Schooled: 60s-70s Vintage Music You Should Know — V1: Album Cuts
Rock history is super narrow, let’s widen it a bit.
Listen along: Spotify playlist here, YouTube playlist here
“Can’t You Hear Your Daddy’s Heartbeat”— Steve Miller Band
Long before he decided to play every county fair in America, even before Fly Like an Eagle launched a million teenage stoners, Steve Miller Band was a super hip cult band. Before you cringe and cue up Tame Impala, know there was a day when The Joker was indeed the coolest cat in town. “Can’t You Hear Your Daddy’s Heartbeat” is a prime cut from the 1969 album Brave New World, probably the best pre-stardom Miller album. The tune kicks off with some awesome rat-a-tat by drummer Tim Davis (who also wrote the tune) and then thunders into some deep growling grooves. A little go-go dancing meets a tab of windowpane. My vote for the tune Wilco should immediately cover.
“Nobody’s Fool/El Tonto de Nadie, Regresa” — Poco
You probably know one of three things about the 60’s/70’s band Poco.
1) Nothing
2) They were that other band to come out of Buffalo Springfield (besides of course CSNY)
3) They did that shitty ballad “Crazy Love”
Whatever, because you’d be right on all counts. Poco is now a pretty much forgotten country-rock band that had only a brief moment of brilliance. The two main talents Richie Furay and Jim Messina had in one album a flash-in-the-pan moment with some solid songwriting and awesome jams. Taken from their 1970 eponymous album, “Nobody’s Fool/El Tonto de Nadie, Regresa” is 18 minutes of jam band heaven. And this little taste may make you check out the rest of the album, which is top shelf through and through. But be forewarned, the rest of the catalog is rough sledding, so bad that Jim Messina soon bolted (unfortunately to form schlockmeisters Loggins and Messina.) Definitely a moment in time, but a good one.
“99th Floor” — The Moving Sidewalks
OK, there’s only two things to be said about this track: it features Billy Gibbons before he started ZZ Top, and it’s a fucking awesome.
“She’s a Dancer “— Crack The Sky
In the 70’s and 80’s, Crack The Sky was a band whose albums only sat in the collections of east coast college kids. They came and went as fast as most bands, and never really had a resurgence. Think prog rock with an 80’s pop feel and Zappaesque precision. This prime cut was from their first album, which Rolling Stone miraculously voted debut album of the year. But fat chance that helped at all. I think they were just too weird to last, but weird enough to be super interesting today.
“Can’t you Feel It” — Johnny Winter
Today, blues music only exists in the shitty tourist bars and on your dad’s Stevie Ray Vaughn Pandora station. Unfortunately, the blues today is like country music or strawberries, mass production has rendered it tasteless. But there was a day when the blues were actually cool, and the best musicians in the business indulged in it. The blues used to be shitty ass raw, and on that score, no one (and I mean fucking NO ONE) was better than Johnny Winter. Part Chuck Berry, part Led Zeppelin, part Sex Pistols, Johnny Winter came screaming out of the gate and the never compromised until he croaked in 2014. (Personal note: I never saw him live but had tickets to see him a few years ago, and bailed for some lame ass reason. Now the dude’s dead. Note: never blow off a concert.)
“Spaceman” — Journey
I know, I know. Journey…sigh. Never has so much talent gone to such little use. I mean, we’re talking two guys who played with Sanatana at Woodstock for fucks sake. But it’s like a barn full with shit, you know there has to be a pony in there somewhere. And the Journey pony came in 1977, a year before Steve Perry joined and created arena rock. This cut is a super time capsule, and super indulgent in a way could only be done in the seventies. Plus, Ansley Dunbar on drums…I mean, cmon man. Yes, it sounds super dated, but at least you got a little comeback when your buds lament how bad Journey sucks. You can pull out this nugget and get large.
“Dog Breath “— Frank Zappa
While I’m on an Ansley Dunbar groove, here’s is not so obscure cut from Frank Zappa . Featuring the the ever wonderful Flo and Eddie from the Turtles (BTW check out Howard Kaylan’s hilarious book Shell Shocked about his life as Eddie and beyond. Good dirt on Zappa.)
“Cottage Cheese”— Crow
OK, I didn’t know shit about this band till the tune popped up on Psychedelicized, my favorite 60’s stream. All I know is they’re from Minneapolis, and the singer was Dio before Dio was Dio. Super interesting.
“You’ve Got To Change(You’ve Got To Reform)” — The Meters
Finally, what better way to end a schooling than with the most overlooked band in history, The Meters. While your musician friends love the Meters, it still brings a blank stare in most quarters, which is criminal. This groundbreaking instrumental band from New Orleans inspired a zillion careers, most recently the entire Daptone and Budos contingent. Required reading for sure.
