Tag Archives: album

*MUSIC, Hall of Fame, LPs / Records

‘tapestry’ (lp by carole king) – hall of fame induction.

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(Post by John Allan, Bridgetown Western Australia – October 2021)

It was 1971 and I had just become an adult. I had turned 13 after all. My parents didn’t seem to agree and used words like ‘adolescent’,’teenager’ and phrases like ‘while your living under our roof’ and ‘these are the rules’.

Oh well, there was always the world of popular music to explore. School chums were opening up my mind with their various recent purchases. LPs were in and singles or 45s now a bit passé. Jethro Tull, Yes and Genesis were on my sonic radar but until I had enough spondulix, rifling through my brothers’ record collection would have to do.

What have we here then ? Blues, blues, more blues. A cover with a blue lady on it called ‘Blue’ by Joni Mitchell – I might come back to that one. This is a new one. A comely young lady sitting in the light of a window with a cat (called Telemachus incidentally) at her feet.

“Tapestry” by Carole King.

This album is so much more than an anthem of love and lovers, lost, ended, distanced and discarded. Not simple piano ballads but a complex mix of rock, blues and gospel styles.

It opens with the tumbling bar blues of  “I Feel The Earth Move” which AllMusic critic Stewart Mason describes as “the ultimate in hippie-chick eroticism” and “sounds like the unleashing of an entire generation of soft-spoken college girls’ collective libido”. I’ll have what he’s having !

“So Far Away” introduces Laurel Canyon alumni James Taylor on acoustic guitar.

Lyricist Toni Stern wrote the words for “It’s Too Late” in one afternoon after breaking up with the aforementioned Mr Taylor. I probably would have gone with ‘ you’re a pig James and I hate you. PS. I faked my orgasms !’ But then I’m not a lyricist or been dumped by James Taylor. (or faked an orgasm !!)

“Way Over Yonder” would not be out of place among the congregation of a deep south Gospel church (praise be).

Who hasn’t, after the shittiest of days, sat themselves down in a darkened room and dripped a tear into their tumbler of malt whisky/can of special brew/advocaat and babycham/mug of chamomile tea (select appropriate beverage) listening to “You’ve Got a Friend” whether King’s or JT’s version.

The Shirelles had a pop hit in 1961 with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”. Composer Carole slows it down to an achingly soulful ballad with backing vocals from James Taylor and Joni Mitchell (where have I seen that name before ?)

And who can forget Aretha’s 1967 empowering rendition of  “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” tastefully performed here by it’s creator.

I’ve skipped over a few tracks but there are no dull moments to be found on “Tapestry” every song a gem of an anthem.

So everybody, get your child or grandchild, male, female or non-binary, rip out their earbuds, nail their feet to the floor, put the record on the turntable (Yep, I’m talking vinyl, baby) crank it up and say ‘THIS IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT !!’

Sorry, might of got a wee bit carried away there !

My life has been a tapestry
Of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision
Of the ever-changing view

You’ve got that right CK. 50 years on and you’ve got that right.

*MUSIC, Hall of Fame, LPs / Records

‘live in europe’ (lp by rory gallagher) – hall of fame induction.

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(Post by Colin ‘Jackie’ Jackson of Glasgow –October 2021)

(Click for the dedicated page, and all items inducted to the Hall of Fame.)

The first item to be inducted into the Once Upon a Time in The ‘70s Hall of Fame is my copy of the ‘Live In Europe,’ LP by Rory Gallagher. (I’m nothing if not predictable.)

I don’t know why, but I bought this for the going rate of around £2.25 (in postal orders) via some mail order record store advertised in Sounds magazine. I can vividly remember the excitement I felt whenever I came home from school. For about ten days, I was disappointed, but then it arrived  … with a note stating my remittance was (I think) about 25p short. Yet the nice, ever so trusting people at the record store just asked I send another postal order with my next order.

However, by the time I‘d saved enough from my paper round to buy my next LP, I’d discovered Listen Records and Virgin Records in Glasgow. I never did order from the MO store again.A few months later, I read in Sounds, the company had gone bust! Was it my 25p that sent them over the edge?

I’ve carried that burden of guilt now for forty-nine years!

(LP cover – back.)

The record itself, though: this was ‘big boys’’ music!

A mix of self-penned and rearranged standards, the seven tracks blew me away with their intensity. Driven by the furious bass playing of Gerry McAvoy, and crashing drums of Wilgar Campbell, Rory’s searing Stratocaster playing cuts through like a knife. His playing has everything – little flecks of jazz inspired backing to his quieter vocal moments; big, chunky heavy riffs, like in his own composition, ‘Laundromat,’ and of course, the blues! Whether it be fast and loud as in the opening’ ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ or the slower, almost metronomic ‘I Could Have Had A Religion,’ Rory pre-empted, and answered, the query posed by Deacon Blue, seventeen years later: yes – not only can a white man sing the blues, he can damn well play them too!

(Recording from The Marquee Club, London, 6th April 1972.)

Yet, though heavily blues influenced, ‘Live In Europe’ has such a variation in sounds that it remains fresh and exciting from start to finish – even after almost fifty years of regular play!.

‘Pistol Slapper Blues’ is an acoustic cover of Blind Boy Fuller’s song from ‘nineteen twenty something or other,’ as Rory himself says; ‘Going To My Home Town’ is one of Rory’s own compositions – a real stomper of a track, the famous Strat being swapped for a mandolin. ‘In Your Own Town’ is another of Rory’s, this time almost ten minutes of heavy blues and spectacular guitar playing. Album closer is ‘Bullfrog Blues,’ another ‘traditional’ blues song written the Twenties and re-arranged by Rory. It’s a truly explosive ending, with terrific bass and drum solos thrown in for good measure.

The production and sound quality is top notch, something that can’t be said for many ‘Live’ albums and I can attest the album truly replicates the sound and atmosphere of a Rory concert.

Not only was ‘Live In Europe’ my proper introduction to heavy rock, it also took me down the rabbit hole of blues music – a tunnel I am still exploring. It’s influenced my music of choice from a spotty fourteen year old to grumpy old git, and remains the most treasured record in my collection.

It unequivocally deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.

*MUSIC

you pays your money …

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(Post by Colin ‘Jackie’ Jackson of Glasgow – May 2021)

Who remembers the ‘listening booth?’

In the early 1970s, other than borrowing a record from a friend, or perhaps thieving one, there were very few means of listening to new music. The choice of radio stations was also limited, and their playlists were generally ‘mainstream,’ catering for the masses.

With an L.P. costing around £2/ 5s (£2.25 a year later when decimalisation came into effect) you really wanted to know what you were shelling out for.

It was all very well enjoying a single (‘45’) released by a band or artist, but this was no guarantee they could produce ten or twelve tracks of similar quality – three if ‘Progressive Rock’ bands were your bag.

Misjudgements were costly.

The old ‘try before you buy’ mantra was never more pertinent. Most credible music stores provided some means or other for prospective buyers to skip through the tracks of an album before deciding whether or not to buy.

Of course, this facility was open to abuse. Some shoppers would spend a whole Saturday afternoon on a constant loop of listening to an L.P. re-joining the queue of punters, then listen to another album. This would continue until such time as the store-assistant caught on, and asked the evident time-waster to splash the cash … or leave.

(Guilty as charged m’lud.)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my very first vinyl L.P. purchase was made initially on the strength of two singles, but backed by the safety net of listening to the remaining tracks on the eponymous John Kongos album.

Whether it were pressure on floor space, the ease of home-taping, or the advent of more specialised radio stations, by the mid-70s though, these booths started to disappear from the high street. And with all the streaming services at our finger tips now, they are not likely to make a comeback in any meaningful sense.

Resultantly, from that time, until the latter became more freely available, I reckon there must have been millions of pounds spent by music fans ‘on spec’ – paid in the simple hope and belief that they were purchasing forty minutes or so of wonderful music.

I also reckon there must be millions of music fans who rue the vanishing listening booth; who have at least one album in their collection that they regret buying; who would rather have spent their equivalent of nowadays, £20 plus on a kebab and a few beers.

So, it’s time to ‘fess up – what album from The Seventies, still in your collection, really disappoints you? What ‘70s album do you flick past without so much as a cursory glance?

What album do you bewail, and why? What disappoints you about this record, and why did you buy it in the first place?

Me? The one and only of my Seventies LPs that I no longer play, and indeed really only bought for one track, is ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ by Meatloaf

(I can almost hear that communal, sharp intake of breath!)

This album was released in 1977. The year of Punk; the year I was wearing ripped jeans and cap sleeve T-shirts. It was everything Punk rebelled against and in truth it troubled me to be seen buying it. But what the heck – I was working. I had money to burn …. and I may as well have done just that.

I was sucked in by the general hype and, it has to be said, a blistering performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test of ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light,’ featuring Karla Devito. I still love that song.

The rest of the album?

Total pants!

… you takes your chance.

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