Tune Tag #26 with Andres of "The Vinyl Room," Pt. 2: Donny Hathaway, Captain Beyond, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Al Kooper, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hunger
Tune Tag #26 with Andres of "The Vinyl Room," Pt. 2: Donny Hathaway, Captain Beyond, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Al Kooper, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hunger
Who's the 16-year-old "mystery" lead singer? Who on earth is Willy Dee, and just how many bands did he front? How many City Boys are there? Questions dominate this one! So do the musical answers!🎶
Another fun and interesting journey! I’d heard “Incense and Peppermint” before but never knew who sang it. What’s funny is that Strawberry Alarm Clock are exactly what I imagined the band/singer of that song would look like! 😂
I'm still stunned I'm just finding that out now, myself, and can't imagine how that guy (drummer, Gene Gunnels) can "pretend" to be singing......oh, sure, they all lip-synch, but usually they're all SINGING ALONG TO THEIR OWN RECORDED VOICE!
That had to be so odd and off-putting the first TV show they did.......plus, assuming they toured, or played clubs, who sang that song?!?!🤯
If they had had this phrase back then, Munford would've gone back to high school, and Gunnels would just shrug: "It is what it is," and gamely carry on! But, again, what an amazing factoid TT uncovered (for me, too)!
Wait til you discover, Mark, the couple of Bowie trivia items we uncover next Tuesday in our Tune Tag with Nic Briscoe! I've been a Bowie fan for nigh unto 53 years, now, and I never knew, before, what we uncover (we bring the receipts, too)!
Fun fun fun one! Another one I will have to return to and dive deeper in the many (most) bands here I did not know about. One, I did know about, and which I own their first two albums, is Captain Beyond. But I had no idea about album #3 or the reforming with a new vocalist! Always so much to learn here; I feel properly schooled! Excellent picks Andres and Brad!
Thanks, Steve! I'm gonna guess your 2 CB albums are in CD form....I thought I mentioned it above (maybe in a comment), but I had the debut album with the limited-edition lenticular cover, which I wonder if you've ever seen in person before. As you can imagine, photos don't do it justice, but it was a bold manufacturing move (and expense) by Capricorn/Warner Bros. for a debut by a new band!
Holla back, yo, after you get a second dive into the music herein!
Thanks, Michael! As well as his innate knowledge, I'm always impressed with Andy's "old-soul" love of, and thirst for, the music, the vinyl, and the lifestyle it all encompasses....especially for one half my age (I'll be 69 in 6 weeks)!
You're up for your TT Part 2, Michael...I believe you were #7, so you were early enough to, now, swing a Pt. 2, if you're game! Just e-mail me a song!
I thought a return Tune Tag w/Andy would be great - and I was right! I LOVE Captain Beyond's first 2 albums but I hadn't heard the later version of the band before. Thanks for sharing!
Listen, Matt......I'm as big a TT fan as the next reader....I may end up slapping it all together, but I was so eager to dig into Andy's prose and tunes, I had it ready to go about two weeks ago! Like you, I read it, "with new eyes and ears" today, like my first time!!!
I was all over the good Captain in real time (even had the debut LP's lenticular cover!), but short of "Dancing Madly," a lot of their stuff didn't otherwise connect with me. I do recall playing that song on KLOL/Houston around '75 or so, likely when I was subbing for another jock! They're a fun example of previous "bigger" band members gathering together for....well, not quite a supergroup, this time, but that era seemed to be rife with them (CSNY, pre-Perry Journey, Jo Jo Gunne--they're in an upcoming TT)!!!!
Say, Matt....not to sound like your dentist's receptionist, but you're about due for your TT Part 2! You know the.........uh, drill: E-mail me a song to get us started! BTW, what do you call an ambitious, furry, North Pole denizen who specializes in catching fish, and extractions? A molar bear.
I always appreciate your music knowledge, Brad! I came late to Captain Beyond (although it was still over 30 years ago). In the pre-internet days I had responded to an ad in a guitar magazine to buy guitar transcriptions for songs by Blue Oyster Cult, UFO, and the Outlaws. My musical penpal suggested that if I liked those bands, I should check out Captain Beyond. I was hooked right away. They had just the right amount of prog and heaviness to hit my sweet spot at the time. I don't want to get cavities, so I'll be sure to send you a TT song in the coming weeks. Thanks for the invite to play again!
I'm happy you wanna, Matt! Thanks! Captain Beyond was always one of those bands, in that decade, that was passed around like a fat joint. Those who were staunchly into those bands you named (very accurately, I might add!) were eager to be fed new stuff, and CB never quite got the airplay to the point where those like you, then, became perfect targets to pitch 'em to (clumsy syntax, but I hope you get the drift)!
Here's another one....they're kinda Yes-sy, but that notwithstanding, very dynamic....Starcastle. They were on CBS/Epic for 2-3 albums mid-'70s. Also, consider Pavlov's Dog on Columbia...kinda hard, and kinda Rush-y, due mainly to David Surkamp's lead vocals (very Geddy). Also on Columbia was Zuider Zee, around '76 or so; see if you can find their ST debut. Maybe a little too poppy for you, but they had some oomph, too. Led by Richard Orange (don't let the fact that he and I were pen-pals for a couple years in the late '70s coerce you....or, dissuade you, for that matter)!
I eagerly await your first TT song......but, in your comfortable time; no hurry!
Wow - just the other day I bought Starcastle's debut and Citadel at a record show. I had heard they were Yes-like and I loved the album covers, so I had to pick them up. Haven't had a chance to listen to 'em yet. I know of Pavlov's Dog because of their connection with Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman, but I've never heard their music either. I'll be on the lookout for them and Zuider Zee, who I am completely unfamiliar with. As always, thanks for dropping the music knowledge!
I was thinking about my Starcastle listening at the time of releases: I really never glommed onto one song in particular, but I found them thoroughly fun to listen to, album by album, while puttering around the house....perfect prog background listening. As opposed to Genesis, where, to me, every '70s song (w/ and w/out Peter) was "Whoa! What was that?!", but with Starcastle, I wasn't driven to hang on every song.
I've never listened to much Lynyrd Skynyrd, and that performance of "Winterland" is a good introduction.
The video for "Incense and Peppermint" is wild; very 60s.
"Do or Die" is fun.
I liked both City Boy songs. The Chakras song is just fun. I didn't like the style of "5.7.0.5" as well, but I have to admit the singer had mostly won me over by the end. He does really try to sell it.
I was curious, so: City Boy's lead singer was Lol Mason, and he passed away in July 2019 at 69 (the age I'll get to in 6 weeks!). Following City Boy, he was in The Maisonettes: https://www.discogs.com/artist/288223
Great reactions, Nick! Yes, the Strawberry Alarm Clock WAS very '60s. I watched it again through my 12-year-old eyes (my age in '67); not that I saw any videos of them, and I don't recall seeing them, at all, on TV (which doesn't mean they weren't....or, I didn't), but "I and Ps" was all over AM radio, so I was intimately familiar! It's hard to say if we thought their outlandish look was contrived at all. No, is my answer...I think we just thought this is how teens dress these days, albeit they, likely, aren't wearing Sears-off-the-rack!
You know I love your input....you made me think of another VERY '60s band....I'll e-mail you!
The Donny Hathaway is great -- I had only known him from his work with Roberta Flack.
I was also struck seeing that album was recorded at The Bitter End. One of my very favorite live albums (_Curtis/Live!_) was also recorded there -- see, for example, his amazing Carpenters cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQIZ7Pnp2Zs
The whole album is great, and it's so full of a desire for equality and just love and optimism (which you can hear in that Carpenter's cover). For example I love the crowd interactions in "We're A Winner" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikrLWEcDyGg
You're sending me down the Mayfield rabbit hole, Nick.......and, I can't thank you enough!
As I do, I start leaning toward the label lane....Of course, I knew that Curtis formed Curtom Records in '68 (on which he, of course, he released his own product). I had gotten Warner Bros. Records promos since the late '60s, and wondered why this Bitter End album never made it into my furry little paws!
As it turns out, Curtom was distributed by Buddah until 1975, when it (as I knew it had at some point) began a distribution deal with the Label of the Bunny! But, by '75, I was 20, and in radio myself, and now, didn't have to rely on Dad bringing home freebies for me!
So, while Mayfield wasn't involved in the daily doin's of the Curtom biz, he was A&R lead and a key producer at the label. And, would you believe he employed Mr. Hathaway at the label, also? Not entirely sure in what capacity, but we can say, to some degree, Donny was a label exec, among his other creative titles!
I like the way that, in his hands, it takes on a Civil Rights theme.
When he sings "a kiss for luck and we're on our way" you have a different sense of the concerns a Black couple might have for each other and their wish for luck.
There's so much trust. Not only are Curtis and the band really comfortable with each other, and they're all really _present_ and Curtis feels comfortable opening up to the audience, he also really trusts the audience-- that he can switch moods and be more or less serious and the audience will follow the mood -- which is a fantastic thing when it happens, but a lot of performers feel like they need to really control the mood and not let the audience be too involved.
I've never really thought about it that way, but that is exactly what makes this recording so special: the level of trust from both the band and the audience. Truly a special bond. I've always thought about the crowd that went home from that, and how they surely never forgot that night. In "We're A Winner", there's a moment where Curtis is talking to the crowd, and someone in the audience shouts back "Right on, right on" (or close, I haven't listened to it in a little bit). That moment always sticks out to me—you can hear how the band is individually in conversation with the audience, and vice-versa.
Personally, I have a story of, "as a child you don't always recognize when something is special." My parents were part of the folk music scene, I wasn't as into music at the time, but they did take me to some concerts in town. There was a venue that was set up for, essentially, large house concerts. It could seat 40-80 depending on how you set up chairs and whether you wanted to have people sitting on the stairs. There was no amplification at all, and the crowd had a lot of local musicians (and a lot of people who went to concerts regularly).
Being in the audience you could tell that people were really musical, but there was something really special when the performer would recognize that, and understand that they could trust the audience.
I enjoy banter, and when the musician will tell stories, but sometimes they will do that just to give the audience a little break, and to fill space, and I remember one or two concerts in particular where the performer understood that they could go from a higher-energy song and have the audience singing or clapping along and then, immediately, into something more serious and the audience would be rapt; they were willing to follow the mood of the music, and it creates a remarkable experience.
I just looked up how he passed, and beyond sad, and at 33. So much music we've missed out on from artists gone too early. I love that Andy included Hathaway, too....another artist I've spent far too little time exploring.
This was so much fun! I thoroughly enjoyed the (mostly for me) discoveries, rediscoveries, trains of thought rolling on in all directions, and the gems we uncovered!
Loved how you worked your magic with the narrative... to the surprise of absolutely no one 😅
Also, can I just say: great pic of me you chose (much better than if I had chosen it myself!). If I ever need a manager/PR/producer/creative director, would you do the honours?
Thank you, Andy! I dig our journeys, too! Thumbing through your pix was the most pleasant 20 minutes I spent on the TT! It was 10 minutes before I realized I wasn't leafing through a new teen pop star's portfolio! I'm thoroughly pleased, Andy, you enjoyed the layout and the process! I sense a Part 3 sometime this Spring!😉🎵👍
Thanks, Dan! I'm not about to sit here and say I knew them, either! Brand new to moi! When I first read about the demo, I was stunned to find out it existed....granted, on a 21st-century re-issue, but hey....creative Googling, amIright?😁I loved what Andy volleyed to me, too!
Lord have mercy I can't believe somebody on this earth seems to love that capt beyond song as much as I do.
The orthodoxy (such as it is) is that the band lost it after Evans left--or, if you're a real head, after the first album--but I've always thought dawn explosion was...invigorating: GREAT drums and vox and really professionally and enthusiastically played all round. Daffern was Steve Perry--but tuff!
Another fun and interesting journey! I’d heard “Incense and Peppermint” before but never knew who sang it. What’s funny is that Strawberry Alarm Clock are exactly what I imagined the band/singer of that song would look like! 😂
I'm still stunned I'm just finding that out now, myself, and can't imagine how that guy (drummer, Gene Gunnels) can "pretend" to be singing......oh, sure, they all lip-synch, but usually they're all SINGING ALONG TO THEIR OWN RECORDED VOICE!
That had to be so odd and off-putting the first TV show they did.......plus, assuming they toured, or played clubs, who sang that song?!?!🤯
Yeah that’s absolutely bizarre! I’m sure they didn’t take the kid along on tour only to bring him out when his song came on!!
If they had had this phrase back then, Munford would've gone back to high school, and Gunnels would just shrug: "It is what it is," and gamely carry on! But, again, what an amazing factoid TT uncovered (for me, too)!
Wait til you discover, Mark, the couple of Bowie trivia items we uncover next Tuesday in our Tune Tag with Nic Briscoe! I've been a Bowie fan for nigh unto 53 years, now, and I never knew, before, what we uncover (we bring the receipts, too)!
Thank you, Mark! It was a first one for me too. Playing this game is always so educational (and fun!).
Fun fun fun one! Another one I will have to return to and dive deeper in the many (most) bands here I did not know about. One, I did know about, and which I own their first two albums, is Captain Beyond. But I had no idea about album #3 or the reforming with a new vocalist! Always so much to learn here; I feel properly schooled! Excellent picks Andres and Brad!
Thanks, Steve! I'm gonna guess your 2 CB albums are in CD form....I thought I mentioned it above (maybe in a comment), but I had the debut album with the limited-edition lenticular cover, which I wonder if you've ever seen in person before. As you can imagine, photos don't do it justice, but it was a bold manufacturing move (and expense) by Capricorn/Warner Bros. for a debut by a new band!
Holla back, yo, after you get a second dive into the music herein!
Willie Daffern is the real Sreve Perry
Sreve yeah
Thank you, Steve! Properly schooled is how I always feel even by breathing the same air as Brad! 😅
You two were on each other’s tails the whole time. A very fun game. It’s also clear how much both you love and know about music. Very cool :)
Thanks, Michael! As well as his innate knowledge, I'm always impressed with Andy's "old-soul" love of, and thirst for, the music, the vinyl, and the lifestyle it all encompasses....especially for one half my age (I'll be 69 in 6 weeks)!
You're up for your TT Part 2, Michael...I believe you were #7, so you were early enough to, now, swing a Pt. 2, if you're game! Just e-mail me a song!
It is very impressive.
Your still a spring chicken, Brad :)
I’m definitely up for a Pt. I’ve just got a few things on at the moment, but I’ll try to get around to picking a song soon. Thanks Brad :)
No hurry, no deadline....Thank you!
This is really kind of you, Michael. Thank you. I don’t have an ounce of Brad’s knowledge or expertise, but the passion is there!
😉🎵
The passion certainly shows :)
I thought a return Tune Tag w/Andy would be great - and I was right! I LOVE Captain Beyond's first 2 albums but I hadn't heard the later version of the band before. Thanks for sharing!
Listen, Matt......I'm as big a TT fan as the next reader....I may end up slapping it all together, but I was so eager to dig into Andy's prose and tunes, I had it ready to go about two weeks ago! Like you, I read it, "with new eyes and ears" today, like my first time!!!
I was all over the good Captain in real time (even had the debut LP's lenticular cover!), but short of "Dancing Madly," a lot of their stuff didn't otherwise connect with me. I do recall playing that song on KLOL/Houston around '75 or so, likely when I was subbing for another jock! They're a fun example of previous "bigger" band members gathering together for....well, not quite a supergroup, this time, but that era seemed to be rife with them (CSNY, pre-Perry Journey, Jo Jo Gunne--they're in an upcoming TT)!!!!
Say, Matt....not to sound like your dentist's receptionist, but you're about due for your TT Part 2! You know the.........uh, drill: E-mail me a song to get us started! BTW, what do you call an ambitious, furry, North Pole denizen who specializes in catching fish, and extractions? A molar bear.
I always appreciate your music knowledge, Brad! I came late to Captain Beyond (although it was still over 30 years ago). In the pre-internet days I had responded to an ad in a guitar magazine to buy guitar transcriptions for songs by Blue Oyster Cult, UFO, and the Outlaws. My musical penpal suggested that if I liked those bands, I should check out Captain Beyond. I was hooked right away. They had just the right amount of prog and heaviness to hit my sweet spot at the time. I don't want to get cavities, so I'll be sure to send you a TT song in the coming weeks. Thanks for the invite to play again!
I'm happy you wanna, Matt! Thanks! Captain Beyond was always one of those bands, in that decade, that was passed around like a fat joint. Those who were staunchly into those bands you named (very accurately, I might add!) were eager to be fed new stuff, and CB never quite got the airplay to the point where those like you, then, became perfect targets to pitch 'em to (clumsy syntax, but I hope you get the drift)!
Here's another one....they're kinda Yes-sy, but that notwithstanding, very dynamic....Starcastle. They were on CBS/Epic for 2-3 albums mid-'70s. Also, consider Pavlov's Dog on Columbia...kinda hard, and kinda Rush-y, due mainly to David Surkamp's lead vocals (very Geddy). Also on Columbia was Zuider Zee, around '76 or so; see if you can find their ST debut. Maybe a little too poppy for you, but they had some oomph, too. Led by Richard Orange (don't let the fact that he and I were pen-pals for a couple years in the late '70s coerce you....or, dissuade you, for that matter)!
I eagerly await your first TT song......but, in your comfortable time; no hurry!
Starcastle good but no yes--muscle-van/lava-lamp dated in a way the the original is not (but has its place if that's the energy you seek).
Wow - just the other day I bought Starcastle's debut and Citadel at a record show. I had heard they were Yes-like and I loved the album covers, so I had to pick them up. Haven't had a chance to listen to 'em yet. I know of Pavlov's Dog because of their connection with Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman, but I've never heard their music either. I'll be on the lookout for them and Zuider Zee, who I am completely unfamiliar with. As always, thanks for dropping the music knowledge!
I was thinking about my Starcastle listening at the time of releases: I really never glommed onto one song in particular, but I found them thoroughly fun to listen to, album by album, while puttering around the house....perfect prog background listening. As opposed to Genesis, where, to me, every '70s song (w/ and w/out Peter) was "Whoa! What was that?!", but with Starcastle, I wasn't driven to hang on every song.
Another came to mind: Be Bop Deluxe with Bill Nelson, guitar, highly respected player in most circles...EMI/Harvest, mid-'70s: "Orphans of Babylon": https://open.spotify.com/track/2UoLTwXnOcjSXPfdfOi9QE?si=432e5b38bd7242df
Here's a good starter song for P's Dog: "Late November": https://open.spotify.com/track/7vnYJ3614D81Ips9RgU5y5?si=485dd8db725c4070
Zuider Zee's 1975 debut album: https://www.discogs.com/release/9956339-Zuider-Zee-Zuider-Zee
"Haunter of the Darkness": https://open.spotify.com/track/4m3PXsmbGasLmisDXvyPJ3?si=b96db72954c5482a
Enjoy!
Druid is another mid 70s 2nd wave prog act worth scanning
I'm a big fan of Be Bop Deluxe - Bill Nelson is incredible! I will check out your other links. Thanks for the recs!
Thank you, Matt! It wasn’t easy to keep up with the King of Tune Tag, as you well know. But it’s so much fun.
A few more notes.
I've never listened to much Lynyrd Skynyrd, and that performance of "Winterland" is a good introduction.
The video for "Incense and Peppermint" is wild; very 60s.
"Do or Die" is fun.
I liked both City Boy songs. The Chakras song is just fun. I didn't like the style of "5.7.0.5" as well, but I have to admit the singer had mostly won me over by the end. He does really try to sell it.
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first two LPs are their best work, IMO.
Both City Boys (song and band) were a great discovery for me too. The performance skills of the City Boy (band) singer are dangerously convincing! 😅
I was curious, so: City Boy's lead singer was Lol Mason, and he passed away in July 2019 at 69 (the age I'll get to in 6 weeks!). Following City Boy, he was in The Maisonettes: https://www.discogs.com/artist/288223
They recorded one album (1983's "Maisonettes For Sale") and a couple singles, with a hit, "Heartache Avenue." Here's a link to their "Heartbreak Avenue: The Very Best of The Maisonettes" album: https://open.spotify.com/album/715C2GYg8aXw6tPJuchMTP?si=Id8szOkbRv-t1BTFmvxhXw
Enjoy, Boobie!
Merci!
Great reactions, Nick! Yes, the Strawberry Alarm Clock WAS very '60s. I watched it again through my 12-year-old eyes (my age in '67); not that I saw any videos of them, and I don't recall seeing them, at all, on TV (which doesn't mean they weren't....or, I didn't), but "I and Ps" was all over AM radio, so I was intimately familiar! It's hard to say if we thought their outlandish look was contrived at all. No, is my answer...I think we just thought this is how teens dress these days, albeit they, likely, aren't wearing Sears-off-the-rack!
You know I love your input....you made me think of another VERY '60s band....I'll e-mail you!
The Donny Hathaway is great -- I had only known him from his work with Roberta Flack.
I was also struck seeing that album was recorded at The Bitter End. One of my very favorite live albums (_Curtis/Live!_) was also recorded there -- see, for example, his amazing Carpenters cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQIZ7Pnp2Zs
That Curtis/Carpenters cover is tasty! Not heard it before....thanks, Nick!
The whole album is great, and it's so full of a desire for equality and just love and optimism (which you can hear in that Carpenter's cover). For example I love the crowd interactions in "We're A Winner" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikrLWEcDyGg
You're sending me down the Mayfield rabbit hole, Nick.......and, I can't thank you enough!
As I do, I start leaning toward the label lane....Of course, I knew that Curtis formed Curtom Records in '68 (on which he, of course, he released his own product). I had gotten Warner Bros. Records promos since the late '60s, and wondered why this Bitter End album never made it into my furry little paws!
As it turns out, Curtom was distributed by Buddah until 1975, when it (as I knew it had at some point) began a distribution deal with the Label of the Bunny! But, by '75, I was 20, and in radio myself, and now, didn't have to rely on Dad bringing home freebies for me!
So, while Mayfield wasn't involved in the daily doin's of the Curtom biz, he was A&R lead and a key producer at the label. And, would you believe he employed Mr. Hathaway at the label, also? Not entirely sure in what capacity, but we can say, to some degree, Donny was a label exec, among his other creative titles!
That's great; no I didn't have much of a sense of role with Curtom Records.
And, yes, "We're a Winner" was fun....sounded like church! Curtom Records' motto, as it happens, was..........."We're a Winner"!
He really made it his own! Like everyhing else he did.
I like the way that, in his hands, it takes on a Civil Rights theme.
When he sings "a kiss for luck and we're on our way" you have a different sense of the concerns a Black couple might have for each other and their wish for luck.
Absolutely!
Absolutely one of the best live albums ever recorded. The intimacy is unreal.
There's so much trust. Not only are Curtis and the band really comfortable with each other, and they're all really _present_ and Curtis feels comfortable opening up to the audience, he also really trusts the audience-- that he can switch moods and be more or less serious and the audience will follow the mood -- which is a fantastic thing when it happens, but a lot of performers feel like they need to really control the mood and not let the audience be too involved.
I've never really thought about it that way, but that is exactly what makes this recording so special: the level of trust from both the band and the audience. Truly a special bond. I've always thought about the crowd that went home from that, and how they surely never forgot that night. In "We're A Winner", there's a moment where Curtis is talking to the crowd, and someone in the audience shouts back "Right on, right on" (or close, I haven't listened to it in a little bit). That moment always sticks out to me—you can hear how the band is individually in conversation with the audience, and vice-versa.
Personally, I have a story of, "as a child you don't always recognize when something is special." My parents were part of the folk music scene, I wasn't as into music at the time, but they did take me to some concerts in town. There was a venue that was set up for, essentially, large house concerts. It could seat 40-80 depending on how you set up chairs and whether you wanted to have people sitting on the stairs. There was no amplification at all, and the crowd had a lot of local musicians (and a lot of people who went to concerts regularly).
Being in the audience you could tell that people were really musical, but there was something really special when the performer would recognize that, and understand that they could trust the audience.
I enjoy banter, and when the musician will tell stories, but sometimes they will do that just to give the audience a little break, and to fill space, and I remember one or two concerts in particular where the performer understood that they could go from a higher-energy song and have the audience singing or clapping along and then, immediately, into something more serious and the audience would be rapt; they were willing to follow the mood of the music, and it creates a remarkable experience.
(I'm pretty sure it's during "We're A Winner")
Yes, linked above, and one of the highlights.
I love Donny Hathaway's music. It was a crying shame he died so young.
I just looked up how he passed, and beyond sad, and at 33. So much music we've missed out on from artists gone too early. I love that Andy included Hathaway, too....another artist I've spent far too little time exploring.
So sad indeed. It pains me to think how much more he could have recorded. But we’ve got his wonderful legacy, at least!
And, thanks for shining a much-needed light on his talent and career, here, Andy!
This was so much fun! I thoroughly enjoyed the (mostly for me) discoveries, rediscoveries, trains of thought rolling on in all directions, and the gems we uncovered!
Loved how you worked your magic with the narrative... to the surprise of absolutely no one 😅
Also, can I just say: great pic of me you chose (much better than if I had chosen it myself!). If I ever need a manager/PR/producer/creative director, would you do the honours?
Thanks again, Brad! What a journey!
Thank you, Andy! I dig our journeys, too! Thumbing through your pix was the most pleasant 20 minutes I spent on the TT! It was 10 minutes before I realized I wasn't leafing through a new teen pop star's portfolio! I'm thoroughly pleased, Andy, you enjoyed the layout and the process! I sense a Part 3 sometime this Spring!😉🎵👍
Lol. You are too kind! And yes, absolutely!! Count me in!
Excellent selections- and I had no idea about the versions of “This Diamond Ring” that predated GLP’s!
Thanks, Dan! I'm not about to sit here and say I knew them, either! Brand new to moi! When I first read about the demo, I was stunned to find out it existed....granted, on a 21st-century re-issue, but hey....creative Googling, amIright?😁I loved what Andy volleyed to me, too!
Lord have mercy I can't believe somebody on this earth seems to love that capt beyond song as much as I do.
The orthodoxy (such as it is) is that the band lost it after Evans left--or, if you're a real head, after the first album--but I've always thought dawn explosion was...invigorating: GREAT drums and vox and really professionally and enthusiastically played all round. Daffern was Steve Perry--but tuff!
Do or die forever!