Month: March 2015

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love will be featured in The Vinyl Dialogues Volume II: Dropping the Needle.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Lou Adler was looking for some help. He was producing Cheech & Chong’s third comedy album, Los Cochinos, in 1973 and the duo was in the recording studio ready to make the song “Basketball Jones.”

Since it was an actual song and not a comedy bit, Adler needed some real musicians to sit in on the recording session, which was being done at A&M Records on North La Brea Avenue near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

In addition to managing the careers of Cheech & Chong, Adler also managed a veritable All-Star lineup of other artists: Sam Cooke, Carole King and The Mamas and The Papas, among them. So Adler started making calls to some of those artists asking them to come on down to the studio and participate in the recording of “Basketball Jones.”

The day of the recording session, Adler also went through the A&M studio seeing who else was recording that day and asking them to be part of “Basketball Jones.” That list included Ronnie Spector, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Jim Karstein, Jim Keltner and a pretty famous guitarist named George Harrison. That’s Harrison playing the intro to “Basketball Jones.”

Also in the studio that day were The Blossoms – Darlene Love, Fanita James and Jean King. By 1973, they had developed a reputation of being the best backing vocalists in the business and had performed on many of the biggest hits of the 1960s.

Adler thought the vocals of The Blossoms, along with those of Michelle Phillips of The

Philadelphia singer-songwriter Mutlu was part of an “All-Star Tribute to Marvin Gaye” on March 28, 2015, in Ewing, N.J.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Mamas and The Papas and Ronnie Spector, would be perfect as “cheerleaders” for “Basketball Jones.”

“That was a lot of fun,” said Ms. Love in a recent telephone interview. “Lou would say, ‘OK, come on girls, what are we gonna do here?’ The first hour of the session was laughing and talking. And then we’d come up with little things and four or five hours later, we were still trying to do the song.”

Ms. Love will be featured in The Vinyl Dialogues Volume II for her role in the 1972 album “Billy Joe Thomas” by B.J. Thomas. She and The Blossoms provided backing vocals on Thomas’ big hit off that album, “Rock and Roll Lullaby.”

She was recently in the area on Saturday, March 28, 2015, as the headliner for an “All-Star Tribute to Marvin Gaye” as part of the Candlelight Concerts for Epilepsy Awareness, an ongoing nonprofit epilepsy awareness series held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Ewing, N.J.

The event was organized by Eric Miller, whose wife died from an epileptic seizure, as a way to bring awareness to the issue. You can get information about Miller’s Candlelight Concerts by going to www.CandlelightConcerts.org and more about the affliction by going to the Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey’s website at www.efnj.com.

In addition to Ms. Love, a 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, other artists featured at the event included Dawn Robinson, formerly of En Vogue; Sarah Dash of LaBelle; Cory Glover of Living Colour; Hopewell’s Danielia Cotton; Philadelphia singer-songwriter Mutlu; and Kerrion Upshur, a 14-year-old from Ewing High School with a big voice.

Mutlu, a frequent opener for Hall & Oates shows as well as solo gigs for both Daryl Hall and John Oates, also has also toured extensively with his friend and fellow Philly artist Amos Lee.

It was a great night of Marvin Gaye music played to a packed church for a good cause. And yes, there were a few jokes made about the fact that two of Gaye’s biggest hits, “Let’s Get It On” and “Sexual Healing” were performed in a church.

The backing band for the evening was outstanding, under the musical direction of bassist Doug Wimpish, also of Living Colour. It included guitarist Paul Pesco, who has worked with Hall & Oates and Madonna; Calvin Weston on drums, David Dzubinski on piano with Allison Polans and Imani Roach provided backing vocals.

The next two Candlelight Concerts will pay tribute to the music of Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell. If you’re in the northeast part of the country, you should check them out.

Ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder welcomes us to his own ‘Hotel California’

By Mike Morsch

On March 22, 2015

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

Former Eagles lead guitarist Don Felder brings out his 12-string guitar for the encore of “Hotel California” at his solo show March 21, 2015, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, N.J.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

In a an interview with Don Felder to preview his March 21, 2015 show at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, N.J., I mentioned to him as someone who grew up in the 1970s, it’s difficult for me to stand up for an entire concert at this age.

“That’s why we’re playing theaters, so you can sit down until it’s time to get up and start rockin’,” said Felder, who will be featured in The Vinyl Dialogues Volume II talking about the making of the Eagles 1975 album “One of These Nights.”

That Don Felder – known as “Fingers” when he played lead guitar for the Eagles – can play guitar is not breaking news. He’s among the best guitar players in the world.

Felder wrote the music – with lyrical help primarily from Don Henley, with contributions from Glenn Frey – on a 12-string guitar that features several distinctive guitar parts, for “Hotel California,” one of the Eagles’ most famous songs. In fact, it’s one of the most recognizable songs in rock history. The song’s guitar solo by Felder was voted the best solo of all time by readers of Guitarist magazine in 1998 and was ranked 8th on Guitar Magazine ’ s Top 100 Guitar Solos.

“When I was writing and arranging ‘Hotel California,’ the music for it, I used a 12-string guitar. And little did I know to this day I would still be playing the 12-string guitar at every show every time we do that song. I should have said, let’s just do this on a regular six-string guitar,” said Felder.

Hearing Felder play “Hotel California” live on the 12-string is one of those things rock fans from the 1970s ought to put on their bucket lists. It was magic in 1976 when it was recorded and it was magic seeing it Saturday night at the State Theatre.

Felder, who parted ways with the Eagles for good in 2001 and wrote a tell-all best-selling book about it called “Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001),” has been a solo artist for a while now. And he knows his audience. After all, his show is called “An Evening at the Hotel California.”

He knows the crowd is filled with Eagles fans who wants to hear Eagles songs. Although he mixed in a few songs off his latest CD, “Road to Forever” and a few other tunes, his set was heavy with many great Eagles hits, including “Take It Easy,” “Witchy Woman,” Tequila Sunrise,” “Already Gone” and “One of These Nights.”

With Felder’s vocals – he didn’t really step out front much on lead during his time with the Eagles – and his killer band, it was too much for many in the crowd. Midway through the show, people crowded the stage and packed the aisles dancing and singing.

“Pay no attention to the ushers, get up and dance,” said Felder.

I don’t know if that made the ushers too happy, although it did get them off the hook from pestering people to put away their cell phone cameras. After Felder’s pronouncement from the stage, there were no longer any rules.

Felder knew that because he had mentioned it to me in the interview.

“About three-fourths of the way through the show, if not sooner, everybody in the place is up on their feet and singing along with the songs, clapping their hands and dancing, just having a great time,” he said.

And to the credit of the crowd, it was a controlled enthusiasm. A lot of singing and dancing, but nobody got out of hand.

By the time Felder brought out his 12-string for the final song – the only time the 12-string made an appearance to that point – everyone knew what was coming: Welcome to the Hotel California.

And it’s true. When it comes to seeing Don Felder play “Hotel California” live on the 12-string guitar, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Coming of age with a wardrobe malfunction and the band America

By Mike Morsch

On March 15, 2015

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

This is a photo of the cover of “Hearts,” a 1975 album by the band America.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

An interview with Dewey Bunnell of the band America about the album “Hearts,” which will be featured in The Vinyl Dialogues Volume II, reminded me of one of my favorite coming-of-age stories from my youth: my first experience with a “wardrobe malfunction.”

It was the summer of 1975 after my sophomore year in high school, and I hung out quite a bit with my pal, Dan Brewington. Dan lived in one of the higher-end neighborhoods called Sunset Hills in our central Illinois town. It had its own country club with a swimming pool, restaurant and 18-hole golf course.

One had to be a member of the country club to use the swimming pool, and Dan’s parents were members. And the children of members could invite friends over to swim during the summer. There was a two-visit limit for any non-member, but Dan knew the kid who manned the entrance to the pool and I was waved in several times that summer.

The pool area had a snack window with a public address system that played the radio over speakers so that the swimmers could enjoy the music of the day – all our favorites from the mid-1970s. America was a hot band in 1975, and it wasn’t unusual to hear its hits while we enjoyed the pool.

Once inside the pool area, we did what all normal 15-year-old boys did in the 1970s – we engaged in shenanigans and tomfoolery. One such activity was called “Old Bag Splashing.”

“Old Bag Splashing” is exactly what it sounds like. In addition to attracting its share of teenage boys, the Sunset Hills Country Club pool attracted quite a few moms who enjoyed sunbathing.

While lying on their stomachs facing away from the pool, the moms would be unaware of what the group of teenage knuckleheads – which usually included Dan and me – were up to. We would slip into the deep end, swim stealthily the length of the pool, then pop up at the other end where we would thrash about and splash the “old bags.”

They did not like it much. We, of course, thought it was hilarious. What’s funny now, though, is that if we were 15 years old, those moms sunning themselves likely were in their late 30s or early to mid-40s. They were “old bags” to us, but they weren’t old at all.

I quickly tired of “old bag splashing” that summer because I was becoming interested in something else: girls. And there were plenty of teenage girls in bikinis hanging around the Sunset Hills Country Club pool. It did not take me long to realize that looking at girls in swimming suits was much more entertaining than splashing old bags.

Even back then, though, I couldn’t see past my nose without my glasses. When I was actually in the pool, I would leave my glasses with my towel on one of the poolside chairs. That meant I couldn’t get a clear view of the girls if I was in the water.

I decided it would be better to observe than to swim. So I would leave my glasses on and sit by the side of the pool, dangling my legs in the water while surveying the scantily clad girls my age.

It was a solid strategy for a knucklehead. One day, I spotted a young lady in a red bikini whom I didn’t know. She didn’t go to our high school, so maybe she was a guest.

I watched as she swam the length of the pool, seemingly with ease, and I was mesmerized. Strikingly good-looking and an athletic swimmer, it seemed as if her every move was in slow motion.

It all happened so quickly. She finished a lap the length of the pool, then swam over to the side, directly opposite to where I was dunking my legs in the water while trying to simultaneously be cool and not gawk.

As she pulled herself out of the water and onto the edge of the pool in one fluid motion, her left boob slipped out of its holster, and without her knowing it, appeared in all its glory for what seemed like an eternity.

And I had the best seat in the house.

It was the first time I had ever seen anything like that. Without overstating it, I was, in a word, impressed. It must have only been three or four seconds until she realized something was amiss, and she quickly recovered and stowed the valuable asset back into its appropriate cover.

I never approached her that day, never knew her name and never saw her again at the pool.

But what I also remember at the very moment of the big reveal was the song that was playing on the snack stand public address system when it happened.

It was “Sister Golden Hair” by America, from the 1975 album “Hearts,” the very same album I talked with Dewey Bunnell about this week that will be featured in The Vinyl Dialogues Volume II.

The only thing that would make this story better is if the young lady at the swimming pool was a blonde. Alas, she was not. She was a brunette. I think.

I wasn’t exactly focused on her hair.

Stories behind memorable albums of the 1970s as told by the artists

Month: March 2015

The class of Darlene Love plus the comedy of Cheech & Chong equals vinyl magic

Ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder welcomes us to his own ‘Hotel California’

Coming of age with a wardrobe malfunction and the band America