Here’s a great Bad Company Behind the Music feature from VH1 to continue our Bad Company focus from the last couple of days. Lots of interesting history with regards to Bad Company and Free. Enjoy……
I couldn’t agree more with John Mellencamp’s comments about Paul’s voice…..absolutely perfect!
Here are some great Bad Company live tracks from circa 1974. There is some really good stuff here but given it’s age the video quality is not what we used to today. Regardless….I think you will enjoy this.
In the spring of 1974 I was finishing up my third year of college and working two jobs. It was a pretty stressful time but the great music releases made everything better. Releases during April, May, and June included new music from some of my favorite artists and a debut release from a new group (see picture above) that would quickly become one of my favorites. Let’s jump right in listen to some great music……
In 1974, Blue Oyster Cult was one of my “go to” groups for “heavy” music. Secret Treaties was their third album and featured a very cool drawing of an German ME262 fighter. Here’s a great cut from that album called Astronomy,,,,,,
In 1974 West, Bruce and Laing were carrying on a long tradition of three man, power chord based, rock groups. I was a fan of Leslie West and Corky Laing from their time with Mountain and of course was a huge fan of Jack Bruce from his time with Cream so it was only natural that I was a fan of West, Bruce, and Laing. Live ‘n” Kickin was their third and final album as a group and it rocked! Listen to Play With Fire and it will tell you everything you need to know about the group!
After he retired the Ziggy Stadust character, we were all interested to see what Bowie came up with next. When I heard the first single from the record, a glam rock stunner called Rebel Rebel, I knew we were in for a real treat. Have a listen for yourself…..
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s second album, the appropriately named Second Helping, managed to avoid the sophomore jinx that strikes a lot of groups. It was a double platinum hit and features some of their most memorable songs including my favorite, Sweet Home Alabama. Let’s listen……
I mentioned the glam rock nature of Bowie’s Rebel Rebel single above so it’s only fitting that the New York Dolls, the ultimate glam band, released their second album the month after Diamond Dogs. It was hard to pick a song to feature from Too Much Too Soon but you can’t go wrong with Babylon. Give it a listen and see what you think!
As an illustration of the diversity of rock music in May of 1974, we transition from the glam rock of the New York Dolls to the art rock of 10cc. Sheet music was 10cc’s second release and featured the Wall Street Shuffle, a really catchy radio hit for them. Go back in time with me and do the Wall Street Shuffle as you listen……
Bad Company, pictured at the top of this post, was one of the many supergroups that formed in the 1970s from the wreckage of other groups from the late 60s/early 70s. In this case, Bad Company was formed by:
While some supergroups proved to be disappointing, this was definitely not the case with Bad Company. They rocked hard throughout the 70s and produced an impressive string of great albums. The song I have for you today is named Bad Company, it comes from the album Bad Company, and was written and performed by the group called Bad Company……very strange…….
The guys in America were Air Force brats like myself so I had an immediate kinship with them. Their third album, Hat Trick, had been a little of a disappointment from a commercial perspective so the group had a lot riding on Holiday when it was released in 1974. To turn things around the group had recruited George Martin, of Beatles fame, to produce Holiday and he came through for them. Holiday was a huge commercial success starting with Tin Man, the first single released from the album. You have to like this song…..
James Taylor’s Walking Man album was his fifth and was not a commercial success! It even failed to becoming a gold record which is truly shocking but…..to many fans like myself….. it’s still a favorite. Listen to the title track and I think you will understand…….
238 years old and counting. We aren’t perfect but I’m proud to be an American. As I said in the title…..Let’s Rock!!!
There are some strange but wonderful musical friendships in Rock music but perhaps none as strange as the one between David Crosby and Phil Collins. Although I was huge fans of both David and Phil I would have never imagined that the drummer of Genesis and a Southern California folk rock hero would have had much in common but what do I know. It was Phil that paid for David’s liver transplant in the 1990s when David could not afford it…..that is a friend indeed (one has to wonder where all of David’s money went…..that is a hell of a lot of drugs).
Their friendship, fortunately for us, has produced several musical collaborations and associated special performances. David and Phil co-wrote Hero, a hit song from David’s third solo album and collaborated on it’s performance. Let’s listen and watch David and Phil in the video produced for the song……
Another Day in Paradise is one of Phil’s biggest hits and David’s vocal contributions to the song were significant. Here is a great performance of the song from the Arsenio Hall show……
Did you notice the bass player. That was none other than Leland Sklar who is without a doubt the greatest sessions bassist of all time.
With the on-going news stories coming out of Iraq this week, the “war birds” in the US Congress are already calling for the US to once again get involved in a fight that can’t be won and that has nothing to do with us. It’s amazing how short some people’s memories are!
As American’s let’s rise up and say: We must not, We will not……Get Fooled Again……
Every great movement needs a theme song……for ours I propose this great 1973 live performance of Won’t Get Fooled Again from Philadelphia, the birthplace of the American Constitution……
The Trailer Song, is another great song from Kacey Musgraves’ debut album that I have talked about in earlier posts. I absolutely love the sense of humor that is reflected in Kacey’s songs. I think you will like this one…..
FYI – this was her first performance at the Grand Ole Opry!
Here’s a very good interview/profile of Gregg from 2011. Enjoy….
As a bonus, here’s a great acoustic performance of Melissa featuring Gregg with an incarnation of the Allman Brothers that featured Dicky Betts and Warren Haynes on guitar. This type of performance is one of a kind and really special so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Gregg looks so much healthier today than he did back in the 80s when I think this performance was recorded and that makes me almost as happy as the music!
I’m currently listening to All My Friends, an amazing four hour celebration of the music of Gregg Allman. The album includes performance by an incredible selection of rock/country performers and the man himself. Today’s Special Performance post features one of those performances with Gregg and Jackson Browne joining forces on Gregg’s Melissa. For those of you that don’t know, Gregg and Jackson have been friends since the 60s, having once shared an apartment in LA before either of them were successful. This is a really great performance that you don’t want to miss! Enjoy……
Fifty years ago in 1964 Joan Baez and Bob Dylan were quite an item. Joan, who had been a success since the early 60s, nurtured the young singer/songwriter starting in 1963 by bringing him on stage to perform during her tours and by singing his songs. An intense romantic relationship resulted but was over by 1965. Ten years later Joan wrote one of the best songs of all time about that relationship, Diamonds and Rust. Here is a great 1975 live performance of that song………
I absolutely adore this song. I think the following lines are the most romantic lyrics I have ever heard….
Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
Now you’re smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there
Fortunately for all of us, Joan continues to tour today….forty years after the performance presented above and fifty years after her 1964 romance with Bob Dylan. Here’s a great Buenos Aires performance of Diamonds and Rust from March of this year……
Did you pickup on the lyric change?
