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

Author: Mike Morsch Page 2 of 16

Mike Morsch is a 37-year veteran of the newspaper business, most recently as executive editor of Montgomery Media in Fort Washington, PA. He has been writing about music for the past 10 years and is also the author of "Dancing in My Underwear: The Soundtrack of My Life," also available at Biblio Publishing.
Among his favorite bands are the Beach Boys, Hall & Oates and America and he's also a supporter of local artists in the Philadelphia music scene.

The making of the Beach Boys’ ‘Holland’ album and the back story on ‘Sail On, Sailor’

On Jan. 8, 1973, the Beach Boys released the “Holland” album, which included the hit “Sail On, Sailor,” featuring Blondie Chaplin on lead vocals. Here is an excerpt from a chapter in The Vinyl Dialogues Volume IV: From Studio to Stylus that includes an interview with Blondie Chaplin about the making of the “Holland” album and the back story on how he was chosen to sing lead on “Sail On, Sailor.”

After spending about three months recording in Holland over the summer of 1972, the Beach Boys had returned to the United States thinking they had finished their 19th studio album.

But when they presented the album — called Holland — to Warner Brothers, record company officials rejected it because it didn’t appear to the suits that it had a song that could be marketed as a potential hit single.

Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson had co-written another song — along with Van Dyke Parks, Ray Kennedy, Tandyn Almer and Jack Rieley — that Parks, then the director of audio-visual services at Warner Brothers and a longtime collaborator of Brian Wilson, thought might allay the concerns of record company officials.

The thinking was that the song “We Got Love,” which record company officials considered the weakest of the tracks on the Holland album, could be replaced with the new song, which could then be released as a single.

Blondie Chaplin still performs with Brian Wilson’s band.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

So Brian Wilson’s brothers, Carl and Dennis, along with guitarist Blondie Chaplin and drummer Ricky Fataar, went back into the studio in Los Angeles and recorded the song.

Chaplin and Fataar, both South African natives who were with a band called the Flames, had joined the Beach Boys in 1971 at the invitation of Carl Wilson, to infuse some new blood into the band that in the early 1970s was trying to make over its image and struggling to maintain its relevance.

“On the original track, I played bass, Ricky played drums and Carl was on the electric piano. It was just the three of us,” said Chaplin. “Then Carl asked Dennis to sing the lead. Dennis took one pass — not even a pass really — and said ‘Carl, this is not for me. It doesn’t sound good for me. And by the way, the surf is up and I’m going surfing.’ That was it. It wasn’t weird or anything, it was just Dennis. He just said, ‘Hey, I’m going to surf now.’ 

“Then Carl sang it, and it sounded good to me. But he didn’t like the timbre of his voice on it. So he asked me to give it a shot. I sang it twice and that’s what you hear on the album. That’s how I got a chance to sing it,” said Chaplin.

The song was “Sail On, Sailor,” and it was released as a single off the Holland album in 1973. The album itself was critically well-received at the time, peaking at No. 36 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and No. 20 on the United Kingdom Top 40 album chart.

“Sail On, Sailor” only made it to No. 79 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart when it was first released. But it was re-released two years later, in 1975, and reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

Chaplin and Fataar contributed more to the Holland album as well, co-writing the song “Leaving This Town” with Carl Wilson.

Al Jardine, left, and Blondie Chaplin.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

“It was great to be in Holland for three months just trying to make some music. It was a good album,” said Chaplin. “I just know one thing: I’ve always felt that Carl got us in there for new blood and was willing to go and give it a shot to make something new go down, develop a new kind of personality for the band. The album had some problems when it first came out because record company officials couldn’t find a hit song. 

“But ‘Sail On, Sailor’ was it. We cut ‘Sail On, Sailor’ and put it on the album so we could have a little bit of wings on the radio. That’s how that came about. But now when you listen to it as a whole album, it plays pretty good,” said Chaplin.

A reviewer for Rolling Stone agreed with Chaplin’s assessment of the Holland album.

“In acknowledgment of Brian Wilson’s still honored if slightly mythological status, even within the group, the album both opens and closes with a new Brian opus. As usual, each is informed by a singular sensibility that, currently, seems inclined toward a kind of chamber rock,” wrote Jim Miller in the Rolling Stone review first published on March 1, 1973. “Blondie Chaplin’s superb vocal on ‘Sail On, Sailor’ situates that song between recent Stevie Wonder and vintage Beach Boys, although the expansive harmonies and insistent triplets ultimately assert the group’s own rights.”

Miller continued: “Like the finest Beach Boys’ work, Holland makes me consistently smile, as much at its occasionally unnerving simplicity of viewpoint as at its frequently ornate perfection. Although the Beach Boys may be an acquired taste, once the listener has granted them their stylistic predilections, their best records become irresistible. Their music long ago transcended facile categorization, and they now play what might as well be described simply as Beach Boys music. Unlike last year’s disappointing So Tough, Holland offers that music at its most satisfying. It is a special album.”

Chaplin would leave the Beach Boys in 1976. He recorded a self-titled solo album for Asylum Records in 1977 and, in the 1980s, toured with The Band. In the 1990s, Chaplin was a guitarist, backing vocalist and percussionist for the Rolling Stones, both on tour and in the studio.

More than 40 years after recording the Holland album, Chaplin rejoined Brian Wilson and Al Jardine on an extended tour that celebrated the 50th anniversary of Brian’s masterpiece Pet Sounds album. During that tour, Chaplin had the opportunity to once again sing “Sail On, Sailor” live, even though the song appeared on the Holland album and not the Pet Sounds album. It was an opportunity for Brian Wilson to salute Chaplin’s contributions to the Beach Boys from years ago and it went so well that Chaplin is still touring with Wilson and Jardine as of 2020.

“It gives me a big old chuckle because I wouldn’t have thought so 40 years ago,” said Chaplin on if he believed he would still be singing the song. “I really wouldn’t have thought I’d still be talking about how ‘Sail On, Sailor’ came about. But I guess it’s become a classic, and newer fans want to know more things about it. I would have never thought, ‘Hey, man, this is going to stand the test of time.’ Not at all. It was like, ‘OK, I’m going to sing this song, let me try to sing it good and that’s it.’

“I don’t know if I had been doing it every night for the past 40 years if I’d feel that way. But now, it’s nice and fresh and clean and has a harder edge when we do it live and has a stronger back beat blues thing. I’m quite happy to still be singing it,” he said.

Whoa-oh-oh, listen to the music: The best concerts of 2019

Generally, there’s no such thing as a bad concert, and 2019 was no exception. While my criteria for what’s constitutes a good concert experience changes a bit from show to show — the location of my seat, the ticket price, whether I got to go to the meet-and-greet, the quality of the photos I get — I can usually find a lot of things I like about a show. 

I couldn’t limit the list to the Top 10 shows of 2019, so I made it Top 11 this year. Really, all the concerts were very good, it’s just that these were just a little bit better.

11. Steely Dan — The Met/Philly (Nov. 9) — There was a lot right and a few things wrong for me at this show. First and foremost, the music was brilliant, Donald Fagen can still deliver the goods, and his band is nothing short of outstanding. And while the historic venue is something to behold and a nice place to see a concert, the fact that there is little parking nearby and the overly aggressive ushers on prohibiting photos really took away from this show and explains the reason for the rank. But boy, what a catalog of great songs performed with master musicianship. 

Original members of Three Dog Night, Michael Allsup and Danny Hutton.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

10. Three Dog Night — American Music Theatre/Lancaster, PA — (Sept. 22) — There are only two original members left — vocalist Danny Hutton and guitarist Michael Allsup — but they still sound like classic TDN. The band’s library of hits includes some of my favorite songs from the 1970s. And the American Music Theater is a great place to see a show. The seats are wide and comfortable and the leg room between rows is plentiful. Plus I went down to the stage, something I’ve just started doing in the past year if the opportunity presents itself, for the encore, “Joy to the World.” 

9. Gary Clark Jr. — Ryman Auditorium/Nashville, TN (March 7) — I was unfamiliar with Clark’s music and my pal Jared Bilski invited me to this show when we were in Nashville for a work conference. Once the show started, I became an immediate fan of Clark’s music. Of course, being in the historic Ryman was a treat, despite the hard church pew bench seating in the balcony. The no-photo policy always annoys me, and this was no exception in that regard. Clark is a tremendous guitarist and can sing. I’d go see him again. I loved Nashville and I’d like to sit downstairs at the Ryman the next time.

Dan May and drummer Tommy Geddes.

8. Dan May — Sellersville Theater/Sellersville, PA (July 5) — Dan’s shows are always wonderfully entertaining and his songwriting is brilliant. The venue is where we first discovered Dan’s music when he opened for Crystal Gayle, so we always try to see him there. In recent years, Dan has added storytelling segments to his shows, reading chapters from his books, and I really enjoy that. There isn’t a better night of music and entertainment than the Philadelphia-based local musician and his band.

Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley of America.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

7. America — Penn’s Peak/Jim Thorpe, PA — (Aug. 17) — Given my well-chronicled affinity for what is one of my favorite bands of all-time, you might be surprised at this ranking. I see this show every time I can and will continue to do so for as long as I’m able. Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley still sound great, they do all the hits and the venue offers some great seat options, great prices and a spectacular view of the Poconos. 

J.D Malone and Tommy Geddes.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

6. J.D Malone and the Experts — Steel City Coffeehouse/Phoenixville, PA — (March 16) — Intimate venue, high-energy show where the artists come out and greet the fans personally before the show. Another full night of entertaining music for the ticket price by another Philadelphia-area artist. J.D’s songwriting is undeniably wonderful and he always looks like he’s enjoying himself up there on stage. That’s contagious for the audience and it returns the love. 

Left to right, Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass, Peter Beckett of Player and John Ford Coley.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

5. Rock the Yacht, featuring Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass, Peter Beckett of Player, Ambrosia, John Ford Coley and Walter Egan/The Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ — (Aug. 23) — A very yacht rocky lineup of many of my favorite artists of the 1970s. They all still sound great and we had great seats at a reasonable price. In addition to the show, a highlight of the evening was before the show, where we had the opportunity to meet and have dinner with Elliot Lurie, who wrote “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl),” one of the most iconic songs of the 1970s. A personable and friendly gent, I had interviewed Elliot for “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume IV: From Studio to Stylus” after connecting with him on Facebook. It was a thrill for me to meet the guy who wrote one of the songs to the soundtrack of my life. After that, the concert was gravy.

Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith of The Monkees.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

4. The Monkees — Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA — (March 6) — There’s only two of them left — Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith — but they still sounded like The Monkees. This was a rescheduled show from 2018 when Nesmsith fell ill on the stage of the Keswick during sound check and eventually needed heart surgery. But the duo put on a great show and gave us a little slice of our childhood back for one evening.

Daryl Hall and John Oates.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

3. Daryl Hall and John Oates — Allentown Fairgrounds, Allentown, PA — (Sept. 1) — This show could have been ranked lower because I’ve seen them so many times, but it’s not because Hall & Oates are just that damn good. An outdoor show on wooden chairs at a fairgrounds can present some challenges, but the weather held. Allentown is close enough to home turf for Daryl and John, and they always seem to be comfortable on their home field. We’ve seen this show many times, and it’s always ridiculously solid. The band is tight, tight, tight. The catalog of hits is undeniable. There have been times when I’ve hoped for some deeper cuts in the setlist, but John has told me in more than one interview that they feel obligated to the fans to play the hits. These guys are as good now as they ever were and we’re lucky that they’re still out there sharing their music with us.

2. Lionel Richie, Hard Rock Cafe, Atlantic City, NJ — (March 23) — This high ranking shows just how good a showman, entertainer and singer Lionel Richie is because I absolutely dislike this venue. The room is just full of bad angles, many of the seats are too far from the stage and it has a no-photos policy, which will always rub me the wrong way. But Richie can sing, he’s so personable on stage, and there’s no denying the great catalog of music. This is one where I wish I would have been sitting closer but the ticket prices were prohibitive for those seats. I’d go see him again in a heartbeat.

Little Steven Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

1. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul — Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA — (July 20) — All the stars lined up perfectly for this show, which is why is takes the top spot. I went by myself, which isn’t my preference, but I got a ticket for $79.50 right in the front row. The Disciples of Soul rocked the house, Little Steven was all Little Steven and more, I love his music and I was in the catbird seat for photos, which Stevie himself encourages people to take. There’s always that slight chance that Bruce Springsteen is going to show up unannounced at an East Coast Steveie show, but that didn’t happen at this one. At one point Stevie stuck the mic in my face so I could sing a little — not a really good idea — but I wasn’t familiar enough with the lyrics of the song, so I shit down my leg and had to mush-mouthed it. He looked at me like, WTF man. But it was a tremendous amount of fun and I got some outstanding photos. If the opportunity presents itself, always sit in the front row when you can. 

New album ‘Ghost Town’ masters the art of the story song

In August of 2013, Gordon Glantz had gone to a Steve Earle concert in Sellersville, Pa. During the show, Earle started talking about the kinds of songs he had written for “The Low Highway” record he was touring behind.

Earle related anecdotes about traveling through smaller towns and seeing boarded up factories, which offered him a look at a different side of America. That had an impacton Glantz.

“My interpretation of what Earle said was that there are people out there whose stories aren’t being told,” said Glantz, a veteran journalist in the Philadelphia area. “It comes out of the Springsteen cloth a little bit. All of the songs on ‘The Low Highway’ album were right to the point, no layers, no interpretation of poetry.”

The inspiration provided by Earle redirected Glantz’s longtime passion for songwriting, the end result of which is a collection of 19 songs on the recently released “Ghost Town,” under the band name by Gordonville U.S.A. For this record, Glantz worked closely with Tom Hampton, a Nashville-based veteran utility picker, songwriter and vocalist who has spent several years enmeshed in the local Philadelphia music scene. It’s Hampton’s lead vocals and musicianship – along with other session musicians – that can be heard on the record.

One of the goals Glantz had with this CD was mastering the art of the story song. He has always admired the songwriters who could pull that off with authenticity – Harry Chapin, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot and, particularly, Bruce Springsteen (Earle is known as the country version of The Boss and regularly covers his songs in concert). He hadn’t to this point seen himself as that type of songwriter, despite some attempts with mixed results, as he was more comfortable as protest/statement songwriter.

“All roads in my writing kind of lead to Springsteen,” said Glantz, a lifelong Springsteen fan. “As I wrote more of these songs – even though Steve Earle got me thinking like that – I found that Springsteen has a certain way of writing that I felt like I tried but never quite got right before. Even though I wanted to write more like Springsteen, maybe I was writing more like Peter Gabriel or Roger Waters, a little more poetic interpretation.”

As someone whose strength is lyrics, Glantz was looking for someone to take the definitive musical ideas that were in his head and translate it into music. He reached out to Hampton, with whom he had worked – and developed a kindship with – on previous projects.

When Hampton was in the Philadelphia area, the two would get together and Glantz would relay his vision for the songs, providing the lyrics and an idea of what he thought the song should sound like.

“I started out feeling like I was working in the service of Gordon’s songs and in the service of realizing Gordon’s songs,” said Hampton. “The project kind of felt like work coming out of the gate because I really didn’t have a solid bead on what his objectives were, what he wanted it sound like or even if I was the right guy for the project. But after we got into a rhythm and started working, it got to a point where it just became effortless.”

So effortless, in fact, that in addition to the 19 songs on “Ghost Town,” there are another 70 to 80 songs that are already in the can, with some close to completion and others with a scratch vocal and guitar on them.

“The musical part has always been the easiest part for me,” sad Hampton. “When I’m writing for myself, the music tends to dictate the subject matter a lot of the time. The fact that Gordon already has the lyrics, that part of the cake baked and that makes it easier. He’s got a set of lyrics and he wants it to sound like this. All I have to do is find the right mood for that.”

Glantz said he is thrilled with the finished product. He believes he’s captured Springsteen’s spirit in songs like “Better Than Today” and “Make it Back Alive.” And Hampton has put together a video for the song “Angry White Male” that can be seen on YouTube that falls into the protest/statement portion of Glantz’s songwriting.

All the songs from “Ghost Town” can be heard on YouTube, Spotify and other digital formats (iTunes, Pandora, etc.). The physical record can be ordered on CDbaby.com.

“To get a publishing deal would be ideal,” said Glantz. “If I could even get a song on TV – on something like the Hallmark channel – where I hear 15 seconds of my song in the background; that would be great.

“I’ve been writing songs since high school. I just want to be heard at this point in my life.”

Hampton will continue to do his session work – he plays more than a dozen instruments – live and in the studio. He released a solo album titled “Friends and Heroes” in 2013 and is currently working on another album of original material that he hopes to be ready within the next year. 

The Tubes enthusiastically moving forward with ‘The Completion Backward Principle’ tour

The Tubes were getting close to finishing what would become their sixth studio album, The Completion Backward Principle, when producer David Foster went to lead singer and frontman Fee Waybill and said, “We really don’t have a rock radio song on this record.”

The band was making its first album for Capitol Records in the fall of 1980 after having been released by A&M Records. They had recorded a big power ballad, “Don’t Want to Wait Anymore,” co-written by Foster and the band members, which Capitol had decided to release as the first single.

Band members had a couple of songs they had submitted to Foster for consideration, but none of them were what he was looking for in a rock radio song to fill out the album.

“So David asked me what I thought about meeting Steve Lukather of Toto,” said Waybill. Foster and Lukather had worked together in mid-1979 as session musicians on the “I Am” album by Earth, Wind & Fire, featuring the hit single, “Boogie Wonderland,” which reached reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

“David said Steve was a great guitar player, was very quick and had great ideas. And I said fine, no problem,” said Waybill.

The Tubes were coming in for a 4 p.m. to midnight recording session at Record One Studios in Los Angeles to finish the album, but Foster asked Waybill to meet him and Lukather at the studio at 10 a.m. that day to work on what they hoped would be the rock radio song that Foster believed the album needed.

“So we met, bullshitted for a little while and then it didn’t take five minutes for Lukather to come up with the opening lick,” said Waybill. “David heard it and said, ‘That’s it, right there. Go with that.’ But usually lyrics take a while for me. I sit there and listen to the track and try to figure is it happy, is it sad, what is it? And I wait for some kind of muse to hit me.”

But as he sat there with his notepad, nothing was coming to Waybill . . . until the album’s engineer, Humberto Gatica, provided some inspiration. 

“This was the first record we had done with David, so everybody in the band was asking a lot of questions,” said Waybill. “In general, working with Foster and Lukather was a huge step up for us in terms of electronics and in terms of technique in the studio. So we were all asking questions all the time.”

Apparently, all those questions didn’t sit too well with the engineer.

“Humberto got into the habit of not wanting to answer any of the questions, so he’d say, ‘I’ll talk to you later, man’ in his Chilean accent. In other words, ‘I’m too busy and I don’t need it,’” said Waybill. “And as I’m sitting there writing this song, I keep coming back to ‘talk to you later,’ and it fit perfectly.

The song “Talk To Ya Later” was finished by the time rest of the Tubes got to the studio that day. 

“We played it for the band, and they all went, ‘Whoa.’ But to be honest, I think the band was a little miffed that we did it without them. I understood that,” said Waybill. “I think it’s a great song, and I think Foster thought so, too. And I didn’t think anybody was going to shoot us down because we (the band) didn’t write every note on the song.”

Those instincts proved to be correct. “Talk to Ya Later” reached No. 7 in the U.S. on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks — and was No. 1 in 17 other countries — and “Don’t Want to Wait Anymore” made it into the Top 40 checking in at No. 35 on both the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and the Cashbox Top 100 Singles chart. The Completion Backward Principle became a Top 40 album for the Tubes, reaching No. 36 on the Billboard chart and No. 37 on the Cashbox chart.

That history will be on full display as the Tubes embark on their latest tour, where they will perform The Completion Backward Principle album in its entirety — along with the band’s other classic songs — that includes a northeast swings with stops Oct. 25 at the Borgata in Atlantic City and the Iridium in New York City for two shows Oct. 30 and Oct. 31.

Waybill said the band decided to do The Completion Backward Principle on this tour for a couple of reasons: One, because he believes it was the best record the band ever did; and two, because when it was first released in 1981, the album was a parody of corporate rock and formulaic corporate rock bands of that era, something that Waybill thinks is still relevant today.

“Even though we’re maybe not parodying corporate music today, there is a world of big corporations now and political doublespeak,” said Waybill. “We’re getting so used to political doublespeak these days, I just thought it (the album) was still so relevant and current.”

In addition to Waybill, the the San Francisco-based Tubes still feature three other original members, including world-class drummer Prairie Prince, guitarist Roger Steen and bassist Rick Anderson. Rounding out the group is keyboardist and vocalist David Medd. 

Waybill said for this tour, which will feature two of his alter-ego characters — Quay Lewd and Mr. Hate — the band had to re-learn a couple of songs from The Completion Backward Principle — “Let’s Make Some Noise,” which they hadn’t played live since the 1980s; and the opening track on Side 2 of the album, “Think About Me,” which they hadn’t done in about 15 years in concert.

He’s also looking forward to the upcoming shows, particularly the two at the Iridium, at 1650 Broadway in New York City. Beginning in 1994, the club featured weekly performances by Les Paul, a jazz, country and blues guitarist and one of the pioneers of solid-body electric guitars, until his death in 2009.

“I’ve been waiting to play Broadway my whole life,” said Waybill. “Even though I’m not acting on Broadway — which is what I really want to do, and I am gonna act on Broadway before I die — at least we’re playing Broadway at the Iridium. I want to fill that place out, I want it to be standing room only for the Tubes on Broadway.”

Fee also believes the Tubes are a better band today than they were in the 1980s.

“We all grew up and we all stopped taking drugs,” said Waybill. “Roger (Steen) just sits there and plays his guitar all day long, and he’s ridiculously good. Prairie (Prince) is so good that everybody wants him to play with them. And we haven’t changed the key of any songs. My voice is better than it’s ever been, mainly because I’m not beating it to death like I used to.”

Waybill believes that it’s his purpose in life to bring joy to the people who come see the Tubes in concert.

“That’s what I try to do every night. Be funny, be stupid, be scary, be tragic — all those things,” he said. “The payoff, especially when we do smaller venues like the Iridium, is that you can see the sparkle in the eyes of the people there, when they’re saying to themselves, ‘Oh my God, this guy is insane.’ I can’t wait to get back out there.”

Brian Wilson and The Zombies add a touch of ‘Philly soul’ to the show

Brian Wilson, left, and Al Jardine, right, perform Saturday, Aug. 28, 2019, at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Pa. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Brian Wilson, left, and Al Jardine, right, perform Saturday, Aug. 28, 2019, at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Pa.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

When I was a kid in the 1970s, listening to WLS out of Chicago, I used to keep a cassette recorder loaded with a blank tape on my nightstand next to the radio. As I lay there trying to fall asleep, I would listen to the music, and when a song came on that I liked, I’d fumble through the darkness and attempt to hit the “record” button.

That’s how we put a setlist together back in those days. And even though I got fairly adept at hitting the “record” button when one of my favorite songs came on (actually you had to hit “play” and “record” at the same time, which increased the degree of difficulty when doing it in the dark), my reaction time was always a tick or two behind. So my setlist of favorite tunes I played on that cassette recorder was inevitably missing the intros to the songs. 

I was fascinated in the early to mid-1970s by a group called The Stylistics. Unbeknownst to the young me at the time, The Stylistics were part of what would become The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) or “Philly soul.” The songwriting and production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff had formed Philadelphia International Records in the early 1970s and was creating a new sound, one that they believed would rival Motown. Artists like The Stylistics, The O’Jay’s, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Three Degrees, Lou Rawls and Billy Paul were making some great music in Philadelphia in those days.

Russell Thompkins Jr., original lead singer of The Stylistics (upper right), joined Brian Wilson onstage for Saturday night's show at the Tower Theatre. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Russell Thompkins Jr., original lead singer of The Stylistics (upper right), joined Brian Wilson onstage for Saturday night’s show at the Tower Theatre.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

All of which was lost on a kid growing up in central Illinois. I had no idea what was unfolding in the Philadelphia music scene at the time, all I knew was that I liked The Stylistics a lot — particularly their song “I’m Stone in Love With You” — and that I wasn’t quick enough to get the entire song from start to finish on my cassette recorder.

And, of course, I had no way of knowing that I would move to Philadelphia some 30 years later as a writer, become immersed in the Philadelphia music scene and interview many of the artists that developed TSOP and “Philly soul,” including the original lead singer of The Stylistics, Russell Thompkins Jr., for a chapter on the group’s first album for “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume IV, From Studio to Stylus.”

So it was with great excitement that I greeted the news that Thompkins Jr., with that beautiful lead falsetto voice on “I’m Stone in Love With You” and those other great Stylistics hits, would be a special guest at a concert co-billed by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and The Zombies at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, suburban Philadelphia, on Sept. 28, 2019. 

I was a Beach Boys fan long before I was a fan of The Stylistics. I grew up with my parents’ record collection in the 1960s, and the Beach Boys have always been my favorite band. I love the harmonies and I love Brian Wilson’s sweet falsetto voice from his early years on all those classic Beach Boys tunes.

So I already had my tickets for this show when I got the news that Thompkins Jr. would join the festivities. Having seen Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and their group — Mike Love and Bruce Johnston also have a group that tours under the name “Beach Boys” — many times over the years, I had originally been drawn to this show because of The Zombies. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, I love the band’s hits, including “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No” and “Time of the Season.” I had not seen them live to this point and the ticket price for two R&RHOF bands was quite reasonable. 

Colin Blunstone, lead singer of The Zombies. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Colin Blunstone, lead singer of The Zombies.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The Zombies opened the show and absolutely killed it. Lead vocalist Colin Blunstone and vocalist and keyboardist Rod Argent can still sing. In addition to their hits, they also performed their complete 1968 album “Odessey and Oracle” without interruption, and it was, in a word, brilliant. To add an even more special aspect to the show, they were joined by original members Hugh Grundy and Chris White for the “Odessey and Oracle” portion of the set. The Zombies would have well been worth the price of admission by themselves.

Next up was Brian, Al and the band, which for the past few years has included Blondie Chaplin, a singer and guitarist who joined the Beach Boys in the early 1970s and who would sing the lead on the Beach Boys hit, “Sail on Sailor.” Chaplin, who later would become a vocalist, percussionist and acoustic rhythm guitarist for The Rolling Stones, lends a bit of eccentricity and strutting not normally seen at a Brian Wilson show. 

Brian’s band is top-notch and has been for years. Co-founding Beach Boys guitarist Al Jardine is still in great voice, and Jardine’s son, Matt, now handles all the high falsetto parts that Brian used to sing. New to this tour, billed as “Something Great From ’68” to go along with The Zombies’ “Odyssey and Oracle” album, was the addition of some songs from from the Beach Boys’ 1968 album “Friends,” as well as the group’s 1971 album “Surf’s Up.” 

Rod Argent, original keyboardist and vocalist for The Zombies. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Rod Argent, original keyboardist and vocalist for The Zombies.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Brian himself doesn’t do much of the heavy lifting anymore. He still handles some lead vocals on classic Beach Boys songs like “God Only Knows,” (his brother Carl Wilson sang lead on the original song), “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains,” but for the most part, Brian is content to sit at the piano and oversee the proceedings these days, soaking in the love from the audience.

Of course, I was anxious to see how Russell Thompkins Jr. was going to fit into the show and how the surf and sand music was going to intersect with Philly soul. We didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Just a few songs into the set, Thompkins emerged on stage for Wilson’s hit single, “Don’t Worry Baby,” first released in 1964. Matt Jardine took the first falsetto verse, then handed the lead vocals off to Thompkins Jr. for the remainder of the song.

It was both an inspired and perfect choice for the voice of Thompkins Jr. According to Wilson, he had written “Don’t Worry Baby” in an attempt to capture the essence of what he’s said is his all-time favorite song, “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, with Ronnie Spector on lead vocals, released in 1963.

Everyone gathered around Brian Wilson at the piano for the final song of the evening, "Love and Mercy." (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Everyone gathered around Brian Wilson at the piano for the final song of the evening, “Love and Mercy.”
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Thompkins Jr. nailed “Don’t Worry Baby” in what was literally a chill-inducing version for those of us who are Beach Boys and Stylistics fans. He was rewarded with a standing ovation by the Philly faithful. Although he didn’t take lead vocals on any other songs during the show (a slight disappointment to me), Thompkins Jr. did return to the stage to lend backing vocals for all the songs in the encore, including “Surfin’ U.S.A” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.” 

It was the final co-billed appearance on this tour for The Zombies with Wilson and they left it all on the stage. And Wilson is one of the most famous and accomplished artists of our era. The addition of Thompkins Jr. was just icing on the cake for this concert.

It’s gonna be difficult to find a better evening of music than that for me.

Original Beach Boys member Al Jardine on guitar. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Original Beach Boys member Al Jardine on guitar.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

It’s still easy to celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music with Three Dog Night

Danny Hutton, left, co-founding member of Three Dog Night, belts out one of the band's classic hits Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, at American Music Theatre in Lancaster, PA, while bandmate David Morgan looks on. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Danny Hutton, left, co-founding member of Three Dog Night, belts out one of the band’s classic hits Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, at American Music Theatre in Lancaster, PA, while bandmate David Morgan looks on.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

When I was a teenager in the mid-1970s, there were three songs I played over and over: “Sister Golden Hair” by America, “China Grove” by the Doobie Brothers, and “An Old Fashioned Love Song” by Three Dog Night.

Not surprisingly, those three bands have always been — and remain to this day — among my favorite bands. I still turn those songs up when they come on the radio.

And although I’ve seen America and the Doobie Brothers live several times, I’d never seen Three Dog Night in person, until this past weekend.

After 52 years — Three Dog Night formed in 1967 with founding members Cory Wells, Chuck Negron and Danny Hutton on lead vocals; Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards; Joe Schermie on bass; Michael Allsup on guitar; and Floyd Sneed on drums — time has taken it toll. Wells, Greenspoon and Schermie have died; Sneed has retired from public performing; and Negron has been a solo act since 1986 and has appeared in recent years on the Happy Together tour.

That leaves Hutton and Allsup to carry on the legacy of Three Dog Night. And admittedly, I had wondered if those two founding members, along with the band members they added to form the current version of Three Dog Night, could pull it off and take me back to those teenage years with those wonderful songs.

It seemed to me that it was possible that today’s Three Dog Night could be a few dogs short.

I am happy to report that is not the case. Three Dog Night sounds just like it did on all those great records they made from 1968 to 1976. The “new” guys — David Morgan on vocals, Paul Kingery on bass and vocals; Pat Bautz on drums; and Howard Laravea on drums — complement Hutton and Allsup quite nicely.

I was interested to see what lead vocals Hutton would take on. He had sung lead on “Liar,” a No. 7 hit in 1971; and “Black and White,” which was No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart in 1972.

On Sunday, Sept. 22, at the American Music Theatre in Lancaster, PA, Hutton stayed in his familiar lane, although he did pick up the lead on “An Old Fashioned Love Song,” one on which he had originally been targeted to share lead vocals with Negron. But it didn’t work out that way.

According to interviews that I did with Hutton for The Vinyl Dialogues, by the middle of 1971, things were really crazy for Three Dog Night. 

Michael Allsup, original guitarist for Three Dog Night, leans into his guitar at Sunday night's show. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Michael Allsup, original guitarist for Three Dog Night, leans into his guitar at Sunday night’s show.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The two studio albums the band released in 1970 had done well. “It Ain’t Easy,” which would make to to No. 8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, featured two Top 20 hits, “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” a cover of a Randy Newman song he had originally written for Eric Burdon’s (vocalist for the Animals) first solo album in 1966, with Wells on lead vocals, that got to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart; and “Out in the Country,” written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and No. 15 on the Hot 100 singles chart. 

And “Naturally” would continue the string of hit albums, making it to No. 14 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on the strength of another No. 1 single, “Joy to the World,” written by Hoyt Axton; “Liar,” written by Russ Ballard, which made it to No. 7 on the Hot 100 singles chart; and “One Man Band,” written by Billy Fox, Tommy Kaye and January Tyme, which checked in at No. 19 on the Hot 100 singles chart.

And now it was time to get back into the studio and work on the next album, titled “Harmony.”

“Just when we started ‘Harmony,’ out of nowhere, ‘Joy to the World’ took off like a rocket,” said Hutton. “It was six weeks at No. 1. It was crazy. We thought it was some fluke the first week and then it just stayed there forever. And before that song went back down the charts, then ‘Liar’ became a hit. All of a sudden it was a crazy period.”

In mid-1971, between “Naturally” and “Harmony,” the band released the album “Golden Bisquits,” a compilation of hits from the band’s first four studio albums.

But the groundwork laid with “Naturally” provided a fertile environment for the band to kick it up a notch in the creativity department for “Harmony.”

“When we talked about doing the [Harmony] album, we talked about that. It was time to kind of expand and just really get into way more intricate tracks, not just be limited by being a four-piece band so we could do everything live. We said let’s just get crazy and creative,” said Hutton.

So that was the plan for “Harmony” when it came to production and arrangements — crazy and creative.

Harmony,” released in late December 1971, featured two songs that cracked the Top 10, “An Old Fashioned Love Song,” another Paul Williams-penned tune with Negron on lead vocals, which charted at No. 4; and “Never Been to Spain,” another Hoyt Axton-written song, which charted at No. 5, with Wells on lead. 

The two remaining original members of Three Dog Night, Michael Allsup, left, and Danny Hutton. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

The two remaining original members of Three Dog Night, Michael Allsup, left, and Danny Hutton.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

On the strength of those two songs — and “The Family of Man,” written by Williams and Jack Conrad, which just missed being a third Top 10 hit, checking in at No. 12 — the album itself reached No. 8 on the charts.

The band members had a feeling that “An Old Fashioned Love Song” was going to be a hit.

“As you well know, there is my version, somebody else’s version, and then the truth,” said Hutton. “What I remember about that song is that we’d have these listening sessions with a bunch of demos. And that was one we heard and all went, ‘Yeah, that’s cool.’”

Hutton recalls that he had to leave town at one point during the recording sessions for “Harmony,” and when he returned, Negron had finished recording the lead vocals for “An Old Fashioned Love Song.”

“Originally what I remember was that Chuck and I were going to take turns singing leads on verses. But I came back and Chuck had done all the verses. He said, ‘Oops, you weren’t here, man. I think it works better with just me.’ But we didn’t have the outtro for that song. So I arranged that part,” said Hutton.

It wasn’t a surprise to Hutton that “An Old Fashioned Love Song” hit big. Songwriter Williams had been on a roll in the early 1970s, having written hit singles for the Carpenters — “We’ve Only Just Begun” in 1970 and “Rainy Days and Mondays” in 1971.

“Paul Williams at the time was so hot with the Carpenters, so that didn’t hurt when the deejays looked at the album and saw his name on the song, they went, ‘Whoa, let’s check this out,’” said Hutton. “We wanted to be a rock band. But once in a while you do something like that and it’s like, ‘Oh my God.’”

Negron’s version of the story isn’t much different.

“When I heard ‘An Old Fashioned Love Song,’ the publishers weren’t really that hot on it because they had Paul Williams writing with different people and he was very successful,” said Negron. “This was the first time he had written by himself.

“So I said, ‘Play it for me, I want to hear it.’ I heard it and I said, ‘Hey, this is a good song.’ And I recorded the lead vocals.”

Hearing Hutton finally get the lead on “An Old Fashioned Love Song” some 48 years after it was recorded didn’t diminish one of my favorite songs at all. And as a shoutout to the current version of the group, the members did an a cappella version of a new song during the encore called “Prayer of the Children” that was absolutely incredible. 

By the time we got to the last song of the evening — “Joy to the World” — I had made my way down to the stage. Even after all these years and a different lineup, it was still quite easy to celebrate, celebrate . . . dance to the music.

From left to right, David Morgan, Michael Allsup and Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

From left to right, David Morgan, Michael Allsup and Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Eddie Money, rock star: Gracious, honest and always entertaining

Eddie Money performs on July 4, 2018, at the Camden Waterfront Freedom Festival in Camden, N.J. (Photo by Patti Myers)

Eddie Money performs on July 4, 2018, at the Camden Waterfront Freedom Festival in Camden, N.J.
(Photo by Patti Myers)

In the early 1970s, Eddie Money, mostly broke and trying to make it in the music business, was dating a woman who was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. But the woman’s mother didn’t like her daughter hanging out with the young musician.

“She was in a sorority and her mother didn’t want her to be involved with a rock star, so to speak,” said Money.

So Money wrote a song about the experience.

“It was about being broke and going with a rich girl at the time, which was good for me because she moved out of the sorority house and her mother didn’t know it,” he said. “She was living with me in North Oakland and paying my rent. And she was also bringing steaks home for the icebox, which was fantastic. So it all worked out great.”

Oh, and the song worked out great, too. Money wrote the words and Jimmy Lyon wrote the music. They titled it “Baby Hold On” and it was the lead single off Money’s self-titled debut album “Eddie Money,” released in late 1977.

After performing in various clubs around the Bay Area, Money had finally attracted the attention of rock impresario Bill Graham, who agreed to be Money’s manager. Graham, a Holocaust survivor who was born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca in Berlin, Germany, had emigrated to the United States from Russia before the rise of Nazism. He eventually became known as a concert promoter in the psychedelic music scene of the late 1960s at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. The Fillmore turned out to be one of the proving ground venues for bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company, which at the time featured Janis Joplin as its lead singer.

By the mid-1970s, Graham had become a promoter of large outdoor benefit concerts and a manager for some artists. And he liked Eddie Money.

(Photo by Patti Myers)

(Photo by Patti Myers)

“Bill Graham was a fantastic guy. He actually walked out of Russia with 500 kids and 250 of them died of starvation on the way to Paris,” said Money. “He was really into the Grateful Dead and was friends with Janis Joplin. Jerry Garcia would always be on the couch sleeping in Bill’s office. Bill was a big Dead freak.”

According to Money, Graham liked living vicariously through Money and his life as a rock star, but wanted Money to tone it down a bit in the beginning. 

“He wanted me to sit on a stool and sing cocktail songs, some bullshit like that. He didn’t like my spins. But he liked me and knew I was a good writer and an entertainer,” said Money.

When it came time to record the “Eddie Money” album in 1977, it would basically be a studio version of Money’s live show at the time, which had been honed by the band’s club performances in the Bay Area.

The album would be recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Bruce Botnick would produce and Andy Johns would be the engineer. Botnick had produced the “L.A. Woman” album for The Doors in 1970, the band’s last album with Jim Morrison as lead singer. Johns had engineered several Rolling Stones albums, including “Sticky Fingers” in 1971, “Exile on Main Street” in 1972 and “Goats Head Soup” in 1973; and a series of Led Zeppelin albums including “Led Zeppelin II” in 1969, “Led Zeppelin III in 1970, “Led Zeppelin IV in 1971, “Houses of the Holy” in 1973 and “Physical Graffiti” in 1975.

In addition to Money and Lyon, the band for “Eddie Money” would include saxophone player Tom Scott, who had played with George Harrison, Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys, Rod Stewart, the Grateful Dead and Steppenwolf, among others; and former Steve Miller Band members, bassist Lonnie Turner and drummer Gary Mallaber.

“It was a wonderful record to make at the Record Plant in L.A.,” said Money. “When I was in the studio, Aretha Franklin was in there and Rod Stewart was in there, some really big people. Every time I turned around, Aretha Franklin was trying to get me to eat. ‘C’mon honey, have some more of this cornbread.’ It was a good time to be alive and the record was a lot of fun to make.” 

Not only was the single “Baby Hold On” featured on the album, but the record would also include another of what would become a classic rock single from the era, the Money-penned “Two Tickets to Paradise.”

“I thought the first single off the album should have been ‘Two Tickets to Paradise.’ I wrote that song on Manilla Avenue, which was in North Oakland. I wrote it on a piano and it’s a great song. I just sat down and wrote it. I knew that ‘paradise’ rhymed with ‘tonight.’ Who wouldn’t want two tickets to paradise?” said Money. “It wasn’t about anybody in particular, not really. It was about getting away. Two tickets to paradise can be taking a plane to Hawaii or a Greyhound bus up to the Redwoods. I didn’t take a girl to Hawaii but I did take one up to the Redwoods back in 1976. A girl I’m very happy I didn’t end up with, by the way.”

(Photo by Patti Myers)

(Photo by Patti Myers)

Despite “Baby Hold On” and “Two Tickets to Paradise” being the big hits off the album, neither one of them was the first song to be recorded when the sessions started at the Record Plant.

Money thought it was a good idea, and Graham and Botnick agreed, that the album should have a song that was recognizable to audiences. So the band recorded its version of “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” written by Smokey Robinson, which became a Top 10 hit for the Miracles in 1962. The Beatles also covered it on their second album, “With the Beatles” in 1963.

“I wanted to do something that was more of a cover tune than to dig right in to my material. I wanted to throw something to the wolves,” said Money. “So we did ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’ and I took out the ‘hold me, squeeze me, please me’ lines. I did it different than the Beatles and I did it different than Smokey Robinson. I ran into Smokey four years later and he said he liked my version better than the Beatles. And I said, ‘I like my version better than your version.’”

Another song included on the album, also co-written by Money and Lyon, was called “Jealousys” and was about Money’s early struggles when he first moved to California. 

“I was in a group called the Rockets. All these guys lived at home and they drove their parents’ cars. They all lived at home like I did when I was living on Long Island with my parents,” said Money. “I was living in North Oakland, borrowing everyone else’s car and living on canned ravioli and fuckin’ powdered milk. I had nothing. That song was all about how tough it was coming up.”

When it came time to shoot the photo for the album cover, Money decided to wear a suit that he had purchased at a thrift store because it was a “dead guy” suit from the 1940s and he liked the way it looked.

But it was a long photo shoot and Money eventually ran out of patience.

“They took a million pictures. But I got so tired of taking pictures,” said Money. “I finally said, ‘Here’s your fuckin’ album cover. I lit up a cigarette and bang, sure enough, that was the album cover they picked. If you look at all my early album covers, I’ve got a cigarette in my hand.”

“Eddie Money” was released in December 1977. Three singles were released from the album: “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” got good airplay, but failed to crack the Top 20 singles chart; “Two Tickets to Paradise” reached No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles and No. 14 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles; and “Baby Hold On” ended up doing the best, reaching No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles, No. 5 on the U.S. Cashbox Top 100 singles, No. 4 on the Canadian RPM singles and No. 41 on the Single Top 100 in the Netherlands. The album itself peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and No. 24 on the Canadian RPM albums chart.

Part of the success of the “Eddie Money” album — and for some subsequent Money albums — was because Money was admittedly “the poster child for promotion” of his own records.

“There was nothing that I wouldn’t do to get on the radio,” said Money. “In fact, there was a female DJ out of Pittsburgh and she was thinking about adding ‘Baby Hold On’ to the playlist in that market. I went there and she was good looking, so we got a little thing going. That’s how I got on the radio there. She was cute, I was young and handsome. She liked the record, I liked her and the next thing you know — bang, it was No. 17 in that market.”

While the fans appeared to like his music, the critics, however, weren’t crazy about it, according to Money. Part of it, he believes, was that he was living the rock and roll lifestyle and burning a lot of bridges while doing it. 

“I never did shows drunk. I wish I could have because I was such an alcoholic in those days. But Bill Graham put the fear of God into me. I did one show drunk with the Marshall Tucker Band and Bill just reamed me out. So I never drank before work, but after work, I’d be drinking like crazy,” said Money. “Then I’d be getting up in the morning with a really bad hangover, calling them [the critics] up and saying, ‘I’m going to blow up your car, I’m going to fuck your wife.’” 

Another reason, Money believes, he had difficulties finding a solid niche in the late 1970s was because he was trying to serve two different audiences.

On weekdays, he’d be in San Jose or Fremont, California, playing disco bars and then on the weekends, he’d play his original compositions in venues that were more rock and roll-oriented. He believes the weekday gigs might have affected his rock and roll fans by the time he recorded his second album, “Life for the Taking” in 1979, featuring the single “Maybe I’m a Fool,” which reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles early that year.

“That song ‘Maybe I’m a Fool,’ it alienated a lot of my rock fans. ‘Eddie is going disco.’ But I knew it was going to be a hit. I was chasing the radio,” said Money. “It had a disco beat and it had disco strings and a lot of my fans were going, ‘What the fuck happened to Eddie Money? He’s got ‘Life for the Taking,’ which is a great song, and then he’s got ‘Maybe I’m a Fool.’ But you know what, it was the same thing. Back in the 1970s, on the weekdays, Sundays through Thursdays, I’d be playing disco bars and then I’d be playing rock gigs on the weekends. 

“So when I put the second record out, it had a couple of disco songs on it. Am I suppose to apologize for that? No. I was chasing FM radio with ‘Life for the Taking’ and I was chasing AM radio with ‘Maybe I’m a Fool,’” he said. “I remember when I was No. 1 in airplay on both AM and FM. I did good.”

Eddie Money died this week, on Sept. 13, 2019, of complications from a recent heart valve replacement surgery. He had been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer and was battling that at the time.

Those folks I know who have interviewed Money over the years — I spoke to him on Oct. 20, 2015, for a chapter in “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume III: Stacks of Wax,” as detailed above — all agree that he was gracious with his time and honest with his storytelling. My experience with him was the same.

I asked him if he had any regrets in his career, and he was as honest with that question as he was with all the others.

“I’ve been to jail, I’ve been to college and I’ve been to rehab. What the fuck haven’t I done?” he said. “It was an amazing time. I was a rock star. I had a fuckin’ blast.”

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