** Rock and Roll Reminiscing – WWWW **

I dunno, maybe The Who deserve a few more words here…

I started with them way back with “Pictures of Lily” and “Magic Bus” on AM radio. Still have my 45 of the latter. However, the first of their albums I bought was Tommy.

Hard to know where to start a discussion of Tommy. It took the whole concept album thing to a new level, the “rock opera”. And IMO, it’s never been equaled. Like the note from the older sister in “Almost Famous” said, “Listen to Tommy with a candle burning and it will set you free.” Doesn’t hurt if something else is burning as well. Tommy is the only MFSL gold disc I own because with both albums on one disc is was too good a value to pass up. It’s a wonderful transfer.

Several other pieces of classic Who vinyl here… Live at Leeds, Quadrophenia, Face Dances, Hits, but other than Tommy the only other album that demanded to be bought whole on CD as well was Who’s Next. The absolute zenith of their work with a line up that just doesn’t quite. Whjile I appreciate Tommy, I love Who’s Next for the ROCK! Another Tour Top Ten… Just to ‘round things out I also have Thirty Years of Maximum R&B, a great boxed set from a great group.

For an encore tonite I offer:
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash – C-90 (1970)
Pilgrimage – C-90 (19710
Argus – C-90 (1972)
Wishbone Four – C-90 (1973)
Live Dates – Vinyl (1973)
Time Was/ The Wishbone Ash Collection – Dbl CD (1993 MCA – MCAD2-10765)
Winter of ‘73/ ’74 I won a prize pack from an FM station and ended up with two copies of Live Dates and two tickets to an upcoming concert in Cleveland’s Palace Theater. What a show… It even had some guy named Springsteen open for them… He was pretty good, too. I wonder whatever happened to him…

Wishbone Ash was one of the groups, if not the first group, to feature two lead guitarists. Through this stretch of releases they were Andy Powell and Ted Turned (no, not that Ted Turner). The way they came to the group was via an ad for a guitarist to replace a departed member. When the two remaining members, Martin Turner, bass, and Steve Upton, drums heard Andy and Ted audition, they could not choose between them and so they chose both… The result was a sound loaded with driving, interplaying guitar riffs... very unique. “The Pilgrim” off their second album may be the best example of this.

Because of the concert experience Live Dates holds a special place with me, but of their studio albums, Argus{/u] is my favorite. But for anyone wanting a taste of this group, the double CD compilation is a great sampler and includes one of the better sets of liner notes I’ve read. The notes includes the members wonderful mulling over of whether or not Lynyrd Skynyrd ripped off an Ash tune, “The Phoenix”, when they recorded “Free Bird”. A listen just might convince you that they did. Good stuff here, from an under appreciated group…

Edit: F1, lack of W’s? Better get out your checkbook bro…

WTH was I thinking? I can’t leave my Buckeye Bro for someone else to cover… only problem is that in writing this I learned he’s a Kansan, not a Buckeye… aw still, WTH he cut his rock teeth in Ohio…

Joe Walsh
Barnstorm – C-90 (1972)
The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get – C-90 (1973)
But Seriously Folks - Vinyl (1978 Asylum)
There Goes the Neighborhood - Vinyl (1981 Asylum)
Between his James Gang and Eagles stints, and even a bit since, my bud Joe carved himself out a heckuva solo career.

While Barnstorm technically was a group Joe formed following his departure from the Gang, it is really Joe’s coming out party. Wonderful line-up of tunes here from “Here We Go” to “Mother Says” to “Turn to Stone” it’s all wonderfully restrained rock. Relatively slow in tempo, but with great power just under the surface.

With …Smoker… is more of the same musically and Joe drops the group pretense, but not most of the group. Stand out track here is maybe Joe’s best-known work, “Rocky Mountain Way”, but the album is very strong through and through.

At this point I skipped a couple releases, but Joe snagged me again with But Seriously Folks with the help of most of the Eagles line-up. In addition to Henley, Felder, and Frey, our old friend Jay Ferguson joins in this release, another strong one. “life’s Been Good” still gets airplay and may be Joe at his playful best. “Over and Over”, “Second Hand Store” and “Indian Summer” are among other very good tracks here. Still most of the tracks here are still on the restained side.

With … Neighborhood Joe finally cuts loose. While you not know any of the cuts here, this was finally the unrestrained throwback album Gang fans were craving for a decade. Strong stuff… Can’t say the same for most of Joe’s subsequent, non-Eagles work, but 1983’s, You Bought It, You Name It did give us “I.L.B.T. S” (I Like Big ****). Who can argue with that?

Mike,
Please keep it reigned in until the weekend, two artists per day maximum until Saturday.

shack,
Yeah, I like Joe. a little…

Same Best of War here, my top cut is “City, Country, City”; wonderful thematic interplay there. I’m particularly fond of Lee Oskar’s work.

While I endorse all the releases you sited, feel you can’t mention Johnny Winter without a nod to his release The Progressive Blues Experiment. It’s at least a minor classic. I saw Johnny for free in the winter of ’70. He opened for Mountain, but they no-showed due to bad weather. Johnny played about 2 hours, stalling for time, but Mountain didn’t make it, so got a full refund… Ditto your Edgar write up, but always felt he was a bit more commercial.

ab,
Good to see you back bro…

mhw and db,
I, too, followed Paul Mc’s solo career closely. IMO Band on the Run is his high water mark. Seems to be the only release that has stood up to time.

Anyway, I have a few minutes so think I’ll post a couple solo efforts by other artists better known for their work with a famous group or groups.

Rick Wakeman
Yes’s keyboard man has some 20 releases as a solo. None are netter than his 1973, Six Wives of Henry VIII. Rick cooked up a very imaginative blend of classical and rock here (does that make it Classic Rock?). The six tracks are all named after the six wives. Wakeman wrote all the cuts save “Anne Boleyn”.

This is very good stuff. Not only did it help mark the beginning of progressive rock, but it also helped bring keyboards back out in front of rock. Rick really puts the synth through its paces here. While the release did not have the impact that Wendi Carlos had with Switched on Bach years earlier, it did build upon that early work and helped further establish the synth as a lead instrument.

Jeff Wayne
Unless you count conducting, Jeff is not a performer. While he worked with many groups, I associate him most closely with The Moody Blues, which he sometimes produced and was an occasional song contributor. Jeff also worked closely with the Moody’s Justin Hayward on Justin’s solo efforts.

In 1978 Jeff released War of the Worlds, a double album based on the H.G. Wells book and Orson Welle’s script for the infamous radio broadcast. The release spawned one moderate hit, “Forever Autumn”. While not quite “rock”, War… is more than a concept album and deserves rock opera classification. Jeff wrote, or co-wrote, all the tracks, and served as conductor and producer.

While this is not an everyday, casual listening album, a fact that prevents it from unseating Tommy atop my rock opera list, it is an impressive effort that warrants a full listen every once in a while. Richard Burton lends his now silenced, golden voice to the narration here. Other performers you might know are Justin Hayward and David Essex.

The vinyl release is very collectable with notable artwork on the covers and a wonderful storybook insert. Your kids will love it. This album is a nice, modern way to visit “the Golden Age of Radio”.