Well, anyone who has listened to a classic rock station before has probably heard the hit, All Right Now. Of course, that song by Free, is probably not even close to their best. As some of you may already know, sometimes a band's best songs don't get played on the radio. A song getting popular is really up to a DJ who decides to play the song and a lot of luck and listeners.
Of course, Free is an interesting band. Their lead singer, Paul Rodgers, is considered the epitome of the rock and roll voice and has been in numerous other bands including Bad Company (remember such hits such as Bad Company, Can't Get Enough, Ready For Love, Rock 'N Roll Fantasy, etc), and more recently Queen.
In any case, one great song by Free is Heavyload from the 1970 album Fire and Water. Equal parts piano and guitar and a bluesy feel make this song very memorable and very catchy. Check it out:
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
White Rabbit by The Great Society
When most of you hear the words "White Rabbit," what do you think of? Is it Alice in Wonderland? Is it Jefferson Airplane? For most of us, these two things pop into our minds. What you might not know about the song White Rabbit is the fact it's not originally a Jefferson Airplane song.
Actually, the song was originally done by The Great Society, a band only existing for two years, 1965 and 1966, in San Francisco. Of course, interesting to note that Grace Slick was in this band along with her husband at the time, and his brother. As trippy as the Jefferson Airplane version of the song is, many versions of The Great Society's last two to three times longer and are just as trippy. Listening to this one might bring back memories of Klezmer music. Amazing to think this was recorded in 1965, way ahead of its time. I should also note this might have the longest intro of any song ever. Enjoy.
Actually, the song was originally done by The Great Society, a band only existing for two years, 1965 and 1966, in San Francisco. Of course, interesting to note that Grace Slick was in this band along with her husband at the time, and his brother. As trippy as the Jefferson Airplane version of the song is, many versions of The Great Society's last two to three times longer and are just as trippy. Listening to this one might bring back memories of Klezmer music. Amazing to think this was recorded in 1965, way ahead of its time. I should also note this might have the longest intro of any song ever. Enjoy.
Combination by Aerosmith
I'm not going to bore you with the facts about Aerosmith. Why? Because everyone knows who Aerosmith is! I'll cut right to the chase. This song is on what is arguably Aerosmith's best album, Rocks from 1976, depending on who you ask. The first song on the entire album is Back in Saddle, one of their well known songs. The last song on the first side is Combination, a song that is very very catchy and I've never heard on the radio in my life for some reason.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sufficiently Breathless by Captain Beyond
Somewhere in the discussion about 70s music, Captain Beyond gets lost in the mix somewhere even though they recorded a few brilliant and very good albums. What is interesting to find out about them is their lead singer, Rod Evans, was the original lead singer of Deep Purple (you can hear him in their hit Hush). It doesn't stop there though as two of their other members were part of Iron Butterfly, the same guys who did In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
Sufficiently Breathless is from the 1973 album titled Sufficiently Breathless. For some reason, it's never played on the radio. Why is this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGbgqTUm1lw
Sufficiently Breathless is from the 1973 album titled Sufficiently Breathless. For some reason, it's never played on the radio. Why is this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGbgqTUm1lw
Open My Eyes by The Nazz
The Nazz were a psychedelic garage band in the 1960s from Philadelphia perhaps best known for having Todd Rundgren on guitar. Although they were marketed as a teeny bopper band, they really weren't.
Open My Eyes was their first single debuting in 1968 , which did not become popular. Instead, the B-side "Hello It's Me" became popular. Wonder what the A-side sounds like?
Open My Eyes was their first single debuting in 1968 , which did not become popular. Instead, the B-side "Hello It's Me" became popular. Wonder what the A-side sounds like?
Euphoria by School of Fish
Up until now, all of my song postings have been from either the 60s or 70s. Back a short while ago, I had a few shows on a radio station every week. One was exactly for this -- underrated songs and the other was for 90s music. The next song fits both of the categories.
School of Fish only existed for a handful of years, producing a few albums, but their 1991 self-titled debut proved to be fairly solid. In fact, they did have a minor hit on MTV in 1991 entitled Three Strange Days. Not much else is known to the general public about the band, except two of the members went on to play with Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son) in The Wallflowers. Unfortunately, the lead singer of School of Fish passed away from Testicular Cancer in 2000 at the age of 32.
Euphoria is a great five minute ballad. Why it is not more well known is beyond me.
School of Fish only existed for a handful of years, producing a few albums, but their 1991 self-titled debut proved to be fairly solid. In fact, they did have a minor hit on MTV in 1991 entitled Three Strange Days. Not much else is known to the general public about the band, except two of the members went on to play with Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son) in The Wallflowers. Unfortunately, the lead singer of School of Fish passed away from Testicular Cancer in 2000 at the age of 32.
Euphoria is a great five minute ballad. Why it is not more well known is beyond me.
The Green Manalishi by Fleetwood Mac
Many people are well aware of Fleetwood Mac. Actually, let me redact that statement. Many people are aware of Stevie Nicks' Fleetwood Mac. How many of you are aware of the original Fleetwood Mac -- Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac?
That's correct -- Fleetwood Mac is actually older than you thought. They were formed in 1967 by Peter Green, a blues guitarist who replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers because he was known to be a better guitarist than Clapton. Between 1967 and 1970, Peter Green led Fleetwood Mac as a blues/blues rock band and by 1969 were outselling the Beatles and Rolling Stones combined in Europe. Little known in fact is that Fleetwood Mac originally wrote and performed Black Magic Woman, not Santana.
The Green Manalishi is actually the last song Peter Green recorded with Fleetwood Mac recorded in 1970, before he quit music all together for the next 20-30 years. Actually, this song was covered by Judas Priest in 1978 as well.
That's correct -- Fleetwood Mac is actually older than you thought. They were formed in 1967 by Peter Green, a blues guitarist who replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers because he was known to be a better guitarist than Clapton. Between 1967 and 1970, Peter Green led Fleetwood Mac as a blues/blues rock band and by 1969 were outselling the Beatles and Rolling Stones combined in Europe. Little known in fact is that Fleetwood Mac originally wrote and performed Black Magic Woman, not Santana.
The Green Manalishi is actually the last song Peter Green recorded with Fleetwood Mac recorded in 1970, before he quit music all together for the next 20-30 years. Actually, this song was covered by Judas Priest in 1978 as well.
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