Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley - Copyright 1971 Unart Music Corp (BMI), UMG Recordings, Inc.
Humble Pie is often overshadowed by bands like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Queen, but they were a considered a “supergroup” when they formed in 1969– fronted by Steve Marriott from the Small Faces and Peter Frampton from The Herd. Their first 2 albums are a mixed bag, but by the time they signed with A&M Records in 1970 they had refined their style down to a bluesy, hard-rockin’ sound. Rock On (1971) was their most successful album to date and features “Stone Cold Fever“, which is itself a stone-cold classic.
“Stone Cold Fever” (Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley) Copyright 1971 Unart Music Corp (BMI), UMG Recordings, Inc.
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TRANSCRIPT:
I’ve got a Stone Cold Fever, but I don’t need no doctor! Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page. In each episode of the show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together, looking at it from every angle, trying to get a handle on what makes the song work, and why do I like it so much? Musical knowledge or experience is not a prerequisite here. We don’t get technical. This show is for anyone who loves music.
This episode, we’re taking another look at one of the best hard rocking bands from the 1970’s, a band that’s kind of overlooked now. They’ve been overshadowed by groups like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Queen… those all became iconic bands, but for a while there, Humble Pie was right up there with them. This time out, we’re digging into a song that’s one of their classics, from a pivotal album in their career. This is “Stone Cold Fever” by Humble Pie.
Humble Pie were somewhat of a supergroup when they formed in 1969. Steve Marriott had been the front man for the Small Faces, and Peter Frampton was the breakout star from a Band called The Herd. They got together and formed a new band with Greg Ridley on bass– He’d been playing with Spooky Tooth– and a young drummer named Jerry Shirley. He was only about 17 when he joined Humble Pie.
Now we’ve discussed Humble Pie, and the Small Faces. on this show before, so I’m not going to rehash everything again, you can go back and listen to those episodes. But essentially, both Marriott and Frampton wanted to be taken more seriously as musicians. They were tired of being perceived as pop stars, so Humble Pie was their shot at credibility.
They signed with Immediate Records and released their first album, “As Safe As Yesterday Is”, in August 1969. Interestingly, one of the earliest uses of the term “heavy metal” appears in a review for this album. I don’t think anybody today would describe this album as anything close to “heavy metal”. In reality, this record is kind of a mixed bag with some rockers, but also some bluesy numbers, acousticy folk, and even a touch of post-psychedelic rock.
Their second album, “Town And Country”, was released just a few months later, in November 1969. This one was more acoustic than the first album, but Immediate Records was in financial trouble and they quickly went bankrupt. So this album, “Town And Country”, was never even released in the US at the time.
After the collapse of Immediate Records, they signed a new deal with A&M Records, and the band refocused. Most of the acoustic stuff was gone. They developed a harder, heavier sound and they concentrated on the American market, determined to break through here. Their first album for A&M, which most people in America thought was their first album period, was just called “Humble Pie” and came out in July 1970. It features a great version of the Muddy Waters classic “I’m Ready”.
They continued to refine their sound, and in March 1971, they released their strongest, most successful album yet, “Rock On”. There’s a half-dozen rock-solid songs on this album, including “Stone Cold Fever”. Most of the tracks on “Rock On” had been part of their live set for a while, so they’d worked out all of the kinks and they were well rehearsed by the time they hit the studio to record this album.
The album was produced by the band along with Glynn Johns. All four band members share songwriting credit on “Stone Cold Fever”. The song was performed by Peter Frampton on guitar and backing vocals, Greg Ridley on bass and backing vocals, Jerry Shirley on drums and Steve Marriott on guitar, harmonica, keyboards and lead vocals. The track begins with the guitar riff– and what a great guitar riff this is. It’s played by Peter Frampton in the left channel.
After two times around, the rest of the band starts coming in, including Steve Marriott’s guitar in the right channel.
They add these little trills to the guitar riff. Marriott does it first in the right channel, and then Frampton adds a harmony to it.
Let’s back it up a bit and we’ll play into the first verse. It’s an interesting vocal sound on this track. I used to think that they just used some heavy slapback echo on the vocal to get that sound, but now, listening to it more closely, I think that Steve Marriott actually double-tracked his vocal; he sang it twice. So, the natural inconsistencies in any human performance keep the tracks from sounding 100% identical, which produces the sound we hear on the final mix.
So, let’s try to isolate each one of these vocal performances. Here’s the first one.
And here’s the second vocal.
Now, they sound pretty much the same when you listen to them in isolation, but if we can combine them together, you can hear how those slight differences between the two tracks provide the sound we hear in the final mix.
All right, let’s go back, put that all together, and hear that verse again in the final mix.
That leads us into a new riff. The first time through, Marriott and Frampton play it in unison. The second time around, Frampton plays a harmony which climbs with each cycle.
Next is a short harmonica solo played by Steve Marriott over the main riff. Also notice Jerry Shirley’s banging on a cowbell in the background.
Let’s go back and listen to the two guitars during that verse. They’re essentially playing the main riff, but each of them are playing it pretty loosely, improvising around it as they go along. They’re not trying to play it exactly or perfectly, and they’re not trying to match each other. This gives the recording a spontaneous live feel. Again, its Frampton in the left channel, Marriott in the right.
And that brings us to the second riff with the harmonica.
After that nice drum fill by Jerry Shirley– and remember, he was only about 19 when they made this record– that fill takes us into a jazzy section featuring a fantastic guitar solo by Peter Frampton. Frampton’s name doesn’t often come up when listing the great guitarists, but I absolutely think he’s one of the best. So, let’s hear just his guitar first.
Frampton is an incredibly tasteful player, and his jazz-influenced licks are really distinctive. There’s no one else who really plays quite like him. Now let’s hear how that solo works in the final mix.
Then we get a short harmonica break before the guitarists return with another riff.
The next riff is accentuated with some backing vocals. Let’s hear those backing vocals first.
And now let’s hear that in context.
“Stone Cold Fever” by Humble Pie.
“Rock On” was their best-selling album up until this point, but Peter Frampton was feeling frustrated. He was fine with the harder rocking material, but he wanted more than that, too. And he wanted to be more than just the guitar player; he wanted more opportunity to write and sing. And let’s face it, Steve Marriott was not the easiest guy to deal with. So later in 1971, just after they had recorded a live album, “Rockin’ The Fillmore”, Frampton left to pursue a solo career.
When “Rockin’ The Fillmore” was released, it became a big hit. It’s still the album that Humble Pie is most remembered for, and as Frampton watched his former band’s album climb the charts while he struggled to get his solo career off the ground, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made a big mistake. But things worked out for him a few years later, though. That’s a topic for another podcast.
As we’ve mentioned on previous podcasts, Steve Marriott died tragically in a fire, in April 1991, age 44. One of the greatest vocalists of his generation.
Greg Ridley died in November 2003 from complications from pneumonia. He was 56.
Peter Frampton suffers from a somewhat rare progressive muscular disorder called Inclusion Body Mitosis. He initially announced his retirement from music, but he’s still been able to play, so he’s kept going. Above all, he is a true guitar player at heart, and he’ll play for as long as he can.
Jerry Shirley is still with us, and thankfully, as far as I know, he’s still healthy and still playing drums today.
Thanks for joining me here on the Pantheon Podcast network for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. If you’d like to support the show, and I hope you do, zip on over to oldglory.com and buy a t-shirt or two. They carry shirts and merchandise from all of our favorite bands, and if you’re like me, you can never have too many t-shirts. So support your favorite artists, wear their shirts with pride. And when you use our discount code, “lovethatsong”, you’ll get a nice discount and you’ll be helping out this show. That website is oldglory.com and the discount code is lovethatsong. Thanks in advance.
I’ll be back in about two weeks with a new episode, so I’ll see you then. In the meantime, catch up on all of our previous episodes– there’s over 180 of them now– on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or find us in your favorite Podcast app.
Now go dig out some Humble Pie records and rock on with “Stone Cold Fever”.
RESOURCES:
Humble Pie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Pie
Peter Frampton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Frampton
Steve Marriott https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Marriott
Rock On album https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_On_(Humble_Pie_album)
by Earley Dranne - Copyright Excellorec Music Co. BMI
Strap in for a wild ride with Elvin Bishop and his fiery ensemble as they tear through the raucous track “Calling All Cows“, from the rollicking 1977 live album Raisin’ Hell. We dig into this electrifying live performance that showcases a band at the top of their game. A prime example of the musicianship that made the ’70s a golden era for live albums; Elvin Bishop’s Raisin Hell stands out as a testament to that time.
For those who have never heard Elvin’s work, this episode is a perfect introduction. And for long-time fans, it’s a chance to fall in love with his music all over again.
“Calling All Cows” (Earley Dranne) Copyright Excellorec Music Co. BMI
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TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. You are listening to us on the Pantheon Podcast Network, and I am your host, Brad Page. And each episode of this show, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dive into it together, listening for all of those little moments, the special touches that make it a great song. No musical skill or knowledge is required here– all you need is a love for music, and you’re going to fit right in here.
Now, usually on this show we focus on studio recordings, looking at how songs were put together in the recording studio. But on this batch of episodes, we’re focusing on live recordings, tracks from some of my favorite, and kind of lesser-known, live albums. On this episode, we’re going to listen to a track by Elvin Bishop from his 1977 live album “Raisin’ Hell”, featuring his smokin’ hot band, showing just how exciting it can be when a really tight group of musicians cut loose and play. This song is six minutes of pure fun. It’s called “Calling All Cows”.
Elvin Bishop’s image has always been as a country boy, a real hayseed. But as is often the case, the truth, it’s a little bit more nuanced than that. He was born in Glendale, California, in 1942, but he grew up on a farm in Iowa with no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing. His family moved to Oklahoma when he was ten, but he was a smart kid. He graduated from high school as a National Merit scholar, earning him a full scholarship to the University of Chicago. Ostensibly, he went there to major in physics, but not coincidentally, it just happened to bring him closer to the blues and R&B music that he loved.
While at the University of Chicago, he met a harmonica player named Paul Butterfield, and they would visit the Chicago clubs, learn from the blues greats, people like Otis Rush, Hound Dog Taylor, Buddy Guy. They formed the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1963. Though Bishop was the original guitarist in the band, he was largely overshadowed by Mike Bloomfield, who joined in 1965. That’s not surprising, as Bloomfield was one of the greatest guitar players of his generation. Almost anyone would have taken second fiddle to him, but Elvin was no second-rate guitarist.
The Butterfield Blues Band released their first album in 1965 and about a year, later cut their second album called “East West”. “East West” is one of the most influential albums of the 1960’s. Along with a selection of typical blues covers, the album features two lengthy instrumental tracks which let the band cut loose, experiment with jazz and elements of Indian ragas. One of the first albums to incorporate these exotic elements in a rock and blues context.
Mike Bloomfield quit the Butterfield band after “East West”. Elvin Bishop would hang on for two more albums, and then he left, too, to start his solo career in 1968. The first Elvin Bishop group album was released in 1969, and over the course of four or five more albums, Elvin built a band around him of tasteful, flexible players who could really jam.
Donnie Baldwin on drums. Michael “Fly” Brooks on bass, Johnny Vernazza on second guitar. These guys were tight, but these albums were all largely under the radar; none of them were close to breaking any sales records.
A singer named Mickey Thomas had been singing background vocals on the last few Elvin Bishop group albums. But on their 6th album, “Strutting My Stuff”, in 1975, Mickey was promoted to full-time band member and got to sing lead vocals on a few tracks, including a little number called “Fooled Around And Fell In Love”.
That was it. That was the secret sauce. The band needed a group of super-tight players who could really hit the groove. Elvin’s guitar out front and Mickey Thomas’ vocals on top. They had a bona fide hit.
They followed the “Strutting My Stuff” album with their next record, “Hometown Boy Makes Good”, and then in 1977 released a live album called “Raisin’ Hell – Elvin Bishop Live”.
1977 was peak Live Album era; everyone was releasing live albums. Many of them became big hits. This is a pretty typical live album of the period. It’s a double album offering a nice retrospective of Elvin’s solo career with a few surprises thrown in. Robert Christgau, the “Dean of American rock critics”, actually gave this album an A minus. So that’s at least one thumbs up. But I really like this album a lot. It’s a selection of tracks recorded across five shows, from March 1976 through February 1977. This particular track, “Calling All Cows”, was recorded at the February 1977 show at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. “Calling All Cows” originally appeared on the “Juke Joint Jump” album from 1975. Here it’s expanded a bit to really let the band play. And this was a big band. There’s a lot of players on that stage. Of course, you have Elvin Bishop on lead guitar and lead vocal on this track. Mickey Thomas on backing vocals. Johnny Vernazza on guitar. Melvin Seals on keyboards. Don Baldwin on drums. Michael “Fly” Brooks on bass. Billy Slais on saxophone and keyboards, Renee Slais and Debbie Cathey on backing vocals. And Chuck Brooke, Bob Claire, Dave Grover and Bill Lamb on horns. The album was produced by Alan Blazek.
The song kicks off with a drum fill, and it sounds like there’s some percussion, conga drums maybe in there, too. Then the bass and synthesizer play a funky little riff together.
Elvin’s telling someone to wait a minute, I don’t know if he’s talking to the band or the audience, but this song isn’t stopping for anyone.
I love that bass part right there. They’re hitting such a great groove already. Listen to how the horns punch up certain little bits throughout the song. It’s classic.
And now we got a twin guitar part. Elvin and Johnny V playing in harmony. They’re both playing slide guitar here.
Let’s hear just the bass and the drums. Listen to that groove they’re laying down. Here comes the first verse sung by Elvin with, I think, Johnny V singing along with him.
“We’re gonna have a little milk we’re gonna have a little cream, we’re gonna have a little butter, a little margarine”. I mean, come on, is that great or what? I love this song.
There’s a great little lick in there in the left channel. I think it’s played by Johnny V on guitar. But then again, it could be Melvin Seals on keyboards. Let’s back it up a bit and play into that second verse.
Listen to those horn accents and the way they’re locked right in with the drums. This band is tight.
Let’s bring up those twin guitars. Notice how the guitar solo takes a break for the horns to do their thing, before we go back to the guitars. This isn’t just a free form jam. There’s an arrangement here. It feels like they’re just jamming, but there’s a structure behind it all.
Elvin is going to play a little solo. Listen to how the horns are building things up behind the solo, and then they bring it down to just the groove.
The keyboards get a few licks in here. And now another taste of those twin harmony guitars by Elvin and Johnny V. Another crescendo from the horns and back to the twin guitar riff.
And then the last verse. Let’s back off the vocals and just listen to the groove the band is laying down behind them.
Let’s bring the vocals back up now. Here comes a new little piece with some tasty guitar work. On the studio version of this track, the song just fades out at some point. They added this section, and this is actually where they would end the song live, right there. But by this time, they had added the horn section. And here they let the horns pick it back up right at the break and lead the band into an extended finale. It’s an example of how a song can evolve and grow as it’s performed live.
Listen to the bass and drums build the tension here. And then how the whole band just hits this riff. Listen to that bass.
We continue to build to a big finale. They are not done yet. They are going to squeeze every little bit out of this big ending.
The Elvin Bishop Group, “Calling All Cows”.
Commercial success was fleeting for Elvin Bishop. “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” was his one and only hit. But he’s kept making records and touring. He’s a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame, and he’s been nominated for a Grammy for Best Blues Album quite a few times, though he hasn’t won yet. At 83 years old, he’s still playing, still got a shot at that Grammy. Hope he gets one. He deserves it.
Mickey Thomas would leave the Elvin Bishop Group after this live album, and not long after that, he joined Jefferson Starship. I love Mickey Thomas’ voice, and I expect we’ll hear from him on this show again sometime.
You know, Elvin has always portrayed himself as a fun-loving, good time boy, but there’s more to his life than just that image. Honestly, I kind of hesitate to bring this up because I don’t like to sensationalize things, but Elvin has suffered real tragedy and pain in his life. In August of 2000, both Elvin’s wife and his daughter were murdered. I can only imagine the toll that that must have taken on him. And again, I don’t want to play up anyone’s suffering for the sake of a podcast, but I think it’s important to acknowledge Elvin Bishop as a full person and respect what he’s been through and his ability to carry on.
Thanks as always for being a part of this episode. I’ll be back in about two weeks with another new show. Who knows what we’ll be talking about then, but I hope you join us. If you missed any of our previous episodes, you can catch up on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com or find us wherever you listen to podcasts. We’re on iTunes and Spotify and YouTube and pretty much everywhere you can listen to podcasts.
If you’d like to support the show– and I hope you do– he first thing you can do is to just tell someone about the show, share it with your friends or family, because it’s recommendations by smart, knowledgeable people like you that really help us out.
On behalf of all the shows here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening. Go out and find yourself a copy of Elvin Bishop’s “Raisin’ Hell” album. Crank it up and listen to this version of “Calling All Cows”.
by Joe Walsh & Patrick Cullie - Copyright 1973 Songs of Universal Inc., Barnstorm Music Inc. and Belkin Music Company
We dive into the electrifying atmosphere of live music on this episode, as we take a detour from studio recordings to explore the raw energy and spontaneous magic of live performances. This time around, we’re sizing up “Meadows” by Joe Walsh, from his dynamic 1976 live album, You Can’t Argue with a Sick Mind.
Join us as we trace the origins of Joe Walsh’s musical journey and examine the intricate layers of “Meadows,” from the driving guitar riff that hooks you in, to the dual drummers and star-studded band lineup that includes the likes of Don Felder, Jay Ferguson, and Willie Weeks. With two drummers, two keyboard players, and a percussionist, you’ll discover how this ensemble manages a tight, uncluttered sound that defines true musicians. Whether you’re a die-hard Joe Walsh fan or just love the thrill of a great live album, tune in and turn it up.
“Meadows” (Joe Walsh & Patrick Cullie) Copyright 1973 Songs of Universal Inc., Barnstorm Music Inc. and Belkin Music Company
TRANSCRIPT:
We are back once again for another edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. We’re here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, and I’m your host, Brad Page. Each episode, I pick one of my favorite songs, and we delve into it together to see how it works: what goes into making it a great song? As always, musical knowledge or experience isn’t a prerequisite here. We don’t get into music theory or anything too technical. We’re just going to use our ears and sharpen our listening skills.
Now, usually on this show, we focus on studio recordings, where we can examine how a song was put together, the choices made during production and recording. But in the next few episodes, I want to take a look at some live recordings. There are a lot of great live albums out there, some pretty popular and some really famous ones. You know the ones I’m talking about– from “Frampton Comes Alive” to “Kiss Alive”, Allman Brothers “At the Fillmore East”, Thin Lizzy “Live and Dangerous”, Humble Pie “Performance Rocking The Fillmore”, I mean, there’s just so many great live albums.
But what I want to do is go off the beaten path a little bit and play some probably less familiar tracks that highlight different aspects of what I love about my favorite live albums. This time, we’re looking at a track by Joe Walsh from his 1976 live album, “You Can’t Argue With A Sick Mind”. This is a song called “Meadows”.
Joseph Fiddler was born in Kansas in 1947, but he was an army brat and moved around a lot. His father was killed in a plane crash in Okinawa, Japan, when Joe was only a year and a half old. His mother would later remarry when Joe was five, and he took his stepfather’s surname, Walsh.
Like many kids, he was insecure. Never felt like he fit in. But he had a talent for music. His mom was a classical piano player. Maybe he inherited that from her. He got a guitar when he was about ten years old, but it was hearing The Beatles for the first time that really kicked him into gear.
He went to college at Kent State in Ohio and gigged around regularly with a band called The Measles, and eventually hooked up with the James Gang out of Cleveland and became their guitar player. The James Gang was originally a five-piece. But when their keyboard player and lead singer quit right before a gig in Detroit, Joe stepped up and became their lead vocalist as well.
The James Gang built a following, got a recording contract and released three albums between 1969 and 1971, and they had a pretty big hit with the song “Funk #49”.
But Joe was restless with the limitations of that band, and quit the James Gang in ’71. He put together a band called Barnstorm and recorded a couple albums with them, which were really marketed as solo albums. The second album featured “Rocky Mountain Way”, which of course became a big hit.
It was around this time that Joe had met Irving Azoff, who became his manager. Azoff was also managing a little band called The Eagles.
In April of 1974, his wife was driving his daughter to school when someone ran a red light and crashed into them. His wife was knocked unconscious, but his four-year-old daughter suffered major head trauma and didn’t survive. As you can imagine, it was heartbreaking and pushed Joe further into alcohol and cocaine abuse.
At the end of 1974, he released his next album titled “So What”. A number of The Eagles appeared on various tracks on that album, and within a year or so, Joe would become a permanent member of The Eagles.
But in November 1975, before he officially joined The Eagles, Joe was invited to appear on “Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert”, one of the all-time great rock music TV shows. So many great performances on that show, and they’re worth watching just for Don Kirschner’s awkwardly stiff introductions. Classic.
Anyway, Joe put together an all-star band and filmed a live show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on November 26, 1975. It was broadcast on Don Kirchner’s Rock Concert and billed as “Joe Walsh And Friends”. I don’t believe the video of that show was ever officially released; you can find it on YouTube, but the quality is pretty rough. But some of those tracks were released as a live album in March 1976. It was called “You Can’t Argue With A Sick Mind”.
This was the height of live album mania, of course. “Frampton Comes Alive” came out that same year, but this album was a relatively concise single LP. It doesn’t feature everything from the Don Kirchner footage, but it’s really well recorded and well performed. And it’s one of those live albums where I prefer most of these versions over the original studio versions.
This episode we’re listening to the song “Meadows”, which is the second track on this live album. First, let’s have a quick listen to the original studio version, which was released on Joe’s second solo album called “The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” in 1973.
The live version is a few beats-per-minute faster, as is often the case, but I think the riff and the groove of this song really benefit from being faster. It just feels, well, livelier. And the performance is just great. I mean, look at the lineup of this band:
Of course, you’ve got Joe Walsh on guitars and vocals; Don Felder of The Eagles, also on guitar; Jay Ferguson on keyboards– e was in Jo Jo Gunne and Spirit. We covered one of his Spirit songs in a previous episode. He also had a big solo hit in the seventies called “Thunder Island”.
You also have David Mason on keyboards. This isn’t the Dave Mason who played in Traffic. This is a different David Mason who spent some time playing in Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. You have the great Willie Weeks on bass; he was one of those go-to players. He was on records by David Bowie, George Harrison, Donnie Hathaway, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder. He just played on tons of albums.
And then there are two drummers on this song, both playing together. Andy Newmark and Joe Vitale. Again, both highly regarded session players. Each of them has a credit list a mile long.
Plus you have a percussionist, Rocky Dzidzornu, also known as Rocky Dejon. He played on tons of tracks, including “Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones. Now that is what you call an all-star lineup.
Now, let’s get into the track. It begins with Joe Walsh playing the riff before the whole band joins in. I gotta say, this is one of my favorite guitar riffs of all time. So let’s just hear those guitars for a second.
Let’s go back and hear the full band version. And remember, besides two guitars and bass, there are two keyboard players, two drummers and a percussionist all playing together. But notice it doesn’t sound cluttered. Nobody’s over playing. They’re very tight. Those are signs that you’re dealing with real professionals here.
The verses are a little mellower. The keyboards come more to the front. Jay Ferguson is playing piano while David Mason is on the organ. And of course, Joe Walsh with the lead vocal.
Let’s try to bring up the piano and the organ so you can hear how they interact.
I wouldn’t describe Joe Walsh as a typical singer. There’s a lot of quirks to his voice, but I’ve always loved it. It’s unmistakably him. I think he sounds great on the next part of this verse, so let’s hear that.
The riff comes back. Listen to that bass part by Willy Weeks.
Here’s the next verse. Some things are left unspoken some things are handed down the circle stands unbroken sending it back around.
Around during the verses, Andy Newmark is playing the traditional drum kit, but Joe Vitale is just adding fills, playing kettle drums with a pair of mallets. Listen for that.
Now at this point, we come to a new section featuring a guitar solo played by Don Felder. This is different than the studio version. There’s no guitar solo here on that version.
Now if you listen closely, you can hear a buzzing sound, probably coming from one of the guitar amplifiers. These days, they’d be able to remove something like that, but I kind of like it when these things are left in. It makes it feel like a genuine live recording, that they’ve captured something real. Let’s bring up Don Felder’s guitar.
Another thing to note about that section is that Joe Vitale switches from playing drums to playing synthesizer. So there’s only one drummer during that section, but there’s actually three keyboard parts.
At this point, the song builds back into the final verse, but there’s still plenty more of the song left to go.
We’re back to two drummers playing here. And this drum fill coming up is one of the few times where it’s very clear there are two drummers on this song.
Some more tasty playing by Willy Weeks on bass and a nice little Joe Walsh guitar lick here.
Now this is interesting: this is where the song seems like it should end. But they add a whole new section– and this is not part of the original studio version. Jay Ferguson is going to play a little bit on piano and then we’re going to get some extended guitar playing from Joe Walsh and Don Felder. That’s Joe Walsh on the right and Don Felder on the left. This is the kind of dueling guitars that these two would perfect on Hotel California, but they did it here first.
And here’s another new piece of music. Again, this is not part of the original studio recording, either. Jay Ferguson is once again going to take the lead on piano and now Joe Walsh is going to take a solo on his own. Let’s bring up Joe’s guitar for a little bit.
Joe Walsh – “Meadows”.
You can find the video of this performance on YouTube. Just search for “Joe Walsh Meadows live” and you’ll find it. It’s worth watching. Joe wears this goofy coon-skin cap through the whole performance. It looks ridiculous, but that’s Joe. It’s such a great performance though.
Of course, The Eagles would go on to massive success before imploding in 1980. Joe continued making solo records, but he descended deeper into alcoholism and drug dependency. When The Eagles started talking about reforming in 1992, they told Joe straight up they couldn’t do it unless he cleaned himself up. And he did. He got sober, and against all odds, Joe Walsh is still with us today– looking, playing and sounding great.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. We’ll be back in two weeks with another new episode. If you missed any of our previous shows, you’ll find them all on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or look for them in your favorite podcast app.
Be sure to share your thoughts on this song, or any of the other songs we’ve talked about, on our Facebook page; just search for “I’m In Love With That Song” on Facebook and you’ll find us. And of course, you can always send an email to lovethatsongpodcastmail.com.
And if you’re hankering for even more music related podcasts, well, the Pantheon Podcast Network has a bunch of other great music related shows, just waiting for you to discover them. So check them out.
And as always, if you’d like to support this show, the best thing that you can do is to tell someone about it. Recommend it to your friends, your family, or your coworkers, because your endorsement carries a lot of weight. So thank you.
I’ll see you again soon. Thanks for listening to this edition of “I’m In Love With That Song” featuring “Meadows” by Joe Walsh.
RESOURCES:
Joe Walsh https://www.joewalsh.com/
The James Gang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gang
Kent State University https://www.kent.edu/
Jo Jo Gunne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Jo_Gunne
by Robin Trower - Copyright 1974 Chrysalis Music Ltd
On this episode, we fix our gaze on guitarist Robin Trower. Though he’s not a household name today, he continues to be held in high regard by guitar aficionados. His time with Procol Harum and the formation of his own power trio laid the foundation for a sound that would captivate audiences and inspire countless guitarists. From Trower’s use of the middle pickup on his Fender Stratocaster to the swirling effects of the Univibe pedal, we explore the sonic artistry behind “Day of the Eagle“, and the power of music across decades… from the days when guitars ruled the airwaves and heroes were measured by bend of a string.
“Day Of The Eagle” – Robin Trower Copyright 1974 Chrysalis Music Ltd
TRANSCRIPT:
Greetings, fellow travelers, on the road from yesterday to today… you’ve crossed the bridge into the Pantheon Podcast Network, and your path has brought you here to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. My name is Brad Page, and each edition of this show, I rummage through my music library and pick one of my favorite songs, and we explore it together. Not in a technical way– we don’t get into music theory here, we’re just listening in a way to uncover those little nuances, those magical moments that make it a great song.
The history of modern music, especially rock music, is replete with brilliant guitar players. So many great guitar players. We’ve celebrated some of them here. From the earliest sounds of rock and roll, the guitar– and the men and women who wielded them– demanded attention, playing louder, faster, pushing the boundaries of creativity and sonic exploration. Even today, when the guitar is not the ever-present driving force of the music business the way it used to be, there are still plenty of players making an exquisite racket with this infernal instrument.
In some ways, guitar heroes were a dime a dozen. There’s never been a shortage of guitar players. Even now, many of the greats are still celebrated today, but many more are overlooked or just plain forgotten. Well, on this episode, we’re going to shine a light on a player who was one of the biggest guitarists of the 1970’s. He’s not a household name now, but guitarists still hold him in high regard. This is Robin Trower with a song called “Day Of The Eagle”.
Robin Trower was born in March 1945. He was born in London, but during his childhood his family lived in Canada and New Zealand before moving back to London when he was about eight years old. In his teens, he started playing guitar, largely influenced by Cliff Gallup, Steve Cropper, and BB King. He formed the Paramounts with some friends, including keyboard player and vocalist Gary Brooker. They mostly played R&B covers and had a minor hit with their cover of “Poison Ivy”.
The Paramounts eventually split and Brooker went on to form Procol Harum, who had a big hit with “A Whiter Shade of Pale” in 1967. When their guitarist Ray Royer left, they asked Robin Trower to join.
Robin played with them from 1967 to 1971, appearing on their first five albums, though he’s not on “Whiter Shade of Pale”, because that was recorded before he joined. But by 1971, Trower was looking to move on. He was writing more of his own songs, and Procol Harum was dominated by the songwriting of Brooker, Keith Reed and Matthew Fisher. There just wasn’t room for Robin Trower’s songs. Also, Procol Harum was a keyboard-based band, and Robin was itching to play more guitar music.
So he left Procol Harum and put together a band named Jude, a four piece featuring Frankie Miller on vocals, ex-Jethro Tull, drummer Clive Bunker, and James Dewar, who had been playing with Stone The Crows, on bass. But this lineup didn’t work out, and it fell apart before they ever recorded anything.
So, Trower decided to form a power trio, following the example of bands like Cream. Besides playing bass, James Dewar was an excellent vocalist in the Jack Bruce mold, so he took over lead vocals, and they brought in Reg Isidore on drums. The trio of Trower, Dewar and Isidore released their first album, “Twice Removed From Yesterday”, in March 1973.
By this time, Robin was very inspired by Jimi Hendrix, as you can certainly hear on that track. The Hendrix influence is probably most direct on this first Robin Trower album, but the general Hendrix style would remain a part of Trower’s sound.
The band returned to the studio in late 1973 to record new material, which would become their second album, “Bridge of Sighs”, the album that many would consider their peak. It would be their commercial breakthrough, and is still Robin Trower’s most popular album today.
The album was produced by Matthew Fisher, Robin’s old buddy from Procol Harum, and it was engineered by Geoff Emerick, the legendary engineer who worked with the Beatles among many, many others, and is really the one responsible for the incredible sound of this album.
“Day Of The Eagle” is the song that opens the album. Side one, track one. It was written by Robin Trower and performed by Trower on guitar, James Dewar on vocals and bass, and Reg Isidore on drums. The basic tracks were recorded live in the studio. Rhythm guitar, bass, and drums. They nailed it in about two or three takes. The lead vocals and lead guitar were overdubbed shortly after.
The song begins with a heavy guitar riff, accented by the snare drum. Then the bass joins in for the second half of the riff. Let’s hear just the bass and drums there.
Let’s talk about Robin Trower’s guitar sound. He’s using two Marshall 100-watt amp heads with two 4×12 speaker cabs. He’s playing a Fender Stratocaster. It’s just a stock Fender Strat, but one of the unique things about Robin is that he favors the middle pickup. Most guitarists don’t really use the middle pickup much at all, but Robin prefers it, and that does contribute to his sound.
Another highly identifiable thing about Robin’s sound is the use of a Univibe pedal. It creates that swirling, fluid sound, and he uses that a lot on this track. He’s also using a homemade booster pedal, which allows him to drive the amplifier that much harder. There’s no distortion pedal or fuzz box in use here, just the amps cranked up and that boost pedal pushing the sound into overdrive.
Here’s the first verse. James Dewar on vocals.
Let’s back it up and listen to those vocals.
“I’m living in the “Day Of The Eagle” not the dove”. That’s pretty much the chorus. They return to the riff and then the second verse. Let’s pick it up from here.
I Love the way Robin bends those notes there. It’s like he just twists them. We’ll go back just before the second verse.
Back to the riff and then the guitar solo. Very interesting tone for this guitar solo. It’s very mid rangy, a honky, nasal tone. Not a very appealing tone all on its own, but I bet it was chosen for the way it lets the solo sit in the mix. It stands out in contrasts from the other guitar parts.
These tones all start with microphone placement. Jeff Emerick used three mics on the guitar amps: one close up to the speakers, one mic about 15ft away, and a third microphone in between, and he could choose and blend together all three of those microphones. I’d bet that the rhythm guitar is primarily the close microphone, whereas the guitar solo is mostly a blend of the two further away mics. Let’s push the vocals back up again for this last verse.
And now they’re gonna slow it down and change the whole feel of the song.
Let’s hear just the bass and drums for a little bit, and then we’ll bring the guitar back up.
You can hear that they’ve overdubbed an overdriven distorted guitar that takes over the solo here, while the cleaner guitar plays sparingly and quietly in the background.
Robin Trower “Day Of The Eagle”
The “Bridge Of Sighs” album was the record that gave Trower his big break, though he would always be more popular in the US than in his home country of England. Reg Isidore would leave after this album, replaced by drummer Bill Lorden, but James Dewar would stick around for a whole bunch of records: “For Earth Below”, “Long Misty Days”, “In City Dreams”, “Caravan To Midnight”, “Victims Of The Fury”. These were all good records– and great album titles too– though his profile diminished as tastes and trends changed in the eighties.
Record labels and bandmates would come and go, but Robin Trower has released new albums consistently in every decade, a solo career lasting over 50 years.
Reg Isidore passed away in March 2009 – heart attack. James Dewar suffered from a debilitating condition that caused him to have multiple strokes, eventually succumbing in May 2002. But at the time of this recording, Robin Trower is 80 years old, still with us and still playing.
I hope you enjoyed this journey across the Bridge of Sighs into the “Day Of The Eagle”. New episodes of this podcast come out on the first and the 15th of every single month, so I’ll be back here poking your eardrums again soon. You can catch up on any episodes that you missed on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or of course, you can find us in pretty much every podcast player, so wherever you like to listen to your podcast, I’m sure you’ll find us there. And while you’re there, leave a review of the show, and if you’d like to send me a comment, you can do it on our Facebook page or send an email to lovethatsongpodcastmail.com.
To support the show, the absolute best thing you can do is to just share it with your friends. Tell someone about the show because your recommendations carry a lot of weight and I appreciate it.
On behalf of everyone here at the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening. Now it’s time to crank up your turntable, CD player or the mp3 files– however you prefer to listen, and blast out “Day Of The Eagle” by Robin Trower.
No genre had greater impact of the development of Rock & Roll than the Blues. And no instrument has contributed more to Rock than the electric guitar. In this episode, I’m joined by author Pete Prown to talk about the blues guitarists who influenced the sound of Rock (and all the genres & offshoots that followed). Some of these players became icons, others were forgotten; but they are all important figures in the evolution of the Blues and Rock—and are all featured in Prown’s new book, “The Ultimate Book Of Blues Guitar Legends”, available now.
Wishbone Ash - "Blowin' Free" (Martin Turner, Andy Powell, Ted Turner, Steve Upton) Copyright 1972 Colgems Music Corp./Blackclaw Music Inc - ASCAP
A teenage summertime love affair with a foreign exchange student was the inspiration for this song by Wishbone Ash. Though overlooked in the US, Wishbone Ash reached #3 on the UK charts with the album Argus, which features “Blowin’ Free”. Wishbone Ash’s twin lead guitar sound would inspire many band that followed.
Wishbone Ash – “Blowin’ Free” (Martin Turner, Andy Powell, Ted Turner, Steve Upton) Copyright 1972 Colgems Music Corp./Blackclaw Music Inc – ASCAP
— This show is just one of many great Rock Podcasts on the Pantheon Podcasts network. Gotta catch ’em all!
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, it’s Brad Page. I’m back in the studio, powering up the mics and cranking up the headphones because it’s time for another episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, here on the Pantheon Podcast Network. Each episode of the show, we take a song and look at it from every angle, trying to get a handle on what makes a song work. No musical knowledge is required here– you don’t have to be technical, all you got to do is listen.
This time around we are listening to a track from a band that was big in Europe and the UK, but just never really caught on here in America. This is Wishbone Ash with “Blowing Free”.
Wishbone Ash came together in 1969 with Andy Powell and Ted Turner on guitars, Martin Turner on bass and Steve Upton on drums. Though Ted and Martin share a last name, they’re not actually related.
The thing that distinguished Wishbone Ash right out of the gate were those twin guitars of Andy and Ted. Though there had been other bands with two lead guitar players– the Allman Brothers come to mind– Wishbone Ash was one of the first to make harmony guitar parts such an essential element. That was the Wishbone Ash sound.
They released their first album in December 1970. Less than a year later, they released their second record, and in May 1972 they released their third album called “Argus”. It’s the album that most people consider to be their best.
“Argus” was well received, both critically and commercially. It was their biggest selling album, reaching number three on the UK charts. The “Argus” album flirts with progressive rock and hard rock, but it was the upbeat track “Blowing Free”, the closest thing to a pop song on the album, that got them on the radio and exposed to a wider audience, at least in the UK.
The song almost didn’t make it onto the album. The band thought it was too poppy compared to the rest of the record, but Martin Turner insisted that they keep it on the album.
The song is credited to Martin Turner, Ted Turner, Andy Powell and Steve Upton. Martin Turner wrote the lyrics and he plays the bass. Ted Turner and Andy Powell are on guitars and Steve Upton is on the drums. The album was produced by Derek Lawrence and engineered by Martin Birch, both known for their work with Deep Purple.
The song kicks off with a great guitar intro by Ted, and it didn’t have the same impact here in the states, but in the UK, learning that guitar intro was like a rite of passage for British guitar players, like “Stairway To Heaven” or “Sweet Child of Mine”, it’s just one of those intros that seems like every beginning guitar player had to learm. That introduction was actually inspired by an old song by the Steve Miller band called, “Children of the Future”.
They took that and turned it into something of their own.
Before the band fully kicks in, they’re going to change up the guitar riff.
Let’s listen to those guitars again.
You can hear how they’ve panned the guitars to the left and the right to add some differentiation and some dimension to the sound. Martin Turner’s bass part is also great here, too. Let’s listen to some of that.
When Martin Turner was a teenager growing up in a seaside town in southwest England, he had a summertime romance one year with a Swedish exchange student. Her hair was golden brown like a cornfield. When he was looking for lyrics for this song, he reminisced about that relationship and that story of teenage love and loss; that became the song.
Following that verse is a guitar solo played by Andy Powell, most likely played on his Gibson Flying V guitar. He was mostly known for playing Flying V’s. This is a great guitar solo.
Next up is the second verse. Martin’s Swedish girlfriend didn’t speak much English and he didn’t speak any Swedish, but I guess they found some way to communicate. Apparently when he asked her if he could kiss her, she said, “you can try”. That phrase appears a couple of times in this song.
Now the song shifts gears into a quieter, more melancholy section. Every good memory has a tinge of sadness for those lost moments you’ll never relive again.
I really like what Martin Turner’s bass and Steve Upton’s drums are doing behind this section. It’s simple but really effective. This leads us into another guitar solo. This one played beautifully by Ted Turner. Just incredibly tasteful. I think that’s just great. To me, he captures that wistful feeling of recalling old memories.
But that melancholy doesn’t last long. They kick right back into the verse riff, and Andy Powell takes over with another solo.
Let’s listen to some of that guitar.
And they return to the first verse.
More guitar work by Andy Powell. Now some of their trademark guitar harmonies start to appear in the background.
And here we have a slide guitar solo played by Ted Turner. Ted had started to listen to Ry Cooder, one of the great slide players of all time, and it inspired him to play a little slide guitar here. This is the first time Ted had ever tried playing slide.
Guitars start to build up from the background.
“Blowing Free” by Wishbone Ash
In the UK publication “Sounds” magazine, which was a big deal at the time, the readers voted “Argus” the best album of 1972, beating out albums like David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”, Deep Purple’s “Machine Head” and the Rolling Stones “Exile on Main Street”. That’s some serious competition– that just shows you how big Wishbone Ash was in the UK.
But here in the US, “Argus” didn’t get any higher than 169 on the charts. America just wasn’t that interested in Wishbone Ash, but guitar players– guitar players were paying attention. Bands like Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden would adapt that twin guitar harmony style, and, though largely forgotten by the average listener, Wishbone Ash left their mark on generations of guitar players.
A couple of years ago I was reading an issue of “Classic Rock” magazine and they had an article on this song, which inspired me to dig out that album and eventually inspired this episode. It had probably been 20 years since I last listened to this record, and you know, it’s always great to go back to an old album you haven’t heard in ages and hear it again with fresh ears. And it reminded me of my past loves, and loves lost.
Thanks for listening to this show. I really appreciate it. New episodes of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast come out on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so I’ll be back soon with another new edition. You’ve been warned.
You can keep in touch with the show on our Facebook page or on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, where you’ll also find all of our previous episodes. And, of course, we’re available on Amazon, Apple, Google, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, pretty much anywhere you can find podcasts, you’ll find this show.
And we are part of the Pantheon network of podcasts, home to many more music related shows, so check those out too.
Thanks again for listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast on Wishbone Ash and “Blowing Free”.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Wishbone Ash https://www.wishboneash.com/
Argus Album https://www.discogs.com/Wishbone-Ash-Argus/master/12065
Jeff Beck was the guitar player’s guitar player. Ask the great guitar players who they thought was the best, and chances are they’ll name Jeff Beck. His playing was in a state of perpetual reinvention, always evolving & improving. No mere technician, he was a master of emotion. When Jeff passed away in 2023, we lost a musical giant.
On this, our 150th episode, we pay tribute to Jeff by looking back at his 50+ year career, highlighting some of his finest moments.
Use the discount code “lovethatsong” to save 15% on your favorite band merch at Old Glory!
TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome, friends. I’m Brad Page, host of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. And this just happens to be the 150th episode of the podcast. So, I wanted to do something different, something special with this episode. And one of the things that I’ve been wanting to do for a while is to pay tribute to Jeff Beck, the brilliant guitarist who died last year. Now, I could have rushed out an episode, but I wanted to do this right. Jeff Beck was a legend, an icon, an inspiration to millions of guitar players. And I believe he was the greatest rock guitarist of all time. So I wasn’t just going to throw something together.
Now, usually on this show, we dive into a specific song; we’ve also done shows where we take a look at a particular year, or focus on a certain event or an individual album, but we’ve never done a retrospective on one artist’s career– until now. So, for this, our 150th show, we’re going to explore the extraordinary career of Jeff Beck.
Why? Because you simply can’t capture what made Jeff Beck great in one song, or one album, or even in one decade of his career. Because there is no guitarist in rock history– I repeat, no guitarist– whose style and technique evolved so much over time, that by the end, he was playing like nobody else on the planet. That was no coincidence. It was the result of a restless spirit who could never stay in one musical place for too long. Someone who never stopped learning, who never stopped working on his playing, who just kept getting better. So let’s explore the sound, the passion, and the fury of Jeff Beck.
Jeffrey Arnold Beck was born June 24, 1944, near London. When he was six years old, he heard a song on the radio. “How High The Moon” by Les Paul and Mary Ford.
When he asked his mother what that sound was, she said, “it’s an electric guitar”, as if Les Paul was somehow cheating by using technology. But that made Jeff even more fascinated.
But it wasn’t until Jeff was about 12 years old before he actually played a guitar for the first time. A friend had an acoustic guitar that he wasn’t using, so Jeff borrowed it. That guitar was missing some strings, but Jeff fashioned some, using some wire from an old electric toy airplane. He saw the film “The Girl Can’t Help It”, which featured Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps playing “Be Bop A Lula”. And he was captivated by the playing of Cliff Gallup, the guitarist for the Blue Caps. Gallup would be a big influence on Jeff.
Jeff built his first electric guitar himself out of wood and parts that he scrounged together. He used to carry it around without a case, even strapping it to his back when he rode his bike, so that people would see it. He wanted to be known as a guitar player.
It was around this time that Jeff’s sister told him about this other kid in the neighborhood who also played guitar and decided to introduce them. That other kid happened to be Jimmy Page. Jimmy said “there was a knock on the door one day, and there was Jeff’s sister, with Jeff holding his homemade guitar”. They immediately became friends.
Jeff joined his first band, The Bandits, in 1960 when he was 16, and then joined the Deltones. He bought his first Fender Stratocaster around this time, it’s a big deal.
And in 1963, Ian Stewart, who was playing piano for the Rolling Stones, turned Jeff onto the blues. And Jeff was particularly struck by Buddy Guy, who became another major influence on Jeff.
He eventually joined the Tridents, and this is where he really started making a name for himself. By now, Jeff was playing a Fender Telecaster into a Vox AC30 Top Boost amp, with a Binson Echorec and a fuzz box he made himself. Here’s a recording of the Tridents playing “Nursery Rhyme”, recorded live in 1964.
The Yardbirds had formed in 1963, with Keith Relf on vocals and harmonica, Paul Samwell-Smith on bass, Jim McCarty on drums, and Chris Dreja and Top Topham on guitars. When Topham quit, they replaced him with a hot, young guitarist named Eric Clapton. They were originally a straightforward blues bass band, but when they recorded the more radio-friendly “For Your Love”, that was a bridge too far for Clapton, who immediately quit.
By then, Jimmy Page was an in-demand session player, working in London’s recording studios and playing on hit records. The Yardbirds asked Jimmy to join, but he wasn’t interested. But Jimmy recommended his friend Jeff Beck for the job, and Beck became a member of the Yardbirds.
He joined them just in time to work on their next single, “Heart Full Of Soul”. The story goes that they had hired a sitar player to play on the song, but when they couldn’t get it to sound right, Jeff said, “let me just try it with my guitar”. And using his Fender Esquire and a Sola Sound Tone Bender fuzz box, he put down on tape the first iconic Jeff Beck guitar part.
Many other classic Yardbirds hits followed, including one of the all-time great psychedelic tracks, “Shapes Of Things”, featuring two layered guitar solos incorporating feedback. Groundbreaking stuff.
Another classic was “Over Under Sideways Down”, featuring an eastern-influenced melody from Jeff. Jeff also played bass on this song.
And one of my favorite Yardbird tracks is this one, an instrumental simply called “Beck’s Boogie” that says showcase for everything Jeff had to offer at this time: his tone, his creative playing and his speed.
But Jeff was always temperamental– accent on the temper. If a gig wasn’t going well, or he just didn’t like his sound, he’d kick his amp over or walk off the stage.
In May of 1966, five of the greatest British musicians got together in a London recording studio to form a “supergroup” that lasted for one song. The Yardbirds manager knew Jeff was unhappy and encouraged him to record some solo tracks, thinking that that would ease the frustration. At the same time, drummer Keith Moon from The Who was feeling antsy and looking for a new opportunity. Jeff went over to Jimmy Page’s house; Jimmy was playing his Fender twelve string electric, and they worked up a song that would become “Beck’s Bolero”. A couple of days later, on May 16, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page showed up at the studio; Keith Moon arrived in secret, wearing a disguise; Nikki Hopkins joined them on keyboards, and Jimmy brought in one of his session friends, John Paul Jones, to play bass. Jimmy played his electric twelve string, and Jeff played a Gibson Les Paul.
At one point during the track, Keith Moon screams and he hit the mic with his drumstick, just smashing the mic. From that point forward, all you can really hear of the drums is the cymbals.
There was talk of them forming a band, but they didn’t have a singer. So Keith went back to The Who, Jeff went back to The Yardbirds, and the supergroup never happened.
In June 1966, Paul Samwell-Smith quit The Yardbirds. They had just finished recording the album that became known as “Roger The Engineer” (in my opinion, that’s The Yardbirds’ masterpiece) and they had gigs lined up. This time Jimmy Page came to the rescue, replacing Samwell-Smith on bass, and on June 21, made his debut with The Yardbirds as their new bass player.
It didn’t take long for Chris Dreja to realize Jimmy Page was just a much better guitar player than he was, so he switched to bass and Jimmy took over on guitar, creating one of the all-time great twin guitar lineups in history: Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, both playing together.
It didn’t last though. Volatile and moody as ever, Jeff finally quit The Yardbirds in the middle of a US tour in late 1966. The Yardbirds continued on as a quartet, with Jimmy handling all the guitar work.
Unfortunately, there are only two tracks that feature the Beck/Page lineup: “Stroll On”, which was featured in the 1967 film “Blow Up “,and “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”, a psychedelic masterpiece, with Jeff Beck conjuring up everything from police sirens to revving engines and bombs dropping. This track also features John Paul Jones on bass.
So by 1967, Jeff Beck found himself at a crossroads, a situation he would find himself in throughout his career. He’d left The Yardbirds, but what to do next? Mickey Most was one of Britain’s most successful producers, and he figured he could turn Jeff Beck into a pop star. Mickey recorded three pop singles with Jeff. “Hi Ho Silver Lining”, “Tallyman” and “Love Is Blue”.
But Jeff Beck was just not meant to be a pop star. He had no appetite for that side of the business. He started putting together his own band, starting with a lead singer named Rod Stewart and a guitarist, Ron Wood, who switched to bass. Mickey Waller joined them on drums, and the first Jeff Beck Group was born. With the support of Peter Grant, who would become Led Zeppelin’s manager, the Jeff Beck gGroup signed to Epic Records and released their first album, “Truth”, in July 1968.
Whereas the Yardbirds mix blues with pop and psychedelia, the Jeff Beck Group’s debut album is a slab of heavy blues rock, beating Led Zeppelin to the punch by about five months.
Their second album, “Beckola”, followed in June 1969. This album featured Tony Newman on drums with Nicky Hopkins on piano. And if anything, it’s even heavier than its predecessor.
Both albums sold well, but the writing was on the wall and the band split up. They were supposed to play at Woodstock, but Jeff backed out. He didn’t think they were good enough. Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, and Mick Waller would go on to record Stewart’s first solo album, and then Stewart and Wood joined the Faces… but that’s a story for another podcast.
Meanwhile, Jeff formed a new Jeff Beck Group and released two more albums in ‘71 and ‘72. Though both records have their moments, neither is particularly strong and didn’t do particularly well, either critically or commercially. The albums are most notable for introducing two musicians, Max Middleton on keyboards and a drummer named Cozy Powell.
So Jeff broke up the band and tried his hand at another supergroup, teaming with bassist Tim Bogart and drummer Carmine Appice, who had played together in Vanilla Fudge and Cactus.
Around this time, Stevie Wonder got Jeff to play on the song “Looking For Another Pure Love”, which would appear on Stevie’s next album, “Talking Book”.
One day, while messing around in the studio together, Stevie came up with the riff to “Superstition”. He finished writing the song with the intention of giving it to Jeff, but when Motown heard the song, they insisted that Stevie record it, put it on the album, and release it as a single. But Beck, Bogart, and Appice did record a version of it, and it’s probably the highlight of the one studio album they released together.
Once again, egos and personality conflicts took over and the band split. So Jeff found himself at another crossroads. He wasn’t really getting anywhere in terms of critical or commercial success, and he felt he was spinning his wheels creatively. Something had to change.
So he went into the studio with Max Middleton, who played on the last couple of Jeff Beck Group albums, along with Phil Chen on bass, and drummer Richard Bailey, and a producer named George Martin– the same producer who worked with The Beatles, along with many others, including John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, who Jeff was really into at that point.
Together, they produced an album that took Jeff into a totally new direction, a jazz/rock/funk fusion that was unique. Didn’t sound like anything else at that time. But it wasn’t just the style of the music that changed. Jeff actually changed the way he played, a different way of approaching the guitar, reinventing his style and technique.
The album was called “Blow By Blow”, and it turned out to be his most commercially successful album ever. An all-instrumental album, no vocals, that made it to number four on the Billboard chart and earned Jeff a whole new level of respect.
Let’s look at a couple of tracks from the “Blow By Blow” album. This is my personal favorite Jeff Beck album. I can’t say for sure, but from what we know, Jeff was probably using his 1954 Gibson Les Paul with an Ampeg VT40 amp, Crybaby Wah Wah pedal, Colorsound Overdrive and a ZB Custom volume pedal.
One of the standout cuts on the album is a song called “Thelonious”, written by Stevie Wonder, and though he’s not credited on the album, Stevie actually plays clavinet on this track.
Another fan favorite is “Freeway Jam”, which became a staple of Jeff’s live performances. Seems pretty clear to me he’s playing a Fender Stratocaster on this one.
One of the outstanding moments on the album is “Because We’ve Ended As Lovers”, also written by Stevie Wonder. Another one of Jeff’s favorite guitarists was Roy Buchanan. Jeff dedicated this song to Roy, and you can hear Roy’s influence on Jeff’s playing here. This is one of Jeff’s greatest performances, and the song remained part of his live gigs for years. On this track, I believe Jeff was playing a modified Fender Telecaster with Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups installed in it.
Jeff hit the road in 1975, touring with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, then he returned to the studio with George Martin to record his next album, “Wired”. This time the band featured Jan Hammer on synthesizer– he played a key role in the sound of this album, pushing the music further into the jazz fusion direction. Jeff toured with the Jan Hammer Group in 1976 and they recorded a live album together.
Here’s another track from the “Wired” album, this is Jeff’s version of the Charles Mingus classic “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”.
Jeff recorded one more album in the jazz fusion arena called “There And Back” in 1980, and then he went quiet for a few years. His next album came out in 1985, called “Flash”. It’s kind of a hodgepodge, probably his most commercially oriented album. It’s also my least favorite Jeff back album.
You got the feeling that Jeff was at another crossroads, not sure where to go next, so he just retreated from the public eye again. But he didn’t stop playing. In fact, his playing went through the most radical reinvention yet. He stopped using a pick, developing his own unique finger style, and he developed a way of incorporating the Stratocaster’s vibrato arm, the whammy bar, into his playing that was entirely unique. Sui generis, unlike anything else. This was not the Van Halen dive bombs or the Hendrix freakouts; this was an extremely controlled use of the vibrato, using sustain feedback and a surgical like use of the whammy bar to create microtones– notes between the notes, sounds you shouldn’t be able to make on a guitar. It took years of painstaking work for him to develop this way of playing. I’m simply in awe of it.
This technique was in full display on his next album, “Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop”. Released in 1989, this album features Tony Hymas on keyboards and legendary drummer Terry Bozzio. And it’s another left-turn for Jeff’s career, incorporating the sounds and technology of the ‘80’s into his music.
But the highlight of the record is a track called “Where Were You” that fully displays his new approach to playing. Using just the volume control on his Strat, along with the vibrato arm, he manipulates fretted notes and harmonics to produce a hauntingly beautiful vocal-like sound.
Jeff went on a co-headlining tour with Stevie Ray Vaughan and it was very successful. But when it was over, he stepped back again, this time due to his increasing issues with tinnitus, a severe ringing in the ears.
Jeff spent the next few years doing occasional session work and guest appearances, turning up on records by John Bon Jovi and Roger Waters. Then in 1992, he released two almost simultaneous projects, and they couldn’t be more different. One of them was the soundtrack to a TV series called “Frankie’s House”. The other was a tribute to his original guitar hero, Cliff Gallup– an album of Gene Vincent covers called “Crazy Legs”. Here, he sets aside all of his newly-developed technique and pays tribute to Gallup by emulating that classic sound and style.
Occasional session work followed, and one big tour in 1995 with Santana, but we didn’t get any new music until 1999, when he released “Who Else!”, The first of three albums inspired by electronica and bands like The Prodigy. It was also the first album where Jeff worked with another guitarist, Jennifer Batten. Jennifer was one of the most sought after hired gun guitarists in the late 80’s and 90’s. She toured with Michael Jackson for ten years. But Jeff was one of her heroes and she jumped at the chance to work with him.
Jennifer was a major contributor to the album and co-wrote the song “What Mama Said”.
That album was followed a year later by “You Had It Coming”, an album that again featured Jennifer Batten, with a guest appearance by Imogene Heap on a version of the old Muddy Waters classic, “Rollin’ And Tumblin’”
This album also features what I think is one of Jeff’s crowning achievements: a simply stunning track called “Nadia”. He had heard the track originally recorded by Nitin Sawhney and was fascinated by the female vocal melody.
This vocal style makes use of microtones that aren’t part of our western musical notation. These are notes that aren’t playable on a traditional guitar. But Jeff, using his meticulous vibrato bar technique, painstakingly learned that vocal melody, phrase by phrase. I can’t even begin to explain the complexity and difficulty of pulling off something like this, but Jeff did it, and would continue to do it as part of his live show.
Jeff released a third electronica-themed album, simply called “Jeff” in 2003, which included another of his vocal adaptations, this time drawing inspiration from the Bulgarian Female Vocal Choir on a track called “Bulgaria”.
That was a very fertile period for Jeff, releasing three albums within four years. He hadn’t been that prolific since the early 70’s. But after that last album, he stepped back again. He did release a live album in 2008 that’s one of my top favorite Jeff Beck records. It’s called “Live At Ronnie Scott’s” and Jeff is just brilliant on that album. It features an amazing version of the Beatles song “A Day In The Life”, which he won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
In 2009, he was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for the second time, as a solo artist. (He was already inducted as a member of The Yardbirds.) In 2010, he returned with his 10th studio album called “Emotion And Commotion”. Half of those tracks featured guest vocalists like Joss Stone and Imelda May. The other half were instrumentals. Here’s one called “Hammerhead”.
Absolutely ferocious. Jeff was 65, 66 years old when this record came out, and he was still as fierce a player as ever. But of course, he could also be incredibly delicate. The same album includes a beautiful version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, recorded in the studio with a live 64-piece orchestra.
Six years later, in 2016, he released what would be his final solo album, a record called “Loud Hailer”. And this is one of my favorite Jeff Beck studio albums. Jeff had heard these two women, vocalist Rosie Bones and guitarist Carmen Vandenberg– they have a band called Bones UK– and Jeff liked what he heard and asked them to collaborate on this album.
Now, let me point out one thing that’s worth noting here: going back to Jeff’s work with Jennifer Batten, through his tours featuring the great bass players Tal Wilkenfeld and Rhonda Smith, to this album where he shared the spotlight with Rosie and Carmen, Jeff was a real supporter of women musicians. Not just for novelty or “eye candy”, these were all women who could really play and deserved to be there. But he gave these women a chance in the spotlight and brought them in front of new audiences around the world. He deserves some credit for that.
Almost all of the tracks on “Loud Haler” are co-written by Jeff, Carmen and Rosie, and shows, once again, Jeff fitting his style into a modern context.
Jeff would release one more album, kind of a one-off duo with Johnny Depp in July 2022. And then on January 10, 2023, Jeff Beck died from a bacterial meningitis infection. He was 78 years old.
It was a shock in the guitar playing community. Virtually every guitarist you can think of paid tribute to Jeff.
There have been many great guitar players; I believe Jeff was the greatest. There are many reasons why– I won’t go through them all, but here’s just one reason: Jeff never stopped getting better. His playing grew and changed and improved.
Let’s look at most of the iconic players. Of course, Jimi Hendrix died young, so we don’t know what his playing would be like now. Same for Randy Rhodes and Stevie Ray Vaughan. But let’s look at Eric Clapton, who I really admire as a player, but some people think his playing peaked with cream in the 60’s, others think it peaked in the 70’s… But either way, if you listen to Eric Clapton today, has he evolved much since then?
Let’s look at Jimmy Page– Again, another player who I absolutely love, but has he done anything that surpassed his work in the 70s?
What about Eddie Van Halen? His guitar playing shook the world in 1978, but from then to his death in 2020, can you honestly say his playing radically improved or changed? I don’t hear it.
No disrespect meant to Eddie, or to Brian May or Tony Iommi… Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Joe Bonamasa, they may all be better technical players, in terms of speed or knowing more theory, but none of them– no one– revamped, revised, rebuilt their style and technique from the ground up as much, or as often, as Jeff Beck. None of them changed and evolved and improved over the course of their career as Jeff Beck. And he was still improving. He was never satisfied and he was always pushing himself to get better.
There is no contemporary or current guitarist who continually developed and improved over their career like Jeff Beck. Nobody who went from this:
To this:
To this.
To the point where he was playing radically different and better in his 70’s than he did in his 20’s. It’s amazing, nobody could touch that technique. He was one of a kind.
There are new generations of brilliant guitarists, from Bumblefoot to Buckethead. players like Omar Garcia-Lopez, Tosin Abbasi, Plini, Rabia Massad… they are all brilliant players at the top of their game, but we’ll see– when they’re in their 70’s, will their playing have evolved and deepened as much as Jeff Beck’s?
Thank you for joining me for this special episode looking at the career of Jeff Beck. Trust me when I say we’ve just scratched the surface of his work. Go pick up some of his albums. A great place to start is the “Live At Ronnie Scott’s” album. There’s also a great documentary called “Still On The Run”, which I highly recommend.
I’ll be back in two weeks with another new episode. Thanks for being a part of the last 150 shows, and if that’s not enough, you’ll find even more shows on the Pantheon Podcast Network, enough to satisfy any music junkie.
Please keep in touch and until the next time, I’ll leave you with one final track. This is from the aforementioned “Live At Ronie Scott’s” album. It’s the live version of Jeff playing “Where Were You”. This is how he closed that show, and it’s a fitting way to close out this episode. Jennifer Batten described this as “basically impossible, it’s an impossible tune”. Well, impossible for anyone– except Jeff Beck.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Jeff Beck https://www.jeffbeck.com/
"Message Of Love" (Jimi Hendrix) Copyright 1970 Experience Hendrix LLC
It’s never a recipe for making great art when you’re under pressure to deliver an album to a rival record label due to contractual obligations… though Jimi Hendrix was never satisfied with the result, the Band Of Gypsys album became a very influential album and remains a favorite among Jimi fans and guitar players of all stripes. On this episode, we journey back to New Years 1970 to explore “Message of Love” from this legendary album.
“Message Of Love” (Jimi Hendrix) Copyright 1970 Experience Hendrix LLC
— Hey, I was just thinkin’… now would be as great time for you to check out the other Rock Podcasts on the Pantheon Podcasts network!
TRANSCRIPT:
Greetings to all, here on the third stone from the sun and beyond. This is the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast beaming across the cosmos on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m your host, Brad Page, and each episode of the show, I pick a song and we explore it together, listening to all the nuances that make it one of my favorite songs. You don’t need any musical skill, knowledge or experience here– just a love for music and a little curiosity.
Well, here we are at the start of a brand new year, and I was trying to think of an appropriate subject for a January 1st episode. I thought, “we’ve talked about a lot of guitar players on this show…” I love guitar players. But I realized that, after over 140 shows, we’ve still never talked about one of the most important guitarists of all time. So let’s rectify that. It’s about time we talked about Jimi Hendrix.
Of course, Jimi Hendrix is a legend, with a legacy of some really important and influential records. It’d be tempting to pick a song like “Purple Haze” or “Voodoo Child”, “All Along The Watchtower”, or his version of “The Star Spangled Banner”. Those are all historically important tracks. But I wanted to do something different.
So, I chose a song from very late in his career when Jimi was at a turning point in his career– at a crossroads, to use a cliche. So, we’re going back to a New Year’s Eve over 50 years ago, when 1969 gave way to 1970, with Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys ringing in the new year at the Fillmore East, playing “Message Of Love”.
[Music]
Everybody knows that Jimi Hendrix is a legend, an icon. There are literally dozens of books written about him; there are documentaries. So I’m not going to go over a detailed history of Hendrix, but to understand how Jimi Hendrix ended up playing at the Fillmore East on New Year’s Eve, first we have to go back to his early years in New York City.
Jimi Hendrix was a working musician, paying his dues and playing as a sideman to people like the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. In 1965, he ended up as a guitarist in Curtis Knight’s band, playing cover songs on the New York and New Jersey circuit. Jimi eventually grew tired of that and formed his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames.
It was during a stint playing in Greenwich Village, New York, when he was“discovered” by Chas Chandler, former bassist for The Animals, who was transitioning into being a manager. Chandler brought Jimi over to England, and they put together the Jimi Hendrix experience with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Now here’s where things get messy. Back in ‘65, when he was playing with Curtis Knight, Jimmy had signed an exclusive recording contract with a guy named Ed Chaplin. Jimi had also signed a contract with producer Juggie Murray. But hey, look, Jimi was a struggling musician, just trying to find some success– any success. He was a guitar player, not a lawyer, and he was naive. He’d sign anything if he thought it could help him at the time.
But now, with the Jimi Hendrix Experience having hit records on the Warner Brothers label, Ed Chaplin came a calling in 1967 with his contract from two years earlier, and he sued.
Hendrix had made some recordings with Curtis Knight back in ‘65. Those records are not very good, but Chaplin licensed them to Capitol Records, who then released two albums worth of that stuff. In fact, at one point, you had the legit Warner Brothers records competing against the Capitol stuff at the same time.
Here’s a song from the Curtis Knight sessions; it’s an instrumental called “Knock Yourself Out”, which Jimi got a co-writing credit on.
{music]
Eventually, a settlement was arranged with an agreement that Ed Chaplin and Capitol Records would get the rights to one Jimi Hendrix album. Hendrix had just finished recording “Electric Ladyland”, which was a double album, so it was agreed that the next album would be given to Capitol.
But things in the Hendrix camp were tough. First, Chas Chandler had left the fold, and not long after, Noel Redding quit. Jimi brought in his old army buddy, Billy Cox, to play bass. Then Jimi rounded up a bunch more musicians, adding additional percussionists and a second guitar player. He called the band “Gypsy Sun and Rainbows”, and this was the band that played at Woodstock.
[Music]
But a month later, Jimmy broke up that band. It just wasn’t working for him.
Meanwhile, the pressure is on. He still owes one album to Capitol, and Jimi didn’t even have a band. So, Jimi, Billy Cox, and drummer-vocalist Buddy Miles put together a band. They made a deal with promoter Bill Graham to play four shows at the Fillmore East in New York: two shows on New Year’s Eve, and two shows on New Year’s Day, 1970. All four shows would be recorded, and they would release the best tracks as a single live album to fulfill the Capitol Records contract.
Before the show, Jimi, Buddy and Billy, calling themselves “Band of Gypsys”, worked up a set consisting mostly of new material, including “Machine Gun”, one of Jimi’s most incredible guitar performances.
Both Buddy and Billy were veterans of R&B bands, and they brought a funkier, soulful groove to the songs that the Jimi Hendrix Experience just never had. Buddy was also a great singer, too. His lead vocals are featured on two songs on the “Band of Gypsys” album. Buddy introduces this track on the record.
[Music]
The song starts off with a chromatically ascending riff before kicking off into the main riff of the song.
[Music]
Let’s just hear Jimi’s guitar on that riff.
[Music]
Behind that, Billy Cox is playing a pretty busy bass part over a pretty simple drumbeat, laid down by Buddy Miles. Let’s hear their parts.
[Music]
They only play through that riff twice before starting the first verse, which is a variation on the main riff, simplified a bit to leave room for the vocals.
[Music]
I really like the backing vocals there. One of the things about Jimi’s previous band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was that they didn’t have a strong vocalist in the band to back up Jimi. Buddy Miles was a powerhouse singer, and he adds a lot. And with Billy Cox chipping in, these backing vocals were kind of a whole new sound for Jimi.
[Music]
After a few lines of the verse, we get a new short riff with Jimi and Billy playing the same part together mostly. And that brings us back to the verse riff.
[Music]
And that brings us to another new riff. This one’s a little more rapid fire, with Jimi and Billy doubling the part, and Buddy scat singing the riff with them.
[Music]
Now here we have a somewhat quieter or gentler part. Jimi is playing some of those chords he was famous for; as much as he’s thought of as an incredible lead guitarist– and he was– he was also a killer rhythm player.
[Music]
Jimi’s rhythm guitar playing is as identifiable as his lead playing. Let’s hear this part again without the vocals, so that we can hear a little more of his guitar.
[Music]
The verse riff, the backing vocals come back in, but this time, Jimi’s just going to vamp a bit around the riff. At this point, Jimi is going to crank up the volume and play a solo, and I think now is as good a time as any to talk about Jimi’s guitar sound. Though he played other guitars, Jimi was primarily associated with the Fender Stratocaster. As a left-handed player, he would take a right-handed Strat, flip it upside-down and restring it, and that’s what he was playing this night with the Band Of Gypsys.
Now, playing the guitar upside-down like that meant that things like the volume & tone controls and the vibrato arm were in a different position than they would be if you were playing it normally. And Jimi was able to take advantage of that, particularly with the vibrato or whammy bar.
Jimi also pretty consistently used Marshall amplifiers, I think typically Super 100’s, but don’t quote me on that. But that was the standard beginning and end of his signal chain: a Fender Strat into a Marshall amp. But what went between his amp and guitar? That’s another story that changed frequently.
Jimi was always looking for new sounds, and he would explore any new effects gadget that came his way. Guitar effects pedals were still a relatively new thing in the late 60’s. Jimi was friends with a guy named Roger Mayer, an electrical engineer who had worked for the British Navy. He started building effects devices for guitars, like fuzz pedals, and one of the earliest units he built was the Octavia, which takes the input signal from the guitar and generates that sound one octave higher, then mixes it back in with the original guitar sound, and adds distortion or fuzz. Like most guitar pedals, it would sit on the floor between your guitar and amp, with a button you’d press with your foot to turn it on and off.
Jimi first used the Octavia on the solo for “Purple Haze” in 1967. Roger Mayer would continue to tweak and modify the Octavia for Hendrix. And Jimi was using one of those later versions for this Band Of Gypsys show.
You can hear the Octavia most notably on the song “Who Knows” from this show. Jimi was also using a fuzz pedal built by Roger Mayer. It was either a Fuzz Face or an Axis Fuzz, depending on what you read. He had two other effects pedals on stage this night: a Vox wah-wah pedal, which you can hear on the song “Changes”:
[Music]
And he was using a Univibe, a new and pretty innovative pedal for its time. It’s a little tough to explain what a Univibe actually sounds like– it’s a cross between phasing, a chorus sound, and vibrato, but you can hear it in action on the song “Machine Gun”.
[Music]
Now, there is one other thing to take into account regarding Jimi’s guitar sound, and that’s the order in which the effects are plugged into each other. Believe it or not, it makes a big difference in the sound. For example, a wah-wah pedal plugged into a fuzz pedal sounds significantly different than the other way around, a fuzz pedal plugged into a wah. This can lead to endless rounds of debate and conjecture, but luckily, we have some photographs from this show that pretty clearly show the sequence of his pedals that night:
His guitar is plugged into a Vox wah-wah pedal, which is plugged into the Octavia, which is plugged into the Fuzz Face, that’s plugged into the Univibe, and then that is finally plugged into his Marshall amplifier. Wah pedal, Octavia, Fuzz pedal, Univibe.
Okay, so back to “Message Of Love”. At this point, the fuzz is really going to kick in, and Jimi’s going to go for his first solo.
[Music]
And now, Jimi’s going to step on that wah-wah pedal.
[Music]
Now Jimi’s gonna hit a harmonic and quickly bend it down with the whammy bar, then turn off the wah pedal for the rest of the solo.
[Music]
You can hear them slow the tempo down there.
[Music]
The band is going to break, and then Jimi is going to do a little scat singing, this time singing along to his guitar part.
[Music]
They’re gonna build it back up here. Jimi and Buddy are gonna add some vocals.
[Music]
It sounds a little rough coming back into the riff there. I can’t imagine they had more than a handful of rehearsals before these shows, so there’s bound to be some rough spots. But that’s what makes this a truly great live album. There’s a real “edge of your seat” energy to this record. They didn’t go back and fix up every mistake– this is how it really went down that night, New Year’s 1975.
Jimmy’s gonna cut loose with the second solo. Let’s focus in on Jimmy’s guitar.
[Music]
They bring back that chromatic climb from the beginning of the song to wrap it all up. Jimi’s just messing around with the whammy bar and some feedback.
[Music]
The Band of Gypsys – “Message Of Love”
The song has also been credited as “Message To Love”, but on all the versions of “Band of Gypsys” that I have, it’s referred to as “Message Of Love”. So that’s what I’m sticking with.
The “Band of Gypsys” album was commercially very successful. Critics didn’t necessarily love it, and Hendrix himself was never satisfied with it; he felt it was rushed and it didn’t sound great, and if it wasn’t for the contractual obligations, he wouldn’t have released it. Not that it mattered. By the time the album was released, the band had already broken up.
But the album has gone on to be very influential, paving the way for future funk rock acts. And it was an important touchstone, particularly for black artists making their mark in the rock world, like Living Color and Lenny Kravitz. And it remains one of my favorite Jimi Hendrix records, and just favorite guitar records in general.
Thanks for joining me for this musical journey on the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. As always, I’ll be back in about two weeks with another new episode. Until then, get your fix of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast by listening to any of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or find us on your favorite podcast app.
You can keep in touch with us on Facebook, just look for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast to find our page. And please support the show by sharing it with your friends and just telling somebody about it.
On behalf of the Pantheon Network of podcasts, I gently remind you to support the artists that you love by buying their music, and I’ll see you back here next time. Thanks for listening to this episode on Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys. Happy New Year, everyone.
"Sleep That Burns" (Bill Nelson) Copyright 1975 B. Feldman and Company Ltd.
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Bill Nelson combined Prog Rock, Glam and Art Rock into the unique sound that was Be-Bop Deluxe. They were musically adventurous, but always maintained a strong sense of melody and a memorable hook or two, as evidenced by this track from their 3rd album Sunburst Finish, released in 1976. Let’s explore the “Sleep That Burns“.
“Sleep That Burns” (Bill Nelson) Copyright 1975 B. Feldman and Company Ltd. All rights assigned USA and Canada to Beechwood Music Corporation
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TRANSCRIPT:
Greetings, music fans. This is the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast coming to you on the Pantheon Podcast network. My name is Brad Page, and each episode of this show, I pick a favorite song of mine and we explore it together on our never-ending quest to discover what makes a great song. No musical knowledge or skill is required here, just musical curiosity.
On this edition, we’re delving into a song by a band that had some success in the UK, but it never translated to the US. Nevertheless, I think they were a pretty interesting and pretty unique band. So let’s explore Be-Bop Deluxe and a song called “Sleep That Burns”
The band Be-Bop Deluxe was really the vehicle for Bill Nelson. A guitarist, singer and songwriter from Yorkshire, England, he attended Wakefield College of Art in the 1960s and did some recording as a guitarist for other artists and got a little bit of attention for his guitar work on an album by Light Years Away in 1971. Here’s some of Nelson’s playing on the Light Years Away song called “Yesterday”:
Nelson released his first solo album, “Northern Dream”, on his own label—that’s pretty adventurous for 1973. He pressed up 300 copies, one of which found its way into the hands of the legendary BBC DJ John Peele, who played it on his show, which in turn got Nelson a record deal with EMI Harvest Records. By then, Nelson had formed a band of his own which he called Be-Bop Deluxe. EMI signed Be-Bop Deluxe and released their first album, “Axe Victim”, in 1974.
After the release of “Axe Victim”, Nelson fired everyone from the band and reformed the group with a new lineup, including drummer Simon Cox and bassist/vocalist Charlie Tumahai. a native of New Zealand. This new version of Be-Bop Deluxe released their next album, called “Futurama”, in 1975.
The “Futurama” album really established their sound: a little bit progressive rock, a little bit glam, and a little bit of that Roxy Music art-rock sound, all anchored around Bill Nelson’s brilliant guitar playing.
Nelson had also been playing some keyboards on the albums, but for the next record, he wanted to expand that, so he brought in a full time keyboard player to the band. His name was Simon Clark, but since the band already had a drummer named Simon, they convinced him to use his middle name, Andy.
But changing up band members wasn’t the only changes on Bill Nelson’s mind. He wanted to mix things up on the production side, too. Their first album had been produced by Ian McClintock; Roy Thomas Baker was the producer on their second album. Nelson wasn’t really happy with either of them, so he wanted to produce the next album by himself.
The record company, though, thought he was too inexperienced to produce the album by himself, so they wanted him to co-produce with somebody else. EMI suggested John Leckie, who was a staff engineer at Abbey Road, and they felt he was ready for his first job as a producer. Nelson met with Leckie and they got along great. So they agreed to produce the next Be-Bop Deluxe album together.
Sessions began in October 1975 at Abbey Road. After a month or so of recording, the album was complete and it was released in January 1976. They named the album “Sunburst Finish”. The album features one of the all-time great album covers, and the record includes the track “Ships In The Night”, which would become their biggest hit, reaching number 23 on the UK charts. But I don’t believe it charted in the US.
Bill Nelson, though, has said many times that “Ships In The Night” is his least-favorite track from Be-Bop Deluxe, so we’re not going to explore that one here, even though I like it. We’re going to focus on another favorite track from this album, the song that closes out side one of the record, “Sleep That Burns”.
I should mention here that in 2018 the album was reissued as a deluxe 2 CD set that included the original version of the album, along with a new remixed version. I debated over which version to use here; I generally prefer to use the original versions, but some of the instruments and parts stand out a little better on that 2018 mix. But in the end, I decided to stick with the original mix. So just to be clear, we’ll be hearing the 1976 version here.
“Sleep That Burns” was written by Bill Nelson. Like everything else on the album, Nelson played all the guitars and sang the lead vocal. Charlie Tumahai played bass and did the backing vocals. Andy Clark provided the keyboards and Simon Fox plays drums.
The song is about dreams. Bill Nelson said, “I had a fascination with how we spend so much of our time asleep. Dreaming and dreams don’t make sense. I thought of the song as being kind of a movie.” And so, to set the stage for our theater of the mind, the song opens with the sound of an alarm clock going off and someone awakening from a dream.
If that big introduction sounds a little familiar to you, that’s because Bill Nelson came up with that part as sort of a homage to “Baba O’Reilly” by The Who.
There are many layers of guitars all throughout this song. Nelson’s main guitar at this time was a Gibson ES345. The color of that guitar is what gave this album its name, and he uses that guitar on many of these tracks. Let’s listen to the guitars on this intro.
There are two heavily distorted guitars playing those Pete Townsend chords, panned left and right. Sounds like there’s also an acoustic guitar or two playing those parts. Then there’s a cleaner electric guitar playing an arpeggiated part in the middle.
By the way, if some of these musical terms and guitar lingo is confusing to you, go back and listen to Episode 75 of this podcast called “The Language of Rock”, where we explain some of these terms.
There’s also a higher pitched part that sounds like a lead guitar line, but it’s actually Andy Clark on the mini Moog synthesizer. After two repetitions of the intro part, we head right into the first verse.
There’s a fantastic galloping rhythm to the verse, and a great guitar part that Bill Nelson is playing, these upper-register triplets played on his guitar. Let’s listen to just the instrumental parts on this verse without the vocal.
Just a couple of lines for the verse and then we hit right into the first chorus. No time wasted here.
A slightly different feel for the chorus, and Andy Clark’s piano comes forward in the mix. Clark is playing the Abbey Road Studio One piano, a 9-foot Steinway grand piano that no doubt appeared on dozens of classic recordings. Let’s hear a little bit of that piano.
I like that extra “All right” in the background there.
They repeat the intro riff before the next verse, and Andy’s synthesizer part is even more prominent this time.
“I’m locked in your dark world, where hearts hold the keys; half-opened, enchanted, half-truths and half-dreams”
Andy Clark’s keyboard parts add another layer on this chorus. I believe in addition to playing piano, he’s also playing a Melotron. It’s the very same Melotron the Beatles used on “Strawberry Fields Forever”
Let’s just hear that part again, this time with Charlie Tumahai’s bass up in the mix.
As we mentioned before, Bill Nelson envisioned this song as kind of a movie. He described this next section as a new scene in the dream, where you’re sitting in a cafe in some exotic place. Listen and you can picture that in your mind. Andy Clark’s using his Mini Moog again to create some sound effects. The band raided the Abbey Road Sound Effects library and made some of the background noises themselves by clinking plates and silverware together to create the sound of the cafe. The band also gathered around the mic to make the background chatter as well.
Andy Clark’s playing some nice tack piano here.
And then the dream gets darker, as dreams often do.
The vocals are suddenly doubled and panned left and right.
Bill Nelson does some nice guitar work here, recorded backwards. Back in the 70’s, there was no easy way to do this. You had to literally turn the tape over backwards and hope that what you were playing would work. Let’s hear just the guitar.
Spiraling piano leads us back into the intro riff and the next verse.
Here’s another chorus. This time, let’s see if we can bring up the drums in the mix.
Simon Cox on the drums. The drums are mixed pretty low on this track, it’s kind of a bummer.
Let’s pick it back up at the final verse. There are additional background vocals echoing the lead vocal on this verse. Bill Nelson’s added single guitar notes, sustained with feedback, on this chorus.
Nelson lets loose with a great guitar solo for this finale.
“Sleep That Burns” – Be-Bop Deluxe
Be-Bop Deluxe would record two more studio albums and a great live album before they disbanded in 1978.
Bill Nelson’s next project was a band called Red Noise, but they only released one album in 1979. Always a restless creative mind, bill Nelson’s sound and style has evolved a lot over the years and he’s released literally dozens of solo albums. He’s incredibly prolific.
Drummer Simon Cox went on to play with Trevor Rabin and a bunch of other projects over the years. He’s still out there kicking it somewhere.
Andy Clark joined Bill Nelson in Red Noise, he band that immediately followed Be-Bop Deluxe, but again, they only released that one album in ‘79. But Andy would go on to do significant work as a session keyboardist on some great records. He played on David Bowie’s “Scary Monsters” album, including the song “Ashes to Ashes”. He plays on Peter Gabriel’s “So” album and “The Seeds of Love” album by Tears for Fears.
Bassist and vocalist Charlie Tumahai unfortunately died in 1995. After Be-Bop Deluxe, he played with The Dukes, a band that featured former Paul McCartney and Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, but that didn’t last long.
Charlie was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and in 1985, he returned back home and joined the legendary New Zealand reggae band The Herbs. He was also very active in the Maiori community and volunteered a lot of his time. Charlie was a hero to many New Zealanders, and it was a real tragedy when he died of a heart attack in December 1995. He was only 46 years old.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. There are plenty more like it if you want to check them out– all of our episodes are available on our website lovethatsongpodcast.com, or look for them in your favorite podcast app.
You can share your thoughts with us on Facebook or send us an email lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com. And if you’d like to support the show, no need to send money or anything like that, the best thing you can do is to tell your friends about the show and get them to listen.
I’ll be back in two weeks with another new episode. On behalf of everybody on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed this episode on Be-Bop Deluxe and “Sleep That Burns”
“Over The Hills and Far Away” (Gary Moore) Copyright 1986 EMI 10 Music Ltd. All rights in the US and Canada controlled and administered by EMI Virgin Songs, Inc
Gary Moore was never a household name, but among guitar players, he was a legend. He reinvented himself multiple times over his 40-year career: first as a hard-rocker with Thin Lizzy, then a jazzy prog-rocker with Colosseum in the 70’s; pioneering a modern heavy-metal sound in the 80’s, and playing the blues in the ‘90’s. On this episode, we delve into a track from his 1987 Celtic-flavored hard rock album, “Wild Frontier”.
“Over The Hills and Far Away” (Gary Moore) Copyright 1986 EMI 10 Music Ltd. All rights in the US and Canada controlled and administered by EMI Virgin Songs, Inc
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TRANSCRIPT: Welcome, Citizens of the World, to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
One thing that’s shared by almost every culture, in every part of the world throughout history, is that music plays an important part in celebration, in worship, in recreation, in making even the hardest jobs more bearable. Music, it’s part of life, and if you’re from a culture that doesn’t celebrate music… well, I feel sorry for you. On this podcast, we celebrate that greatest form of music: the kind that ROCKS.
Every edition of this podcast, I pick one of my favorite songs and we explore it together on our never-ending quest to discover what goes into making a great song.
Last episode, we spent some quality time with one of my favorite bands, Thin Lizzy. One name that kept popping up on that show was Gary Moore. I wanted to spend a little bit more time with Gary Moore, one of the greatest guitarists of his generation.
He had a long and always evolving history; his career lasted over four decades, most of it underappreciated, I think. On this episode, we’re going to take a look at a song from right about in the middle of his career; this is a song called “Over The Hills and Far Away”.
[Music]
A few years back, I did a show on 5 of my all-time favorite guitar solos– that was episode number 25 of this podcast, if you want to go back and check it out. One of those solos was by Gary Moore. He had all the flash and technique, but unlike many hot-shot players, especially those shredders from the 80’s, Gary had a fantastic sense of melody. He could play blindingly fast, but he could also move you emotionally with a melodic performance.
Robert William Gary Moore was born April 4th, 1952 in Belfast, Ireland. His father gave him his first guitar when he was 10 years old. Interestingly, Gary was a lefty, but he learned to play the guitar right-handed. In 1968, he joined Skid Row– no, not the metal band with Sebastian Bach; this Skid Row was a bluesy rock band from Ireland, with Phil Lynott (later of Thin Lizzy) on vocals, although Lynott left the band after recording only one single. But this is where Lynott and Moore first worked together.
A few years later, when Eric Bell left Thin Lizzy, Gary joined them, but it only lasted a few months. He did end up recording three tracks with them, though, in 1973. Gary recorded his first solo album, and he continued making solo records all through the 70s, and some of them are really good.
At the same time, he joined the prog rock group Coliseum II, and he would rejoin Thin Lizzy two more times– once as a fill-in guitarist for a tour in 1977, and then as a full-fledged member in 1979. Thin Lizzy’s “Black Rose” album is the only album of theirs where Gary plays on every track, but to many Lizzy fans, they consider that their best album. But it didn’t last long… Gary quit Thin Lizzy for the last time just a few months later.
Gary’s solo albums continued to get better. “Run for Cover”, released in 1985, is a great record– it’s probably my favorite Gary Moore album. Then in 1987, he released the album “Wild Frontier”. Phil Lynott had died the year before, and the album is dedicated to him. Maybe in tribute to Phil, maybe because Gary was just feeling connected to his Irish roots, but some of the tracks on this album have a real Celtic feel to them. It’s an interesting blend of hard rock and traditional elements.
Case in point is this song; but before we get into “Over The Hills and Far Away”, let’s talk about the lyrics.
This song tells the story of a man jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, but he can’t reveal his alibi… because on the night of the crime, he was sleeping with the wife of his best friend. Rather than reveal that secret, he keeps quiet and ends up serving a 10-year sentence for robbery. Now, this is a classic type of folktale, in fact, it’s very reminiscent, maybe even inspired by an old Lefty Frizzell song from 1959 called “Long Black Veil” that song tells a similar story of a man who’s hanged for murder because he wouldn’t admit that he was with his best friend’s wife at the time of the crime. “Long Black Veil” has been covered many times: Johnny Cash recorded it on his classic album “Live at Folsom Prison”. Here’s a bit of his version:
[Music]
My favorite version of “Long Black Veil” is by The Band; it’s on their legendary album “Music From Big Pink”:
[Music]
Here on “Over The Hills and Far Away”, Gary Moore puts his own spin on the story.
“Over The Hills and Far Away” was written by Gary Moore and produced by Peter Collins, who produced albums for Billy Squire, Bon Jovi, Queensryche, Alice Cooper and Rush. Gary plays all the guitars and does all the vocals. Neil Carter handles keyboards and Bob Daisley is on bass. For the drums… well, there’s actually nobody credited with playing drums on the album, and that’s because nobody did play drums on the album. All the drum sounds are programmed; it’s a drum machine. No actual recorded drums on the record at all. It’s a bit unusual for a hard rock record. There are no credits on the album for drum programming either, but it was probably done by Roland Carriage. When Gary went on tour for the album, he brought along Eric Singer on drums.
The song begins with some tribal drumming, and remember, these are all electronic drums:
[Music]
You can hear some of those traditional sounds building under the vocal
[Music]
Then as soon as that vocal line finishes, the song explodes with a Celtic melody.
[Music]
Though there aren’t any specific instruments credited on this track, I believe there are some traditional acoustic instruments in there, along with the keyboards and the guitar. Let’s hear them all together:
[Music]
And that leads us right into the second verse, where Gary’s heavy guitar chords come in:
[Music]
Gary throws in a little bit of classic 80s whammy bar there. Let’s go back and pick up right before that part:
[Music]
Some keyboards are added here.
[Music]
So here’s the first chorus; harmony vocals are added on the first and third lines– that’s a typical technique we hear all the time– and the drums are playing an interesting pattern:
[Music]
And the guitar sound has gotten really big. It’s a pretty simple part actually, the guitar is just playing one chord every two beats, but I’m guessing there are multiple guitar tracks layered on top of each other here to really thicken up the part.
[Music]
I like that little bass part there.
Now, on the second verse, there’s a new keyboard part. Let’s hear that, and listen for the little guitar part that’s added on one phrase, duplicating the keyboard:
[Music]
There’s some really nice guitar work under this part of the verse. I love the way it plays against the keyboard part. Notice the background vocals, too:
[Music]
We’re coming to the bridge, and there’s a definite change in mood. It’s almost wistful… you can picture the prisoner looking out of his cell window, longing for freedom…
[Music]
Those Celtic instruments return, and we’re about to hit a break where those instruments are right in your face in the mix. It’s really powerful.
[Music]
This brings us to the guitar solo.
[Music]
And here’s a classic a capella chorus; you just gotta do it on a song like this.
[Music]
There’s some flanging on the percussion here.
And there’s a key change there; it jumps up a whole step from E to F sharp. Key changes are a classic way to inject some new energy into a song.
[Music]
Let’s check out some of Gary’s vocals here at the end.
[Music]
Gary Cuts loose on guitar a little bit more at the end here for the long fade
[Music]
“Over The Hills and Far Away” – Gary Moore
After this album, he’d record one more record and then walk away from the sound of hard rock and heavy metal. He shifted to playing the blues. In fact, his first all-blues album in 1990 was the best-selling record he ever had, and with a few exceptions, he would focus on the blues for the rest of his career.
In February 2011, Gary died in his sleep from a heart attack; he was only 58. But he left behind over 20 Studio albums, plus all the work he did with other bands and artists. It’s quite the legacy.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. There’s another one coming right up! Let us know about your favorite Gary Moore and Thin Lizzy songs. Share with us on Facebook or on places like Podchaser; you can rate us, write a review, and share the show with your friends. And don’t forget to follow the show, so that you never miss an episode.
We’re part of the Pantheon Media Network of podcasts, and there’s a ton of other great shows waiting for you on Pantheon– check them out!
Always remember to support the music and the artists that you love by buying their music. And thanks for listening to this episode on Gary Moore and “Over The Hills and Far Away”.
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