This is the beginning of our fourth round and I am going to try something different - and hope you Burnmixers don't mind. A few months ago Grogan asked me what were some of the albums/artists that were definitive in my youth. While youth is a relative term, I can pinpoint an era of music and youth that were transformative for me as a person and as a musician (and as a potential Burnmixer). That period - before any of my Burnmixer compadres were alive - was from my senior year in high school - 1966/67 - through my college graduation in 1972. Aside from listening intently to the amazing music coming out of Britain, San Francisco and elsewhere, I was regulrarly going into NYC (Fillmore East, Cafe Au Go Go, Bitter End) to hear some of the artists featured in this mix. To change things up for #19, I decided to include songs exclusively from that period. Some of these songs are obscure and some will be familiar to you - but all were important to me in one way or the other during that period. I hope you don't mind this trip down Memory Lane, and also hope you might find that there is some really good stuff here - forty plus years later.
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Little Feat / Easy To Slip
The first time I heard this song - 1972 - it sent chills down my spine. I became a huge Little Feat/Lowell George fan until his demise in 1979. To my ear he remains a unique voice - both vocally and on his guitar - in modern rock and roll. And this song just kicks ass - still.
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Little Feat is an American band who have mixed blues, R&B, country and rock and roll styles together since they formed in 1969 in Los Angeles, and are known for their eclectic blend of many forms of music. They were founded by the brilliant songwriter/singer Lowell George (who died in 1979), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward (who passed away in 2010). The blend of California cool and New Orleans funk produced by George's slide guitar Read more on Last.fm more...
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Big Brother & The Holding Company / Bye, Bye Baby
Big Brother was Janis Joplin's entree into the rock music world. I was never a huge fan of her solo career, but this song, the first cut from Big Brother's first album (1967), always seemed like a "band" song, as opposed to a "Janis" song. Some tasty guitar work by Sam Andrew.
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Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their lead singer. Their 1968 album "Cheap Thrills" is considered one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic sound of San Francisco; it reached number one on the US Billboard charts Read more on Last.fm more...
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McGuinness Flint / Dream Darling Dream
McGuinness Flint was a British cult band featuring Tom McGuinness, formerly of Manfred Mann, and Hughie Flint of John Mayall. Also in the band were Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle - see below. This tune was a classic, in my opinion, and off their first release in 1970.
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McGuinness Flint was a British rock band formed in 1970 . After Manfred Mann had imploded in1969, the group's latter-day guitarist Tom McGuinness joined up with Hughie Flint who had played with many of the big names on the UK blues scene. Both were heavily influenced by The Band's music and their album 'Music From The Big Pink'. Completing their concept was Dennis Coulson on vocals, Paul Rutherford joined on trombone whilst Colosseum bassist Tony Reeves recommended two songwriters: Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Jethro Tull / Move On Alone
Jethro Tull was primarily a vehicle for Ian Anderson, but their first album, This Was (1970), also featured Mick Abrahams, a blues guitarist and songwriter. This song, written by Abrahams, was the only JT lead vocal on a studio recording NOT performed by Anderson. Great horns, great tune - I never get tired of it.
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Jethro Tull is a progressive rock / folk rock band which formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, England in 1967. Their music is marked by the initially soulful and bluesy, and later expressively idiosyncratic, vocal style and unique lead flute work of frontman Ian Anderson, and their notable guitarist Martin Barre. Their songs feature unusual and often complex construction, incorporating elements of classical and celtic folk music, as well as art rock and alternative rock. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Tim Hardin / Misty Roses
Best known for his tunes "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", Hardin was a fixture in the Greenwich Village scene in the mid-sixties. He only lived to be 39. This tune was on his first album, recorded in 1966.
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Tim Hardin (born Timothy James Hardin in Eugene, Oregon, USA on 23 December 1941 – 29 December 1980) was an American folk musician and composer. He is best remembered for writing the top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter" covered by Bobby Darin and "Reason to Believe" covered by Rod Stewart, as well as his own uneven recording career. Hardin dropped out of high school at age 18 to join the Marine Corps. After his discharge he moved to New York City in 1961, where he briefly attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Moby Grape / 8:05
Moby Grape came out of the San Francisco scene in 1966/67 along with the Airplane, Quicksilver and the Dead. They were unique because they featured three guitar players. I used to listen to this tune non-stop in the spring of my senior year of high school.
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Moby Grape was an American roots rock and psychedelic rock group of the 1960s that was known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of jazz, country, and blues together with rock. Due to the strength of their debut album, several critics consider Moby Grape to be the best rock band to emerge from the San Francisco music scene in the late sixties. The group was formed in late 1966 in San Francisco. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Buffalo Springfield / Bluebird
This was also a three guitar band - Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay (later of Poco fame). This sound was the genesis for CSN&Y and you can hear it in the guitar work and harmonies. The acoustic work by Stills is some of his finest, and the outro is just classic.
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Buffalo Springfield was a folk rock band which formed in 1966 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The band split in 1968 and reformed briefly in 2010. On February 27, 2012, founder member Richie Furay announced that the band was on indefinite hiatus. The band's original lineup consisted of Neil Young (vocals, guitar), Stephen Stills (vocals, guitar), Richie Furay (vocals, guitar), Bruce Palmer (bass) and Dewey Martin (drums). Palmer left the band in 1968 and was replaced by Jim Messina. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Paul Siebel / Louise
Siebel was a relatively obscure Greenwich Village product who sunk into depression and drugs after two stellar albums in the early 70s. This tune from his first release in 1970 is typical of his style and still sounds current today to my ears. Depressing? Yes. Beautiful? Yes again.
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With such songs to his credit as "Louise" and "Jack-knife Gypsy," and artists as illustrious as Bonnie Raitt and Waylon Jennings paying him tribute, Paul Siebel is frequently referred to as a "musician's musician." He was "discovered" in 1969 when Elektra Records caught wind of a collection of songs he'd put together with David Bromberg. Paul lived above the lengendary " Kettle of Fish" on Macdougal Street in New York's Greenwich Village. Siebel's Read more on Last.fm more...
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Traffic / 40,000 Headmen
Traffic was a vehicle for Brits Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi and this song is from their second album released in 1968. Dave Mason (see below) was an original member, but departed during/prior to this album (it was complicated). Classic Winwood vocal and tune.
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1) Traffic were an English rock band. 2) Traffic is also a pop-rock band from Estonia. 3) Traffic is an upcoming rapper from Los Angeles. The English rock band Traffic started out with Steve Winwood, Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood after Winwood left The Spencer Davis Group. From their beginning, in 1967, they were quite popular in their native England, though success elsewhere was slower in coming. Their first three albums combined psychedelic rock and soul with elements of British folk music Read more on Last.fm more...
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Richie Havens / Handsome Johnny
Another Village veteran, this tune is from his first album released in 1967. It was co-written by Lou Gossett Jr. (Oscar winner and Sgt. Foley in An Officer and A Genleman). They were both Brooklyn boys. He has a unique guitar style and this was a quintessential anti-war song at the time.
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Richard P. "Richie" Havens (born January 21, 1941; died April 22, 2013) was an American folk singer and guitarist. He is best remembered for his intense, rhythmic guitar style (often in open tunings), soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Havens moved to Greenwich Village in 1961 in time to get in on the folk boom then taking place. Havens had a distinctive style as a folksinger Read more on Last.fm more...
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Spirit / Nature's Way
This tune, from the LA group's fourth album, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, was one of their few hits and features one of the best names in rock - Randy California.
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There is more than one artist with this name: 1) Spirit was an American group formed by guitarist Randy California 2) Spirit was a emo band from Melbourne, Australia. 3) Spirit is a UK drum and bass musician. 4) Spirit was an alias of UK techno duo 65D Mavericks, used for releasing on the Lost affiliated Cosmic label. 5) Spirit is a rock band from Slovakia, Levice. 6) Spirit is a modern metal band from Warsaw, Poland. 7) Spirit is a post-hardcore band from Cortez, Colorado. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Gallagher & Lyle / Remember Then
G&L formed their duo after breaking off from McGuinness Flint (see above) and remained a cult British act with limited success. But they recorded eight albums and this gentle song is from their first 1972 release.
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Gallagher & Lyle were Scottish singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher (b 10 June 1945 in Largs) and Graham Lyle (b 11 March 1944 in Bellshill). They first appeared together in 1959 in The Bluefrets. Early songwriting work was for Dean Ford and the Gaylords (later to become Marmalade). Signed by The Beatles in 1968 to write for Apple Records' Mary Hopkin. In 1970 they joined Tom McGuinness and Hughie Flint to form McGuinness Flint and penned the hits Read more on Last.fm more...
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Savoy Brown / Street Corner Talking
This British blues band featured Kim Simmonds and a revolving line-up of who's who musicians in the late 60s and early 70s. This blues tune is off their 7th album recorded in 1970.
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Savoy Brown is a British blues band formed in the 1960s, originally known as the Saveloy Brown Blues Band. Their 1969 single, Train to Nowhere (with singer Chris Youlden), was viewed by many as the last gasp of the blues scene in Great Britain. Although Savoy Brown never reached much acclaim in their home nation, they developed a loyal core following in the United States. In the 1960s and 1970s, the band managed to penetrate the Billboard Hot 100. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Dave Mason / Sad and Deep As You
A founding member of Traffic, Dave Mason was a "one album wonder" - his incredible 1970 release entitled "Alone Together". This tune is from that album and has a haunting beauty.
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There are two artists sharing the name Dave Mason: Dave Mason of Traffic fame. Dave Mason (born David Thomas Mason, May 10, 1944) is a musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, England, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. In his long career, Mason has played and recorded with many of the era's most notable musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Russ McLellan and Mama Cass Elliot. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Cream / Strange Brew
Off their second and classic album, Disraeli Gears. The definitive power trio. Familiar, I'm sure, to all of you.
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Cream was a 1960s three-piece British band consisting of bassist/lead vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker, having formed in London, England. They were known as one of the first great power trios and supergroups of rock. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock. Cream combined Clapton's blues guitar playing with the powerful and airy voice and intense bass lines of Jack Bruce and the manic drumming of Ginger Baker. Read more on Last.fm more...
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The Byrds / Goin' Back
This song to me was freshman year - 1967/68. A cover of a Carole King/Gerry Goffin tune, this is off The Notorious Byrd Brothers album, hitting their stride in the psychedelic era, before heading off into a country vein the following year with Sweetheart of the Rodeo. The Byrds were primarily Roger McGuin, but David Crosby, who left to join CSNY largely because of artistic differences over this particular song, was a major voice as well.
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The Byrds were a popular American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. They are considered one of the most important and influential bands of the 1960s. Their music bridged the gaps between the socially and spiritually conscious folk music of Bob Dylan, the studio trickery of The Beach Boys, and the sardonic rock of The Beatles. Some of their trademark songs include pop versions of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man and Pete Seeger’s Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) Read more on Last.fm more...
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Donovan / Season of the Witch
One of Donovan's "psychedelic" songs off the 1966 album, Sunshine Superman. Covered by - everybody, but best known for the 11 minute version done by Super Session (Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield & Steven Stills).
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Donovan Philips Leitch (born May 10, 1946 in Maryhill, Glasgow), better known as simply Donovan, is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and musician. Originally a '60s folk singer, as the decade progressed Donovan cultivated his own unique eclectic sound, mixing elements of folk, pop, jazz, world music and more, often with a twinge of psychedelia. His most well-known work was suffused with altruistic political overtones, making him an iconic figure of the "flower power" counter-culture of the '60s. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Fleetwood Mac / Sands of Time
Off the relatively obscure 5th album, Future Games, the line-up at the time (1971) featured Danny Kirwan, who wrote and sang this song. Mick Fleetwood's distinctive drumming is still evident. Love the tempo changes and song structure.
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Fleetwood Mac is a British and American blues band formed in 1967. From the band's inception through the end of 1974, no incarnation of Fleetwood Mac lasted longer than two years, but all featured core members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. Their two most successful periods have been during the late 60s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist/singer-songwriter Peter Green, and from 1975 to 1987, when they went a pop-oriented direction with musicians Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Jefferson Airplane / Turn My Life Down
The Airplane was one of my favorite bands coming out of high school. This song, off their 1969 release, Volunteers, has always stood proud. Written by Jorma Kaukonen, it features Steven Stills (he was everywhere at the time) on the Hammond B3 and typical Jorma guitar riffs and Marty Balin vocals.
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Jefferson Airplane, a rock band based in San Francisco, California, was one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They were headliners at the three most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s—Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969) and Altamont (1969)—and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Tim Buckley / Once I Was
Buckley died of an overdose at the age of 28, but left behind a short, but impressive, legacy. He was an LA transplant to the Village scene. This tune is magical - and off his second album (1969), entitled Goodbye Hello.
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Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an experimental vocalist and performer who incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock, in a short career spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, ending with his death at age 28 from an alcohol-heroin overdose. Buckley often regarded his tenor voice as an instrument, a talent most noticeable on his albums Happy Sad, Lorca, and Starsailor. His first marriage was to Mary Guibert, with whom he had a child, musician Jeff Buckley. Read more on Last.fm more...
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The Blues Project / Flute Thing
A New York band from the late sixties, the Blues Project, and this album in particular (Projections - 1966) were on constant rotation in my bedroom senior year. None of their albums reached the heights of this one. Pure genius and the perfect way, I think, to end this 19th Burnmix.
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The Blues Project was a short-lived band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and split up in 1967. While their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles, they are most remembered as one of the earliest practitioners of psychedelic rock, as well as one of the world's first jam bands, along with the Grateful Dead. In 1964, Elektra Records produced a compilation album of various artists entitled The Read more on Last.fm more...
