"O Lucky Man!" OST

Original released on LP Warner Bros BS 2710

(US, 20/6/1973)

Like most of his largely fantastic post-Animals work, Alan Price's soundtrack to the 1973 film, "O Lucky Man!", went almost completely unnoticed in the United States at the time of its release. It is a shame too, because the soundtrack holds together as one of the best albums Price ever put out. The film's plot followed the adventures of an everyman named Mick Travis (played by Malcolm McDowell) on his surreal journey through varying class-levels of British society. Price's music was fully integrated into the film, with scenes of his band's studio performances providing a kind of Brechtian commentary on the story as it unfolded. Since the movie was a black-comedy, it stood to reason that the music (featured so prominently) would reflect that aspect, and it did. All of Price's offerings are delivered with a healthy dash of wryly-smiling, Pantagruelian cynicism lurking just beneath their pleasant, dance-hall veneers. "Look Over Your Shoulder" bounces along with its jolly chord progression, all the while warning listeners that doom and misfortune could be waiting for them around every corner. In the song "Justice", Price reminds us that it is often wealth that guarantees fair treatment under the law, while musically cavorting across the village green like a harlequin-costumed Ray Davies. Along with Davies' influence, there are also nods to Randy Newman evident on songs like "My Home Town" and (especially) the charming side-one offering "Poor People". Price keeps his influences in their rightful place though, never channeling them into his songs directly; he, instead, sets them on top of his piano, like busts of great composers, for inspiration (in All Music)

THE BAND: "Northern Lights - Southern Cross"

Original released on LP Capitol ST 11440

(US 1975, November 1)

The first studio album of Band originals since 1971's "Cahoot" - in many respects, "Northern Lights-Southern Cross" was viewed as a comeback. It also can be seen as a swan song, in that its recording marked the last time the five members would work together in the studio as a permanent group, with a commitment to making a record they would tour behind and build on as a working band. The album was also, ironically enough, the Band's finest since their self-titled sophomore effort, even outdoing "Stage Fright". It was spawned after a series of battery-recharging events - the move of all five members out of Woodstock, New York and to Malibu, California, into a new, state-of-the-art 24-track studio that not only felt right but offered them (especially Garth Hudson, working with Moog synthesizers and other new instruments, as well as brass and reeds) a bigger creative and sonic canvas than they'd ever known before; and the decision to finally let the other shoe drop on their early career, accompanying Bob Dylan on their first-ever studio album together ("Planet Waves") which, in turn, had led to an eight-week tour together, this time captured for posterity and, unlike their mid-'60s Dylan tour, rushed out midway through the work on the album at hand. Between all of that, their own live album ("Rock of Ages"), and the "Moondog Matinee2 album of rock & roll and R&B covers, the group found itself with more music in print at one time than they'd ever dreamed possible, despite the four-year gap in new material, and in several genres and modes, and blossoming in some unexpected directions - just prior to the start of the sessions for this album, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson had fulfilled another milestone, the goal of doing an honest-to-God blues album (which dated from the group's tragically brief liaison with Sonny Boy Williamson in 1965), producing and/or playing on what ended up being a Grammy-winning LP by Muddy Waters, the Woodstock Album. It was time to make some of their own music again, and Robbie Robertson obliged by showing up with a bumper crop of great new compositions. "Northern Lights-Southern Cross" totals eight songs in all, and he and the rest of the group rose to the occasion, luxuriating in the range afforded by the studio (christened Shangri-La, a reference to the idyllic haven for art and civilization in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon - the vibes were that good). On this album the Band explore new timbres, utilizing 24 tracks and what was (then) new synthesizer technology, and also opening out their sound in some unexpected ways. After years of restrained, economical playing Robbie Robertson - who was practically the Count Basie of rock guitarists in terms of following a less-is-more philosophy - stepped out in front with flashy, extroverted playing on "Forbidden Fruit," a semi-autobiographical (about the group) cautionary rock ballad; his elegant trills and flourishes on "Hobo Jungle"; his twanging and twisting away behind Hudson's beautiful, complex brass and horn parts on "Ophelia", a close relative of "W.S. Walcott Medicine Show" from "Stage Fright", which captured the kind of old-timey New Orleans sound that the group had also embraced, in the form of covers, on "Moondog Matinee". Robertson and Hudson seem to feed off one another's presence throughout, perhaps best of all on "Ring Your Bell," which also restores the group's trademarked shared vocals. "It Makes No Difference" might be the best romantic ballad ever done by the group, while the ebullient "Jupiter Hollow" is an exceptional track three times over, a brilliant showcase for keyboards (and not just by Hudson - Robertson forsakes the guitar here for a clavinet), as well as offering Levon Helm and Richard Manuel tripling up on percussion with a drum machine. "Rags and Bones" is one of Robertson's most deceptively personal songs, and features the most elaborate keyboard sounds of any recording in the group's history. "Acadian Driftwood" stands out as one of Robertson's finest compositions, equal to anything else the Band ever recorded, and a slightly more complex and ambitious (and successful) down-north analog to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." The vocals by Helm, Manuel, and Rick Danko were all spot-on as well, on this last great musical statement from the group, and the fact that it only made number 26 on the charts is much more indicative of the state of music radio and Capitol's marketing department (which was only really good at selling Beatles and Beach Boys reissues at the time), than any flaws in the record. [The 2001 reissue offers exceptional sound, upgraded to 24-bit mastering, and extends the running time by seven delightful minutes with the addition of a pair of bonus tracks, an early run-through of "Twilight," which was released as a single in the wake of the LP, and a stripped down, upbeat rehearsal version of "Christmas Must Be Tonight"; but either version one gets of "Northern Lights-Southern Cross", is worth owning]. (Rob Bowman in AllMusic)

THE ABSTRACTS Album

Original released on LP Pompeii SD 6002

(US, 1968)

Those who never saw this band perform live have no idea how truly good they were. These guys were (and two of them still are) personal friends of mine. I was there when this album was recorded in Fort Worth, and worked with them before, during and after the recording sessions. First, Hank's last name is Dandini - it was misprinted on the album notes. His instrument was NOT a Wurlitzer, or anything that remotely resembled one. Hank played a Hammond M-3 organ, and is a classically trained keyboardist who once auditioned for Frank Zappa. Tony's father was an operatic producer and his mother was a major opera singer. Tony has a special gift for music as a composer, singer, guitarist and producer. Darrell Glenn, who produced the album, is the son of Artie Glenn who wrote "Crying in the Chapel", a song made famous by Elvis. Darrell was a producer of country and Elvis-type music, though he was also producing Ike and Tina Turner at the same time he produced "The Abstracts". To his credit, Darrell was wholly unfamiliar with the band and had never produced anything like their music before. The studio was very limited in its capabilities, but it was the one provided by Pompeii Records, owned by Pat Morgan, a Dallas nightclub owner who had his custom label distributed by Atlantic Records.

The sounds that come from that album can be attributed to a less-than-topnotch studio and a producer with little knowledge of the band or its musical style. Hearing The Abstracts play live would give one a completely different perspective on just how good these guys really were. In the first place, all were professionally trained as classical musicians except drummer Mike Thatcher, who was a rock drummer from Dallas, Texas. They viewed music from a mathematical perspective that allowed them to communicate voicings and structure in a strictly-defined format that few musicians of that day possessed (and fewer possess today!). The Abstracts became the backup band for Paul Revere and The Raiders before Tony became the featured guitarist with The Carpenters. Hank has played with many great performers as a sideman. Tony produced several songs for the venerable songwriter/singer/guitarist Danny O'Keefe. These guys have credentials that most would envy. It is a shame that their exposure to the world was from a lame production in a lame studio that did not spotlight just how truly remarkable this band was. Those who heard them perform live know what I mean. Others will never know how good this. (in RateYourMusic)

ALL TIME FAVOURITES - VOLUME 11

LED ZEPPELIN: "Physical Graffiti"

Original released on Double LP Swan Song SSK 89400

(UK 1975, February 24)

Led Zeppelin returned from a nearly two-year hiatus in 1975 with the double-album "Physical Graffiti", their most sprawling and ambitious work. Where "Led Zeppelin IV" and "Houses of the Holy" integrated influences on each song, the majority of the tracks on "Physical Graffiti" are individual stylistic workouts. The highlights are when Zeppelin incorporate influences and stretch out into new stylistic territory, most notably on the tense, Eastern-influenced "Kashmir." "Trampled Underfoot," with John Paul Jones' galloping keyboard, is their best funk-metal workout, while "Houses of the Holy" is their best attempt at pop, and "Down by the Seaside" is the closest they've come to country. Even the heavier blues - the 11-minute "In My Time of Dying," the tightly wound "Custard Pie," and the monstrous epic "The Rover" - are louder and more extended and textured than their previous work. Also, all of the heavy songs are on the first record, leaving the rest of the album to explore more adventurous territory, whether it's acoustic tracks or grandiose but quiet epics like the affecting "Ten Years Gone." 

The second half of "Physical Graffiti " feels like the group is cleaning the vaults out, issuing every little scrap of music they set to tape in the past few years. That means that the album is filled with songs that aren't quite filler, but don't quite match the peaks of the album, either. Still, even these songs have their merits - "Sick Again" is the meanest, most decadent rocker they ever recorded, and the folky acoustic rock & roll of "Boogie with Stu" and "Black Country Woman" may be tossed off, but they have a relaxed, off-hand charm that Zeppelin never matched. It takes a while to sort out all of the music on the album, but "Physical Graffiti" captures the whole experience of Led Zeppelin at the top of their game better than any of their other albums. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

NEIL YOUNG: "Zuma"

Original released on LP Reprise MS 2242

(US 1975, November 10)

Having apparently exorcised his demons by releasing the cathartic "Tonight's the Night", Neil Young returned to his commercial strengths with this "Zuma" (named after Zuma Beach in Los Angeles, where he now owned a house). Seven of the album's nine songs were recorded with the reunited Crazy Horse, in which rhythm guitarist Frank Sampedro had replaced the late Danny Whitten, but there were also nods to other popular Young styles in "Pardon My Heart," an acoustic song that would have fit on Harvest, his most popular album, and "Through My Sails," retrieved from one of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's abortive recording sessions. Young had abandoned the ragged, first-take approach of his previous three albums, but Crazy Horse would never be a polished act, and the music had a lively sound well-suited to the songs, which were some of the most melodic, pop-oriented tunes Young had crafted in years, though they were played with an electric-guitar-drenched rock intensity. The overall theme concerned romantic conflict, with lyrics that lamented lost love and sometimes longed for a return ("Pardon My Heart" even found Young singing, "I don't believe this song"), though the overall conclusion, notably in such catchy songs as "Don't Cry No Tears" and "Lookin' for a Love," was to move on to the next relationship. But the album's standout track (apparently the only holdover from an early intention to present songs with historical subjects) was the seven-and-a-half-minute epic "Cortez the Killer," a commentary on the Spanish conqueror of Latin America that served as a platform for Young's most extensive guitar soloing since his work on "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere". (William Ruhlmann in AllMusic)

PETER YARROW Debut Album

Original Released on LP Warner Bros BS 2599
(US, 1972)

Depois do lendário trio “Peter, Paul & Mary” ter acabado em 1970, começaram naturalmente a aparecer os primeiros albuns a solo dos elementos do grupo. Mary Travers foi a primeira, com “Mary” (1971); seguiu-se Paul Stookey, “Paul And”, lançado no mesmo ano, e em 1972 foi a vez de Peter Yarrow, com este belissimo album que uma alma generosa fez chegar às mãos do vosso amigo Rato. Tanto quanto sei esta pérola nunca foi editada em CD, mas todos vós têm agora a oportunidade de o ouvir, através de uma magnífica remasterização. Trata-se de um album folk, como seria de esperar, repleto de magníficas canções. 

Since he was known as the most politically active member of Peter, Paul and Mary, some listeners might have expected Peter Yarrow's debut solo album to be the most successful, or least most ambitious, of the three debut solo LPs issued by the trio in the early '70s. Of those three records, it certainly is the one most in line with the uplifting socially conscious music often associated with the group's 1960s work, whether the lyrics are personal or political. It's also perhaps unavoidably true that the songs - all written or co-written by Yarrow - aren't as memorable as the best of Peter, Paul and Mary's, and that the arrangements can sound odd for those accustomed to hearing his vocals in the context of the trio's stirring harmonies. But gearing your expectations to an early-'70s singer/songwriter album rather than stacking it against Peter, Paul and Mary, it's a pleasantly accomplished effort, if a bit tilted toward the gentle and sweet (particularly in the vocal department). With backup from such accomplished musicians as guitarist John Till (who'd recently been in Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band), Paul Butterfield, John Simon, and backup singers Libby Titus and Maria Muldaur, it also shows Yarrow adapting to the early-'70s soft rock sound expected of singer/songwriters, though things never get too cutting or fierce. "Don't Ever Take Away My Freedom" and the singalong-friendly "Weave Me the Sunshine" are the songs most imbued with the staunch liberalism Peter, Paul and Mary typified, but more effective is the more introspective "Take Off Your Mask," whose penetratingly strange Garth Hudson organ solos are the highlights of the entire album. Other superior cuts are "Wings of Time," the track that lies closest to traditional folk music, and the bittersweet "Tall Pine Trees," which is notably Russian-influenced in both melody and arrangement. (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)

PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS: "Red Rose Speedway"

Original released on LP Apple PCTC 251

(UK 1973, May 4)

All right, he's made a record with his wife and a record with his pickup band where democracy is allegedly the conceit even if it never sounds that way, so he returns to a solo effort, making the most disjointed album he ever cut. There's a certain fascination to its fragmented nature, not just because it's decidedly on the softer side of things, but because his desire for homegrown eccentricity has been fused with his inclination for bombastic art rock à la Abbey Road. Consequently, "Red Rose Speedway" winds up being a really strange record, one that veers toward the schmaltzy AOR MOR (especially on the hit single "My Love"), yet is thoroughly twisted in its own desire toward domestic art. As a result, this is every bit as insular as the lo-fi records of the early '90s, but considerably more artful, since it was, after all, designed by one of the great pop composers of the century. Yes, the greatest songs here are slight - "Big Barn Bed," "One More Kiss," and "When the Night" - but this is a deliberately slight record (slight in the way a snapshot album is important to a family yet glazes the eyes of any outside observer). Work your way into the inner circle, and McCartney's little flourishes are intoxicating - not just the melodies, but the facile production and offhand invention. If these are miniscule steps forward, consider this: if Brian Wilson can be praised for his half-assed ideas and execution, then why not McCartney, who has more character here than the Beach Boys did on their Brother records? Truthfully. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

ERIC CLAPTON: "No Reason To Cry"

Original released on LP RSO 2479.179

(UK , August 1976)

When he gave a speech inducting the Band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Eric Clapton said that after he heard their debut album, "Music from Big Pink", he wanted to join the group, the fact that they already had a guitarist in Robbie Robertson notwithstanding. In the winter of 1975-1976, when he cut "No Reason to Cry" at the Band's Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California, he came as close as he ever would to realizing that desire. Clapton is a musical chameleon; though some of "No Reason to Cry" is identifiable as the kind of pop/rock Clapton had been making since the start of his solo career (the best of it being "Hello Old Friend," which became his first Top 40 single in two years), the most memorable music on the album occurs when Clapton is collaborating with members of the Band and other guests. He duets with Band bassist Rick Danko on Danko's "All Our Past Times," and with Bob Dylan on Dylan's "Sign Language," as Robertson's distinctive lead guitar is heard rather than Clapton's. As a result, the album is a good purchase for fans of Bob Dylan and the Band, but not necessarily for those of Eric Clapton. (William Ruhlmann in AllMusic)

FAUSTO: "Madrugada Dos Trapeiros"

Edição original em LP Orfeu STAT 040

(PORTUGAL 1977, Agosto 25)

Fausto Bordalo Dias grava, em 1977, "Madrugada dos Trapeiros" (Orfeu), um dos discos fundadores da música popular portuguesa e que, embora com algumas particularidades decorrentes do momento histórico, aborda temáticas que hoje, decorridos quarenta anos, são preocupantemente actuais: desigualdades sociais, desemprego, condições de trabalho lesivas da dignidade humana, redução da mulher a mercadoria sexual, questões ambientais, etc. «Tendo como ponto básico de partida a música tradicional e a criação de raiz urbana, no seio da qual ganha alento novo a tendência para a fusão de elementos vários provenientes de influências diversas» (cit. Mário Correia), o trabalho surge também como reacção à invasão avassaladora e uniformizadora da música anglo-americana (mais propriamente do pop-rock): «Sempre me opus e resisti à tirania do rock e do pop em Portugal pelo que isso representa de normalização da música» (cit. Fausto). Infelizmente, o problema ainda está por resolver e muitos têm sido os danos causados à nossa música de maior valia e autenticidade, perante a indiferença olímpica dos poderes político-culturais. Parafraseando Viriato Teles, «"Madrugada dos Trapeiros" é, ainda, um disco com uma profunda carga política, mas onde é já possível vislumbrar as novas preocupações estéticas do seu autor, nomeadamente através da utilização sistemática de elementos tradicionais – o embrião, afinal, daquilo que virá a ser conhecido como Música Popular Portuguesa. O disco inclui aquele que permanece como um dos maiores êxitos do músico: "Rosalinda", um belíssimo manifesto ecológico [contra a central nuclear que pretendiam construir em Ferrel, Peniche], que foi, inclusivamente regravado em Espanha por Luis Pastor». Destaque ainda para a belíssima e algo esquecida "Mariana das Sete Saias", canção que versa o problema social da prostituição, assunto que Carlos Mendes também cantou na altura ("Amélia dos Olhos Doces") e que Vitorino retomará, quinze anos mais tarde, no álbum "Eu Que me Comovo por Tudo e por Nada" (EMI-VC, 1992). (in anosdaradio)

FAUSTO: "Um Beco Com Saída"

Edição original em LP Orfeu STAT 034

(PORTUGAL, 1975)

Um ano depois da Revolução de Abril, Portugal encontrava-se atolado em pleno Gonçalvismo, com o PREC quase a atingir o seu zénite e os meses de Verão a anunciarem-se “escaldantes”. A euforia musical que tinha inundado as ruas e as salas de espectáculo do País chegava então aos discos. Salvo pontuais e raras excepções, a canção política do Portugal pós-revolucionário transformou-se num programa de princípios com evidente carga pedagógica e, sobretudo, ideológica. Defendia-se o poder popular, a reforma agrária, o combate ao capitalismo, a celebração do operário e do camponês. Tractores e enxadas viravam protagonistas em canções feitas sob certas regras implícitas que promoviam frequentemente a eficaz descodificação da mensagem, a repetição do slogan, a fácil memorização da melodia, a transmissão da ideia. Este “Um Beco Com Saída” de Fausto não fugiu à regra, se bem que diferenciando-se por uma qualidade musical bebida directamente em raízes populares. Gravado por José Fortes nos estúdios da Rádio Triunfo, em Lisboa, o album contava com a colaboração de alguns nomes da chamada canção de intervenção, como Sérgio Godinho ou Adriano Correira de Oliveira. Os arranjos e direcção musical eram obviamente do próprio Fausto e a banda de apoio era formada por Fausto (guitarra rítmica), Júlio Pereira (guitarra-solo, piano e bouzouki), Vitorino (acordeão e 1ª voz em “O Tocador”), Paulo Godinho (viola baixo), Guilherme Inês (bateria), Filipe Zau e Pintinhas (percussões) e Sheila (coros).