and is my favorite of the two albums. It is bold, unbridled and inventive. The album starts off with the ethereal and relatively tranquil “What Reason Could I give”, with Asha Puthil’s vocals essential in establishing the freshness and almost futuristic characteristics of this first track, and nicely setting up the overall listening experience for the entire album. “Civilization Day” provides a metallic, edgy contrast to the opening with an amazing pocket trumpet solo from Don Cherry. The third track of the album provides a softer and more open sound prior to the more aggressive fourth and fifth tracks, with the sixth track, “All My Life”, a beautiful love song with a remarkable sinuous melody and vocals handled handsomely by Puthil. The seventh track, “Law Years”, includes a compelling solo from Charlie Haden on bass, and the last track, “The Jungle is a Skyscraper” includes a terrific drum solo from Ed Blackwell immediately followed by Coleman on alto over effective support from Blackwell and Haydn, followed by Cherry, then Cherry and Coleman together with the return of the opening theme dramatically ending the album.

Skies of America, recorded in April of 1972, and released in May of 1972, fell short of what it could have been. Coleman’s writing for orchestra provides an effective foundation for an added jazz combo to improvise in appropriate places on top of the basic composition, however contractual constraints with the UK’s musician’s union resulted in Coleman having to do replace his intended “concertino” with a single soloist, himself. In addition, not the entire work was included on the album due to the time limitations of a single LP, possibly compromising the both the fullness and unity of the work — I say possibly, as I don’t believe there is any release with the entire work — I am not even sure the entire composition was recorded by the LSO during the April 1972 sessions.

That said, the album is still quite good, even with the LSO’s playing likely to have benefitted from additional rehearsal time. Coleman is in top form, and as expected, fully able to appropriately execute the underlying intention and vision of his work. The last track, “Sunday in America”, is as American as music by Aaron Copland, starting out reflective and embracing individuality, disparity, and unfettered freedom to dramatically end the movement and effectively close out the forty-minute work.

Weather Report: Live in Tokyo, I Sing the Body Electric

Perhaps a bit more accessible and commercially serviceable to Columbia Records was Weather Report’s part-studio-based, part live album, I Sing the Body Electric, released on May 26, 1972 in states. The live material is a subset of the “Live in Tokyo” 2 LP album released on May 1, 1972 in Japan, and shortly thereafter available as an import in the US, and then much later, like the second decade of the 21st century, available as a two CD set.

Randy Newman: Sail Away

On May 23, 1972, Randy Newman and Reprise records released Sail Away, Newman’s strongest album up to that time, including some of Newman’s songs that had been previously recorded by other artists and some newer material — or at least new to the public. Though not a commercial blockbuster, the album did make it into the Billboard 200, peaking at position 163. Sometime in late 1972 or 1973, I remember Newman appearing on TV and then in 1973, when, as a senior in high school, I took a Music History 100 class from cellist Terry King at the college across the street from my high school. Mr. King shared that he had played cello on this album (as well as cello on Carole King’s Tapestry) and he played a cut from the Sail Away album. Later in 1973, I saw Newman live, just him and piano, at the junior college, performing many of the songs on this album for an interested but relatively small audience. Though, I love the orchestration on this album, nothing quite brings out the sardonic wit and implied cynicism and irony of these songs as Newman tackling them live in the intimate setting of a small auditorium, in his individually, almost conspicuously, relaxed, offhand manner.

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Album review, Hard Rock, jazz, Music, Progressive Rock, Rock

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Fifty Year Friday: March 1972

Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick

Released on March 3, 1972, those of us that were Aqualung fans were keen to get our hands on this newest Jethro Tull album. It’s pretty rare when the next release after a five star album such as Aqualung not only doesn’t disappoint, but delivers beyond expectation. Such was my own personal experience with Thick as A Brick one day after my next-door neighbor purchased the album as soon as it was available, on a Friday, and brought it over that very next day on Saturday for me to listen to and record on my reel-to-reel.

I was impressed by the sound quality (it was a well-recorded rock album by the standards of those days) but even more impressed by the musical content. Though I immediately fell in love with the album, it was took an additional listen to start to understand the depth and extent of the overall musical coherence — an understanding, that even fifty years later, is furthered by each repeated listening of this fine musical work.

Though author/composer Ian Anderson would later assert that the album was a playful prank — a spoof on the recent rock-genre trend of long and longer tracks and on concept albums in general, and, partly as a reaction to Aqualung being classified as a concept album — with the intent to ironically answer that misperception with a reductio ad absurdum exhibit of the rock concept album.

And though the concept is pure wit, whimsy and clever absurdity, the text of the lyrics is not without serious import, and, the main product, the music, blends infectiousness and focused craftsmanship, placing it in the same league as nineteenth and early twentieth-century concept-based orchestral and ballet works like Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, Gershwin’s American in Paris, and Copland’s Rodeo and Appalachian Spring.

Thick as Brick‘s level of craftmanship is impressive, starting with rhythms and meters, which drive the piece forward — from the initial triplet-based march meter (basically 12/8 with shortened 6/8 bars ending phrases to push the music forcefully forward) to the unrelenting 5/4 section (really 3/4 +2/4) to the contrasting calmer and more reflective lengthy, mostly 4/4 section, which still retains some of the march-like character of the previous music, to the overt march material that follows, back in 12/8 again, then continuing in 12/8 with a second section going into the 4/4 “Childhood Heroes” section, also very march-like, into the stabbing 6/4 instrumental passage that bridges the two sides, setting up, very nicely, the 6/4 material for “See There is a Man Born” and so on with this rhythmic cohesiveness and craftsmanship providing the foundation for the connected, related, and partly repeated (“Childhood Heroes”) musical material.

The effect of this coordinated blend of rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic material is that the listener gets a fulfilling, well-crafted work that provides a satisfying unity and a musical narrative independent of any theme or lack of a theme provided in the scattershot, intentionally multi-dimensional lyrics, which, for any qualities of crypticness or shifts in focus, function exceptionally well with the music to make this not only the best Tull album ever, but one of the best rock albums of all time.

Deep Purple: Machine Head

While many rock groups where embracing the newly-named progressive-rock style of music, Deep Purple shifted away from this genre to race full-throttle into an exemplary hard-rock gear that propelled their music onto dance floors and both AM and FM radio waves advancing their brand and pushing their album into the number one spots in the UK, Germany, Canada, Holland, France, Australia, Denmark, and the sixth spot in Japan and the seventh spot on the US Billboards album charts.

Though exemplary and definitive hard rock in form and function, the instrumental passages still are rich in progressive figurations and character with the best track of the album, and the one receiving the most airplay on AM and FM and most performed by dance bands, “Smoke on the Water”, with a classical-music-level repeated riff that is as unescapable and as memorable to the autonomic nervous system as any riff in the history of rock. Though this one track stands above all others on the album, the album is a delight from start to finish, bookended by the notable rocking and also unescapable “Highway Star” and “Space Truckin” with some impressive Ritchie Blackmore guitar and Jon Lord organ throughout..

Stevie Wonder: Music of My Mind

Released on March 3, 1972, “Music of My Mind” begins a string of musically and increasingly successful Stevie Wonder albums progressively incorporating soul, rock, jazz into a modern, post-Motown sound. (Though this is Wonder’s second Tamla album, it is the first one over which he had total artistic control.)

Particularly impressive is the longest track, “Superwoman,” which effectively makes the case for Wonder having full responsibility for not only singing, playing keyboards and composing, but the engineering and production aspects of the final product. Also notable is the effective use of both Moog and Tonto synthesizers throughout the album.

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Album review, Fifty Year Friday, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Rock

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Fifty Year Friday; February 2022

Neil Young: Harvest

Released at the beginning of February 1972, this music is timeless because, rather than despite, its simplicity. Yes, we get the LSO playing on two of the tracks, but the orchestration is appropriate and effective and there really is nothing on this album that is excessive, superfluous, or gets in the way of the emotional enjoyment.

Every song on the album is a gem, worthy of inclusion on a best hits album of lesser artists. Despite its repeated appearance on FM and AM radio starting in February 1972 and taking the top Billboard spot in March, the most renown track on the album, “Heart of Gold”, never wears out its welcome unlike so many other top hits of early 1972. And equally engaging , and wear-resistant, are “A Man Needs a Maid”, “Old Man”, a track inspired by the groundskeeper of Young’s newly purchased ranch and a live recording of (the best song on the album) “The Needle and the Damage Done.”

We get lots of great acoustic guitar on this album, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt on “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man”, and appearances by David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash. There is nothing here that surpasses “Cinnamon Girl” or “Broken Arrow”, but there is no Neil Young album as indispensable as this one.

Flash: Flash

Headed up by former Yes guitarist Peter Banks, with formidable bassist Ray Bennett and the assistance of former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye, Flash released their debut album in February of 1972. It opens strongly, swirling and phosphorescing with the enthusiasm of “Small Beginnings”, which would later, in an abbreviated singles format, climb up to number 29 on the Billboard charts in August, later that year. Aided by that airplay, the album climbed up to spot 33 on the Billboard Top 200 LPs listing, performing much better than the two albums that followed. The music is generally invigorating, with imaginative arpeggio-based guitar work from Banks, complimentary keyboards by Kaye, solid drum work by Mike Hough, solid and creative basswork from Bennett, appropriate vocals from Colin Carter and stimulating progressive-rock time changes and chord changes.

Todd Rundgren: Something/Anything

Todd Rundgren, releases his third album in February 1972, with the first three sides brilliantly conceived and executed — and with a dazzling display of studio equipment mastery by Todd Rundgren — and Todd Rundgren alone, who in additional plays all instruments of each and every track. Following those first three sides, is a more conventional side with an array of other talented musicians, including Moogy Klingman and the Brecker brothers.

Album has aged will these 50 years, and still impressive sounding, particularly on a top-notch audio system, with some real musical keepers including “Hello, It’s Me” and the awesome “The Night the Carousel Burned Down” with its invigorating and seamless interplay between the initial 4/4 theme and the expected 3/4 music of a Carousel.

Jimmy Smith: Root Down, Nick Drake: Pink Moon; The Guess Who: Rockin’; Strawbs: Grave New World

Jimmy Smith’s Root Down captures performances from February 8, 1972 where the emphasis is on funky rock/blues/gospel-influenced jazz. There is some great exchanges between Smith on the Hammond B3, and Arthur Adams on guitar. Though hard to criticize the original LP for any reason, the expanded version, available on CD and digital download or digital streaming is superior for having uncut versions of the three strongest track on the album, “Sagg Shootin’ His Arrow”, the title track, and “Slow Down Sagg.” 

For his third, and tragically, last release during his lifetime, Nick Drake dazzles us with his mastery of acoustic guitar, revealing a range of different guitar characteristics appropriate for each individual song. The music, stylistically distinct from contemporaneous singer-songwriters or any other music of the early seventies, is effectively timeless, a contention supported partly by its lack of commercial success and more effectively supported by its influence on later Indie-label artists and its continuing influence on singer songwriters up through today.

The Guess Who’s Rockin’ recorded in January of 1972 and released the very next month in February, is yet another example of the creativity of Burton Cummings who displays a high level of both jazz and rock keyboard and compositional skills. Though not their best album, it is yet another hand raised asking the rhetorical question, why, given both the band’s commercial success and the number of successful singles and albums, is the Guess Who or Burton Cummings not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

With the release of their fourth studio album, Grave New World, and their first since the departure of Rick Wakeman to Yes, The Strawbs effectively combine folk and prog-rock, with an impressively, more-progressive side two with “Tomorrow” being the stand out track. Though ostensibly a concept album, the specifics or overarching theme of the concept is not particularly evident — but in the larger scheme that is relatively unimportant, as there is much to like musically, with the ultimate result being that this the Strawbs best effort.



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Album review, Country Folk Rock, Folk Rock, Hard Rock, Music, Progressive Rock, Rock

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