Mixed Bag
Over the course of the last four years that I have been writing this column I have realized that my musical selections make very little sense when you look at each list that I make. It is how my mind works and I have decided long ago, I wasn’t going to fight it. Eclectic is putting it mildly. Non-linking is more like it.
This column is more of the same. Makes no sense but I am sure there will be a few songs in it that you might enjoy. Rediscovering is another thing I tend to do. Some of these songs have been mentioned before and I apologize for that but it doesn’t make them any less interesting. It just proves my point about having no rhyme or reason.
Good luck.
My first selection in this mashup is Argent’s version of “Liar”. Written by Russ Ballard of Argent, it never charted for the band but The Guess Who did a really nice version of the song, which did chart.
I may have mentioned Bachman Turner Overdrive a few times over the years, “Blue Collar” still remains one of my all time favorite songs but today I am going to throw out there “Welcome Home”. It’s a story of the bands success and the fact that they still have ties and love for their Canadian roots.
Looking at Elton John’s catalog before Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboys you don’t have to dig too deep to find a great song. That five year period between 1969 and 1974 John released 9 albums and roughly 150 songs. While some were played to death, some were completely overlooked and picking a great overlooked Elton John song is pretty easy. Make a list, throw a dart and you will hit a song that other artists could only dream about recording but yet John had hundreds of them. For this column, give “I Think I am Going To Kill Myself”. A fun little ditty about suicide. Only Elton John could write about something like that and make it fun.
None of my lists would be complete without some 17 minute song and today it’s going to be “Dogs” by Pink Floyd. The song come from Animals and I do know that Pink Floyd is not everyone’s cup of tea but I love the band. They did experimental things within the confines of some structure that only the band understood. This album was not so much an experiment but a challenge. The songs were deep, insightful and complex. Lyrically, musically they did things other bands would never attempt and because they were incredibly talented, it almost always worked.
Another band that a lot of people could take or leave is The Doors. I can understand why they may not be to everyones taste but I have liked them since day one and they probably have 30 or 40 songs in their catalog that you could drag out and enjoy if you are a fan. Today my selection is “Peace Frog”. Morrison did not write too many anti war songs but the ones he did write were laser sharp. Interesting note, guitarist Robbie Krieger wrote the music before the lyrics were recorded. Morrison had a couple of poems that fit and that was it.
I have gone on about how good a Rock and Roll band Cheap Trick was(is?) and the feedback has always been positive. They are poster child for Midwestern Rock and Roll. Like Bob Seger, or The Pretenders, they were a no frills, high energy, get out and party band that wrote great songs and gave 150% in every live performance. They never lost who they were. Try out “Gonna Raise Hell” and tell me I am wrong.
Stepping out from their popular persona, Queen could Rock like Hell. A perfect example of this is “Dragon Attack”. Listen to the guitar and the bass in this song. Uh!! Gotta love it and Freddie Mercury was other wordly This song just shows how good a guitarist Brian May was. How good a bass player John Deacon was. How good a drummer Roger Taylor was. While I was never a big fan when they were together with Freddie Mercury, after listening to this song I realized how special and talented they were.
In the past I have extolled a lot of Creedence Clearwater Revival songs with good reason. For the short time they were together they produced more great music than any band in history. Yup, I said it!! They released three classic albums in one year! What band can say that. Wait. Taylor Swift released 7 albums in the month of September. Oh well, CCR is second in the quality/time race I guess. With that being said, it isn’t too hard picking a great song but picking one that was under the radar is another matter. I will take “Ramble Tamble” from Cosmo’s Factory over every other song. This song is exactly what the band was all about. Fast driving beat somewhere out of the backwoods with politically insightful lyrics. This song also shows how good a guitarist John Fogerty is.
One band that I never really got was Electric Light Orchestra. Not sure why I didn’t. They were unique and very talented. Just never got into them and they were all over the radio during their peak years. One song that I did like however was, “Roll Over Beethoven”. Originally by Chuck Berry, this song was covered by everyone. If you were going to have a rock and roll band you had to do this song. Musically, it was relatively easy and the lyrics were simple (as all Chuck Berry songs were). ELO’s version was so different I had to include it. It may sound dumb at first but if you listen to what the band is saying it’s quotes from Beethoven and they end up putting the Jeff Lynn overproduction to work. I find that I always feel better after listening to this song.
My last selection is an odd one (as usual). Try and find Isaac Hayes’ live version of “Feeling Alright”. This is a song that has been recorded by pretty everyone who has every recorded anything and yet, this version sounds fresh. Hayes was a genius and he did a lot more than the theme song from Shaft. BTW, if you can find his performance of “Shaft” from the 1972 Grammy Awards it’s well worth a viewing. Might be one of the best live performances ever on the Grammy’s. We can argue later.