On The Records

On the 50th anniversary of the original release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Apple released a brand new mix.  This is not some simple remaster, they went back to the original tapes and remixed them to improve the placement of the vocals and instruments.  This process provides the best possible fidelity and clarity.

(3D cover of my Sgt. Pepper Super Deluxe box set.  The 3-D effect requires two eyes, and doesn’t show with one camera lens.)

The remixing was done over a couple of years by Giles Martin, son of the extraordinary Beatles producer George Martin.  His goal was to make a stereo version that approximated the mono mix that George Martin and the Beatles worked on for weeks, and had considered the main presentation of the album.

There’s no doubt Giles achieved the goal.  This is the best Sgt. Pepper has sounded.  It has a fullness to it, and the voices and instruments are properly centered and mixed.

But…does that mean you should buy it?

The bottom line is…the remastered CD that was done in 2009 is great, and the recordings sound exactly as you remember them.  The new mix is even better, but unless you listen to them closely through a good sound system, you might not be able to hear much difference in quality.   If you never bought the 2009 version, or simply want the best sounding version, get the remix.

Update:  Sgt. Pepper engineer Geoff Emerick, in a discussion with writer Bob Lefsetz, says that claiming the original stereo mix was rushed is “rubbish”.  Emerick says the stereo mix was discussed with The Beatles, and then a lot of time was spent “getting it just right”.  That’s the version you hear on the 2009 remaster, because remastering doesn’t alter the mix of the voices and instruments.

Update 2: Giles Martin wrote to Bob Lefsetz in response.  He said:  “I was initially against the idea.  Let’s face it, no one has ever said Sgt. Pepper sounded bad.”  But…”as Paul and Ringo told us, and my dad had mentioned in the past, something that the mono had, had been taken away by the quick stereo mix that everyone knows.”  Martin went on to mention that “no kids are going to seek out the mono, the record the band mixed.  So we made a stereo mix using the same care, attention and process that the band did 50 years ago.”  In his article, Bob Lefsetz had called it a “cash grab”.  Giles Martin responded…”I completely understand your point, but from those of us involved in the project all we are trying to do is celebrate the music.”

(George Martin and his son Giles)

The Super Deluxe version came out near my birthday, so that’s my excuse for buying it.  Here it is:

Everything is stored in a replica of a studio tape box that is deep enough to hold a 144 page hardcover book of articles and photos, three posters, plus a replica of the original album that holds 4 CD’s and 2 DVD’s.  A 3D photo sleeve slips over the replica of the tape box.

(The 4 CD covers have shots from the cover photo session.)

The extra CD’s are filled with earlier takes of songs.  This gives some insight into how the final versions developed.  But, how interested are you, and will you listen to them more than once?  You may remember that “Strawberry Fields Forever” (recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions) is made up of two different takes.  One take is slower, and the faster take has added horns, strings, and more.  You get them both.  I also really like the complete instrumental bed for “She’s Leaving Home”…strings and a harp, simply beautiful.

One DVD is Blu-ray, and the other is standard.  They contain the same videos, the 1992 documentary “The Making of Sgt. Pepper” and the classic videos of “Penny Lane”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, and “A Day In The Life”.  Plus, the Blu-ray audio for Sgt. Pepper is 5.1 surround sound.

“The Making of Sgt. Pepper” video is marvelous, though there’s no big improvement in video quality.  George Martin (with a little help from his friends) tells us how the album was made.  He sits at the mixing board and adjusts the volumes on voices and instruments to demonstrate various aspects of the recordings.  What a great format!  This is the basis of so many similar documentaries, such as the “Classic Albums” series.

Everything about the Super Deluxe version is first class, and even though it’s probably overpriced, it was worth it to a spoiled Beatles fan like me.

(Note:  The next remix, The White Album, came out November 9th, 2018.  You can read my review on this site.  It sounds even better!)

It’s like the term singer-songwriter was invented for him.  He certainly was right at the beginning of the 1970’s phenomenon.  There have always been artists who wrote and performed their own songs, but in the ’70’s it became a category, and JT led the way.

We became aware of James Taylor when he recorded for Apple Records.  He was the first artist signed to Apple by Peter Asher (formerly of Peter & Gordon, and in the above photo).  Taylor’s self-titled album was released in late 1968.

It’s most notable for two songs, “Carolina In My Mind” (Paul McCartney played bass & George Harrison sang backup) and “Something In the Way She Moves”.  George liked that second title so much he used it as the basis for his own song on Abbey Road.  “Something” doesn’t actually sound like JT’s song, and he was fine with it.  He’s always been complimentary about his time with The Beatles, and loved watching them record The White Album.

Despite the album, James Taylor, being less than a sales success, it’s a good first album.  Fortunately for all of us, producer Peter Asher even came to the United States to continue working with James when he signed with Warner Brothers.  Asher also produced Linda Ronstadt’s best albums.

James Taylor and Peter Asher found that a little less-produced, more personal style was the answer to success.  In February of 1970, Sweet Baby James was released.  People were introduced to the hits “Fire and Rain”, “Country Road” and “Sweet Baby James”.  Actually, “Sweet Baby James” was released as a single and didn’t even chart in the Top-40.  That’s because so many people bought the album instead!

Carole King played piano on Sweet Baby James, and ended up touring with him.  She is one of the world’s great songwriters, and this was the time when she was becoming a performing artist.  James heard one of her new songs, and got her permission to record it for his next album.  Carole had written the song after she heard the “Fire And Rain” line… “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.”

“You’ve Got A Friend” shot to #1 in mid 1971, and by then everybody knew James Taylor.  The album Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon also included “You Can Close Your Eyes” and “Long Ago And Far Away”.  The latter featured Joni Mitchell on vocals and Carole King on piano…you’ve got friends indeed.

He also has my wife as his friend…on Facebook.  James (as we call him) is Jeannette’s absolute favorite artist, and we have all of his albums.  He has maintained an active career, and still fills large venues, so we’ll just touch on some of the musical highlights.

James Taylor’s next five albums are all high quality…One Man Dog, Walking Man, Gorilla, In The Pocket, and JT.  Along with the first three albums, these hold the bulk of his truly classic recordings.  Songs include: “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”, “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You”, “Shower The People”, “Handy Man”, “The Secret O’ Life”, and “Your Smiling Face”.  Those are just a sample of great songs you’ll find on those albums.  Many of our favorite songs are album cuts rather than singles, so it’s best not to settle for his Greatest Hits album, which is also pictured.  The best of his later albums are New Moon Shine, Hourglass, and American Standard.

Attending a James Taylor concert is always special.  His voice, even now, is a rich baritone, his style is down-home casual, and it’s obvious how much he loves music and performing.  You’re wrapped in a warm & friendly place.

We’ve been attending his concerts for decades.  At one of the earlier concerts, we were in the 5th row center (before scalpers).  James came out with just his acoustic guitar and impressively performed some of his songs for us.  As he went into one of my wife’s favorites “Wandering” we said to each other that the song needed the beautiful harmony.  As he hit that part of the song, the lights went on behind a black see-through curtain, and his back-up singers and band turned it into magic!

The above two photos are from when we saw him in Portland in 2014 (tickets thanks to our friends at the Bicoastal radio stations here in Eugene, Oregon).  It appears James is looking right at us in the second photo.  Then in 2016, he came to our home town (photo below).  He can still touch people with his songs, like when he ended the concert with one of his newest ones “You And I Again”.

The singer-songwriter movement in the ’70’s brought us some of the best songs of our lives.  It’s amazing how well those recordings hold up, and it’s satisfying to see James Taylor still loves his work.

Zombies are popular.  There’s “The Walking Dead”, “iZombie”, and any number of B-movies.  My favorite Zombies (sounds like another TV show) are the ones that were part of the “British Invasion”.

“She’s Not There” was a big hit for The Zombies that peaked at #2 (in Billboard) in November of ’64.  The recording featured a great bass line by Chris White, an exciting Keyboard solo by Rod Argent, and a cool distinctive vocal from Colin Blunstone.  These guys were gonna be big!

In fact, their second single “Tell Her No” was another top ten hit (#6) just three months later.   And then…they were dead.

They had toured the U.S., and were more popular here than in England, but in 1965 and 1966 there were no more hits.  In a last ditch effort in 1967, they recorded an album for CBS Records in England.  Most of Odessey & Oracle was recorded at Abbey Road studios on the same 4-track recorder as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick.  They even used the same synthesizer Paul McCartney played for “Strawberry Fields Forever”.  Their recording budget was spent, so Rod Argent and Chris White (who had earned the most money as the songwriters) ended up paying for a stereo mix themselves.  At the end of 1967, and before the album was released, The Zombies broke up.  When the album was finally out in England in April of 1968, it wasn’t a hit.  Rest in Peace Zombies.

But as you know, you can’t keep a good Zombie down.  The Zombies came back to life when Al Kooper, a musician, producer, and songwriter with Columbia Records, discovered the album in a stack of records their English company, CBS, had given him.  Kooper loved the album, and convinced Columbia to release it in the U.S. on their Date label. Here’s how the American record looked (on the left), and the British cover:

Date wisely chose “Time Of The Season” for the single.  Released in late 1968, the song peaked at #3 in early 1969.  Better late than never.

I liked The Zombies, so I picked up Odessey & Oracle in 1969.  It’s basically a pop/rock album with a psychedelic and baroque feel.  It should have been released in 1967 when it was recorded, because it fits that time perfectly.  The songs, the arrangements, and sound are first rate.  It never was a top selling album, but it has obtained cult status, and was ranked by Rolling Stone as the 100th best album in their Top 500.  When you think of how many albums have been released, that ranking is amazing!

(The Zombies at Abbey Road Studios in 1967)

Among the highlights are “A Rose For Emily”, “Maybe After He’s Gone”, “Beechwood Park”, “This Will Be Our Year”, and of course “Time Of The Season”.  Trivia #1:  Since “Time Of The Season” was not a hit in England, American Idol Judge Simon Cowell said he had never heard that song when contestant Blake Lewis sang it on the show.  Trivia #2:  The misspelling of odyssey in the title was a mistake by the cover artist, not intentional as the band originally claimed.

Singer Colin Blunstone went on to a low-key solo career.  His smokey singing style is his signature sound, and he put it to good effect on his albums One Year,  Ennismore (1972, my favorite), and others.  He also did some lead vocals for the Alan Parsons Project, including “Old And Wise” from the Eye In The Sky album.

Keyboardist and songwriter Rod Argent went on to form the group “Argent” which had the #5 hit “Hold Your Head Up” (with Rod on lead vocal).  He’s also done solo work, keyboard sessions, composed TV themes, and produced other artists.  He even toured with Ringo Starr’s All Star Band in 1999.

My 4 CD Box Set.  They only released 2 albums!

The Zombies walked the earth again…with an album in 1991, a reunion in 2004, and 3 albums since then.  Also, Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone perform live as The Zombies when it’s the time of the season for touring.

Update:  The Zombies are in the 2019 class of The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.  The band was inducted by Bangle Susanna Hoffs, who said it was their year…”took a long time to come” (recalling lyrics from The Zombie song “This Will Be Our Year”.  It was 50 years to the day from when “Time Of The Season” hit #1 on the Cashbox singles chart.  The band members were thrilled to be voted into the Hall Of Fame!

Update:  It was announced on July 15th, 2024 that 79-year-old Rod Argent had suffered a stroke, and has retired from touring.  All touring dates, including a planned fall tour of the U.S. have been cancelled.

A great songwriter, but not a great voice.  Bob Dylan? Kris Kristofferson?  Neil Young?  It could apply to a lot of singer-songwriters.

Neil Young knows he’s not a great singer.  When he was with Buffalo Springfield he even let Richie Furay take the lead vocals on some of his songs.

                   (Neil in 1967 photo by Linda Eastman [McCartney])

People who don’t like Neil Young because of his voice are missing so much great music!   Neil has a way of conveying songs that make them uniquely excellent.

Neil Young is one of the most prolific songwriters ever.  He’s done over 40 albums of original material, and that doesn’t include live albums or collections.

His first solo album is Neil Young (might as well get your name known).  The January 1969 release featured “The Loner” (among other good songs).  Just four months later (prolific!), Young released Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere with his band Crazy Horse.  It has the classic rock tracks “Cinnamon Girl”, “Down By The River”, and “Cowgirl In The Sand”.  Then in August (still 1969), he joined Crosby, Stills, & Nash, with former Buffalo Springfield bandmate Stephen Stills.  Deja Vu.

Looking back, Neil Young wasn’t really a member of the group, he was much more like a guest star.  Since 1969, Young has only contributed 10 songs to three studio albums that were many years apart.  That’s why they’re called CSN & sometimes Y.  Of course he performed live with CSN on many tours, and there is that one truly classic 1970 single… “Ohio”…about the killing of 4 Kent State students by National Guardsmen.

Joining CSN made him famous.  He used that notoriety very well with a high-quality solo album in 1970, the same year as Deja Vu.  The title was, appropriately, After The Gold Rush.  It’s filled with good songs, including “Tell Me Why”, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, “I Believe In You”, “Birds (It’s Over)”, and “Southern Man”.  CS&N probably wondered where those songs were when they put together Deja Vu.

Young then released what is generally considered his best album, 1972’s Harvest.  It has his only big hit, “Heart Of Gold” (#1), which featured Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor on vocals, and “Old Man” on which JT played the banjo part.  Other cuts include “A Man Needs A Maid”, “The Needle And The Damage Done”, and “Alabama”.  That last song, along with “Southern Man” from his previous album, really ticked off Lynyrd Skynyrd.  “Sweet Home Alabama” became a huge hit for them as they bashed Neil Young in the lyrics.  Afterwards, they became friends.  Fun fact:  “Heart Of Gold” was knocked out of the #1 position by a song that sounded like Neil Young…”A Horse With No Name” by America.

Neil Young turned away from the success of his #1 album, Harvest, by releasing some of his least commercial albums…Time Fades Away (a live album of new material, only recently made available again)…On The Beach …and… Tonight’s The Night (a stark album partially about the drug deaths of friends).  A famous quote from Neil:  ” ‘Heart of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch.”  Those three albums are known by fans as “The Ditch Trilogy”.

Critics and core fans now look back favorably on these albums.  I bought the albums as they were released, and like some songs from all of them.   My personal favorite cut is “See The Sky About To Rain” from On The Beach.

It would take lots of articles (or books) to cover Neil Young, so here are some selected musical moments.

Besides the singles “Long May You Run” with Stephen Stills, and “Like A Hurricane”, the next commercial popularity for Neil Young was the album Comes A Time in 1978.

It was a return to the country-rock sound, with lots of great songs and vocal help from Nicolette Larson, who had a hit with the song “Lotta Love”.

Neil Young ended the 1970’s with some of his best work…Rust Never Sleeps.  It includes both his acoustic and electric sides.  Two versions of the same song, with slightly different lyrics, bookend the album.  “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” and “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black).  The first is acoustic, and the second is an electric all-out Rock song.  A career-spanning live album followed…Live Rust.   Good stuff.

Apparently success makes Neil Young turn the other way. His albums in the ’80’s were so non-commercial that his new label, Geffen, sued him for not recording “typical Neil Young albums”.

There were 9 albums between 1980 and 1989.  They varied a lot in musical styles and quality.  I like some of the songs, even from Trans (1982), which apparently some fans hate.

They just couldn’t handle the Synth Rock sound of Neil’s voice electronically altered through a “Vocoder”.  I like “Transformer Man”, the reworking of “Mr. Soul”, and especially “Sample And Hold” (the original vinyl version is best, and unfortunately, the CD has a different mix).  1988’s This Note’s For You album got noticed for the popular video with Young saying he’s “not singing for Pepsi, not singing for Coke”…instead…”this note’s for you”.  I love the bluesy song “One Thing” from the same album.

Neil returned to Reprise Records in 1989, and what do you know…he made a “typical Neil Young album”…Freedom.  It has acoustic and electric versions of “Rockin’ In The Free World”.  When he did a radio concert for the album, he performed a great version of “Someday” with just piano, voice, and harmonica.  It’s way better than the album version, which is burdened with sound effects and odd background voices.  Here’s a 60-second sample of the recording:

Another solid Neil Young album followed…Ragged Glory (1990).  Harvest Moon in 1992 pleased even more of his fans.  For some reason, Neil must have wanted back into the middle of the road.  Harvest Moon and Comes A Time are the most Harvest-like of his albums.

And then he recorded another 18 albums!  Can’t get into details about them all, but here’s my “Neil Young’s Best Vol. 4” playlist (1992-2014):

1. Harvest Moon
2. Unknown Legend
3. From Hank To Hendrix
4. This Old House (Live 1995 Farm Aid) [Fixed Mix]
5. Interstate (Band Version ’96)
6. Looking Forward (with CSN)
7. Slowpoke (with CSN)
8. Buffalo Springfield Again
9. Good To See You
10. Silver & Gold
11. The Painter
12. Far From Home
13. Light A Candle
14. This Land Is Your Land
15. Wayfarin’ Stranger
16. Travel On
17. I Want To Drive My Car
18. Who’s Gonna Stand Up (Acoustic/Orchestra version)

Neil Young has musically gone wherever his mood and muse have taken him…rock, country, electronic, grunge, folk, jazz/blues, and experimental.  No one is going to appreciate everything he’s done.  Music is subjective.  We listen to what we like, and Neil Young has given us a lot to like.

Update:  Neil Young finally released his collection Neil Young Archives Vol. II.  It was available for $250 on his NYA website, and had a release date of November 20th, 2020.  According to the website, all 3,000 copies of the box set sold out, but the same set was sold again, starting on March 5th, 2021.

The set is also being sold at regular retail outlets.  It lists for $160, has smaller packaging, and omits the hard-cover book.   Archives II is now available on streaming services.

Here’s my article about Neil Young Archives II:

https://ontherecords.net/2020/11/neil-young-archives-ii-review/

Extra:  If you want to hear everything by Neil Young, you can subscribe to the Neil Young Archives website for $2.99 a month, or $24.99 a year (as of June 2023).

Their previous groups were so good.  The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Hollies.  By 1968, David Crosby was out of The Byrds, and Stephen Stills’ group, Buffalo Springfield, had broken up.  The Hollies played L.A., and Graham Nash (who met Crosby in 1966) was hanging out with friends.  He heard David and Stephen singing a new song, “You Don’t Have To Cry”.  Eventually, Graham added a high harmony to their vocals…and Crosby, Stills & Nash was born.  Of course Nash had to leave the Hollies, and there were legal aspects to clear up, but we know it happened.

Crosby, Stills & Nash featured three guys who could all write songs, sing lead, sing harmony, and play multiple instruments.  The album was presented to the world on May 29th, 1969.

Each songwriter was introduced right away.  It starts with “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Stephen Stills, “Marrakesh Express” by Graham Nash, and “Guinevere” by David Crosby.  That’s the “snapshot” of the group.  Stills is a rocker with a folk/country edge, Nash has more of a pop sound, and Crosby the free-spirited hippie.  All three are far more musically complex than that, but these songs do give you a feel for them.

                                                     Stephen Stills & Sweet Judy (Collins) Blue Eyes.

Stills turned his love and breakup with his girlfriend into a classic recording… “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”.  The suite of melodies displays all of CSN’s strengths in about seven-and-a-half-minutes.

(We bought this jukebox single in the ‘80’s.)

If you look closely, you can see this is an edited version (4:35) like was heard on AM stations.  1969 was a time when only FM stations played the “long” album versions.  Stills played all the instruments on “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, and handled the majority of the instrumentation for the rest of the album.  By the way, it would seem that Stills’ excellent Buffalo Springfield songs “Bluebird” and “Rock and Roll Woman” were also inspired by Judy Collins.  They’re still friends, and in recent years, the two have done an album and a series of concerts together.

“Marrakesh Express” was the first single.  This was Graham Nash starting a trend of coming up with solid commercial songs for the group.  He says he presented the song to The Hollies, and they recorded it, but never released it.  Nash’s writing kept developing, and he contributed some of the group’s most popular songs.  Another of his songs that stands out on CSN’s first album is the gently beautiful “Lady Of The Island”.

David Crosby was never a “commercial” songwriter, but he gave the trio a distinctive sound with beautifully atmospheric songs like “Guinevere”, and a social conscience with songs like “Long Time Gone”.  Crosby and Nash are both great harmony singers, and “Guinevere” represents the first time we heard the delicate blending of their voices.  Actually, the first time I listened to the album I only had time to hear those first three songs, and “Guinevere” confirmed I’d made a special purchase.

Recent releases of old recordings, like the Just Roll Tape album of Stephen Stills demos from 1968,  and the CS&N Demos  collection from ’68 & ’69 have revealed more about what was musically happening as they put together their first album.

The Stills release is a revelation.  It’s just him and his acoustic guitar running through a bunch of new songs as the tape runs in a studio.  This was in April of 1968 before Crosby, Stills & Nash had formed.  Already, he had “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, “Helplessly Hoping” and “Wooden Ships”.  David Crosby is listed as a co-writer of “Wooden Ships”, so he was writing with Stills prior to the start of CSN.  The demo had everything except the introduction section with two people on the opposite sides of a war.

The stunning thing is how many more songs he already had that would appear on future albums.  “So Begins he Task”, “Do For The Others”, “Know You Got To Run”, “Change Partners”, “Black Queen” and “Treetop Flyer”.  How in the world could he have waited so long to officially record and release some of these?  A studio version of “Treetop Flyer” didn’t come out until 23 years later, 1991!

The best cut on CS&N’s Demos is an early version of “Long Time Gone”.  It has standout bass and percussion by Stills and a great vocal by Crosby, with no harmony vocals.  This was in 1968, and it reminds me of a song from 1969… “Come Together” by The Beatles.  That prominent bass part would have made “Long Time Gone” so unique if they had released it that way.  Here it is:

The first time one listens to Crosby, Stills & Nash, the quality of the songs and the beautiful harmonies are the easy takeaways.  This album led me into buying nearly everything else these three and Neil Young have recorded.

(Special edition remastered CD)

With one of the best debut albums ever, Crosby, Stills & Nash were ahead of the curve with acoustic-based music.  They helped usher in the 1970’s golden age of singer-songwriters and the west coast sound.  The Grammy Awards didn’t miss this significant release.  CS&N won the “Best New Artist” award.  Good call.

You hear it all the time.   People still refer to recording as “taping”.  Did you “tape” that show?  Are there “tapes” of that conversation?  Using tape for audio and video recording has been around for decades, but it’s all digital now.

My dad led me into a lifelong interest in recording.  He always owned tape recorders and microphones.  He was an excellent singer who recorded 40 square dance records (45’s) based on popular songs, such as “Those Were The Days”.   They were recorded in professional studios, but to record live performances, he used a portable recorder like this one.

Dad let me use the recorders too, and taught me how to edit tape. That meant physically cutting the recording tape at an angle to delete something or splice-in another piece of tape.  The splices were held together by special adhesive tape.  This same basic editing technique was used by professionals.

That amazing edit George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick used to link two different versions of “Strawberry Fields Forever” (at about one minute into the song) was done the same way.  It’s so important to transfer classic tape recordings to digital, because those splices are eventually going to fail.

My first broadcast journalism class at college required me to record an interview on reel-to-reel tape, and then physically edit the tape into a concise news feature, including adding music or sound effects.   When I got a job in radio news, I still edited tape, but mostly  by dubbing the comments we wanted from a portable cassette recorder onto a broadcast tape cartridge to use during the live news reports.

Today it’s all digital recording.  It looks like most reporters are using phones or other small digital devices.  The quality is better than tape.

For music editing, I use Apple’s GarageBand.  But for what?

Some live recordings posted online have noise or applause at the beginning that needs to be trimmed off.  Or, maybe the applause at the end needs fading.  Even purchased live recordings often need such editing.

        (Neil Young performing “This Old House” at Farm Aid.)

Neil Young is one of my favorite artists.  When he first played “This Old House” at Farm Aid, the TV network started to go to a break during the second chorus, but then decided to stay with the song.  That left a hole and some announcer’s talk in the middle of the song.  I had recorded the performance, and I used GarageBand to place a copy of the first chorus seamlessly into the spot of the second chorus.  The song is complete, and now my favorite version of his song is in one of my Neil Young Live playlists. The multi-channels feature of GarageBand makes such editing possible.  Here it is:

When The Beatles’ Anthology series was released, it contained a take of “Good Morning, Good Morning” without those words in it.  I really liked it.  The lyrics took on a more serious tone, and Ringo’s drum part was accented.  The problem was it sounded sparse, because the horns and lead guitar weren’t included.  GarageBand let me sync the original version with this take, and put in the missing horns and guitar.  This new version doesn’t take the place of the original, but it sounds cool.  Here it is:

When Brian Wilson shelved the Smile album by The Beach Boys in 1967, the songs and pieces of recordings found their way to bootlegs.  Fans had no idea how to assemble those fragments into an album.  Finally, Brian released a solo version of Smile in 2004.  Then we could assemble The Beach Boys version (which is better) using GarageBand or other editing tools.  Here is a 29-minute “Best Of Smile”, with the songs segued together:

One more sample.  On Matchbox Twenty’s Mad Season album there was an unlisted orchestral reprise of the song “You Won’t Be Mine”.  It’s excellent, but it makes an even better introduction to the song.  Editing allowed me to place the dramatic orchestral piece first, and then over the final fading chord, start “You Won’t Be Mine” with that soft piano opening.  It’s magic.  Here it is:

Those are just some of the ways being able to record and edit makes the music even more satisfying.

Of course that just barely scratches the surface of what Garage Band type apps can do.  Musicians are recording entire albums.  Everyone can own a recording studio!

Oh, and a friend recently told me how much she enjoyed the music I had given her by saying “Thank you for the tapes.”  They were CD’s.

Somehow, the “West Coast Sound” was led by 4 guys from the midsection of the United States.  Glenn Frey was from Michigan, Randy Meisner from Nebraksa, Bernie Leadon from Minnesota, and Don Henley from Texas.  They were all drawn to Los Angeles, California.  At the Troubadour club they became friends with other artists, including John David Souther, Jackson Browne, and Linda Ronstadt.  All four of the future Eagles had experience playing in country rock bands that weren’t very successful.

Eventually, they were all hired at various times to back Linda Ronstadt, with Glenn Frey and Don Henley playing on her 1971 “Silk Purse” tour.  There are a couple excellent live cuts they performed with Linda…”Birds” (by Neil Young) and “I Fall To Pieces” (by Patsy Cline).  Those two cuts were on her 1972 self-titled album, and are available online.  By the way, Ronstadt didn’t really make it big until 1974.  After the tour, the guys formed the band “Eagles”.

Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner & Glenn Frey

Their first album, Eagles, was released in June of 1972, and despite the quality of the album, it wasn’t a major hit.  I loved the Eagles instantly, and didn’t realize their album only reached #22 on the Billboard chart, and that their singles were not rated especially high…”Take It Easy” #12, “Witchy Woman #9, and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” #22.

Their second album, Desperado, released in 1973, used the concept of musicians as outlaws.   It contained the now classic songs “Tequila Sunrise” and “Desperado”, but neither of those singles hit the Top 40, and the album only reached #41.  What did the Eagles have to do to really break through?

For their next album On The Border they added a lead guitarist, Don Felder (a Californian), and changed producers, from Glyn Johns to Bill Szymczyk (he couldn’t buy a vowel).  The album had more of the rock feel that Frey & Henley wanted, and they released “Already Gone” as a single.  It charted, but only to #32.  Next they tried “James Dean”.  It only went to #77.  Then in late 1974, they finally released the song that would break things wide open for the Eagles.   “Best Of My Love” hit #1 on both the Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts.  Ironically, it was one of two songs Glyn Johns had produced before the change, and it has a country rock sound.  You might remember that the single had a bit of an unusual edit and was shorter than the album version.  That was to get the song played on AM radio stations that were still important to popularize music in the 1970’s.

The Eagles were finally soaring.  On The Border went double Platinum (2-million albums sold), and eventually Eagles and Desperado went Platinum too.  “Best Of My Love” was the start of five straight Top 5 singles, 3 hitting #1.

In 1975, the Eagles released One Of These Nights.  The main hits were the title track (which mixes rock & disco), “Take It To The Limit” (Randy Meisner’s only lead vocal on one of their hits) and Grammy winner “Lyin’ Eyes”, which features one of the Eagles’ best arrangements.  If you’ve never listened really closely to it, give it a try, and notice how the accompaniment varies beautifully with the changing verses.  The album was a huge success, topping the charts and going quadruple Platinum.  The writing team of Frey and Henley was working at a high level, and while they were recording their next and best studio album, their label made a smart move.

The Eagles Greatest Hits (1971-1975) is one of the best Greatest Hits albums ever assembled, and the biggest seller.  That’s not only because the songs and performances are exceptional, but since the previous studio albums had not sold as well as they should have, “come lately” fans could catch up in one great collection.  It was the best selling American album of the 20th Century…over 29-times Platinum in the U.S., with a worldwide total of 42-million.  Update:  (August of 2018) The album is now certified as the #1 best-selling album in history, with sales in the U.S. over 38-million, and the worldwide total well over 50-million.

Bernie Leadon had left the Eagles after One Of These Nights, mostly because he didn’t like the band moving away from country rock.  His replacement was guitarist and singer-songwriter Joe Walsh.  Walsh had success with The James Gang, and his solo albums.  He also had an off-beat sense of humor and drug problems (he cleaned up), so it was a bit of a surprise when he joined the Eagles.  Glenn Frey,  Don Henley, and Randy Meisner had recorded with Walsh for his terrific solo album So What , released at the end of 1974.  Henley and Walsh co-wrote the song “Falling Down”, and it has the line “Burning the candle at both ends, twice the light in half the time.”  Too often that’s the rock star life, and the line would have fit in with the tone of their next album.

One of the most iconic albums ever…Hotel California.

The December, 1976 album opens with three killer cuts…”Hotel California”, “New Kid In Town”, and “Life In The Fast Lane”.  On the singles chart the three reached #1, #1, and #11 respectively.  Probably the only reason “Life In The Fast Lane” didn’t reach the top is because of the unprecedented use of swearing at one point in the lyrics.  Joe Walsh had played that great guitar lick during an Eagles rehearsal, and Don Henley and Glenn Frey took the songwriting from there.  Henley swears the phrase “life in the fast lane” had never been used before, and now it’s part of our language.  Among the highlights of Hotel California are the rousing duo guitar leads by Don Felder & Joe Walsh.

Of course Hotel California was a number-one album, and (as of August 2018) has sold 26-million copies in the U.S., with a total of over 40-million worldwide.  It’s the #3 selling album in history.  Don Henley says “Hotel California” is “about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about.”  The song won the Grammy for Record Of The Year.

Imagine the pressure to follow up that level of quality.  That’s why The Long Run wasn’t released until  two years later.   It’s a highly successful album, 7-times Platinum, with the hits “Heartache Tonight” (another #1 and Grammy winner), “The Long Run” and “I Can’t Tell You Why”.  The latter was sung by bassist Timothy B. Schmit.  He had replaced Randy Meisner, who said he left because of exhaustion and disagreements with the other band members.  He was not alone.  The Eagles broke up in July of 1980.

Their label, Elektra, released the Eagles Live album, recorded mostly during their last tour.  It included the exquisite vocal performance of “Seven Bridges Road”.  Unfortunately, that was the only harmony the band felt at that time.  They split up saying they’d only get back together when “hell freezes over”…but that’s a story for another article.

The Eagles…Hell Freezes Over article is posted.  Here’s the link:

https://ontherecords.net/2017/08/eagles-hell-freezes-over/

Going through the record store “cut out” bins around 1974, I remember seeing the cover.  You couldn’t miss it.  A good-looking girl and a long haired rocker guy seemingly without clothes.  There was no real nudity, but it was attention getting.  I didn’t buy it, but should have.  It’s the album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks…Buckingham Nicks.

Lindsey and Stevie found the only major airplay for their 1973 album was in Alabama, because a radio programmer there liked it.  The Buckingham Nicks band flew from Los Angeles to Birmingham and Tuscaloosa a couple of times to play clubs.  The interesting part is that live recordings exist of “Monday Morning” and “Rhiannon” (new songs that were not on the album).  That was before the duo had actually merged with Fleetwood Mac.  The songs are essentially the same as they would appear on the Fleetwood Mac album later that year (1975).  It’s hard to say whether Buckingham Nicks would have survived much longer, but what might have happened if they had done a second album featuring those two songs?  Plus, Stevie had also written “Landslide” by that time.

(Stevie & Lindsey performing as Buckingham Nicks.)

The Buckingham Nicks album is important in music history, because if it hadn’t been for this album, there would not have been Fleetwood Mac as we know it.  Most fans are aware that Mick Fleetwood heard a Buckingham Nicks track being used to demonstrate the quality of the Sound City studio in L.A.  Fleetwood Mac needed a guitarist, so they offered the job to Lindsey, who told Mick that he and Stevie were a package deal…the best deal Mick ever made.

Fleetwood Mac had been a successful English blues band in the late 1960’s, and after lots of personnel problems and changes, they had some modest success in Pop/Rock in the early 1970’s.  They were an unstable band, but they still had some clout and a record contract, just what Lindsey and Stevie needed.

(Fleetwood Mac….articles on their history & analysis are on this site.)

It was only decades later, after Fleetwood Mac became one of the biggest bands of all time, that I got my hands on the Buckingham Nicks record, and transferred it to CD and into my iTunes.

The album sounds a lot like Fleetwood Mac, and is good (though not as good as Fleetwood Mac’s top albums).  It helps us understand how much Lindsey and Stevie meant to the sound of the new band.   The 1973 album is still not commercially available, but there are bootlegs.

“Crying In The Night” was the single.  “Stephanie” and “Django” (a salute to guitarist Django Reinhardt) are good guitar instrumentals.  I lean to “Without A Leg To Stand On” and “Races Are Run”. “Crystal” was remade for the Fleetwood Mac album, and “Frozen Love” is the rocker that Mick Fleetwood heard at the Sound City studios.

I did recently find the album online as a free download, along with some never-released demos, and those live recordings of “Monday Morning” and “Rhiannon”.  They were on a Buckingham Nicks site.

After hearing the Buckingham Nicks album and the other cuts, it was obvious the new sound of Fleetwood Mac was much closer to the Buckingham Nicks style than the old Fleetwood Mac style.  Lindsey and Stevie are both songwriters, both lead singers, and Lindsey is the producer who shaped the songs, including those of Christine McVie.  It was more like Fleetwood Mac joined Buckingham Nicks than the other way around.

The first time I heard about Jackson Browne was from David Crosby.  It was in an interview Crosby did with Rolling Stone magazine.  He talked about this young songwriter he met who was overwhelming other musicians with the quality of his songs.  So, when Jackson Browne’s Saturate Before Using album came out, I bought it right away.  Of course the album was supposed to simply be called Jackson Browne, but the photo of the desert water bag gave it a new title.  Even Jackson Browne refers to it as:

Released in January of 1972, it’s an excellent singer-songwriter album.  The hit was “Doctor My Eyes”, and it included “Rock Me On The Water” and  “Something Fine”, with sublime harmonies by David Crosby.

The song that is probably his best know composition wasn’t included.  Instead, Browne gave it to the songwriter who helped him finish it…Glenn Frey.  The Eagles album premiered a little later that same year with “Take It Easy”.  The ever humble Browne says it was the extended “Eeeeeasy” and other aspects of the Eagles’ arrangement that turned his song into a hit.

Jackson Browne was never a “singles artist”.  It’s always been about his Albums.  For Everyman was next in 1973.  The album included “These Days” (Gregg Allman recorded a popular version of it), ”For Everyman”, and “Take It Easy”.

In 1974 Jackson Browne released Late For The Sky.  It’s his best studio album.  There are only eight songs, because they’re fairly long.  Browne says he sometimes has trouble letting go of the writing process.  I remember the review in Rolling Stone that called three of the songs “masterpieces”… “Fountain Of Sorrow”, “For A Dancer”, and “Before The Deluge”.  Not far behind are “The Road And The Sky”, “The Late Show”, and “Late For The Sky”.

1977 was the year of The Pretender.  Besides the title song, it included the single “Here Come Those Tears Again”, and standout album tracks “The Fuse”, “Your Bright Baby Blues” and “Sleep’s Dark And Silent Gate”.

All of Jackson Browne’s first four albums are Platinum or multi-Platinum sellers, but his breakthrough to an even larger audience was Running On Empty.  It was an unusual concept.   The songs were new, but instead of using studio versions, they were all recorded live.  (Only Neil Young’s Time Fades Away had used that concept.).  Besides the songs being performed to audiences, one was recorded in a hotel room, “Cocaine (Running All ‘Round My Brain)”, and one even on the tour bus, “Nothing But Time”.   The songs that got the most radio play are “Running On Empty”, “You Love The Thunder”, and the killer ending medley, “The Load Out/Stay”  There’s a real freshness to the album.  It went 7-times Platinum.

Running On Empty was released in December of 1977, and Jackson Browne started the album tour in Omaha in January, 1978.  We were there…my all-time favorite concert.  (It might actually be a tie with Paul McCartney’s 1993 concert in Kansas City.)

This was the peak for Jackson Browne.  He had many of LA’s best studio musicians…Lee Sklar on bass, Craig Doerge on piano, Russ Kunkel on Drums, Doug Haywood on guitar, Danny Kortchmar on lead guitar, and David Lindley on lap steel guitar.  The sound at the concert was top notch.  We could hear each player so clearly that we could pick out the individual performances on the various instruments.  Jackson Browne was perfect!  Three encores.

The next album Hold Out (1980) was #1 and double-Platinum.  Lawyers In Love (1983) also went Platinum.  We saw Jackson Browne for the second time, during his Lives In The Balance (1986) tour, when we took our son Paul to his first concert.

World In Motion (1988) was not as popular as his previous albums, but he bounced back nicely with I’m Alive (1993), and we saw him again in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Five more studio albums followed.   Here’s the complete list of studio releases.   (He also did a couple of live albums, Solo Acoustic 1 & 2, that highlight his lyrics and musicianship.)

JACKSON BROWNE’S TOP 7 ALBUMS:

1. Running On Empty (tied for #1)
2. Late For The Sky (tied for #1)
3. Jackson Browne (Saturate Before Using)
4. The Pretender
5. For Everyman 
6. Lives In The Balance
7. Downhill From Everywhere

His double-disc set, The Very Best Of Jackson Browne, covers most of his career, and is a good choice for streaming or collecting.

In 2015 Jackson Browne came to us…Eugene, OR…for an outdoor concert.  Here are some photos.  (Click to enlarge.)   It was a perfect day…as early evening turned into night.

The time has passed when singer-songwriters ruled the music world and toured with the best musicians.  But, it was a packed show, and Jackson Browne still sounded great!

Update:  Jackson Browne’s new album Downhill From Everywhere was released July 23rd, 2021.  It’s his best album in decades.  A complete review of the album is on this site.  Here’s the link:  https://ontherecords.net/2021/07/jackson-brownedownhill-from-everywhere-review/

Also, you can check out the David Crosby…For Free (Review) to see what Jackson Browne recently said about David Crosby.