Golden Earring

This band is best known in the US for two big hits, "Radar Love" and "Twilight Zone". Both are songs that I really like. However, this group has been big in Europe since the mid-1960's when they were known as The Golden Earrings.

Clip number one is "Radar Love".

Clip number two, from 1966, is "Daddy Buy Me a Girl".

Paul McCartney

I can hardly wait for the next Macca solo pop album. He certainly has a lot of heartache to draw on this time. It seems like whenever Paul is having a bad time, he spits out a great album. The Beatles are breaking up? "Abbey Road". 2/5 of Wings quits just as they are to leave for Africa to record? "Band on The Run". His old pal John is killed? "Tug of War".

I was expecting something great after Linda died, but by the time he put out an album of original tunes, he had already remarried. I guess it would be bad form to pine away for your dead wife when you have a new wife. Anyway, now is the time to let it all out Paul! His last album, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" was great. His new producer, Nigel Godrich, seems to be able to get great stuff out of him. Hopefully Nigel will be back. I think it's his best album since "Venus and Mars" in 1975.

Clip one is from "Chaos", a promo for the single "Fine Line".

Clip two, also from "Chaos" is the very beautiful "Jenny Wren".

Clip three is an interesting Wings in-studio performance of "Maybe I'm Amazed" circa 1974. This was recorded by a short lived version of the band that recorded "Junior's Farm" and included Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch and Geoff Britton. Britton would leave shortly to be replaced by Joe English. This version would remain together until 1977-1978 when Jimmy and Joe would leave during the recording of "London Town".

Larry Williams

"Larry Williams?" some might say...but Larry is amongst the few to have songs covered by both The Beatles (including solo recordings from both Lennon and McCartney) and The Rolling Stones as he wrote and recorded "Dizzy Miss Lizzie", "Bad Boy", "Slow Down" and "She Said Yeah" among other great songs. I have Larry's version of "She Said Yeah" on a 45, and it cuts both the Stones and Paul McCartney's fine versions to shreds!

Clip one is Larry performing "Short Fat Fannie".

Clip two is The Beatles performing "Dizzy Miss Lizzie".

Clip three is The Rolling Stones doing "She said Yeah" in 1965. Notice an animated Bill Wyman at a time when he still sang backing vocals.

The Beau Brummels

San Francisco's answer to The Beatles! These guys came out of the box with two great singles, performances clips of which you will find below. They didn't have much success after that, though I do remember them appearing on Bandstand in the mid-1970's after releasing a reunion album.

Once upon a time I was on AOL, and lead singer Sal Valention was known to converse with fans on the Beau Brummels message board. he seemed like a nice guy.

Clip one is "Just a Little". Clip two is "Laugh Laugh"

Simon and Garfunkel

I'll admit it, I prefer Garfunkel to Simon (I have way more Garfunkel solo albums than I do Simon solos), but mostly I love to hear Artie sing Paul Simon's songs. Harry Nilsson once did a record called "Nilsson Sings Newman"...an album of nothing but Randy Newman songs. My fervent wish is for an album called "Garfunkel Sings Simon", where Artie covers some of Paul's post-S&G tunes. Before you scoff, remember the beautiful job Art did sing "American Tune". That song was perfect for him.

Clip number one appears to be from 1968 or 1969. Paul plays the guitar while Art sings "For Emily Wherever I May Find Her". I waited to post anything by S&G until a pre-1971 clip of "For Emily" appeared...and it is here!

Clip two is a nice live performance of "Overs".

Clip three is a video for the 1975 reunion single "My Little Town". They look so uncomfortable together that it makes my cringe!

One more...Artie appears on a Paul Simon TV special and they sing "Old Friends". A lovely performance. They actually look they like each other!

Badfinger

Badfinger is one of my top five favorites (the others being The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds and Raspberries). The story of Badfinger is probably the saddest in Rock history. The short version is that a manager screwed them and cheated them out of the money and royalties they had earned. This crime lead to the suicides of both Pete Ham and Tom Evans.

Ironically, Ham and Evans wrote the classic ballad "Without You". Now, writing one song like that should set you up for life. You may not live like a king, but you can live comfortably. I once read a story on MOJO about The Village People. The original lead singer of the song "YMCA" was one of three co-writers of that song. Thanks to that one song, he made about $50,000 a year in royalties...$50,000.00!

Tom and Pete would have probably made more, given the number of cover versions this song generated (including massive hit versions by Nilsson and Mariah Carey). It really is a crime.

To read about this tragic story, you have to get get "The Tragic Story of Badfinger" by Dan Matovina. Even if you are not a fan, it will break your heart.

The moral story for young bands- hire a competent attorney before signing any contracts.

Clip number one is low quality, but it is Badfinger lip syncing to "Without You".

Clip number two is a live performance of "No Matter What" on British TV from 1972. This was an amazing band.

Drummer Mike Gibbins died last year. Only Joey Molland survives from the classic version of the band (unless you count Ron Griffiths of the Iveys, who did record their first single as Badfinger, "Come and Get It").

RIP Pete, Tommy and Mike.

The Doors

This is the post-Morrison Doors, from their first album after Jim died. It really is not too bad. Ray Manzarek is really a pretty good singer. The song itself, "Tightrope Ride", is pretty repetitive though. Given that most of the earlier songs, though credited to "The Doors" were actually written by Jim Morrison and/or Robby Kreiger (who was the main writer on songs like "Light My Fire", "Love Her Madly", and "Touch Me"), you think that they could have come up with something better since one of their main writers was still with them.

Still, an interesting clip.

The Carpenters

When you look and hear at the female singers in current pop, Karen Carpenter's vocal prowess becomes even more amazing. Current singers ape Mariah Carey...hand waving, trilling, octave jumping...a mess. Karen Carpenter just sang the song, and sang it well. Her brother was a brilliant arranger, and those harmonies they built were amazing.

Clip number one is from 1971. Live on the BBC doing "Close To You" and "We've Only Just Begun".

Clip number two is a live "Yesterday Once More". Karen looks particularly lovely in this video.

Bread

Some think Bread was lame, but I always thought they were great. Soft in spots, but the tunes were there. David Gates was a great writer, but the team of Jimmy Griffin and Robb Royer were almost as good. They didn't write the hits, but their songs are what made the albums great. Just a little rougher than Gates' stuff. Griffin and Royer also won a Academy Award for the song "For All We Know", which they wrote under pseudonyms.

There aren't a lot of good Bread clips. I couldn't find any featuring the original trio of Gates, Griffin and Royer, but did come across this first clip of the most popular lineup of the band. Gates and Griffin were joined by drummer Mike Botts and multi-instrumentalist Larry Knechtel. Knechtel had been a very in-demand session musician (and continues to be to this day). He played bass on the Byrds debut single "Mr. Tambourine Man" (Roger McGuinn was the only Byrd to actually play on that track), and played the piano on Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

This first clip features the more popular lineup on the "Captain and Tennille" TV Show, doing their reunion hit "Lost Without Your Love" in 1977.

Clip number two is a live "Guitar Man". I assume this is the post "Lost Without Your Love" tour. I believe Gates and Griffin had a falling out and Gates, Knechtel and Botts toured as "David Gates and Bread" minus Griffin, so Griffin sued them.

Bread reunited (with Griffin back on board) and played quite a few shows in the late 1990's...mostly outside of the USA. There is a picture or two of the reunited Bread here, amongst many others. I happened to see David Gates with the musicians that supported Bread in 1998. The concert was great. Gates looked like an old guy, but he sounded just like he did in 1970. His voice was unchanged.

Unfortunately, there will be no more Bread reunions as both Mike Botts and James Griffin died in 2005.

Cotton Mather

I bought my first Cotton Mather release after reading that leader Robert Harrison sounded a lot like a 1965-era John Lennon. Turns out he does!

Cotton Mather released a local CD which is now very hard to find, as well as three other CD's that had a wider release (and I think one EP). If you are interested, I suggest you start with their CD, "Kon Tiki". It is fab. They are all out of print, but well worth the $25-$30 it would cost you to pick one up.

Clip number one is from their album "Cotton is King". It is a nice promo video for the song "April's Fool".

Clip number is a video put together by a YouTube user using footage from the TV show "Veronica Mars". I hear the show is good, though I have not really watched it. I don't usually post YouTube created clips, but the song is so good I had to in this case. The video itself is pretty good. The song used is "Lily Dreams On" from "Kon Tiki".

As with most bands I really dig, Cotton Mather broke up without ever really making it big.

Gene Vincent

Q- How can you beat Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps doing "Be Bop a Lula" live in their prime?

A- You can't.

Rock On Gene!

The Beatles

If you had to pick the best single ever, what would it be? My choice would be "Paperback Writer" b/w "Rain". Was "Papercack Writer" the Fab's best song? No, but it is great. Was "Rain" the best b-side ever? In my opinion, yes. What other band could record two songs so good, and not even put them on their latest album?

Clip number one is the the a-side, clip two is a performance version (though still lip sync) of the b-side.

The Posies

In my last post I talked about my two favorite bands of the early 1990's. One was Jellyfish, the other was The Posies. I bought my first Posies album after reading a review that described them as the Hollies of the new Power Pop bands. I think that description, at least at the time of "Dear 23", was pretty spot on.

I really loved their next album, "Frosting on the Beater", but every album after that one disappointed me. Still, two great albums (three if you count their first album "Failure") is not a bad run.

Clip number one is "Golden Blunders" from "Dear 23". This song was later covered by Ringo Starr!

Clip number two is "Dream All Day" from "Frosting on the Beater".

Jellyfish

1990 was a good year for Power Pop. In my opinion, one of the two greatest Power Pop albums were released that year, "Dear 23" by The Posies and "Bellybutton" by Jellyfish. I played those CD's constantly for months. I would say that overall, though I loved "Dear 23", Jellyfish was my fav of the two groups.

They only did two albums, but they were both amazing. On the other hand...The Posies released quite a few albums, with only one coming close to being as good as "Dear 23" (in my opinion, "Frosting on the beater").

I was shocked and saddened when Jellyfish disbanded. Andy Strumer and Roger Manning were a great team. Manning recently released a solo album and was a member of the band Imperial Drag. Sturmer has produced, but released no work under his own name...distressing given what a talented vocalist he is.

Clip number one is a live clip (recorded by an audience member) of "Joining a Fanclub" from Spilt Milk".

Clip number two is a live take of "The King is Half Undressed". I am really faascinated by Andy's "standing up" drumming style. Take that Ringo! The harmonies are fantastic.

Clip number three is an instore appearance....a live accoutic version of "That Is Why". Listen for the phone ringing in the background!

Clip number FOUR...a promo clip from Andy and Roger's pre-Jellyfish band Beatnik Beach. Not great, but interesting....the sound and image don't sync up though...

Formula V

Not much to write about this band. This video popped up while I was searching for Easybeats stuff. Formula V is a band from Spain. Apparently they still exist today, but with only one remaining original member (maybe they are Spain's Beach Boys!). They may (or not) have been big in the 1960's and 1970's.

All I know is that, even though I speak very little Spanish, I dig this tune. The song is called "Cuentame".

Stevie Wright/ Vanda and Young

As promised, I am posting a few clips from the post-Easybeats careers of lead singer Stevie Wright and guitarists Harry Vanda and George Young.

I have read that Wright was offered a gig as the singer of AC/DC before Bon Scott. This clip of the song "Black Eyed Bruiser" from 1975 sure shows that he may have been a big influence on Bon, and may have fit well in AC/DC. The track was from an album produced by Vanda and Young, who produced the early AC/DC albums (George Young's little brothers, Angus and Malcolm are the guitarists for AC/DC). Stevie has had many problems, mostly with drugs. You can read a bio here.

Clips two and three are from Vanda and Young's late 70's, early 80's band, Flash and the Pan. To my ears, their sound was very much like The Motors (though Flash and the Pan predated them) or 10cc. First up is "Hey St Peter" from 1976. Look for George dressed up like his brother Angus. Clip three is "Down Among the Dead Men" from 1978.

The Easybeats

This Aussie band only had one US/UK hit, "Friday on My Mind", but was considered Australia's Beatles...and they were fantastic. They deserved to have more that just that one hit.

They were blessed with a charismatic front man in Stevie Wright, and the great songs of guitarists Harry Vanda and George Young.

Go here to read more about them.

Clip one is a live take of "Friday on My Mind". I hate to go for the obvious, but when the obvious is this good, why not?

Clip two is lip sync of "Good Time" from German TV. A great song later covered by INXS and Jimmy Barnes. This track apparently had Paul McCartney calling the radio station to hear it again after one play.

Clip three is a great ballad called "Hello How Are You". The audio isn't that great, but the song is so good I had to include it...how did this not become a hit?

Tomorrow....some post-Easybeats clips from Wright, Vanda and Young.

Flying Burritos Brothers

The Burritos were a great offshoot of The Byrds. The original lineup featured two former Byrds, Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons. They were never all that popular, but were one of the first country-rock bands. More ex-Byrds would pass through the ranks over the years.

Clip number one is the band live at Altamont. Unfortunaely, you don't see much of the band...and at the end of the song ("Six Days on the Road") is the infamous murder of a concert-goer by the Hells Angels. The band sounds great though. At this point their lineup, in addition to Hillman and Parsons, included ex-Byrd Michael Clarke on drums, future Eagle Bernie Leadon on guitar, and Sneaky Pete on steel guitar.

Correction/Update: the melee at the end of this clip was not the infamous murder (which happened during the Rolling Stones set), but the Angels beating the crap out of some other hapless concertgoer. Thanks to the reader who pointed that out.

Clip number two is "Christine's Tune". This clip features the original lineup of the band with Hillman, Parsons, Sneaky Pete and bassist Chris Etheridge. Michael Clarke is show on drums, though I don't believe he actually played on the first album.

Gram Parsons would die in 1973. His headstone is marked "God's Own Singer", which is ironic given that Bernie Leadon had written the song of the same name. You can see pictures of Gram's grave here. One of Bernie Leadon's finest songs with The Eagles was his Parsons tribute, "My Man". Hillman, besides being an original Byrd, would go on to country stardom with the Desert Rose Band, and continues touring to this day.

Michael Clarke would later find success with Firefall (with another former Burrito, Rick Roberts) , but would die in 1993 of alcoholism. Prior to his death, he expressed a wish that others would not follow his path. He wanted to get the message out to kids not to drink, so his friends wrote a "letter from Michael". This site includes that letter as well as a heartbreaking picture of Clarke just hours before his death. Keep in mind, he was only 47 when he died, and when the Byrds originally asked him to join, it was mainly due to his good looks.

Poco

The band Poco rose from the ashes of the Buffalo Springfield. While Stephen Stills headed to CSN, and Neil Young started a solo career and later joined CSNY, Richie Furay and Jim Messina formed Poco with Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner.

Meisner fell out with Messina and Furay before the first album was released, and though his bass parts and harmonies remained, he was not listed as a member when "Pickin' Up the Pieces" was released.

By the time Poco's second album was released, Timothy B. Schmit had joined in place of Meisner. Meisner, of course, became a founding member of The Eagles.

Clip number one is a clip from a John Byner TV show. the band mimes to Messina's "You Better Think Twice", while on a boat. As a funny note, The Flying Burritos Brothers were on the same show and had a similarly cheesy clip.

Clip number two is the band live on German TV. By this time, Paul Cotton had replaced Jim Messina on guitar. Messina formed Loggins & Messina with Kenny Loggins.

By the time Poco had any Top 10 hits, Furay was long gone, having left the band to form the 'supergroup' Souther, Hillman, Furay. Tim Schmit would once again replace randy Meisner, this time in The Eagles.

The original lineup reunited in 1989 and record an album which yielded the hit, "Call It Love", which is clip number three. Furay and Grantham contributed minimally, though Furay's "Where It All Began" was a sweet Poco history lesson and one of the highlights of the reunion album.

Poco still plays the occasional live show with Cotton and Young. Furay occasionally appears, but is now a minister.

The Bee Gees

I hated disco in the 1970's, and to me The Bee Gees disco. Big hair, sparkly cloths...falsettos! Well, I have had to reevaluate my loathing of the Brothers Gibb. First I discovered their great 1960's pop recordings. Then I realized that minus the beat, those 1970's Bee Gees were first and foremost great songs!

I love it when Barry and Robin trade parts, and though Maurice rarely sang lead, I think he may be their secret weapon. The man played bass beautifully, and others instruments as well. And you could really tell when he sang his harmony part...it filled out the sound very nicely.

If you do not own the first three Bee Gees album go here. Rhino Handmade is re-releasing them in expanded form. They are great...unbelievable really. 1960's pop was rarely better.

Clip number one is a live performance of "Run to Me". Check out Barry's hair! Just an FYI...at the top of this clip is an unrelated 'comedy' bit with Wilson Pickett!

Clip number two is the original five man line up doing "Words" on the "Ed Sullivan Show".

Clip three is a very cool promo of "I've Gotta get a Message to You", again with the original five man lineup.

And because I am Bee Gee crazy today, a fourth clip...a killer performance of "Nights on Broadway" from "The Helen Reddy Show" in 1975. Maurice was still playing bass live at this point. He was very good. I never could figure out why he stopped playing bass live...he really kicks it here...RIP Mo.

Mott the Hoople

I am not quite sure where I first heard Mott. Maybe I heard "All the Young Dudes" on the radio at some point. It is possible (even probable) that I bought my first Mott LP ("Greatest Hits") simply because I liked Bad Company and wanted to hear Mick Ralphs' old band. But from the first listen I was hooked. I soon owned all the Ian Hunter-era Mott albums. I wondered why Ralph's would leave such a great band. I kept my "Greatest Hits" LP even after buying all the rest because it had a few tracks that were singles only like "Saturday Gigs" (a taste of what Mott might have become had Hunter and new guitarist Mick Ronson stayed with the band) as well as the single version of "Roll Away the Stone" which had the far superior lead guitar work of Mick Ralphs rather than Ariel Bender's album version.

I picked this clip of "All the Young Dudes", even though it is a lip sync, because it features the original lineup of Hunter, Ralphs, Overend Watts (bass), Verden Allen (organ)and Buffin (drums).

The second clip is from a 2004 solo show by Ian Hunter. he does "Rest in Peace", which was the b-side of one of the later Mott singles..."The Golden Age of Rock and Roll" I think. "Rest in Peace" is a fantastic song. The song was written by Hunter with Overend Watts and Dale Griffin (aka Buffin). The guitarist standing to Hunter's left is his old bandmate Mick Ralphs.