On The Records

If ever there was a one-man-band…it’s John Fogerty.

He pissed off the other members of Creedence Clearwater Revival by wanting to not only write, sing lead, and play lead guitar…he basically wanted complete control of the recording process.  The thing is, their recordings came out great that way.

By 1973, Creedence Clearwater Revival had broken up, and this new group…The Blue Ridge Rangers…released their first album.  Only it wasn’t a group, it was John Fogerty playing all the instruments and singing all the vocal parts on old country standards.  The album contained no mention of Fogerty, until it was re-released with a new cover years later.

The album went to #11 on the Billboard Country chart, and the single “Jambalya” was a hit at #16 on the Top 40 chart.

Two years later, 1975, John Fogerty released his first album of original material.

The self-titled album was not a big hit, but included two songs that would have been at home on Creedence albums….”Rockin’ All Over The World” and “Almost Saturday Night”.  One of my memories of owning this album is that it was pressed off center.  To play it without a lot of wow-and-flutter, I had to enlarge the hole in the middle of the record, which gave me room to center the album so it would track without the needle swinging back & forth.

John Fogerty’s first two albums, Blue Ridge Rangers & John Fogerty were re-released on vinyl in 2023.  Hopefully, the records’ holes are nicely centered.

Legal battles with his old CCR label, Fantasy Records, kept Fogerty from recording for nearly 10 years.  Then, in 1985 he “knocked it out of the park” with his best solo album, Centerfield.

The album went to #1, and featured the hits “The Old Man Down The Road”, “Rock & Roll Girls” and “Centerfield”, which to this day is played at baseball games.  Again, John Fogerty played all the instruments himself.  Other excellent songs on the album include “Big Train From Memphis” and “I Saw It On TV”.  This last one is a clever look at history as it appeared on our TV screens from the 1950’s through the Vietnam War and Watergate.  Here are the lyrics to the first half of the song, right up to where it’s “time to join the band”.

They sent us home to watch the show comin’ on the little screen.
A man named Ike was in the White House, big black limousine.
There were many shows to follow, from ‘Hooter’ to ‘Doodyville’,
Though I saw them all, I can’t recall which cartoon was real.

The coon-skin caps, Yankee bats, the “Hound Dog” man’s big start,
The A-bomb fears, Annette had ears, I lusted in my heart.
A young man from Boston set sail the new frontier,
And we watched the dream dead-end in Dallas,
They buried innocence that year.

I know it’s true, oh so true, ’cause I saw it on TV.

We gathered round to hear the sound comin’ on the little screen.
The grief had passed, the old men laughed, and all the girls screamed,
’cause four guys from England took us all by the hand,
It was time to laugh, time to sing, time to join the band.

The 1985 song was a precursor to the 1989 Billy Joel hit “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, which was also a clever encapsulation of history.

A weird thing happened after Centerfield was released.  His old label, Fantasy Records, sued John Fogerty.  They said “Old Man Down The Road” sounded too much like Fogerty’s own Creedence song “Run Through The Jungle”.  The label had the rights to that song, and so they sued for copyright infringement.  In court, John Fogerty used his guitar to demonstrate how the two songs came about, and how they differed.   Fogerty won the lawsuit.  The label even had to pay his legal fees.

Maybe a year between albums was not enough time, because Fogerty’s 1986 album Eye Of The Zombie, was a weak follow up.

There was still a lot of animosity among John Fogerty, Fantasy Records, and his former band mates…who came up with the name “Creedence Clearwater Revisited” to try to cash in on touring.  John Fogerty refused to play his own Creedence Clearwater Revival songs in concert, because he didn’t want to make money for Fantasy Records.

Fifteen years after the 1972 breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival,  John Fogerty finally played a Creedence song at a Vietnam Veterans concert on July 4th, 1987.  After that, he began adding the group’s songs to his concerts.

It was ten years before we got another John Fogerty solo album, 1997’s Blue Moon Swamp.

It was a solid effort and won The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.  Songs included “Joy Of My Life” and “Hot Rod Heart”.  Fogerty wrote “Joy Of My Life” for his wife, and even learned how to play a dobro just for this recording.  (Update:  The song is featured on Chris Stapleton’s 2020 album Starting Over.)

In 2004, Fogerty released his next solo album.  It wasn’t great, except for the title track “Deja Vu All Over Again”.  The song was about how the Iraq War was like the Vietnam War…all over again.

Just three years later, 2007, Revival was released.  It’s a good album…#14 on Billboard’s top 200 Album chart, and #4 on their Rock chart.  The standout track is “Creedence Song”, which really is a great Creedence song about the music of CCR.  He also saluted CCR songs with his 2013 album Wrote A Song For Everyone, which featured Fogerty playing Creedence songs with many other well-known artists, including Country stars Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, and Keith Urban.  My favorite is his duet with Bob Seger on “Who’ll Stop The Rain”.

John Fogerty, who turns 73 in May (2018), is still a popular touring act.   He often does shows with other artists, including ZZ Top this year.  It’s amazing how he came up with what seemed like his own genre of music, “Swamp Rock”.

He certainly wears “The Old Man Down The Road” title well, and the cool thing is how popular his Creedence and best solo songs remain today.

Update (1/12/23):  77 year old John Fogerty has gained controlling rights to his Creedence Clearwater Songs after a 50-year legal fight.  It comes at a time when many older artists are selling the rights to their music.

(Please check out the earlier article on Creedence Clearwater Revival.)

Normally a rock band forms, and then has a hit…but with The Grass Roots, the hit came first.

It was the mid 1960’s, and Folk Rock was the hot thing.   P.F.  Sloan (the P stood for his real name, Philip, and the F for his nickname, “Flip”) was writing hits (usually with co-writers like Steve Barri)…such as “Eve Of Destruction” for Barry McGuire, “You Baby” and “Let Me Be” for The Turtles, “She’s A Must To Avoid” for Herman’s Hermits, and “Secret Agent Man” for Johnny Rivers.

       (A young P.F. Sloan in the 1960’s.  Folk Rock is serious stuff!)

Sloan also worked as a studio musician with L.A.’s famous Wrecking Crew.  He came up with the cool guitar intro for “California Dreamin'” by The Mamas & The Papas.

In 1966, P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri wrote “Where Were You When I Needed You”.  They recorded the song with studio musicians.  It had P.F. Sloan on lead vocals, and became a hit.  The band name on the record was The Grassroots, but they didn’t exist!  So, they had to find a band that could tour and record albums.  After a failed attempt with a working local band, they finally found the musicians they needed.

Rob Grill was the lead vocalist and bass player, Warren Entner sang some of the lead vocals and played guitar,  Creed Bratton also played guitar, and Rick Coonce was the drummer.  The lineup later changed, but this was the group that had most of the hits.

Rob Grill re-recorded the lead vocal on “Where Were You When I Needed You”, and by mid 1967 they had a #8 hit with “Let’s Live For Today”…which fit right in with the “Summer Of Love”.

Then in 1968, “Midnight Confessions” went to #5, sold over a million copies, and was their biggest hit.

The Grass Roots were the first national act I ever saw in concert.  They were in Lincoln, Nebraska at Pershing Auditorium in 1969.  The concert was good, but I was a little disappointed the band didn’t tour with any brass players.  Their hits like “Midnight Confessions”, “The River Is Wide”, “Lovin’ Things”,  and “I’d Wait A Million Years” featured horns prominently.

Informative digression:  There was another show in Lincoln that night.  A popular Midwest touring band (with horns) was at the Student Union…The Fabulous Flippers.  Too bad they couldn’t have added the horn parts for The Grass Roots!  The Flippers had the regional hit “Harlem Shuffle”.   Years later the song was covered by The Rolling Stones.

        (The presentation of their name became The Grass Roots.)

Creed Bratton was ousted from The Grass Roots, partly because he resented the fact their label, Dunhill Records, limited most of the songwriting to outside professionals instead of band members.  Keyboardist Dennis Provisor (on the left above) was added to the group.  Hits with that lineup included “Temptation Eyes” (#15) and “Sooner Or Later” (#9).  In all, they had fourteen Top 40 hits from 1966 through 1972.

You could find variations of The Grass Roots out on tour in later years, but the main lineup was never together again.  There are good collections of their hits available, but you have to watch out for re-recorded versions.  Almost all of the collections on iTunes are re-recorded.  The only good one I could find on iTunes is the 20th Century Masters-The Millennium Collection: The Best Of The Grass Roots.

Even though The Grass Roots were started by studio musicians, once the band formed, they had a good string of hits in the late 60’s.  There were some excellent songs with great arrangements, and I particularly liked the lead vocals of Rob Grill and Warren Entner.  Their hits are fun to sing along with, although now some of those high notes…

Here’s my experience giving the original Apple HomePod a home test.  (After discontinuing the large HomePod, Apple released an updated version in February of 2023, more info at the end of this article.  It looks nearly identical.)

On the first day it was available to order, I did.  On February 9th, 2018 the UPS man handed me the box.  It was much heavier than I expected.  I took out the nicely packed white HomePod and plugged it in.

With my iPad next to it, the setup was just a few taps on the screen, and the HomePod was activated.  From that point, no Apple device is needed on a daily basis.  The HomePod gets the music directly from iCloud through our wi-fi.  I asked Siri to play a particular song, and it sounded great.  There is amazing clarity throughout the frequency range.  The bass is extremely impressive, especially for the HomePod’s size, which is only about 7-inches high and 5 1/2-inches wide.

Now the reason I wanted the HomePod was for playing songs using my iTunes playlists.  Playlists are the way I’ve organized my music over the last 14 years or so.  Most of each playlist’s songs are placed in chronological order by years, and programmed with tempos, styles and meanings in mind.  Anyway, I didn’t want to just use Apple Music’s streaming service after spending so much time getting songs in order.  Plus, I have quite a few rare versions of songs that aren’t on any streaming service.  Here’s how the HomePod looks in our home:

(When Siri is voice-activated, the top has modulating colored lights.)

Before:  To play music on our large stereo system, it took:  1. Turning on the Mac in the office.  2. Going to the family room and using a remote to turn on the TV.  3. Using another remote to turn on the Apple TV.  4. Using yet another remote to turn on the Stereo Amplifier.  5. Choosing the Apple TV computer/music function, and then scrolling to the playlist I wanted.

Now:  I just walk into the living room and ask Siri to play whatever playlist or song I want.

The six internal microphones will pick up commands when spoken at a normal tone of voice, even when the music is fairly loud.  Until you activate the unit by saying “Hey Siri”.  All of your commands are automatically deleted, and never used to give advertising information to businesses.

The sound of the HomePod is very impressive.  Even though the audio is coming from a single source (with 8 internal speakers, as shown above), the instruments and voices seem separate and clear.  The bass is surprisingly full, and yet never muddy.  The volume goes higher than we’ll ever need, and it doesn’t distort at any setting.  Volume is adjusted by asking Siri, or by tapping the + and – lights on the top of the unit when it’s playing.   Basically, all stopping, pausing, resuming, and other needs can be accomplished by telling Siri.

The HomePod uses “beaming technology” to automatically adjust its audio pattern to fit any room in which it’s placed.  The circular array of the internal speakers is much better than any front-facing speaker at giving you good sound no matter where you sit in the room.  The circular array might become a common speaker design in the future, so there isn’t just one “sweet spot” for listening.

The HomePod is so enjoyable to listen to, we even added another one when the stereo option became available.

We came up with this placement, and the stereo sounds absolutely great!  The separation is excellent.  HomePods have an exceptional ability to reproduce all frequencies clearly.  The bass is so good, you might even wonder if there’s a subwoofer hidden in a corner of the room.

After decades of purchasing and storing thousands of records and CD’s, and having large stereo systems…It’s almost unbelievable that these small speaker/amplifiers would take the place of all of it, and that you could simply ask to hear any songs you want!

Update:  It’s sad that this great-sounding speaker was replaced by a small one with lesser sound quality.  Apple will continue to provide technical updates to the original HomePods.  I’m glad we got the larger HomePods when we could.  Here’s the size comparison:

The mini is only 3.9 inches wide and 3.3 inches high.  Apparently, the sound of the Mini is good “for it’s size”.

Update 1/18/23:  There’s a new version of the original large HomePod.

It looks almost the same as the original HomePod, with the colors being white and “Midnight” black.  The price is $299 each, which is $50 less than the original, but the same price used prior to the pause in manufacturing.  The display now covers the entire top, and the electronics feature the S7 chip.  The new HomePods was released February 3rd, 2023.  Most reviews say it sounds nearly identical to the original HomePod.

Sure horns were a part of Rock & Roll in the ’50s and ’60s, but those horns were mostly played by session musicians and backing bands, not by actual members of rock bands…at least not by bands that were making it on the national stage.  That would change in the late ’60s.

Chicago, Illinois was the home of some bands that featured horns on their recordings.  According to Billboard Magazine, the most listened to American band of 1967 was The Buckinghams.  This Chicago group had five major hits that year…”Kind Of A Drag” (#1), “Don’t You Care” (#6), “Mercy Mercy Mercy” (#5), “Hey Baby, They’re Playing Our Song” (#12), and “Susan” (#11).  Although their popular songs and albums heavily featured horns, there weren’t any brass players in The Buckinghams.  But, one of the producers on “Kind Of A Drag” was a big-band leader and ballroom owner.

After their first hit, “Kind Of A Drag”, The Buckinghams signed with Columbia Records and a major figure in the future of “Horn Rock”, James William Guercio.

Guercio was a session bassist in the 1960s, toured with Chad & Jeremy, and wrote their single “Distant Shores”.  When he became the Producer/Arranger for The Buckinghams, he used innovative brass arrangements on the last four of the above hits, and on their two most popular albums…Time & Charges and Portraits.  The Buckinghams split with Guercio…and had no more Top 40 hits.

James William Guercio took on two bands that did have excellent horn players as members…Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago Transit Authority.  Both were on the Columbia label, and they both had important albums out in 1969.

The self titled BS&T album was huge, with the hits “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”, “Spinning Wheel”, and “And When I Die”…all three of which made it to #2 on the Billboard singles chart.  All of a sudden, the term “Jazz Rock” was  born.  Blood, Sweat & Tears won the Grammy for Album Of The Year.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Transit Authority album was fairly successful in 1969, reaching #17, but there were no hit singles at that time.  Even though the two groups were often lumped into the Jazz Rock category, the CTA album arrangements were much more Rock than Jazz.   Plus, the album featured some fierce rock guitar played by Terry Kath.

Here’s the original line-up for Chicago:

Terry Kath-guitar, lead & backing vocals, Robert Lamm-keyboards, lead & backing vocals, Peter Cetera-bass, lead & backing vocals, Lee Loughnane-trumpet, James Pankow-trombone, Walter Parazaider-saxophone, and Danny Seraphine-drums/percussion.

Chicago’s second album, in early 1970, was the big breakthrough.  It was simply called Chicago, because the real Chicago Transit Authority mass-transit company didn’t want their name used.

The Chicago album, which would later be designated Chicago II, had the hits “Make Me Smile” (#9) and “25 or 6 to 4” (#4), plus popular album cut “Colour My World” (the flip-side of “Make Me Smile”).  The album also featured what I believe is their defining moment, the 13-minute seven-song medley “Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon”:

1.  “Make Me Smile” (3:32) [vocal Terry Kath]
2. “”So Much to Say, So Much to Give” (1:04) [vocal Robert Lamm]
3. “Anxiety’s Moment” (1:00) [instrumental]
4. “West Virginia Fantasies” (1:34) [instrumental]
5. “Colour My World” (2:58) [vocal Terry Kath)
6. “To Be Free” (1:21) [instrumental]
7. “Now More Than Ever” (1:27) [vocal Terry Kath]

Most of Chicago’s early hits were written by Robert Lamm, but this medley was written by trombonist James Pankow.  My original memory of the medley was hearing it played in it’s entirety on an FM station in Memphis, Tennessee in early 1970.  We were outside on a break from electronics school, and someone had a transistor radio.  The medley played for nearly the whole break.  I love those horn instrumentals as much as the hits in the medley.

Once Chicago became a smash (#4), the singles from the Chicago Transit Authority album were re-released as hits…”Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” (#7), “Beginnings” (#7) and “Questions 67 & 68” (#24).

Chicago III came out in 1971.  It included modest hits “Free” (#25) and “Lowdown” (#35).  Easily my favorite cut is the one that sounds like CSN&Y doing “Teach Your Children”…”Flight 602”.  No horns in this one, but lots of vocal harmony, and even a steel guitar.  James William Guercio had used the same style with the little known group Illinois Speed Press for the song “Bad Weather”.  The singer and songwriter, Paul Cotton, went on to success with Poco.

Unlike Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago continued their success in the the 1970s and through the 1980s with hit albums and thirty-five Top 40 hits.  The hits included “Saturday In The Park” (#3), “Just You ‘N’ Me” (#4), (I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long” (#9), “Call On Me” (#6), “Old Days” (#5), “If You Leave Me Now” (#1), “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” (#1),  “Hard Habit To Break (#3), “You’re The Inspiration” (#3), and many more.

In the middle of that recording success, two important events happened in 1978 that greatly affected Chicago.  Lead guitarist and sometimes lead vocalist Terry Kath died from an accidental gunshot from a gun he thought wasn’t loaded.  The band also parted ways with producer James William Guercio, who they felt was taking too large a percentage of their earnings.

The loss of an excellent rock guitarist & vocalist, along with the change in production made a huge difference in the sound of the band.  Peter Cetera also became a more prominent songwriter, and he had an affection for ballads.  Throw in Pop producer David Foster, and Chicago became more of an Adult Contemporary band, rather than a Rock band.  The public didn’t seem to mind, because some of those big 1980s ballads were very popular.  But, their softer sound was probably why it took Chicago until 2016 to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Despite the success of Chicago, “Horn Rock” (or “Brass Rock”) never developed into a major category of Rock & Roll.  We have to enjoy what they gave us, and be happy when we get a saxophone now and then, or maybe the rare horn section for a live concert.  I guess “rock trumpet” doesn’t have the same ring as “rock guitar”.

Remember that band?  The band that had one hit in 1964?

Their lead singer wrote a song that was recorded onto a reel-to-reel recorder by the drummer’s uncle.  A local promoter got the song played on the radio.  Then, a major label released it nationally…and the song made it to number 2 on the charts!

                      (Our 1996 CD of the That Thing You Do! album)

The Wonders were a band from the mind of Tom Hanks.  He wrote the script and directed the 1996 movie, “That Thing You Do!”, about a one-hit-wonder band in 1964.  Hanks loves the music of that era, and it shows.  The movie includes the joy of first hearing your song on the radio, and attaining minor stardom.

Besides being a fun movie…it was Tom Hanks’ first script and directing experience…the movie captures that time in the ’60’s perfectly.  “That Thing You Do!” is the only movie set in that era that has original music that sounds like it actually came from the 1960’s.

The title track is a slice of infectious pop-rock similar to what The Beatles and other groups were putting out in 1964.  The Wonders also do some other good songs “Dance With Me Tonight”, “All My Only Dreams” and “Little Wild One” in their concert scenes…such as being on the “Galaxy Of Stars” tour on the state fair circuit, like Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars” in the ’60’s.

         (The Wonders on tour…T.B. Player, Lenny, Jimmy, and Guy)

One of the cool parts of the movie was the whole music history that went with this tour.  It included other acts with their own hits.  The character Diane Dane is a singer who probably is already toward the end of her career, but her song “My World Is Over” sounds like a Dusty Springfield hit, right down to the horn part similar to “Wishin’ and Hopin'”.  The Chantrellines sing “Hold My Hand, Hold My Heart” and sound like the Crystals or Ronettes.  These songs are so accurate to the time, that they can be dropped into the appropriate sixties playlists, and they sound right at home.  The same is true for two instrumentals.   “Voyage Around The Moon” sounds like it came from The Ventures’ album Ventures In Space, and “Shrimp Shack” could be by Junior Walker & The All Stars.

“That Thing You Do” was the first movie for Tom Everett Scott (Guy “Shades” Patterson, the drummer), and one of the first movies for Liv Tyler (Faye, the lead female character) and Charlize Theron (Tina, Guy’s girlfriend).

The other band members included Steve Zahn (Lenny the lead guitarist), Jonathan Schaech (Jimmy the lead singer), and Ethan Embry (T.B. Player,  the bass player).  And of course Tom Hanks played Mr. White who managed the band for Play Tone Records.  Hanks obviously patterned his character after Beatles Manager Brian Epstein.  There were some nice touches from Beatlemania throughout the movie.

(As we entered the theater to see the movie in 1996, we were handed the above 3-inch pin as a souvenir.)

Although the actors were taught to play their instruments and perform the songs for the movie, the actual recordings were written and played by professionals.  Adam Schlesinger, the bassist for Fountains of Wayne wrote “That Thing You Do”, and  Mike Viola of Candy Butchers provided the lead vocals for the songs by The Wonders.  Tom Hanks also co-wrote some of the songs for the movie, and obviously made sure the songs accurately represented the era.

The That Thing You Do! soundtrack made it to #21 on the Billboard album chart, and the single hit #18 on the Adult Top 40 chart.  The song also got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.  Critics give the film a very positive 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you like this type of 1960’s music…”That Thing You Do!”, is a make-you-smile look into that era.  Enjoy!

Extra:  For another fictional Rock band, here’s the link to an article on Daisy Jones & The Six:

https://ontherecords.net/2023/03/fictional-bandsdaisy-jones-the-six/

“Oh baby baby it’s a wild world.  It’s hard to get by just upon a smile.”

Most of us first heard of Cat Stevens with his break-through single “Wild World”.  It was the first hit from his album Tea for the Tillerman.

The album was released in November of 1970, and “Wild World” hit #11 in 1971.  Cat Stevens (who was born Steven Georgiou in London in 1948) actually started his career in 1967.  His debut album Matthew and Son did well in England, and the title track hit #2 there.  He also wrote the hit by The Tremeloes, “Here Comes My Baby”, and “The First Cut Is The Deepest”, which many artists have recorded.  He didn’t think his Greek name Georgiou would be very memorable, so he chose the stage name Cat Stevens…partly because a girlfriend said he had cat-like eyes.

In 1969, prior to his success in America, Stevens contracted Tuberculosis.  This was a life-changing event.  Not only did he nearly die, but the months of recovery in a hospital made him reflect on his life, and what type of music he wanted to write and perform.  By the time he recorded his 4th album, Tea for the Tillerman in mid 1970, he had a less-produced, more acoustic style that fit in well with the singer-songwriter movement that had just emerged.

Tea for the Tillerman went on to sell over 3-million copies in the United States.  It’s the kind of album you could drop the needle on and enjoy the whole thing.  Many of its songs have become well-known over the years.

His 1971 follow-up album Teaser and the Firecat was another high quality album, and gave him back-to-back albums that few careers could match.  It also sold over 3-million copies in the U.S.

Teaser and the Firecat (with another album cover featuring a drawing by Cat Stevens) gave us “Moonshadow”, “Morning Has Broken”, “The Wind” and “Peace Train”.   I also bought his other albums in the 1970’s, but these two albums represent the best of his career.

Cat Stevens developed a unique style, sometimes punctuating his songs with staccato singing, and dramatic dynamics.  But the main aspect of his songs is that they were well written, and hold up after all these years.  In fact, 47 years later, his songs have been used in dozens of television shows like “This Is Us”, and in many movies like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”.  “This Is Us” featured “Where Do The Children Play”, “The Wind” and “Moonshadow” (in 2022 they played “Father And Son”).  “Guardians” featured “Father And Son”.

Cat Stevens sings “Father and Son” using a low calm voice for the father, and a higher more excited voice for the son.  The father is trying to convince his son to live by the dreams of the father’s generation, and the son knows he must live life in his own way.

Father: Take your time, think a lot, why, think of everything you’ve got…
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

The son sees thing differently than his father’s generation.

Son:  If they were right, I’d agree, but it’s them they know not me.
Now there’s a way, and I know that I have to go away, I know I have to go.

Since we were young at that time, it was easy to identify with the son, and now we know that the father wasn’t all wrong.

In 1977 Cat Stevens converted from his Catholic faith to the Islamic faith, and changed his name to Yusuf Islam.  Then in 1978 he quit music completely, and for approximately 30-years simply lived life with his wife and son, rarely singing and playing music.

Slowly, about 10 years ago, Yusuf began recording and performing again, sometimes using the name Yusuf Stevens.  In 2014 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.  The songs he selected to perform at the ceremony were…”Father and Son”, “Wild World” and “Peace Train”.  He still sounded great.  It was good to hear him sing again.

Update:  (September 2020)  For the 50-year anniversary of Tea for the Tillerman, Yusuf “Cat” Stevens has re-recorded the album with new arrangements and updated artwork.

For the song “Father And Son”, Yusuf (which is the only name he uses for the album) recorded the father’s part in his current voice, but used an old recording of him singing the son’s part.  It’s a lot easier to sound like an old man when you’re young, than it is to sound like a young man when you’re old.  Yusuf has the right to reimagine his songs from today’s perspective, and some of the results are interesting, but the original album is his masterpiece.

Update:  And now there’s a really extensive box set.

A Tea For The Tillerman box set with 5 CD’s and more was released December 4th, 2020.  It includes the original album, a 2020 remix of the original album, the recently re-recorded version of the album, called Tea For The Tillerman 2, alternate takes & outtakes, and concert recordings.  This list price is $180.

You can also get the vinyl of the remastered original album, a 2-CD set of the remaster (not the remix), and some demo & live recordings. or a 1-disc remaster of the original album.  The digital set is available on iTunes, including sales of individual tracks.  The box set is also available on streaming services.

Similar sets are also available for Teaser and the Firecat:

After The Beatles arrived in America in 1964, everyone who was musically inclined wanted to start a band.  What was it like for those who did?

I was 15 at the time, and involved in vocal & band (trumpet) music in my small high school in Leigh, Nebraska.  It was in college in 1967 that I was fortunate to meet other budding musicians…and we formed a band.   The name we came up with was “The New Faction”.

We learned enough songs to start playing at fraternity parties and other small venues.  The first songs for any band starting at the time were easy ones like “Twist And Shout”, “Louie Louie”, or the early songs by The Kinks.  We weren’t very good at first, but I distinctly remember a change when we came back to school after the summer break in 1967.   We played in “The Pub” at the dorm complex, and were playing the latest songs, like “Light My Fire”.  My roommate, Eric Pierson, heard us, and said (in a surprised voice) “You got good!”.  This same young man became a brain surgeon, so you can trust him.

(We were still teenagers in this 1967 “New Faction” photo.)

There were a couple of personnel changes, and we wanted a fresh start, so we changed our name to The Rock & Soul Society.

(Two sides of our business card.  Photos enlarge with click.)

The name reflected the type of music we played…mostly the top hits of the day, plus some rock and soul favorites.  About 75% of what we covered were Rock/Pop artists like The Beatles, The Grass Roots, The Buckinghams, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.  The rest were Soul songs from artists like The Temptations, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett.  Unfortunately, none of us were songwriters, so it was all cover songs, like almost all local bands.

Tom Rappl (bass), Steve Vannoy (lead guitar), Greg Nicklas (drums), Dale Murdoch (guitar & trumpet), Flip Bausch (lead vocals & trumpet), and Bob Roose (organ & lead vocals on most of the soul songs).  The photo was taken at “The Columns” near the University of Nebraska football stadium.

Like other local bands, we had to load our amplifiers and other gear (in my case, the P.A. system) into our cars to get to wherever we were playing.  Then we’d drive in a line to a ballroom, prom dance, or other venue within about 100 miles of Lincoln, Nebraska.  We’d unload it all, set it up, play a dance doing three sets of music…then…tear it down, pack it up, and do it all over again.  That was on weekends.  During weekdays, we’d practice and learn new songs.

We were paid decently for the time (typically $250…that would be $1,780 today), but it obviously wasn’t enough to make a living…it was really just because we loved performing the music.

(Singing to my girlfriend…as she posed for a photo.)

(Bob, Greg & me.  Photos are from old slides.)

(Bob, Greg, Dale & Steve)

(“Magical Mystery Tour” or another song with horn parts.)

(Bassist Dean Everitt joined the band, and did a great job.)

It always felt good when people responded enthusiastically to our playing.  I remember when The Beatles White Album came out in 1968.  The single released at that time was “Hey Jude”, and we got great feedback on that one.  But, the album itself had no singles on it, so local bands had to just choose songs we thought would be popular with audiences.  One of the cuts we chose was “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da”.  When it was brand new, we got applause for just announcing we were going to play it.  I also remember getting positive comments about our Grass Roots songs.  They were favorites of mine, because I could sing the lead, and then Dale & I could play trumpets during the instrumental portions, like the original recordings.  It was the same thing with some of the songs by The Buckinghams.

Bands like ours came and went.  We had a pretty good run of three years (‘67-‘69), but then I left, got married (to that pretty girl I was singing to 48 years ago), and did a stint as an Aviation Electronics Technician in the Navy.  However, I’ll never live down the fact that The Rock & Soul Society was playing at a prom in Iowa on the night I should have taken Jeannette to her senior prom in Plainview, Nebraska.

After I left, the band went on for a while longer, but Lincoln, Nebraska isn’t considered a stepping stone to musical fame.  The exception was one of the biggest one-hit-wonders of all time…Zager & Evans.  Their original song “In The Year 2525” was number one for six weeks in 1969.  It was their only recording to make the Hot 100.  One night we were playing in Lincoln before “2525” was released.  A guy came up to me during a break and told me he had recently seen Zager & Evans.  He said “You guys should get yourselves a special song like they have”.  If only it were that easy!

I want to mention one other local band, The Chancellors, also from Lincoln.  They were an exceptional band, which included a friend of mine from grade school, Keith Goins.  Keith and his brother Dennis moved to our small town when Keith and I were both in the 4th grade.  Keith played guitar, and we sang songs together.  He moved to Columbus, where he started The Echoes in high school, and then joined The Chancellors in Lincoln.  Keith was the lead guitarist, and Dennis the drummer.

I’m happy to report that all these years later, our keyboardist, Bob Roose, still performs with a band, Blues Agent, in Omaha.  Steve Vannoy still plays guitar, and his wife Barb plays keyboards.  When Steve & Barb visited Oregon recently, Steve picked up his guitar and played absolutely great.  He told me Dale Murdoch plays guitar with him from time to time.  Me, I still sing along with my music collection.

(Steve Vannoy, September 2017, while visiting the Oregon coast.)

The story of The Rock & Soul Society is typical.  Few local bands get very far beyond the point we did.  It’s partly because we all had to earn a “real” living, and lead lives that included spouses and families.  It points to the fact that those who do “make it” are probably truly gifted songwriters, singers, and instrumentalists.  Also, they very likely made personal sacrifices to follow their musical dreams.

Extra:  The Nebraska Performing Arts Hall Of Fame used our photo for an event in 2021.

David Crosby & Graham Nash loved to blend their voices.

From 1965 into 1968, David Crosby sang harmony and sometimes lead with The Byrds.  During those same years, Graham Nash sang harmony and sometimes lead with The Hollies.  Together, their voices were magic.

When they formed Crosby, Stills & Nash with Stephen Stills in 1968, they took on different roles in the group.  Graham Nash could write memorable melodies.  He wrote five of CSN(&Y)’s nine Top-40 hits…”Marrakesh Express”, “Teach Your Children”, “Our House”, “Just A Song Before I Go”, and “Wasted On The Way”.  His writing was seriously important to the popularity of the group.

David Crosby didn’t write any of their hits.  Instead, he wrote songs of social conscience, or artistic love songs that didn’t fit on the pop music charts… “Guinevere”, “Long Time Gone”, “Deja Vu”, “In My Dreams”, and many more that added depth and beauty to their CSN albums.

After the initial rush of CSN&Y, Graham Nash released his 1971 solo album Songs For Beginners, with…”Chicago”, “Simple Man”, “Sleep Song” and “I Used To Be A King”.

David Crosby’s 1971 album is If I Could Only Remember My Name, with… “Laughing”, “Orleans”, “Music Is Love” and “Traction In The Rain”.

David Crosby and Graham Nash then worked together on three studio albums that made it into the top-30… Graham Nash David Crosby (1972, #4), Wind On The Water (1975 #6), and Whistling Down The Wire (1976 #26).  Some favorite songs from these albums include:  “Southbound Train”, “The Wall Song”, “Games”, “Immigration Man”, “Where Will I Be?”, “Page 43”, “Taken At All”, “Homeward Through The Haze”, and maybe their best collaboration, “Critical Mass/Wind On The Water”.

They continued to do other CSN(&Y) albums and solo albums.  As in the previous article for Stephen Stills, I’ve tried to summarize their careers with single playlists that are approximately CD length.  It’s a way of better seeing their individual contributions to the group, as well as their solo work.

Graham Nash Career Best:

1. King Midas In Reverse (Hollies)
2. Dear Eloise (Hollies)
3. Marrakesh Express (CSN)
4. Lady Of The Island (CSN)
5. Teach Your Children (CSN)
6. Our House (CSN)
7. Simple Man
8. Chicago
9. Sleep Song
10. I Used To Be A King
11. Immigration Man (Crosby & Nash)
12. Southbound Train (Crosby & Nash)
13. Taken At All (CSN&Y)
14. Wind On The Water (Crosby & Nash)
15. Another Sleep Song
16. Prison Song (CSN&Y)
17. And So It Goes
18. Cathedral (CSN)
19. Just A Song Before I Go (CSN)
20. Wasted On The Way (CSN)
21. Find A Dream (CSN)
22. This Path Tonight
23. Encore

David Crosby Career Best:

1. Renaissance Fair (Byrds)
2. Guinnevere (CSN)
3. Long Time Gone (CSN)
4. Almost Cut My Hair (Alternate version, CSN&Y)
5. Deja Vu (CSN)
6. The Lee Shore (CSN&Y)
7. Orleans
8. Laughing
9. Traction In The Rain
10. The Wall Song (Crosby & Nash)
11. Games (Crosby & Nash)
12. Where Will I Be (Crosby & Nash)
13. Page 43 (Crosby & Nash)
14. For Free (Byrds)
15. Homeward Through The Haze (CSN&Y)
16. Time After Time (Crosby & Nash)
17. In My Dreams (CSN)
18. Anything At All (CSN)
19. Delta (CSN)
20. River Rise (with Michael McDonald)
21. Rodriguez For A Night

If you love songs with great melodies, harmonies, and thoughtful lyrics, Crosby & Nash deliver!

Although they were no longer recording together, David Crosby and Graham Nash still put out solo albums.  Among them, Crosby’s Croz (2014) and Nash’s This Path Tonight (2016) are both solid.

David Crosby and Graham Nash provided over 50 years of some of the best harmony anyone will ever hear.  We were lucky to share in it.

Update (July 23rd, 2021):  David Crosby released a really good album, For Free.  Here’s the link for the review:

https://ontherecords.net/2021/07/david-crosbyfor-free-album-review/

(Please check out the previous article on Stephen Stills.)  Here’s the link:

https://ontherecords.net/2017/11/stephen-stills-hey-whats-that-sound/

He doesn’t seem to get the credit he deserves.

If it weren’t for Stephen Stills writing the 1967 #7 hit “For What It’s Worth (Stop, Hey What’s That Sound)”, most people wouldn’t have heard Buffalo Springfield.

The group’s other star-to-be was Neil Young, but “For What It’s Worth” was their only hit.  Some other Buffalo Springfield songs were later played on Album Oriented Rock FM stations, including Stills’ “Rock & Roll Woman” and “Bluebird”.

Next came Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969.  Stills was a dominant force on the album, with “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, “Helplessly Hoping”, “You Don’t Have To Cry”, “49 Bye Byes” and “Wooden Ships” (which he had written with David Crosby prior to CSN).  But it wasn’t just songwriting and singing, Stills played most of the instruments (only some of the drumming) on all but two tracks.  This takes nothing away from the great songs and contributions by David Crosby and Graham Nash…it was just how the first album was done.

The follow up album was CSN&Y’s Deja Vu in 1970.  Besides lots of lead guitar and other instrumental work, Stills’ main contributions included “Carry On/Questions”, “4 + 20”, and a great lead vocal on Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”.

Then it was solo time.

The albums Stephen Stills and Stephen Stills 2 were released in 1970 and 1971.  Among the tracks were “Love The One You’re With”, “Do For The Others”, “Change Partners”, “Nothin’ To Do But Today”, “Sugar Babe”, and “Know You Got To Run”.  Stills was not really a singles artist, but the albums did well, reaching #3 and #8 respectively.  Next came one of the best albums of his career.

Manassas was a group of top musicians, as assembled by Stephen Stills.  It was Stephen Stills (lead guitar & keyboards), Chris Hillman (of the Byrds) [guitar & mandolin], Dallas Taylor (Drums), Paul Harris (keyboards),  Fuzzy Samuels (bass), Al Perkins (pedal steel & guitar), and Joe Lala (percussion).  This is a great 2-record album filled with solid songs, including “It Doesn’t Matter”, “So Begins The Task”, “Johnny’s Garden”, “Don’t Look At My Shadow”, “Blues Man”…and many more.  It’s a wonderful mix of Rock and Country Rock.  Critics praised the album.

In fact, I remember reading the glowing review in Rolling Stone, and right next to it was the review of the Graham Nash David Crosby album.  It too got a great review, and is probably the best album by Crosby & Nash.  It includes “Southbound Train”, “Games”, “Immigration Man”, “Page 43” and “The Wall Song”.

But wait, there’s more.  Neil Young also released his Harvest album.  The three albums were all in the Top-10 at the same time in June of 1972.  Manassas (a more expensive double album) hit #4, Graham Nash David Crosby also peaked at #4, and of course Harvest hit #1.  It was amazing that the members of CSN&Y could all have so much simultaneous success.

Stills “solo” studio projects included another Manassas album Down The Road (1972), Stills (1975), Illegal Stills (1976), Thoroughfare Gap (1978), Right By You (1984), Stills Alone (1991), Man Alive! (2005), a collection of 1968 demos Just Roll Tape (2007), some 1972 Manassas outtakes Pieces (2009), and an album with Judy Collins Everybody Knows (2017).

(Photo I took in 1977 at a CSN concert)

Of course sprinkled in were CSN& sometimes Y albums: CSN (1977), Daylight Again (1982), American Dream (1988), Live It Up (1990), After The Storm (1994), and Looking Forward (1999).

In a July, 2021 interview with American Songwriter, David Crosby said of Stephen Stills… “He was he best one in the band.  Best singer, best songwriter, best guitar player.  I admire him tremendously.”

One thing that’s never been released is a really good collection of the best music of Stephen Stills’ career.  There is a box set, Carry On, but some of the song selections and versions are poor choices.  It’s also too sprawling and expensive.  Only the most hardcore fans will have purchased it.

Here’s a suggested career retrospective that would be considered a double album, would fit on one CD, and would attract more music fans.

Stephen Stills Career Best:

1. For What It’s Worth…Buffalo Springfield
2. Rock & Roll Woman…Buffalo Springfield
3. Bluebird…Buffalo Springfield
4. You Don’t Have To Cry…CSN
5. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes…CSN
6. Helplessly Hoping…CSN
7. 4 + 20…CSN
8. Carry On/Questions…CSN
9. Woodstock…CSN&Y
10. Find The Cost Of Freedom…CSN&Y
11. Love The One You’re With
12. Do For The Others
13. Change Partners
14. So Begins The Task…Manassas
15. It Doesn’t Matter…Manassas
16. Johnny’s Garden…Manassas
17. Right Now…Manassas
18. Blues Man…Manassas
19. As I Come Of Age (w C&N)
20. See The Changes…CSN
21. Southern Cross…CSN
22. Daylight Again…CSN
23. Treetop Flyer

This gives a good look at many of the main contributions Stephen Stills has made to the world of music.  Only 6 of the 23 songs are on the CSN Greatest Hits album, so this album would do a much better job of reflecting his career and letting people get to know his music.  Still’s impressive songwriting, excellent guitar playing, and distinctive vocals demonstrate he deserves to be included in the discussion of the best singers, songwriters, and musicians.  Stephen Stills is much more than one-third of a great group.

Bonus:  Here’s a link to the story of Stephen Stills’ “Treetop Flyer”.

https://ontherecords.net/2022/06/stephen-stills-treetop-flyer/

Update 2023:  Stills released an historic live album on April 28th, 2023.

Here’s the link to info and my review of Stills’ live album:  https://ontherecords.net/2023/04/stephen-stillslive-at-berkeley-1971-review/

The Beatles were different than other groups.  They didn’t include many of their singles on their albums, even when they came from the same recording sessions.  In fact, there were 32 songs The Beatles released on singles in England that were not originally placed on their albums.  That includes eleven #1 hits.  It’s absolutely unthinkable that any other group or artist could or would do that.

The reason given by The Beatles and producer George Martin was that they didn’t want fans who bought the single to have to pay for those songs again on an album.  Normally, during each album’s recording sessions, they recorded about 14 songs for an album, and two songs for a single.  The Beatles treated singles and albums as separate ways to present their music, while most artists hoped popular singles would help sell their albums.

That policy on singles didn’t hold in America, and there were major differences between British and American albums.  Despite all the criticism Capitol Records has received over how they put the albums together, sometimes their choices were good.

The British version of America’s first Capitol album, Meet The Beatles, is called With The Beatles.  The American version is far superior, because it has three excellent songs that were not on the British album…”I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “I Saw Her Standing There”, and “This Boy”.  Those three important songs lead off the American album, which was The Beatles’ introduction to most Americans.  Good move Capitol.

Other major early singles that were not on British Beatles albums, but were on American versions include…“She Loves You” (on The Beatles’ Second Album), “I Feel Fine” and “She’s A Woman” (both on Beatles ’65).  The single “From Me To You” didn’t appear on a British or American album until later collections, but would have fit nicely on The Early Beatles.

Above are the two sides of my CD’s (with cardboard sleeves) of the American releases by Capitol records (click to enlarge).  These 1964 & 1965 albums were made available in this form in 2004 & 2006.  It didn’t simply give American fans a chance to enjoy the albums as we knew them, but for the first time it gave us remastered STEREO versions.  When the first four Beatles albums were released on CD, they were in mono only, so having stereo versions was the real draw.

British albums normally had 14 songs, and U.S. albums usually only had 11 or 12.  Capitol used this as an opportunity to “save” some album tracks, and then make new albums by combining them with singles that hadn’t been placed on previous albums.  That’s how we got American albums that didn’t even exist in England, especially…The Beatles’ Second Album, Something New and Beatles VI.

Then in 1966 came “Yesterday”…and Today.  Above is my 1995 promo CD that actually features a version of the infamous “butcher cover”, which was the original cover for the album.  Negative reaction to it from radio stations and reviewers caused Capitol to recall the album and change the cover to a harmless photo of The Beatles and a steamer trunk.  Musically, the album has a lot of good songs, but it’s a real Frankenstein’s monster, pieced together from many parts.  It has the singles “We Can Work It Out” & “Day Tripper”.  Three songs from the yet-to-be-released Revolver…”I’m Only Sleeping”, “Doctor Robert”, & “And Your Bird Can Sing”.  Two songs from Help…”Yesterday” & “Act Naturally”.   Plus, there are four songs from Rubber Soul…”Drive My Car”, “Nowhere Man”, “If I Needed Someone”, and “What Goes On”.

The Beatles decided that beginning with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, British and American albums would contain exactly the same songs.  But, let’s take a look at some of the albums that were missing singles, before and after Sgt. Pepper.  These were songs intentionally left off…by The Beatles.

The Rubber Soul recording sessions included “We Can Work It Out” and “Day Tripper”, which were released as a double A-side single on the same day as the album.  The Revolver sessions included “Paperback Writer” and “Rain”.  The Sgt. Pepper sessions included “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”.  The White Album sessions included “Hey Jude” and “Revolution”.  And, the Let It Be sessions included “Don’t Let Me Down”.

As great as those five albums are, wouldn’t they have been even more amazing if those singles could have been included?  Of course we can include them with our playlists.

For Rubber Soul…Revolver… and Sgt. Pepper, I drop the missing singles between the original sides of the albums.  Rubber Soul gets “We Can Work It Out” & “Day Tripper”.  “Paperback Writer” and “Rain” sound like they belong on Revolver, and that even places “Rain” just before “Good Day Sunshine”.  In Sgt. Pepper, “Penny Lane” sounds great after “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite”, and the ending of “Strawberry Fields Forever” transitions nicely into “Within You Without You”.  Producer George Martin would be pleased to finally have those two songs on the album.

Although all the albums were the same starting in 1967, The Beatles still released singles, plus a six song EP (extended play) collection in England to go with their film Magical Mystery Tour.  Capitol had a better idea.  Take those non-album singles…”Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Penny Lane”, “Hello Goodbye”, “Baby You’re A Rich Man”, and “All You Need Is Love”, combine them with the six songs from the film, and you’ve got a really good album, Magical Mystery Tour.  This was such a good idea by Capitol, that when the other Beatles albums were released on CD, the American version of Magical Mystery Tour also became the official British version.

The most “lost” single by The Beatles is probably “Lady Madonna”.  It was released in early 1968, after Magical Mystery Tour, but well before The White Album.  It was a song without a home, although Capitol later put it on a compilation album made up of old singles…Hey Jude.  “Lady Madonna” is on my Magical Mystery Tour playlist.

Singles Chart:  (click to enlarge, save with screenshot)

To find which songs & single versions were not included on British Beatles albums, you can simply look at the Past Masters discs that collected them.

“Love Me Do”, “Get Back” “Across The Universe” & “Let It Be” were on British albums, but in different versions.  In addition, the singles that ended up on the Magical Mystery Tour CD were not originally on UK albums.

So, which is the best Beatles album when you add in the appropriate singles?  No matter which one you choose, you’re right, because there is no one “correct” answer.

Rubber Soul…Revolver…and Sgt. Pepper represent three of the best albums ever recorded.  With the addition of “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”, Sgt. Pepper is really strong…but it would be easy to justify choosing any of these albums as the best.

And here’s another thought.  Imagine how good The White Album would be if it started off with “Revolution”, ended with “Hey Jude”, and you could fill it in with the 12 best songs off the original double album to make a single album.  That leaves Abbey Road (no singles added), and some people already think it’s the best.

Choosing the best Beatles album?  I should have known better, you can’t do that.  But, it’s fun trying…especially if you listen to all the albums again.