“I loved that record because it was so simple. And there was so much to see and to hear. It was just Paul. There was no adornment at all … There was no attempt made to compete with the things he had already done. And so out he stepped from the shadow of the Beatles.”

With those words, Neil Young captures perfectly the simplicity and brilliance of Paul McCartney’s debut solo album, “McCartney”…

Time To Celebrate A Classic!

I wanted to look at the “completely solo” debut album from Paul McCartney. It was widely derided at the time of its release, as Paul was blamed for the breakup of The Beatles – and fans were hurting and angry – as a result, Paul was under fire from all sides!

The Album’s First Single – That Wasn’t!

The story of Paul’s solo career begins with this classic song “Another Day”, which was the first single of McCartney’s solo career – but “Another Day” was actually written and previewed during the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions in 1969, and officially recorded for Paul’s SECOND album!

Here’s a great music video with lots of footage of Paul and Linda:

There are so many books that cover the breakup of The Beatles, and McCartney’s decision to release solo music, including a single that wasn’t even on McCartney’s first solo album!

The Majesty of “McCartney!”

“McCartney” was Paul’s debut solo album, released by Apple in April 1970 – recorded by Macca during a period of depression and confusion, following John Lennon’s private announcement in September 1969 that he was leaving the Beatles!

The Breakup Of The Beatles!

The band was also in the process of releasing “Let It Be” at the same time as “McCartney.” So the press and public were stunned when a press release came out from McCartney in the form of a self-interview that included promotional copies of “McCartney”. This shocking announcement led to a formal acknowledgement of the group’s break-up in April 1970. The band was no more…

The Recording Of “McCartney”:

Apart from wife Linda’s vocal contributions, McCartney performed the entire album by himself, playing every instrument. The songs felt like a series of sketches that were composed by McCartney, a back-to-basics style that had been the original concept for the Let It Be album…

Here is how wikipedia describes this time in Paul’s life: “Following John Lennon’s announcement in a band meeting on 20 September 1969 that he wanted a “divorce” from the Beatles,Paul McCartney withdrew to his farm in Campbeltown, Scotland. Author Robert Rodriguez describes his frame of mind as: “brokenhearted, shocked, and dispirited at the loss of the only job he had ever known”.

McCartney’s period in seclusion with his family coincided with widespread rumours in America that he had died – an escalation of the three-year-old “Paul Is Dead” conspiracy theory. The rumour was broken only by journalists from BBC Radio and Life magazine tracking him down at his farm, High Park.

How Paul Felt At The Time!

Here is how Paul describes this time in his life:

“I nearly had a breakdown. I suppose the hurt of it all, and the disappointment, and the sorrow of losing this great band, these great friends … I was going crazy.”

“McCartney” Track By Track!

Here’s a look at the album:

It begins with the :43 seconds of “The Lovely Linda” – which prepares listeners for an album full of short fragments – short stories in a way…this performance of “The Lovely Linda” was only intended as a test of the new equipment, it was included as the opening track, complete with the sound of McCartney giggling at the end of the recording!

“That Would Be Something” and “Valentine Day” are next, the latter one of three selections on “McCartney” that Paul says he “ad-libbed on the spot”, leading to one of the most beautiful songs Paul has ever written:

“Every Night”

This McCartney classic continues to be played widely today, a gorgeous song that feels light and carefree – fascinating when you consider Paul’s mood at the time.

Here is a live version from “MTV Unplugged” in 1992:

“Hot as Sun/Glasses”, “Junk” and “Man We Was Lonely” finish up the first side of the record, with “Junk” being a beautifully ballad…

“Oo You” is the first song on side two of the album.

This song reminds me of “I Got A Feeling”, with Paul offering up a blues riff and a great bit of guitar playing…

“Momma Miss America” is next, followed by another song originally written as a Beatles song, “Teddy Boy” – here is the original version that was finally released as part of The Beatles Anthology project:

“Singalong Junk” follows, basically “Junk” without vocals, which allows you to appreciate what a beautifully written tune it is….and then comes the album’s classic song:

“Maybe I’m Amazed!”

The album’s masterpiece is “Maybe I’m Amazed”, as pure a McCartney classic as he ever wrote – and one of many love songs written directly to Linda.

Here is a terrific live performance of the song, performed during the 1976 Wings tour:

“Kreen-Akrore” finishes up the album…

The Beatles React!

Fans were angry at the time, thinking that Paul had caused the breakup of The Beatles.

McCartney’s former bandmates also voiced their disappointment with the album. Shortly after its release, Harrison described “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “That Would Be Something” as “great”, but the rest, he said, “just don’t do much for me”.

“Rubbish!”

In a December 1970 interview with Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, Lennon dismissed McCartney as “rubbish” and expressed a belief that his primal therapy-inspired album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band would “probably scare [McCartney] into doing something decent”!

Time has, of course, been very kind to “McCartney”.

In 1999, Neil Young inducted McCartney into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and praised McCartney, saying:

“I loved that record because it was so simple. And there was so much to see and to hear. It was just Paul. There was no adornment at all … There was no attempt made to compete with the things he had already done. And so out he stepped from the shadow of the Beatles.”

Paul continues to play many of the songs in concert, and much of the shorter, more experimental music on the album inspired his project like Twin Freaks and The Fireman.

McCartney’s terrific “Archive” series came out with a bunch of great bonus material to go along with a remastered version of the album:

Disc 2 – Bonus tracks – All previously unreleased

“Suicide” (Out-take) – 2:48
“Maybe I’m Amazed” (From One Hand Clapping, 1974) – 4:53
“Every Night” (Live at Glasgow, 1979) – 4:30
“Hot as Sun” (Live at Glasgow, 1979) – 2:27
“Maybe I’m Amazed” (Live at Glasgow, 17 December 1979) – 5:11
“Don’t Cry Baby” (Out-take) – 3:07
“Women Kind” (Demo) (Mono) – 2:09

Disc 3 – DVD
“The Album Story”
“The Beach”
“Maybe I’m Amazed” (Music video)
“Suicide” (From One Hand Clapping, 1974)
“Every Night” (Live at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea, 1979)
“Hot as Sun” (Live at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea, 1979)
“Junk” (MTV Unplugged, 1991)
“That Would Be Something” (MTV Unplugged, 1991)

McCartney would waste no time getting back into the studio to release another masterpiece:

“Ram” was also derided upon release, but stands as one of his greatest solo albums…here is a look at this recording of the album, and his bitter feud with John Lennon:

http://johnrieber.com/2012/08/20/macca-ram-on-paul-mccartneys-masterpiece-john-lennons-fury-a-beatles-c-c-c-catfight/

Of course, The Beatles never reformed, and this movie showed the last time they ever played together:

Here is a look at the amazing documentary film “Let It Be”, including the infamous “rooftop” live performance by the band…

http://johnrieber.com/2013/04/06/let-it-be-the-beatles-lost-documentary-londons-live-beatles-rooftop-concert/

And if you just can’t get over the breakup of The Beatles, I’ve got something for you!

Here is a book that imagines the group never broke up, and shows what their solo music would have looked like as Beatles albums!

Click my story here:

http://johnrieber.com/2013/03/03/exclusive-the-lost-beatles-album-the-fab-fours-solo-songs-remixed/

Let me know what you love about “McCartney!”

“Hello, Honey!”

One picture. One iconic name: Honey Ryder. The FIRST Bond Girl! As she said at the time:

“This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent.”

Time To Celebrate Ursula Andress – Nicknamed Ursula “Undress”!

Ursula Andress is a Swiss film Actress who has appeared with some of Hollywood’s all-time biggest stars, including Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley!

But she will also forever be known for this:

007’s First Bond Girl!

Andress achieved instant stardom in 1962 when she emerged from the water as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, “Dr. No!”

Here is the scene from “Dr. No” when Sean Connery sees his first “Bond Girl”:

A Dubbed “Andress!”

Here is some great trivia: Ursula’s Swiss accent was so strong that her dialogue was dubbed – that’s not even her voice in the film! Still, it didn’t keep her from stardom. As Andress said:

“This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent.”

And so she did, moving on to a series of big hit films with Hollywood’s biggest stars!

Andress co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1963 musical “Fun in Acapulco”, and then moved on to another of America’s most popular singers!

Address also starred with Frank Sinatra, Anita Ekberg and Dean Martin in “4 for Texas” – and she also dated James Dean shortly before his death…

Ursula “Undress!”

Now, let’s discuss her nickname: how she earned it, and what she thought of it!

In 1965, Ursula Andress posed nude for Playboy – in what would be the first of eight times she posed for the magazine!

So THIS Is How She Earned Her Nickname!

Address appeared nude in a number of her movie roles, and posed for many pictorials, including one where she re-enacted her “Dr. No” pose – minus some wardrobe…

She was asked once why she had agreed to do the Playboy shoot – here is her succinct reply:

“Because I’m beautiful.”

OK then, within a few years she had earned her the nickname “Ursula Undress!”

Her film and TV work slowed down as she got older, but in 2006, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Swiss Consulate General in Scotland, Andress celebrated her 70th birthday on board the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh in the company of an international crowd of celebrities.

Here is an article looking at her life now, still turning heads at 79!

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/625780/Ursula-Andress-ultimate-original-bond-girl-where-is-she-now

Of course, Andress was just the first of many Bond girls – some who actually helped the movie plots, many of whom were wasted window dressing…some feel that this was the most beautiful Bond girl of all time!

Claudine Auger starred with Sean Connery in the fourth Bond film, “Thunderball” – also using the film’s beach locations to her benefit.

You can read more about Auger’s filmography, including one of Italy’s best giallo thrillers!

http://johnrieber.com/2015/12/18/sexiest-bond-girl-ever-sex-kitten-claudine-auger-james-bond-and-giallo-horror/

Another “Bond Girl” wasn’t in any of the official 007 movies, but in a spoof of Bond that was a smash hit in the late 60’s!

Barbara Bouchet was a “Bond girl” in the camp film “Casino Royale” – read more about it here:

http://johnrieber.com/2014/04/29/classic-sex-kitten-james-bonds-sexy-co-star-barbara-bouchet/

And since we are on all things “James Bond 007” – time for one of the biggest film debates of all time:

Who is the best 007? Who was the worst James Bond? Well, you can weigh in by clicking here!

http://johnrieber.com/2013/09/24/his-name-is-bond-james-bond-the-best-007-ever-the-worst-film-fight-club-begins-now/

For many, the best part of a Bond movie is the theme song – and we all know which one was the all-time best:

Paul McCartney and Wings rocked “Live And Let Die” to new Bond heights…but what is your favorite? Click here to vote – just don’t click “yes” for Madonna!

http://johnrieber.com/2013/11/05/rock-on-007-the-best-and-worst-james-bond-theme-songs/

And let’s take a moment to tip our hat to the first “Bond girl” ever!

“1986. Beer. Priest. Videocamera.”

Thirty years ago, filmmakers John Heyn and Jeff Krulik filmed Judas Priest
fans in a concert arena parking lot in suburban Maryland. Thirty years later,ﾠ Heavy Metal Parking Lot is hailed as one the greatest rock documentaries ever.

Here is the trailer – see for yourself!

Welcome to The “Heavy Metal Parking Lot!”

What a fascinating short film – a time capsule of a very specific time: spandex, big hair, denim, mullets, muscle cars, and beer – lots and lots of beer!

This 17-minute film “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” has led toﾠsequels, screenings, concerts, a reality-TV series, and fan-generated films – and now, 30 years later, the film offers even more!

The film itself is only 17 minutes long but this DVD has over 2 hours of extras!

The release includes a “Where Are They Now?” section with Zebra man and others who are in the short film.

Also included are outtakes, tributes, and other great stuff!

You can also go to the film’s official website to see much more as well:

http://www.heavymetalparkinglot.com

I love documentaries about music – as well as documentary films that capture a “moment in time” – as “HMPL” certainly does…if you are interested in this type of film, check this out!

The Clash – “Rude Boy!”

The seminal punk band The Clash played themselves in a fictional film called “Rude Boy!” It was the story of a Roadie who worked for the band and wanted fame for himself…

What made the film so great is that the band was filmed while on an actual Clash tour – and they put the fictional Roadie on stage to film scenes! So what you see in “Rude Boy” is an actual Clash tour – at the height of the punk rock movement!

You can see much more about this classic film by clicking here:

http://johnrieber.com/2014/03/09/the-clash-is-live-rude-boy-iconic-punk-music-meets-classic-cult-movie/

Leave a note and let me know if you’ve ever seen “Heavy Metal Parking Lot!”

A Musical Farewell To The Eagles!

Following the tragedy of Glenn Frey’s death, Don Henley has announced that The Eagles are no more.

I saw the band in 2013 as they performed their great “History Of The Eagles” tour, but with Frey’s untimely death, the band is no more. During a recent interview in London, Don Henley said goodbye to the Eagles.

Henley called the band’s mid-February Grammy appearance “the final farewell.”

“I don’t think you’ll see us performing again,” he added. “I think that was probably it. I think it was an appropriate farewell.”

The Grammy’s Farewell To Glenn Frey!

The Eagles performed their first big hit, “Take It Easy”, on the 2016 Grammy Awards show in honor of Frey, with the song’s writer, Jackson Browne, taking the lead. Original Eagle Bernie Leadon performed as well.

Surprisingly, there isn’t an official Grammy release of this performance, all I could find is one recorded off the screen by a fan:

The Eagles Farewell – “Long Road Out Of Eden!”

Henley’s announcement means that “Long Road Out of Eden” will be the seventh and final studio album by The Eagles, released in 2007..

“Long Road Out of Eden” was the first new studio album from the Eagles since 1979’s “The Long Run”.

The only other Eagles songs released between that time were the four original tracks on 1994’s live “Hell Freezes Over” album…the title of course a play on what Frey said would happen before the band ever performed together again!

As you can see from the track listing, the first four songs were new, then the rest were live performances…the band also released two other songs – “Hole in the World” in 2003 and “One Day At A Time” in 2005.

In 2007, Eagles fans were excited to have a double album of new material, which produced two singles on the Hot Country Songs charts as well as five straight hits on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts. Let’s look at the highlights of “Long Road Out Of Eden!”

“No More Walks in the Wood” is the first song, a beautiful ode to nature, with perfect Eagles harmonies…then, it’s right into the album’s first hit single, the raucous “How Long”:

“How Long,” was written by the band’s good friend J.D. Souther – who had previously worked with the Eagles co-writing some of their biggest hits including “Best of My Love,” “Victim of Love,” “Heartache Tonight” and “New Kid in Town”. The band performed the song as part of their live sets in the early to mid-1970s, but did not put it on an Eagles album because J.D. Souther wanted it on his first solo album!

Busy Being Fabulous:

The ballad “What Do I Do with My Heart” is next, then Joe Walsh shows up with “Guilty of the Crime”, followed by “I Don’t Want to Hear Any More”…

The Gorgeous “Waiting In The Weeds!”

The next song is one of Don Henley’s best. No music video was made for this song, so a fan did a beautiful job of taking Eagles imagery and putting it to this gorgeous song…which the band wisely let play out over seven minutes….

“No More Cloudy Days” and “Fast Company” are next, then a beautiful and political call to action followed – “Do Something”!

Don Henley told Billboard magazine in 2007 that “‘Do Something’ is an interesting song because it starts out like a love song, a boy/girl song, but then it takes on larger implications. And that line (“How did we get on this road we are traveling?”) could pertain to a relationship between a man and a woman or it could be a statement about the country as a whole.”

Glenn Frey ends side one with his song “You Are Not Alone”…

Side two begins with the band’s scathing indictment of our country’s role in the Middle East with the album’s title track: “Long Road Out of Eden”…

Here are some of the lyrics to this ten minute song:

Back home i was so certain
The path was very clear
But now i have to wonder: “what are we doing here?”
I’m not counting on tomorrow
And i can’t tell wrong from right
But i’d give anything to be there in your arms tonight

Weaving down the american highway
Through the litter and the wreckage and the cultural junk
Bloated with entitlement, loaded on propaganda
And now we’re driving dazed and drunk

Been down the road to damascus,
The road to mandalay
Met the ghost of caesar on the appian way
He said, “it’s hard to stop this bingeing, once you get a taste.”
“but the road to empire is a bloody stupid waste.”

Behold the bitten apple – the power of the tools
But all the knowledge in the world is of no use to fools
And it’s a long road out of eden….

What immediately followed is “I Dreamed There Was No War”, written by Glenn Frey, and the instrumental won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance:

“Somebody” and “Frail Grasp on the Big Picture” were next, followed by one of my favorite Joe Walsh songs, “Last Good Time in Town”…

“I Love to Watch a Woman Dance”, “Business as Usual” and “Center of the Universe” follow before the album ends with the prescient “It’s Your World Now” …

At the time of the album’s release, there was a bit of controversy since the band made an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart to sell it…but the double album was only $10, which was an amazing value for fans!

The album debuted at #1 in the U.S. and won the band two Grammy awards for “How Long” and the instrumental “I Dreamed There Was No War”. The album became the band’s sixth #1 album and was the highest selling album of the year!

February 1974 — The members of The Eagles stand against a wall. The Eagles were the most popular band of the seventies and their reunion tour in the nineties was also very successful. — Image by © Henry Diltz/CORBIS

It was a “long road” indeed for the band, who began in the 70’s and were still going strong…here is a look at how the band got started:

The Birth Of The Eagles! Linda Ronstadt’s Back-Up Band Had A “Peaceful Easy Feeling!”

The band created so much great music – this was one of my favorites:

“On The Border” introduced Don Felder to fans, and had the band’s first #1 song, “Best Of My Love.” See more here:

http://johnrieber.com/2016/03/14/on-the-border-the-eagles-say-hello-to-don-felder-goodbye-to-glyn-johns-don-henleys-brilliant-1-best-of-my-love/

For lucky fans, the “History Of The Eagles” concert tour was the last chance to see them together live:

You can see my review of the concert here – including clips from the show:

http://johnrieber.com/2013/09/21/history-of-the-eagles-amazing-concert-old-friends-return/

Let me know what your favorite song was on “Long Road Out Of Eden!”

“We Did The Whole ‘Beatlemania’ Thing.”

“I thought it was the biggest mistake we could have ever made”

Two Utopia band members with polar opposite reactions to the most polarizing Utopia album ever released!

A 36-Year Celebration Of Utopia’s Classic – And Controversial – “Deface The Music!”

Time to look at one of the most inventive pop albums ever released – and the album that many feel derailed Utopia’s drive to the top of the music charts!

“We Did The Whole ‘Beatlemania’ Thing.”

That’s how Todd Rundgren described “Deface The Music”, one of Utopia’s most polarizing albums – and an album that deserves a re-discovery by music lovers!

Todd has always been a Beatles fan – and included covers of “Rain” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” on his solo album “Faithful.”

Here is a live version of “Strawberry Fields” – Todd performs with the Bella Electric Strings at his Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp in November 2013:

Special thanks to John Meanor for posting this on YouTube….

Todd’s love of the Fab Four manifested itself in 1980 with an entire Utopia album of “Beatle-infused” songs that actually created a lot of tension within the band.

The “Road” To Utopia!

The story of “Deface The Music” is ultimately about a lot more than just music. The album marks a pivotal time in Utopia’s history, a time of great success and ongoing frustration.

Most fans of Todd know about the two biographies that are available that offer an in-depth look at all aspects of Todd’s life.

“A Dream Goes On Forever” by Billy James, with research by Tony Rogers, does a great job telling the story of Todd’s solo music, while his “Vol. 2” focuses on the Utopia years.

Fans of the group know that Todd’s record label was never supportive of the group’s musical efforts, and the books document that in some detail.

That’s what intrigued me about the band, and their relationship as musicians. I was taken with the adversity the band endured – some self-inflicted, but much caused by a record label that didn’t support their music.

We can all recite a laundry list of Utopia songs that should have been hits, beginning with “The Wheel” and “Love Is The Answer”, and leading to some of the last songs released by the group such as “Cry Baby”, “Mated”, “Secret Society” and “If I Didn’t Try.”

“Vol. 2” of the Billy James biographies delve into the struggles the band had in getting record label support from the very beginning, and one album stands out as the most divisive in group’s career.

Todd “Defaces” The Music!

36 years ago, Todd Rundgren and Utopia released “Deface The Music”, an upbeat and energetic celebration of The Beatles. It certainly had a sense of humor, as evidenced by the “Outstanding In Their Field” photo on the back cover!

However, it was the timing of the album’s release that has divided Utopia fans since 1980.

The Billy James book gives an inside look at the making of the album as well as the dissension that the album caused within the band. The book is surprisingly honest and raw, as Utopia band members Willie Wilcox, Roger Powell and Kasim Sulton discuss what it was like to be in Todd’s shadow, especially when it came to the “Deface” project.

“I thought it was the biggest mistake we could have ever made” is how Kasim Sultan described the album years later.

Willie Wilcox was even more vocal. “It was a really stupid thing to do,” he said flatly.

More “Adventures In Utopia!”

These Utopia band members discuss how happy they were with the success of “Adventures In Utopia” – their biggest selling album ever. The album was a huge critical and commercial success for the group, making it all the way to #32 on the Billboard charts!

Here is the band performing their hit single “Set Me Free”:

For Utopia fans, the hit single “Set Me Free” and the collection of great songs suggested that more great Utopia music was on the way.

It was at that time, however, that Todd decided to use Utopia to make a Beatles tribute album next…and the resulting album, “Deface The Music” brought the band’s momentum to a crashing halt.

Alice Cooper’s “Music” Inspiration!

Here’s how the project got started.

“‘Deface The Music'” was something we did as a reaction to a response that one of our songs got”, Todd revealed years after the album was released.

Todd was referring to a song he wrote for the Alice Cooper / Meatloaf film “Roadie”. That song was “I Just Want To Touch You”, which ultimately opens the “Deface The Music” album. Todd wrote it as a fun, catchy single for the movie, but the film’s Producers decided not to put in the movie!

The reason seems shocking today, but they feared The Beatles would sue them because of the similarities to the Beatles hit “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”.

Todd was inspired by the song’s sound and decided to pay homage to The Beatles – writing songs that evoked the Fab Four’s tunes throughout various stages of their career.

The “Vol. 2” book spends a fair amount of time discussing how Todd’s decision wasn’t popular with the other band members, and how the poor reception for “Deface The Music” was a “career killer” for the group. And while there was a lot of great Utopia music still to come, as a band they never regained their “Adventures” momentum – and the book captures the resentment that caused among the band.

The biography also has interviews with record execs who freely admit they never wanted Utopia’s music, and tried to convince Todd to just release more Todd solo albums! Clearly, the odds were stacked against the band.

Critical Acclaim And Commercial Failure…

There is also another terrific book about Todd and his music. “A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio” by Paul Myers is an in-depth look at Rundgren’s work in the studio, both on his own music as well as the work of other artists such as Meatloaf, Patti Smith and more. This outstanding work also digs into the recording of the “Deface The Music” album.

As Myers writes, the band was “shocked” when Todd revealed his idea for the album.

The rest of the band wanted to record more songs in the style of “Adventures In Utopia” to capitalize on that album’s success, but Todd wanted to try something different, and the band reluctantly went along.

As I pointed out before, both Sultan and Wilcox thought the album was a big mistake for the band,

Willie Wilcox, however, also noted how good the album was, as he is quoted in the book as admitting:

“From a business or a fan base perspective, going to a Beatle album was very confusing. I have to say, though, from a musicians perspective you only care that the band’s making good music and there are some great songs on “Deface The Music.”

Time To “Deface The Songs!”

Todd’s entire career has been one of experimentation, with little regard for the commercial realities of the music business.

Fans have always accepted this part of his career, and fans of Utopia also saw that side of Todd. But what ultimately matters is the music, and that is where the band shines.

The thirteen songs on “Deface” are some of the best power pop the band ever produced.

“I Just Want To Touch You” – beginning with a screaming harmonica, Utopia announces their love of “Beatlemania” with the song Todd wrote originally for “Roadie.”

Here is the single, infused with every ounce of “Beatlemania” they had!

It’s got the energy and enthusiasm of “Beatlemania” at its peak, but it’s presented through Todd’s unique creative filter, and it’s a terrific way to begin the album.

“Crystal Ball” – the raucous, “shake your head” vibe of this song fits perfectly in The Beatles early career, almost an “Eight Days A Week” style that also evokes Todd’s “Wolfman Jack” song from “Something/Anything?”

“Where Does The World Go To Hide” – this song actually feels like a Beatles B-side, the kind of catchy tune that the band wrote with ease. In this case, it feels like another great Todd song that he wrote with ease as well.

Here is a live version I found on YouTube – just audio with images to cover:

As you can hear, the band is having fun performing these songs!

“Silly Boy” – This sounds a lot like early Ringo, one of the songs that McCartney and Lennon would routinely write for the drummer.

“Alone” – here is one of the album’s “single that should have been” – it’s a gorgeous, up tempo ballad with a hint of “a twist” – this feels like an outtake from “Rubber Soul”

“That’s Not Right” – Another “Eight Days A Week” vibe, after The Beatles were confident songwriters, knocking out catchy hit singles with seemingly no effort.

“Take It Home” – In the 80’s, Utopia mastered the musical genre of pure power pop. Perhaps if this song had been released on a different album, it would have charted as well, as it’s a slice of pop nirvana.

The song has a clear “Day Tripper” vibe running through it , like a song you love immediately because it feels like you’ve already heard it.

“Hoi Poloi” – this is Utopia’s fun parody of the 60’s “sound”….and could easily have fit on “Sgt. Peppers”…and you can see that the songs pay homage to the sound of The Beatles, but also have a distinct sound on their own as well.

There was only one video from the album, but here is the audio of the next song, “Life Goes On”:

“Life Goes On” – this could also be off of “Sgt. Pepper”, with the strings evoking “Eleanor Rigby” , with a story being told in evocative lyrics

“She was the pride of her dad
But she harbored a secret in her bureau drawer
And when the news was too bad
She would get into trouble with the boy next door
Life goes on whether or not there’s a reason
Life goes on, enter another season
Life goes on, the world keeps turning and life goes on
Life goes on, the world keeps turning and life goes on”

“Feels Too Good” – One of the most upbeat songs on “Sgt. Pepper” was “Getting Better” – and here is that vibe channeled clearly through the Todd filter:

“Feel too good to go to work today
I need a little more time so I can stay this way.
Let’s go for a ride on the Circle Line?
Couldn’t you use a day in the sunshine…
Feel too good
Can’t let the little things bother me
Because I feel too good…”

“All Smiles” – here’s a straightforward pop song that is short and sweet, and could have been written for “Magical Mystery Tour”

“Always Late” – this song feels like Paul McCartney’s sequel to “Fool On The Hill”, driven simply by a piano

The album ends on the most intricate song, Todd’s clear homage to the song he covered on “Faithful”:

“Everybody Else I Wrong” – here is “Strawberry Fields Forever” through Todd’s creative filter, the minor chords of John Lennon’s songwriting put through Todd’s imagination:

“At the edge of the world
The sun pouring down
We must be heading home
I completely agree
I’ve just been waiting for the right words to come along

Everybody else is wrong
Doesn’t everyone concur, oh no
Thank you for the vote of confidence
I feel so much surer now that
Everybody else is wrong”

Re-evaluating “Deface The Music!”

The thirteen tracks on the album were full of great hooks, gorgeous melodies and Utopia’s tight musicianship. Ultimately, no one can say whether Utopia would have achieved more fame had the band done an obvious sequel to “Adventures In Utopia”, but 35 years later, the album is still one of Utopia’s best!

Even with the controversy within the band, and some confusion on the part of fans, the reviews were good for “Deface The Music”:

Cream magazine called the album “the band’s best album ever – it’s one of the best pop albums of the year, something few critics bothered to mention while pulling Beatle quotes out of it like silly school kids.”

“Allmusic.com” called it “a swift, brutally funny and insanely catchy send-up of the Fab Four’s entire career… it feels more like a burst of cynical joy that is damn near impossible to resist.”

And Wilson&Alroy’s Record Reviews called it “a weird footnote in a great band’s career.”

Give it another spin and re-live a quirky yet important album on the “road to Utopia!”

Todd Rundgren and Utopia also created some of the catchiest power pop songs of the 80’s, and you can see them here:

http://johnrieber.com/2015/09/02/todd-rundgrens-power-pop-the-finger-snapping-story-of-a-pop-music-sound/

I told you about the Todd bio books, which are fascinating and in-depth…

You can read all about them here:

http://johnrieber.com/2013/06/04/todd-rundgrens-new-musical-state-his-new-tiki-iniki-bar-todds-incredible-bio-books/

Finally, I may have annoyed true Utopia fans once when I suggested that a brilliant album of Todd songs were embedded throughout Utopia’s catalogue:

Here is an album full of classic Todd songs that were released on Utopia albums:

http://johnrieber.com/2013/09/06/todd-rundgrens-lost-solo-masterpiece/

Leave a message and let me know what you think of “Deface The Music!”

The review at the time of this album’s release said it all:

“demonstrates his command of the studio, unfurling his falsetto over a kaleidoscope of rock genres”

Time to dig into one of the greatest albums ever released, the epic four-sided majesty of:

Todd Rundgren’s “Something / Anything?”

Talk about hitting your stride quickly!

“Something/Anything?” was only Todd’s third solo release, but it was stuffed to the gills with music! “S/A?” was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios in Woodstock. Three quarters of the album was recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals!

Rolling Stone voted it one of the 500 greatest albums ever released – a double album that stands alongside Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti” as the best double albums of the 70’s…

Todd’s Musical “Second Nature”!

There are many fascinating stories surround the “Something / Anything” album. As Todd told Paul Myers for the terrific book “A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio”:

“By the time I had got to ‘Something/Anything’, my songwriting process had become almost two second nature. I was writing songs formulaically, almost without thinking, knocking out a song, reflexively, in about twenty minutes.”

This book is a must for Todd fans, and it dives deep into every album Todd worked on in the studio…let’s take a listen to the majesty of “S/A!”

Side one begins with “I Saw the Light”, which Todd told Myers:

“Songs like ‘I Saw The Light’…just came out of me in one piece a very short time.”

The first side of the album is the most perfectly realized collection of power pop ever released: beginning with the hit single “I Saw The Light”, followed by another hit, the soulful “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference.”

Here is “I Saw The Light” performed by Todd on his latest solo tour, in Beverly Hills in January 2016…

More than 40 years on, Todd’s voice is flawless.

To see my entire review of this incredible show, click on my story here:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/01/07/todd-rundgren-rocks-beverly-hills-todds-2016-tour-reviewed/

The next song is Todd’s brilliant “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference”, one of his most beautiful ballads…here is a great live performance from 1997:

Next, Todd unveils the pure power pop of “Wolfman Jack” – the song is jagged, raw, feisty and fun – and well ahead of the power pop phenomenon that would take hold in the late 70’s and early 80’s…

Todd’s musical output in the 70’s and early 80’s was clearly ahead of its time…here’s a look at some of his power pop classics:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/09/02/todd-rundgrens-power-pop-the-finger-snapping-story-of-a-pop-music-sound/

“Cold Morning Light”, “It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls)” and “Sweeter Memories” round out side one – all perfectly formed pop hits…which leads into Todd having a bit of fun to begin side two:

Side two has the funny “Intro” – where Todd gives you an audio tour of the studio and of common producing mistakes, then right into an instrumental, “Breathless”, and then the beautiful, haunting ballad “The Night the Carousel Burnt Down”.

Here is a music video created by a fan:

Special thanks to “qwerty2009ful” for posting this on YouTube!

That’s a picture of the double album’s interior – the many facets of Todd on this album…”Saving Grace”, “Marlene”, “Song of the Viking” and “I Went to the Mirror” close out side two, “Mirror” having very much an icy, “Nine Inch Nails” vibe…

Side three begins with one of Todd’s best rockers, with a screaming guitar solo: “Black Maria” – here is Todd performing the song on his most recent tour, when I saw him in Beverly Hills:

“One More Day (No Word)” is a gentle calypso-infused song, and another of Todd’s classic power pop rockers is next:

“Couldn’t I Just Tell You” is perfect power pop!

Here are Todd and Utopia performing the song live on “The Midnight Special” from 1974:

What a great performance!

“Torch Song” and “Little Red Lights” close out side three, the “traditional” sides of “Something / Anything?”

Time To Get Live!

The final side of “Something / Anything?” is fascinating: the songs are performed live in a studio without any overdubs! Among the Musicians sitting in with Todd are fellow Utopian Moogy Klingman, Guitarist Rick Derringer sits in for a song, Trumpeter Randy Brecker – a founding member of Blood, Sweat & Tears also played on the Record Plant sessions…an eclectic mix of musicians for what is an eclectic mix of songs!

Side four begins with “Overture–My Roots: Money (That’s What I Want)/Messin’ With The Kid”, then goes into a song that Klingman wrote – “Dust in the Wind”: here is a great live version that Todd and Utopia performed in 2011 to help raise money for Klingman:

All Rose Kicks Up “Dust!”

Here is some fun trivia: Guns ‘n Roses were huge Todd fans: Axl Rose declared in a 1989 Rolling Stone interview that:

“Today, my favorite record is Todd Rundgren’s Something/Anything”!

Here is a great video I found on Youtube, Guns ‘n’ Roses covering “Dust In The Wind”:

“Piss Aaron” is next, and I only recently heard what the song was about – and I heard it from Todd himself!

The recent release of Todd’s BBC performances in the 70’s includes a video of him explaining the story behind “Piss Aaron” – you can see it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/03/23/todd-rundgren-live-at-the-bbc-utopias-pyramid-climb-a-decade-of-brilliant-music/

Up next is a song that was originally recorded for Nazz, a much more somber version that Todd doesn’t even sing on!

The Brilliant “Hello, It’s Me!”

It’s arguably his best-known song, and one of the greatest songs ever written: “Hello, It’s Me” was also Todd’s biggest hit single, reaching #5 on the Billboard charts!

Todd is clearly having a blast in the studio, as he leaves a bit of chatter and warm-up as part of the song…

He has performed “Hello It’s Me” many times over the years, including with backing from Hall & Oates and Stevie Nicks on his “Back To The Bars” double live album…and here he is playing it again flawlessly on his most recent tour:

His voice is absolute perfection!

“Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me” and his ode to the danger of groupies, “You Left Me Sore” are next, before “S /A” closes with “Slut.” That last song, by the way, was actually recorded at a different session with original Utopians Tony and Hunt Sales.

So there it is, four sides of epic Todd music!

“Something / Anything?” was released in February of 1972, peaking at number 29 on the Billboard charts and was Todd’s first gold record, and still his best-selling album of all time!

Rolling Stone Raves! Todd’s Brilliance Endures!

In a review, Rolling Stone said the album:

“demonstrates his command of the studio, unfurling his falsetto over a kaleidoscope of rock genres”.

The critical acclaim of “Something / Anything?” has only grown over the years! In 2003, the album was ranked number 173 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time!

Todd Talks “Something”!

This great interview clip was uploaded on Sep 2, 2010 – it’s Part 3 of Rundgren’s Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture at DePauw University, in Greencastle, Indiana.

I love listening to Todd sharing his creative process. Of course we all know that “S/A?” was also something of a curse:

“AWATS” Must Wait!

Next up of course would be “A Wizard A True Star”, but the record company forced Todd to hold it so they could continue to release hit singles from “Something / Anything?”

The reaction to “AWATS” was very mixed at the time, but now, it is considered a masterpiece as well…you can read all about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/08/23/a-genius-a-true-star-todd-rundgrens-musical-influence-awats-re-appraised-more-todd-mojo/

Let me know what you think of this “S/A?” retrospective!

“While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure”

With those words, a Judge is taking Led Zeppelin to court! That’s right, rock’s most famous song, “Stairway To Heaven”, has a date in a courtroom due to a long-standing lawsuit over charges that the band stole the song!

As the Judge states above, there are enough similarities in the two songs to send this case to a jury!

Lawyers for Led Zeppelin tried to throw the case out, but the Judge ruled otherwise. Here’s how it all began:

“Stairway To Heave” sounds a lot like the song “Taurus” — by a band called Spirit who – allegedly performed it while touring with a young Led Zeppelin in the late 1960s.

As the Judge noted:

“For example, the descending bass line in both Taurus and Stairway to Heaven appears at the beginning of both songs, arguably the most recognizable and important segments. … Additionally, the descending bass line is played at the same pitch, repeated twice, and separated by a short bridge in both songs.”

Listen for yourself here:

As The Washington Post reports:

“Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin et al. was brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for Randy Wolfe of Spirit, who died in 1997. Wolfe, a.k.a. Randy California, wrote “Taurus” in 1967, the suit said; the two sides can’t agree on whether Page and Plant, before they wrote “Stairway,” heard Spirit play “Taurus” while playing at music festivals in the late 1960s.”

It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest songs in rock history….

Led Zeppelin is considered the great hard rock band of all time, and the album that “Stairway To Heaven” is on, “IV” ( Or “Zoso”, you call!) is widely considered a masterpiece…

So the case will go to trial, with the potential that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page may be found guilty of plagiarizing the song…

Here is a compilation posted on YouTube of several instances when a Led Zeppelin song has had noticeable similarities to other, earlier songs…

You can read the entire story about the lawsuit, with more details here – thanks to the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/12/led-zeppelin-members-face-trial-in-stairway-to-heaven-copyright-infringement-lawsuit/?hpid=hp_no-name_morning-mix-story-f-duplicate-duplicate%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Led Zepplein’s albums have undergone massive remastering project, with deluxe box sets overseen by Jimmy Page:

Read all about those efforts here, including lots of great videos of the band:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/08/01/led-zeppelin-iv-remastered-zoso-zeppelins-top-5-singles-hoth-remastered-too/

The band was also known for their raucous off-stage behavior, captured in the greatest book ever written about the sordid world of a rock band:

Read all about the “Hammer Of The Gods” here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/04/11/classic-led-zeppelin-remastered-hammer-of-the-gods-x3-greatest-rock-albums-ever/

Let me know what you think of this lawsuit!

“One Of These Nights!” The Eagles Hit #1 – And Then Meltdown!

You know the lyrics – EVERYONE knows these lyrics!

One of these nights
One of these crazy old nights
We’re gonna find out
Pretty mama
What turns on your lights
The full moon is calling
The fever is high
And the wicked wind whispers
And moans
You got your demons
You got desires
Well, I got a few of my own

One of rock’s catchiest songs…and “demons” and “desires” were tearing at the band!

The Meltdown Around The #1 Eagles Album “One Of These Nights!”

Coming off their first #1 hit single the previous year, The Eagles were poised to soar…they did, but that didn’t keep the band from melting down anyway! Here is the behind-the-scenes story of their brilliant, fractured album “One Of These Nights!”

From Blue Jeans To Three Piece!

See the image above? Those were The Eagles after the release of “On The Border”, which included their first ever #1 single “Best Of My Love”…blue jeans and laid back…now look at this image:

Perhaps this portrait shows how the band had dramatically changed…this is the back cover of their next album, “One Of These Nights” – they went from slackers to a band that was polished, refined, dressed sharp for success…it was bound to bring the fractured relationship behind the scenes to a head…let’s take a look!

“One of These Nights” was the band’s fourth album, released in 1975. The record’s title song became the group’s second No. 1 single – The Eagles were on a roll.

The band was coming off their first #1 single – “Best Of My Love” from the breakout album, “On The Border” – an upbeat, aggressive and sometimes caustic album full of great songs….you can see more here:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/03/14/on-the-border-the-eagles-say-hello-to-don-felder-goodbye-to-glyn-johns-don-henleys-brilliant-1-best-of-my-love/

Don Felder had joined the group during the recording of “Border” to add more aggressive guitar to the band’s sound. Coming off that album’s success, the group put together another collection of hit singles, including the title track – which quickly became their next #1 hit!

Let’s celebrate with a live version of “One Of These Nights”, a song that captures everything that made the band so great: catchy hooks, incredible harmonies, and terrific lyrics.

Here is a live version from 1977:

The title track includes one of the best falsetto sections with Randy Meisner, who performs similar duties on “Take It To The Limit”. But as Glenn Frey and Don Henley state on the excellent Eagles documentary “The History Of The Eagles”, Meisner began to push back on performing some of these songs, and it alienated him from the powerful duo.

Glenn Frey and Don Henley wrote four of the nine songs by themselves, and they also collaborated with other members of the band on three other songs. Most of these were written while Frey and Henley were sharing a house in Beverly Hills, including “One of These Nights”, “Lyin’ Eyes”, “Take It To The Limit” and “After The Thrill Is Gone” – all big smash hits for the band – the duo were on a creative tear!

Some Great Don Henley Quotes!

Discussing the album with Writer Cameron Crowe at the time, Don Henley called the album their “satanic country-rock period” because:

“It was a dark time, both politically and musically” in America. Henley was referencing the Watergate scandal AND disco! He added:

“We thought, “Well, how can we write something with that flavor, with that kind of beat, and still have the dangerous guitars?” We wanted to capture the spirit of the times.”

Here is another of the album’s smash hits, “Take It To The Limit”:

The song includes a beautiful falsetto by Randy Meisner, but his reluctance to sing these songs live was causing a big rift between him and the band.

“The History Of The Eagles” is a fantastic documentary, honestly and candidly recounting all of this strife…you can read more here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/09/21/history-of-the-eagles-amazing-concert-old-friends-return/

And Meisner wasn’t the only band member having issues with Henley and Frey.

Bernie Leadon also alienated himself from them with his two songs: the psychelic “Flight Of The Sorcerer” and his love song, written with Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

“I Wish You Peace” is a beautiful song, but Henley HATED it, and hated that Davis was part of it.

The band was in meltdown.

As you can see from the image on the album’s back cover, this was a more polished Eagles band…and side two led off with one of the band’s greatest stories ever…

“You Can’t Hide Your ‘Lyin’ Eyes’!”

“Lyin’ Eyes” was another big hit for the band, and a classic slice of Eagles storytelling…a young woman married to a rich older man – and the illicit affair that Henley and Frey saw at a restaurant!

There is a great story about how the duo wrote the song after imagining that a beautiful young woman in a bar where they were eating had “Lyin’ Eyes”…you can read the whole story here:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/01/19/glenn-freys-greatest-song-lyin-eyes-the-true-story/

“After The Thrill Is Gone” is another Henley/Frey hit…with lyrics that could have spoken directly to the tension in the band…

They weren’t the only band members with a caustic pen…

“I wish you peace when the cold winds blow “

Bernie Leadon may have been writing the same thing, and his ballad “I Wish You Peace” wasn’t written with Henley or Frey – he wrote it with Patti Davis, the daughter of Republican then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan!

Here is how Henley later described the song:

“smarmy cocktail music and certainly not something the Eagles are proud of”.

Henley was also annoyed that Davis received cowriting credit, and told a reporter:

“Nobody else wanted [the song]. We didn’t feel it was up to the band’s standards, but we put it on anyway as a gesture to keep the band together.”

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Here is the audio of the song, which is much more beautiful than the other band members were willing to give it credit for:

According to wikipedia, Frey said that “One Of These Nights was the most fluid and “painless” album [they] ever made”. He may have been referencing his work with Henley, which was superlative.

However, Leadon wrote three of the nine songs on the album, and none of them were hit singles. He was openly unhappy with the direction the band was taking. Leadon’s country-influenced music didn’t fit the more rock-focused direction of Henley and Frey…

The “Direction” Was Toward The Top Of The Charts!

Even with Leadon unhappy about the band’s direction, the album was a smash hit! There were three Top 10 singles, and the album was the band’s first #1 album!

“One Of These Nights” was nominated for Album of the Year, “Lyin’ Eyes” was nominated for Record of the Year, and the band won for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals!

“One of These Nights” turned out to be Leadon’s swan song. He left the group, replaced by one of rock’s wild men, Joe Walsh!

Walsh, Joe

The Eagles Have A New Look!

“Life’s Been Good” for Joe Walsh, whose manic personality and on-stage electricity brought even more energy to the band, and what lay ahead would change rock music forever – but that’s the next chapter in the story…

Let me know what you think!

“There’s something at the heart of it that’s simply awful
A man who makes a living off a plastic waffle!”

Time to celebrate an album from an Artist whose “plastic waffles” make millions of fans rejoice! Time for four more sides of inventive and memorable “Todd!”

An Album As Multi-Colored As His Hair!

After the huge success of the Todd’s double album “Something/Anything?”, he took a detour with the experimental – and brilliant – “A Wizard, A True Star”.

“AWATS” was greeted poorly upon release, but has become just another of Todd’s masterpieces…read more about it here:

“A Genius A True Star!” Todd Rundgren’s Musical Influence! “AWATS” Re-Appraised! More Todd “MOJO!”

Todd then followed up with “Todd”, his fifth album and second double album, released in February 1974.

Pop Hits! Classic Ballads! Timeless Todd!

You could also call him amazingly prolific, since this double album included 17 songs, including 5 instrumentals and one cover!

Todd’s “Oil” Crisis!

Here’s some interesting trivia: the release of the album was actually delayed by a vinyl shortage caused by the 1973 oil crisis!

Of course, record company politics were also a factor since the album’s release was also compounded by reluctance from the record label, Bearsville, to release a new album when his song “Hello It’s Me” from Something/Anything? was still on the singles chart!

Here is a look at the great double album “Todd”!

“How About A Little Fanfare?” / “I Think You Know”

The album begins with a short instrumental – “Fanfare” uses synthesizers, sound effect sand what feels like a car revving up its engine, then segues right into another of Todd’s great pop hits…Here is Todd performing them both live in 2010:

Thanks as always to “HarryRunt danu” on YouTube for posting great Todd performances!

More on where this live performance is from later…

“The Spark Of Life” is next, the second instrumental in only three songs, an interesting pop of fun before Todd gives you his opinion of his career with the goofy fun of:

“An Elpee’s Worth Of Tunes”

Tod always has fun in the studio, and shares his sense of humor with fans, and this son is no different…

“There’s something at the heart of it that’s simply awful
A man who makes a living off a plastic waffle…”

Here’s a quirky video of the song with Todd from 1974!

“A Dream Goes On Forever”

The album “Todd” includes a number of his greatest songs, like this one.

Here is a great live version of the song from 1978, just Todd at a piano:

Part of Todd Rundgren’s enduring career is his ability to release timeless music, and “A Dream Goes On Forever” is just the latest example…and of course, Todd follows it with a classic cover song!

“Lord Chancellor’s Nightmare Song”

Yes, Gilbert & Sullivan are covered by Todd!

After side one, you flip the disc and get an experimental instrumental “Drunken Blue Rooster” before Todd gives you another instant classic, the gorgeous breakup ballad:

“The Last Ride”

Here is a beautiful live version of this enduring Todd classic, with Daryl Hall joining in, from the great show “Live From Daryl’s House:

Here is a story I posted about their musical friendship:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/11/12/todd-rundgren-and-daryl-halls-creative-musical-friendship-bang-on-the-drum-hula/

Todd ends side two with an instrumental jam called

“Everybody’s Going to Heaven / King Kong Reggae”

This is a musical tour de force, with a funky reggae jam…side three begins with one of Todd’s heavy metal classics:

“Number One Lowest Common Denominator”

Todd’s foray into heavy metal, begins AND ends side three! First, this great piece of grunge rock with a heavy guitar riff…

Here is Todd performing it live in 2010 – when he performed the entire album live for a DVD release!

Obviously, all Todd fans should own this live version of the album, which shows off Todd’s virtuoso approach to his music library…side three of “Todd” is also a mini-pop masterpiece as well

The gorgeous pop song “Useless Begging” is next, then the “poppy” instrumental
“Sidewalk Cafe” – and then the pop hit Todd didn’t want!

“Izzat Love?”

This is a slice of pop majesty, but trivia says that Rundgren battled with Bearsville over the label’s desire to release the song “Izzat Love?” as a single!

According to wikipedia, Todd insisted the song was “indicative of a music style he no longer wished to pursue”, and vowed to never record again should the song be released.

I’d love for anyone to tell me if they believe this to be true!

Regardless, side three ends on another “heavy metal” note, with Todd’s classic hard rocker

“Heavy Metal Kids”

Here is a live version from 2011 – the Utopia reunion show!

Thanks to Susan Raslovick for posting this on YouTube….

Side four starts off with the last instrumental – with the funny title:

“In and Out the Chakras We Go (Formerly: Shaft Goes to Outer Space)”

“Don’t You Ever Learn?”

Next up is another of Todd’s enduring classics, and once again he ponders our role in the world…

“Don’t you ever listen?
Don’t you ever learn?
The hand may find you
It’s time to take a turn
You think this life is something strange
You’re ready for another change
But don’t you ever learn?”

Here is a great live Solo performance posted by “HarryRunt danu” from what he calls The Infamous “Drunk Concert” In Sausalito, CA In 1987:

The album ends with another unique idea by Todd:

“Sons of 1984”

This great crowd sing-a-long was recorded live at Wollman Rink, in New York’s Central Park – he performs the songs here live in 2010:

The lyrics of this song are great:

“Open your eyes and see
The world I couldn’t change for you
Reach out your hand and take
The world that will belong to you

We were on our way to a better day
And the spirit was in us all
But as time went by we fell by the wayside
Maybe you’ll be the last to fall

You are the only ones
There is nobody left but you
You are the chosen ones
There is nobody else to choose

Back when I was young, my hope was strong
But the time blew it all to hell
If I thought I knew what was good for you
I would have gone and done it for myself

Worlds of tomorrow
Life without sorrow
Take it because it’s yours
Sons of 1984”

What I love about this song is how inspiring and upbeat it is, and when you hear the thousands of fans singing along, it’s really magical…and what a terrific way to end this double album!

“Todd” wasn’t as successful as “Something / Anything?” from a commercial point of view, but Todd has always followed the beat of his own drum, and this double album gives fans great pop hits, beautiful ballads, inspiring lyrics and a whole lot of rock and roll as well!

Fans have always been given great Todd music to enjoy forever, like this one as well, the spiritual “Healing”:

Here is a look at that album, which includes one of the first music videos ever shown on MTV:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/01/30/todd-rundgren-healing-hypnotic-masterpiece-one-of-the-first-mtv-music-videos/

If you want to get a sense of Todd’s musical output from he 70’s both solo and with Utopia, here is a great place to start:

A decade of live performances are captured in this box set…see them here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/03/23/todd-rundgren-live-at-the-bbc-utopias-pyramid-climb-a-decade-of-brilliant-music/

Let me know what you love most about “Todd!”

“I think most bands on tour are on the run.”

With these words, Paul McCartney sets the stage for perhaps his greatest album ever – “Band On The Run” – a brilliant album that was as dramatic behind the scenes as the cover suggests!

In 2005, Paul McCartney released his album “Chaos & Creation In The Backyard”, but it was more than 40 years earlier that he released an album that was ALL chaos in the midst of its creation!

First, let’s set the stage for “Band On The Run”:

McCartney’s self-titled solo debut marked the end of The Beatles…here are stories behind the release of this album:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/03/23/paul-mccartneys-simple-classic-mccartney-pauls-solo-masterpiece-rises-from-the-ashes-of-the-beatles/

Next up for McCartney was the only album credited to both him and Linda:

This was a period of heavy fighting between the Fab Four, especially Paul and John Lennon – here are those stories:

https://johnrieber.com/2012/08/20/macca-ram-on-paul-mccartneys-masterpiece-john-lennons-fury-a-beatles-c-c-c-catfight/

Paul then decided to form a new band, Wings:

Their first release was roundly panned by critics and many fans – here is the story of “Wild Life”:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/02/13/paul-mccartneys-wild-life-the-disastrous-debut-of-wings-mccartneys-plea-to-john-lennon/

Paul and his band spent a lot of time on the road, and then released this album:

Many of the songs from “Red Rose Speedway” were actually recorded during the “RAM” sessions…read about that here:

Paul McCartney’s Brilliant “RAM 2!” Wings Soar With “Red Rose Speedway!”

The album included the smash single “My Love”, and the band seemed poised for greatness…until some “chaos” interrupted the “creation”…

As you can see from the back cover, Wings had shrunk – and there is where the amazing story of “Band On The Run” begins…

“Wings” Over Nigeria!

As Wings prepared to record their third album tougher, McCartney asked his record label EMI for a list of all their international recording studios. He selected Nigeria – thinking Africa would be an exotic place to make music. The band began rehearsals in Scotland – Wings were McCartney and Linda, ex-Moody Blues guitarist and pianist Denny Laine, Henry McCullough on lead guitar, and Denny Seiwell on drums.

Unfortunately, things weren’t going well and during one rehearsal, McCullough and McCartney argued, and McCullough quit. Then, Seiwell left a week later, the night before the band was set to fly to Nigeria.

Wings were no more!

Paul’s “Solo” Wings Album!

At that point, things were dire. As McCartney told Word magazine in 2005:

“I was on drums and guitar a lot, mainly because the drummer decided to leave the group the night before and one of the guitar players decided not to come! So we got that solo element into an otherwise ‘produced’ album.”

This left just the core of the band – Paul, Linda and Denny Laine – to record in Lagos, assisted by former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. McCartney assumed that Lagos, Nigeria would be a glamorous location where he and the band could lounge on the beach all day and record at night – but boy was he wrong!

McCartney discovered that the studio was awful, and Nigeria was incredibly dangerous and unstable – in fact, Paul and Linda were robbed at knife-point, and a bag with unfinished song lyrics and demo tapes was taken! Talk about chaos!

Still, Paul maintained his positive approach – in fact, look at this original promotional video that McCartney later included on the deluxe remastered album:

The Chaos That Created “Band On The Run!”

So the recording of the album was dangerous, the band was in disarray, and “Band On The Run” is more of a solo album that team effort, which leads to this question: just HOW good is this album?

Shortly after the album was released, McCartney told Melody Maker:

“The basic idea about the band on the run is a kind of prison escape. At the beginning of the album the guy is stuck inside four walls, and eventually breaks out. There is a thread, but it’s not a concept album.”

Asked if this was a reference to Wings escaping from The Beatles, he replied: “Sort of – yeah. I think most bands on tour are on the run.”

Here is the pop masterpiece that is “Band On The Run”.

Here are a newly formed Wings performing the title track live from their 1976 tour:

The title track is one of rock’s all-time greatest songs, and then Paul launches into one of his greatest crowd-pleasing rockers:

“Jet”

Here is a fun promotional video for the song:

The gorgeous ballad “Bluebird” is next, then the fun, upbeat pop song “Mrs. Vandebilt” – so far, side one of “Band On The Run” is flawless, and the last song is no different:

“Let Me Roll It” was considered McCartney’s answer back to John Lennon’s caustic “How Do You Sleep?” – but in an interview with Clash magazine in 2010, McCartney cleared that up:

“‘Let Me Roll It’ wasn’t to John, it was just in the style that we did with The Beatles that John was particularly known for. It was really actually the use of the echo. It was one of those: ‘You’re not going to use echo just cos John used it?’ I don’t think so. To tell you the truth, that was more [about] rolling a joint. That was the double meaning there: ‘let me roll it to you.’ That was more at the back of mind than anything else. ‘Dear Friend,’ that was very much ‘let’s be friends’ to John.”

Here is a great live version of the song, with a much older McCartney still playing great guitar:

Side two continues to deliver great songs:

“Mamunia” is a gentle, upbeat pop song, with a vibe that could feel a bit “African” – then next is the mid-tempo pop song turned mini-rocker “No Words” – McCartney’s songwriting is top notch!

Bring On “Helen Wheels!”

The party rocker “Helen Wheels” was next, the hardest rocking song on the album – with a “Get Back” vibe – but at that time the song was only included on the US release!

Here is the band’s fun promotional video – with Paul playing almost all of the instruments!

“Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me)” was next, and then the album climaxed with one of Paul’s greatest rock songs:

“Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” is the final track, which build to a Beatles-like crescendo before completing a 360 turn back to the title track…here’s the promotional video that was included in the album’s special edition:

So, from start to finish, “Band On The Run” is a masterpiece.

And of course, so is the album cover:

The album cover shows Paul, Linda and Denny plus six other well-known people dressed as convicts caught in the spotlight of a prison searchlight. Here is whose on the cover: Michael Parkinson, British Talk Show Host; British Actor and Comedian Kenny Lynch; the great Actor James Coburn; British Politician Clement Freud; Legendary Actor Christopher Lee, and John Conteh, a boxer who later became World Light-Heavyweight champion.

“Band On The Run” was nominated for Album Of The Year, and won Grammys for Engineering by Geoff Emerick, and best pop performance for duo or group….

“Band On The Run” Gets Even Better!

In 2000, Q magazine placed it at number 75 in its list of the “100 Greatest British Albums Ever”. In 2012, Band on the Run was voted 418th on Rolling Stone’s revised list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

A contemporary review by Jon Landau in Rolling Stone described the album as “with the possible exception of John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, the finest record yet released by any of the four musicians who were once called the Beatles”.

The great McCartney collection of reissues gives fans a ton of great extras, including live versions of the songs, promotional videos, and a few extra cuts as well!

Let me know what you love best about McCartney’s chaotic masterpiece!

Time For Some “Truth!”

I love documentaries. They can be deadly serious or comically absurd – they can be lurid, spiritual, political and everything in between – here are ten examples of great documentaries you need to see!

“Roger and Me”!

With the recent water events in Flint, Michigan, Michael Moore’s first documentary is even more prescient. He looks at the decline of his hometown, a decline that helped lead to the current crisis that exists today.

Here is the trailer for what many consider to be “The Godfather” of modern docus, “Roger And Me”:

Wow, time flies – it was more than 25 years ago when this “in your face” documentary was considered radical! Moore told the story of the decline of his hometown Flint, Michigan – and his attempts to meet with Ford’s Chairman Roger Smith.

What he did was usher in a new era of non-fictional storytelling, leading to some of these I want to share!

Workingman’s Death!

Some of the world’s most dangerous jobs are highlighted in this compelling documentary. These professions are virtually unknown to most people – like sulfur mining…

The filmmaker’s style allows us a voyeuristic look at the lives of these workers…like these miners who risk their lives to slide back into abandoned crevices where small chunks of leftover coal may still cling to the abandoned walls…

This is an incredible work of art, and the late Documentary filmmaker Michael Glawogger also made a film that looked at the world of prostitution:

You can read more about these compelling films by clicking here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/11/22/searing-expose-docs-workingmans-death-whores-glory-brilliant-documentaries-showcase-life-on-the-edge/

Sometimes, an interesting story turns into something much bigger as the filmmaker rolls the camera:

“My Kid Could Paint That!”

This heartbreaking documentary is about a child prodigy – or not. The filmmakers began the project when they heard about a four-year-old girl with special artistic abilities…but then it turned into a much more troubling story.

This story is so compelling – and so many questions are still unanswered – that is the power of the documentary – to reveal truths – and yet so sad…you can read more about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2012/03/25/killer-fish-kids-who-paint-and-mid-west-horror-best-documentaries-pt-1/

Now, to something that you would think is amazingly harsh, yet is in fact so “Happy!”

Celebrating The Harsh World Of “Happy People!”

Director Werner Herzog, who has made a number of terrific documentaries like “Grizzly Man”, took a long-form Russian TV documentary and turned it into a compelling two-hour journey to Siberia!

It is some of the most unforgiving land on earth, but the people there are happy! See more here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/07/18/into-the-wild-siberias-happy-people-werner-herzogs-new-documentary/

And if you want to bring a smile to your face, have I got a joke for you…

America’s Funniest People Tell The World’s Filthiest Joke! Meet “The Aristocrats!”

The history of the world’s filthiest joke is hilariously profane, and amazingly insightful! Penn and Teller allow some of the world’s greatest comics to tell one joke – a legendary joke in the world of comedy – and each re-telling gets more and more obscene – which is the point of the joke!

The Aristocrats – 2005

Comedy veterans and Magicians Penn and Teller, along with Comedian Paul Provenza capitalize on their insider status and invite over 100 of their closest friends–who happen to be some of the biggest names in entertainment, from George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Carey to Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget, Paul Reiser and Sarah Silverman–to reminisce, analyze, deconstruct and deliver their own versions of the world’s dirtiest joke, an old burlesque too extreme to be performed in public, called “The Aristocrats.”

George Carlin: The joke leads me down one path and then it switches the path on me suddenly and hits me with a hammer. It’s just, “Here we go folks.”

The terrific website IMDB has some interesting trivia about the joke: “This joke has been used by comedians for years as a mental stretching exercise. They would tell the joke to each other as a warm up for their acts. While the setup and punchline remain the same throughout, the middle section, describing the actual family act, is always varied to get the juices going by throwing in the most they can and keeping it funny. There are stories of parties where performers will jam and keep it going for almost an hour.”

The late Robin Williams does a variation of the joke in the film, as does Princess Leia, whose Mom is Debbie Reynolds…who isn’t sacred for the sake of the joke…

Carrie Fisher: “My mother was a golden shower queen.”

According to his biography, “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not”, Chevy Chase filmed a version of the joke as well. However, at the last second he decided not to sign the release form as he was afraid of what his daughters would think of the joke’s content.

The highlight is when the film ends with Bob Saget’s version of the joke – the most obscene, rambling and hilarious take on it imaginable…hilarious, profane, and insightful – how can you argue that?

And if profane is your thing…

Shed Some Clothes And Get Down With Some “American Swing!”

New York in the 70’s was a time of sex, drugs and swingers, and for awhile, there was actually a club that allowed casual sex among its members!

If you’ve never heard of “Plato’s Retreat”, it’s exactly the kind of place that Ted Cruz was railing against – and it was legal!

“American Swing” is a fascinating document of a long-lost time – as told by the people who partied there…see it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2012/04/06/how-can-i-offend-you-best-documentaries-pt-2/

Of course, the subject of sex is always a big seller – and here is an amazing look at the sexiest moments in cinema history:

“That’s Sexploitation” is a wild romp through the annals of grind house cinema, courtesy of Something Weird Video…read more here:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/04/20/thats-sexploitation-terrific-documentary-captures-the-seedy-majesty-of-grindhouse-cinema/

I know, you are getting a bit worked up right now…if you want a mellow change of pace, dig into the story of one of the greatest bands in the world:

Not Such A “Peaceful Easy Feeling!” It’s The History Of The Eagles!

A “warts and all” documentary, made all the more powerful because the members of the band – old and new – took part. Their brutal honesty, along with amazing archival material the band collected from day one, gives viewers a riveting inside look at one of America’s most beloved bands.

Fans were stunned by the recent death of Glenn Frey, who comes across as a very driven member of the band…this documentary lasts over four hours and digs into all the professional and personal conflicts in the band…

You can read more about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2012/10/04/eagles-no-peaceful-easy-feeling-here-just-heartache-tonight/

While we are on the subject of music, have you met’s rock’s craziest drummer?

“Beware” Of Rock’s Wildest Drummer!

Ginger Baker was the drummer in Cream, and has had one of the craziest lives imaginable, and one movie captures it all!

“Beware” is right, and if you want to know why, click here!

https://johnrieber.com/2015/01/13/beware-of-mr-baker-brilliant-ginger-baker-documentary-creams-drummer-throws-down/

As someone who loves to travel, I find the climate change debate sad – politics shouldn’t enter into the discussion, when there are entire countries at risk…

A Rising Political Tide! “The Island President!”

As the ocean levels rise, entire nations are at risk. Here is the inspiring story of a President who wouldn’t let his country drown due to inaction…

These islands will be underwater within our lifetime – unless something is done…and one courageous President allowed cameras to follow him as he tries to tell the world what lies ahead…

This is one of my favorite documentaries of all, read more here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/05/07/the-island-president-a-tragic-compelling-documentary-a-nation-underwater/

There you have it – some of my favorite documentaries…leave a note to tell me your favorite!

The “Outlaw” Eagles!

It’s hard to believe, but the second Eagles album bombed when it was released – but is now considered a seminal part of the band’s history!

For a time in the 70’s, rock’n’roll bands were the new “Wild West Outlaws.” For The Eagles, that inspired them to create an album that tied life in a rock band to life in the “wild west” – an ode to the “outlaw” in all of us – and when it was released, “Desperado” bombed!

20 Dec 1972, USA — Members of the rock band The Eagles are dressed up in cowboy costumes for their album photo shoot. From left to right: Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, and Glenn Frey. — Image by © Henry Diltz/CORBIS

The “Desperado” Debacle!

Here is the setup to the release of “Desperado” in 1973. The Eagles had released their debut album a year earlier, and it was an immediate success for the new band, hitting No. 22 on the charts.

Their debut album included three hit singles: “Peaceful Easy Feeling” – which reached #22, “Take It Easy” just missed the top ten at No. 12, and “Witchy Woman” was a #9 hit – and the band was credited for the emergence of the “Southern California sound.”

The future looked bright for Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner!

The Making Of “Desperado!”

The Eagles entered the studio with an idea: they would write a concept album based on the themes of the Old West. The band members are featured on the album’s cover dressed like an outlaw gang, and the songs touched on the concept of rockers as “outlaws”, always on the run.

Desperado remains the only Eagles album where the band members appear on the front cover! Here is a look at the criminally overlooked Eagles album, “Desperado”:

The album starts with “Doolin’ Dalton” – setting the scene for the album…

“They were duelin’, Doolin-Dalton
High or low, it was the same
Easy money and faithless women
Red-eye whiskey for the pain
Go down, Bill Dalton, it must be God’s will,
Two brothers lyin’ dead in Coffeyville
Two voices call to you from where they stood
Lay down your law books now
They’re no damn good
Better keep on movin’, Doolin-Dalton
‘Til your shadow sets you free
If you’re fast, and if you’re lucky
You will never see that hangin’ tree”

Here is a beautiful live version, which begins with Glenn Frey playing a wailing harmonica…this clip also includes the finale of the album as well…

“Twenty One” is next, an ode to youth and freedom…

“Twenty-one and strong as I can be
I know what freedom means to me
And I can’t give the reason why
I should ever want to die”

“Out Of Control”

This is the hardest-edged rocker on the album – the story of a band of outlaws riding into town and looking for trouble……

“Oh my, don’t the sky look spacious
With the stars all shinin’ down
Well, I can hear the night wind howlin’
It’s a high and lonesome sound
And I ain’t had a woman in so long
I can’t feed my starvin soul
Come on, saddle up, boys, we’re gonna ride into town
We’re gonna get a little out of control”

“Tequila Sunrise”

Next up is one of the most well-known songs the band ever recorded…

Here is a beautiful live version:

Shockingly, this song wasn’t a hit! In fact, it only got to #64 on the charts! It’s hard to understand how this classic Eagles song didn’t became a huge hit single when it was released!

“Desperado” was next, the title track on the album…and one of their most beautiful songs ever:

“Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh, you’re a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow”

While this is one of their most recognizable songs, it wasn’t even released as a single!

Here they are performing this live – from their farewell tour in 2013:

“Certain Kind Of Fool”

Side two begins with “Certain Kind Of Fool”, and here is a live version from that era, which begins with Glenn Frey discussing their “outlaw album”, and how they needed a song explaining how they became outlaws….here you go:

As you can see from this vintage billboard, the band was selling this album as their ode to the wild west, and the next song played it up big:

“Outlaw Man”

Here are the opening lyrics to the song:

“I am an Outlaw, I was born an Outlaw’s son
The highway is my legacy
On the highway I will run
In one hand I’ve a Bible
In the other I’ve got a gun
Well, don’ you know me, I’m the man who won

[Chorus]
Woman don’t try to love me
Don’t try to understand
A life upon the road
Is the life of an outlaw man”

Here is a terrific live version from 1976:

As you can see in the photo, the life of an outlaw doesn’t last long – and that is Jackson Brown to the far left on the ground as well…the songs on “Desperado” told a story, and were terrific. “Outlaw Man’ was just the kind of hard-edged rock that Frey was pushing the band toward…but there is another, softer side to the album as well…

“Whatever Happened To Saturday Night?”

The next song on the album makes use of the band’s terrific harmonies. When the band went on their “History Of The Eagles” tour, Frey and Henley started the show sitting alone on stools at the front of the stage, singing the gorgeous song “Saturday Night”.

Here is a terrific live version from 1973:

Thanks to “Meisnettes – Randy Meisner Fans” on YouTube for posting this and the “Certain Kind Of Fool” and “Outlaw Man” clips…follow them for a lot of great Meisner moments!

I loved seeing Henly and Frey harmonize on “Saturday Night”, then joined onstage by Bernie Leadon! Here is my review of the “History” tour, with clips from several of their live performances:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/09/21/history-of-the-eagles-amazing-concert-old-friends-return/

Up next on the album was “Bitter Creek”, written and sung by Bernie Leadon:

Leadon wrote about a band of outlaws looking for one last score…because there is always “all that money, no more running'”…

“We’re gonna hit the road for one last time
We can walk right in and steal ’em blind
All that money
No more runnin’
I can’t wait to see the old man’s face
When I win the race
Bitter creek”

The album ends with a reprise of “Doolin’ Dalton” that segues into an encore of “Desperado”…

Here is a great live version by the band…appears to be around the time of the “Hell Freezes Over” tour…

So, with a hot young band, great songs like “Tequila Sunrise” and “Desperado”, and the popularity of the southern california sound, why didn’t fans buy the album? It took more than a year for “Desperado” to be certified gold, and a full decade to go platinum!

What went wrong? Concept albums are notoriously difficult to market – perhaps the band focused too much on the “outlaw” concept…and did they need a bigger hit single out of the gate?

Maybe these guys didn’t look as accessible as they did on the first album…or the music was too soft, without a big pop hit like “Witchy Woman” or “Take It Easy”…it’s easy to have 20/20 hindsight, but there was some reason the music didn’t catch on at the time…for whatever reason, the album was a bomb, and the band needed to come up with a new plan!

Goodbye Glyn, Hello Don!

And a new plan it was – out with Producer Glyn Johns and in with new Eagles Guitarist Don Felder! Glenn Freiy wanted a sound that had more “rock and roll” to it. And that they got! Read all about the smash hit “On The Border” here!

https://johnrieber.com/2016/03/14/on-the-border-the-eagles-say-hello-to-don-felder-goodbye-to-glyn-johns-don-henleys-brilliant-1-best-of-my-love/

Leave me a message – let me know why you think “Desperado” didn’t connect with fans at the time!

Some of the catchiest pop songs of the late 60’s and early 70’s were written by one person, the terrific Singer/Songwriter Laura Nyro:

Laura Nyro’s Hit Singles For Others!

Nyro released a number of great album – and I wanted to look at some of her best songs, the ones that were smash hits for other Artists!

Of course, Laura had her own successful recording career, with terrific hit albums like these:

SONY DSC

Laura’s At The Top Of The Charts!

Laura had many songs in the top ten, including a chart-topping #1 smash, because Nyro’s biggest hits were for other Artists! I enjoy hearing the differences between Laura’s version and the cover version by others, especially when that “cover” is by Barbra Streisand…

Barbra’s “Stoney End!”

Nyro wrote it, Babs made it the title of her album, and the song was a big hit!

Here is the audio-only version from Nyro, which was on her debut album, “More Than A New Discovery” in 1966, then re-released as just “Laura Nyro” in 1969:

Streisand’s Top Ten Hit!

Barbra Streisand released her single version, which went to #6 on the charts…

Here is a short snippet of the song, performed in concert by Babs:

Finally, here is a full-length live performance by Barbra, which goes right into “The Way We Were”…

Laura’s incredible debut album included many songs that would become hits for other artists, including several for one pop ensemble!

Time To Enter “The 5th Dimension!”

The pop group “The 5th Dimension” had a string of big hits in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The five original members were Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, LaMonte McLemore, and Ron Townson.

And who was responsible for most of them? Laura Nyro!

Laura Nyro’s #1 Smash Hit!

The 5th Dimension went to the top of the charts with the #1 single “Wedding Bell Blues”, which Laura also sang on an album – but their rocketed to #1!

Here is a clip of the group performing the song on TV – as a skit!

Thanks to “danbanrock1” for posting YouTube!

I personally love this ad with Laura for the song – sorry, I couldn’t find a larger version:

Laura almost single-handedly made The 5th Dimension stars. The group also had hits with the Nyro songs “Stoned Soul Picnic”, “Blowing Away”, “Sweet Blindness” and “Save the Country”…

Thanks again to “danbanrock1”, here is the group performing “Stoned Soul Picnic”, which made it to #3 on the pop charts in 1968:

The group named their album after the song, and Nyro’s hit “Sweet Blindness” was also on the album…

Blood, Sweat & Laura!

The rock group “Blood, Sweat & Tears” had one of their biggest hits thanks to Laura – the band went all the way to #2 on the charts with Nyro’s classic song “And When I Die”.

Here’s a vintage clip of the band performing the song live on TV:

One of my favorite names for a group is this one:

So Cold It’s A “Three Dog Night!”

Yep, that’s where the band’s name came from, a folk tale that you cuddled with your dogs on cold nights!

The group hit the top ten in 1969 with Laura’s quirky song “Eli’s Comin” –

Here’s the band performing the song in concert:

Three Dog Night stripped the song down to its rock essence, while Nyro makes the song much funkier and soulful. Laura’s version is included on her brilliant album, “Eli & The Thirteenth Confession”.

So there you go, a look at some of Laura’s songs that were smash hits for other Artists…some were faithful to Laura’s original version, which some – yes you Three Dog Night – dramatically changed them – it’s great to have both to listen to and compare!

A recent tribute album brought more of her great songs back:

Billy Childs won a Grammy for his great tribute album – see some videos from it here:

Re-Imagining Laura Nyro! A Brilliant “Map To The Treasure”! Laura Nyro’s Beautiful Tribute!

I have posted other stories about Laura as well, such as her legendary audition for music mogul Clive Davis – in the dark!

The music legend recounts that story in his memoir – read about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/06/03/laura-nyros-legendary-audition-for-music-mogul-clive-davis-janis-joplins-jealousy/

Laura Nyro influenced many Artists, particularly my favorite, Todd Rundgren:

Read about their musical friendship, and listen to the song he wrote about here, by clicking on my story here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/10/25/brilliant-laura-nyro-todd-rundgrens-muse-their-beautiful-musical-history-together/

Finally, I also posted about one of the most traumatic music moments in Laura’s career:

A new blu-ray answers the question: was Laura booed off the stage at th legendary Monterey Pop festival? Read about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/04/15/laura-nyros-brilliant-monterey-pop-performance-and-legendary-musical-myth/

Leave a comment and let me know who performed Laura’s song best!

“But don’t it make you want to rock and roll
All night long
Mohammed’s Radio”

“All night long” indeed…Warren Zevon’s brilliant self-titled album included some of Southern California’s most popular singers at the time…

Time To Celebrate Warren Zevon!

I wanted to look at some of Zevon’s greatest music, and what better place to begin than with his self-titled “kinda debut”! Let me explain…

Zevon is known of course for his major hit singles like “Werewolves Of London” and “Searching For A Heart”, but Zevon’s path to musical greatness was littered with frustration as well….

Warren Zevon’s 1969 debut album, “Wanted Dead Or Alive” – with his featured on the cover just as “Zevon”, was such a debacle that the singer waited almost six years before trying to record again…this time, however, the results were much different!

His “Unofficial” Debut!

While the self-titled “Warren Zevon” was the second studio album by Zevon, so much time had gone by that it really is his “debut” to the music world. This album was released in 1976 by Asylum Records – and Zevon had all of the “Southern California Sound” onboard to support him!

Producer Jackson Browne!

The album was produced by Jackson Browne, who of course was good friends with The Eagles…and a very successful singer/songwriter at the time, with classic hits like “Doctor My Eyes” and “Take It Easy”…

The Classic Songs Of “Warren Zevon”!

Here is a look at the classic music on the album! The first song up is Zevon’s simple but classic “Frank and Jesse James” – the story of two brothers who end up on the wrong side of the law.

“Keep on riding, riding, riding
‘Til you clear your names
Keep on riding, riding, riding
Across the rivers and the range
Keep on riding, riding, riding
Frank and Jesse James”

Does that remind you of this album? Yes, Browne was one of the cowboys show on the back cover of “Desperado”.

Here is a terrific live performance of the song by Zevon in his private studio:

Bravo to “TransatlanticMoments” for posting this on YouTube!

“Mama Couldn’t Be Persuaded” and “Backs Turned Looking Down the Path” are next…

While Stevie Nicks is seen here holding Warren up, here’s a fun fact: another Fleetwood Mac band member, Lindsay Buckingham plays guitar on “Backs Turned”, and does harmonies on “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “Mohammad’s Radio” as well…

“Hasten Down the Wind”

Next up were two songs turned into big hits – by another friend of Zevon!

Here are some of the lyrics to “Hasten Down The Wind”:

“She tells him she thinks she needs to be free
He tells her he doesn’t understand
She takes his hand she tells him nothing’s working out
The way they planned

She’s so many women
He can’t find the one who was his friend
So he’s hanging on to half a heart
But he can’t have the restless part
So he tells her to hasten down the wind”

Here is just the audio of Zevon singing the song:

Linda Ronstadt Covers Warren!

Zevon’s song was perfect for Linda Ronstadt, who was one of the most popular singers at that time – and she loved the song so much she named her entire album after it!

Here is a live version by Ronstadt:

Of course, that was just the tip of the Ronstadt iceberg! Linda turned the next song on the album into a big hit as well…

The Smash Hit “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”

The next song on the album is Zevon’s iconic “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” – another great song.

Here is a terrific live version by Zevon from 1982:

Of course, as great as the song is, it wasn’t Zevon’s massive hit – but Linda Ronstadt’s! Here is Linda performing the song live:

Warren Zevon was quite candid about his penchant for partying, so a picture of him, Jackson and John belushi is no surprise, and the next song on the album addresses his take on “life in the fast lane” in Hollywood…

“The French Inhaler”

His lyrics on this song are quite vivid:

“You said you were an actress
Yes, I believe you are I thought you’d be a star
So I drank up all the money, yes I drank up all the money
With these phonies in this Hollywood bar
These friends of mine in this Hollywood bar

Loneliness and frustration
We both came down with an acute case
When the lights came up at two I caught a glimpse of you
And your face looked like something
Death brought with him in his suitcase”

Here is a great live version from 1993:

Thanks to “WarrenZevonFanatic” for posting this on Youtube!

The Brilliance of “Mohammed’s Radio”

Next up is one of his most beautiful songs:

“Everybody’s restless and they’ve got no place to go
Someone’s always trying to tell them
Something they already know
So their anger and resentment flow

But don’t it make you want to rock and roll
All night long
Mohammed’s Radio”

Here is a great live version of the song performed by Zevon with Jackson Browne!

Thanks to “WarrenZevonAddict” for this!

“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” is next – the title used for a movie years later, then another classic Zevon song:

“Carmelita”

Here is a rare clip of Zevon performing the song live in 1977:

Thanks to “TransatlanticMoments” for posting this rare gem on YouTube!

“Join Me in L.A.” follows “Carmelita”, another cynical look at the city:

“Well, they say this place is evil
That ain’t why I stay
‘Cause I found something
That will never be nothing
And I found it in L.A.”

“Desperados Under the Eaves”

The album ends with another beautiful song with haunting, yet humorous lyrics, speaking about – again – life in Hollywood:

“I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian hotel
I was staring in my empty coffee cup
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn’t lyin’
All the salty Margaritas in Los Angeles
I’m gonna drink ’em up

And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill”

Here is a live audio performance by Warren at WMMS Studio, Cleveland OH on October 13, 1976.

So that’s the terrific, timeless music from “Warren Zevon.” It’s an album full of great songs, insightful, compelling lyrics, and a heavy dose of the “Southern California” sound, thanks to Producer Jackson Browne. Browne is heard on harmony vocals on tracks 2, 3 and 11…

The Eagles Sing Along As Well!

Glenn Frey and Don Henley also provide musical support, with Frey playing rhythm guitar on “Carmelita”, and harmony vocals on “The French Inhaler” and “Carmelita”, while Henley provides harmony vocals on “Inhaler” as well…

Zevon and Henley were good friends, and Warren performed at Henley’s “Walden Woods” concerts…and said this about his friend:

Henley also sang on the Warren Zevon tribute album – here is the audio of Henley’s rendition of Zevon’s beautiful “Searching For A Heart”:

The success of this album, especially with Ronstadt’s hit singles, led to a incredible period of creativity for Zevon…

What followed two years later was this:

“Excitable Boy” was his smash hit, with “Werewolves Of London” and “Lawyers, Guns & Money” – read more about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/12/14/warren-zevon-werewolves-of-london-brilliant-letterman-final-appearance-musics-mutineer/

Jackson Browne did a great job producing “Warren Zevon”, and he is still makings own music as well:

You can read more about it here, including the video for his “Take It Easy” sequel:

Jackson Browne! Never “Running On Empty”! Brilliant New Jackson Browne Music!

Of course, Don Henley is still releasing great music as well:

Henley just released another #1 album of country songs. See who is he singing with here:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/02/24/don-henleys-1-cass-county-music-masterpiece-from-eagles-maestro-with-dolly-parton-and-mick-jagger-too/

Let me know what your favorite song is from “Warren Zevon!”

“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something…Faithful!”

It was one of Todd Rundgren’s sterling achievements – a single side of music as good as anything he has ever released…

“Rundgren’s ‘clearest and most interesting set of songs since Something/Anything?'”

The album got superlative reviews for the original music on the album, but there was more – because this was Todd’s unique “tribute” album as well – time to celebrate “Faithful!”

Todd’s “10 Year” Musical Tribute!

“Faithful” was Todd’s seventh album, released in 1976. Here is how he described the idea behind it:

“It was my tenth anniversary in the music business…I picked out the songs you would have heard anywhere you went ten years earlier…it was my little tribute to an era that was already ten years gone.”

The quote is from “A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio” by Paul Myers, an essential read for all Todd fans!

The first side of “Faithful” was dedicated to “faithful” re-recordings of classic 1960’s psychedelic-era songs, while side two was all new original material.

Side One Of “Faithful” is indeed FAITHFUL – as these are note-for-note exact renditions of some of his favorite songs, beginning with:

“Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” by The Yardbirds, with Jimmy Page, who later of course went onto stardom with Led Zeppelin…

The classic Beach Boys song “Good Vibrations” was next, followed by the somewhat obscure Beatles song “Rain” …

Of course, Utopia would make an entire album of Beatles songs, the controversial “Deface The Music”…you can read about that here:

Todd Rundgren “Defaces The Music!” Todd’s Beatles Homage Divides Utopia!

Todd then moved onto Bob Dylan and “Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine”, followed by his Jimi Hendrix cover “If Six Was Nine”…

Todd finishes side on with his other Beatles cover, the psychedelic “Strawberry Fields Forever”…

Here is a fan-created video, the song with various shots of Todd:

Todd’s Brilliant Side Of Music!

Side two of “Faithful” is, to put it simply, a one-sided masterpiece – six songs that capture everything I love about Todd Rundgren as an Artist.

It is as if he wanted to do a collection of “Todd songs” for his “faithful” fans, and boy, are they ever brilliant!

He offers up a classic rock song, several ballads, one of his most soulful songs of all time, and a raucous party song for fans…

“Black and White”

Todd puts his rock hat on with a crunchy tune that has a touch of heavy metal added in.

Here is a great clip of Todd performing with his Utopia bandmates from The Bottom Line in 1978:

Thanks to “mojorisen74” for posting this great live clip!

“Love of the Common Man”

Here’s a perfect Todd single, an upbeat pop song with great lyrics and a catchy hook.

Here is a live performance from 1978, thanks to “mojorisen74” once again!

In 2016, I saw Todd perform in Beverly Hills, and he does a flawless rendition of the song in tandem with “I Saw The Light” – here is that performance:

As you can hear, Todd is still in perfect form, and this side of “Faithful” is almost a “greatest hits” of Todd’s sound…next up was the funky “When I Pray”, and then another song that should have been a hit single:

“Cliché”

This song is exactly what should have been released as a single, but wasn’t! More on that in a moment.

Here is a great acoustic version of “Cliche” that Todd performed live on VH-1:

Next is a song reminiscent to me of his classic Utopia song “The Wheel” – a long, soulful story of life and love…

“The Verb ‘To Love'”

“Please come home, I can hear them calling
Please come home, please don’t leave us all alone
Your brothers and your sisters are crying all alone
You got let it magnetize, learn to sacrifice
‘Til we get the true version of the meaning of the verb ‘To Love’
What does it mean to love?”

Here is a video from WDR Studio L in 1977 with Utopia:

Thanks for “rogsteel” for the youtube video! Next up:

“Boogies (Hamburger Hell)”

The closing song, “Boogies (Hamburger Hell)”, opens with a reference to Beefsteak Charlie’s, which former Utopia drummer Kevin Ellman was currently operating along with his family.

This is a fun, energy party song with a great hook – and Todd sounds like he’s having a blast!

The Dynamite “Faithful” Reviews!

Upon release, Todd’s album was hailed as one of his best!

Critic Robert Christgau called the second side of “Faithful”:

“Rundgren’s clearest and most interesting set of songs since Something/Anything?”

Rolling Stone’s rock critic John Milward said this:

“the original material that fills side two is a more ambitious tribute to his influences and his strongest collection of pop tunes since his classic ‘Something/Anything’.”

So Guess What? The Record Label Snuck It Into Release!

Shockingly for an album so highly praised, Bearsville Records barely let anyone know it was out!

The album was released in May 1976 with virtually no advertising. According to reports, Bearsville Records’ president Paul Fishkin decided that Todd’s fans would buy his music, and no one else would, so why spend the money!

The Shocking Decision NOT To Release Any Singles!

Another shocking discovery was the label’s refusal to release Todd’s great new music as singles!

Only the remake of The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” was released as a single and barely charted!

Here is what Fishkin told CREEM magazine:

“Musically, this is one of the most consistent, accessible records Todd has ever done, so we’re doing something unique on another level: we will not be advertising nationally initially.”

WHAT!?!?!?!?! Todd’s most accessible music with some of his best reviews, and NO ADVERTISING!

But, as if to confirm Fishkin’s belief that Todd’s fans would show up no matter what, Todd fans did indeed rush out to support him, and the album made it to #54 on the Billboard Album Charts!

For me, “Faithful” is an example of Todd following his creative road, but also giving fans plenty to enjoy…and next up for Todd was another masterpiece:

“Hermit Of Mink Hollow” is one of the great albums ever released, and you can see clips from it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/07/25/todd-rundgren-a-brilliant-hermit-mink-hollows-power-pop-masterpiece/

Todd was also heavily into Utopia at this time, which included live touring:

There is a unique box set of all of their performances at England’s legendary “Knebworth” festival – the sound quality is variable, but it’s a collector’s item for sure:

Read more about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/12/25/todd-rundgren-utopia-live-at-knebworth-amazing-box-set-fascinating-musical-history-in-a-box/

Leave a comment to let me know what you think of Todd’s “Faithful!”

Tommy Smothers “Beds” John And Yoko!”

There is a story behind this iconic photo: Comedian Tommy Smothers is one of many celebrities lying in a bed with John Lennon and Yoko Ono…how he got there, and what Lennon said to him, was explained to me by this Smothers Brother one night in Detroit!

“The Smothers Brothers!” The Hippest Show On TV!

Here is the set up:

Tom and Dick Smothers were successful standup comedians/songwriters, gaining fame throughout the 1960’s for classic albums like “Mom Always Liked You Best!”

Based on their success, they got their own TV show on CBS, which was a big hit! However, it ran for only two years, from 1967-69. More on that in a moment. It was a classic “variety” show: comedy sketches, musical guests, standup comedy – both Director Rob Reiner and up-and-coming Comedian Steve Martin worked on the show – and Martin got the chance to do standup on the show!

What CBS never anticipated, however, was the Vietnam War, which raged on in the late 60’s and divided the country. Tommy Smothers in particular was quite vocal about many of the country’s social issues, and the show became more political, leading to the brothers being censored by CBS…and that’s where The Beatles stepped in!

George Harrison Shows Beatles Solidarity!

The show was censored on several occasions, including when Singer Harry Belafonte sang his “Carnival” song over footage of student protests against the war…the network forced the show to cut the sequence.

The following week, the show opened with a surprise appearance by George Harrison! George has a bit of fun at first, talking about films The Beatles had given the show to air, including “Hey Jude”.

The Beatles Speak Out Against Censorship!

Suddenly, the appearance gets serious, as Tommy jokes about what you can’t say on american TV, a veiled reference to CBS pulling the Belafonte segment from the show.

Here is a clip from the show when “the quiet Beatle” stopped by to give the brothers some support in the midst of their fight with CBS. As you can see, this clip is from an E! airing:

The Beatles also used The Smothers Brothers Show to premiere their new music film, “Revolution.” This video uses a mashup of both versions from “The White Album”, the song having a hard-rock edge PLUS the “doo wop” harmonies from the slower album version.

This great film can also be found on the new Beatles blu-ray, which includes a treasure trove of rare and un-released films from the 60’s. Read more about this incredible collection here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/09/18/the-beatles-exclusive-new-release-incredible-beatles-music-videos-the-beatles-1-is-here/

How do I know all this? Because when I was at E!, E! President Jarl Mohn was smart enough to buy the rights to re-air the original episodes of “The Smothers Brothers Show” – and as part of that project, we filmed all new wraparound elements with the brothers – and we interviewed many of the original show guests!

My Tommy Smothers “John Lennon Bed-In” Story!

As we were finalizing the plans for the show, I flew with my team to Detroit, where the Brothers were performing. One night, our head Writer, the legendary James “Big Boy” Medlin, took Dick Smothers and the team out for dinner, while Tommy and I sat in his hotel room to discuss our plans. He was concerned that the vintage episodes wouldn’t hold up, but I explained that the show’s incredible musical elements needed to be seen again.

The shows were full of great musical moments with The Doors, The Who, and many others…and of course, The Beatles!

Tommy’s “Bed-In” With A Beatle!

Here is the story he told me about John Lennon, because Tommy was part of the incredible live recording of “Give Peace A Chance” during John & Yoko’s “bed-in for peace” in Toronto in 1969!

A Controversial “Bed-In!”

It may sound like no big deal now, but in 1969 this was incendiary stuff! John and Yoko were spending a week in bed in Toronto to promote peace, and they recorded “Give Peace A Chance” in the room…the couple invited many journalists in as well, and some were very combative towards John and Yoko…

This was a very polarizing time for Lennon. After the press events, John gathered all of the musicians, including Tommy, and they began rehearsing a new song – “Give Peace A Chance.” Tommy wanted to impress the Beatle by showing some innovative guitar work…

I told Tommy how incredible it was that he was performing with John Lennon. But Tommy explained to me what happened next.

He said that after his virtuoso guitar work, John abruptly stopped him, and said to him in his uniquely Lennon Liverpool accent:

“Just play it the way I wrote it, Tommy. If I wanted you to play it another way I would have written it like that”

Oops! Tommy told me he felt foolish, but John was nice about it, just adamant that EVERYONE in the room perform the song exactly as he wrote it!

Here is a clip of John’s famous “bed-in for peace”: – you can see Tommy Smothers playing Guitar at the end of the clip:

It was a pleasure to work with Tom and Dick Smothers, and these classic shows helped put E! on the map. Everyone involved with the original CBS shows were eager to be part of this updated version, because The Smothers Brothers were beloved…and of course, they showed classic Beatles material AND had George stop by to give them verbal support!

It was a few years later when John Lennon would run into The Smothers Brothers again – during the infamous 18-month “long weekend” binge with Harry Nilsson and others in Los Angeles!

One of the legendary stories about John and Harry involved being thrown out of a Smothers Brothers performance at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. Here’s a great article with the entire story from the terrific “Ultimate Classic Rock” website:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-harry-nilsson-troubadour/

It was one of John’s darker moments, and overshadowed some creative spark he showed at the time. It was during this period that Lennon produced the Harry Nilsson “Pussycats” album, which you can see here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/05/29/lime-in-the-coconut-harry-nilssons-musical-madness-john-lennon-shenanigans/

At this time in the post-Beatles world, John was living his “long weekend”, and Paul was getting Wings up to speed…

John and Paul were, without a doubt, music’s greatest duo, and look what I found: Paul singing “A Day In The Life” live in Liverpool, then segueing into “Give Peace A Chance” – with Yoko in the audience smiling broadly!

I am NOT a “Paul V. John” person – they were both brilliant in their own way, and I love that Paul played John’s iconic song…and let’s not forget Ringo, as we head back to The Smothers Brothers show!

Ringo also stopped by the show as well, and performed his “No No Song” with the brothers….

Ringo’s still making music, and touring all around the world with his “All-Starr” band…here’s a look at the latest lineup, including my favorite, Todd Rundgren:

Here is a look at some of the great music he will be making in 2016:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/12/16/ringos-all-starr-band-rocks-on-todd-rundgrens-2016-tease-the-beatles-tour-on/

There is a great new book at looks at Ringo’s life – and Ringo himself released an incredible memento for fans as well!

These are replicas of the post cards that Paul, John and George sent Ringo from the road when he was in the hospital! See more about this here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/06/16/ringo-starr-great-rock-biography-postcards-from-the-beatles/

Leave me a message and let me know what you think of Tommy Smothers and John Lennon!

Todd Is “Tortured!”

Time to look at another Todd Rundgren classic. Here how Todd describes this record:

“I knew that the label was not taking, or promoting, my records seriously, so I thought, ‘why don’t I do an album where I don’t try so hard, and let’s see if it makes any difference?'”

Todd Fights Back!

Here is the setup to that incendiary quote. Todd was responding to Bearsville, his record label…who Todd felt had been unwilling to support his music. His previous album, “Healing”, included one of the first songs ever shown on MTV, but the label still didn’t support the album!

See the story of the brilliantly hypnotic “Healing” here:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/01/30/todd-rundgren-healing-hypnotic-masterpiece-one-of-the-first-mtv-music-videos/

After that, Todd managed to wrest this band Utopia away from the label, and they signed a deal with Network records…

Their first album was being recorded and ready for release, so Todd just had one more thing to do: fulfill his contractual obligation to Bearsville, and release one last album!

The story Behind “The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect”!

It was Todd’s 10th solo album, released in 1982. That’s right – ten studio albums! This one, however, was bittersweet – fulfilling a contract and planning to move on…one book tells the inside story of this time in Todd’s career – make sure to read the incredible book about Todd Rundgren in the studio:

In the book, Todd explains how he was feeling at the time:

“I knew that the label was not taking, or promoting, my records seriously, so I thought, ‘why don’y I do an album where I don’t try so hard, and let’s see if it makes any difference?'” Thus the reference to a ‘tortured artist.’ I had to deliver an album, but I wasn’t totally excited about the prospect.”

Todd’s Lack Of “Excitement” Still Delivers!

Even with Todd frustrated by his label, and focused on a new Utopia album, he still delivered one of his most enjoyable, pop-infused records! And of course, he did it alone!

According to Utopia Sound house engineer Chris Anderson, Todd liked working alone at that time.

“Typically, on the solo albums, I would set up the machine for him and make sure that everything was working right, then I’d just leave him alone.”

Here’s a look at the great songs on “The Ever-Popular Tortured Artist Effect”:

“Hideaway”

It’s an effortless pop classic – strong hooks, great lyrics and a smooth Todd vocal. Here is Todd’s original music video – a great song with a very creative video to back it up!

“Influenza”

Classic Todd wordplay, with an easily repeatable hook.

Here is a great live “With A Twist” version!

“Don’t Hurt Yourself”

Another song that should have been a single…a beautiful ballad of regret…

“I’ve done some bad things
This I know
If I can’t change things
Tell me so
It does no good to break your toe on the wall
I know you’re angry
That’s all right
I said I don’t care
Well, I lied
But I don’t care who wins the fight after all
As long as you don’t hurt yourself
Don’t hurt yourself
It’s bad enough
Don’t hurt yourself
I wouldn’t want to see you make
Trouble for yourself over
My mistake”

Here is just the audio for the song, with a heavily-infused early 80’s sheen:

“There Goes Your Baybay” ends side one, another nice Todd pop song…for a contractual obligation, Todd has delivered another side of great pop tunes…

Side two begins with a cover song, “Tin Soldier”…as Todd relates:

“With ‘Tin Soldier’, I was starting with a song I’d always loved…I suppose it could have been tired on Faithful, but it was perfect for the mood I wanted for this.”

“Tin Soldier” is Todd’s cover of a song by The Small Faces. Here some great trivia about the original song:

According to wikipedia, when “Tin Soldier” was released in 1967, the BBC demanded the band change the ending, mistakenly believing that Songwriter Steve Marriott sang “sleep with you”, although the lyric is “sit with you”. Marriott explained that the song was about getting into someone’s mind — not their body!

Todd said he could have included it on “Faithful” – his album that included one entire side of “covers”:

Here is a look at the songs he did cover on that brilliant record:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/05/14/todd-rundgren-stays-faithful-a-shocking-record-label-betrayal-beatles-covers-brilliant-new-songs/

“Emperor of the Highway” was next, one of Todd’s goofy larks…which led to a “goofy lark” that has proven to be one of Todd’s biggest hits!

“Bang the Drum All Day”

It’s the “go to” song at all major sporting events in the US – Todd’s iconic anthem to goofing off instead of working!

Here is a great live performance from the show I saw with him in Beverly Hills in January 2016:

The song actually entered the Billboard Top 40 when it was released! As Todd says in the Paul Myers book:

“It may have turned into a cash cow in the end as a sports anthem and the like, for better or worse.”

Todd didn’t want the song to define him, and I understand his point of view at the time. With a record label refusing to promote him, classic songs like “Hideaway” were being ignored, and “Bang The Drum” was almost a hit in spite of the record label.

Here is the entire review of his 2016 Beverly Hills show:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/01/07/todd-rundgren-rocks-beverly-hills-todds-2016-tour-reviewed/

“Drive”

For me, Todd ends his “contractual obligation” with two of his strongest anthems. Here is a great live version of “Drive” from 2012 – Todd showing a ton of energy:

Thanks to “Walkerbrothersmusic” for posting this great live version on youtube.

Todd ends the album with this great song:

“Chant”

A positive chant that ends the album on a high note:

“We can’t turn back the clock
But we can chant for love
Let’s cut the idle talk so we can
Chant for love”

Here is a terrific live performance:

The album was his last official release on Bearsville Records, but the label did a nice job with the packaging. The cover was lots of fun, especially when you opened it up – lots of fun imagery!

So this was the end of Todd’s musical ride with Bearsville. He focused on his work with Utopia, but he wasn’t finished releasing great solo music.

Todd ended the decade with another masterpiece:

“Nearly Human” is more classic Todd, and here is a look at some of the album’s great songs:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/08/26/todd-rundgren-is-nearly-human-todds-6-fingered-masterpiece/

Todd is still recording and touring – wrapping up his solo tour to prepare to hit the road with this guy:

Here’s a look at the next installment of Ringo’s “All-Starr” Band:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/12/16/ringos-all-starr-band-rocks-on-todd-rundgrens-2016-tease-the-beatles-tour-on/

Leave a message to let me know what you love about Todd’s “Tortured” work!

“Paul McCartney and John Lennon Have A Song For You…Please Hold.”

Can you imagine getting THAT call? Well, it happened a number of times in the 60’s and 70’s – John Lennon and Paul McCartney routinely wrote songs The Beatles gave away to others!

When A “Beatles” Song ISN’T A Beatles Song!

Wikipedia has an entire entry about songs that were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney for other Artists..here is how they categorized them:

1 – Recordings by the Beatles of Lennon–McCartney songs that the group ultimately decided not to release.
2 – Lennon–McCartney songs that the Beatles deemed unsuitable for the group at the outset and did not even attempt to record themselves.
3 – Songs that had been intentionally written for other artists.

“The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away!”

Because EVERYTHING The Fab Four has done has been extensively documented, these songs exist for fans to enjoy.

This compilation album containing the original artist recordings of songs composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney was released in the UK in 1979! Here is a look at the lineup:

The first song on the compilation album is actually the last song that was given to others. “I’m the Greatest” was recorded by Ringo Starr for his “Ringo” album – and written specifically for him by John Lennon in 1973 – the rest of these songs were released as singles during the active Beatles years in the 1960s.

Ringo’s Classic “Ringo!”

All of the other Beatles gave Ringo a song for his classic solo album, which was a huge smash thanks to songs like “Photograph”.

Here is the video for John’s “cheeky” song “I’m The Greatest!”

Paul and George also gave songs to Ringo, but this Lennon tune is the best – and John included his version of it on his Lennon box set, playfully rehearsing the song to the others in the studio:

John was on his “lost weekend” at the time, in LA hanging out with Harry Nilsson…read about it here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/05/29/lime-in-the-coconut-harry-nilssons-musical-madness-john-lennon-shenanigans/

One of the greatest songs written for others was thanks to Paul McCartney, and it also had a Ringo connection!

Ringo’s Hilarious Movie! The “Come And Get It” Theme!

Paul also wrote a classic song for Ringo, except in this case, it was the theme song for Ringo’s movie “The Magic Christian.”

Check out the trailer here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/05/02/ringo-starr-the-fab-fours-magic-christian-madness-raquel-welch-dominatrix-great-solo-music/

You must check out this movie…the theme song was a big hit for Badfinger, who recorded on The Beatles’ Apple label. Here is Paul’s demo of the song:

“If you want it, here it is
Come and get it m-m-m!
Make your mind up fast

If you want it anytime I can give it
But you better hurry ’cause it may not last”

McCartney recorded a solo demo of the song on July 24, 1969, when he arrived early for an Abbey Road session. He sang the double-tracked lead vocal and played all the instruments: he sang and played piano on the first take, sang again and played maracas on the first overdub, drums came third and bass guitar was added last. It took less than an hour to finish. It was officially released in 1996 on “The Beatles Anthology 3” and issued under The Beatles’ name, even though McCartney did the entire song by himself…

Here is an amazing montage of the songs that John and Paul wrote for others, thanks to the internet!

“SgtPepperChannel” on youtube posted this – bravo! As you can see, John and Paul did a ton of music for others, as they were amazingly prolific….

“It’s For You!”

You heard a snipped of this in the montage – “It’s for You” was written by John and Paul for popular singer Cilla Black – and it was a UK Top Ten hit in 1964.

Here she is performing the show on UK TV, with a cameo appearance by Paul and John at the end:

Singer Cilla Black recorded the song at Abbey Road Studios in July 1964, with George Martin producing the session. Can you imagine the creatively that was going on at the time?

Cilla Black recalled the recording session years later:

“That was some session…John and Paul joined me and George Martin. We made one track and then everyone had a go at suggesting how they thought it should be recorded. George said it should be one way, John and Paul another and I just added my suggestions while they were thinking of what else they could do with the composition.”

Macca’s “Penina!”

In the late 60’s, Paul was very prolific, and he wrote the song “Penina” at the Hotel Penina in December 1968, when he was vacationing in the Portuguese region of the Algarve.

Here is the song as recorded by the Portuguese singer Carlos Mendes:

George Writes With Eric Clapton!

The Beatles were so prolific as a group that they had more than enough hits of their own – and George got into the action as well!

George wrote “Badge” with Eric Clapton for his group Cream. The song was originally an untitled track. According to wikipedia:

“during the production transfer for the album Goodbye, the original music sheet was used to produce the liner notes and track listing. The only discernible word on the page was “bridge” (indicating the song’s bridge section). Due to Harrison’s handwriting, however, Clapton misread it as “badge” — and the song was titled soon thereafter.”

Ha! Here’s an audio only version:

Now back to that “bad handwriting” story – Harrison remembered the story differently:

“I helped Eric write “Badge” you know. Each of them had to come up with a song for that Goodbye Cream album and Eric didn’t have his written. We were working across from each other and I was writing the lyrics down and we came to the middle part so I wrote ‘Bridge.’ Eric read it upside down and cracked up laughing– ‘What’s BADGE?’ he said. After that, Ringo [Starr] walked in drunk and gave us that line about the swans living in the park.”

So there you have it, a drunk Ringo contributed as well! The Beatles were amazingly prolific, and left us with an unbelievable catalog of music to love.

However, their songs were sometimes used in some VERY questionable ways – like these two films!

“All The And World War WHAT!?!?!?!?”

If you haven’t seen this movie, you are lucky! It’s a documentary about World War 2, full of war images, death and destruction, with a Beatles soundtrack! See the unbelievably wrong trailer here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/06/20/the-beatles-worlds-best-music-worst-movie-choices/

And here is an image you will never be able to burn out of your skull:

Yes, The Bee Gees are dancing in “Sgt. Peppers” outfits along with Peter Frampton and George Burns!

This movie is embarrassing for all concerned: stick with a Beatles classic like this instead:

Here is a look at the legendary “Let It Be” documentary, which includes lots of strife between he band members, and the incredible rooftop performance in London:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/04/06/let-it-be-the-beatles-lost-documentary-londons-live-beatles-rooftop-concert/

Leave me a note on your favorite Beatles anecdotes!

Paul McCartney’s Outer Space “Rock Show!”

Here’s the former Beatle holding two planets…and here’s why – Paul’s late wife Linda was an amazing photographer, and she was capturing Macca with his “Venus And Mars” album cover prototypes: two circular orbs that represent our planetary neighbors:

“Venus And Mars Are Alright Tonight!”

Time to take a look at Paul McCartney’s followup to his greatest achievement of all time…yes, this is the album that Wings released after Macca’s masterpiece “Band On The Run”…

After a rocky start to Wings, the band hit their stride when they released this worldwide smash hit…see some great videos from the album here:

“Band On The Run!” Paul McCartney’s Triumph Over Adversity! Classic “Chaos & Creation!”

So how to follow up? Well, McCartney took the band right back into the studio and began working on new material…

“Venus & Mars”

“Band on the Run” overcame band defections, leaving only Paul, wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine in the lineup. McCartney added Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar and Geoff Britton on drums to the Wings line-up in 1974. Joe English also played drums on the album and the tour, and ended up in Wings for awhile…

“Venus And <ars / Rock Show" –

The album gets off to a raucous start, as Paul writes a song about the fans – who are off to see a rock show…

Here is the band performing "Venus And Mars / Rock Show" From "Wings Fly South" 1975 – a classic Macca performance!

“The Lights Go Down – They’re Back In Town O.K.
Behind The Stacks You Glimpse An Axe
The Tension Mounts You Score An Ounce Ole!
Temperatures Rise As You See The White Of Their Eyes

If There’s Rock Show
At The Concertgebow
You’re Got Long Hair
At The Madison Square
They’ve Got Rock And Roll
At The Hollywood Bowl,
We’ll Be There . . . Oo Yeah . . .”

What a great start to the album, and Paul was very happy with the band…

As Paul remembers:

“I felt really comfortable with that band. I had written Venus And Mars songs in Jamaica – we were getting around a bit in those days! – and had the album pretty much mapped out. Even though we didn’t use the style of New Orleans on the album, it influenced the way we felt about the music and added to the spirit.”

“Venus and Mars / Rock Show” was followed by a beautiful ballad “Love In Song”, then one of McCartney’s old style ditties, “You Gave Me The Answer”…

“Magneto and Titanium Man”

Next up was a fun, mid tempo rocker written by Paul – who was a Marvel comics fan – having fun with the Marvel characters Magneto, Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo The legendary Stan Lee, who co-created all three characters, said he thought the song was “terrific”.

Here is a spirited live performance from 1975.

“Letting Go”

Next up is a bluesy rocker from Paul, in the vein of “Let Me Roll It”…

Here is the great live version from the Wings 1976 world tour:

Side two begins with a short “Venus and Mars Reprise”, then a couple of mid-tempo rockers:
“Spirits Of Ancient Egypt” and “Medicine Jar”…

“Call Me Back Again”

Next up is a classic McCartney song, a soulful wail of a song as he pleas the love of his life to call him back again….check out this great video:

“Listen To What The Man Said”

Next up is a classic McCartney single: catchy, upbeat and fun….here is a video covered with great movies of Paul and Linda – look for Linda making a Wings logo out of carrots!

Thanks to “TheMusicalSteve” for posting on YouTube….and the video part was made by “mralan1969uk”!

“Treat Her Gently – Lonely Old People” is a great mashup of two soft ballads, with perfect Macca vocals…and “Crossroads” is a very short instrumental that wraps up a terrific album…

But There’s More!

A couple of years ago, Paul released “Venus & Mars” in a beautiful expanded package…in addition to the original CD, you get a bonus CD full of great songs, including the classic “non-album” track “Junior’s Farm”…here is “take 16” from Paul and the gang in 1974:

Here’s the lineup on the bonus CD:

1. Junior’s Farm
2. Sally G
3. Walking In The Park With Eloise
4. Bridge On The River Suite
5. My Carnival
6. Going To New Orleans (My Carnival)
7. Hey Diddle [Ernie Winfrey Mix]
8. Let’s Love
9. Soily [from One Hand Clapping]
10. Baby Face [from One Hand Clapping]
11. Lunch Box/Odd Sox
12. 4th Of July
13. Rock Show [Old Version]
14. Letting Go [Single Edit]

Almost A Lennon – McCartney Reunion!

Here’s some great trivia about John and Paul. According to wikipedia – John Lennon, in a nostalgic mood during his Lost Weekend period of the time, had told May Pang (his then girlfriend) that they would visit the McCartneys during the recording sessions for Venus and Mars, and considered writing with him again. Lennon’s planned visit never happened due to his reunion with Yoko Ono!

Well, that’s a shame, but Macca was flying high without him…here’s the promotional film explaining what is being offered on the remaster album!

“Venus And Mars” Soars!

Venus and Mars rocketed to the top of the music charts in the US, the UK and other countries around the world – and while many feel it’s not quite as good as “Band On The Run” – well, what could be?

The band headed out on the road for their classic “Wings Across America” tour – see some of the performances here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/07/12/paul-mccartney-wings-over-seattle-the-kingdome-implosion-seattle-sports-history/

Paul was on a creative roll during this period of the 70’s…and that included writing the greatest James Bond theme song of all time!

Here is my list of the best and worst Bond themes of all time:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/11/05/rock-on-007-the-best-and-worst-james-bond-theme-songs/

Let me know your favorite song from “Venus And Mars!”

Todd Rocks My VHS Player!

I was going through an old box, and look what I found! Todd Rundgren’s incredible 1990 tour to support his brilliant “Nearly Human” album!

What A Concert!

I was lucky enough to see this at the Wiltern theater in Los Angeles…a collection of Todd’s biggest hits AND new songs – what a collection!

Look at the songs being performed on this tour: new Todd, classic Todd and some great Utopia as well!

The concert kicks off with his classic “Real Man”, from the “Initiation” album…here is a great live version from that tour:

Another classic Todd song from the mid-80’s is part of the tour, “Something To Fall Back On”…here is Todd performing it live during the 1990 tour…

Todd Gets “Mated!”

You can see Todd’s wife Michelle singing backup on this classic Utopia song “Mated” from the tour:

That’s Michelle in the middle, of course…finally, here is one of Todd’s greatest songs from the album – and he is performing it live in Tokyo as part of this tour – “The Want Of A Nail:”

What an incredible show – so many of the songs can be found online, but you can also buy Todd online or from amazon as well – and you can get great merchandise from Todd’s store as well, so make sure to support him!

http://toddstore.bigcartel.com

Another great way to support Todd is to see him live! Todd is still on tour in 2016, entertaining audiences around the world as part of Ringo’s All-Starr band – see some highlights here:

https://johnrieber.com/2015/12/16/ringos-all-starr-band-rocks-on-todd-rundgrens-2016-tease-the-beatles-tour-on/

I also posted a story about the entire “Nearly Human” album…

You can see some great music videos and live performances here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/08/26/todd-rundgren-is-nearly-human-todds-6-fingered-masterpiece/

Finally, I shared my experience seeing Todd live in January 2016:

You can see some of his live performance here:

https://johnrieber.com/2016/01/07/todd-rundgren-rocks-beverly-hills-todds-2016-tour-reviewed/

Leave a message to let me know if you saw this tour!