This is the first in a new series of posts that explores artists with demonstrated talent but no ability to translate their talent into a long term career. Some people refer to these artists as “one hit wonders” but I have never liked that term because. To me “one hit wonder” applies to people that do novelty songs (think Disco Duck by Rick Dees) not to people with real talent. So….we will avoid that term and refer these people as underachievers – people that achieved less success than expected.
Up first is Benny Mardones.
Benny seemingly came out of nowhere with his incredible 1980 hit song called Into the Night. Let’s listen…….
The vocals on this song are amazingly soulful and I just knew he was going to be a long term success.
I bought, and still own, his first album and could not wait to see how he was going to out do himself as he progressed in his career.
This is the 100th post for thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard blog. To celebrate, I have prepared an extra special post for you today. Enjoy!
When we last checked in on Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young they had released their first CSNY album, Deja Vu. The group quickly broke apart as all four members worked on and released solo albums. David Crosby and Graham Nash had developed a strong friendship and artistic kinship so it was no surprise when they decided to tour together as a duo in the fall of 1971. This tour was the start of a duo that continues to record and tour together to this day. In 1972, the duo released their first album titled Graham Nash and David Crosby and it was a stunner reaching #4 on the album charts making it significantly more successful than either of their solo albums. Graham and David would, of course, continue to perform with Stephen Stills and Neil Young in various configurations throughout the coming years but it was their duo that would prove to be most stable and productive element of their musical careers. As proof of the importance of this relationship, I have read many stories that indicate that the biggest motivational factor for David pulling himself out of his addiction to drugs in the 80’s was the fact that Graham had refused to perform with him again unless he cleaned himself up.
Enough talk, let’s get to the music! Both Graham and David contributed songs to their first album as a duo but I have to say that David’s songs were the highlight of the album in my humble opinion. (Remind me to post some of David’s demos of these songs from the recording sessions for his first album….they are amazing in their own right) Each of David songs was a masterpiece but I have managed to select two for this post. First up is The Wall Song followed by Games. Let’s listen……. (sorry for the ads on both of David’s songs!)
Even though I preferred David’s songs, Graham was anything but a slacker on the album. His song Immigration Man was released as a single from the album and can still be heard on the radio today. I have chosen a lesser known, but beautiful, song from the album to highlight Graham’s contribution to the album. Let’s listen to Southbound Train…. (Once again, sorry for the ad!)
As I said at the start, the album was a stunner and I highly recommend that your check it out if you do not already own it.
Before we end this post I have a remarkable bonus for you that I think you will really like. Graham and David performed a 30 minute acoustic set for BBC in the fall of 1970 and their performance was one for the ages. They were charming, funny, and the music was glorious. Listening to their banter highlights the strength and depth of their friendship. The following five videos will allow you to experience their entire BBC performance. I hope you enjoy it!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Be looking for the next post in The Southern California Sound series (The Southern California Sound #12 – Not For Boys Only) next weekend.
The James Gang formed in Ohio in the late 1960s and went through a number of different musicians before eventually ending up as a trio (Joe Walsh -guitar/Dale Peters – bass/Jim Fox – drums) when they started their recording career. James Gang Rides Again, released in 1970, was their second album and demonstrated significant grown in terms of the groups song writing and musicianship. Unfortunately, the group remained a regional favorite and never really became widely popular. I became a fan in 1970 while living in southern Michigan just north of Ohio.
Funk #49, the lead off song on side 1 of the album was only a minor hit but proved to have legs. The song can still be heard today on some classic rock radio stations. Let’s listen…. (sorry about the ad!)
While the first side of the album showcased the James Gang rock capabilities, the second side provided some really nice acoustic music. Let’s listen to Ashes the Rain and I…. (once again, sorry about the ad!)
I hope you liked the above songs and if you did I am sure you will enjoy listening to the full album provided below.
Joe Walsh left after one more studio album. The band continued after Joe’s departure but it was never as good as the original lineup. After leaving the group Joe Walsh achieved solo fame and eventually joined the Eagles. Ironically Joe’s success away from the group made the original group’s music more popular than it had ever been when they were together. As always, let me know what you think.
One more thing….my favorite James Gang song, Walk Away, did not appear until the James Gang’s third album. Before we end this post, let’s watch the James Gang perform my favorite song in a 1971 show.
If you like Joe, his first solo album in 20 years, Analog Man, is scheduled to be released this Tuesday (June 5) so be sure to check it out.
Jimmy Page. You might not realize it but Jimmy was quite the session musician before the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. Although there is still some controversy about his role during the recording of the Who’s first album, I have done quite a bit of research (a Jimmy Page interview in a 1974 Creem magazine article and multiple websites including http://www.thewho.net and http://www.musicko.com) and am convinced of his role.
Jimmy was brought into the recording session for the Who’s first album by Shel Talmy who was producing the album because there was concern regarding Pete’s guitar skills. Looking back this was absurd but you need to realize that Pete was an unknown and Jimmy was already a legendary guitarist based on his session work.
Jimmy was scheduled to play lead on both I Can’t Explain and the b-side of that single which was called Bald Headed Woman. Unfortunately for Jimmy, I Can’t Explain required a Rickenbacker twelve string guitar and Jimmy didn’t own one. As it turns out, Pete did have one and there was no way Pete was going to hand it over to Jimmy to play on his record . Score one Pete who got to play the lead guitar part while Jimmy was relegated to rhythm.
Pete’s luck ran out during the recording of Bald Headed Woman which required a Fizz Box. According to John Entwistle, Jimmy owned the only Fuzz Box in the country at the time! Needless to say, Jimmy that got the lead part on Bald Headed Woman. Let’s listen. (sorry about the ad)
Let’s call it a draw overall ….and things didn’t turn out to badly for either Pete or Jimmy 🙂
This is the fourth in a series of posts that highlight classic rock songs which feature someone interesting sitting in on the recording session. For this series I post the song on one day and identify who is sitting in the following day. I hope you enjoy the concept and maybe learn some interesting music history in the process.
My selection for this post is a song called I Can’t Explain which was the Who’s first single released in late 1964. It’s a good one! Listen to the song and see if you can tell who was sitting in. (sorry about the ad)
The answer will be posted tomorrow along with some additional background information.
By the way….Gerard has beat everyone else to the punch by being the first person to identify the correct answers to all previous Who Is Sitting In posts. Step up to the plate and chime in with a comment if you think you know the answer! Maybe you can give Gerard some competition 🙂
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