60's rock Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Rolling Stones “Beggars Banquet”

sfilzen — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 18:46:39 +0000

Rolling Stones “Beggars Banquet” 1968. Our copy old and super-raggedy. We saw in Chicago Stones last weekend for the first time (and likely the last as they are also old and, in Keith Richards’ case, super-raggedy) and one of the many many concert highlights was “Sympathy for the Devil” which appears on Beggars Banquet.

The album went to #5 in the US and to #3 in the UK; it was the last to be released while Brian Jones was alive (he’s on a few songs, including “Sympathy” playing acoustic guitar). A mixture of blues and country (also known as rock-n-roll haha), Beggars Banquet is on the list of most “best-of” records and in ’99 was inducted into the Grammy’s Hall of Fame. Besides “Sympathy” my other top tracks are “Parachute Woman” (Mick Jagger’s harmonica is soooo good – he played harmonica during the concert but not sure what song that was on now), the controversial “Street Fighting Man” (#48 US, #21 UK; Jagger’s maracas are next-level) which was banned by many US radio stations due to its commentary on the political and cultural violence of ’68 (it was released within a week of the violent confrontations between the police and anti-Vietnam War protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago) and the sexy/sleezy garage rocker “Stray Cat Blues.”

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Jethro Tull “This Was”

sfilzen — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:35:19 +0000

Jethro Tull “This Was” 1968. The debut record from blues rock, jazz-flute enthusiast prog-rockers. I’m a casual Tull fan (to the chagrin of some in our household) but I’m more familiar with their more popular 70’s releases (Aqualung and Songs from the Wood are two favorites). This was (pun totally intended) my first listen to their well-received debut (it hit #10 in the UK and went to #62 in the US) and it’s….background music. Not enough rock, way too much jazz for my tastes, though there is some pretty classic blues (filtered through the lens of British white guys) like the track “It’s Breaking Me Up” and I do like the vaguely exotic instrumental “Dharma for One” – a great beat and a super- impressive drum solo (from Wiki “This song featured the “claghorn,” a hybrid instrument invented by Tull’s Jeffrey Hammond which combined the body of a recorder, the bell of a toy trumpet and the mouthpiece of a saxophone. Anderson also claims to have invented the instrument.” Tull’s rendition of the traditional blues instrumental “Cat’s Squirrel” highlights impressive guitar musicianship and is pretty good, too. The sole single release, “A Song for Jeffrey” did not chart in the UK; it was the b-side to the US single release of “Love Story.” A fun nugget: “The song was performed on the Rolling Stones Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus in December 1968…This was the only Tull performance with guitarist Tony Iommi during his two-week tenure with the band.” (I did not know Iommi was in Tull!) It is pretty good – like Zeppelin…with jazz flute.

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Them “Them (Historia de la Musica Rock)”

sfilzen — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 19:39:54 +0000

Them “Them (Historia de la Musica Rock)” 1982. No. 45 in the Spanish Historia de la Musica Rock, sold as a companion to a rock encyclopedia in the early 80s, one release every week, for about two years. Joe was in Spain last week and picked up this comp (on Decca): most of the tracks were hits, or at least are super-familiar (and loved) to me – one of my favorites is “Gloria” (spectacularly covered by Patti Smith in ’75), written by Van Morrison and recorded by Them in ’64. It originally was the b-side to another Them great (also on this comp), “Baby Please Don’t Go” (a traditional American blues song, popularized with Big Joe Williams‘ recording in 1935). “Gloria” is considered one of the greatest singles of all-time and received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in ’99. It would appear on Them’s first LP The Angry Young Them (1965). Both tracks are garagey, rocking. Other garage-rock tracks (my preference) on the comp are the rockabilly-leaning “Don’t Start Crying Now” (1964) and the wild, harmonica-forward “Mystic Eyes” (also written by Morrison and appeared on their first LP, #33 US). Not as garagey but I also like the super-creepy and bluesy (and Byrds-esque) “I’m Gonna Dress in Black” (1965) as well as the more mellow 60’s pop (but still a bit garage) “Here Comes the Night” – written by Bert Berns – which was a hit for Them in ’65, going to #2 in the UK and to #24 in the US. “Turn On Your Love Light” has also has a 60’s pop feel – it’s a cover of Bobby Bland‘s 1961 r&B hit single (I am most familiar with Grateful Dead’s version, a song they played in concert frequently – in 1969 at Woodstock they played it for over 45 minutes). I’m not a big fan of Them’s cover of Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins “I Put a Spell On You” – they went loungey…plus it’s impossible make that song better than the original. But overall this record is a solid compilation of Them’s material before the band began its disintegration in ’66.

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The Rolling Stones “Out of Our Heads”

sfilzen — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 18:03:57 +0000

The Rolling Stones “Out of Our Heads” 1965. Just read the news that Stones drummer Charlie Watts died this morning at age 80 (b. 1941, d. 2021) so I’m spinning one of their earlier LP’s in honor of his incredible career (he continued to perform on tour through 2019). This is the US version of Out of Our Heads; the UK version has a very different track listing due to the UK habit of not including singles on full-length albums. The LP has a mix of covers and Jagger-Richards and Stones originals. The Jagger-Richards penned tracks include the classics “The Last Time” (#1 UK, #9 US), “Satisfaction” (#1 in the US and UK), “The Spider and the Fly” (b-side to the UK “Satisfaction” single) and “One More Try.” Two tracks are credited to Nanker Phelge, which is an alias of sorts indicating the writing credits (and royalties) to the entire band plus their early manager/producer Andrew Oldham: “The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man” and one of my all-time Stones favorites, “Play With Fire.” Covers include “Hitch Hike” (Marvin Gaye), “Good Times” (Same Cooke), “Cry to Me” (Bert Berns, performed originally by Solomon Burke) and a live recording of Bo Diddley’s “I’m All Right.”

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The Who “Happy Jack”

sfilzen — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 17:50:58 +0000

The Who “Happy Jack” 1966 (US version; released in the UK as “A Quick One”). Today, August 23rd, would have been drummer Keith Moon’s 75th birthday (b. 1946, d. 1978). Happy Jack/A Quick One was The Who’s second LP and it went to # 2 in the UK. It’s notable for its inclusion of tracks written by all of the band members rather than just or mostly written by Pete Townshend. Keith Moon has two songs: “I Need You” and “Cobwebs and Strange” (almost the weirdest song: a crazed funhouse carnival instrumental with madcap penny whistle and the crashiest of crashing drums and cymbals ever). Bassist John Entwhistle wrote and sings lead on the weirdest track, “Boris the Spider,” apparently inspired by a night out drinking with Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman (Entwhistle also wrote “Whiskey Man”). Roger Daltry gets writing credit for “See My Way.” Townshend wrote the remaining (and the best) songs like “Don’t Look Away,” “Run Run Run” and “So Sad About Us.” The US version includes the UK single-only, Townshend-penned “Happy Jack” which hit #3 in the UK and #24 in the US. It replaced the cover song “Heat Wave” (by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team and recorded by Martha and the Vandellas, 1963) that appears on the UK release.

From the back cover notes about the band members: “Keith Moon. The fastest nineteen-year-old drummer in the world uses at least five pairs of drumsticks during The Who’s act. He plays so ferociously that the sticks splinter and shoot into the audience. Behind his sixteen-piece drum kit, he has brown eyes, black hair, and a passion for breeding chickens.”

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The Who “My Generation”

sfilzen — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 20:54:30 +0000

The Who “My Generation” released 55 years ago today, December 3rd, 1965. (In the UK – this version is the US release with an alternate cover, released in April 1966). It went to #5 in the UK and critics have praised it as one of the best albums of the era, though ahead of its time. The title track “My Generation” is still amazing, one of the best rock singles ever; it can be (and should be!) embraced by every generation of rockers since the Boomers. It was released as a single prior to the record’s release and hit #2 in the UK but just went to #74 in the US. Also released as singles from My Generation were “A Legal Matter” (#32 UK, sung by Pete Townshend), “The Kids Are Alright” (#41 UK, #85 US) and “La-La-La-Lies” (which did not chart in the UK). Townshend wrote the majority of the tracks on My Generation but the album does have a couple of covers: two by James Brown (“I Don’t Mind” and “Please, Please, Please”) and one by Bo Diddley (“I’m a Man”). The US version has a slightly different track listing than the UK one. On Side B on the US release “The Ox” appears after “It’s Not True” rather than being the last track and “Instant Party” replaces “I’m A Man” from the UK version; apparently because the lyrics were too sexual in nature for the US market 🙄

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The Who “Magic Bus: The Who On Tour”

sfilzen — Tue, 19 May 2020 15:21:54 +0000

The Who “Magic Bus: The Who On Tour” 1968. Today, May 19th, is Pete Townshend’s 75th birthday (b. 1945). Magic Bus: The Who On Tour is a US-only comp and, despite the title’s suggestion, is composed completely of studio tracks. Even though Townshend – and the rest of the band – disliked the record and its cover (which I think is amazing), the LP went to #39 in the US: Decca Records wanted to cash in on The Who’s hit single “Magic Bus” (#25 US, #26 UK) by releasing it on a full-length album. Also on the comp are the B-sides from the UK and US single release of “Magic Bus” – “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” and “Someone’s Coming” respectively; “Disguises” and “Bucket T.” from the 1966 EP Ready Steady Who; “Run Run Run” from the 1966 LP A Quick One; “I Can’t Reach You” and “Our Love Was, Is” from the 1967 LP The Who Sells Out, the 1967 single “Pictures of Lily” and its B-side “Doctor, Doctor;” and “Call Me Lightning” which was released as a single in the US in 1968, hitting #40. It appeared as the B-side in the UK to their single “Dogs.” (Fun tidbit: the Milwaukee band Call Me Lightning is named after The Who song – but very possibly is named for Joan Jett’s version of “Call Me Lightning” rather than The Who’s.)

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Led Zeppelin “Led Zeppelin II”

sfilzen — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 18:54:00 +0000

Led Zeppelin “Led Zeppelin II” released 50 years ago today, October 22nd, 1969. Led Zeppelin II was the band’s first LP to reach #1 – in both the US and the UK, though they only released one single from the album (and that was outside the UK; weirdly not a single Zeppelin single was ever released in their home country): “Whole Lotta Love” which hit #4 on the US Billboard chart. It’s been ranked among the top greatest songs of all time (most especially for its guitar riff) but it was not without controversy. Parts of the track were a direct lift from Wille Dixon’s “You Need Love” (recorded by Earl Hooker and Muddy Waters in 1962 for Chess Records) but Dixon was uncredited. That led to a lawsuit which resulted in Dixon winning credit and royalties (1985).

I’ve blogged about Led Zeppelin II before so I’m going to quote myself here:

Allmusic says “Led Zeppelin II provided the blueprint for all the heavy metal bands that followed it… the overall sound of the album is heavy and hard, brutal and direct. While Led Zeppelin II doesn’t have the eclecticism of the group’s debut, it’s arguably more influential. After all, nearly every one of the hundreds of Zeppelin imitators used this record, with its lack of dynamics and its pummeling riffs, as a blueprint.”

As I’ve noted in earlier posts, I was, relatively speaking, late to Zeppelin (weird subculture “rules” being what they were, 80′s punks – at least in my town- did not listen to Zeppelin, that was for the grits/heshers/dirts/headbangers) so I didn’t listen to any Zeppelin, including Zeppelin II, until I got to college. Now I love it. “Whole Lotta Love” has one of the most excellent and recognizable lead chords on any album ever, the groove of “What Is and What Should Never Be” is utterly addictive and Zeppelin’s spin on traditional blues in “The Lemon Song” is epic, sexy as hell if not very subtle (“Squeeze me baby, ‘till the juice runs down my leg/The way you squeeze my lemon I’m gonna fall right out of bed”). That’s just Side 1! Side 2′s bass riff on “Heartbreaker” is so slinky, Bonham’s drum solo on “Moby Dick” is insane and II has one of my all-time favorite tracks: “Ramble On.” I was on a serious Tolkien kick during my freshman year at college (I had read The Lord of the Rings as a kid but got it into my head to re-read the entire trilogy over Christmas break that year) so I found the lyrics amazing. Now they kinda make me giggle but I still love “Ramble On” intensely.

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Kinks “Kinks Greatest Hits”

sfilzen — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:00:52 +0000

Kinks “Kinks Greatest Hits” 1971. Today, June 21st, is Kinks’ founder, frontman, primary songwriter and rhythm guitarist (Sir) Ray Davies’ 75th birthday (b. 1944). The “godfather of Britpop” was knighted in 2017 and has received countless awards and accolades over the years for his songwriting and contribution to the rock canon: garage, rock, pop, psychedelia and even punk. This Canadian issued comp (on Marble Arch Records) has the best of the best of the early Kinks catalog. Side One starts off with the excellent 60′s pop classic “A Well Respected Man” (on the EP Kweyt Kinks in the UK, on the LP Kinkdom in the US) followed by the garage classic “Where Have All the Good Times Gone” (1965 The Kink Kontroversy), “Till The End of the Day” (also on The Kink Kontroversy, #8 UK, #50 US single charts), “Set Me Free” (1964 single, #9 UK, #23 US) and one of my favorites, the low-key garage-crunchy “Tired of Waiting For You” (1965 Kinda Kinks, #1 UK, #6 US single charts). Side B begins with one of the best-known and timeless Kinks hits “All Day and All of the Night” (1964, #2 UK, #7 US, appears on the US released Kinks-Size LP) that pretty much set the bar for garage rock. Then comes “I Gotta Move” (1965) the controversial, enduring and endearing “Lola” (1970, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneyground, #2 UK, #9 US single charts), the sole Dave Davies-penned track on this comp: folky-twanged “Wait Till the Summer Comes Along” (1965 EP Kweyt Kinks) and ends with another Kinks biggie “You Really Got Me” (1964, #1 UK, #7 US) which inspired generations of hard power chord rockers. That track is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and listed on multiple best-of lists for best guitar tracks and best songs of all-time.

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The Rolling Stones “The Rolling Stones”

sfilzen — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 17:55:42 +0000

The Rolling Stones “The Rolling Stones” 1964. Today, December 18th, is Kieth Richards’ 75th birthday (b. 1943). He is ranked as one of the best guitarists of all-time as well as the co-writer, along with Mick Jagger, of several of the best songs of all-time. This is the US version of The Rolling Stones on London Records with the subtitle England’s Newest Hit Makers (which became its official US title in later years; the US release has a few different tracks and titles than the UK version). The LP went to #1 in the UK and hit #11 in the US. Only a few tracks on the Stones’ debut album were written by Jagger and Richards (at the time he was going by Keith Richard, no “s”): “Tell Me” which went to #24 in the US, and also two tracks credited to Nanker Phelge (a band pseudonym) along with Phil Spector: “Now I’ve Got a Witness” and “Little by Little.” The rest of the album is packed with covers of early rock-n-roll and blues covers including classics like “Not Fade Away” (originally by Buddy Holly) which went to #3 in the UK and #48 in the US, “Route 66″ (Bobby Troup), “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (Willie Dixon) and “Carol” (Chuck Berry).

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