the WHO – early 1970’s

EXPERIENCE SURREAL ROCK HISTORY

Pete Townsend – Master of the AIR Guitar!

We saw Pete Townsend get this high, … or maybe that was us …

Experience the best psychedelic concert ever:
the WHO Anaheim Stadium 06-14-70
(Scroll past Hendrix)

plus

Experience the best live album ever:
– THE WHO –
LIVE AT LEEDS  LP 1970

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The WHO – Live early 1970s.
Original Custom 3.75″ Action Figure.
Original Custom 6″ x 9″ Card Art.
For Display – Not Play.  Figure is glued into a stationary position.
One Of A Kind.

Top 69 Historic & Classic 1960s Rock Albums

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

These are ongoing lean, unique, in-depth personal reviews by someone who experienced this music at the time when it was just released – unheard of before – new – seminal – exciting – fun – invigorating – joyous – groovy – magical – inspiring – thrilling – revolutionary – enlightening – far out  – and totally bitchen!

Click underlined titles for review links.
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DICK DALE and his DELTONES
SURFERS’ CHOICE – 1962 

The BEACH BOYS
SURFIN’ SAFARI – October 1, 1962

The BEATLES
MEET THE BEATLES – 1964

The VENTURES
THE VENTURES IN SPACE – 1964

THEM
THEM (Here Comes the Night) – July 1965

The YARDBIRDS
HAVING A RAVE UP – November 20, 1965

The ROLLING STONES
AFTERMATH – June 20, 1966

The MOTHERS OF INVENTION
FREAK OUT! – June 22, 1966

LOVE
LOVE – July 1966

The KINKS
THE KINKS GREATEST HITS! – August 12, 1966

DONOVAN
SUNSHINE SUPERMAN – September 1966

The SEEDS
A WEB OF SOUND – October 1966

LOVE
DA CAPO – November 1966

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD – December 5, 1966

CREAM
FRESH CREAM – December 9, 1966

The DOORS
the DOORS – January 4, 1967

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
SURREALISTIC PILLOW – February 1, 1967

BOB DYLAN
BOB DYLAN’S GREATEST HITS – March 27, 1967

The JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED – May 12, 1967

The BEST of ERIC BURDON and The ANIMALS
Vol. II – June 1967

The BYRDS
the BYRDS’ GREATEST HITS – August 7, 1967

VANILLA FUDGE
VANILLA FUDGE – August 1967

TEN YEARS AFTER
TEN YEARS AFTER – October 27, 1967

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN – October 30, 1967

CREAM
DISRAELI GEARS – November 2, 1967

The MOODY BLUES
DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED – November 10, 1967

LOVE
FOREVER CHANGES – November 1967

The JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE – December 1, 1967

The ROLLING STONES
THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST
December 8, 1967

TRAFFIC
HEAVEN IS IN YOUR MIND/MR. FANTASY
December 1967

STEPPENWOLF
STEPPENWOLF – January 1968

JOHNNY RIVERS
REALIZATION – January 1968

BLUE CHEER
VINCEBUS ERUPTUM – January 1968

SPIRIT
SPIRIT – January 22, 1968
DR. JOHN, THE NIGHT TRIPPER
GRIS-GRIS – January 22, 1968

LEE MICHAELS
CARNIVAL OF LIFE – 1968

HAIR
(Original Broadway Cast Recording) – May 1968

PINK FLOYD
A SAUCERFUL of SECRETS – June 29, 1968

The BAND
MUSIC from BIG PINK – July 1, 1968

JANIS JOPLIN
BIG BROTHER & the HOLDING COMPANY
CHEAP THRILLS – August 12, 1968

CREAM
WHEELS OF FIRE – AUGUST 1968

JEFF BECK
TRUTH – August 1968

The CRAZY WORLD of ARTHUR BROWN
September 1968

JIMI HENDRIX
ELECTRIC LADYLAND – October 25, 1968

VAN MORRISON
ASTRAL WEEKS – November 1968

The ROLLING STONES
BEGGARS BANQUET – December 6, 1968

LED ZEPPELIN
LED ZEPPELIN – January 12, 1969

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVIAL
BAYOU COUNTRY – January 1969

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY – April 28, 1969

NEIL YOUNG w/CRAZY HORSE
EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE
May 14, 1969

The WHO
TOMMY – May 23, 1969

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH – May 29, 1969

SAVOY BROWN
A STEP FURTHER – July 1969

JETHRO TULL
STAND UP – August 1, 1969

BLIND FAITH
BLIND FAITH – August 1969

EASY RIDER
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK – August 1969

TEN YEARS AFTER
SSSSH – August 1969

FLEETWOOD MAC
THEN PLAY ON – September 9, 1969

The BEATLES
ABBEY ROAD – September 26, 1969

KING CRIMSON
IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING
October 10, 1969

FRANK ZAPPA
HOT RATS – October 10, 1969

LED ZEPPELIN
LED ZEPPELIN II – October 22, 1969

The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
November 4, 1969

PINK FLOYD
UMMAGUMMA – November 10, 1969


The MOODY BLUES
TO OUR CHILDRENS’ CHILDRENS’ CHILDREN
November 21, 1969

ROD STEWART
The ROD STEWART ALBUM – November 1969

The ROLLING STONES
LET IT BLEED – December 5, 1969

GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
GRAND FUNK – December 29, 1969

ZEPHYR
ZEPHYR – 1969

 

One look at 1969 and we see that 24 of this list’s Top 69 Albums of the ’60s were released within that magical year.
During 1969 00individual was 18, graduated high school, got a job at an art department, had a bitchen pad at the beach and Rock ‘n’ Roll Ruled!
Being 19 in 1969 at an incredibly awesome time in history was a gift he will always treasure  –  and will take that gift with him into the next life.
 

1960′s Historic & Classic Rock Albums ……………… the BEATLES – MEET THE BEATLES – 1964

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

the BEATLES
MEET THE BEATLES
January 20, 1964

I was 13 years old when the musical sound barrier was shattered and reformed by four lads from Liverpool. This album was the turn-key that opened the door to a truly magical world.

The single word to describe the overall impact of the Beatles for everyone (excepting the over 30 crowd) who heard this album back in ‘64 was FUN!

This album generated a cultural shift in music far more influential than that of Sgt. Pepper’s – and Beatlemania was a direct result of a type of fun that could not be contained.

You didn’t have to be a screaming little girl to be affected by this music – it affected us guys too, we just weren’t as emotional about it.

Side One
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” – 2:24
“I Saw Her Standing There” – 2:50
“This Boy” – 2:11
“It Won’t Be Long” – 2:11
“All I’ve Got to Do” – 2:05
“All My Loving” – 2:04

Side Two
“Don’t Bother Me” (George Harrison) – 2:28
“Little Child” – 1:46
“Till There Was You” (Meredith Willson) – 2:12
“Hold Me Tight” – 2:30
“I Wanna Be Your Man” – 1:59
“Not a Second Time” – 2:03

Reading these song titles brings back every word and sound – these became Beatle “jingles” in that they were so fresh and new and different that we couldn’t get enough and that meant repeated LP playings well beyond the Top 30 rotation on the radio. Like jingles, these songs would replay in your head; which was an enjoyable thing in a world without Beatles where there suddenly were Beatles!
Plus this was one of the first “album rock” experiences as you could enjoy the whole album as each song was infectious.

This “cultural event” had so many extraneous impacts that they are impossible to know even now 48 years later; as they were personal to everyone yet universal at the same time.

With this album, The Beatles generated a music style, a fashion style, a haircut style (the absurdity that the Beatles had “long hair” shows how repressed and militarized our society was), an attitude style and a youth culture style.   Their aura was so encompassing that you couldn’t help but get caught up in the good feeling that what they started was just the beginning of something bigger – and it was.

This joyful new music immediately made ancient the traditional homogenized songs and albums that were the staple for decades.
We had just experienced a newly discovered world – a world that was free of tradition. And therefore, “MEET THE BEATLES” was the first truly revolutionary album that had absolutely no axe to grind – yet was more powerful than all of the protest songs, marches, or sit-ins combined.
Through fun liberation the BEATLES created an innocent subliminal “Question Authority” mentality in it’s listeners – a perfect example of “the Pen (lyric) is mightier than the Sword”.  For whether we knew it or not our consciousness was raised, and once your consciousness is raised it cannot be lowered – 00individual speaks Tribal Truth.

These were exciting times for a 13 year old; the world suddenly seemed brighter and there was even more fun in the air.
I was still into the Surfer/Hot Rod/Rat Fink/Tiki God/Mad Magazine culture and music, but was also totally distracted and thrilled with this new wave of sound coming from across the Atlantic called the “British Invasion!”.

Here’s a really intriguing and enigmatic question about the “British Invasion”:
How/why is it that on this planet on this tiny land called England in the mid-1960s seemingly spontaneously with no singular direction or master plan whatsoever, groups, bands, musicians, songwriters, soloists and performers historically emerged and created, changed and influenced music, music genres and culture world-wide to the degree that it became known as the “British Invasion”?

Was this timely Divine Intervention by the Rock ‘n’ Roll Gods?

…………………………………………………….

Vital MEET THE BEATLES Insight:
Through Rock ‘n’ Roll Sage Wisdom 00individual sincerely believes that it was the first 30 seconds of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” that woke up  a whole generation to the fact that there was more than we were led to believe.
I remember vividly the first time I heard  “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and that’s exactly how I felt – enlightened – but I didn’t know why at the time.  All I knew was that if new worlds can be opened by a great group’s song, then that’s where I wanted to be.

Trip Time: It’s 1964; you’ve heard rumblings through the sound waves about this new “combo” the BEATLES, then soon afterward you hear the radio DJ announce that the next record will be “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – you turn up the radio and immediately you’re grabbed by the intro that pulls you in to lyrics of the simple joy of holding hands – and the world changes forever .

Try it out!
the BEATLES – 30 SECONDS THAT INSPIRED A GENERATION

1960’s Historic & Classic Rock Albums . . . . . . . . . . DICK DALE . . . SURFERS’ CHOICE . . .1962

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

DICK DALE and his Del-Tones
Surfer’s Choice
1962

Here is the earliest entry of the “1960s Historic & Classic Rock Albums” from way back in 1962 and appropriately from the Man that started it all!

He started my record collection, he started my interest in electric guitar but way more importantly he started the whole Surf Rock and Surf Guitar Genre as he was bending, shredding and distorting the guitar before anyone!
He is the Man to which every guitarist today must pay tribute; the “King of the Surf Guitar”, Dick Dale.

I was 11 years old when I bought my first album, “Surfers’ Choice” with my own money. It was probably $2.98 or less; 45 RPM singles were around $ .59 – so this was a major investment and worth every penny.
I had one of those Portable Lift-the-Lid-Turntable-Rises-Up Pivot Out-Speakers Tabletop Sound Systems and because this was my first LP I played it over and over and never got bored as it was Too Cool!

First off, check out the totally bitchen cover art!  Wow, it still stands out among all the rest today!
The color theory use of vibrant fire-red on blue is a natural eye-catcher and the yellow Surfers’ Choice lettering was Totally Boss!
And Dick Dale was a real surfer; we knew this because the cover photo showed him surfing!

In the years to come the Surfing Culture and Surf Music became huge; especially in Southern California where the sun and surf, the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, tan blonde beach babes and the whole equally happenin’ Hot Rod/Car Culture all came together to the point that there was a caste system of Ho-Dads, Surfers and Gremmies.  Ho-Dads were the latter day Hoodlum hot rod/motorcycle types (or at least dressed like them) with slicked back hair and black leather jackets; Surfers were Surfers or their “Surfer” friends and Gremmies were the wannabe surfers of the day.
I fell into a cross-over category as I sported a Bomber Jacket, Blue Tips, White T-shirt, Jeans and a favorite Tiki God necklace.  I was badass with a surfer style plus my naturally blonde hair gave me an edge over all the Gremmies who peroxided their hair to look like they’d been out in the sun surfing  – but never went near the ocean.  Even though I was prone to water-pressure ear infections; I still lived in the ocean and body-surfed with style.

My high school was near the beach and one summer every day after summer school (and weekends) I’d hit the beach.  This totaled every day of summer vacation, three months, except for seven days. I was about seventeen and became a beach bum, a native, and didn’t shower that whole summer BUT my skin was golden brown, my hair was golden blonde, and the ocean was my natural shower every day.  I was livin’ “island” life, everyone should be able to do it in their lifetime, it’s really cool!  I enjoyed the freedom and was destined for a Bohemian lifestyle early on; the move to a Hippie was natural – but as a Hippie I showered; I wasn’t one of the smelly Hippies that today’s revisionist critics like to chide – I never lived in a commune, well, not really a commune just sorta communal.

The point is that Surf Music and Polynesian Culture was super hot and so was Dick Dale; he had his pulse on the whole scene and became an important Icon and entrepreneur on many levels throughout his incredible career.

Dick Dale and his music are timeless! 
Over three decades after the release of Surfers’ Choice, the cut “Miserlou” became a Sound Stamp on an era, on a film, and of an attitude!
“Pulp Fiction” would not have had the indelible stamp that it has without Dick Dale; Tarantino knows this.
I wish I could have been at the editing session where the opening film sequence and the music came together for the first time – Amanda Plummer’s savage speech ends and Dick Dale’s Miserlou shreds across the screen – that WAS the essence of “Pulp Fiction”.

The following tunes are forever burned into my brain from many repeated joyful listening’s.
Surfers’ Choice (in Delphonic High Fidelity!) track list:
Surf Beat, Sloop John B, Take It Off, Night Owl, Fanny Mae, Misirlou Twist, Peppermint Man, Surfing Drums, Shake ‘n’ Stomp, Lovey Dovey, Death of a Gremmie, Let’s Go Trippin’.

COMPLETE THE SURFER’S CHOICE LP AND THEN, …

Check out DD live on TV in ’63:
DICK DALE – LIVE 1963 – ED SULLIVAN SHOW

And here’s a really cool Trip; a video of Dick Dale from March 12, 2012 concert at the local Canyon Club that I was fortunate to attend.
Dick Dale’s son Jimmy is on drums – the kid’s awesome; like Keith Moon with finesse. My viewpoint was the same as the camera only from the opposite angle.
Dick’s reference at the end to the audience being his medicine was that since a successful bout with cancer he feels that much of his remedy is from performing and the joy it gives him from the audience’s response.
 DICK DALE – LIVE 2012 – CANYON CLUB – MISERLOU!

Dick Dale is in his 70s and proves that there are still good times to be had by any of us who still have the joyful “Spirit of Rock” within.

Let’s Go Trippin’!

the WHO – QUADROPHENIA TOUR – 1973

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

the WHO
11-22-1973
Fabulous Forum, Inglewood (Capacity: 17,000)

Unless you’re in the first 30 rows; floor seats at the Forum suck.
I had a floor seat so far back that my point of view angle in relation to the stage was virtually obscured by rows of shifting heads.  It didn’t matter how tall you were since the floor back then was flat, not slightly angled even a bit – flat.

Throughout my concert career, I have been truly blessed to have had very decent seats, especially at venues like this where it’s all about location, location, location.
With this concert I really had to pull out the old die-hard concert motto, “Nosebleed or front row, I just want to see the show!” only I couldn’t – for real, as the concert was more audible than visible.

Three and a half years ago I saw The Who under phenomenal conditions (ninety feet from the stage) at the height of “Leeds” and “Tommy”.  Pure Rock Heaven!
WHO – 1970 – ANAHEIM STADIUM

I really can’t complain; they can’t all be winners!  As a matter of fact I broke it all down and it seems that on the average I was fortunate that about one out of every three concerts were exceptional experiences and most were very decent; this was neither.

I was a “Quadropheniac”, I just loved the double LP, this was a perfect progression from “Tommy” and I was really psyched to have a floor seat (unaware of the drawbacks) for this concert and enjoyed the show for those tunes for sure, but this was the first concert where I literally missed the continuity of the show due to bad seats.
So unless you’re in the first thirty rows on the floor, the best seats at the Forum are a little above stage level and off to the right or left of stage.

But to make matters worse I brought a camera and actually left my seat and stealthily moved down the aisle to set up shots – Security would allow this as long as you didn’t abuse the privilege – so I took a bunch, but later at home I realized that the film I loaded in the dark at the concert never even caught the advance sprocket and therefore all the photos I took never even saw film.

Even with all this going against me I still had a somewhat enjoyable time. I just closed my eyes to experience it audibly and grooved.  I’d open my eyes occasionally to see a Townsend Windmill or two emerge from above the sea of heads.

Then suddenly, it dawned on me, why not use this experience positively and become “Tommy” at a Who concert!
Hey, I’m imaginative and had nothing to lose and I was solo that night – so minus the deaf part, as I could hear the Who excellently, I moved into Tommy mode around 5:15, the song, not the hour.

It didn’t take long to picture myself in Brighton, near the sea (that’s easy, I grew up near the beach) and becoming; “Inside outside. Leave me alone. Inside outside. Nowhere is home. Inside outside, Where have I been? Out of my brain on the five fifteen.”
Now this wasn’t a stretch ‘cuz I was out of my brain, in the good way, and opened my eyes just enough to look around at the other people on the train – I closed my eyes and was “Out of my brain on the five fifteen!”

After Sea And Sand (that was easy) and “Love Reign o’er Me”, Who headed into Tommy Territory and my Tommy mode was alerted. Now I could really get into character, “Pinball Wizard” and “See Me Feel Me” spoke to me, but after a while I needed to come up and out ‘cuz sometimes enough is enough.  I had never had my eyes closed at a live concert for this long of an extended period and the images I was seeing while trying to stay on track as “Tommy in Quadrophenia” sometimes took real concentration, but what the Rock ‘n ‘Roll Hell, why not push it, I mean I was always able to “maintain” so testing was part of the Trip – to move up and beyond the last trip’s progress. It was always inevitable that after all the fun was done self-awareness would come calling and that’s when progress could be made.

This was good timing anyway as most of the audience was standing by now so that gave me a slight advantage over others for the rest of the concert.

The Moral to this Tale: Never let some ill-designed seating arrangement deprive you of your Rock ‘n’ Roll Rights to enjoy live music to the max!
Where there’s a will …

Lineup: Roger Daltry (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano), John Entwhistle (bass, vocals), Keith Moon (drums, vocals).

Setlist: I Can’t Explain, Summertime Blues, My Wife, My Generation, I Am The Sea, The Real Me, Punk And The Godfather, I’m One, Helpless Dancer, 5.15, Sea And Sand, Drowned, Bell Boy, Dr. Jimmy, Love Reign O’er Me, Won’t Get Fooled Again, Pinball Wizard, See Me, Feel Me, My Generation, Let’s See Action, Magic Bus, Naked Eye
Encore: Baby Don’t You Do It

Trippy Trivia: This was the second date of their North American Tour, the first being two nights before in Daley City, CA, just south of San Francisco.
History was made that night when toward the end of the concert Keith Moon passed out from animal tranqs and brandy and Townsend asked the audience if “anyone could play drums, …good”, a  guy from the front rows got on stage and finished the concert in place of Moon, his name: Scot Halpin; he was awarded Rolling Stone Magazine’ s “Pick-up Player of the Year” Award.
Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scot_Halpin

Here’s 14 minutes of live footage courtesy of David – this brought back clearer memories that maybe I was just spoiled, as my view was just about like this on the floor – with a few more bobbing heads and a few more rows back.  Enjoy!

the WHO – QUADROPHENIA – FULL COMPLETE 2 DISC ALBUM

 

EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHEDELIC SHORT STORY – early 1970s

EXPERIENCE 1970s PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE!

Back in the early 1970s I had three artist / head / friends that would drop by and drop acid and play chess, two to a team with no talking or communicating with your partner other than psychically.
That was always a deep trip as trying to anticipate your opponents’ plans and ploys and his partner’s as well as trying to formulate offensive and defensive plans and ploys with your own partner under normal conditions is pretty heady – on psychedelics it was a real test of your “psychedelic ability”!
We were serious about our Psychedelic Chess and surely advanced our brain cell power while frying it at the same time.

On a nice Saturday afternoon one of the aforementioned fellow adventurers and I decided to skip chess and try something new. We decided to drop acid and write an experimental short story whereby I would write a line or two then pass the typewriter to him to write a line or two, and so on.
We never knew where the story was going or how it would end but the creative process was actually very revealing in the fact that it has a plot, deep meaning, humor, conflict, resolution and an ending that surprised us both!
Needless to say we were high, but the creativity was within us regardless of the psychotropics – and the energy flow took hold.

If you choose to stick with it, there’s a payoff and remember we didn’t discuss the progression – that would’ve spoiled the fun – we just wrote what felt right and passed it back.
Fun times!

So, sit back and enjoy this image-rich, experimental, psychedelic, free-form, sex, drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll vampiric tale involving God, Lucifer and Manual the Gardner.

(This was transcribed as written; see accompanying typewritten 40 year old heavy stock paper original!)

The Legend of Manual’s Labor
by
John Good and 00individual

   Manual the gardener slipped his mutated member in her quivering quim….theirs was the joy of the crusty fetid death lover……..agony, joy….and the pomp and circumcise of life.
Throughout the time and space of his pathetic existence on this bizarre and brutal sphere in the barbaric times of the post-mutant age, his quest for the inebriated phosphorous soldier of the fourth order of the purple nuzz- nuzz, left him in a rather slobbery state.
Poor pathetic Manual could barely grasp at what was reality, what with crusty quims and all. Lord Lucifer! Why do you forsake me now?….when all but the memories of an amnesia-dominated past have beckoned me with an elusive hand, inviting and enticing me to rise. I shall rise, I shall….tomorrow I shall go to the priest of the one they used to call Christ. If I can gain his confidence and his magic perhaps the emergence of a pseudo-spiritual redeemer will render the apathetic doldrums to a state of total recall.
Its so hard and getting worse daily. As my brain rots ever so routinely, it is hard for me to keep it all together….fuzzy-wuzzys and nuzzy-nuzzys….I will no longer honor my false brazen God. He shall have no more of my life giving blood, but be the unwilling donor of sacrifice over and over again for the fair and virginal flower of the tainted forest of eternity. Rainbow spider webs….autumn leaves….lustful fall….what does it all mean?
The esscense goo that they call me is no more than a manic struggle between two blood-lusting souls searching for sanity.
Along with the equally demanding urges of the eye…the optical telescope of non-reality. The conflict, the pull, the never-ending decision of whether that today is really tomorrow yesterday.
Yes, yes the urge is to acknowledge this as real, yet, yet, how can this whore of carnal delight be anymore than that delectable taste of her love goo.
The thought of approaching this madness, this conflicting bridge of threadbare thoughts leaves me no way out but that of temporary reconciliation with my inner God. Yet who is that forsaking bastard? My friend, My foe?…..
I believe I shall now go about thine destruction. Thine destruction, let me count the ways: whether it be nobler to drain the life giving blood in second to eternity lapses or send my soul-self into oblivion via a celestial narcotic drug,….that sweet release.
I have reached my decision…not an easy one for sure. It’s a delight though to suck her life thrusting juices even if it does mean her demise. The thought spirals into an intense overbearing climactic explosion of every molecule in me as the last drop is suckled from the now non-existent whore of carnal delight…..
that is me.

JETHRO TULL . . . “A Passion Play” . . . 7-20-1973 Fabulous Forum, Inglewood

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!
JETHRO TULL
Steeleye Span
7-18-1973 Fabulous Forum, Inglewood (Capacity: 17,000)

When I first heard “This Was” I was floored, “this was” really cool; a band mixing medieval renaissance–flavored music with hard rock blues – how unique!
And then “Stand Up” continued this totally unique sound!  I remember thinking that the creative and inspired Rock ‘n’ Roll Dam had surely burst as magical new sounds from yet another band filled the air.

It is my goal to try and convey this magic through these chronicles, for once the “British Invasion” of ‘64/’65 arrived and then the L.A. and San Francisco Hippie music took hold, we were treated daily to sounds never before heard by humans – everything was new! And Jethro Tull was the perfect group to exemplify this truth.

The ‘70s saw much diversity and I applaud and support any acts that strive for creative advancement, for some they see their vision successfully, others fail, and somewhere in between we have Tull’s “A Passion Play”.

It was inevitable that Ian would want to evolve, which he did with “Thick as a Brick”, which turned into a world-wide monster. But now he found himself faced with what many creative souls do; the monster they created!
How do you top “Thick as a Brick”?  Or better yet; extend your “franchise”?

While I have a ton of respect for Ian Anderson and company and kept an open mind as always; I still couldn’t quite get into this new phase. Tull’s franchise did not “play” out.
“A Passion Play”, the LP and the concert, strayed too far from the Tull I loved – and I’m faithful; I’ll hang with groups that I appreciate even when they go off the rails.  And while I certainly appreciate the creative effort and performance, that does not mean that I’m “on board” while they journey “off road”.

Even though these archives focus on the ‘60s and ‘70s Rock and Culture Scene my personal music interests span across all genres and categories.
My soundtrack collection was and is impressive – and of those STs “the Fifth Element” ranks extremely high on my list – a kind of Rock ‘n’ Roll Blade Runner.
I was so enamored by the Diva Dance sequence that when the opera that contained the actual aria, “Il dolce suono” from the 3rd act of “Lucia di Lammermoor” (Gaetano Donizetti/Salvadore Cammarano) was performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, I attended just to hear the actual aria sung live. Brava!

I bring this up because that’s how I felt at this concert, it’s wonderful live, while it’s happening, but later after you leave there’s not much imprinted in your memory.

As you can see by the above ad for these concerts there was a total of 72-75,000 (85,000 if you count the San Diego date) fans of Jethro Tull who attended these Overwhelming Demand – Sold Out concerts. That’s a lot of Tull fans!
Jethro Tull was never to experience this extraordinary level of success again; it was a turning point for Tull where only the die-hard fans continued on. For the rest of us “A Passion Play” was a sad death knell.
And that’s too bad, for me and many others, as “This Was” and “Stand Up” were both so good that they were staples at the pad and have since really created a sense memory of those times.
“Benefit” was good, the track Teacher, a classic, and “Aqualung”, well who doesn’t love that album, but even though I was not a huge fan of “Thick”, I hung in there.

SALUTE the FLUTE! IAN ANDERSON – the HOTTEST FLUTIST ALIVE!

Whatever the magic; be it the historic era we were passing through, my state of mind or Tull’s timely emergence on the Rock Scene, it would be hard to compete with those four excellent and iconic “genre-unto-themselves” LPs that define Jethro Tull for me.

The mad flutist, Ian Anderson, never disappoints and was in fine form as was the whole band, and to see Tull live is always fully enjoyable.

Lineup: Ian Anderson (flute, acoustic guitars, soprano saxophone, sopranino, saxophone, vocals) Barriemore Barlow (drums, timpani, glockenspiel, marimba), Martin Barre (electric guitar), Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (bass, vocals), John Evans (piano, organ, synthesizer, spoken word)

Setlist: A Passion Play, Thick As A Brick (‘The Middle Bit’, incl. flute solo), Cross-Eyed Mary, No Rehearsal/Drum Solo/’218 Babies’ Instrumental, Aqualung, Wind-Up, Instrumental, Locomotive Breath/Hard-Headed English General/Wind-Up (reprise).

OK, Tripsters, it’s Trip Time: Seriously, clear your minds or just imagine; you are back in 1968, you’ve heard of a lot of amazing music, but then you touch the needle down on the beginning of side one of Jethro Tull’s “Stand Up”, you crank up the state-of-the-art sound system, as loud as possible and you hear , “A New Day Yesterday”. ——  I was immediately sold – again!
Do it – it’s a Trip.

JETHRO TULL – THIS WAS – FULL LP – GOLD!
JETHRO TULL – STAND UP – FULL LP – GOLDER!

For a perfect storm Tull concert, when everything was spontaneous and new, for all of us – Led Zep, Tull (Stand Up was just released) and their fans, check out: LED ZEP / TULL CONCERT 1969

DEEP PURPLE – MACHINE HEAD WORLD TOUR – 1973

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

1972 had three of my All Time Top Ten Historic Classic Rock Concerts from ’72 to ’75!
If continuity is your thing; you can jump to these links to fill in the gaps.
Then come back for Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple!
Otherwise, Listen, Learn, Read On!

ROLLING STONES (Exile on Main St. Tour)Stevie Wonder
Hollywood Palladium
6-8-72

PINK FLOYD (Classic Meddle-Era & Debut of DSOTM)
Hollywood Bowl
9-22-72
Click for Stones and Floyd

DAVID BOWIE (US Debut)
Santa Monica Civic
10-20-72

ZIGGY STARDUST (Farewell/Aladdin Sane Tour)
Hollywood Palladium
3-12-73
Click for Bowie and Ziggy

 

DEEP PURPLE
Fleetwood Mac
4-13-1973
Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, CA
(Capacity: 10,000)

Sorry to say that we have hit upon a sour note. OK, two sour notes; first, I don’t know how I missed Deep Purple earlier in their career leading up to and including the “In Rock” era, (I guess that’s really sour grapes!). Second sour note; Fleetwood Mac, future masters of Soft-Rock were literally booed with each song they performed until in frustration Christine McVie sarcastically agreed with the crowd’s only request (besides “Oh, Well” – Without Peter Green? Blasphemous!) and did a quick “slap the audience in the face with it” version of “the Green Manaleshi (with the two-prong crown)”, cut their set short and left the stage, not a good vibe.

I understand Deep Purple’s fan base going slightly mad having to endure soft rock to get to hard rock, but still, it wouldn’t have hurt to hear them out,…
but I guess it did.

Record companies used to do weird pairings drawn from their label’s roster of talent when scheduling tours.  Fleetwood Mac were Reprise and Deep Purple, Warner Bros., so voila!
I experienced a very nasty display when A&M artist Peter Allen (a gay hit songwriter married to Liza Minnelli and portrayed on Broadway by that song and dance man, Hugh Jackman, that’s right, Wolverine won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor in “The Boy from Oz”) opened for A&M artists the Tubes up on the Strip at the height of WPOD popularity.  It was the same intolerance by the dominant Tubes crowd who were not booing but just ignoring and rudely talking and laughing while he performed.  This resulted in one of those movie moments where the entertainer stops, gets up from his piano bench and addresses the rude, noisy crowd and the crowd is silent while he rants and as soon as he’s done ranting they go right back to what they were doing – a total Louis Tully/Terror Dog/Tavern on the Green/ Ghostbusters scene.

At this point we need a little condensed Fleetwood Mac 101 for the archives.
First off, Mick Fleetwood is the Man – and the heart and soul of the band named after him.
Fleetwood Mac, seen correctly in regard to Band and LP eras; removes the futile comparisons as the only thing that connected these different entities was their name and their uncanny Rock Spirit to persevere.
The original all male blues band featuring Peter Green was a Touchstone of Greatness in Rock History creating one of Rock’s truly solid Icon LPs; “Then Play On”. The Christine McVie, Kirwan and Spencer “Kiln House” “Future Games”, “Bare Trees” band created magical songs that us Hippies loved.
The Bob Welch era “Future Games”, “Bare Trees” was actually the progressive bridge to the Buckingham/Nicks era where Fleetwood Mac became not only PopRock Superstars but Rock History with the 40 million seller “Rumors”.

So, I was pretty pissed-off at this whole display for three reasons:

One; I wanted to hear Fleetwood Mac’s performance for that era, plus, if these idiots would have let them perform they would have for sure done past hits but because of them I was deprived of hearing any of it.
Two; the majority of the clowns that made up the audience were amateurs – if you don’t want to see the opening act then don’t arrive when they come on! DUH!
Third; and most importantly, I saw this as the Decline of our hard fought Counter Culture Civilization of acceptance and appreciation and tolerance of any live performance or artistic offering.  The “times they were a’changin’ and in a negative way.
That was a bummer.  I realized then that the philosophy and lifestyle we tried so hard to maintain was regressing and would never continue in the idealized sense.  That was a sad day; Utopia was slipping away …people were getting ugly.

However, life goes on and my Rock ‘n’ Roll Spirit was going to persevere in the face of this Fleetwood Mac coitus interruptus-induced epiphany as I geared-up for a historic-era MACHINE HEAD World Tour assault of the senses by one of my favorite bands from all the way back to the Tetragrammaton label days: Deep Purple!

This was when the iconic classic “Smoke On The Water” was only a year old, that’s right, we were soaking in the time when Machine Head was the new heavy hitter on the Rock Block!

For my personal tastes, Deep Purple is one of a few groups who got it right; the Hammond organ.
Lee Michaels showed what could be done, as well as Greg Allman (defined the Allman Bros), Peter Bardens (“The Answer” LP), Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum), Richard Wright (Pink Floyd) and Jon Lord.
Like Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac; Jon Lord was the heart and soul of Deep Purple. And it was his command of the Hammond organ that set them apart as hard rockin’, innovative “heavy” leaders of forged in “metal” psychedelic blues and righteous spacey sonic songs.
Jon Lord passed on recently, July 16, 2012 and deserves a lot more than I can relate; so please Google “Jon Lord” to see the extraordinary depth of his musical life, talents and contributions to the World of Rock.

I remember clearly the first time I heard “In Rock”; I was at a buddy’s place in Venice and he stepped out of take care of some Dealer biz and I hung back and listened to the new Deep Purple LP
It gave me the feeling of being at the crest of a musical wave that seemed to never break. Here was yet another day with yet another amazing band creating yet more insane Rock.

While I had all of Deep Purple’s LPs up to and including “Who Do We Think We Are?,” (excepting the mis-fire “Fireball”) there was another band that shared similar sensibilities and I feel that this is a good time for a Turn On:QUATERMASS –  Drum, Bass, Organ – and  Orchestra – the best composed, performed, engineered and produced LP of 1970 – and that’s really a bold statement as there were many solid classics released that year.
Each song on the album is 100% strong, no filler, solid super hard Rock with an incredible use of a real orchestra. You won’t believe it!  This is the definitive synthesis of Rock and Classical Orchestration; they counter-point and blend seamlessly into a beyond-belief sonic orgasmic Rock Fest.
QUATERMASS were easily one of the underlying seminal forces of metal / prog  / blues / Rock and are by far the Best Unknown Band EVER that somehow slipped through the entire Rock History canon.
I’ve listened to this LP so many times that I can almost recite the whole thing in my head.
I’m serious – this album is epic!
Enjoy these samples and CRANK ‘EM UP!
QUATERMASS – BLACK SHEEP OF THE FAMILY – and I was …
and so was Ritchie Blackmore as the rest of DP objected to Blackmore’s insistence to record Quatermass’ Black Sheep contributed to his leaving the band for Rainbow in which he recorded Black Sheep Of The Family.
QUATERMASS- POST WAR SATURDAY ECHO – PSYCHEDELIC SOUL BLUES PERFECTION
QUATERMASS – LAUGHING TACKLE – FLAT-OUT AWESOME!

After Fleetwood Mac were literally booed off stage Deep Purple knew the audience fan base that they were about to play for – rabid Deep Purple fiends – who literally just could not wait for them to perform.
So the crowd got what they wanted – and so did I – the most Hard Rockin’, Loudest, Wildest  and Deepest Purple of Deep Purple performing extended full-frontal assault versions of monster hits of the Machine Head era.

Epilogue: the negative reaction to Fleetwood Mac created a positive reaction in Deep Purple’s performance and I got to experience the classic Deep Purple Mk II line up; and that meant a lot to me.
I now realize the historic aspects of this concert; Gillian and Glover left Deep Purple two months later, the performance (over the top – even for Deep Purple) and that this could have been the Last Late Great Performance of Classic Mk II.
I will move it up into the Top Ten Historic Classic Rock Concerts: 1972 -1975 and make that the Top Eleven!

Lineup:  Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards), Ian Paice (drums).

Setlist:  Highway Star, Smoke On The Water, Strange Kind Of Woman, Mary Long, Lazy, Space Truckin’.

DEEP PURPLE – HIGHWAY STAR – JUST LIKE I SAW THEM – ‘NUFF SAID!
Possibly, literally, you don’t show up at a classy function like this without adhering to customary etiquette by administering one of the many favored varieties of required psychedelics – it just wouldn’t be proper – so yeah, there were some colorful trails involved.

ALICE COLTRANE – THELONIOUS MONK – HERBIE HANCOCK – 1972

EXPERIENCE 1970s JAZZ HISTORY!

ALICE COLTRANE
Thelonius Monk
Herbie Hancock
05-21-1972
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica (Capacity: 3,000)

1972 offered an amazing explosion of new music and “electronica” had spread throughout many genres to the point of being a requirement of sorts for bands that wanted to stay relevant.

I wasn’t introduced to jazz very much other than through my parent’s playing of Big Bands of the ‘40s and ‘50s which all white-bread homes had in their record collections.  But after experiencing the truly fine examples of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s jazz-fusion, I became very open to jazz in general – and the new electrified sounds even more.

Herbie Hancock had just released “Crossings” an album that I really liked from first listening; long spacey pieces that took you on dream-like journeys and was great for a late night soundtrack to heady conversations.

This was the beginning, for me, of my appreciation for HH; soon there would be his classic Headhunters-era LPs and then the soundtrack to the iconic genre-igniting Charles Bronson film, “Death Wish”, then right on up to his monster award-winning MTV video and single “Rockit” – a technical and ground-breaking advancement with the use of “scratching” for the first time on a popular release!

From what I gathered, this was one of the last few sets that Thelonious Monk performed throughout 1972 – his final “live” LP as a group leader was in 1971 – and other than Lincoln Center (’72) and the Giants of Jazz tour (’75), Monk retired from the jazz scene until his death by a stroke in 1983.
I was not familiar with his music at the time but marveled at his unique style of piano playing. As I remember his set was fairly short, but it was a very cool enjoyable experience.

This brings us to the headliner of the evening; Alice Coltrane and the wonderful music from her new release, “World Galaxy”.  She brought a whole new spirit and feeling to music with her electronic harp and for me this was not jazz-fusion, this was jazz restructured – music with a real cerebral, ethereal, spiritual sense from beyond.

The classic psychedelic album art was appropriately designed by Peter Max, the “Godfather of Psychedelia”, to let us know in what direction the music would bathe in.
In addition to the electronic harp, Ms. Coltrane also played piano and Wurlitzer organ.

As a devout Vedantic (Upanishads) follower, Ms Coltrane established an Ashram in 1983 in the general area where 00individual has spent the last 30 years.  I never visited but the vibes were strong.

Our seats for the concert were center and to the left. I was so into the music that it took a while before I realized that my buddy and I were some of the very few white boys in the whole audience.  You must know that even though the peace and love of the counter culture still held ground; after the Watts riots in L.A. in 1965 there was continued and justifiable resentment, to say the least, of the predominantly white Los Angeles Police Department and those racial tensions did not exclude us Hippies.  Heck, we were getting it from all angles; parents, teachers, cops, the establishment and now with our Black Brothers – even though my empathy was with them, I was still white and therefore not to be trusted.
I bring all this up only to express an important point; we were there for the music that night, as was everyone else and “in the presence of music we are all brothers” which shows how music obscures, crosses and connects all lines of race; it’s the universal language!
And that’s one reason why music and marijuana go so well together; they both break down the ego and uplift the spirit! And to quote Clarence Williams III’s character Lincoln Hayes of TV’s Mod Squad, “Solid!”

Lineup: Alice Coltrane – percussion, piano, organ, harp, tamboura, Reggie Workman – bass, Ben Riley – drums, Elayne Jones – timpani, Frank Lowe : saxophone, percussion, Swami Satchidananda – voice, Leroy Jenkins – solo violin

Setlist: My Favorite Things, Galaxy Around Olodumare, Galaxy In Satchidananda, Love Supreme, Galaxy In Turiya.

ALICE COLTRANE – GALAXY IN TURIYA – TAKE ME AWAY!

THELONIOUS MONK w/DIZZY GILLESPIE – ROUND MIDNIGHT – CLASSIC COOL!

HERBIE HANCOCK – QUASAR – SPACEY COOL!

ARTHUR LEE with LOVE – 2002 – A TRIBUTE

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

ARTHUR LEE with LOVE
5-1-2002
Knitting Factory, Hollywood (Capacity: 500)

LOVE – ARTHUR LEE words that are synonymous.

Today marks the sixth year of the passing of Arthur Taylor Lee.

This post is a tribute to commemorate the life of a highly gifted multi-instrumentalist, awesome composer and arranger, amazing lyricist and prominent leader of the ’60s Counter Culture – whose music lifted spirits, broke ground and Rocked the Scene and whose style, attitude and perseverance triumphed gloriously in the end: Arthur Lee.

While I grew up at the perfect time to enjoy the whole Cultural Evolution in a city (paired with San Francisco) that exemplified, stood for, and left the indelible stamp of sunshine, peace, Hippies, revolution, change, music and free LOVE – I somehow missed seeing LOVE live.

This was because when LOVE, the Doors, and many others were playing clubs in Hollywood, I was fourteen or fifteen with no ride or money. And this was just not right as LOVE was easily one of my favorite groups back then based solely on their first album.

As an early teen I was still under the ‘50s upbringing mandate which was to know your place, speak when spoken to, obey adults without question and never to consider things beyond the “norm”. But the 1950s weren’t all that bad at all (ignorance is bliss); just boring, as we had no diversions other than seven channels on black and white TV and a few radio stations, all AM, so you had to be very creative – and of course we spent a lot of our youth outdoors.

Not until my first inhale did I see the hypocrisy, manipulation and stifling institutionalization of the “traditional” way of life. So when the time came to break away from those rules of passed-down ignorance; I was first in line!

Unfortunately by the time I “became aware”, had a car and a job, and could go to see them live, the classic times and band members of LOVE had come and gone and I totally missed out.

When they released their second LP Da Capo (the Castle) I was right there with them in spirit.  I couldn’t get enough and played it over and over in my room.  There was something ethereal and real about Lee’s lyrics and certainly the music.  LOVE’s fist LP only hinted at the emergence of the singular place they carved-out for themselves.  And this place was solidified with Da Capo.

Along with the Doors (also on Elektra records) LOVE created a genre all their own; here were two groups out of L.A., each with a sound unlike anyone else’s.

LOVE’s third LP, Forever Changes signified my reality; in 1967 when it was released I was sixteen and it was also the time my life Forever Changed.
As I began smoking marijuana with close friends my whole perspective of the life I was living changed and the Forever Changes LP put an indelible stamp on that time in my life.

I could write volumes about this LP as it has never failed to thrill me (goose bumps) every time I hear it.  It is as if Arthur Lee was able to take the classic bits of the best music ever written from many genres and join them together as only he could into a hard rock, heartfelt, gorgeously beautiful, lyrically amazing and mysteriously unique solid LP that deservedly belongs in any true Rock or just Music Lover’s collection.

Forever Changes notoriously and continuously shows up within the Top Ten All Time LPs by critics and fans alike all over the world – and that includes me.

It has been recognized by Forensic Musicologists as the only true contender to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s – and my vote goes to LOVE.

Sooooo, when I saw in the L.A. Weekly that LOVE with Arthur Lee were playing at the Knitting Factory next to Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood – I was on it and bought a ticket immediately!

The Knitting Factory was very small with a capacity of only five hundred so I knew I was in for a treat.  I got there as early as possible to stake out my place in the exclusive standing-room-only crowd.  And by exclusive I mean that there were only the true fans and that included select Rock and movie celebs; Hollywood’s Official Un-Official Mayor of Sunset Strip Rodney Bingenheimer (Google him – a truly amazing life) was among them.

Arthur performed with L.A. band Baby Lemonade as LOVE with no disappointments; they were right on and reproduced the magic of LOVE perfectly.

Everyone there was well aware of Lee’s nickel plus in prison on the totally inexcusably ridiculous Three Counts “law’” so at the point in “Live and Let Live” when he sings the prescient lyrics, “Served my time, served it well, you made my soul a cell” the crowd cheered uproariously for the fact that Arthur Lee was free and that he was here alive and the whole place just flat-out rejoiced and Arthur Lee smiled. I was twelve feet from the stage and that smile showed the warmth of the Love he felt and was receiving.

As it turned out I was extremely fortunate to see this concert and to have been in the presence of a true historic music icon and Rock Star, Arthur Lee.

Two years and three months almost to the day of this concert Arthur Taylor Lee passed on from leukemia.

It warms my Rock ‘n’ Roll heart to know that Lee enjoyed the well-deserved wildly warm response and appreciation by critics and fans alike and achieved world-class acclaim in the years prior to his death.

LOVE with Arthur Lee will always have a sacred place in my heart for all the joy I was given through the music and the lyrics and the timing in which it was delivered.

Check out my 1969 COLLAGE nav up in the header and see whose name/logo rises above all others.

I love LOVE.

To take a look at the set list is to see that we were blessed.

Intro James “Scotty” Scott, Alone Again Or, Andmoreagain, Seven And Seven Is, Old Man, The Red Telephone, You Set The Scene, Bummer in the Summer, Signed D.C., Everybody’s Gotta Live / Instant Karma, Your Mind And We Belong Together, My Flash On You, August, Rainbow In The Storm, The Daily Planet, Live and Let Live, The Good Humor Man, Orange Skies, My Little Red Book, Singing Cowboy, Between Clark and Hilldale

LOVE – FOREVER CHANGES – 1967 – A TOP TEN ALL TIME LP – COMPLETE – LOVE