On The Records

In 1964 their first album went…nowhere.

Paul Simon went…to England.

Art Garfunkel went…back to college.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Update 4 Nov. 2024:  Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s relationship has been strained for many years, but according to Garfunkel, they’ve made peace.  In an interview with The Sun, Garfunkel said he and Paul Simon recently had lunch together.  He said… “It was very very warm and wonderful.  There were tears.  I was crying at a certain point, because I felt I’d hurt him.  But there were hugs, and I’m cherishing this two-week-old memory.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 1981, The Doobie Brothers disbanded.

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

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

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

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

Once they took flight, Creedence Clearwater Revival was like a shooting star.

After early band names The Blue Velvets, and The Golliwogs…John Fogerty (lead guitar & vocals), his brother Tom Fogerty (guitar), Stu Cook (bass & keyboards), and Doug Clifford (drums) settled on the name Creedence Clearwater Revival.  They say the name was a combination of a friend (Credence, they changed the spelling), a beer commercial (clear water) and getting the band together after various interruptions (revival).

(John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, Tom Fogerty, and Stu Cook)

Their first album Creedence Clearwater Revival was released in 1968.  It didn’t make a big splash, but their remake of “Suzie Q” received airplay, and made it to number eleven in Billboard.  Things would get better in 1969.

John Fogerty has said in interviews that he felt the next album had to be good…that it was make or break for the band.  He took control.  Fogerty wrote the songs, sang the songs, played lead guitar, and frankly limited input from the other band members.  Their second album, Bayou Country, released January 5th, 1969 was not a great album, but it contained a great single, “Proud Mary”.  This was the song that launched the band.

The other strong song on the album is “Born On The Bayou”.  The term “Swamp Rock” was applied to the music of this group from California.  It was a sound Fogerty liked, and it paid off.  “Proud Mary” went to #2 on the Hot 100 chart.  Creedence would go on to have a total of 5 singles reach the #2 position in Billboard, and never had a  #1 single out of 17 Top 40 hits.

The LP cover represents John Fogerty’s place in the band.

CCR’s second album of 1969 (June), Green River, was a perfect follow up, and John Fogerty says it’s their best.  It went to #1 on the album charts, and included “Bad Moon Rising”, “Lodi”, “Commotion”, “Wrote A Song For Everyone”, “Cross Tie Walker”, and of course “Green River”.  CCR was all over AM & FM radio.  The local band I was in at the time, The Rock & Soul Society,  played “Proud Mary”, “Bad Moon Rising” and “Lodi” as part of our regular set list.

Creedence was not done with 1969.  In October, Willy And The Poor Boys was released.  It made it to #3 on the album chart, and included “Down On The Corner”, “Fortunate Son”, and a great remake of “Midnight Special”.  The year was like a successful career for some bands…3 albums , 7 hit singles, and a lot more album cuts getting FM airplay.

More success was on the way, but unfortunately, the band was having internal struggles.  The other members of the band were not happy with John Fogerty’s almost total domination.  John, who can play all the instruments well, didn’t want to relinquish control, because he thought their recordings would suffer.  John was writing the songs, arranging them, and producing them, besides singing lead, playing lead guitar, and adding other instruments.

The result was another #1 album in July of 1970, Cosmo’s Factory.  It’s right there with Green River in vying for best album.  Cosmo’s Factory includes “Travelin’ Band”, “Who’ll Stop The Rain”, “Up Around The Bend”, “Run Through The Jungle”, and “Looking Out My Back Door”.  That’s 5 hits on one album, and it was their 4th album in just over a year and a half!

My old 45 sleeve from 1970.  Not a happy band.

December of 1970 brought the release of Pendulum.  It was the band’s 6th album and included two hits…”Hey Tonight”, and “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”.  Fogerty has said that the line “Have you ever seen the rain comin’ down on a sunny day?” referred to all the problems the band was having amidst all the success.  After this album, John’s brother, Tom, quit the band.

Which brings us to 1972 and CCR’s last album Mardi Gras.  It was anything but a party.  Famous Rolling Stone reviewer John Landau called it “the worst album I have ever heard from a major rock band.”  What was different about it?  Fogerty decided to relinquish control, and let the other members write songs, sing, and produce on it.  Two Fogerty songs from it were hits…”Sweet Hitch Hiker” and “Someday Never Comes”, but they’re hardly among CCR’s best songs.  Creedence broke up.

Creedence Clearwater Revival had been the most popular band in the country in 1969, 1970, and into early 1971…but they burned out quickly.  Their recordings remain among the most popular from the era, and CCR’s greatest hits album seems to always be on the sales charts.

The animosity among the band members has never been reconciled.  Even when CCR was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 John Fogerty played with musicians that did not include Stu Cook or Doug Clifford.  Fogerty’s brother Tom had passed away at age 48 (in 1990) from an infection following back surgery.

Cook and Clifford tried to tour as Creedence Clearwater Revival, but were forced to change the name to Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

John Fogerty felt that their label, Fantasy Records, had taken advantage of his band, and had never restructured CCR’s contract to more favorable terms.  The legal dispute would delay his own solo success for over a decade.

Eventually, John Fogerty had a solid solo career, and made peace with his own CCR legacy.  Because his solo career deserves more space, it will have to be in another article.  We’ll catch up with “The Old Man Down The Road”.

(The John Fogerty article is now available.)

What a Voice!  Radio listeners first heard Linda Ronstadt’s strong clear singing voice in 1967 on “Different Drum” by the Stone Poneys.   It wasn’t until 3 years later that she was back in the top 40 with “Long Long Time”.

Linda was putting out albums and touring during the early 70’s, but it wasn’t until late 1974 when Peter Asher produced Heart Like A Wheel (one of the best albums of the decade) that her career took off.  By 1975. The single “You’re No Good” (with great guitar work by Andrew Gold) went to #1.  At the same time, she had the #2 song on the Country Chart “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You), the #1 album on the Billboard Top 200 chart, and the #1 album on the Country chart.  Linda Ronstadt had arrived!

Heart Like A Wheel is terrific.  Backing her on the record was a vast list of talented performers…including J.D. Souther, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, David Lindley, Timothy B. Schmidt, and (with beautiful harmonies) Emmylou Harris.  “When Will I Be Loved” was another big hit.  “Willin’ (by Little Feat), and “It Doesn’t Matter Any More” got lots of airplay.  The LP also has my favorite recording by her…”Fathless Love”…a duet with the man who wrote the song, John David Souther.

From there, she was trail-blazing for female artists.  She had 8 straight Platinum Albums, no woman had ever had more than 2.  The 7 platinum albums that came after Heart Like A Wheel were:  Prisoner In Disguise, Hasten Down The Wind, Simple Dreams, Greatest Hits, Living In The USA, Mad Love, and Greatest Hits 2.  In 1982, Get Closer fell just short of becoming her 9th straight Platinum album (sales of at least one-million copies).  In total, she had 13 solo platinum albums.  Ronstadt also had 21 Top 40 singles, and won 11 Grammy Awards.

Linda Ronstadt was on countless magazine covers.  Rolling Stone, which had her on the cover 6 times, declared her The Queen Of Rock & Roll.

We were lucky to see Linda Ronstadt in concert in 1980.  Her voice and her performance were absolutely amazing!  The moment I remember best was her final encore.  She came out with only pianist Bill Payne of Little Feat.  Then she filled the auditorium with a beautifully clear and soulful rendition of “Desperado”.  Update:  Now a concert from that 1980 tour has been preserved.

In February 2019, Ronstadt’s 1980 concert performance was released as Live In Hollywood.  That tour featured some of L.A.’s best musicians, and the 12-song set is a great listen all the way through.  What an excellent record of that time in her career!

In 1983 she starred in the musical “Pirates of Penzance” on Broadway.  She was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical Actress, and the show won a Tony Award as Best Musical Revival.

Ronstadt had conquered pop and country (4 #1 country albums), and had success on Broadway, so what was next?  An album of Jazz/Pop standards.  People thought she was crazy and bound to fail.

In 1983 her first album of standards What’s New sold 3.7 million copies!  She did two more…Lush Life and For Sentimental Reasons…both Platinum selling.

Linda Ronstadt grew up in Tucson, Arizona.  Spanish was spoken and sung in her family.  Linda decided she wanted to do an album of traditional Mexican Folk songs.  No one would have predicted that it would sell, but Canciones de mi Padre (Songs of my Father) sold over 2-million copies…making it the biggest-selling non-English-language album in U.S. music history!

Linda Ronstadt had success into the ’90’s (back in Pop music) with “Somewhere Out There”, a duet with James Ingram, “Don’t Know Much” and “All My Life”, both duets with Aaron Neville.  All three songs won Grammy Awards.  Also, her album Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind went triple-platinum.

After three decades of unprecedented success in so many areas, her career slowed down.  In 2011 she announced her retirement, and later she revealed she has a Parkinson’s-like degenerative palsy, and is “unable to sing a note”.

Finally, in 2014, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame…20 years after she had become eligible!  There are male performers who got in the hall for having one or two hits!  Shame on the voters for waiting until one of America’s greatest and most successful voices had been silenced.

Update:  Here’s a bonus recent photo of Linda Ronstadt at age 73.  It comes from an excellent interview in the Los Angeles Times.

The interview was done just before a documentary about her, “The Sound Of My Voice”, was released in September of 2019.  There’s a review of the film on this site.  There will also be a biopic of Ronstadt’s life.  It was announced in January, 2024 that Selena Gomez will have the starring role.

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.