40 Year Itch: Rock 'n' Roll Soul

On June 1, 1974 America's biggest hard rock band, Grand Funk Railroad,  played the LA Forum. Their album Shinin On was #7 in the charts. The band's wardrobe consultant was arrested during the concert...by the fashion police. Enjoy!

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40 Year Itch: Hazy, Shell-Shocked and Crazy

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Peaking at #5 on the charts, Queen II is the first UK hit album for these pomp rockers. And, to these years,  one of 1974's most rewarding "growers". The first dozen times you hear the album, you may get lost in the muddle of its soupy mix, busy arrangements and  lyrics about ogres, black queens and fairies. Robert Christgau probably did. He calls the album a "wimpoid royaloid heavyoid android void." 

Actually this is the beginning of Queen's classic period. A must have for fans of the band's signature multi-layered guitars and harmonies. Some will even contend this is Queen's finest hour.

                                                                          [Purchase]


       It's extraordinary how un-extraordinary Mott the Hoople's sixth album is. Especially when you consider it's the band's highest charting  in the US ( at #28) and that it follows two masterpieces: 1972's All the Young Dudes and 1973's Mott. Yes, The Hoople has its moments. I like "Alice" even though it may be a re-write of  "Whizz Kidd".



   But the rest of the album reveals a band whose growth is stunted. Why? Perhaps it's the loss of Mick Ralphs ( touring the UK this month in '74 with his new band Bad Company). His replacement "Aeriel Bender" ( Luther Grosvenor, late of Spooky Tooth and Stealers Wheel) didn't have the same power. Or maybe Ian Hunter got tired of writing lyrics. Unfortunately the band would never find its form again.

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At their best Aerosmith teetered on the thin line between crunchy 60's rock like The Yardbirds and Rolling Stones and the amped up 70's area fillers like The Who and Led Zeppelin. You get all of that in one track on  the Jack Douglas produced Get Your Wings: the cover of the Yardbirds ( via Tiny Bradshaw and Johnny Burnette) classic "Train Kept A-Rollin". Douglas would stick around to produce the band's heaviest hitters including Toys in the Attic and Rocks.

                                                                         [Purchase]

       While producing his second album for Grand Funk Railroad, Todd Rundgren heard the band goofing around with the 1963 Little Eva hit, "The Locomotion". He convinced the band it would be a great single. By the Summer of '74 it was #1 on the Hot 100. The rest of the album is simplistic and ponderous. In other words, it was exactly what fans of this Midwestern rock band wanted to hear. Plus, a free pair of 3-D glasses came with every album purchase!

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Rock Scene's Readers Super Group Poll

For their December 1973 issue, Rock Scene Magazine published the results of a readers Super Session poll, a kind of fantasy Super Group featuring All Star team of rock and roll artists for that year. Ryan Richardson has uploaded issues of Rock Scene on his website.

LEAD VOCALIST Alice Cooper

LEAD GUITARIST: Eric Clapton

SECOND LEAD : Mark Farner ( of Grand Funk Railroad)

BASS: Jack Bruce ( Cream, West, Bruce and Laing)

DRUMS : Neil Smith of  Alice Cooper

KEYBOARDS: Rick Wakeman of Yes


Honorable Mentions
Vocalists : Robert Plant, Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger
Guitars : Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix
Drums: Don Brewer, Ringo Starr, Ginger Baker
Bass: Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper), Mel Shacker (Grand Funk Railroad), Bill Wyman
Keyboards : Keith Emerson, Leon Russell, Edgar Winter

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40 Year Itch : Those We Missed in August of '73

 

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"Midnight at the Oasis" is the big hit, but this album, featuring assistance from the likes of Dr John, Ry Cooder and, again, Clarence White is a tasteful delight all the way through. 

For Rolling Stone Jon Landau wrote "One of the half-dozen best albums of the year, the kind of glorious breakthrough that reminds me why I fell in love with rock and roll -- even though there isn't much straight rock here."

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One of rock's great eccentrics, Exuma 's final album for Kama Sutra , Life, didn't sell much but the Bahamian musician had achieved legendary status around New Orleans by the time I attended college there in the 80's so I bought this on cassette.  Life has two Rolling Stones covers, "Paint It Black" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want".

[Purchase]

Former Byrds drummer Gene Parsons's first solo album, Kindling, is almost a one man band effort. He gets some support from Clarence White , Gib Guilbeau and a few others on this tasteful but low key tribute to the music of Appalachia.

[Purchase]

Captain Beyond follow up their spectacular debut by changing direction with a sound they described at the time as "Space-Latin rock". Some have also called it "Acoustic Prog". In any case it's a far cry from the founders' former bands Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly. An intelligent and rewarding listen

[Out of Print]

On their third album, Pressure Cookin', Labelle were still a year away from achieving their  "Lady Marmalade" chart success despite the presence of a Stevie Wonder penned single ("Open Your Heart") Noteworthy for its melody teaming up Gil Scott Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" with Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air". (Thunderclap Newman's 1969 album was re released in '73).

[Out of Print] 

 

Stevie Wonder wrote and plays the keyboards on the 8 and a half minute title track for B.B. King  who also covers The Staple Sisters "Respect Yourself" and bends plenty of blues notes on his most commercial effort yet.

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Todd Rundgren produced this seventh, slickest and most successful of Grand Funk (Railroad) albums. By late September the title track , sung by drummer Don Brewer, would be the #1 song in the land. And the four members would have enough money to buy some gutdam clothes. And that's a natural fact!

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