Author: Phil Bausch

There are moments of clarity in music.

Like when I first dropped the needle on a new album…Dire Straits.

It was a time in the late 1970’s when disco was dominating everything.  I mean, even The Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), and The Eagles (“One Of These Nights”) dabbled in Disco.  There were some good Disco songs, but mostly Disco was annoying, and some songs had way too much falsetto screaming.  Everyone thought they could have a hit if they just put a continuous disco drum beat under their song.

In early 1978, “Saturday Night Fever” dominated.

In September 1978, “Boogie Oogie Oogie” was #1 for three weeks.

In October 1978, Dire Straits released their first album.

As their songs came out of the speakers, it was like music could breathe again.

        The modern art simplicity & clean lines of the Dire Straits cover.

This is what had been missing.  Rock had returned.  No, not raucous distorted-guitar rock & roll.  Rather, it was bass, drums, and electric guitars with a pure lead, and a vocal that wasn’t buried in the mix.  I remember thinking how different it was from everything else, and how thankful I was.

Mark Knopfler was the songwriter, lead guitarist, and lead singer for this British band.   “Sultans Of Swing” is the song that introduced Dire Straits to the world.  That first album is all good.  Other standout tracks include “Down To The Waterline”, “Setting Me Up”, “Water Of Love”, and “Southbound Again”.  It’s not that the album is full of hits, it’s that it has a lot of really good songs that hold up well.  It reached #2 on the Billboard album chart.

The next three Dire Straits albums didn’t match the quality or the sales of their first.  Their second album Communique was their poorest.  Making Movies was much better, with “Tunnel Of Love”, “Skateaway”, “Romeo And Juliet”, and “Hand In Hand”.  Their fourth album, Love Over Gold was a step backwards, and sold half as many copies as Making Movies.  So what happened next was a big surprise.

Somehow, someway, Dire Straits then released one of the best albums of the 1980’s, and one of the all time best sellers.

Who knew they had this in them?  In May of 1985, Brothers In Arms was released, and I doubt even Mark Knopfler could have expected the reception.  Fueled with radio and MTV hits “Money For Nothing” (#1), “So Far Away” (#19), and “Walk Of Life” (#7), the album spent 9 weeks at the top of the American charts, and was #1 in nearly every country.  Brothers In Arms won Grammys for Best Rock Performance (by a duo or group), and for Best Engineered Album.  It was the first major album to be recorded digitally.

1985 was a time when vinyl albums were still the norm.  I bought the record album, and then the CD when it became available.  I put the CD on, and as it started playing “Your Latest Trick”, I was shocked.  There was a whole beautiful trumpet introduction that wasn’t on the record album!  It turns out there were several cuts that had been edited down to fit the time restrictions of vinyl.  Brothers In Arms became the first album with the CD outselling the record.  It was the first CD to sell a million copies, and for quite a while was the best selling CD period.  The album has sold over 30-Million copies.

For the two years after Brothers In Arms, Dire Straits toured with 247 shows in over a hundred cities.  They burned out.  In 1988, Mark Knopfler announced the dissolution of the band.

There was one reunion album in 1991, On Every Street, which has some good tracks, but didn’t live up to expectations.  Mark Knopfler has gone on to do many solo projects, and works with other top artists.

Dire Straits may not be the long-term success story of some of the best classic bands, but Dire Straits and Brothers In Arms are two of Rock’s shining moments.

(Update:  Dire Straits was inducted with the 2018 class of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  Great choice.)

(Update:  5/31/2018.  Last night the excellent TV series “The Americans” used the song “Brothers In Arms” to help convey an extremely important idea during the series finale of the Cold War drama.  Interestingly, “The West Wing” also used the song for a key scene in it’s series finale.)

 

  Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, & Mike Love

Surf!  Cars!  Girls!

The Beach Boys (The name was assigned to them by their record label…they had been The Pendletones) were just teenagers wanting to make records, and they did.  In the early ’60’s, The Beach Boys made me believe:   “I Get Around” in my “Little Deuce Coupe” with my “Surfer Girl” having “Fun Fun Fun”, even though I was “In My Room” stuck in the Midwest.

Once in a while, primary songwriter and group leader Brian Wilson would throw in more serious lyrics and topics, but mostly it was good feelings as their “Surf Music” came out of our radio speakers.  High quality harmony vocals and melodies meant their songs would be enjoyed for decades.

Brian Wilson knew they couldn’t just keep writing surf and car songs.  The music around him was evolving.  He was aware that Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and many other artists were raising the bar.

In 1965, Brian began using more complex musical arrangements with a wider variety of instruments.  There’s a new sophistication to the sound of “California Girls” even though the topic wasn’t new.

Then in late 1965 came Rubber Soul by The Beatles.

Brian said he was blown away by it.  He said he wanted to make a Beach Boys album like that…good all the way through.  Being a Beach Boys fan, I know their albums had some great songs, but also songs that would be considered filler.

Brian was no longer on the road with the rest of The Beach Boys.  Instead, he focused on songwriting with lyricist Tony Asher starting in December of 1965.  He also was producing instrumental tracks with L.A.’s super session musicians “The Wrecking Crew”.

Above are shots from the sessions for Pet Sounds in 1966.  That’s Carol Kaye on bass, some of the other Wrecking Crew players, and additional musicians. The Beach Boys were replaced in the studio, except for their vocals.

When The Beach Boys returned from touring, they heard the tracks for the new album, and with the exception of Carl Wilson, they weren’t enthusiastic.  In particular, Mike Love thought Brian was straying too far from the formula that had made the group popular.

Pet Sounds’ complex musical arrangements are almost classical.  The instruments are often layered in the “Wall of Sound” style, and were unusual for Rock, like a bass harmonica, harpsichord, and Electro-Theramin.  The lyrics are mostly introspective.  No one was having any “Fun Fun Fun”.

Despite reservations, the group members worked on the challenging vocal parts.  Brian Wilson has a great ear for harmonies, and he pushed for perfection.

Pet Sounds was released in May of 1966.  Reviews of the album were mixed.  It didn’t perform as well as previous Beach Boys albums, reaching #10 in Billboard, and selling under 500,000 copies.  The Beach Boys mainly blamed Capitol for not doing enough promotion.  Brian was devastated, and felt his new direction was being rejected.

In 1966 a friend and I were in a record store, and we picked out one album together…Pet Sounds.  He paid for half of the album, saying that he listens to all my records, and wanted to pitch in.  He was being a nice guy, though I feel like I still owe him half an album (maybe side two?).  It’s hard to believe Pet Sounds was in any way a failure.  It includes the now classic songs, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “God Only Knows”, “Sloop John B”, and “Caroline No”.  Plus it has the beautiful recordings “You Still Believe In Me” and “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)”.  I’ve always thought it was easily their best album.

Years passed.  Somewhere along the line,  positive opinions of the album began to grow.  Other musicians praised it, especially Paul McCartney.  He often has said the “clever” arrangements and use of unusual instruments influenced Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Paul also says “God Only Knows” is one of the best songs ever written, and that he gave Pet Sounds to each of his children.

For three decades, the album was only available in mono.  I finally got to hear the stereo mix in 1996 when I obtained a promotional CD that Capitol sent to radio stations.  Pet Sounds was supposed to be released in stereo that year on it’s 30th anniversary, but for some reason, it was delayed until 1997.  Meanwhile, I’m listening to this pristine copy of the album and am amazed by how it sounds.  For the first time, I could hear the intricacies of Brian Wilson’s arrangements and the individual instruments themselves, rather than everything being mashed together through one channel.

The  instrumental accompaniments are genius.  Brian Wilson arranged all of the parts himself.  He carried around the arrangements in his head for strings, horns, keyboards, everything.  He made notes and relayed what he had in mind.  It was then translated into actual scores.  Interviews with the musicians who worked the sessions had nothing but high praise for Brian Wilson’s musical vision.

                                         My Beach Boys box sets.

Capitol Records may have dropped the ball on the initial release, but they’ve excelled since.  They’ve released box sets and special editions that include the separated instrumental backing tracks, so people could hear those genius arrangements.  I believe that’s had an effect on the perception of Pet Sounds as one of the all time best albums.

            My 1966 sleeve from Good Vibrations.

There could have been one addition that would have made Pet Sounds an instant hit.  “Good Vibrations” was started during the album sessions, but wasn’t completed.  With a few more months of work, and costing more than any previous single, “Good Vibrations” came out in October of 1966.

It was a #1 smash!  “Good Vibrations” was described by publicist Derek Taylor as a “pocket symphony”.  It has six musical sections edited together, and combines the innovation of Brian Wilson with the old “feel good” style of The Beach Boys.

The year 1966 was the musical peak of The Beach Boys’ career.  They put out an album and a single that are among the best ever recorded.

Update 2023:  Giles Martin has remixed Pet Sounds in Dolby Atmos, a form of multi-channel immersive sound, so with the right equipment, you can have a new listening experience from the 1966 album.

Bonus:  What was supposed to be the follow-up album to Pet Sounds wasn’t released for several decades.  Here’s the original cover art.

Smile wasn’t officially released until the 2000’s.  Here’s a 29-minute presentation of the album with selected stereo tracks segued together:

The list of songs used for Smile.  1. Our Prayer, 2. Gee/Trombone, 3. Heroes And Villains, 4. Roll Plymouth Rock, 5. Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine, 6. Cabin Essence, 7. Wonderful, 8. Child Is Father Of The Man, 9. Surf’s Up Intro/Surf’s Up, 10. Wind Chimes, 11. Cool Cool Water, 12. Good Vibrations, 13. Piano Instrumental (Heroes And Villains).

There are certainly people who prefer the late 1960’s Blues lineup of Fleetwood Mac with guitarist/songwriter Peter Green.

There may even be people who prefer the early 1970’s lineup with Bob Welch.

I’ve collected good songs from both of those versions of the band.

But the truth is, Fleetwood Mac might have mostly been a musical footnote in America without the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Fleetwood Mac had released nine previous studio albums, with no major breakthrough in the United States.  That’s more albums than the new Fleetwood Mac recorded.  Some of the lack of success could be due to their small blues label “Blue Horizon” from 1968 to 1970, but they had moved to “Reprise”, a major division of Warner Brothers during their rock/pop phase from 1970 to 1974.

While John McVie and Mick Fleetwood are a formidable bass & drums rhythm section, it also takes great songwriting, singing, and producing to be successful.  Christine McVie is an excellent keyboardist and singer, but there were no songs she did during those earlier albums that were so good they had to be included in Fleetwood Mac’s repertoire going forward.

With the addition of Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie now had a talented arranger/producer (and songwriter) to shape her newly written songs into great recordings.  The proof of this change is her songs on the 1975 album, Fleetwood Mac…”Over My Head”, “Warm Ways” and “Say You Love Me”.  She had no recordings of that quality on previous Fleetwood Mac albums.  You can easily hear Buckingham’s influence.  Christine went on to write some of the group’s biggest hits, including “Don’t Stop”, “You Make Loving Fun”, and “Little Lies”.

Stevie Nicks also credits Lindsey Buckingham with helping her turn her songwriting demos into completed recordings, as he did for all of the band’s songs.

When Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, they brought with them the key songs “Monday Morning”, “Rhiannon”, and “Landslide”.  Lindsey’s a great lead guitarist (the reason he was hired in the first place).  That guitar style influenced his own impressive songwriting, and created a new sound for Fleetwood Mac.

So what did the addition of Stevie Nicks mean?  Stevie is a special songwriter whose topics and depth of lyrics gave Fleetwood Mac’s music greater meaning.  Her songs have held up extremely well.  She added mystique with her lyrics, and showmanship with her live performances.  Besides “Rhiannon” and “Landslide”, her songs include “Dreams”, “Gypsy” and “Gold Dust Woman”.

We can now look back with some historical perspective on Fleetwood Mac’s recordings.  What songs do fans still want to hear decades later?  An interesting gauge for assessing the popularity of songs is in iTunes.  With just a click over an album’s song list, you can place the songs in order of popularity. It’s based upon which songs are being purchased (basically the public is voting with their money).  So I did this with Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits.  Four out of the top five songs are by Stevie Nicks, and for some reason, she only has four songs on that album of sixteen songs.

Maybe it was a fluke, so I did the same thing with the 36 song collection The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac.  Stevie Nicks wrote 9 of the top 10 purchased songs (“The Chain” was a co-write).  The other one, at number 4, was “Tusk” by Lindsey Buckingham.  He also had songs 11, 12, & 13…”Go Your Own Way”, “Monday Morning” and “Never Going Back”.  Starting with #14, Christine McVie had 5 of the next 7 songs.  Besides the hits she wrote, Fleetwood Mac often ended concerts with her beautiful ballad “Songbird”.

It’s obvious that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were the key ingredients to turn Fleetwood Mac into the amazingly successful band they became.  However, they were also lucky to get into Fleetwood Mac.  The band had a recording contract, and Lindsey and Stevie were barely getting by financially.

Fans are fortunate those particular five people came together when they did.  The only rock band in the 1970’s that was as successful as Fleetwood Mac was the Eagles.  They toured together in the 1970’s, and in July, 2017, the two groups co-headlined the “Classic West Festival” in L.A., and the “Classic East Festival” in New York.

Appropriately, Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame together in 1998 (when the Hall’s membership was still mainly rock artists).

Update:  Stevie Nicks was inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as a solo artist (2019), the first woman inducted twice.

Update (11/30/22):  Sadly, Christine McVie has passed away at the age of 79.  She had been in poor health, and died while hospitalized.  Recently, she had been opening up about her experience in Fleetwood Mac, and how much she enjoyed that time.

Extra:  This list of significant songs by the three songwriters of Fleetwood Mac was included with my article about Christine McVie, and I thought this analysis would also benefit from it.  (Can be enlarged & saved)

Who did the song “Black Magic Woman”?

You’re right if you say Santana.  They did the hit version in 1970, but it was first done by the English band Fleetwood Mac in 1968.   The song was written by Mac founder Peter Green.  Green (an excellent Blues guitarist & singer-songwriter) had replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, and decided to start his own band with fellow Bluesbreakers Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.  They were a blues band from 1968 into 1970, and were popular in Britain, with songs like “Oh Well”, “Albatross” (a #1 instrumental), and “The Green Manalishi”.

Unfortunately, Peter Green suffered from mental problems that may have been made worse by his taking LSD.  He left the band in 1970, and that was the end of phase one.  (Update:  Peter Green passed away in his sleep on July 25th, 2020 at the age of 73.  According to Mick Fleetwood, Green had gotten past his problems and had been leading a life of painting, fishing, and playing acoustic guitar.)

(Peter Green with bassist John McVie)

1970 to 1974 was a major switch for Fleetwood Mac to a Rock/Pop sound.  The lineup changed several times, except for Mick Fleetwood (drums), John McVie (bass), and Christine McVie (keyboards & vocals).  Christine had married John McVie in 1968.  It’s of note that prior to joining Fleetwood Mac, Christine Perfect (her real name) had twice been voted Britain’s Female Artist of the Year.  She left her band Chicken Shack (real name) to officially join Fleetwood Mac in 1970.

A major addition to the band was singer-songwriter and guitarist Bob Welch (in the T-shirt above).  Fleetwood Mac had some minor success with their albums and songs like “Hypnotized”, but never really broke through.  Bob Welch left the band in 1974.  End of phase two.

When Mick Fleetwood checked on Sound City Studios as a possible location to record (the band had moved to L.A.) he heard a track from the album Buckingham Nicks played as a demonstration of the studio.  Lindsey Buckingham was introduced to Fleetwood.  Eventually, Mick offered Lindsey a job, and he accepted as long as his girlfriend and partner Stevie Nicks could also join.  Prior to the final “yes”, Stevie met with Christine McVie, because Mick Fleetwood wanted her approval too.  The two women got along great, and Fleetwood Mac began their last major phase.

Mick…………….John………..Christine……….Lindsey…..Stevie

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks gave Fleetwood Mac an almost completely new sound.  It really was like a new band, so maybe that’s why they did what most new bands do…they titled their first album the name of the group.  (It had also been the name of the old blues band’s very first album in 1968.)

Fleetwood Mac came out in July of 1975.  Knowing that the album has “Monday Morning” (Buckingham), “Rihannon” (Nicks) “Over My Head” (McVie), “Landslide” (Nicks) and “Say You Love Me” (McVie), it might be imagined that it was an instant hit.  It wasn’t, but the band toured almost constantly, and after 15 months, the album finally hit #1.

All that touring can add stress to already tenuous relationships.  Marriages were ending for Mick Fleetwood and John & Christine McVie, as was the relationship between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.  So, of course, it was time to make another album.

The members of Fleetwood Mac simply pushed through all their personal problems, and used them in their songwriting.  Stevie Nicks says they had worked too hard to achieve success, and they weren’t going to let anything break up the band.  Rumours is among the best albums ever recorded.

Released in February of 1977, it had four big hits…”Dreams” #1, , “Don’t Stop” #3, “You Make Loving Fun” #9, and “Go Your Own Way #10.  In addition, FM Radio played “Second Hand News”, “Never Going Back Again”, “Songbird”, “The Chain” and “Gold Dust Woman” nearly as much as the singles.  Rumors was a phenomenon,  spending 31 weeks at #1 during 1977, and ultimately selling over 40-million copies worldwide.  It won the Grammy for Album Of The Year over another phenomenal album, Hotel California (probably should have been a tie).  By the way, “Silver Springs” was recorded at this time, and was not included because of time limitations on vinyl (22 1/2 minutes per side, for best audio).  Maybe “Oh Daddy” could have been left off, and some of the fade-outs shortened to allow time for “Silver Springs”.

Once in a lifetime success can’t really be followed up at that level.  Fleetwood Mac allowed producer/arranger Lindsey Buckingham to be more experimental on 1979’s Tusk.  The double album probably should have been a single album.  It was considered a relative failure (#4 in Billboard) even though it went quadruple platinum.  The singles were Sara #7, “Tusk” #8, and “Think About Me” #20.  Other top cuts include “Brown Eyes”, “Beautiful Child”, “Never Make Me Cry” and “Walk A Thin Line”.  The video for “Tusk” featured the USC Marching Band, and the song became a staple at sporting events for years.

There was a bit of a break for Fleetwood Mac in 1981.  Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham each did solo albums.

Buckingham’s Law and Order includes the single “Trouble” which was a #9 hit, and the album is mostly Lindsey playing all the instruments.  It reached #32.

Nick’s album, Bella Donna, includes four hits “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (#3 with Tom Petty), “Edge of Seventeen”(#13), “Leather And Lace” (#6 with Don Henley), and “After The Glitter Fades” (#32).  The album was a #1 hit, and outsold Tusk.  Nicks wrote 9 of the 10 tracks.  She plays guitar and keyboards for songwriting, but not for performances.

By 1982, Mac came back with their album Mirage.  It’s considered more of a typical Fleetwood Mac album.  The hits were “Hold Me” (McVie), “Gypsy” (Nicks), and “Love In Store” (McVie).  The album Hit #1, but sold about half the copies of Tusk.

It was another 5 years (of solo albums) before they released Tango In The Night in 1987.  It had started out as a solo album by Lindsey Buckingham, but it morphed into a group album.  It had four hits, “Big Love” (Buckingham), “Seven Wonders” (Nicks), “Little Lies” & “Everywhere” (both McVie).  The album charted at #7, and sold over 3-million copies.

Then Lindsey Buckingham left the band (in 1987).

That’s a big loss.  Lindsey was the major arranger/producer for their songs, he wrote, sang lead & harmony, and is a world-class lead guitarist.  You may not even remember, but he was replaced by two guitarists/songwriters/vocalists, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito.

The album, Behind The Mask, came out in 1990. It had no big hits, and went to #18 on the album chart.  The album received really mixed reviews, with some critics calling it a refreshing change.  It did include some good songs.  My favorite is a Burnette-Vito song “When The Sun Goes Down”, but except for the cool background vocals by Nicks & McVie, the song doesn’t sound like Fleetwood Mac.  Because it’s not the classic Fleetwood Mac lineup, it’s treated by the group as if it never existed.

Speaking of not existing.  Another Fleetwood Mac album, Time, came out in 1995.  It didn’t have Lindsey Buckingham or Stevie Nicks.  It didn’t even make the Top 200 album chart.  Fleetwood Mac Broke up.

Two years later (1997) came the reunion.  The full lineup of all 5 key members reunited for a live video concert broadcast on MTV, The Dance.  It was also released as an album…a #1 chart topper that sold over 6-million copies.

A year later (1998), and tired of touring, Christine McVie left Fleetwood Mac.

The last studio album by the group was in April of 2003, Say You Will.  It sold a low 218,000 copies on release.  The magic just wasn’t there.

Fleetwood Mac has been touring off and on for years, always successfully.  Christine McVie rejoined them in 2014.

Update:  Lindsey Buckingham was not on the 2018-2019 tour…please see the “Fleetwood Mac & Lindsey Buckingham” article for more.

Update: (Feb. 2021)  In an interview with BBC radio, Christine McVee says it’s unlikely Fleetwood Mac will tour again…”Certainly not this year.”  She says the only member of the band who would probably want to tour again is Mick Fleetwood.  Fleetwood confirmed he would like to do a farewell tour with the group, possibly with Lindsey Buckingham.

Update: (Sept., 2021)  Lindsey Buckingham released a new self-titled album on September 17th, and did a solo tour.

Update: (Sept., 2021)  Lindsey Buckingham did an interview and had some very negative comments about Stevie Nicks.  That seems to close the door on him ever rejoining the band.  The story is in an article on this site…”Fleetwood Mac Attack”.

Update (11/30/22):  Sadly, Christine McVie has passed away at the age of 79.  She had been in poor health, and died while hospitalized.  Recently, she had been opening up about her experience in Fleetwood Mac, and how much she enjoyed that time.

Update (10/3/23):  Stevie Nicks says that without Christine McVie, there is no reason to go on with Fleetwood Mac.

In 1964 their first album went…nowhere.

Paul Simon went…to England.

Art Garfunkel went…back to college.

In London, Paul Simon continued his songwriting (he had only written 5 of the 12 songs on their first album), and in 1965 released a solo album in England, The Paul Simon Songbook.  Art Garfunkel was getting his master’s degree in mathematics.  So…no Simon & Garfunkel.

But on their first album was a song… “The Sound Of Silence”.  It wasn’t as we first heard it.  Instead, it was an acoustic folk song.

The album, Wednesday Morning, 3A.M., had been released in October of 1964 (“The year of The Beatles, the year of The Stones”), and it tanked.  Then in 1965, a few radio stations along the East Coast started playing “The Sound Of Silence” off the album.

Album producer Tom Wilson made a bold move that was probably the key moment in keeping Simon & Garfunkel from being the sound of silence.  In June of 1965, as Folk Rock was taking off, he had studio pros add an electric guitar, bass, and drums onto “The Sound Of Silence”.

(Columbia Records Producer Tom Wilson also worked with Bob Dylan)

Wilson didn’t bother telling Simon & Garfunkel about the changes.  Officially, they didn’t exist as a duo anymore.  The remix was released as a single in the fall of 1965.  Simon found out by seeing his song on the charts, and Garfunkel called Simon a few days later, because he had also heard about the song’s success.  By January of 1966, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over a million copies.

All of a sudden, and to their surprise, Simon & Garfunkel were back together.  Their label wanted an album to go with the hit single.

Columbia Records was lucky Paul Simon had written songs for his solo album, as “I Am A Rock”, “Leaves That Are Green”, “A Most Peculiar Man”, “April Come She Will”, and “Kathy’s Song” were all on The Paul Simon Songbook.  Also “Somewhere They Can’t Find Me” is a reworking of “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.” with a new chorus.  Both versions are good, “Wednesday” is folk, “Somewhere” is rock.  The album was recorded in three weeks, and released in January of 1966, while the single was still high on the charts.

Because the album name is The Sounds Of Silence, there was some confusion over whether the song is “The Sound Of Silence” or The Sounds Of Silence”.  Paul says it was always meant to be with no “s”.

Interestingly, their next single was not on the album.  “Homeward Bound” (which was recorded just after the album) reached #5 in February of 1966, and then in May, “I Am A Rock” went to #3.

Simon & Garfunkel took much more time to record their next album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

I remember buying this album at a bookstore in Lincoln, NE.  Each week they would feature a brand-new album on sale.  I think the price was $2.99.  It certainly was a bargain, because I like everything on it.  Highlights of the October 1966 album include, “Homeward Bound”, “Scarborough Fair” (a traditional English song), “The Dangling Conversation”, “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her”, and “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”.

Simon & Garfunkel mostly toured college campuses to support their albums.  They didn’t use a touring band until much later,  just Paul Simon’s masterful guitar playing, and the beautiful blend of their voices.

There was not another album until 1968.  However, they did release some singles…”A Hazy Shade Of Winter” #13, “At The Zoo” #16, and “Fakin’ It” #23.

Movie director Mike Nichols asked Simon & Garfunkel if he could use some of their songs for his new film.  They were reluctant, but after visiting with him, they approved the use of their songs in his movie “The Graduate”.  Smart decision.

The movie and the use of their music are now classic.  “Scarborough Fair” was featured prominently, and became another hit single.  During filming, Mike Nichols found out Paul Simon was working on a song called “Mrs. Roosevelt”.  That quickly became “Mrs. Robinson”.  The song is incomplete in the film, but Simon finished it and the single became Simon & Garfunkel’s second #1.

The movie soundtrack was released in January of 1968, and in June, Simon & Garfunkel released their 4th studio album…Bookends.

It’s another high quality effort.  Side one starts with the “Bookends Theme”, and the concept is a life cycle ending with “Old Friends/Bookends”.  The other major song on that side is “America” (“They’ve all come to look for America”).  It’s one of their best songs, and I remember using it in the ’70’s as the soundtrack for my college Television Directing presentation.

Side two features 4 hit singles, “Mrs. Robinson”, “Fakin’ It”, “A Hazy Shade Of Winter”, and “At The Zoo”.

There was only one album left.  Bridge Over Troubled Water was recorded in 1969, and released in January of 1970.  I have a vivid memory of hearing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on the radio when we were in Memphis.  It was raining, we had just parked our car, and we stayed inside to finish the song.  It was so good…it felt like an honor to hear it.

Paul Simon says the song “came to me”, and was not like other songs he had written.  Here’s a way to know a song is special.  S&G performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during a 1969 concert, before the song was released, and it received a standing ovation!  “Bridge” was the #1 song of 1970, and topped Billboard’s singles chart for six weeks.  The song and the album won six major Grammy Awards, including Song Of The Year and Album Of The Year.

Other singles were “The Boxer”, “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”, and “Cecilia”.  The album’s eleven songs feature a variety of musical styles that foreshadowed Paul Simon’s impressive solo career.

The strain of recording the album when Art Garfunkel was busy filming “Catch 22”, and then his taking another acting role in early 1970, contributed greatly to the duo breaking up in the summer of that year.  It was just months after their greatest success.  There would be some performance reunions, but no more studio albums.  Their four main albums are among the best recorded in the 1960’s.

Epilogue:  If Tom Wilson had never made the “Folk Rock” version of “The Sound Of Silence”, would Simon & Garfunkel have been as we know them?  Probably not.  Paul Simon was going to have a career as a singer-songwriter, because he’s just too talented to have failed.  But, two questions remain.  1.  Would Paul have eventually asked his friend Art to join him?  (Despite his vocal ability, Garfunkel would likely have become an architect or math teacher.)  2.  How long would it have taken Simon to move to a more popular Folk Rock sound, instead of the acoustic style on his album The Paul Simon Songbook?

It’s late July of 1973 and we’re driving by the Hampton Roads Coliseum north of Norfolk, Virginia.  The sign says a concert with Loggins & Messina and Jim Croce is coming August 6th.  Our friends, Don & Linda MacLeod, are with us.  We decide to pull in and buy 4 tickets…and we get the second row!  The Coliseum was just 3 years old at the time and a beautiful venue.

Jim Croce opens the show accompanied by another singer-guitarist, Maury Muehleisen.  They are so good.  Of course they play Croce’s hits…”Operator”, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”, “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” (a #1 hit), and other songs from his first two albums, including “Time In A Bottle”.

It’s really cool to hear some excellent songs from Croce’s almost finished album.  They do about five new songs, including  “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song”, “I Got A Name” and “Working At The Car Wash Blues”…which Croce actually introduces as having the world’s longest song title…”Steadily Depressin’, Low Down Mind Messin’, Working At The Car Wash Blues”.

(Concert photos are by my friend, Don MacLeod, except the next three shots below are mine.  Photos enlarge with a click.)

We can tell the new album will be great, and we’re so impressed with the two performers that we wonder if Loggins & Messina could be as good.  (More on Jim Croce later.)

Kenny Loggins comes out with his acoustic guitar and sits down at the edge of the stage.  His voice and guitar fill the auditorium, no worries about quality.

Jim Messina joins Kenny, and that sounds even better.  As they go into another song, the other musicians make their way behind them, and soon the whole band joins in.   Wow, they sound just the way a country-rock band should!

I recognized Al Garth in the band (from photos and credits on the backs of albums).  He played violin and reed instruments.  I’m guessing the other players that night were also session pros.

Jim Messina had been a member of Buffalo Springfield in their latter stages, and had produced for them, as well as his group Poco.  By 1971, he was producing the first solo album for Kenny Loggins.

As Messina took a more active role, it was decided to bill the album as “Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina” and the title was  Sittin’ In.  Best cuts include…”Danny’s Song”, “Nobody But You”, “House at Pooh Corner”, “Listen To A Country Song”, and the eleven-minute “Trilogy”.

By their second album, they were definitely a duo.  Loggins And Messina was released in November of 1972.  “Your Mamma Don’t Dance” was a fun, uptempo hit, and other solid cuts were “Thinking Of You”, “Lady Of My Heart”, “Angry Eyes”, and “Whiskey”.

At the time of the concert in 1973, they were on the rise with another hit single, “My Music”, and about to release their excellent album, Full Sail.  Besides the single, it included “A Love Song” (another hit for Anne Murray, after “Danny’s Song”), “Travelin’ Blues”, “Watching The River Run” and “Sailing The Wind”.  I remember they were on the cover of the Rolling Stone with the title “There’s gold in the middle of the road”.

Loggins and Messina’s success continued, and three more studio albums followed, but I think we were lucky enough to catch L&M at a great time.  The crowd loved them.

As fans left their seats and came forward for the encores, we had to move to the back.  We didn’t want my wife, Jeannette, to get pushed against the stage, because she was eight months pregnant.  It wasn’t our future son’s first concert, we had been to other concerts in recent months, but this was the best one.

There was horrible tragedy for Jim Croce and Maury Meuhleisen.  The month following the concert, on September 20th, 1973, both were killed when their pilot took off in foggy darkness and flew their small plane into a tree.  Croce was only 30, and Meuhleisen (who was also a singer-songwriter) was just 24.  Besides the terrible personal loss for their families, it was a big loss for music fans.

Their work on the posthumously released album, I Got A Name, showed a maturing of their writing and singing.  Jim Croce and Maury Meuhleisen were certainly poised for much more success.

Virginia Beach, Virginia is where my mind goes when I hear The Doobie Brothers’ “Listen To The Music”.  The moment was in 1972 when I was driving between home and work, and The Doobie Brothers’ first hit was coming out of the dashboard.  I loved it.  Their timing was perfect for the country rock sound.  The Eagles had “Take It Easy” just a couple months earlier.  Neil Young and America were on the charts.  The acoustic singer-songwriter movement was strong.  Even The Hollies had a country sounding “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress”.

“Listen To The Music” instantly sounded like a hit.  “What people need is a way to make them smile.” sang Tom Johnston.  He says the music to the song (which he wrote first) made him feel like it should have an uplifting message, and music could make people feel better.  The song still works.  Using a banjo and acoustic guitars in the mix dropped it right into feel good country rock, and it’s topped off with excellent harmonies!

Toulouse Street was the album.  The title song, by another songwriter and lead guitarist, Patrick Simmons, features subtle guitar work, beautiful harmonies, and even a flute, which was probably played by Patrick Simmons on keyboard.  However, chosen as the second single from the album was “Jesus Is Just Alright” which made it into the top 40.  The song had been on the “Easy Rider” movie soundtrack, as performed by The Byrds.

Now that “Listen To The Music” had broken the ice for them, The Doobie Brothers came back with a solid top 10 album, The Captain And Me, in 1973.  The Doobies could definitely rock.  They were one of the few groups to feature two drummers, and two lead guitarists.  “Long Train Runnin'” was their first top 10 single, followed by another rocker, “China Grove”.  Tom Johnston says the songs were built around guitar riffs, and then lyrics written to fit the feel.

Johnston was also the songwriter for the bluesy standout album track “Dark Eyed Cajun Woman”, but it was Patrick Simmons who wrote my favorite, “South City Midnight Lady”, which is actually a tribute to San Jose, rather than any particular woman.  Besides a great arrangement and cool playing by the band, it features steel guitar by Jeff “Skunk” Baxter who would join the Doobie Brothers a year later when Steely Dan stopped touring.

In early 1974, it looked like the Doobie Brothers might loose momentum.  The album What Once Were Vices Are Now Habits was released, along with the single “Another Park, Another Sunday”.  The single barely cracked the Top 40, and a follow up “Eyes Of Silver” didn’t.  Months passed, and then radio stations came to their rescue.  As more FM stations began to play album tracks, they zeroed in on “Black Water”, which had been the B-side to “Another Park”.  Warner Brothers took the hint, and released “Black Water” as a single.  It was their first to hit #1 (not until March of 1975), and pulled the album to #4.

All the touring was beginning to take it’s toll.  The Doobie Brothers 1975 album Stampede had no original hits, but their remake of “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me)” did make it to #11.  Lead singer and one of the two major songwriters, Tom Johnston, was hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer.

Jeff Baxter suggested another Steely Dan musician, Michael McDonald, could take over the major portion of the lead singing, and add keyboards.  Thus began…The Doobie Brothers, Phase Two.

Michael McDonald gave the band a new direction and sound.  He also wrote their next two hits…”Takin’ It To The Streets” and “It Keeps You Running” for the Takin’ It To The Streets album in 1976, and it was a top 10 success.

It was here that the Best of The Doobies album was released.

It has a very clever cover with a tabletop jukebox displaying the songs on the album, and the covers of past Doobie Brothers’ albums.

Their 1977 album, Living On The Fault Line, was fairly successful, but there were no hit singles.  It did include a version of “You Belong To Me” that McDonald co-wrote with Carly Simon, and hit #6 for her.

Co-writing was about to pay off for McDonald and The Doobie Brothers.  The co-writer, Kenny Loggins, and the song, “What A Fool Believes”.  It hit #1 in February of 1979, and won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.  The album was Minute by Minute, and “Dependin’ On You” and “Minute by Minute” were the album’s other two hits.

Despite all the success with the R&B leanings of this version of the band, there were disagreements and some membership changes.  The final album of The Doobie Brothers, Phase Two was released in September of 1980, One Step Closer.  It had the hits “Real Love” and “One Step Closer”, but was a definite come down from Minute by Minute.

In 1981, The Doobie Brothers disbanded.

Phase Three didn’t start until six years later.  Members of the band got together to play a 1987 benefit for Vietnam Veterans.  Eventually, the original Tom Johnston/Patrick Simmons lineup reunited for the album Cycles in 1989.  They scored a top 10 hit with “The Doctor”, and the album reached #17.

Although they continued to record, Phase Three has really been about playing live shows for their fans.  When Classic Rock radio station KTGL “The Eagle” in Lincoln, NE wanted to celebrate their 10th anniversary in 1997, The Doobie Brothers played for the event at The Bob Devaney Sports Center.  They sounded great!  The band members all signed a large banner commemorating the event, and for all I know it’s still framed and hanging on a wall at the radio station.

I checked to see what the band is doing now.  I found out they’re currently on a tour of the East Coast.  That tour will end with a performance in…Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Update:  The Doobie Brothers made The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as members of the class of 2020.  Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual induction ceremony was held on November 7th, 2020.  By 2022, Michael McDonald had rejoined the group as they returned to touring.