The Outlaws, like Lynryd Skynrd who we discussed in an earlier post, came out of Florida in the late 1960s. There were lots of personnel changes, and aborted recording efforts, before the group was “discovered” by Clive Davis at a 1974 concert where they were the opening act for Lynyrd Skynrd. Clive subsequently signed them as the first act for his new Arista record label and the Outlaws were finally on their way.
Yesterday we talked about the classic dual lead guitar sound from the Outlaws but I didn’t mention that the Outlaws actually had three guitarist. This set them apart from a lot of other southern rock bands, like the Allman Brothers, that only had two. i have to say that seeing the three guitarist lined up across the stage at one of their concerts was quite a sight!
We sampled the Outlaw’s first album yesterday, today we will sample their second (Lady in Waiting) and third albums (Hurry Sundown). These first three albums represent the best that the group had to offer. First up is a change of pace from their second album called Girl From Ohio. This song highlights the group’s country side and their nice vocal harmonies. These harmonies were yet another element of their sound that made it unique.
My favorite Outlaws song is Hurry Sundown which is from their third album. This song includes great harmonies and the wonderful Outlaw guitar sound making it the perfect song…. in my opinion! Let’s listen……
If you enjoyed the Outlaw songs featured over the past two days I highly recommend that you pick up their first three albums. You will not regret it.
A band called the Outlaws continues to perform today but this band, for the most part, is not made up of the musicians that formed the classic Outlaw lineup. Unfortunately many of the original members, like lead singer and guitarist Hughie Tomasson, have died.
Today’s Long Song Tuesday offering was inspired by the positive response that I received to my Lynyrd Skynrd post a couple of weeks ago. The Outlaws were contemporaries of Lynyrd Skynrd and played a similar brand of guitar driven southern rock. Green Grass and High Tides was from their self titled first album and I think you will really enjoy it. Crank up your volume and give it a listen….
For you guitar buff out there here is some interesting detail on the Outlaws guitar sound from Wikipedia:
Hughie Thomasson’s signature guitar playing style and voice were defining characteristics of the band’s sound. Thomasson’s guitar sound was underpinned by the use of the Fender Stratocaster (and sometimes a Fender Telecaster) played in a quasi-country style mixed with fluid, quick blues runs. Hughie was nicknamed “The Flame” for his flaming fast guitar work. He is a member of the Fender Hall of Fame. The other lead guitarist, Billy Jones, played mainly a Gibson Les Paul and switched between a clean and distorted sound. A good example of this can be heard on “Green Grass and High Tides” on the right stereo channel. Hughie Thomasson’s smooth Stratocaster sound can be heard on the left channel. Thomasson opens the first solo at the intro and plays the first half of the two succeeding longer solos all on the right channel.
Because I am somewhat time constrained today so I am going to defer providing more details about the Outlaws until tomorrow’s post but before we go here is a live performance from July 23, 1975 when the band was in it’s prime. I only got to see them once in the 70s but they were something to behold.
More tomorrow…talk to you then.
By the way, let me know if you like the Outlaws as much as I do.
Linda Ronstadt was a founding member of a folk trio called the Stone Poney’s that formed in the mid-1960s. The group was composed of Linda, Bobby Kimmel, and Kenny Edwards and produced three albums with the last one coming out in 1968. Early on in their career it was clear to everyone that Linda was the star, so much so that Capitol Records wanted sign her to a solo contract rather than sign the band. As you can imagine, this was the source of more than a little tension in the band. Their biggest hit was a song called Different Drum that was written by Michael Nesmith of the Monkeys. Let’s listen……
I hope you were watching as well as listening so you can understand why me, and most of the other teenage boys back in 1967, were madly in love with Linda. To be that cute and to have that voice was truly too good to be true.
Linda finally went solo in 1969 signing with Capitol Records but she did not entirely abandon the Stone Poneys. Kenny Edwards became a long term collaborator. (Kenny passed away in 2010 and the music world lost a significant talent. RIP Kenny! If you are interested checkout a band called Bryndle. I will feature them in a future post.).
As a solo artist, Linda started to move toward the country rock sound that was beginning to take shape in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Let’s watch and listen to a couple of TV show appearances from that time so we can see her as we listen to her 🙂 First up is a 1969 appearance on the Johnny Cash show. This video is followed by a 1970 appearance on the Glen Campbell show.
I Will Never Marry (1969) with Johnny Cash
Long Long Time and Carolina In My Mind (1970 Glen Campbell show)
Linda’s first two solo albums on Capitol were named Hand Sown……Home Grown and Silk Purse. The first of these albums did not chart at all while the second album failed to break the top 100 in album sales. Silk Purse was redeemed, somewhat, when the single Long Long Time (one of the songs performed on the Glen Campbell clip above) broke into the the top 20.
While her albums were suffering from a sales perspective, her live performances were much more successful. Trying to build on this success, Linda hired Glenn Frey (from Longbranch Pennywhistle) to put together a new band for touring and for her third album. The band that Glenn put together included Glenn, Don Henley (a drummer from a group called Shiloh) and Randy Meisner (Poco/Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band). While this band would not stay with Linda for long (more about this in a later post in The Southern California Sound Series) they were indeed a kick ass band and their later success would give Linda’s career a boost.
Linda’s third album was self titled and not only included her new band discussed above but other musicians we have discussed in earlier posts in the series: Bernie Leadon (Flying Burrito Brothers), Sneaky Pete Kleinow (Flying Burrito Brothers), and J.D. Souther (Longbranch Pennywhistle). It also included a song from a young songwriter named Jackson Browne, who lived in the apartment below Glen Frey and J. D. Souther when they formed Longbranch Pennywhistle. Let’s listen to Linda’s performance of Jackson Browne’s Rock Me On The Water.
Trying to further capitalize on her live performance reputation, three of the songs on her third solo album were live numbers recorded at Troubadour. Let’s listen to Linda’s live performance of Neil Young’s Birds that was included on the album.
Alas, with her third album Linda was still two albums away from her commercial break through album, Heart Like A Wheel, that would result in her being called the Queen Of Rock and/or the First Lady Of Rock in the mid-1970s. It is a strange twist of fate that her biggest contribution to the world of music, early in her solo career, would end up being her role in the formation of a yet to come supergroup that would come to symbolize the Souther California Sound. Much more about his later.
Before we leave Linda behind lets take a look ahead in her career and watch/listen to her sing a J.D Souther song called Faithless Love that was included on Heart Like A Wheel.
It is worth noting that J.D sang harmony with Linda on the album version of this song. The singer providing the harmony on this live version from 1975 is the late, great Andrew Gold (RIP Andrew). Andrew was another of Linda’s long time collaborators, a solo artists, and yet another member of Bryndle, the group I mentioned above when discussing Kenny Edwards.
In my The Southern California Sound #11 – And Then There Were Two post last weekend I mentioned that you needed to remind me to post some of David’s demos. So….here we go!
First up today is an early acoustic demo with David doing his own harmony.
I never get tired of this!
Next up is an electric demo, this one is from the famous 1971 PERRO sessions and features Jerry Garcia playing with David.
They just don’t make music like this anymore and the world is a lesser place because of that. As always, let me know what you think.
Based on overwhelming demand from my loyal readers, i present you with my second Underachievers post. OK…I just lied two times. There was not overwhelming demand in fact no one commented on the first Underachiever post. Also, I seem to have a shortage of readers in general. Grand total for yesterday 0.
Nevertheless I feel compelled to continue posting the best music you have never heard. Today’s post is about a 1980 era duo called David and David that was composed of David Baerwald and David Ricketts. The put out an album called Boomtown in 1986 and I think it was one of the best albums of the 80s in general. I was particularly fond of their first single from that album called Welcome to the Boomtown. Let’s listen…..
All of their songs were similar to Welcome to the Boomtown in that they all featured interesting characters and the music was engaging. The stories told in the songs were not happy ones but they served as a mirror to what was going on in the United States during Ronald Reagan’s reign.
The ambulance arrived too late. I guess she just didn’t want to wait…….
The group released Swallowed by the Cracks as it’s second single. See what you think….
It too was somewhat of a hit. I had the album and couldn’t wait for their next one. I am still waiting for that album today.
Today’s Long Song is a 1970s classic from a Colorado group called Sugarloaf. Let’s listen to Green-Eyed Lady….I think you will really like it.
Green-Eyed Lady made it all the way to #3 on the charts. I own Sugarloaf’s self-titled first album that contains Green-Eyed Lady and I would definitely recommend it if you are interested in hearing more from them. Although I really like Green-Eyed Lady, my favorite Sugarloaf song is Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You which is from their 1974 album of the same name. See what you think….
Since this song takes some pretty good shots at record companies in general, it should come as no surprise that this was Sugarloaf’s last album. As always, let me know what you think.
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.
