The Analog Vault celebrated it's third anniversary this week and somebody dumped off a bunch of promo 45s from forgotten bands and artists. Most sold for a quarter except for a Cozy Cole 45.
So as they say, hit me with music.
1) Down Home Girl-Felders Orioles (Mercury 72480) 1965
Or Piccadilly 7N-55247 import. A UK soul single. A very strange soul number. B side Misty skips too much for me to listen all the way through. Plus it sounds very jive. Mistake number 1.
2) Richard M Nixon-Face The Issues-The Delegates (Mainstream MRL-5530) 1972
The Convention 72 made it to number 8 on the charts. It's a cut in record like Dickie Goodman used to make. The followup didn't chart. The Delegates were quite good in the cut in record and I've enjoy hearing most of them. Good for a chuckle.
3) Too Many Mornings-Fresh Air (Columbia 4-45697) 1972
I finally found a decent promo copy tho' I'd love to find one the b side Life Goes On, which was a better song. I still have their S/T album, which is nice background mellow music. But I don't play it much.
4) Rock And Roll Road Cowboys-Joyous Noise (Capitol 3303) 1972
Another one of those forgotten 70s bands that managed to make one album and disappear. The album had a 17 minute song suite called Wanderingman Suite. A rocking number RARRC probably got some airplay on FM radio, and somebody cared enough to post a You Tube video of it. Harry On Sunday takes a melody from Drown In My Own Tears, but outside of that nothing worth remembering.
5) The Godfather Waltz-The Assembled Multitude (Atlantic 2870) 1972
They had a hit with Overture From Tommy, but the world didn't need a rocked up version theme from the Godfather.
6) Big Noise From Winnetka Part 1-Cozy Cole (Coral 62339) 1962
What I love best about Cozy Cole was he introduce the song in that bass baritone. I did find a 2 on 1 LP on CD that has most of his best known songs (it was a CD-R version tho) Topsy. The logical guess is that Part 1 was the designated single and Part 2, an alternative take. Arrangements by Dick Hyman who would go on to discover the moog and make a couple of interesting albums for Command/ABC records in 1969 thereabouts.
7) Juliana-Five Man Electrical Band (Lionel/MGM L-3224) 1971
One of my favorite unknown bands of that time, they scored with Signs and then Absolutely Right but Juliana didn't do very well. A shame really, it's a cool rocker but I doubt if you'll ever hear it on the radio. B side Friends & Family sounds like a song for a Billy Jack soundtrack. Which means I won't play it much.
8) I Hardly Know Her Name-The Wackers (Elektra E-45783) 1972
Produced by Gary Usher, a country number that doesn't last past a minute fifty. And we'll hardly remember this song ever again.
9) Dynamo Snackbar-Peter Kaukonen (Grunt 65-0507) 1972
Brother of Jorma, Peter made Black Kangeroo, a cult classic album (which Wounded Bird issued in 2006). No way in hell that was going to make top 40, and owes a lot to Rory Gallagher or electric Hot Tuna. Or Cry Of Love era Hendrix. The other side is Prisoner, which was the plug side. And more hippy dippy blues rock.
10) Come The Fall-The Association (Columbia 4-45654) 1972
Leaving Warner Brothers for CBS didn't pay off for these guys, despite making two credible albums that didn't sell. Waterbeds In Trinidad! didn't sell either, next to Hampton Grease Band probably the third worst all time selling Columbia album. If you like the pop side of the Association, Come The Fall is a nice little pop number. They really were a good country pop band but the buying public had them pegged as romantic pop balladeers. And they did made some fine songs of the 70s too.
11) Professor Longhair-David Clayton-Thomas (RCA PB-0078) 1973
One of the last productions of Gabe Mekler (Steppenwolf) DCT left Blood Sweat And Tears for a solo career that didn't pan out as well as BST, to which DCT would return two years later. This single passed and nobody noticed.
12) Take Life In Stride-Kenny Rogers (Mercury 72545) 1966
Early Kenny Rogers before the First Edition and of course, the country crossover. Rogers' does have a Sam Cooke vibe on this song. Here's That Rainy Day hints at the balladry that Rogers would excel at. Credible but Mercury cut him loose after the single bombed.
13) Jubilee Cloud-John Kongos (Elektra E-45779) 1972
He's Gonna Step On You Again was a fun song but the album sucked. This followup is a T Rex riff and rip but if memory serves me correct, this was the only other song that I liked off Kongos. Of course it didn't chart. T Rex hardly charted here too (except Bang A Gong) Gus Dudgeon produced this, he also produced Elton John.
14) On The Road (The persecution and restoration of Dean Moriarty)-Aztec Two Step (Elektra E-45814) 1972
Hippie folk rock for the new generation which never caught on. Or early Americana before it became cool.
15) Can You See Him-Batdorf And Rodney (Atlantic 2863) 1972
16) Home Again-Batdorf And Rodney (Asylum AS-11012) 1972
Two singles from Jon Batdorf and Mark Rodney, two folkies that made a decent debut for Atlantic an a better followup on Asylum. Can You See Him has that CSN vibe but alas not the hook that generates hit singles. I found both of their albums when Collector's Choice issued them and the Atlantic album was one of the last purchases at the FYE St Louis. Home Again, was produced with CSN producer Bill Halverson. It didn't sell either. Batdorf and Rodney would move over to Arista to which Clive Davis turned them into MOR country rockers without much bite. They did score a top 50 single with Somewhere In The Night, to which Barry Manilow, took notes and did his own version. Batdorf would join Silver which produced the crappy Bang Shang A Lang 45. To which Batdorf disown that song. I can't fault him for that.
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