Tag: 1970s
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Paul Desmond, Pure Desmond, 1975 on CTI Records
Desmond (who composed Take Five and was a critical part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet) playing here with Ron Carter, Ed Bickert, and Connie Kay – recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in 1974 and produced by Creed Taylor. One of five albums Desmond put out on CTI in the late 60s and 70s. including…
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Neil Young, Time Fades Away, 1973 on Reprise
Live album recorded with the Stray Gators on the tour following the release of Harvest. The rear cover lists the venues at which each track was recorded as well as the members of the Stray Gators (Tim Drummond, Johnny Barbata, Jack Nitzsche, and Ben Keith) and special guests David Crosby and Graham Nash. Reportedly Young…
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Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps, 1979 on Reprise
Tenth Neil Young LP and third with Crazy Horse. Mixture of live performances with overdubs and recordings done live in studio. There was a tour also called “Rust Never Sleeps.” Great collection of songs, bookended by “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” and “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” – with “Powderfinger,”…
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The Who, Quadrophenia, 1973 on MCA
Not to be confused with the Quadrophenia soundtrack, which followed the 1979 film, this is the sixth studio album from The Who, a 2xLP release from 1973 on Track Records in the UK. It followed Tommy and Who’s Next. Like Tommy, it’s a rock opera telling the story of a mod named Jimmy, who says…
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Bill Evans, Return Engagement, 1974 on Verve
Title sometimes listed as Verve Return Engagement – part of a series of basically compilations of Jazz greats published in the 1970s by Verve. (I have the Oscar Peterson one as well). Nice way to get a bunch of Bill Evans tracks from across 8 albums in a new package. My copy—via Down in the…
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Bruce Springsteen, Greetings From Asbury Park N.J., 1973 on Columbia
This was Springsteen’s debut album, out in January 1973, produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. Redportedly “Blinded By The Light” and “Spirit in the Night” were cut after Clive Davis rejected the original album tracklist. Personnel include Clarence Clemons, Vincent Lopez, David Sancious and Garry Tallent – aka the E-Street Band. My copy—via Electric…
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The Runaways, The Runaways, 1976 on Mercury
Debut album from Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherie Currie, Jackie Fox, and Sandy West, aka The Runaways – though apparently Nigel Harrison actually plays the bass on the album. Currie published a memoir (Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway) on which the 2010 biopic The Runaways was based, with Kristen Stewart playing Joan Jett,…
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Junior Wells, Southside Blues Jam, 1970 on Delmark Records
Junior Wells with Otis Spann, Buddy Guy (on sixe tracks), and Louis Myers (on 2 tracks), recorded Dec 30th, 1969 and Jan 8th, 1970. This was Spann’s last session before he died in 1970. We have tried to capture on this album what a listener would hear any Monday night at Theresa’s blues bar at…
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Bob Dylan, Planet Waves, 1974 on Asylum
Dylan’s first album after leaving Columbia for Asylum Records, with The Band as the backing group, and his fourteenth overall. (The only other was Before the Flood – both were later reissued by Columbia). Includes not one but two version of “Forever Young” – fast and slow – along with “Going, Going, Gone” and “On…
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John Mayall, Lots of People, 1977 on ABC Records
Mayall live from The Roxy in LA, recorded November 24th, 1976. This was Mayall’s eighth live album, with supporting band including a horn section with Red Holloway, Ann Patterson, David Li, Jimmy Roberts, Bill Lamb, and Nolan Smith. That’s lots of people on stage. I’m something of a Mayall completist – this mid-seventies California Jazz…
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Lou Rawls, The Best From Lou Rawls, 1976 on Capitol
2xLP collection of previously released Lou Rawls tracks I picked up during a trip to Montreal last year. What a fantastic set of songs – I think Lou Rawls is underestimated as a singer and vocal stylist across the 60s and 70s. My copy, via Beatnick Records (Disques Beatnick) in Montréal Québec, is a Canadian…
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Peterson 6, The Oscar Peterson Big 6 at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1975, 1975 on Pablo
Titled as The Oscar Peterson Big 6, this is Peterson with Milt Jackson, Joe Pass, Toots Thielemans, Louis Bellson, and Niels Pederson – produced by Norman Granz, and recorded at the Montreux Jazz festival on July 16th, 1975. My copy—via Fin Du Vinyle in Montréal Québec—is a Canadian pressing (Made in Canada by RCA Limited…
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David Bowie, David Live, 1974 on RCA Victor
First live album from Bowie, recorded at the Tower Theater outside Philadelphia, on the first leg of the Diamond Dogs tour. Reissued in 2005 (on CD) with a new mix by Tony Visconti (with a 2017 3xLP version). My copy—via the Worcester Record Riot—is an RCA Indianapolis pressing on the orange labels.
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David Bowie, Lodger, 1979 on RCA Victor
Third album in the so-called Berlin trilogy (after Low and “Heroes”) in collaboration with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti. Recorded in Switzerland and New York city, and the first Bowie album to feature Adrian Belew alongside Carlos Alomar. A remastered Lodger came out in 2017 as part of the box set A New Career In…
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Jeff Beck Group, Rough and Ready, 1971 on Epic
Third studio album by the Jeff Beck Group, in this case with Clive Chapman (bass), Bob Tench (vocals), Cozy Powell (drums) and Max Middleton (piano). Bob Tench recorded with Peter Green, Beck, Van Morrison, Freddie King, Ginger Baker and others – and was in Humble Pie, The Gass, and others. Sadly he passed in 2024.…
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Willie Nelson & Leon Russell, One for the Road, 1979 on Columbia
The first in a series of duet albums from Willie Nelson, released in 1979. Nelson went on to release duet albums with Ray Price, Merle Haggard, Webb Pierce, and Roger Miller all in the early 80s. (There were also many more later of course). Double LP from two of my musical heroes – joined by…
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Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Zuma, 1975 on Reprise
Seventh studio album from Neil Young, and the first credited with Crazy Horse after Danny Whitten died in 1972. The individual song credits have two songs not attributed to Crazy Horse: “Pardon My Heart” (credited just to Neil Young) and “Through My Sails” (credited “with Crosby, Stills & Nash”). “Cortez the Killer” is a 7…
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Tom Waits, The Heart of Saturday Night, 1974 on Asylum
Second studio album from Tom Waits, following Closing Time, and the first produced by Bones Howe. An absolute must have. Much of Waits’ catalog is now being reissued but I love a chance to find early pressings of these in good shape. It’s amazing to me how timeless he is – this could come out…