This week's Top Ten comes to you via Bob Lefsetz who made perhaps his best top ten list in quite a while. So much to the fact that I have to share it with you. Sometimes he comes across as a cudgy old poop but he loves rock and roll and rock and roll from the classic rock era.
His Ten
1. Baby's Calling Me Home-Steve Miller Band (Lead vocalist Boz Scaggs) 1967
2. Legend Of A Mind-Moody Blues 1968
3. Revival-Allman Brothers Band 1970
4. Anyday-Derek & The Dominoes 1970
5. Incident At Neshabar-Santana 1970
6. Come Down In Time-Elton John 1971
7. Burning Of The Midnight Lamp-Jimi Hendrix Experience 1969
8. Cryin To Be Heard-Traffic 1969
9. Shouldn't Have Taken More Than You Give-Dave Mason 1970
!0 Brown Sugar-The Rolling Stones 1971
Crabb Comments:
Baby's Calling Me Home is the best song off Children Of The Future, one of the two albums that Boz was with Steve Miller Band at that time. Features a young Ben Sidran on Harpsichord and sometimes I think Ben was more of a MVP than Boz was. Nevertheless Boz was the more harder rocking than Miller was although you couldn't tell that when Boz hit it big with Silk Degrees in 1976.
Legend Of A Mind is The Moodies at their most bizarre (till you listen to Om on side 2). The version that is on This Is The Moody Blues seems to be remixed and not as rough as the original version on Lost Chord. Probably Ray Thomas' finest hour as songwriter.
The Duane Allman Connection on Revival and Anyday seems to be a Lefsetz commonplace. Revival does make me want to go out and the car and go driving (provided if the mutherfucking thing doesn't die out in the middle of nowhere).
When I started mass buying albums after scoring a perm job one of the first 2 record sets I bought was Layla And Other Assorted Lovesongs and basically Eric Clapton would never get this damn emotional ever again. He had a great band backing him up (Carl Radle, Bobby Whitlock and the ill fated Jim Gordon to go with Duane Allman) and this was truly a song for the ages with love angst. Clapton could do it all once somebody kicked him in the butt to do it.
Burning Of The Midnight Lamp came from a 45 that was a B side to All Along The Watchtower and although my memory is cloudy nowadays I can tell you that I did buy it up in Fort Dodge at either Arlan's or Woolworths. Think I played this more than I did the actual hit.
Traffic for me, I didn't get till way later in the 1990s when Smiling Phases came out but the S/T Traffic album remains more of a classic album till John Barleycorn Must Die (an overrated album to these ears of tin) and gets the nod over Mr. Fantasy or Heaven Is In Your Mind the stereo reissue of Mr. Fantasy. Blue Thumb didn't do Dave Mason any favors either, a great album but Blue Thumb kept slicing songs off for later complations and even The Very Best Of Dave Mason borrows many songs from Alone Together. I'd go with Waitin On You more than the song Lefsetz picked or You Can All Join In for the Traffic selection but it's his top ten moreorless. I'm just commenting on certain spots.
Finally, Brown Sugar was uber cool when I first heard it back in 1971. Kinda of reminds me on a band that was practicing it one hot summer day over by the old Hy Vee in downtown Marion. Hell, I thought it was actually The Stones themselves but then again being 10 years old I had a hell of a imagination. Although the 45 is probably the same take as the album version, it has a different ending when Charlie Watts hits the drums on the fadeout and there's a voiceover as well. Classic rock radio has overkilled Brown Sugar but it still has its undeniable charm and originality, even though Keith Richards ripped off Chuck Berry. Berry owns Keith's soul. Back then the Stones were sloppy cool and were the Greatest Rock n Roll Band In The World at that time although The Who would give them a big run for the money on Who's Next and Won't Get Fooled Again.
Late PS http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/02/mf_lefsetz/all/
Although at times I don't agree with him I continue to read his daily blog, some of it I dismiss and some of it I wholeheartedly agree with him. "why listen to White Stripes when you can listen to Led Zeppelin" he says, Nothing wrong with Led Zep but sometimes I like to find some new band I can get into and even though Bob will never never get into the deep part of dollar bins, they're not worth his time nor effort, I still find some type of comfort in things that I missed out. But then again that becomes part of the Time Poverty he informed me of us aging critics. In the end, I'm sure when this blogger never gets the name rec like he does, he will continue to live the good life, and good meals and those ski trips at in Aspen. Ya gotta love the dude for some of the bands that he does like. And thinks Taylor Swift can't sing either.
2 comments:
Crabby!: Hey, not a bad Top 10 from Grumpy Old Bob....
After all these years, I finally got that later Stones songs R usually NOT about the lyrics or even the singing -- they're about the SOUND: Keith's guitar on "Jumping Jack Flash," that rockin' ensemble sound on "Brown Sugar," the super-tight tumblin' groove on "Tumbling Dice," the honky-tonk-blooze sound of "Honky Tonk Women" (which I HATED 4 YEARS), the buzz-saw guitar riff on "Satisfaction".... There R Xceptions 2 this of course, but "Jumping Jack Flash" is sure as HELL not about the silly lyrics....
No complaints with this Top 10, other than that it's ... well ... a little ordinary. I don't think "Legend of a Mind" is Ray Thomas's best song, but it's sure the 1 that's lasted the longest....
See ya next week!
Hey TAD I tend to my regulars around here ;)
Lefsetz doesn't dig past the classic rock era all that much and most of the time it's your typical overplayed classics but I think he did a wonderful job on this top ten.
You're Right on The Stones, it's Keith's Chuck Berry influenced guitar riffs that makes the songs stand out more often than Jagger's lyrics. Mick Taylor tended to push Keith a bit more than Ron Wood does, that's why The Stones later stuff hasn't held up over the years and although Brown Sugar has been played into the ground, the opening riffs still remain classic Stones, as well as the far more overplayed to the point of annoying Start Me Up.
You might be right on Ray Thomas, while making my casual comments, I forgot about Eternity Road or Our Guessing Game to which they are better than Legend Of A Mind so I blew that call. Veteran Cosmic Rocker does have a fond place in my ears as well.
As for Terrible Ted Nugent, Playlist might be recommended for you if you want a cheap overview of what Ted did before he became a FOX contributor. His big guitar goes with his big mouth. Ta!
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